Tag: book review

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Book Review: the 13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear, a novel… by Walter Moers…

Oh my goodness, i can not believe that my last book review was way back in February! Now i have been reading all these months but just really slowly because my reading time has been limited by other commitments in my life. As a result, it has taken me up to now to finish this book. To be fair, it is larger than your normal paperback and it is over 700 pages long and is such a weighty book that i don’t carry it around with me, plus i took a break of 5 weeks over the summer holidays to read something else, mainly because i could not afford the weight of the book over my travels.

So now enough whining and onto the actual book review…

51dx4krddllThis is a wonderful book! It brings a great smile to my face every time i open its pages and even now as i think about it. Yes, it is the sort of book you will remember for the rest of your life.

The front cover has a quote from the Detroit News which reads, “Moers’ creative mind is like J.K. Rowling’s on ecstasy.”

i would change it to, “Moers’ creative mind is like Douglas Adams’ on ecstasy.” Because while Rowling’s world of magic is amazing and wonderful, it is all rooted in things familiar to us. Think of Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide and turn it upside down and inside out, then i think we are close to the world in which Captain Bluebear lives in.

This world of Bluebear with his various travelling companions and friends, such as the Mini Pirates, Babbling Billows, Mac the Reptilian Rescuer, Professor Nightingale (a Nocturnomath with seven brains), Fredda the Alpine Imp who loved him, Qwerty the Gelatine Prince from the 2364th Dimension, the Muggs who roam the Demerara Desert, the Idea named 1600H, Chemluth Havanna the Tobacco Dwarf who became his best friend and many others, will grab hold of you and never let you go.

Bluebear has lived on a pirate ship, on an island where he had to give a nightly performance of crying, on another island which fed you in order to fatten you up and eventually ate you, in the Gloomberg Mountains, in the Great Forest, fallen through a Dimensional Hiatus, in the Demerara Desert, in a tornado and in Atlantis where he made a living as the Champion of Lies! How could you not want to know more?

Bluebear faces lots of different “enemies” such as Hobgoblins, Gourmet Island, a Bollogg, a Troglotroll, a Spiderwitch and even a powerful element called Zamonium.

And the amazing thing for me is that all these experiences and all these characters eventually come together in the final part and it is a great battle to the end.

There are many more weird and wonderful characters, and strange places and things… but i think i have said enough to make you want to go discover them for yourself.

So go get this book and read it. Remember to leave your logic and disbelief outside the door as you enter into the many lives of Captain Bluebear.

Happy Reading!

syc

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Book Review: Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult…

This is not my first Jodi Picoult book… it is my 10th read by Picoult. However, i have only written 2 reviews on her books so far, mainly because i read the others before i started blogging or reviewing regularly.

So here’s my 3rd review of a Picoult book and i love it!

Now it was a difficult read because of the subject matter it deals with, however, she does a great job of telling the story of how a mother deals with her 5-year-old boy being sexually abused. And what makes it even more interesting is that this mother is a district attorney, who handles such cases in her job. So she knows the system, she knows how it works, she knows what young children have to go through if they were to get a conviction and she doesn’t want that for her boy.

The prologue gives an idea of what this mother might do in the name of getting justice for her boy so it was no surprise to me when she does it. But what follows certainly kept me reading and reading.

i don’t want to give anything away so i’ll just say that there are a few twists in there which are quite unexpected and the final spanner in the works really made me sit up.

This book not only explores what a mother would do, it also touches on a mix-up of traditional father-mother roles as well as how deep down we are all the same, we all want justice when injustice happens but how we get it is where the line is drawn; we never know what we would do until we are actually faced with the circumstances.

i also like the way the little boy has been given a voice in the story.  It is so important to hear from the victim and see his point of view of, not just of the “bad thing which happened to me”, but also of his view of the process which follows after.

i would definitely recommend this for when you are ready for a serious read with great storytelling.

syc

 

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Book Review: The Divide Trilogy by Elizabeth Kay…

So i have broken my own rule… i read the same author not just twice in a row but thrice! That’s right – me, the one who says she never reads the same author consecutively, has read a whole trilogy from beginning to end, non-stop!

Now why did i do that? Because some time ago i was in a bookshop and asked my son to pick a trilogy he would like to read. He chose this one. At that time, he was a little young to read this. But now that he’s grown up (lots). i thought i do a quick read of the first book and then let him crack on with the series.

But as it turns out, i liked the first book, The Divide, enough to want to read the second, and the second one hooked me enough, that i decided i should finish the series. Then i was on a reading race with my boy. i was halfway through the second book when he started on the first. However, he is a way faster reader than i am and he has more time on his hands so i was in a race to finish before he catches up. And i did… just by the skin of my teeth… a day before he finished the second one.

Now, what is this trilogy about? What is the divide?

Well, the divide simply a place where a body of water divides and goes into 2 different directions. And of course, such places are rare and most definitely needs to be magical 😉

Felix accidentally faints across a divide and is magically transported to a world where humans are regarded as mystical beings and science is the stuff of legends. It is a place very different from our modern world, filled with tangle-people, japegrins, brazzles, one-eyes, brandees, jinx boxes and other magical creatures as well as shadow beasts such as sinistroms, and great things such as magic lamps and flying carpets with personality and many many more. Oh, and maths can be a magical solution too!i love all the wonderful creatures and characters in Kay’s story and the magical system is so well thought out and you learn about it so naturally through her great storytelling.

i love all the wonderful creatures and characters in Kay’s story and the magical system is so well thought out and you learn about it so naturally through her great storytelling.

It is also very satisfying to see Felix grow and change throughout his journey between worlds, from a sickly timid child to a brave leader. Betony, his, at first reluctant, tangle-friend, also learns much about her own world as well as Felix’s world. She goes from being an unhappy tangle-child to a girl who knows exactly what she wants, even if it is completely different from what is expected of her. They take the adventure head on and save both worlds on more than one occasion from certain disaster. And they do so, not because they are super smart or amazingly brave, but because they are willing to just go the distance and value each other’s friendship.

i think it is also a small social commentary (whether she intended it or not) on how technological progress isn’t always good, or at least, it is not good for all aspects of society and all peoples/creatures.

This trilogy is a great middle-grade fantasy adventure series for 10 and up. But it is also a series which adults, looking for a fun read, can enjoy too.

Have you read this series? If yes, what did you think?

syc