Book Review: Emperor of Thorns (Broken Empire, #3) by Mark Lawrence)

2 stars

Emperor of Thorns is the last book in the Broken Empire trilogy and, as the name suggests, shows Jorg on his way to becoming Emperor. The book starts a little after the events of King of Thorns (to which I did not write a review) with Jorg traveling to Vyene to vote on the new emperor.

I gave 2 starts to the other two books in the trilogy and it is not different for this one. Many of my problems were repeated in this book as well and different problems appeared.

What I liked:

- Some of the side characters got interesting character development and they participated more in the story (with that I mean that they were more important to the narrative than in the previous ones, even though Jorg is still the one that does most of the things by himself). Katherine, for one, was a character that was more interesting and powerful. It was nice to see more female characters doing important things;

- Not only the secondary characters got more development but Jorg did as well. He still does things his way, he is still careless and always manages to get away with it, but he is a little more humane;

- We got more answers concerning the world of the narrative and more “scientific” explanations as well.

What I didn’t like:

- We may have gotten more answers but the world still does not make sense to me. Why did only some books (and only books that fit the medieval vibe of the story at that) survive and other did not? How can many of the technological devices still work with no power source to keep them running? And the explanation as to why there are ghosts, monsters, and the like did not work for me – even though it fits the story;

- The book drags on and on. There are too many scenes and descriptions that are completely unnecessary. This space could have been used for the final conflict;

- Many of the “scary things” were not scary at all and they have zero utility;

- I liked that we had some chapters showing Chella’s, the necromancer, side (3^rd person instead of 1^st as it is for Jorg), but they did not bring any new information;

- I really did not like the ending. Things were solved too easily and too quickly. The identity of the Dead King was too obvious. I thought the author took the “easiest way out” with this finale. He could have expanded the book a little more (or gotten rid of some useless parts) and created an ending that would actually fit the character’s personality and arc.

Over all, speaking of the trilogy as a whole, I liked the idea behind the story and even the world (had it been better explained), but I did not like the execution. I believe things improved from one book to the other and as the story progresses, but even so I could not get over my initial problems. 

Book Review: The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, #1) by Robert Jordan

Rating: 3 stars

The Eye of the World is the first book in a 14-book series by Robert Jordan (and later on finished by Brandon Sanderson once Jordan passed away). We follow the battle between Light and Dark through numerous ages and see the Dragon, both hated and loved, trying to bring down darkness and stop the world’s ruination (or bring down the world’s ruination).

The first thing that needs to be said about The Eye of the World: this is a straight up Tolkien pastiche. Not because the use of mythology or because of resemblance, many other people have done things similar to Tolkien but original in their own ways (and I stand on the belief that high fantasy should move away from the path Tolkien took. There are so many other mythologies out there! Go do something different!), but because the usage of the same archetypes, the same type of characters and the same line of thought. This one even has its own Sauron (a being with flames bursting from his eyes, hiding in the darkness, invading dreams, following people’s journey to destroy him, does it get any more Sauron?).

Ok, ok. It is not original (what defines originality anyway? Tolkien’s world was not that original), but is it interesting? For me the answer is both yes and no. It took me forever to finish this book, both because of my book slump and because I could not find the story that gripping. There are elements that I found extremely interesting and the story does pick up more to the end of the book, but most time it was just somewhat interesting, and maybe not that important, fillers. Everybody and everything is described and not in the oh-my-god-what-wonderful-prose-and-world way. Sometimes I was like ‘yes, he is different, I got that, you don’t need to spend another 10 paragraphs describing him. Again.”

This leads me to talk about the characters. Rand, Perrin, and Mat are simple farmers. During the days preceding a celebration known as Bel Tine, they have their lives threatened by creatures they thought only existed in legends.  They soon find out that The Dark One (the Evil incarnated who is supposed to be locked away in prison) is after them for reasons yet unknown (unknown to the three characters because we all know the answer since the beginning). They are helped by Moiraine, an Aes Sedai (a group of female magic-wielders responsible for the safety of the world) and Lan, a Guardian. Together (and they are joined by Egwene and Ninaeve) they set foot to Tar Valon, the home of the Aes Sedai where they will get help. Of course, things do not go according to plan.

Anyway, the characters. Rand was boring and the caricature of many heroes from this kind of story: he is different from others from his village, he lives alone with his father –that later on may not be his real father – and has powers that he didn’t know he had. Now he must battle with himself and with the dark powers to somehow come up intact from a battle he know he will probably lose (and we know he won’t because there are other 13 books out there). His problem, to me, was not being a stereotype, was just not being anything else but a stereotype. He lacked personality and was completely two-dimensional. Mat was even worse and his only strength was being a reckless idiot. Perrin was the one I liked the most and the one I think sees more character development, even though is not much.

The plot could have filled a three-hundred page book. Instead we get a 800-page book. I sincerely do not know why. Not much happens, the twists are all predictable, and we have lots of explanations for things that do not need explaining and lack of explanations for things that most certainly need explaining.

