"Our hero, Professor Andrew Martin, is dead before the book even begins. As it turns out, though, he wasn’t a very nice man--as the alien imposter who now occupies his body discovers. Sent to Earth to destroy evidence that Andrew had solved a major mathematical problem, the alien soon finds himself learning more about the professor, his family, and “the humans” than he ever expected. When he begins to fall for his own wife and son--who have no idea he’s not the real Andrew--the alien must choose between completing his mission and returning home or finding a new home right here on Earth."
This is one of the best books I have ever read and it is now a permanent resident of my bookshelf.
The first part of the book has several comic moments, the alien arrives knowing nothing of human life and finds himself naked and without language on a motorway. Matt Haig has held a magnifying glass to humans and through the eyes of the alien, Andrew we see our often irrational absurdity.
As the book progresses it becomes more poignant, Martin learns more about what it means to be human, thanks partly to a dog, peanut butter and Emily Dickinson. The 97 point list that features in the book is perhaps the book's shining moment, Matt's skilful blending of the emotional with the humorous means he avoids this list becoming saccharine and it is genuinely moving, my favourite point being "It's not the length of life that matters. It's the depth. But while burrowing, keep the sun above you."
The Humans is a beautifully written insight into what it means to be a human and how pain, sorrow and fear are a necessary part of that.
The author explores these deep issues with a very light touch, keeping a steady dose of unassuming British humour. The plot is kept entertaining though its overall nature is predictable, but as Haig takes pains to show, the beauty is in the small details. That is what makes the human species worth preserving. At first glance no alien race would be able to resist the temptation to exterminate a dangerous, almost rabid, species like ours. Given time, we just might charm them though.
Disclaimer: The novel makes a good case for the humans. I am not entirely convinced.
I am not doing this book credit so I will ask you to please give it a go. Age rating 14+ deep issues are discussed such as suicide, cheating and murder.
“Every war has turning points and every person too.”
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.
As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way"
I really appreciated this book. It is brutally honest, not overly dramatizing war nor seeing it through rose tinted glasses. I read this book in a day which is why I am posting 2 reviews today.
This novel is about SURVIVAL. It's a novel about how people change when faced with hardship and how people can come together in the oddest of ways. It's about family. It's about love. It's about hate. Meg Rosoff has a unique gift of just giving the reader the bare bones of a story, that is to say, no surnames are given, little background about the characters is revealed in depth, the enemy is referred to solely as just that, "The Enemy". While still making a profound impact. This is a novel about people and their determination to survive even in the face of hopelessness.
Daisy, who charmingly narrates her experiences during a world war, is no Teen Action Hero. She reacts as the vast majority of us would in dire circumstances: not by staging a coup or leading the resistance, but by surviving as best as she can.
Stylistically, this book is stunning. The prose is insightful and puzzling, but necessary given the circumstances of the novel. Finally, a book which reads as if the narrator is actually recalling events, rather than the artificially produced recollection of events and conversations, verbatim, which we have grown so used to.
I sincerely hope that people reading this book will start focusing on the beauty of the story, the prose, the characters, the structure which is at once remarkably simplistic and stunningly complex, and stop focusing on details which are not entirely pertinent to the story at large.(a rather unconventional cousin/cousin romance)
Age rating I would say 13/14. It is set in a war after all and there is one particularly disgusting scene when they come across the carnage of a massacre.
"'Miss Amelia Hayes, welcome to The Land of Dreams. I am the staff trainer. I will call you grasshopper and you will call me sensei and I will give you the good oil. Right? And just so you know, I'm open to all kinds of bribery.'
From the moment 15-year-old Amelia begins work on the checkout at Woolworths she is sunk, gone, lost...head-over-heels in love with Chris. Chris is the funny, charming, man-about-Woolies, but he's 21, and the 6-year difference in their ages may as well be 100. Chris and Amelia talk about everything from Second Wave Feminism to Great Expectations and Alien, but will he ever look at her in the way she wants him to? And if he does, will it be everything she hopes?"
