I hate it when characters make epically stupid choices, it makes me want to throw the book across the room. Instead, I end up speed reading the stupid parts, which usually ends up with me DNFing the book itself. Ugh.
young adult
#AmReading… Reverie
Reverie is getting pretty good. Starts out with lots of questions and then really warms up around chapter 5. I like the revelation that the main character has lost more than just short term memory.
Able to Love Herself: Angelina J. Steffort on Romance in YA
BELINDA: Hot topic first. Do you think love is killing the teenage heroine and why? ANGELINA: A really good question, and almost impossible to answer in one sentence or two. The question I ask myself is: What is a teenage heroine? What expectations do we have toward a teenage girl; or teenage girls toward themselves? … Read more
[D&B Vol. 1] Episode 006
Tellamoth’s face darkened. ‘That’s not my name.’ ‘Do I look like I care?’ ‘You should.’ ‘Why?’ He said nothing, but anger worked his face, pulling the dark lines of his brows together and compressing his lips. The spell holding Byrne in place cracked a little more. She sneered. ‘Demon lord got your tongue?’ He snarled, … Read more
[D&B Vol. 01] Episode 005
The demon blood had stiffened on her battle tights. It flaked away in small patches, covering the cell’s wooden bench in spots of darkness every time she shifted. Her thighs hurt from laying on the hard surface, her hips and shoulders too, all those soft points objecting to a night spent in close contact with … Read more
[D&B Vol. 1] Episode 004
‘Sword Uthor!’ She barely heard Della yelling behind her, deliberately shut her ears to the power of her friend’s voice, to the command in the name she’d left behind when she’d stuck a knife in her own heart and launched herself into new life. Not again. Not again. Not again. The chant matched the pound … Read more
I want this book! Gates of Thread and Stone
You can never have too many books, which is why I’m always on the lookout for a good one, and why my bookshelf includes towering piles on the floor.
Personally, I’m not to sure where I’m going to fit Gates of Thread and Stone (which looks and sounds awesome), but I’m sure I’ll find a cranny somewhere.
Meet Fink
Meet Fink. He’s the size of a horse, has a tail, six legs and is Hero’s best, if not only, friend. Weighing in at six-hundred and twenty-two kilos with twenty-six claws and a mouth full of pointy teeth, most people find Fink intimidating, but underneath all that fur beats the heart of a teddy bear. … Read more
Review: Goldrush by Steven Lochran
I just had to read this book; when I saw it on Kobo.com the want drove me crazy. It drove me so crazy that when I discovered my local library didn’t have a copy but one of its sister libraries did, I drove half an hour to pick it up. Like I said, crazy.
What, you may ask, drove me so crazy? Well, I would answer, I have this thing for superheroes… Plus it had a really cool cover (so I’m shallow; sue me). You can see the original art (which is even cooler) here.
Some sort of cross between The Incredibles and X-men, Goldrush is a classic superhero story where a reluctant hero (Sam) must embrace his special powers in order to save the world. I liked Sam’s reasons for not wanting to use his powers/be a superhero, although, until they were explained in full, those reasons were a little wishy washy. I particularly liked how Lochran made these reasons feel real (when he did explain them fully) by putting names and faces to the people who were injured when Sam first used his power.
Alanna of Trebond – a childhood hero
I first devoured the Song of the Lioness series when I was ten; to say that it was my favourite set of books ever is to understate the case. Alanna, the series protagonist, was my childhood hero, and not just because she had a magic sword and a talking cat. Alanna was my hero because she was doing something forbidden and getting away with it.
It wasn’t an especially bad thing that she was doing, like selling drugs or stealing, she was just doing what the boys did – playing with swords, riding horses, going to war – and if that meant she had to lie about her gender, well, that only added to the tension.