Heather Heffner's Blog, page 11

November 2016 Book Review: Six of Crows

SIX OF CROWS By Leigh Bardugo ~Book Review~ Warning! Spoilers!

YEAH…I WAS BORED…
This book had massive hype around it. I really enjoyed Bardugo’s world-building and memorable characters in her Shadow and Bone series, and this book promised to be a grittier, edgier heist extravaganza.
Smmhhh…
The characters: I didn’t care. And I should have! Kaz is the mysterious, sarcastic leader of the crew hired to break out a well-known scientist from the Ice Palace/Court. He is accompanied by Inej (best character in my opinion: sneaky and fierce assassin), Nina (a Grisha), Matthias (a soldier sworn to destroy Grisha), and Jesper and Wylan (yawn, they can do something-something). However, I simply felt like the characters never came to life from archetype draft. There was a barrier between me and the characters, and I couldn’t keep track of the various names, and I didn’t feel a connection to them. The plot didn’t intrigue me. Maybe it was because all of the characters were so supremely confident in themselves, and their bevy of sarcastic comments made it difficult to distinguish one from another.
What this book needed was a good, rival gang, or at least a cunning, compelling villain to make Kaz fail. Yes, there is the “twist” at the end, but honestly, was it that much of a surprise? And I’m afraid Duke Van Eck makes me shiver as much as a mewing kitten.
In contrast, TheLies of Lockmora by Scott Lynch had me riveted from page one. I cared about Lock and Jean. Lynch was able to make them and their city come alive in a way that enchanted me. Kaz and his crew are just too perfect and don’t have the flaws and compelling storyline that I’m looking for. Everything down to the characters’ backstories was just predictability seen coming from a mile away.
I’m definitely a minority opinion on Six of Crows so I would urge you to give it a try. However, I’m not sold on picking up the next book. Maybe to see what happens to Inej. We’ll see.
Recommend for fans of: Scott Lynch, Kate Elliott, Suzanne Collins
Upcoming Book Review: Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

November Book Review: Six of Crows

SIX OF CROWS By Leigh Bardugo ~Book Review~ Warning! Spoilers!

YEAH…I WAS BORED…
This book had massive hype around it. I really enjoyed Bardugo’s world-building and memorable characters in her Shadow and Bone series, and this book promised to be a grittier, edgier heist extravaganza.
Smmhhh…
The characters: I didn’t care. And I should have! Kaz is the mysterious, sarcastic leader of the crew hired to break out a well-known scientist from the Ice Palace/Court. He is accompanied by Inej (best character in my opinion: sneaky and fierce assassin), Nina (a Grisha), Matthias (a soldier sworn to destroy Grisha), and Jesper and Wylan (yawn, they can do something-something). However, I simply felt like the characters never came to life from archetype draft. There was a barrier between me and the characters, and I couldn’t keep track of the various names, and I didn’t feel a connection to them. The plot didn’t intrigue me. Maybe it was because all of the characters were so supremely confident in themselves, and their bevy of sarcastic comments made it difficult to distinguish one from another.
What this book needed was a good, rival gang, or at least a cunning, compelling villain to make Kaz fail. Yes, there is the “twist” at the end, but honestly, was it that much of a surprise? And I’m afraid Duke Van Eck makes me shiver as much as a mewing kitten.
In contrast, TheLies of Lockmora by Scott Lynch had me riveted from page one. I cared about Lock and Jean. Lynch was able to make them and their city come alive in a way that enchanted me. Kaz and his crew are just too perfect and don’t have the flaws and compelling storyline that I’m looking for. Everything down to the characters’ backstories was just predictability seen coming from a mile away.
I’m definitely a minority opinion on Six of Crows so I would urge you to give it a try. However, I’m not sold on picking up the next book. Maybe to see what happens to Inej. We’ll see.
Recommend for fans of: Scott Lynch, Kate Elliott, Suzanne Collins
Upcoming Book Review: Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

