Elentarien

• Rated 3 stars

“An enjoyable read. I got a little bogged down in all the political machinations and a lot of talk about armies and such. I tended to skim those parts a little more than I should.

The book starts with a nice piece of action. . .and some rather devastating results to the hero. The rest of the book is -mostly- about him learning to cope, and pulling himself together again, while the countries prepare to go to war with each other.

I did find the ending a little. . .twisted. For a romance its. . .probably one of the odder ones I have ever read. Though I can see how it stretches back even to the first book, its definitely a little strange.

Still, an interesting read and I'm curious to see what happens.”

Elentarien wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I actually rather enjoyed this one. I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up - just started reading and while it was a bit slow to get started - I mean, lets face it, a history lesson about the prison and the area surrounding it is not exactly the greatest hook in the whole wide world - it soon picked up the pace and I had trouble putting it down.

The twist at the ending was not only unexpected, but rather gratifying. It was obvious on retrospect, but on the first read it was not a direction I was guessing at.

I found the main character both obnoxious and likable. Perhaps because you could see the obnoxious behavior was somewhat deliberate and not necessarily his real self. By the end I almost liked him.

I did find it a bit confusing - the main character's age is never specified, but there is an odd balance with his age. In some places he seems no more than a boy (12-14ish), what with them holding him down to whip him, being carried up to bed, the way he needs to sort himself out with the apprentice, the general way the magus talks to him, as if to a child - and in other places it seems as if he should be older (18-19-20ish), his ability to fight, talk of his marrying, etc. But nowhere is it actually specified how old he is. It is a trifle confusing.

All in all, it was a very interesting read and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.”

Elentarien wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 2 stars

“Really did not care for this one.

Katniss seemed more like a sulky, spoiled brat than the strong, resourceful heroine of book one. She spends most of her time skulking around sulking or being told what to do by other people than actually DOING anything for herself. And the few times she does do something for herself, people are killed or she ends up in the hospital - again.

One can understand that this is war, and people are fighting for freedom from a sick situation. But I found when the author started killing people it was too much for nothing. Killing off most of the team was no particular problem. We never got to know them. Killing Finnick? There was no real point to that. A few people survived, he could have too. Prim's death was pointless. It was done so quickly and out of the blue, it lacked any real impact. . .and then, once again, Katniss fades to black and finds herself in the hospital. If it was supposed to have an impact, we did not get to know Prim enough - but it seemed pointless to kill the girl Kat worked so hard to keep alive to start with. I actually felt more for the cat in the end than I did for the death of Prim. Poor kitty missed his mistress.

I also found Katniss' 'romances' more irritating than anything. I had no preferences for who she ended up with, but the fact that she kept jerking them around, and in the end didn't even choose. . .she only ended up with Peeta because he didn't fade off into the background.

All in all? I have read better war stories, and had more satisfying conclusions. I can only hope the movie handles this book better than the author did. ”

Elentarien wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Not bad. I felt it was a bit repetitive, echoing a lot of book one. But it was still an exciting read and heated things up enough to keep me riveted until I was done. ”

Elentarien wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“This one was actually quite fun. A very different take on Beauty and the Beast, with Red Riding Hood thrown in for good measure. A little predictable outcome, but over all, I quite enjoyed the read.”

Elentarien wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Well, I can't say I really *LIKED* this book. The concept is really quite dark, though not terribly 'new'. (Definitely sick, mind you. THough I suppose no worse than 'The City of Ember', in its dark concepts.) I also 'guessed' at the basic plot just going by the title. I've heard the title around, and had this general idea of the semi-futuristic setting and the weird game for survival type thing. Odd how close I got.

However, new concept or not, this book was well written, and engrossing. While a rather grim tale, it was HARD to put down, and harder to shake the 'atmosphere' off after you did put it down. You get to like the characters (the main ones, anyway. . .the rest of the world seems a bit mad, but ok!), and find yourself rooting for them even though they are in a pretty nasty situation.

I also found I liked the fact that while the tale is quite violent, none of the violence was hugely described. You get enough to know whats happening, but we don't hear about things graphically.

All in all, a good book, and well done.

Thank GOD its complete fiction, though!!!”

Elentarien wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“As always I enjoyed this book immensely. There are very few by Tamora Pierce that I dislike, ever since I picked up Alanna, way back when. And all in all this 'prequel' to the world of Tortall was as satisfactory as the rest.

