Madam's Book Reviews

This is where I talk about books in great depth

[madamreviews]

Hey guys. Idk if anyone even comes here, but I kind of forgot about this blog a little bit. Haven’t had as much time for reading for a while.

I’m halfway through a series right now, and I don’t really feel like going back to do thoughts on the two books in the series I’ve already read, so maybe after this series I’ll get back into reviews, or maybe I’m just done doing reviews for a while, I don’t know

[madamreviews]

Thoughts on Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones

Okay, what I can even say about this book except that I loved it? Diana Wynne Jones writes some of my very favorite books, and this one did not disappoint. Jones has such a delightful way of writing characters which makes them feel, even from the beginning, like an old friend, and yet you still want to know more.

I absolutely adored the characters in this story. Each one was so distinct and detailed. From the very first moment that the reader meets each character they already feel defined, and each moment only serves to clarify and deepen their personality and characterization even further. There was never a point at which I felt I didn’t know a character very well, and likewise never a moment where I felt that a character had done something that went against who they were. 

I will admit that I spent a good chunk of this story not exactly sure what was going on, but in a wonderful way. There was such uncertainty about whether things were truly some sort of magic, or whether it was just Polly’s fanciful way of thinking. This blurring between reality and fantasy pulled me in deeper and deeper until I couldn’t put the book down. I had to know what was real and what was not.

The story may have made a little more sense if I was familiar with more of the books that Tom sent to Polly. The books were meant to be clues, both to Polly but in all probability to the reader as well, about Tom’s predicament. Unfortunately I hadn’t read most of them, and some of them I had never even heard of. I have to wonder if I read the books mentioned and then came back to this one if there would be even more to the story than I found on this first read.

Either way, the story was wonderfully crafted and intriguing at every step. Even when Polly or Tom are spending their time doing ordinary things, Jones has a way of making every little bit of it interesting. There is never a moment in this story that feels unnecessary. There is never a point at which it seems like a scene was made just to fill time. Either the plot is being moved forward, or the character’s are developing further, or a bond between characters is being forged more deeply or, in some cases, is beginning to fade away.

Diana Wynne Jones never ceases to impress me with her story-writing, her world-building, or her character development. This book has quickly stolen a place among my most favorite stories, and I would highly recommend it to fans of both Diana Wynne Jones or of fantasy in general.

[madamreviews]

Thoughts on In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

So this was technically more of a re-read, since I had already read the story online a while ago, but it is still a fabulous read. The characters are really the driving force behind the story, and are what captivated me about this book. From the very start they are such clearly articulated individuals. Throughout the story they grow and develop, as they should, but still stay true to who they are. 

There is a lot of room for character growth, considering that the story takes place over a span of several years, and considering how young the characters are at the beginning. Brennan delivers on that personal growth in beautiful ways. The characters learn from one another and from the setting, they change and adapt, and yet the essence of each character stays strong.

I loved the layers of each character, as well. Elliot was definitely my favorite. he was the perfect balance of annoying know-it-all brat and charming, clever idiot. His book-smarts topped the charts, but when it came to reading people and social clues he could be hilariously dense. 

I also loved the development of Luke. At first he seems like nothing more than a pretty and self-confident idiot, since that is all Elliot sees him as. But even before Elliot begins to recognize the more personable and shy side of Luke, it starts to show through in the text. It’s plain to see how awkward he is around people he doesn’t know, but how deeply devoted his is to his friends.

Serene’s development is more gradual and subtle, but then again so is Serene. Her changes really come to light when the elves visit the school, and her behavior is held against that backdrop of the stiffness and formality of her family. Serene herself is generally more rational and calm, especially compared to the boys, but when held against her family she can be seen to be compulsive and stubborn and maybe just a little hot-headed when it comes to defending the things that she holds important.

The characters were certainly the driving force in this book. It is a story about friendship and love, about changing the world into something better and about changing yourself into something better and closer to what you want to be. The shorter plots entwined throughout the story were interesting and entertaining. There was not a very strong feeling of an overarching plot line, but then again the story didn’t feel like it needed one. When the characters are the central focus, their growth becomes the main plot. 

