Becky Book Review: Days of Blood and Starlight

So, Sarah reviewed this book a few days ago and you can read her review here. I actually read this book a few months ago but I hadn't yet posted my review. I know that Sarah gave this book a rave review, but we do actually have differing tastes in books and I did not like this book as much as Sarah did.

Description from Goodreads: Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.
In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.
While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. Forhope.

Review: This book started out really slow because you don't see Karou's story line for many many pages. And, I didn't really care for reading from the other characters' point of view as much as I liked Karou. But, once her story line finally made an appearance it started to pick up again. It was intriguing how the author melded the two lives of Karou and Madrigal and made them into this one person who is not human though she wears a human body. Also, I got insight into Akiva's life and the Angel's world, which added some more depth and purpose to the war.

The writing itself was excellent, but the story line was so slow. I did not blaze through this book, but it took a long time to read because the POV kept jumping around so much. It is like when I started to read something that I was really interested in, the book would cut to someone else's POV at that pivotal moment and then I had to wade through 30 boring pages to get back to the real storyline.

The ending was a little predictable because the author sets you up for it way before the end of the book, but I was still pleased with the conclusion. I'm looking forward to the next book.

Rating: 4 stars

Son: Book Review

Description from Goodreads: They called her Water Claire. When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions and colors didn’t exist. That she had become a Vessel at age thirteen. That she had carried a Product at age fourteen. That it had been stolen from her body. Claire had a son. But what became of him she never knew. What was his name? Was he even alive?　 She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. Now Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means making an unimaginable sacrifice.

Review: Lois Lowry, how do you do it? How do you draw me into a book on the first page and make me stay up until 1am reading it because I can't put it down? How do you make a story so interesting and tie three other books that did not at first seem related to each other in this one book? And finally, why is it that I am always disappointed with the endings of your books?

Loved the book the whole time I was reading it up until the end. Like the other books in the Giver series, the story ended when it felt like it was a new beginning. Yes, she completes what feels like a chapter in the book and the character comes to a conclusion, but the conclusion is also a beginning of a new story for the character and I know that I will never hear that story because that is how Lois Lowry rolls.

So, I recommend this book to all readers, younger and older. It was an intriguing read and one that I could definitely see a kid writing a book report on. But, I recommend that you read the other books in the Giver series first as all the characters in those books make a reappearance. But, I hadn't read those books in years and barely remembered them, but still managed to enjoy this book.

Rating: 4 stars

Casual Vacancy: Book Review

Okay, I waited on the library hold list for this book for a few months and I can honestly say that I would have been better off never getting it at all. I must admit that I hated this book so much that I did not finish it. I usually give every book I read 100 pages to pique my interest. If it has not done that in that 100 pages, then it is not worth my time to finish it. I'm a mommy with two kids and a job, I don't have the time to be reading books that suck.

Description from Goodreads: When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils ... Pagford is not what it first seems.


Review:  This book is super super super boring. There are too many characters, there are too many POVs and there is not enough character development for any one character. After 100 pages, I still didn't know who the main character was. And so I gave up on it and gave it back to the library. 

Too Adult! I get that this is Rowling's first "adult" book, but it was a little too adult for me. I don't like reading books that are too graphic, or too sexual, or has too much language and this book had all of that. 

When I read, I hear the words in my head as I read them. The characters develop a voice and personality in my mind. And, I just didn't like hearing such foul language in my head. That is just the kind of girl that I am.

Additionally, one of the many characters is a teenage boy. But, he is not the wholesome Harry Potter kind of teenage boy, it is the gross kind of teenage boy who thinks sexually about teenage girls and fantasizes and masterbates and GROSS! Why would I ever want to enter the mind of a smutty teenage boy? I would not. Just another reason that I put this book down.

So, I hated this book, I don't recommend it, please don't read it. Stay in the wonderful world of wizards and magical creatures and leave this book alone.

Rating: 0 Stars