Now, the creatures of evil. I’m sad to say that none of them were particularly scary to me. Creatures names Trollocs do not make me scared, I just think they are hilarious (my five-year-old brain immediately though, the first time I saw the name: ‘oh bollocks, here come the Trollocs”. How can you take seriously something with that name?). And the Dark One himself was not terrifying in the slightest, especially because I knew how the book would end.

Overall, it was a nice tale, even though I found it extremely predictable. There were some nice elements to it and the world is interesting, but I could not get hooked by the story or the characters. However, I’m interested in knowing what is going to happen. I might give the other books a chance.

Book Review: Untouchable by S. A. Starcevic

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Title: Untouchable
Author: S. A. Starcevic
Rating: 4 stars

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

“Ethan Elliot is no stranger to secret identities. As an LGBT teen, he’s dealt with secrets all his life. Nevertheless, when his powers kick in and he’s whisked away to join a team of superheroes, he dons a mask of a different kind—one that sees him battling supervillains and testing his limits.

However, there’s more going on behind the scenes than capes and costumes. At the headquarters of the Protectorate, he makes unlikely friends with Gravity Girl and Element Boy. Except Element Boy might turn out to be more than just a friend, and Gravity Girl is battling demons of her own.

Ethan will discover what it means to be a hero, and must learn that even superheroes aren’t untouchable.”

“All kids dream of being superheroes.”

In a world where superheroes exist, that might be even truer. Except that our main character never wanted to be a hero. He was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time (or perhaps in the right place, at the right time). Now faced with superpowers, Ethan must learn to be a superhero and everything that comes with it.

Ethan is the sarcastic and funny narrator of his own story. His reactions to things were hilarious sometimes. Yes, there was the odd metaphor, but we can let it go seeing that he is very young and imaginative.

His backstory was interesting and so were his reasons for participating in everything. I am sure that I, given the opportunity to be a superhero, would take that on the spot as well, even if I was terrified brainless every time I’d have to face a super villain.

I liked the tidbits we have from Ethan’s and the other superheroes’ normal lives: their family stories, reactions, interests, etc. I thought some characters could have been better developed, especially the side characters, like the doctor. However, I think that, considering the length of the novella, we could gather a lot of information about the characters already.

The action scenes were nice and read like a superhero  story.  Ethan and his superhero boyfriend were so cute, but I wanted more on their relationship. This part felt a little rushed, but again I must say: the length does not contribute much exposure to their relationship. I hope to get more on that later!

I wanted some more world build. I mean, a world where superheroes and super villains exist and have names and a fanbase? Awesome. But, where did it all come from? How did that happen? Was it always like this? I know I will be repeating myself here, but  again the length of the novella did not help here. I wanted more and that is one of my biggest complains: I need more from this world and the characters. They managed to make me very curious and even to care about them in 54 pages!

Overall, I really liked the story and the characters and I would recommend it to anyone searching for a nice, short superhero story or a nice, short LGBT story. 

Book review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Isn't this cover great?

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The Martian

Andy Weir

5 stars

The Martian was most definitely a very exciting and funny read. Even though I had my issues with it, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience and the narrative.
Mark Watney was part of the Ares 3 mission to Mars. Everything was fine until the sixth day of the mission. A violent sand storm forced the mission to be cancelled. Unfortunately, as the astronauts were leaving the planet, Mark Watney died. Or so everybody thought. Watney was still alive and with no means to reach his peers or NASA. He was stranded in Mars, all alone, with no communication. His only hope was to wait for the Ares 4 mission. The problem: Ares 4 was 4 years away. Now, he must survive alone on a planet that wants to kill him and figure out a way to grow enough food to last 4 years.
I admit that what really made me read the book was the upcoming movie (and because Sebastian Stan is in it). I know, I know: bad bookworm behavior. But I’m really glad I did. It was awesome! I love books about space, space exploration, astronauts and the like. The Martian combined the science and the fiction aspects of sci-fi wonderfully. I have no idea if the science was correct or any inclination to check, but it definitely sounded good in the book and I guess that is all that matters. 
Our main character is creative, very intelligent, and possesses a never-ending supply of sass. It was nice to see how his personality influenced his decisions and his acts, and how it helped him to remain alive. 
Sometimes the book got a little repetitive but it was still interesting to see how Mark would react to a new situation and how he would get out of it. 
We have access to different perspectives throughout the book, which was nice. Mark tells what is going on with him through mission logs and we get to know what is happening at NASA and their attempts to rescue Watney. We also have access to the rest of the astronauts from Ares 3 and how they deal with the fact that Mark is still alive and alone in Mars. 
I have several things that annoyed me a little during the book, the main aspect was the amount of jokes like “I screamed like a girl” or the likes. His commander is a woman, we have several women in the mission, but “screaming like a girl” was still a cause to be embarrassed. I still cannot understand this. 
Over all, a nice read and I would definitely recommend it to people who like science fiction, space books, or sassy characters. 

