Nollaig Posted January 16, 2009 Author Posted January 16, 2009 Great review Roxi! You're too nice to me y'know xxxxxxxxxxxx Quote
Charm Posted January 16, 2009 Posted January 16, 2009 Good review Roxi I think I'll give this book a miss though Quote
Nollaig Posted January 16, 2009 Author Posted January 16, 2009 Personally, I'd recommend to most people to give it a miss. I was being overly polite in my review Quote
Nollaig Posted January 18, 2009 Author Posted January 18, 2009 (edited) Holly Black – Valiant: A Modern Tale Of Faerie (2005) Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult Synopsis: 17-year-old Valerie Russell runs away to New York City, trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. She takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels and shoots up an amber-coloured powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he can make deals with creatures that no one else can see. And then there's Luis's brother, Dave, who makes the mistake of letting Val tag along as he makes a delivery to a woman who turns out to have goat hooves instead of feet. General Ramble: Valiant is a major improvement on it’s indirect predecessor (Tithe). With only vague references to the first novel, this book stands alone very well. Reminiscent of “Pan’s Labyrinth”, Valiant is much darker than Tithe, not a complete improvement with regard to characters/plot, but certainly moving in the right direction. With enough profanity and adult content to warrant a warning on the back cover, with themes such as drug use and magical (i.e, psychological) manipulation, this book may be listed as Young Adult but it’s certainly not for the faint hearted. For those who dare, this is a darkly enthralling but surprisingly easy read. Holly Black is definitely a name to watch out for. Rating: 6.9/10 (much as I want to say 7, its not quite there yet!) As per usual, click here to read my in-depth ramble Edited February 14, 2009 by Nollaig Quote
Nollaig Posted January 18, 2009 Author Posted January 18, 2009 Its extremely original - as I say in my longer rant, both books so far suffer from what I now call 'stephanie Meyer' syndrome, great concept and very easy to read, even enjoyable, but mostly badly executed/predictable plot and one-dimesional characters. This one, however, was much better than the original. Its crazy stuff, but a great read. Might be a little heavy for a 15 year old in my opinion, but I don't really know. Quote
Ben Posted January 18, 2009 Posted January 18, 2009 Its extremely original - as I say in my longer rant, both books so far suffer from what I now call 'stephanie Meyer' syndrome, great concept and very easy to read, even enjoyable, but mostly badly executed/predictable plot and one-dimesional characters. This one, however, was much better than the original. Its crazy stuff, but a great read. Might be a little heavy for a 15 year old in my opinion, but I don't really know. Well I've read heavier stuff before, probably because I've been told I'm such a good reader for my age.. Quote
Nollaig Posted January 18, 2009 Author Posted January 18, 2009 Well its more about maturity level, and its probably me being a bit over-protective of the young'uns. You'd probably be well able for it, but it IS very dark. Quote
Ben Posted January 18, 2009 Posted January 18, 2009 Fair enough, I did see Pan's Labyrinth though. Quote
Nollaig Posted January 18, 2009 Author Posted January 18, 2009 There isn't any drug addiction in that XD But fair enough, read what you like, just make sure your mother doesn't come hunting me down XD Quote
Ben Posted January 18, 2009 Posted January 18, 2009 There isn't any drug addiction in that XD But fair enough, read what you like, just make sure your mother doesn't come hunting me down XD Luckily she isn't on here! Quote
Nollaig Posted January 18, 2009 Author Posted January 18, 2009 Its also a bit girly. So that might put you off too =P Quote
Nollaig Posted January 21, 2009 Author Posted January 21, 2009 Ordered/Got 5 books today, 4 of which weren't even on my list, but all four are for letters I haven't started on/didn't own anything for. (and were less than Quote
Kell Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 Hope you enjoy The Graveyard Book as much as I did - I love Gaiman's writing. Quote
chesilbeach Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveller's Wife I thoroughly enjoyed this. Hadn't been expecting to, but started on a Saturday morning, and couldn't put it down, finishing it the same evening. It seems to divide opinion among my friends, with some loving it, and other thinking it was "a bit meh". I thought it was very original, well written and utterly compelling. Quote
Guest ii Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 "a bit meh" My friend uses that expression! *laughs* I have The Time-Traveller's Wife on my TBR, maybe someday I'll get to it. Quote
