If you read The Paper Magician, get ready to feel wrath and frustration. Ceony Twill is quite possibly the most irritating heroine I’ve read in a long time and I really want to strangle her. I’ll probably settle for getting this book away from me as soon as I can. Ceony is a know-it all, she’s selfish, she’s immature, and she refuses to learn from her mistakes. True she’s had some problems in her life, but as her flashbacks show, a lot of them are […]
The Happiest Dystopia
I was born and grew up in the 1980s. I was not a gamer, and was not much into pop culture. Even so, I had a lot of fun with Ready Player One. Set 18 years from now, the world is basically lived in a virtual setting known as OASIS. When the company founder, James Halliday, dies, he leaves a challenge, basically a treasure hunt through OASIS based on 80s trivia (the era of his youth). Naturally a culture of studying everything 80s from the […]
The Rory Gilmore Problem
I had 2 different reactions to this book. I couldn’t put it down. Then I thought about it. As I read it, I loved it. I finished in a day. The story and characters and situations all felt very relateable. Plus, who doesn’t love a straightforward happy ending for a likable heroine? But then again, there was a disconnect between the realism and the fantasy. The heroine Cath is believable introverted, geeky first-semester college student who we follow through the ups and downs of her […]
Losers Win Mostly by Accident
My review of this book on Goodreads was short: “Come up with crazy plan to steal from/ kill dragon, screw up everything but still win. Repeat. And cuss a lot. An entertaining book, but not great.” I stand by this. The gang of losers contains Will the down-on his luck farmer, Firkin the village drunk, Quirk the naive academic, and the mercenary duo of Lette she-bandit who wants a more peaceful life and Balur the lizard man. The fun thing about the group dynamic is […]