A good book is an event in my life: February 2022

Monday, February 28, 2022

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1)

By: Jay Kristoff
Release Date: August 9th 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Rating: 1 out 5
Series:The Nevernight Chronicle
Summary: In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.

Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

Review: I did not finish this book.

Here is the reason:

The writing is atrocious (to me, who knows, you might like it), the plot convoluted and barely detectable between the clusterfuck of prose. With an inexplicably small (borderline unreadable) font size and tons of footnotes about various mundane details in made-up high-fantasy history felt condescending and pretentious and so monotonous, not to mention like a crime against sentences. The sex scenes made me cringe (and I’ve read Jay Kristoff described as a male author capable of writing full, realistic female characters, but after the way Mia sexualized, I must beg to differ).

It is what happens, a man writes a book with a female protagonist. She would have absolutely no healthy friendships with women. Nonstop description of how beautiful her body part is, and the terrible smut that goes with it.

Kristoff was trying too hard to make this book grand. I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately they did not meet.

Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush #1)

By: Becca Fitzpatrick
Release Date: October 13th 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
Rating: 1 out 5
Series:Hush, Hush
Summary: SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

Review: What a nostalgia read!

I have read Hush Hush only once, and I hate it. It has been more than a decade since I read this book. I want to see if this book held up.

When I finished reading Hush, Hush, I had to mull it over for a while. I really wasn’t sure what to say. I am absolutely love the cover (athletic looking, darkly mysterious fallen angel, contorted in midair in gray-scale? What’s not to like?).

It didn’t work.

Inside was the most confused piece of writing I’ve read in some time. Becca Fitzpatrick didn’t seem to know quite what she wanted, only that it had to be Ominous, Scary, sexy, and Dangerous. With that in mind, she threw a bunch of things and let her narrator, Nora, and sort them out. Nora, understandably, had some trouble with this, and the result is a thoroughly frustrating heroine who jumps to insane conclusions based on inane evidence one moment, and the next goes blithely along into obvious danger.

A rip-off of Twilight is the close similarities that I can think of. You have a regular average girl here, absent parents, a love affair with a dangerous supernatural boyfriend, a final showdown with a villain of his own kind. The mythology, while somewhat unusually paper thin. The characters are shallow and undeveloped.

The worst offense, Fitzpatrick, is how causal she wrote on sexual harassment scene between the main characters. Patch is seriously sexually harassing Nora in class, in front of the teacher and seemingly with the teacher’s encouragement.

That is just wrong.

And finally, why exactly Patch and Nora are in love? They know nothing about each other. Nora spends most of the book calling Patch creepy, fearing him, being roughly pinned by him to various walls in dark places or being at his knife’s point, and yet she is full of desire for him? It just makes no sense. As for Patch, I don’t know one thing about him or why he loves Nora.

My list can go on and on...

Hush Hush is a terrible book with lackluster annoying characters, ridiculous plot, and bad writing, but with an overabundance of creepiness. In a sad way, Twilight saga is a better book than this.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Vol. 2

Review: It’s a continuation of Boruto as he goes for the chunin exams. Boruto does rather well, only to be discovered for cheating. It’s quite poor character, and his reaction to being discovered only makes it worse. When Oototsuki attack, Naruto has to go to his tail beast form and for the first time Boruto sees how awesome his dad is.

Later Naruto kidnapped by the Oototsuki and it is one of the significant moment when Boruto self realizes and has to change himself. This development seems to make a step forward in his relationship with his father, and see how awesome his dad was and go to rescue his dad with the other kages.

Honestly, it happens rather quickly. There wasn’t really much improvement than the first volume, this was not a good sign. The pacing of events continues to be a problem.

From what I heard, this is a rehash from what happens in the anime. This discourages me from continuing the series.

Why I should continue to read if I was going to read a copy and paste story? Where is the original story?

At the end of the volume, we’re amidst another big fight scene, in the middle of yet another big reveal by the bad guys.

I guess I will have to read the next volume.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Vol. 1

By: Ukyo Kodachi (Story),Masashi Kishimoto (Creator),Mikio Ikemoto (Illustrations)
Release Date: April 4th 2017 (first published August 4th 2016)
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Series: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Rating: 2 out 5
Summary: The ninja adventures continue with Naruto’s son, Boruto!

