JennyJen

*Spoilers marked.

=/

Unfortunately, I cannot. I cannot even pretend to care anymore. I wanted to care about this last Cat & Bones installment, but I just don't have it in me.

Truth be told, I was never a diehard fan, just a "regular" fan. I've liked, but have never loved these books. I've liked, but have never loved Cat & Bones. Particularly, Bones has annoyed me repeatedly over the course of the series. I saw him go from kinda hot/interesting hero to completely whiny, insecure man-child. He's gotten a bit better in the last couple of books, but by then, the rest of the story had fallen apart. It's been stretched farther than necessary at this point, so a definitive ending is a blessing.

The series, as a whole, hit its stride, then plummeted down into disappointmentville, and eventually rose back up to just mere mediocrity. It pays to leave your fans wanting more, rather than exasperated and counting the pages until its finally over.

At least it's over now.

I ended up DNF'ing this at 20%. I had my friend Aly completely spoil me, because, though I was bored, I really wanted to know how it all ended. BOY, am I glad I went that route. From her detailed account, I gathered that this book heads into the realm of ridiculousness. It sounds like a lame Lifetime movie crossbred with a cheesy Syfy one. Talk about reaching and left field. Wtf, I say.

Why do authors go out of their way to force HEA's, replete with "childrens", onto their MC's? Why sacrifice a good story to finagle some weird kid into their lives? Why do kids have to even be in the picture? Mangling all that which we know and love about a series just so that the last image we have of the characters is that of them and their offspring walking off into a sunset. Or, in this case, a moonrise. Or whatever. Corny.

And don't get me started on Vlad's storyline. MAN, I loved me some Vlad once. Not so, after his corny-ass spinoff where he became some weird overly-sexual and possessive stranger. What will become of him now? Does anyone care? I'm not invested in his series anymore and even I'm pissed about this new development.

(show spoiler)

Just, whatever.

Anywho, I won't drag this out any further. I wouldn't want the quality of my review to suffer...

Farewell Cat & Bones. No love lost here, obviously.

9%
There are clearly going to be some bitter pills to swallow in this one.


35%
I'm really loving the interactions between the two main characters. I'm buying what they're selling.

Also, I haven't rolled my eyes once. That's high praise for YA.

 

39%




54%
I am swooning so hard right now. And errrybody knows what a rarity that is.






65%
All kinds of feels. =/

Marie Rutkoski, y u slay me?

*No spoilers.
                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, science! I hope you like it, because this book is all science, all the time. Oh, and math. Mathematical science and scientific math. Yeah! Lol. You would think that this combo would make for a boring book, but you'd be wrong.

There is a man. He's stuck on Mars. On Mars. He's the only human on that entire barren planet. Wrap your mind around that for a moment. You might think that with strong convictions and a little determination, you could survive on Mars. No. No, you couldn't. It takes a special kind of person to pull off surviving on Mars for any amount of time. It takes a person that is 1/4 botanist, 1/4 astronaut, 1/4 awesome and 1/4 frikkin MacGyver, because that shit is rough. Even with all of those things under your belt, the odds are still way not in your favor.

The logistics of trying to survive on Mars are so beyond my comprehension, that it's mind-boggling. This isn't like "taking the wrong hiking trail and getting lost for three weeks in a forest" type of survival. This is "trying to survive with little resources in a hostile and completely alien environment that is actively trying to kill you at all times" type of survival. This is "perfectly exact calculations and very precise knowledge" type of survival. This is insane type of survival.

I've never read a book that was so scientifically technical that wasn't a science textbook, but unlike those much-hated tomes, this was interesting science. It was fascinating to see this astronaut encounter problem after problem and watch him work through solutions. Many of the issues were harrowing experiences, so you'll be on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what he'll do next.

This is one plucky guy. I don't use the term MacGyver lightly when I say that this guy was frikkin MacGyver. Luckily, everything was extremely believable and not once did I question anything that happened in the entire book. Am I a scientist? No. Am I a botanist? No. Am I MacGyver? Debatable. Do I have solid proof that all of the science in this book is verifiably accurate? No. But I believed all of it. To my simple mind, it sounded really good and very well-researched.

I like to think that I'm the type to push forward and persevere in times of crisis, but I'm pretty sure that after a couple of sols on Mars, I'd be close to throwing in the towel. Even if I thought I could survive and be the only human on Mars for the rest of my life, once I realized that I would have to live a life without Twinkies, Fritos and steaks, I would definitely throw in the towel and go out Total Recall style.

                                               Because a life without Twinkies or an acceptable generic equivalent is not a life worth living.

To add to the believable and highly palatable awesomeness of the MC, he was also hilarious.

"I can't wait till I have grandchildren. When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars!"


I laughed out loud too many times to count.

The best part of this book is never knowing how it will end. There are only a few options. Either he'll get off the planet and get back to Earth or he'll spend the rest of his days on Mars as the lone Martian. Maybe he'll die a fiery death and the book will end on a sad, but poignant note. You'll never guess, because all options are viable, so you'll read the whole book with anticipation and interest.

For some, this book will be too technical. I love science and I love a good survival story, so, to me, the whole thing was fascinating. Some people enjoy books that are more focused on character interactions and emotions. There are secondary characters in this story, but this is a man on Mars. He's going to spend a lot of time alone and he's going to be dealing with his situation the entire time. Just keep that in mind. That being said, I highly recommend this one. Despite being chockfull of the ever-dreaded science and math, there's never a dull moment here.

ARC provided by publisher for review.

Any quotes used are subject to change in published book.

Free for Kindle today, 2/1/14 & tomorrow, 2/2/14.

Hmm. There was one glaring thing that I didn't like about this book, but then there are a couple things that I thought were really interesting and unique about it. Needless to say, I'm torn.

My initial reaction is three stars, but it's possible my rating might go a little higher once I sit down and really review this. Must ponder.

Review to come.

Per Tandie, this is Curran's long lost sister.

Ugh. Just ugh. I haven't written this review, yet, but it will come. Some words need to be said.

*Spoilers clearly marked.

 

3.5 stars.

 

Can I say that I’m completely satisfied with the ending to one of my most beloved series? No, but it wasn’t a complete disappointment, either. It was okay. Truth be told, this book had a lot to live up to, given that both Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night were amazing. I had hoped the end would blow me away and leave me smiling ear to ear. Instead, I was a bit deflated to find myself rushing through the last few chapters so that I’d just be done with it already. I hadn’t gotten the feels that I’d so anticipated and I knew it was too late. They weren’t coming.

Although I feel that Rossi’s writing has been superb throughout, it’s her characters and their relationships that really shine. Watching Aria and Perry fall for each other and then grow into their beautiful, loving, healthy relationship has been a pleasure. Why then is there so much discord between them in this book? It’s fairly short-lived, but what I wanted from this book was an Aria-n-Perry-sitting-in-a-tree FEST. There aren’t any more books for them to give me that. This was it. There just wasn’t any oomph to their interactions – not even the positive ones. It was all very cursory. Sadness.

And then there is Perry and Roar’s relationship. Best bromance evar. Why then is there so much discord between them in this book? For the first half of the book, my heart broke for Roar and his grief, but I also disliked him immensely, because he behaved so pettily. It was so strange to feel this way towards him, because I’ve absolutely loved him throughout the series. I expected better of him by now. Perry handled the situation with much grace and I was impressed, once again, at how steadfast he is and has always been. Perry is just a lovely character. A character of great integrity. He hasn’t always made the best choices, but he holds strong in his convictions that his choices are for the good of his people. I love that he didn’t let Roar rouse him. Especially when he, too, was grieving and could have used that as an excuse to lash out. Good on Perry for taking the higher road, but it saddens me that Roar behaved in such an out-of-character way. I wanted this book to be one last, long dose of that unbreakable bond and their easy camaraderie. It didn’t really happen.

As for Aria, just blah. She had her own separate storyline going and I gotta say that I couldn’t care any less about it. Introducing a new character so near the end is never a great move. The book suffered for it, me thinks. There wasn’t enough time or substance to make me care about the character or their effects on Aria. At least her relationship with Roar stayed strong. There was at least that.

I still can’t, for the life of me, figure out what the hell Soren would ever see in Aria? That he would try to court her so suddenly was bizarre and forced. Is Aria irresistible now? Was it not enough that he did all the things he did? Why would this guy go through all the trouble of scheming and plotting his way into the Still Blue, just to immediately focus all his efforts into courting some teenaged girl? Within days he’s trying to have dinner with her? It was all so corny. I felt like it was some serious reaching. Like there was nothing else left in the story, so it was just tossed in.

I’m glad that, at the very least, Rossi didn’t try to convince us of Perry’s “death”. I’m glad that part of the story was transparent.

(show spoiler)

Again, this isn’t a bad book. It’s just not up to the standards of its predecessors. There was little that stood out and it didn’t produce the same warm feelings the two previous books have. It was an acceptable story with an anticlimactic end.

I want to be absolutely clear that, despite my disappointment with this book, I still recommend the series. As I said, it's not up to par, but it's still better than most YA, because it's a lovely story with lovely and endearing characters that break the YA mold. I still think everyone should give it a go.

I won’t tell you not to read this, because, as always, some people loved it and, at the very least, it’s an acceptable ending. Also, how could any UTNS fan not read it? But, don’t go into it expecting what you’ve previously gotten from this series. If you’re wanting those kind of feels, I suggest you reread the first two books.

Not going to finish this one. I read 46%. I typically one-star all DNFs, but, in this case, it's not the book's fault. Some dummy spoiled me and I immediately lost interest in reading this. I just fucking hate spoilers and I can't stand reading a book waiting for something to happen. I don't enjoy what I'm reading when I read that way.

What I did read of it was decent. Not amazing, but entertaining enough. I would liken this to that old show ER, but on another planet with a shit load of aliens. I don't know if I'll ever pick it up again, but it is what it is.

Sorry, book. It's not you, it was that asshole who spoiled me.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of this one. I’ve seen the movie a lot of times. A LOT of times. Despite its poor quality special effects and overzealous acting, it’s a seriously creepy movie that goes to some very ugly places. Rest assured, the book does, too.

I was pretty surprised to see that the movie is nearly word-for-word like the book. That threw me off at first, because it all seemed so anticlimactic. With as many times as I’ve seen the movie, how could anything in this book surprise me? But, though the plot was extremely familiar, the writing really grabbed me. Even with knowing how certain scenes would play out, the author’s perfect wording put a like-new sheen on everything. Made the two experiences unique, despite their being very little differences between the paper and reel versions.

Blatty can induce a cringe like it’s nobody’s business. He was also fantastic at setting the perfectly creepy mood. No details are spared here and it all works beautifully to both intrigue and repel you. There were a lot of perfectly-placed words and abrupt phrases that made big impacts. I am, though, left wondering how I would have pictured this, had I not already had a brain full of imagery. That's just curiosity speaking.

The one negative is that it’s wordy. I wouldn’t say it’s Stephen King-level wordy, but still. It’s pretty wordy. Especially because a lot more focus is put on diagnosing Regan’s condition. In the movie, a lot of that is glossed over and condensed, but here, you have to read through Father Karras’ inner musings and a couple of doctors’ testings and findings. This didn’t detract too much from the story, but it did create lulls in between the real action and what we all came for – REGAN’S CREEPY ASS. The scenes with possessed Regan are scary and disconcerting as expected. I just wish there were more.

All in all, The Exorcist is definitely one of the better horror books I’ve read, if only because of its uniqueness and the author’s ability to go to CREEPY-ASS places.