This story was even better the second time around, and I love that I have it in hard copy sitting on my shelf. I loved the characters, loved the dynamics between them, and loved the antics.

[madamreviews]

Thoughts on “In Other Lands” by Seanan McGuire

Let me begin by saying I had some pretty high hopes for this book. I had it heard it mentioned several times by quite a few people, and they all raved about it. Maybe my high hopes led to my feelings of disappointment, maybe not. Either way, this book left me feeling unsatisfied.

The premise was incredibly interesting, but the storyline didn't deliver. There was so much that felt left out, and so much that could have been expanded on, that the book itself almost felt like some sort of teaser for something bigger to come.

The characters were interesting, but there was not an especially large cast. That being said, the characters that were involved were diverse, with different interests and personalities. However they, like a lot of the story, could have been expanded upon more. There was not much time to get to know the characters very well, and it felt like we, the readers, were simply skimming the surface of who they were. It almost felt as if they became tropes of themselves. Where there was not enough time to expand on who they really were, they tended to stick to the basics of who they were. Nancy was the still, creepy girl who did not like movement. And that was about it. Sumi was the fast-moving, quick-tongued girl who never held still. And...that was it. Jack was the brusque scientist with no time for niceties and no patience for idiocy. And, again, that was it. There were a few instances where the characters opened up, where they almost seemed to become something more, and then the story moved on to something else.

While it certainly felt like there was much more potential to them, and as if McGuire had come up with more story for each of them, in some many cases the characters fell a little flat. It felt like being shown a photo of some elaborate sculpture, with the expectation of being brought to see the sculpture for yourself and inspect it from every side, only to be told that the trip has been canceled. The view in the photo is quite nice, but there is so much more your missing from the other angles, and you know it.

The plot itself was somewhat one-dimensional, as well. There was really only one plot thread, without the subplots that fill a story out and makes it come alive. What plot there was felt predictable and obvious, without any unexpected twists and thrills. Again, it felt like there was something lacking. Frankly, the whole story felt like it was only a prelude to a story, like it was the very first rough draft, though very well-written, of a story that was intended to be much larger. It was like everything was a placeholder, a reminder to add this or that or expand here, but none of that every got done.

A lot of the book felt like a tease. The reader was enticed with the mention of other worlds, and secret doors, but none of this was elaborated on in any depth. On a personal note, I would have loved to hear more mention of the kids’ other worlds or their doors, or even to have them visit one or more of these places. That was clearly not the point of this book, but I feel the kids could have talked about their worlds more. The vague idea of the cardinal directions of these worlds, and the minor directions, was very briefly touched on, but never explained in any satisfying sort of way. There was little to no explanation of what any of these directions really meant, or what other minor directions there were or how they fit into the grand scheme of things.

In the end, this book left me feeling unsatisfied and disappointed. There was great potential for this book to be among my favorites, but it set itself up to be something bigger than it was. There was an intense feeling of something missing throughout the entire book. It seemed like it was still in its opening stage when it was already beginning to wrap itself up. If the book had been longer, it could have had time to expand on everything, but as it was the book felt like a few assorted pieces of a puzzle put together to form a tiny part of a whole.

[madamreviews]

Thought on A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’engle

So...I forgot to write anything for A Wrinkle in Time. I loved it, as always. It was one of those books I reread over and over through school, and then I kind of dropped it and this was my first reread since....the middle of high school maybe?

I had forgotten a lot of what happens, and I guess a lot of the premise, too. And of course it was very science-based, and I think as a kid I didn’t get a lot of that science. I’m still not sure I understand all the science, but I can at least go “yeah that’s science” and not assume it’s some sort of magic like I am one hundred percent sure I did as a kid.

Anyway, I’ve put a whole ‘nother book between it now, so I don’t know that I want to get too in depth with this discussion, but I do want to say that although I still loved it, and loved the themes of love and overcoming hatred and uniqueness and all, I was maybe a little disappointed. I’ll be the first to admit that some of that disappointment was due to me remembering loving it immensely growing up, but not really remembering much else, but I think it was more than that.

