Month: June 2019

Mid-year Reading Round Up 2019

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

12406320I can’t believe we’re halfway through 2019 already! Where have the days gone? So far this year I have only read 8 books, which isn’t as many as I was hoping to get through. Though I did spend a while reading George R. R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings, which is a behemoth of a book.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is my favourite book of the year so far. It absolutely blew me away! It was so imaginative and intriguing, and totally pulled me in. Another highlight was Clockwork Princess, the final book in Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices trilogy. Having read so many of her Shadowhunters books, I thought my interest might wane, but that hasn’t been the case so far. I can’t get enough of her world and her writing.

Other highlights so far are Frostbite by Richelle Mead and The Rose Society by Marie Lu. Having been surprised how much I enjoyed Vampire Academy, I was glad Frostbite was a great sequel, and I’m looking forward to continuing that series.

Ringer, the second book in Lauren Oliver’s duology, was a little disappointing. It didn’t quite live up to expectations, and I enjoyed the first book much more. Although it started well, Everything Everything also didn’t quite hit the right notes for me, and I had concerns about the way serious illness was represented in the book. Internment by Samira Ahmed was one of my most 19258492anticipated reads of the year, and although it is a highly significant and important book, it wasn’t executed as well as it could have been.

I’m currently reading The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge and loving it so far. It’s so dark and creepy. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that’s actually creeped me out.

Next on my to-read list is The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli. I haven’t read any of her books before so I’m looking forward to discovering a new author!

Book Review: Internment by Samira Ahmed

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment
38167114

Internment by Samira Ahmed

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publishing Info: March 2019 by Atom

Pages: 386

Star Rating: 3/5

Back Cover Summary:

Rebellions are built on hope.

Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens.

With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp’s Director and his guards.

Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today.

Having seen the description for this book, I just had to buy it. The idea drew me in right away because of its relevance. Negative attitudes towards Muslims have sadly become more prominent lately, which is completely unfair. This book imagines what could happen if the situation in America escalated, and shows how quickly things can change. Although I felt it could have been better, this book was also incredibly shocking, as well as moving and heartbreaking.

Rather than being set in a far-flung ultra-futuristic setting, Internment is set in a near future that unfortunately you can really believe could actually happen. I think it being near future makes it more terrifying. So many dystopias are set in a distant future that feels a long way away, like something that wouldn’t happen for a while. But sadly you can imagine this happening now. The book tackles big issues such as Islamophobia and illegal detainment, and it’s so good to see serious subject matter explored in young adult fiction.

Read More »

Book Review: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

51toTzgHGXL._SX324_BO1,204,203,200_A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin  

Genre: Fantasy

Publishing Info: July 2011 by HarperVoyager (first published 1998)

Pages: 913

Star Rating: 4/5

Back Cover Summary:

Throughout Westeros, the cold winds are rising. From the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding lands of Winterfell, chaos reigns as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms stake their claims through tempest, turmoil and war. As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky – a comet the colour of blood and flame – five factions struggle for control of a divided land. Brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night.

 

Having read A Game of Thrones last year and being completely sucked in, it was no surprise that I picked up its sequel, A Clash of Kings. For contextualisation, this is my first time reading the book series A Song of Ice and Fire and I haven’t watched any of the TV series.

I wondered whether A Clash of Kings could live up to the high bar set by the first book, and while I think I enjoyed A Game of Thrones more, there was still plenty to love about A Clash of Kings. With Westeros divided, there are plenty of rivalries and tensions between the various houses to provide conflict. Many of the characters have now been well and truly separated, meaning it feels like there are more threads to try and keep track of. It does get a little confusing at times trying to remember who belongs to what house and who is allied with whom.

Read More »

TV Review: The OA Part II

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

mv5bmty5otkwndkzof5bml5banbnxkftztgwmdeynzi1nzm40._v1_Aired: Netflix

Created by: Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij

Starring: Brit Marling, Emory Cohen, Jason Isaacs, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Patrick Gibson

Genre: Science Fiction, Drama, Supernatural, Mystery

Rating: 4/5

When I watched the first series of The OA, I remember thinking it seemed rather bizarre, but somehow it still pulled me in. By the end of Part I I was invested, and eagerly awaited its return for Part II. I will be avoiding spoilers in this review where possible (to be honest, there are some pretty big and crazy concepts involved that I’m not sure I could explain properly anyway) as it’s best to go into this show without knowing anything.

The first episode left me feeling rather perplexed. The first series was complex and I struggled to remember what had happened. I’d recommend taking a look at a recap of Part I! Episode 1 starts off with new detective character called Karim searching for a missing girl. How this connected to the rest I had no idea. However the ending of the episode suggested things would be coming together. And they did in the second episode. While I wasn’t exactly sure how things were going to connect, I could see the beginnings of hints and foreshadowing that everything was going to come together.

Read More »

May Book Haul!

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the LeftLeave a comment

dav

I ended up having a bit of a book buying month in May. Having just finished the second book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (review coming soon), I went out and bought the third book, A Storm of Swords. It’s published in two volumes here in the UK because it’s so long! I’m quite glad they did it that way, as it would be rather heavy to hold!

I’m planning to go to the Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC) in London this July, so decided to do some reading in preparation. When I was looking through the list of authors attending, Rachel Burge’s The Twisted Tree really caught my attention. It sounds dark, mysterious and unique so I’m looking forward to reading that.

I’ve read a few verse novels and enjoyed reading a story told in a different form, so when I spotted The Poet X I made a bit of an impulse purchase. Verse can be a really effective way to tell a story when done well.

Having heard a lot about Internment, I just had to go out and buy it. I’m reading it right now, and so far it’s really good. It’s so relevant to current issues in our society and is actually a terrifying near-future dystopia. I’ll be posting a review when I’ve finished it!