Hello there! I have a lot of catching up to do review - wise and it was kind of suckish not posting this week. So, I present you with four reviews! And hey, I actually managed to keep them short as possible, now that's a first eh? xD As you may have noticed the poll has closed. Thank you to those who voted. I gave it around a month to give you all the opportunity to warm to the new layout and the numbers were extremely close. So, I think I'll be sticking with the current one for a while at least. Oh and lastly I read GONE WITH THE WIND. One of the most gruelling reading experiences ever. My eyes have been hurting for the past two days. Let me just say. 1000 pages in two days. Phew! I reviewed it on goodreads so you can catch the review there. Will post the review on the blog sometime next week perhaps. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Happy reading lovelies ;)
BLOOD NINJA is everything I expected it to be. Action packed, entertaining and bloody with super cool Ninjas and Samurai's. It begins with a fabulous opening chapter, and then switches to our protagonist for the remainder of the story - being Taro. He is a fisherman's son; young and completely dedicated to his family. But it's the day his village is attacked by Ninjas that his life is entirely changed. Despite being attacked by Ninjas it is a certain Ninja that comes to his aid that will become a favourite among readers. So when his home is no longer his own he sets of on a journey with the mysterious, wise Ninja and his best friend Hino. Although there were little nit picks, like Hana,whose constant mention of beauty got a tad repetitive. Perhaps it irked me slightly because I knew the boy who would fall for her would see her beauty first and the girl beneath that very beauty second. I just like to think that there's more to a character than just looks I suppose, especially when they are focused on as much as hers were. Also, I think the whole; all - Ninjas- being - Vampires thing was pretty unnecessary. They could have just trained hard and built up their strength and speed, but to say that all Ninjas were Vampires? Hmmm. The Book reminded me of a book called ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR floor by Lain Hearn. Exquisite in it's own right. Like in that book it was Taro's mentor of sorts that really caught my eye. I thought he made the book apart from Taro. So wise, wonderful and full of charm he quickly became my favourite. Fast paced and gripping BLOOD NINJA shows a lot of promise, so it's a understatement when I say I'm more than just happy that I've already bought the second book!
Initially I thought MAD LOVE would be this quirky fun read - which it was at times - but I also got something else entirely. Alice' mother suffers from a schizophrenia. She's watched her mother stare at her though blank eyes and in the worse days stay in her room at all day. Somehow during these years she lost the mother she once knew and loved, so when her mother is taken to be treated she makes her daughter promise that she will tell no one of her condition. It's a pretty big burden to place on a child. One thing Alice is for sure is mature. She takes all the responsibility and accepts now that her mother is not here so she must help and maintain her reputation in any way she can. It's admirable what she does even if she does have to lie. You see her mother is one of the most famous romance writers around, and with a signing coming up and now a contract which mentions she must turn in another book - leaves poor Alice overwhelmed. To top it all off during one of the signing a boy claiming to be Cupid is insisting she write his story, another is bribing her to read hers, and then, of course, there is the skater - boy she watches pass by everyday through her window. Well what is a girl to do? MAD LOVE I realised is more than just a fun book, but throws in a lesson or two also. It gives us a girl who doesn't have much self esteem, she doesn't feel she is loved and perhaps feels she has had to grow up too fast, but my only concern is that the humour might result in readers paying less attention to the more meaningful side of the book because I can see it happening. I would suggest that you don't go into this book with certain expectations since that would only ruin the experience.
Our protagonist Rory is sent to boarding school in London and it might be the whole concept of the life in a boarding school that I enjoyed most about this book. I liked how everyone grew into a family of some sorts and how people seemed to look out for each other. Rory, naturally - since this is her first time - finds it a little tough to adjust to the routine and of the life in a boarding school but with Jazza - a girl who she gets on with immediately, things start to run much smoother.
- Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Corvus (1 Sep 2010) Genre: Young Adult - Fantasy/ Paranormal Source: Bought
Rating:
BLOOD NINJA is everything I expected it to be. Action packed, entertaining and bloody with super cool Ninjas and Samurai's. It begins with a fabulous opening chapter, and then switches to our protagonist for the remainder of the story - being Taro. He is a fisherman's son; young and completely dedicated to his family. But it's the day his village is attacked by Ninjas that his life is entirely changed. Despite being attacked by Ninjas it is a certain Ninja that comes to his aid that will become a favourite among readers. So when his home is no longer his own he sets of on a journey with the mysterious, wise Ninja and his best friend Hino. Although there were little nit picks, like Hana,whose constant mention of beauty got a tad repetitive. Perhaps it irked me slightly because I knew the boy who would fall for her would see her beauty first and the girl beneath that very beauty second. I just like to think that there's more to a character than just looks I suppose, especially when they are focused on as much as hers were. Also, I think the whole; all - Ninjas- being - Vampires thing was pretty unnecessary. They could have just trained hard and built up their strength and speed, but to say that all Ninjas were Vampires? Hmmm. The Book reminded me of a book called ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR floor by Lain Hearn. Exquisite in it's own right. Like in that book it was Taro's mentor of sorts that really caught my eye. I thought he made the book apart from Taro. So wise, wonderful and full of charm he quickly became my favourite. Fast paced and gripping BLOOD NINJA shows a lot of promise, so it's a understatement when I say I'm more than just happy that I've already bought the second book!- Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (6 Jun 2011) Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary/ Romance/ Fantasy/ Mythology/Chick Lit Source: Publisher
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- Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Headline (1 Sep 2011) Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal Source: Publisher
Rating:
Sixteen year old Jud Lester is part of the secret agency CRYPT ( Covert Response Youth Paranormal Team) which battles everything paranormal. Teamed with his striking partner Bex they are about to be handed the biggest case to date. People all over are being attacked and not only attacked, but killed. The killings are ruthless and very gruesome. No one has any idea what is going on and with no evidence being left behind after each death there are no suspects. This is where CRYPT comes in. They have reason to believe that this could be the work of ghosts and not friendly ones at that.
Jud and Bex make a good time, that is apparent from the very beginning. I can also see a potential romance between the two. Professor Giles Bonati and Jason Goode are the masterminds behind the organisations and both are well respected. However, it's Bonati who seems to have a great bond with our MC Jud instead of his father Jason. This may be due to the fact that his father has often been holed up by work and commitments throughout life whilst Bonati has consistently stayed by his side. The highlight of the book was actually the creepiness. I was not expecting it to be gory at all. And I'm talking about gorging eyes out, breaking bones, hanging, eating humans. I was quite disturbed by these scenes at times but I've always had a weak stomach for anything potentially scary, but I was quite impressed by just how terrifying the author had made these ghosts. It's crazy, I mean, these Highmen obviously have major issues!
Jud and Bex make a good time, that is apparent from the very beginning. I can also see a potential romance between the two. Professor Giles Bonati and Jason Goode are the masterminds behind the organisations and both are well respected. However, it's Bonati who seems to have a great bond with our MC Jud instead of his father Jason. This may be due to the fact that his father has often been holed up by work and commitments throughout life whilst Bonati has consistently stayed by his side. The highlight of the book was actually the creepiness. I was not expecting it to be gory at all. And I'm talking about gorging eyes out, breaking bones, hanging, eating humans. I was quite disturbed by these scenes at times but I've always had a weak stomach for anything potentially scary, but I was quite impressed by just how terrifying the author had made these ghosts. It's crazy, I mean, these Highmen obviously have major issues!
- Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks (29 Sep 2011) Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal/ Mystery Source: Publisher
Rating:
Our protagonist Rory is sent to boarding school in London and it might be the whole concept of the life in a boarding school that I enjoyed most about this book. I liked how everyone grew into a family of some sorts and how people seemed to look out for each other. Rory, naturally - since this is her first time - finds it a little tough to adjust to the routine and of the life in a boarding school but with Jazza - a girl who she gets on with immediately, things start to run much smoother.
Then the murders start to take place. And this was one of the other things which I liked about the book. The author was quite detailed in how the victims were killed and it made all the killings more real and helped the tension build up with time. You then have Charlotte; someone that both Jazza and Rory dislike. Jazza actually hates her and this is where I become a little confused. Sure, she might be a bit of a show off and might have boasted about wanting to go Cambridge to study, but it's also mentioned how her parents have high expectations of her and how Charlotte has been under a lot of pressure. Still though, Jazza, Jerome and Rory continue to make snide remarks and relish in sharing how much they can't stand her. My problem is that the girl has not actually really done anything to them - not for them to hate her anyway. Their childish behaviour towards her annoyed me at times. The book itself didn't drag exactly but wasn't fast paced either; somewhere in between I suppose. I have to say I did expect more, and in my opinion when you have an interesting premise such as this one there's so much potential. Things could have been a lot more creepy, the protagonist a lot more mature, and the secondary characters should have had more depth to them because they all played a decent part in the story. I love YA but the authors writing seems to be geared towards the younger teens. I can imagine 12- 15 year olds enjoying this, so maybe that's why I didn't love it as much as I assumed I would.
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