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Sequel please!

Reviewed: 07-20-17

I wish I could give this 10 stars out of five. Five stars isn't enough.

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Breathtakingly entertaining

Reviewed: 04-01-17

One of the pure joys of my reading/listening time recently has been the audiobook of J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them narrated by Newt Scamander himself, Eddie Redmayne. This was a wonderful surprise – I really wasn’t expecting it to be as entertaining as it was. This is a “revised edition” film tie-in, to include an additional footnote by Scamander commenting on the events of the film and implying more editions will be released as more Fantastic Beasts films are released. It certainly whetted my appetite for more of Mr Scamander’s adventures. The audio edition is described as enhanced for audio with original sound design. This audiobook includes “audio footnotes” which have been treated with a sound effect to differentiate them from the main narration. These includes very subtle sound effects of the various creatures about which Scamander is talking, which really added a lot to the listening experience. What I hadn’t expected was just how funny it would be. I regularly found myself laughing out loud. Who knew that the Loch Ness Monster was actually a publicity hungry kelpie? I suspect this will be a go-to book to put a smile on my face for a long time to come.

As a bonus, proceeds from the sale of the books go to Rowling’s Lumos charity and also the UK’s Comic Relief. A wonderful listen and definitely worth the five stars I gave it.

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Where are my beloved characters? Not in here

Reviewed: 04-22-16

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld is the fourth in the Austen Project of modern retellings of Jane Austen’s novels and attempts to bring her classic Pride and Prejudice into the 21st century. Having read the other three Austen adaptations, I was intrigued to see how Sittenfeld would update the story of Elizabeth, Darcy, Jane and Bingley. From experience I know that Austen adaptations, when done well, can be wonderful. (check out The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube if you don’t believe me.)

I really, really wanted to like this book – I love Jane Austen, and the pre released teaser sample sounded excellent – but no matter how hard I tried, it didn’t sit well with me. In the interests of fairness, given how well known and beloved Pride and Prejudice has become, it was always going to be one of the trickier ones to adapt. Let me talk about what I liked first.

What I liked

The modernisation. Many things in the update worked surprisingly well. The transfer of the action from Hertfordshire to Cincinnati was seamless and gave a very similar flavour of the small town mentality that caused Darcy’s snobbish attitude. The Bennet family’s future being at risk because of the lack of a male heir is not something that would fit well with a modern tale, so Sittenfeld uses a more up to date threat which works in well. Surprisingly the whole reality TV show plotline adapts well and served to enhance both the story and the characters.

The narration. I listened to Eligible in audiobook format. Narration duties were undertaken by Cassandra Campbell who did a great job of narrating the tales of the Bennet sisters. I chose the book in audiobook format because of the sneak peek narration.

What I didn’t like

The chapter break up. The audiobook is 13 hours and 21 minutes long, so approximately 800 minutes. This is relatively short in terms of audiobooks. I believe the hard copy comes in at around 500 pages. There are over 180 chapters in the book. Let me say that again. One hundred and eighty chapters. This means that, on average, there is a new chapter roughly every four minutes. Some chapters last less than 40 seconds. Especially in the audiobook I found it extremely distracting and detrimental to my engagement in the story to have it broken up so frequently.

Character development. My biggest issue with Eligible was that I didn’t feel Sittenfeld accurately portrayed – or even at times understood – Austen’s wonderful characters and/or their journeys. It is fair to say that, perhaps her interpretation of Elizabeth, Jane and Lydia just isn’t the same as mine; however I would argue that they also differ from Austen’s.

To take Lydia first; while both Austen’s and Sittenfeld’s youngest Bennet sister is young, immature and, yes, does occasionally push the boundaries of propriety I have never perceived her as being downright crude and vulgar as she comes across in Eligible. Admittedly, I will never be able to read P&P with an Austen era mentality, so I could be wrong here. Secondly, Lydia’s story arc in Austen’s original has her family (and ultimately Darcy) having to step in to protect her from the consequences of an imprudent and ill considered decision. While it is not an easy task to come up with a modern storyline that has the same shock value and social repercussions that nineteeth century Lydia’s running off alone with a man would have, and I can see what Sittenfeld was trying to do, I personally disagree with her choice. At that point in the story I found myself thinking “What imprudent decision? What consequences?” Sittenfeld even has her Lydia try to sit down with her parents and discuss her decision before taking action and the impression I was left with was that it was a far more balanced and thought out decision than Austen’s Lydia would have made.

