Quote Monday #27
Book Review: Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip
Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip
Genre: Fantasy
Publishing Info: November 2002 by Time Warner Books UK (first published 1996)
Pages: 264
Star Rating: 3/5
Back Cover Summary:
Rois is obsessed with Corbett Lynn. His pale green eyes fill her thoughts and her dreams are consumed by tales of his family’s dark past. Of son’s murdering fathers, of homes fallen to ruin, and of a curse that, as winter draws in, is crawling from the frozen forest to engulf them all.
Winter Rose is a retelling of the Scottish Tam Lin legend/ballad by my favourite author, Patricia A. McKillip. I didn’t know anything about this origin before I begun reading, but afterwards did some research and the book retells the story but with some major differences to the original story. Well, wouldn’t be any point in retelling it the same would it? Fairy tale retellings seem to be quite popular at the moment.
As usual, McKillip’s poetic prose is enchanting. Her use of language and descriptions always captivate me and capture my imagination. At times though, things were too vague and ambiguous, leaving me confused in places and reading passages again to make sure I’d understood what was happening.
The plot is good but dragged on. I wasn’t hooked. I think the book would have been better if it were shorter as, really, only a few things happen. If it had been more condensed it would have pulled me in more to keep me reading as there was too much dilly dallying to keep my interest. There were some unexpected twists and turns which surprised me though, and some aspects went against my expectation, so it was refreshing to see something different for the ‘romance’ element of the book. However, things are alluded to (well, more than alluded, more like stated as fact) which will happen, as if the narrator is looking back on these events, but then that doesn’t happen, and I found that frustrating and confusing. I’m being rather vague because this issue revolves around a large plot point which I don’t want to spoil.
The characters were good and well fleshed out and I liked the small village setting. It made it feel like they were isolated from everything else, which tied in well with the fantastical goings-on.
It was a good book, but nothing remarkable, and not as good as the other books my McKillip I have read. I’m certainly looking forward to reading more of her books, there’s a long queue of them on my shelf waiting to be read.
Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publishing Info: September 2009 by Penguin UK (first published 2007)
Pages: 297
Star Rating: 5/5
Back Cover Summary:
You can’t stop the future.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret is to press play.
Clay Jensen returns home to find a strange package with his name on it. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker – his classmate and first love – who committed suicide two weeks earlier.
Hannah’s voice explains there are thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.
All through the night, Clay keeps listening – and what he discovers changes his life…
Where to begin. I don’t give five star reviews much. I have to love a book so much it hurts. A five star review, to me, isn’t about a book being perfect. A book can’t be perfect, it’s impossible. A five star book is one that will stay with me forever.
I’ve wanted to read this book for years, and finally found myself opening the cover a few days ago. I don’t usually write a review right after finishing a book. I give it a couple of days to let it sink in. But today I’m writing this review having finished Thirteen Reasons Why half an hour ago.
The book uses the dual narratives of Hannah and Clay as he listens to the tapes Hannah left behind. It was hard to get around my head that Hannah was dead before the book even started. Isn’t there any hope? Can’t Clay save the day? No. This isn’t a book about saving someone, it’s about exploring what happened to them to make them give up.
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July Mini Film Reviews: Star Trek Beyond and Jason Bourne
Film Review: Star Trek Beyond
Release date: 22nd July 2016
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Idris Elba, Anton Yelchin, Sofia Boutella
Runtime: 122 minutes
Genre: Science-Fiction, Action
Watched in: 2D
Rating: 4/5 stars
Star Trek Beyond is the third film in the rebooted Star Trek series. When the Enterprise is attacked by villain Krall, played by Idris Elba, the crew are split up and must survive and reunite to defeat this new enemy. Although I haven’t seen any of the original Star Trek TV series and films, I loved the first two in this reboot and the third didn’t disappoint.
