Bite-sized Reviews

Yes, this is a new blog post!  I hope no one has a heart attack when they see it!

I’m trying desperately to catch up with my reviews, so I’m going to group together some books that I enjoyed, but I’m just not fangirling over.  I would rate all of these books as a solid B.  They were good reads, but they didn’t make me want to run around telling random strangers in the bookstore to read them.

Book:  Undercurrent

Author:  Paul Blackwell

Publisher:  Harper Teen

Date:  Available now

Source:  Publisher via Edelweiss

In this suspenseful teen thriller with a touch of the otherworldly, a boy goes over a waterfall and wakes up to find himself in a twisted version of the life he knew. Why did his best friend try to kill him? Why are his parents acting like he’s a sports star all of a sudden? Worst of all, what happened to his older brother? Filled with mind-bending suspense and unsettling thrills, Undercurrent is a grippingly paced teen debut that will pull you under and never let go. In this suspenseful teen thriller with a touch of the otherworldly, a boy goes over a waterfall and wakes up to find himself in a twisted version of the life he knew. Why did his best friend try to kill him? Why are his parents acting like he’s a sports star all of a sudden? Worst of all, what happened to his older brother? Filled with mind-bending suspense and unsettling thrills, Undercurrent is a grippingly paced teen debut that will pull you under and never let go.

This book started out very strong with the whole parallel universe theme, but after a while, it started to wear on me that Callum couldn’t figure out that he was in a parallel universe.  The ending made me want to throw the book across the room because NOTHING got explained or sorted out.  Rumor has it that there is a sequel, so if that is the case, the ending is forgivable, but if this is a stand alone, that ending made me furious.

This book had lots of good ideas, but sometimes the execution seemed poor.  Ok, really, it was the fact that Callum was so damn clueless that made this novel lose momentum in places.  This is the 3^rd parallel universe book that I’ve read this year and this one falls right in the middle.  The Theory of Everything was by far the worst, but I think Parallel did a better job.  Still, this was a decent read, just not a spectacular one.

Book: VIII

Author:  H.M. Castor

Publisher:  Templar

Date:  Now available

Source:  Publisher via Edelweiss

Destined for greatness... tormented by demons.

VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is plagued by the ghosts of his family's violent past and once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII.

I don’t normally like historical fiction that much and this book didn’t really change my mind about it.  I think that this book would probably be well received by historical fiction fans, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.  I found myself being angry with Henry for most of the novel.  I liked  him at first, but then he just turned into a big jerk, which is what happened in real life as well, right?

Still, it was sort of interesting to see how everything could have played out in the court of Henry VIII, so that was fun.  I think the real problem here is that the second half of the book was rushed.  I felt that I started to understand young Henry, but then the second half of the book crammed in 7 of his wives.  Whoa! 

I think this book started out solid, but in the end, it just didn’t do a lot for me.  But on a side note, it does have a cool cover!

Book:  False Sight

Author:  Dan Krokos

Publisher:  Hyperion

Date:  Available now

Source:  Publisher via Netgalley

All Miranda wants is a normal life. She's determined to move past the horrible truth of her origin as a clone so she can enjoy time with her boyfriend, Peter, and the rest of her friends at school. But Miranda quickly learns that there's no such thing as normal - not for a girl who was raised to be a weapon. When one of her teammates turns rogue, it begins a war that puts the world in jeopardy. Now Miranda must follow her instincts - not her heart - in order to save everything she's fought so hard to keep. with the image of a terrible future seared into her mind, what will she have to sacrifice to protect the people she loves?

Dan Krokos's sequel to the tour de force False Memory is a mind-blowing thriller with high-octane action that will leave readers begging for the final book in this bold and powerful trilogy.

I really enjoyed the first book and I really enjoyed this sequel as well.  This whole idea of the kids being clones who are trained warriors is pretty cool and it’s pretty unique as far as what I read goes.  The book was fairly action-packed and there were some really interesting elements added into this one that I never saw coming.  I’m looking forward to the next installment.

The reason that this book remains a B for me and not an A is that I am having a hard time really caring about the characters.  This book is more like one of those big action films that everyone likes.  There’s a lot of stuff going on and people shooting at each other and things blowing up, but there’s not a lot of depth to the characters.  Still, it’s an entertaining book to read and who doesn’t like blowing stuff up?

Book:  Second Impact

Author:  David Klass and Perri Klass

Publisher:  Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

Date:  Available now

Source:  Publisher via Netgalley

About a boy who sustains serious head injuries while playing football, told in alternating voices by a brother-sister writing team.

There are parts of this book that I liked and parts that I didn’t.  Actually, that’s not true.  I pretty much enjoyed this book until the very end. 

Here’s what I liked:  1.  The alternating points of view from a boy and a girl  2.  The blog style of telling the story.  It felt fresh and different.  3.  The issue, head injuries in football, was very timely and very serious.

I think the book did a good job of addressing the read difficulties of the issues surrounding high school football.  I liked the voices of both of the characters and I think the story felt real.  So what did I not like?

The ending.  I can’t tell you, obviously, but the ending was so anti-climactic that when I shut the book, I wondered what the point of the book even was.  It pretty much deflated the whole read for me.

** Well, that's it for my bite-sized reviews.  I will be back soon with a full review complete with soundtrack, because I've read a few that DESERVE soundtracks.  Hope you enjoyed these short and sweet reviews.  I'd love to hear from some of you.  **