February Book Reviews
Three Dark Crowns (Kendare Blake)
8/10 My first book for February and it was a solid YA fantasy novel! Consider me pleasantly surprised. I haven't really enjoyed YA Fantasy since I was in high school so I guess you could say they really know their target audience. When most plots are 'girl discovers she's the one, gets involved in drama (usually involving royalty), and there's at least two guys who fight over her', I can get pretty cynical. But the premise for this one starts out with three queens with different powers who have to fight for one throne. So I thought that well, the worst case scenario is that 'three girls discovers she's the one' and it'll still be a step up from the usual. Plus the cover looked nice. And luckily it was better than the worst case scenario! All three girls are equal protagonists with fleshed out personalities and characteristics. Their powers and backgrounds are varied enough to make it interesting, including the secondary characters around them. I wasn't even that bothered by the romance, which they didn't make integral to the plot. My favourite thing was that the book never presented you with a clear candidate to root for, and it made the book worth reading. Of course it's a YA fantasy novel so of course they have sequels (ugh), but fortunately the ending hooks weren't too 'cliffhanger' and good enough that I felt satisfied reading it. Overall a solid read, although perhaps I'd still only recommend it to people who enjoy YA fantasy or at least, people who once did.One Dark Throne (Kendare Blake)
5/10 It took everything I liked about the first book and abandoned it pretty much. It focused more on the romance, A LOT MORE, and Katherine's deal was kind of complicated and instead of the unique approach of fleshing out each of the three protagonists, it became more of a straightfoward linear story. It also focused a lot on one particular side character and while I feel the kind of 'plot twist' they have going for her, it really wasn't what I picked up this book to read about. It basically just became another average YA fantasy novel; with girls discovering she has a long lost power, guys fighting over girls...etc. Is it better because it's spread out amongst three (four?) characters? Eh, not to me. It's not bad, but it's not mindblowing. Instead of being pleasantly surprised at a refreshing take on a genre I previously considered stale and cliche, it just reinforced my prejudice.Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House (Alyssa Mastromonaco)
3/10 A long-winded title and a long-winded book. I really did not enjoy this book. It may sound mean, but just reading through the first chapter and...it just sounds like a white lady wrote this. And not in a good way. I can't pin down anything specific but I disliked the author not even halfway through the book. Once again, I go back to expectations vs reality when it comes to books. I picked it up hoping it would be a thoughtful and interesting look into what it's like working closely to President Obama on Capitol Hill. Instead what I got was pages of the life and detailed health issues of some lady I've never heard of with some stories of the president in between. It really sounds mean, but I seriously do not care. I didn't come here for her biography, although I'm sure she feels like this is her biography. There's literally a chapter titled "Some Personal Shit You Should Probably Know". No, I really don't. And certainly, as woman working in a male dominated space, there should be plenty of surprising stories - or at least some that'd make you go 'hey I didn't think of that.' But other than some stuff about tampons, there really wasn't anything that jumped out at me. The only thing I took away from the book was like man I sure wish Obama was still the POTUS and I'm not even American.The Mistletoe Murders and Other Stories (P.D. James)
6.5/10 It delivered on what was promised: short murder stories styled after the classic authors of the Golden Age of Mystery. Although none were particularly outstanding or memorable, each was pretty solid and made for a fun read. There were a couple stories that seemed more open-ended than I'd liked but on a whole I was pretty satisfied. I got what I came for. I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a tasty bite-sized mystery. It's nothing too suspenseful, plot filled, or action-packed. I think the book's own closing remark summed it up best: "My dear Aunt Jane, I don't think I'll ever have another case like it. It was pure Agatha Christie."Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (J.D. Vance)
6/10 A fairly interesting and dramatic portrayal of the author's life growing up in the working class white families of America's Rust Belt. The author takes derogatory terms like 'hillbilly', 'redneck' and 'white trash' and not only illustrates their nuances but also wears them like pride. Through the retelling of his childhood growing up in Middle America, he examines the social, economic and cultural changes happening in the not insignificant portion of the population living there. Although I felt removed, again due to it being set in America with heavy emphasis on American culture, it was a thought provoking look into a vastly different way of life. However, I also felt that because his experience is so deeply personal, he tends to lean too heavily on the idea that many of the poor are poor because they choose to be. He repeats a dangerous rhetoric without fully fleshing out both sides of the argument but at the same time generalizing his experiences as a representative of his particular culture. It feels ultimately one-sided. Still, it's an absorbing read, with a dysfunctional family and a narrative about moving through class barriers to the top. But I think it's a good idea to keep in mind that it's not without its flaws and it is only one story out of countless others.Norse Mythology (Neil Gaiman)
7/10 On the surface, this feels like a very basic introduction to Norse mythology. The major players are present and the most famous stories are included, or as many as possible in less than 300 pages. The stories are written very simply, without the typical gravitas or fantastical language usually reserved for myths and legends. There's parts of the dialogue that even sound modern, usually for comedic effect ("Thor, shut up"). I feel like it's a very good book for kids to read as their first look at Norse mythology. But despite the simplicity of it, there were certain lines and certain parts that stood out to me. I especially enjoyed the references to Ragnarok the most and they stuck with me the most. To quote the author himself, "It was the fact that the world and the story ends, and the way that it ends and is reborn, that made the gods and the frost giants and the rest of them tragic heroes, tragic villains."Also, if you're a fan of Marvel's Thor movies, you'll probably enjoy the way Thor and Loki are written here. The uncomplicated writing style makes the characters seem very human, and it's not hard imagining Marvel's Loki and Thor in many of their exchanges like this one: “'I hope you know what you are doing.' 'Of course I do,' said Thor. But he didn’t. He was just doing whatever he felt like doing. That was what Thor did best."
0 comments:
Post a Comment