Friday, November 29, 2013

Rage Within, by Jeyn Roberts

Rage Within (Dark Inside, #2)Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was pretty meh about this book. On the plus side, we get a bit of an interesting backstory behind the events that transpired. On the negatives, parts of the plot were predictable (did anyone out there NOT know who the traitor would be?) and unbelievable (brain-splitting headaches and sexytimes usually do not co-occur). But the story was interesting enough to keep me reading to the end and wondering where the author will go in the next book (the final in a trilogy, I believe).



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The Last Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko

The Last Watch (Watch, #4)The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Usually when a series book takes a trip from its usual setting, it's a sign that the author is running out of ideas to keep the storyline fresh. In Lukyanenko's The Last Watch, taking a familiar character and putting him/her into an unfamiliar setting works well, almost a natural progression from Twilight Watch's side trip to Prague. As the protagonist Anton (and the reader) is educated more deeply about the essence of who the Others are and travels further into the Twilight world, the story expands externally from Moscow and heads farther afield into Edinburgh and the Stans. And although the external plot deals with a series of murders in Edinburgh, the book simultaneously delves into Anton's internal struggle over killing a vampire he once considered a friend and his role in the overarching struggles and balance of power between the Watches. To paraphrase Anton near the end of the book, he feels like a small screw in a huge, merciless machine. No doubt this struggle will come to a head in the fifth and final book in the series.

Despite some story holes (who couldn't guess the killer's true identify after the name was provided), Last Watch is a worthy successor that crosses genre (fantasy/scifi/mystery) boundaries.



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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Hidden

Hidden: A Child's Story of the HolocaustHidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust by Loïc Dauvillier

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Who knew that an adorable book about the Holocaust was possible?

In this sweet-yet-heartbreaking graphic novel, we travel back in time as grandmother Dounia tells little Elsa about her life after the German occupation of France began during World War II. Dounia’s happy life of school, friends, and a crush on a boy changed overnight. The basic elements of the story are familiar. First, come the stars sewn onto clothing and the friends and teachers who suddenly shun Dounia. Her parents try to soften the blow by explaining that they have become a family of sheriffs, hence the yellow stars they must wear. Then, the pounding on the doors in the middle of the night. From there, the story portrays the brighter side of humanity. Hidden by her parents in the false bottom of an armoire before the soldiers burst in, Dounia is rescued and spends the next years being sheltered until the end of the war. I’ll leave the rest of the story for readers to discover.

This child’s-eye view of the French occupation is a perspective I’ve rarely seen. Here the approach works, mixing the horrifying with the bittersweet through the filters of childhood. The artwork--full of somber blues and browns--depicts Charlie Brown-like characters with heads disproportionate to the bodies, again reminding the reader that this story, despite the deadly serious themes, belongs to a child. I would totally give this book to one of my elementary school niecelets following a discussion of what transpired during WWII.




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Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Sound and the Furry, by Spencer Quinn

The Sound and the Furry (A Chet and Bernie Mystery #6)The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


For the 6th book in his Chet & Bernie series, Quinn takes his protagonists on a road trip to Louisiana to look into a missing persons case. The change of scenery adds a bit of freshness to the story that has been missing in the past couple of books. We get to see Chet and Bernie out of their familiar environment, dealing with the unique culture that is south Louisiana. And Quinn did get that culture right -- the mixture of friendliness and wariness about outsiders, the shady deals, the shadier police force, the centuries-old family feuds, and the oil industry that covers it all; literally, when it comes to the land and wildlife.

One aspect of the book that was a bit jarring to me: Chet's inner dialog. Perhaps it's because I more or less only skimmed books 4 and 5, but this go-round, Chet seemed to be "talking" much more. Reading through the text was much like a conversation with a bipolar friend during a mania phase, just one thing after another punctuated occasionally by a Squirrel! Not that he's a bad narrator -- Chet is one observative dog, even if he can't always remember what the observations mean. I wish I knew how to what extent Quinn has incorporated real research about dog cognition into how he develops Chet's dialog, to know how accurate it might be.

Anyway, in summary, The Sound and the Furry is a nice read, with comparatively little dog abuse this time (a bonk or two on the head and some prolonged dog-paddling), some new characters, and a fairly pleasant resolution. What more could you ask for in a canine cozy?



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