Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Professional writers and writing coaches around the world will almost always agree that becoming a better writer can be achieved through extensive reading and writing. Fortunately, we have already mastered the art of book loving, so we will proceed to conquer an even more challenging beast-writing.


This writing challenge is geared towards anyone is who is looking to: improve his/her writing skills, become better book reviewers, and/or keep track of one’s thoughts on various books. Participants looking for feedback and tips should ask other participants for constructive criticism.. If you really like a review we encourage you to reward the reviewer by liking their official Goodreads review. As with all of our challenges, you will post as you go. Members will have an option of three levels which can be modified at any point in time (in case you feel like writing more or less each month).

Levels
Easy: 1 to 3 reviews per month
Intermediate: 4 to 7 reviews per month
Challenging: 8+ reviews per month

Rules
Failure to comply with the rules listed below will result in your post being deleted.
1) No plagiarism- Please do not try to pass off someone’s review as your own.
2) Please post the link and/or the actual review for each review written.
3) If your review includes a spoiler please use the spoiler tag ((view spoiler)[insert text here (hide spoiler)]…Please remove the *) or the spoiler bar (*******************SPOILER*****************)

Tips for Reviewers
1) Do not try to summarize every chapter. Instead, focus on major events or scenes that really stood out to you.
2) Be original! Not all reviewers have the same style. Some reviews will be shorter and more laid back while others will be more analytical and longer. Neither style is better, they are simply different.
3) Paint a picture for readers; include favorite or least favorite quotes so that your readers will know what to expect and why you felt the way you did.
4) Be careful about spoilers. Some people are hesitant to read reviews because of possible spoilers (see rules!).
5) For more tips check out this website.

Many thanks to Niquae who inspired this challenge

Hmmm, I specialize in sarky reviews. I should try to write some nice ones too. I'm in for easy level!

Looking forward to this - I really need to write more reviews. I'll probably aim for intermediate, I'd like to do at least 5 or 6. So should we link to a review after we've written it or should the entire text of the review be posted here in the thread? Mine can get long, so I don't want to be the one that tires out everyone's scrolling finger by making the thread overlong.

I'm in. I'll go for Intermediate and hope I manage Challenging.

Thanks, Sashana! You did a great job with this challenge. :D

I will go for Easy.

Question: I sometimes have difficulty determining what is spoilerish or not. In this case, do we go by the maxim, "Better safe than sorry" and put everything under a spoiler tag if we are not sure?

Alicia: I also tend to write really long reviews. For someone who professes to hate writing, I seriously surprise myself with those long reviews. lol. Too bad that Goodreads or HTML doesn't have a "Cut" code like Livejournal does... Perhaps we can just link to the review after writing it? That way, if someone likes it, it'd be just as easy for them to "like" it on Goodreads.

Go for Easy too!

I am going for challenging. I write a review for every book I read. It helps me to remember what I liked and did not like about the book and if it is worth a re-read.

However, I am two reviews behind. Bad, Rachel, bad!

Oh wait hold on, I just saw that this is per month. Ha. Unfortunately, I am going to have to drop this down to intermediate. There is no way I can read eight books a month with my schedule!

Alicia wrote: "Looking forward to this - I really need to write more reviews. I'll probably aim for intermediate, I'd like to do at least 5 or 6. So should we link to a review after we've written it or should t..."

Alicia, I'd like everyone to post the link and/or the actual review. Preferably both since it is a writing challenge. I don't mind if it's lenghthy, it's expected. Good question though, I'm going to have edit that in later.

Alrighty! *cracks knuckles*

February:
1. Queen of Shadows Review - Dianne Sylvan (3.5 stars)

niquae wrote: "Thanks, Sashana! You did a great job with this challenge. :D

I will go for Easy.

Question: I sometimes have difficulty determining what is spoilerish or not. In this case, do we go by the maxim,..." <

Thanks, Niquae. Question: I sometimes have difficulty determining what is spoilerish or not. In this case, do we go by the maxim, "Better safe than sorry" and put everything under a spoiler tag if we are not sure? I think whatever works for you. Some spoilers are really big and some are just teasers. In the case of the former I'd encourage you to use the spoiler tag or bar but for a smaller spoiler it's really up to you.

Alright, I shall try intermediate...this should be interesting, I have never gotten comments on my reviews... *nervous*

I'm in! I am going to aim for the Intermediate level. I find it hard to write reviews for books I've read unless it is a book that I hate or absolutely LOVE and could gush endlessly over it. For the books that fall in the middle and most do I find that I can't really express (in a way that makes sense) why I rated it as I did. I'll be starting with my February reads. So here's to improving my review writing skills....

i'm gonna start at easy. do we post our reviews here, or make our own thread?

First review completed! My longest yet and one of the least snarky reviews I've done.

by Maya Banks
4 stars

First, I stayed up way the hell to late reading this. Second, I really don't like the Nook reading app for PC.

For anyone who has read the previous Colters' Legacy books, this is quite a departure. No multiple partners or no unbelievable "We magically fell for the same woman and are absolutely not squicked out by having almost-sex with each other even though we're brothers" here. Not that that bothered me in the other books. The other books were pretty damn hot in places. But the plausibility was way out there (though I'm still unclear why three guys who are brothers banging the same woman would be more unbelievable than three guys who are friends doing the same to me).

As we remember, due to the other characters constantly reminding us in the previous book, Callie had a Bad Thing happen to her and she was Very Upset and her free spirit was obviously bruised. Nice foreshadowing. Thanks for bitch slapping me with it. Now we get to see where all the gloom and doom came from.