Jane’s character arc, too, wasn’t always given the service it should have. In my mind, in the original, Jane’s character flaw was that she wasn’t confident enough to express her feelings adequately to Bingley. This allowed Darcy to interfere in the relationship believing that she was not very strongly attached to Bingley. This is a flaw which she must overcome to achieve her happy ending. In Sittenfeld’s reworking, it’s Jane’s circumstances which force her to be more reserved about expressing her feelings, therefore no flaw, no character development.

Finally, we come to Elizabeth, the second oldest Bennet sister. My impression of Elizabeth from Austen’s original was that she is an intelligent, strong willed woman, who has a strong sense of self worth and who is not prepared to compromise that. Sittenfeld’s description of her Liz’s relationship with Jasper does not show a woman with a strong sense of self worth. Perhaps that’s Eligible Liz’s character arc, to regain that sense of self, but it’s not the arc of Austen’s character, and as such I didn’t feel it should have been part of the story, especially as Austen’s Elizabeth already has a strong character development arc in overcoming her prejudice of Darcy.

While there were some excellently written parts of Eligible, for me, it is the weakest of the Austen project books in terms of bringing Austen’s characters to life in a modern setting. I gave Eligible only 1.5 stars out of five.

If you want to see a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice done well, I recommend you rather take a look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube.

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40 people found this helpful

A well-deserved five star listen

Reviewed: 12-12-15

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin is a young adult alternative history novel set in a world in which the Nazis won the Second World War. We follow our protagonist, Yael, who is a death camp survivor, and her mission to kill Hitler. This mission hangs on the fact that Yael’s experiences in the death camp gave her the ability to change her appearance to look like any other woman. She must impersonate famous motor cyclist Adele Wolfe, the only person in recent times who has been able to get close to the Führer. To achieve this goal she must first compete in a trans continental bike race from Germania (Berlin) to Tokyo while not revealing her secret to Adele’s brother and former flame Luka Löwe.

I have to say this book really got under my skin. I was completely invested in Yael’s story and rooting for her - I lay awake at night thinking of her story.

What I liked

The protagonist. I loved that Yael is a blend of kick ass heroine and vulnerability. Graudin did an excellent job of making the mission personal to Yael through the use of flashbacks and the imagery of the wolf tattoos. Her relationships with both Felix and Luka were well written and added great extra tension to the story. Yael’s childhood hardships and her struggles to come to terms with her past made her a wonderfully engaging heroine.

The audio narration. After hearing the Audible sample, I immediately chose to experience this in audiobook format. Ms Lewis had me when she pronounced “Adele” correctly in the German way (Ah-day-luh.) The correct pronunciation of the German words really added to the story for me. Ms Lewis was also able to bring across the different voices and personalities excellently. She broke my heart as well when portraying young Yael in the death camp calling for her mama. This is definitely one to listen to.

The writing style. Ms Graudin has a writing style which is both poetic and immediate. I particularly enjoyed the animal imagery throughout the book with Yael’s being likened to a she wolf and Luka Löwe’s being compared to a lion. The way in which the wolf tattoos were symbolic of Yael’s past - and motivation for her mission - and her struggle to turn her past into a strength was very well written.

The pacing. In general, the pacing was excellent. The tension of the cross continental race kept the plot moving along and the flashbacks were integrated at appropriate times. However for me personally, the interruption of the race-flashback-race flow at a certain point in Russia didn’t work so well - I kept wanting them to just get back on with the race.

What I didn’t like

Other than the minor pacing issue, there was nothing I didn’t like about the book. I will definitely be checking out the sequel when it become available.

I gave Wolf by Wolf a well deserved five stars out of five.

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Harry Potter with a twist is back

Reviewed: 09-08-15

Harry Potter with a twist continues in The Copper Gauntlet, the second book in The Magisterium series from Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.

