The Mad Scientist’s Daughter

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Genre: Science-fiction, Romance, Adult

Expected Publication: February 7th 2013 by Angry Robot

The Plot.

“Cat, this is Finn. He’s going to be your tutor.”

He looks, and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task now is to tutor Cat. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, Finn is her guardian, her constant companion… and more.

But when the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world.

The Review.

The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is a novel that moved me to tears. I truly did not expect to feel so emotional about a robot. I mean a robot to me has always been metal pieces controlled with complicated electronic circuits inside and sometimes, occasionally the robot may have a system that allows responses. However, Finn is a robot like no other. He was human, he felt human to me and ultimately I couldn’t displace him as not being human and this humanity that surrounded Finn made his story all the more heart-breaking because whilst our protagonist is following Cat growing up from a very young age to her later years which works surprisingly well across the novel, I felt that there was a strong focus through the novel on Finn and that viewing the world through his eyes would have really changed the workings of the novel because I would love to get into his mind and delve further because he has a complex character that is still hard to pinpoint by the end of the novel. I am frankly enamoured with Finn and this is probably why I sobbed quite a lot when reading The Mad Scientist’s Daughter.

“His eyes loomed steadily in the buzzing light of the porch. His skin was much too fair, sallow beneath the swath of black hair that flopped across his forehead.”

Don’t get me wrong, this novel is far from being faultless, but I did really enjoy the novel. The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is a gritty novel that whilst it delves into the world of science-fiction, it touches on friendship, relationships, loss, grief and a changing world. It isn’t full of flowers and happiness, Clarke shows her versatility as an author as she takes on loss of close family relations, abusive relationships and coming to terms with your feelings for others and the meanings that truly lay behind these. I think the cover perfectly encapsulates the kind of desolation that The Mad Scientist’s Daughter delves into and the moon that becomes a very vital part of the story. If you are looking for a happy novel, then The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is not it and I suggest you run far away. However if you want something that’s gritty, emotional and an all around rollercoaster, but still manages to end of a moment of hope and love then pick up The Mad Scientist’s Daughter because I don’t see how it cannot fail to wow.

Cat is the protagonist of this tale and she’s a very complex character. Her relationship with her parents is rather turbulent, but I am thankful to say they are not absent. They show concern for her and whilst they aren’t always present they genuinely care for her welfare and their actions dictate that they only endeavour to give her the best with pushing her. Despite all of this, Cat is not a happy character and she comes with her fair share of her problems. Personally, her isolation as a child with only her robot tutor, Finn, for company and then her friendship group of rather unstable, gothic junkies through high-school lead me to say that this clearly influences Cat’s rather wild behaviour. She’s not an easy character to get along with and whilst I can’t say I liked her, I could connect with her and I found her issues and feelings moving and turbulent. She clearly felt conflicted throughout the novel about Finn and what he can actually be to her, after all, he is a robot and she can’t fathom his nature. It’s rather sad their relationship and the pushing and pulling that takes place and it’s always one of my favourite aspects of a romance to see a rocky path to love and these two take a real roller-coaster. Cat through the end of it, manages to stick to her beliefs after being a very flighty and indecisive character throughout particularly when she lost herself. I did like that she seemed to have matured and found a semblance of who she truly was by the end of the novel and this allowed me to like her more by the end.

“You’re welcome.” He regarded her with his dark eyes. Cat crawled forward on her bed and reached across the chasm between them to pull the chair, with him in it, closer to her.”

The one thing that I didn’t like about The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is that we had very little background to the state of the world and what had happened. Clare seemed to skip straight  over this and I was always hoping that we get some idea of what this “destruction” was and the extremes temperatures they had which all led to the robots being brought in to rebuild the world. I felt we had a great lack of world building for the past and this was Clare just seemed to drop. Everything else about the novel excelled because it was so character driven with fantastic, primary and secondary characters, but the history of the world seemed to vanish. For me, with this, Clare’s novel would be in a whole other league, but nevertheless I still enjoyed it immensely.

Finn is a robot and that will not change no matter how much humanity you apply to him and this was an interesting concept to deal with. I can see how this may make some people uncomfortable in reading because of that, but if you look at the perspective of his behaviour and his feelings then he’s not just a hunk of metal. You need to push aside him as a robot, and look at the romance and Finn as a person because he can be moving and he raised emotions in me. He was a character I grew to respect and love and he’s the reason I kept crying. If it were not for Finn, I do not think The Mad Scientist’s Daughter would be quite the same and I’m afraid my favourite Star Wars robot, C-3PO has been replaced by a new one who’s after my heart. Clare clearly excelled with Finn’s character and I think she worked wonders on the angle of the robot. She also followed this up with protests and underground groups working to gain rights for robots and the changing environment of the world meant that robots were being accepted and I liked the political aspect of the novel and Finn’s character because he was clearly entangled with these elements.

“I can’t tell you what it means to be the only one of my kind,” he said. “I can’t… There is a lack in myself. But your thesis almost filled it in. It was… a start.”

