Book reviews

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman | Review

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Pages: 300

Genre: mythology, fantasy

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LOOK AT THAT COVER!

I already liked this book by page fourteen, because in the quote above Gaiman is basically describing my home and I agree it makes a lot of sense to not like your gods if they keep burying you in snow and forget humans need sunlight once in a while. Also scandinavians doesn’t really trust anyone as a rule and/or joke. Mostly joke, nowadays. Also no! This is not connected to american gods, it’s a retelling of the old norse myths. I’ve glanced at the reviews for this book, and it’s obvious some have no idea what they’re writing about, that this book is based on real myths and that’s why it’s a series of short stories and not one connected plot. I’ll come back to that later.

[About Loki] He is tolerated by the gods, perhaps because his stratagems and plans save them as often as they get them into trouble.

What I mostly took from these stories was that the gods of Asgard would be incredibly bored without Loki there and I don’t know why I feel this symphatic towards his monster children, but to banish one to the edge of the world, one to underneath the earth and one in chains seems awful. Joke’s on them, but mostly on humans, whyy did anyone think this was a good idea. Also I predict “Shut up, Thor” will be my favourite line of the whole book.

“Because,” said Thor, “when something goes wrong, the first thing I always think is, it is Loki’s fault. It saves a lot of time.”

Would recommend this book for anyone who’s interested in norse mythology, especially after watching “Thor”, that’s why this book is published now isn’t it? Basically, this book is for beginners. Please go read up on the edda if you want something traditional and to understand where this book came from, the language isn’t that difficult in the modern versions. Know that the stories are modernized some and rewritten, that’s the whole point of having Gaiman write them, but the right elements are definitely there. I was pretty well-known with norse mythology already, through school and own interest, and didn’t really find anything new. But it was somewhere between an okay and fun read, with some stories I found more interesting than others. Mostly I liked the stories that required charging the jotner (giants?) and including Frøya.  And I like this type of Loki, if you haven’t guessed already:

“Well? You know something. I can see it in your face. Tell me whatever you know, and tell it now. I don’t trust you, Loki, and I want to know what you know right this moment, before you’ve had the chance to plot and plan.”
Loki, who plotted and planned as easily as other folk breathed in and out, smiled at Thor’s anger and innocence.

All Fall Down by Ally Carter | Review

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Pages: 250

Genre: young adult – mystery

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Synopsis

Grace is absolutely certain of three things:

1. She isn’t crazy. 2. Her mother was murdered. 3. Someday she’s going to find the man with the scar, and then she is going to make him pay.

My thoughts 

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“All Fall Down” is overall a good young adult book with lots of action, likeable and mysterious characters and plot twists. While I didn’t find it as entertaining as the Heist society, or the mysteries as well though out as those of the Gallagher girls, it’s a nice beginning of a new series by Ally Carter.

The plot gets a slow, hesitant applause from me. A girl who no one believe when she says someone killed her mother? Sure. Living at a embassy? Better. Spying? Great concept. The characters? Mixed feelings. Predictability? Halfway into the book I could guess the ending, even if I was only partly right.

The flow of the book wasn’t like it should have been either. Some places the writing got messy because suddenly a lot of action needed to happen simultaneously. It’s especially a problem towards the ending. I have read worse, but it throws you off, especially for younger readers.

“Keep your chin up. Eventually, you will meet someone who cares about your opinion. I’m so sorry I’m not her.” 

That quote describes Grace pretty well. I’ve always liked Ally Carter’s previous characters and Grace is no exception. She’s a sarcastic, brave, spontanious, witty and a paranoid person. Really, she jumps off brick walls into different countries. What is there not to like? However, she’s also troubled, in a way that added something to the story. First I thought she got panick attacks, which she does in a way, but it’s more like flashbacks. I don’t know if that was the best way to tell this story, but it works? Kind of. Something else I miss is the relationship between the characters. There are so much potential there. COME ON, they’re embassy kids. From all over the world, all different kids stuck in the same situation. The diversity, stories, cultures and friendships that could have been exchanged. But you really don’t get to hear a lot from them. Mostly it’s because Grace is stuck in her own head, which I can understand, but I feel like they haven’t got enough time together. Perhaps in the next book. Right now the other kids seem more like ghosts who follows her, but only because they’re bored.

There are also a few very cheesy elements in this book, like the fine line between peace and war. Could really this bunch of kids, actually teenagers – they just act like kids, start a war by running around? The adults seem to think so, but they don’t do anything about it. Except for those cheesy conversations and “don’t worry about it”. I’m not buying it.

