Tag Archives: reviews

Night Walker

Posted in Books by

Book: Night Walker by Lisa Kessler

Pages: 266 in Paperback, Published by Entangled

Night Walker is about Calisto Terana and Kate Bradley.  Calisto was a priest 250 years ago, while Kate was a Kumeyaay Indian.  They fell in love and Kate got pregnant.  Calisto decides to leave the priesthood but an overzealous has Kate killed, so Calisto becomes a Night Walker in order to have a second chance at loving Kate. 

250 years later, Kate leaves Reno after discovering her fiance was cheating on her.  She meets Calisto, and is determined to not get involved with anyone.  She finds herself drawn to Calisto, and eventually they get together.

The mysterious Fraternidad Del Fuego Santo want to prevent Kate becoming a Night Walker, and will stop at nothing to do so.  However, their attempt at preventing it threatens to destroy the relationship they have, but it fails, resulting in Kate becoming a Night Walker in order to save her life.

I really liked the book.  I was rather surprised that there was a paranormal romance for adults, since that seems to be something usually associated with 15-year-old girls.  But all the same, it was an enjoyable read. 

One thing I absolutely loved was the fact that it’s set in San Diego!  The Gaslamp Quarter was mentioned several times, as was the Mission de Alcala.  The beach was also a pretty common location.  The fact that I live in the place that the novel is set in really brought it to life since I could picture all of these places so well.  Okay, part of it is set in Reno, but that’s just a blip on my radar.

I liked the characters, but Kate was irritating at times, with her whole thing about not wanting to get involved with someone but getting involved with someone anyway.  Calisto was interesting, especially where the Fraternidad is concerned.  They were definitely mysterious, and I really wanted to know more about them. 

I give it a 4 out of 5.  Definitely intriguing, and I can’t wait to see who was watching them at the end of the novel.  I can’t wait for the next book!

A Game Of Thrones

Posted in Books by

Book:  A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Pages: 694 pages, hardcover, published by Bantam Books

I’m rather amazed I managed to finish this book.  Basically, it’s several different families fighting for the Iron Throne after the king dies.

Here’s the thing.  I get why people like this book.  I really do.  I, however, couldn’t get into it all and it’s not really for me.

First off, the characters were pretty standard for a political intrigue.  I was very indifferent about the characters, and could care less about them and the world they in live.  I just didn’t care what happened to them.  I know it’s only the first book in the series, and not everything is going to be revealed right off the bat, but still, make me care about one of them.  I don’t care who, I just want to care about someone. 

I’m not really sure why there needed to be so many viewpoints.  There are 8 that I counted.  The multiple POV’s didn’t work for me, especially since the character names that head each chapter could be changed with the setting for each chapter and have the same effect.  I felt like he couldn’t decide on a POV so he went with all of them.  

I’m not sure why this particular novel is considered fantasy.  Can someone please explain to me why this is considered fantasy?  Because I just don’t get it.  It reads as an alternate medieval history, with a few elements that seemed more like superstition or folklore as opposed to elements of fantasy. 

The one thing I thought was well done was the feel of the book.  It felt very historical and medieval, and Martin really did capture the essence of political drama and the fight for the throne.  It really did feel like historical fiction as opposed to fantasy… 

Overall, I have to give it a 1 out of 5.  It’s not my thing, and I felt like I had read it before.

The Alchemyst: The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel

Posted in Books by

Book: The Alchemyst: The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

Pages: 375 in Hardcover, Published by Delacorte Books

The Alchemyst is about Nicholas Flamel, who is immortal because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries.  He has the most powerful book on earth, the Book Of Abraham The Mage, which has secrets that can’t fall into the hands of John Dee.  Cue Sophie and Josh Newman, the twins who must save the world before it’s too late.

This book was just okay.  It ended up being more about Josh and Sophie than about Nicholas Flamel.  Not only that, but it felt cluttered with every god and goddess and a lot of name-dropping that will definitely date the book in a few years.

It was pretty generic, relied a lot on clichés, and the characters were pretty superficial.  It was mentioned at least once or twice that Josh and Sophie were not identical twins…they’re different genders, so if they were identical, I’d be concerned.  And then wonder why we never heard about twins of 2 different genders who were magically identical.

I was reminded of the Percy Jackson series when I was reading it- gods, goddesses and people living for centuries amongst regular people, prophecies, and a couple of 15-year-olds who need to save the world. 

I give it a 1 out of 5.  It’s far too generic for me to like it.

Cook 1.0

Posted in Books by

Book: Cook 1.0 by Heidi Swanson

Pages: 192 in Hardcover, Published by Stewart, Tabori, and Chang

For the last month or so, I’ve been reading and cooking from Cook 1.0 by Heidi Swanson.  I’ve made about 4 recipes and I wish I had more time to cook a couple other things that look really good.  But since I’ve had for 6 weeks, I think it’s time to return it to the library.

I really like Heidi’s blog, 101 cookbooks.  So when I saw that she had a few cookbooks, I knew I had to check them out from the library. 

I can honestly say that I LOVE how her cookbook is set up and organized.  It’s divided into different sections: chapter like breakfast, lunch, dinner and sides.  Each chapter is further divided into sections, which is cool.  It’s thought out very well, and it’s very easy to find recipes.  And the recipes themselves?  Everything is in table-format.  There are no long lists of ingredients or paragraphs for the recipes.  A quick glance, and you know where you should be and what you need to do next.  It’s very intuitive and it’s such a good vegetarian cookbook.  As much as I like tofu, it’s nice to see a cookbook that doesn’t rely a lot on tofu.   

The recipes are simple, with a lot of fresh ingredients.  I love that they don’t seem to take long to make- no more than 30 minutes for the ones I’ve made, and a lot of the recipes seem to be around the 30 minute mark. 

I also like the different variations that she has.  There are some basic recipes, and the variations of stir-fries, vinaigrettes, and flavored butters (amongst others) build on those basic recipes. 

 I give it a 5 out of 5.  It’s well-thought out, with good recipes.

The Wives Of Henry VIII

Posted in Books by

Book: The Wives Of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser

Pages: 482 in Hardcover, Published by Knopf

I really liked it.  Fraser was relatively unbiased, and it was a very impartial look at each of his wives.  Henry is rarely mentioned, and it’s a great look at each of his wives, with their own identity and personality.  It gives you a good overview of their lives and who they were as people.  I really appreciate the fact that it was more about the women as individuals as opposed to the men surrounding them. 

But in all honesty, I had some trouble sitting down and reading it.  It’s nothing against the book or Antonia Fraser, but this is the 3rd different book I’ve read about Henry’s wives, so at times, it was pretty repetitive.  However, it is the most readable of the 3 I’ve read, so I’m not sure if I could pick between Fraser’s book and Alison Weir’s book.

Fraser attempted to break down the stereotypes and myths of each woman, which I thought was an interesting take on them.  It worked okay, and for the most part, her telling seemed to be pretty standard. 

The narrative itself flowed pretty well, and it was also organized fairly well.  Some of the chapter divides were somewhat strange, and things included in one chapter (or section in some cases) were better suited being in the previous one. 

Overall, it gets a 4 out of 5.  It’s well-researched and pretty unbiased.

Fruits Basket, Volume 13

Posted in Books by

Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 13 by Natsuki Takaya

Pages: 190 in Paperback, published by Tokyopop

In Volume 13, Yuki has his parent-teacher conference, in which we meet his mother.  His mother is intent on deciding Yuki’s future, when Ayame shows up.  This gives Yuki the strength to tell his mother that he’ll decide his own future.  Tohru goes to the Sohma estate to see if Kureno Sohma is the same Kureno that Uotani is interested in.  While trying to find Kureno, she comes across Momo, who is Momiji’s little sister.  Tohru finally finds Kureno, who tells her that he has no intention of seeing Uotani.  They also go on their class trip, and a girl tells Kyo she likes him, but he pushes her away. 

With each passing volume, it seems like there’s more that happens.  Tohru’s relationship with Yuki is questioned by Kakeru, and when Kyo pushes away that girl, she wonders if he’ll push her away eventually.  I feel like this is the volume when things start to change between Kyo, Yuki and Tohru.  And since there are only 10 volumes left, things will start happening at a more rapid pace.

Like with every other volume, I love the artwork.  It really is getting better with each volume, and I love that you know what’s going on, even when there are no words.  Plus, seeing the fan art is cool, and we learn about the year of the horse. 

It gets a 5 out of 5, and it will only get better!

Angelfire

Posted in Books by

Book: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Pages: 453, Hardcover, Published by HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Teens

Angelfire is about Ellie, a 17-year-old girl who discovers that she is the Preliator.  It is her duty to hunt and kill the reapers that are out to prey on human souls. 

I love the whole idea of someone being reincarnated over and over for thousands of years to protect all humankind from Fallen Angels. It’s a classic good vs. evil story, with Ellie turning out to be Gabriel, but in human-form. 

The characters fell flat for me, though, and were pretty cliché and stereotypical.  I found Will to be the most interesting, and I wanted to know more about him and his past.  Ellie, on the other hand, was superficial and, at times, really irritating. 

It was an enjoyable book, and one that was a pretty fast read.  It was fun, and the fight scenes made it a lot more interesting.  The forbidden romance was pretty obvious from the moment that Will and Ellie met, and I have the distinct feeling that we’ll be seeing more of this series.  I LOVED the mythology of the book, and was glad that it actually made sense. 

As far as Ellie getting her “powers,” it was pretty standard- she gets introduced to them on her 17th birthday.  What wasn’t standard, though, was the fact that she grows into her powers.  It was pretty gradual, and even at the end of the book, she didn’t have a full grasp on her powers. 