Clare does a fantastic job of building up secondary characters and relationships outside of Finn and Cat because the novel does focus on their relationship it does not solely revolve around it. Clare builds a world up around Cat, so we can only see the world and the people that she connects with. Outside of this we are blank, but because Cat seems to run into lots of people it actually works surprisingly well because we don’t feel confined to just a few characters. The strongest characters I feel are Cat’s parents and in particular her father who plays the strongest secondary character in the novel, but this is probably important because he is the “Mad Scientist”. I didn’t think this aspect of the novel was played on strongly enough about him being the “Mad Scientist” because whilst Cat dealt with issues from other teenagers it was never truly explored. The meaning of this name is implied, but it’s never stated obviously and I think Clare could have explored it a lot further to a greater advantage of her novel.

Through The Mad Scientist’s Daughter Clare presents her versatility of an author to broach both into Young Adult fiction and Adult fiction as you may more commonly know her as the author of The Assassin’s Curse and this novel is incredibly different. I like that the two novels were very different and reflected two entirely different meanings and that she didn’t try to apply the style of The Assassin’s Curse to The Mad Scientist’s Daughter because she made them two entirely different things. If I’m honest, I enjoyed The Mad Scientist’s Daughter more because I thought it was more developed in meaning, but that The Assassin’s Curse has the stronger world foundations. Either way I recommend both novels without reserve, but suggest if you prefer young-adult that you stick to Clare’s The Assassin’s Curse.

Overall, whilst I can nit-pick at The Mad Scientist’s Daughter and I do not see it as a perfect novel, it is one that I could connect and enjoy despite my emotional outbursts and this is what makes it one of my favourite releases of the year so far. Perfection does not always equate to enjoyment in my opinion, so I think despite the few points of contention that you may have with The Mad Scientist’s Daughter or people’s queasy reaction over Finn as a robot, you shouldn’t disregard this novel because it is definitely a stunner in the making. There are lots of brilliant elements that The Mad Scientist’s Daughter manages to encapsulate with the emotion, the characterisation, the politics and the pacing that whilst this novel pushes being quite lengthy keeps it moving and kept me reading. I’ll be looking out for more works from Clare because she’s an author to watch out for.

*quotes taken from an uncorrected arc e-copy provided by Angry Robot via NetGalley.

 

 

Rebecca

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Genre: Gothic, Classics, Romance

Published: January 30th 2003 by Virago Press Ltd

The Plot

With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house’s current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim’s first wife the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.

My Review

Rebecca is a novel that haunts you long after you’ve set it aside. It wriggles its way into your brain and has you recounting every event to try and define the very moment that such extraordinary events took a turning because it blindsided me. I found myself unable to pinpoint within the novel a point of elusion to such events and it was utterly fantastic. To be so shocked by the novel really shows Maurier to have a craft. We recount the naive footsteps of the new Mrs de Winters as she recalls her youth and innocence at becoming Maxim’s second husband and the events that conspire to amount against her and test her very strength.

The way in which Maurier delivers the novel means we very much see the world through Mrs de Winters eyes and her utter ignorance at the world is enlightening because we learn with her as she begins to stand on her own feet and discover the world. She’s so childlike and desperate to learn and please and it’s rather endearing at first because there is this drive in her to succeed and she just continues to stumble. She appears to be rather a weak and sappy character and whilst some protagonists fail to make any development, Maurier completely diverts her character into somebody who has been forced rather brutally to grow up in only a few moments. From the feeling of drowning and not being able to survive she is once again thrown into a colossally damned situation and manages to recover herself that makes her character truly courageous and strong by the end of things.

“I suppose sooner or later in the life of everyone comes a moment of trial. We all of us have our particular devil who rides us and torments us, and we must give battle in the end.”

Rebecca is definitely a novel that touches on appearances to be deceiving because not only does it appear to fit into so many genres from mystery, to romance to the Gothic, it is most certainly a hybrid of genres, the plot and the characters change beyond belief throughout the novel and Maurier teases us with little glimpses of a truth and a dark side, to slowly unveil the truth of Rebecca. After all, the novel at first sight appears to be about a woman Rebecca who is indeed present, but only in the ethereal sense because she haunts the characters lives and manipulates their emotions even whilst dead. This makes the novel so distinctly Gothic in the effect that ricochets across all their lives from a dead woman. It’s so unnerving to think the presence of a dead woman could unsettle a house so much and this makes Maurier’s Rebecca so infinitely gripping that you are kept on tenterhooks as you turn each page waiting for the new bombshell to fall and to twist the story again.

There are some critics who dismiss Maurier’s Rebecca as merely a “Gothic Romance” but honestly the romance is focused on very little as a romance. There is a focus on the relationship and the dynamic of this relationship and to how events impact upon their lives. The tensions between the Winters and the strain that Rebecca the dead women, haunting the house who continues to drive the couple further and further apart without even trying and it makes for an engaging and thrilling read. Rebecca touches every aspect of their lives and I found it so utterly intriguing to watch the romance that seemed so perfect if not rather awkward at the beginning begin to crumble because of doubts and misgivings that unravel by the end of the plot and change a whole spin on my previous perspective.

“Either you go to America with Mrs. Van Hopper or you come home to Manderley with me.”
“Do you mean you want a secretary or something?”
“No, I’m asking you to marry me, you little fool.”

