Entries Tagged 'U-W' ↓
June 21st, 2010 — 3.5-4 Treasure Chests, Action & Adventure, Book Review, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Horror, Suspense or Thriller, U-W, YA Genre
by First Mate Keira
Title: Malice
Author: Chris Wooding
Illustrator: Dan Chernett
Format: Hardback
Pages: 379
Grade Reading Level: 7th-9th Grade
Summary: In Britain all the children know the rumors of a comic book called
Malice
. They also know that if a ritual is done and a chant said six times they could be taken into the world of that comic. Some do so on a dare. Others because they’re missing adventure. Others to prove it doesn’t exist. More still because they believed Malice was better than their normal lives. It doesn’t matter why you do it – you’re Tall Jake’s as soon as you invite him into your life. It’s only a matter of time before he comes to collect. There’s no going back and certain doom awaits you on the other side.
Why I started this book:
My librarian recommended it to me because I liked fantasy book series. This is the first book and the story is continued in Havoc
.
Likes:
- Malice is divided into several zones and this book takes you through two. The Clock Tower and the Oubliette. In the Clock Tower they face the Clockmaker and his metal inventions. In the Oubliette they face a hungry impenetrable darkness and blind ravenous gnawls.
- Seth – he’s pretty foolhardy and he thrives on Malice which makes him feel a little guilty.
- Justin – he’s the knowledgeable guide to the world, having actually read the comics before doing the ritual. He’s also a good friend despite what his life has taught him about how friends never stick around when trouble’s afoot.
- Kady – she’s not a bad character either, I just don’t like the fact that she practices hypnosis. Of the three she’s the most practical and comes as prepared as one can be for a place like Malice.
Dislikes:
- The use of hypnosis throughout the novel. People simply couldn’t have (partial) amnesia? It’s all false testimony on the senses doing more harm than good.
- I had trouble with about half of the illustrations which were too stylized. I couldn’t make head or tails out of what I was seeing some of the time so I ended up just reading the bubbles. I figure somebody with more background in comics will manage with no problem. It just wasn’t the case with me.
- The real victims are all the parents who have no idea what’s going on and only know that their children go mysteriously missing and if they’re lucky come back… but the kids never come back the way they were before the left and nobody knows why, not even the kids.
Last Minute Thoughts: The beginning is pretty scary (horror like scary), but once the kids make it to Malice is more like a thrilling adventure. I also sincerely hope that despite how it appears Justin is still alive. I can’t wait for the next book about the kid rebels known as Havoc.
Buy: Malice
Rating: 3.5 Treasure Chests
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March 19th, 2010 — 4.5-5 Treasure Chests, Advance Reader Copy Review, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance, U-W
by First Mate Keira
Title: The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
Author: Lauren Willig
Format: Trade Paperback
Page Count: 468
Grade Reading Level: Ages 15+
Summary: One heroine is researching for her dissertation on the Pink Carnation. The other heroine is living it. Both heroines are already set on the path of love, but the road is bumpy and not without potholes. Can they successfully navigate their way through to happily ever after?
Likes:
- You can read this novel without picking up the others in the Pink Carnation series first. However, I am definitely most eager to check them out. This looks like a very promising book series.
- Eloise and Charlotte Lansdowne, the heroines of both the present and past love stories, are a gem. Eloise was amusing and Charlotte sweet. I found a little of myself in both of them.
- Robert, Duke of Dovedale and Charlotte’s love interest, is the type of hero who understands that knights in shining armor are important and tries to make himself into one. He doesn’t yet realize he’s already a prince among men and that is his largest appeal.
- The vivid imagery and adept storytelling woven by Lauren Willig will suck you in and not let you up for air until the very last punctuation mark. You will find humor, romance, intrigue, kidnapping plots, secret clubs, nefarious doings, and more within these pages.
Dislikes:
- Charlotte’s friend Penelope reminds me too much of a character from another novel which is coloring my view of her. I want to shake some sense into that girl. She’s the only fly in the ointment as far as I’m concerned.
Buy: The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
Rating: 5 Treasure Chests
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February 10th, 2010 — 2.5-3 Treasure Chests, Autobiography or Biography, Guest Review, Nonfiction, Social Issues, Sociology, U-W, World History
by Cook Cutlery, guest reviewer
Title: Night
Author: Elie Wiesel
Format: Hardcover
# of pages: 108 pages
Grade Reading Level: 8.7
Summary: Elie Wiesel is a young 14 year old Jewish Orthodox boy. He's 15 at the end. He lived during the time that Adolf Hitler rose to power. He was one of very few to survive the Holocaust. Night is his journey of how he and his father survive the different concentration camps, one of which was Auschwitz. During the journey they are evacuated from Buna and sent to Auschwitz’s concentration camp. Once they walk through the gate of Auschwitz it’s only the beginning of their rigorous journey to survive the horrors they are going to encounter and endure.