This was such a cute read! Just the title and the book cover alone made me want to take the book home which I did and didn’t regret because this is one of the more genuine, more honest coming of age stories about being fifteen, being awkward and falling in love for the first time, about heartbreak. About the toughness of being at that crucial age of entering the world of adulthood and generally about growing up.
Creatively told in the alternating POVs, Amelia’s voice and Chris’ narrative through his diary, we learn about these two well rounded, very well depicted characters who are worlds and ages apart. Amelia is 15 and Chris is 21, and how they find this sort of magical connection with each other in the Land of (Broken) Dreams aka the local supermarket where they both work part-time.
I enjoyed the humour, in equal parts witty, deprecating and pain-filled. The characters - Amelia, naïve, idealistic and smart, and Chris - love-torn, scared of his future and indecisive. The not-friendship-not-love relationship between Amelia and Chris that is refreshingly unique. To the conversations about families, feminism, books, love, life and of course the ending which is a heart-aching perfection in my eyes. I loved it all.
Age rating should be 13+. Heavy drinking, smoking and drug use.
"Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two."
Oh damn. That was so unexpectedly good. To think I almost didn't take a chance on this after not loving the first book...ACoTaR only showed us bits and pieces, but we mustn't jump to the wrong conclusions about certain people especially since the depth of ACoTaR felt (at least to me) similar to a Vegas wedding after meeting a guy in the hotel lobby, whereas ACoMaF was a reality check. Harsh and cruel and unyielding.
Okay I need a list to organise my thoughts so...a list of reasons why you should definitely read this book.
1. Less Romance.
Oh, don't worry, there's romance. I want to start by saying there is no love triangle. Hallelujah. There's only a wonderful, all-consuming and healthy relationship that evolves naturally. I was constantly plastered with a stupid, goofy grin on my face whenever this couple interacted or was simply in the same scene. What makes them absolutely beautiful in my perspective is the mutual respect, honesty and support they have for each other. Their amazing friendship, their sparking chemistry and their hilarious banter. There are also so many other things here. It's a fantasy with romantic elements, not the other way around.
I always tend to become more invested in love stories when they're subplots and the book itself is not actually about the love story. I like it when the characters come together around and between all the rest of the action and drama. That's what's happening here, because there is a whole shitstorm of other things going on.
2. Feyre's development.
Naturally, she has changed and found that her needs and aspirations have changed too. Once upon a time, back when she was weak and starving, she longed for a strong protector like Tamlin. Now she is strong, and she needs freedom to train her newfound strengths. I was proud of her and who she's become at the end of the novel. She's so exhilarating and vibrant and incredibly strong. The events in the previous book shredded her apart from the inside out, leaving only a shell of the brave young woman we cheered for. My heart ached for her, but she finds herself again with sheer determination, powerful bravery and astounding compassion.
3. I hate Tamlin.
Honestly, if you happen to be a diehard Tamlin fan, I can see this book being a huge disappointment. Luckily for me, I pretty much despised him. He's never been anything but a pretty-faced control freak. I'm glad Feyre has seen that and rebelled against it.
I should warn you that Tamlin is absent for about 70-80% of this book. Which was just fine by me!
4. I love Rhysand.
I foresee the "oh no, it's a love triangle" comments rolling in, but I really don't think it is. I actually think this is a great book about growing up and discovering that you're a different person who longs for different things. I don't get the sense that Maas is trying to play out the Tamlin/Feyre/Rhysand angst; she is merely showing a young woman having a change of heart.
AND can we just talk about how much better Rhysand is. There's all the boring superficial stuff like he's exciting, flirty, dangerous. He's also more fun than Tamlin and I like fun and His banter is wonderful. His self-doubt was also heart breaking to watch as he is actually such a nice person. His past was just too much. And you wanna know what? HE'S A GODDAMN FEMINIST. If that doesn't make you fall in love with him head over heels, I don't know what will.
Rhysand is, despite being the "bad boy" stereotype, thoughtful and selfless. He doesn't want to stifle Feyre's strength and lock her away for her own protection - he wants her at his side, an equal, a partner in crime. I love that so much. I like men who see value in strong women.