The film’s plot was fresh enough to stop the series becoming stale, which I was afraid would happen with repetitive themes. It continues the story arcs of Kirk and Spock, who both have doubts about their positions in Star Fleet, so I’m glad they didn’t sacrifice character development for action. There was plenty of action, with some excellent sequences with great visuals and tension.
The characters are all there and the actors just work so well together to show the dynamics between the characters. This time they are accompanied by Jaylah, played by Sofia Boutella, who did a great job of bringing in the new character.
Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable film, with plenty of action and some laughs along the way.
Film Review: Jason Bourne
Release date: 27th July 2016
Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander
Runtime: 123 minutes
Genre: Action
Watched in: 2D
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Bourne is back in Jason Bourne, the fourth film featuring Matt Damon as Bourne, and the fifth in the Bourne film franchise. Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) brings new information to Jason Bourne about his past, bringing out of the shadows and back into the thick of it, with the CIA immediately tracking him down once again.
I was more than a little worried that this would be a repeat of the previous films and wondered what they were going to do with the plot, but they made enough of a story for the extra film to be worthwhile. It carried on in the same vein of the previous films, which is a style I like, but it also meant they didn’t bring anything particularly new to the table. The action sequences were good and I really enjoyed the film, but I guess it was just more of the same in the end.
The acting was good, with Alicia Vikander playing a new character in the CIA. I felt she could have been fleshed out more. At one point there are quite heavy suggestions about something significant in her past which is relevant to her motivations in the plot, but it is never explained. I don’t want to say too much and give away spoilers. Perhaps they’re planning on a sequel and didn’t want to give everything away in this film.
It was a good film with plenty of twists and turns that kept me wanting to know what would happen next. Worth watching, but nothing new.
Mini Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publishing Info: Kindle Edition, 6th June 2013, Orion Children’s (first published June 2012)
Pages: 369
Star Rating: 4/5
Back Cover Summary:
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy.
When I read this a few weeks ago I was unable to write a review. Since it is no longer fresh in my mind I don’t feel I can write a full review. However, I wanted to do a mini review to express just how much I loved this book. It had been on my TBR list for a long time, but I hadn’t got round to getting my hands on a copy. I wasn’t disappointed when I finally read it.
I found the plot fairly original and the setting was different, with some inspiration from Russia. The world building was good and I loved all the magic and mystery. The ending was also pretty good, which is often where books fall down for me.
It wasn’t perfect, and there were some elements which were pretty typically young adult, but I couldn’t help but love this book. I liked the characters and found that I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I took every opportunity to pick it up and read another few pages in down moments of my busy day.
I have the next two books in the series on my Kindle, and can’t wait to read them. I just hope they don’t flop and disappoint, since I enjoyed the first book so much.
Book Review: Spin the Love by Lisa Terry
Spin the Love by Lisa Terry
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Publishing Info: Self-published September 30th 2015
Pages: 192
Star Rating: 4/5
Back Cover Summary:
It was supposed to be a game to heat up their summer—not ruin their lives.
Sixteen-year-old Whispy Callahan lands in trouble thicker than Florida’s humidity when she plays a twisted game of Dare. Everything would have been fine if she hadn’t fallen for one of the player’s “targets” along with dredging up buried murderous tendencies. Forget the game—now Whispy needs to find her boyfriend’s murderer, but that might prove difficult since everyone thinks she’s insane. They could be right.
In Spin the Love a game of dare takes main character Whispy on a bit of a roller coaster ride. A game of dare is quite an obvious tool for creating plot and tension, but what made it work really well in this book was the dynamics between the three characters involved in the game. The complications of their relations to each other made it much more interesting to see what would happen and how the plot would progress.
Whispy’s characterisation was great. Her voice and personality came through the first person narrative. Her mental health problems were dealt with with reasonable sensitivity to the subject, although the use of this aspect of her character for mystery in the plot is a bit of a trope. The other characters were also well described and fleshed out, with personal history that impacts on their present characters.
