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Addy posted:If I hated Beauty, is there any point reading anything else she's written? I heard so many good things about her - including a positive blurb from Neil Gaiman on Sunshine - that I put the only book available in our library on hold - Beauty. I got it and I hated it. Beauty was such a self-righteous arrogant little... well, Goodreads review here, but if you enjoyed it you should probably save yourself time, skip the review and just tell me to shut up. All the rest of hers I've tried have annoyed me (and it's been a fair few, since TBS was the first of hers I read so I kept hoping). Sunshine in particular bored me brainless; I genuinely can't see what I'm missing in it that everyone else raves about. So, yeah, Beauty is a pretty good representation of what I find annoying about her books, so if you HATE HATE HATE it you're probably not going to like much else of hers. Addy posted:There aren't a lot of older books being discussed here, but I absolutely loved Day of the Triffids when I was in school. Found that after reading The Chrysalids for a class assignment, which I also liked but which was a lot heavier handed in the "people are bastards" theme than DoTT. The Chrysalids focuses on a post-apocalyptic world, DoTT focuses on a mid-apocalyptic world - in fact I would have loved to read some sequels of that one. For years one or both of those books were absolutely necessary inclusions whenever I was travelling. Also avoid the Simon Clark "authorised sequel" to DotT. He wrote in 6 weeks or so and it's utter, utter crap.
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Oct 15, 2012 10:14
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Runcible Cat posted:The Blue Sword is the only McKinley I like, but if you're violently allergic to Mary Sues it's got a fair bit of that going on (with in-story justification via kelar, the all-purpose magic that tells you what to do, gives you the power to do it and changes the colour of your eyes while it does it! Order it today from the Plot Device Warehouse!). I love it for the Kipling-esque setting, but it is pure girly wish-fulfilment. Great when you're in the mood for escapism, though.  Thank you for the warning. I will avoid with extreme prejudice. (Not that I can talk, because my escapism moods find me turning to Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey, so y'know...)Ditto the warning on a Triffids sequel - how sad to find out it exists and is horrible in the same moment! (Worse of course to find out it exists and find out at the end that it's horrible.) quote:Have you ever tried The Kraken Wakes? It's my favourite Wyndham. (Get the UK version with that title, not the US version Out of the Deeps - that's got key bits like Bill's PTSD edited out, and a New! Happier! ending with Bocker turning up in a helicopter to explain that the Americans have saved the world.) I haven't read that. I went on to some of his short stories after the two I listed and while I don't remember a lot, I remember a really weird story centering around creepy pregnancies. Or something. I should probably revisit his writing, it has been decades - I have a weird mindset where I hate disliking anything made by someone whose work I have, up to that point, loved (ask me about how much I hate myself for not being able to love American Gods). I'll throw Kraken into my list of to-gets, and hope I can find a UK version in a used bookstore somewhere (I did find a (signed!) copy of a Laurie Lee once, so I can hope). On another note, I picked up and finished Girl of the Limberlost, and I have to say - I really did not like it (review). It did, however, recall to mind some of the other books I read as a girl where I really connected with the characters. Anne of Green Gables. It's a series, but I was gifted a box of the first three as a kid and found that I absolutely loved the first one, found the second one decent reading, and had lost interest by the third - possibly it's just me but I found that in the first book each character was interesting and had definite character development throughout the story, by the second they were all grown and there wasn't much left to change), and by the third it had kind of turned into everybody kind of cardboard imitations of the characters - everybody was who they were and it was more a "what wacky hijinks will happen next week in Avonlea??" That being said, definitely pick up at least the first one. It is awesome. And the second and third aren't really *awful*, they just suffer in comparison to the first. (Note: reviewer may be biased by having red hair and a temper.) The Diary of Anne Frank - Inasmuch as you can love a true story about a horrible, horrible event, I *loved* this story. No, love this story. Cried a lot reading it, still cry a lot every time I re-read it. Possibly it shouldn't be labelled young adult as it's for everyone, but I believe a lot of people first come up across it in school - sadly, because almost everyone I know hates the books they were assigned in school, regardless of whether the stories themselves are bad or not. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. There are some books I will never again be without at least one physical copy of, and this is one of them. The first time I read it I thought it was odd how a story in which "nothing ever really happened" could be so enjoyable... which just shows how silly I was, because there is *so much* going on in this story and as I got older and re-read it time after time, I discovered more and more. I love it and have worn through/lost/loaned several copies over the years. They're all fairly dated, but these are the books I fell in love with as a girl and stayed in love with as I've aged. (Edited for stupid.) Addy fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Oct 19, 2012 |
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Oct 17, 2012 07:12
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Addy posted:
I don't mean to be nitpicky, but you are aware that this is not just based on a true story, but that it is a true story, right? As in, this was her actual diary, word for word.