5. New Characters.
We have quite a lot, but by far the loveliest ones are Rhysand's Inner Circle. They're squad goals. Fierce Morrigan; strange and kickass Amren; sassy, arrogant and skilled Cassian; reserved and observant Azriel. All these, plus Rhys, entangle a dynamic that creates a family. I loved them to bits. Secondary characters, yet so wonderfully nuanced, three-dimensional characters that gut you with their own stories and make you shed a tear at how much they love each other. Plus, they cracked me up on a constant basis and the respect and unflinching support they have between them.
6. World building.
What I enjoyed tremendously about this particular sequel is how it managed to expand the realm beyond its initial borders, in terms of world-building, depth and history. ACoTaR now seems like a small piece of a giant puzzle, the lovely but common retelling of Beauty and the Beast paling in comparison to ACoMaF which, while just teasing us with glimpses of the real deal that's to come, contained a sense of radiant and vast epicness.
The most special and bewildering aspect is the lush and vivid portrayal of the Night Court. Enthralling and contradictory, it completely enraptures you with its seductive tone. So different from the Spring Court (and Summer Court which we get to visit!!). I expected something disheartening and equally dark and while this mysterious court has that vibe and then some, there is also such glorious light and normalcy and elegance that reside in its spectrum. The Court of Nightmares gave me goosebumps. The Court of Dreams, however... The book centers in Velaris and ohmygod this city ! I loved Velaris with all my being and if there ever was a fictional place or universe in which I'd want to live, then Velaris and the Night Court are it.
7.
Plot and Ending.
Plotwise, there isn't really much to say, honestly, besides the fact that the king of Hybern is the new big bad wolf (as expected) and he wants to bring chaos into this world. His presence is subtle, his threat only looming on the horizon -- the finale will deal with him more. Yet we encounter intrigue and secrets and eye-opening side stories and tales that create the legacy of Prythan, hand in hand with the world-building. It's definitely a journey of healing rather than gruelling war. However the last few chapters left me breathless and white-knuckled as I gripped the book to read every single word.
Take note: this is how to ensure your reader needs to get their hands on the next book. It's not a cliffhanger, but it is still EVIL. In the best possible way. I loved everything about it. It's the kind of emotional high that leaves you somewhere between wide-eyed horror and smiling gleefully. How will I last the next few months!!
Age rating 15+. Again many scenes not PG that I frankly skipped. OMG this review has turned out long. I do apologise :)
"I remembered my name – Mara. But, standing in that ghostly place, faced with the solemn young man in the black coat with silver skulls for buttons, I could recall nothing else about myself.
And then the games began.
The Messenger sees the darkness in young hearts, and the damage it inflicts upon the world. If they go unpunished, he offers the wicked a game. Win, and they can go free. Lose, and they will live out their greatest fear.
But what does any of this have to do with Mara? She is about to find out . . ."
It starts off with Mara waking up
in mist and confusion and a lot of where-the-heck am I. We get to piece
the story together as we go.
Our narrator, Mara, meets this creepy ageless person called Messenger. He's a
bit standoffish, but you learn he's actually quite sweet and thoughtful as you go
along and I quite liked his quiet mysteriousness.
Mara is...memoryless. She's steady, pretty smart, Asian, and has a relatively
calm character. Until she realises a few key facts.
1. What terrible things Messenger
does.
2. Discovers she's supernatural now. Walk
through walls, pop around time. All that funky stuff.
3. When she figures out she's his
apprentice? Well...then she bursts out sobbing.
There was a bit too much focus on her
angst, but she reacted pretty much the way I'd expect someone to react if they
woke up and were forced to passively watch as people were tortured. Something
about her portrayal resonated with me.
Knowing a little about Michael
Grant this isn't an action-packed boy book which I was expecting. The pace
is brisk, but not rapid-fire and very limited action while not being boring. There
is also no main antagonist. This is more philosophical book, the kind
that aims to be a deep exploration of morality. The plot follows three
different sets of people with three different stories, and we see as the
Messenger decides to punish one person from each story.
The Messenger of Fear takes contemporary,
supernatural and horror and melds them together. The writing is crisp, makes you root for the
characters and has a good plot twist at the end. The Messenger's justice is
harsh but as I read some pages, there were people I wanted punished, but not that harshly and there were people I pitied and felt scared for.
