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chrissie_whitley's reviews
1549 reviews
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
4.0
I admit, I was completely skeptical about this one. Frankly, the cover is a little more than girly and/or cheesy—that fluffy-ass dress is a little overdone, no? But, there are so, so many YA fiction novels that fall into that same trap, that type of excessive cover picture, and this is really where that old adage comes into play. (Do not judge a book by its cover.)
I zipped through this book for several reasons. 1) The writing had a clean, but poetic quality to it like a stream or brook just flowing along; 2) It wasn't mired down in endless descriptions, or nonsense court-related duties, or the backstories of secondary or tertiary characters; and 3) It was just so damned engaging—I did not want to put it down.
The Winner's Curse is the type of book that presents a story to you, and then attacks it head-on. There's no wasteful meandering about, exploring dead-end storylines for uninteresting or sidelined characters. There are no seemingly endless descriptions of the rooms, furniture, dresses, landscapes, and battles. Most importantly, at least to me, at this point in the year, each sentence doesn't feel irritatingly urgent, and the chapters do not end with the type of dun-dun-dun!-attempt at an epic sentence.
Plus, I really liked these characters. Kestrel and Arin are just enchanting. They are stubborn, smart, and calculating. There's no instant love here, so instead we get to enjoy the slow-build of actual romance, resistant though it was.
I zipped through this book for several reasons. 1) The writing had a clean, but poetic quality to it like a stream or brook just flowing along; 2) It wasn't mired down in endless descriptions, or nonsense court-related duties, or the backstories of secondary or tertiary characters; and 3) It was just so damned engaging—I did not want to put it down.
The Winner's Curse is the type of book that presents a story to you, and then attacks it head-on. There's no wasteful meandering about, exploring dead-end storylines for uninteresting or sidelined characters. There are no seemingly endless descriptions of the rooms, furniture, dresses, landscapes, and battles. Most importantly, at least to me, at this point in the year, each sentence doesn't feel irritatingly urgent, and the chapters do not end with the type of dun-dun-dun!-attempt at an epic sentence.
Plus, I really liked these characters. Kestrel and Arin are just enchanting. They are stubborn, smart, and calculating. There's no instant love here, so instead we get to enjoy the slow-build of actual romance, resistant though it was.
Messenger, Volume 3 by Lois Lowry
The most emotionally anchoring of the three books, Messenger picks up six years after the events in the previous book, [b:Gathering Blue|12936|Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1388195391s/12936.jpg|2134456], bringing the first two books together in a collision of events and characters.
Our narrator is Matty, known by his one-syllable name Matt in the second book, and he's grown so much and matured to the point of deserving his own book. I really enjoyed reading and experiencing this novel through his voice, eyes, and mind.
[a:Lois Lowry|2493|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1348162077p2/2493.jpg] gives us so much in this third book. We learn what happened to Jonas and Gabe from [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234], and we continue with Kira's involvement in the greater story. Along with adding new characters, the blind man from the second book plays a larger role alongside Matty and in Village, the community so willing to help and heal and nurture. Messenger took us on another magical journey, delving farther into the overall arc of the series. I look forward to reading the last of the quartet, [b:Son|13324841|Son (The Giver Quartet, #4)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1349952095s/13324841.jpg|18252076].
4.0
He wept, and it felt as if the tears were cleansing him, as if his body needed to empty itself.
The most emotionally anchoring of the three books, Messenger picks up six years after the events in the previous book, [b:Gathering Blue|12936|Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1388195391s/12936.jpg|2134456], bringing the first two books together in a collision of events and characters.
Our narrator is Matty, known by his one-syllable name Matt in the second book, and he's grown so much and matured to the point of deserving his own book. I really enjoyed reading and experiencing this novel through his voice, eyes, and mind.
[a:Lois Lowry|2493|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1348162077p2/2493.jpg] gives us so much in this third book. We learn what happened to Jonas and Gabe from [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234], and we continue with Kira's involvement in the greater story. Along with adding new characters, the blind man from the second book plays a larger role alongside Matty and in Village, the community so willing to help and heal and nurture. Messenger took us on another magical journey, delving farther into the overall arc of the series. I look forward to reading the last of the quartet, [b:Son|13324841|Son (The Giver Quartet, #4)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1349952095s/13324841.jpg|18252076].
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
Creating characters and their history seems to be what [a:Kate Morton|615274|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1444262471p2/615274.jpg] does best. She interweaves the present with spiraling layers of the past, all tethered to three women, separated by circumstance, time, or distance.
As with [b:The Forgotten Garden|3407877|The Forgotten Garden|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1455283767s/3407877.jpg|3448086], I was able to deduce, early on, the huge plot twist that gets revealed late in the book. However, unlike with The Forgotten Garden, I didn't mind one bit here. Being fairly certain of this secret was like having a pretty darned good idea of what your Christmas present is going to be. You're still excited and can't wait to open the wrappings and reveal the truth which you know it to be. But, you're patient, because somewhere in there, the waiting is half the fun. There were details within this reveal that I wasn't able to discern ahead of time, and that only made the knowledge even juicier upon its appearance.
But, as I say, Morton's characters are the gems of the story. Everyone gets picked up, turned over, and peeked at from all angles. So complete are these characters, especially in this particular book, that I almost didn't want it to end. The nuanced and detailed personalities are a blessing, and writing such fleshed out people only makes it harder to say goodbye.
The historical aspects are a blessing too. With such vividness, Morton paints each scene with care and depth. I felt transported, on the wings of her characters, to the different eras in time, each building upon the knowledge of the preceding pages.
4.0
Children don’t require of their parents a past and they find something faintly unbelievable, almost embarrassing, in parental claims to a prior existence.
Creating characters and their history seems to be what [a:Kate Morton|615274|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1444262471p2/615274.jpg] does best. She interweaves the present with spiraling layers of the past, all tethered to three women, separated by circumstance, time, or distance.
As with [b:The Forgotten Garden|3407877|The Forgotten Garden|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1455283767s/3407877.jpg|3448086], I was able to deduce, early on, the huge plot twist that gets revealed late in the book. However, unlike with The Forgotten Garden, I didn't mind one bit here. Being fairly certain of this secret was like having a pretty darned good idea of what your Christmas present is going to be. You're still excited and can't wait to open the wrappings and reveal the truth which you know it to be. But, you're patient, because somewhere in there, the waiting is half the fun. There were details within this reveal that I wasn't able to discern ahead of time, and that only made the knowledge even juicier upon its appearance.
But, as I say, Morton's characters are the gems of the story. Everyone gets picked up, turned over, and peeked at from all angles. So complete are these characters, especially in this particular book, that I almost didn't want it to end. The nuanced and detailed personalities are a blessing, and writing such fleshed out people only makes it harder to say goodbye.
The historical aspects are a blessing too. With such vividness, Morton paints each scene with care and depth. I felt transported, on the wings of her characters, to the different eras in time, each building upon the knowledge of the preceding pages.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
4.0
What a lovely book. Truly. This book was like that lovely, fuzzy feeling you have upon waking from a dream whose threads are unraveling fast, but which has left you with a tender level of contentment with life. Sigh.
This was a book that makes you wonder if the other books by this author have that same dreamlike quality. We shall find out.
"This book is childhood."
I cannot possibly write a review better than Emily May's found here: Emily May's Review.
This was a book that makes you wonder if the other books by this author have that same dreamlike quality. We shall find out.
"This book is childhood."
I cannot possibly write a review better than Emily May's found here: Emily May's Review.