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Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Cerulean Monarch in Books

Apr 6, 2020

I enjoyed how the professor encouraged the kittens to solve the mystery themselves and encouraged independence. (0 more)

Similarly to the first book I did not care for all the cat puns. (0 more)

Honest Review for Free Copy of Book

The Cerulean Monarch by Prashanti Talluri follows directly in the footsteps of The Core Fulcrum and continues the adventures of Goldie and his friends. Once again the kittens are left to save the world.

The beginning of the second semester at Meow Wow High School promises to be just as interesting as the first semester was. At the high school, there is a secret room in the library that houses special or secret information. During the pre-opening cleaning of the school, the librarian hears strange noises but the source of the sound is not discovered until later.

Goldie and the other members of the “Curiosity Kills the Cat” class are brought in with their professor to solve the mystery of what happened in the secret library. They must be careful because a traitor or spy is suspected. The class is split into two teams to work on this case and once again Goldie finds himself pitted against Hisky and his gang. The only clue they have is petrified remains, ferrofluids, and an image of Ocspires (an extent amphibian in their world). That's not much to go on if they are to save their species once again.

I enjoyed how the professor encouraged the kittens to solve the mystery themselves and encouraged independence. Though with how important solving this was to the cat world I would have thought the professor would have been more involved from the start. Similarly to the first book I did not care for all the cat puns. I understand that this is because of it being a cat world, but I did not find it enjoyable. The strange spellings and combined or made-up words also took away from the book.

Young readers will enjoy this book the most, in part because they tend to be more forgiving of made-up stuff. Also, their imagination probably won’t try to reject the world built up in these books nearly as much. I rate this book 2 out of 4. Yet again there were just too many strange things in this book. At times it was almost like this book was about humans then it shifts gears and the characters are cats (or cat-like) again.

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Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Pretties (Uglies, #2) in Books

Apr 20, 2020

Pretties (Uglies, #2)

Scott Westerfeld | 2005 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)

8.2

(17 Ratings)

Book Rating

Contains spoilers, click to show

Pretties is the second book in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. I loved the first book a lot, and I had to continue the series!

In the first book, we are introduced to a world where beauty means everything. People are born as Uglies, and once they turn 16, they undergo plastic surgery and become Pretties.

Tally is still an Ugly, and all she ever wants to do is become a Pretty. After all, all of her friends are already Pretties. But she meets Shay, who doesn’t want to become pretty, and during amazing adventures in the first book, Tally discovered that there is much more in the world than just being a Pretty.

If you haven’t read the first book yet, please be aware that this review will contain SPOILERS. If you want to know more though, I would suggest reading my review of the first book, Uglies.

In Pretties, Tally is now a Pretty herself. She is completely different, until one day a person from the old crew pays her a visit. She can vaguely remember some things, and a challenge is in front of her. A letter from herself from the past will make her remember why she is a Pretty now and what she needs to do next.

But accepting such a task means danger of being found out and silenced forever. But if she succeeds, she might actually find a cure to being a Pretty.

My Thoughts
Filled with adventure, I read this book in only a few sittings. I am in love with the world the author created, and the moral dilemmas he tests us on. The chapters and scenes are vivid, entertaining and never dull.

I did, however, struggle with characterisation. Even though I am a huge fan of Tally, she wasn’t much different from any other character. They were all sort of the same, believing in almost the same things, and not much else was said. I would really have loved to see more perspectives from the Specials, but I think that is coming in the third book, which gets me all the more excited.

The last few chapters were everything and I will cherish all the moments. Many “book highlightings” were done and many quotes were remembered. I also need to mention that plot twist in the end. I should have seen it coming, because all the clues were there, but I didn’t. And I can’t wait to read book number 3.

I recommend it to all readers who enjoy different worlds, adventure, a bit of fantasy and dystopia.