I like how the story finishes up with a touch of romance as satisfying as any 'adult' novel. The general adventure was equally fun, and satisfying. Although a little draggy at points, it was never hard to read past those, gathering the 'flavour' of the world while you're at it. (And lets face it, if those parts were cut out, the whole 'hunt' would have progressed a bit TOO fast)

Again, loved the characters, Pounce in particular, but he's always been a favourite. Even Achoo seemed to have more personality this time, perhaps aided by the occasional 'translation' by Pounce.

My only 'gripe' about this book is the end. The traitor turning up was NOT a happy point for me. After getting used to this character all the way through book one, I was not a happy reader to see them turn traitor, and come to a bad end. Although, perhaps that is kind of the point that while we get a happy ending, they don't always come without a bit of bitter to throw in the mix. I just have a hard time thinking that the traitor would have been so stupid as to fall into the whole plot like that. Then again, even in real life, good, smart people do idiotic - and sometimes terrible things in their blindness.

But yeah, while I loved the book over all, the whole traitor bit at the end sort of left me with a not-so-satisfied feeling at the end. Still a good addition to the collection of books by this author, though. ”

Elentarien wrote this review Sunday, November 6, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“A lovely conclusion to the series. (At least I think its the conclusion. It wrapped up as if it was.)

Picking up with two of the characters introduced in the first book, but Rose was not explored until now.

A lovely, light-hearted, humourous read, though with more serious overtones as well. (Well it can't ALL be funny! :))

All in all, I loved the characters. The situation was a bit understated, but added enough action to keep things rolling and ended very satisfactorily. ”

Elentarien wrote this review Sunday, November 6, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I actually really enjoyed this one. The character is lovable, and I can rather identify with her early on. (The reclusive writer type who'd rather stay indoors with her characters than 'go find a life' like other people try to push one into).

The whole book is written well, and with enough humour to keep me snickering. It is well expressed and has plenty of interesting ways of putting things. I also enjoy the 'touch' of Amish, without it being smothering - and the questions it brought up about the whole Amish thing.

I did find the ending a little odd. As in the 'culprit/villian' seemed to come out of nowhere, not really giving the reader a chance to 'solve' the mystery. However. . .the characters didn't know either, and it gets revealed to readers and characters simultaneously, so in the end it still works.

All in all, a fun read and very well done.”

Elentarien wrote this review Sunday, November 6, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Wish I could give this one two and a half stars. I am caught between "Didn't like it" and "liked it."

Over all, the story was interesting. We get to revisit the characters we met in the first book. However, the momentum of the story really lacked in this one. There was a lot of 'waiting' for something to happen.

Mr. Quent was rarely in the story, and hardly seemed part of the family. Same with Mr. Lockwell, whom, while the issue was semi-resolved, was mostly left to languish in the sanitarium unvisited. Rose and Lily, while present also posed very minor roles, even when present they were barely on the periphery.

The story mainly focused on the three main characters, but their parts seemed very repetetive. The gatherings Ivy attends, and the endless compliments she receives, and yet seems at a complete loss as to how to deal with. The mystery which takes nearly the entire book to build - until it actually *starts* you could not really say what the big issue and mystery is going to be. Except that we knew the doors would play a role.

Mr. Raffirdy's part was mostly the same. The few parties he attends, then his musing about the assemblies he had to attend or about how he feels he has to avoid Mrs. Quent. He doesn't DO much until she retrieves him at the very end.

Of all this, though, I would say Garritt's part was the worst. Not only is it repetitive on his job, and him constantly musing over how he's going to get more money and do what he plans to do, and even when he starts doing it, he's wish-washying around about whether he SHOULD be. But the homosexual aspect which came out of nowhere (no warning for the reader if they should choose to avoid it!) completely ruined any appeal of reading his parts. I mostly ended up skipping or barely skimming his sections entirely. I have seen other books with gay characters, and they at least do little more than mention they are. This took it farther and was not only uncomfortable to read, but quite unnecessary.

All in all, it was nice to see the characters of this book again and the somewhat Jane Austenish style. But this book was *not* particularly worth the time. All in all the story could have been summed up in a couple of chapters and would have saved the reader a lot of effort to get to the main plot. Between the draggy story, and the gay aspects, I would not recommend this book at all.”

Elentarien wrote this review Wednesday, October 19, 2011. ( reply | permalink )