I've been coming back to this review on and off all morning. It's taking me an age to write. I can't quite figure out how to explain why I liked it so much even though it made me uncomfortable some times. Here goes nothing, and I apologize for the possible randomness to follow.

As my friends here know, I read a lot of erotica. Probably a lot more than is strictly healthy, but that's a discussion for another time when the voddie's flowing and I'm in the mood for some good maudlin navel-gazing. Anyway. In all that hot, sweaty, smutty action, I've read about several kinds of relationships that intrigued me, that make me want to possibly try them one day.

But not this one. Why? Well, I'm pretty sure that being completely submissive in ALL aspects of a relationship, not just sexually, would chafe. Like, right away. And the caveman, knuckle-dragging, chest-beating, seamen-marking hero of this book was waaaaaaay OTT for me for me most of the time. I had plenty of WTF moments reading this. Seriously, this cat could give Lora Leigh's alpha (and alphole) heroes lessons in dominance (or so it seemed at 2am when my eyes were crossing and I was struggling to stay lucid long enough to finish the book). While I like to read about strong men and a little bit of chest-beating sound yummy, this dude just wasn't tickling my buttons.

Neither was Callie. I didn't really buy her sudden willingness to let dude take over every freaking aspect of her life, but I've never been in a relationship remotely like that, so I can't really judge how she really should/would have reacted. Maybe all it really does take is that one special person that to make you want different things than you've always dreamed of.

Oh, and the Big Reveal after the second Big Misunderstanding (yeah, we had to get over two Big Mis's in this book) kinda lacked impact for me. I'd figured it out pretty quickly and was just waiting around for The Shit to Blow Up.

But why, with all these squirmy, uncomfortable, over-the-top what-the-fuckery problems, did I still love the book? It wasn't the amazing writing (the dialogue was a downright cheesefest at times), it wasn't my wish to emulate the relationship explored by our hero and heroine, it wasn't the "mystery" behind everything.

I think I enjoyed it despite the faults I've listed above and more I can't articulate because it was a visit with old friends. I've invested a lot of time on the Colter family and it was good to "see" them again. And just like with friends, there was stuff that bothered me but my affection for them made it easy to overlook those faults.

Review link here

stephanie wrote: "i'm gonna start at easy. do we post our reviews here, or make our own thread?"

You post them here, Stephanie.

thanks. now another question:
at the end of Sans post, it says review link here. i know how to copy the link into the post, but how do i get it say review link here, instead of just the www stuff?

At the upper right corner of the comment box (next to add book/author) click on some html is ok. Copy and paste this <*a href="http://www.goodreads.com">my link text (minus the*) and replace the http by copy and pasting your review link. Then change the my link text to whatever you want.

Stephanie, I used a reference HTML tag. If you click on the (some html is ok) link above the comment box, it will tell you how to do one. Basic code is as follows:

<*a href="paste your URL here"*>a link will show up here<*/a*>

Just don't put the * symbols between the greater than and less than signs.

Update: it's the first code listed and is called "Link".

thanks!

No problemo.

Sans, I really like your review, you're amazing at writing them. You keep a nice light, humourous tone - very funny! I haven't read the book/series you are reviewing, but I like it when people talk openly about the sex in the books, whether it's weird or just boring run-of-the-mill, rather than all the people who just automatically write that the book is "moral filth" if it has any sex in it, haha.

I'm working on one right now and should have it posted in a few hours. At the moment it's kind of all over the place.. I'm that reviewer that tends to go off on random tangents.

Thank you so much, Alicia! Wow, that's such a huge compliment. I'm so glad you enjoyed the review. I'm a big sharer (to the point of over-sharing at times!) and I really believe that honesty is the only way to go. I'm glad I didn't embarrass you with the smutty-ness. ^o^

I'm looking forward to reading your review! Mine are always all over the place and I love me some tangents.

Nothing but Writing Reviews Challenge

Start Date: Feb 1, 2011
End Date: Feb 28, 2011
Level: Intermediate (Goal = 6 reviews)

1. Review of Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst - 3 stars

1/6 Complete

Although my feelings towards Sarah Beth Durst's other novel, Ice, could be summed up with a general "meh", I decided to give her another chance to wow me with Enchanted Ivy. Enchanted Ivy, the story of a narnia-esque fantasy world that is connected to the human world through the front gates of Princeton University, unfortunately fell flat as well. It was decently written. It had likable enough, if perhaps slightly dull, characters, along with your standard sexed-up cast of fuzzy fantasy friends - shapeshifters, werewolves, faeries, elves, dragons, centaurs and unicorns. I suspect that when more reviews start coming in there will be a lot of readers griping that Enchanted Ivy is too derivative, of Narnia, of LOTR, of HP and Percy Jackson, or of whatever is the current fantasy touchstone for which all books that come after get accused of copying. Although that wasn't a complaint for me personally because I find that all fantasy seems derivative and incredibly similar, I can see others being disappointed with the lack of originality. For me, it was just a decent book, not bad, but not particularly distinguishable. There wasn't any real spark or life in it for me.

The prose was incredibly simple, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you're a middle schooler, but I think it caused the book to come across as a lot more juvenile than what I had been expecting. I was expecting something more at a teen level, since the main character Lily is 16 herself, but the vocabulary level was very low. There weren't any words that would challenge anyone above age 10 or 11 or so. Certain aspects of the plot seemed somewhat forced or contrived to me, especially the conflict between the two worlds. It almost seemed as if both sides of the dispute were being willfully obtuse, unreasonable and unbelievably prejudiced purely so that Ms. Durst would be able to write this big conflict between the worlds into the plot. It had a forced quality and didn't seem at all natural.

