February Book Reviews
Reading so far this year has been slow, or at least it feels that way to me. Mostly because I'm working on an 800 page tome that I'm only *checks Goodreads stats* 300 pages and 39% done. It's been slow going, you might say. I also didn't read a ton of stuff that I said "I love this" about this month. But let's just get into the reviews.
Best Books
The Knowing- Sharon Cameron
My Rating: 4 stars
Likes:
• Standalone companion novel. This book takes place in the same world as The Forgetting, but over a hundred years later. The nice thing is, you don't have to read the first book to read the second, or the other way around. You don't find a lot of books like that.
• Great continued worldbuilding. Cameron took the world she created in book one, and advanced it, which made for an interesting book. I've rarely seen this done and I think it was really cool seeing how she imagined they evolved.
• Sam and Beckett. They were very different, but they learned to see past that and did their best to understand each other, something not a lot of other people in the book did. I think Sam was my favorite of the two, because she was so smart and strong.
• Some excellent plot twists. The kind that make you go, Oh crap. I do love a good plot twist. Obviously, I can't tell you what they were, because spoilers, but you probably won't see them coming.
Dislikes:
• Weird love triangle thing. Sam and Beckett were in love with each other, another girl named Jillian was also in love with Beckett, and then another boy, Nathan, fell for Jillian. It made things complicated for a while there.
Black Panther: The Young Prince- Ronald L. Smith
Likes:
• T'Challa. He was one of my favorite new character in Captain America: Civil War, so I was interested in seeing what he was like as a child. Even though he was raised as a privileged prince, I never felt like he was stuck-up or demanding in any way.
• Wakanda. Even though most of the book doesn't take place in his home country, the parts that were were fascinating. There's so much technology and ancient culture mixed together. I can't wait to see more in the movie.
• Lots of POC. Almost everyone in the book was black and I loved it. Go diversity! That being said, he didn't actually say they were that way a lot, confusing me a bit when it came to who was following him around.
• Easy read. In this world of 800 page tomes, it's nice to have a book you can read in twenty-four hours, like I did with this one. It's engaging and you want to see what happens.
Dislikes:
• The voodoo element. Call me weird for questioning magic in a book about superheroes, but I feel like it wasn't that fitting (although maybe I'll change my mind once I see the movie?). I don't like voodoo and I feel like it made the book a bit scary for some kids. That's why I knocked half a star off my rating.
Worst Books
Trollhunters- Guillermo del Toro
Likes:
• Strong characters. The characters in this book were pretty strong. They had good motivation and some nice moments.
Dislikes:
• It wasn't anything like the show. I know that not all books are similar to their adaptations, but I'm spoiled to the show and it's amazingness, so I was sorely disappointed by this book. If you're a fan of the show, don't even bother with the book.
• Gory. It was that gory that's just over the top of too much. I mean, chopping trolls up with a lawnmower? Gross.
• Mediocre. This was an okay book. But if I didn't know the show, I don't think I would have finished it.
Beast and Crown- Joel Ross
Likes:
• Ji, the protagonist. He's a boot-boy who wants more from life, and that's easy to sympathize with. But the thing I liked most about him was his big heart. He was always trying to help others, even though he wasn't in the best position himself.
• Theme of understanding others. Over the course of the book, Ji learns that just because you're different, a ogre or goblin for example, doesn't mean you should treat them unfairly.
Dislikes:
• Kind of strange world. It was a mix of Asian and Mexican cultures, which was hard to understand. They had churros and dumplings and stone warriors. It seems like a good idea, but it wasn't fully realized.
• The characters fell flat. I'm not sure what about them I didn't like, but they seemed to be missing something. Maybe they were too basic. I don't know. This book just wasn't as good as his other series.
Other Books
When Dimple Met Rishi- Sandhya Menon (4 stars)
The Wildcat's Claw- Varian Johnson (3 1/2 stars)
The Curse of the Ancient Emerald- Franklin W. Dixon (3 stars)
Let's talk! What have you read this month? Have you ever had a month of unspectacular reads? Tell me in the comments.
Comments
Post a Comment