The beginning felt rushed. I didn’t feel that L’engle really gave much time to develop the characters before plunging straight into the plot. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, but I felt like it made some things a little awkward. Mostly in the case of Calvin. I thought Calvin went along with things a little too easily. He was very quick to accept Meg and her family, very quick to except Mrs. Whatsit and company, and very quick to accept his place in this great big adventure unfolding around all of them.

The relationship between Meg and Calvin seemed to happen too quickly, too. They went from being practically strangers to being in love pretty quickly. And, yes, that’s how attraction works for a lot of teenagers, but it was established that Meg knew Calvin, or knew of Calvin, but she had never thought twice about him until then. Something about it just struck me as forcing the plot.

Had it not been for Calvin, I honestly don’t think I would have had an issue with how quickly the story jumped into the plot. I just felt that Calvin needed a little more build-up to become friends and become used to the oddity of the Murry family before he was thrust into the oddity of everything else with how easily he accepted all of it.

The end felt like it wrapped up too quickly as well. It was a little reminiscent to me of a TV movie that is reaching the end of its time-frame and crams everything into the last five minutes. I liked the ending, don’t get me wrong, I just felt that there could have been a little more wrapping up and a little more time spent on the Murry’s return home. There isn’t any explanation of how they returned themselves to normal, and even the next book doesn’t even reference the first or how they dealt with everything they had just gone through, except in an extremely broad sense.

Still, this was and is still one of my favorite books, and one I think more people should read. Many people find the theme of overcoming anything with love cheesey, but I do really enjoy the way L’engle presented it. The idea of some evil force enveloping entire planets and slowly driving them to war and decay and wrongness is probably not a novel one, but one I enjoy regardless. 

In many modern stories about the world running to ruins, there tends to be a sense of hopelessness, of grittiness, and honestly many of the present young adult dystopian novels are depressing and end on kind of an oblique outlook. Meg may become hopeless and helpless throughout the course of the story, but the point is that when it really matters, when it comes right down to it, she doesn’t give up. When no one else will do it for her, Meg does what needs to be done. Meg stares into the face of hatred and malevolence and a pure lack of empathy and she throws nothing but love at it.

In today’s present state of chaos, I think that is something we could all hold onto. It’s something we could all learn from.

[madamreviews]

okay, hello, hi there. So, I have kind of been writing these reviews in a semi-formal essay type of format, but like....I keep getting a little stressed out about getting out my thoughts like that and how I want to say things, so I think from now on I’m just going to write these reviews like I’m having a conversation with myself about books. Sorry if anybody actually cared about me being kind of professional about this.

In an extra news, I have finished my reread of A Wrinkle in Time, so I’ll chat about that here pretty soon (hopefully before I get too far into the next book) (possibly later today actually?)

[madamreviews]

Review of Angie Sage’s Fyre and Septimus Heap series

Fyre was a wonderful conclusion to the Septimus Heap series. With the end of the last book, I was not sure that there would be enough story left to complete an entire seventh book, but I was glad to see how wrong I was. This book was full of wonderful surprises and great plot and character development.

Throughout the entire series, the characters have changed and grown, almost always for the better. In Fyre the reader was able to see how these characters really came into themselves and came to find their purpose.

Throughout most of the books, Septimus seemed very stable in his place in the Wizard Tower, but it was interesting to see some of that surety beginning to falter. Septimus really did enjoy his work with Marcellus, even if the circumstances leading to it were not the best. Although Septimus still felt drawn to the Wizard Tower and Magyk, it was nice to see that he also had some desire for Physik and Alchemie. 

Septimus is still young; he’s hardly into his teen years. He’s at an age where many people are still trying to figure themselves out, where they begin to doubt decisions that they have already made and they begin to want to try more and experience more. Septimus’s ultimate decision rang true to who he was as a character, but seeing the uncertainty made him feel more real and more relatable.

Seeing Septimus and Simon’s relationship develop was also extremely satisfying. I prefer to see characters rise up from their mistakes and make something better of themselves. Redemption arcs may be seen as overused or unearned to some people, but in Simon’s case at least I thought it was earned and extremely well-done. Seeing Simon slowly gain Septimus’s trust, and seeing the two of them working together was very touching. In the last few books Simon has worked so hard to turn himself around and to better himself. Seeing Simon find his place in life, seeing he and Lucy happy together and Marcellus offering him a job, it felt rewarding not just for Simon but for the reader as well.