Maxim is a man that baffled me from the very moment the novel began until the very end. I had a very turbulent relationship with his character because his mood swings were rather violent. He could appear loveable and doting and the next he was a brooding angry mess. His character was so wrapped up and secretive that I could never truly fathom him, but I think this was partly the nature of the narrative that makes Rebecca so utterly engaging because we see the world through Mrs de Winter’s eyes and she never truly understood Maxim. There always appeared to be a rift between them and whilst I never disliked his character and he appeared strong and dashing and everything a love interest should be, I found I could never truly like his character either. It is not that I felt indifferent to him, I just can’t place whether I could place him directly in one camp of emotions because he was so diverse and changing. He never settled because he was in this constant state of agitation and this reflects into Maurier’s protagonist, Mrs de Winters and that keeps the pace of the novel forever pushing forward when it seems as though we are about to drag.

The most fascinating element of the tale is Rebecca and how she was reflected her in her hut, the decor of Manderley, the ball every element of Manderley could be seen by Mrs de Winters as reflecting Rebecca. She was constantly present and this is what made Maurier’s recount of a dead woman so effective.

Then there was the cold, hard and rather sad Mrs Danvers. Its safe to say I abhorred the woman, but equally I felt deep sympathy for her sad attachment to Rebecca who seemed to be her very reason for life. She made a fantastic villain and it is very often that we see somebody so dark and seedy becoming a villain or terrifying and monstrous like Frankenstein’s monster in the Gothic. However Mrs Danvers appears to be a women driven mindless by devotion to Rebecca which drives every action of hers and leaves pour Mrs de Winters terrified. Ultimately though, I found that Mrs Danvers is a woman I could not like under any circumstance because however she appeared to be motivated by love, her actions filled the book with hate and rage that made her an unsightly character.

I simply adored the setting of Manderley it was so encompassing and suffocating in its stature and reputation. The idea of the old house that was so poignant and Gothic. I could so clearly image this dark, almost brooding house in my imagination with the vivid red flowers that cloaked the side of the house. It only adds to Maurier imbedding symbolism everywhere in Rebecca and the little connections and misgivings and feelings that you got when reading it, all added up to making it a wonderful experience.

Classics have not been a genre I’ve ventured far into, but with Rebecca I found a new door and a new avenue in which I genuinely found a magical experience in that wasn’t clustered with archaic language that took hours to unravel, but the complexity of the plot made up for the simplicity of the writing style (in comparison to something as Austen) and that made it all the more enlightening that I found nothing to be the same in Rebecca. For me, Rebecca can never just be a “Gothic Romance” because it is so much more and undeniably one of those tales that shall sit with you long after reading. It is a novel I am desperate to get on my shelves and whilst the ending isn’t entirely fulfilling in its rather tragic way that leaves one pondering what can really come, particularly from whence we came in a place not known, it is one that I would love to read again and a novel that I recommend without a doubt to each and every one of you!

“We’re not meant for happiness, you and I.”

Legend Unleashed

Legend Unleashed by M. Latimer-Ridley

Genre: Fantasy, Werewolves, Romance, Young-Adult

Published: Published October 26th 2012 by Cranmer Publishing

When an infamous criminal is unleashed from his prison, it has consequences for everyone in Carwick. Temperance Levinthal in particular…

Temperance is satisfied with her ordinary life.

Dealing with her eccentric, childlike parents is all the excitement she needs. That changes when Alastair Byron returns home.

After a failed matchmaking attempt by her father, sparks fly between her and Alastair-just not the good kind.

They are forced together though, when they are implicated in a grisly murder. Their search for the truth leads them to a secret world beneath Carwick, filled with werewolves, wizards and other magical faey.

However, uncovering the truth is far more dangerous than they’d ever imagined.
There are secrets within secrets.

Even Alastair may be more than he seems…

My Review:

I simply adored this book because from the very first moment I stumbled across Latimer and Ridley’s blog I was intrigued by the premise of this book and all the art work, youtube videos and little teasers of the book being formed excited me and when they asked me to review, I just knew I couldn’t say no. I’m so glad to say this book didn’t let me down, not one bit. I didn’t want it to end, I kept stopping just because I couldn’t bare to see the end of this book. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect, but it’s quirky, original and everything that I adore so for me this is the werewolf book I’ve been looking for, this is exactly what I want a book to do. It drew me in, excited me and I engaged with the characters and it’s safe to say a book of 2012 I will not forget.

This book has a little bit of everything. Romance, fantasy and mystery in abundance. It’s clearly the driving force that makes the book so engaging and whilst I will admit there were points and still points that have left me a tad confused, this book was undeniably a guilty pleasure. Oh and this book was gory too and exciting. It was thrilling on all kinds of levels as well as having this low level romance that bubbled throughout, but didn’t take over the story.

“A bloodcurdling howl echoed throughout the cavern. Claws dug into his back, slicing through the muscles. A piercing scream ripped from his throat. Fangs nicked at his neck; the warm rush of blood blurred his vision and his head was yanked back.”

On top of all the gore, mystery and adventure that happens in abundance there is the romance. Now don’t be put off by this book because first appearances are very much deceiving. When you begin to read it appears to become a point where we meet a love triangle, but what makes the book so entirely loveable is how it completely eliminates this direction and surprises you in doing so. Meanwhile, enjoy the bubbling tensions and antagonisms between the characters because it is so deeply entertaining!

“Halvard stalked over to her, invading her personal space. She gasped and bumped back up against the wall away from him. His handsome face drew level with hers. He was growling.