October 2016 Book Review: Splintered

SPLINTERED By A. G. Howard~Book Review~




*Warning! Minor Spoilers!*  IT’S NOT EVERYDAYyou read about a main heroine with a fetish for bugs. Alyssa is a descendent of Alice Liddell, Lewis Carroll’s original inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. Her mother and she both suffer from the Wonderland curse: they hear bugs whisper and flowers laugh. Alyssa adopts a punk skater persona and creates intricate bug art to try and escape it, but she can’t escape the alluring moth boy in her dreams: Morpheus. No longer a hookah-smoking caterpillar, Morpheus is a hot winged boy who warns her Wonderland is in trouble.
Alyssa travels to Wonderland with her best friend and secret crush, Jeb, where she must undergo three tasks such as draining an ocean of Alice’s tears and defeating a Bandersnatch. Howard’s writing really flows and she succeeds in bringing Wonderland to life in all of its bizarre color and contradictions.
Alyssa doesn’t have much going on personality-wise, but the bug art part was unique. Her chemistry with Morpheus was definitely enticing to keep reading about. Jeb is the Rory who comes along and ruins what you hope is a promising romance between Amy Pond and The Doctor (maybe this is just me). He acts important and means well, but come on, Morpheus/The Doctor is the one with all the neat superpowers and charisma.
Of course a showdown for the throne of Wonderland has to occur, and Splintered keeps you turning through the pages, eager to see when the infamous Queen of Hearts or any other of your favorite Wonderland characters will make an appearance. Hopefully in the next installment Alyssa will perk up from being a more passive personality and the weird creativity will continue to rampage!
Recommended for fans of: Laini Taylor, Kendare Blake, Julie Kagawa Upcoming Book Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

September 2016 Book Review: The Glittering Court

THE GLITTERING COURTBy Richelle Mead~Book Review~ 

  Warning! Spoilers!
THE GLITTERING COURT did manage to surprise me in some good and some bad ways. Let’s take its synopsis, for instance. At the mention that this was similar to The Selection, I was extremely hesitant because I skimmed through half of that book in boredom. However, since this is Richelle Mead, surely she can take one of these typical competitive “Learn How to Be A Lady,” schools and add a twist to it.
She definitely did. The second half of the book went all Wild, Wild West, and I was like, “Whoa, wait—now they’re mining for gold?” It’s okay. It kept things interesting.
Not much time is spent at The Glittering Court , where impoverished girls are sent to learn how to be a lady and marry some rich buck in the new frontier. The book does touch on the topic of colonialism and racism. Adelaide is a high class lady, but she trades in her lavish lifestyle for a chance at adventure on the New Frontier. Naturally, this makes Glittering Court school a breeze. Her roommates become her friends—Tamsin is convinced she is God’s gift to man, and Mira is a Sirminican refugee who gets treated like a second-class citizen because of her heritage.
Finally, there is Cedric. I did like how the romance was done. It was a forgone conclusion, but Adelaide added some spice to Cedric’s life, and Cedric was sweet, adorable, and loyal until the end. There were some parts that dragged, but I appreciate that Mead took the risk to make the story move from the court across the sea. It made the second half seem like a completely different story. Adelaide barely faces any repressions once her charade is found out, but hey, she’s a charmer.
I actually feel like this storyline could have been wrapped up in one book. However, there is a hint at politics, and the first peoples who live in the “new world” aren’t happy about the frontier towns popping up. Lastly, whatever secret Mira has is really bothering me! Mead didn’t give us any clue as to what she is up to the entire length of the book, and in my opinion, that was a pretty lame reveal at the end—basically, she’s up to something—and the big reveal is: she’s up to something and we still don’t know what that is.
The Glittering Court is expected to have three books total, but I’m not sure how she’ll be able to stretch the series that far. But as I said: it’s Richelle Mead; let the surprises continue!
Recommended for fans of: Kiera Cass, Cassandra Clare, and Veronica Rossi Upcoming Book Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

August Book Review: Falling Kingdoms

FALLING KINGDOMS
By Morgan Rhodes
~Book Review~




Warning! Spoilers!




ON THE COVER of half of the books in the Falling Kingdoms series is a really cool-looking assassin guy (or girl) who looks like they means business.


