New Blog

Hello everyone!

I've restarted my old blog, Popin's Lair. Since that blog is using a different email account, I'll be updating that one from now on and moving the reviews found here over there.

I've also transferred 5 Line Reviews to my other email account, so make sure you check the new blog for that as well.


You can find my new blog at:
http://pdbkwm.blogspot.com/

New blog for 5 Line Reviews can be found here:
http://fivelines5.blogspot.com/

Zombie Britannica by Thomas Emson

Pages (Paperback): 350 pages

Publisher: Snowbooks

Released: August 1, 2010

Quick Thoughts: I love zombies. I've enjoyed Thomas Emson's works so far. This is a book that is right up my alley. This book also has a great cover, just like his previous books. The only difference is the size of the book, this one is definitely smaller compared to his previous novels.

Review: It's hot, incredibly hot, too hot in London. But the weather is the concern at the moment, the residents of London have something even bigger to worry about at the moment. Zombies. Cassie has to rush back home to save her daughter from the undead. Vincent wants to impress Holly, only to realize that he needs to really be her knight in shinning armor or the two will never last. Craig wants to get away from his dysfunctional family, but it's either the car or on the streets with a horde of zombies.

And while I mention zombies, zombies, and even more Zombies! This book is more about the psychological aspect of the living. All of the characters will discover something in their journey to survival. And while not everyone will make it, they will learn things.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed the werewolves and did have fun reading about the vampires, so I was excited to see what Emson had cooked up for zombies. The book, in itself, is still enjoyable and has the same things that I liked from the previous novels. But while I was reading Zombie Britannica, I did feel like something was missing. I'm not sure what exactly, but something was missing.

There are a lot of characters that you have to keep track in this novel and I liked how the three stories (Carrie, Vincent, and Craig) were connected in some way with each other. It's truly a small world in this book and it was nice seeing this connection.

However, because there are a lot of characters sometimes I did forget who was who. Some of the mannerisms were the same between certain characters which made me confused. There are some spelling errors in this book as well, which was a down side.

This isn't really a con of the book, but I did think that there were moments in the novel where Carrie was too stupid to live. I'm not a mother, so I may not understand lengths that mothers would go through to protect their kids. However, there were times when she was too irrational and I wanted her to take a moment and think before acting.

There are good things about this book, I'm just bummed that this book didn't have the same charm as Maneater, Prey, and Skarlet. In any case, Thomas Emson does write well and his books are always fast paced and exciting to read. So I'm still looking forward to more books from him.

Grade: 7 out of 10

Read the shorter review at 5 Line Reviews

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston

Pages (Hardcover): 304 pages

Publisher: Razorbill

Released: September 30, 2010

Quick Thoughts: What do you get when you mix a classic fairy tale, an urban fantasy like setting, and a beautiful cover? You get Robert Paul Weston's new novel, Dust City. This has all the things I love in a book! I mentioned before that I love fairy tale retellings, I love urban fantasy, and I'm a sucker for nice covers, so I was really excited to get my hands on this book and read it!

Review: Henry Whelp is the son of the famous big bad wolf, you know, the one that killed Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. His father claims to be under something when it happened. He knows he killed them, but it was the fairy dust brought out that side of him. He was meant to do a simple job, but Skinner, the drug lord that Henry’s father worked for, gave him something to calm his nerves. Too bad, it did more than that. But Henry’s father knows it’s the fairy dust!

But that's impossible.

All of the fairy magic has disappeared and now big corporations are sucking up the remnants of the old magic for simple things like medicine, electricity, and even as a means to get high.

It's not until after the death of Henry's therapist that he starts to wonder about the real story behind the fairy dust. And maybe find a way to help his dad and get the girl in the end.

Final Thoughts: There are a lot of great things in the book. I enjoyed hearing about the division between the animals and humans. The fact that a wolf can break a window and go to jail is scary, but things like that happen in this day and age too, which is even scarier.

