Review 17- The Red Pyramid

I bought this and started it ages ago, but when I started it I got annoyed at one of the characters and at some bits of the way it was written. Though I know it's written for a younger audience, but still, when you get annoyed at a main character and narrator, it's hard to read a book. But let's start on something other than the characters this time.

The plot is definitely a very original one, you learn a lot about the Egyptian Gods and Mythology and it's extremely interesting. It has a very similar structure to his Percy Jackson series, but has more of the family aspect to it. I mean, yes the first Percy Jackson book has a lot to do with him looking for his mother to save her, but because this book is narrated by two narrators who are brother and sister, you can see the focus shifting more to the family as you see them interacting with each other, and how it's driven on by their family and who they've lost and found over the years.

One think I didn't really like about this though was how he started it. Rick Riordan started it with what seemed to be a life or death situation, the narrators directing a warning to the reader telling them that they were in danger, extremely dramatic and as if it was the most important thing in the world. That was fine, but he didn't follow through. By the end (I won't spoil anything I swear) it was as if it didn't matter, or the first page was completely separate from the story, almost like an after thought that he'd completely forgotten what he wrote at the start and just rushed back to it at the end. I think if he put it in it shouldn't have ended in the pathetic way he made it end. It could have just linked and the way he made it, he could have had the recording have stopped saying there was a glitch on the tape or they hadn't transcribed the full thing. In my opinion he rushed it out so he could tie it with the first chapter, and with a page or two of him telling us this pretty useless information that had nothing to do with the rest of the book, it felt like it could have been missed out altogether or been told in some other way.

Now for the characters. As i've stated I'm not keen on one of his main characters, but I'll just write what I think, why I think it and try not to sound too judgemental though I know I already sound it. I'll start with Carter. He was a character I liked, you saw his fear, you saw his knowledge, his love for his family, his jealousy toward his sister for her 'normal' life. He was definitely a well rounded character filled with faults and strengths. You saw him fall in love, you saw him grow basically, and it was just a good way to show him as a character.

And Sadie? This narrator I wasn't keen on. Sadie is twelve. She's English, and she drinks tea...which is made in a pot. This may be me being picky (it probably is), but I hate this stereotype that is pushed onto English people. I'm English, and I'm eighteen years old and I hate tea at this age, definitely wouldn't touch the stuff when I was twelve years old. So, in my eyes, I really can't see a twelve year old drinking a cup of tea in the best china that's been made in a pot which is how Sadie is portrayed. Unfortunately, Rick Riordan made this twelve year old girl have mannerisms of someone much older than she was, I mean she was wearing combat boots, had streaks of red in her hair, drank tea. She seemed like she was a sixteen year old wannabe Goth who drank tea to impress older people, not the twelve year old girl who should be carefree and happy and all that jazz. Don't get me wrong, she had her faults and strengths just like her brother, and is definitely a well rounded character as well, it's just hard to drop first ideas about the character when you see such a blatant over used stereotype that really annoys you. I apologise for the rant, but I can't help it when it comes to these stereotypes.

Overall though, it was an ok book. Definitely not his strongest book in my opinion, but the plot was good, most of the characters were good characters, nearly all of them well rounded and balanced, even if I didn't like some of them. And though I didn't like one of the characters, I must admit I will most probably read the next one.

Overall rating- 5.5 out of 10

Would I read anything else by this author- Yes, I still love his Percy Jackson series

Anything else- Nope

Thanks for reading guys! x

Review 16- I Am Number Four

I didn't know what to expect from this book going into it, I'd heard a lot of mixed reviews about it, a few people saying it was hard to get into at first. I didn't think so. From the start I loved the action, where you found out about Number Three, and then straight into what's happening with Number Four. Straight in with the action and we get a feel for the characters straight away.

