Friday Reading Journal #4

I was a reading machine this past week and I think it is due to the fact that I read over a variety of different genres.  As of last weeks reading journal I was 1/2 way through Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and while enjoying the story of Sam and Grace I was a little annoyed at a few of the secondary characters because they seemed juvenile and threw off the tone of the book.

 I am happy to say that this issue pretty much went away in the second half of the book and I ended up liking this one quite a bit.  The relationship (aside from the fact that he is a werewolf) was a little more realistic than many of the relationships I've seen in YA novels.  In this one the relationship stems from the encounter they had when Grace was 11 and was snatched off her tire swing by Sam's pack.  He saves her and she grows up with him always watching her from a distance (as a wolf) and her watching him.  It isn't like the relationship sprung out of nowhere and even if the aforementioned always watching each other thing isn't the strongest basis for a relationship Sam and Grace spend time getting to know each other.  Its not like meet and wham!  Love and lust w/no discernible reasoning behind it.  The whole explanation about life as wolf vs. life as human was really interesting.  The whole love story hinges on the fact that when it gets cold Sam is supposed to turn into a wolf so if all goes as nature intended their time together is limited.  I liked how this one played out and I am going to continue on with Linger, the next book in the trilogy.

Next up was Night Birds' Reign by Holly Taylor.  I chose to read this one because it fit part of a reading challenge which asked me to pick a book where either the first or last name of the author was the same as mine.  For some reason I was under the impression that this book was straight fantasy.  It wasn't.  It is a fantasy story about King Arthur albeit a pretty creative one.  The setting is Kymru AKA Wales  (Kymru is actually Faroese for Wales) in the 5th Century.  It is divided into several kingdoms all of which have their rulers, druids, bards, and captains.  These roles are much more complex than they sound because each of them have additional abilities depending on their calling.  For example Druids can weave fire.  One man each generation has all these abilities plus the ability to walk in the past and see the future.  This person is the Dreamer and here this is Gwydion.  A High King for Kymru only comes when danger is imminent and there hasn't been one for over 200 years-until Gwydion has a dream that tells him one will come soon.  What follows is an epic novel involving an oath to protect the future High King and a quest to track down the sacred items needed for the High King to take his rightful place. This was entirely different from what I expected but I liked it.  The only drawback was a bunch of songs/poems etc that play into the story that didn't really hold my interest and the pronunciation of a lot names/places in the book because they were Welsh.  Definitely an interesting concept.  I wasn't in the mood for an Arthur book when I snagged this one but I couldn't put it down once I started it.  Will continue with this series (which I think is four books total) eventually.

Wow, this probably the most creative book I have read in quite awhile and this author is brilliant at creating a whole new world involving Seraphim (Angels), Chimaera (man-beast creatures),  and the war between them that has lasted thousands of years.  It also has an awesome protagonist in Karou-a tattooed, blue haired butt kicker raised by four Chimaera and also centers around a pretty touching love story.  Honestly I am not quite sure what to make of Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  It was completely different from anything else I've read to date but even though the story was good I liked it but didn't love it.  I think it kind of overloaded my brain a little.  The sequel is coming out later this year and I may check it out but have not decided yet.  I had the same reaction The Magicians by Lev Grossman.  After finishing it I kept thinking "Um, that was different..." and then I did give the sequel a try and liked it much better than the first.  Hoping for the same here if I do pick up the second one.

As of this writing I am about 50 pages into Glow by Jessica Maria Tuccelli and so far I am very much enjoying the writing.