I have been wanting a story set from Alice's point of view for ages so I was happy to see I am Alice providing that. I was sad though that Tom was not around since I wanted to see what Alice is thinking when she is near him.
With the plan to vanquish the Fiend once and for all coming together Alice knows it is time for her to venture into the dark to find the dagger she will be sacrificed with. Having been a prisoner of the Fiend and held in the dark Alice is smart to fear venturing back into the dark. Despite Alice's fears she ventures into the dark and is reunited with Thorne, the young witch training to be an assassin.
I loved seeing Thorne again, I was upset she died protecting Grimalkin in a previous book so it was wonderful having Thorne make another appearance. Still strong willed it was sad to see Thorne without her thumbs and struggling to survive. I hope that Thorne's fate will be touched upon again in Fury of the Seventh Son.
The writing was well done and the story continues to get darker. I am super eager to read Fury of the Seventh Son and learn the fate of the Country and all the characters I have grown to love.
I won an advanced reader copy from Goodreads of The Accident Season so things might be tweaked a bit in the finished copy. One of my least favorite things to do is write a negative review especially for a book I wanted to enjoy. The Accident Season just did not suit my taste the farther into the story I got.
Cara is a lot like a typical teenager, she smokes, drinks, and parties openly with her mother's approval except when it is the accident season then her mother wants Cara and her siblings kept as safe as possible. Through out the story the accident season is mentioned in passing a lot but not really explained until the end and even then it is not overly explained nor is ever clear if the accident season will stop plaguing the family.
Since things were told from Cara's point of view for the whole story it was hard to get into the mind of Cara's siblings Alice and her stepbrother Sam. Alice just came off as a spoiled brat in most of her early dialogue and Sam a bit of a misfit. Bea, Cara's best friend, was strange and despite Bea being around constantly I do not feel like I got to know her at all. I am not sure if this was the intention of the author or just how it worked out.
The writing was weak in spots, lovely in other spots, and just plain confusing in the rest. Towards the end I had no clue what was going on half the time and I am still not sure if Cara is insane and hallucinating things that happened to her or I missed something in the writing that explained everything. The grammar got worse the farther into the story I got but that could be due to the advanced reader copy, at least I hope so. The story itself bothered me in several spots, things were left without explanation, weak character development, and forced love. The last part bothered me the most and I was just annoyed some love twists were added for no apparent reason. I did not care enough for the writing or the story to want to read any more work by the author.
I had a really hard time getting into Slither since it just sort of randomly appeared in the middle of The Last Apprentice series with all new characters. Plus the name turned me off, I figured Slither would have something to do with a snake of some sort. Thankfully it did not.
Slither is what I would consider a creature of the dark since he consumes human blood and takes souls. Yet despite that I have not seen a mention of any of the creatures that appear in Slither in the previous books in The Last Apprentice series. Despite Slither being a monster who had seriously messed up ideals about what female humans are for I liked him. Sticking to a strong code of honor and going out of his way to keep bargains Slither was complex with many layers to him.
The three sisters were annoying most of the time. Nessa was interesting at times and while she constantly went out of her way to protect her sisters I never thought it was fake. Having been sold to Slither Nessa knew her life was over once she was sold in the slave market. I think that is what gave her the courage to keep doing all she could to protect her sisters.
The writing was well done and I hope that Slither was not just a filler book. If just Slither makes another appearance in the series I will be a bit disappointed because Nessa has a fairly good foundation as a character to make another appearance.
The Spook's Beastiary is a nice companion book to The Last Apprentice series. It had nice definitions for all the creatures of the dark along with pictures. My favorite part was the quotes at the end of each chapter from The Spook, Tom, and various apprentices. I also enjoyed seeing the way beings from the dark were classified by someone besides Tom. The added chapter at the end about unknown beings from the dark was a nice bonus and while I would like to know what the dark beings were the mystery is fun.
The Battle of the Labyrinth was another book I read in one sitting even though I feared I would have issues with Annabeth being a know it all Percy made up for that.
Once again Percy is thrust into the middle of helping save Camp Half-Blood. While Percy does not seem to mind playing the hero the other campers do seem resentful of Percy at times so I loved the tension among the campers in parts. While I still like Percy and he is continuing to learn about how to handle being the son of Poseidonit does seem like Percy is not growing much as a person. Percy continues to be stubborn and set on the idea of saving everyone no matter the difficulties.
I eagerly await my chance to read The Last Olympian.
Oddly enough the farther I read into Percy Jackson and the Olympian's the more I like the series and usually it is the total opposite. I read The Titan's Curse in one sitting and immediately wanted to start The Battle of the Labyrinth.
