Ricky Pine's Blog, page 85

Top Ten Tuesday: Fall 2017 TBR

Having seen Joey @ thoughtsandafterthoughts tweet this latest installment of Top Ten Tuesday, I couldn't resist taking part again, especially since it's the Fall 2017 TBR edition and I did the Fall TBR last year as well. Now it's my turn, and you'll find that I've got a few titles in common with Joey, starting with the one on the very top of the list.

10. Patrick Ness, Release

I've heard some good things about this book. I've also heard that, tonally, it's perhaps closest to The Rest of Us...

My 2017 Favorites: The Third Annual Pinecone Awards!

Books:

Honorable Mentions:

* Rhoda Belleza, Empress of a Thousand Skies
* Cassandra Clare, Lord of Shadows
* Julie Kagawa, Legion
* Laura Lam, Masquerade
* Pittacus Lore, Generation One

Special Salute: Adam Silvera, History Is All You Left Me and They Both Die At The End

5. Brendan Reichs, Nemesis
4. Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
3. Victoria Aveyard, King's Cage
2. Jason Reynolds, Miles Morales: Spider-Man
1. Marie Lu, Warcross

Movies:

Honorable Mentions:

* A Monster Calls
* Dunkirk
* Kong: Skull Island
*...

Review: Ruin and Rising

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third and final entry of the Grisha Trilogy - though not the entire Grishaverse - is dark and full of terrors, and also full of tons of twists building up to an ending you'll probably see coming, but that won't make it hurt any less, I don't think. Those tons of twists, they pile up like mad as the story goes on, and you'll have wondered why you won't have predicted a few of them earlier - and then you'll also hope to the Saints t...

Review: Twelfth Grade Kills

Twelfth Grade Kills by Heather Brewer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod conclude (for now, though I hope Uncle Z returns to this world someday, whether it be a prequel centered on Otis or a sequel about Vlad's college years and beyond) with blood, gore, guts, and delights everywhere. Not to mention what is, by far, the twistiest plot this author has ever come up with - even from the very beginning, when a major villain is unceremoniously killed off in the prologue, foll...

Review: Siege and Storm

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This second book of the Grishaverse takes us really up and down the world that Bardugo wrought, giving us a good expansion beyond the continent shown on the map in the first book and taking us far and wide, especially to Novyi Zem, where the book begins. It's a strange contrast, Novyi Zem being basically the Wild West against the Eurasian influences of the rest of the world, and the presence of the jurda crops makes good foreshadowing...

Review: Black Moon

Black Moon by Romina Russell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm a little bummed that this third book of the Zodiac series takes another slight dip in quality - four stars for the first book, three and a half (rounded up to four) for the second, and now a straight up three stars here. It's nothing to do with the characters, really - Rho and Hysan, in particular, are some of the most shippable leads I've seen in YA, easily. But the storyline feels a little repetitive at this point, with Ochus being...

Review: Warcross

Warcross by Marie Lu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

PINECONE GENERAL'S WARNING: This book is not to be read, listened to, or otherwise consumed if you have a heart condition, are pregnant, or have recently downed a cup of espresso con panna with two sugars. Literary cardiac arrest may ensue.

No, seriously, this book is just that Agents of SHIELD-grade intense. Especially given its author, Marie Lu, is one of the few whom I've consistently given five stars for each and every single book I've ever re...

Review: Artemis

Artemis by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The ARC for Andy Weir's follow-up to The Martian is in pretty high demand behind the scenes at the Stanford University bookstore, as you can imagine, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on that ARC and call it mine for a moment before returning it to its friends in the storeroom. And I was able to read all of it, surprisingly short and digestible as it was, during my breaks on an eight-hour shift, a total of an hour of reading time.

Not unlike...

Review: Eleventh Grade Burns

Eleventh Grade Burns by Heather Brewer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh the wonders of the Vlad Tod world...absolute perfection, every last one, and this fourth book takes things up to new heights. While Tenth Grade Bleeds upped the emotional game considerably, Eleventh Grade Burns delivers a masterful blend of teen dramedy and suspenseful paranormal thrills, particularly in the interactions between Vlad and Joss (nice to see him back in action in this one!) And also Dorian, that enigmatic creatu...

IT: A King-Size Collection Of Shocks, Terrors, And Triggers

***THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW.***

"You'll float too, when it happens to you..."

...which puts me in mind of a recent tweet from the master himself.

In the trades of horror and wit, he ain't no jack.
While I at first interpreted that last line as a reference to The 100, which King's a fan of (and that's a reason why you need to get into that show immediately if you haven't already!), I didn't realize there was another secret meaning - the catchphrase for this movie, the sinister slogan of the d...