Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Warning - Spoilers below. Do not read unless you've already read the book.

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . 
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the centre of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I was so excited about Cinder when I first saw it – cyborgs? Cinderella? Deadly plagues? It ticked all my boxes.

Unfortunately it didn’t quite manage to live up to my expectations, although it was still a really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Let’s get what I wasn’t fussed on out the way first so we can end on the things I did love.

Firstly, by the time a book is in its finished form, I expect it to be completely proof read. I don’t expect to find words missing or random words thrown into sentences that make the whole thing make no sense at all. It worries me when I see errors like that in a finished book, because that means that in all the passes of the book no one has picked it up. Either that or I have eyes like a hawk and someone should hire me to be a proof reader.

Secondly, the big twist. I’ve already warned you and I’m going to again, do not keep reading if you haven’t read the book – spoilers lie ahead!
I worked out the twist a couple of chapters in, it really didn’t take long. And I spent the rest of the book torn between being incredibly bored that I’d already worked it out, and desperately hoping that I was wrong, and that the author was going to pull something spectacular out of the bag at the last moment. Unfortunately it turned out I was right, and because it was literally revealed in the last couple of pages it made me think that it was supposed to be this big shocking thing. And it really, really wasn’t.
I am however looking forward to seeing how Cinder develops now she has this knowledge, so I’m incredibly excited for the second book, despite the slightly let down-ish ending of the first.

Thirdly, the romance. There wasn’t enough time and development between Kai and Cinder for me to find this believable. If it had been that he was using her to try and get one up on the Queen like Cinder initially thought then I would have found it more believable, but as it was I really wasn’t convinced. Maybe in the next book there will be enough interaction between them that I’ll start to feel it, but as it was, not so much.

And finally, I was kind of disappointed that more wasn’t given to the setting. It’s set in ‘New Beijing’ and everyone has Chinese names, but nothing about it really suggests any connection to the cities roots, where it’s come from and how it’s developed. I would have found that fascinating to see more of that – we did see a little bit creep through in some of the ceremonies, and random pieces of description, but I would have liked more it.

Ok so those were the things that brought the book down for me, let’s talk about the awesome.
The plot. I absolutely loved it. It was a fantastic new spin on the traditional fairy tale, and that’s what made me pick up the book in the first place. The idea that Cinder was a cyborg was genius, it take the idea of her being a servant and physically belonging to her step mother to a whole new level which I found fascinating.

I loved Cinder herself. A smart, clever and well developed character that I couldn’t help but love and root for. I laughed at her humour, I wanted to cry at the injustices of her step mother, and be there to deliver a royal smackdown on the Queen. She really was fabulous, and it was so good to see this character who we’ve been shown in most depictions as this slightly weak princess to be, to be such a tough and independent young woman. She came across a lot older than she was as a result, and I want to see a bit more of her vulnerability, but I’m really looking forward to seeing her development in the next books.

I did like Kai, and I found some of the pieces from his point of view where we got to see the politics and outside the Commonwealth which we would have missed if we had been with Cinder the whole time, really interesting. It gave an idea of the stakes and the world outside of Cinder’s perceptions. Did anyone else have a brief moment of ‘oh, did she really go there?’ With ‘Queen Camilla’ of England?...

I did however find some of the stuff with Kai and Torin a little bit weird towards the end. I don’t know if it was just because it was seen from Cinder’s perspective, but it suddenly seemed a bit out of character. I did love Kai’s reaction to Cinder though when he found out what she was. Still wanting to protect her but at the same time unable to hide his disgust. I like it when characters are shown with their flaws, and to be unable (at least at first) to get over their prejudices.

The plot did take a little while to get going and to draw me in (about 80 pages or so) but after the ending I am fully anticipating a fabulous dive straight into the second book.

The writing was really good (other than the errors I’ve already mentioned) and set the scene and developed the characters beautifully. The pacing really picked up, and I found myself dragged into the story fully after that initial slow build up, and I couldn’t wait to carry on reading and find out what was going to happen. It’s the sort of story that takes a little while, but then lodges itself firmly inside you, making you desperate to get back to it, and constantly thinking about the characters and what’s going to happen next.

The build up and set up were really good, I loved the elements of the original fairy tale woven in without dominating the story, and I cannot wait for the second book to see where Cinder is going to go now and what she’ll do next.