I’m still trying to figure out who the heck that would be in this lukewarm, extremely expository series.


In the land of Mythica, there are three poorly drawn kingdoms who grapple for power. Princess Cleona is from the kingdom that is all good and light in the world, there is a random desert kingdom that makes wine where rebel Jonas hails from, and there is a third gray, power-hungry kingdom where the Inquisition has gone wild that seeks to conquer the other two. Prince Magnus and his sister Lucia have the honor of being the children of said power-hungry king.


There are also random deities who hang out in random realms and shape-shift into animals to comment on the various battle proceedings and the prophesied sorceress. There are also two goddesses who hate each other and are responsible for the split in countries and magic.


The world-building just didn’t entice me, and the characters were everything I have seen before. Cleona was the typical hot-headed princess who thinks it’s smart to bring just a single guard into enemy territory, Jonas is a brash rebel who is so judgmental that he is entirely unsympathetic, Lucia has the personality of a sheet of paper and is manipulated by everyone around her, and Magnus is a pale imitation of Leigh Bardugo’s the Darkling.


However, my biggest gripe with this series is the writing style. There is just no sense of wonder or painting the picture of these various kingdoms; it is entirely too simple and flat for me, and makes the characters come off as simplistic and flat as well. I can’t picture anything unique about these kingdoms, so I fill it in with bits of other fantasy books who took the time to expertly capture the taste, smells, and feels of their world and gods. This series does have a lot of fantastic action and a swiftly-moving plot, but that’s lost on me if I’m not invested in the stakes.


Recommended for fans of: Sherry Thomas, Rae Carson, Colleen Houck
Upcoming Book Review: The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

July Book Review: Exquisite Captive

Exquisite CaptiveBy Heather Demetrios~Book Review~

Warning! Spoilers!
I WAS A HUGE FANof the Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud. He captured perfectly the hot undercurrent of pain and anger the Jinn felt for being enslaved to magicians and forced to carry out their will, and Baritmaeus’s wit was an endless delight. Demetrios’s Exquisite Captive expertly captured that struggle for me, albeit with strong, sensual undertones.
Nalia is one of the last of her kind, a royal Jinni who survived a brutal massacre of her people. She now spends her days enslaved to the powerful and mysterious businessman Malek in California, who holds a couple secrets of her own.
At first the dark relationship between Nalia and Malek was all Alicia and Diego from Gran Hotel (I sadly just finished this amazing TV series; pardon the reference), where Nalia is doing everything in her power to escape, and Malek is pulling all the stops to convince her of his twisted love. However, in my opinion, Jinn revolutionary leader Raif is no charming Julio, but more of an angsty guilt-tripping type who holds a grudge again Nalia’s class of Jinn. The pair eventually fall in love while working to free the Jinn from slavery. However, where Demetrios really succeeds is creating a compelling, riveting character like Malek. You really understand everything that is driving him, even if you don’t agree with it, which makes Nalia’s choice at the end lead to some great character tension for future books.
The story flows effortlessly, and I was pleased that it hardly stays place in California, but incorporates areas from all around our world. The backstory behind the Jinn world and the politics that opened it up to ours creates an interesting mystery, and I appreciated that Nalia has some kick-ass powers she isn’t afraid to lose.
This seductive series continues in Blood Passage, and I am eager to see where it goes!


Recommended for fans of: Amber Lough, Julie Kagawa, Leigh Bardugo Upcoming Book Review: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Hawaiian Islands Travel Series: Northeast Maui: Waimoku Falls and Ohe'o Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools)

Final Day 8: Waimoku Falls and Ohe'o Gulch


A FEW BRAVE SOULSwill endeavor to travel the entire Hana Highway, and eventually run full circle. However, after taking it up to Haleakalā and back, it was safe to say we were done. The Hana Highway’s tense turns and one lanes will eventually fray your nerves after a while. As such, we did make one last trip out past Hana to Waimoku Falls, the stunning 400 foot waterfall that is one of the taller ones in Hawaii accessible by foot.
Make sure to save your receipt if you recently visited Haleakalā when gaining entry to this state park. Also, go early! We had one up on other tourists since we stayed nearby in Waiʻānapanapa. By the time we finished the hike around noon, the parking lot was full.