The characters were amazing, they had enough about them that they felt real. John/Four had enough emotions that he could be seen as real and not just a super human that was extremely unrelatable. He was constantly growing as the plot progressed. We saw him go from a secretive individual to someone who began to experience every day emotions like friendship, love, all the emotions you expect to see from a teenager the age of 14. Though i think some of the things he did were a bit farfetched seeing as he had been told to 'lay low' and he'd obviously had done this lifestyle for an extremely long time to know what he had to do, you could see why he did it and you could see his thought process behind it. You see him grow as a character which is great to see because sometimes in books you don't see characters grow in the space of one book. And then he brought out Number Six. She is the type of character I'd love to see more in books like this, she's badass, she's awesome, she knows what to do and keeps her cool. I think it's refreshing to see a character like her, who doesn't fall in love with a strong guy, who doesn't do anything obvious, someone who comes in, can fight, knows what she's doing, does what she needs to do and doesn't mix her words. When the next books come out I can't wait to find out her back story, to see what she's like, to find out more about her. Brilliant character, super excited to see how she got to be like she is.

The plot is good. I can't say it was the best plot as in my mind it was slightly generic & obvious, but there were twists and turns here and there that kept it interesting. If I'm being honest, I didn't think he'd dwell on the teen romance aspect as much as he did, I wanted to see more action, but I can understand that if he wants to get that audience and make it a range of readers he has to put that in. But apart from that it was a good read, and some parts you read and you don't want to put the book down for any reason. I was at one part like about two thirds of the way through, where I had to put it down because of a class I had, and I sat through the class desperate to pick it back up because I was desperate to know what happened next.

Pittacus Lore definitely has an audience in mind and I think he knows how to write for them. It was a good read altogether, and a fantastic way to start what is seen to be the next big thing in YA Literature (or from what is says on the back of my book what's expected of it anyway). I'm hoping that the second book is just as good, though from reading the excerpt in the back of this one, I'm nervous to see if he will deliver, but .

Overall rating- 7 out of 10

Would I read anything else by this author- Yes

Anything else- Nope

Thanks for reading guys! x

Review 15- Greywalker

This is a really good start to a series. At the start you can't help but wonder how everything is going to come together, how all of the characters will turn out, what will happen when Harper (the protagonist) starts working properly, how her investigations will come together in the end. It takes a while for it to get fully into the story, but once it did, I was gripped. Harper Blaine is an amazing character and a good narrator to follow the story with. As a private investigator you know that she would be used to some slightly strange situations, and you see her professional view on things come out in different situations, and slowly it begins to be revealed that maybe her clients aren't all who they seem to be.

We see the characters coming together, not because they want to, but because they have to work together. Doing this we get to see a range of paranormal creatures and we get a sense of mystery from the different investigations. Kat Richardson has done an amazing job rounding these characters, giving them emotion, flaws, it's an amazing group characters to say the least.

For the plot, it was very complicated, but not in a bad way. You have so many things going on, Harper trying to deal with becoming a Greywalker and accepting all of these things that are happening to her, her two main cases, the love aspect we see, Quinton and what goes on with him, then Mara and her problems. I think it could have been extremely rushed and badly done, but Kat Richardson does it well, she's able to balance it all out and make it so that you see all the things that are needed, without it being rushed. This is something that could have been missed, with the rush and the action it could have been done terribly, but she paces it well, keeps it action packed and fast paced but gives us all the detail we need.

Overall it's an amazing start to the series, a fantastic read, action packed, with an amazing set of characters, and just a good book in general. If you read and enjoyed books like Working for the Devil (Lilith Saintcrow) and Guilty Pleasures (Laurell K. Hamilton)

Rating?- 8 out of 10

Would I read anything else by this author?- Yes definitely want to read the next one

Thanks for reading guys! x

I apologise...

I'm extremely sorry about how I haven't wrote a review in ages. I'm gonna start very soon, like as soon as I finish reading my next book. I've decided that I'm going to start to do this religiously me thinks :) hopefully. Fingers crossed!