Ricky Pine's Blog, page 106
February 3, 2017
Review: Life in a Fishbowl
Life in a Fishbowl by Len VlahosMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
The third Aimal Farooq rec in a row, the one I was actually looking forward to the most because of its promises of a highly offbeat nature...and I just couldn't finish it. The multiple POVs were too much to handle, and the story itself felt so detached from Jackie, ostensibly the protagonist struggling to understand why her father would sell his life on eBay (which I'm pretty sure isn't even legal, if I remember Unwind correctly), tha...
February 2, 2017
Review: Not If I See You First
Not If I See You First by Eric LindstromMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
My second Aimal Farooq rec in a row, unfortunately, didn't pan out for me the way If I Was Your Girl did. Sure, Not If I See You First boasts some funny moments (a couple of which came from me noticing that main character Parker's cousin is named Petey - gotta love any and all secret Spidey references, right?), the shipping goes in a few unexpected directions, and it's got an always-needed diversity factor going for it, being...
January 31, 2017
Review: If I Was Your Girl
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith RussoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This one is the first of three diverse contemporaries I'll be reading in a row thanks to Aimal Farooq's recommendations. It's also the first book I've read with a trans girl lead, by a trans woman author, and while Russo admits that she's taken artistic-license liberties with her depiction of Amanda, it doesn't make the book any less readable.
If I Was Your Girl reminds me a tad bit of Simon Vs. because of its Georgia setting, but...
January 29, 2017
Lunar New Year Book Tag
Where do I always go to find good book tags? Why, Joey's Thoughts and Afterthoughts blog, of course. Today's book tag comes in honor of the Lunar New Year celebration - The Year of the Rooster, the same sign under which I was born back in '93.
Without further ado, my friends, let's get started.
Hmm. Under the radar...underrated? I can think of a few, but perhaps none more so than the future bestsellers that are J.L. Pawley's Generation Icarus series. If, like me, you loved Maximu...
Without further ado, my friends, let's get started.
Hmm. Under the radar...underrated? I can think of a few, but perhaps none more so than the future bestsellers that are J.L. Pawley's Generation Icarus series. If, like me, you loved Maximu...
January 28, 2017
Review: A Book of Spirits and Thieves
A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan RhodesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Taking a break in between Books 4 and 5 of Falling Kingdoms (despite a weapons-grade cliffhanger), I decided it was time I took a look at this half-urban fantasy, half-time-travel Outlander-style spinoff from Morgan Rhodes.
Not unlike its parent series, A Book of Spirits and Thieves is a fun and fast read, if a little bit too loaded with multiple storylines for its own good. Believe it or not, the sections set in Mytica a...
January 25, 2017
Review: Cross the Line
Cross the Line by James PattersonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I don't think I was really expecting an Alex Cross novel that would top last year's stellar, harrowing Cross Justice, or even the twisty BookShots novella Cross Kill. But still, to have a book that doesn't deliver nearly as much thrills coming off the heels of that tough act to follow, it's pretty disappointing. At least we get good family stories for the Crosses, always a plus, but the case that dominates this book is quite forgetta...
January 23, 2017
Review: Kill Switch
Kill Switch by Jonathan MaberryMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Every horror writer has to dip their toe into the subzero chill of the Cthulhu Mythos pool sometime, and Jonathan Maberry's latest Joe Ledger novel is one of the finest Cthulhu-inspired stories I've seen yet. Loaded for bear with paranormal terror, Fringe-y trips into bizarre dreamworlds where only gods should dwell, apocalyptic thinkers hoping and praying to end the world on their terms, and Joe Ledger having to run all over the place...
January 21, 2017
Review: Carve the Mark
Carve the Mark by Veronica RothMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
*sigh* Well, loyal Pinecones, the time has come for me to review Veronica Roth's latest, and unfortunately, as a Veronica Roth stan till my dying day, I confess myself disappointed.
Before I go into this, please note that I'll be discussing the book's issues with racism and ableism to the best of my ability, but for further reading, I'll direct you to important posts regarding said issues.
* Justina Ireland on racism
* Jenny Trout on ableis...
Review: The Seventh Plague
The Seventh Plague by James RollinsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
While maybe a bit of a come-down from its predecessor, last year's stellar Sigma novel The Bone Labyrinth, The Seventh Plague is nevertheless every bit as action-packed and classically James Rollins as you can expect from a Sigma book. From coming up with pretty plausible scientific explanations for the Biblical ten plagues of Egypt to involving real-world historical figures (namely, Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla, an unusual combinat...
January 20, 2017
As Of Now...I'm Out.
"Own your weird."
-Z Brewer
Welcome, my friends, to a world without America. But I'm not here to talk about that so much. I'm here to talk about resistance, and a very personal reason why I will not stop resisting the fascism that seeks to grip my zombie nation forever.
If any of you watched this week's episode of The Real O'Neals, you would have seen a scene where Kenny, our gay Irish Catholic teenage protagonist, goes on a date with his first-ever boyfriend and, in his internal-monologue...
-Z Brewer
Welcome, my friends, to a world without America. But I'm not here to talk about that so much. I'm here to talk about resistance, and a very personal reason why I will not stop resisting the fascism that seeks to grip my zombie nation forever.
If any of you watched this week's episode of The Real O'Neals, you would have seen a scene where Kenny, our gay Irish Catholic teenage protagonist, goes on a date with his first-ever boyfriend and, in his internal-monologue...
