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!

Review 14- I Can See You

Ok so this will be a bit patchy, I picked this book up on the 18^th of May (I know because I bought it on my birthday…haha) and I just finished reading it today (25^th of July). But I must admit this is one of my favourite authors that I’ve read for a while.

Ok so it’s a crime novel, which isn’t usually my style, but I picked it up and fell in love with it, reading about 150 pages a day (which I couldn’t do at the time). The book follows Eve Wilson, Noah Webster and a bunch of other cops and the killer (not gonna say who but believe me, it was a shock when it was revealed).

I want to first address Noah & Eve’s little love interest. I loved it. I’m usually hooked instantly on the love interest or hate it with a passion. I thought this one was soooooooo cute. She didn’t want him to love her because of all these emotions, and he wanted her so badly that it hurt or whatever. It was soo cute, it was so nice to see them grow and get together.

I loved the idea of how the killer picked his victims. Going onto a game called Shadowland, going through Eve’s study, getting everything together until it was all done, I was actually amazed at how well thought out it was.

I also loved the idea of the dresses, shoes, makeup, hanging (which is how he staged the murder to look like a suicide) seriously I was blown away by it. It was just a shock to the system that people found them. And with their eyes glued open? Tortured with their fears? I was in love with these ideas.

Then there was the way that the killer left the victim’s avatars in the game, where when they were found out they were found hung in their homes in Shadowland, exactly how they’d been found IRL.

Characters? Ok so the first one I need to talk about is Eve. Now, from what I’ve gathered I came into a book that links back to another book, which is where Eve came from. She’s a broken woman who was left for dead in a previous book by Karen Rose (which I shall be buying even though I know what happens, I want to read more of Eve when she was young and reckless) I liked that idea because it was like ‘here’s what a character did afterwards’ and even if you hadn’t read the previous book. It was brilliant.

Then Noah, I loved how he was portrayed, not perfect, but still with this manly and courageous. I don’t really know what to say about the characters, you guys just need to read it! Please?

Review 13- The Lunatic Cafe

Yes second day, second book done, and it’s barely the afternoon (on a role woot!). It’s the fourth one in the Anita Blake series so again if you don’t want to know anything, please don’t read.

I loved the plot of this one, well the love interest plot. Jean-Claude actually trying to woo Anita instead of forcing himself on her. I also love the way that Anita isn’t sure about Richard and is like ‘Should I shouldn’t I?’ I think she should personally, but I don’t know if Richard will thing of her in the same way after what she did at the end.

Ok so it was very round about crazy. Kasper (I thought he was a nice person), was the biggest twist I’d seen. I was sad to see him the culprit for the shifters disappearances, it was a big shock. And the police (I hate the ones who did it) And Dolf and Zabrowski (spelling? I don’t have the book with me so sorry if I spelt it wrong) got hurt I got really upset when I found that out.

Ok so let’s get on with the characters as per usual.

It’s nice to see a softer side of Anita, the one you see with Richard. But having said that, I’m glad she continued to be the person she always was with the way she stuck to her guns (no pun intended) and everything. And I loved how she was all bad ass when she stuck the knife into what’s his name’s ‘do-da’. I did gag a bit though, I can’t deny that.

What about Richard? I kinda like him but I think he’s got to realise that Anita is who she is and isn’t going to change. Then he’d be perfect! Unfortunately not everything should be perfect in a book, and this is the imperfect part. I do love him though, and I hope that he will keep Anita close to him, whether or not he does I shall have to find out (aka I really want the next book!).

Jean-Claude’s evil side is truly evil, I was amazed at it. The way he just was ruthless with Gretchen and the other vampire, Robert was it? I can’t remember (I fail) just it was scary to see it. I mean I liked it because it shows you he’s not all sugar and cream. But still you know?

I don’t know what else to say really, I mean the plot was crazy this time and I think it’s easier for you guys to go and read it over me trying to explain it and failing miserably.

Review 12- The Circus of the Damned

Ok, so I’m sorry that it’s been a while since I last wrote a review, but as of late I’ve been doing a lot of superficial writing over reading (aka I’ve been writing crap that I’m not ever going to use for anything other than fun) but, today I’m on holiday (and this will be up later as I have no internet) and I finished a book (finally). Sorry for the brackets, I don’t know why there are so many.

So, I read book three of the Anita Blake series, if you don’t want any spoilers I’d stop reading this now because I promise you it’ll have spoilers.

Yet again, Laurell K. Hamilton pulled out a pretty amazing book. It had enough kick butt action, the same love twist (and yes, I love Anita’s distaste for the one she’s obviously going to get with later on in the series) and with a lot more awesome twists that you can’t wait to be revealed.

This time Anita is faced with a foe that she doesn’t fully understand, ok she understands it but you know what I mean if you’ve read the book. So we find out another master vampire is in town and Anita has to find him and stop him before the blood baths continue. Fun.

Characters? Alright, Anita first. Anita is as pissy as usual, but now I think we’re seeing more of a bad ass side to her. In the last two, we see her doing her job, in this one she does things for revenge and for her own skin. Yay Anita!

What else can I say about her? If you want an introduction to her, you’ll have to read the first book, I’m sorry but that’s the only way that I can tell you to get to know her, she’s too complex really to explain, especially in the middle of a series (sorry, not the middle, that’s book ten or something).

We then have Jean Claude. He’s slimy to me. Really, it’s like ugh, he won’t give up and then he lets things get waaaaaay too out of hand before he stops it. I just don’t like him as a character. No, I lie, I like him, I just don’t like the way he uses people the way he does. Granted he’s the master of the city meaning he has power but still I have stuff against him.

Then Richard’s introduced, yay for him, I mean yes he’s a werewolf, but you kinda knew it was coming, and that was good. He was sweet too, and it was like ‘awww give me a hug;. Well kinda. But he’s a lot more down to earth and doesn’t force anything onto Anita, unlike a previously spoken about vampire.

Alejandro (not the Lady Gaga song) was pretty cool too. It wasn’t like he was like the other crazy master vampires, but he gave Anita back her freedom and stuff. I liked him, a lot. Well, more than most of the other vampires in the series.

And then there was Edward. No not the sparkly vampire (I know people don’t like him but I do but let’s not go onto twilight). Edward in this series is actually a vampire hunter. I know it’s weird isn’t it? But Edward is cute and stuff and even though I like Richard I kinda want Anita and him to have something more going on because he obviously likes her since he didn’t torture her like he said he would.

Overall? I liked it, I think that it’s a good series and I have the next one ready for me to read as soon as I want to. So yeah I think I’ll enjoy this, I hope you guys liked it, and you’ll probably see more than one uploaded quickly since you know I have no internet and a lot of spare time and about ten books with me.