Jenna is another character who has changed for the better. Although Jenna certainly kept her determination and stubbornness, she developed from a, at times, hot-headed and brash young girl into a determined young woman. In some of the earlier books Jenna could be a bit rash; she rushed into things and she often did not stop to listen to the advice or concerns of her friends or family. In her mind, she knew what was best and she would do it. This, however, was not always the case. More than once her actions led to trouble, not only for her but for those around her.

In this final book, Jenna does not become meek by any means, but she cools down somewhat. Although she still fights for what she believes is right, she takes a little more time to consider the outcome, and to listen to the words of those around her.

Seeing the growth and development of everyone was deeply satisfying. Everyone manages to find a happy ending, even if it did not always seem possible that they would or even, for some, that they should. Even Merrin finds his own happy ending, in a way.

This story was also a wonderful read, both on its own and as the completion to such a fun and interesting series. There were so many twists and turns that I did not expect. At one point I even commented to myself how things seemed very close to wrapping up, but there was still more than half the book left to go. Of course, this was at a point just before things turned very south for a while, so of course there was much more to go.

Fyre kept me on my toes throughout. There was never a dull moment. In fact, most of the book was spent in a feeling of wonderful suspense. There was always something happening, and always something about to happen. Even if the reader is not always sure what the outcome was, or even because the reader was unsure, there was always a feeling that something new was just on the next page, that another twist would happen at any moment, that things would not go as smoothly or as nicely as the characters hoped that it would.

It was wonderful to see this series develop as a whole. In the early stages the writing was stiff and awkward, but by this final installment it was fluid and full of its own distinctive voice. There were times early on when the plot felt a bit predictable and unexciting, but by the final book the story was exciting and intriguing, and full of surprises. The characters may have felt simple at times in the beginning, but by the end the focus had settled on the few main characters and they all, even some of the supporting characters with less focus, had their own small quirks and felt like whole individuals.

This was a wonderful book and a great series. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read.

[madamreviews]

Review of Darke by Angie Sage

This book was, by and far, my favorite in the series so far. Sage’s writing has improved phenomenally over the course of this series. Not only has her sentence flow and structure gotten progressively better, but she has also come up with increasingly interesting and complex plots, as well as shown great development and change in her characters.

Darke showed the fruition of many character arcs. In the beginning of this book, Septimus was growing into perhaps a typical teenage boy. He was thinking primarily about himself and his own problems, he was acting a little irritable with Jenna’s “childish” antics, and he was developing a bit of an over-inflated ego (even if some of that ego was earned). By the end of the book, however, Septimus grew into a much more understanding person. He found where and how he fit into his surroundings, and while he still has a good sense of self-esteem, he’s not overly full of himself.

Jenna also showed a lot of growth and improvement. Throughout the series, since she discovered that she would one day become Queen, she has pushed that thought under the rug, or flat out refused it. She has acted childishly by simultaneously refusing any of the serious responsibilities of Princess-in-Waiting while taking many of the benefits as her due. In Darke Jenna finally comes to understand what it means to be Princess-in-Waiting, and the duties that she must one day fulfill. She becomes more mature and more willing to listen to the advice of others and to do what is required of her without running from it.

Many of the other characters, such as Beetle, Nicko, and Snorri also show development, though perhaps not as great as Septimus and Jenna’s. Although it might seem callous, I was actually pleased to see that Nicko and Snorri ended their relationship. I was never a fan of how their relationship began, finding that it felt forced and awkward. Although I liked Snorri, and I might have liked a relationship between the two of them had it developed naturally, it feels better that Snorri is now leaving Nicko behind and returning home. A lot of Snorri’s storyline felt like an ends to a mean, as if she were simply there to fill in what would otherwise have led to plot holes.