I want to say I just felt a little too old for this book, but my eleven-year-old self would definitely like this book. It’s well-written in places, in others it seems unfinished. The plot is built on too many assumptions for it to feel remotely real. Teenagers, even if they act like kids, aren’t that far off from the rest of the world as this book make it seem. Especially not if they’ve grown up around dimplomats, I would believe. Still, I’ll read the next book when it comes out.

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder | Review

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Pages: 390
Genre: young adult, fantasy

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Summary

In hiding Avry struggles not to use her healing gifts and invietably she breaks. Her conscience gets the best of her, but she underestimates the villager’s fear and brutality. She ends up in the hands of a band of rogues who have other uses for her than the bounty on her head. They’re taking her to her enemy’s leader, the prince who’s frozen in the last state of the plague, to use her gifts to cure him. Only then she might die herself.

My thoughts

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A healer who instead on healing the wounds transfer them to herself. How can that be a bad idea (cue nervous grimaces). 

Most people seem to love this book. I have no idea why. I really liked the (Poison) Study series by Snyder and still wish to read her other series Insider and Glass. But where I found the Poison Study entertaining and original enough, this book just felt chaotic and dull. The healer idea could have been brilliant, but it wasn’t developed enough. The dilemma between where the line goes as to which people Avry should heal felt non-existent. Avry is brought up to see carrying others’ pain as normal and even her purpose.

I feel like I’ve seen this before; Here’s a kind of people who can heal, but the ignorant narrow-mided citizens see their magic as unnatural and lays the blame on them so their only hope is to run for their lives. It’s used as an almost “ironic” turn of events, but it’s just adding unecessary hate, not to talk about growing quite boring. I just read another story that fell through in the same way: Finnikin on the rock by Melina Marchetta. To quote my Finnikin review; “If only they hadn’t killed all their healers…” Who knows, maybe the healers are hiding in a cave somewhere as a twist, but I won’t read the next books to find out.

Most of the book is written around what Avry will do when she gets to the dying prince, after the (way too) long journey. But Avry is a very mild person, which isn’t a bad thing, but I never doubted for a second she wouldn’t sacrifice herself for the prince. Everything else seemed out of character. That takes away a quite bit of the suspense. And I didn’t really care if she died because things were bad for her already. Which says an awful lot about my feelings for this book. Leave the girl alone and stop using her selflessness against her or just kill her, I’m over this.

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli | Review

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Pages: 90

Genre: science, physics

okay, I’ll admit I chose this book because of its beautiful cover. I mean look at it:

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In this book you get basic concepts and breakthroughs in physics described in a poetic way. It’s a short book with seven brief lessons (who would’ve guessed), well-written and focused on keeping the reader interested. At points the explanation is overly simplified, even for someone who’s about to take (basically) her first physics class, but I understand how more information might’ve destroyed the flow of the writing. It would’ve been better with footnotes (or something similiar) leading to more in-depth sources so you can actually understand the thing being explained.

The book got better the further into it I got, and lesson five on heat was perhaps the most interesting. Maybe because that was the one I knew the least about beforehand? Rovelli’s explanations was mostly good, but I was frustrated more than once at the tendency to mention a concept or name and never explain it further. I basically had wikipedia open, which I don’t feel should be this necessary.

It’s a good book for the person who’s not into physics and don’t usually think about the concepts on how tiny/big the world are and so on. It’s clear that the author knows what he’s talking about, both in the subject and the writing. Not to mention the beautiful cover and marketing. Personally the book was a nice read, but I didn’t feel I got much out of it. Made me realize I might as well open my actual physics textbook, if only I remember where I’ve buried it.

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour | Review

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Pages: 312

Genre: young adult, contemporary, lgbt

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“There is a calm in this room that assures me that we are exactly where we are meant to”

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This book was a whole lot more than I thought it would be. It’s a lovely story of a girl who works with decorating movie sets falling in love with a mystery and then the girl underneath it. It’s weird how this book can be summarized in one sentence, while I sat there with a shocked, comical expression after finishing it. There’s nothing life-changing, wow-factor about the story. But it got to me anyway. How dare this book mask itself as an innocent contemporary book and then ruin me like this?

It has a sweet relationship, if perhaps not the full-blown romance some people might be expecting. I expected it too, but I found myself pleasantly suprised by what we got. The only thing I was itching my head over, was how I usually like these kickass, strong-willed girls. And this is rather the contrary. But while the main character wouldn’t be my pick, her sole-focusness and (perhaps wrong) feeling of being superior in what she does, that her way is the right one, really fits with the story. It would be completely different if she hadn’t had her head in the skies, for example she might have never meddled with someone else’s life. And then there would be no story. It’s a different kind of romance than most young adult books I’ve read. Perhaps it’s because of the wonderful writing and pacing, perhaps because of the slowness of the characters and the mystery.

