Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

I wonder if something is funky about LJ? I use height="207" width="120" in my IMG tags, yet the cover images are never the same size...

Tiger, Tiger by Lynne Reid Banks. I read this book in 2015 (review here), but it got back onto my Kindle after all my books were deleted. By the time I had realized I had read it already, I was hooked and just kept reading.

Usually when I read a book this many years later, I disagree with my earlier review. But not this time! I agree with most of it, so I'll just quote part of it here for this review:

The story, set in ancient Rome, was about two tiger cubs who were captured. Both were brought to Rome, one to fight in the Colosseum, the other as a pet for Caesar's daughter. For a book aimed at young kids, it's surprising what happened to the tigers. Brute, the brother destined for the Colosseum, was abused. Tortured by humans. Abused for weeks on end to make him mean enough and hungry enough to fight. Boots, the brother who was to be a pet, was castrated, defanged, and nearly declawed. While none of what happened to either brother was gone into in detail, it was perfectly clear what happened to both of them -- and that they both felt pain from the things done to them.

But, while the tiger cubs were the main focus of the plot, I liked the subplot best: A slave, Boot's handler, fell in love with Caesar's daughter. Of course he didn't even dare think about how he felt about her -- to give any indication at all about it would have meant his death.

As I was reading, I worried I could see the ending coming. A horrible "Happily ever after" ending, where everyone ended up with the most positive ending possible. I was dreading it, because based on the set-up of the plot, it seemed the most unrealistic outcome. But know what? The author had a very positive ending for all involved and was able to make it work perfectly.

---

Now, eight years later, the only bit I disagree with is the subplot vs the plot. I really, really liked the subplot, but the main plot about the tigers was a lot better. Banks wrote them so realistically! It was all just so good!

DNF #137: Arrow's Flight (Heralds of Valdemar Book 2) by Mercedes Lackey. After my grumpiness with book 1, and realizing that I had read and disliked four other books by Lackey, my goodwill for this book was zero. As soon as I was bored (which, because of the perfect main character, happened very quickly), I DNFed it.

DNF #138: Camp So-and-So by Mary McCoy. This was an odd book. Set in a summer camp for girls in a place that didn't exist (until the girls arrived), every character there was miserable except the main one.

The story seemed to be going for the same voice as the Lemony Snicket books, A Series of Unfortunate Events. I think it was supposed to be funny, but I didn't find it to be so. It didn't take itself seriously at all, and that just didn't work for me.

DNF #139: The Faraway Paladin: Volume 1: The Boy in the City of the Dead by Kanata Yanagino. Another really odd book. Translated from Japanese, this was published there as a "light novel" (which I learned is what they call YA there). A boy dies and is reborn as a baby. The story followed him from a newborn (being raised by three undead creatures) as he grew up. I got through the first quarter of the book and he was only just becoming a toddler. Too odd for me.

DNF #140: Tarin of the Mammoths: Cave Bear Mountain (Book 3) by Jo Sandhu. This book series is such a trap! I bought the first book and didn't like it. When I spotted the second book, I remembered only that I had read the first, and since I love this kind of book, I grabbed it. I ended up DNFing it. When I spotted the third book, I remembered only that I had read the first two, and since I love this kind of book, I grabbed it. I ended up DNFing it... Will I do the same thing for book #4? Stay tuned and find out!

DNF #141: The Next Full Moon by Carolyn Turgeon. Set in the real world, the main character was a student, and way way way too much of the story followed her real life. Would the popular girls notice her? Would the boy she liked talk to her? Did this bathing suit make her look fat? Would she be invited out to a party? It was just way too much teenage social life stuff. Eventually she started sprouting feathers (which her father somehow didn't bat an eye at???), but still the main focus of the book was her social life and teenager drama.