book review

Jade City by Fonda Lee | Review

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Pages: 510

Genre: urban fantasy

Synopsis

 

TWO CRIME FAMILIES, ONE SOURCE OF POWER: JADE.
Jade is the lifeblood of the city of Janloon – a stone that enhances a warrior’s natural strength and speed. Jade is mined, traded, stolen and killed for, controlled by the ruthless No Peak and Mountain families.
When a modern drug emerges that allows anyone – even foreigners – to wield jade, simmering tension between the two families erupts into open violence. The outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all in the families, from their grandest patriarch to even the lowliest motorcycle runner on the streets.
Jade City is an epic tale of blood, family, honour, and of those who live and die by ancient laws in a changing world.

My thoughts

Rating out of five:

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– the action –

This book had a well thought through plot, a lot of action in between slower scenes and lots of crime family conflicts. The fight scenes was well-written, it reads like those of a superhero action movie. I especially noted it when someone slits the enemy’s throat from behind. Personally I’m not much a fan of fight scenes like this, I like my action to come with emotions or a lack off, written with a different perspective than just cinematic-looking decription. This is an opinion that hasn’t affected my rating of this book, because I think it’s very well done and something many readers want. It would make it easy for a movie adaption as well.

– the jade –

The concept of jade as a powersource was something new for me and made perfect sense. The mix of asian and western is something that makes this book special, it’s a big part of the plot. Just the levels of formality in the culture is a something that fits perfectly with the dynamics of the families. The crime families agree that outsiders are dangerous to invite in, to give them this drug and control of powers they didn’t understand, which leads them to a certain degree of isolation and a good scene for this internal struggle to play out.

“So it came to be, remarkably, that the ruling family of No Peak was all the family Anden had.”

– the characters – 

The story is told from multiple points of view, which was tricky. I didn’t really care for the character we started out with, there’s this kid who tries to steal jade that I didn’t feel for much. Poor circumstances made it hard for him, but he’s no evil mastermind or accidental hero. Probably going to become one in later books though, with the focus he got sometimes. There were other characters I didn’t care much for as well, which I realized is because you don’t get to see much of the internal life of them, even through their point of view.

Shae is the sister in one of the biggest crime families, and she’s returned after basically running away attending school overseas. She could’ve been such an interesting character, but her plans without jade was so ridiculous and uncertain for someone who had taken such a deliberate choice to separate her from her family. She’s too smart not to have a plan or even dreams as she returns from abroad. Multiple times I felt like her character came apart, where the way everyone described her didn’t match up with how undecisive she acted and thought about events, especially in her pov.

There should’ve been more backstory and personality quirks in a book of five hundred pages, to give readers a reason to care about Hilo’s top men and even all the major characters. I cared about Lan because he had a lot to say in how it would go down, which family would win power. Aden got some backstory and we got a quick look into how hard he was working to be best at the military school.

“Heaven help me, Shae,” he whispered into her ear. “I’m going to kill them all.”

Politics and the parts where Shae and Hilo is organizing were good. I have a weakness for characters like Hilo, who is used to violence, but has a conscience somewhere and is very protective of his family and friends, even though he’s arguing with them. Even Aden remarks that he has a remarkable way with people, but then sometimes he shows how dangerous and spontaneous he could be, which was awesome.

 

– in the end –

It ended on an exciting note and I think I’ll pick up the next book in the series pretty quickly when it comes out. It took a long time to build up the characters and plot, but now I have all hopes for a good series, as it was well done in many aspects.

*spoilery discussion on characters below*

Continue reading →

Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems Vol. 2 | Review

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Genre: poetry

 

My thoughts

Rating out of five:

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I like the individual collections I’ve read more (A thousand mornings, Upstream and even volume one of this one), because they are a better mix of varied subjects, so it doesn’t become too much nature all at once (I didn’t know that was even possible before this). These new and selected poems still gives a good direction in which to continue reading Mary Oliver’s poetry, as my favourite poems here seems to have been published around the same time and I will certainly look up those collection.