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Oct 18, 2012 05:40
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Knerd posted:Has anyone read The Chemical Gardens books by Lauren DeStefano? I thought they were a pretty decent read. They focus on a dystopian America where genetic engineering has caused the younger generations to die; women at 20 and men at 25. The story centers around a teenage girl named Rhine who is abducted from her home and married off to a rich man, along with two other young girls, and expected to produce children. I've only read the first book (and quite a while ago so I've forgotten some of the details), but I was pretty unimpressed. The romance was creepy - I mean, it was meant to be creepy, of course, but it was still uncomfortable to read. It felt like the author changed the story unrealistically to make Linden an acceptable love interest - like how he had an evil father and a dying True Love, and how he didn't realise the girls were all slaves who were bought for his enjoyment like what the gently caress how do you not notice that. I think it would have been better if he was at least a little evil, rather than having all of his actions excused by the plot setup. I did like Rhine and the other two girls though. Their interactions were my favourite parts of the book. I kind of wish the story had focused more on them than on Gabriel and Linden. The other thing that bothered me was the fact that the virus specifically killed women at 20 and men at 25. How can a virus be that specific? Why does it kill women faster? But I'm really picky about stories being "believable" - I hated Unwind for the same reason, yet everyone else loved it. 
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Oct 18, 2012 07:09
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naptalan posted:I think it would have been better if he was at least a little evil, rather than having all of his actions excused by the plot setup. The spoiler reminds me of why I was really bothered by Across the Universe. I like the premise but the romance was creepy as hell. Everyone looks the same on the Wall-E style space ship so when lead guy finds the lead girl frozen in cryo, he instantly falls in love with her because she has shocking red hair and pale skin. He's so enraptured with her he wakes her up prematurely, risking her life and ensuring she will never see her parents or anyone else she knew in cryo again. She forgives him because she doesn't want to be alone and you know at least he was honest  I don't know if it's just really depressing or just another silly plot twist to roll eyes at.As for Unwind, how unrealistic it was did nudge at me a little in my mind, but I can forgive a "society went insane" explanation as long as everything else works 
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Oct 18, 2012 07:22
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elbow posted:I don't mean to be nitpicky, but you are aware that this is not just based on a true story, but that it is a true story, right? As in, this was her actual diary, word for word.  Goddammit. Yes I did know that, thank you for catching it. I don't know why I said "based on". I am stupid and will fix it so people aren't misled.
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Oct 19, 2012 02:58
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naptalan posted:The other thing that bothered me was the fact that the virus specifically killed women at 20 and men at 25. How can a virus be that specific? Why does it kill women faster? But I'm really picky about stories being "believable" - I hated Unwind for the same reason, yet everyone else loved it. I am really hoping that this gets resolved, because I feel the same way. What I really like about the books is this crazy world that they live in, and I feel like DeStefano has an opportunity to really explore some cool and deep themes, but after reading the second book, I'm not sure that she's able to do that effectively. I am not totally sure I will read the third, I might just skim in the bookstore to see how it ends. In the second book, her brother is reintroduced as a sort of loose cannon that is searching for her, and I'm afraid that is going to make the whole story even more convoluted, as there is already a ton of stuff going on. I also agree that Linden is a little too dense at times. We'll see how she wraps that up, I guess.