He brushed a fingertip over her cheek, drawing back a strand of her hair. His striking amber eyes bored into hers.

“I’m not an adolescent pup. I don’t show just any female affection. All you need to do is tell me to stop…”

Temperence isn’t the highly intelligent super-freak that seem to have become normal or entirely stupid, she’s a nice balance somewhere in-between and there was only a rare moment where I wanted to bash her head against a wall because she was so oblivious. However, I think this only makes her character more realistic and how much there was for her to unravel about the time was exciting because little pieces of information were slowly released to you to fit together a puzzle as Temperence was too. There was lots of surprising elements about Temperence that really made her a victim, but she was a strong character even though she was put into this position and I appreciated this about her. She was a very likeable character.

The plot for this story is eccentric and weird, but this makes is so engaging and creative. It drew me away from the real world and really immersed me in every element of Temperance’s story and all the little associations and mysteries of Carwick that surprise you at every turn. One of my favourite little quotes to share.

“Little Alice here is taking a trip down the rabbit-hole with you then,” Winthrop mused.”

Overall, I would recommend this book without a doubt and suggest that everybody get themselves a copy of Legend Unleashed because M. Latimer-Ridley have some real talent and I cannot wait for more from them!

There is an actual mental illness called lycanthropy or clinical lycanthropy where the patient believes they have actually transformed into or can transform into a animal such as a wolf.

 

 

This video has to be one of the quirkiest things I’ve seen. I’m not usually a fan of book videos, but this one works really well with the shadows and giving you a brief, but intriguing overview of the novel. And it’s only 54 seconds long so it doesn’t take much time at all.

Fulfil the inner nerd and find out even more here!

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Pushing the Limits

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young-Adult Expected Publication: July 31st 2012 by Harlequin Teen   So wrong for each other…and yet so right. No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Review:

I just couldn’t put this down! From the very first moment I began this book I was drawn in and it literally became an addiction to finish. I stayed up late into the early hours of the morning to finish this book and I can safely say it has been an awfully long time since that happened! The last book I remember doing that with was one of Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress books.

Whilst I wouldn’t call this book the perfect piece of literature (which I don’t believe there is) and it did have faults, I found that this book really evoked a response and an eager need to read in me, which I feel like I’ve been lacking in quite a few of the books I’ve read lately. So the refreshing feel this book brought me, certainly moves towards its appeal!

The models on the cover are close to how I depicted Noah and Echo in my mind, and I think it represents their relationship well.

Noah and Echo were two fantastic characters! Echo is a troubled teen girl, but I didn’t feel any of the usual rather annoying teen problems. Through Echo we tackle the issues of mental health and the view of the world. We look at the social pariah status she obtains from rumours and how popular people who were once her friends discard her for her choices. I think McGarry crafts Echo’s character to tackle issues in society in an emotional and realistic way. Not only does Echo move along a real journey over the book, I felt like I connected with her whilst reading.

We constantly split between both Echo and Noah’s perspective and this disrupted me at first, but then it began to flow really well and integrate the emotional response of both teens to get a rounded view on the plot.

Noah is a bad boy. However he has a side that is really in need of comfort. I’ve seen people point out that not everybody in foster care can end up in such a situation, but obviously his parents death had a profound effect upon his life and thus crafted his lifestyle choices. I don’t think Noah is a stereotyped foster care case, but he is a representation of a population of children that fall through the cracks in the care system. I found Noah suave and cheeky and whilst his mind might have been sex focused, he never pushed Echo passed a point she didn’t want to. He also stopped things when he recognised her inexperience which I really enjoyed seeing because it showed that teenage guys can be responsible.

They are two very endearing characters and their search for “normality” and a place to call safe and home is something that everybody wants and McGarry really brought this contemporary young-adult novel down to a level that could connect across the young to the slightly older generations! Whilst I wouldn’t recommend this book to my nan, I’d say anybody up to your thirties/forties is still likely to enjoy this!

This book is certainly emotional so be prepared for a roller coaster of a ride. You might need a tissue or two because I know I did! Also, be prepared to hate Echo’s parents. I can safely say, Ashley was the wicked step-mother in this story. She pretended to be nice and friendly, but somewhere beneath that it really felt like a facade and even by the end of the story, my feelings towards Ashley were not ones of kindness. Her father has redeemable moments and I could appreciate his character by the end, but they are certainly not loving parents that you could wish to be your own!

However, my favourite adult figure has to be the therapist Mrs. Collins who was smart and witty and always had Echo and Noah’s best interests at heart. I had to laugh at her road rage and driving skills, especially upon Noah’s many recommendations to teach her how to drive. For me Mrs. Collins was the saving of both Noah and Echo and she really was my third favourite character!

The only think I’d have to say against this book would be sometimes the pet names Noah seemed to create for Echo could be a tad overbearing. However, I think this is more McGarry trying to reflect teenage thinking because it seems the rage for you to call you girlfriend “baby” or “cutie-pie” or something else sickeningly sweet.

I can safely say I adored this one! It has to be one of my favourite young-adult novels of the year and I will be rushing out to get a copy for my shelves when it comes out. I suggest you do the same too! All I can say is, McGarry has certainly made an entrance with her debut novel.

