Friday 56: The Chess Queen Enigma

This is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

1. Grab a book, any book.

2. Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.

3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 

4. Post it.

5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most Friday 56 post.

 

The Chess Queen Enigma page 56:

I walked gingerly, taking great care not to catch my slender heels on any layers of skirt, petticoat, or lace flounced. It seemed as if every time I encountered Inspector Grayling, I was either tripping, falling, or dripping wet from an unexpected swim. 

The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian is the fifth book in Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It has been several months since I read the previous books in the series so my memory was a little rusty on some of the small plot points.

Percy is approaching his sixteenth birthday and the time of the prophecy is coming close. Having no choice but to accept his destiny Percy does not run from his duty but instead tries to embrace it. Despite Percy having aged four years he still acts like a twelve year old at times. While a lot is going on around him I was expecting to see some fear from Percy. Having dealt with many threats I was expecting Percy to realize he was mortal and could die. Sadly I never really saw that side of Percy. Overall I was left wanting more development and growth from Percy.

All in all I felt like The Last Olympian was a weak ending to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. As far as I know no other full novels just some shorter stories. Things were just left open ended and I was not a huge fan of how things ended.

City of Glass

City of Glass is the third book int he Mortal Instruments series. I really wanted to love City of Glass sadly it was all I could do to finish it. I found it completely boring.

I kept waiting for some big transformation for Clary but that never really happened. Sure Clary worked at perfecting making new runes but it was not presented in a way strong enough to keep my interest in the story.

Jace continued to be Jace without any real direction with his character growth. I was disappointed in him as well. He continued to behave like a child.

Simon was my favorite character in City of Glass. He seems to have adjusted to being a vampire and continues to be there for his friends. It is nice seeing one character not throwing a fit every time they do not get their way.

Part of the hype about City of Glass could be why I disliked it so much. People kept telling me it was amazing and the best in all the series so I kept waiting for something amazing to happen. Sadly that never happened for me. Since I do have the fourth book sitting here I will read it eventually.

Opposition

Opposition was an interesting conclusion to the Lux series. Overall the series did not really turn out how I thought I would but I enjoyed it.

Katy has grown so much as a character. I love how Katy is never scared to hide who she is or speak up if she thinks something is not the way it should be. In so many ways I admire her for her courage to be outspoken. A few times I did think some of the things Katy did and said were a bit unbelievable for a teenage girl however it did not ruin my love for Katy as a character.

Daemon started out in the series as a total jerk by the end he was still kind of a jerk. While I don't dislike Daemon he is not one of my all time favorite characters for sure. Several times I just wanted Katy to smack him. However it was inspiring to see Daemon never give up no matter the odds against him.

The writing seemed a bit weaker as the series progressed. Lots more intimate time and less plot in spots. By the time I got to Opposition I was a bit bored reading about Katy and Daemon kissing all the time. Sure they are young and in love but reading about it every few pages got old fast. All in all I am happy I read the Lux series and had a lot of fun journeying with Katy and Daemon on their adventures.

Origin

Origin is the fourth novel in the Lux series.

Katy was awesome in Origin, she has grown so much as an individual. Despite all the crazy stuff going in her life Katy holds onto who she is and I adore her for that. Instead of curling into a little ball and losing herself Katy does every single thing she can to fight back. While she always seemed to enjoy a good sarcastic argument with Daemon Katy has turned that into her weapon of choice against Daedalus. 

Seeing things from Daemon's point of view was interesting but I am not a huge fan of it when book series divert from the way the first book is written. Therefore I have mixed feelings about points of view switching back and forth. Makes sense why it happened just not my personal preference. Despite that I did like knowing what Daemon was thinking at times and it gave more insight into who Daemon is developing him further. Instead of a sarcastic jerk who always seems sure of himself Daemon comes off as more sincere and gentle. 

Once again the writing was lovely, elegant, and well done. I loved how new plot twists were added seamlessly despite Opposition being the conclusion to the series. I eagerly look forward to reading Opposition.

Opal

Thankfully Opal was far more entertaining then Onyx.

