Books read in February
Midnighters: Touching Darkness y Scott Westerfeld
Midnighters: Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Graveyard Books by Neil GAimen
The Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
See my thoughts under cut:
- Midnighters: Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld. Verdict: Good, but not as good as its predecessor. Jess and Jonathans interactions are limited, but not bad. This also makes way for Jess’ relationship with her sister, Beth, to step forward, which will obviously be crucial in the final book. Dess, as ever, is the strongest, and in my opinion the most likeable, character in the book. At points I felt myself getting confused, things weren’t very clear at point, and whilst I’m still a bit fuzzy on the finer points I’m hoping the final book will clear that up. 8/10, mainly for the enigma that Dess proves to be.
- Midnighters: Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld. Verdict: This series got progressively slower book by book. Midway through this one I was contemplating giving up because it was dragging so much; although it picked up near the end. The ending to the Midnighters series was satisfactory, but I personally didn’t like it. It was a semi cliff-hanger, finishing with some of the main characters travelling off to find the rest of the blue time. I also didn’t like what happened to Jessica, which I won’t say because I don’t want to spoil it. All in all, it was a fairly disappointing finale. 5/10
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Verdict: Brilliant. I don’t often read Sci-Fi, I’m not quite sure why –when I do I enjoy it, but Uglies was the first I’d read for a long time and I enjoyed every minute of it. It was one of those books where you stare at the clock and WAIT until you get a chance to continue reading. I love books like that. The concept is what I found most interesting: post-apocalypse, what would happen if everyone was made to be pretty? Would everyone still want to be? Some aspects of the storyline, I don’t deny, were pretty predictable, which I won’t go into here for fear of spoiling it. A definite recommendation, especially to those who do not often read Sci-Fi. 9/10
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. (Reread) Verdict: I reread it; I think that implies that I like it. A Nice, easy read whilst waiting for my library to locate the book I ordered *grumbles*. Recently, though, I have been thinking that whilst Twilight is a good story; many factors have helped me to concluse that it will never be a truly successful piece of literary work. Meyer's wrting style is terrible, it lacks a steady flow and often drifts into rambling. I also think that the characterisation is very bad. Edward, for example, has much potential for some very deep, heart-wrenching angst and yet, Meyer projects him as ... flat, I suppose. The characters are just too neat. A Wise man once said 'ogres re like onions' (Shrek reference...sorry), but it's not just ogres, PEOPLE in general are like onions. And onions are messy. Successful characters must be layered, messy and sometimes make you cry. I know this is a strange reference, but seriously. Onions.
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Verdict: This was brilliant; Neil Gaiman has a distinmctive writing style which I liked. The style/layout of the story reminded me if Victorian children’s novels. 10/10
- The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. (Reread). 8/10. Again, this is just an easy read. I like the humour; however, I find the pace inconsistent. The Hitch Hiker’s guide is the best in the series; the others seem to lack something that the first one has. I’m not quite sure what it is.