this was interesting

Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo 

Fantasy, magic, abilities, monsters, orphan, young adult, fiction. 

Rating 7/10

Soldier and orphan Alina goes with her fellow soldiers into the Fold to discover and take down some of the monsters. She discovers that she has powers of a very powerful Grisha. She is taken to the King and enters his court. Not only that but she was an apprentice to The Darkling. She starts training and learning about how to use her powers. Not only that but she learns more about the new world she is in but she misses the simple life before this extravagant life she was forced into. The Darkling wants Alina to help him destroy the Fold. Something darker and sinister is brewing and Alina tries to decide what to do that is right. 

I saw that this book had a lot of hype and I didn’t understand. I read it and still don’t understand. I love writing and world building. Some of the characters seemed too cliched for my taste and I felt that I had read this before. Even though it’s fairly new, I read the trope before and didn’t really care for it. I know this is a part of a series but I will not continue the series as this didn’t get my attention that much.

Advertisement

a different type of Sea

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters – Rick Riordan

Children’s fiction, Greek gods, fantasy, demigods, gods, goddesses, fiction.

Rating 8/10

A year passes by and Percy is excited to attend another summer camp at Camp Half Blood. His mother tells him a cryptic message saying there is something he should know. Not even before the end of the school day, Annabeth arrives and informs Percy that there is trouble at the camp. He brings along a friend who is a baby cyclops named Tyson. They arrive at the Camp Half Blood and learn that the camp is in danger. Meaning that the haven for half-bloods is no longer safe. Percy gets cryptic messages from Grover in his dreams to come save him as well as get the item that is on the cyclops island that will heal the tree that was poisoned. Percy and Annabeth along with Tyson go on a perilous journey into the Sea of Monsters to save camp.

This was just as interestingly action packed as the first but a little short. We see more lore and mythology flushed out as the plot thickens. The characters develop more and their interactions as well. I do not like a novel that flushes out the lore of the world in one book, I like the breadcrumb method. What I love the most is that the Greek lore is adapted to the modern age and makes the literature more fun to read than the older classic literature such as the epic of The Iliad and the Odyssey. I feel this is more authentic telling with a modern twist so that it is not a snooze fest. I have yet found the Percy and Annabeth pairing interesting past friendship so far. So please bear with me as I still do not ship any character with anyone else. Sorry I do not think that Percy and Annabeth can be ship material unfortunately. Maybe this will be a first series that I do not ship anyone. Anyways, I found this entertaining as well. I cannot wait to read the next book.

another dark perspective…

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein- Kiersten White

Characters in literature, monsters, scientists, murder, Frankenstein, young adult, fiction. 

Rating 8/10

Elizabeth was orphaned at birth and was a great burden for her caregiver. Later on her caregiver hands her off into the Frankenstien household as Victor’s companion. She grew close to him and he grew close to her. After the death of his mother, he goes to university for a few years to resume further studies. When he doesn’t make contact Elizabeth for a few months becomes worried. She goes to find him herself and tries to make sense as to what happened. When she arrives, she finds him feverish and looks around his residence to find him collecting odd body parts. She worries for his mental state. He confesses to her that he failed and she should go back home and he would soon follow after he cleans up to start his research anew. A while after returning home, someone was found murdered and everyone is pointing fingers. Elizabeth finds the truth of who is the murderer and the murderer is Victor’s creation. 

I had been a fan of the Frankenstein novel by Mary Shelley who created science fiction because of a dare. That was a good book and I wished there was more to it. I found this novel that was about Elizabeth. This novel was great at doing the perspective of Elizabeth and the execution felt very science fiction with the side benefit of a thrill. The writing was excellent. The characters remained faithful to the original plot. I loved this novel but wished that this was longer but given it was only about Elizabeth only sort of was the downside. Either way I loved this novel and I do recommend this novel. This novel is more of a one sitting type of read honestly.