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Oct 21, 2012 16:30
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One of my favorite YA series (that I tend to re-read every couple years) is Maria V. Snyder's Study series. It's a trilogy: Poison Study, Magic Study, Fire Study. I found the books to be well-written, with a strong female main character. There is of course a love interest, but what I really liked was that there wasn't a big focus on that fact (it's been a while since I last read them, but if memory serves, the love interest is barely even present in the second book, because they are in different parts of the country). I do think the last one is the weakest of the three, though. This is from the back of the first book: Locked in a coffin-like darkness, there is nothing to distract me from my memories of killing Reyad. He deserved to die—but according to the law, so do I. Here in Ixia, the punishment for murder is death. And now I wait for the hangman's noose. But the same law that condemns me may also save me. Ixia's food taster — chosen to ensure that the Commander's food is not poisoned — has died. And by law, the next prisoner who is scheduled to be executed — me — must be offered the position.
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Oct 23, 2012 04:44
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Reepicheep posted:One of my favorite YA series (that I tend to re-read every couple years) is Maria V. Snyder's Study series. You should check out Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. It reminded me a lot of Poison Study, but I did enjoy Throne of Glass more. (Girl assassin gets the choice between working in a coal-mine or compete in a competition.)
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Oct 23, 2012 18:41
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Thanks for the recommendation! It sounds good...I'll definitely pick it up.
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Oct 24, 2012 03:22
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Reepicheep posted:One of my favorite YA series (that I tend to re-read every couple years) is Maria V. Snyder's Study series. It's a trilogy: Poison Study, Magic Study, Fire Study. I found the books to be well-written, with a strong female main character. There is of course a love interest, but what I really liked was that there wasn't a big focus on that fact (it's been a while since I last read them, but if memory serves, the love interest is barely even present in the second book, because they are in different parts of the country). I do think the last one is the weakest of the three, though. Poison Study is the best of the trilogy, but the others are worth it if only for the scene where the heroine is kidnapped and actually orders her rescuers from the old barn where she's being held so she can save herself. There's a second series of books that include Yelena as a recurring character, but I can't recommend them because the love story goes offensively stupid. Those books were originally released as adult fiction, but once the YA trend really got going they were republished and marketed to a younger audience.
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Oct 24, 2012 06:47
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I read the Study books recently, and I really enjoyed the first one and the second one was alright, but by the time I got to the third, I was so fed up with her being kidnapped every chapter and then being rescued and/or escaping. It seemed so repetitive, in the end I just read a plot summary on wikipedia.
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Oct 24, 2012 18:56
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Democratic Pirate posted:I just finished this book up in no time at all, and I enjoyed it. This series is a guilty pleasure of mine, I dig the mythology and how it's 'Greek/Roman Gods being dicks, but for kids.' If you enjoyed the previous books, this is worth picking up. Still a few pieces of bad humor, but I just roll with it.
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Oct 26, 2012 03:01
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Conduit for Sale! posted:I do not get the love for Sabriel. There was no character development - barely any description of the characters at all really. If he has just spent a little time in the beginning with Sabriel in school going about her normal business, I could've gotten a sense of who she is. There's a reason why every drat fantasy/ya book does this. Instead, I get a character who seems like a placeholder for a much better character that Nix was going to write, but forgot. Lots of stuff and plot and junk happens in the book but I don't know anything about the main character so I can't really give a poo poo what happens to her. Hey, same here. The world of Sabriel was utterly fascinating, but as a protagonist, she was pretty much cardboard. I agree that spending more time with her at her school could've helped us to get our bearings, and learn more about her. Touchstone and Moggett proved to be much more interesting.