Many guidebooks had recommended Ohe’o Gulch, also known as the Seven Sacred Pools, that Waimea Falls eventually filters into. However, these unfortunately were not as impressive. The water was murky, and there were hoards of people lazing about in them. 





However, Pipiwai Trail, a four mile round trip leading up to Waimoku Falls, is an incredible journey in itself!




The trail opened up less than 1o minutes in to the majestic Makahiku Falls. Mist floated about it, egrets soared gracefully past iridescent rainbows, and a vast valley of lush, green foliage carpeted the earth. We stopped and gawked for a while. Next we arrived at this gigantic banyan tree, an old grandmother tree that was a playground unto itself.




 
The trail was full of more surprises.  After we switch-backed over several bridges and spotted tinier waterfalls, the trail abruptly plunged into a mysterious bamboo forest. The wind rustled through, making a haunting, rattling song, and I half-expected to see people dancing around like something out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The trail changed to a boardwalk at this point to avoid all of the mud. It was very pleasant and cool.






Lastly, we made it to the foot of the waterfall itself. We were visiting in summer, so Waimoku Falls wasn’t running at its highest. In the spring, people can rarely get close to the falls because there is so much run-off. However, we were able to get up close to marvel and earn incredibly sore necks staring up. I cannot say enough good things about this hike; just be careful and wary of your surroundings when visiting the falls. Falling boulders and cliff side avalanches can happen.




We were ready to drive a little bit further. Thus our journey along the Hana Highway ended here, at a beautiful shady church overlooking the deep blue of the sea. This is where famous aviator Charles Lindbergh is buried. We took our time at Ho'omau Church, sat, breathed, and enjoyed the wondrous majesty that is Maui.*







*Do you have any recommendations when visiting Maui? Share a comment below!
Read more in the Hawaiian Travel Series:
(0) Intro: Welcome to Maui
(1) Day 1: Northwest Maui: Lahaina
(2) Day 2: Kihei and Makena (3)Day 3: Central Maui: Paia and Makawao
(4) Day 4: The Hana Highway  
(5) Day 5: Wai'anapanapa State Park
(6) Day 6: Haleakala National Park  
(7) Day 7: NorthernMaui: Hana and the Red Sand Beach
Disclaimer: the above is presented as fiction, not fact. *Names have been changed for the sake of privacy.

June 2016 Book Review: Laplatia

LAPLATIA, Or, the City that Could Not Dream By Alexandre A. Loch ~Book Review~



Warning! MAJOR Spoilers!




THIS BOOK TAKES AN INTROSPECTIVE LOOK at the lives of ordinary people living in the city of Laplatia . In a dystopian future, the Earth’s energy sources have been depleted. Humanity invents “The Extractors” to process the last form of energy left: dreams. Extractors produce the electrical substance called Fos, which takes a terrible toll on the people. Loch tells the story interchangeably between large, sweeping blocks of exposition to move the plot along and small, microscopic snapshots into seven characters’ lives.


The prose is very concise and clear. The author has an interesting style that pulls you deeper into each character’s head for one moment, but then shoots you back out into the public the next. Various characters have Greek names like Hermes, Thantos, and Ophelia, a lot of whom meet tragic ends, which helps add a sense of dread to the dream-like quality of the book. Some characters are more sympathetic than others. I didn’t find myself particularly attached to any of them, except for Hermes, who had a situation with the highest stakes involved.


At the end, humanity recognizes that they exploited their own souls along with the planet’s resources. However, humanity continues to view itself as “separate” from the planet rather than a part of it, and that it would be better off going back to exploiting the planet’s resources then to recognize how everything interconnects (Loch 116). The people as well suddenly embrace a form of communism in that no one should have more than the other. Of course, this seems all too good to be true. Sure enough, one of the characters becomes restless and makes a fateful decision which starts the cycle all over again.


