Posts Tagged ‘review’

• Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

  Date: 2012.04.24 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 2

  Where I Got the Book: Christmas present from my sister who purchased it from Amazon

  In Short: dual point of view, character delving, chilling

  I was really excited to begin this book. I had read all of Stiefvater’s Shiver trilogy and had enjoyed the romance and the myth woven together. What can I say? I’m a fantasy girl. Also, shortly after its release the book was optioned to become a movie (IMDb shows it in development with a release date of 2015). The Scorpio Races, however, was nothing like that trilogy, however, still really enjoyable.

  Kate “Puck” Conolly is an orphan with two brothers (one older, one younger) with a careful watch on the ever thinning contents of the pantry and the jar that holds all the money they have. Sean Kendrick who was abandoned by his mother and watched his father die is the hired “horse whisperer”/trophy racer at the Malvern stables. The Scorpio Races are what drive the two together and the haunting, terrifying, hungry, and beautiful water horses that come asore at the end of October may be the death of them.

  On the small island of Thisby the Scorpio Races run on the first of November hold the island’s heritage and the greatest source of income for the merchants there. They also, however, are the cause of many deaths. The year Puck decides to join is the first year a woman has ever dared to race. She races to save her family. Sean races for freedom.

  My Thoughts: This book started out slow for me, but you get to know a great deal about the characters, the island, and you feel the importance of an event because of this. Once the characters started taking shape in my mind, however, I found the book to be an absolute riveting read. For someone looking for a book as filled with action as one of the Percy Jackson books, I would say borrow first, then buy. Like in Shiver there is romance in the book, but–a little to my disappointment–Stiefvater doesn’t dwell on it for extremely long. In all honesty though, the brief moments of romance fit the characters that she had created, so I believe she did them justice.

  Red Flags: Little bit of language. There isn’t profanity throughout the book, but there are a few instances of curse words as well as a few innuendos and uncooth words. I think the reason Stiefvater chose this diction though is to emphasize and bring a ring of authenticy to the island and fact that a young woman was throwing herself into what had been historically a man’s sport. Also, the book–about blood thirsty horses–is a bit violent. You are a witness to death, brutality, and practices that seem barbaric.

  Grading

  Plot: 10/10

  Characters: 10/10

  Writing: 10/10

  Originality: 10/10

  Enjoyment: 9/10

  Overall: 49/50

  Tidbits

  Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction

  Original Release Date: October 18, 2011

  Recipe for November Cakes: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/maggiestiefvater/6505338297/

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

  Date: 2012.04.10 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 2

  

  The Fault in Our Stars and the Pup

  Where I Got the Book: I have two copies actually–one pre-ordered from Amazon for Christmas and one from when my husband went Hanklerfishing at Kroger!

  In Short: true love on borrowed time, cancer

  I hesitated on beginning this book because I had been feeling a little down and so many people talked about how the book made them cry that I didn’t want to make my mood worse. Also, right around the time I received my copy a relative of mine died from the cancer infecting his brain.

  Hazel is a sixteen year old girl residing in Indiana whose lungs don’t work due to the civilization cancer had established with in them. (Gah! I so don’t want to type much more than this because I feel like everything past the first chapter would contain spoilers. That’s how much I love this book! I view any and all info on it as a spoiler!) Through a forced attendance to a support group she meets Augustus Waters who is in remission–i.e. cancer is gone currently, but we won’t say you’re really cancer-free unless you stay that way for a few years. From the first support group meeting they click and the romance grows from there.

  The obstacles Hazel and Augustus (sometimes Gus) face are: not being defined by their cancer, fulfilling wishes, and maintaining dignity while the body is doing its best to fall apart. That’s all I’m going to say about this because of a previous reason stated within a parenthesis.

  My Thoughts: I really did love this book and how real all of the characters became to me. I literally started yelling at John Green (who of course wasn’t in the room) that such and such COULD NOT happen while caught up in the story. I even stopped reading twice and tweeted at him about two pages that made this not-easily-emotion-invoked reader to cry. (I will not reveal which pages–that is unless you read the tweets.) I will admit that I didn’t understand everything within the first read, but that’s the point of subsequent readings. You hold the story in your heart, you grow, come back to it again at another time, and then notice things you didn’t before or understand something you rushed through earlier in your quest to find out what happens next.

  Red Flags: Language. The first curse word you encounter is on the third page of the story and it will not be the last one. I think this book is a pretty realistic representation of teenagers–and yes a great deal of them use profanity. There is also a depiction of some more-than-kissing displays of affection and implied sex. If you are someone who really can’t enjoy a novel because of these red flags, you may not want to try it. But if you’re able to accept them, look past them, or not be bothered by them at all I emphatically encourage you to read this book. Seriously.

  Grading

  Plot: 10/10

  Characters: 10/10

  Writing: 10/10

  Originality: 10/10

  Enjoyment: 10/10

  Overall: 50/50

  Tidbits

  Genre: Love and Romance, Young Adult Fiction

  Original Release Date: January 10, 2012

  Two ways to increase the dosage of John Green in your life:

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  Twitter: @realjohngreen