My Rating:

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Graceling

Graceling by Kristin Cashore Genre: Fantasy, Young-Adult, Romance Series: Graceling Realm #1 Published: October 1st 2008 by Harcourt In a world where people born with an extreme skill – called a Grace – are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him. When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graces with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace – or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away…a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Review:

I’ve had Graceling a long time and I’ve finally got around to reading it as part of my TBR-intervention scheme. I didn’t know what I was expecting from this book, but I found it thoroughly entertaining, and fell just a little bit in love!

Cashore unveils the plot gradually and builds up the world as the story moves along and I appreciated the feeling and grit of the fantasy world. Whilst we ploughed straight into the actual story and didn’t waste time building up the world to start with, it took me a while to assimilate to the actual world of the book. However, once I did, I found the story flowing and engaging at every moment.

Fantasy is a genre that I dip into now and again, but actually really love when I read it! I felt like Cashore created a fantastic fantasy world. We are set up with seven kingdoms and Katsa lies in one of these seven, serving her uncle Randa. In serving Randa she travels across all seven kingdoms and we really witness an medieval feel with castles, sword fighting, hand to hand combat, trading ships and lots of other aspects. I feel like these things all make up a true fantasy world. Nevertheless, I felt like we lacked a little bit in knowledge about all the seven kingdoms and the organisation of the world, so I hope this will become more apparent as the Graceling Realm series continues that the seven kingdoms evolve into something bigger.

Katsa is certainly a strong, kick-ass female protagonist and I appreciated that she could fathom things out herself and defend herself. When it was necessary she had to divert her protection to others such as Po, but this came in only moments of real dire need. Katsa never failed to shoulder the stress, pain and work that some female protagonists certainly do in being ‘weak and vulnerable’ females. However Katsa is graced with the art of “killing”; this is not all it seems and makes for some very interesting development in Katsa’s character. As a leading character she makes a very noticeable progression and whilst she left me disappointed by the end of the story with the way Cashore wrote her, I could applaud her for sticking to her decisions firmly. In some instances I feel like my respect for her would have decreased if she’d have chosen to move back on the front she’s argued from the very start of the novel! Katsa is a very easy character to like and she becomes very endearing by the end of the story, especially with her friendship with Po and Bitterblue. In some ways Katsa reminds me of Katniss from The Hunger Games with her protective instincts and sturdy foundations as a character.

Po was cheeky, smart and totally irresistible. I fell in love with him from the very first moment we met him and I couldn’t help but vent my anger in certain parts of the novel where they came across trouble. However his self-pitying act at the end and his lack of taking firm control with Katsa over his feelings really annoyed me! And I felt like I was always waiting for more from him. He may have been the perfect, smart and caring character, but he had flaws that frustrated me to no ends. Ultimately I understand his self-pitying act at the end of the novel, but it became a little tedious for the couple of chapters it spanned over. I also felt like it was never truly resolved!

Raffin was a character I also really liked. My complaint here would have to be we never saw enough of him. He brought many light-hearted moments to the early part with Katsa when she was incredibly serious. I hope to see more of Raffin in the near future, because as the future king to the Middluns, I find it hard-pressed that we will not see him again.

Of course this young-adult novel contains romance, however this is very much NOT at the forefront of the novel, but I do think it added to the story. It was not insta-love. Although I felt like hitting Katsa for her behaviour because she reflected Katniss’ stupidity about love throughout the novel and I don’t think is necessarily a bonus point for young-adult novels: the female protagonist being stupid not to realise how many people are in love with her, it almost reminds me of Bella from Twilight which pains me to say! However, the fact that the romance had a progressive movement and still was being left open by the end of the novel could certainly indicate a new direction to young-adult romance because I don’t feel like there was sufficient conclusion to this romance. I hope these two will be witnessed in future novels as background characters to see their development.

Overall, I felt Cashore has a well-written, engaging young-adult novel that has set up a great start to the series and should go far. I had a few discrepancies whilst reading, but I wouldn’t say this deterred me from my overall enjoyment of the book. I’ll be looking forward to the next one when I get my hands on it and I’d suggest to fantasy and young-adult fans alike to pick this book up because it’s not one to be overlooked!

My Rating:

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Lord of Misrule

Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine Genre: Young-Adult, Vampires, Romance Series: Morganville Vampires #5 Published: January 6th 2009 by Signet In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn’t the only threat. Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against elements both natural and unnatural.

Review:

Wow! It has been an awfully long time since I picked up the Morganville vampire series. I own them all, but I just never seem to find time to read them. It was around last August I think that I read book 4 and I just haven’t found the right time to read this one. All I can say it, why didn’t I pick this book up sooner? It was fantastic!

I think Rachel Caine has such a talent with this series and the premise for the town overrun and ruled by vampires is fantastic. We don’t get sparkly teen angst from the Twilight series or the indestructible vampires she creates, but we get a hard core grit and pain from these vampires along with the towns folk that makes Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampire series so brilliant. The humans are almost ‘pets’ kept by the vampires and they control the town and who comes in and out. It’s quite sordid in an effect and really suspense building.

Not only do the books read well, she has some fantastic covers. I love looking at the covers of her books and this one is no different. We get some very pretty ones and it always boosts you up to read a book that is easy on the eye and just as good to read.

