Book Review: Prince of Fools

TITLE: Prince of Fools
The Red Queen's War Book 1
AUTHOR: Mark Lawrence
PUBLISHED: June 3rd, 2014
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A prince gets caught up in conspiracies while his grandmother wages a war.
MY REVIEW: I picked this up not knowing that it's apparently part of the Broken Empire series. Luckily it's a spin-off about completely new characters, so I wasn't totally lost while reading it. I'm sure there are probably some easter eggs here and there that I missed though. Which is why at some time in the future, I'll be picking up the Broken Empire series, because I really did like this.
One thing I'll warn about: this is what I call dude-bro fantasy. It is fantasy that is about dudes who go on adventures together and doing manly things like fight in wars and flirt with wenches. The dudes are usually always white and naturally none of them are gay (though I was shipping Snorri/Jalen like nuts through out it, so sorry author). There's little to no relevant female characters in it. I mean you have the queen...and you have the queen. I mean, there are side-bit female characters but they add basically nothing to the plot. They're either there to be love interests or just there. So, this is very traditional fantasy. It's not very inclusive with the diversity at all. But at least the female characters get treated better in this world then they do in Game of Thrones. Kind of.
This is my first Mark Lawrence book, and I'm thinking I'll look into the Broken Empires series now. Because despite being disappointed in the lack of diversity/female characters...the writing was good and I enjoyed the characters. I just wish the author thought a little more outside the medieval fantasy box.
WHO SHOULD READ: Game of Thrones fans, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five snarky princes

Book Review: Hollow City

TITLE: Hollow City
Miss Peregrine Book 2: Hollow City
AUTHOR: Ransom Riggs
PUBLISHED: January 14th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
PREMISE: Jacob and the students of Miss Peregrine travel to London.
MY REVIEW: I don't know why it is that I just can't get as excited about this series as everyone else seems to get. To be clear: I do like it. I do think it's a perfectly decent series and I'm kind of looking forward to the movie.
I just don't get that thrill that everyone else in the world seems to get from it. Part of it I know, is that I just don't get the overhype surrounding it. But honestly I don't get the overhype machine ever, so there you go. To me, this is just another fun YA paranormal. The section is full of series that are just as wonderful and imaginative as this. But apparently the rest of the book world doesn't know about those books, because I keep hearing about how this is super unique. Now, yes, the way Riggs tells the story with the photos he finds is fabulous. I also love the powers he came up with for the kids. But story wise...this is kind of X-menish and most of the stuff in it are tropes that are very familiar to those of us who read lots of paranormal YA. So...I don't particularly agree that this is the best thing since sliced bread. Good entertaining book? Absolutely. Most unique thing ever? Not so much.
But I've made peace with the fact that I'm in the minority on feeling this way. I don't at all expect this to change the fact that the next book will be everywhere when it comes out too. I'll also probably read that one too, because as I said: I like it. I just think the hype is really overblown.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the first book, historical fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five weird photos

What to Read Next: The Tempest Trilogy

So you've finished the Tempest Trilogy by Julie Cross and loved it. Now you want more time travel stories or books similar. Fear not, this list is for you.

1) The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
Why: Always a good idea to look into the classics that inspire these things.

2) Hourglass Trilogy by Myra McEntire
Why: Has time travel (of sorts), shady organization using time travel, romantic subplot and drama.

3) Outlander series by Diana Gambledon
Why: more romantic time travel.

4) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Why: Another tale of a guy who time travels which messes up his love life just a tad.

5) Precious Stone Trilogy by Kiersten Gier
Why: Has someone who time travels, does so for reasons, has romantic subplot with guy who also time travels.




