Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick makes me feel conflicted. On one hand, I like the newness of the plot and the way that readers have a mystery to solve and clues for which to look. On the other hand, it doesn’t feel like a cohesive novel and I’m left with asking, What is this book about? That’s why I give this a four out of the five. It’s not the writing that’s bad; it’s the organization and purpose of the novel. Midwinterblood starts in the year […]
#11 Mediocre teen dystopian blah I get bored again already
I found out about this series thanks to CBRV I believe, and finally got around to reading the first one now. It’s the start to yet another dystopian teen romance drama etc of monumentally generic proportions. It’s the story of Aria and Peregrine, a dweller and an outsider respectively, who must join forces and win the day. It was incredibly mediocre. I listened to it as an audiobook from the library, and I can happily say I’m very pleased I didn’t spend any money on […]
“Guerrillas in the myths,” really? Reaching a bit for that turn of phrase, bud.
Billy Harrow is an average joe, working at a natural history museum in London. He’s giving a tour on a normal day when it suddenly turns out that the museum’s latest prize exhibition, a preserved giant squid, is missing. Things get weird super-quick when a “special” squad of police wants to know about his connections with the magical underbelly of London, and a group of kraken-worshipping cultists want him to be their prophet, and pretty much all of London agrees that the apocalypse is nigh, […]
Meeting the Big Bad Wolf and More with Chris Colfer
Chris Colfer, who many only know from his role as Kurt on Glee, has a trick or two up his sleeve. The Emmy Award-winning 24 year-old, has also, since 2012, published the chart-topping fantasy book series, The Land of Stories. His first book in the series, The Wishing Spell, aimed at middle-grade readers, also topped the New York Times best seller list for two weeks. The busy author has managed to turn out a book a year in the series, with The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns, debuting in 2013 […]