Graceling | Book Review

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing Technique: ★★★1/2 I enjoyed Cashore's writing style a lot. Direct. Clear. Visual. Nothing about it was overly poetic or fluffy. But she descriptions never left me confused - and that's always the danger with books containing a lot of fight scenes and establishing a different world. Her characters and settings and plot devices worked great for me. I was very sucked in.

Character Development: ★★★ Hmm, well, both Katsa and Po change as they develop the fullness of their "graces." And Po has a huge challenge to overcome personally in the end that I found realistic, heartbreaking, and inspiring. But Katsa for me is the hardest to pin, because she's kind of selfish, and that never really goes away. Early in the book, she is frustrated by her lack of freedom, by having to follow her king's every cruel command, so she is wildly averse to marriage because she doesn't want to belong to anyone. And even though her relationship with Po changes (spoiler alert???), she still isn't willing to be wholly his. She tacks conditions onto their relationship - like what if she wants to leave, what if she can't stand being tied down, etc...? And to me, love is not true love if it isn't willing to sacrifice for the other person, if it thinks one day it will change or fade. I think the author is trying to portray Katsa as a strong, admirable heroine who stands up for herself and is her own person. But I don't agree with the anti-marriage, casual-sex-relationship message being proclaimed here.

Plot/Story Development: ★★★★ I love a story with lots of action. This one begins that way. (It definitely gets shelved in the BA girls/BA boys categories.) But the plot is layered. It's not just about Katsa's progression toward freedom from King Randa, but it's also about the mystery of Po's grandfather's kidnapping and how that relates to a huge conspiracy. I was actually surprised by the breadth of the plot here. I found the endless chapters of trekking through the frozen mountains tiresome. But ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised with the concrete storyline here--start to finish.

Message/Theme: ★★★★1/2 The corrupting influence of power, independence/freewill, murder, mercy, friendship, family, love, marriage, sex, secrets of protection v. lies of manipulation, fighting for oneself, fighting for those who can't fight for themselves, endurance, using one's gifts/talents in service of others...and probably more.

Audiobook Performance: ★★★★ This was my first experience with a Full Cast Audio book. (To be fair, there aren't very many out there.) And it was very interesting. A far more dramatic listen than a normal audiobook. I found it well cast and decently acted. There was a flair for the over-dramatic. But all in all, it was a good experience. It's somewhat disappointing that the sequels are not also Full Cast Audios. I'd prefer the consistency. For that I'll probably read a physical copy, rather than listen to it.

Rating: PG-13 for a proliferation of graphic violence and casual sex.

Overall: ★★★★ Good fantasy tale. Entertaining. I'd give it a shot if you enjoy medieval-esque settings, people with magical-ish powers, fun if not committed romance, and an interesting adventure.

Recommend: If you liked this book/series, check out Maria Snyder's Study Series. (Poison Study is my favorite.)



View all my reviews

Days of Blood & Starlight | Book Review

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm trying not to freak out about this book. Trying really hard. Mostly failing. There's a chance this is the best book I've read all year. And this is book 70 for 2012. So, that's saying something. I feel absolutely inspired by this story. I want to study it, and dissect it, and tear it apart, and put it together just so I can see how all the pieces work because it is actually 100% total gloriousness. I liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone -- a lot. I really really liked it. But it doesn't hold a candle to the magnitude of Days.


Writing Technique: ★★★★1/2 Taylor's style is incredible. Beautiful and comedic and dramatic and conversational and poetic and surreal/fantastic all at the same time. The words she uses--UGH. The way she strings them together--GEEZ. How is she so dang good?? I envy this writer so much. Her manipulation of the English language is divine.

Character Development: ★★★★★ Where to even start? Book 1 followed just Karou and Akiva. Book 2 follows like 17 people. All SO unique. The difference between Akiva and Liraz and Hazael and Joram and Jael is galaxies wide even tho they're all angels. Akiva's plot is a path to redemption and OMG did I love watching him get there?! Liraz and Hazael are so much more complex than they were in Book 1, and I fell in love with both of them and both made me straight up cry because the changes they went through. And then Karou - GEEZ LOUISE! Her journey is just PAIN. And Ziri and AGH! There are so many. Watching these "people" fight and try to survive and get revenge and start rebellions and work together and OMG. Rife with character development. Taylor doesn't not fail in the deep complex changing growing lovable hateable character department.