Nollaig Posted January 21, 2009 Author Posted January 21, 2009 Hope you enjoy The Graveyard Book as much as I did - I love Gaiman's writing. So far, so am I! I've read American Gods which is quite clearly an adult book - so it's interesting to see how his rather dark writing style adapts to accommodate a younger audience! I read your review and thats why I picked it up! My friend uses that expression! *laughs* I have The Time-Traveller's Wife on my TBR, maybe someday I'll get to it. It is actually next on my list after Gaiman, as I promised Lexie I'd read it. I'm looking forward to it, it's a very interesting premise. Quote
Janet Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 I'm another in the 'loved it' camp for The Time Traveler's Wife. I also really enjoyed The Curious Incident Of The Dog In Night-Time. Quote
lexiepiper Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 I'm another in the 'loved it' camp for The Time Traveler's Wife. I also really enjoyed The Curious Incident Of The Dog In Night-Time. Yep same here, TTW is my most re-read book Quote
Stephanie2008 Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time has been on my TBR list for months. I don't know why but I don't want to pick it up, but I do want to read it Quote
Nollaig Posted January 24, 2009 Author Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) The Dead Guy - Doug Hewitt (2008) Genre: Thriller/Fiction Synopsis: “Jack Thigpen works in Detroit, nicknamed The Motor City, the perfect place for a fraud investigator who specializes in car insurance scams. Ironically, as he is targeted for death because of his current investigation, Jack is diagnosed with a fatal illness that is untreatable. And instead of killing Jack, the hit man shoots Jack’s best friend. Struggling to come to terms with his impending death, Jack vows to track down his friend’s killer. Death is staring him in the face, but he doesn’t back down." Short Ramble: Feeling a bit like Gone In Sixty Seconds with just a dash of Tarantino, this quirky yet serious novel will even make you laugh out loud, as it tracks down a crime ring that gets deeper and larger by the mile. Carefully constructed, the plot will leave you in the dark until it’s ready for you to know the truth, but it never loses or confuses you along the way. Each short chapter brings a new twist or a new direction for Thigpen, or a new unforgettable character to throw into an undefined equation. Crime lords and explosions, dark humor and serious undertones, the essence of an unlikely superman, and philosophical allusions (with a little help from a pebble and Stanley Kubrick) - this book has it all. 9.5/10 Postcards to the usual address: here Edited January 24, 2009 by Nollaig Quote
Ernie Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 I thoroughly enjoyed this. Hadn't been expecting to, but started on a Saturday morning, and couldn't put it down, finishing it the same evening. It seems to divide opinion among my friends, with some loving it, and other thinking it was "a bit meh". I thought it was very original, well written and utterly compelling. I'm well impressed, I couldn't read it in one day. I've just had 2 weeks holiday and I'm still only a third way through The Time Travelers Wife. I'm enjoying it and think it would make a good movie. I will leave any judgement until I have reached the end. At my current rate that'll take the whole of February. Quote
Janet Posted January 26, 2009 Posted January 26, 2009 Ernie - The film rights to TTTW were bought by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston and it's due out this year, I believe. Quote
Nollaig Posted January 26, 2009 Author Posted January 26, 2009 Yeah. They're aiming for a summer release. The girl playing Clare is a terrible piece of casting - she doesn't even have red hair, a fact MUCH attention is brought to throughout the book. I started the book the day before yesterday, and have read 250 odd pages, so am about halfway through. I love it, and find it very easy to read. Can't wait to write up my review, I've a few things to say about the author's idea of time travel! I started reading The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly today - I didn't really mean to, I just wanted to get a feel for it, but I'm very much in a fairytale mood these days so I've read just over 100 pages today, i'm nearly a third of the way through. Will try for another 50-100 pages of both books today, and get them both done and dusted by Wednesday. Since this is my book thread - I also want to comment on another book I'm getting soon, related to fairytales/kids stories. Its called 'The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse' and it sounds like a Noddy meets Saw (the movie.) Has anyone read it/want to comment before I buy it? Quote
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