This is the story the author wanted to convey. Simple as that. As Emi with her movie sets, every detail is the perfect backdrop for having two girls slowly fall in love with each other. This book is filled with special moments, but it’s the in-passing ones that really count. I think that focus is what makes this book stand out.

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This next quote gives me “Looking for Alaska” vibes:

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A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver | Review

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Genre: poetry

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A collection of contemporary poems, the first one I read by Mary Oliver. And it’s fantastic, bringing out the magic in everyday things and small moments.

I’ve seen reviews saying that they wish this was how they lived their life, noticing details and the world this way. But you can? Take this for a normally stressed, pessimistic (I call it realistic) person who, while reading the poem about the white heron, remembered the grey heron I was chasing down a danish river in a canoe the week before. Everytime I gave up, the damn heron flew out from the bushes and the chase was on again. It was probably not the intention of the poem, which probably has some hidden symbolism, but a nice coincidence.

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I got a bit sidetracket – Anyway, I love the sea and the quietness of mornings. So I was bound to love this collection, even though some poems was a better fit for me than others.

Here’s “I go down to the shore” which I’ve memorized by now. Lastly, let me say I’m not an usual poetry reader, but the simplicity of some of the poems (some are longer and more intricate, and I adore them as well) makes it makes it easier for someone new to pick this up. It’s similiar to “milk and honey” in how easy it is to read, but so many levels better.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black | Review

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Pages: 380

Genre: fantasy

“I don’t think he realizes just how angry I am or how good it feels, for once, to give up on regrets.”

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Synopsis

At seven years old Jude is watching her parents getting murdered and is, along with her two sisters, kidnapped by the murderer Madoc to live in the High Court of Faerie. At seventeen she’s used to the life among the faeries, the murderer is also the fairy father of her half-sister Vivi and he’s provided for them, even if they don’t fit in. Some fairies enjoys pointing it out, especially a group of friends with prince Cardan in the middle of them. Jude wants to claim her place in the Court, but the intrigues are bigger than imagined and as a human she needs to become the best. Soon they’re on the brink of bloodshed and civil war.

 

My thoughts

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Everyone down to little kid Oak is morally grey, even Jude comments on it. They’re all traumatized, it seems like, for different reasons. Jude and her sisters watched their parents get murdered by the Madoc, which they currently live with and has a father role for them. But the Faerie Court is also troubled by violence and conflicts and the faeries are affected as well. But that isn’t used as excuse, which was great, because after this plot there is none.

The character development was above all hope. Here you got dimensional, untypical characters. It’s also not a typical young adult fantasy, I wouldn’t even call it ya, because there’s so much blood and civil war. I did not expect it, but I’m definitely here for it. It still has the obvious heroine Jude, but even kids are involved in the intrigues to get to power. I love Jude, she’s terrifying and a new favourite character. Someone seems to think of her as unlikable, but you don’t have to agree with her decisions, or any character’s, to think they’re well-written and awesome. What a darling.

“Little did Prince Dain know that my real skill lies in pissing people off.”

Bullying was real problem and something Jude had to deal with. It’s a good thing to portray, it also gave some legitimacy to Jude and the idea that she could fight the prince and his friends, but at a cost. She could tell her “father” Madoc and send him at them, but blood would be spilled and she would risk chaos. And later she has to get to know them as people, and they her, as the plot unfolds and it’s still not a redemption story.

“There is a pleasure in being with them,” he says. “Taking what we wish, indulging in every terrible thought. There’s safety in being awful.”

It’s a book playing with power dynamics and politics, everyone wants to gain power and it’s a conflict towards who will take the throne. It shows how there’s different ways to wield power, where the strongest isn’t necessarily the most powerful. I like how Jude needs to be smart as an underdog in that struggle, and the moral dilemmas she has at the beginning, but there’s also a few times too many that the solutions fall into her hands too easily.

“She’s looking around the forest, as though if she can prove it isn’t magic, then nothing else is, either. Which is stupid. All forests are magic.”

– more negative thoughts – 

  • Sister relationship between the twins Taryn and Jude was pretty much sacrificed for the sake of the plot. At the same time it’s understandable, if a bit predictable.
  • Sometimes I wonder if a book or tv series is smart or if it’s “fake smart”, where the writer is throwing something in your face to distract you, instead of having an actual twist or clever plot. I think this book had both, but it was apparant that it sometimes relied too much on diverting focus with romance and side quests, then tying it back in. I also think that’s the reason of a complaint I’ve seen from others –
  • Lack of structure in the story. Personally I usually don’t have a problem with this. But it made the book longer than needed to, with a lot of action in some parts and long stretches with planning and trying to distract the reader, as mentioned above.
  • I know Holly Black has a long history with faeries, but this book seemed different than the rest. It felt more Cassandra Clare inspired, and actually less unique than usual in how the world and its creatures are like. The world-building in general seemed bad, and lacking.