Book review: Allegiant (Divergent, #3) by Veronica Roth

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Allegiant

Veronica Roth 

2 stars

What can I say about Allegiant? It was a disappointment. I was not expecting to love the book based on all the things I’d heard about it, but I was also not expecting to really dislike it. But I did. Not in the ‘I’m going throw this book in the fire’ dislike, but the ‘what the hell just happened?’ one. 
Allegiant is the last book in the Divergent trilogy and picks up the story some time after the events of Insurgent. Differently from the other ones, this book is told both by Tris and Four, with alternating chapters. 
Let me start with the things I liked: it was a fast paced book with lots of new information. We had an explanation about the world the characters lived in and the function of Chicago in it. We finally understood what Divergents are and their purpose and generally got to know what was wrong and what wasn’t. I liked that. I felt Divergent and Insurgent lacked world-building and while we have more tell than show in this one, at least we got answers.
That said, I did not like said explanation. It didn’t make much sense. And the beliefs that started it all were ridiculous and would be very easily proved wrong of people really wanted to do so. But maybe that was the point and I missed it? Anyway, I was expecting something much more elaborate and plausible. I didn’t feel like it fit the world we had gotten to know in the previous stories and it made the characters action in the two other books seem laughable because they were actually not that significant. 
I also did not like the way they decided to ‘solve’ things. And everything was too happily resolved in the end. It made no sense and I am sure things would not have ended the way they did. But maybe, again, that was the whole point and I missed it. 
I didn’t like the alternating chapters simply because I saw no difference between their voices. Tris and Four sounded exactly the same. Sometimes I had to get back to the beginning of the chapter to see who was narrating because I surely couldn’t tell them apart. 
And then “the thing” happened and I was done. Not because of “the thing” itself but because it made no sense. It could have easily been done some other way. Did it fit the character? Most definitely. Could it be avoided? It most certainly could have. It just made me angry and not sad like it was supposed to. 
Over all, not a nice read for me. And, again, this is all my opinion. I could not enjoy it.

Book review: Ripper by Stefan Petrucha

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Ripper 

Stefan Petrucha

3 stars

What can I say about this book? Actually not much. It was a nice, fast paced read, but it was so predictable that most of the times I just wanted to roll my eyes or slap the characters with the book. Or both. 
Ripper tells the story of Carver Young and orphan who suddenly discovers that he has to be adopted or he will have to live on the streets because he is too old to continue at the orphanage. At the same time, he also finds a letter from his father. Obsessed with being a detective (just like Sherlock Holmes) and to find his father, Carver is thrilled when he is adopted by a former private investigator, Hawking. 
However, not everything is well, Jack, the Ripper is attacking wealthy women in New York and leaving behind only chaos and fear. Carver is caught between his search for his father and the search for Ripper, and helping New Pinkerton –the agency Hawking kind of works for – not to be found by the police.
I loved the premise of the book. Jack, the Ripper is fascinating and having him change his patterns and attack in New York is a very nice concept, one that definitely calls my attention. However, I’m not certain having a 14-year-old as a protagonist seems wise. Much more could have been done with an older, wiser protagonist. Things sometimes sounded too silly to be true (I know, I know, suspension of disbelief and all that, but even so…) and too naïve. I really don’t believe things would have ended the way they did and even in the book, for me, the ending and some situations were a little forced. 
And everything was too predictable. I figured out the ending in the first pages and that was because I was trying not to jump to conclusions. You can guess the ending without even reading the book, actually. It is always the same thing. 
However, some things were nice. I really liked the detective agency and all things they used there. The characters were somewhat nice as well and some of them presented some pretty interesting character development.

Book review: Sherlock Holmes in Japan by Vasudev Murthy

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Sherlock Holmes in Japan
Vasudev Murthy
2 stars

It is not a surprise for anyone that I absolutely love Sherlock Holmes (and that I am not so secretly Moriarty) and that I love reading pastiches about the consulting detective. So it was with my heart bursting of joy that I started reading “Sherlock Holmes in Japan”. The book brings us the story of the “missing years” of the famous detective, presenting a possibility as to what he could possibly be doing during the years he was supposedly “dead”. 
I liked the concept of this book a lot. What happened to Sherlock Holmes between Reichenbach and his rather dramatic reencounter with Watson is something that I’ve always wished Conan Doyle would have written about. We don’t have Doyle, but now we have a pastiche. Good enough for me. 
The beginning of this book was very interesting. Watson receives a letter from his dead friend, urging him to go to Japan, where very important events were unfolding. Then, for me, things go downhill. The long explanations of boarding and disembarking were too much and could have been using to furthering the plot. Talking about plot, it was too uneven and, admittedly, rather boring. 
The big events that could change the whole world were not that exciting and the conclusion and the bad guys were very obvious. Besides, this cat and mouse game played by Holmes and Moriarty was not as amazing as it could have been. Their enmity has lots of potential and unfortunately, in my opinion, it was not very well utilized. 

