Review: Bridge of Snow

Bridge of Snow by Marie Rutkoski

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



3/3
It was nice. I probably should have read the first book first... oh, well, I guess if I ever get around to reading it I'll find out. It was beautifully written. The only problem I had with it was the ending, which was a bit weird and why I think reading the book first would have helped.



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Review: The Whispering Skull

The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



3/3 (considering it as a elementary-middle school aged book, which it is.)
I really don't like ghost books. So I'm not sure why I started reading this series. It's been fun, and I can definitely see traces of Bartimaeous in it, which is also fun (most authors I find their separate works to be entirely different). However, there is the fact that it is a ghost book, which is why I probably won't be moving on to the next one.
Anyway. The love story was quite well done, and to be honest I really hope they never get together, because I like it how it is. I still dislike George (as a character archetype, not the individual). Lockwood is somehow not as charming as he should be.
The whole contest element was also done extremely well. I think it would have been better if things had gone the other way, personally, but I did like that they were usually able to realize when they were being completely immature.
So... it was a fine book. I wish I'd read it when I was ten. Jonathan Stroud remains awesome.



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Review: Knife of Dreams

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



2/3
Well, that was fun! Only two stars because...um...actually, I can't really think of a reason other than that I have all the others 2/3. Maybe because of the title (it makes more sense the more I think about it, but that's way too much thought and almost no relationship to the book required). Also the whole "Lord of Chaos" thing. I can't even remember who's supposed to be the Lord of Chaos- Rand?
I don't really have all that much to say about this book. So, random comments as I remember them:
The number of women smoothing their skirts has actually gone down to a semi-normal level.
The people throwing up are getting their.
The Seanchan are kind of epic.
I don't really like Tuon anymore, though.
And Karede is an idiot. Did he really think anyone would be fooled? And I have the feeling that the whole Thom thing was funny, but I don't remember why Karede thinks that.
And lastly... my dreams have been crushed. Robert Jordan has ripped my soul out and stomped on it. I went into this series thinking there would be dragons. Even when there weren't, I never lost faith. And the Raken appeared. Giant winged lizards that were to all appearances breathing fire. It was quite a while before the truth was revealed (stupid damane) and I discovered that it was a Chinese dragon anyway. But now... the characters themselves stand around laughing uproariously at my dreams. You'll see, Rand Al'Thor. My winged dragons are coming, and you'll be sorry when they do.
On to book 12!



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Review: Awaken

Awaken by Meg Cabot

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



2/3
What is with the tassels?
Also, did the author mean to say that unrewarded slavery is at the essense of human kindness, while rebelling against cruel captivity is the epitome of evil?
John's name is still stupid.
Pierce would have no problems if she'd just read more Rick Riordan.
And he was DEAD, Meg Cabot. You said DEAD. You can't just take it back (not that you bothered to do anything to explanatory as take it back). For that matter, you said they were the last words he'd ever say to her.
They're in lurve and want babies. Somehow everything's perfect. Yay.



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Review: Airhead

Airhead by Meg Cabot

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



3/3
This book was extremely mediocre- right up until Lulu's speech. That was brilliant. An inspiration to teenage girls everywhere. And completely ridiculous. But definitely a good thing to have read while in one of my lower self-confidence moments.
The ending was a bit annoying, since it didn't really get anywhere. I'll have to read more of them.
Why does Meg Cabot do this to me?



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Review: Perfect

Perfect by Natasha Friend

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



2/3
It had its good bits, but for the most part wasn't great. Longer review when I'm not on my phone.
Bonus complaint: why is it that when people transliterate Hebrew they capitalize it? Shamash is not actually a proper noun. It should be italicized.
Full review to come (I should really start keeping a list of reviews I've labeled this way while without my laptop...)

Okay, here goes:
So, first, the way the author made it all Jewish-y toward the end. What was with that? Did she want to show off her bracha knowledge? (It was, admittedly, accurate, except that I have a few punctuation quibbles). It was a sweet way to end, just... odd. I could complain more, but those complaints are unnecessary and unfair to the author, so I won't.
Next... yay, it was bulimia! I looked at it and said "boring anorexia novel", but no, it was bulimia. So there was a tiny surprise there.
I don't like how vague her dad's death is. All we know is he died unexpectedly (but not in an accident; she says they didn't know he was sick.) It made me feel a little off-balance.
I think the book was written in 2004. I don't know about you, but I don't remember teenagers talking like that in 2004. The turn of phrases were weird, when they should have been familar.
The little sister was strange. So was everyone else.
Not a memorable or particularly good or bad book. It had some moments where I really felt the author knew her subject, so that was good.



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Review: Crossroads of Twilight

Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan

My rating: 2 of 3 stars



2/3
Okay, so maybe Perrin could have spent just a tiny bit less time buying barley (although, to be honest, it was a welcome relief from his constant growling that he'll "do anything for Faile".) Although he did turn out to be rather epic.
Rand... meh. Didn't do much. And shouldn't some Asha'man have been as surprised as the Aes Sedai at the pillar of saidin and then maybe some shock at the Source being cleaned? They all seem to take it in stride.
Mat was also not so interesting until the end. I'm beginning to like Tuon.
Egwene I never really liked, and the whole Amyrlin thing really isn't endearing her to me.
I don't think there were any other major characters POVed this book. Not much happened in it, honestly.
And on we go to book 11.

Edit 4/13/15: Turns out I still had ten pages or so in the book. Review has been updated to match this.


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Review: Half Wild

Half Wild by Sally Green

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



2/3
I hate that reviews don't save automatically. The number of reviews I've lost half typed for no discernable reason is ridiculous.
The "her skin is skin-colored- not dirt-colored" (paraphrased) line was... well, the author almost certainly didn't mean anything, but... not cool. (And I use too many ellipses...)
The formatting was absurd for the first 50 pages or so. Do all those bolded words link to a vocabulary list in the back or something?
I rather like Nathan. Main characters can be so wimpy nowadays.
And I know I never take sides (except that Bella and Mike would have made a great couple). But Team Gabriel. (There. My dignity lost.)
This was so long, but I've forgotten what else I had to say, so I guess the book wasn't so memorable. The first one was better, but then, that's almost always true (Robert Jordan somehow maintains the mediocrity throughout).



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