#FridayReads: September 7th, 2013

FridayReads is a hashtag over on Twitter where people share what they'll be reading over the weekend. I thought it would be nice to bring that hashtag over to my blog, so this way I can share what I'm reading and provide a little more text along with it.

 

By now, I think everyone knows I'm not the best at consistently putting out some blogpost, let alone make FridayReads a weekly thing - or even a Fridaything for that matter. It's been two months, but here is once again what I'll be reading for the remainder of the weekend. Having finished the brilliant Pale Demon by Kim Harrison - the ninth en best entry in the Hollows series so far - I picked up The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly.

I got this book as a monthly themed gift from Jeremy over at Inklingstime for the 'Books about books' theme. Coincidently, the theme for thins month's challenge at my bookclub, is also 'Books about books'. What better book to read than this one?

I have never read something from the hand of John Connolly, so if this happens to turn out rather good, I'll definitely buy some of his other works. Some googling have taught me that he has a rather interesting supernatural thriller series going on, which I'm all too willing to check out.

The Book Of Lost Things is anything but that, however. From what I've gathered from the blurb, this is a novel where fairy tales play a very prominent role. I'm curious, to say the least, to see how all of this will turn out, cause instead of the sugary sweetness one has come to expect from faity tales, this one sounds rather creepy...

Serial Reading: Sword of Truth #2

The Fantastical landscape is filled with series, trilogies and other-ologies. As a committed Fantasy-reader myself, I am deeply immersed in several series. Serial Reading is my way of keeping track of all those series in a lighthearted way. Some of these series will have complete reviews on here, others not so much - mainly because I'm already too far in to busy myself with retroactive reviewposting. If you want to read my views on those books, feel free to consult my GoodReads. Enjoy your breakfast!

 

Note: Spoilery bits might be included.

 

Credits: http://blogs.bu.edu

 

Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth is one of those series that have a little place in my heart. Nothing beats Harry Potter when it comes to childhood nostalgia (*), but Sword of Truth comes close. Reading them now, I do wonder why I read them as a young boy, cause they're explicitly violent and whatnot. Anyway, I seemed to have enjoyed them a-lot when I was about 15 so they became one of my favourite series ever. This is also expressed by the amount of re-reads those books got. The first and second book got the privilege of being read five times. As fas as insane goes...

However, the last few books have only been read once, with some seriously big gaps between them, so I figured that this year (**), I was going to go through them all once more and then shelve this series for quite some time. Upon writing this entry, I've read up till book four, so what follows is my impression of Blood Of The Fold and Temple Of The Winds.

 

- Book 3: Blood Of The Fold. With the re-read of the second novel in the series, Stone Of Tears, we witnessed the brutal attack of the most vicious, merciless creature ever, the Suck Fairy(***). Luckily for us, avid re-readers, the suckiness they spread isn't contagious. In fact, whereas my appreciation for the second instalment dropped, Blood Of The Fold, always a bit of a black sheep, managed to rise in my appreciation. Just a little bit, mind.

My main issue with this book is the fact that it figures as one long set-up for the remainder of the series. Where the previous books - Wizard's First Rule for sure - were pretty much self contained, the overarching plot that makes this series a series, really kicks in here. Perhaps kicking implies perhaps too much action, cause it's mainly a lot of talk and some unfinished business wrapping up. That has always been my complaint no.1 here. Nothing really happens. Richard and Kahlan did a very good job of missing out on each other while running cross country, so in order to continue their sappy romance, they have to find each other again. Hence a 600+ pages of travelling towards one another. Throw in a random evil dragonesque creature to explain the Mriswith and some other minor evildoers and there is your book.

It wasn't all bad, mind you. The main storyline is just a bit meh here, but the other plotlines - Nathan, Verna, Ann & Zedd - really provide some great moments. Also, the Sisters of the Dark are becoming an actual threat now that Jagang owns them. Before, they were supposed to be a big evil that everybody was afraid of mentioning, but some bodycount aside, they felt to me like schoolgirls gone rogue with black lipstick and too short skirts. Now, however, their true potential glimmers. The fact that they need Jagang for that, is unfortunate. See, Jagang does the job as main adversary, but he is so evil that it's just not compelling to read. When I was younger, I never really paid attention to this, but being a bit older and having read more, it's become clear that pure evil doesn't work. At least, not with some backstory. Voldemort is also bad to the bone, but at least there is something behind it. Jagang simply relies on the fact that he's born this way and it's harder to buy into that now. In doing so, the reader is also left with no choice but to side with Richard, wether he is a prick or not.