Also look into: The Timeless series by Alexandra Monir
River of Time series by Lisa Tawn Bergren
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Book Review: Stitching Snow

TITLE: Stitching Snow
AUTHOR: R. C. Lewis
PUBLISHED: October 14, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Retelling, Science Fiction
PREMISE: A retelling of Snow White set in space.
MY REVIEW: First off, I'm not going to do that thing people have been doing, which is compare this to the Lunar Chronicles. I understand the temptation, but I think we really need to step away from this habit of comparing new books to books that have already gained a following. I love Lunar Chronicles, I do and that's the problem. Because when you love something like that, and you read this new thing and compare the two, of COURSE it's not going to measure up. So, this review is not based on how this is not as good as Lunar Chronicles.
As a story on its own, this is a decent debut. The author twists the familiar story of Snow White a bit in some unexpected ways. It's very readable and Essie is a fun heroine. I wish the world was a bit more developed, but it's developed just enough that you get the gist of it at least.
Is it as good as Lunar Chronicles? No. Does that mean it's a bad book? No. It's a perfectly decent read, especially if you want more sci-fi retellings. Which I do, hint hint publishers.
WHO SHOULD READ: Lunar Chronicles fans (who aren't going to find it lacking just because it's not Lunar Chronicles), retelling fans, Snow White fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five badass princesses

Many thanks to the publishers for the Net Galley of this book.

Book Review: Silver Shadows

TITLE: Silver Shadows
Book 5 in the Bloodlines series
AUTHOR: Richelle Mead
PUBLISHED: July 29th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, YA
PREMISE: Sydney and Adrian have to break Sydney out of the prison that the Alchemists sent her too.
MY REVIEW: This review is going to be short because honestly at this point, I don't have much to say about the series.
At over ten books, you probably know whether or not the Vampire Academy books are for you. If you're a vampire fan and have not checked this series out yet, I strongly urge you too. This book is what I've come to expect from this series and Mead. It's fast-paced, it's got fun dialogue, and a good cliffhanger at the end to make you read the next book.
So if you're a Bloodlines fan, go forth and continue.
WHO SHOULD READ: Bloodlines fans, Mead fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five surprise weddings

Book Review: The Keeper of Lost Causes

TITLE: The Keeper of Lost Causes
Book 1 in the Department Q series
AUTHOR: Jussi Adler-Olsen
PUBLISHED: 2011 (in the US)
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Mystery
PREMISE: A down on his luck detective in Denmark gets shafted into solving cold cases. His first involves a dead politician.
MY REVIEW: Yes, my friends, another reading through the library read. You love these, don't you? This weeks find is a mystery thriller from Denmark. Apparently this one is popular in Denmark, to the point that they made it into a movie (or a tv show?, I just saw film stills when I looked it up in Google so I don't know the whole story).
I actually kind of liked this one. It's kind of reminiscent of Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, just minus the rape/torture scenes (thank God). The main character isn't as interesting as Lisbeth, unfortunately, but he is interesting. He's got the grumpy detective thing going for him. But honestly, his cheerful partner was who I liked. I hope we get his back story in the next few books (yes, I'm continuing the series). The only warning I can give is that since it was written for a Denmark audience, it tends to assume you're familiar with Denmark politics and in-jokes. So, some of that was a little confusing. But not to the point that it made reading it impossible. Personally, I found the peek into Denmark rather interesting.
The mystery is nice and twisty, the characters are interesting enough to make you want to read the next one. I can see why it caught on in Denmark.
WHO SHOULD READ: Girl With a Dragon Tattoo fans, Mystery fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five grumpy detectives

