three stars

Crush by Richard SIken

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I don’t get it and I’m so confused.

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Synopsis

Richard Siken’s Crush, selected as the 2004 winner of the Yale Younger Poets prize, is a powerful collection of poems driven by obsession and love. Siken writes with ferocity, and his reader hurtles unstoppably with him. His poetry is confessional, gay, savage, and charged with violent eroticism. In the world of American poetry, Siken’s voice is striking. In her introduction to the book, competition judge Louise Glück hails the “cumulative, driving, apocalyptic power, [and] purgatorial recklessness” of Siken’s poems. She notes, “Books of this kind dream big. . . . They restore to poetry that sense of crucial moment and crucial utterance which may indeed be the great genius of the form.”

My thoughts

tre

Usually, when I don’t understand poetry or other fiction, I know there’s a deeper meaning and I’m simply missing some connection that I need to completely understand it. Not with this book. The great goodreads ratings (4.3 average) tilts towards me being the one left out in this scenario, but I’m not sure everyone else is not just playing along (jk).

I get that it’s good poetry, somehow. It has a nice flow, and some phrases that paints very endearing and engaging pictures. I even like and understand some poems. But suddenly I don’t get how one part of a poem connects to the next? Or what it’s about, always? heeelp. The poems are mostly about love and obsession, as the synopsis says, along with being gay and crushing on guys. There’s also a “burn it all or die” feeling to some, where the promised apocalyptic theme comes in.

So, besides the all over the place feeling, the rows of rewritten lines all saying the same thing, angsty images of everything ending in bodies, death and twisted love, besides all that it has some beautiful moments. And I have to say I enjoyed a bit of the angst and death as well, it just flowed too much together and was repetitive in a way I can’t say I prefer. Maybe I will like it better the third time I read through? Hmm. He’s undoubtedly a brilliant writer and I think I’ll rather check out other of his collections to see if they fit me better.

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My favourite poems of this collection: scheherazade, little beast, unfinished duet, wishbone and you are jeff. There’s something in all of them I don’t understand, in “wishbone” that part is almost everything.

Halfway to the Grave by Jeanie Frost

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Pages: 360
Genre: fantasy, paranormal

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This book made me laugh;

“His lips brushed over my knuckles, impossibly soft. He looked into my eyes and killed me”. (Not literally I think???)

The expression on his face melted me completely. I knew I had the goofiest grin plasteret on my lips, and didn’t care. “There”, he said as he finished tying the laces on my left shoe. “Now you won’t fall.” Too late. (It’s so cheesy it hurts my pitch black soul)

Summary

It’s an thrilling and easy read with half-vampire Cat who teams up with the powerful vampire Bones to hunt down other vampires. She goes from stopping attackers at bars to trying to unravel a network similiar to human trafficking, only for blood. A half-vampire is apparently the perfect vampire hunter as she can be used for both bait and weapon, but that doesn’t keep them from sinking their fangs into her throat. Ouch, I felt for that girl.

My thoughts

tre

No one warned me this would be a vampire romance kind of book, but I should’ve guessed. It wasn’t the worst I’ve read (that would’ve deserved an award), but I got tired of it towards the end. The relationships in this book is heated and a good balance between “i want to protect this person” and “they have to choose themselves”. There’s no pretense, which I liked, but nothing very special either in my opinion. A lot of flirting and bickering, if that’s your thing.

You should read this book for the romance and action, more than for an amazing plot. As a whole, “Halfway to the Grave” is good enough, but I’m more excited to see how the story continues from here on!

– more (good? not sure) quotes –

“No, I took precautions,” he replied, searching my eyes. It was then that I noticed he was so tense, a single blow might have shattered him. “I stripped you and hid your clothes so if you woke up angry about what happened, you wouldn’t be able to run out without talking to me first.”

Not for a minute did I believe that this wasn’t goodbye. Still, I had loved and been loved in return, and there was nothing greater than that.