Naruto was a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He achieved his dream to become the greatest ninja in his village, and now his face sits atop the Hokage monument. But this is not his story... A new generation of ninja is ready to take the stage, led by Naruto's own son, Boruto!

Years have passed since Naruto and Sasuke teamed up to defeat Kaguya, the progenitor of chakra and the greatest threat the ninja world has ever faced. Times are now peaceful and the new generation of shinobi has not experienced the same hardships as its parents. Perhaps that is why Boruto would rather play video games than train. However, one passion does burn deep in this ninja boy’s heart, and that is the desire to defeat his father!

Review: I have mixed feeling over this series. When Kishimoto release the one shot after Kaguya defeat, I was not happy with how he handle Naruto's future. I hate how Naruto is miserable despite how everything is peaceful. So I hesitate reading his son's side of his story.

Lord, give me strength.

We’re following Boruto here, and he’s clearly a brat. He believes his father is awful because he’s always working and never pays his kids any attention. Boruto thinks a few hours of working on a high level jutsu is too intense, so he goes and cheats with technology rather than innate his ability.

Naruto deserves a fucking family. I didn’t want to pick this up and see a middle-aged man who doesn’t go home every day to see his family, a family that seems too forced together.I’ll just say this: I dislike that Hinata’s character arcs stripped away, so she could be the perfect "wife" for the main character. Same with Sakura. I know from spoilers that Sakura and Sasuke’s relationship is a joke as well. Why did these writers take away all the female empowerment just to have kids with specific combination abilities?

Why Sasuke is training Baruto and not his own child? I don’t get Sarada is so happy that her dad is helping him. When one shot, she wants to have a relationship with her own father.

The pacing of this story is too fast. We barely get to know the characters, and we are off to the chunin exam. The original took the time. We get to know the dynamic team seven. Here, we barely know what dynamic Boruto has with his teammate Sarada Uchiha and Mitsuki.

The art style looks so degrading. It looks nothing like Kishimoto original art style. Which is such a shame because I did like Kishimoto art style.

In the end, Bouro is a safe start of a sequel to a series. I didn’t mind reading, but it wasn’t great. It’s not really my series, though.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone #1)

By: Sue Grafton
Release Date: April 15th 1982
Publisher: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
Series:Kinsey Millhone
Rating: 2 out 5
Summary:A IS FOR AVENGER
A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she's got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.

A IS FOR ACCUSED
That's why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ago, she was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she's out on parole and needs Kinsey's help to find the real killer. But after all this time, clearing Nikki's bad name won't be easy.

A IS FOR ALIBI
If there's one thing that makes Kinsey Millhone feel alive, it's playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer--and sharper--than she imagined.

Review:There are aspects of this book that I enjoyed very much, and there are also parts that I felt could have done better. It doesn't feel dated. The only thing that stood out was there was no cell phone or social media. The plot is your typical round-on-the-mill mystery thriller. A quick read for someone on the go.

So what went wrong?

The main character Kinsey Millhone did not feel like a real female to me. She is crass, which makes her seem uneducated and low-class. Attempts at presenting emotion from her were not believable; she simply came across as apathetic to the entire novel. And how she could solve any crime with the amount of alcohol she consumed in this book is beyond me.

The writing is bare-minimum stuff. It rehashed the plot from old pulp stories. I felt detached during the climactic finale, and the end of the book seemed overly abrupt. The ultimate explanation was plausible, but not particularly intriguing, and I would have been interested to read more about the repercussions of what ultimately went down.

In Summary

It alright novel filled with your typical round of the mill mystery thriller. An easy read for someone who just wants to waste some time.

Current Mood: discontent

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic #1

By: Shinobu Ohtaka
Release Date: December 18th 2009
Publisher: 小学館
Rating: 3 out 5
Summary: Deep within the deserts lie the mysterious Dungeons, vast stores of riches open for the taking by anyone lucky enough to find them and brave enough to venture into the depths, from where few have ever returned. Plucky young adventurer Aladdin means to find the Dungeons and their riches, but Aladdin may be just as mysterious as the treasures he seeks. Together with the Djinn Ugo and his friend, Alibaba, Aladdin sets out to find his fortune in the depths of the endless dunes.

