Unfortunately, this wasn't my favorite reading month. I read six books, but a few were duds for me. The did read three books that I really, really liked. Since I enjoyed reading the Percy Jackson series earlier this year, I decided to continue on my Rick Riordan journey and began listening to The Heroes of Olympus series. Are you a Riordan fan? Did you read either of these series?
The Westing Game
♥♥♥ (3 out of 5)
Written by Ellen Raskin; A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger - and a possible murderer - to inherit his vast fortune, one thing's for sure: Sam Westing may be dead... but that won't stop him from playing one last game!
A quick, enjoyable read! I may have only given it three stars, but I did like this book. I found the characters realistic and the mystery intriguing and I had no idea how it was going to end, which made me want to keep reading. However, the clues were just plain weird and it wasn't as thrilling or exciting as I'd hoped it would be. I did enjoy the twist at the end!
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The Girl on the Train
♥♥♥ (3 out of 5)
Written by Paula Hawkins; Rachel takes the same commuter train every day and watches the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Their life is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking and Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
I will say that this book was entertaining and made me want to keep reading to find out what really happened, BUT (and that's a big but) I found the plot slow, the characters unlikable, and the ending unsatisfying. I saw the ending coming a mile away. Oddly enough, I didn't mind that Rachel was an alcoholic, even though I know it bothered some other people, but what really annoyed me was that her warped way of thinking only seemed to happen when it would further the plot and mess things up, and the rest of the time she was somewhat intelligent. Honestly, I just wanted to smack all of these characters.
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The Woods, Vol. 3: New London
♥♥♥♥♥ (5 out of 5)
Written by James Tyrion IV, Michael Dialynas, and Josan Gonzalez; 437 students from Bay Point Preparatory High School in suburban Milwaukee, WI vanished without a trace. Countless light years away, they find themselves in the middle of an ancient, primordial wilderness. In Volume 3, with Clay and the Duke teaming up to try and force the school into servitude for the New London army, the kids need to think up a plan to save their peers, and fast.
This series is incredible! It really is like Lost on a strange planet. You connect so strongly to the main characters, there are crazy woods, there's scary, strange animals, and there's something alive on this planet that wants something from them. It's amazing! There are allies and enemies everywhere, and at first you don't know who is good and who is bad, which makes this story so great. This volume was fantastic -- the teens saw that it's possible to survive on this planet because the people of New London have been there for 200 years, but the question is do they want to find a semi-comfortable life here or do they want to find a way home?
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Paper Girls, Vol. 1*
♥♥♥ (3 out of 5)
Written by Brian K. Vaughn, Cliff Chiang, and Matthew Wilson; In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.
I've never read Saga, but I've heard great things about it, so I decided to read this. It's a good start; it's not amazing, but the characters are believable and individual and the story is intriguing enough that I want to read more. It's a little confusing at first. And the girls don't seem like they're 12. They seem more like they're 14 to 16 to me. The art is very colorful and I really like it.
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♥♥♥♥ (4 out of 5)
Written by Marie Rutkoski; War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?
An incredible, powerful, emotional, and beautiful ending to this trilogy! We need to talk about the writing first: Just wow. Maria Rutkowski knows how to weave beautifully intricate, delicate, and emotional sentences. She knows just how to say what the character is feeling. This book (the whole trilogy really) is equally driven by character and plot, which makes this series so devourable. The characters and plot are intertwined and sometimes you don't know which is pushing the story forward, which I found fascinating and wonderful. It can be hard to read the ending to a much-loved series, but Rutkowski gave us exactly what we wanted and needed. My one issue with this story is something that happens early in the story and it's always been a pet peeve of mine in books. (Read the spoilery review on Goodreads.)
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♥♥♥♥ (4 out of 5)
Written by Rick Riordan; Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?
I enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, don't get me wrong, but I really, really like the start to the Heroes of Olympus series! The Lost Hero is darker, sassier, and more mature. While Percy, AnnaBeth, and Grover will always have a special place in my heart, Jason, Piper, and Leo are just so awesome. I LOVE snarky, wise-cracking Leo, cool and collected Jason, and smart and bad-ass Piper. They make such a great team, which made going on this journey with them so much fun. I did take a point away because towards the middle of their quest it got kind of slow, but the ending is so intriguing.
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I must recommend reading the book The Girl on the Train: A Novel.
ReplyDeleteI finished reading it today, and I think its a very interesting book.
I got mine off Amazon and they delivered it in just 2 days.
Here's a link for the book on Amazon:
http://amzn.to/2bmQFNj