Angelfall by Susan Ee

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Pages: 288
Genre: Young adult – fantasy

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Synopsis

Penryn is trying to keep her little sister and paranoid scizofrenic mother safe. It’s been six weeks since the angels took over the world and the humans around her are either in hiding or joined gangs to protect their backs. No one dares walk out at night, but Penryn has to take the chance. To hide from the angels doesn’t help if they get killed by the gangs. So she pushes her little sister’s wheelchair and try to keep an eye on her mother while walking into trouble far bigger than expected.

My thoughts

tre

It looked like a book for me from the beginning.  

I would go to the end of the world for my little brother, the same way Penryn would for her seven year old handicapped sister. Overall Penryn is a likeable character, she has flawed thinking which I’ve written more about further down, but when it boils down to it she would do anything for those she’s close to. She doesn’t especially care for the wars going on around her, nothing matters until her sister’s safe. She’s asian-american, living in the San Francisco area, a force to be reckoned with and aware of it.

The romance is much better than expected, I would even call it great. Raffe the angel is old and powerful and Penryn has conflicting emotions over him. That he has his wings cut off makes him less intimidating and dangerous, or so she believes. Raffe has a great sense of humour, he’s playing along when he wants to, but it feels like he’s lying in the middle of all the chaos having an existential crisis while Penryn is wondering what the hell she has done. I mean;

“I kick the couch for good measure. To my utter amazement, his eyes open blearily. They’re deep blue and glaring at me. ‘Can you keep it down? I’m trying to sleep.’ His voice is raw and full of pain, but somehow, he still manages to inject a certain level of condescension.”

Three things that bothered me;

  • What do you think when I say scizofrenic person? Yes, that’s the mother here; the stereotype. While reading this book, especially younger readers, it’s essential that you know not every scizofrenic person is a danger to other people, but in this book she is. The mom is capable when it comes to certain things, like her paranoid side is written to sometimes been an advantage in this dystopian world. She’s portrayed through the eyes of her daughter, who has to carry the burden, is exhausted and doesn’t seem to know all that much of scizofrenia.
  • The women at the camp of survivors/resistance are doing laundry and keeping their heads down in fear of what the big military dudes might do to them. They claim to be treated nice and no one’s ordering them around, but honestly what kind of women lives in san fransisco/silcon valley? I’m not american, but wouldn’t there be one woman capable of fighting/handling weapons/engineering before penryn comes around with her martial arts skills and short temper? The lack of other women useful to the army is the most unrealistic thing in this whole book and we’re talking about angels descending from the sky like aliens.
  • The writing varies from “oh, this is good” to “I want to sigh and/or laugh”.

It might seem so based on this review, but the “bad” things didn’t outwin the good ones in this book. I just think they’re important to point out. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I don’t know if I’m going to read the rest of the trilogy soon.

 

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

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Pages: 390
Genre: Young adult – fantasy

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Synopsis

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his will.

Nobody fights the Epics…nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart — the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning — and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge. 

My thoughts

tre

“The government eventually declared men such as Steelheart to be natural forces, like hurricanes or earthquakes.”

This book feels like superhero comics in novel version, but where all the villains have replaced the actual superheroes. It’s chaos, destruction and humans being undermined. But it’s also has an amazing team, fast-paced well-written action, story with quality and underground secret lair. Almost forgot; a lot of purposely bad metaphors which I found strange, but grew to like amazingly quick.

Brandon Sanderson writes with incredible speed and skill, while making complex stories. This is not an exception. It’s a young adult book in all the right ways; it’s definitely geared towards a younger audience and has lots of action, without being “dumbed-down”. The only difference I was laughing at, was him not being able to naturally put theology in there, but I spoke too soon. Turns out superhero-villains appearing like from empty air and crushing all hope is the perfect time to create beliefs.

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The Reckoners are a group trying to fight back. From the looks of it, they’re part of a bigger network, but claim to consist of just two groups (i don’t believe that). There’s some original types in that group and I hope I get to know them better in the next books.