 

- Book 4: Temple Of The Winds. Contrary to Blood Of The Fold, the fourth book, Temple Of The Winds, has always been one of my favourites. From what I've heard of others who have read this series, this is not a popular opinion, but even after reading it five times now, I stand by the fact that this is one of the better books in the series. It's not as glorious as Wizard's First Rule nor as mesmerizing as Faith Of The Fallen, but it does a lot of things right.

First of all, the scope of the storyline is being reduced. Whereas the previous book had a lot of politicking and Richard preaching about freedom(****), Temple Of The Winds leaves the grand scheme of things for what it is - not completely though - and focuses on the happenings in Aydindril, where Jagang has unleashed a plague epidemic amongst the children. Because of this, the big war takes the backseat and Richard becomes more human and approachable, less Master Rahl. Which is good, cause for most of the book, he isn't a pompous ass. He shows his true colours towards the end again, though, but then again, he's probably born this way(*****). I've previously referred to Richard and Kahlan as starcrossed lovers, and while finally being reunited in Temple Of The Winds, faith messes things up again when Nadine and Drefan come into play, breaking up the dynamic between the two. While I don't particularly like Nadine nor Drefan, it's really nice to see how the four of them interact. Things don't get any easier when Cara starts putting her nose in there. Which is probably for the best, cause Cara might be the best character ever to have walked Goodkind's pages. She was great in Blood Of The Fold, but here, she takes matters into her own hands and throws herself out there as a leader.

The reason why I like this book so much, is because the plot gives way for some beautifully human but heartbreaking moments to arise. The fist time I read the scene with Raina and the squirrel, I cried. Even though the crying is behind me, that scene strikes home every time and there are a couple of those. Little things, but beautiful.

Leaving the mess that is roaming in Aydindril, there is the emancipation of Nathan. That man knows what he's doing, instead of Richard who's diving headfirst in stuff he doesn't know let alone understand. While Nathan has a great storyline, the stars of the show have to be Zedd and Ann. I've always liked Zedd, for he provides some much needed comic relief, but paired with Ann they make a great duo. Their adventures here were just hilarious. All the while Ann kept in touch with Verna, but I found that Verna was done injustice. She goes on suicide missions in order to save her friends, but it doesn't really translate to the reader. Her chapters felt rushed and jammed between the bigger storylines just to break things up. Pity, cause it could have been more, especially with a great character like Verna.

 

Both of these books had something that annoyed the hell out of me, and that was the insanely large amount of repetition. I was able to skim/skip at times a whole page because it was just copy/paste from a previous book. I could go on about this, but instead, I'll just devote a little post to this topic later on.

 

In summery:

- Richard becomes more and more pompous as the books go on - so far for being a humble guide - but luckily for him did Temple Of The Winds allow his ass to be reduced. If not, he would have had his pants resized...

- It's still a long way to the finish, but things are starting to heat up.

- The side characters and their stories are really entertaining.

- CARA CARA CARA CARA CARA!!

 

Because graphs are fun:

You don't have to be eagle-eyed to notice the steep fall in rating that's to come, so I'm actually curious to see how that will turn out. Soul Of The Fire and Faith Of The Fallen will be the last books I'll be reading this year as far as this series goes, so you can expect the next Serial Read for this somewhere in December, I think.

 

(*) Technically speaking I was a teen, but the lines between child - teen - adult tend to blur most of the times. Fun times living in my head.

(**) From January 1st up till now, all my illusions of actually succeeding have been mercilessly destroyed. Perhaps I'll manage to finish somewhere near the end of 2014.

(***) Yeah, if Goodkind thought he got us scared with Jagang, he definitely hasn't met a Suck Fairy...

(****) Recurring theme alert!

(*****) Challenge: How many gay anthems can you wriggle into one sentence?