– all in all –

If there’s something I haven’t said enough in this review, it’s how great I think Holly Black’s books are. She writes fantasy and young adult books incredibly well in that she follows trends, but in her own way. That is maybe some of what this book lacked, though the plot was enjoyable and the whole book overall. Would recommend it if you’re looking for a character-driven story, with a good plot.

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– a few more thoughts *spoilers below* –

Continue reading →

More by T. M. Franklin | Book Review

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I don’t know if I’ve seen a worse cover. I don’t like that look at all

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Every time I thought this book would get better, the plot took another predictable turn. I really wanted this to be good, but it just fell through too many times.

Synopsis

It starts out with the usual. Ava’s a college student and when she was younger she claimed to have magic powers. She could make things happen that should’ve been impossible. In college, Ava’s struggling with physics and gets help from this guy called Caleb. Turns out he’s more than a regular college student and is there observing her, he’s a Protector for this ancient race. Cue the cringy standard fantasy names with capital letters. Guardians, Council, it’s all there. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time and “random” attacks for Ava to find this out. Even with dreams and weird memory losses she can’t seem to connect any dots whatsoever.

My thoughts

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The book goes slowly downwards from there, except for a few surprises. I’m not going to get into the things that annoyed me, except for *SPOILER* Caleb gives up everything to protect Ava although it’s told he’s given up other suspected untrained Race members to be executed. Why? Is the next book’s plot how he’s been good from the beginning or something? I can’t say if some parts are predictable or just bad. This book had it’s good points, but as a whole it seemed unfinished.    

Upstream by Mary Oliver | Book Review

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Genre: essays, poetry

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“I could not be a poet without the natural world. Someoone else could. But not me. For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple.”

 

I’ve only recently fallen in love with Mary Oliver’s writing and poems. Upstream is a collection of eighteen lovely essays about how Oliver fell in love with poetry as a child, drawing inspiration from nature and simply seeing things throught her eyes. She talks about the poets she likes; Whitman, Emerson, Poe and Wordsworth, and how they’ve contributed to her understanding of the world and of poetry as an art. It’s all incredibly fascinating, I especially loved the bit about Poe.

 

It’s a book for someone who is interested in poetry (you don’t even have to know a lot, just look at me) or have read and liked any of Mary Oliver’s poetry. There’s a few good lessons in here, but also a lot of beautiful writing. I still prefer her poems, but I would definitely say these essays gives more insight into her thoughtprocess and person. The cozy, calm feeling I got when I looked at the cover was the same feeling I got when I read the texts inside.

Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems vol. 1 | Book Review

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Genre: poetry

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It was my birthday a while ago and I wished to read poetry on my daily hour-long busride, even with only a couple hours sleep. So I read this collection from my current favourite poet. Might be the lack of sleep, but I’m pretty certain it’s was literally magical. Like the sun was out for the first time in months. 

Short disclaimer: I haven’t read as much poetry as fantasy books, but still more than romance novels so here we go.

Mary Oliver’s poetry is nearly always connected with nature: animals, forest, bodies of water, plants. It creates this really lovely atmosphere as you read, and then you can go over again and try to catch the meaning and slowly dread sets in. Not really, it’s mostly light poems, soome with an darker or more serious undertone. Which fits me perfectly.

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The poems feels very tied to the author, and I can’t stop myself from trying to figure this person out. Mary Oliver is a bestselling poet and this collection contains poems from different times in her over eighty years of life. I liked to notice interests tied to specific periods as well as commonalities. It that threw me a bit off having read only her “recent” ones. She writes at one point that no one wants to hear about her childhood and I’m sitting there saying “NO IT’S WHAT I AM HERE FOR”. To be honest, I’m really here for the detailed descriptions of various flowers, but it’s a close second. I just needed stories about people who knows how horrible life can be, but still see beauty in it, just a little bit of hope. And this collection is that, along with weird descriptions of eating animals, but generally talks about how nice the sun is on her skin and various description of how the waves crashes against the shore.

If anyone has recommendations for poets who write a lot about nature/detailed descriptions of anything really or simply favourite poets, send them my way! I just need beautiful words in my life, and when they come with interesting, intelligent thoughts that’s a bonus. 

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