BOOK REVIEW: MEMORY BY TERESA P. MIRA ECHEVERRÍA

I received a free e-version copy of this story from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

This novelette, written by an Argentine author, is the story of Jedediah, a Mars colonizer, who tells his story from his younger years to his adulthood.

Jedediah’s life was always marked by the silence of his father, the dustiness of Mars, his solitude, and his neighbor’s pink car. One day, he meets Ajax, a native, one of the people who were genetically created and modified to the terraforming of Mars. The natives’ lives should be entirely devoted to making Mars a suitable place for humans. Later, they would be used as slaves. Ajax was one of the leaders of the revolution intent on freeing Mars from human captivity. Even though they only met once when Jedediah was young, a connection was formed. Jedediah grew, started working, and then set off to find Ajax. Meeting him, he found more than he was expecting: he found love, a sense of belonging, a home.

The novelette is divided into several short pieces, each one telling a little bit of Jedediah’s growth and how he views the planet he lives on. We get to see his childhood, his adulthood, and his own children and how Mars modifies them and connects them.

It was a lovely narrative about human behavior, emotions and actions: colonization, coming of age, love, sexuality, family, right and wrong, memory, and many other themes were discussed in this short narrative. The singularity of Mars gave space to a singular narrative, in which different characters, perspectives, and situations were intertwined to form a unique, and sometimes thought-provoking, story. The importance of memory and its role, how it modifies the way we behaved was explored in a different way, in which the consequences of one’s actions could transform the future radically and alter not only the person’s reality, but the reality of a whole world.

I would recommend this novelette if you are interested in a quick, deep read and, of course, if you like science fiction stories!

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Book: A Darker Shade of Magic

Author: V. E. Schwab

Publication date: 2015

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The plot of this book contains all clichés one can find in fantasy: a boy, who is one of the last of his kind, capable of great magic and, also, of great destruction; a mysterious plot that can endanger the lives of the entire world (or worlds in this case); a girl who looks forward to greater things and a life of freedom; a showdown between two or more components of the list of characters; and a bad guy who will stop at nothing to get what they want. All these elements can be found in this book. Did they make it less enjoyable? Absolutely not; I liked this book and its characters and story quite a lot.

Kell is one of the last Antari, blood magicians who can travel between worlds. There is Red London, thriving with magic and life; Grey London, a dull world that has forgotten about magic and how to use it; White London, a dying world that hungers for magic and wants to control it at any costs; and Black London, forever forgotten, the cause to the separation of the worlds. Kell is bound to Red London’s Royal family and travels between the worlds to deliver messages between regents. However, Kell likes to bring tokens from the different Londons, music boxes, chess pieces, etc, which is illegal and dangerous. When one of Kell’s visits to White London goes awry, he has to find a way to stop a dangerous chain of events he himself helped put into motion. His final destination: Black London. He will not be alone in quest: he will be helped by Delilah Bard, a thief and aspiring pirate who wants to live an adventure. Together, they will set off to help save the Londons from a terrible fate.

Kell is a very interesting character, full of possibility. As many characters in fantasy, he has lots of power, which can lead him to save the world or destroy it. Lila is amazing and completely fascinating. I loved seeing how she views the world and reacts to the different events. Both of they are morally gray and ambiguous, not being totally good or bad. Most of the times they fight for themselves and their ideals, wherever this might lead them. However, I was a little disappointed with the antagonistic side of the story. I was hoping for a little… more. I thought the bad side was quite evident and so were the reasons behind their actions.

There were some interesting plot twists and the book doesn’t stop for one minute. We are always jumping from situation to situation, trying to understand who to trust and where the story is leading us and what might happen in the end.

The side characters were also interesting, even though some of them could have been more well-developed. I hope to get to know more about Holland and Rhy. I already like Rhy a lot, but it would be nice to get him to be more participative in the events of the story. The same goes to Holland, the only other living Antari. His back story and motivations were not that explored and he would certainly be an incredibly nice character to get to know about. His complexity already shows and I think Shwab can do wonders with him.

SPOILER I refuse to believe he is dead. He wasn’t when Kell sent him to Black London and, as they both say, it is very difficult to kill an Antari. Black London is there to be explored. I demand more from both Holland and this other shady London END OF SPOILER.

I’m looking forward to knowing what will happen next, even though some of the possibilities are quite evident, and a little cliché as well.

SPOILER Of course Lila is Antari. She has magic inside her, she can travel between worlds and she has a glass eye END OF SPOILER.

Over all, a great read, full of magic, action, and morally ambiguous characters that will travel with you through several different and fantastic worlds. I strongly recommend this book.

