It was fun to read both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire back-to-back for the read-a-thon. I’m glad I didn’t have a long wait between the first two books of the trilogy, but obviously I’ll have a longer wait for the third book to come out. The bad part is, the cliffhanger between 2 and 3 is quite a bit greater than from 1 to 2 in my opinion. I do look forward to reading the next book.
I liked this sequel about the same as the first book and both books received a rating of 4 stars. As I said in my post about The Hunger Games, though, I still feel there are some better written young adult dystopian books out there. However, this series, though a bit dark and violent, will definitely keep you going until the very last page.
2009, 391 pp.
Disclosure: I received this book from a promotional company (but after I had already purchased The Hunger Games).
I read this book for the read-a-thon, and I must say it was an excellent choice as it was quite a page turner. This book is taking the internet by storm, and while I did enjoy it, I didn’t quite love the book.
I’m not going to go through the plot as quite a few people have read it, or if they haven’t, there are plenty of sources to find that information. I will say that the plot was, in my view, the best part of the book. As I said above, it’s quite a page turner, but although I didn’t think the writing was bad per se, I didn’t feel it was up to par with The Giver by Lois Lowry or The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. The romance angle in the book irritated me a bit. I understand to a degree why it was necessary to the plot, but I thought it could have been a little more well done. Another minor irritation was the naming of the characters in the book. I suppose it was done on purpose, but I felt it distracted me from the story every time I came upon a strange name. I’ve never really noticed it in books like Lord of the Rings, etc., but in this book the names just seemed a bit silly.
Even with all that said, I did like the book quite a bit and plan on reading the entire trilogy. I hate to be too negative when I actually enjoyed it, but since it’s received so many rave reviews, I just thought I’d explain why my rating was a little lower.
2008, 374 pp.
Disclosure: I purchased this book for my personal library.
I read Eclipse pretty much straight through in one sitting the day after finishing New Moon. These books are addicting, if nothing else. I liked these two books the best of the four, and I couldn’t read fast enough. Since so many have already read the book, this post will contain spoilers.
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Eclipse was a fun one, what with the Edward/Jacob rivalry heating up even more. I especially enjoyed the tent scenes. Teenage love and angst at its best. I thought it was a little weird, though, that Bella wanted to be with Edward forever but resisted marrying him. What’s the difference when it comes down to it? I also really felt for Jacob in this one. I’m not really ‘Team Jacob,’ though, but in some ways I’m not ‘Team Edward,’ either. If you had to pin me down I’d have to say that I was ‘Team Bella’ in the sense that I’m rooting for her to realize and attain what she really wants for herself. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing in life to do — figuring out what one really wants.
2007, 629 pp.
[Disclosure: This book was not received from the publisher. It's hard to admit, but I actually purchased a copy.]
I have now read through the entire series and will be publishing reviews for the other two books very soon.
Spoilers ahead
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I actually liked this one much better than Twilight, probably because it was better written. In fact, my favorites of the four were New Moon and Eclipse. I didn’t mind at all that Edward wasn’t in New Moon very much and was even half rooting for Jacob. It was fun to find out Jacob’s story as well. And although some readers felt that Bella’s grief was way over the top, I didn’t. Teenage love and loss– heck, adult love and loss– is very painful. Sometimes excruciatingly.
I’m excited for the movie to come out. I’ve seen some of the sneak previews from Comic Con and they look great. I’m also looking forward to seeing Dakota Fanning play Jane.
You know, I haven’t gone through chunks of books like this for a long time, and I must say I’ve missed it.
2006, 608 pp.
[Disclosure: This book was not received from the publisher. It's hard to admit, but I actually purchased a copy.]
This was my first Sarah Waters book, and I must say I do enjoy her writing style.
Hundreds Hall. Haunted or not? Ghost, poltergeist, or murderer?
Minor spoilers ahead.
