Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley

Amy 

women's fiction

Sadly, it finally happened. I read a Susanna Kearsley novel that I didn’t adore. It’s okay. Named of the Dragon was still enjoyable but nothing spectacular.

Bridget and Lyn journey to spend their Christmas holiday in Wales, along with Bridget's latest romantic conquest in the home he is watching for his uncle.  The goals are twofold, for Lyn to become the literary agent of Bridget's boyfriend and for Bridget to attempt to move on to the next conquest.

I didn’t really like the main characters. Everyone was self-centered and had ulterior motives. No one was genuine. And the storyline included a mystery which never grabbed me and ended up being unlikely. I enjoyed reading a bit about Wales and the country’s folklore since I was just about to visit Wales when I read this one.

Not much else to write about this one.  Pick one of her others to read.

The Last Star by Rick Yancey

Amy     

Lynnie  


young adult, fantasy, science fiction


The Last Star is the third book in Rick Yancey's Fifth Wave series.  We both included the first two books in the series--The Fifth Wave and The Infinite Sea--in our Best of 2014 posts as the story of alien invasion and the survival of humanity were full of action and intrigue as well as gripping characters. 

Amy's Review

This book was dissatisfying. First, it’s been 21 months since the last novel was released. It took me 15% of this book before I even could sort of remember where book #2 left off. There were insufficient reminders of previous events and the scene-hopping at the beginning of this novel put the reader in places that weren’t even related to the characters that we’ve come to know in the series. It was very disorienting, and not in the good way where the author wants the reader to feel like the characters. It took too many frustrating pages to even get a sense of knowing, sort of, what was going on. Then, Yancy pulls a Stephenie Meyer and suddenly starts giving the characters nicknames that they didn’t have in previous novels of the series—“Cup” for Teacup. Really?! “Bo” for Dumbo? I will say that it may just be me that doesn’t remember those nicknames in book #2….that’s entirely possible. (And it’s definitely not worth my time to go back to book #2 to find out.) But, I don’t remember them because it’s been so long since book #2 was released and this was just another annoyance while trying to figure out what this story was about!

So, okay, I eventually remembered the plot (sort of). I still never reached the point where I was able to sit back and enjoy the story because this whole novel felt slapped together, disjointed, difficult to follow, and, really, didn’t even feel like the same author. In fact, at one point, I thought I was reading The Stand by Stephen King (and, again, this is not a compliment but an explanation of why I could never get into THIS book). The humor is gone in this novel. Everyone has somehow finally realized how dire the situation is and they contemporize and philosophize about the world in which they now find themselves. They do this for pages at a time. None of the fun characters from previous novels are recognizable.

Only the last 10% of the novel held my interest enough to make me feel immersed in the story. And then the ending was a bummer. I accept it, but it’s still a downer. The moral of the story is that alien invasions suck. 

Lynnie's Review

So, this series ended.

Amy complained about not remembering the plot of The Infinate Sea after such a long time and I agree. I cheated however and read an overview of the plot online before digging into The Last Star and I do think that helped a bit.  I actually finished this a couple days before writing this review & have been debating what to say about it ever since. Honestly? I was a little disappointed with many aspects of The Last Star. I thought that many of the characters that had been so well-developed previously, seem to have completely different personalities in this novel. Also, there were so many unanswered questions at the end. I keep trying to talk myself into believing, "well, it's kind of the end of the world so of course there will be unanswered questions" but I can't quite convince myself to be satisfied.

That said, the action scenes are very fun to read and continue to be devastating as humanity turns on itself in the absence of anything left to believe in. If you read the first two books in the series, it's worth finishing it out with this book, but be prepared to be left scratching your head.

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Lynnie  

memoir

Just Mercy was assigned as summer reading for my daughter & I completely understand why. It's an excellent look at the systemic racial & economic discrimination in our country's justice system, particularly in regards to how sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole and the death penalty are issued.

This is a memoir and often I found Bryan Stevenson's musings about his own feelings on what he was discussing would pull me out of the book and distract my attention from the consequences for his subjects. The main focus is on one case- Walter McMillian from Monroe County, Alabama was convicted of a murder he could not have possibly committed (parallel's to Monroe's most famous daughter Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird are everywhere) and Stevenson works tirelessly to prove McMillian's innocence in order to free him from death row. When the book focuses on Walter and all that he's been through and survived the book makes its strongest points.

Every other chapter however, we meet another lifer or death row inmate and while many of them were sympathetic in circumstance and legal situation, there were several that I found it hard to muster sympathy for. One gentleman in particular, placed a bomb on the porch of a woman he was obsessed with in the hopes of "saving" her from the blast & gaining her favor. When people were killed, he was remorseful and while everyone agreed he never intended for anyone to die, people did die. I didn't feel badly that he had been held accountable.

There's a lot to think about in this book. It shines a light on a real problem in this country.

