A Great and Terrible Beauty - Book Review

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

What is it about:
It's 1895, and after the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's being followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls - and their foray into the spiritual world - lead to?

What did I think of it:
As both my owner and Voodoo Bride love to read girlish books, I can't escape having to read them too from time to time. This book is pretty good I must confess. The story really held me in it's grip even though it's a Young Adult book and therefor there's a lot of teen drama and girls acting like morons. (I really wonder if my owner ever acted like that in her teens.)

There were times I could just kick Gemma, but all in all I must say the characters acted true to what you could expect from teenage girls (mostly) and it was refreshing that all of them had both their good and bad sides and that Gemma isn't that super special besides her strange gift. It's the first part of a trilogy, but pleasantly enough it ends in such a way that you don't feel frustrated you do not have the next book ready right away.

(I must confess we did read book two closely after reading this book and that my owner ordered book three and both her and Voodoo Bride are waiting for it impatiently.)

My one big objection to this book was that it's written in present tense, but luckily the story is so compelling that I could get over that once I got into the story.

Why should you read it:
If you like a Victorian setting, a well written and compelling story and don't mind teen drama this is your book. Best thing: if you like it, there's two more!

To list all three:
A Great and Terrible Beauty
Rebel Angels
The Sweet Far Thing

Generation Dead - book review

Generation Dead - Daniel Waters

What is it about:
When dead teenagers who have come back to life start showing up at her high school, Phoebe, a goth girl, becomes interested in the phenomenon, and when she starts dating a "living impaired" boy, they encounter prejudice, fear, and hatred.

What did I think about it:
Ok, I don't need my zombies to be brainless, decaying monsters who are out for brains, although that's always an added bonus, but I do want my zombies to actually have a function no one else can take over. When reading 'Generation Dead' however I kept feeling you could replace the zombies easily for any other group of people who have ever been victim of prejudice and/or discrimination.

Apart from that the story is predictable and Phoebe annoying, although I did like it that finally a writer made a Goth the lead character in a book and didn't bash on Goths like so many other writers of supernatural fiction do (which always strikes me as odd as I'm guessing goths are a large part of their audience).

An other thing that annoyed me was that Waters is throwing up storylines that don't reach a conclusion in this book, but most probably will be solved in the next book. Now don't get me wrong: I don't mind if a storyline is divided over more books, but if that's the case I want to have it clear when I buy the book that it's part of a series and nowhere on the outside of this book was that the case.
Somewhere on the inside there's mention of a second book, but not in such a way that you feel like you can't read this book without having to read the second book.

In conclusion: I didn't much like this book and will not be reading the second book.

Why should you read it:
If you don't mind a book with functionless zombies and annoying teenagers you could give this book a try.

Book review - The Summoning and The Awakening

The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong

What is it about:
From Kelley Armstrong's website: Chloe Saunders sees dead people. Yes, like in the films. The problem is, in real life saying you see ghosts gets you a one-way ticket to the psych ward. And at 15, all Chloe wants to do is fit in at school and maybe get a boy to notice her. But when a particularly violent ghost haunts her, she gets noticed for all the wrong reasons. Her seemingly crazed behaviour earns her a trip to Lyle House, a centre for 'disturbed teens'. At first Chloe is determined to keep her head down. But then her room mate disappears after confessing she has a poltergeist, and some of the other patients also seem to be manifesting paranormal behaviour. Could that be a coincidence? Or is Lyle House not quite what it seems...? Chloe realizes that if she doesn't uncover the truth, she could be destined for a lifetime in a psychiatric hospital. Or could her fate be even worse...? Can she trust her fellow students, and does she dare reveal her dark secret?

What did I think of it:
One of the best YA (Young Adult) books I've read the last couple of years. Great characters, a good story and there's even a mention of my favourite kind of monster. The bratty behaviour that puts me off of most YA books, is almost non-existent, so that's a good thing too. I must confess I ran to the bookstore to get the next book in this trilogy as soon as I read this one.

So before telling you why you should read this book I go on to:

The Awakening - Kelley Armstrong

What is it about:
Well, I can't tell very much about it without spoiling the first book for you, so just read what 'The Summoning' is about again. This book continues the story about Chloe and her ghost problems.

What did I think of it:
I thought the second book in this trilogy was even better then the first! The story keeps getting more exciting, there was some major character developement, more of my favourite monsters and lots of action.

Why should you read these books:
Because this is a great story, fit for both young adults and adults alike. And for a limited time you can read the first book online for free here
How cool is that!?

One warning and a contest:
After you read both books you'll have to wait for the third book of this trilogy until april 6th! I've been waiting impatiently for it since finishing 'The Awakening', but I'm sure it will be worth the wait.
And if you're impatient you can try one last thing to get hold of book three earlier then april 6th: Go here and enter the contest where one of the prices is an advanced Reader Copy of 'The Reckoning', book three in 'the Darkest Powers Trilogy'

What this is about

Well, I decided to make a second blog on which I'll post reviews about books and movies. Voodoo Bride will be helping me out with some of the reviews (especially when a book or movie is a bit girly). I'm not sure yet how often I will post a review, but it won't be daily I think.