Book Review: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

For over a decade, Robin McKinley's richly woven saga has gripped the imagination of readers and caused critics to hail her as a master of fantasy. It is the story of Aerin, haunted since childhood by the legend of her mother-a "witchwoman" who enspelled the king and then died of disappointment after giving birth to a daughter, rather than the heroic son the kingdom needed. But little did the young princess know the long-dormant powers of her mother would wield their own destiny. For though she was a woman, Aerin was destined to be the true hero who would one day wield the power of the Blue Sword...

  

Review:

The book started out so well, the tale of a young princess who doesn't quite fit in with her royal counterparts and has so little understanding of who her mother is and what her roots might be. The book is split into two parts and I thought that the first part was simply perfection. However, once it turned to the second part, I found myself mentally lowering my rating of this book. 

Now, this is not to say that the second half of the book is bad, it was very good and very entertaining. But it didn't feel at all like it was the same story revolving around the same woman. I understand that Aerin develops quite a bit, but she seemed to lose so much of herself and become someone new, someone who I didn't admire as much.  

The thing that probably lowered my rating most, however, was the love triangle. Holy moly, I hate love triangles. They can be done well and tastefully, and usually they are annoying but I'm always happy with the conclusion. This love triangle though, was a nightmare. I think what made it so bad for me was the fact that there wasn't really a conclusion. There is, and there isn't. I don't want to spoil anything, but oh lord, I was so unhappy. 

That's just my personal preference though, and I think I could pick this book up again in a few years and have a completely different look on it. 

3/5 stars

I'm a Bookaholic, and I'm Not Very Proud

Bookaholic. One who continuously buys books to add to a stack of unread books.

I've never really put too much thought into my unhealthy accumulation of books, I've always viewed it as my life's library, and eventually I will read all of the books I have acquired.

But today I was faced with a brutal wake up call as I was rearranging my bookshelves. It had been a while since I last counted how many books I own, so I figured at this point I owned about 400. I was so sadly mistaken.

Need to Read in 2014: Science Fiction

It might come as a surprise to my readers that I haven't actually read that much Sci-Fi in my lifetime,
I adore Fantasy, but have only picked up a bit of SF here and there (and even those times it was pretty much only Star Trek novels).

I've decided that I want to get into the genre more, but I have a lot of catching up to do, so here's 5 Sci-Fi books that I need to read this year!

How The Goodreads Reading Challenge Changed The Way I Read

In the book-blogging and Booktubing sphere, Goodreads seems to be a necessity for any book lover. It is a fantastic website which allows you to add books, rate and review them, and even recommend them to your friends! But there is a part of Goodreads that may not be so great; the Goodreads Reading Challenge. It is an annual challenge where Goodreads members can set for themselves a certain number of books which they would like to read that year. Goodreads then keeps track of what you've read, and tells you how you are progressing in your challenge (as well as letting you know whether you are behind or not. Eek!)

At first, this may seem like a fun experience to motivate individuals to read more in a year, and help them feel more accomplished with their reading progress.

Yet I have found that this challenge is much more stressful and harmful to my reading habits than I could have ever imagined.

Book Review: Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

Goodreads Synopsis: 
“I swore an oath to avenge the death of my father. I may be half a man, but I swore a whole oath.”

Prince Yarvi has vowed to regain a throne he never wanted. But first he must survive cruelty, chains, and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea. And he must do it all with only one good hand.

The deceived will become the deceiver.
 
Born a weakling in the eyes of his father, Yarvi is alone in a world where a strong arm and a cold heart rule. He cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he must sharpen his mind to a deadly edge.

The betrayed will become the betrayer.
 
Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast and the lost, he finds they can do more to help him become the man he needs to be than any court of nobles could.

Will the usurped become the usurper?
 
But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi finds his path may end as it began—in twists, and traps, and tragedy

Review:

I received this as an eARC from NetGalley

This tale was weaved in a way that I am not used to, but found myself enjoying immensely. The tale of Yarvi is one that I have never experienced before and although I was disturbed by some of the things he had to go through, what he becomes at the end of the book is so worth it. You see him go from aspiring minister to a crippled king to a slave, each role bringing experience and knowledge that form him into the man he becomes. He is flawed extraordinarily, but his flaws are what make him seem so real.

I think the aspect of this book that I loved the most is that the antagonist of this story is not in inherently evil, they do evil things and ruin so much, yet that is not all they are. And I wish that happened more often in literature.

All of the characters in fact were incredibly well-rounded and three-dimensional, and it was beautiful. I never knew which character I could trust, since it seemed like anyone could stab anyone in the back.

The world itself was well built (and incredibly expansive) but there were a few things that I want to be expanded upon in the next books.

All in all I was very impressed with this book and would love to read more of this authors books.

4/5 stars!

May Wrap-Up | June TBR

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Goodreads Synopsis:
It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune -- and remarkable power -- to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved -- that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt -- among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life -- and love -- in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

Review:
A book about gamers and gaming culture? Yes please, thank you very much!!

It probably is not very well known to my readers that I am a gamer, considering I spend all of my time on the internet talking about books. And yes, books were my first love, but video games are a close second. 

That being said, I think that being a gamer both enhanced and diminished my reading experience of this book. I felt that the experience was diminished slightly because of the incessant explanation of terms that I already knew. I didn't want to be told what an MMO was, and at times it felt condescending on Cline's part. However, I understand the necessity of defining terms, I just wish he had defined them in footnotes rather than in the text.

That is my only complaint of this book. The rest was incredibly enjoyable. The world building was very well done (both in OASIS and out of it) and the characters were superb!

I loved how nostalgic this book made me feel, Cline really hit the nail on the head in bringing back all of the love and devotion for what we consider "retro games". I feel that sometimes gamers can get so caught up in the latest game (like, hey, Mario Kart 8 was just released and I am SUPER EXCITED) but they tend to forget where they started out with games, even sometimes forgetting how much they loved them. So I think it's always best to go back occasionally and play a "retro" game, whether you're coming back to an old friend or meeting them for the first time. Just because it doesn't have the best graphics doesn't mean it won't be the best game you've ever played. 

Whoa, I seriously digressed, this book made me feel some love and appreciation for games and the gaming community. Anyway, it was a beautiful book, and I look forward to rereading it in the future (maybe to see how far gaming has come and if it's anything like Cline says it will be in 2044). 

4/5 stars!

Post Script: I feel that Cline missed an opportunity to reference Deadpool. In the book, Wade says that his father named him Wade Watts because he thought that having an alliterated name would make him more super (referencing Peter Parker and Clark Kent). But Deadpool, Wade Wilson, has both an alliterated name and is ALSO NAMED WADE. Why not make the connection? I don't know, it was something that upset me.