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Oct 30, 2012 02:07
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Kaishai posted:I love YA so much--mostly fantasy stuff. YA got me hooked on magic and I've never looked back. The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce is my favorite of her works, but that's probably from reading it at the time I did. She's a fantastic author when it comes to making you care about the fate of whatever the protagonist is fighting for. She also deals with gender issues in a way that I didn't find preachy or stilted. I'd recommend the Song of the Lioness series if you've never read her before, or the Immortals series if magic is more your speed than knighthood.
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Oct 30, 2012 03:35
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Violet_Sky posted:I've read them all, myself. I find Libba Bray to be a very talented and underrated writer. She's the kind of author who knows how to get into the minds of her characters and make them come to life. I read the first book of the series when I was younger, but I couldn't remember for the life of me if they had anything to do with magic or not. I don't recall liking it that strongly, but that could be due to all the forgetting. Heh.
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Nov 9, 2012 15:49
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Panda So Panda posted:I read the first book of the series when I was younger, but I couldn't remember for the life of me if they had anything to do with magic or not. I don't recall liking it that strongly, but that could be due to all the forgetting. Heh. I really liked the Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy, but the last one I read by Bray, Beauty Queens (I think?), was awful. It was absolutely obnoxious. It read like a parody of a parody, written by someone who thinks Alanis Morissette invented irony.
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Nov 10, 2012 00:27
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bitter almond posted:I really liked the Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy, but the last one I read by Bray, Beauty Queens (I think?), was awful. It was absolutely obnoxious. It read like a parody of a parody, written by someone who thinks Alanis Morissette invented irony. YES! That's the first and only book that I've read by her. I keep hearing about how she's a great writer but after that book I just don't want to read anything else by her. I get what she was trying to do with the story but it failed horribly. She needs to stay away from satire.
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Nov 10, 2012 03:57
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Anyone read Our Fault in the Stars yet? It seems really good and I think that I'm going to get it eventually.
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Nov 10, 2012 16:55
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screenwritersblues posted:Anyone read Our Fault in the Stars yet? It seems really good and I think that I'm going to get it eventually. I'm curious about it too. The only thing holding me back is the subject matter. It seems like, no matter what, it will be a cry-fest. How do folks feel about Laini Taylor? I read and enjoyed Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The sequel just came out, Days of Blood and Starlight. My students (8th grade) are way into the paranormal romance crap. Taylor's books have a lot of the fantasy elements of those, but with much better writing and an interesting mythos behind it all. It's light reading, but I'm liking it, and I don't feel ill when I see it in my students' hands.
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Nov 10, 2012 17:13
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I've read The Fault in Our Stars, and it's not as depressing as you might think. The kids are pretty irreverent about the whole thing so it has a bit of humor in it. But, well, it's about cancer so if you cry at books, expect to cry sometimes. 
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Nov 10, 2012 19:32
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bitter almond posted:I'm curious about it too. The only thing holding me back is the subject matter. It seems like, no matter what, it will be a cry-fest.
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Nov 10, 2012 19:37
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screenwritersblues posted:Anyone read Our Fault in the Stars yet? It seems really good and I think that I'm going to get it eventually. John Green is by far my favorite YA author. I loved Looking for Alaska; I thought his other books were pretty great too but his first was the best. Until The Fault in Our Stars. It's an amazing book and the voice of Hazel is very well-done. As someone who's involved a fair bit with pediatric cancer, I almost feel like it's required reading. And yes, you will cry. I felt emotionally drained after I finished it, but in a good way.
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Nov 10, 2012 22:19
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Corn Thongs posted:I've read The Fault in Our Stars, and it's not as depressing as you might think. The kids are pretty irreverent about the whole thing so it has a bit of humor in it. But, well, it's about cancer so if you cry at books, expect to cry sometimes. I agree it's not as depressing as I thought it would be but I still cried for 2 hours towards the end. One of the very best YA books I've read so I think screenwritersblues and bitter almond should both pick it up.