Plot/Story Development: ★★★★★ Um... seriously. Perfection. I can't even tell you why it's good without spoiling things for you. But there are soooo many twists that I just didn't see coming. Hazael?! Birds? Ziri? The Wolf? I-- I-- There was too much. It's so freaking good. At the end of like every chapter, I would look up and go, NO FREAKING WAY. And I kept thinking I knew where things were going, but I had no idea. Sigh. I'm so sad this book is over.

Message/Theme: ★★★★★ Revenge --> Revenge begets revenge begets revenge. Thus the eternality of war. --> Revenge is not the path to a better life. Hope. There is a better way to live. Peace is worth fighting for (that sounds contradictory but it makes sense in the book). Redemption. Love. Hatred. Friendship. Family. What truly makes a monster--appearances or actions? Integrity. Second chances. Resurrection. Rebellion. Hope. Hope. Hope.

Overall: ★★★★★ I wish I could give this more stars. I wish I could accurately express how great this book is. This caliber of story is what I'm attempting to write, and honestly it's overwhelming and inspiring to have seen someone do this so well. I am blown away.

And I HATE that I have to wait OVER A YEAR to see how it all ends. I could DIE before then!!!



View all my reviews

City of Lost Souls | Book Review

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book made me crazy and took forever to read. I haven't been entire sold on the second trilogy of this extended series. Books 1, 2, and 3 were a magical unit of action and character development and general swellness. Book 4, while introducing a new villain and storyline, was kind of boring until basically the last five pages when it became unbelievable and made me want to throw the book across the room. So I was really excited to get the next book and find out What Happens.

City of Lost Souls is Book 5, and I'll say the first 391 pages were kind of a draaaaaag. Jace is Not Jace. Sebastian (Jonathan) is Sebastian. Or is he? Team Good is in a tizzy (always). Team Evil Sons of Valentine is Planning Something Big. Again. Jace and Clary's True Love is in Jeopardy. Yada Yada Yada.

Anyway, the breakdown of my reading experience goes like this:

Part 1: The Set Up = snooze fest.
Part 2: The Getting Into It = raised eyebrows. Is this going to get interesting? No. Not yet. Not until page 392 wherein AWESOMENESS FINALLY OCCURS!
Part 3: The Payoff = All the aggravation and snooziness was worth the wait. I mean I wish the entire the story was as awesome as the last third. Because it was FANTASTIC! Jace being Jace and Not Jace. Clary being CRAY-CRAY, making terrible decisions again (At one point, I literally screamed "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! page 418. WTF?? ). Simon and Isabelle being... well, Simon and Isabelle can they just get together already? . (Speaking of Simon... they cast this kid for the movie. Love it!)

What made the book so dull through Parts 1 and 2 is we didn't follow the action. No one in Team Good had any idea what was going on. It's hard to feel invested in a story where we don't know the stakes. We don't feel the pressure. There's nothing to get our hearts beating and our palms sweaty. Book 1 did this pretty well. Clary's mom is kidnapped and Clary is almost killed in like Chapter 3. But in this book, despite Clary's forays into adventure with the Sons of Evil Incarnate and despite Team Good's raising of demons and angels and faffing about, nothing was really happening! It was all very ugh...

And all too frequently when something did start to happen, we would shift to a different character's perspective for something oh so trivial *insert eyeroll here*. We interrupt this interesting potential plot development for an unnecessary mini-make-out scene between two basically unnecessary characters. (Yeah, I'm talking about you, Jordan and Maia! You had basically zero point in this story. Go away.)

...But once we knew the stakes, what Team Basically Evil But Not Exactly It's Hard to Explain were doing... then it got CRAY. I wish we'd been following either Jace or Sebastian's perspective from the beginning, then this book might have hit 5 stars. As it is, I can only give it a 4. I love this series quite a bit. Can't wait to see how she's going to finish the series. With all this set up, it better be epic. Srsly.

Rating Breakdown:
Writing technique: ★★★1/2 It's not overly complicated, but she can be deep and poetic and interesting stylistically. Also I love how she refers back to things from the earlier books - quoting herself, but tying all the stories together. She could skip a few of the make-out tho...

Character development:★★★★ Most of these characters are constantly learning about themselves. And I love it.

Plot/Story development: ★★★ The last Part was 5 stars, but the first two were only like a two or three... so averaged out...

Message/Theme: ★★★★ This series so far has dealt a lot with family - if you become your parents. If your blood determines your essential goodness. This book was a lot about risk and betrayal and identity. If someone takes your free will away, but you're "happy," is it real? And the question of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons... It's all very interesting...

Overall: ★★★★ I liked this book. I love this series. I adore (most of) these characters. I'm looking forward to the final installment.


View all my reviews