Entries Tagged 'Mystery' ↓
August 10th, 2010 — 2.5-3 Treasure Chests, Book Review, Family Life, Fantasy, Friends, G-I, Mystery
by First Mate Keira
Title: 13 Treasures
Author: Michelle Harrison
Format: Hardback
Page Count: 355
Grade Reading Level: Grade 5–8
Summary: Tanya knows that at age 13 she can no longer get away with talking to faeries or about them in front of others as both adults and kids couldn’t see them. Only her. She’d been tormented by them for years and the bullying wasn’t going to ever stop as far as she could see. When she tried to write about them in a journal, they discovered it and punished her. That punishment woke her mother which lead to more punishment… she was being sent away to live with her grandmother. The grandmother she is certain hates her and never wants her to visit. Oh and her grandmother’s place is stuffed with faeries inside and outside the house… talk about jumping from frying pan into the fire.
Why I started this book:
It looked really cute on the library shelf. Cover is very nice.
Likes:
- Tanya’s and Fabian’s friendship. They work together to solve the mystery of the girl in the woods. The girl, Morwenna Bloom, had gone missing ages ago and but her disappearance was blamed on Fabian’s grandfather. The town thinks he killed her, but there’s no proof. Or is there?
- Oberon is a good dog. He had a lot of personality infused in his character with just a few lines.
Dislikes:
- Raven, Gredin, Feathercap, and Mizhog, the bullying faeries that pick on Tanya.
- Morwenna Bloom. I just knew she wasn’t the sweet missing girl she’s made out to be throughout the story.
- Another thing I didn't get was feeling bad for changelings and trying to help them.
- Florence’s relationship with her granddaughter. The motivations were explained in the conclusion of the story, but it seemed rather weak to me.
- The 13 treasures the story is titled after appear in the novel as a charm bracelet to go with a legend. It didn’t do anything… I kept expecting it to end up being the real treasures shrunk down, but it was just jewelry.
- The concept of guardian faeries was very contradicting in terms of world-building. In the end I didn’t quite understand how if one or several of the faeries were on Tanya’s side how they could condone tormenting and torturing her. It didn’t make much sense to me.
Buy: 13 Treasures
Rating: 2.5 Treasure Chests
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July 13th, 2010 — 3.5-4 Treasure Chests, Action & Adventure, Book Review, Friends, M-O, Mystery, World History
by First Mate Keira
Title: The Sixty-Eight Rooms
Author: Marianne Malone
Format: Hardback
Page Count: 265
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: Ruthie is drawn to the famous Thorne Rooms at the Chicago’s Art Institute during a class fieldtrip. On the same trip her best friend, Jack, finds a gorgeous key. When Ruthie holds the key she begins to shrink and the two kids put two-and-two together. The key provides a way into the miniature world depicted by the multiple rooms. When Ruthie figures out how to shrink Jack too, the exploring commences in earnest and the pair must figure out how to navigate the world in a new way.
Why I started this book:
I checked the book out from the library after I saw it in a bookstore and thought it looked interesting.
Likes:
- The subplots were crafted fabulously and brought another dimension to the story. Jack’s mother worries about making a living as an artist. A security guard (previously famous photographer) mourns the loss of his best work. A shop owner reconnects to memories of her past. Historical figures find new endings.
- How Jack and Ruthie constructed paths to get them around the museum and to different parts of the exhibit is both entertaining and clever.
- I enjoyed the fight with the water bug/cockroach.
- I liked that the two kids weren’t the first to explore the tiny world. That was very cool and also connected a lot of the subplots. I liked too how Jack and Ruthie saved some of the people they found in the world by remembering enough from history class to provide warnings.
Dislikes:
- The necessary contrivance of tricking the parental units into thinking the kids were places they were not. I dislike clueless parents or parents willing to be hoodwinked. I find it hard to believe, mostly because my own parents would never in a million years ignore the signs of mischief Jack and Ruthie gave off like flashing beacons.