Let's talk characters. We have your standard YA love triangle trope, with two guys, Tye and Jake, vying for the affections of this girl, Lily, who possesses some weird abilities she is just discovering and has a mysterious past but is otherwise unremarkable and bland. Tye was by far the preferable of the two suitors - he had awesome hair, funny nicknames for people, a sarcastic sense of humour, compassion, and was just so much wiser about what the hell was going on. Jake unfortunately came across as incredibly arrogant and annoying. He was just so convinced that the Knights were always doing the right thing, even when they were clearly torturing and murdering needlessly, and so prejudiced against the magical creatures that he made himself insufferable throughout most of the story. He did finally come around, but it was far too late for him to redeem himself as actual competition for Lily's, or the reader's, affections.

Lily was a likable, reasonably strong heroine. She didn't wow me, but she wasn't so unimpressive as to get herself tagged with my "weak-heroines" bookshelf. She was fiercely loyal to her mother and grandfather, which was admirable, and she wasn't always dependent on those of the male persuasion to save her skin, nor did they treat her like a Bella, I mean, an object. She managed to do quite a few things for herself, although she did spend a fair bit of time getting lost in the boy's beautiful golden eyes/angelic smiles and swooning over how Tye's touch made her skin tingle.

One thing that I wasn't really comfortable with was the whole mentally ill mother plot-line. Something about it was just a bit "off", or perhaps dealt with a bit too flippantly for my liking. I can't really explain this aspect of the plot without spoilers, so you've been warned not to click the little yellow letters if you haven't yet read the book.

(view spoiler)[Throughout most of the book, Lily's mother was described and depicted as having some kind of unspecified mental illness involving mood swings, hallucinations, paranoia, disassociation and forgetfulness. Now, this could have been a beautiful opportunity to poignantly deal with the difficult issue of what it's like to have a mentally ill family member. Ms. Durst laid the foundations to examine the effects of parental mental illness on a child thoughtfully - she briefly talked about how other children's mothers looked at Lily with pity, and even made mention of a man cornering the mother because he mistook her "flightiness for flirtation" (an increased rate of being taken advantage of sexually is a real, raw, and painful aspect of mental illness for women). Ms. Durst had set herself up beautifully to deal with the issue with depth, realism and sensitivity. Then, halfway through the book, it turns out that the mother isn't really mentally ill, she is just losing her mind because she is actually a magical creature - yay! The mother is a full-blooded dryad, who belongs in the magical world, and it was living in the human world for so many years without trees or her home forest that caused her to lose her sanity and her memory.

Perhaps most readers won't have been bothered by this, but personally I strongly dislike seeing mental illness thrown in as a plot device so casually and blithely for no other purpose than to add a "shocking twist" to some silly fantasy story. Maybe I'm oversensitive, but I just found it really distasteful. Several of the characters also kept talking about how the "only hope" was for the mother to be "cured" (ie. for her to return to the fantasy world) and how there was "no hope" for her if she remained in the human world, meaning what exactly? Basically the implication being that there is "no hope" for those who are mentally ill? Or at least not unless they are "cured"? Well cures don't exist for most mental illness, but there certainly is hope. There is loving one's family members, there is living a normal, fulfilling, meaningful life as best as one can, and enriching other's lives by doing so. "No hope" my ass. Although the characters obviously didn't mean their words to be taken as some kind of commentary on all mentally ill parents, the hidden implications and undertones of what they were saying was incredibly wrong. I was just so disappointed that the theme of mental illness, the opportunity to speak to readers about such joys and sorrows, was thrown away to an easy, perfect, magical cure-all. (hide spoiler)]

I also would have liked to see Lily's idealization of Princeton dealt with a bit more analytically. I'll openly admit that I don't really get the American post-secondary education system. Here in Canada, all schools are public, and more or less on the same tier - there are a few older schools that might be considered more prestigious depending on who you ask, but for the most part, all of them offer a similar quality of education and cost within the same price range. We don't have the intense snobbery that seems to exist in the US when it comes to colleges, nor do we have this complicated system with so many different levels of schools - Ivy League, private liberal arts, state schools, community colleges. All I know is that such a system only serves to foster socioeconomic divisions. I think the US needs to take a hint from Sweden, or at least from us Canucks - we pay 4000-6000 (with ample financial aid options) for a year of school, not the debt-for-life 20,000-40,000 that it costs in the US.

So my point is that I was a bit surprised that Lily, someone who hasn't had the best of lot in life, looked upon a school like Princeton, a school that is essentially a bastion of privilege and unfairness, with such complete adoration. I just wanted to see her engage a bit more critically with her ideas. I know I did when I was her age and selecting a school. Fairy-tale views about universities are for when you're 12, by the time you're 16 you should be looking at the world more realistically.

There was no mention of how Lily would afford the membership to a Princeton "eating club". I know that these private eating clubs are highly controversial because a membership costs sveral thousand dollars more than a normal student cafeteria meal plan, thereby essentially being just one more way to divide students into the haves and the have-nots. There was so much potential for Lily to criticize some of these institutions, but she just blindly loved them.