Review: Juliet Marillier, Heart's Blood

When I first found out about Juliet Marillier, I was amazed at how she was able to take well-known tales and put her own – Celtic – spin on them to weave compelling stories that touch your heart. That was way before I discovered the online book community and the dominance of young adult fiction therein, where retellings of everything older than the past decade – I jest – are to be found. I couldn’t be bothered by those numerous retellings, but for Juliet Marillier, I always take some time apart. This particular novel of hers, however, inspired by Beauty & the Beast, didn’t cut it completely.

 

 

Whistling Tor is a place of secrets, a mysterious wooded hill housing the crumbling fortress belonging to Anluan - a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the region in tones of revulsion and bitterness. A curse lies over Anluan's family and his people, and the woods hold a  perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom.

 

Then the young scribe Caitrin appears in Anluan's garden, admiring the rare plant know as heart's blood. Retained to sort through entangled family documents, Caitrin brings about unexpected changes in the Household, casting a hopeful light against the despairing shadows.

But even as Caitrin brings solace to Anluan, and the promise of something more between them, he remains in thrall to the darkness surrounding Whistling Tor. To free Anluan's burdened soul, Caitrin must unravel the web of sorcery woven by his ancestors before it claims his life - and their love.

 

In my introduction, I already pointed out that this novel is based on the well-known story of the Beauty and the Beast. However, if I hadn’t known that beforehand, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it all too soon. See, while the general flow of the storyline is reminiscent of the fairy tale, Juliet Marillier really made it her own and created an almost new Celtic tale that hints at the fairy tale. This is perhaps the strongest asset of this novel, because with retellings, you risk repetition since your readers already know what’s to come. Here, however, whilst I was able to pinpoint some parallels in terms of who was who, the storyline was not all that the same so it felt like a whole new story to me, rather than a retelling. For example the role played by mirrors. In the fairy tale – at least the Disney version of it – the Beast gets an enchanted mirror to see the world outside, the world he’ll never visit because of his affliction. The mirrors at Whistling Tor, however, are far creepier than that. They might show things you wish you hadn’t seen… Not only the – slightly eerie – Celtic spin on things, but the nature of the curse as well was very refreshing and interesting and I really appreciated the way things ended. Goes to show that it doesn’t have to be all well to end well.
While being a far cry from the original tale definitely being a pro here, the plot also has its lesser qualities in its slow pace and predictability. As for the former, it just takes too long for things to get going. It’s not that it’s not interesting at all, but because things developed so slowly, it was too easy to put the book aside, which I did quite often. Also, pretty early on, you get a good hunch at how things will eventually pan out and while I kept hoping for a surprising twist to take my breath away, it never came. I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed because of this.

The characters that inhabit Heart’s Blood are very interesting to say the least, but most of them failed at engaging me. Most of the characters seem to have a very troubled backstory and I would have loved to have explored those, but apart from some hints now and then, these are left untouched, which I felt was wasted potential. It might have been helpful to add these stories just to break the pace a bit. One backstory that does get explored, is Caitrin’s, and here I have to take my virtual hat off to Juliet Marillier. It seems like all we read about nowadays are ‘strong female characters’(*) who have or have to overcome their insecurities and do so with ease and grace. What I loved about Caitrin is how she is everything but that. She as well has a troubled past, and her past made her how she is today. The way Marillier made Caitrin’s past echo throughout her stay at Whistling Tor and the way she rose above that, were a pleasure to read. She may not be the stereotypical female character with the gutsy kick-all attitude, but she surely is all that in her own way.
Which brings me to probably the main reason why I didn’t like this book as much as Sevenwaters, and that would be the writing. See, I loved Marillier’s prose in Daughter Of The Forest, for it was lush, poetic and very descriptive. The writing in Heart’s Blood is not that very different, but it just didn’t work as well for me. Rather than very, it was overly descriptive and I found there to be too many words for what was being said and less would probably have been more in this case. This made the already slow plot almost dragging around halfway through. As a result, it felt like it took me hours to turn the page and thus made me put the book down way more that I would have liked to.

All in all, I did like Heart’s Blood, but not as much as other offerings from the author. Still, as far as retellings go, I think this once again proves that Juliet Marillier knows her craft when it comes to handling a well-known story in order to make something interesting out of it.