As I mentioned in my review of book one, The Iron Trial, it is impossible to read The Magisterium and not think of Harry Potter. In this case, imagine that Harry has learned about his Horcrux situation right at the beginning of his academic studies and that Neville has been acclaimed as the Chosen One, able to defeat Voldemort. This gives Call a far more nuanced outlook than Harry, especially at an equivalent age (Chamber of Secrets era.) which makes him, to me, a more interesting character. Don’t get me wrong; I love Harry. However, in the early books at least, he sees things very much as black or white, good or evil. Not so Call.

The connections are too numerous to be accidental. This time around they are more subtle, but still present. We have an antagonist whose main objective is to conquer Death itself. His nickname is “The Enemy of Death.” Voldemort, anyone? Fair enough, it is a fairly common trope, but combine it with magic school and you have Harry Potter. Another theme common to both is the idea that we are defined by our choices. Although Clare and Black are using many of the same tropes as Rowling, the way they handle them is very different and this makes The Copper Gauntlet a great read.

With regard to being defined by our choices, it is interesting to note that this is something Call decides for himself through the maintenance of what he calls his “Evil Overlord list"; he mentally tallies each choice he makes and action he takes to decide if it makes him more or less evil. Sometimes, this is played for laughs when he thinks things like “well, an evil overlord wouldn’t fetch sandwiches for his friends,” but it still expresses that same theme. This is something he chooses to do for himself; Harry has to have this explained to him by Dumbledore.

Another trope in common is that of the leaders of the society being in denial about the reality of the situation. The Ministry of Magic denies the reality of the threat posed by Voldemort as the Assembly declares that Madden is dead and gone and that the war is over. Given that there are three more books to come, that seems rather naive, especially as it appears a traitor is working against them.

One theme which hasn’t yet come up explicitly in the Magisterium is that of Love. As any Harry Potter fan knows, it’s the core of the whole series; Lily’s sacrifice of love for Harry and Voldemort’s inability to love are what make them them. This appears to be turned on its head in the Magisterium. Call’s mother’s final act is, apparently, to leave instructions to kill her son, and Constantine Madden was motivated to wage war on Death because of the loss of his beloved younger brother. I believe this is too important not to be a part of the Magisterium, too, and I look forward to seeing where Black and Clare take this.

Despite the comparisons with Rowling, I did enjoy this book; possibly more so because of the Harry Potter parallels. True, we lose a lot of the wonder of Rowling’s worldbuilding and humour, but it is balanced by rich, nuanced characters.

I gave The Copper Gauntlet four stars out of five.

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Asses are kicked and names are taken

Reviewed: 09-07-15

OK confession time; I couldn’t wait to start reading Queen of Shadows before writing my Heir of Fire review, so this is going to be a joint review of both books.

For those of you unaware, Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows are the third and fourth books respectively in Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series. It is YA fantasy series with a kickass heroine and great worldbuilding. If you’ve not yet started it, I highly recommend checking it out.

I listened to both books within a fairly short space of time and loved both of them. Because Queen of Shadows builds upon and develops characters and plot points raised in Heir of Fire, they are excellent to read together. Many of the cliffhangers in Heir of Fire are also resolved, which is very satisfying.

What I liked

Character development. We see lots of wonderful character development in our main character, Celaena. When we rejoin Celaena at the beginning of Heir of Fire, she is in a pretty dark place emotionally, reeling from the events of previous book Crown of Midnight. Throughout Heir she along with new character Rowan works to get her mojo back. This is a significant chunk of the book. Such a wonderful character arc.

Her success is expressed in the change of name from Celaena to Aelin in Queen – she has accepted her identity, her past and her powers and is going to use them to kick ass. Incidentally, I had no issue whatsoever with the name change – Maas has written the character consistently and her “voice” remains the same whether she is “Celaena” or “Aelin.”

Given how much she has progressed in Heir, Aelin’s character development does stall a lot in Queen – the focus is more on kickassedness and achieving the goals she set for herself at the end of Heir. Personally, I was actually far less engaged in Aelin’s story in Queen because of this.