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Nov 11, 2012 07:15
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Corn Thongs posted:I've read The Fault in Our Stars, and it's not as depressing as you might think. The kids are pretty irreverent about the whole thing so it has a bit of humor in it. But, well, it's about cancer so if you cry at books, expect to cry sometimes. bonds0097 posted:John Green is by far my favorite YA author. I loved Looking for Alaska; I thought his other books were pretty great too but his first was the best. Until The Fault in Our Stars. It's an amazing book and the voice of Hazel is very well-done. As someone who's involved a fair bit with pediatric cancer, I almost feel like it's required reading. And yes, you will cry. I felt emotionally drained after I finished it, but in a good way. elbow posted:I agree it's not as depressing as I thought it would be but I still cried for 2 hours towards the end. One of the very best YA books I've read so I think screenwritersblues and bitter almond should both pick it up. Thank you all. I will be picking this up after I get paid next week. Also how are Green's other books? I found a screenplay based off Looking for Alaska, but I really want to read the book first.
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Nov 11, 2012 23:11
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screenwritersblues posted:Thank you all. I will be picking this up after I get paid next week. Also how are Green's other books? I found a screenplay based off Looking for Alaska, but I really want to read the book first. Looking for Alaska is awesome. Very philosophical. Abundance of Katherines is a lot of fun and I loved the protagonist and his sidekick. Paper Towns is my least favorite of his books but I still enjoyed it for what it was (sort of subverting the idea of the manic pixie dream girl).
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Nov 12, 2012 00:07
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He also cowrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson with David Levithan, which was absolutely fantastic and hands down my favorite among his books. David Levithan's solo work is definitely worth checking out too. His latest, Every Day, was pretty great. He's got a bunch of other books, many of which involve LBGT themes, if that's your jam.
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Nov 12, 2012 01:44
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I enjoyed Paper Towns for the awesome road trip. I have a shelf on Goodreads for road trip books, that's how much I love them. I just finished Every Day, it was decent but I felt like Levithan pushed hard to incorporate teen issues into the book: the main character inhabits the bodies of (minor spoilers) a gay guy, a Mean Girls bully, an illegal immigrant, a trans lesbian, a suicidal girl, an obese boy, and a drug addict. They were handled very well but I still felt in the back of my mind like he was checking off topics from a list. The romance plot really wasn't doing it for me either. It felt like despite all the vaguely creepy insistences on "true love", A looked down on Rhiannon: A was secretly disappointed every time Rhiannon was uncomfortable with the host body being female, as if she should be ashamed for being straight or not having as fluid a concept of gender as A did. Despite all that, I really did enjoy the book! I hope Levithan writes a sequel, maybe focusing on someone else like A. The book was left open-ended for A's story to continue but I'd rather look inside the head of another body-hopper and see how their experiences compare.
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Nov 12, 2012 04:11
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screenwritersblues posted:Also how are Green's other books? I started with TFIOS and now I'm reading An Abundance of Katherines, which is really funny so far. Like, laugh out loud funny. TFIOS also has lol moments paired with the sad. It's an addictive book - I stayed up til 3am finishing it.
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Nov 13, 2012 03:32
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I just finished Mothership by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal, and I can't recommend this enough. It's a light and funny read, nothing groundbreaking, except that it's about pregnant teenagers IN SPACE! Also, it has one of the best YA covers I've ever seen: 
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Nov 13, 2012 04:14
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Oh man, I can't believe how late I am to the John Green discussion. The Fault in Our Stars is probably his best. Funnier than you would expect, and certainly not the sadness porn that it could have been. Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns should be read back to back and in that order. LfA is a bit too much of an ode to a manic pixie dream girl, while PT takes that idea and completely deconstructs and subverts it. It really reads like a companion piece to LfA, but it subverts its themes to the point that if you read PT first, LfA seems trite by comparison. I didn't expect to like Will Grayson, Will Grayson as much as I did, mostly because I'm predisposed to disliking the "alternate narrator with each chapter" structure. That in mind, it's utterly fantastic and probably his most relatable piece of work. Once the two narratives start crossing over, it becomes really difficult to put it down.