I also want to know what’s going on with her dad.  You learn that he was a pretty good dad, and then one day…he randomly turned into a jerk, and Ellie and her mom don’t know why.  I was left with the feeling that this could be really important, but I suppose we’ll have to wait until the next book to find out what’s going on there. 

It gets a 3 out of 5.  It was enjoyable, but there wasn’t a lot that stood out to me.

The Dovekeepers

Posted in Books by

Book: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

Pages: 504, Hardcover

The Dovekeepers is about 4 women in Masada in 70 C.E. (common era, a generic form of A.D.).  Yael is the daughter of an assassin, and she and her father blame her for her mother’s death.  Revka was the wife of a baker, and she and her 2 grandson’s saw her daughter’s brutal murder by Roman soldiers.  Aziza is the daughter of a warrior and is raised as a boy.  She is both a fearless rider and an expert marksman.  And Shirah is steeped in knowledge of ancient magic and medicine, and has amazing insight and power. 

The Dovekeepers is inspired by 900 Jews who held out for months against the Roman army on a mountain in the Judean desert and Hoffman clearly did her research, because the details are so well-done and they bring the story to life.  All four women have their own stories, and it was great to see this story from a woman’s perspective. 

The novel is divided into 5 sections- one for each woman, plus one that’s an epilogue.  It’s also spans 7 years- the lives of the 4 women span three years, while the epilogue takes place 4 years after that, describing what had happened and how 2 women and 5 children were the only survivors out of a group that had committed mass suicide rather than submit to Rome. 

I loved seeing where the women came from and how they got to be who they were, as well as the connections between them and some of the others at the fortress.  And in the context of an actual event, it was rich with details and history.  Men are not portrayed in a wholly positive light, but characters are not what they seem to be.  The Dovekeepers is full of shades of grey and that things are not always easy. 

I loved the writing and Hoffman has a way of making you feel things so deeply.  I don’t know much about the time period, but after reading this book, I definitely want to know more, so I may have to look for some more books to read…It gets a 4 out of 5 for good writing and an interesting story.

Wanted

Posted in Books by

Book: Wanted by Sara Shepard

Pages: 111, Hardcover

Wanted is book #8 in the Pretty Little Liars series.  And if I thought that book # 7 was action-packed, there a lot to think about in Wanted. 

Since the girls think that Ali’s real killer is on trial, they all start feeling relaxed.  That doesn’t last long, because Ali has an identical twin named Courtney.  She’s spent her life in institutions because of “health issues” and her existence is kept a secret by her family.  However, once being released from the hospital, she tries to resume her sister’s life, and has tentative relationships with her sister’s old friends. 

Courtney later reveals that she is the real Alison, and has the proof to back it up.  Her twin, Courtney, pretended to be Alison on the night of the murder, and while the girls were skeptical, they begin to trust her.  The girls, however, are surprised to learn that she is both A and the killer. 

It turns out that the Ali that the girls had befriended years earlier was actually Courtney, who managed to trick everyone into believing she was Alison.  The real Alison was sent to the Preserve and was angry at the girls for unknowingly ruining her life.  That’s why she tried to kill them in the woods, why she killed Jenna (who found out years earlier) and is now trying to kill them by setting the Di Laurentis’ Poconos house on fire and trapping them inside. 

They learn Alison killed Ian and kidnapped Spencer’s sister Melissa, but the Liars and Melissa manage to get in time.  Alison, trapped inside the house, is assumed to be dead, but her body is never found.  It’s hinted that she’s still alive, and moved somewhere else, living under an assumed name. 

So, it’s definitely a little convoluted, but still a good read.  Everything seems to be resolved, and it’s supposed to be the last book in the series.  But since there are at least 3 more, it seems like Shepard is going to get as much out of the series as she possibly can.  Don’t get me wrong, the books are good, and I enjoy them, but at some point, I’d just like to see the series be resolved and come to a real conclusion. 

It still gets a 4 out of 5, though.

Darkness Under The Water

Posted in Books by

Book: Darkness Under The Water by Beth Kanell

Pages: 320, Hardcover

This book was not good.  It’s about an Abenaki-French-Canadian girl who lives in Vermont in the 1920’s.  Molly realizes that her family, and others like them, are being target by the government to get rid of certain segments of the population. 

As far as a novel about a state-run eugenics program that targets the Abernaki tribe, it utterly failed.  Not only did the author not really talk about either, it’s hard to see this being aimed at young adults.  There was one scene in particular, where Molly’s mom goes into early labor, and it was more detailed than it really needed to be.  There’s also the fact that Molly and her grandma believe that Molly’s mom was sterlized so that she can’t have any more children.  It’s also implied that the nurses who are in town for the eugenics project smothered the baby. 

Another thing that bothered me was the fact that Molly’s dead older sister Gratia talked to her somewhat frequently.  It got annoyed, and it served no purpose whatsoever.  Plus, it was really boring, and the characters didn’t stand out.  I couldn’t relate to them, or to what was happening. 

It gets a 1 out of 5.