Ricky Pine's Blog, page 115
October 21, 2016
Review: A World Without You
A World Without You by Beth RevisMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A World Without You is a very quick read, despite the complications of Bo's delusions messing with reality and dropping this story into a seriously screwy realm of magical realism, if not outright sci-fi. Even with Bo's sister, Phoebe, getting some POV chapters, one has to wonder if Bo isn't delusional after all - and me, I really, fervently hoped he wasn't.
Sometimes, living in a dream, even a bad one, could be preferable to reality....
October 19, 2016
Red Rain Is Now On SwoonReads!
For a while, I've been considering uploading Red Rain to SwoonReads, the website through which Alex Evansley's brilliant, super-polished NA diamond in the rough Between Takes is being published. At first, I was unsure it would work - after all, SwoonReads specialized in romance, and Red Rain doesn't exactly fit the traditional romance mold.
But now SwoonReads has opened its doors to YA and NA books of all genres, which means it could be the solution I need, the avenue through wh...
But now SwoonReads has opened its doors to YA and NA books of all genres, which means it could be the solution I need, the avenue through wh...
Review: Beyond the Red
Beyond the Red by Ava JaeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
After a few months of following Ava Jae on Twitter, I've decided, like with Elliot Wake, that it was about time I read her book. Like with Wake's books, I had to special order this one from another library - of course mine wouldn't have this one.
That is a massive, crying shame.
Beyond the Red deftly blends YA fantasy with space opera like no other Game of Star Wars, Star Thrones mashup since Red Rising. It's set in a rich, lovely Arab-esque w...
October 17, 2016
Review: Captain's Fury
Captain's Fury by Jim ButcherMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Putting Tavi in charge of his own legion, finally unlocking his furycrafting abilities, revealing why they took so bloody long to develop (and when I saw that part again, I related to it way too much.) It was at this point that I finally started to really, really like Codex Alera the first time around, and this time is no exception, with its considerably faster pace and resolution of some of the plot threads that have been cooking almost...
October 15, 2016
Review: The Fever Code
The Fever Code by James DashnerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
"They march on through the dust
Believe their leader, they can trust
In all the noise they lose the way...
-Kongos
Well. This is it. The Maze Runner prequel we've all been waiting for.
I should warn you, though...it wouldn't be a Dashner book without a few moments that make you go all...
The original trilogy, those helped define the end of my time in high school and the start of my community college years (Death Cure having come out about a m...
Review: The Winner's Curse
The Winner's Curse by Marie RutkoskiMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
So I've seen a few people loving this series - which I remembered best for the controversy it attracted when the publishers wanted to give the books these Throne of Glass-knockoff covers.
I think I'll still remember it best for that after my ill-fated attempt at getting into it.
I know The Winner's Curse came out before Sabaa Tahir's An Ember In The Ashes, but Tahir's book remains the definitive work of YA sandalpunk for me. Automat...
Review: Woman of God
Woman of God by James PattersonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Call me crazy, but I was under the impression that this book would be connected to Patterson's earlier, Catholicism-heavy apocalyptic tale, Cradle and All.
Other than being about a massive shakeup in the Church, there's not much connecting the two stories at all.
The first half of the book is dreadfully unfocused and jumps from place to place with almost reckless abandon, to the point where I almost gave up on this book about 100 pages i...
October 12, 2016
Review: Crooked Kingdom
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh BardugoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
"No visible means of support
Yeah, you have not seen nothing yet
Everything's stuck together..."
-Talking Heads, "Burning Down The House"
No mourners.
No funerals.
I remember when I first read Six of Crows last fall, I thought it was a good book, if a little slow at times. A second read, more recently, helped solve that pacing issue for me as I got into the characters a bit more. So, maybe a second read a year or so down the line might impr...
October 9, 2016
Review: Empire of Storms
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. MaasMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
First off, this. That flaming blue-orange contrast cover with Aelin looking incredibly more beautiful and kick-ass than ever. Awesome.
Second off, the one and only proper reaction to that doozy of an ending:
So. Empire of Storms - the long-awaited fifth Throne of Glass novel.
Honestly, after Queen of Shadows with its Lovecraftian horror and demonic possessions every-freaking-where, I thought Maas had peaked. Maybe she has - the books sh...
October 7, 2016
Review: Six of Crows
Six of Crows by Leigh BardugoMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
There's a reason why this book comes with Michael Dante DiMartino's seal of approval - it's a lot like Legend of Korra in a few ways, with its primary settings being two different cities in an alternate world. One, Ketterdam, being a sort of early 20th century steampunk city. And the other, an icy city in the northern wastelands of Fjerda.
It's also got a lot of Ocean's Eleven in its DNA, being a heist story as opposed to the magical war th...
