Sotto Voce's Blog, page 10

Owl Manor - the Final Stroke: Book 3 of the Owl Manor Gothic Suspense Trilogy (Zita Harrison)

 

The good thing about trying to read different genres is that it widens my preference, which means there are more books to like and read.

This book works well as a standalone; it’s a complete story and doesn’t rely on the predecessor. Readers are soon immersed in the settings and backgrounds, where we read the story from three different points of view. It’s a curious mixture between first person and third person, but it works for the content and experience as we follow one main character more tha...

KA,AZULA (Black Hole Radio #3) Ann Birdgenaw

Initially, I felt short-changed because I didn't realize this was the third book. It mentioned events that happened previously that I knew very little about, and the relationships between friends are not fleshed out in this book. It makes sense when I found out.

Growing up, I loved to read Enid Blyton's book, which continued until I was an adult. It sent me places and carried me through adventures I didn't get in real life. Personally, I prefer realism, especially in children's story than trying ...

Talking to a Praying Mantis (Francis T Crowley)

 

The book starts right away with an engaging scene. We are introduced to a man's predicament, with him not really remembering how he got into that situation. It then methodically pulls back to his past and gives us some understanding of what he is doing.

It's an easy read and difficult to put down. We get inside this character's head, justifying his actions and reasoning. The character shouldn't be likable; he is selfish, as we are told about how he slowly destroys his life and those around him....

Below Torrential Hill (Jonathan Koven)

I am not familiar with this coming-of-age genre; this is my first experience with it.

Possible spoiler

Below Torrential Hill is a story about the personal struggles of Tristen. This protagonist tries to make sense of everything as we enter his mind, feeling his despair, confusion, helplessness, sorrow, hope, denial, and alcoholism.

Personally, reading between the lines of rich and imaginative language is not my cup of tea. The flow of the story is very descriptive and imaginative,  but I am ofte...

Starlie's Legacy from Tragedy to Triumph

I am trying to figure out how to review this book.

Spoiler review

The title of this book is Starlie's Legacy from Tragedy to Triumph.

It starts with a beautiful introduction about Starlie, who she was, and a brief history of her impact on her loved ones' lives. We get a powerful foreword, and I like her instantly, reminding me about many influential people I look up to in my life.

The introduction ends with: Some of the stories in this book may seem unrelated to her, but none of these stories would ...

DARKWITCH - DRYWOLF #02 (Kat Kinney)

While this second book regales me with the conclusion of the whole story, I don't enjoy it as much as the first one. 

Possibly spoiler

Personally, I think it doesn't hold the same magic and has become quite predictable. The Chosen One trope is too foreseeable, and it has double dose. I have lost count of how many times the main character wanders into the woods or roams around, gets into life-threatening situations, makes it back/recovered/rescued, and repeats as the main plot points for the story ...

Lord of the Flies (William Golding)

 

I had wanted to read this book for a long time, and I wanted to like it. But I don't. It was such a task to read; I think I hate it.

Warning: possibly spoiler

Let me sum it up:

- I have the conch

- You are the hunter

- We need the fire 

- The beast

- Two characters fighting over the chief position

Repeat as necessary.

I get what the book is trying to convey, but I find it hard to root for almost all one-dimensional characters. I don't know them except for a tiny glimpse of their backgrounds. Tiny is not...

DRYWOLF (Kat Kinney)

First of all, I was nervous picking up this book. I knew nothing, literary nothing about werewolves except the eighties TV series, which I only watched for a few minutes. I remember the hideous effect that made it scarier, imprinted in my core memory with running away from a carnival where they pretended to unleash a werewolf. I swear everyone else ran too.

Well, I guess it'd be fair to say that no one actually knows anything about werewolves, but there are at least common ideas about them, right...

The Zombie Room (R.D.Ronald)

Three messed-up characters out of five lumps of goo.

Reading this book is like watching Transformer.

Picked based on Goodreads recommendations from my previous reads.

I want to read something different, something more recent, maybe not lighter but less <i>literary</i>. Well, this is not exactly it.

Spoiler review

The book starts off by introducing the four main characters and their backgrounds. I like this part but the changes between characters and scenes feel jumpy because there are barely any tran...

REVIEW: Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

This book is terrifying, because it’s realistic. (more on this on the spoiler)

The author chose unique timeline of telling the story and partial epistolary; we are reading it from two povs, Nick and Amy. Amy’s is a flashback to some time before the current, while Nick’s starts from the current. At one point of the story, the timeline meets and we get to read both povs at the same time.

(There is a good example of concurrent point of view in A Storm of Sword, third book from the series A Song of Ic...