I liked many of the story’s points like how people all began to sound alike without imagination. Sometimes I felt like there was too much exposition and I wanted more showing rather than telling, but overall, the balance between them was well-done. There are a lot of different avenues for thought in this book, and it’s a great look into Western psychology and how overarching societal decisions impact lives on an individual scale.


Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. This does not impact my opinion in any way.

June 2016 Book Review: Alice in Zombieland

ALICE IN ZOMBIELAND By Gena Showalter ~Book Review~

Warning! Spoilers!
FROM LOOKING AT SOME OF THE OTHER REVIEWS on Goodreads, we expected the same thing: Alice stumbles into a dark and possibly more twisted Wonderland full of ZOMBIES. Chaos and terror commence!
No, it’s just Alice in high school fighting random soul-sucking corpses that are the product of a mysterious corporation.
Gawd I wanted zombieland! I wanted a maniac Cheshire Cat and a bloodthirsty Mad Hatter and oh man, was I excited for a Red Queen gone crazier than usual!
To give the book credit, it starts out really strong. The writing is simple, brooding, and created an aura of mystery. Alice’s family tragically perishes in a car accident when her father starts babbling about zombies. Turns out, they are phantoms that drift around and eat souls. In some faraway, magical landscape? No, around the boring-as-vanilla high school.
I also liked Alice at first, too. She meets a mysterious girl named Kat at the hospital, and they both seem to bond over their gruesome circumstances for being there. I had high hopes for the friendship once they started high school. However, unfortunately Alice ultimately didn’t come across as realistic. She always seemed to have the perfect come back against every bully. She was especially eloquent when compared to her man Cole the Neanderthal (We need to get some new bad boy names. Cole made me think of Maggie Stiefvator’s Shiver series every page).
The first couple times Alice meets Cole are exceedingly awkward because they both start having visions of making out with each other. Unfortunately this leads to “an instance connection” and the dreaded “insta-love,” which saps all of the tension out of that storyline. Cole is the mysterious leader of a bad boy gang who goes around hunting the weird soul-eating zombies. There’s an evil corporation involved, too, but their presence is barely felt until three-fourths of the way through the book.
As such, I’ve realized that this Alice in Zombieland isn’t in homage to Lewis Carroll, but to the Resident Evil franchise—rated T.
Recommended for fans of: Becca Fitzpatrick, Kresley Cole, Stephanie Meyer Upcoming Book Review: Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios

May 2016 Book Review: Promise of Shadows

PROMISE OF SHADOWSBy Justina Ireland~Book Review~

Warning! Spoilers!
FOR THOSE OF YOU IN MOURNING because Sarah Fine’s Sanctum series is over, just stay calm. STAY CALM. Promise of Shadows is here, and there is plenty of afterlife action in Tartarus. 
I am a big fan of afterlife stories in whatever underworld because they are creepy and cool, and Tartarus didn’t disappoint! Within the first several pages, we are introduced to Zephyr Mourning, the harpy with blue dreads, who has been condemned to the pit of suffering for killing a minor god. When we meet Zephyr, she is despondent and resigned. This minor god murdered her sister, and she was able to kill him by using Erebos, a forbidden dark magic. Only a god can wield that type of power.
Naturally, Greek gods being as self-preserving as they are, they don’t like this one bit. Zephyr has a big target on her back. She teams up with Cass, a shifty sort who may or may not be trustworthy, as well as a pair of hot brothers named Talon and Blue. Together, they fight their way out of Tartarus and try and discover the truth behind why certain gods want Zephyr dead.
I loved the first half of the book set in Tartarus. There are fantastic, nasty descriptions of the horror that goes on there, and there were all sorts of terrifying monsters. After they escape, there was a break in the action to focus on character development as well as the blossoming romance between Zephyr and Tallon, her childhood friend. It wasn’t the sexy swoon-worthy type, but more of a slow and gentle burn. We learn more about the Greek gods and how Zephyr’s sister ended up dead, and it all makes for a great, adventurous read. Highly recommended!

Recommended for fans of: Sarah Fine, Brenna Yovanoff, Susan Ee
Upcoming Book Review: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter