Noll's 2015 Book Blog

[muggle not]

Did you have the opportunity yet to read Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde?

[Nollaig]

Hey muggles, nope I haven't, been reading a couple of other books, but I did get it on my tablet! So it's gonna be one of my next reads. She seems to have a lot of different books, so if I like this one I'll be coming back for more recommendations from her catalog

[Nollaig]

Right, I'm back with reviews. Haven't done a huge amount of reading lately, but I'm starting to catch up again now. First up:

 

Perfect Ruin - Lauren DeStefano

 

Synopsis: On the floating city of Internment, you can be anything you dream, unless you approach the edge. Morgan Stockhour knows getting too close can lead to madness, like her older brother Lex, a Jumper. She takes solace in her best friend Pen, and in Basil, the boy she’s engaged to marry. When she investigates the first murder in a generation, she meets Judas. The suspect was betrothed to the victim, but Morgan believes he is innocent. Nothing can prepare Morgan for the secrets she will find – or whom she will lose.

***

Review: Okay before I go any further, let me just get this out of the way - I enjoyed this book in the way I used to enjoy Twilight. It's not well written, I have a full-size poster of Kian Egan from Westlife that's less flat than the characters and I don't think there is anything of value to be taken from it. However, it's also compulsively readable, and I tore through it in an evening and a half. For the first third or so, I wasn't sure I would keep reading - it meanders at a slow pace and doesn't seem to really know where it's going - for a bit of a murder mystery/thriller, it's not very exciting. Exceptionally inconducive towards making it so, is how unrelatable the main character Morgan is. Judas is also not a particularly compelling character, so it's difficult to care much what is going to happen.

Fortunately for the novel, it does have some good points. Some of the secondary characters are very likeable, particularly Morgan's parents, blind brother Lex, and his wife Alice. Some of the details of how life is lived in Internment, such as the carefully allocated births and marriages, lend themselves to making it an interesting concept, even if the execution is questionable. The contrast between Morgan, whose curiosity takes her thoughts frequently to the 'ground' below, and her friend Pen, who cannot conceive of everything they have been taught about gods and their ideal lives (essentially, their religion) being a lie, is pretty interesting. The city (not depicted nearly extensively enough) is quite interesting, as is the question of how it got up into the sky. In fact, most of the questions that this novel doesn't answer are the most interesting ones - where Internment came from, why it's called Internment (because the name sure implies something!) and what in the heck is going on down below on on Earth? I suspect at least some of these questions are going to be answered in book two, so I'm going to keep reading the series for that.

All in all.... an easy read, which honestly feels inspired by the Final Fantasy series - floating cities, mechanical burrowing flying bird ships - and I guess that's at least part of what kept me reading. It definitely won't be for everyone, and certainly not readers of very discerning standards. But screw it, I liked it.

Rating: 2.5/5

[Nollaig]

Curse Workers #1: White Cat - Holly Black

 

Synopsis: Cassel comes from a shady, magical family of con artists and grifters. He doesn't fit in at home or at school, so he's used to feeling like an outsider. He's also used to feeling guilty; he killed his best friend, Lila, years ago. But when Cassel begins to have strange dreams about a white cat, and people around him are losing their memories, he starts to wonder what really happened to Lila. In his search for answers, he discovers a wicked plot for power that seems certain to succeed. But Cassel has other ideas and a plan to con the conmen.

 ***

Review: For many years I was not a fan of Holly Black - her Modern Faerie Tale series is still bad by just about every standard I have. That said, I loved the second book in that series - Valiant, despite not being well-written. There was just something gritty and different about it. And that is what compelled me to pick up White Cat, after seeing so many good reviews of it. And honestly, it's great. Everything that I loved about Valiant is still sufficiently present in her writing style to identify this novel as being by Holly Black, but the writing has come on in leaps and bounds; is infinitely more accomplished and polished in every way.

Mafia style criminal-underbellies of any world are generally not my thing in fiction, so I will admit that affected my rating. However, the fact that it manages to pull an otherwise-four-star rating out of the bag speaks volumes. The novel opens with quite a thrilling, mysterious scene in which the main character has no idea how he has wound up in a precarious situation. This sets the tone for the rest of a story gradually unravelled by an unreliable narrator trying to piece together the facts of his own past, and the motives of his criminal Curse Worker family. Cassel, I found, was a likeable main character. Perhaps not the brightest star in the sky, but a good kid. The secondary characters could have done with a bit more development, but at least none of them grated like in Black's other work.

The fantasy side of this novel is fantastic. The right amount of world-building, the right amount of complexity to how magic works and interacts with the world, how it is utilized and responded to by the populations who possess it, and those who do not. I would like to see more politics regarding that last past arise in later installments of the series (which I will definitely be reading), because I found that underdeveloped aspect to be one of the most potentially interesting. As for the plot - exciting and generally well-paced; while I was a couple of steps ahead of Cassel for most of the book, there were quite a few twists I didn't see coming. A worthwhile read.

Rating: 4/5

[chesilbeach]

Reading your review of White Cat has made me realise how little I remember!  Maybe I should re-read it and carry on with the trilogy.

[Athena]

Hey Noll, good to see you back . I'm glad you enjoyed White Cat. I hope you enjoy your next read(s) too .

[Nollaig]

Thanks Gaia

 

Reading your review of White Cat has made me realise how little I remember!  Maybe I should re-read it and carry on with the trilogy.

 

Maybe so! I wasn't a huge fan of all the action stuff at the end, but the world is interesting enough that I want to read more stories set in it.

 

Currently reading Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde, under the insistence suggestion of Muggle Not and Anna. Read over a hundred pages in my first sitting, took a little time to get going but I've gotten a feel for her style now and I'm absolutely loving it. I can relate to Billy so, so much. No idea how it's going to end though.

[Athena]

Currently reading Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde, under the insistence suggestion of Muggle Not and Anna. Read over a hundred pages in my first sitting, took a little time to get going but I've gotten a feel for her style now and I'm absolutely loving it. I can relate to Billy so, so much. No idea how it's going to end though.

I loved this book so I'm glad you're enjoying it !

[Anna Begins]

Currently reading Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde, under the insistence suggestion of Muggle Not and Anna.

and I'm absolutely loving it. I can relate to Billy so, so much. No idea how it's going to end though.

Ha ha ha don't get me roped in there with Muggle   But it is my favorite book of hers and if you want something different that what we both read, it is a good choice.  I related to Billy a lot too.  I don't know how old you are, Noll, somewhere around me, I'd guess.  But it's weird when the adult characters start being as old as us!   

[Nollaig]

Well I definitely like her style enough to check out her other work, so I'll probably pick through based on which stories sound good.

 

Also have no idea how old you are, I'm 27 so not as old as many of the characters are I'd guess But the description of things like, Billy being afraid of the conflict outside, but still not wanting to miss it - I can relate sooooooo much to that. I was frantically nodding at the book reading that hehe.

[muggle not]

There were a number of "life lessons" in the book. It is probably my favorite book by CRH.

 

There are a couple more by CRH that I really like ....but no recommendations from me.

[Nollaig]

Awww but I like recommendations!

[Anna Begins]

Awww but I like recommendations!

Contamination.  You definitely need some guts spilling out (and a baseball bat for a weapon) after an emotional read like Don't Let Me Go.    How is it going with it btw?

[Nollaig]

About 80 pages to go. It's definitely emotionally tumultuous. Loving it though, so many different strands touched on to varying degrees but all sewn together in a way that renders a credible picture of life's complexities. Very very well written. Love the dual perspective, really adds to it.

[muggle not]

About 80 pages to go. It's definitely emotionally tumultuous. Loving it though, so many different strands touched on to varying degrees but all sewn together in a way that renders a credible picture of life's complexities. Very very well written. Love the dual perspective, really adds to it.

And to think that me and Anna had to insist that you read it.

 

Ooops, excuse me, Anna doesn't want to be included with me.  

Edited April 20, 2015 by muggle not

[Nollaig]

Hey hey, I picked up on Jumpstart The World by myself, and then ye rode in on yer Hyde horses (see what I did there? did you? ) and told me to read this one, so I did! And I now also have Jumpstart

[Athena]

Woohoo, I'm so glad you're liking Don't Let Me Go . It's such a great book, I loved it when I read it last year. I hope you will like Jumpstart the World too .

[muggle not]

I am anxious to see your review on Don't let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde. CRH is a go-to author for me when I don't have anything else to immediately read. I have read 9 of her books and enjoyed most of them, some of them very, very, much.  Jump Start The World is not one that I have read.

[Anna Begins]

Hey hey, I picked up on Jumpstart The World by myself, and then ye rode in on yer Hyde horses (see what I did there? did you? ) and told me to read this one, so I did! And I now also have Jumpstart

Woohoo!  A convert!  Enjoy!

And Muggle has read some I haven't, like Becoming Chloe. 

[Athena]

I think Muggle Not has read the most of her books, out of the people here. I have read these:

 

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Don't Let Me Go

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Where We Belong

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Becoming Chloe

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Jumpstart The World

 

And I have a couple more that I own that I haven't read yet.

 

I do look forward to read your review, Noll (but don't feel too pressured about it or anything ).

[muggle not]

I think Muggle Not has read the most of her books, out of the people here. I have read these:

 

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Don't Let Me Go

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Where We Belong

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Becoming Chloe

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Jumpstart The World

 

And I have a couple more that I own that I haven't read yet.

 

I do look forward to read your review, Noll (but don't feel too pressured about it or anything ).

I don't know if I have read the most of her books but I have read 9 of them. I believe we have different opinions on many of the CRH books but I believe all of us really liked Don't Let Me Go, probably for different reasons.:

Don’t Let Me Go………….... 4.5/5

Walk Me Home……………... 4.5/5

Where We Belong……….….4/5

Becoming Chloe………….…..4/5

When I Found You…………..3.75/5

Language of Hoofbeats .....3.75/5

Take Me With You…………..3.5/5

When We Were Older….…3.5/5

Electric God........................3.5/5

 

 

I will echo Athena's comment....by all means please don't feel pressured about it or anything.      

Edited April 23, 2015 by muggle not

[Nollaig]

I'd really welcome everyone's ratings of the books of hers that they've read - I've got Muggles now, but it'd be fun to see everyone elses too. I'll still go with the ones that sound most interesting to me

 

I haven't quite finished it yet, very nearly there, tonight or tomorrow I'd say Don't worry all I never feel pressured to write reviews hehe!

[Athena]

My original ratings are, and in the order of how I liked them (from top to bottom):

 

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Don't Let Me Go: 10

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Where We Belong: 10

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Jumpstart The World: 10 (would change this to a 9 now)

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Becoming Chloe: 9

[Nollaig]

Finished it! Giving it a 4.5 because I felt it drew out a little towards the end and then suddenly tore through loads of stuff a bit too fast. But it made me cry, and it was beautiful, so a solid 4.5. Full review maybe tonight or tomorrow.

 

Yay, I also have Becoming Chloe so good to hear you liked that as well as Jumpstart Gaia

[Athena]

I'm glad you enjoyed it . It made me cry too!

 

Yay for that you have Becoming Chloe, I hope you enjoy it when you read it . I thought it was a thought-provoking, moving story.