This one picks up exactly where the last one left off. However, I love that Caine gives us a little run down on what has previously happened in the last four books to jog our memory. My memory is pretty good, so most of it I’d remembered anyway, but for those of us that don’t have quite the memory, it’s really good to have that there to rely on. Another reason why Caine is such a wonderful author!

I didn’t find myself bored at a single moment of this book. I read it in around one sitting with a couple of breaks and I literally couldn’t stop turning the pages.

Claire is a fantastic character! She’s highly intelligent, brave and concerned for her friends. She puts herself into danger to save others and even to those she doesn’t like she always finds herself lending a hand. It’s refreshing to see a forward thinker like Claire in young-adult novels who is so highly intelligent and forward thinking on her own. She is literally a child genius and it’s a reason that I love the novel so much!

And, a real bonus to this novel was how highly unpredictable it was. I found that we were dotting everywhere like a ping-pong ball and it was exciting. It’s so easy for authors to fall into a stereotype of predictability and this makes Caine a very refreshing read!

The relationship between Claire and Shane is certainly developing in a positive direction and I find those two highly adorable. I am definitely a Team Shane man all the way. He’s protective and honourable and whilst he may have been the bad boy at the start, he really cares for Claire and it’s incredibly sweet. Shane is one of my favourite love interests that I read about and it’s safe to say I am entirely enamoured with the guy. The guy is humorous, quirky and caring and he steps out as brave even though he might be a little stupid, you have to appreciate his character.

The only thing I had about the whole novel was that Claire didn’t really learn much in this one or do much in the case of her brain or scientific. There are hints that she’s going to learn all about the portals with Myrnin, but it would have been nice to see more of an active intelligence side to Claire that we have seen in previous instalments to this series. Nevertheless it was a highly enjoyable read!

I felt like we got progression from the previous novel and Caine left us on a rather a cliff-hanger. It was highly unfortunate I didn’t have the next novel with me otherwise I know I would have started it straight away. Nevertheless I’m sure I’ll be picking it up soon, I know that I won’t be able to stay away now.

My Rating:

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter #1

Genre: Fantasy, Young-Adult

Publication: 1997 by Bloomsbury Publishing

Plot:

Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy. He lives with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley, who make him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. Then Harry starts receiving mysterious letters and his life is changed for ever. He is whisked away by a beetle-eyed giant of a man and enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The reason: Harry Potter is a wizard!

Review:

What can I say? I have adored this series since I first picked up the books about the age of 6 or 7. I was a very advanced reader and I remember hearing all the rave about these books. To be truthful, the first time I read this book it took me over a year to read it because I have lost it, but then when I actually sat down to read it, I was stunned that I’d allowed myself to lose it. From the first moment I started reading it I fell in love and became immersed in the world of Hogwarts. After re-reading again recently with a group of friends I can say the magic is still there. This book has to be one of the best additions to the young-adult and children’s genre of the 21st century and I can only say that Rowling really creates a magical world! This should definitely be what our literature is remembered for and if Harry Potter doesn’t become a classic, I don’t know what should!

I think re-reading the books brings a very new experience to the books. You certainly see things from a new angle and witness things that make you smile. I think you can still appreciate the books no matter your age and whether it’s for the first time or the hundreth, the magic is forever there.

This book for me has everything! We get the humour and quirky aspects that Rowling’s characters bring and the dynamics of their relationships bring a smile to your face. Then we get all the adventure and magic of their journey and it becomes highly exciting. There is not one point where the story drops to be dismal or disappointing. We witness a real journey for these characters and their friendship is highly endearing to watch. I truly cannot help but fall in love with the story and the characters.

The characters? We get such wonderful characters. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley are our three protagonists with Harry at the centre of all our attention. We witness how very different they are, but this draws them together as friends and their friendship becomes one of very firm grounds. It has to be my favourite part of the series that it stretches across all of the books and never fails. Then we have the likes of Snape, Dumbledore, Hagrid, even the Dursleys and Malfoy. The characters have real sustenance and honestly at times Rowling makes me almost forget these characters are not real people.

How can we not love these three? For me, I think they’re pretty perfect for the characters.

One point of contention I do have is the name. It is and will always be ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ never  will it be ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ which is America’s attempt to Americanise Harry Potter. I am very proud of Harry Potter for its British heritage and it certainly thrills me that we have the setting for it in England. Another reason why I cannot help but love Harry Potter because of its origins. It truly makes me appreciate the story more.

We get a fantastic plot along the way and if you enjoy fantasy and magic then this book is certainly for you. For anybody to say they dislike these books it’s surely a crime. However I’d suggest getting all the books to read—even if the last ones do get quite hefty—before you start reading because you’ll not one to stop reading once you start! Nevertheless do not allow that to deter you because they are engaging the whole way through!

These books to me are probably my most cherished possession and I look after them dearly. I often find the Harry Potter series to be a place of comfort for me to go and reside in. If I’ve had a bad day, I usually stick on the films, but reading the books brings so much more pleasure and thrill to me.

Harry Potter takes you through a descriptive tale that stretches your imagination while you follow a tale of friendship, love and good versus evil. It’ll never leave a dull moment and if you’ve watched the films, you’ve only more to gain from reading the books.

My Rating:

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Code Name Verity

Title: Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Genre: Young-Adult, Historical

Publication: May 15th 2012 by Hyperion Books for Children

Plot:

Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun.
When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.
As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?
Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.

Review:

Before I can even begin, this book is absolutely heartbreakingly stunning! It has to be one of the best historical fictions I have ever read and for an addition to the young-adult genre, Elizabeth Wein should be incredibly proud of such an amazing book. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so blown away by such a unique book.

Historical fiction set in the war is something I generally have a love/hate relationship with because however much I adore reading historical fiction, I ultimately ball my eyes out at ever war time piece I read. This book was no different, I was in tears, but Wein crafted the tale in such a manner that I couldn’t resent her for her choice in plot or ending and it had to fit, rather like Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful, another stunning war-time, young-adult novel. She certainly stepped up the bar for historical fiction at a young adult novel to be truly emotional and raw whilst reflecting the camaraderie and spirit of the people during the war.

This book is certainly unique because it’s split into two sections to follow the two protagonists, which is complicated to understand at first and there are lots of character names for both the two female leads, but as the story develops these names slot into position, and the story begins to unravel. Thus, we see the story through a new set of eyes. Whilst the story is told in first person, we also reflect into third which might seem odd, but it works incredibly well for this novel. The grit and emotional aspects of this novel are really provided by the switching perspective to witness the turmoil of the characters and it really made my heart clench.

We start the tale being thrown straight into the events where Verity has been captured by the enemy and everything begins to unveil across the tale. It certainly adds to the drama and the effect Wein is trying to emphasise how war really discombobulates the individual.

Wein doesn’t forget the historical context at all and we talk about the planes, the rationing, bombing, air raids, German military units, the Gestapo and even torture. Wein isn’t afraid to get into the grit and horror of the war which I can really appreciate because when such events as World War 2 are fresh in the minds of the older generation, it means this story isn’t so long ago unrealistic and ultimately that’s what makes war fiction more touching for me.

The characters… What can I say? I don’t think I’ve ever seen two such defined, realistic, deceptive and ultimately kind, caring and loyally devoted friends that we witness in Maddie and Verity. My heart is literally breaking apart at the heart wrenching trips these two go through. Wein makes two very beautiful characters and never once did I find myself disbelieving of them or anything they did. I fell in love with their friendship, the characters and ultimately the story they told between them. The two characters touched me and I think it will be hard to leave them behind, particularly Verity who we follow through particular hardship and see very differently throughout the whole book.

The friendship between the two is the defining part of the story for me because despite their wonderful strong personalities and everything that entails, this book revolves around friendship. Something I think that becomes important in the world of war. However if I say much more I will be giving away the tale of the story.

I’m finding it hard to define their characters because we build up a character profile of them throughout the whole story and it is not until the end everything falls into place because Wein is constantly keeping us on the edge of our seats, pushing us to read on.

Whilst we don’t meet many strong secondary characters, this doesn’t take away from the strength of the story because we have two fantastic leads. It would be hard for Wein to create the truly strong second characters when the surroundings are changing and always being deceptive. However she certainly makes a brilliant effort and one of the characters I found I didn’t like was entirely deceiving by the end and I really appreciated Wein’s method of changing the perception of people.

A secondary character I did fall in love with was Jamie. This book isn’t particularly a romance at all, but he was a dashing male who was a gentleman and I found my heart just tugged every time he appeared. He never once failed to do the right thing and by the end of the story, despite him not being their much, I found myself in love with him. He’d been through hardship and trouble and the two main characters were there for him, and then by the end he was there for them and I loved it all really.

Wein has a talent at always changing the story pace and direction and I found myself befuddled and confused and then straightened again. This wasn’t a bad thing at all because I felt like Wein was testing out resilience and faith in the characters, like they themselves faced. It was certainly a thrilling read because nothing was ever what I expected and I loved how she interlinked the first half of the novel with the second to make everything ‘fit’ nice and neatly. I really adored that aspect of the novel.

Admittedly I found the story easy to read, but it took me around 100 pages to really get into and then about 130 pages in I devoured the book in a sitting. This book for me is one where you have to be in a mood to read and wouldn’t read if I was looking to be cheered up. Having said that, it’s a fantastic book that you shouldn’t pass up on. Even if young-adult books aren’t usually your genre, I’d really advise checking this one out, because it’s like nothing I’ve read before!

I can’t say I could find a true fault with this book, but it made me cry and I could probably gush for hours, so just go buy it now and a box of tissues too!

*This e-book was provided to be via NetGalley for review*

My Rating:

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Frankenstein

Title: Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley

Genre: Gothic, Classic, Horror, Literature

Publication: 1st published 1818

Plot:

Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only eighteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature’s hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.

Review:

Classics are generally not my cup of tea, but I have to say, I devoured this in 3 readings over two days. It would have been less, but I just haven’t had the time. However, I found Frankenstein to be an absolute engaging, delight to read. I have heard people say they found it boring and I can understand the perspective, although, I myself found the book very entertaining and morally important.

At the base of Frankenstein for its moral tone, I thought first appearances and judging somebody on how they appear to be the most important and profound to today’s society. Since although trifling with scientific experiments and playing God, are still current with genetic variation and such current problems, but when we look at stereotypes and the view of the world, I really thought Frankenstein touched at the heart of this issue. My sympathies ended up lying with the monster, who as I child I thought was Frankenstein, but I have now found out, that is in fact the scientist. The monster was so full of despondency and a craving for companionship that it tore my heart out. I could relate to the loneliness and I felt that Shelley touched on an issue that in today’s society where people are pushed out and it really hit me hard.