 

Let yourself get swept away by a love that surpasses time and get your copy now!

 

* This article raises some valid points concerning the omnipresence of SFC's. If you're interested, it's worth your time.

Review: Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark + True Blood S1

Looking at my track record when it comes to reading, I think it’s fair to say that it’s a little miracle when I read a book within the year of its release. In fact, I am so terribly behind on numerous series and other books, that I’m probably allowed to get my own charity. One of those series that have been lingering around since back when, is Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series – along with it the True Blood tv-series, because one does not see the movie or series before reading the book (*). With the sixth – already – season airing this past summer and since I had a road trip planned with lots of small free moments for reading, Dead Until Dark was the ideal choice.

Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life - and one of her coworkers checks out.... Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.

Plotwise, there isn’t much more to the novel than what it says on the tin. It’s a murder mystery slash romance novel, and a pretty straightforward one at that. Everything you can expect from a novel like this is present, including the police who are clueless and randomly picking on the wrong suspect, some danger and in the end the heroine to save the day. In fact, it’s fair to say that the romance takes first chair and the murder mystery is just along for the ride. Throughout the story, there are none whatsoever clues to who might have killed those women and when the murderer is revealed, it felt like he was the unlucky one who picked the shortest straw in a kids game. It felt quite random without the intentions and backstory behind the murders being revealed after he was caught.
More central to the whole story, was the relationship between Sookie and Bill. I’m not one for instalove – and this nearly is – but Sookie and her naïve attraction and devotion towards Bill are just so endearing, that I don’t mind. Her almost childlike contemplation concerning a vampire’s ability to get an erection and produce semen, as well as other sexual ponderings, are silly and borderline hilarious, that I can’t find it in me to frown upon it. It’s only when they go on-off-on again for the what seems umpteenth time, that things get just a little tedious. Seeing as the spine markets these books as Fantasy/Mystery, the true nature of Dead Until Dark might rub some readers the wrong way. I had a gut feeling of where these books were headed – reading it years after publication might have helped me there – so I actually enjoyed the simple and frivolous plot, even though a twist or two (**) might have been welcome.
Dead Until Dark hosts a bunch of characters, but only a handful are really explored. We see everything from Sookie’s point of view, which makes her the most developed of characters and I really liked her. There is something sweet and endearing about her and she’s just so happy and positive most of the time, that it tends to affect the reader in a positive way as well. Apart from Sookie herself, Sam, Bill and in a lesser degree Gran and Eric felt like a character with their own voice. As for the rest, they all felt alike – cardboard, that is – and only their names separated one from the other, if they speak at all. I do know that books like this one don’t tend to give a lot of space for developing secondary and tertiary characters, but even Sam and Bill fell a bit flat at times, so it feels like a wasted opportunity to me.
The writing is more or less what one can expect from the genre. It’s not particularly good writing – perhaps a bit forced at times – but it’s not bad either, it’s enjoyable enough to keep reading. More important here, is that it fits the book. Charlaine Harris wrote a fun, light story and in terms of her writing she isn’t pretending otherwise and serves what you bargained for: a fun and quick read. One thing that I do regret here, though, is the setting or rather lack thereof. The series is officially titled ‘Southern Vampire’ and is set in Louisiana, but it could as well have been rural L.A. or NY for that matter. I missed some real Southern accents here that I did encounter in other novels, just to make the setting feel more real and differentiate it from the pack.

In sum, I actually enjoyed Dead Until Dark, perhaps even more so that I imagined beforehand. I do am glad to own the cheapest edition possible and neither do I regret not reading this way earlier, but I will return to Bon Temps and I will do so with a smile on my face.

 

Fall for Sookie and Bill by getting your own copy here!

* There are some things I'd like to say re: this ongoing debate, so expect a post about this in the near future.

** Apart from the ones in Sookie's knickers, that is.

 

 

Soon after finishing Dead Until Dark, I started watching the first season of True Blood, which is based on the first book in the series. I have already seen numerous book adaptations and even though I keep the book and the adaptation as much as possible separated, I can't help but rule in favour of one side of the other. Most of the times, I rule in favour of the book, but True Blood is a notable exception. As mentioned above, I did like the book, but the series gave the story some extra punch, mostly because of the characters.