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Dec 9, 2012 16:28
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elbow posted:I just finished Mothership by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal, and I can't recommend this enough. It's a light and funny read, nothing groundbreaking, except that it's about pregnant teenagers IN SPACE! The Kindle cover is horrible though, although that's pretty standard for kindle covers. Thanks for the rec, will try this one out.
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Dec 10, 2012 04:31
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Has anyone read Code Name Verity? I just finished it and it might be my favorite book of the year. It's part spy novel, part coming of age story, and is just incredibly well written and intricately structured. It's hard to describe without giving away too much of the plot, but basically it's about two girls in WW2, best friends, one is a wireless operator and one is a pilot. On a mission to occupied France, their plane gets shot down, and the wireless operator gets caught. After several weeks of torturing, she's given two weeks and as much paper as she needs to write everything she knows about the British military. Using this opportunity, she writes her story, from when she meets her pilot friend to their plane crash. It's a really fast-paced, twist-filled Usual Suspects style story, but it's also deeply emotional, and at its core it's about the friendship between these two girls. That rambling description doesn't really do the book justice, but I highly recommend that everyone go read it right now.
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Dec 13, 2012 21:21
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I don't know if this would qualify since it doesn't strictly fall under the YA category as far as I know, but I am currently reading a book called The Rook. It's the debut novel of Australian author Daniel O'Malley. I hope he stays in the literary world for some time, whether he chooses to continue writing in this particular universe or not. It is seriously the most enjoyable piece of fiction I have read in a while. Not only well-written, it is gripping enough that I have been speeding through it (and my boyfriend has been poking fun at me for being a slow reader lately). I have to also say that it is the best contemporary example of a male author writing a believable, relate-able female protagonist that I've come across. The girl possesses equal parts awkward vulnerability and badassery, all without being portrayed as falling down or knocking into things every few minutes to put that across. Granted, I'm only 69% through the book (according to my lovely Kindle), but I recommend this novel with every fiber of my being. Really, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Not sure if it falls under urban fantasy or sci-fi because it definitely has elements of both. If I had to liken it to visual media, I would compare it to Torchwood. In fact, the main character is Welsh, so I can't help but imagine Eve Myles in my head as I read. Even better, for those who appreciate minimalist covers, I give you:
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Dec 15, 2012 04:05
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I've had a gripe about almost every YA protagonist I've read about, but these two exceptions happen to be pretty similar in personality. I really liked Hazel if The Fault in Our Stars and now I really like Unspoken's Kami. I'm only about halfway through, but if you like Hazel's personality (sarcastic and confident but just a touch of insecurity) with a little more... uh, fantasy maybe (Kami's dearest friend is a voice in her head) but less (way less) tragedy (no cancer), then you might like the book All in all a light and fun read so far. edit: well just made it past the halfway mark and it took a turn for the kinda creepy, in a supernatural and dark way. Interesting... Corn Thongs fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Dec 21, 2012 |
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Dec 20, 2012 20:46
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Just got onto a YA kick and found two very interesting books that will keep even adults interested. The first one is Right Behind You by Gail Giles. Description from Goodreads: "When he was nine, Kip set another child on fire. Now, after years in a juvenile ward, he is ready for a fresh start. But the ghosts of his past soon demand justice, and he must reveal his painful secret. How can Kip tell anyone that he really is--or was--a murderer?" The second book is Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford. From Goodreads: "Fifteen-year-old Jeff wakes up on New Year's Day to find himself in the hospital. Make that the psychiatric ward. With the nutjobs. Clearly, this is all a huge mistake. Forget about the bandages on his wrists and the notes on his chart. Forget about his problems with his best friend, Allie, and her boyfriend, Burke. Jeff's perfectly fine, perfectly normal, not like the other kids in the hospital with him. Now they've got problems. But a funny thing happens as his forty-five-day sentence drags on— the crazies start to seem less crazy." Both books are quick reads - in fact, I read both of them