The writing is incredible! I found myself looking in the dictionary for certain words because I didn’t understand them and I loved this aspect. I think with age I’ve come to appreciate Classics more because of the writing ability and I enjoyed the point of having to search for the couple of words I hadn’t seen before. I found that we got good descriptive detail that created a vivid description in my head.

I thought the novel was of a decent length to keep me entertained and it was pacey because we were always witnessing something new and following a new path. At moments I will admit I found myself a tad confused, but I easily picked the story line back up. At just around 200 pages, this is a ‘short’ book for me and I think the perfect length to stay enjoyable. I didn’t find that the descriptions fell into being flowery or overlong, and that’s refreshing after recently reading a very long flowery narrated novel.

In addition to this, I was feeling like I didn’t want to read for a few days before I picked up this novel and it’s brought me back into being motivated to read. So I believe it was all about finding the novel to suit the mood and this certainly gauged my attention from the very first moment.

Victor Frankenstein I can say I didn’t like, he ignored his family, was self obsessed with his work and I felt like he just was too whiny for me. However because I felt like the way in which the story was written that the events were a recap from Walton, through Frankenstein that we didn’t witness too much of this for it to drag. I liked the set up of the three volumes and the letters to start and conclude the story that gave us an all around setting position from one place. It worked well and to say Shelley was at the tender age of 19, she has certainly got a fabulous novel.

Classics have never been my favourite genre, but after my venture with ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’ at the start of the year and ‘Frankenstein’ as my first two proper classics I’ve read, I can safely say I will continue to read more of them.

I’ve heard someone say “this story can be summed up in two pages” and for me, I felt like ever part was equally important. At the end of this, I’m happy to say I fell deeply in love with Frankenstein and that it’s certainly a work of wonder for a classic. Pick it up and read because you never know what you may find.

My Rating:

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Portrait in Death

Title: Portrait in Death

Author: J.D. Robb

Series: In Death #16

Genre: Crime, Romance, Futuristic

Publication: February 25th 2003 by Berkley

Plot:

After a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modeling career. Except that she wasn’t a model. And that these photos were taken after she had been murdered. Now Dallas is on the trail of a killer who’s a perfectionist and an artist. He carefully observes and records his victim’s every move. And he has a mission: to own every beautiful young woman’s innocence, to capture her youth and vitality—in one fateful shot…

Review:

This is one of my Library Loot books for the week and despite having a few other library books that you might have seen on my Stacking the Shelves for the week, I couldn’t wait to get around to this one. So having said that, I just had to pick it up because the In Death series by J.D. Robb is certainly one of my all-time favourites when she has a little bit of everything.

I feel like in every book we get a progression from the previous in the characters and particular Eve and Roarke’s relationship, This instalment was no different and I certainly think it makes up for my disappointment with the last one. Due to my previous disappointment, I had put off reading another of Robb’s In Death series for a few weeks, but I’m happy to have picked this one up from my library because it has to be one of my favourites of the series.

For those of you that are a little adverse to all the brutality and evil that sometimes festers in Robb’s In Death series with the following of a homicide cop, I felt we took a step back from the horrific scenes we sometimes see with rape and brutality and this one took a more spiritual and emotional lead with the murders. Still we did witness death, I felt it was less brutal and I liked the step back from that because I felt Robb had been getting more and more gory and only following a theme of rape in the past few additions and this one refreshed the series in my opinion.

We delved deep into Roarke’s history in this one and for once we saw him thrown off balance from his ‘perfect’ life that even when Eve is in trouble still sees him being ‘perfect’ and at times despite him being a fabulous swoon-worthy character, it can be annoying. We certainly witnesses a different, vulnerable Roarke and an Eve who was forced to take control of her relationship and pry the details from Roarke. I was eagerly flipping through the pages to find more of their relationship status and how they would solve the problems. It added another touch of emotionality to the story and I really enjoyed it.

The secondary characters were starting to further their own storylines in this addition and I felt with the introduction of Troy Trueheart again that he actually got a convincing amount of attention and not neglected like I felt he had previously.

If you’ve never picked up the In Death series before, I’d tell you that you’re certainly missing out! There is a little bit of everything: romance, crime, sex, emotional connections, great characters, suspense, murder. We have the grit, the secondary characters and amazing protagonists with Eve and Roarke. I really advise you all go out and pick up a copy of Naked in Death because it really changed my mind on Nora Roberts as a writer. Don’t be afraid to pick up Naked in Death if you’re like me and not a fan of Roberts (sounds strange) because J.D. Robb is like a totally different person!

For those of you that read the In Death series, this one certainly focuses more on Roarke and Eve kind of finds to the background, but after much trouble from her past and personality, I think it’s a welcomed addition. Some may say Robb’s books follow a set scheme of events, but this certainly didn’t that for me, and I think it’s hard to apply that when the situation is always changing across the series. For me, each book Robb adds to the In Death series brings a new refreshing change.

The next book in the series is already on order from the library for me, so don’t sit about and go pick up the In Death books now because I’m positive you won’t regret it!

My Rating:

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