 

The plot didn't really change a lot. Because the series isn't stuck in Sookie's head as is the novel, it makes for some leeway and enables the exploring of the secondary characters. The main plot, however, remains untouched in such that it isn't until the penultimate episode that the audience can figure out whodunnit. The laying out of new plotlines for the second season was a nice extra touch as well. It takes away some focus from the main plotline - which the viewer has figured out in the one but last episode - and thus keeping the end of the season exciting and non-void.

The characters, however, did get a serious boost. If you like book-Sookie, you will love serie-Sookie. I know I do. The same goes for Bill and Sam. Also, contrary to the book, the secondary characters are discernable and - perhaps more important - memorable. Lafayette, the cook who gets to utter one miserable line in the novel, becomes perhaps one of the more memorable characters on the show and the addition of his cousin Tara might have been the second best change to the characters - with Lafayette being the best.

Perhaps what I missed most in the book, was that Southern touch, which True Blood nailed with the set, intro and most of all, the characters' accents. It all contributes to a great atmosphere that oozes the South and gives it character.

 

It might be raunchy at times, and you might not want to watch it with your parents around, but the first season of True Blood was bloody delicious and made for a great adaptation of a fun little book.

Between The Pages: Lost in transit

I think this blog might not be among the usual suspects when it comes to frequent posting, but the last few weeks, it has been awfully quiet over here. For a very good reason, that is. I have been on a trip across the Narrow Sea Atlantic to the sunny California and surrounding states.

This particular post will deal with what I have and have not read in the USA (*).

 

I don't know how others choose the books they are going to read while on holiday, but for me, it was quite a production - not fit for Broadway, but coming close. I mean, there were a lot of factors to take into account. If you're on the road for two weeks and more, hotelhopping across four states and almost never spending the night twice in the same place, time for reading is limited, scarce and precious. Thus no big, epic, attentionconsuming books. Rereading a book can be fun, but having to start all over again every night because you weren't paying attention the day before to the twist in the plot of the sidequest concerning the daughter of the cook of the handsome prince's late mother's niece that went missing (**), is not fun anymore. Also, being away from home for that amount of time means lots of luggage and even more hauling with it. Will the heavy hardcovers please stay home?

 

Taking all this into account, the four books that crossed the ocean were...

 

 

The first one I read was Charlaine Harris's Dead Until Dark. I am probably the last one to read this, but then again, I'm never at the races when it comes to reading books close to their publication date. I will even add that if it wasn't for the trip and the long flight that goes with it, I probably wouldn't have read it cause I'm already over my head in series. It's just that it seemed a good plane-read and while I was at it, I could finally start watching True Blood. Win-win! This book is also a good example of being overly ambitious, cause I figured I could finish this on the two flights to L.A. and be done with it. But then I saw the little monitor in the headrest before me and the music and movies and series and gamesthat were on it, and my whole plan backfired (***).

Even though I started a new series with Sookie, I made up for that escapade - a little bit - by continuing an ongoing series with Laurell K. Hamilton's Burnt Offerings. With finishing this seventh instalment, I'm nearly 1/3rd through with the series, yay! I finished this one the evening before we had to leave for Belgium again (****), but another long flight would give me a good start in Heart's Blood. I didn't chose this book deliberately, as I did with the others, but instead, I pulled it out of my TBR-jar. Quite a satisfying pick, if you ask me, seeing as it is a standalone and has been standing alone for quite some time on my shelf. The 'good start', however, didn't happen. Having to get up at 3.30am didn't really put me in the mood for reading, not even if it's a Celtic retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I did manage to get 50 pages in, however, so that has to count for something.

Funny how the book I was most excited for, Pale Demon by Kim Harrison, didn't happen at all. It's also a series I am near to catching up with the writing of it, but I recently read the previous novel, so I wanted to sqeeze some books in between. Mission accomplished.

 

(*) The original plan was to write a post about what I was planning to read and publish that before leaving. That obviously didn't happen. Also, note that I'm going to talk about what I did NOT read. This post will deal with the downside of being overly ambitous. Thou art warned.

(**) I am so very sorry if I spoiled a Game of Thrones plotline here, without my knowing. I jest, the cook's daughter isn't featured in GoT , but she might have!

