Mini Reviews!!

Hello everyone!! I'm finally officially crawling out of my Blood of Olympus hole because spoilers, duh. I got my copy a week late but it's signed and so pretty!! Outside of BoO, it's been a fairly slow reading month for me. I was so excited for Blood of Olympus that I found I couldn't really concentrate on reading other things properly. Though I did try. I'll be doing a book review/discussion of BoO soon but until then Mini Reviews for the only other two books I've read recently. I know I'm awful. Wait! I did read The Revenge of Seven (and I reviewed it - what??) - so that's three other books I've read in the past two months. I've basically given up on my reading challenge for that year but that's for a different post. Anyway, I digress...

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I read The Maze Runner some time in September I think. I know I wanted to read it before I saw the movie - though I guess it didn't matter much when I read it since I still haven't seen the movie. Honestly, I think this will be one of those rare times when I end up liking the movie better than the book. It wasn't that it was a bad book per say, I think I was just expecting more out of it. It just had such a slow beginning then nothing really happened until about three quarters into the book. I get that Thomas had lost his memory and therefore couldn't be a supremely amazing narrator but he was so caught up on his annoyance with the other Gladers not telling him anything and his frustration with his own memory loss that he was kind of annoying. Of course, both of those are a big deal and worthy of frustration but I feel like too much time was spent with him dwelling on them. Like, I didn't need to read about it every other paragraph. He was also a bit of a Mary/Gary Sue character. I also felt like the relationships between the characters weren't developed enough - particularly between Thomas and Chuck - so when things finally did start happening, it was sort of just like, "oh ok, that just happened to this character... moving on." I also, didn't really love the slang. I mean, it grew on me as I continued reading but most of the time, I didn't really enjoy it. Right now, I'm on the fence about reading The Scorch Trails. On one hand, I want to know what happens to them, but at the same time, I'm not sold enough on the characters or overall story arc to be wholeheartedly interested. It's bookish blasphemy but I might just stick to watching the movies if they continue them.

 

 

 

The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
[Note: For some reason, this book has also been published under the completely different (but semi-more fitting) title of The Memory Collector.]

This book... this book. I think I might have loved it but kinda, sorta, not really...? It left me feeling confused for the most part but also kind of okay with being confused but again - not really..? It's definitely the kind of book that I should read again but I don't really want to. Just like Tiger Lily by JLA - which I have been raving about ever since I read it earlier this year - the best part about this book is without a doubt the writing (though the cover it pretty fantastic too). JLA's writing is just so, so beautiful and poetic though if I had to choose, her writing in Tiger Lily is even more beautiful. One thing you need to know about The Vanishing Season before you read it is: don't believe the back cover or front flap to give a proper premise of this book. I thought when I picked it up it would be a paranormal murder mystery type deal - basically, perfect to get in the Halloween mood. But no. There is a ghost and a house that may or may not be haunted and a serial killer but the main storyline doesn't follow any of that at all. All those things are basically secondary to the main plotline which is a contemporary love triangle between three friends in a small town. Well, the ghost plays a pretty big part but not in the way that I thought. For the most part, nothing happens in just about 230 of the approximately 250 pages. It's literally just the happenings between three friends, Maggie, Pauline, and Liam, in a small town where there have been murders but the murders aren't a huge deal to the friends. It's definitely the writing that kept me reading. I'm not really sure if my rating is based on what I expected the book to be because of the way it was promoted or if it's because it actually deserves a 3.5 rating. Hence, my aforementioned confusion. But then again, I couldn't really figure out what it was about as a whole as in, what was the purpose of the ghost, why was it watching Maggie, Pauline, and Liam, and why oh why did it end that way? I think in about a year or two after my memory of the details have faded a bit I might read it again with a fresh mindset but until then, I'll stick to my rating.

 

 

So have you read any of these? If so, what were your thoughts? And have you ever experienced reading a book that was badly promoted? How did that affect your reading of it? I want to know!