The greatest character development, however, has been shown in Simon. I was extremely pleased that Simon was given the chance to realize his mistakes and make up for them. Redemption arcs may be seen as cliche or overdone, but there is always a certain charm and power to a redemption arc done well. Sage managed to do Simon’s arc wonderfully well. From his first turning to the Darke to this turn back to good, Simon’s feelings and motivations have felt honest and believable. Simon was given many opportunities to fall back into his Darke habits and to give up on bettering himself, but he did what was right and good even when it was the more difficult choice.

Having Septimus and Simon come to a truce was also a touching and powerful moment. It would have been so easy for Septimus to continue to harbor his feelings of distrust for a brother that he has only ever known as Darke and bad. It would have been easy for him to turn Simon away. And yet it shows such growth between both of them that they were able to work together to save the Wizard Tower and the Castle, and that they showed a willingness to work toward become closer even after the pressure of danger was gone. I truly hope to see them come closer and become a true family.

The plot in this book was also wonderfully interesting. So many smaller plots wove together to make an interesting and varied story. Never once was I bored or uninterested in what I was reading. So many things that started out seeming like small or insignificant details came back to become the key to success, or to become the great obstacle that the characters needed to overcome. Not only were details brought together from earlier in this book, but they were brought to relevance even from previous books. The storylines of many characters wove together to create one complex and diverse story with different viewpoints.

I really am interested to see how the final book will progress. Darke has been such a fun and entertaining read. Other than the destruction of the two-faced ring, there is not really much else that this book has left unsatisfactory.

[madamreviews]

Okay, I have decided I’m not going to do a review for Syren at all. Sorry anybody who wanted that. I kept putting it off, and now that I’ve finished reading Darke I’d rather not do a combined review. So I’ll just go ahead with the review for book 6

[madamreviews]

I’m really falling behind on these reviews. I wrote the last review halfway through reading the fifth book, and now I am like 3/5ths of the way through book 6 and I haven’t written the review for book 5. Sorry ‘bout that, I’ll get to it eventually. And if I don’t....I’ll just do a review on both books at once I guess! idk man

[madamreviews]

Review of Angie Sage’s Queste

This was another entertaining read in the Septimus Heap series. The characters were as colorful as always, and I very much enjoy seeing how they change over the course of the books. This being said, I feel that the focus is definitely narrowing down onto just Septimus and Jenna.

In the first book I felt that Sage was trying to shift focus between too many characters, and was not giving enough time to develop any of them fully enough. Now, however, I feel that I’m missing parts of other characters’ stories. In this case, I particularly would have liked more story line from Nicko and Snorri. 

While Septimus, Jenna, and Beetle’s journey was by no means uneventful or uninteresting, I would have also liked to see the struggles that Nicko and Snorri went through trying to find their way back to their Time and their home. Especially considering Nicko’s behavior and change in personality at the end of the book, it would have been interesting to see what events led to that. 

I was also deeply interested in the House of Foryx, and I felt somewhat let down at how little the reader got to see of it. Had the view switched over to Nicko and Snorri more, then there would have been more of a chance to see the way that the House of Foryx functioned, and how strange it really was.

Obviously the series is meant to be focused on Septimus, being the Septimus Heap series after all, but seeing as there are occasional shifts in perspective to include Jenna, Beetle, Merrin, Wolf Boy and sometimes other characters such as Marcia or Aunt Zelda, it wouldn’t have seemed out of place to divert some attention to Nicko and Snorri, especially as they felt so integral to the story.

The lack of Nicko and Snorri was really my only problem with this book. Otherwise, the characters were interesting and well-rounded, and the story was intriguing and entertaining. Sage continues to improve, and I am eager to see what adventures the next book brings.

[madamreviews]

Review of Physik by Angie Sage

This book was by and far my favorite book in the series so far. I was absolutely delighted with Physik, and thoroughly entertained. Sage fixed the problems that I had with both the first and second books to make a read that captivated me on all fronts.

In Sage’s first book, I felt that the characterization tended to fall a bit flat, and that time was split between far too many characters. In her second book, Sage had much better characterization, and focused on a smaller cast of characters. Physik followed through with this great characterization, as well as introducing a few new characters. I felt that the new characters, specifically Snorri, were given plenty of time to grow and develop without detracting from the story of characters the reader was already familiar with. Snorri did not seem out of place, nor did she feel as if she was taking story-time from other characters. She had her own story to tell, but it fit in seamlessly with the stories of Septimus and Jenna and the others.

