Tag: Science Fiction (Page 15 of 38)

BOOK REVIEW – Noggin by John Corey Whaley

November 20, 2015 /
BOOK REVIEW – Noggin by John Corey WhaleyNoggin by John Corey Whaley
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t.

Now he’s alive again.

Simple as that.

The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too.

Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars.

Oh well, you only live twice.


DISCLAIMER : Don’t seek scientific accuracy because there’s none, and, really, that’s not the point. You don’t believe me? Just imagine I’d ask John Corey Whaley if he wanted to tell a realistic story, scientifically wise.

“Yeah. Sure. That’s exactly why I chose to talk about a guy whose head is cut off then frozen THEN attached to someone else’s body. Sure.” *side glances* – who is this crazy chick?

There’s this weird thing we often use when reading scifi, called suspension of disbelief. That sums it up. *blows kiss*

▶ That does not mean that I enjoyed Noggin. Hell, by the end I pretty much hated it. I just thought I’d point that scientific inaccuracy was by no means what bothered me.

Say, you are a 16 years old guy dying from cancer. You want to come back from the dead years after with a new body? You think that’s a good idea? That it must be fun to discover a whole new self?

Well, think again.

✘ First it’s so fucking gross. There are whole parts of yourself you have to make acquaintance with *cough* your new penis *cough*.

✘ Your friends have moved on in their lives and frankly? The whole “I return from the dead” trip is freaking them out something fierce… or so you suppose, because that’s not as if they would welcome you anyway, let alone talk to you (they’ll get over it, but still). Basically you took the longest nap of your life. 5 years. Except that wasn’t a nap for people who loved you. They missed you. They mourned you. Then they went through the 7 phases of grief and created a new life without you. Yeah, that sucks, but hey! We can’t blame them. But you, YOU. Think about you. You didn’t miss them. You didn’t move on, because HELLO, 5 min nap! You are stuck in a 16 years old body while they’re 5 years older now.

✘ Oh, and you’re a miracle (or an abomination, depending on who’s talking to you). Three blessings and 24/7 covering, here’s the new guy everyone is gossiping about! Just smile already.

You don’t? Awwww. What an ungrateful little jerk you are, really. Just be happy already.

We can’t blame Travis for being confused, messed-up, and a little angry. His behavior is pretty realistic. I know that. BUT the delusion, man. This is too-much.

*Delusion is a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary. OR :

Albeit well-written, funny and moving at times, Travis’ mess story was incredibly frustrating : after having (really) enjoyed the beginning, I wanted to submit him to an intervention pretty fast, to be honest.

TRAVIS, JUST MOVE THE FUCK ON. Cate is 21. She has lived without you for 5 years. And that doesn’t mean that she didn’t love you before but she is engaged now, buddy. I’d hate for you to do something embarrass-

Oh, never mind. Of course you’re RIGHT. Of course EVERYBODY is wrong. GD.

I can’t help but HATE when characters say things like “I’m gonna make her change her mind. I’m gonna go all sneaky and tell her that’s okay to be just friends but in fact I’ll plot the end of her (happy) relationship”. I CAN’T. Past is in the past. I’m sorry, but that’s how I feel it. That’s why even though I felt bad for him, even though I could understand why he felt that way, I couldn’t get past his absolute denial of everyone else’s feelings, especially Cate, his former girlfriend, and Kyle, his best-friend.

By the end I couldn’t stand him, and his burgeoning self-loathing didn’t help either. Perhaps I’m being unfair, but really, what can I say about a book where the male-lead, if not a complete asshole, is making me cringe so bad that I struggle to finish his story?

▶ I’ll give it a 2, no matter how much I enjoyed the first 20 percents, no matter how original the concept is, no matter how many tears threatened to fall from my eyes in the beginning. Because, really, who enjoys a book where we only want for the MC to shut the fuck up?

Certainly not me.

BOOK REVIEW – Rebel Wing (Rebel Wing #1) by Tracy Banghart

November 20, 2015 / / 3 Comments
BOOK REVIEW – Rebel Wing (Rebel Wing #1) by Tracy BanghartRebel Wing (Rebel Wing #1)
by Tracy Banghart
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The Dominion of Atalanta is at war. But for eighteen-year-old Aris, the fighting is nothing more than a distant nightmare, something she watches on news vids from the safety of her idyllic seaside town. Then her boyfriend, Calix, is drafted into the Military, and the nightmare becomes a dangerous reality.

Left behind, Aris has nothing to fill her days. Even flying her wingjet--the thing she loves most, aside from Calix--feels meaningless without him by her side. So when she's recruited to be a pilot for an elite search-and-rescue unit, she leaps at the chance, hoping she'll be stationed near Calix. But there's a catch: She must disguise herself as a man named Aristos. There are no women in the Atalantan Military, and there never will be.