Review:

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic manga series based on the stories from Arabian Nights! A fantasy adventure with a blend of comedy. It stars Aladdin with a magical flute that summons his friend, Ugo. Ugo is a shy, headless djinn. Aladdin is trying to help him recover his head, and this volume begins their adventures. Aladdin encounters another famous name, Alibaba, who is head of hire who wants to make it rich.

Despite being based on Arabian Nights’ influence on the setting and characters. The author’s creation simply uses the name. The story and situations are not really that complex. Art has too, it used many styles in this manga, making it difficult to decide if I like the art style or not. And for graphic novels, artistic style is just as important as the story! Also, there is an unnecessary narration that I could have done without.

The first volume feels like a generic shōnen manga. A good drip on your toes in the shōnen genre. A solid three stars.

Onward to the next volume!

Favorite Quote

If losing a friend’s trust, this one time makes you so sad... then doing this over and over... will kill you.

Monday, February 21, 2022

The Return

By: Joseph Helmreich
Release Date: March 14th 2017
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Rating: 3 out 5
Summary: Years after a scientist is abducted on live TV, a graduate student tracks down the mysteriously returned, yet reclusive man, ultimately uncovering a global conspiracy.

During a live television broadcast on the night of a lunar eclipse, renowned astrophysicist Andrew Leland is suddenly lifted into the sky by a giant spacecraft and taken away for all to see. Six years later, he turns up, wandering in a South American desert, denying ever having been abducted and disappears from the public eye.

Meanwhile, he inspires legions of cultish devotees, including a young physics graduate student named Shawn Ferris who is obsessed with finding out what really happened to him. When Shawn finally tracks Leland down, he discovers that he's been on the run for years, continuously hunted by a secret organization that has pursued him across multiple continents, determined to force him into revealing what he knows.

Shawn soon joins Leland on the run. Though Leland is at first reluctant to reveal anything, Shawn will soon learn the truth about his abduction, the real reason for his return, and will find himself caught up in a global conspiracy that puts more than just one planet in danger.

Equal parts science-fiction and globe-hopping thriller, The Return will appeal to fans of both, and to anyone who has ever wondered... what's out there?

Review:

I’m actually surprised that I like this book. The return is one of the few science-fiction that I enjoy and wish it was longer.

To my utter astonishment, the blurb contains a lot more detail and potential spoilers, though I suppose with the sheer number of twists and turns in this book, they probably figured revealing a couple of them wouldn’t hurt. If I recommend this book, I would say avoid the summary.

While The Return is a science fiction novel, its style, format, and pacing are more in a line with suspense thriller. A lot of Point of View jumps and incidental characters, cliffhangers at the end of the chapters. A large part of the story is the mystery, keeping the readers guessing in anticipation at what the big picture is.

At first, the story is told from two different points of view. One is Shawn Ferris in America and the second takes place in Spain, with no hints of how they are related. But as events develop in each storyline, the connection forms. And despite the amount of scientific jargon, reading this never felt like a chore thanks to the writing being very readable and the fast pace keeping me from putting the book down.

Perhaps the only part I felt unsure about was the ending, which wrapped up much too quickly. Even though the ending wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been, I wouldn’t say I was disappointed.

Science Fiction is a genre I often struggle with, but The Return draws me in with its intriguing premise. While it is not completely without its flaws, for a debut it is impressive, featuring a story that frequently kept me perched on the edge of my seat. Joseph Helmreich’s writing is also solid and very “cinematic” in its quality—sharply vivid and immediate, delivering maximum thrills and entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and recommend it for readers who enjoy a kick of an adrenaline rush with their sci-fi.

The Many Selves of Katherine North

By: Emma Geen
Release Date: June 7th 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Rating: 2 out 5
Summary: When we first meet Kit, she's a fox.

Nineteen-year-old Kit works for the research department of Shen Corporation as a phenomenaut. She's been “jumping”--projecting her consciousness, through a neurological interface--into the bodies of lab-grown animals made for the purpose of research for seven years, which is longer than anyone else at ShenCorp, and longer than any of the scientists thought possible. She experiences a multitude of other lives--fighting and fleeing as predator and prey, as mammal, bird, and reptile--in the hope that her work will help humans better understand the other species living alongside them.

Her closest friend is Buckley, her Neuro--the computer engineer who guides a phenomenaut through consciousness projection. His is the voice, therefore, that's always in Kit's head and is the thread of continuity that connects her to the human world when she's an animal. But when ShenCorp's mission takes a more commercial--and ominous--turn, Kit is no longer sure of her safety. Propelling the reader into the bodies of the other creatures that share our world, The Many Selves of Katherine North takes place in the near future but shows us a dazzling world far, far from the realm of our experience.

Review:

This is one of the strangest books that I have ever read. I will not lie. This novel was hard to get into, especially right at the beginning. It’s both a fascinating world and the concept that Geen has created, but there are so many themes she’s created that go unexplained, and it’s left to the reader to gather what they mean from the context in which they’re used. And, while the chapters are short, they’re told in an alternating timeline between past and present, although it is rarely that immediately clear which timeline you are in (even with the vague descriptions of Uncanny Shift and Come Home at the beginnings of the chapters).

Throughout the novel, it’s clear that in the present, Kit is on the run from ShenCorp, but it’s not revealed why until the end of the novel. One problem that I had was that I felt like the reveal and the ‘flash back’ timeline to the events that take place, in the beginning, took a bit too long to happen. The tension and anticipation kept being drawn out to where, when it finally happened, it felt a brief rush and anticlimactic, and not as satisfying as it should have been because I’d had to wait so long.

That being said, I loved the whole idea of the novel, and it raised some interesting moral questions towards the end. Geen has a background in philosophy, and it shows at various points. It’s a powerful novel, once you wrap your head around what’s happening, and it’s guaranteed to get you thinking, even long after you’ve closed the covers and walked away.

Monday, February 7, 2022

Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter #1)

By: Nalini Singh
Release Date: March 3rd 2009
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Series: Guild Hunter #1
Rating: 1 out 5

Elena Deveraux doesn’t consider herself a vampire hunter. Hired by a dangerous Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that she fears for her life. Only one thing is clear—failure is not an option… even if the task is impossible.

Given the task of hunting, a rogue angel has gone bad. The job will put Elena in great danger. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break…

This is some of the worst writing I’ve read in a long time. There was no depth, no finesse, and it was completely lacking in subtlety.

The plot revolves around a vampire hunter named Elena being hired by an angel because she is the very best there is, however she’s hired to hunt an angel who has lost it and not a vampire. The angel is on a violent spree that she, and somehow the archangel who hired her, has to stop.

The problem with this story is the main heroine. We are told repeatedly what a hardcore badass hunter she is, and not like the other girls. In reality, she’s weak, vulnerable all the time, and badly taken advantage of.
 
 The first half involves her either showing up or being summoned by Raphael that hired her. She is fleeing from him or his minions, desperate to prevent being harmed or violated. We don’t get much information about the job, more than a line or two.

Angel’s Blood is catering to a specific audience, with each scene involving her saying no and him crossing it. It’s just repeated over and over. The constant rape tendencies and asshole behavior are constantly overlooked.

Halfway point, Singh seems to have remembered there needs a plot. During the hunt, Elena ends up being a damsel in distress, and Raphael who hired her ends up saving her. Then she was drugged in an effort to coerce her to give in to him. So fearful of him that she armed herself.

When she starts intimacy in a compromising situation, the book acknowledges for us, so we all know that it’s compromised consent, completely overlooking their problematic power dynamic.

Anyway, the bottom line is I won’t be reading any Nalini Singh in the future.

The Face of a Stranger (William Monk #1)

By: Anne Perry

Release Date: November 1st 2011 (first published 1990)

Publisher: Thorndike Press

Series: William Monk #1

Rating: 1 out 5

They said his name is William Monk, and he is a London police detective. But an accident that happened upon him left him with no memories. As he tries to hide the truth, Monk returns to work and is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a Crimean War hero. Can he solve this mystery when he forgot his professional skills along with everything else?

The Face of a Stranger is a boring book. I struggled to finish the book, and I was close to being defeated.

The main character, Monk, has amnesia. I get it. But he sits around with all this introspection, wondering what kind of person he is, who he is, why he doesn’t seem to have any friends, etc. Why doesn’t he just ask someone? His sister, or maybe his boss. I get the impression that he’s going to sit around doing this through the entire book, and I don’t care that much. I don’t much care who killed Joscelin Grey, either.