Buy: The Sixty-Eight Rooms
Rating: 4 Stars
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April 22nd, 2010 — 3.5-4 Treasure Chests, A-C, Guest Review, Mystery, Religion, Suspense or Thriller
by Silence, guest reviewer
Title: Angel's and Demons
Author: Dan Brown
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 572
Grade Reading Level: Ages 15+
Summary: Robert Langdon is contacted by scientific research facility CERN to discern the meaning behind the mysterious murder of one of their scientists. Upon seeing the victim, Langdon realizes he's been branded with the ambigrammic (reads the same normally and from another view point) word Illuminati. This starts an intriguing adventure that unravels the deepest secrets of both the Catholic Church and the Illuminati.
Why I started reading this book:
Interestingly enough, despite what Hollywood would have you believe Angels & Demons
came out prior to The DaVinci Code
. However I read The DaVinci Code
first, liked it, and was obligated to steal Angels and Demons from my sister afterward. I don't think she's read it, I should probably return it to her...
Likes:
- Again Dan Brown has me questioning some of my base beliefs allowing me to explore a world of open minded thought and mystery. However it's a book of fiction and proclaims itself as such so don't get confused.
- I felt very involved in the mystery, Brown has a way of making you feel almost as if you were solving the puzzles along with him despite not having his wide array of knowledge.
- Carlo Ventresca as well as a few other people found within the church that had mindsets that I found wonderful to learn about. It took a risk and explored something that hit close to home for me.
Dislikes:
- Carlo Ventresca, Dan Brown simply obliterated any attachment I had to him in a way that I honestly felt was painfully random and uncharacteristic.
- There were times that I felt Brown was almost throwing information at me to show me how intelligent he was. There's at least one time in memory that he stated something interesting only to have it become irrelevant in the same paragraph.
- The Hassassin. As I stated this book arrived before The DaVince Code, however since I read it after the whole idea of a hit man who wasn't the mastermind felt rehashed.
- The fact that the whole idea of an Illuminati resurrection is based off of the idea that the ambigram brands have proven impossible to reproduce. It's hard to suspend belief when the book itself displays the words.
Buy: Angels & Demons
Rating: 4 Treasure Chests
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April 3rd, 2010 — 4.5-5 Treasure Chests, Action & Adventure, Book Review, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Mystery, P-R, School Situations
By Captain Lyaf Yarr
Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Format: Hardback
# of pages: 435
Grade Reading Level: 5.9; Ages 11+
Summary: School hasn't even started and there's and escapee from a high security wizarding prison out to kill Harry Potter. He has been warned not to be looking for Sirius Black by Arthur Weasley, but as Harry said to Arthur, “Why would I go looking for someone I know wants to kill me?” At school the Ministry of Magic has put a guard in place made up entirely of Dementors. The Dementors are only suppose to be in charge of the wizard prison, but Cornelius Fudge seems to think their presence will inspire confidence in the populace. Though how we do not know as Sirius Black has escaped the guards once already! Harry's life is in danger in more ways than one this year.
Why I Started the Book:
I read this book because I'm continuing to reread the Harry Potter series.
Likes:
- I liked it when Malfoy got his “just desserts” for insulting Buckbeak the hippogriff.
- Rowling came up with a really fun artifact-- the time turner. I especially enjoyed its use and the turn of events at the end of the story. I thought Dumbledore's omniscient handling of the predicament to save Buckbeak and Sirius Black was excellent.
- The Marauders Map was awesome! I liked how it showed where everyone was and where they were going. Now if only it showed the difference between a person in Animagus form and the normal human form.
- The Dementors were scary, but awesome, and I loved reading the parts where they were mentioned.
- Remus Lupin is a fantastic character! He was helpful, knowledgeable, and patient. The best Defense Against the Dark Arts teach to date in the books!
Dislikes:
- I greatly disliked Draco Malfoy and his father. Yes, they're characters to love to hate, but it really is unfair what they can get away with because they're Malfoys. For instance when they got Hadgrid in trouble after his first Care of Magical Creature lesson. It clearly wasn't his fault.
- I didn't like Hermoine deceiving and depriving Harry of his new Firebolt. She could have handled her concerns better instead of going above Harry to a teacher.
Last Minute Thoughts: This book is where the series takes off and fleshes out.
Buy: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Paperback)
, Harry Potter Paperback Boxed Set (Books 1-7)
, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Audio Book)
, Harry Potter 1- 7 Audio Book Collection
Book Rating: I give this book 5 treasure chests for cleverness, creativity, and creepy creatures!
Originally posted 2009-12-02 03:34:31.
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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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