I think if you took out the magical elements of this book, and some scenes near the end, it would still hold true to what is happening to some people. So I liked seeing this as it made me connect to the story more.

I also loved Detective White, I just wish we saw more of her and actually saw her make progress in trying to catch Henry. She kept saying that Henry couldn't get away from her, but I never felt the urgency in her words. She says something, and then disappears.

This brings me to one of the first things that I didn't like about the book, the lack of character development. Did I like the characters? For the most part I did. Did I know anything about them? That is a good question. They were there, but never felt real to me. The only character that was semi developed was Jack, but we hardly see him as well.

The main problem about this novel is the pacing. Everything felt too rushed. One moment we're with Henry in jail and once it starts to get interesting and I start to wonder more about the jail, Henry breaks out.

Then Henry starts to walk to the streets of the City and I start to get interested again. Then he's working with the drug lord, Skinner. This has potential, real potential. And I'm waiting for more about the drugs, his team, and about this side of the underworld...but all of a sudden, he's in Eden. Eden goes by too quickly for me to wonder how the world is like and then the book is done.

Each time I start to feel invested in a character or the world, the scene changes. This was incredibly disappointing for me, since I was eagerly anticipating this book and due to the pacing, my experience is slightly ruined. I just wish that there was a bit more development, since I wanted more meat to the story.

There is a good story here and I am in the minority about this, I just wish the pacing was better.

Grade: 5.5 out of 10

Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing this book for review.

Read the shorter review at 5 Line Reviews

Eon by Alison Goodman

Pages (Paperback): 544 pages

Publisher: Firebird; Reprint edition

Released: August 31, 2010

Quick Thoughts: I love fantasy novels and I love beautiful covers, so when I was offered this book to review I knew that I had to jump on this chance.

Review: Ever since Eona could remember, she could see the Dragons, but in a world where women are thought to be to bring corruption in a world of dragon and magic, they are pushed aside. Eona, along with her master, decide to disguise Eona as a male and train her to be a Dragoneye. If Eona, now known as Eon, is accepted as a Dragoneye, it will bring riches to her master and bring her into a life of stability. If she doesn't get chosen, then she'll be sent away to the salt mines. Both paths bring hardships, but only one will leave her wondering if death is around the corner. And this isn't from the salt mines.

Eon isn't successful at first and all seems to be lost, until the Mirror Dragon, a dragon that hasn't been seen in 500 years, shows up. Her master is pleased, Eon is pleased, but without knowing it, she's made herself a huge politic chip that is just waiting to be moved around the board. Pushed into the politics, without wanting to be a part of it, and trying to hide her gender, Eon will have to find her place within the Palace and find herself as well. If she doesn't succeed it will bring death and misery, not only to herself, but to everyone as well.

Final Thoughts: The story told in Eon isn't anything new. Women pretending to be men to infiltrate a palace is something I've read before. However, Goodman does a good job in weaving something that is somewhat predictable into a compelling and refreshing story.

Eon's struggles with her gender and trying to fit in were one of my favourite parts in the novel, but also one of the more frustrating aspects. There were many times when I wanted to reach out and tell her what the dragon was saying. I thought it was obvious, but then again because I'm not in her situation and I'm simply on the outside, it seems more obvious to me. If she was found out then she'll be killed, so even though it was frustrating, it did make sense.

I also enjoyed the politics in the novel and seeing Lord Ido do his stuff. Even though he is one of the villain of the novel, he was one of my favourite characters to read about.

There are many great points about Eon, but I would have liked to read more about the Prince and seen more about how Eon trying to do go through life in the Palace. The ending also isn't an ending and you will have to pick up Eona when it comes out to see what will happen next in this duology. Other than that, this was a great read. Eon has great characters, great plot, a lovely setting rich with Chinese and Japanese culture, and writing that flows smoothly. Even though there are many pages in this book, it never felt like an overwhelming task to finish. Everything just worked.

