Showing posts with label My Printz 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Printz 2012. Show all posts

Friday, November 11, 2011

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - Review


Review Done By: Aneeqah's Not So Real Life


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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic

Review: This story is about a girl named Karou, who lives in a town called Prague, in the Czech Republic. She's a little unusual. She has blue hair, draws incredible well, plus other strange details, but the strangest thing being: she lives a double life. All of her life, she's been divided by her two lives, her normal one, and her not-so-normal one. And all of this time, she's always felt a little... off. But how could she not, working for a magical teeth-collecter?

I think I surprised myself in two ways while reading this book. Let's start with the good one. Even though there's lots of unfamiliar words and names in this book, I could remember them and keep them seperate without any problem. Usually, with lots of confusing names, I have to flip back in the book and try to figure out which person is which, what word means what, or I just keep reading and hope it makes sense to me. But I never found myself doing that in this book. Ms. Taylor made very distinct names and characters, and so it was very easy to keep up with everything.

The other thing I surprised myself with was that I easily guessed the whole mystery of the book. The whole question, the suspense, once I met the other important charcter, I guessed it with a snap. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be that obvious, because I'm absolutely terrible with figuring out the mystery. Seriously. Something could be so obvious, and I would totally miss it. But that wasn't the case in this book. Which very much surprised me.

One thing I also loved about this book is the description. I've read some very descriptive books before, and to be honest, I just skimmed through alot of those books. But the descriptions were so unique in this book, and it painted a picture of the whole scene to me. I think it defiantly added a whole lot to this book, and it made it better.

Also, I think Mrs. Taylor added lots of details in the magic aspect of the book. I don't want to give anything away, but I feel as everything is very well-thought out, and I don't even think I have any questions about how it all works, and trust me, I always have questions!

The things I didn't like about the book? The main problem for me would probably be that it dragged in places. I know the author had to set up the scene and everything, but for me, that took too long, and honestly, it got kinda boring in the beginning of the book. It took a while for me to actually begin to get really intrested, and even then, the book sometimes lost my intrest near the end. The middle was for sure the most intresting part for me, where there was some really good conflict and some action.

Another thing I strongly disliked was the fabulous cliffhanger. Honestly, I shouldn't have expected more from this book. I don't think I've read a book that came out this year that doesn't have a cliffhanger. It would have been nice if this book would have been different, but of course, it didn't. Cliffhangers are really starting to get on my nerves. But, hey, that's the price you pay for reading good books, right?

In the end, I think this book is great for more older readers. Younger kids won't really enjoy it, since it doesn't have much action in it. Honestly, I was expecting more action than what I got, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But it was still a pretty good read. I'll be looking forward to the next one!







Sunday, October 30, 2011

The Sunday Salon - Reading Plans

I don't know why I post reading plans, they always make me fee boxed in.  But, they also help me to see what's on my plate.  I've been trying to combine reading from the various groups I'm in:

The SJCPL Mock Newbery clubs - one for kids and the one for adults
The DMS Mock Newbery club - for kids at my school - private
The Goodreads Mock Printz online club - for anyone
The Goodreads Mock Newbery online club -for anyone

Here are some I still need to read, in no particular order:

  • Blink and Caution
  • Amelia Lost
  • Bird in a Box
  • Paper Covers Rock
  • Dead End in Norvelt
  • Trouble With May Amelia
  • Freedom Stone
  • Flint Heart
  • Hound Dog True
  • Wildwood
  • The Mostly True Story of Jack
  • Everybody Sees The Ants
  • The Scorpio Races
  • Jefferson's Sons
  • Adventures of Sir Gawain The True
  • Bigger Than A Breadbox
  • City of Orphans
  • Icefall
  • Dark of the Moon
  • The Summer Before Boys
  • Small Persons with Wings
  • Dragon Castle
  • Flyaway
  • The Queen of Water
  • Planet Middle School
  • Eight Keys
  • Ten Rules for Living with My Sister
  • The Inquisitor's Apprentice
  • Ghetto Cowboy
  • Akata Witch
  • Liesl & Po
  • Desert Angel
  • Jane Austen: A Life Revealed
  • Imaginary Girls
  • Eddie's War
  • Bluefish
  • The Silver Bowl
  • Water Balloon
  • Blizzard of Glass
  • Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London
  • A Month of Sundays
  • The Luck of the Buttons
  • Heart and Soul
  • I Broke My Trunk
  • Money We'll Save
  • Never Forgotten
  • I am J
  • Life Exploded
  • Berlin Boxing Club

This doesn't include adult books, under the radar books, holiday books, or books I just want to read!  Hopefully, I can still fit them all in! Being a school librarian helps in that I will have two days off for Thanksgiving and two weeks off for Winter Vacation.

What's on your reading list?  Are there any titles I need to add?


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Shine by Lauren Myracle - Bookaday #11


Shine by Lauren Myracle
Abrams
2011

Cat is telling us the story of her one-time best friend, Patrick, who's on his death bed after getting beat up. The way he was found leads police to believe it was a hate crime.  Cat suspects there's more going on and decides she owes it to Patrick to find out.  As she does her research we find out more about Cat's past as well as what's going on in the town.  There aren't very many jobs left and many people have turn to crystal Meth as a way to cope. Cat finding out how Patrick ended up in the hospital could bring a lot of issues to the forefront so someone is out to stop her.  Shine covers a lot of issues and still managed to leave me seething in the end!  Read this one.


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