Lily even named the alumni "the Old Boy's Club", but didn't actually consider what that terms means, or question why she would want to go to a school where in 2010, there is still an Old Boy's Club controlling admissions. I was actually somewhat bothered by the idea of a "legacy test". We all know that there are often admissions spots saved/guaranteed for legacies, and that alumni's children can often get preference in admissions, but I can't help but laugh because the characters giving her a legacy test and automatic admission are probably the exact same type of people who bitch and gripe to no end about any kind of affirmative action. I guess the bottom line is that I just couldn't relate to the whole "ooooo I love Princeton, it's so perfect and gorgeous and amazing" thing and I found the worship-level adoration that Lily, who was otherwise down-to-earth, had for such a place and everything it stands for somewhat grating. I'm sure there are others who can relate to the Ivy League thing more, and they may enjoy this book, but personally, not something I could relate to. Of course, the author went to Princeton herself so it's probably not reasonable for me to have expected her to say anything even slightly critical of the place or its flaws, but a girl can hope.

I'd recommend Enchanted Ivy for youngsters or for those who really buy into that whole ivy league school spirit thing. Female fans of Eragon will probably enjoy it too, not so sure about the boys though.

Haha, yupp, it's over-long. Sans, you're very welcome - I will have to look through some of your reviews and bookshelves when I have time.

So I'm curious. I know that some people review every book they read, but for those who only review some or half, or just a few, how do you decide/select which ones you want to review? Personally I tend to only write reviews for books that don't already have thousands of reviews on them. I never write reviews for really popular books like Hunger Games or the Millennium Triology because I tend to feel too intimidated, plus I kind of feel like what's the point since they already have 10, 000 reviews and even if I write one, it will be way back on the 130th page and no one will read it. I feel the same way about classics, especially ones that are studied a lot academically or common in high schools. I kind of feel like everything that can be said about them has already been said and they've already been analyzed to bits, so there isn't anything new I can contribute. It's kind of a crappy attitude, and I would like to become more confident about writing reviews for popular books too. So the majority of reviews I write are for books that have under 1000 reviews, and of course for any books that I win an ARC of.

Fantastic review, Alicia! I left my comments on the linked "official" review.

For me, I write reviews for books that made me really feel something, be it amazement, adoration, distaste, squick, humor, WTFery, headdesking, whatever. If I'm fuming about how stupid a book is, I'm going to let the world know. If I've found a new favourite author and their books/characters touched me, I'm going to let the world know that too.

For the "meh" books that I didn't have an extreme reaction to, I just give them a star rating and move on. If it didn't interest me enough for me to remember it the next day, it doesn't deserve more of my time and effort to get a review.

I don't read a lot of popular books but whenI do, I don't write official reviews for them either. If it did move me in some way, I'll post a little review on whatever groups I'm a member of that are most appropriate for that specific book. For example, if I got around to reading Hunger Games and I either loved or hated it, I'd post a little review here and on Cyber Book Club, but I wouldn't post an official review on the book's page.

Alicia wrote: "Haha, yupp, it's over-long. Sans, you're very welcome - I will have to look through some of your reviews and bookshelves when I have time.

So I'm curious. I know that some people review every ..."

I don't even review half of the books I read. I don't have a method to which one gets reviewed or not but I agree with you about reviewing the popular books, it's intimidating.

Review #1
Lover Unbound
J.R. Ward
4/5 stars
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

so far this has been my second least favorite, with butch's story being my least. there was a lot of surprises in this book, with (view spoiler)[the scribe virgin being v's mother (hide spoiler)] being the biggest one. i really dislike the way cormia is treated, but i love the way she still tries to serve (view spoiler)[phury (hide spoiler)] even though she is scared shitless. there are so many sparks flying between (view spoiler)[john and xhex (hide spoiler)] that i was afraid that zerosum was gonna blow up! but since i already read (view spoiler)[john's (hide spoiler)] story, i know how that relationship ends. and i love how v vows to keep his promise no matter what, it shows that he really can have a heart. i'm not really sure why i didn't like this one as much. it just took me longer to get thru it.

2/2/11.....so i remembered why i didn't like this one as much! v is big into the bondage and shit. i was hoping there would be more bondage scenes. there are only a couple short scenes, but nothing that went into detail and it was kind of a let down. i was hoping some more steam.

Nice review Stephanie! I left comments on the official review link.

Nothing but Writing Reviews Challenge

Start Date: Feb 1, 2011
End Date: Feb 28, 2011
Level: Intermediate (Goal = 6 reviews)

1. Review of Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst - 3 stars
2. Review of Made To Be Broken by Kelley Armstrong - 4 stars

2/6 Complete



Highly enjoyable romantic suspense with a chilling yet believable plot centered around black-market adoptions. Dealing with themes of slut-shaming, teen pregnancy and how rape culture influences the justice system, there was far more substance in Made To Be Broken than there was in the first Nadia Stafford book, which had a less original plot involving the standard thriller fare of psychotic serial killers.

Nadia's gentle sarcasm and her banter with Jack and Quinn just manage to keep the book from being too heavy. Ms. Armstrong writes here with a very casual, readable style. Reading both her prose and dialogue feels more like having a relaxed conversation with a good friend than wading through 400 pages of crime and heavy material. I do wish that Jack could just learn to speak in complete sentences! His style of speaking, although I understand how it fits with his character and personality, can be a bit annoying nevertheless.

Unlike Exit Strategy, the bulk of Made To Be Broken actually takes place in Canada, making it especially amusing for Canadian readers. Like any good canuck, Ms. Armstrong isn't afraid to poke fun at our national identity, making several hilarious and spot-on jabs at Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons, as well as using excellent colloquial like "bullshitting from here to Newfoundland". I particularly enjoyed this exchange, which I'll finish off with:

"Smog."
"I didn't think you got that up here."
"We get everything up here. Except HBO."
He peered up at the tower as we moved away from the commuter crowd. "Nice and clear now, though. Good night to eat in that revolving restaurant."
I made a face. "Overpriced tourist food."
He went quiet. I looked over to see him scratching his chin.
"Unless you want to, of course," I said quickly. "You are a tourist. It might be tough without reservations..." I caught his look. "You made
reservations."
"Kind of. Yeah."

