Caldera: The Book of Ixkin

 

Caldera: The Book of Ixkin by Matthew T. Cousineau.

This book had so much potential. The little blurb on the back had me very excited to read it, and the idea behind the story was very good, but from page one I had extreme trouble getting through it.

The creatures Cousineau creates are great, and I really liked them, but it was the way that is was written that brought on my struggle. The names for the characters were not consistent (for example: Puddles takes on the name Ogden early on), and that’s not normally a bad thing, except even with a name change, the characters would sometimes be referred to as both, as if they were two different people. There were also many run-on sentences.

The events, such as when Puddles goes looking for a blood sponge, seem like they could be really great to read, but are unfortunately very short. The love between two of the characters, Leotie and Akelou/Taeau, seems somewhat random. I also felt that the characters could have had a little more personality, as I found myself having to look back at names to be able to tell who was talking or doing something.

Nonetheless, great potential, not so great execution. A heavy-handed editor would probably be a good idea, too.

My rating: 2/5

This book was received for review from the author.

 

 

Sea Change

Sea Change by Aimee Friedman.

I loved the cover of this book! The book itself? Not so much. Miranda was easy enough to like, and I always love a good geeky girl, but her mother bugged me. The romance happened way to fast for me to take it as real and the rich girls of the island were such stereotypical rich girls, it wasn’t even funny.

My main problem with the book, though, was the fact there were so many questions posed throughout the book, and barely any of them were answered. I absolutely HATE that in a book. Now, if there’s to be a sequel? I can bare it, but I won’t like it. Sea Change, however, doesn’t seem to have a sequel coming. Not a good thing in my mental book.

Horrible? Not completely. Worth my time? Not quite. Worth yours? Only if you’re bored enough.

My rating: 2/5

 

Pastworld

Pastworld by Ian Beck.

I wasn’t too thrilled with this book. I liked the idea, or what I thought was the idea, before I found out what was really up with Eve. That was kind of odd. And then the ending … something happened I don’t quite understand. I can’t say, though, for risk of spoiler.

My main problem with this book was all the different characters. There were so many of them. I probably would’ve been able to keep better track if they were in a specific order, but instead they were scattered throughout the chapters, confusing me to no end. So-so story, but it could have been better.

My rating: 2/5

 

Halo

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto.

I hate to say it (I always hate having to say this), but this book was just bad. Not the worst I’ve ever read, but bad. I had so much trouble getting into it that it took me a week and a day to get through. That rarely happens to be when I have as much free time as I do now.

My biggest problem was the main character, Bethany. She got away with everything. Lie to your siblings? Oh, no, you’re fine. Come home drunk? It’s okay, just don’t do it again. Go and do exactly what you were forbidden to do? It’s perfectly fine! We forgive you. Seriously… this was just too much. The evil character was totally see through, I figured out what he was right when he was introduced. The story just started getting good about 100 pages from the end, but that is not enough to get even close to being a 5-star book in my mind.

My rating: 2/5

 

What I Saw And How I Lied

What I Saw And How I Lied by Judy Blundell.

Clunky title. I didn’t really like this book very much at all. I was bored in the beginning, especially with Evie (whom I thought acted younger than she supposedly was), and, although it wasn’t a slow story, I wasn’t excited to see the end like I would be with other books. I couldn’t believe her mom. I mean, seriously, you have to rely on your fifteen-year-old-daughter to cover your ass in a situation you really shouldn’t have started in the first place?

Ugh, I don’t mean to be so vague for people who haven’t read this, but I don’t like to give spoilers if I can help it. The only thing keeping this from getting a 1 is the fact that Evie has a good change of attitude in the end.

My rating: 2/5

 

This World We Live In

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

I was really excited for this last book. Especially after the second book left me with such a good impression. Maybe I had too much hope in this book, but it was, by far, not as good as the one before it. Better than the first, but not better than the second. I liked it better than the first because it had both Alex and Miranda in it, even though it was only in Miranda’s POV. It bugged me a bit about how much they had changed from the ending of the last book, enough to make me drop the rating another star, though I liked the ending quite a bit, despite the fact I had grown to really like Julie.

My rating: 2/5

 

Little Bee

Little Bee by Chris Cleave.

I wasn’t overly fond of this book. It was okay, but not worth more than two stars. Little Bee’s story was the only part that really interested me. Sarah’s was hard for me to get through. Not just because it was a little confusing, but because it was sad. Her husband also pissed me off somewhat, but meh. Whatever. Other people find this book to be a masterpiece, but I’m not one of them.

My rating: 2/5

 

The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor.

Hate to say it, but I was very disappointed in this book. My own fault though, because I dove into this book expecting a retelling of the original story from a different, darker perspective. Instead, I got a completely different story. It wasn’t close to the original story very much at all, and I have no idea where Lewis Carroll (the one in this book, not the real one) would’ve gotten his story from, listening to Alyss tell her tale, since almost nothing she said matched the book he wrote! Hatter Madigan at a tea party and acting like he’s on crack? Ugh. Not my favorite book, but if you DON’T read it thinking it will be a retelling, it’s pretty good. Just don’t do what I did.

My rating: 2/5

 

Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks (Anonymous).

The first time I read this book, I thought it was a true story. It horrified me. I couldn’t believe something like this could happen, and end the way it did. But then I read that this particular book may have been a work of fiction (I’ve never actually seen anything to prove it to be non-fiction, and vice-versa), and decided to reread it knowing that it might have possibly been a fabrication. Even if this particular girl’s story wasn’t real, it certainly didn’t mean that stuff like this didn’t happen. Not my favorite book, because of the sad ending (I really don’t like sad endings), but not necessarily a book you should never bother reading.

My rating: 2/5