It doesn’t spoil anything to say that Whispy’s boyfriend is killed in the book, as that’s in the blurb, which is good because that’s something that didn’t quite add up to me and would like to discuss in this review. Her boyfriend is quite obviously murdered, and there is a funeral, but there doesn’t appear to be any investigation. I found this very odd and it doesn’t make sense. If someone is murdered there is an investigation, and people who know the victim are questioned. So why wasn’t Whispy questioned by police? It doesn’t make sense and I felt that was quite a hole in the plot.
The ending was phenomenal. There was a big twist that I didn’t see coming at all. I tried to piece it together as I read but I didn’t expect what happened. It kept me engaged and had a satisfying ending.
The book was well written and much more accomplished that the last book I read by the author, which while good wasn’t quite polished. Despite a couple of problems I had with the book, I really enjoyed reading it and it kept me hooked until the end.
Quote Monday #25
Film Review: Love and Friendship
Film Review: Love and Friendship
Release date: 27th May 2016
Director: Whit Stillman
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevingy, Xavier Samuel, Tom Bennett, Morfydd Clark, Emma Greenwell
Runtime: 94 minutes
Genre: Period Drama, Romance
Watched in: 2D
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Love and Friendship is based on Jane Austen’s epistolary novel Lady Susan which wasn’t published until after her death. There is also an epistolary book called Love and Friendship, but the film takes the plot of Lady Susan with the title of Love and Friendship. I know, confusing. Why not just call it Lady Susan? Why take the title of another Jane Austen work and confuse everyone?
Lady Susan is a tactical widow who sets her eyes on finding a suitable husband for her daughter, with the help of an American friend, also aiming to bag herself a man in the process. I enjoyed the plot and it was certainly humorous at times, most of the laughs coming from Lady Susan’s scandalous and outrageous lines. Kate Beckinsale definitely stood above the rest as Lady Susan, delivering her lines so well. The obliviously stupid Sir James is also a great character who provides a lot of humour. In many ways it is different to other stories by Jane Austen with a somewhat unlikeable, scheming protagonist who is somehow at the same time captivating.
If is somewhat odd that it is a U-rated film, but which is most definitely about scandal and affairs. It’s odd but somehow works.
The acting was good at times but in places it was stilted and like they were reading off a script. There was nothing striking about the scenery and imagery, and the music wasn’t anything special and felt oddly out of place for some reason. Actually, what was most odd was the costumes. I’m no expert on period fashions but the dresses didn’t look at all right for the time period.
It was thoroughly entertaining, charming, and passed some time, but there were some elements that were just…off. The production let down a story with potential to make a great film. I don’t have much to say about this one. An average but enjoyable film.
Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Genre: Young Adult, Science-Fiction, Dystopia/Utopia
Publishing Info: Kindle Edition, May 17th 2016 by HarperCollins (first published 2011)
Pages: 401
Star Rating: 4/5
Back Cover Summary:
Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing.
They didn’t understand that once love — the deliria — blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
I cannot deny that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. A lot of YA dystopia has left me disappointed, so I’m reluctant to have too high hopes when reading this genre which I love so much. I’d heard of Delirium, but never got round to reading it until now. One of the things that cheeses me off most about YA dystopia is romance. Romance often seems to take up so much plot of some YA dystopia novels, leaving the important stuff or action in the background. Romance can be great in any novel, but when it takes over and blots out everything else, that’s what annoys me. Or the genre is plagued by love-triangles, insta-love, unlikeable/unbelievable love interests and unbelievable romance. So I was definitely a little wary when I started Delirium.
The whole point of the world Lauren Oliver has created about love so, considering the above, it would seem this is perhaps not the book for me. But that wasn’t the case. I think why the romance wasn’t annoying in this book is because it was actually totally relevant to the plot. It wasn’t thrown in. It is an important element of the world building and essential tool to explore the nature of the presented society. Love is seen as a disease which can be cured. This is actually quite an interesting concept and quite believable, in the way love is presented as something which causes you pain, and that you’ll be happier without it. I found myself completely intrigued by this dystopian/false utopian world.
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The Last Book On The Left 