Turns out I am capable of the occasional short, succinct review! Although it's possibly just because it's Friday and I started drinking at seven... odd, usually long-windedness increases with indulgence, rather than the other way around.

This review is for A Great and Terrible Beauty I am a little annoyed that my first review is of a book I didn't finish but the next one will have a finished book review...anyway here it is...

1/5 stars

Gosh, this book didn't get me intrigued at all. I was thinking that if I could just get past a milestone of some-sort it would get better, but no. So I put it down thinking that maybe I wasn't really in the mood to be reading this kind of book. Knowing that that does happen to me and thinking I would pick it up in a week or two...needless to say that never happened.

Nothing got me interested, or hooked or even worried about the characters. I felt no connection towards any of the characters and I didn't care about what happened to them. I really hate it when I don't like a book because I feel like I am bashing someone's baby...but sorry Libba Bray, I just can't sugar-coat this.

Now to be honest it was just over a month ago that I put this down and I wasn't even that far in, I think my status said 123 pages, but I really can't remember the specific points that turned me off. Now it is just a blur or bad...I don't even have great expectations for this, I was hoping it was going to be a good read, well I was greatly disappointed.

Anyways, if you still want to read this book, don't say I didn't warn you...

Oh and It gets one star from me for the cover...

Natalia, great review and I completely agree. My sister loves that series, so I tried reading it a few years ago. Got maybe 50 pages in and it was just boring and cliched, definitely one of those I-don't-get-the-hype books for me. Next time you should include a link to your actual review so that we can "like" it and leave our comments over there! I clicked your link but it just seems to go to the book page..

edited my review since i remembered what i wanted to write!

I've had Gregor the Overlander on my ipod for a couple of months and listened to it at leas three times through, so I figured it's about time that I review it and move on to another audiobook. I'm going to miss it though!

Nothing but Writing Reviews Challenge

Start Date: Feb 1, 2011
End Date: Feb 28, 2011
Level: Intermediate (Goal = 6 reviews)

1. Review of Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst - 3 stars
2. Review of Made To Be Broken by Kelley Armstrong - 4 stars
3. Review of Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins - 4 stars

3/6 Complete

Suzanne Collins certainly is versatile! Here she writes for an elementary male audience as adeptly and slyly as she writes for an older teen audience in The Hunger Games. This is an adorable, fun story about family and courage. It follows the trajectory of a traditional fantasy epic, complete with a through-the-wardrobe-esque portal that sends youngsters stumbling into a hidden world, prophecies, and a group of disparate creatures setting out on a treacherous journey/adventure.

Yet there are modern touches showing here and there as Collins subtly comments on poverty and single mothers, on human waste and materialism (the underland "museum"), and even on how technology changes warfare. Although juvenile in appearance and plot, Gregor the Overlander surprised me at time with its depth. I was touched and heartbroken by Gregor's wise-beyond-his-years-because-he-had-to-grow-up-fast maturity, his intense familial loyalty, and by many of his exchanges with the fierce, embittered Luxa.

The characterization is fantastic throughout. The steadfast roaches were my favourite (yes, cockroaches!), which is a testament to Collins' writing because I hate bugs. The spiders and the rats were both sufficiently creepy yet somewhat sympathetic, and the bats felt as alive as human characters.

I listened to this on audio and the narration by Paul Boehmer is absolutely top-notch! Oddly enough, the best voices he does are that of a female toddler and a bunch of cockroaches, although all of his voices were excellent. Boehmer injects so much emotion into the words that I found myself tearing up multiple times, something I doubt I would have done if I'd read it in print.

Alicia wrote: "Natalia, great review and I completely agree. My sister loves that series, so I tried reading it a few years ago. Got maybe 50 pages in and it was just boring and cliched, definitely one of those..."

Is this right???

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Yupp, the link worked! :)

Awesome, thanks for commenting on my review Alicia. (: (: (:

Review #2
My Soul to Take
Rachel Vincent
4/5 stars

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

at first i didn't think i would be interested in this book, but that changed. i like how kay pretty much stayed grounded while finding out who she really is. my biggest complaint is the overuse of the word 'proverbial'. that got a bit irritating. but other than that, the story was fast paced, with good character development. i was very shocked to find out that (view spoiler)[nash and tod are brothers. i was thinking more like best friends (hide spoiler)]. i was also shocked to hear about (view spoiler)[aunt val (hide spoiler)] being the cause of the whole soul stealing thing. all in all, i can't wait to read the next in the series.

Okay. Here's the first review I wrote this month that I feel somewhat satisfied with:

Month: February
Review #: 1
Title: Colters' Daughter
Author: Maya Banks
Rating: 2/5

What I liked about this book was its premise. Max Wilder, for all intents and purposes, had abandoned Callie in Europe after a short period of fantastic bonding and sex. What I liked was that before he came seeking Callie, he had already decided that she was more important and necessary in his life than fulfilling a deathbed promise to his mother, one that would mean losing Callie. Being more accustomed to historical romances where the hero would choose a miserable life to breaking his word of honor, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Max chose Callie and happiness.

Unfortunately, Max did not quite endear himself to me at first. Although he apologized to Callie and had a decent excuse, I did not feel that he had grovelled enough. He was demanding and manipulative, and did what he could to get his own way. He seemed like a bully. I wanted Callie to make him work for her trust. Alas, she practically fell right into his bed.

