Ricky Pine's Blog, page 79
December 23, 2017
Review: Timekeeper
Timekeeper by Tara SimMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm not at all surprised Victoria Schwab blurbed this one - Tara Sim's debut would pair magnificently with Schwab's signature work, the Darker Shade trilogy. Welcome, my friends, to another alternate 19th century England, later in the century than Schwab wrote in her famous trilogy, but no less magical for it. Maybe a little too magical, in that the magic system isn't quite as well-explained as I'd hope for, but that's okay. It's really all abo...
December 20, 2017
Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire SáenzMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wait, it's been five years now since this book came out? And I slept on it for that long? Well, thanks to my friend Harry, no longer, and I'll soon be reading through the rest of Benjamin Alire Sáenz's bibliography on his advice.
There's a few reasons why this book shouldn't work as well as it does - like the prose style, consisting of about 75% dialogue in not even close to full lines at...
December 18, 2017
Review: The Reader
The Reader by Traci CheeMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
I wanted to like this book. It sounded pretty cool, a sort of latter-day Inkheart in a fantasy world full of all sorts of kingdoms, a sort of bridge between MG and YA readership, and bringing a good amount of diversity to the table too. Unfortunately, in execution, The Reader left a lot to be desired. I found myself scratching my head a lot at the whole "This is a book" thing, which felt like it was playing a little too much with Magritte-sty...
December 16, 2017
Review: It Devours!
It Devours! by Joseph FinkMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
At some point, I'm going to need to pick up the printed collections of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast transcripts to increase my exposure to this weird and wonderful world. As for this second full-length novel from Fink and Cranor, it's another delightfully macabre tale, this time dialing up the Lovecraftian horror and highlighting the balance between science and faith and how opposites may often attract. It Devours! boasts a better, mor...
The Last Jedi: Mr. Johnson's Magnum Opus
***NO SPOILERS FOR THE LAST JEDI, BUT SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS STAR WARS FILMS ABOUND WITHIN. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.***
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
-Kylo Ren
"This is not going to go the way you think!"
-Luke Skywalker
Two years ago, I saw The Force Awakens and fell in love with it, declaring it J.J. Abrams' magnum opus. I hereby make a similar declaration to The Last Jedi as the magnum opus for writer-director Rian Johnson. Though quite outside his wheelhouse - Johnson be...
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."
-Kylo Ren
"This is not going to go the way you think!"
-Luke Skywalker
Two years ago, I saw The Force Awakens and fell in love with it, declaring it J.J. Abrams' magnum opus. I hereby make a similar declaration to The Last Jedi as the magnum opus for writer-director Rian Johnson. Though quite outside his wheelhouse - Johnson be...
December 14, 2017
Review: Long Way Down
Long Way Down by Jason ReynoldsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Even after greatly enjoying Reynolds' take on Miles Morales, I've found myself sleeping on his bibliography for quite a while. Thanks to Long Way Down, I have another reminder that I should pretty much not be sleeping on said bibliography. Though very different in style from Miles Morales, especially since it's a novel entirely in verse as opposed to prose, this book is no less unforgettable and thought-provoking and an authentic look...
December 12, 2017
Review: Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier
Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier by Mark FrostMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm sure this 150-page Final Dossier contains a few spoilers for the 18-episode Twin Peaks revival, but I couldn't really tell, and in any case, it was a pretty good read. Not as in-depth as The Secret History, of course, and certainly a lot less historical-conspiracy oriented, but for its deep dive into what happened to a lot of popular characters in the 25-year-plus gap between the original series and the revival, it was...
December 10, 2017
Review: Moxie
Moxie by Jennifer MathieuMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
By now, of course, I think it's pretty plain that the infamous Kirkus review of this book was...pretty misinformed in its suggestion that Moxie somehow promotes not "real" feminism, but empowerment through gender segregation. Nope nope nope. Just feminism, straight up, as only our heroine Vivian can serve it. Girl power and punk music and smashing the patriarchy, with a glowing recommendation from Amy Poehler as if you didn't need another re...
Review: Flashfall
Flashfall by Jenny MoyerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
After taking part in a BBTC chat with author Jenny Moyer in anticipation of this book's sequel, I realized I had to read the original for the first time - a book that somehow managed to fly under my radar, probably because of how YA dystopians are supposedly dead thanks to overexposure from the likes of Divergent, The Maze Runner, Red Queen, etc.
Flashfall, however, feels like a still-pretty-fresh spin on the genre, combining elements of The...
December 8, 2017
Review: Tess of the Road
Tess of the Road by Rachel HartmanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Trigger warnings for this book: miscarriage, slut-shaming, rape.
I was lucky enough to acquire the ARC of this book in a trade, and I've since passed it along to one of the team leads at the Stanford bookstore, who's quite the Seraphina fan, enough to have made that book one of her official Staff Picks. Tess of the Road, it's quite a different kettle of fish than Hartman's previous two fantasy tales, and while I give it the same offici...
