A Tale of Two Castles

This is a book I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

Oh my gosh, Levine still has it. Thank goodness. .

The last book I read by her was Ever which was…eh, but not as amazing as I have come to expect from Gail Carson Levine. .

This book was awesome. It is for very young readers, elementary or early middle school aged, but still I enjoyed it. .

Elodie was an awesome female lead. She is young and naive, so we get to see her learning and changing throughout the book. The mystery element of the book was a little weak, but considering which target group this story was meant for, I can totally understand why. .

4.5 stars for this awesome book.

Tombstone Tea

This is a book I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

When I bought the book I knew it was going to be terrible, but I bought it anyway because it was buy one get one free at a bookstore.

But I loved this book! It wasn’t so much the characters that I loved, they were only “eh”, but the atmosphere of this book was just so wonderful. It was the perfect little piece of melancholy goth to add to my read-a-thon day.

It’s not your typical- girl can talk to ghosts- story, and I loved it. The main character was a bit too weak for my preference, but other than that, I thought the story was great. Chilling.

Plus there are awesome pictures inside.

4.5 stars to a great ghost story!!

Winterling

This is a book I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

I really enjoyed this book. It is very juvenile, good for elementary and middle school readers, but I still enjoyed it. Fer was a likeable heroine, brave and yet she grows throughout the book, becoming more herself. It was a good coming of age story. Plus there was magic! Magic makes everything better.

Is it just me or does the cover look like a modern version of Anna?  (from Frozen)

On another note…I was severely saddened because so many elements of this book echo that of a book I currently am writing. I HATE when that happens. It looks like I copied Sarah Prineas’s work…and truly I did not.
On the other hand, obviously I liked reading it because it was the kind of stuff I liked to read/write!
Four stars for this short and sweet fantasy novel!

Witchlanders

This is a book I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

I feel like I always do this. I kinda liked this book…and I kinda didn’t.

The story had a fantastic idea. Really awesome. But there were some things that just…I wasn’t cool with.

1. The relationship between Falpian and Ryder: They meet each other, they fight, they become grudging companions, and then suddenly they are bffs because they are inside each other’s brains. I would have liked to see more development here. I didn’t really ever feel attached to any of the characters. It wasn’t because Coakley’s writing was bad, I just think it was rushed. This book needed like…400 more pages.

2. The villain: WHHHAAAT? There are three distinct villains, none of which are really that hard to defeat/foil. You start out thinking the Baens are going to be the enemy, and I like how the two boys of different races bridged that gap, but then there was a vacuum of zero enemies and I feel like Coakley just threw some random people in as enemies so the story would make sense. It didn’t.

It was a fast read, and an interesting concept, but because of the two critiques I can only give this book 3.5 stars.

Words of Radiance

This is a book I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I ADORE Brandon Sanderson. I attempt to explain how much I love his writing and words fall utterly short. He is a genius, an evil, evil, amazing, GOD of writing.

Moving on.

This book. I cried three times during this book- out of happiness. I laughed aloud like a lunatic in a public place (Dear people in Starbucks- I assure you I am sound of mind!). I think my heart was running a marathon for the last 500 pages.

Olan Rogers will help me illustrate how much I loved this book-

Thank you Olan. BTW- if you have never watched his Ghost in the Stalls video. Do it. Your sides will hurt from the laughing. Click here to watch!

Also- let me say right now, my new favorite book OF ALL TIME is Words of Radiance. Also, let me go on record to say that Sanderson should have a group of bodyguards who protect his person and a group of scientists to make sure his vitals are all okay. Because we have 8 more of these GIANT books (thank goodness!) that have to come out. And I don’t think I could take not knowing what happens.

Anyway- onwards. What do I love so much about Sanderson? Well. Apart from him being a literary genius, I LOVE the way he writes in hints. As I read I gather little clues along the way, but they are not overt, and they are not predictable. He handles characters amazingly. You CARE about the characters. They are flawed, but they are wonderful, and you love them despite their flaws. And development. Character development, relationship development, world development. It’s all so wonderful.

If you have not read this book and the book before it STOP NOW. I am going into geek-out-spoiler-mode.

My friend and fellow Sanderson geek, Katie, called this. I however, did not. My heart stopped. Katie said she knew it had to happen eventually because Shallan needed to grow into her own, and this had to happen without Jasnah. She was so right. It should have been obvious because Words of Radiance is Shallan’s book. Anyway- I was heartbroken because I LOVED Jasnah.

As I said, this was Shallan’s book. We finally got to find out what happened in her past. She killed her mom, which I had kind of guessed, but what I didn’t realize is that she killed her mom with Pattern. This just sets my head spinning…

We also get to see Shallan really blossom in this book. She learns how to work with Pattern, she becomes strong in so many different ways. Shallan is bad ass in this book. And I think she is my favorite character.

Kaladin, oh Kaladin. You sir, are a grumpy pants. Seriously the whining and moping and anger issues that happened in this book were ridiculous. BUT. Then he meets Shallan. And slowly things change.

Shadolin. I like Adolin and Shallan together, I really do. They are cute, and he is learning so much from her. However, I am totally shipping Shadalin.