Percy continues to grow into his half-blood powers and learning how to deal with threats against Camp Half-Blood and Olympus. One reason I think I liked The Titan's Curse was Annabeth was not in it much I get sick of her stuck up attitude and how she thinks she knows everything all the time. However with Annabeth gone Percy just seemed lost and unlike himself in a lot of ways.
I loved the build up to everything and the ending was well done. Once again I had a couple issues with grammar in parts.
When The Lightening Thief was first released my friend read it and asked me to read it as well. I was not a huge fan but I did finish it to discuss it with my friend. While I was at the library I saw The Sea of Monsters and figured I would give Percy another try. I am glad I did since I enjoyed The Sea of Monsters.
Percy was not nearly as annoying as he was in The Lightening Thief and I actually found myself rooting for Percy several times. The thing I love most about Percy is he never gives up and finds a way to make things happen along with that stubbornness Percy refuses to leave a friend in peril. While several heroes tend to be this way I like the way Percy acts and comes across as a unique character in my point of view.
I do have some issues with the writing. While the story reads smoothly enough at times I see some grammar mistakes that bother me.
Lure of the Dead seemed to be a bit out of place in The Last Apprentice series. It seemed a bit strange to me that The Spook and Tom would both be so naive as to believe what was going on.
Tom is continuing his training as the Spook's apprentice and making progress. With the country once again stable Tom and The Spook are concerned with rebuilding the house. The Spook considers a well stocked library the most important part of his house and is willing to go to extremes to get books for his library once again. This gets both The Spook and Tom in serious trouble. I was just a bit annoyed at how easily both Tom and The Spook missed seeing what was going on until it was too late. It seemed like an beginner mistake.
As The Last Apprentice series gets closer to wrapping up I am more anxious to learn the fate of Tom and Alice.
I have always wanted to read about the world Tom Ward lives in from a different characters point of view and I am Grimalkin provided that point of view. My only wish was Grimalkin had some observations about Tom since I am curious what other characters think of Tom.
Grimalkin is the feared witch assassin of the Malkin clan. Revered as the strongest of the witch clan assassin's Grimalkin has taken on the job of carrying the Fiend's head and keeping it out of the hands of the Fiend's servants. Wanting vengeance against the Fiend Grimalkin is ruthless and proves several times why she is the most feared of the witch assassins.
While I liked the story I did miss seeing Tom, Alice, and The Spook. I am Grimalkin almost felt like a companion novel and not part of the whole series.
I have been waiting months to read Rage of the Fallen and I was severely annoyed.
Tom is continuing on as a Spook's apprentice and working hard at learning his trade. The Spook having lost his home, library, and safety in the country in Rise of the Huntress I expected to see a more determined Tom and Spook as they fought to regain control over the dark. Sadly it seemed like they curled up and just hid from the world. Rage of the Fallen kind of jumped around making me lose interest at parts and then the main story line was shoved into the last few chapters.
Despite Rage of the Fallen not being my favorite book in The Last Apprentice series I do intend to continue on and read Tom's story to the end.
I was eager to learn the fate of the digital world in Still Point and I ended up being highly disappointed.
Maddie continued to be stubborn and hold fast to the ideal that students deserve a choice between digital and face to face school despite her unrelenting father.I did not care for Maddie's growth in Still Point nor did I like how she ended up treating people around her. In my opinion she came off as a spoiled brat a lot of the time and I was severely disappointed in how things were wrapped up.
The story line was too convenient for everyone and that took away some of the consequences that would have made the story more interesting. Interactions among friends and boyfriends were horrible and I spent most of my time reading angry at the story line. The ending was a major let down overall.
Thankfully Middle Ground did not suffer from what I call the dreaded second book syndrome. While a bit slower then Awaken I was still unable to put down Middle Ground and I am eager to start Still Point the final book in the Awaken series.
Maddie continues to amaze me as she learns about a world unplugged. Having hidden behind digital screens for most of her life Maddie finds excitement and happiness in everything around her that is not digital. In that way she reminds me of a child but her attitude of allowing everyone a choice and refusing to back down balances out her inner child making Maddie a well rounded character.
Justin continues to be aloof and mysterious which I do like about him but he is slowly working on opening up to Maddie which fits well with everything that is going on around them. Instant love has never been my think but I understand instant attraction which both Maddie and Justin seemed to have for each other.
The writing continued to be well done and I love how things continued from Maddie's point of view along since that is how the Awaken series started. A novella from Justin's point of view would be interesting. I look forward to the conclusion to the series.