Aris gives up everything to find Calix: her home. Her family. Even her identity. But as the war rages on, Aris discovers she's fighting for much more than her relationship. With each injured person she rescues and each violent battle she survives, Aris is becoming a true soldier--and the best flyer in the Atalantan Military. She's determined to save her Dominion . . . or die trying.

Review:

Rebel Wing was spellbinding, intricately crafted, and I became completely addicted.  A rich picture of countries at war was painted, and I found myself being pulled in by the moments of hope, betrayal, torture, alliances, and friendships.  While the twists that played out where surprising or hopefully expected, they had me jumping up and down!  And don’t even get me started on the dangerous butterflies that danced around in my stomach.  I can’t wait to see how the rest of this series proceeds!

But she’d never given up, never backed away from a challenge.
Aris straightened her shoulders.
And I won’t this time either.

As the story unfolded, we got to hear the tale in three voices.  While Aris Haan is the main person we follow, the other two are integral for learning the politics and the events surrounding the war.  Usually I’m not a huge fan of multiple perspectives, unless it’s a couple and we hear their alternating voices, but I actually loved the way this story was told.  Being able to see from the town’s people, military, and government views made for such a well-rounded story.  I found myself becoming as invested in the politics and back story as I was in Aris’ life.  The two other people who you’ll follow and won me over are Ward Nekos Pryalus, who is Atalanta’s current leader where Aris resides, and Ward Galena Vadim who is the current leader of the neighboring country Ruslana.

But she wasn’t a hero. She was a romantic. A foolish one, probably, giving up everything for the boy she loved.
But you’re a flyer too, a voice whispered deep inside.

Aris quickly became a favorite heroine of mine.  She takes challenges head on, was tenacious and brave while having a huge heart and I loved that she grows up as the story proceeds.  When we first meet Aris, she laughs off being recruited to fly for war, since women aren’t allowed in the military.  She’s one of the best pilots in her town, yet she truly doesn’t see that as an option until her boyfriend is sent to war.  The boyfriend whom she was supposed to be Promised to.  So she enters the military, disguised as man, in hopes of being able to be closer to her boyfriend.  To be honest, I struggled with Aris giving up everything to be near her boyfriend, Calix Pavlos.  There was so little time of them together that I never felt a connection to their relationship or Aris’ plight.  But have faith, because as the story progressed, things started to click into place.  And the path that was taken was perfection.  I wish I could say more…..

“I don’t care what anyone says. I want to believe things will work out. I’ll be with Calix. You’ll find your brother—”
“We’ll win this war.” Dysis voice was quiet, her face serious.

Another thing that was perfect in my eyes, was the strong female friendship.  Aris meets Dysis down the road, and it was so refreshing to see two women support one another!  They trusted one another, helped each other, and when push came to shove they could count on the other to have their back.  But one aspect I did struggle with was the names.  We got introduced to a lot of characters with unique names in the beginning of Rebel Wing, and it took me to 30% to have a good grasp on the secondary characters.  I am horrible with names at times, so this definitely could be my issue alone.  Also, while the very beginning was a tad slow, it quickly picked up its pace and held for the rest of the book, yay.

Now I am off to start Storm Fall!  I can’t wait to see how all of the pieces fall into place!

*ARC kindly provided by Author via a Facebook Giveaway in exchange for an honest review*

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers) & Book Depository (click on book #)
Rebel Wing by Tracy Banghart
Rebel Wing #1
Review:
Jen		Storm Fall by Tracy Banghart Rebel Wing Series
Storm Fall #2
Review:
 Jen		Torn Sky Rebel Wing Tracy Banghart
Torn Sky #3
Review:
Jen

BOOK REVIEW – Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

November 11, 2015 / / 7 Comments
BOOK REVIEW – Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne CollinsMockingjay (The Hunger Games #3)
by Suzanne Collins
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

Review:

I’ve never felt more lost wandering through my thoughts upon closure of a book.  If you were to ask me if I loved it?  Of course, yes!  And if you were to ask me if I was devastated and struggling because of that?  Again, of course, yes!  That’s because Mockingjay was everything I was hoping it would be and at the same time it was so many things I was hoping it wouldn’t be.  But if I throw my emotional side away for one moment, I see the genius in how this story unfolded.  Because it was thrilling, addicting and I loved that the plot wasn’t always something I could guess.  But if I bring my emotional side back into it, I have to say that it melted my heart and also shattered it into oblivion.  But since I am a little bit of a masochistic in certain scenarios, I can faithfully say that I’d go through the angst and suffering all over again.  Because that ending?  It was worth it!  But as a heads up, I’m ok with everything I was hoping it would not be because I don’t mind realistic outcomes in a fictional world.  But I do wish that some of the events would have had a few more lines or even paragraphs in future parts of the book.  But back to those realistic outcomes in fictional worlds, what I mean is:

  1.  In war, not everyone is going to get their happily ever after.  It’s not going to be pretty at times, and it can be beyond devastating and heartbreaking.  So when you step into war, take those thoughts of hoping that everyone is going to be safe and make sure to throw them as far away from you as you can.  And don’t ever look back.  Because they are stepping into the midst of a war, so it’s safe to say that what can happen in our world can easily happen in theirs.
  2. In real life, life isn’t always fair. So unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how hard one works, or how much they deserve a good future.  Because that can easily become irrelevant in war and life.  While I felt gutted over how some things played out, I get it because fictional worlds don’t have to be any less harsh than the ones we live in.
“President Snow says he’s sending us a message? Well, I have one for him. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground, but do you see that?” One of the cameras follows as I point to the planes burning on the roof of the warehouse across from us. The Capitol seal on a wing glows clearly through the flames. “Fire is catching!” I am shouting now, determined that he will not miss a word. “And if we burn, you burn with us!”

Now that I’ve gotten those thoughts out of my head, here’s the reasons why I fell in love this story so much, besides my reasons listed in my reviews of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire:

  1.  Friendships that warmed my heart.
  2.  Family that offered true love and understanding.
  3.  Watching alliances form between people who weren’t each other’s biggest fans.  When that happened, oh man, I was grinning like a loon.
  4.  And the biggest reason of all?  The hope that true love can conquer all.  When the world is beyond recognition and you have this teeny, tiny sliver of hope for true love, well that tiny little flame can lighten the darkest of places.
“You’re still trying to protect me. Real or not real,” he whispers.
“Real,” I answer.

While I never wanted this series to end, I have good feeling that I will be revisiting Katniss’ world many times again in the future. Hope you enjoyed or will enjoy this final book and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
the hunger games suzanne collins
The Hunger Games #1
Reviews:
Jen
Chelsea		catching fire suzanne collins
Catching Fire #2
Reviews:
 Jen
Chelsea		mockingjay suzanne collins
Mockingjay #3
Reviews:
Jen
Chelsea

BOOK REVIEW – Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins

November 6, 2015 / / 7 Comments
BOOK REVIEW – Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne CollinsCatching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)
by Suzanne Collins
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants reveng

Review:

I was nervous to step into this world.  But now that I am more than fully immersed, I find myself obsessed.  Whether it is the side characters that I care deeply care about.  The politics that become all consuming.  Villains that I want to murder myself.  Or the peril that fills the pages that somehow tops the insane intense moments from the The Hunger Games.  It all makes me look back at myself and laugh.  THIS is what I love.  Why did I ever let the notion of kids killing kids affect my want to read this series? Welllllll I still struggle with that aspect, BUT as I’ve said before – it’s worth it!  Even after that last page.  And that last page left me wanting to lay on my side and curl into a tiny ball.  But instead of doing that, which if I’m being truthful I’m still contemplating, I am stuck awake thinking back over every part of Catching Fire.  And these are by far my favorite aspects:

  1.  A boy worthy of being swoon worthy.

    “I just want to spend every possible minute of the rest of my life with you,” Peeta replies.

    Peeta won my heart over in The Hunger Games.  He was selfless and tried his hardest to protect Katniss.  Even when death was knocking on his door, he could be overheard whispering her name.  And even after being given a somewhat cold shoulder at times, nothing could erase his love for Katniss.  In Catching Fire, he pulls out all of the stops to protect the woman he loves.  He weaves lies to protect her.  He pours his heart out to her again.  And he puts himself on the line to save her again.  Peeta was butterfly inducing and most definitely swoon worthy.  He is my definition of what a book boyfriend should be.

     

  2.  Intense and action packed.

    “Convince me,” he says.  He drops the napkin and retrieves his book.  I don’t watch him as he heads for the door, so I flinch when he whispers in my ear.  “By the way, I know about the kiss.”  Then the door clicks shut behind him.

    I learned the hard way about never expecting any breaks in the action.  Because just when I thought they were getting a tiny reprieve, I was gravely mistaken.  Catching Fire seemed to move at a more intense speed than The Hunger Games, at times, and I loved it!  I constantly found myself in a death grip, clutching on for dear life.

     

  3.  A heroine whose choices and decisions are respectful.

    Life in District 12 isn’t really so different from life in the arena.  At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead.  The hard thing is finding the courage to do it.

    Katniss proved herself in The Hunger Games by taking her sister’s place and saving Peeta’s life.  But in Catching Fire, she ups her game.  She puts herself in an even more selfless position.  It made me so conflicted because I love the way she thought yet at the same time it terrified me for what would happen to her.  She is a heroine that continues to surprise me!

I love this book! Hopefully my love for the series will continue till the final page in Mockingjay!