Book Review: Mr Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars #2)

Book: Mr Kiss and Tell

Authors: Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham

Series: Veronica Mars

Published: 2015

TW: Rape

Veronica is now settled in her life in Neptune. She has a car, an apartment, and Logan is finally on shore leave. Veronica is hired by an insurance company to determine a rapist. A girl was found half dead in a ditch, beaten and raped. She spent months saying she didn’t remember what happened to her. Now she does and she is accusing a former member of the Neptune Grand hotel staff as her rapist. That could give her millions if proven true. Veronica is hired to prove or disprove her story. Meanwhile, Weevil’s trial is happening and Keith Mars is adamant on making the sheriff department, and the Sherriff himself, pay for planting evidences.

Mr Kiss and Tell is a very nice Veronica Mars story. It is always awesome to have Veronica involved in a case she is passionate about, seeing her kicking ass and taking names. The story is fast paced, never stopping too much, going from one case to the other or giving us a glimpse of Veronica’s life.

As usual, with Veronica, things could never be simple. She doubts herself, the world, her cases, her relationship, her job, her life, everything. Typical Veronica that we love and cherish. Her relationship with Logan is its usual turbulent state, with its bumps along the way. Her relationship with her father is still awesome as usual, as is her friendship with Wallace and Mac.

Leo also appears a lot in this book, which I quite liked. I like Leo, he was one of my favorite of Veronica’s boyfriends. He is very important help for Veronica during her search for the rapist and a nice character as well.

The plot is interesting and the mystery is good. It is always lovely to see Veronica’s crazy plans and how she drags everyone else into what she is doing. As mentioned before, there is a trigger warning for rape and rape discussions, as well as the usual misogynistic quips brought to you by your favorite police department.

Something else that I liked is to see the character development for the characters, especially for Weevil and his relationship to the other characters as well as his choices during the book.

I would recommend this book to all Veronica Mars fans and fans of mystery novels.

Book Review: Lair of Dreams (The Divners #2) by Libba Bray

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Rating: 4/5 stars

An ARC of this book was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Possible spoiler ahead!
The Diviners are the new sensation, especially Evie, the Sweetheart Seer, who has her own radio show and a crowd of fans waiting for her to tell them their secrets. However, not everything is good. A new sickness, the sleeping sickness, is spreading through the city. People simply go to sleep and then never wake up again. 
To go directly to the point: it was a lovely book and it left me terrified to go to sleep. But I didn’t feel it as strongly as The Diviners. There is less action and I felt things were resolved too easily (if they were resolved at all. Maybe not. You never know).
One thing that displeased me was the lack of Evie and Memphis. They are definitely my favorites and, Memphis especially, almost doesn’t show up. I liked the new addition to our Diviners team, Ling, a Dream Walker like Henry. Speaking of Henry: poor baby. I just wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and give him nice things. 
Sam is a character that also gets attention in this book. His story is interesting and the whole mystery surrounding him and his family is taken to a new level in the narrative. I’m looking forward to knowing what is going to happen with him and where the whole Paranormal Department is going to take us. The ending hinted at bigger things to come and new mysteries to be solved in relation to him and his family.
The dreams walks in this book were lovely and helped Henry find some answers to his past. However, I did not enjoy the mystery too much, because, for me, it was not mysterious at all. It was well-developed, interchanging Ling’s and Henry’s dream walks to their lives outside of dreams and how one was connected to the other. 
I love the mention to Gemma Doyle and how the two stories are in the same verse. It opens up lots of new possibilities. 
The only thing I can say with certainty that I did not like at all was exactly the same thing that I disliked in the first book: the love triangle. The book could certainly do without it and it wouldn’t miss a thing. Maybe Libba Bray will prove me wrong in the future, but for now I really don’t like it. 
Over all, I really recommend it. It is a great continuation to a great series. 

Book Review: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham

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My marshmallow heart is happy. 
Veronica Mars is back on business. While her father recovers from the accident that nearly took his life, Veronica has to deal with Mars Investigations business. It is spring break, students from different universities come to enjoy the beach and to party. Everything is good until a girl goes missing. V is hired by the Chamber of Commerce to discover what happened and find the girl. However, things get complicated when another girl goes missing. Can Veronica find them before it is too late?
The Thousand Dollar Tan Line picks up from where the movie stopped. Veronica is back to being a private investigator, leaving her career as a lawyer behind. I loved to read about Veronica, Mac, Wallace, and everybody else. For those who don’t know, Veronica Mars is one of my favorite series, and Veronica has to be one of my favorite characters of all time. It was great to delve back into her world and explore the criminal world with her again. 
The mystery is great. Two different girls go missing after going to a mysterious party. Two families (one of them presents a great challenge for Veronica) looking for their daughter, the interests of the rich mixed in everything, and an incompetent sheriff. Just like old times. 
The writing is nice and it manages to capture Veronica’s personality very well. Her sass is brilliant and her comebacks never seize to make me laugh. I love her relationship with her father and this book presented it very well, how both of them care for each other and how they work so well together. 
Logan is not on it so much, which makes me sad, but V is constantly thinking about him and what their relationship means and where it is going. You know, typical LoVe story. As usual, Mac and Wallace are great and they are very important to the development of the story and of V’s personality and character. 
If you like the show I completely recommend reading this book!

