Wednesday, August 31, 2016

July and August 2016 Reading List

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley – Nice cover. Interesting core idea. Disappointing execution. Nothing happens in the first 10% of the book. Aza’s never ending stream of conscience is awfully annoying. There are no ordinary people in this book; everyone is special in some way. Love triangle and insta love. Ugh. Once she gets to Magonia, no one takes the time to explain anything to her. She’s sent directly to mop the floors. *facepalm* Weak worldbuilding that makes little sense. 2/5 stars

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – This was my first encounter with Mrs. Maas’s writing style and I found it too dense and slow. I didn’t really care for the main couple. Lucien and Rhys were more interesting, though we only get each for half the story as if they couldn’t have been contracted for the whole book. Nesta would be a good match for either of them, hehe. And now I’m in the mood to watch Beauty and the Beast cartoon, which I haven’t seen in twenty years. 3/5 stars

How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman – Beautifully written as usual despite the weird factor, but the story felt unfinished. 3/5 stars

A Tall Tail by Charles Stross – A lot of science was put into this one, which was fine, but I would have liked to be able to tell which was real and which was not. Alas, they don’t teach this kind of advanced chemistry in high school around here. 3/5 stars

Galaxis. Noua opera spatiala edited by Antuza Genescu – I liked George Lazar’s story best, no surprise there. Since I also have a story included in this short story collection, I won’t rate it.

I actually had some DNF this summer, which was disappointing because I was looking forward to read these books, but then for various reason, including voice and style, I discovered I couldn’t get interested in them and after several efforts, I gave up:
Time Salvager by Wesley Chu
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine
The Fireman by Joe Hill
Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – Overly long and disjointed. I only cared for one POV character, some of them disappearing for half the book before getting back to them didn’t help at all, and the urge to turn the pages and the unexpected plot twists so familiar from Sanderson’s other books were absent here. 3/5 stars

How to Make Friends with Demons by Graham Joyce – This books basically shows you what it means to be human. I didn’t care for some parts and some plot points could have been exploited better, but one line in particular turned this book into a 4-star book for me. Why are demons always so sad and waiting? You’ll have to read the book to find out the answer. 4/5 stars

Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell – The banter became too much in places, but other than that it was a good read. Oh, and it comes with free fencing lessons! :) 4/5 stars

Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine – I never cared for Romeo and Juliet’s story, but I quite liked Benevolio in both French musicals so the idea of the story being told from his POV sounded interesting. Unfortunately, I prefer Benevolio more mainly and playful than this scared boy who too often whined like a girl. Some of the plot twists were good and partially explained the insanity in the original play, but too many characters, relationships, and plot points were underdeveloped, the magic added nothing to the plot, and the ending felt rushed. I need to make time to rewatch those musicals. 3/5 stars

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