My one complaint with characterization was that Nicko and Snorri’s budding romance felt to me as if it had no real basis other than “they are a boy and a girl of similar age.” I appreciate young romances, and in fact am very fond of them, but I would have liked to see more interaction between Nicko and Snorri before they were being pushed toward a love angle. Granted, the two of them have not admitted any such feelings to one another, but they have very much thought about those feelings to themselves. I would have preferred to see them start more as friends and then progress toward more romantic feelings.

One of my other complaints with previous books in the series was the plot. The plot of the first book was entertaining and I thought fairly well-crafted, but the second book’s plot fell flat. To be perfectly honest, if I had not already become invested in the characters and wanted to see more from them, I may have lost interest with the second book. The third book completely turned that around. From the very start I was enticed by the plot and interested in knowing more. This is especially worthy of note as the book did not even start with the familiar cast of characters, so it was entirely the plot that held me captive, and nothing to do with familiar faces.

Physik is also were things seem to start coming together. Tidbits that were mentioned in the first two books were brought back to mention in the third book and played a more important role. Broda and Marcellus Pye, previously mentioned due to Broda being a Keeper of the dragon boat, came into much larger play, just to name one example. I hope to see more of this continuing on into the next books.

All in all, a fantastic read. I found very few criticisms of Physik and any complaints I had were marginal. I hope to see a continued improvement in the books to come!

[madamreviews]

Thoughts on Angie Sage’s Flyte

This was a fairly enjoyable read, but was a little flat compared to the first book in the Septimus Heap series. The plot seemed a little bland and unexciting to me. I was waiting for something more to happen, and it never came. The storyline in the first book was charming and entertaining and had me captivated for the whole book, but that was not the case in the second. The characters were what kept me connected this time through.

That being said, many of the problems that I had with the first book had ironed themselves out in the second book. In Magyk I felt that Sage was focusing on too many characters and trying to include their thoughts and feelings to the storyline. It became distracting and took away from the development of characters that were more central to the story. In Flyte Sage focused primarily on Septimus and Jenna, who are the central characters, with the secondary focus being on Simon.

This led into improving another of the issues I had with the first book. In Magyk Sage often switched perspective from one character to another in the middle of things, which was a bit jarring and could be confusing at times. With the focus on fewer characters, there were very few times that the perspective shifted so abruptly. The few times that perspective did shift in the middle of things, it felt a little more natural because it had already been established who the central characters were.

The writing flow and sentence structure was also very much improved in Flyte. In the first book there were quite a few instances where the sentences were blunt or awkward. On the other end of things, other sentences felt too long and cumbersome. While there were still a few instances of the latter in Flyte, it was vastly improved from the first book.

Overall, my biggest problem with this book was simply the story. It wasn’t as good as the first, and it felt a bit forced and awkward, as well as being pretty bland. Had this been the first book in the series, I may not have felt the desire to read any further. As it stands, I enjoyed the first book enough to give this a pass and have already begun the third book of the series, which seems very promising so far.

[madamreviews]

Review of Magyk by Angie Sage

This book was a very good start to what I hope continues to be a very good series. Although it certainly is targeted at a younger audience, I found it enjoyable all the same. It never ceased to capture my attention and spark my interest.

The plot of the book was greatly entertaining. Even when I was quite sure I knew what was coming next, I was eager to have the story tell me. There were several twists and turns, which kept the story going and kept it interesting. Several smaller plots came together and worked themselves into the broader plot of the story, and everything was connected. There were a few parts of the story that did not seem to completely resolve themselves, but seeing as this is only book one of seven, I am sure those points will bring themselves up again later.

The characters were interesting and varied, though I will say that they didn’t necessarily all get the time and development I would have lied to see from them. Some of the characterization seemed a bit simplistic. I hope that the characters will continue to grow and develop throughout the other books. Despite this, I found the characters to be charming and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Even characters like the Apprentice, who were meant to be nasty and vile, had something in them that made me want to know more about them.