Book Review: Missing Era - The Emergence by A. O. Khali

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BOOK: Missing Era - The Emergence

AUTHOR: A. O. Khalil

RATING: 2/5 stars

I’ve received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Let’s make something very clear before I start the review per se: I loved the idea behind this book. It was a very interesting end-of-the-world story with some very intriguing twists and turns. I would gladly give 5 stars to the idea, for the novelty of it. However, there were some things that I could oversee so I could give more than 2 stars to the book and I think the main reason was the execution.
I’ll divide this review in two parts: the things I liked and the things I didn’t like. 
Things I liked:
1. Like I mentioned, I really loved the idea. Sinkholes start appearing all over the world and suddenly people start to go missing. The government and all authorities are baffled and no one has a good explanation for what is going on. And then, all in once, things start to get real bad. 
It was an awesome idea that could, and can, lead to an awesome story. I am very intrigued by where the story is going and where it is going to end. 
2. The Uglies. The Uglies are the people who start coming out of the sinkholes. They are completely different from us and they do things in a very interesting way. They are, most definitely, a really nice antagonist.
3. The prologue. It was excellent to set the tone for the story as well as where we are time-wise. It was one of the most well written parts of the book, if I can say so, and it left me wanting for more. If I have to be completely honest it was the prologue, more than the description of the book, that left me hooked and curious to know what was going to happen.
4. I really liked the main characters being adults. Nowadays, when we have a dystopic story or an end-of-the-world tale many of the main characters tend to be adolescents or young adults. The main character of this book and its narrator, Jayson, is an adult married man. This was a very nice change.
5. The POV. I like first person narrators because we get to see the story as someone sees it. Also because first person narrators are completely unreliable and they can’t be trusted in any way. It is nice to try to weave out what is actually going on and what is the character’s opinions on stuff. 
Things I didn’t like:
1. The narrative itself. I feel so much could have been done with the idea and I didn’t see much happening. I mean, the story doesn’t stop for one second, with the characters jumping from one place to the other, but many things I perceive as completely useless.
Also, the narrative repeats itself quite a bit, with many things being said two times or more in the same page. 
2. I couldn’t make much difference between the characters voices. Besides their opinions sometimes, they were no different. There was no distinguishable tone or mannerisms. 
3. But the main thing, the thing that really made me lower the rating (from 3 stars to 2) was the inherent sexism of this book. The main character was the one who always had the ideas, who led, who was always better than the other ones. The girls were never taken to the action, there was always an excuse to “keep them safe”, the girls had all the emotional reactions, etc. If that was only the main character, that would not be much of a problem, because the character can be misogynistic to no difference to the narrative. But I couldn’t separate the character’s opinions and actions from the narrative itself. Everyone and their dog seemed to think the same. 
All in all, this story has lots of potential and I am really intrigued to see where this is going. There is a good possibility that I will buy the next book to see how the story will unfold. The twist in the end was pretty nice and hinted at bigger things to come. 

Book Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Goodreads

Title: The Lies of Locke Lamora

Author: Scott Lynch

Series: Gentleman Bastard

This rating may have come as a surprise for the few of you who have known my struggles with this book, but let me tell you: I judged this book too soon.
This was my third try reading this. The first two times I simply was not interested enough to continue. I decided to try one last time and go till the end, no matter how boring it was for me. There had to be a reason for this book to be so praised. It started like the last couple of times. I was bored and couldn’t feel the story. But, to my surprise, two hundred pages in, I was sucked into the book and the world and just couldn’t stop reading!
Even during my two first failures with this book, one thing I was sure: the world the story is set in is awesome! This was confirmed now that I’ve read the whole thing. It is an ancient world, full of history and mystery. Camorr was built over the remains of an alien civilization that has long left the planet. However, they’ve left wonders for the humans to find.
The second thing that has called my attention since the first time: the characters. They are simply great. The more you read, the more attached to them you get. They’re funny, smart, brave, and completely stupid. They’ll do things that will make you roll your eyes, cry, or even laugh out loud. The friendship they have is amazing. And they’re all really badass. 
The plot is interesting and the action doesn’t stop for one single minute. We’re always jumping from one place to the other. The interludes at the end of each chapter were great to help us understand the characters, their motivation, and also the way the world they live in is structured. 
One thing I really enjoyed was the female representation. Even though the only female member of the Gentlemen Bastards is away and doesn’t appear in the book, it brings a great variety of interesting female characters that have the most diverse jobs: they are guards, magicians, spies, warriors, botanists, or sort of things. It is a breath of fresh air when it comes to fantasy.
Seriously, I’ve misjudged this book in the beginning. It was a solid five star after I’ve started really looking into it: fun, funny, action-packed, solid world-building, solid characters and narrative, nice plot twists. I really recommend this book. 