Edit to include a short review of 'Glitches'
I have to say I really enjoyed 'Glitches'. It was a really good example of how a prequel story can work well both before and after reading the book it's promoting. I've talked about this recently, and I have to say that Glitches was one of my favourites.
It's gives us immediate insight into the world and Cinder herself, so that even if I hadn't read the book it still would have made sense and drawn me in, and it was really good to be able to fill in some of those gaps about when she was first adopted. I loved seeing the father, and the interactions with her step mother and the two other children.
A really good short prequel that I would definitely recommend either to try before you delve into the full story, or as another taste of Cinder's world.

Review: Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

A huge thank you to Harriet at Random House Children's Books for sending me a copy to review.

It starts off simply. 
Draw a circle ... place a dead leaf in the center ... sprinkle some salt ... recite a little Latin ... add a drop of blood ... 
Maybe that last part isn't exactly simple. Yet somehow it feels right to Silla Kennicott. And nothing in her life has felt remotely right since her parents' horrific deaths. She's willing to do anything to uncover the truth about her family—even try a few spells from the mysterious book that arrived on her doorstep ... and spill some blood. 
The book isn't the only recent arrival in Silla's life. There's Nick Pardee, the new guy next door who may have seen Silla casting a spell. She's not sure what he saw and is afraid to find out. But as they spend more time together, Silla realizes this may not be Nick's first encounter with Blood Magic. Brought together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick can't deny their attraction. And they can't ignore the dark presence lurking nearby—waiting to 

reclaim the book and all its power. 

Can we all just take a moment to celebrate Gratton’s fabulous construction, otherwise known as Nick?
A boy, yes I know, I’m so fickle over fictional boys, who is not conventionally yummy, yet still pulls it off, wears a trilby hat and a three piece suit and can actually dance. The party scene where all of these things come together actually had me swooning like a school girl. There are not enough fictional boys wearing trilby hats and suits and dancing. Any authors out there listening – please make some more. Will pay good money for them//pimp your book out to everyone. So let the pimping begin.

I love books with magic in. The first books I ever took out of the school library at secondary school were Tamora Pierce’s ‘Song of the Lioness’ Quartet, and ever since, a good book with lots of magic? You can’t beat it. Tamora Pierce, Maria V Snyder, Ms Gratton, please join them in your rightful place on my shelf of magic books made of awesome.

Seriously this book was fab. I loved the concept, I loved the characters, and I loved the writing. It didn’t read like a first book – there was a confidence in the writing that spoke of many books already under the author’s belt, and made the story really come alive.

It took its time, really enjoying building up the characters so we cared about them, the relationships so they were believable, and the plot so it was complex and detailed and full of twists and turns.

I could have done with some more explanation about the magic – who could do it etc. but I really liked the build up, the book, the explanations and the slow interweaving of the two different stories. And there were some sly twists slipped in there so that the outcome and solutions weren’t obvious from the beginning – misdirection, I like your style Ms Gratton.

I loved the time spent building the characters up, so I really liked all of them. They all felt real, although it probably says something about me that I was a little untrusting of some of the trustworthy characters – apparently I just don’t trust anyone who is genuinely nice from the get go…
I liked the split narrative with both sides being told – both Josephine’s, but also seeing how Nick and Silla reacted to each other, how that developed and not just getting one side of it. And it was so refreshing to see the guy mooning over the girl more than the other way round. In fact Nick was just awesome. I think I’ve already covered it earlier, but I really loved him as a character. He was quirky, funny, a gentleman but a bit of an arse at the same time. He just felt so real, so human and so utterly fab – I was hooked on him from the start.

I was slower to warm to Silla and Reese, it took a bit longer but they were still very well crafted. Silla’s development and arc over the course of the book was something fabulous to watch, and I really can’t wait to see what happens in book two, whether we get to see more of that developing.

Another awesome thing was that this book really didn’t shy away from the blood and guts and gore and general squeamish moments. I’m not normally squeamish, but this had even me shuddering at points. It was brilliantly pitched and worked so well, enough to make it gross and brilliantly believable and pricey for the magic, without being over the top and gratuitous.

There were a couple of things that didn’t quite gel for me – the first being Nick’s overuse of the word ‘babe’. A few times? Yeah sure, that makes sense, it probably would be part of his vocabulary, but he takes the use above and beyond with pretty much every sentence directed at Silla having the word babe in there somewhere. In fact after reading I put a ban on the word for my friends and family so I could have a break from it.

