Ricky Pine's Blog, page 144

Review: The Young World

The Young World by Chris Weitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw a lot of negative reviews for this book, with most of them being complaints that the story isn't really anything new or original. Dystopian, New York, teenagers in the apocalypse, fighting and banging and even eating other people's thighs, Hannibal-style. Yeah, not very original - but the likable dual narrators (smart Jeff and sassy Donna, who sounds way more beautiful than her self-description) and high action made up enough for...

Something You Didn't Know You Needed

...and it's to drop everything and listen to Muse's "Reapers," no matter how many times you've heard it before!

Haha, just kidding. Or am I?

Well, that's not why I'm here. Today, I'm here to present the world something I never thought I'd ever get the chance to do - take a video of myself reading from Red Rain and doing impressions of Nat Bradford, Andrew Garfield, and River Song.

But, because my brain's been addled by the rising heat in the Bay Area today, I've gone and done exactly that.

S...

Review: Devil's Pocket

Devil's Pocket by John Dixon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first book in this series read like Matthew Reilly did The Maze Runner. This one reads more like James Rollins doing James Dashner doing The Hunger Games. That might just be the best way to describe this epic mashup of Roman-esque gladiator fights in the modern day (at least one of which required Carl to fight with a broken arm - dear God) and numerous references to Greek gods, Viking funerals, and Dante, and impending apocalyptic doo...

Review: Irkadura

Irkadura by Ksenia Anske
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

And now for something completely different from the ever-popular, ever-undiscovered Ksenia Anske. There are a few of her usual trappings - strong female lead, talking dogs, bizarro fantasy - but overall, this book is so very much not Rosehead or The Badlings. It's a million times Darker and Edgier, with the Lisbeth Salander-like horrors the protagonist has to face. No wonder she slips into a fantasy world where everyone and their mother (lite...

Review: The Girl in the Spider's Web

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I first heard this was happeneing, I was overjoyed. Never mind the fact that this was based on a new manuscript, not linked to the partials left on Larsson's laptop - more Lisbeth Salander? More Mikael Blomkvist? More Lisbeth Effing Salander? This felt like just what the doctor ordered.

It's not as good as any of the three original Millennium books, largely because it feels like this one has much less of our (anti...

Review: Queen of Shadows

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

UNOFFICIAL PLAYLIST:

"You don't have long, I am on to you
The time, it has come, to destroy your supremacy!"
- Muse

"Don't take my heart, don't break my heart
Don't, don't throw it away..."
- Tears For Fears, "Head Over Heels"

"When we are young
Wandering the face of the earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we're only immortal for a limited time..."
- Rush, "Dreamline"

"Hey, there's a whole lotta people
Wonderin' who you a...

Review: The Fate of Ten

The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

***WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS***

Again, I had to wonder going into this - why is this the second-to-last book? The apocalypse has already begun, and there's no way it can take them until Book 7 to finally take down Setrakus Ra...right?

Apparently, it can. However, he's left very weak and with a spear in his chest last we see him - which can only be a good sign. With luck, he's finally dying, and they won't need to kill Ella first to get to h...

Review: The Necromancer

The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Feeling like The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus by way of Jim Butcher (or perhaps Jasper Fforde, based on the semi-frequent use of comedic footnotes), this book is just as "fiendishly funny" as its GR blurb promises. Not to mention the dust jacket, which provides a fictional bio for its title character and ends on this gem of a line: "Where he lives is none of your verdammt business." Maybe I've seen National Treasure one too ma...

Review: Pocket Apocalypse

Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

True story - my dad saw me reading this one and asked, based on his brief glimpse of the cover, why I was reading a romance novel. I was sorely tempted to read directly from the book and prove him wrong, but then I decided, what does it matter? I don't have to prove anything, because I'm enjoying this book too much. :)

It's actually a shame that now that I'm finally used to having Alex as narrator, we're gonna switch back to Verity...

Review: Half-Off Ragnarok

Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I knew this book was gonna switch POVs to Alex instead of Verity, so I was expecting a little bit of tone change to happen. I just wish it didn't feel so serious. For some reason, the humorous moments didn't come nearly as often as in the previous two books. Fewer pop-culture references per page may have had something to do with that. Not to mention fewer Aeslin mice per chapter - although they were there, thank God.

So, while the s...