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Ducklady (1174 KP) rated The Painted Man (the Demon Cycle, Book 1) in Books

Aug 25, 2019  
The Painted Man (the Demon Cycle, Book 1)
The Painted Man (the Demon Cycle, Book 1)
Peter V. Brett | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.4 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Beginning of a fantastic series
Contains spoilers, click to show
The painted man is about the world coming to its knees after demons have risen from the core and decimated the land and its people. The key part of this book seems to be how people deal with fear. Most people hide behind their wards of protection, a series of symbols designed to repel the demons that stalk the lands. Arlen is one of the main protagonists that watches his mother ripped to shreds by a demon while his father stands frozen in the spot in fear. The image of is father’s cowardice haunts Arlen until he makes the decision to flee into the naked night. I love Arlen as a character but find his constant hate of demons can make him a little one dimensional at times.
Leesha Paper is another protagonist that lives with her family in a small hamlet, the kind where everyone knows everyone. Leesha is smarter than most and consistently protracted as attractive. She becomes the hollow’s herb gatherer’s apprentice and excels at this. She holds onto her purity preciously and Bretts absolute destruction of this later on in the book is a powerfully tragic scene. I do feel like her absolute refusal to hurt her attackers is a little bit much.
The last protagonist is Rojer Half-Grip. He is a street performer that was orphaned young and is looked after by a drunken man whose cowardice caused his parents death. Rojer is a great character with a special power over the demons and the way he handles his master’s drunkenness and abrasiveness is admirable. He is a very well-written character that I felt, at this point in the series, had the most about him.
Overall, this book is a great start to a fantastic series that deserves more than one re-read.
  
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Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Ghost Slayer in Books

May 15, 2018  
Ghost Slayer
Ghost Slayer
Majanka Verstraete | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It’s not very often that I encounter a book that perfectly fits the mould for young adult fiction, but Majanka Verstraete’s Ghost Slayer does just that. The book is a pleasant, quick read that kept me just interested enough for me to devour it in a few days. Also, I find that it would appropriate for teens, even though its main character is a twenty-one year old college student.

Kaelyn isn’t your average college ghost hunter. She’s a bit more of a Winchester sort, with less flash and more stab. Fortunately for her, she’s got a ghost to deal with in an old haunted house and the an old flame on her mind. As if that’s not enough, something’s wrong with her powers! It’s a pretty standard paranormal plot, largely feeding off cliché haunted house movie tropes – which I feel is a great beginning place for teenagers.

Character-wise, we see much of the same themes. I don’t want to go into spoilers, but we do encounter a damsel, or rather several, damsels in distress as well as a strong female lead character. So I guess there’s that. I feel that main character’s love interest could have been a little less stereotyped and a bit more fleshed out, too. He was a tad too generic.

Overall, I liked several elements of this book. I think it finished more strongly than it began and had a few excellent concepts at its closing. I look forward to possibly checking out the second book. A special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy for the purpose of an unbiased review.
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Baby Teeth in Books

Mar 11, 2019  
Baby Teeth
Baby Teeth
Zoje Stage | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
7
7.7 (21 Ratings)
Book Rating Watch
Hanna is seven. She's a cute little thing in the eyes of her father, Alex, who thinks she can do no wrong. Hanna wants nothing more than life to be Hanna-and-Daddy forever. Her mother, Suzette, is exhausted by life with Hanna, which is nothing but endless manipulations, anger, tantrums, and now, escalating violence. Hanna doesn't speak, but she has her special ways of hurting her mother. She's been kicked out of several schools for her behavior, and Suzette is done. Even worse, Alex can't seem to acknowledge that something is off with Hanna's behavior.

"Every win for Hanna was a you-lose for Mommy."

I'd been putting off reading this book for a bit because I'd heard that it was creepy and disturbing, and I can confirm that yes, it is both of those things. Ha. I can't say I'm particularly glad that I read it, though it's an interesting read and certainly different. It mostly held my interest, but after all the hype, I found myself a little letdown: there really wasn't all that much to the story. I found myself waiting that twist, that something special that never came.

Still, Stage does an excellent job of capturing Hanna's child-like voice and telling a story from her unique perspective. The tale alternates between chapters from Hanna's perspective and then Suzette's, and I can't deny that you'll find yourself a little freaked out after reading Hanna's. The book is eerie and disturbing; it's hard to believe, yet not, as it's certainly effectively told. There are some tough moments to read and it's definitely not always for the faint of heart.

I had a tough time empathizing with our adult characters--our cast is mainly limited to the family unit, and I didn't care much for either Alex or Suzette. We are probably supposed to feel bad for Suzette, as she's struggling with both Hanna and failing health (having had Crohn's disease since childhood). And I did, at times, but she talked so much, and kept rehashing things, and I just wanted to shake her to wake up, get a grip, and deal with everything. So yeah. And her husband was just clueless and ugh.

Hanna was a much tougher one--as a parent, I found this one hard. Of course, you want to believe and care for a small child. Yet, you can also empathize with a mom who feels like they need a break from their child. I enjoyed how the book made you think about these kind of things as Hanna started to escalate. What would you do in this situation? How did things get to this point? That's where it is interesting. Some of the best parts are the oozing tension and unease that pervade the whole novel.

Unfortunately, it doesn't completely capitalize on that uneasiness, leaving you a little deflated by the end. I was actually hoping for a little more creepiness, a little less character-study. I definitely enjoyed pieces of this one, and I'd still recommend it due to how different it is.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).