Why I Started This Book:
We read this book in language arts as part of our Holocaust unit. We read Night because he was the same age as many of us in class and this is the story of how he survived some truly awful terrible things.
Likes:
- Elie Wiesel is a truly extraordinary human being. I'm glad he survived and I can only wish there had been more survivors.
- I am grateful many of the descriptions were brief and that some things were condensed to a few sentences. It made it easier for me to read it.
- I liked this book because it tells a tale of inner strength. If someone, especially a kid, survive all that, it really makes you think. It's sort of empowering because of that. It's a good lesson to teach kids. You can survive even the worst of troubles, fears, and experiences.
Dislikes:
- This really isn't against the book so much as it's against human history. I can hardly wrap my mind around the fact that anyone could think doing this to people is okay. Ethnic cleansing is not okay and it made me really uncomfortable to read about it from someone's personal experience. It's impossible to understand such evil.
- On the trip to Auschwitz a woman has visions and starts to scream out “Fire! Can’t you see it? Fire!” Many people run to the edge of the cattle cart to see if there was a fire and there wasn’t one, but still she persisted in screaming “Fire!” until some men beat her up. How awful. Then they tie her up and gag her to silence her. Then when they arrive at the gate of Auschwitz they realized why the woman was screaming “Fire!” because when they looked up they saw a huge crematory and they looked at the chimney, coming out of it was huge flames. This is even worse. I can barely stand imagining such a scene let alone living through it in real life.
- I also disliked the fact that his father didn’t survive when they got to the other camp. I wish Elie was able to say goodbye to his father before he was taken in the night. I wish I could rewrite the ending if not the whole story. The whole thing is so sad.
Last Minute Thoughts: Reading this book is like squeezing your heart until you feel all bruised and hallowed out. It isn't pleasure reading and despite the rating I probably wouldn't read it again, but it's definitely a book you should made a point of reading.
Buy: Night
Rating: I give this book 3 out of 5 treasure chests.
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October 23rd, 2009 — Audio Book Review, Did Not Finish (DNF), Guest Review, Paranormal, Romance, U-W, YA Genre
by First Mate Keira, guest reviewer
Title: Certain Slant of Light
Author: Laura Whitecomb
Narrator: Lauren Molina
Format: Unabridged Compact Discs
# CDs + Minutes: 7 CDs (8 hours, 32 minutes)
Grade Reading Level: Ages 14+
Summary: This book is about a 130 year old female ghost, her romance and whirlwind six days of feeling alive again. (The six days is a guess based on disc one information.) It all starts when Helen feels the eyes of a young very plain 17 year old boy watching her in Mr. Brown’s English class. Turns out the boy is a ghost also, but possesses human form. Overcoming Helen’s incorporeal nature is the first step to retaining their love.
Why I Started This Book:
Found this in the library and the back said it was a paranormal romance with a girl ghost and a young boy. My thought process was basically, “Ghost! Romance! Sweet!”
Why I Quit This Book:
The book is entirely too creepy. I quit pretty early. I finished disc one and decided that was quite enough of that. The bodysnatching is too… too… eerie. A ghost can take possession of a body if the true occupant leaves it; sort of like present in body but not in mind. James, the boy, got his body when the original user (a drug addict) left it, presumably by coma. James spends his first months in his new body recovering from drug addiction.
It’s also quite disturbing how Helen reports the afterlife. She’s done something bad or why would she be in the dark in spine-chilling hair-raising agony of pure cold? She literally has to climb hand over fist out of her cold ‘grave’ and attach herself to a person or host like a second shadow. I don’t know why, but I was expecting Casper the Friendly Ghost fun. This was not and I was too freaked out to start the second CD.
Buy: A Certain Slant of Light (paperback)
Book Rating: DNF (Did Not Finish)
Keira runs a book review blog for readers by readers on romance novels entitled Love Romance Passion. She’s been reading romance since she was in her teens and began blogging about romance so she could share her passion for her favorite genre. She loves reading paranormal, Regency, historical America, and highlander most of all and completely adores blind and wounded heroes.
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