Older book reviews (2011)
Apr. 16th, 2013 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistlechaserPrevious to posting my book reviews on LJ, I put them up on Amazon. I want to copy them here as a backup.
I'm going to do one post per year (three posts/years total, I think), so sorry in advance for the spam. I will cut the reviews though.
[Two of five stars] Life's too short for boring books, August 17, 2011
I enjoyed the beginning of this book, I often looked forward to my chances to read it. The characters were flat and boring, but the setting and world-building ideas were interesting.
About halfway into it, things seriously slowed down, and by the last 25% or so, I was looking for other things to do so I wouldn't have to read it.
I'm not sure if it was just the relationship part that killed my enjoyment of it. "Does he like me?" "Do I like him?" "Do I want him to like me?" "Do I want to like him?" It's a YA book, can't fault it for having a typical teenager relationship in it, but as an adult reader, it was just so uninteresting and such unattractive reading.
I enjoyed the first half enough that I was tempted to give it three stars, but the fact that I couldn't even force myself to skim through the last quarter of the book keeps me from doing so.
There are so many good books out there, and reading time is limited. You can do better than this book.
[Five of five stars] When did young adult books become so good?, February 13, 2011
When did young adult books become so good? I'm way older than the target age for Gone, but it's just about everything I could have asked for in a book.
Gone starts out as Lord of the Flies meets Stephen King's Under the Dome. It's a normal weekday, kids are in class, and all of a sudden POOF, every adult vanishes. Soon they discover that their town is also cut off from the rest of the world.
Things move to Lord of the Flies territory pretty fast, and from there get worse (for the characters, 'better' for the reader!). Event upon event occurs, fast paced, each time seeming like there's just no more room for more conflict.
Soon enough supernatural elements start cropping up, making this so much more than just a Lord of the Flies/Dome crossover. There are some really interesting elements, but unfortunately I can't list them without spoiling. They make the story satisfyingly more complex though.
If you're an adult, don't be put off that this is a YA book! It's an outstanding, enjoyable, exciting read. Do yourself a favor and buy the rest of the books in the series at the same time, you're going to want to have them on hand as soon as you finish Gone.
I'm going to do one post per year (three posts/years total, I think), so sorry in advance for the spam. I will cut the reviews though.
[Two of five stars] Life's too short for boring books, August 17, 2011
I enjoyed the beginning of this book, I often looked forward to my chances to read it. The characters were flat and boring, but the setting and world-building ideas were interesting.
About halfway into it, things seriously slowed down, and by the last 25% or so, I was looking for other things to do so I wouldn't have to read it.
I'm not sure if it was just the relationship part that killed my enjoyment of it. "Does he like me?" "Do I like him?" "Do I want him to like me?" "Do I want to like him?" It's a YA book, can't fault it for having a typical teenager relationship in it, but as an adult reader, it was just so uninteresting and such unattractive reading.
I enjoyed the first half enough that I was tempted to give it three stars, but the fact that I couldn't even force myself to skim through the last quarter of the book keeps me from doing so.
There are so many good books out there, and reading time is limited. You can do better than this book.
[Five of five stars] When did young adult books become so good?, February 13, 2011
When did young adult books become so good? I'm way older than the target age for Gone, but it's just about everything I could have asked for in a book.
Gone starts out as Lord of the Flies meets Stephen King's Under the Dome. It's a normal weekday, kids are in class, and all of a sudden POOF, every adult vanishes. Soon they discover that their town is also cut off from the rest of the world.
Things move to Lord of the Flies territory pretty fast, and from there get worse (for the characters, 'better' for the reader!). Event upon event occurs, fast paced, each time seeming like there's just no more room for more conflict.
Soon enough supernatural elements start cropping up, making this so much more than just a Lord of the Flies/Dome crossover. There are some really interesting elements, but unfortunately I can't list them without spoiling. They make the story satisfyingly more complex though.
If you're an adult, don't be put off that this is a YA book! It's an outstanding, enjoyable, exciting read. Do yourself a favor and buy the rest of the books in the series at the same time, you're going to want to have them on hand as soon as you finish Gone.