About Callie's and Max's Relationship
(view spoiler)[
I was a little surprised to find out that Callie was a submissive to Max's dominance. This was not my first exposure to this type of relationship, and I will admit to having once enjoyed reading this type of relationship. However, having read Maya Banks's Sweet Persuasion which had left me rather uneasy about the depths to which a submissive might give up control to the dominant partner, I was a little uncomfortable to encounter it in this book. I think it would have been interesting to see Callie in a relationship with 3 brothers or 3 men because for the past couple of the Colters books, we were typically shown the POV of the 3 men who were seeking a polyamorous relationship rather than the other way around. Nonetheless, I also respected and appreciated the fact that the author chose to make Callie's relationship a different type from the rest of her family. (hide spoiler)]

The sex scenes were pretty hot, I think. I liked how the author worked in the trust issue that Callie still had about Max into these scenes. Although Callie seemed to get over that pretty quickly, it did not bother me too much.

Did I mention how I felt that Max didn't grovel enough in the beginning of the book? He made up for it at the end. The author did a pretty good job making me feel the crushing sense of humiliation and betrayal that Callie must have felt, as well as Max's strong desire not to lose her and to spare her pain. It had become very evident to me early in the book that Max loved her and wanted the best for her. It helped that a good portion of the book was shown from his POV. It allowed me to empathize with him when he realized just how badly he had hurt Callie, and I felt his pain when he realized that he might have lost her forever. The pain he had suffered knowing that he was the cause of the present situation, and the lengths he went to to get Callie back, including facing 3 angry fathers, 3 angry brothers, and a feisty angry sister-in-law, went a long way to make up for his first "grovelling" scene.

Ultimately, it was a decent book but I did not enjoy it enough to feel more than lukewarm about it.

My review page

@Sans: How funny that our first reviews for this Challenge is on the same book. :)

Nothing but Writing Reviews Challenge

Start Date: Feb 1, 2011
End Date: Feb 28, 2011
Level: Intermediate (Goal = 6 reviews)

1. Review of Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst - 3 stars
2. Review of Made To Be Broken by Kelley Armstrong - 4 stars
3. Review of Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins - 4 stars
4. Review of Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder - 3 stars

4/6 Complete


A decent end to the series, but over-long. It could have easily been cut down by a hundred pages without losing any important plot-points. Yelena finally finding out the truth about her powers, souls and the magic source was very interesting, but such a small portion of the 450-odd pages was spent on that. I did find myself getting bored occasionally and wanting to skim as at times it felt like much of the novel was just a 200-page never-ending chase scene where everyone went back and forth in circles - to the jungle, then back to the magician's keep, to Ixia, then back to the magician's keep, back to the border, and then back to the magician's keep. Despite all the boring and repetitive stuff in the middle, the ending was very satisfying as Yelena learned to truly empower herself by coming to terms with her unique magic abilities, her past, and accepting and forgiving herself, plus (view spoiler)[the idea of Opal trapping the souls in glass animals was very cool, and an excellent lead-in to Snyder's next books (hide spoiler)]. I was also genuinely surprised to learn that (view spoiler)[Roze was the original Warper. It was obvious that she was aligned with the bad guys, but I had never anticipated that she was the ultimate bad guy herself (hide spoiler)]. So I'm giving it three stars for the redeeming last 40 pages and for the fact that a major plot-twist actually managed to catch me by surprise.

1st Review - February
Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa 5/5 Stars

AMAZING!!!!!! This book rates 5 stars because it was so good that not only did it live up to expectations it surpassed them… I tucked myself in the my favorite reading corner and just read, read, read losing myself in the Julie Kagawa’s magical world. I laughed, I cried, I swooned. I screamed, I angst and bit my nails all the while hoping the last page wouldn’t come. This was one of the few books that I can honestly say I didn’t want to end cause I just didn’t want leave the characters and their world behind. However I was content with where the story ended especially since it means I get another whole book in the Iron fey series which to enjoy…SQUEEE!!!! I enjoy all the characters from Meghan to Glitch to Queen Maab. This book has good guys you want to cheer and root for and bad guys you can’t wait to see how they get what they deserve. My favorite character is still Puck oh that boy makes me laugh and he does not disappoint always having a smart remark at the ready to dispense out. Meghan’s character grew so much in this series I was very happy to see the potential that was shown in the first book finally come to fruition. Ash well if you thought Ash couldn’t get any more delicious well you were wrong….. icy no more Ash soon worthiness tops the charts in this book. Grim well Grim is still Grim appearing and disappearing when necessary. My new character favorite is Razor. As destructive as he is, he is just adorable…I want one for my very own. As far as the plot well didn’t I mention…… I laughed, I cried, I swooned. I screamed, I angst and bit my nails….never a dull moment in this book. Everything flowed and enabled me to stay engrossed in the story from the very first page to the very last word. This book does not disappoint Julie Kagawa outdid herself with this book. LOVED IT!!!!!!!

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Sans wrote: "First review completed! My longest yet and one of the least snarky reviews I've done.

by Maya Banks
4 stars

First, I stayed up way t..."

I really liked your review. I prefer the personal ones as it gives me a better feel for the book giving me better insight to if I may enjoy reading it.

Not really happy with this review but here it is anyway:

Month: February
Review #: 2
Title: Sir Percy Leads the Band
Author: Baroness Orczy
Rating: 4/5

I have to say that this is my second favorite book in the Scarlet Pimpernel series that I have read so far (The Scarlet Pimpernel, The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, I Will Repay). It was exciting with a number of adventures and rescues.

