collections: may reads

SNOW LIKE ASHES

I have conflicted emotions over this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed it – I wanted to enjoy it; on the other hand, I finished this book and didn’t feel anything, and that’s not a good sign. The main character, Meira, was awesome and bold and brave – but also slightly reckless. Mather I never really felt any connection to, and in ways, Meira never really became anything more than a two-dimensional character to me. The plot is not totally unique and I slightly guessed a major twist in the story which was disappointing. However there were a few unexpected turns that I was not expecting and overall, I enjoyed Snow like Ashes a lot; it’s one of those books I read, enjoy, but never really pick up again.

 THE WINNER’S CRIME

 “Yes, stop playing, Kestrel, she told herself. Clear the bets, clear the table. Walk away from the game. Now."

Marie Rutkoski writes those books that make you walk around in a daze long after the last page has been turned and the last word has been read. The Winner’s Crime was painful to read: less romance, more secrets and tension; misunderstandings that make your own heart splinter as the character’s own crack. The writing style was beautiful, the novel is exquisitely crafted and we learn more about the East, the past and how its events are now leaking into and effecting the present. What I especially loved was how intricate the plot is, how new characters slotted in so seamlessly with the overall intrigue and action. Rutkoski has got me with this one, even more so than The Winner’s Curse: she made me fall for and feel for the characters in book one, so now my heart is being chipped at, piece by piece, by the events of book two – I never want this series to end. 

GEEK GIRL: ALL THAT GLITTERS

 Geek Girl: All that Glitters is probably my least favorite of this series. Harriet is wearing me out. Her immature, mostly self-centred nature and total inability to function in the world is rubbing me up the wrong way. There is an important, and very clear theme throughout these books about bullying, self-acceptance and friendship, however at the same time, I feel like each Geek Girl book is just repeating itself in different situations and circumstances. Wilbur does not make a [physical] appearance in this book, Nick is nowhere to be found: it felt like the story fell flat as there were no supporting characters I loved, and hence, Harriet takes the spotlight the entire novel: and when this happens you realise how naive she really is. Overall, I felt disappointed with this fourth instalment of the Geek Girl series, I will read the entire series because I feel invested enough in the characters and plot to want to know what happens at the end; however this book, sadly, did not make me laugh or smile enough to enjoy it fully – it was more grimacing and constant shakings of the head.

FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER

“Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.”
Mac and cheese and baked beans; instrument cases used as suitcases; baths in the fountain of an art museum: From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler is a book of adventures, secrets, and small details building to a whole that make the ‘escape’ of Claudia and her brother Jamie that much more interesting. I hadn’t read a ‘middle grade’ book in a long time before this one, but I’m so glad I picked up this book. While aimed at younger readers it has an all-encompassing air of mystery that could capture the attention of any age if they so wished to be entertained by this novel. What struck me most was Claudia’s bubbling frustration and annoyance at her regular life. She wanted to be different, somehow, and she thought running away would accomplish that – yet when she did, she realised that it wouldn’t. This book is about the importance of knowing when you are not satisfied, and perhaps realising that you are allowed to want something more, even when you are, as Claudia is, an A grade student with a privileged lifestyle compared to others and a loving family.

 

thank you to the publishers for sending  me these books free in exchange for honest reviews