December Book Reviews

Ahh, the nostalgia that comes with the last everything of 2017. The last book reviews. The last blog post. The last book read. And so on. But let's just skip past all that and get on to the post, shall we? Since it is December, I've had some extra reading time and been able to catch up on some books I've been needing to read. I love when that happens.

Best Books

The Secret Keepers- Trenton Lee Stewart

My Rating: 5 stars

Likes:

• Reuben, the main character. He lives in a city where an evil man has control, but he doesn't let that stop him from going up against him. (Although it was by accident at first.) He was smart, witty, and with his own skill set that came in handy throughout the book.

• Cool plot. The gist of it is, Reuben finds a watch that turns you invisible. Only it turns out a lot of bad people also want this watch. The plot was well paced and kept me engaged, even though the book was a longer one. It reminded me of some of the author's other books, but it wasn't a copy, which was nice.

• Clever bad guy. The bad guy was also smart and creepy. He has a house full of traps that all land you in a cage in the basement. Him and Reuben work to out think each other the whole climax of the book.

• Great mom. Reuben's mom was awesome. She was a single mother with a bad job, but she never let that get her down. She worked hard to keep Reuben happy and take time for him. Their conversations were the best.

Dislikes:

• Nothing!

The Screaming Staircase- Jonathan Stroud

My Rating: 4 stars

Likes:

• Ghosts everywhere. The feel of the story was very Doctor Who. It's all about these ghosts that have started popping up all over England. Now there are agencies that get rid of them. The ghosts were frightening, but also cool.

• A good scary story. I'm not normally a big reader of scary books. My imagination is overactive to that sort of thing. But I decided to be brave and give this book a try. It was scary, but it a good and interesting way. There wasn't a multitude of gore or jump scares just because. Everything had a purpose.

• Great ghost-hunting team. Lockwood, Lucy, and George. Lucy is the main character, and my personal favorite. Lockwood is the leader and George is the researcher. I didn't like him very much. But all together they were an awesome team.

• Creative worldbuilding. Ghosts are nothing new, but this speculative "what if ghosts were everywhere?" was interesting. One of the most interesting parts of the ghosts is that only children can see them. So they are the ones who hunt them. The author put lots of research into the rules of this world.

Dislikes:

• Hard to tell the time period. This isn't a big thing, just something I like to know. The feel of the book was Victorian, but they had modern things like Bubble Wrap and plastic, so I was unsure of when it's supposed to take place.

• Mildly predictable? Not the ghosts, but the plot. I managed to guess the bad guy before they did, though I didn't know why I suspected who I did. I don't know if that's just me or if it was too obvious. Again, only a minor thing.

Worst Books

Heartless- Marissa Meyer

My Rating: 3 stars

Likes:

• Excellent Wonderland. In any Wonderland inspired book, how they portray Wonderland is important to me. It needs the right mix of whimsy and crazy, light and dark. Meyer did a great job with hers. That was one of my favorite parts of the book.

• Lots of sweets. Catherine, the main character, loved to bake. Meyer described her dishes in tantalizing detail. I loved that character quirk and how it worked with the plot.

• Jest. He's the royal jester, love interest of the book, and my favorite character. He was sweet and funny with just a touch of madness. Highlight the next bit for a spoiler. Except she had to go and kill him and that ruined everything. I'm slightly mad about that one, can you tell?

Dislikes:

• Catherine. Not at first. I liked her in the beginning. She had spunk and big dreams. Then she lost her backbone, descended into madness, and totally turned me off to her. Plus, the reason she went crazy felt cliche to me.

• Bad ending. Like I said, Catherine goes mad at the end of the book. And that made the ending scary. I didn't like it at all, and because of that ending I rated it low.

• Catherine's mother. I have a deep loathing for anyone who calls their daughters fat or say they'll turn into a walrus because she likes desserts. Her mother was such a jerk, plus she wouldn't let her open her bakery. That I hated.

Caraval- Stephanie Garber

My Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Likes:

• Magical carnival. It was spectacular, except for all the madness behind it. Mystery, splendor, a dark side. What else could you ask for from a magic circus/carnival?

• Standing up for yourself theme. Scarlett gets pushed around a lot by her father. But by the end she learns to stand up for herself, and not let herself be pushed around anymore. I enjoyed that a lot.

Dislikes:

• Scarlett. A more naive, weak, oblivious character I don't think I've found. She spent most of the book wandering around Caraval without a clue as to what was going on. I found her annoying most of the time. Besides, all she thought about was Julian.

• Too dark. Despite what it say on the cover, this is anything but a game. It was dark in a bad way, with lots of disturbing things happening.

• The name. Tell me I'm not the only one who reads the title as Carnival every time instead of Caraval? She should have thought that through a little more.

• The sister relationship. Scarlett and her sister Tella went around the whole book doing things "for each other's good", while really hurting each other. Both thought they always knew best. It was a bad portrayal of sisters.

• Descriptions. Scarlett described everything in colors or tastes. She literally said things felt vermilion or sunny yellow, and once described the sky as looking like it would taste like sugar. I found it a bit too weird for me.

Notable Mention

Coraline- Neil Gaiman

Wow, I'm really straying outside my comfort zone. Two scary books in one month? Who is this Boov? Anyway, Coraline was pretty good. It's a short but creepy children's book about a little girl who finds a weird world through a door in her house. It's kind of like an evil Wonderland or Narnia situation.

I enjoyed it, surprisingly enough. It's a great example of how you can tell a good story in a short amount of time. If you don't mind a bit of freakiness, then give it a try. Now I'm trying to decide if I want to watch the movie.

Other Books

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl (5 stars)
Frogkisser!- Garth Nix (4 stars)
Saturdays at Sea- Jessica Day George (4 stars)
The Princess Bride- William Goldman (4 stars)
The Thief- Megan Whalen Turner (3 stars)
The Last of August- Brittany Cavallaro (4 stars)

Let's talk! Have you read any of these books? What did you read this month? Tell me in the comments.