I really enjoyed seeing more interaction between The Scarlet Pimpernel and his merry men. I wish that the author would show the other men in the League. There are 19 of them who "would lay down [their] lives" for their leader, and yet we only meet about 5-6. In this book, I did meet a few new ones, which I was happy about. I enjoyed picking up clues about what the Scarlet Pimpernel is like in France. Unlike I Will Repay (I believe that is the right one) he does not have a detectable foreign accent although his comrades do, but apparently he does speak French with a precision that may have aroused suspicion had the author not emphasized that the others were too stupid to suspect anything. Speaking of comrades, this is the second book which has a traitor in the League. I had wondered how does someone who apparently was a good judge of character pick comrades who were weak and might betray them. Fortunately, the author does answer it to my satisfaction (somewhat) later in the story. I did like how that was resolved although I wondered what the traitor's reception was like from those in the League who knew about it back in English Society. With this particular storyline, we are shown more clearly what kind of man Sir Percy Blakeney is, and I cannot help envy Marguerite Blakeney for her luck in capturing the passionate love of such a man.

This was quite a fun adventure, and before I start rhapsodizing about Sir Percy Blakeney's many fine qualities, I will end this review and look forward to seeing The Scarlet Pimpernel in action in The Elusive Pimpernel.

My review page

Not a review I worked particularly hard on refining but, oh well:

Month: February
Review #: 3
Title: The Titan's Curse
Author: Rick Riordan
Rating: 2/5

This is the third book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. It started off on the wrong foot, and failed to end on the right foot - or at least a comfortable foot. I found this book to be the worst of the three books I'd read in this series so far. I thought the writing unsophisticated and the dialogue pretty poor. The plot seemed contrived and unnatural. There were a couple of scenes that had me go, "Why the heck is that character reacting like that?" It just didn't make sense to me. Despite it all, I still like the idea behind this series, I would like to know how the overall series ends, and I do enjoy the humor; hence, the extra star.

Mr. D remained an interesting character. There is nothing else I would care to comment about regarding the other characters except to note what a relief it is to see ancient Greek gods and goddesses in the modern world actually looking and sounding like distinct characters with somewhat individual personalities. I wish I could say the same for the ancient gods and goddesses in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter paranormal romance series. I'm so sick of biker gods and goddesses who all dress and speak the same.

My review page

Nothing but Writing Reviews Challenge

Start Date: Feb 1, 2011
End Date: Feb 28, 2011
Level: Intermediate (Goal = 6 reviews)

1. Review of Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst - 3 stars
2. Review of Made To Be Broken by Kelley Armstrong - 4 stars
3. Review of Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins - 4 stars
4. Review of Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder - 3 stars
5. Review of I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore - 1 star

5/6 Complete


One of the worst books I've read so far in 2011, second only after Spells in stupidity. I suppose this is another case of a book with a decent concept, but incredibly weak execution of said concept. My main gripe with this book was that it just bored me out of my mind. I am not usually a skimmer. I tend to read slowly, and really absorb each word and sentence, but this book just had me itching to skim through large sections. Boredom aside, I found the characters and dialogue quite wooden, and the entire plot was rife with cliches.

The so-called "romance" between the protag and his love interest was ridiculous, cheesy and bland. The love interest was the stereotypical, perfect, gorgeous, personality-less, blue-eyed, ivory-skinned blonde. She seemed to be valued mainly for her looks, as the reader has it hammered over their head over and over again that she is "the most beautiful girl John had ever seen" blah blah etc etc. I suppose she was also valued for her supposed "goodness", which was demonstrated to the reader only in the most banal, cliche ways (ie. she works at an animal shelter! she is semi-nice to the school outcast!).

I just had no interest in any of the characters. I couldn't feel anything for them. They all seemed like teenage cliches, not real people. In fact, the whole book had a distinctly teenagerish feel, which is not necessarily a bad thing for a book to be and completely understandable considering it's YA, but that doesn't mean it has to suck. I enjoy plenty of YA and children's books, but this one was just.. I don't know.. immature? Unsophisticated? One-dimensional? Too commercial?

The writing was serviceable, although again, very bland and uninspired. Plus, there are some pretty questionable ethical issues when it comes to the "authoring" of this book and whether the author who wrote the bulk of it was fairly compensated. See here for more info. I wasn't at all surprised to learn about the conditions that the book was written under, as that's exactly what it reads like - some kind of mass-produced, commercial product coming out of a YA-book-trend factory. There's no handmade flourishes, no artistry and no heart. It's like they just grabbed a bunch of cliches and popular YA trends - a love triangle, magic powers, etc. and clumsily assembled them together. That's not writing, it's a tragedy.

Month: February
Review #: 4
Title: Without Reservations
Author: J.L. Langley
Rating: 3/5

This would normally be a 2-star but the fun factor bumped it up a star. I approached this book with a certain amount of resignation. I was tired of paranormal romance and not at all interested in werewolves. But for the fact that this was m/m romance between a supposedly straight man and a homosexual one, I might not have been interested at all. Nonetheless, I am not sorry that I read this book.

One of the things that I appreciated was the fact that most of the characters in this book were Native American. It was refreshing to read a book where a racial minority plays a starring role. Unfortunately, aside from the mention of a reservation and skin color, there was no other indication that these people were, in fact, Native American. No, scratch that. Chay's mother apparently has a prejudice against white people which she manages to overcome slightly in order to accept Chay's white mate.

