Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (2100)

Content

Kyera (8 KP) rated Requiem (Delirium, #3) in Books

Jan 31, 2018

Requiem (Delirium, #3)

Lauren Oliver | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry

8.3

(9 Ratings)

Book Rating

Requiem switches between Hana's and Lena's points-of-view. It gives us perspectives of the world and its current events through the eyes of a girl in the Wilds and one in society. Hana has chosen her path and it is different from Lena's. The action comes to a head and their existences are thrust together again.

While I enjoyed this book, it wasn't quite as good as the previous two. The book ended and I wasn't quite sure how I felt. In some ways, I was satisfied. There were no little questions or loose ends that should have been tied up. Lena has chosen her love, even if we don't see the effects of it. When you think of the immediate story everything seems good, but then you wonder about the world at large. The Resistance attacked and seemingly brought down the walls (both literally and we assume legally) in Portland. Success! But.. what happened in the rest of the world? Were those attacks conducted simultaneously across the United States? If they weren't, then the book ends with Portland no longer under government control and seemingly a new safe space for the Resistance/Invalids to live... but they're still in a world where love is a disease and the government will come for them. What happens to the people? The last we see of Hana, she's running off into the woods. I personally would like to know what happens to her. The more I think about the book, the more questions I'm faced with.

I loved the series and highly recommend reading it. Just a warning that there are more curse words in the novel than in the first. It's a great young adult series set in a world similar to our own, about learning more about yourself, growing and learning to love.

Kudos

ClareR (5726 KP) rated Dracul in Books

Dec 11, 2018

Dracul

J.D. Barker, Dacre Stoker | 2018 | Horror

8.7

(7 Ratings)

Book Rating

The start of Bram Stokers biography?

And to think that I nearly gave up on this to begin with! At about 20% in, it just didn't seem to be drawing me in at all. So how pleased am I that I persevered?!!

This is a prequel to Bram Stokers Dracula, and is the story of Bram himself. It postulates that Dracula and vampires really do exist, Bram and his family had an intimate relationship with one (not like THAT!), and Dracula was written as a warning about the Undead. Well, I clearly don't know what to believe now!
The language used in this novel is a little more up to date than Bram Stokers original: it's written for the modern reader (as Bram's was at the time, I suppose), and is consequently much easier to read. This book is supposedly based on notes that Bram left behind - whether they were ideas for another book, or they were 'actual occurrences', we'll never really know.

Bram and his family are followed from Bram's early childhood, up until well after their encounter with Dracul. It's exciting, there's loads of action, and I had some serious worries about Bram's siblings! There's loads of historical detail (potato famine in Ireland, disease, poverty) which I rather enjoyed. But it's the encounters with the vampires that I really loved. There's always going to be someone that makes the comparison to 'that' vampire series, and so I'll be the one. There IS NO comparison. These aren't nicey-nicey vampires who sparkle. These are largely speaking, evil, dark-magic-using, killing machines. Much more fun.

I think this is probably going to be a series. Which I will obviously be reading. Obviously.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Kudos

Ross (3284 KP) Dec 11, 2018

I totally agree with the slow start. So glad you stuck with it and loved it. I'm not sure if there will be more, but Dacre has already written a sequel of sorts - Dracula - The Un-Dead, which is not totally dreadful but a similar offering to this, albeit of lower quality. It echoes Bram Stoker's time at the Lyceum Theatre so has that same element of being based on his life. The writing is nowhere near as good as this though. Its currently £1.49 on UK Kindle so not the end of the world if you hate it (I thought it was half-decent but I think it has been roundly slated).

Kudos