The writing style was choppy and slow. Too many repetitions, too many inner monologues, and a mystery too easy to unravel.

I can’t say I didn’t like the book. I don’t have any feelings about it at all.

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

The Alice Network

By: Kate Quinn
Release Date: June 6th 2017
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Rating: 3 out 5

In 1947, Charlie St. Clair, an unmarried and pregnant American socialite, is on a search to find her missing cousin. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

There she is introduction to Eve Gardiner, a retirement spy who is train mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the “queen of spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose. Haunted by the betrayal that destroys Alice network. Eva spends her days drunk until Charlie barges in, uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.

I’m disappointed in myself for not enjoying this more than I did. I did like roughly half of the book and had to force myself not to skim through the other chapters.

Learning about the Alice Network and an amazing piece of history involving female spies intrigued me. These unsung heroes were brave, leading double lives during WWII, aiding their country in uncovering highly classified information. I just wish the story to focus more on Eve’s side of the novel.

The story is told in two separate time-lines from our two main characters’ perspectives, Eve and Charlie bringing the two stories together in the end. Kate Quinn does a fantastic job here with Eve’s character and storyline as her character was fascinating, interesting to read.

Now, from Charlie’s perspective, I didn’t enjoy her storyline as much as Eve did. Her character was highly unlikable and her actions often making me cringe in disgust. She was very selfish and immature, and I couldn’t find even one ounce of sympathy for her. There were a few things about her character and storyline that I wondered why the author included - they seemed unnecessary and took away from the seriousness of the story for me. I grew to dread reading Charlie’s chapters after about the halfway mark. She really took away from my overall enjoyment of this novel.

The ending pulls the two stories together, but I think the story lost all its shine and was a drag after that.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Wayside School #1)

By: Louis Sachar
Release Date: June 1st 1998 (first published 1978)
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series:Wayside School
Rating: 2 out 5

Sideways Stories from Wayside School contain thirty stories about the children and teachers at Wayside School. Someone accidentally built the school sideways, with one classroom on each story. So there thirty stories are strange and silly.

As an adult, I just can’t figure out what I ever saw in it. I was so shocked at its stupidity, I actually wanted to stop reading it. Since it is pretty short, though, I finished it. The continuous attempts at humor, too driven and full of being mean and disrespectful to others.

Whilst I understand the main point of the book, I just don’t find these stories acceptable reading when they seem to encourage kids to be bad or disrespectful. I appreciate that it’s not my sort of book and that maybe this is a fun read for some kids who might not otherwise read.

Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1)

By: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
Release Date: September 14th 2010 (first published December 1st 2009)
Publisher: VintageLittle, Brown Books for Young Readers
Series: Caster Chronicles
Rating: 1 out 5

Ethan White is counting down the month until he can escape from Gatlin, South Caroline. During the count-down, he is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When new girl Lena Duchannes, niece of the town shut-in move into town. Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

Would their love story end in happier ever after or deadly ever after.

This is a rewrite of the review that I wrote, many months ago. I was not very happy on what I have wrote. So I never post it until now.

My thought on Beautiful creature is not very positive. The story follows some old dead beat formula: a paranormal/human pairing, uncovering of the ‘mysterious’ partner’s true nature, teens drawn to each other for some unknown reason, constant I can’t be with you because it’s dangerous back and forth, the inability to 'be together' physically.

It rares to in a young adult novel to have a male protagonist, but everything is still exactly the same. Now, though, instead of a girl-next-door type, you have a boy-next-door type who sails along in his faultlessness, constantly comparing himself to the less intelligent and morally-questionable beings he must interact with every day.

Then there is Lena, the love interest of Ethan. Her storyline is so boring. Lena droning on and on about how she’ll turn dark. She is as bad as Ethan.

One thing that annoys me is the way the authors teeter back and forth between Southern bashing and Southern glorification. I do not know where they stand, or where this book stands. Except, the complete lack of diversity and outright refusal to address non-white history makes me suspect the latter of the two.

The plot (or lack thereof) just seemed to drag on and on forever. So much so that at the end.

Beautiful Creatures is lackluster and predictable. In the end, I wondered why I bothered wasting my time on reading this book when there are so many other, more interesting things to do.

A good book is an event in my life