Tag Archives: 3.5 stars
The Terror by Dan Simmons
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
It is not beyond the realm of possibility that this book would have waited from being finished in February to being reviewed in July even had my year not been inhumanely busy. Despite the disgustingly hot weather, I have goose bumps thinking about it.
The Terror is taken from the name one half of a pair of ships sent on an Arctic expedition at some point when reinforcement technology for ice breaking ships still involved the types of wood used in conjunction with some iron. Near the beginning a character thinks to himself that the number of awards given to the returning commanders of these expeditions seems to be higher the more lives are lost. I’m inclined to agree.
This book was dark, dirty, and above all cold. To steal from the inimitable karen’s review, “oh my god, let me never get scurvy.” There are many things I could add to that list. I have no idea how realistic it may be, but the descriptions of the conditions experienced by the people on those ships make me wish I could forget hearing them.
Sadly, I feel the same way about much of the element of this book that throws it into the fantasy heap. It somehow went from a scary thing that could have been made frightening to a rather campy and eventually lame rehashing of a mythology that I suspect is nowhere near as simplistic as it seems. The last 10 or so chapters could have been left off the book. More HMS Terror and less of the Terror would have made this a far better book.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, book, book review, books, crazy deities, denizens of hell, everybody dies, fantasy, friend review sparked interest, historical fiction, horror, impending doom, magical creatures, mythological types, the fuck is this the fuck was that | posted in Words
Hexed by Ilona Andrews
This is a review of Magic Dreams, #4.5 of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. Unfortunately, there is not a standalone version, hence the review of this anthology.
Magic Dreams was sad. I like Dali’s character and it turns out her life is more sad than I thought. The villain was the saddest I have seen in this series to date. Even Jim was sad, although that could have had something to do with, well, spoilers. Anyway, sad. I enjoyed it overall and was quite angry that it was in no way acknowledged in the fifth book. Also sad. It’s all sad.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, atlanta, badassery, dali, down south, drinkers of blood, fantasy, ilona andrews, kate daniels, magic dreams, magical creatures, re-read potential, sweet sweet luuurve, that is not natural, too stubborn for their own good, witches & wizards, wolves of the were persuasion | posted in Words
Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
If anything, I enjoyed Magic Burns more than Magic Bites. As I was told it would be, it was clarified that Curran is a lion, so I was glad of that, but obviously that was not all. Kate developed a little bit more dimension than in the first book, and overall I found the plot more compelling. Some of my favorite supporting characters of the series appeared. There was an epic battle. There was also an annoying child, but you can’t have everything. Overall, a solid book that led to me reading the remainder of the series in less than a week.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, atlanta, badassery, crazy deities, curran, down south, drinkers of blood, fantasy, ilona andrews, kate daniels, magic burns, magical creatures, morrigan, old gods, paranormal, re-read potential, sweet sweet luuurve, swordplay, swords, that is not natural, too stubborn for their own good, urban fantasy, witches & wizards | posted in Words
Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
A friend highly recommended this, so another friend & I decided to buddy read it. I have to say, I enjoyed it, although there were definite flaws, hence the 3.5 rating. To get them out of the way first, the flaws: too much talk about badassery at the beginning of the book but not enough actual ass kicking and far, far too much talk about her braid and lack of beauty. I don’t care what she looks like, damn it. *sigh* Losing argument, I know. As for the things I enjoyed: the fact that she seemed to slightly change her mind about some other people but not drastically, the fact that she’s not even remotely invincible, and the fact that she fucked up the relationship with the doctor rather than it being revealed that he’s just drastically inferior to Curran, speaking of whom, does not sound like a lion in the books so why is he a lion on the covers?