I really love how Katy has matured throughout the series but it manifested a lot in Opal. Instead of trying to solve everything herself Katy is not going to Daemon and they are learning to solve problems together. A united team that is much stronger together then apart and both of them have seemed to learn that lesson well.

Daemon still has some growing to do but I see why he is so overprotective. Being tasked with keeping his sister and other Lux safe since he is so strong it is all he knows so it has to be hard to overcome that. I do hope he does learn to let people help him and not take it as a showing a sign of weakness.

Once again I noticed some typos, I did a couple double takes on some but not enough I did not enjoy the story. The writing is elegant and fast paced. Origin is already checked out from the library and I cannot wait to start it.

Onyx

Onyx is the second books in the Lux series. Sadly for me it suffered the dreaded second book syndrome. Parts were annoyingly hard to read.

All I wanted to do throughout Onyx was take Katy and shake her, she was far too gullible and naive. Despite many warnings from Daemon who risked everything to keep her safe Katy shakes off his advice and does what she wants. Not the best thing to do when dealing with unknown alien factors in your life suddenly.

Daemon was really aloof in Onyx but it made sense for him. He was majorly jealous and worried about his family. Despite his issues Daemon stays true to himself and I do like that about him. He is not about to back down and let his family or Katy go into harms way alone.

I was sad that Onyx had less Dee time since I really like Dee. She is a funny character who brings a lot of light and love into the room whenever she is around.

I did notice a couple typos but nothing that kept me from enjoying the book itself. I look forward to reading Opal the next story in the Lux series.

Obsidian

For over a year my friend has recommended Obsidian to me and I finally got to it. All I can say is I should have listened to my friend and read it way sooner.

Katy is totally awesome and I seriously want her as a best friend. Witty, stubborn, and self reliant are a few of my favorite things about Katy. In no way does she think or act like she needs a guy in her life for it to be complete so that was wonderful. The intense conversations between Katy and Daemon were my favorite part and I love the way they argue.

I was hoping Daemon would grow on me but as of now I still think he is a jerk. He is just too cocky and confident for me to really like him. That might change as the series continues though.

The writing was lovely, flowed well, and the story made sense. At no point was I going what is going on which frequently happens for me when I read stories with aliens. I eagerly look forward to reading Onyx.

Naught Neighbor

Naughty Neighbor was a fun read and I found myself laughing throughout the story several times. I actually had to stop reading due to laughing so hard a few times.

Louisa has played it safe all her life, safe job, safe attitude, and not confronting anyone about anything. That all changes for Louisa when her upstairs neighbor, Pete, finally drives her to the point of confronting him. Instead of telling Pete off and going their separate ways the two become entangled in a political mystery. 

I did not notice a couple mistakes but I enjoyed the story so much I did not care. While I don't follow the Stephanie Plum series anymore I would consider giving another one of Janet Evanovich's stand alone stories a try.

The New Me

I have a really bad habit of taking every Free Friday book on my Nook so I figured it was time I read one. I knew nothing about The New Me going into it. While it was short it was actually a fun read.

Everything started out with a bang, the end was the first chapter in a way yet I did not mind that. It was fun to see the end result and have the transformation revealed that led up to the end. While I am not sure it would work for every type of book it fit The New Me well.

Harriet was a bit blind it seemed, everyone around her seemed to know what was going on with her marriage and majorly immature husband except her. I got the impression Harriet knew subconsciously what was going on but decided it was easier to ignore everything until it blew up.

While I enjoyed The New Me it is not a genre I really want to actively pursue. The writing was smooth and flowed well so it was not a chore to read it in any part.

J. K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter

Normally I read autobiographies and not biographies but since I have always wondered about Mrs. Rowling I decided to give The Wizard Behind Harry Potter a try.

Sadly things were not what I thought they would be at all. Mainly it consisted of quotes Mrs. Rowling made during interviews and what seemed like a lot of assumptions to fill in the gaps. Since Mrs. Rowling was not involved in the book I find it hard to believe the Marc Shapiro knew what she was thinking. If I ever try another story of Mrs. Rowlings life it will have to be in the autobiographies category.