I enjoyed my time reading this and I can’t wait to pick up Eona!

Grade: 9.5 out of 10

Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing this book for review.

Read the shorter version of Eon at 5 Line Reviews

Testimony by Anita Shreve

Pages (Mass Market Paperback): 352 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; Reprint edition

Released: Aug 31, 2010

Quick Thoughts: When I read the blurb of this novel and read the reviews of other bloggers who read this, I knew that this was a book that I had to read. I've never read anything by Anita Shreve before, but I thought this would be a good place to start and so, I read the book.

Review: Testimony starts off with a bang. Mike, the headmaster in Avery Academy receives a tape. In the tape, students are drinking and having sex. Four of the students, all men, are 18 years of age or older. The only female on the tape is 14, and therefore underage.

Once the tape is out in the open, Rob, J-dot, and Silas are left to face the consequences of what they've done. The boys, their parents, Mike, and Sienna, the girl in the video, and others share their testimonies about what happened and the fall out.

Things will never be the same again for anyone.

Final Thoughts: There are some good points in the book and some bad. I enjoyed the writing style and how each chapter was the point of view of a different character. The chapters, for the most part, are written differently for each person, for example, Ellen's chapters are written in second person, Sienna is written in first, Mike's chapters are written in third person. This usually throws off the flow for me, but here it worked nicely.

There are some problems with having a chapter per character though, sometimes they sound similar and I forget who I'm reading about, but the biggest problem is that you never get to know them as well as you want to.

I do wish that Sienna was written differently. I don't know if the author wanted us to dislike her or not, but for someone who lied, you would want to see some sort of conflicted thoughts going through her. Instead you have her wondering if she can go on Oprah or write a book about this. You did get the sense that there was more to her, but due to the chapter changes you do feel like you are missing something.

I felt this way about Silas as well. His chapters are letters he wrote to his girlfriend and even though I know I should sympathize with him, I want him to go and talk to someone instead of acting out. He's still just a kid, even at 18, but I wanted him to do something.

I think that the entire situation was blown out of proportion, the sex was consensual and while she is 14, this is a school and seniors are going to date and have sex with freshmen. It happens everywhere. But something like this can happen and once the media comes in you can't control the situation any longer and it becomes a big deal.

Testimony does do a good job in showing how a simple mistake can have devastating consequences. I do wish that the reveal of the fourth boy was handled better, but other than that I did enjoy the book.

Grade: 7.5 out of 10

Read the shorter review at 5 Line Reviews

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Pages (Hardcover): 608 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown Books

Released: May 31, 2008

Quick Thoughts: After being one the last few people who didn't read Twilight, I decided to read this series and see what the hype was all about. I enjoyed Twilight, for the most part. So when my friend offered me her copy of New Moon to read, I decided to pick it up and continue the series.

Review: Everything should be perfect for Bella Swan, well almost everything. At the end of the last book, Bella and Edward were happy in love and Bella wanted to solidify their relationship. By having Edward turn her into a vampire so they could be young forever. Edward refuses, because he sees himself as a monster, but Bella wants nothing more than to be with Edward for all of eternity.

When her birthday passes and she finds herself getting older than Edward, her need to be turned into a vampire intensifies. Edward, however, decides to leave her after his brother, Jasper, almost attacks Bella over a paper cut.

Bella is heartbroken and is in a comatose like state for the many months the two are separated. So Bella decides to spend more time with Jacob, leading him on in the process, she decides to do dangerous things because when her life is in danger she sees Edward. She is hunted by another vampire. Werewolves come into the picture and Edward tries to kill himself in Italy.

Final Thoughts: What on earth happened here? I liked Twilight, I did, but New Moon is just bad. I mean, really bad. My friends tell me this is the worse book in the series, which is true, but still. After reading something like Twilight and then seeing this. It's disappointing.