Book Review: Afterworlds

TITLE: Afterworlds
AUTHOR: Scott Westerfeld
PUBLISHED: September 23rd, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, also kind of Paranormal...it's complicated.
PREMISE: A young writer just gets a big book deal and moves to New York City to start her writing career...
MY REVIEW: This is such a departure from what Scott Westerfeld usually writes so I'm not really shocked that many of his fans didn't like it. Me...I'm firmly on the fence. I guess you could say I liked the idea of it and what the author was doing more then the final product itself.
I do love the way Westerfeld set up the story for sure. He sort of has two stories going here. You have Darcy, the young writer, moving to NYC and discovering the pitfalls of being a new writer and making those deadlines. Then alternately, we get to see the story that Darcy wrote, called Afterworlds (hence the name) which is your typical YA paranormal sort of story. It's a clever idea. Because we get to see Darcy and see her grow, at the same time we get her book and see her influences in it. There's a lot of meta on the YA book world as well. Which I admit, as someone who is writing a book (don't ask how it's going, just...don't), I found interesting. Also, if you're looking for diversity in your reading, Darcy is Indian and also falls in love with a girl while in NYC (and I could go on forever about how much I adore Ingrid).
I'll admit, I didn't like this as much as Westerfelds previous books. I think he wrote this one just to get the story out there. Sometimes writers need to do that. I respect that. It's not his best work ever, but I've certainly read worse.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fangirl fans, Scott Westerfeld fans, those into the behind the scenes action in YA
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five panicked writers making deadlines

Book Review: Lock In

TITLE: Lock In
Book 1 in new series
AUTHOR: John Scalzi
PUBLISHED: August 26th, 2014
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Sci-Fi/Dystopian, Mystery
PREMISE: In the future a man joins the police FBI and takes on his first case...
MY REVIEW: Confession time: I've never actually read John Scalzi. I've been meaning too for years. Because Redshirts sounds like all kinds of awesome and I follow him on Twitter and he seems like an awesome person all around. Also when I say I haven't read him yet, I get that LOOK. You all know the one I'm talking about.
After reading this, I totally get what the fuss is about. Normally, it takes me awhile to get into Sci-Fi books. Usually because the authors are so hell bent on proving their science cred that they forget that little thing called story and so I tend to get bored. This is why I tend to prefer fantasy over sci-fi. Scalzi manages to find that happy middle. Where he does do some interesting plausible world building AND manage to have a great story/characters at the same time. He has somehow managed to make not just good sci-fi, but sci-fi that everyone can read. Yes, my friends, it can be done.
Basically, I loved the hell out of this. This, I think, is what Meyer was TRYING to accomplish with The Host but failed to do. This really is Sci-Fi for those who can't get into Sci-Fi. But it manages to do so, without insulting Sci-Fi fans. Redshirts has now gone up on the TBR list.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sci-Fi fans, John Scalzi fans, I Robot fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five detectives in a sci-fi world

Making the Leap: Harry Potter

If you liked the Harry Potter Series:

Then in adult fiction, look into The Peter Grant Series by Ben Aaronovitch:

Why: It's got the hidden fantasy world thing going on, that certain Britain humor, it's self aware and makes the Harry Potter jokes, and there are twisted magical mysteries.

Other options to look into: 

Discworld series by Terry Pratchett (if you liked the Brit humor side and the well developed world)

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (if you liked the portal fantasy/darkness of it)

The Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman (if you want more magical school stuff)

Looking Ahead: November 2014

Here are books published this November that are on my radar.

November 4rth:

Naturals 2: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Category: YA
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Mystery
Why: I'm always up for a Barnes book and The Naturals was really fun and twisted.

Finishing School Book 3: Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger
Category: YA
Genre: Steampunk/Mystery
Why: Because I love this series. I read anything Carriger. I can't wait for Prudence next year.

Bhinian Empire Book 2: Empire of Shadows by Miriam Forster
Category: YA
Genre: Fantasy/Mystery
Why: I love City of a Thousand Dolls. It was one of the most underrated books last year. Can't wait to spend more time in this fascinating land.

His Fair Assassin Trilogy Book 3: Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
Category: YA
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
Why: I have a fondness for this trilogy, even if I will forever find nuns training assassins weird.





November 11th:

Stone Cove Island by Suzanne Myers
Category: YA
Genre: Mystery
Why: I'm a sucker for mysteries. Ones where everyone is a suspect and secrets are spilled? Even better.

The Change 1: Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith
Category: YA
Genre: Dystopian Fantasy
Why: It sounds like it could be cool.