Unravel Me - Shatter Me #2

Unravel Me seemed to start out a bit slow and sort of dragged in parts until around the middle but I still enjoyed the story.

Juliette is one awesome character. Despite having a lethal touch and being feared by humanity she is not the monster they all call her. She has a big heart and cares about everyone and not wanting to hurt anyone. Sadly she does seem to include not wanting to hurt herself in that way of thinking. Juliette's attitude did bother me at times in the beginning of Unravel Me, she was pretty self centered and not seeing things as a whole. With a war looming that way of thinking can get people killed. 

Adam drove me crazy for most of the story. Just something about him I do not care for and he acted like a child throwing a fit most of the time. 

Kenji is totally awesome and while he seems like a comic relief character he is so much more. 

Warner is just flat out awesome. 

The writing flowed smoothly in most parts, a couple spots had a bit of a hiccup but all in all it was good writing. 

I am eager to read Fracture Me and find out the conclusion of Juliette's story.

World of Warcraft: Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde

Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde was not really what I expected it would be. Previous WoW books I have read have been full of non-stop action and heroes saving the day. While Voljin: Shadows of the Horde had plenty of heroes and action it was more about finding one's purpose and embracing the belief of balance in one's life.

Vol'jin was an interesting character, the leader of the trolls of the Horde he was used to being feared, controlling people, and having his way. All this changed when Garrosh Hellscream tried to have him killed. Somehow Vol'jin was able to fight off his attackers and escape where his friend Chen Stormstout found him collapsed and saved his life. Having always depended on the magic of the Shadowhunter's ability to heal Vol'jin never really realized that more to healing then wounds closing. Who he was was lost and he had to figure out his path in life.

Tyrathan, a human hunter, is brought in by the Shado Pan Monks to balance out Vol'jin in his healing. Since the story is really about Vol'jin little is said about Tyrathan when it does not concern him helping Vol'jin find himself. I would love to know more about him since I found him interesting and befriending a troll does not seem an easy thing.

I had a couple problems with the mechanics of the story. It feel unfinished in some ways. I suppose that is how Blizzard wanted it so people would play the game and finish the story in game play however I would have liked a bit more closure for the characters.

While the writing was well done parts did drag a bit in spots and a lot of the action was not spaced out to create a smooth flow for the reader.

The Shadowhunter's Codex

The Shadowhunter's Codex reads just like a textbook. It was informative without going into too much detail and no subject drug on so it never felt like a chore reading it. My favorite part was all the funny comments by characters from the the The Mortal Instrument series. It would have been interesting to have comments as well from The Infernal Devices characters but I see why that was not done.

All in all a fun, quick read that explains a bit more about Shadowhunter culture and world of the shadow.

Elantris

While I have enjoyed every work by Mr. Sanderson that I have read Elantris was not my favorite by far. Great idea for a story but it needed a lot more work to flow smoothly and be nicer to the reader.

Three main characters so three points of view and I liked the idea of the chapters cycling through the three characters instead of one just being chosen at random. However the only character I actually cared about was Raoden.

Raoden prince of Arelon has it all. The kingdom, a wife from Teod to unite the nations and the loyalty of several nobles. All that is lost for him when the Shoad strikes him with the mysterious illness connected to Elantris in some way. Considered dead by his people he is thrown into Elantris and must scrap together a new life for himself while dealing with all the changes the Shoad has done to his body. With a new life comes a new name and Raoden becomes the mysterious Spirit a man who is determined not to hide behind a title. I just love Raoden, having it all to having nothing would be hard for anyone to deal with and while Raoden did struggle with it he also accepted it and worked at attempting to understand what had happened to him and the other Elantrians. His character development was awesome and I constantly wished the chapters on him were longer.

It seemed like Princess Sarene of Teod was suppose to be a favorite but I just could not connect to her in any way and ended up finding her more annoying then anything. The over intelligent Sarene was constantly playing in political games and working at maneuvering things to her liking. Sarene lived and breathed politics and constantly had her way when it came to what she wanted. Ignoring customs, traditions, and even religion Sarene worked at strengthening Arelon so that Teod would have a stronger ally if war should come. I suppose Sarene grew in some ways but since I did not enjoy her too much I am hard pressed to say in what ways she really grew. Her relationship with Raoden was interesting since she was widow from the start of arriving in Arelon and never having known Raoden she did not really wish to mourn him like the nation expected her to. 

Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest, was just a mysterious character throughout the whole book and as such I never really got a feel for who he was until the very end. Totally devoted to converting all the people of Arelon and Teod to worshiping Jaddeth. In order to avoid a large scale massacre Hrathen will go about any means possible to see the people are converted. Half the time I had no clue what Hrathen was up to since it was very religious intense in his chapters. I could not keep track of all the religious words that were introduced and this made it very hard to follow along in parts. Since Hrathen was mysterious it was hard to get a feel fro him and I really cannot say much about his growth throughout the story since I did not understand him well.

The writing was very Brandon Sanderson but clearly rough around the edges which I expected for a debut novel. I rarely say this but having this broken down into a trilogy might have been better since so much was going on overall. I believe a glossary of terms and a brief profile of characters would have made this a much more enjoyable read for me.

Firefight - Reckoners #2

This review contains spoilers for Steelheart.

I honestly do not even know how any review I can write will do Firefight justice. Amazing does not even begin to describe everything that occurred in Firefight.

David continued to be awesome as only David can. Despite having killed a High Epic he continues on with life as normal. Steelheart haunted him and with him dead David immediately turns his attention to Firefight or more importantly Megan. In a lot of ways it is like David does not see Megan as a High Epic and I found that intriguing since he lived and breathed learning all he could about Epics and their weaknesses.

Firefight, a mysterious High Epic who managed to infiltrate the Reckoners under Steelheart's orders. Yet Megan did not seem like other epics especially High Epics. Instead of going on killing sprees when she use her powers she got super cranky and moody. Her attitude towards David is totally believable and I loved their interaction. While it was clear they were both attracted to each other the attraction never felt forced and was more awkward as it should be considering what David is.

The overall story was remarkable, well written, fast paced, and thoroughly thought through. So many sequels lose their flow but Firefight did not suffer this dilemma. My only complaint is having to wait until next year to read Calamity. 

The Bane Chronicles - The Bane Chronicles #1-11

Ever since I read The Infernal Devices I have desired to know more about Magnus Bane. Such an interesting character with a lot of depth. The Bane Chronicles did not disappoint and showed many sides of Magnus, all of them awesome.

Since this is a collection of short stories (each one is about fifty pages) I am not going to review them all. I did like how the stories are spaced out throughout history which gave an overall portrait of Magnus and allowing the reader to see how he evolved with time.

One of my favorite parts was learning more of the Herondale legacy. They were certainly one of a kind and I love how they were not all cookie cutters of William Herondale.

The writing was lovely and the comic at the beginning of each story was a nice bonus.

The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers

Mr. Bernstein is one powerful writer. Not only is The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers a well written work of literature it is a stunning memoir as well.

As I dove into the book it was like I was in England watching the divided street as each side feared crossing to the other side and somehow contaminating themselves with the others religion. Since it is a true story it is hard to remark upon the plot or the characters. I will say this though Harry's mother is one heck of a woman. All she did to keep her family together and the dreams she gave up was truly inspiring. No matter what Harry's mother did not give up hope and with her life I could see her easily wanting to give up.

I am eagerly looking forward to reading The Dream but I fear it will have many sad parts.