Ruined (Ruined #1) by Amy Tintera

Amy      
Lynnie 

young adult, fantasy, action/suspense

In Ruined by Amy Tintera, Em is bent on revenge when she and a few fellow leaders of Ruina devise a plan to kill the betrothed princess of Vallos and take her place as the bride of the prince of Lera.  There, she will be in a position to destroy both kingdoms for what they have done to the Ruined people as well as her own family.  However, her plan is imperfect and becomes more uncertain as she gets to know the prince.

Amy's Review

To be honest, I’m getting a little tired of the storyline of an unlikely girl catching the prince’s eye. Aside from the classic fairy tales, the books I’ve read in just the last year and a half with this same idea are the Red Queen series, The Lunar Chronicles series, the Seraphina series, and A Court of Thorns and Roses. And if I broaden it from literal princes to a man who will likely rule and is prince-like, add An Ember in the Ashes to that list. Granted, I really have enjoyed several of those novels but, having read all these others before Ruined sort of ruined (ha, ha) my enjoyment at the beginning of this novel. Thankfully, Ruined does have its own personality and main storyline. I will say that I’m impressed that this is the same author that wrote the Reboot series—it’s entirely different. Tintera is versatile and I enjoy her writing. So, I’ll put the sequels on my To Read list and begin the long wait until #2 is released. As always, I’ll have to make notes for myself to remind me of Ruined’s storyline because, otherwise, I’ll forget by the time the sequel rolls around.

Lynnie's Review

This was a fun & action packed story, but unfortunately not incredibly original. It felt like a cross between the Red Queen & The Selection (the Selection mostly for setting and style- not story line).
This is definitely a more violent story than many YA books- a few moments had me actually cringing in sympathy for some of the characters. I was not a huge fan of the overwrought romance either. I liked both Em & Cas as characters and I even liked them as a couple, but their arc was all very predictable based on the story line.

That said, I'll read the next one. I'm interested enough in several of the characters to continue the story and I like Amy Tintera's writing.

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Amy    
Lynnie 

young adult, action/suspense


Anything can be bought or sold in Ketterdam and Kaz Brekker is one of Ketterdam's least honorable citizens, willing to do anything for the right price.  In Six of Crows, Kaz is offered a chance to make more money than he can spend in a lifetime. All he has to do is pull off an impossible heist. 



Amy's Review

I liked it most of the time. But there were times when it was entirely too far-fetched and crazy to keep me engaged. The fantasy stuff was good. The adventure was good. The characters were interesting, albeit generally disturbing and dark. The setting was brooding and uncomfortable. But, the way the characters got in and out of impossible situations way too frequently and implausibly kept me from fully enjoying it. Once would have been acceptable. After that, it just starts feeling silly. I’m not sure I’ll read the sequel or the prequels. I might. But, I might not bother with them.  

Lynnie's Review

What a fun book! I love the world that Leigh Bardugo created; it's gritty, vibrant, and so well-drawn that you could easily envision the locations where everything took place.

I have not read Bardugo's Grisha series, so if those books have any bearing on the Six of Crows duology, I can't say. I did not feel like I was missing anything by not reading those however- Six of Crows is a story all its own and I never felt confused.

The story focuses on six main characters and their quest to pull off an impossible heist. All six characters, Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Wylan, Nina, and Matthias are fascinating and each one brings a different skill set and personal baggage to their task. While the setting is pretty depressing, the book rarely is. The first half of the book can get a little slow as everything gets put into place, but the second half is non-stop action. I hate a cliff-hanger ending, but I'm looking forward to reading the next book and spending more time with these characters.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Amy      
Lynnie 


young adult, romance

In Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon creates a story around a girl with an all-consuming disease and her desire to live a bigger, maybe even different life.  Isolated from the world, Maddie Whitier, must decide whether the life she wants to lead and the possibility of love is worth dying for.


Amy's Review

I enjoyed this one despite figuring that the ending had to go the way it did. I even enjoyed it despite the fact that, aside from the protagonist’s situation (she’s a girl with SCID—a “bubble girl”), it’s just a contemporary teenage romance novel. It was well done, entertaining, full of heart, and even fun. I listened to the majority of the novel via audiobook but had won a signed hardcopy from First in Line back in January. So, when I got so close to the end and really wanted to get closure, I pulled out the book to finish it off. While the audiobook narration was wonderful, the book itself is a treasure with the cute illustrations and artistic devices in the book. I would have completely missed that aspect if I’d only listened to the audiobook. And, it’s even more special to learn that the illustrator is the author’s husband! I love that!

In summary, for a teen romance, it was great. Sure, some parts were not realistic (which I cannot describe here without spoilers) but it was all in good fun and I let myself enjoy it.

Lynnie's Review

I'm torn about Everything, Everything as it was equal parts interesting and frustrating.

Maddie was an interesting character, suffering from a severe immune deficiency that forces her to live in a sterilized home with very few people allowed to visit.  She is smart, engaging, a voracious reader and utterly isolated from the real world that exists outside her home.
 
It's hard to review this book without giving away too much, but while some people have felt this is a book about love, friendship, and learning to accept people for who they are (& that's definitely in this book), I felt this was a book about control; having it, losing it, and learning to live with the consequences of it.

Overall it's a quick and entertaining book.