(***) Oh, and getting up really early to go to the airport makes you sleepdeprived and that doesn't go well with reading.

(****) A week or more so later than planned, so that one blew up in my face as well. But when one is going to the dogs, the rest will follow.

Review: Kevin Hearne, Hunted

I am one of those people who loves to buy and read a lot of series, and when it comes to reading them, I like to have a lot of variety in my bookish diet. Thus best case scenario, there will be a two month gap between subsequent instalments of a series. But as with every best case scenario, it’s not often the case. So in my experience, authors tend to write faster than I can read their finished products and the unfinished series keep piling up and up and up. Whilst I don’t get to talk along that much with other readers of said series – seeing as I am several books behind – I don’t get to experience the dreaded wait for another novel. The Iron Druid Chronicles, however, is the odd one out here. Right from the start I managed to keep track of the series and thus I had the privilege (?) to experience long wait between Trapped and the new one, Hunted (*). But boy, did it deliver! It was well worth the wait.

For a two-thousand-year-old Druid, Atticus O’Sullivan is a pretty fast runner. Good thing, because he’s being chased by not one but two goddesses of the hunt—Artemis and Diana—for messing with one of their own. Dodging their slings and arrows, Atticus, Granuaile, and his wolfhound Oberon are making a mad dash across modern-day Europe to seek help from a friend of the Tuatha Dé Danann. His usual magical option of shifting planes is blocked, so instead of playing hide-and-seek, the game plan is . . . run like hell.

Crashing the pantheon marathon is the Norse god Loki. Killing Atticus is the only loose end he needs to tie up before unleashing Ragnarok—AKA the Apocalypse. Atticus and Granuaile have to outfox the Olympians and contain the god of mischief if they want to go on living—and still have a world to live in.

Hunted takes off right were Trapped ended, with Atticus, Granuaile and Oberon being chased by huntresses Diana and Artemis. Fair and square, that’s all there is to Hunted, it’s a straightforward roadtrip across Europe where our protagonists try to keep ahead of the huntresses all the while trying to figure out who’s behind the grand scheme of putting the Druids six feet under, for good this time. Straightforward as it may be, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Because of the nature of the plot, there were no slower parts in the book and the tension was constantly present and highly appreciated. The previous books were always light hearted - excluding some darker moments once in a while - no matter what the plot was and Hunted is much of the same. However, at least at two points throughout the story did the mood turn grim. While I read these books mainly because they are a whole lot of fun, I greatly appreciated the change of tone, which went all too nice with the overall atmosphere of the hunt. The ending also had some surprise in store and made me long for the next one already.
The best things about the Iron Druid Chronicles are, in my opinion, the characters. Atticus and Oberon had me at hello and they keep delivering book after book. Especially Oberon; here, I thought he was on fire! It was only two chapters in and he was already wisecrackin’ his butt off, and he kept it going till the end. You just got to admire that little doggie and the stuff he pulls out of his brain. While she was always around, ever since book one, Granuaile didn’t become a major player till the very end of the fourth book. I always thought she had a great deal of potential and I am glad that she delivers on that account. Her addition to the crew makes for a nice balance with Atticus and Oberon without her turning out to be the dull one. In fact, she’s very funny in her own way, but different from her male counterparts.
When you crack an Iron Druid, you know there will be all kinds of gods roaming around, and while it used to be overwhelming in the first couple of books, I came to really like their presence and I’m always looking forward to whatever spin Kevin Hearne has put on a certain pantheon. Needless to say, but Diana and Artemis delivered big time and while he only had a small role here, I found Zeus to be, euhm, interesting, for lack of a better word…
As with the previous novels in this series, the writing is as it should be. Witty, fast-paced and effective for whatever the story has to project. I do want to pinpoint a little something here. Till book five, Atticus has always been the narrator and him as well as Oberon did have quite a distinctive voice. Hunted, however, introduces Granuaile as a narrator and I found that to be very refreshing and I was surprised at how different it felt in way of writing. The first time they shift perspective, it’s not really announced it’s Granuaile talking, but you just sense the shift. It was a very different kind of writing, a bit more lush, perhaps? I found that quite remarkable and I take my imaginary hat off for that. It's not that easy a task to write the voice of an opposite-sex character and Hearne actually made Granuaile feel genuine and genuinely feminine, just by changing the writing and the choice of words.

