Monday, December 18, 2017

Book Review: Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer

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Eleven secret government expeditions and few have returned unscathed--the first book in VanderMeer's exciting new Southern Reach Trilogy and soon to be a major motion picture.

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades.  Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization, and the government is involved in sending secret missions to explore Area X.  The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer.

Annihilation opens with the twelfth expedition.  The group is composed of four women, including our narrator, a biologist.  Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all of their observations, scientific and otherwise; and, above all, to avoid succumbing to the unpredictable effects of Area X itself.

What they discover shocks them: first, a massive topographic anomaly that does not appear on any map; and second, life forms beyond anything they're equipped to understand.  But it's the surprises that came across the border with them that change everything--the secrets of the expedition members themselves, including our narrator.  What do they really know about Area X--and each other?

3/5 stars (liked it)
We never learn anyone's name.  They are simply referred to as the Biologist, the Psychologist and so on.  The Biologist's husband was on the eleventh expedition and he died of cancer.  We learn through flashbacks on what her relationship was like with him and how he was when he came back.  This book was very interesting and kept me reading.  Although at the end I wasn't sure if all the Biologist had seen and heard was real or if she was somehow hallucinating the entire thing.  I will read the next book in the trilogy.

Friday, December 15, 2017

Book Review: Shadowshaper - Daniel Jose Older

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Sierra Santiago was looking forward to a fun summer of making art, hanging out with her firends, and skating around Brooklyn.  But then a weird zombie guy crashes the first party of the season.  Sierra's near comatose abuelo begins to say "Lo siento" over and over.  And when the graffiti murals in Bed-Stuy start to weep...Well, something stranger than the usual New York mayhem is going on.

Sierra soon discovers a supernatural order called the Shadowshapers, who connect with spirits via paintings, music, and stories.  Her grandfather once shared the order's secrets with an anthropologist, Dr. Jonathan Wick, who turned the Caribbean magic to his own foul ends.  Now Wick wants to become the ultimate Shadowshaper by killing all the others, one by one.  With the help of her friends and the hot graffiti artist Robbie, Sierra must dodge Wick's supernatural creations, harness her own Shadowshaping abilities, and save her family's past, present and future.

3/5 stars (liked it)
I really liked the idea and story behind this.  Although I felt that Sierra was a whinny teenager.  I would have liked to get more back story to Robbie.  I felt their ethnic background were brought up like they were an issue but they really weren't.  Robbie is Haitian and Sierra is Puerto Rican.  Overall a good story and good ending.

Friday, December 08, 2017

Book Review: Hanna Who Fell From the Sky - Christopher Meades

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Hanna has never been outside her secluded community of Clearhaven.  She has never questioned why her father has four wives or why she has fourteen brothers and sisters.  And in only one week, on her eighteenth birthday, Hanna will follow tradition and become the fifth wife of a man more than twice her age.

But just days before the wedding, Hanna meets Daniel, an enigmatic stranger who challenges her to question her fate and to follow her own will.  Then her mother tells her a secret--one that could grant Hanna the freedom she's known only in her dreams.  As her world unravels around her, Hanna must decide whether she was really meant for something greater than the claustrophobic world of Clearhaven.  But can she abandon her beloved younger sister and the only home she's ever known?  Or is there another option--one too fantastical to believe?

With lush, evocative prose, Christopher Meades takes readers on an emotional journey into a fascinating unknon world--and, along the way, brilliantly illuminates complexities of faith, identity and how our origins shape who we are.

3/5 stars (liked it)
I liked Hanna right away and knew she did not belong in this community.  I felt bad for her brothers and sisters and sister-mothers because the father Jotham and how he treats everyone badly.  In this story we see Hanna grow and learn to believe in herself and question things around her.  Most of that is in part to Daniel.  I wish we had learned more about Daniel and his past, although things were mentioned.  Overall I liked the book and really liked how it didn't end quite how I thought it would have.

Tuesday, December 05, 2017

Book Review: Revenge Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger

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Almost a decade has passed since Andy Sachs quit the job "a million girls would die for" working for Miranda Priestly at Runway magazine--a dream that turned out to be a nightmare.  Andy and Emily, her former nemesis and co-assistant, have since joined forces to start a high end bridal magazine.  The Plunge, which has quickly become required reading for the young and stylish.  Now they get to call all the shots: Andy writes and travels to her heart's content; Emily plans parties and secures advertising like a seasoned pro.

Even better, Andy has met the love of her life.  Max Harrison, scion of a storied media family, is confident, successful, and drop-dead gorgeous.  Their wedding will be splashed across all the society pages as their friends and family gather to toast the glowing couple.  Andy Sachs is on top of the world.  But karma's a bitch.

The morning of her wedding, Andy can't shake the past.  And when she discovers a secret letter with crushing implications, her wedding-day jitters turn to cold dread.  Andy realizes that nothing--not her husband, nor her beloved career--is as it seems.  She never suspected that her efforts to build a bright new life would lead her back to the darkness she barely escaped ten years ago--and directly into the path of the devil herself...

2/5 stars (it was ok)
Andy is not the same person she was in the first book.  She seems to have changed quite a bit.  She is best friends with Emily and is writing for a high end bridal magazine.  Alex is long gone and Lilly has moved away.  She is in love with Max a gorgeous guy.  I never saw any chemistry between them and their love felt forced the whole book.  This book is not just about Andy's career and running into Miranda but takes us to married life, kids and career and love again.  I did however like how the book ending as it seemed very fitting. 

Book Review: Overbite - Meg Cabot

Overbite - Meg Cabot Meena Harper has a special gift, but i's only now that anyone's ever appreciated it.  The Palatine Guard--...