It’s still brilliant poems, with Mary Oliver’s usual focus on nature, landscape, animals, people, writing and love. I’ve collected my favourite ones in a document and there’s fifteen, which was way more than I expected. Oliver’s words just speak true, the observations are lovely to read and gradually thought-provoking at the same time.

 

THE FACES OF DEER

 

When for too long I don’t go deep enough 

into the woods to see them, they begin to 

enter my dreams. Yes, there they are, in the 

pinewoods of my inner life. I want to live a life 

full of modesty and praise. Each hoof of each 

animal makes the sign of a heart as it touches 

then lifts away from the ground. Unless you 

believe that heaven is very near, how will you 

find it? Their eyes are pools in which one 

would be content, on any summer afternoon, 

to swim away through the door of the world. 

Then, love and its blessing. Then: heaven.

– Mary Oliver

 

WORK, SOMETIMES

I was sad all day, and why not.  There I was, books piled

on both sides of the table, paper stacked up, words

falling off my tongue.

The robins had been a long time singing, and now it

was beginning to rain.

What are we sure of?  Happiness isn’t a town on a map,

or an early arrival, or a job well done, but good work

ongoing.  Which is not likely to be the trifling around

with a poem.

Then it began raining hard, and the flowers in the yard

were full of lively fragrance.

You have had days like this, no doubt.  And wasn’t it

wonderful, finally, to leave the room?  Ah, what a

moment!

As for myself, I swung the door open.  And there was

the wordless, singing world.  And I ran for my life.

— Mary Oliver

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin | Review

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Pages: 452
Genre: young adult, paranormal
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Synopsis

This book is confusing af, but it starts simple enough with a friendgroup who goes to an abandoned building for fun, but it suddenly collapses on top of them and kills everyone but Mara Dyer, the main character. She wakes up in a hospital, disoriented and not able to recall anything of the incident. But no one else has answers to what happened either. What they know is that four teenagers went in, but only one came out.

Struggling with memoryloss and PTSD, Mara convinces her family to move away, talking about fresh beginnings and less reminders, but not really believing it herself. She’s having flashbacks and hallucinates, memories of her and her two dead friends and boyfriend constantly haunting her dreams. Slowly, but surely her memories seem to return, but she doesn’t know how to make sense of it all.

My thoughts

Rating out of five:

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This book has more psychological elements than paranormal ones, which was okay, but confusing for the main part of this story. It’s written to be all mysterious, but honestly I just grew impatient and annoyed. Mara believes she’s going crazy, but won’t immediately find help because of her overprotective mom who seems to control much in her life. At first I found it a bit extreme as I realize she needs help to function, but she’s already back at school so how bad can she be? But when shit goes down, I realized Mara might need more supervising than what is shown from her own unreliable narrative.

And she should not be in school full-time! How would anyone allow it, hadn’t it been for the sake of the story and her love interest being there? As Mara slowly works out her new life, or pretend to, she meets a mysterious boy named Noah Shaw. She is repeatedly warned against him for his reputation of dating and dumping girls. I won’t comment on this relationship anymore than I wouldn’t read this book for the romance because it’s very stereotype “bad boy turns good for The One Girl” with a twist or two. Still, even if it’s nice twists and I like Noah in himself, they don’t really work good together. Mostly he’s just there, saying a few lines and filling out the plot when necessary.

I feared for a long time this book would be all stereotype high school drama, because it was clearly heading that way, but right before I laid the book down in defeat strange things started to happen around Mara Dyer. The book was back on track! When the plot twist came I was done again; I saw it long time coming and it couldn’t have been more expected. If you’ve read a couple of paranormal ya I think you’ll figure it out. It’s not a bad twist, it just reflects the biggest problem of this book – it’s predictable. Some occurences might be unexpected and interesting, but the plot and story as whole goes in a boring straight line.