With Hunted, Kevin Hearne has done his best to push his series a little higher on my favourite urban fantasy list. One thing is for sure, the next adventure for Atticus, Oberon and Granuaile is top priority and can’t come quickly enough.

 

 

Feel the rush of being Hunted by Diana and Artemis yourself and buy your copy right now, before they beat you to it!

 

If you fancy a review of the previous five novels in the series, go check out my GoodReads, they're all up.

(*) In the end, the wait wasn't that long or unbearable, but let's pretend for the sake of this review, shall we?

Review: Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls

Why do we read? Why do I read? Sometimes it feels like I’m one of few who read, when I look at the people around me. Not seldom do I get those questions. Why do I read? What’s the fun of reading a book? Whenever I try to come up with a reply that will settle the issue for once and for all, I tend to find myself lost for words. Who do you explain the perfect match of plot and characters? How do you explain getting lost in a world of make-believe? How do you put into words how words take you someplace else? Instead of explaining, you should give them a book and let them experience it for themselves.

 

 

 

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting — he’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments.

The monster in his backyard is different. It’s ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous.

It wants the truth.

Reading the blurb as it is, you might think this is quite the simple story, and you're right, it is. But even though the plot is fairly simple and straightforward, it works on every account. The idea of the monster and the different tales he tells is a modern take on the parable, which contains a lesson for our young protagonist to learn. All the while, we follow him throughout a difficult time in his life. Illness, divorce and bullying, nothing gets sugarcoated. This whole idea is nothing new, but the addition of the monster and his stories lift this book above your average coming of age novel. Also, the straightforwardness of the plot keeps you engaged and keeps you from getting sidetracked by nifty little additions. Early on, I had an idea of where this novel was taking me, and I wasn’t wrong. This, however, didn’t diminish the reading experience. Even more so, knowing what’s going to happen and not being able to change the outcome was quite hard. even though I approached the ending with all this in mind, nothing was able to soften the blow of the actual finale. There aren’t many books who are able to shatter my heart, but this one actually accomplished that feat. As a result, my eyes got a little wet a sudden fog entered my room.
The main problem which might occur in a novel like this, is that the main character isn’t likeable because he or she is distant and angry. Seeing as how everything pans out from the very start, as an author, you just can’t get away with writing a character that’s jolly happy throughout the course of the book. As such, Conor is a kid who has had and still has his share of pain and disappointment in life and it makes for an angry character. These might be quite hard to like, but Patrick Ness managed to make Conor likeable, give him some appeal where you, as a reader, hardly can’t do anything but feel for him. The other characters as well, are very relatable. His grandma might not be the nicest of grandparents out there, but you can’t help feeling for her and understand where she’s coming from. Same goes for his father and don't get me started on Conor's mum. She might not be the direct focus of the novel, but she - in fact, all four main characters of the family - are wonderfully given form.
This novel was originally an idea by Siobhan Dowd, but completed by Patrick Ness after her death. Even though it wasn’t his idea to begin with, Patrick Ness definitely put his own spin on it and made it feel like it was a novel of his. Perhaps that’s the best thing about A Monster Calls. Ness’ writing is just spot on. Simple, but effective and evocative. Fluent, but still emotional. It cost me but two hours to go through it and I wished I could bathe a little longer in his words. From the very first page, a tribute to Siobhan, to the very last word, Ness set the tone and his words were gold throughout. While the story is simple, I found there to be more than meets the eye. Hidden beneath the story is the idea - the truth, if you like - concerning the power of words. The healing power of talking. Not only healing between two or more people, but also the healing of the individual's psyche.

A Monster Calls was definitely an experience quite unlike any other, and when I try to compare it with other books I’ve read, it’s up there with other gems. It compares to Audrey Nifffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife in the way it managed to pull me heartstrings, to Robin Hobb for making me care about the main character and to Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book for demonstrating the power of something so simple yet moving. If, instead of explaining, I could give people a book to make them understand why I read, A Monster Calls would be one of them.

 

 

 

Make your own appointment with the Monster today, and enjoy a great story tonight.