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Hundreds Hall, once a grand estate, has fallen into decline with the decline of its family’s fortune. The narrator, Dr. Faraday, first knew of the house as a small child when his mother was a maid there. After a 30 year absence, he is called back to the house because of a maid’s illness and is taken aback by the condition of the house and the family.
Over time he becomes sort of a family friend to Mrs. Ayres and her adult children Roderick and Caroline, though perhaps the friendship is more on his side than theirs due to class differences. All the while, strange happenings are afoot. Strange burn marks, footsteps in empty rooms and the like are witnessed by each occupant. The story is cleverly told, and the ending is left for the reader to decide. I’m one who actually likes this type of ending because I end up thinking about all the possibilities for days! The mood of the book was sufficiently creepy without being gory and was an excellent choice for the RIP Challenge, too.
The Little Stranger is shortlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize.
2009, 480 pp.
[Disclaimer: This book was obtained from my public library.]
“ ‘I wanted love and goodness in this which is living death,’ I said. ‘It was impossible from the beginning, because you cannot have love and goodness when you do what you know to be evil, what you know to be wrong. You can only have the desperate confusion and longing and the chasing of phantom goodness in its human form…’ “
I’ve always been afraid to read this book or watch the movie. I don’t do well with the horror/supernatural genre in general, but since I liked Twilight and LOVED Dracula, I thought I might as well try Anne Rice’s book for the R.I.P. Challenge. I read it in a period of only two days. It was sufficiently creepy, much creepier than Twilight of course, but not nearly as bad as I feared it would be. I actually enjoyed the book much more than I thought I would, as I am a complete wimp when it comes to this genre.
Minor spoilers ahead….
First of all, I’m surprised that this was Anne Rice’s first book. It’s very well written, and from everything I’ve heard and read online, it’s probably her best novel. The main characters – Lestat, Louis, and Claudia – really do come ‘alive’ on the page (hee hee – little vampire joke there). I found Claudia to be especially creepy and am looking forward to seeing how well she is portrayed by Kirsten Dunst in the movie. I hated Lestat at first, but I did feel sympathy for him in the end. It did seem that he cared more for Louis than he let on, and vice versa. Louis does seem to be a mystery, always wanting good and hating himself for the evil he does. I am glad that we’re left wondering a bit if the ‘love’ he has with Armand, though, is erotic or simple companionship. If it’s the former, I’m glad Rice wasn’t explicit in this regard. I’m very curious to see how these relationships play out on screen with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Antonio Banderas. Interesting casting choices there! I’ve read that Rice was pleased with the movie so that’s encouraging.
I’m not sure if I’ll continue to read any of Rice’s other novels in the Vampire Chronicles, but I am interested in her latest religious books and her memoir. I’m intrigued by her turning from atheism to Christianity and do want to find out more about that aspect of her life.
Recommended for Twilight fans and fans of vampire fiction.
"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6:27, ESV)
It was fun to read both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire back-to-back for the read-a-thon. I’m glad I didn’t have a long wait between the first two books of the trilogy, but obviously I’ll have a longer wait for the third book to come out. The bad part is, the cliffhanger between 2 and 3 is quite a bit greater than from 1 to 2 in my opinion. I do look forward to reading the next book.
I read this book for the read-a-thon, and I must say it was an excellent choice as it was quite a page turner. This book is taking the internet by storm, and while I did enjoy it, I didn’t quite love the book.
I read Eclipse pretty much straight through in one sitting the day after finishing New Moon. These books are addicting, if nothing else. I liked these two books the best of the four, and I couldn’t read fast enough. Since so many have already read the book, this post will contain spoilers.
This was my first Sarah Waters book, and I must say I do enjoy her writing style.
“ ‘I wanted love and goodness in this which is living death,’ I said. ‘It was impossible from the beginning, because you cannot have love and goodness when you do what you know to be evil, what you know to be wrong. You can only have the desperate confusion and longing and the chasing of phantom goodness in its human form…’ “