They had some awesome scenes where they learn to appreciate each other. I think my favorite chapter in this book was Boots, which happens to be when Shallan and Kaladin first meet. Shallan pretends to be a Horneater when she rides up to the city and she demands that Kaladin gives her his books as recompense for insulting her. Best. Chapter. Ever. Written. I was laughing so hard my everything hurt.

Shallan ends up showing Kaladin how broken she is and as a result Kaladin sees that his moping and anger isn’t justified. He too can be like Shallan. And he begins to change. The moment was beautiful.

Wit was confusing to me in the first book. I could tell he was important, really, really important, but I didn’t really understand who he was, or what his purpose was. Holy cannoli! This book gave such huge hints. And Wit is awesome, he really is.

Kaladin becoming a radiant was one of those happy moments where I cried I was so happy. Kaladin finds himself and finds his honor in protecting the king even though he wants him dead. And at his weakest he becomes most strong and bonds with Syl. It was beautiful, and perfect.

Szeth dies!!! I was so excited. And then…Szeth was brought back to life. And I wanted to smack something.

Kaladin tells Dalinar about Amaram, but the problem is the two are bffs. I was so frustrated at Kaladin for not understanding that you can’t just accuse someone like Amaram without proof. Your word against his is not going to work. But finally the truth is revealed.

Adolin kills Sadeas and I cheered for happiness. FINALLY. And no one brought his sorry ass back to life, thank goodness.

And Jasnah returns to this world just after all the excitement has ended. But hey, at least she is alive!!

So obviously I loved this book. There was no a single bit I can say was not good. If I could give this ten stars, I would. However I can only go to 5, so 5 it is.

Darkwood

This is a book I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

This book was good. A very interesting idea; slightly dark fantasy. But, I do not think that the book was well edited- plot arc wise. The beginning of the novel was going in one direction, and then all of a sudden it branched off into a different direction entirely. While I enjoyed the book, this really irritated me.

The focus of the book is what suffered most. We would be focused on one thing, and then be pulled in a different direction by a new development…and never return to the first focus.

For example, we are set up to care about this character named Gregor, and a few times Annie returns to trying to find him again, but then at the end she completely forgets about him.

There was also a prophesy that nothing ever came out of…and the story just ENDS. I am going to give the writer the benefit of the doubt that there is supposed to be a second book to deal with this prophesy.

Another irritation I had was the fact that in this world people have forgotten what wolves are called so they rename them kinderstalk. It is so unrealistic I could laugh up a lung.

Darkwood was a quick, easy read, but the problems with the writing made me dock it a few stars bringing the total to 2.5.

The Birthday Ball

This is a book I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

Let me preface this post by first saying that there are elementary books, and there are elementary books. Bookworm…what the heck does that even mean?

Well, I shall explain. There are books that belong in the same section meant for kids of elementary grade school- in my favorite local library it is called Juvenile Fiction. However, there are two kinds of books on these shelves. There are books like Joseph Delaney’s Spook series which are targeted toward that age group but still have developed characters, fantastic plots, and all ages can enjoy them without feeling like they are reading children lit.

Then there are books like The Birthday Ball. Simple plot, caricatures instead of characters, and no real development of any kind.

I am not saying one is necessarily better than the other, but I definitely have a preference as the second is not as versatile, IMHO.

The Birthday Ball was a good book. It was sweet, enjoyable, predictable, but satisfying. At 186 pages it was a quick read.

However, I also found it a bit too young for my individual reading. I am going to recommend this book to anyone who reads aloud to their children. My mom read aloud to me and my brothers for MANY years. I loved it up until about…12 when I started getting annoyed that I would have to wait a whole day to find out what happened next. Then I just started stealing the books and reading them on my own time. (Sorry Mom!) But I want to continue this tradition with my future children, and I think this book is perfect for such nightly reading. The simplified, stereotyped characters were very silly, and likely would be a joy to read aloud.

There was a plethora of body humor from the joined twins in the story that I could have lived without as I am not, and never have been a 10 year old boy.

Overall this story, while not great for readers of my age, is cute, and I would suggest it for any budding reader. For a person of that age, I give the story 4.5 stars.

As an adult I would give it 3 stars. It was too simplistic and there wasn’t enough relationship or character development for me to really appreciate it.

24 Hour Read-a-thon (Hour 24)

Oh my goodness, I have made it!!  That was a whirlwind of a day!  Exhilarating and peaceful, that makes zero sense, but it was.  I have SO many book reviews to write, but those shall have to wait til further notice.  I need sleep.

Final count!

Books read: 7

The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry

Darkwood by M. E. Breen

Words of Radience by Brandon Sanderson (started on page 625, finished on 1080, so I count this as half a book)

Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Winterling by Sarah Prineas 

Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme 

A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Steelheart (ended on page 210, not quite half finished so also a half a book)

Best book of the day:

No contest there.  Words of Radiance!  I cried twice out of happiness, lost count of the times I laughed aloud in public, and I think my heart was galloping for the entirety of the last 400 pages.  

Total pages read:

2,319 (OOPS.  Must have double counted pages along the way- before the final count)