Buddy read with Shandra and Athena.

I think if I read 55% of a book and I don't even slightly like it, it's safe to say DNF.

Long and intricate story that was far from what I typically read. I definitely enjoyed it.

Review to come.

*No spoilers.

4.5 stars.

This was fun and better than I anticipated. The more I think about it, the more I realize how good it was.

Think Sirantha Jax (with nowhere near the relationship angst) and Firefly.

I've been looking for a new series like this to get in to. You give me space, interstellar travel, spaceships, aliens and alien planets and I'm happier than a pig in shit. This book had all o' dat with a badass MC to boot.

Devi is military-trained and deadly. She's tough as balls and super-disciplined. She takes her job seriously, considers her weapons her babies and pampers her precious armor more than she pampers herself. This is no frilly woman. She's promiscuous and unapologetic about it and has no qualms going after the dude she wants (or just wants to bed). Can I get a HELL YEAH? I'm so sick of virginal MCs who chastise themselves for being sexual beings. It doesn't always have to be lovemaking, FFS. There's no shame in Devi.

She has her flaws. She's a bit strong-headed and she tends to barge ahead, but she didn't do any one thing thing that made me wanna choke her. She made missteps, but they were all swallow-able. New word. I especially enjoyed her inner voice and her rationalizations. She methodically tries to piece things together and she always touched upon everything my own logical self would have thought on. None of that "MC is too stupid to see what is clearly in front of her face just to drag this shit out" shit. Bravo.

Her ambition has made her set her sights on becoming a Devastator. That's the tip of the top in the mercenary world. It doesn't get more badass than that. As you can imagine, it's not something that's easily attainable. Some people wait a decade to make it. To speed the process up, Devi quits her job and joins the crew of a notorious spaceship - The Fool. She's heard that if she can survive a year onboard that vessel, she's a shoe-in for the Devastators. It doesn't all go as planned.

The storyline was decent at first and I kinda guessed the formula it would have, but I was wrong on (almost) all fronts. There's some seriously fishy stuff going on and after a certain point, I was glued. To be honest, I can't say I got any answers, but it was so interesting to read that I didn't mind. I can't really say more than that, except to say that I thought this was very cleverly written. I really enjoyed the twists.

Definitely an original story, so far.

There are slew of characters that make up the ragtag crew and I found them mostly endearing. Those that weren't endearing were definitely entertaining. I can see myself growing very attached to most of them in the rest of the series.

Only one aspect of the book brought down the rating for me. My constant arch nemesis - the romance.

Look. I probably come off as such a romance hater to everyone, but that's untrue. I ship quite a few fictional couples. My friends can attest to that. I'm very picky about romance, because I cannot stomach clichés and tropes. While the romance here wasn't terrible, I just wasn't buying it by the end. The way I see it, there was enough for a very strong attraction and some tender feelings towards one another. There should be no mention of love. Not even at 90%.

I'm also not loving the hero. He's aight. He may possibly grow on me, because, truth be told, he's really nice and fairly normal. He's not an asshole. He's respectful. He's hot. It's just that I don't like that whole pull her in and push her away thing. He only does it once, but I'm not that into him, yet, to just let it slide.

And that's my biggest complaint. The romance isn't awful, it could just have been better. That's coming from a super-picky non-romance lover. YMMV.

I'm pretty impressed with this one. It's a first in a series, but rather than waste a lot of time info-dumping to introduce you to the world, it dives right into the action and gives it to you piece by interesting piece.

I would have dove right into book 2, if I would have had it, BECAUSE THAT ENDING. +_____+

I recommend this one to space opera/sci-fi lovers for sure. If you've been curious about space opera, this is absolutely a great intro to the genre. It's typical and atypical. ^_^

I gotsta have it.

CHEAH.




Commence celebration:

Buddy read with ma girls on 5/5. ^_^

Ang, Kathylill, Khanh the Rude, & Sarah.