As I mentioned, this m/m romance is supposedly between a straight man and a homosexual one. Considering the fact that this was the premise of the book that induced me to try it out, one would think that I'd like this storyline better. Unfortunately, I did not care for how the author had executed it. It seemed unbelievable to me that a supposedly straight man who admits that he likes women could jump whole-heartedly and with enthusiasm into a homosexual relationship. The author did attempt to drop hints that perhaps Chay did not realize his homosexual tendencies, or that the reason for his enthusiasm was because he had always wanted a mate and that he would take what he was given no matter what. However, it was not enough to help me overcome my skepticism. The whole "destined mate" trope also irritated me. While it did not bother me earlier on when I first started reading, say, Christine Feehan's Dark series, it looks like my tastes have changed and I can now understand to my bones why some say that authors who use this plot device tend to use it as a shortcut to avoid developing a relationship fully. One of my main objections to this book was that that was exactly how I felt:
An allegedly straight man becomes involved in a loving homosexual relationship.
Cool!
He overcomes his heterosexuality because Fate happened to give him a man as his destined mate. -_-;

I wanted to see what the werewolf Pack was like, and how being a werewolf impacted a person's life. The author failed to give me this. The world wasn't developed enough; the author focused on the sexual relationship over world-building, which was disappointing. Aside from shifting of bodies or body parts, keen sense of smell, and an occasional howling (unfortunately, not at the moon but from sexual excitement), being a werewolf did not seem to be an integral part of what made the character. If you took away the paranormal aspect of this story, would it still hold? Yes, because there was nothing about being a werewolf that was absolutely integral to the characters and the world. For instance, Keaton, Chay's mate, is acknowledged by other werewolves as being a dominant. However, from the moment we meet him, he is always shown as being submissive to Chay. The dichotomy between his supposedly dominant wolf self and his submissive human self (at least towards Chay) really confused me because Keaton seemed happy - in fact, he preferred it - NOT to take a dominant role even within the Pack. He is always careful to show submission towards Chay's Alpha and Beta although one could argue, in hindsight, that this was probably to gain acceptance into the Pack rather than destabilizing an established Pack with a show of dominance. Nonetheless, if the author had managed to explain why Keaton was showing submission with a reasonable explanation, it would have gone a long way to soothe my irritation with what I perceived to be an inconsistency between a character's stated personality and his actions. Now take away the werewolf aspect. We no longer have an allegedly dominant wolf in the body of a submissive man. Since the author did not explain the dichotomy in the story, it would have made no difference to have the story of a submissive man who finds his soulmate in a man who is used to a heterosexual lifestyle.

The plot was somewhat weak but I disregarded that.

So what was so fun about this book? There was humor:

"She finished the last potato, turned toward the refrigerator and stopped dead in her tracks. 'Chayton Montgomery Winston. What did I say about sharing with the animals?' Chay’s eyes sparkled up at her. He glanced at the family cat that had cake batter all over her whiskers, then back to his mother. 'You said not to share with Roscoe, Mommy. You didn’t say anything about Fluffy.'"

Chay enjoys playing with his mate. He thinks up ridiculous endearments and nicknames for Keaton such as Little Bit:

"He peered up at Chay in astonishment and pushed the hair back with a slim, elegant hand. 'What’s your name?'
Chay grinned at the thick southern accent. 'Chay…Chayton Winston. What’s yours, Little Bit?'
A light brown eyebrow arched. 'I assure you it isn’t Little Bit.'"

and my favorite:

"Chay pulled him forward and kissed his nose. 'All right, Goldilocks. Why is it funny that I am not some brainless jock?'
Keaton blinked, opened his mouth then snapped it shut. He was not going to respond to that nickname. He wasn’t. Chay called him by these ridiculous nicknames to get a reaction out of him. If he ignored the name, it would go away. The only ones that stuck were the ones he complained about. But damn, that was a bad one.
'Well, Goldy?'
'No! Absolutely not. No way. You can not call me that.'
'Or?' Chay had a wicked gleam in his eye.
'Or I’m going to kick your ass.' Keaton glared, trying to look fierce.
Chay chuckled. Damn him.
Maybe if he started thinking up equally obnoxious nicknames to call Chay, he’d stop? Nah, probably not, the man had a perverse sense of humor, he’d probably like it. Keaton sighed."

I thought that Chay and Keaton were a good match, and I enjoyed their banter. Their physical interactions were also pretty hot although to be honest, I remember the enjoyable banter more than the sex. Once I got over my skepticism how Chay could do a 180 degree turn into homosexuality, I really could believe that Chay and Keaton cared for each other.

And finally, this author and her editor (or whoever serves as grammar patrol) need to review their subjective and objective pronouns.


My review page

3 stars

I should have made a drinking game out of this book: every time someone mentions "God", do a shot. I'd have been shitfaced by the end of the first chapter.

Now, I have no problem with religion. I respect that everyone has their own faith (or not) and even if I don't agree with someone's beliefs, I appreciate that they mean something to that person. I can't fault someone for believing something. And I understand that it was the era, that the basis of the plot was these peoples lives intersecting on the cusp of the English monarchy moving between Protestant and Catholic faiths and that it really wasn't avoidable.

But I really could have done without our leading lady thanking God for her braw Highlander while he's bringing her to screaming orgasm. And it wasn't just the typical, "Oh God, oh God". Nope, couldn't have that. No, she was actually praying while banging her kilt-wearing man. That put me off.

If I'd been able to ignore that part of the story and focused more on the characters and situations themselves (and not had to hear about their faith and belief that God brought them together), I could easily have given this 4 or 4.5 stars. But there was no way to separate religion from the rest of the story so I'm sticking with 3 stars.

Review here

I made a comment on your direct review, Sans.