Sage’s writing style could be a bit blunt at times, and the sentence flow was not always as smooth as it could have been.  Some of this may have been due to a younger target audience, and perhaps a feeling that the writing needed to be more simple and easy to follow. However, the writing style could have stood to have a little more voice and could have been brushed up just a smidge.

The omniscient writing style also felt a little strange at some points. While this book certainly benefitted from the reader being able to know the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters, the way it was done could be a little off-putting at times. Rather than following one character for a period and then switching to the point of view of another, the narration included the thoughts and feelings of any and all characters at any point in the narration. This could be off-putting at times, as I would feel that I was connecting with one character only to be interrupted by another.

All in all it was an enjoyable story, and is great for readers of all ages. I am eagerly waiting to see what happens in the next book.

[madamreviews]

Review of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust

An absolutely delightful book! It was the perfect mix of whimsical and serious, harking back to childhood fairy tales but with a little more maturity. I had seen the movie first, before I knew there was a book, but the book was even better. Once I had started, I couldn’t put it down, and I read through the whole thing in only a few days.

Gaiman’s writing style is exceptional. In this book, he made the fantastical seem more common but without losing the magic of the story. The setting of Wall was quaint and lovely, and it was interesting to see how the characters had normalized a lot of the strange happenings that occurred so close to the magical land that lay beyond the gap, and yet still held such things in awe.

The characters were wonderfully written and well developed. Gaiman was easily able to switch perspective from one character to another without losing the driving force of the story. In fact, this technique really allowed the reader to have a broader sense of what was going on than if the narrative focused on only one or two characters. This also allowed Gaiman to develop his characters more fully and allow the reader to see more of their motivations and personalities.

It was interesting to me that the story began with Dunstan and his adventures beyond the gap in the wall, and then changed to follow the adventures of his son Tristran. This allowed the reader to understand Tristran’s beginnings, and also gave the reader some sense of what happens both in Wall and beyond it before Tristran begins his fantastical adventure.

Gaiman also delivered several prophecies or hints about the future of events which later became something other than what was expected. Ditchwater Sal’s omen about Una’s release, for one, was quite clever. I was able to pick up on the part about the moon losing her daughter, but it didn’t occur to me until nearly the end of the book what it meant by two Mondays coming together in the same week.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Stardust, and would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, interesting read. My only complaint is that I wish it had been longer! I would have loved to read more about Tristran and Yvaine’s travels together.

[madamreviews]

Thoughts on A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

I’ll start by saying that I did not finish reading this book. I finished chapter nine, which is a little over 100 pages in.

The book is interesting enough. I enjoy the premise of it and the attention to detail, but it is a little wordy. It’s not a particularly relaxing read. On the other hand, I also didn’t find it to be a very exciting read. Nothing of note really seems to be happening, there is just a lot of this awkward tension between Diana and Matthew.

As far as characters are concerned, they seem very rounded and developed, but they didn’t particularly pique my interest. Matthew was a little too patriarchal for my tastes, and I just really wasn’t that interested in him or his goals. Diana was fairly interesting, but not superbly so. I also didn’t feel that I could fully understand her dislike of using her magic, and to put it quite simply I wasn’t connected with her, which I find to be an essential for me with any book I am reading.

A few of the minor characters were interesting to me, but they didn’t seem likely to make much of an appearance, and I have read too many books hoping for minor characters to have more major roles in them to get sucked into a book only in the hopes of getting more of an appearance from someone who is not essential to the storyline.

The plot was fairly interesting, but felt very slow to develop. There was a lot of talk about the manuscript and how important it was, but Diana hadn’t looked at it a second time, and wasn’t showing much inclination to very quickly. Instead, the book was focusing more on Diana and Matthew’s relationship, whatever it was, and that wasn’t anything that I cared about.

All in all, the writing style was excellent, the plot was a little slow to develop but seemed otherwise to have good potential, but really I was just not personally invested. Perhaps if I had more free time to devote to reading, I might have read the whole thing through, but I found myself spending my free time more interested in other activities and I would rather find a book that captivates me more.