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
the hunger games suzanne collins
The Hunger Games #1
Reviews:
Jen
Chelsea		catching fire suzanne collins
Catching Fire #2
Reviews:
 Jen
Chelsea		mockingjay suzanne collins
Mockingjay #3
Reviews:
Jen
Chelsea

BOOK REVIEW – The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett

November 5, 2015 /
BOOK REVIEW – The Unquiet by Mikaela EverettThe Unquiet by Mikaela Everett
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

For most of her life, Lirael has been training to kill—and replace—a duplicate version of herself on a parallel Earth. She is the perfect sleeper-soldier. But she’s beginning to suspect she is not a good person.

The two Earths are identical in almost every way. Two copies of every city, every building, even every person. But the people from the second Earth know something their duplicates do not—two versions of the same thing cannot exist. They—and their whole planet—are slowly disappearing. Lira has been trained mercilessly since childhood to learn everything she can about her duplicate, to be a ruthless sleeper-assassin who kills that other Lirael and steps seamlessly into her life.

Despite a promising premise, The Unquiet failed in its execution and left me literally unable to finish it. Trust me, that is not for a lack of trying.

► Am I bloody stupid?! That’s what I asked myself countless times. There’s only one thing I can say : YAY FOR THE BLURB! What? It did save me from understanding nothing during a long, long period of time. Indeed the elements of science fiction are barely explained at first, and each time I started to wrap my head around this world something else would throw me off, including :
✘ Weird jumps in time. Sometimes I ask my students to do this little exercise : put back the paragraphs of a text in order. Remember? Well. The book felt like that sometimes, except nobody’s gonna give me a good mark because I did it well.
✘ Nonsensical passages where the characters dynamic sounds pretty fake to me (her baby sister of 6 talks like she’s at least 12, her ‘friendship’ with Edith…)

As far as I’m concerned, it needs a good polish and a great deal of editing.

► Nothing happens. I swear, most of the book looks like filler to me. They arrive at the cottage. Filler filler filler. FLASHBACKS! They pass their exam. Filler. Filler. FLASHBACKS! They are sleepers. Fillers. Fillers. Fillers. FLASHBACKS! That’s so boring! The plot is…. streeeeeeeeeched for so long on nothing random anecdotes (let’s go fishing! Baking bread! Going in town! Selling fruits! Killing someone with a syringe! WOOT!)

► First but not least : except from the very beginning (which was surprisingly good) the story is related in a all tell not show fashion that as usual makes me cringe. Every freaking action seems emotionless and disconnected because crafted like a mission report – Not only it prevents me from caring for the characters, but it is so DULL. Even if I must admit that some parts are beautifully written, it’s not free from purple prose and sentences that made me roll my eyes.

► The MC is both flat and thoroughly unlikeable, which is far from a good mix in my opinion : to put it simply, I was either indifferent or angry at her during the 46 percents I read.
✘ First we have the detached way the killings (of innocent people) are handled : I swear, she could have baked a cake for all I know.
✘ Then the fakeness of every relationship, if somehow explainable by her upbringing in the cottages, still annoyed me a great deal. I mean, I get it, they’re all going to be killers but why not be a little nice to each other? For example, her hate toward her fellow sleepers in the cottage felt unnecessary and really didn’t make any sense to me.
✘ Moreover, the way Lira keeps repeating that she is a BAD person and that she doesn’t love ANYONE grew old pretty fast : I get it, you’re baaaad. Stop shoving your inner thoughts down my throat, ugh. This being said, I might have forgiven her if she wasn’t so one-dimensional : trust me, I’m all for unlikeable characters, but you have to give me SOMETHING to work with for me to care. I didn’t.

► WHAT WORLD-BUILDING? There’s nearly nothing. You would think that a book dealing with parallel universes would contain at least a few fun additions, but nah. The only descriptions we get are so random and uninteresting because everything is every bit as normal as it would in a contemporary novel. Oh, and please tell me in which area of time we’re in, because there are new technologies mixed with last century ways of life and I can’t wrap my head around this O_o.

► Why choose to set a story in France if the world building is so generic that it could be everywhere?
✘ First, except one or two exceptions, the names aren’t French : Cecily, Philip, Imogen, GRAY (really?!)…
✘ Secondly, the settings : so we are 1 hour far from Paris by train. Where?

The fuck if I know. Maybe that’s just me, but describing the city as ‘the town’ screams lazy writing to me. There are vines so I guess in Bourgogne maybe? Frankly, it’s as if the author ticked little cases in a “How To Live In France” fantasy list :
French grow vines ✔
Paris must be mentioned at least once ✔
A character must be named Madame ✔
… Oh, okay. That was a short list. Frankly? Why fucking bother? It may come as a shock, but French towns, landscapes and vinegars aren’t the same in the whole country : we need details please.

Now, as I said, I ‘only’ read 200 pages, so perhaps it gets better after… I just won’t be there to see it, sadly.

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