Book Review: Bummed Out City by Scott Burr

Goodreads

Book: Bummed Out City

Author: Scott Burr

Published September 23rd 2014

Rating: 4/5 stars

I got interested in this book the moment I read the synopsis. I'm very thankful to Artless Dodges Press for giving me the opportunity not only to read and review this book, but also to get to know this book. I would probably not have contact with this work otherwise. Thank you, and sorry for taking me so long to get to reading it.

It may have taken me long to pick up the book and start reading it, but when I did pick it up I read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down before I finished it. 

The book tells the story of David, a struggling author. David had many dreams. None of them came true. His book are still not a success. More than that, he cannot find a single publisher that would accept to publish them. I thought this discussion, of life not being able to keep up with one's expactations and dreams, to be really interesting and poignant. We have all those dreams and images of what the future will be like and, most of the times, none of these dreams come true. David took it really badly, which is what leads to all his problems.

I David as a main character. He is completely annoying and self-centered. And, because of his selfishness and self-centeredness, he was a totally unreliable narrator. We could see he was trying his best to make us understand his suffering and problems and see the others as 'enemies' of his progress. And we could see him trying and failing to do so. 

I didn't think this book was plotless. I believe the mundane tasks were essential to understand David as a character and what he was trying to accomplish. 

As for the ending, I really liked it. I felt it fit with the general mood of the story, making it all raw and powerful, I think any other ending would have made the story a disservice and would not have rung as true. 

Book Review: Stolen: a letter to my captor by Lucy Christopher

Goodreads

Book: Stolen

Author: Lucy Christopher

Published May 4th 2009

Rating: 4/5 stars

The first thing I need to say is: I was not expecting to like this book at all. Don't take me wrong, it was nothing against the book itself, it just didn't sound like something I would enjoy. 
I was wrong. I liked it better than I ever thought I would. However, I didn't love it. I had problems with some aspects of the book, but I think I liked more things than I disliked, hence the rating. 

- The plot: Gemma is kidnapped from the airport of Bangkok and taken to the Australian Outback. There, she has to live with her kidnapper and try her best to survive and escape. That is it. That's the plot. The entire book is Gemma trying to deal with being stolen and taken away from any form of civilization and dealing with her feelings (bad and good) for her captor. 

I had no problems with the plot. I liked it. I liked how things took place, how the writing connected to the emotions of the narrator (who is writing a letter to her captor) and how the setting seemed to match the main character's feelings. 
Let me explain this last part: the descriptions of the place matched the emotional state of the narrator. If she was feeling angry, sad, or depressed, everything was desolated, far away, an open cage, a prison; if she was feeling happy, the land, even though desolated, was beautiful and full of hidden life. Many authors forget that how we see our surroundings is connected to how we are feeling. Christopher didn't. The language was appropriate to every situation. I really liked it. 

- The characters:

*Gemma: I think Gemma was pretty well written. Her feelings sounded believable and completely possible. She had many layers to herself and always fought to what she believed was right.

*Ty: Now Ty was the one I had problems with. Not because of what he did, because if the hadn't kidnapped Gemma there would be no book. But because he was.... not exactly what he was supposed to be. I felt he didn't fill in the role he was supposed to fill. He was too... dreamy. That's what he felt to me: a dream. It might be what the author meant: if you look back you don't see the facts how they really went, but how you, at the present, see them. And it is a different perspective. But Ty felt too unreal to me. I couldn't understand his motivations. I couldn't understand him as a character. And that was my biggest issue with this book.

- The setting: It was perfect. It felt like a living thing, another character. I could perfectly imagine the place, the driness of the desert, etc. It was the best setting for what the author attempt, mainly because it made the two characters closer, made escape near impossible and contributed to the mood of the whole book. 

Overall, a nicely written book with a somewhat bittersweet ending.

My Month in Books

January was a very good reading month. I decided that, since I will be facing the unknown that is grad school from March on, I would read as much as I could in January and February and try to make a dent on my to-read list. So, I ended up reading 17 books this month.

For this post, I would like to talk a little bit about the books I read, the challenges I participated in, and anything else book related for the month of January!

My posts

I posted a lot of pictures of my reading this month through Instagram (you can find me HERE if you are interested). I sincerely regret not joining Instagram sooner. It is a very practical way of posting pictures, updating my reading status, and finding new bookish people.

Treesofreverie Read-A-Thon

It was so hot that I had to have a glass of water at hand to be able to participate in the reading sprints :)

I participated in the 72h read-a-thon for this month, hosted by the amazing Sarha at treesofreverie.
I read two books - Heat Rises by 'Richard Castle' and Stolen by Lucy Christopher - and started reading Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

I considered it to be a very successful read-a-thon and, taking into account how hot is was where I am, I kept a good reading pace and also managed to participate in several of the reading sprintas! I am really looking forward to other read-a-thons in the future! They are just so much fun!