In Queen, the character development is expressed far more through the character of Manon, and I absolutely LOVED her chapters. Given the choice between reading about Manon or Aelin in Queen I was far more involved in Manon’s struggles. I loved how her relationship with her wyvern, Abraxos and with her Thirteen and Elide, caused her to rethink the values and attitudes with which she has been raised. The Manon we leave at the end of Queen is not the Manon we meet at the beginning of Heir and it was beautiful. I fully expect to see Manon work to bring down the Matron in the next book.

Strong female friendships. There are some pretty cool female characters in the Throne of Glass world; Aelin, Manon, Lysandra, Elide, Asterin to name a few. Each of these are strong women in their own right, but when they get together thrones will fall, names will be taken and asses will be kicked. Our characters are stronger and are changed for the better (cue Wicked medley) because they knew each other. Things would have turned out very differently if it weren’t for the bonds between these women and Maas writes these friendships beautifully.

Promises delivered. In Heir, Maas set out some very clear expectations about what was going to happen in Queen and she delivered. What we expected to happen did happen, which adds up to a very satisfying book. It didn’t always happen the way we expected, and often there were many unexpected obstacles in our protagonists’ path, but the expected confrontations took place, goals were achieved and people were saved.

Intriguing minor characters. We met some new and interesting minor characters. I was particularly touched by Asterin’s story and I’m really interested to see where Elide’s path takes her. I have very strong suspicions about young Evangeline and her “citrine” eyes. It appears yellow eyes have some power over the Valg, so I’m curious to see what part she plays.

What I didn’t like

Promises delivered. Yes, I know I had this in my what I liked list. In some ways though, I felt too many loose ends were tied up. Our characters, other than Dorian, are in pretty good shape. I was almost left with the feeling that, if the series were to end here, I’d be quite content. Certainly there are a few open plots for the next book, but nothing that had me thinking I have to have book five NOW. I’m not certain that that’s altogether a good thing given there are two more books to go.

The Aelin/Manon confrontation. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that Aelin and Manon finally met, and I loved the developments that came out of their confrontation, but I just didn’t buy how it ended. Aelin’s thought processes just didn’t ring true. Sorry.

Despite these slight misgivings, I loved both Heir and Queen. I gave them both 4.5 stars out of five.

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One of Kinsella's best

Reviewed: 08-25-15

Finding Audrey has been in my Audible to listen pile for some while now. I was inspired to listen to it by the review over at PolandBananasBOOKS on YouTube and, like Christine, I loved this book. Being British born and bred, Kinsella is for me the go-to beach read; light, amusing and witty - think Confessions of a Shopaholic or Remember Me. Finding Audrey is Kinsella’s first foray into young adult territory and tells the story of the titular Audrey and her recovery from mental illness and her growing romance with her brother’s friend, Linus.

The subject matter of the protagonist’s dealing with her anxiety issues adds real depth to this novel, more than I generally would expect from Kinsella. Audrey’s whole healing process is beautifully and sensitively handled. This doesn’t mean, however, that the book is lacking Kinsella’s usual wit and charm - on the contrary, there were some really hilarious and sweet moments. The humour is typically British and I very much enjoyed it.

I loved Audrey’s relationships with her family and her growing romance with Linus. I appreciated that her friends and family were really there for her, even if they didn’t always like the impact her illness had on her - and their - lives.

Gemma Whelan (Yara from Game of Thrones!) took on narration duties and did an amazing job. She really brought out the humour as well as the challenges of a full blown anxiety attack. This is a book I would recommend experiencing in audiobook format.

Finding Audrey rated a five stars out of five on my scale.

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Cool concept nicely executed

Reviewed: 07-06-15

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs tells the story of 16 year old Jacob Portman and his fascination for his grandfather’s stories of the Home for Peculiar Children in which he grew up. This institute is home to children who have special abilities and the novel explores what happens when Jacob goes looking for this place after a family tragedy.

What I liked

The concept. I understand the author, Ransom Riggs, has had a hobby of collecting unusual – read creepy – photos and developed the novel around a selection of them. Riggs has done an amazing job of connecting a set of unrelated photos and weaving a darned good narrative out of them. It should be noted, for those of you thinking of picking up the Audible audiobook, a PDF is provided with the photos in the book.