The second thing wasn’t anything to do with the writing itself, but is a note to the publishers instead. Please, I’m begging you, I know that when trying to represent diary or letter writing, using cursive pretty italic script helps show that, but if you use the insanely tight hard to read writing it really gives me a bad case of the grumps. Maybe I should be wearing my glasses more, but as far as I’m concerned, if I’m struggling to actually read the damn thing, it’s a bad sign. And if those sections hadn’t been so important to the story I would have skipped them entirely to save me the eye strain.

The third was that Nick seemed to do a very abrupt 180 on his views of magic. Going from – evil, most evil thing in the world! To, hey, you know what, I kinda like this whole healing my scars in thirty seconds thing! Was a little disorientating. I could kind of see the logic with his determination to save and protect Silla, but at the same time, I could have done with a little more explanation and time taken over the change.

On the whole though, I absolutely loved it. It was an incredibly strong début by an author that I will have no hesitation reading again. A fantastic story and perfect for fans that like their magic with a side of gore…

Other fabulous reviews of Blood Magic:

The Book Smugglers

Writing from the Tub

Serendipity Reviews

Good Books and Good Wine

Release Day: The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

It's finally here! The release day in the UK for Robin Wasserman's fabulous new book! A race against time, scary murderous people in black robes, and across the dark and twisting streets of Prague - a brilliant new book for the new year!


Go and order your copy now! 


The Book of Blood and Shadow


It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up.  When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love.  When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark. 
But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead.  His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.
Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.

Review: A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

With the same incomparable style and warm, inviting voice that have made her beloved by millions of readers far and wide, New York Times bestselling author Fannie Flagg has written an enchanting Christmas story of faith and hope for all ages that is sure to become a classic. 
Deep in the southernmost part of Alabama, along the banks of a lazy winding river, lies the sleepy little community known as Lost River, a place that time itself seems to have forgotten. After a startling diagnosis from his doctor, Oswald T. Campbell leaves behind the cold and damp of the oncoming Chicago winter to spend what he believes will be his last Christmas in the warm and welcoming town of Lost River. There he meets the postman who delivers mail by boat, the store owner who nurses a broken heart, the ladies of the Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dots Secret Society, who do clandestine good works. And he meets a little redbird named Jack, who is at the center of this tale of a magical Christmas when something so amazing happened that those who witnessed it have never forgotten it. Once you experience the wonder, you too will never forget A Redbird Christmas.

My Mum got this book for Christmas and loved it, so passed it on to me to see what I thought.
Unfortunately I didn’t quite have the same reaction to it.

I did really enjoy it, it’s a charming tale of various members of Lost River, from Oswald’s arrival onwards. There were lots of little moments that I really enjoyed, finding out about the community, and the various big happenings that shake them all up.

Of all the character’s I really loved Oswald – he had a humour and determination about him that really capture me.
It was just once he got to Lost River that I lost interest.

We meet various members of the community, and hear snippets of their lives. Unfortunately most of the character’s remained very flat for me, with their actions and dialogue coming across as very stilted and disjointed. Moments that were supposed to be big reveals I had seen coming from the start, and because I didn’t really warm to a lot of the character’s meant that I wasn’t as drawn into caring for them as I was meant to be.

The writing used a very odd style that jumped around from character to character – great to find out what was happening to others in the village, but not so great when you can’t tell who is speaking or thinking and then it changes randomly part way through a paragraph. There were also odd spelling mistakes that just gave the whole thing a slightly tatty air.

Events were loosely joined together through the changing seasons and year, but because none of the characters were fully fleshed out I never really got drawn into it. And the ending wrapped up a little too neatly and too randomly for my taste which always leaves me a little bit disgruntled afterwards.

That said I did enjoy parts of it, it just didn’t quite grab me in the way I was expecting it to. It had charming moments, some lovely bits of humour and a great array of small moments that lifted it for me. However I did enjoy some of Flagg’s other books, particularly ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ so I think it was either a blip or I was in the wrong mood to read it.

A light Christmas read, one that briefly catches at you but doesn’t ultimately linger.

Check out Other Reviews

Serendipity Reviews

Pandemonium UK Cover Reveal

You guys I am so unbelievably excited about this cover!