the same day (yesterday, while at work) and didn't want to let anything bother me while I was reading them. There are some thought-provoking elements to both books despite their dark subject matter, and I only wish they'd been around when I was a kid. I wanted to come back and add another book - Trigger - there are plenty of books about suicide and near-fatal attempts, but the main character (assuming they survive) never seems adversely affected. Trigger, by Susan Vaught, is not that type of book. Description:Jersey Hatch seemed to have it all together-he played sports, was popular, had a great girlfriend, best friend, and supportive parents. But when he emerges from a recuperative care center, all that is gone, his legs and hands don't work right, his mouth says every word that pops into his brain, and he has to write down his thoughts so that he remembers even the most basic directions and details. Through it all, one question haunts him: why did he try to kill himself? If I were teaching English to junior high to high school kids I would definitely have these three books on my personal library shelf. Each one deals with a subject that every teenager can relate to - depression, suicide, redemption, forgiveness, love, sexuality and identity. There's no preaching, although Suicide Notes took me by surprise until I read the author's bibliography, and then I got a clearer idea of the author's purpose in writing the book. Some of the characterization is necessarily flat and stereotypical in all three books - it has to be in order to move the book along at a good pace; there's not a whole hell of a lot of time to create a fully fleshed supporting cast in books under 300 pages in length. Besides, the only important person is the main character, and all three books manage to make the MC both realistic, sympathetic, and someone you feel good about investing your time to get to know. In a personal note, I really identified with Kip in Right Behind You because of my own history - the only phrase that comes to mind is "There but for the grace of God, go I." I had to really re-evaluate my own stance on what I thought should be done to children who kill. No doubt some of them are damaged beyond repair, but I doubt I could ever sit on a jury and sentence a child to life in prison, no matter how horrific the crime. Others might be able to, but I'm not a person who could cast the first stone. Daylen Drazzi fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Dec 22, 2012 |
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Dec 21, 2012 19:59
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I read some YA every now and then, even as an adult, and lately I have stumbled upon a quite entertaining little series. Well, I stumbled upon the audiobooks really, which are read by an amazing narrator (Katherine Kellgren). If it has been mentioned already I apologize. Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer  It is a historical novel about an orphan girl, a street urchin, who signs up as a shipsboy to the HMS Dolphin in an attempt to get her dirty little hands on some grub. Haran fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Dec 22, 2012 |
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Dec 22, 2012 01:37
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I picked up In the Belly of the Bloodhound, the fourth book in that series, a few months ago, but I didn't finish it. Jacky's got a distinctive voice and is (somewhat anachronistically, yet delightfully) comfortable with and confident in her sexuality, but the book was taking such a long time to get going. I got about a hundred pages in and they hadn't even mentioned the Bloodhound yet! An adventure book ought to have a fast-moving plot, and I just felt like the author was wasting my time.
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Dec 25, 2012 04:38
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Despite my dislike of Sabriel, I really like that one book cover so I got bored and made a couple avatars out of it if anyone wants one:  The first one reflects the border that is present on the cover, the second just omits it entirely. I kinda like the one with the border better personally, but to each his/her own.
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Dec 25, 2012 10:31
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Because the movie trailer interested me (I'm always ready for another funny send up of the zombie genre), I read Warm Bodies. I have seen a lot of people calling it "Twilight but with zombies", and I guess I can't really say, having never read Twilight, but I found Warm Bodies pretty interesting. I also read The Strange Case of Finley Jayne and am reading The Girl in the Steel Corset which is a steampunk YA series that also has paranormal stuff, and is kind of hard to explain. Strange Case is a good introduction to one of the main characters in a nice little short story, but I got frustrated about halfway through Steel Corset when I slowly realized the author was setting up a love triangle. I am so annoyed by love triangles in YA! It seems like the only romantic conflict YA authors can come up with, or something.
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Jan 2, 2013 04:08
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