I did not know what to expect when I started reading All Our Pretty Songs and I definitely did not expect it to be a retelling of the myth of Orpheus. That fact explains a lot of the plot, and I think fans of Greek mythology will really enjoy this story. The writing is beautiful, almost like poetry. However, there is a lot of narration and not much in the way of plot and dialogue. I would have liked to see more action instead of reading the author's flowery prose. I thought it was interesting that the narrator does not have a name, and I'm still surprised that it's possible to write a novel without revealing that fact. I loved reading about the bond between Aurora and the narrator and it was nice to see such supportive and caring friends. On the other hand, the relationship between the narrator and Jack wasn't as interesting to read about: I felt as though it could have been developed more. I'm not really into mythology, so that part of the plot didn't appeal to me. That's the reason for the 3-star rating. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of All Our Pretty Songs, I think people who like Greek mythology will get a lot out of this story.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
A new student review of All Our Pretty Songs
A new student review of 100 Cupboards by 99 Unknown Email
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A new student review of Ruby Redfort Look Into My Eyes
I loved this book! It is like a Nancy Drew, but more modern and at kid level, because Ruby is a kid of 13. It was a thrill to read, with cliffhangers and always the question: "What will happen next?" There was multiple views from multiple characters, which made it interesting. It was also funny at some parts! Overall, this was an AWESOME book!!
Monday, April 15, 2013
A new student review of Quicksilver
Nothing could compare to Ultra violet but this came pretty close. I have owned it for about a week and have read it so many times already. The way R.J Anderson sets up the chapters is confusing at times. It adds to the dramatic affect of the story though. I would recommend this book to anyone.
A new student review of The Eternity Cure
I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series, The Immortal Rules, and was hungry for more, so I was delighted when this book popped up on LitPick! The Eternity Cure features mostly the same characters from book one, and is written in the same style, but builds upon the world and concepts in book one. I highly recommend reading book one before this. The strengths of book one are all mostly here. Allison was already likeable before, but she grows stronger and more independent here. Jackal is a great supporting character with personality. Zeke is still meh, but he's getting there. Sarren is a convincing villain that you love to hate. The descriptions of fights in this book are also worth a mention. Kagawa describes so eloquently that you never get tired of reading them, and believe me, there are a lot of them. However, there's a lot of filler as well. This occurred in book one too. The Eternity Cure is 400+ pages and has a relatively short climax. Much of the beginning is difficult to get into due to the lack of action, and when the action comes, it is all clustered together. If not for this, The Eternity Cure would've been a five-star read. As it stands though, The Eternity Cure was well worth my time and I will be reading the next book in the series as soon as I am able.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
A new student review of First Light (Project Five Fifteen) by Samantha Summers
This book was full of grammatical errors, lacking descriptive language at times, and also very dry at times. The first 200 pages were very hard to get through. There were so many things wrong that it's hard to think about how to review this critically. I would not recommend this book. The author needs to go back and revise: many sentences were either worded wrong, confusing, or could have been written better. The language was very babyish. I was disappointed.
A new student review of My Ex From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy Book One)
My first piece of advice would be - read a few pages first. This author has a particular writing style which may be difficult for some readers. There’s a ton of detail and lots of analogies. If you aren’t an experienced reader, or don’t read a lot, this might not be the easiest read for you.
When I read the summary for this book I thought “Yeah, some Greek mythology laced with romance!” That is not what this book is. Basically, it is a comedy with a dash of Greek background. The stories mentioned are not the main part, but it does deal with Zeus and Hades. Also, most of the time is spent with Sophie doing stupid stuff to get herself almost killed.
Despite what I’ve said, I did enjoy this book. It was a laugh-out-loud comedy that had an easy story line. The author cracks jokes often in a way that’s reasonable. As a comedy, I would recommend this book. Whatever you do, though, DO NOT pick up this book for the romance. It sounds good, but it is not. After a few passionate kisses that are more about Kai’s missing Persephone, Sophie’s god form, he won’t even give her the time of day. Not to mention he’s an ass that does not get better with time.
Lastly, just to warn you, the ending is horrible. I, personally, will not be reading the sequel because everything I was hoping would happen was brutally mutilated. The ending did not leave me laughing, crying, or open-mouthed. It was an “ok?” ending where you ask yourself “did the last chapter just get cut off? Because this doesn’t sound like the end.”
Friday, April 12, 2013
A new student review of The Worst-Case Scenario: Deadly Seas by Alexander Lurie David Borgenicht
I thought this book was really good. It has a lot of action and adventure that keeps you on your toes as to what choices you make. I thought that it was also cool how it actually tells you how to survive certain situations, like for instance shark attacks, what to eat and what not to eat when adrift at sea, and how to make a flotation device. If you like this book then you might like the other books in the series. One example of the questions in the book is “If you abandon ship, turn to page 157”or”if you stay on the boat, Turn to page 104”(54). I recommend this book for all ages.