I would especially recommend this book to teenage boys, it’s written as to get those action and superhero-loving guys into books. I rarely read books where the targeted group has been as clear as here. If I wasn’t more a tomboy than my brother I would recommend it to him too. I mean –  “She can shoot like a dream and she carries tiny grenades in her top, a bit of my addled mind thought. I think I might be in love.” Tell me that’s not written with the intent of marketing. Having that target-group in mind also explains the move from focus on character’s backstories to current action and problems. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy and trying to catch up with Sanderson’s other series. If someone’s an Epic, it’s him with that writing-speed.

 

– favourite quotes –

“For some reason, I was realizing, when things got really, really tense I found it easier to relax.”

“Ponder. Worry. Stay up nights, frightened for the casualties of your ideology. It will do you good to realize the price of fighting.”

“He was right. I was letting myself get distracted, like a rabbit doing math problems instead of looking for foxes.” 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness 

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Pages: 200

Genre: young adult, horror

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Synopsis

The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.

My thoughts

tre

“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.”

What struck me first was how well Patrick Ness had written Conor, considering he’s a child. A lot of authors seem to forget they’re people too and capable of understanding, so I was glad this wasn’t the case here. The kids are different from each other, but also have intentions behind their actions. Here a kid is even a bully with intent, not just because “he doesn’t know better”, something the teachers agree with:

“A bully with charisma and top marks is still a bully.” … “He’ll probably be Prime Minister one day. God help us all.”

But this is not a story about bullying, it’s one about the harshness of reality, about feelings, grief and admitting the truth to yourself. And it’s a lot darker than it first seem, the monster is not some fluffy Pixar’s Monster Inc. version. I really liked the monster and the stories it told, it directs the whole story. The book is also about how it is for a kid to have to grow up all at once, preparing for his own meals and going to school when other things have become far more important. Some might call him “independent”, but he doesn’t admit to his situation, showing how he’s still a child acting on his fear, not sense of responsibility.

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To be said, this is a nice story for kids to learn to deal with grief or others to remember how good it is to not be a kid anymore. Conor acts out and want someone to reprimand him so it will shake him back to the feeling of normal. The loss of control is what’s most relatable, that frustration when the world just won’t seem to listen. Still, this book isn’t ground-breaking in the way some people claim. It’s a good idea, a heartfelt story that I shed one single tear over and okay writing, but I won’t claim to understand all of the hundred quotes in different nuances the monster told about stories.

For example; “Stories are important, the monster said. They can be more important than anything. If they carry the truth.” or: “Stories are the wildest things of all, the monster rumbled. Stories chase and bite and hunt.” I have four more similar quotes, what is the difference between them? To sound mysterious? Did nothing but annoy me, unfortunately. I honestly wondered if I was rereading past pages.

 

– final thoughts –

It reminds me of a Neil Gaiman story, but it feels like it’s trying too hard to make everything grander or more symbolic than it’s delivered. The ending wrapped everything up with a bow so perfect that it didn’t match the tone of the rest of the story, so I don’t really know what to believe. Read it if you are curious, but if not… I don’t think you’re really missing out.

the sun and her flowers by rupi kaur

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Genre: poetry

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tre

There were so many pages I liked I ripped up a napkin and used it as bookmarks and now my family is laughing at me.

I think people who really dislike this collection and the previous “milk and honey” isn’t able to look past the “it’s not poetry!?!” opinion and realize it doesn’t really matter. I think it’s gotten so popular because it’s relatable fears, opinions and thoughts from a young woman, perfectly phrased and with powerful, simple drawings. What’s so bad about that? Sometimes I like poems where you have to decipher meanings and look up words no one would use in the real world, but I get why it’s not everyone’s preferance. Let people like what they want.

In this collection, I found that I especially liked the longer writings and those about family and, well, feelings. It’s something for most in here, another reason it’s so popular. It’s not the greatest writing I’ve read, but it’s precise, clear and simple. Some lines can help as short reminders, much better than the positive quotes everywhere, while others go more in depth. Would read again. It also helps that the book looks adorable. But that doesn’t mean I necessarily got very much from it.

