Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (2923)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

postapocalypticplayground (27 KP) rated Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2) in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)
Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)
Marissa Meyer | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.4 (36 Ratings)
Book Rating
Awesome continuation of the series
I’m so happy to be back in the world of the Lunar Chronicles! Scarlet, is Marissa Meyer’s take on Red Riding Hood, big bad wolf and grandma included. As with Cinder, Scarlet is a whirlwind of a story, straight into the good stuff and the story blends seamlessly with the continuation of Cinder’s overarching story line. Scarlet is a girl on a mission to rescue her Grandmother with Wolf (the big bad fighter) on her side. Outside of New Beijing, Scarlet’s story is set in a future France, which seems very undamaged by the wars, it has a very rustic feel, with Scarlet and her Grandmother enjoying a simple farming life. But Grandma, what big secrets you have! The collision of her grandmothers disappearance and the entrance of Wolf is played to perfection and their journey to Paris is both exciting and full of anxious moments. Scarlet is a fantastic character and you can completely understand, through the brief glimpses of her father, why she gives up everthing to take the journey to Paris. Whilst she wants to appear worldly, she is also wonderfully niaive at times, very much wearing her heart on her sleeve. I also loved the nuggets of information about hers and Cinder’s past and how the lines become blurred at times as the secrets and lies unfurl.

The action is frequent with huge set pieces which played out cinematically in my mind as I was reading. It’s quite an emotional one at times too, Kai’s dispair, Cinder’s desperation, Wolf’s inner turmoil and a bit of an insight into Levana left me quite breathless by the end.

My favourite thing at this stage, is how there is still so many secrets to be revealed. With 2 more books in the series to go it’s clear that each of the next characters will have some connection to what happened to Cinder as a child and how we reach present day, in story terms, I can’t wait to pick up Cress and see where the story goes next!
  
40x40

Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The Map of Lost Memories in Books

Jan 15, 2018  
The Map of Lost Memories
The Map of Lost Memories
Kim Fay | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book took a little while to really pick up the pace. Once I got a handle on who was who & who had which agenda it became a lot more interesting. The characters were easy to like or to hate depending on who's side you were on. Identifying with them on a "real world" level was a bit more tricky though.
It tells the story of Irene, a museum assistant who gets passed over for a big promotion. When she is so easily dismissed she wants to do something to make a name for herself. With the help of her deceased father's wealthy best friend she goes treasure hunting. She sets out to find the lost Khmer copper scrolls which supposedly tell the as yet unknown history of the Khmer reign in Cambodia.
Yes, there is a good dose of history & politics mixed in throughout the story. Even if you know nothing about the Khmers in Cambodia you can still get into this book & understand the plot lines.
Along her journey from Seattle to the Orient, Irene assembles a misfit band of scientists & treasure hunters...everyone from a drug addicted Khmer scholar to a man who runs the "knowledge" network in Shanghai.
All in all this was a good book. It can be enjoyed by anyone despite the time period setting & the oriental history sprinkled in throughout the text. The story is easy to get lost in once you figure out who is who.
  
    Jumping Joe!

    Jumping Joe!

    Games and Stickers

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    It’s a long way to the top (if you wanna hop ‘n’ bolt)! Fly high in Jumping Joe, a vertical...

    Hooktheory I

    Hooktheory I

    Music and Education

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    There has never been a music book like this. Hooktheory I is a smart, fun, skill-building journey...

40x40

Melanie Caldicott (6 KP) rated The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake in Books

Apr 29, 2021  
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Aimee Bender | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved the concept of this books and as soon as I heard about it I was intrigued and wanted to read it. I read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake in a couple of days, which with 3 children rarely happens, so I continued to find it intriguing and compelling throughout.

However, I found the narrative elusive and shadowy which was often frustrating. Whilst I understand that Bender was creating a narrative largely written from the perspective of a child, from whom many things were hidden and secret, I still found that as a reader you were constantly trying to grasp what she was describing and failing. I found this made the book less plausible and destroyed the intrigue turning it into annoying gameplay.

I have read other novels with narratives from the perspective of a child such as The Earth Hums in B Flat, The Book Thief, Mister Pip, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Room etc and found these all to be written far more skillfully than Bender manages here. It is an art to realistically write through the eyes of a child but reveal things to an adult reader through the child's naive perspective of the world. If this is failed to be achieved it can leave the reader feeling frustrated and disillusioned through being led on a journey that is over-constructed and inauthentic.