There’s two more books in this series, which could turn out better now that it took 452 pages to reveal one secret and lay the base of the story, which really has just been “high school drama with paranormal stuff somewhere”. I don’t think I want to read two more books like that. The title is good; “The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer” is just what happens in this book, but nothing more. Did you like this book? Is the second and third book better?

See How They Run by Ally Carter | Review

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Embassy Row #2

Pages: 336
Genre: young adult, mystery

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Summary

Grace’s past has come back to hunt her and if she doesn’t stop it, Grace isn’t the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world are neighbours and stand like dominoes. One wrong move can make them all fall down.

My thoughts

Rating out of five:

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No. Noope. Glad to be done with this book. It showed the series had a direction, but too much went wrong along the way.

I don’t even know why I would review a book I didn’t like, but I feel like I would appreciate it if someone warned me? I liked the other series by Ally Carter and if I’d read a review like this, I wouldn’t have bothered to pick this one up. Go read the Gallagher girls or even better; the Heist society. They’re both better than this one, even if it has its moments and good quotes.

To start off on a positive note: here you got young adult characters that actually behave like young people, however serious the situation is. It’s refreshing and it seems like they characters have grown up a bit since the last book, which makes completely sense.

I didn’t really know what this book would be about – at all – since in the first book every secret seemed to spill over and was eventually wrapped up with a bow on top. How could there be any more skeletons in the closet after that? All praise to Ally Carter’s creativity to figure that out – and she did. This book have good action, it’s fast-paced and have its moments. You think the plot twist is obvious, but there’s always more undetected hidden behind them. The mystery wasn’t as original as I hoped. It got an okay backstory though, and that’s about what I can say without spoiling anything.

These teenagers got to be very energetic. That’s a looot of running around, which I don’t really care for. It might be a choice taken to keep things interesting and the reader alert, but I don’t really care to follow when they return to places for the who-knows-how-many times. You got a lot of hiding spots, and surely need them with all this drama, but it’s a bit overkill.

That’s the thing about being the girl who’s spent years convincing the world she’s not afraid of anything: at some point, someone is going to find out you’re afraid of everything.

The main character, Grace, has changed since the first book too. She’s as wild and upredictable as usual, but no longer considered as paranoid because she’s proven herself at last. The relationship between her and her brother seemed more real, as did the friendships she finally developed with the other embassy kids. She seem to have PTSD, or something similar, and it’s well shown throughout the book. It makes Grace and the plot seem more real, since you’re shown the consequences she has to deal with. I was worried at the beginning that this book would follow the usual recipe: girl meets boy, drama happens and they have to fix it together, everyone acts before they think, but it magically works out anyway and finally they get together. It wasn’t completely like that, to my relief. Some of the elements are certainly there, but Carter managed to add some dimension to it.

Also, the adults seem to finally have been introduced to the plot, even going so far as keeping an eye on them. Wow, who would have known they could have information and perhaps be willing to help? “See how they run” was predictable at times, but well-written and a step up from the first book. Still it didn’t do enough for me to concider picking up the third book of the series. I believe I’m done with this, there has to be better mysteries out there to read. I think it’s beccause the plot is built on one too many clichés, and that’s honestly why I didn’t figure out all the plot twists; I thought it wouldn’t be that obvious. This book certainly tries to keep your interest and who knows, perhaps it will work for you, but I’ll throw in the towel and say I’m happy to have finished it.

“She’s right, of course. There’s a loop in my life – a pattern of violence and death and heartbreaking sorrow that I would give anything to stop. To rewrite. To end. But my walls are not yet high enough, not strong enough. What Ms Chancellor doesn’t know is that I never will stop building.”

Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder | Review

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Pages: 490

Genre: young adult, fantasy

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Synopsis

From the author of the poison study series, it’s a new fantasy book with a world where magic can be stored in glass. The Stormdancers are able to capture storms in glass orbs, but someone is killing them and destroying the storages in order to stop it. Opal Cowan, a glassmaker and magician, is brought in to prevent the disasterous attacks, but her skills might not be enough. Much is needed to be learned about the connection between glass and magic, and it not easy to gather that information with the most skilled magicians dead and the others being rather mysterious. To help and stay safe, Opal needs to learn the reason behind the attacks and how to stop them.

My thoughts

Rating out of five:

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I’ve always been fascinated by glassblowing and it was interesting to read a fantasy book that revolved around it. It’s still only an average book in all other aspects; writing, plot, characters, romance … it’s nothing special. Poison study did so well, and both this series and the healer series seems to be trying (and failing) at mimicking that sucess without creating the same story. Instead of a taster for a king, the girl is a glassmaker or healer, the love interests is more bland and the same with the main girl Opal. To not make her easily compared to the original kick-ass Yelena, why not make Opal unsure of herself always. Also, storm metaphors are nice the first five times or so, after 300 more pages with it I’m out.

I’m not giving these series a third chance for now. It’s not for me. I do love the glassblowing aspect though, and have been looking for books with it. Have you read any other books with glassblowing? I remember reading the fiction book “The glassblower from Milano” by Marina Fiorato many years ago (I don’t really remember it at all) and liking it, but I think that’s the only other book.

Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen | Review

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Pages: 340
Genre: fantasy, westerns
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Summary

A western-inspired fantasy, sentered around Nettie who’s called half-breed and treated like a slave by the people who raised her. There’s dangerous things in the desert, but she never imagined something like the monster that attacks her. As she gets in a stab, the monster turns to black sand, and from that point she can’t stop seeing monsters all around her. She might also be haunted by someone who needs help avenging her lost child. Eventually Nettie runs from the life she’s known, dressed as a boy and trying to survive in the unhospital world.

My thoughts

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I liked this book because it was entertaining as well as contains a lot of well-written themes, like gender roles and racism, making it a different kind of fantasy novel. It doesn’t lose focus on the plot or character development, which I’ve missed in other similiar books. I loved the main character Nettie, and how she reacts to the world around her, which isn’t very welcoming to someone who’s black and/or a girl. The book feels well-done, in all aspects I can judge. At times it was a bit slow as Nettie’s journey started to look like a long line of encounters with creatures, but eventually it was always leading somewhere. Westerns is still not a genre I’m going to read much of, but I liked it better than expected. The thing to keep in mind when reading this book is definitely to be open for something different.

 

Ilusions of Fate by Kiersten White | Review

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Pages: 278
Genre: fantasy, young adult

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“Perhaps if you gave the sun a bit more attention, it would be flattered and come out more often.” 

Synopsis

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

My thoughts

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My feelings about this book told by the book itself: “I don’t dislike them, nor do I like them. I’ve never understood why one must love children (magical plots) because they are (have lots of all-powerful alpha men behaving like) children.” Edited that quote a bit oops, not that the original quote with children isn’t too true. Fortunately for me, Jessamin feel the same way about the guys, at least at first.

“Paths do not only go one way. We choose which direction to take. I refuse to believe that any outside forces can determine the course of my life.” 

It’s supposedly a historical fiction (with a non-existing country?), or at least it’s placed in England in another time where women didn’t have rights and especially not the biracial ones from foreign countries, who blackmailed their white rich dad to get an education (u go girl).

“He shakes his head dismissively, and I hate him for it. He has dismissed my entire life with that one gesture, whether intentional or not.”

Sometimes Jessamin seems clever and capable, making me want to laugh in glee, but mostly she’s acting even more like kid than the rich bastards involving her in their oh-so-powerful invisible magic war. Can’t even remember what the fighting was about, that’s how much the book explained it. Jessamine’s friendship with the other girl was what got me through that last part. A huge thank you to Kiersten White for not making her the typical “mean girl”.