Good Omens by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman

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The review where I find out if I liked the book or not. It felt slow and in the middle I even skimmed pages. I finished it and felt relieved, but when I think back it’s still with a certain fondness. I didn’t really enjoy the read, so what kind of witchcraft is this?

Synopsis

According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world’s only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.

So the armies of Good and Evil are gathering, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist, oops

My thoughts

tre

– the unique plot – 

The gods was interesting, the end of the world is always something to read about, especially when you throw in an Antichrist, witches are a plus, but demon Crowley and angel Aziraphale is definitely the best thing about this book. They are an awesome, iconic couple and I wish we’d gotten more of them. Looking back I realize the moment they split up, and other parts of the plot unfolded, might’ve been when I lost interest.

– fantastic writing – 

I haven’t read anything by Terry Prachett, but they’re obviously both brilliant writers. The humor worked sometimes, but other times it fell through. Some elaborations to the writing made the pace even slower. Everything was leading towards the end of the world and I just wanted to get there without too many derailings. Also, it might be confusing to follow so many POV’s and some was more interesting to me than others. Ms. Zuigiber, a certain god and war journalist, is my favourite, both terrifying and impressive. Ah, I’m glad I’ve read this book, when I think of it.

– overall – 

I liked the concept, but the book itself didn’t fit me. It seems like Good Omens will become a bbc tv series and if so, I’m so excited for it. Supernatural was awesome, but dragged out and didn’t really have a point. Here you got even more potential and please make it great.  Would recommend it if you liked American Gods, have read other books by the authors before or like things like Supernatural and plots with the end of the world.

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

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Pages: 500

Genre: urban fantasy

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tre

Synopsis

The Chequy is a secret organization, part of the british government and consists of people with powers. Powers like taking over other’s bodies when they touch you, like Myfawny is able to. She’s a Rook, which is a high ranking, fancy title, but mostly means she’s doing paper work and organizing. She’s considered a nervous wreck, seeing people tortured makes her throw up, but she’s really good at her desk job. She’s the “resident nerd” and a great planner, which becomes vital as she learns she will lose all memory of who she is.

My thoughts

It’s a fantastic book, and I loved all her weird colleagues like Gestalt who has multiple bodies he controls. Give me that ability please. The “secret organization” part was better than expected, since the different powers are original and interesting and so is the characters they belong to.

“You have a scary face?” Ingrid sounded skeptical. “Yes,” said Myfanwy indignantly. “I have a very scary face.” Ingrid surveyed her for a moment. “You may wish to take off the cardigan then, Rook Thomas,” she advised tactfully. “The flowers on the pockets detract somewhat from your menace.” 

When Myfawny learns she’ll wake up with no memories of who she is, she starts to write letters with information and encouragement to her new self and I loved those parts. Through that, and the words of other colleagues, you get a feeling for who she was before, and the complete personality change. The original Myfawny had been taken from her family as a child and the schooling she went through enchaced her abilities, but left her traumatized in not so obvious ways. The new version doesn’t have those memories or limits. She’s both a better and worse version because of it.

 – in short – 

Intricate and interesting mystery, witty writing that made me laugh several times. Some background info I didn’t care about, but it didn’t matter anywyay. Cool position titles. Would absoloutly read again, and recommend it for a witty and clever read.