If you even remotely like urban fantasy with female leads, give this a shot. It’s neither steampunk nor a romance.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, atlanta, badassery, book, book review, books, curran, down south, drinkers of blood, fantasy, friend review sparked interest, ilona andrews, kate daniels, magic, magic bites, magical creatures, re-read potential, swordplay, swords, too stubborn for their own good, vampires, witches & wizards, wolves of the were persuasion | posted in Words
The Dickens With Love by Josh Lanyon
The Dickens With Love was first brought to my attention by the illustrious karen whose review of it is far, far funnier than mine. Seriously. Her review is here. Go read it. Then come back to mine.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, bibliophilia, book review, books, christmas, dickens, gay, glbt, humorous, josh lanyon, lgbt, los angeles, review, the dickens with love | posted in Food, Words
John Dies at the End by David Wong
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Warning: This Book Contains Multiple Scenes With Disgusting Huge Spiders
*ahem*
I had avoided adding John Dies at the End until a friend roped me into it through a challenge. I have to say, it was a pleasant surprise. Well, maybe not pleasant. That’s not a word that describes, well, anything in this book.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, are you high, bloody spiders, book review, books, boozy, david wong, drugs, horror, humorous, john dies at the end, pleasant surprise, review, science gone wrong, that is not natural, the fuck is this the fuck was that | posted in Words
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror is good stuff. I’ve always been a bit skeptical of Christopher Moore, but I may look into some of his other books. There are zombies, evil Santas, they make fun of those horrible bell ringers, there’s a crazy Zena-type, and a remarkably mentally challenged angel. Oh, and the fruit bat. What’s not to love? I’m not coming up with anything. If you take the holidays seriously, you might disagree and should probably steer clear. There isn’t a lot of Christmas cheer and you’d be horrified by some of the things done to Santa and the Nativity story. If you revel in the irreverent, well, this is the Christmas book for you.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, are you high, bad santa, book review, books, braaaains, christmas, christmas horror, christopher moore, dusty california, horror, humorous, review, science fiction, the stupidest angel | posted in Words
Heartless by Gail Carriger
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Oh, goodreads, why do you let a few people keep the rest of us from having half stars. By rights, Heartless should get 3.5/5 or 6/10 stars. As it is, because I like the series & goodreads is lame, I’m giving it 4. In this latest addition, we see a lot more of the same. The primary plot is nowhere near as interesting as some of the things we learn about our primary and supporting characters. Some of them have pasts much deeper and more complicated than we previously knew. We also learn more about Alexia’s father. Naturally, these are the tamer aspects, but, you know…spoilers! Regardless of the ways this book went flat, I definitely am looking forward to the release in March of the next in the series.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, aristocracy, book review, books, drinkers of blood, fantasy, gail carriger, heartless, infant inconveniences, london town, never-ending tea time, parasol protectorate, review, romance, steampunk, sweet sweet luuurve, that is not natural, too stubborn for their own good, wolves of the were persuasion, xposted to OSgA reviews | posted in Words
Blameless by Gail Carriger
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I don’t know quite how I would explain why I love Gail Carriger‘s Parasol Protectorate series so much, but I really do. While not so good as the others, Blameless has that same mixture of wit and “d’aww” reaction that I enjoyed in the previous books. As always, Alexia is involved in crazy adventures and Conall rages about wildly. Well, that isn’t all, but it does take up a fair amount. Basically, I continue to recommend these books to those who like Regency romances, even though these are set in Victorian times, as well as those who like light urban fantasy. There’s a little something for everyone here. For me, it’s on to Heartless! (Oh yes, ladybugs and pesto both play major roles in this. What’s not to love?)
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, aristocracy, blameless, book review, books, boozy, drinkers of blood, fantasy, france, gail carriger, infant inconveniences, italy, london town, never-ending tea time, parasol protectorate, review, romance, steampunk, sweet sweet luuurve, that is not natural, the fuck is this the fuck was that, too stubborn for their own good, wolves of the were persuasion, xposted to OSgA reviews | posted in Words
Changeless by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
While not quite as good as Soulless, Changeless was a delightful read and exactly what I needed to cleanse my brain after reading American Psycho. Gail Carriger writes good, funny yarns. There is a definite amount of repetition, but it can be forgiven. I can’t bring myself to say that her stories and characters are original, but there is a certain freshness to her stories. Perhaps it is the way her points of view are written or the very, very mild inclusion of a few steampunk elements. Regardless, I look forward to continuing the series. I mean, how often are Victorian romances & fantasy mixed without being tedious? Not often enough, I say.
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Leave a comment | tags: 3.5 stars, aristocracy, book review, books, changeless, country houses, drinkers of blood, fantasy, gail carriger, london town, never-ending tea time, parasol protectorate, review, romance, steampunk, sweet sweet luuurve, that is not natural, the fuck is this the fuck was that, too stubborn for their own good, wolves of the were persuasion, xposted to OSgA reviews | posted in Words