I have been wanting to read The Ghost Bride for awhile so when I saw it at the library I could not resist grabbing it. The Ghost Bride was nothing like I thought it would be and I am still not sure if that is a good thing or not.
Li Lan was a diverse character, with a deceased mother and a father that lived in an opium drug haze Li Lan did not seem as limited as most females in Mayala. Constantly questioning things Li Lan never accepts that she should know less because she is a girl and refuses to back down leaving her affairs in the hands of her father and perspective husbands. From the little I know of Chinese history this does seems a bit unbelievable since women were not suppose to be outspoken yet I did like that about Li Lan.
I loved the writing and the creative ways Yangsze Choo combined customs and beliefs of Mayala into the story without making it boring or dull. The writing was just smooth and I never once stumbled reading something that was being explained and felt it was out of place. Since I love the writing I would consider reading something else by Yangsze Choo if she continues to write.
Awaken really hit home since I totally see people becoming more and more dependent upon technology and becoming more digital in their lifestyles.
Maddie is freaking awesome and I love how she is slowly revealed to be this kick-butt girl who is tired of being oppressed by her father the founder of Digital School. With the United States becoming a more dangerous place keeping children indoors and attending school through the internet is now the norm. As a result of that children and teenagers have almost no face to face interaction with anyone. Instead they meet in cybercafes to hang out and things like that. This is Maddie's life until she agrees to a study group and meets Justin.
Justin is an outspoken radical against Digital School and wants people to have a choice. Using every means possible he battles against students being forced to attend school from their bedroom. With his dangerous lifestyle Justin has never allowed himself to get close to anyone and he is not about to change that for Maddie.
I could not get enough of Awaken and I love the story. It is a real eye opener for how the world is becoming and I hope the world never goes as far as Awaken does. I look forward to reading Middle Ground the next book in the series.
I have been looking forward to Agenda 21: Into the Shadows and I was highly disappointed. I am not a fan of book series that go from one characters point of view to multiple characters point of view in a book series. It also seemed like the story started to get repetitive with how things were occurring.
Emmeline seemed to get weaker as a character and a person in Into the Shadows. I understand everything is new for her but Emmeline set up unrealistic standards for herself and her family. I just wanted to shake her at times. Then the story got to jumping around so much I felt like I could not connect with any of the characters. The smaller side characters that were built up to move the story along I did not even care about for the most part.
Just a huge disappointment overall however like most trilogies (I believe it is a trilogy) I want to know what happens in the end so I will watch for the conclusion.
With the release of Agenda 21: Into the Shadows I decided to re-read Agenda 21 so things would be fresh in my mind. I liked Agenda 21 even more re-reading it.
Emmeline is an extremely well written character. While Emmeline is an average citizen she also comes off as a heroine without even trying and I like that a lot about her. Struggling to understand her life around her Emmeline never stops questioning things even though that is against the rules and then struggles to figure out why the rules are so strict.
The writing is well done and both times I have read Agenda 21 in one or two sittings. I just cannot seem to put it down. Of the dystopian stories I have read Agenda 21 is one of my favorites for sure.
I finally got around to reading another book by Heather Graham. An Angel for Christmas was a super fast read that was pretty predictable but I still ended up liking it. Short and to the point An Angel for Christmas had little fluff but was still a fun read.
Morwenna's family was entertaining and I could picture all the antics that occurred at the cabin in the woods. I am sure I would have reacted a lot like Morwenna did since family can be embarrassing as heck at times.
If I ever see anything else by Heather Graham I would grab it to give it a try but I cannot see myself seeking out something else by Heather specifically.
The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco was my other reading choice for the car trip. Thankfully it held my attention better then Trick or Treat Murder. In a lot of ways it seemed to read like a soap opera but I was alright with that.
Amy-Faye while a bit clueless came off as a real person. I felt sorry for her at times, laughed at her antics, and could totally relate to the string of bad luck Amy-Faye seemed to run into.
Doug and Detective Hart were both great supporting characters. Though I fail to see how anyone could be as clueless as Doug since Amy-Faye's acting about her feelings towards him were totally see through most of the time. Normally I hate love triangles but since Doug had clearly moved on it just added to the chaos of everyday life seeing Doug oblivious to how Amy-Faye felt about him.
Since I read The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco a week ago I don't recall any complaints about the writing so it must have been about average.
Since I had a long car trip I wanted a fun easy read so I went with Trick or Treat Murder. Sadly it was not as good as I had hoped it would be.
Lucy Stone came off as a normal mother and that is where I had the problem. In no way could I relate to her at all since I have no children or a husband to demand my attention.
The writing was average and that is about I recall from Trick or Treat Murder since I read it over a week ago.