The characters. I liked Jacob, his grandfather and the other characters they meet, especially the Peculiars.

What I didn’t like

The creep factor. Some of the photos are downright creepy and the Hollowgast with their tentacles for mouths – ew. These registered just a little too highly on my creeped out factor.

The audio narration. I really did not enjoy the audio narration. Much of the book is set in my country of origin, the UK, and the narrator’s attempt at a British/Welsh accent was, to be kind, all over the place. This really threw me out of the story on multiple occasions.

Although I will check out the sequel, Hollow City, at some point, I gave Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children three and a half stars out of five.

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Great further exploration of a wonderful world

Reviewed: 07-06-15

First of all, may I just say isn’t this the most gorgeous cover art? I’m not certain who created them, but all three covers (four if you include the novella) in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series are simply stunning.

Days of Blood and Starlight is the second in Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy which is a contemporary fantasy based on the themes of Romeo and Juliet. We have the star-crossed lovers from different and opposing sides, faked death, boyfriend goes off the rails. This second instalment is based on the premise of “what if Juliet woke up from her fake death and found, not that Romeo had taken his own life, but that he’d killed all her family and friends?”

What I liked

The world. The world that Taylor has created is wonderfully rich and detailed. I loved reading about the chimaera and seraphim. We learn more about their world in this book.

The themes. The idea of star-crossed lovers is a timeless one. There is a reason that Romeo and Juliet is a classic, and Taylor has done a great job of interpreting that into modern fantasy. Add into this the theme of war and peace and you have a wonderful framework for a story.

The characters. It is very easy to become invested in Karou and Akiva and root for them. They are likeable, engaging and you feel for their plight. The supporting characters are also great. Zuzana and Mik add some much-needed levity to the story.

The writing style. Taylor’s writing style is poetic and lyrical and is beautiful to read. Go check it out.

The audio narration. Once again, Khristine Hvam did a wonderful job - I particularly enjoyed her interpretation of Zuze and Mik. I really should check out the Zuzana/Mik short story Night of Cake and Puppets also narrated by Hvam.

What I didn’t like

It has to be said, I didn’t enjoy Days of Blood and Starlight as much as Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I found it a little too… depressing. After the events of Daughter of Smoke and Bone neither of our protagonists are in a good place emotionally and when you add to that the escalation of the war between the chimaera and the seraphim it doesn’t make fun reading. Thank goodness for Zuze and Mik!

Because of this, I gave Days of Blood and Starlight three and a half stars out of five.

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Perfect book for the audiobook medium

Reviewed: 06-30-15

Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas is a young adult contemporary novel and tells of the pen friendship between two isolated young men, Moritz from Germany and Ollie who lives in the US. Each of the two young men has a physical ailment which limits their interaction with mainstream society. These same limitations – for Ollie an severe reaction to electricity and for Moritz a heart defect requiring an electronic pacemaker – precludes their ever meeting face to face. Their friendship develops through the letters they write to each other. The novel is written in the style of letters exchanged between the two.

I loved this book, which I listened to in audiobook format.

What I liked

The characters. I adored both Ollie and Moritz and was emotionally invested in their journeys. I was really rooting for them both. Their two differing points of view are beautifully brought out through the letters they write to each other. Each has a unique writing style which gave a wonderful insight into their characters. It is a mark of how invested I was in the two that when Moritz finally comes back into contact after an absence of several letters, I had a big smile on my face.

The friendship. The relationship between the two is wonderfully developed, starting from an initial slow building of trust to the deep bond they share. It’s clear that both of them are stronger people in the end for the friendship, which encourages them to push beyond their comfort zones.

The audio narration. Because You’ll Never Meet Me is a perfect book for the audio format given that it is written in letter format. You are hearing the characters’ words directly. There were two narrators, one for Moritz (with a gorgeous, slight German accent) and one for Ollie. Both narrators were brilliantly able to reflect their characters’ personal growth through their performances.

What I didn’t like

In all honesty, there was very little I didn’t like about Because You’ll Never Meet Me. At one point I did have concerns that Thomas was going to go for the real cliché in the connection between the boys, but she avoided that.

I gave Because You’ll Never Meet Me a well deserved four and a half stars out of five.

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