 

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J Maas 

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Pages: 700

Genre: young adult fantasy

5

 

tre

Spoiler-free part

positives

cute, well-rounded characters, good twists & plot, nice scenes, manon is my queen, elide is just lovely, aelin is kickass as usual and deserves none of the (mostly friendly) hate she gets from her friends/fellow characters or readers, derserves all the hate from enemies bc they better be terrified

negatives

very similar to “a court of thorns and roses” and “acomaf” in places, sometimes it has very long action sequences that drag on, parts of the plot seems to be just planning or filler for the big reveals and scenes, which i found annoying. how the whole chaol situation was handled

I would have loved for certain explicit scenes to have been put in an additional novella or online or something, because as they had nothing to do with the plot, I found myself just annoyed at them? I wasn’t in the mood I guess, but had to go back and forth to see if I could skip the pages without someone interrupting them with a sword out or something *hah that wasn’t meant as an innuendo*. Like in A Court of Mist and Fire these scenes contribute to the plot as well as show different sides of characters. In this book the sex scenes seems more like side-projects or well-written fanfic thrown into the rest, but still not connected with it. Does that makes sense? Let’s be real; it’s just smut for smut’s sake. And nothing wrong about that, but:

1) It diffuses the line between ya and na to the point where I know it will make certain younger readers uncomfortable, or at least uncomfortable to admit they’ve read it (been there) and if it isn’t necessary, why? and 2) It was at the points in the book where i personally was just like; “can you get that crazy away from me so I can deal with the crazy that is Aelin’s war? WHat is this girl thinking – that’s what’s interesting?” You might argue it was used to distract the reader, but still.

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Side-note: It’s been over a year since I wrote this review and I never picked up the next book in this series, I’ve found the plot forgetable honestly, and the negative sides overpowered the good. I don’t want to find myself annoyed and let down after reading a book of this size and popularity. The series seem to get more unorginal with every book and I don’t need to see where this is going, at least not anytime soon. But I have a lot of thoughts so if you’ve read the book please read on –

Major Spoilers Below

 

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Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta (Lumatere chronicles #1)

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Pages: 416
Genre: Fantasy

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Synopsis

The kingdom of Lumatere has been cursed and closed off to the rest of the world for ten years. After the royal family was assassinated, the people was driven by fear and prosecuted the wrong group of people, burning them at stakes. One of them, a magician, cursed the land with her dying breath and no one knows if those trapped inside the walls are dead or living in peace unlike the refugees the lost Lumateres has become. Finnikin was the childhood friend of Prince Balthazar and when a young woman called Evanjalin claims he’s still alive, that those inside is still alive, he clings to the hope of someday seeing his home again. They just need to break the curse, and for that they need a prince. Also there’s the small matter of whether Finnikin was to blame for it all, as the magician claimed before she died.

My thoughts

tre

This is good adventurous story, but not the best fantasy. The only parts that stuck with me is the suspense of what happened with the Lumateres/Lumatarian (that sounds like a band) who got trapped inside the city when the curse happened and the refugees that found themselves suddenly locked out of their homes. You can’t help but make the connection to refugees in the real world, especially because of wars with cities like Aleppo* that’s closed of, no one going in or out as I write this. But that is more an example of reading the right book at the right time than this book containing something special. It was a hard contrast, the fever camps and starvation, and it drove the characters, but it never got deeper. The target was always to break the curse and head home, which is far easier in the book than it will ever be in real life, and ruined a lot of the point. Sure, it starts all epic with having been locked out for a decade, but it gets pretty unrealistic from there, even for a fantasy book. Magic can’t solve everything, then you wouldn’t have a problem to begin with, at least not for so many years. If only they hadn’t killed all their healers…

It is, despite all that, a very good-hearted story about bravery and determination, trust and guilt. The characters are good enough written and… that’s it. Not very much of a plot, they travel around, issues come up and they get to prove themselves a couple of times, but the whole aim is getting home. The reason this book wasn’t worth it for me was that I could see the “big reveal” coming for a long time, and even the goodreads synopsis could spoil you, so be careful if you want to give this book a go. Also the world-building … not even going to get into that. It felt like magic was just involved for the sake of keeping the story light and the solutions simple, you could easily have written the same story with war as the cause of not being able to return. But then it wouldn’t have been so easy for a seventeen year old boy to take the lead, now would it?

I don’t think I’ll read the next book, there’s just so many other, better fantasy (and ya) books out there.

*Also I wrote this a while ago, so don’t yell at me that the situation in Aleppo has changed, etc.