I really wasn't all that fussed on the cover for Delirium, yes ok pretty, but not enough to make me sit and stroke it for hours. I am a terrible, terrible person when it comes to pretty covers. They seduce me and make me want to build a little nest and tell them all how beautiful they are.
Don't believe me? Well maybe about the nest part, sure, but check out my post about the prettiest covers of 2011.


And 2012 is shaping up to pretty coverlicious year too - just look at the pretties!


Pandemonium is released on 1st March in the UK. Go press that pre-order button!

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, 

pushing aside thoughts of Alex, 

pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, 

push, 

push, 

push, 

like Raven taught me to do.

The old life is dead.

But the old Lena is dead too.

I buried her.

I left her beyond a fence,

behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything? Imagine if she hadn't forgotten the book. Or if there hadn't been traffic on the expressway. Or if she hadn't fumbled the coins for the toll. What if she'd run just that little bit faster and caught the flight she was supposed to be on. Would it have been something else - the weather over the Atlantic or a fault with the plane? Hadley isn't sure if she believes in destiny or fate but, on what is potentially the worst day of each of their lives, it's the quirks of timing and chance events that mean Hadley meets Oliver... Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

Oh my god you guys, I loved this book.
I’d heard really good things about it, and then I read Angie’s review (and regular readers know that it only takes Angie saying she loved a book and I’ve bought it off Amazon before I’ve finished the review) and I was sold.

Set over twenty four hours, it’s the perfect combination of humour, grief, joy, and squishy cute moments. I’m all about the squishy cute moments.

I loved that this wasn’t just a romance though. It looks equally at Hadley, her family and the break-up of her family unit leading up to this point – the night before her father’s re-marriage.

It was such an honest look at the breakdown of relationships, as well as the forming of them, that for once I didn’t get grumpy over a portrayal of the breakdown. I actually empathised with every character, and found it fascinating as we were allowed deeper insights into Hadley’s life both before and after.

That said, I really loved the squishy moments…
Oliver was such a genuinely nice, refreshingly human boy. There was no insta-love. There was attraction, sure, by the bucket load, but I didn’t ever feel like this spark was being pushed or rushed or rammed repeatedly into a brick wall. The reader almost falls for Oliver along with Hadley, we laugh, we cry, we cheer, and are so swept up in this beautiful tale that’s full of endings and beginnings and false starts. It was so realistic, so full of life without being cloying or false.

I don’t want to ruin it, although I could quite happily chatter on about it for ages. I just want to say how brilliantly written it was. How much of a breah of fresh air, and how carried away by their story. I loved Hadley, she’s so likeable, so friendly despite the grumps attached to the circumstance. I loved the banter between her and Oliver, and the fact that he was so deliciously imperfect. Gotta hate those flawless boys.

I loved the twists and the turns, and the fabulous happenstances that so often lead to brilliant things in life. But most of all I loved the interweaving of the family relationships and drama into this beautiful romance. Everything was pitched perfectly, and I fell in love with it.

There was one glaring error which gave me a mild case of the grumps, which is that the American custom is for the bridesmaid’s to precede the bride down the aisle, whereas the English custom is for them to follow the bride. So why, in an English wedding, where the bride is English, are American customs being employed?
You can argue it any which way about the bride choosing to be different, but the fact remains that in an otherwise flawless book, I was suddenly (and frustratingly) jolted out of it with something as trivial as that.

However, it was ultimately such a small thing that it hasn’t affected my overall rating, because really you guys, this book? Awesomeness in a small and brilliantly written package. It’s stayed with me long after reading – I keep going back and thinking about different moments, and re-reading passages. And yeah ok, we’re only half way through the month, but I think I might have just read my book of the month…
Any other book I read this month is going to have a lot to beat.

Check out other Fabulous Reviews!

Angieville

Two Short Story Reviews: Cat Calls & Haunted Love by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Two brief reviews on two short stories by Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Cat Calls

Tiffany's grandma sees something wild in her future -- but is Tiffany prepared for the powerful shape it will take? CAT CALLS is a short story by New York Times Bestseller Cynthia Leitich Smith -- set in the same dark universe as her novels Tantalize, Eternal, and Blessed.

