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LadyDahlia (2 KP) rated Thirteen Reasons Why: (TV Tie-in) in Books

Jun 3, 2018

The usage of the tapes as a form of a different point of view from the present time in the novel. (2 more)

Bringing awareness to major problems that teens go through in today's society.

I love how beautifully written and imagery driven the poem Hannah wrote was.

Some of the reasons Hannah has are pity. For example, Jessica brutally ending her friendship with Hannah wasn't as horrible as other reasons (1 more)

The lack of character that clay has throughout the book. In contry to the book, the show shows the people involved with Hannah's death as realistic people.

Overall good

Contains spoilers, click to show

In my opinion, Thirteen Reasons Why is a book that I love yet dislike. I love the uniqueness of using tapes to tell Hannah's story on what drove her to her breaking point. Also, I adore that the show actually gives the characters different personalities.

Some of my dislikes about both show and book was the way Hannah could be melodramatic about minor stuff that means nothing. But I understand her reasoning for it. I dislike how the book gave Clay and other characters no personality, which to me is a waste of potential to better improve the novel.
Overall, both Netflix's adaptation of Thirteen reasons why and the novel is a great read for older teens. But I will suggest for younger teens for them to read/ watch the show with adult supervision due to the themes.

Kudos

Lexi (8 KP) rated Red Queen in Books

Aug 14, 2018

Red Queen

Victoria Aveyard | 2015 | Young Adult (YA)

8.0

(64 Ratings)

Book Rating

Strong female character (2 more)

Engaging story

Plot twists a plenty

Characters aren't fully developed (1 more)

World isn't fully explored/explained

The story follows the main character of Mare. A girl brought up in poverty where, in her society, she is considered lesser because of her red blood. The elite members of society have silver blood and a range of special abilities which are introduced throughout the book.
Through a series of events Mare ends up living in the Palace with the silver bloods working as an accomplice and spy with the newly formed Scarlet Guard (or the resistance to you and me).
The book sucked me in after a clichéd start to the novel (a fact which is openly mentioned on the front cover of the novel). Once it gets past the sections of the story you swear you've heard before, the plot twists and unexpected elements of the novel come out to play.
There's special powers, secret plots, war, love triangles. Everything you need to make a really exciting read.
My bug bear with this series was the lack of depth. I wanted to know more about the characters and their motivations, I wanted to know more about the world. I felt like too many big (and interesting) concepts were only mentioned in passing rather than given the attention they deserved.
Overall, I did really enjoy this story and I feel compelled to read the other novels in the series but it isn't a favourite.

Kudos

David McK (3692 KP) rated The Folded World in Books

Jan 28, 2019

Christmas 2014/early 2015.

There was a gift pack available in Easons, with said sealed pack including 2 sci-fi film magazines, and one of six Star Trek novels. As the pack was sealed, there was obviously no way of knowing which novel is in which pack.

When I purchased said pack, this is the novel that was in mine - if I'm honest, it's probably not one that I would have picked up in a bookstore, nor was it the novel I was hoping would be included.

Set during The Original Series era (i.e the original TV series) of Star Trek, this obviously therefore includes all the central character of said TV show: Captain James T Kirk, Scotty, Spock, Dr 'Bones' McCoy, etc. That is, the 'original' of those characters, rather than those in the more-recent J.J. Abrams reboot.

The plot has to do with Captain Kirk and co receiving a distress call while en-route to a diplomatic mission, and boarding a spaceship unlike any they have ever seen before, where (once again) the usual rules of time and space do not apply.

While readable enough, I have to say, it's also pretty forgettable, with nothing to really convince me to pick up other books by this author, or (while I admit it may be somewhat unfair to base my perception of the whole on this alone) to go looking for other Star Trek books unless they come highly recommended.

Kudos

David McK (3692 KP) rated The City in Books

Jan 30, 2019

David Gemmell is/was one of my favourite authors.

However, he passed away in 2006 while finishing the final novel in his Troy trilogy (Fall of Kings), which was then finished by his second wife Stella.

The City is her first fully solo outing. Following recent trends, this definitely weighs in on the 'epic' side of the fantasy scales: think 'A Game of Thrones', where one novel is the size of three what I would term 'normal' reads. Indeed, the novel itself is split into various sections: personally I feel that it could have been split into two or maybe three separate books rather than under the one cover.

The City of the title (which is never actually named) is ancient and bloated, locked in an endless war with its enemies. Built over centuries, it reminded me somewhat of a passage in one of Pratchett's Discworld books (I forget which, and referring to Ankh-Morpork), something along the lines of:

'the main thing Ankh-Morpork is built on is Ankh-Morpork'.

That could be a pretty fair description of The City as well!

I also found some sections to be slow-moving, and while I never lost interest in the story, it also never really grabbed me, seeming to lack that certain something to turns a good story into a great story.

Would I read more by Stella Gemmell? At the moment, I'm undecided.