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Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Loved (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This was such a good book, in so many ways.
The world the author crafted was amazing. This wasn't even a YA book, it was younger, but the quality was as high as you could want. Set in some fantasy world, the magic has vanished. A substance called Dust has replaced it, and Dust is just about the opposite of magic in every way. Touch it and all your worst emotions will come to the surface. Be around it longer, and you won't have any emotions at all. It makes the whole world dull and drab.
The people of the local town are in a bad situation. Their economy had been based on weaving starlight (magic), but without that, all the men have to go work (and die) in the mines, and the women/girls have to work for rich families. There is no protection for anyone, poor people (which is most people) are used and abused.
Enter Mallie, our main character. Born with one arm, she sneaks into a job meant just for boys (orphaned boys). Though she's neither, her personality is strong enough that she earns the right to stay.
The rest of the plot focuses on what happened to the magic and how Mallie can help the people of her town.
If I had to name a negative, it would only be that the book's bad guy was kind of flat. Since this is a book for children though, I can overlook that. It's not that he was unbelievable, but I guess just because it was told in first person, and Mallie was the main character, we didn't get to see his motives or evolution.
Still, this was a completely wonderful book. It taught lessons about society and gender without once feeling preachy. Mallie was such a great main character.
Okay, I guess I can name a second "negative": The author wrapped the story up in one book, so I suppose there won't be a series. That's too bad, I'd really love to read more about all the characters.
The Unexpected (Animorphs #44) by "K.A. Applegate" (Lisa Harkrader)
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Hated (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This late in the series, filler books are especially annoying. This book was completely pointless, meaningless. Plus it was 98% action, which is never a good match for me. It had no impact at all on the series's story.
Through stupid, unbelievable plot reasons, Cassie ends up in Australia all by herself. As in one of the earlier books, a native teenage boy saw her morphing and was perfectly fine with it, not even surprised. She ends up going home with the boy, and for more stupid plot reasons, the two of them have to amputate the grandfather's leg.
Sigh.
The book's setup was stupid, the middle was pointless, and the ending was an almost literal deus ex machina.
Hopefully #45 will be better...
The Revelation (Animorphs #45) by "K. A. Applegate" (Ellen Geroux)
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Liked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
Reading this book after #44 was kind of jarring. 44 was nothing but filler, fluff. Nothing happened in it, nothing lasting, no changes. This book changed everything.
These books take about two hours to read, so it's a shame it took me maybe a week to finish this one. Lots of things happened, impactful things, but when I read a page here and a page there, it was hard to keep in the mood.
Very early in the series, in the first or second book, Marco's mother was taken by the brain slug aliens (Yeerks). So she was alive, but lost to him. Worse than that, the Yeerk in her head is one of the Yeerk leaders.
Marco's father is a scientist, and he and his team made a big technological leap. One the Yeerks notice. They attack, intending to put a Yeerk into the father's head.
By the end of the encounter, for the first time since the ill-fated new kid they made into an Animorph, one of them told an outsider the truth about the war. Marco told his father everything.
The end of the book was surprisingly deep, and left me wondering about Marco's motives. His father, thinking that his first wife/Marco's mother was dead, remarried. Marco didn't like the new wife much. So when he got the Yeerk out of his mother's head and brought her home... Did he lie to his father (saying the second wife had been working with the enemy all the time) so the father could be happy with his first wife again? Or did he lie because Marco wanted his family back together?
I suspect that issue will be dealt with more in the coming books.
Only nine books left to go...
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Loved (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This was such a good book, in so many ways.
The world the author crafted was amazing. This wasn't even a YA book, it was younger, but the quality was as high as you could want. Set in some fantasy world, the magic has vanished. A substance called Dust has replaced it, and Dust is just about the opposite of magic in every way. Touch it and all your worst emotions will come to the surface. Be around it longer, and you won't have any emotions at all. It makes the whole world dull and drab.
The people of the local town are in a bad situation. Their economy had been based on weaving starlight (magic), but without that, all the men have to go work (and die) in the mines, and the women/girls have to work for rich families. There is no protection for anyone, poor people (which is most people) are used and abused.
Enter Mallie, our main character. Born with one arm, she sneaks into a job meant just for boys (orphaned boys). Though she's neither, her personality is strong enough that she earns the right to stay.
The rest of the plot focuses on what happened to the magic and how Mallie can help the people of her town.
If I had to name a negative, it would only be that the book's bad guy was kind of flat. Since this is a book for children though, I can overlook that. It's not that he was unbelievable, but I guess just because it was told in first person, and Mallie was the main character, we didn't get to see his motives or evolution.
Still, this was a completely wonderful book. It taught lessons about society and gender without once feeling preachy. Mallie was such a great main character.
Okay, I guess I can name a second "negative": The author wrapped the story up in one book, so I suppose there won't be a series. That's too bad, I'd really love to read more about all the characters.
The Unexpected (Animorphs #44) by "K.A. Applegate" (Lisa Harkrader)
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Hated (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This late in the series, filler books are especially annoying. This book was completely pointless, meaningless. Plus it was 98% action, which is never a good match for me. It had no impact at all on the series's story.
Through stupid, unbelievable plot reasons, Cassie ends up in Australia all by herself. As in one of the earlier books, a native teenage boy saw her morphing and was perfectly fine with it, not even surprised. She ends up going home with the boy, and for more stupid plot reasons, the two of them have to amputate the grandfather's leg.
Sigh.
The book's setup was stupid, the middle was pointless, and the ending was an almost literal deus ex machina.
Hopefully #45 will be better...
The Revelation (Animorphs #45) by "K. A. Applegate" (Ellen Geroux)
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Liked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
Reading this book after #44 was kind of jarring. 44 was nothing but filler, fluff. Nothing happened in it, nothing lasting, no changes. This book changed everything.
These books take about two hours to read, so it's a shame it took me maybe a week to finish this one. Lots of things happened, impactful things, but when I read a page here and a page there, it was hard to keep in the mood.
Very early in the series, in the first or second book, Marco's mother was taken by the brain slug aliens (Yeerks). So she was alive, but lost to him. Worse than that, the Yeerk in her head is one of the Yeerk leaders.
Marco's father is a scientist, and he and his team made a big technological leap. One the Yeerks notice. They attack, intending to put a Yeerk into the father's head.
By the end of the encounter, for the first time since the ill-fated new kid they made into an Animorph, one of them told an outsider the truth about the war. Marco told his father everything.
The end of the book was surprisingly deep, and left me wondering about Marco's motives. His father, thinking that his first wife/Marco's mother was dead, remarried. Marco didn't like the new wife much. So when he got the Yeerk out of his mother's head and brought her home... Did he lie to his father (saying the second wife had been working with the enemy all the time) so the father could be happy with his first wife again? Or did he lie because Marco wanted his family back together?
I suspect that issue will be dealt with more in the coming books.
Only nine books left to go...