[ Racism
(hide spoIt really highlights that unkindness can have a huge effect on a person and you don't always know what else is going on in a persons life, so
be careful...
I would suggest this book to 13+. The punishments
are very severe, vividly described and deeply disturbing.
"I have a curse
I have a gift
I am a monster
I'm more than human
My touch is lethal
My touch is power
I am their weapon
I will fight back
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong colour.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior."
Hi Guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while. My computer updated and I couldn't login in to blogger so there will be a little spurt of book reviews today.
This book at first sounded very promising but after the first 2 chapters thing started going down hill, rapidly. Prose can be beautiful. I’ve read plenty of books where the writing touches me deeply and the author is writing about something quite mundane. If the author is able to actually tell a story without distracting the reader with the prose, I’m all for it.
Unfortunately that is not the case here. This book was over-done, tiring, distracting and silly.
At some point, I was overwhelmed by the prose and metaphors and eager for the story. Don’t get me started about the crossing out of passages in the book. It was thought-provoking at first but soon became irritating.
I get that Mafi wanted to expose her readers to the mind of a girl whose sanity is fragile and questionable and that she’s trying to show this through the prose. I think it kinda works. I just think the workings of a troubled mind would result in more than bad analogies and a bunch of numbers. Despite the fact that Juliette’s backstory and premise is interesting, we still end up with the same mundane, cookie-cutter heroine that can be seen in the vast majority of YA writing.
Adam, the main love interest, is a cardboard cut-out. Sorry.
Finally Warner. He is a pathetic excuse for a villain. I must admit that a few times he had potential. He made me angry, made me feel uncomfortable and slightly cringe from his insanity. He was getting there, but then he would say something corny or inconsistent or down right silly and I would lose faith.
This book was very set up for a lot of world building but nothing happened. The destruction of the world isn't explained and that annoyed me. I want to know because it would be very interesting!! The end of the book had far to many X-men vibes for me and don't let the label fool you. This is most certainly a dystopian romance. Underline the ROMANCE part.
This is one of those books, like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. I didn't enjoy. (Just like Marmite.)
I would suggest ages 13+. There was some mild making out and some rather creepy obsessiveness.
"The moving and very real story of two teenagers and an unplanned pregnancy. It is told from two viewpoints - that of Helen as she writes her thoughts in a series of letters to the unborn baby, the Dear Nobody of the title, and of Chris as he reads the letters and relives events as Helen is in labour."
I thought this was a very realistic account of what might happen to a teenage couple when the girl gets pregnant. At first I had trouble understanding why Helen did what she did, but it was clear at the end it was the right thing to do.
At first they want to find a way to be together despite their parents’ pressures and untold pasts … don’t they?
This is the story of Chris and Helen, a teenage couple full of ambitions for college and how an unplanned pregnancy affects their lives. I was impressed at how the author tackled these issues head-on and didn't provide any easy answers. Helen becomes miserable and withdrawn, doesn't know who she can talk to and doesn't have supportive parents. It's pretty heavy emotionally, it's not a light read.
In terms of the plot, I suppose you could say it's one where 'not much happens'. It's about the emotional journey of these two teenagers and how they relate to each other and their families and friends. It's very internal, largely about what's going on in their heads.
I found it effective. Quite gritty in places and not in the slightest bit sentimental. It's about teenagers having to come to terms with a reality they are not ready for and this is incredibly difficult for them.
I admire the author for not making it easier on the reader. Its a good, well-written book for various worthy reasons.
The ending was satisfying, no plot twists, just a good closure but a little frayed.
Age Rating I would suggest 12+. Emotional but not depressing.
"Our hero, Professor Andrew Martin, is dead before the book even begins. As it turns out, though, he wasn’t a very nice man--as the alien imposter who now occupies his body discovers. Sent to Earth to destroy evidence that Andrew had solved a major mathematical problem, the alien soon finds himself learning more about the professor, his family, and “the humans” than he ever expected. When he begins to fall for his own wife and son--who have no idea he’s not the real Andrew--the alien must choose between completing his mission and returning home or finding a new home right here on Earth."