2015 Book Genre Challenge

I also participated in the 2015 book genre challenge. If you don't know what that is just click HERE to get informed and/or join the fun!
The genre of the month was Fantasy, so I read two books: Finnkin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta and The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima.


Reviews

Sadly, I only wrote one review in January, and that was my review of Ender's Game and you can find it HERE.

Last, but no least, a list of the books read this month and their ratings!

1. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (4 stars)
2. The Prisoner of Heaven (Cemetary of Forgotten Books #3) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (3 stars)
3. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (5 stars)
4. Finnikin of the Rock (The Lumatere Chronicles #1) By Melina Marchetta (4 stars)
5. The Shadow in the Norht (Sally Lockhart #2) by Philip Pullman (4 stars)
6. The Hollow by Agatha Christie (3 stars)
7. The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima (2 stars)
8. Elephants can Remember by Agatha Christie (2 stars)
9. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie (4 stars)
10. The Monogram Murders (Hercule Poirot pastiche) by Sophie Hannah (2 stars)
11. Heat Wave (Nikki Heat #1) by Richard Castle (2 stars)
12. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (5 stars)
13. Naked Heat (Nikki Heat #2) by Richard Castle (3 stars)
14. The Incredible Hul: Planet Hulk Part 2 (3 stars)
15. Heat Rises (Nikki Heat #3 by Richard Castle (3 stars)
16. Stolen by Lucy Christopher (4 stars)
17. Uglies (Uglies #1) by Scott Westerfeld (2 stars)

How did you do this month? How many books did you read? Did you participate in any challenges? Let me know in the comments!!!

Book Review: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Goodreads

Rating: 5/5 stars

Pages: 380

Published: 1985

Before I start this review, I would like to say that I do not believe, agree, or condone any of the author’s ideas on sex, gender, and sexuality.  I feel terribly sad that someone uses their influence as a widely read author to spread harmful ideas.

That is why it took me so long to read this book. I don’t think I would have read it if I hadn’t got it as a gift. Also, Asa Butterfield helped. He is all my heart desires to play Artemis Fowl. Okay, let’s move on with the review.

Over all, I really liked this book. It was one of the best Science Fiction books I read, and I’ve read quite a lot of them in my time (actually, it is a genre I want to go back to reading. I miss it.) Not exactly because of the brilliance of the plot and of the characters, which were actually quite simple, but mainly because of the amazing twists. And also because it is very well structure and makes sense world-wise. There are some Science Fiction books that simply cannot reach a level of internal coherence so needed for the genre and they end up sounding fake. This world, even though we who live and breathe technology may find some aspects impossible, is very coherent as a story and as a world.

So, let’s take a look at the positive aspects of Ender’s Game:

- As I just mentioned, it is coherent. And it is a very gripping story. I always wanted to read another page just to know what was going to happen to Ender and what the next step of his training was going to be. I found myself completely immersed in the characters and the story and sometimes hooting for good things to happen.

- It has the right amount of explanation. We know what happened –an alien invasion that almost killed our entire species- and we know what is happening. We also get to know what is happened behind the curtains, the political tension our world is going through and what is at stake. The explanation is not over-the-top or too little, and it gets mixed with the story and we form the picture of the situation as the story progresses.

- There is an interesting view on technology and social networking. However, it does seem a little far-fetched for someone who is immerse in the world of blogging and online communities.

- And, for me, one of the best features of this book was the big plot twist at the end. After you read it you realize that the entire book was just building up to it, and if you had paid only a little bit more of attention to the small details and weird pieces of conversation you would have figured it all out. And that was amazing: how, in hindsight, everything was there, but reading it you let it all slip past you. Very well done.

Now, for the negative aspects:

- I felt the characters to be a little too young and sometimes it was really easy to forget how young they were.

- Now, my biggest issue was the underlying misoginy presente in the entire book. I almost stopped reading it in the beginning when the very memorable line of ‘Too many centuries of evolution working against them’ is said. Of course, ‘them’ is girls. Now, I don’t know what you consider as centuries of evolution working against me, but I am pretty sure a girl could do all the things Ender did. And not only ‘could’. There is a lot of women out there who do belong to the army, who are in wars and fight for what they believe in. And THAT is, and will always be as long as it proceeds, my biggest issue with Science Fiction and Fantasy books: it doesn’t matter how far away in the future the story is set, the authors use the same outstandily stupid gender role mentality. There is no evolution when it comes to equality. And not only of gender, but of race, sexuality, religion, among others. It is completely unbelievable.

However, I didn’t stop reading and I’m actually glad I didn’t. I had a lot of fun reading this book and I would absolutely recommed it. Oh, and don’t forget to watch the movie as well. It is very different from the book (when is it not?), but very interesting as well!