This book is interesting and the ravens are cool and all, but it doesn’t bring much new. Perhaps if the writing had been better, or the characters less inconsistent? It handles the subjects of politics and racism pretty well, but… it lacks a certain flow and I’m sorry to say the beautiful cover doesn’t match with the story between them.

 

 

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson | Review

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Pages: 690
Genre: epic fantasy

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Summary

The people of Hallandren’s Gods, like Lightsong, are regular humans who died in a heroic way and was brought back to life using magic. No matter how hard Lightsong tries, he can’t remember his death or past life, as is the same with all gods, and he questions the belief people hold of him. After all, the thought of him being the god of bravery proves something’s gone wrong.

The God King, Susebron, are to marry one of the princesses Vivieanna or Siri of Idris. Vivienna has been trained for court and this fate her whole life, but her father the king considers her too valuable to let go. With that decision war would be on them, and so he sends his younger, more unruly daughter Siri instead.

Vasher is an immortal and exactly what he’s planning no one knows. His bloodthirsty, talking sword Nightblood are by his side and so are thousands of Breaths. Magic is colorful in this world and it comes in the form of breaths. Every person carry one Breath each and if one buys or gathers enough, few things become impossible.

My thoughts

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I really enjoyed this book. It has a lot of elements I have missed in fantasy, like the quality of the interesting political intrigues. Not to forget the fantastic world-building, twists and mysteries that makes you constantly question the gods’ place and how this world actually works. Sanderson’s one of the best at playing around with gods and belief-systems, and this is a perfect example of that. Theology is a corner stone in the development of characters and the story, without overlessing you with facts or becoming too complex to follow for regular readers.

There’s five (i believe) different points of view and Siri is telling the story a lot in the beginning, as she’s beginning her journey. I didn’t like Siri or her sister Vivenna as much as I would’ve liked, but I still cared enough to worry about them. Siri is a strong, if young and inexperienced, main character and it’s not her fault she’s thrown into this new country without preparation. Or maybe a little, since she quickly realizes she should’ve paid attention in her classes. Vivienna on the other hand is a leader, but perhaps in over her head. They’re both faulty people, and the book shows that well.

Vasher’s point of view was interesting, but there’s so much mystery surrounding him it can get a bit overwhelming. His sword Nightblood has to be my favourite magical object and it’s worth reading the book just for its sarcastic witty comments and fights. 

I completely fell in love with Lightsong and his place in the story. He’s a minor god of bravery and automatically controls parts of the troops, even if he jokes about giving the responsibility away. No Lightsong on board = no war. He’s tried to stay out of the political intrigues and works hard to convince himself and everyone else he’s useless. The reason I love him is how he thinks about how lazy he is and unfit for the job, while sneaking around trying to find answers. That’s devotion. I mean;

“Have you no thoughts on the matter?“ Blushweaver finally asked.
“I try to avoid having thoughts. They lead to other thoughts, and-if you’re not careful-those lead to actions. Actions make you tired. I have this on rather good authority from someone who once read it in a book.”
Blushweaver sighed. “You avoid thinking, you avoid me, you avoid effort… is there anything you don’t avoid?”
“Breakfast.” 

I didn’t like Warbreaker as much as the Mistborn series, I just prefer those characters and magic-system, but it’s absoloutly worth a read or three. It’s a good place to start with Brandon Sanderson’s books since it’s only one book (for now) with a complete story, where many others are series. Warbreaker had a perfect balance of humour, focus on characters and solving the mysteries of the plot!  

– favourite quotes – 

“I swear, my dear. Sometimes our conversations remind me of a broken sword.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Sharp as hell,” Lightsong said, “but lacking a point.” 

“Lightsong had never bothered to learn the rules.
He found it more amusing to play when he had no idea what he was doing.”

“So much evil, Nightblood said, like a woman tisking as she cleaned cobwebs from her ceiling.” 

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.