Category: Reviews

Review: Doll Bones

Published on by Rachelle

Doll Bones

  • Author: Holly Black
  • ISBN: 9781416963981
  • Genre: Middle-grade Horror

The above ISBN is for the hardcover edition, but I listened to the audiobook edition I checked out from the library.

One of the many things that creep me out is dolls.  So, when I read the synopsis of Doll Bones (click on the book cover to go to it on Goodreads), I thought this would be the perfect semi-scary story for me to read during my favorite spooky month.  While there were some creepy moments, the story was lacking something necessary for any horror story to scare me.  It lacked sense.

As an example, without any spoilers, there is a scene in which something horrible happens and the children think the doll, haunted by the spirit of a little girl, did it.  However, why would the doll be the culprit when the doll/spirit wants the kids to help her?  I kept waiting for a more plausible explanation.  Wouldn’t it make more sense if it had been someone or something trying to stop the kids from helping the doll?  I thought I was going to get that explanation when the kids come in contact with a woman later on in the story.  One of the kids, Zach, thinks there seems to be something a bit off about this woman, somehow.  However, nothing else happens with her and the story moves on to the next part.  That didn’t make any sense either.  Why bring it up, through Zach’s thoughts, and then not do anything with it?  I was confused enough to double check to make sure I wasn’t listening to an abridged version of the book.  I won’t go into detail about what I thought was going to happen or who the woman was because that would include spoilers, but suffice it to say I was a little disappointed.

My other reason for choosing Doll Bones is because I’ve only ever heard great things about the author, Holly Black.  As I said, the book does have its creepy moments, so it wasn’t a total dud, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if those moments made sense in relation to the overall plot.  Perhaps the average Middle-grade reader wouldn’t notice the plot holes and would instead just enjoy a creepy “Goosebumps”-style story.  When it comes to getting kids to read more, this book is still worth a shot, especially if you can find a copy at the library.

Classics Club: Mary Poppins

Published on by Rachelle

Mary Poppins

  • Author: P.L. Travers

I checked out the audiobook edition from my university’s library.  I had wanted to read Mary Poppins for years.  I thought it would become a new favorite since I loved the Disney adaptation so much.  What happened is that my belief in Disney’s inability to stick to the original story has been reaffirmed.  Mary Poppins is not the sweetheart she is portrayed to be by Julie Andrews.  She’s often cranky, taciturn, extremely vain, and sometimes downright mean to the children in her care.

Mary Poppins isn’t the only character that gave me pause.  There is a scene where a mother and owner of a bakery literally breaks off her fingers to give to Jane and Micheal’s younger siblings to chew.  While it turns out her fingers are a different baked good each time, I couldn’t get over the creepiness of it.  She’s also emotionally abusive towards her two daughters and I’m not sure how her screaming at them about every little thing was supposed to be amusing.

Each chapter of the book brought a new level of bizarre to my ears.  I was repeatedly shocked that this was, and still is, considered to be one of the best children’s stories of all time.  While it certainly wasn’t the worst book I’ve read, I won’t be bothering to read any more of the series.  I’ll stick with the Disney film, thank you.

Mini-Review: Onyx Webb Book 1 (Episodes 1-3)

Published on by Rachelle

Onyx Webb

  • Authors: Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz
  • ISBN: 9780990751816
  • Genre: Paranormal Suspense

I received this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.

I decided to make this a mini-review due to already having written a review for the first episode, “The Story Begins”.  Also, even though this new edition includes the first three episodes, I don’t have much more to say than what I said in that review.  There’s more story, but it still didn’t get anywhere, and it took me less than a day to read it.  I’m left with lots of questions, and looking at the release schedule in the copy I received, I’m not sure if I want to invest that much time or money in getting those questions answered.  Perhaps if the episodes were condensed down into fewer books, I would be more interested.

I guess I was expecting the story to be like a tv show; perhaps slow at first, but intriguing, and each successive episode drawing me further into the story.  However, the setup for what happened to Onyx and how all the other characters tie into her story is taking too long.  All the way through to the end of episode 3, new characters are introduced with no way of telling if they’re important or not.  Most of my reading notes consist of a long list of names, just in case I would meet them again and need to remind myself who they are.  Despite giving the first episode four stars on Goodreads, I don’t feel there’s enough story in the remainder of this book to give it any more than three.

Review: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Published on by Rachelle

Ophelia

  • Author: Karen Foxlee
  • ISBN: 9780385753548
  • Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy

The above ISBN is for the hardcover edition, but I listened to the audiobook I purchased.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is a perfect example of how to write a modern Middle-Grade fairy tale.  Ophelia isn’t sure of herself and doesn’t feel that she’s anyone special, yet she finds herself with the task of saving a boy from the Snow Queen.  Oh, and by the way, Ophelia, could you save the world in the process?  I loved every moment!  Every event made sense, whether it was fantastical or not, and no character, not even Ophelia, was suddenly capable of doing anything they weren’t already equipped to accomplish.  At the same time, the world of the story is full of magic, despite Ophelia’s belief that there is no such thing.

The Snow Queen is truly scary and wholly evil.  While she is not exactly the same as the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, my thoughts turned to her the more I found out about the Snow Queen.  What I liked even more than that childhood favorite was the lack of religious allegory.  It also doesn’t head in the opposite direction as did the “His Dark Materials” trilogy by Philip Pullman.  The only point I found, besides being a beautiful story for its own sake, was that ordinary people can sometimes do seemingly extraordinary things, even if they have asthma and aren’t good at running.

Though the narrator, Jayne Entwistle, did a wonderful job, I know I would have loved the story just as much had I read the book instead of listening to it.  I know that sometimes makes a difference, but not this time.  I can safely recommend Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy in any format, especially if you’re a fan of Middle-Grade Fantasy, or you love the “Narnia” series.

Review: Armada

Published on by Rachelle

Armada

  • Author: Ernest Cline
  • ISBN: 9780804137256
  • Genre: Science Fiction

The above ISBN is for the hardcover edition, but I listened to the audiobook I purchased.

Armada is an excellent second book by Ernest Cline, the author of Ready Player One.  I enjoyed it from start to finish and was a little surprised at how quickly I got through the book.  With Ready Player One, I felt that it took a while to get into the story due to the somewhat lengthy exposition at the beginning.  However, that wasn’t the case with Armada.  Instead, the backstory was given in little snippets when it was needed, so the pace of the story felt considerably faster.  There was also a lot of action, and the story takes place over a very short amount of time.  I can easily see the book being adapted to film.

As much as I loved it, though, I should have waited a bit longer to read it.  I finished Ready Player One not too long ago, and the main characters in the two books seem to be a lot alike.  Maybe they’re more different than I think.  Maybe the characters seem too similar because Wil Wheaton narrated both of the audiobooks.  Or maybe it’s because Ernest Cline is doing what every author should do and simply writing what he knows.  Either way, I picked up Armada too soon after Ready Player One.  That only goes for the characters, though.  While both books center around gaming, they are completely different stories.

If you loved Ready Player One, or for that matter, if you’ve read and loved Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card or other books along that vein of Science Fiction, you’ll love Armada.  This book is also an excellent choice if you’re a gamer.  I don’t know if Ernest Cline has a sequel in mind, but if he does, I will definitely read it, along with any other books he writes in the future.

Review: Uprooted

Published on by Rachelle

Uprooted

  • Author: Naomi Novik
  • ISBN: 9780804179034
  • Genre: Fantasy

The above ISBN is to the hardcover edition, but I listened to the audiobook I purchased.

Uprooted is the type of updated old world fairy tale that I love.  If you stripped the story down to it’s bare bones, it could easily be the kind of story found in Grimm’s Fairy Tales.  However, Naomi Novik adds the deep friendship of Agnieszka and Kasia and a touch of “Beauty and the Beast” style romance in such a way you would think she is herself a witch, and you’ve become spellbound.  I’m not talking about the Disney version of a fairy tale, though.  This is definitely an adult book.

Besides the friendship, I think what I love the most about this story is the Wood being the enemy.  Perhaps because my all-time favorite book, The Hobbit, also includes a sinister forest, and there’s just something about the woods in general that is both inviting and slightly menacing at the same time.  There is no “slightly” where the Wood is concerned, but it does lure people into its shade when it’s not grabbing and taking them, never to return.

I highly recommend getting the audiobook and bumping up the speed a bit (the narrator, Julia Emelin, talks too slowly IMO), unless you already know how to pronounce Slavic names or don’t care.  I think the audiobook helped bring me further into the world of the story, but there were several people complaining about the narrator’s heavy accent on the Sword and Laser discussion forums on Goodreads.  Regardless of the edition, if you love fairy tales, you’ll love Uprooted.

 

Review: Irona 700

Published on by Rachelle

Irona

  • Author: Dave Duncan
  • ISBN: 9781504002189
  • Publisher: Open Road Media
  • Genre: Fantasy

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first Open Road Media book I didn’t care for.  When I started reading, I thought it would be yet another Dystopian novel and Irona would overthrow the empire somehow.  In a way, Irona believes this of herself as well, but that’s not what happens at all.  Perhaps that’s the point of the story; not everyone is capable or even wants to start a revolution.  The problem with that is it makes for a yawn of a story.

I was interested in how Irona began working within the system she had hated all her life, but I continually wondered where the story was going and why I should care.  By the 75% mark, I began to dislike Irona, and by 80%, I was thoroughly bored but determined to finish the book.  It wasn’t until I had only about 5% left that I finally found out where Irona fit in the grand scheme of things.  She is the hero of the story, just not in the way you would think, and getting there made the book seem much longer than it is (the paperback edition is 402 pages).  On top of that, the author uses rape as a signifier of true evilness, and I’m a firm believer that there are better ways to write evil without having to resort to sexual assault.  While the one rape scene wasn’t exactly disturbing to me, it may trigger others, and it certainly wasn’t necessary.