I’m curious about this author because I’m really excited about her other novels, so I wanted to get a taster of her writing style with her short stories first.
I think it could just be that I’m not a huge fan of short stories, but it really didn’t do it for me. I like the premise, I liked the characters, and it sure was enough to get me intrigued enough to read her books, but it still fell a bit flat.
I think because of the length there isn’t enough plot or character development which leave me feeling a little grumpy, and like events sometimes happen for no reason at all, or without enough explanation for them to draw me in.
It was still enough to intrigue me because I like her writing style and the premise, but it wasn’t enough to make me like this particular story.

Haunted Love

Spirit, Texas, is a town of secrets, and as the new owner of the local haunted movie theater, Cody Stryker is juggling more than his fair share. When a mysterious new girl comes to town and runs afoul of the ghost that lives in his theater, Cody’s caught in the middle and needs to figure out exactly who he can trust. HAUNTED LOVE is a short story by New York Times Bestseller Cynthia Leitich Smith -- set in the same dark universe as her novels TANTALIZE, ETERNAL, and BLESSED.

The same goes for ‘Haunted Love’ – not enough development for the events to make sense. Maybe after reading her books I’ll come back and enjoy them more, because the world and characters will mean more to me, but based on their own it wasn’t enough.
I loved the start of this story, it really drew me in, in a way that I didn’t find with the first one. However, then things get weird, we get an ax and a crazy lady and I just kind of stared blankly at the page going ‘really?’
So yeah, the writing makes me want to go and read her full length novels, but hasn’t done anything to convince me to like short stories any more than I already do.

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. 

How have I not read this book before? Ok let me rephrase that – why on earth have I steered clear of these books??

I have a terrible habit of seeing a cover that I’m not fussed on, and hearing the title over and over because everyone’s talking about it, and I can’t seem to get away from it, so I decide to wait and pick them up at a later time.
More fool me.

Finally, about three years after most of the hype, I saw the trailer. Youtube it, it’s absolutely awesome. And I suddenly realized I’d made a huge mistake and immediately went out and borrowed a copy off one of my friends. And then I didn’t surface for four hours…

I was hooked from the first page, I didn’t put the book down once from start to finish, just sat and read it straight through. Katniss is such an incredibly real and likeable character. Tough because she has to be, but with a real and honest personality that I couldn’t help but find engaging.

We’re thrown straight into the action, with a lot of backstory about Panem and the Districts, but none of it felt overloaded or too much – Collins sets it up in such a way that I was desperate to know more. I wanted everything and I wanted it now.

The pacing is absolutely spot on. There’s a crushing sense of inevitability that dogs the characters and I was equal parts desperate to find out what happens, and hoping to prolong it so I didn’t have to say goodbye to anyone.
But when the goodbye’s came, oh my word they sure packed a punch. Tears. Lots of tears.

I know that there’s supposed to be a love triangle going on between Katniss, Peeta and Gale, but I honestly didn’t feel it. This will be something I talk about more in my reviews of the final two books, because it’s something that comes to the fore in those, but for me there was no contest – particularly in this book. I was for Peeta all the way. For once I was rooting for the good buy – the nice guy who would do anything to protect the girl he loves, even sacrifice himself. Too often I find myself rooting for the bad boy, you know the ones, they usually sport a fair amount of black and do their fair share of bad things as well as good things, but I was completely swept away by Peeta. Guys, I think I have a new fictional crush.

I don’t really want to talk about the plot, because it’s one of those books that I’d hate to ruin for others, just know that it tears you apart and doesn’t let you go and you are in for one hell of a ride once you pick this book up.

I love how much time is taken up with the prep, and the secondary character’s we’re introduced to – Cinna for one was an absolute favourite, but they all stood out in some way or another. Every detail is beautifully crafted into the whole, and the world stood out for me as one of the best constructed I’ve read in a while – with such a level of history and backstory that unravels over the course of the three books.

Even well after finishing reading it, this book has stayed with me. I keep thinking about it and slipping back inside it. Analysing different moments and remembering odd pieces of the games – I have a feeling it won’t be long before I pick it up to read again.

Others have said far more eloquently what I’m attempting to say – that this book is one of the best I have had the pleasure of reading in a while, and the standard of books out there at the moment is insanely high as it is. If you’ve already read it, you’ll know what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t? Don’t make my mistake, go and pick it up now.

Oh and get excited for the film, that trailer looks pretty epic…