19) A book you choose based entirely on it's cover
I mean, come on, just look at it.
I choose this book with one look at the cover. Between the picture and the tag line they had me hook line and sinker. I won't lie though, I thought it was going to be historical fiction. Like, one of the powerful and scary queens of history. Buuuuut it was fantasy. That's okay though, just not at all what I was expecting. I didn't even read the flap or any kind of synopsis until I was almost finished, which was good because it pretty much gives half the book away.
This is going to be hard for me personally to review this book without giving out spoilers. So, I'll settle for some comparisons.
But first, I've found a very profound similarity in some of the books I've read this year. It basically comes down to slavery and oppression. One group is thought to be superior because they have magic or different colored blood and the other (which is usually just like us now-a-days) are their slaves. The Winner's Curse, Red Rising, and Mistborn are all like this. (AND a historical fiction book I just finished but is getting it's own post because it was that good)
When it comes down to it, Red Queen is like a Young Adult version of Red Rising/Golden Son with the powers of the X-men. The upper class is basically made out of mutants with silver blood instead of red. Besides that, they look the exact same.
I struggle with how much to give away since I knew NOTHING. But I do have to get something off my chest. The "plot twist" in this book was more obvious than Voldemort's missing nose. I mean, come on, that was supposed to shock me? (Tilt your screen to see the spoiler (((We've all seen Thor. We've all seen this play out before. You could've replaced "Cal" and "Maven" with "Thor" and "Loki" and you'd have a slight retelling of the comics. No duh the younger always overlooked brother with the evil mother betrayed you. And yet, since I love Loki, I tried to like Maven...didn't quite work out.)))) End spoiler.
This book has gotten a lot of flack for being too much like Red Rising. You know, I don't think they're THAT much alike. I get it. The blood color, the oppression of Reds, the infiltration of the upper class by an impostor, heck, even Darrow and Barrow sound the same. But ya know what? I was able to look past that and see them as different things.
My real problem was looking past some of the improbable escapes and whiney characters. There were a couple times I had to roll my eyes or shrug off things that just didn't make sense.
I think this book was a good start. The middle tended to drag, but the end picked up nicely and was a nice set up for another the sequel (my favorites). If nothing else, I hope the cover is as attractive as this one.
The Fault in our Stars - John Green - 313 pages
36) A book everybody has read but me
Okay, I'm kind of scared to review tFioS. As is mentioned above, just about everyone I know who reads has read this book and loves it fiercely. It shocked my friends when I finally told them I haven't read it (or seen the movie). This story is protected by fanatics of all sorts so I'm scared to share my opinion. Honestly though, it just felt like being stabbed. It was so painful. My uncle died from brain cancer a couple of years ago and his loss is still very real. So it didn't help when it felt like certain lines were written to force you to cry. I mean, it's enough to say "The new CD of so-and-so's favorite band was leaked early", you don't have to continue with "So-and-so will never get to hear this now because they're dead", we're smart enough to put that together...When this book was witty and clever, it was amazing. I finally connected to the characters a couple of chapters before the end. At it's heart, this book is a love story. It's about two characters who fall in love even though they know it won't last. The title is a reference to Romeo and Juliet. Green contends that Shakespeare was wrong when he wrote that the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves. According to the characters of this book the fault is indeed, in our stars. Sorry, but I've got to stand with the bard on this one.
I've read John Green a couple of times before, but every time I get a slight feeling that I just don't get it. His writing is clever and I love that and his blog is very entertaining, but his stories leave me wanting. In the end, I thought it was a good book, better than Paper Towns, but I still don't understand the need to wear the quotes on your clothes.
Don't kill me.
Read on,
Jamie
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