[madamreviews]

Review of C.S. Pacat’s King’s Rising

This book was a great conclusion to the trilogy. It definitely kept me on my toes, especially as the relationship between Damen and Laurent fluctuated and took some different turns. I won’t deny how disappointed I was at the beginning as their relationship fell apart, but I enjoyed watching as it pieced back together stronger than ever.

 For the most part, I was quite satisfied with the writing in the third book, though I will say I found the ending to be a little abrupt. I would have liked to see how things settled after that. Did Akielos unite behind Damen, or was there still a faction that believed Kastor should have been King? What was the reaction of Vere when Laurent returned to take the throne? For both of them, was the transition to Kinghood smooth, or were there more bumps along the way? And how did Damen and Laurent’s relationship progress now that they were both Kings of different countries?

 I know that they talked about uniting the Kingdoms, but was it really as easy as that to do so? The two countries harbored a lot of hatred for each other. Just because Laurent and Damen had learned to trust one another and had even fallen in love, convincing the Veretian Council and the kyroi of Akielos would be more difficult, and convincing the citizens of both countries probably even harder than that. So I might have liked to see a little more in terms of resolving those sorts of issues.

 I also found it a little hard to believe that Damen came to the correct assumption about Paschal during the trial. Considering that Damen was a bit slow on the uptake about most plots and intrigue during the entirety of the series, it was somewhat out of character for him to suddenly make this leap of intellect. Personally, I’m still not sure how he figured out that Paschal would know anything about the Regent’s plot to overthrow his brother and take the throne. It felt forced and a little far-fetched to me. It would have felt smoother and more natural if Paschal had simply stepped forward on his own and provided his evidence.

 Other than these issues with the ending, I found the storyline to be very interesting and a good read. As the action rose towards the climax, I was more fully gripped by the story and unable to set the book down. Even during slower scenes, I was fully invested in the characters and in their relationship and there was never a point where I felt like the story was flagging, though there were a few scenes that felt extraneous and unnecessary, though most of those tied in at a later point.

 As for my overall impression of the series, I enjoyed it. The characters were rounded and interesting, although I might have liked to see a little more of Laurent’s point of view. That may be more of a personal thing, but I found Laurent to be a more interesting character than Damen, who was a bit single-minded and blunt, and tended not to pick up on some of the obvious cues. Laurent, with his sharp wit and cunning, would have been a much more interesting read to me, and I would have liked to see how his mind connected things and what he thought of events.

 I also found that the writing style was a bit off in places. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what I found lacking, but there was something that just didn’t seem right. For one thing, the writing could tend to be a little blunt and short at times, which I could put down as a feature of Damen’s perspective seeing as he was a very blunt person, but I felt it was more than that.

 I think it might have been a bit more that sometimes sentences didn’t seem to flow together naturally. They felt very segmented and abrupt at times, and a tad utilitarian. The story itself sometimes felt a bit this way too, as if certain parts of the story had been cut off and didn’t flow naturally into the next scene or chapter. There were not as many transitions, and it could feel as if things were being left out of the story.

 Pacat also had a habit that reminded me of a high school student writing an essay, in which she used big, fancy words seemingly at any chance she got. While I agree that it’s good to expand vocabulary and use less-known words sometimes, in this case it felt excessive. When I have to set a book aside to look up the meaning of words over and over, the reading begins to feel like a chore. In some places I felt that other, more common words would have got the meaning across just as well as these fancy, uncommon words that she used so often. There was an odd sort of disparity that came of using such grand language at times, but then also writing such short, abrupt sentences at other times. It might have felt more natural if she had stuck to some of the more common words.

 My overall impression was that the story itself was very interesting and entertaining, and certainly a good read, but the writing style itself could feel lacking at times. The focus of this trilogy was definitely on the characters. The storyline itself was given due consideration, though in a few places seemed to be pushed along just to reach the goal and could have been handled a little bit better. The writing style itself still seemed to be in the early stages of discovery, and it didn’t feel quite as if Pacat has fully come into her style of writing. Still, definitely an entertaining series, and one I would recommend to people who like this genre of story.