Until today, the lowest rating I’ve given to an Open Road Media book was three stars (The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson).  This one gets two stars.  It just didn’t have enough good storytelling for me to give it three.  If you enjoy epic Greek or Roman style settings or political stories, and you don’t take issue with sexual violence, maybe check Irona 700 out from the library and give it a chance.  I wouldn’t pay money for this book, though.

#COYER Scavenger Hunt #51: Read a book with a number in the title.

Review: The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster

Published on by Rachelle

Lemoncholy

  • Author: Scott Wilbanks
  • ISBN: 9781492612469
  • Genre: Fiction

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

For most of the story, I thought it was clever and well written.  Annie and Elsbeth are memorable and charming characters.  There are some Fantasy elements involved, including a magic door that allows anyone who knows how to use it to time travel.  There are also some Classic Literature elements such as Annie’s obsession with the Victorian Era.  To top it off, the “present” time of Annie’s life is during the 1990s.  I had a few moments of nostalgia with little details like the sound of the dial-up modem Annie used to connect to her AOL account.

However, sometimes the dialogue was difficult to understand and made me feel as if I had somehow missed important information.  Have you ever been thinking something and tell someone when you’re in the middle of your thoughts, and they give you a confused look because they weren’t privy to what was going on in your head?  That’s how some of the characters’ conversations felt to me.  It was as if the author already knew the characters inside and out but forgot to fill the reader in on some of the background.  The same thing happened with some of the later plot points.  I got the impression that the explanation for why some things occurred was obvious to the author, but he forgot that the reader wouldn’t know.

Despite the missing information, The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster was an enjoyable light Summer read.  If you’re a fan of Victorian times or non-Science Fiction style time travel, and you want a book that doesn’t require a lot of mental energy, this book might be for you.

Review: The Hero and the Crown

Published on by Rachelle

Hero

  • Author: Robin McKinley
  • ISBN: 9780441013050
  • Genre: Fantasy

I purchased this book in an attempt to collect all of Robin McKinley’s books.

Robin McKinley is one of those Fantasy authors who I’ve never heard anything negative about her writing.  When I found out that she wrote several fairy tale retellings, I began trying to find all of them.  While this isn’t a retelling, it’s still Fantasy, so I bought it along with the second book, The Blue Sword.

I would have finished The Hero and the Crown in a single day if I had started it earlier.  I tried to finish it before I went to bed, but by 4 am, I couldn’t keep my eyes focused on the page anymore.  So, I finished it the next day.  The only part of the story I didn’t care for was the romance.  I know the two characters involved had spent a lot of time together by the time they fell in love, but it didn’t feel that way.  Perhaps that’s because I read the book so quickly, or maybe it’s because that part of the story didn’t take up a lot of pages.  Regardless, I would have preferred them to just be close friends.  That’s how I feel about a lot of fictional relationships, though, especially if the romance isn’t necessary to the plot.  Why is it that every time there happens to be both a male and female character in a book they have to fall in love with each other?

Putting the romance issue aside, I absolutely loved this book.  There is a significant part involving the main character, Aerin, and her relationship with her horse that I thought would bore me because I’ve never had any real interest in horse stories.  Surprisingly, that was one of the most engrossing parts of the story.  In other words, Robin McKinley succeeded in making me care about a horse, when up to this point in my life, the only horses I’ve liked are My Little Ponies.  So, if you happen to love horses, Robin McKinley, quest narratives, or High Fantasy, take a lazy day during the weekend (but start earlyish) to read The Hero and the Crown.

#COYER Scavenger Hunt #40: Read a book with a strong female protagonist.

Review: Abomination

Published on by Rachelle

Abomination

  • Author: Gary Whitta
  • ISBN: 9781941758304
  • Genre: Dark Fantasy

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Abomination is a mashup of History and Fantasy.  In a way, it starts out as an alternative history or at least a Fantasy explanation of certain events.  However, it didn’t take long before it veered away from the history of 9th century England into pure Fantasy Fiction.  It was full of anachronisms, and many of the characters had highly modern attitudes that were flat out ridiculous in the historical setting.  However, most of the story itself, especially the plot, was enjoyable and made me think of the “Diablo” video games I love to play.

If you’ve never played any of the “Diablo” games, then just know that they’re dark, gritty, and graphic, and they involve demonic possession and all the horrors that come along with it.  That is Abomination in a nutshell, and it’s not for anyone who doesn’t enjoy horror or is easily bothered by graphic violence.

A little over halfway through the book, the story took an unexpected turn that I can’t explain without giving away an important detail not mentioned in the Goodreads synopsis.  However, after that, it quickly became extremely predictable, and each turn of events grew more and more implausible and convenient.  I became antsy and impatient for the ending, so as much as I enjoyed over half of the book, I would have rather been playing “Diablo” during the last third or so.  If you enjoy playing “Diablo” or reading Dark Fantasy, maybe give this book a chance.  Perhaps you’ll feel differently than I did about the second half.

#COYER Scavenger Hunt #25: Read a book set in the Medieval Era (9th century).