I didn't like Bella in Twilight, she ditched her friends as soon as Edward came into the picture, but even then it was slightly forgivable due to her falling for Edward. She wasn't a really good friend to them, but it was still realistic. In New Moon, once Edward leaves Bella goes into a comatose state and becomes an even worse friend. There is a scene with Jessica that made me shake my head. Then Bella wonders why Jessica doesn't like her very much and I wanted to tell her that it was her fault.

I did like the werewolves though, they are interesting and Jacob seems like a good kid. It's clear that Bella is using him to fill the void that Edward left, but he just seems to be happy that she's there.

I'll still read Eclipse, but I'm hoping that it isn't as disappointing as New Moon.

Grade: 4 out of 10

Read the short version of this review at 5 Line Reviews

Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin

Pages (Hardcover): 400 pages

Publisher: Dial Books

Released: September 7, 2010

Quick Thoughts: I've heard many great things about Nancy Werlin's first book, Impossible. And I knew that she was someone whose books I wanted to read. So when I was offered a copy of Extraordinary to review, I jumped at the chance. Plus, the cover is gorgeous!

Review: In 1772, Mayer Rothschild, made a deal with the Faerie Queen. In exchange of giving him five extraordinary sons, he'll give her a daughter as a sacrifice, not his daughter, not his son's daughters, but a daughter from down his line.

Now in the present, the faeries have finally found a daughter of his to sacrifice, Phoebe Gutle Rothschild. The Queen sends Mallory to work on Phoebe and eventually bring her to the faerie realm. There, Phoebe will be killed and the faerie world will be able to flourish. There isn't a lot of time and with each day that passes, the Queen, and her subjects begin to get weaker and weaker. The only way to help bring them back to their glory is for the death of Phoebe.

Mallory seeks out Phoebe and is surprised to find that Phoebe is drawn to her. The two become fast friends and as the years pass, Mallory’s loyalty starts to shift. She has to help her people in order to survive, but she doesn’t want to lose her best friend as well.

Enter, Ryland, Mallory’s brother. When Phoebe meets Ryland she is immediately bewitched. And as their relationship continues, she’ll find herself drawn to him and questioning everything about herself. But Ryland and Mallory have a goal and Ryland is determined to bring Phoebe no matter what.

Final Thoughts: Werlin is a great storyteller and I found myself captivated and sucked into her story. Extraordinary not only deals with issues about self worth and self esteem, which I think is something that many teens will be able to relate to, but it also asks if killing one person to save millions is the right thing to do?

Some of the characters needed to be fleshed out more, but I did find myself loving Mallory. She is in an awkward position. She wants to save her people and if she doesn’t bring Phoebe in soon, she, along with all the faeries, will die. And yet, she doesn’t want to lose her best friend. Someone she loves like a sister. She’s torn and between the life of her and her people vs. life of one person. You want to root for her, but at the same time, you don’t. I loved it. And while, Mallory isn’t the main character in Extraordinary, I found myself drawn to her story and struggle more than Phoebe.

This brings me to the main character of the novel, Phoebe. I didn’t really like her, but I think it was due to her whining nature. Her personality, while it makes sense for the story, was a little too much. She is someone who is needy, constantly needed validation, and had co-dependency issues. She analyzed her own self worth for pretty much the entire novel, which again, makes sense. It makes sense. It really does, but I still didn’t like it.

Her nature also made it very easy for Ryland to take over. The dynamics between the two was a sad to see. I don’t mean this in a bad way. I liked reading about the two. What made it sad was that it screamed emotional abuse.

Overall, this is a fun book. Werlin is a great storyteller and I did get sucked into the story rather quickly. And instead of making the novel entirely from Phoebe’s point of view, which would make the faeries seem like cruel monsters. Werlin let us see why the faeries did what they did, which helped make them sympathetic and understandable. I may not like Phoebe, but I did love Mallory. It’s a good book, not the best, but good and it even mentions Nantucket, which is always a plus!


Grade: 7.5 out of 10

Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing this book for review.

Reader the shorter review at 5 Line Reviews