Tag: book review

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Book Review: Eyes of Light by Charissa Stastny…

Now i have been sitting on this review for a while… why? you ask… well it is most definitely NOT because it is not a good book but it is because i sort of know the author personally (or at least digitally if you will). We have been fellow-bloggers who follow each other and regularly comment on the other’s posts for more than a year now… so… i feel funny when it comes to giving critic about a friend’s work… always have and i don’t think that will ever change for me, at least not any time soon so i’m just going to go ahead with this review now (before i rethink it again).

Needless to say i was eager to read Eyes of Light because i know Charissa and i know she has worked so hard to get it together and published!

The first thing you have to know is that she makes no apologies about it having a strong religious component. There is a missionary who is deeply involved in the story and in her Author’s Notes, she does state that she wanted to show her daughters her belief in the love and power of Jesus Christ.

And of course, if you have been following my blog for a while, you will know that i share that belief and love for Jesus Christ too. However, i have felt conflicted when reading the book because it speaks of Jesus Christ from a Mormon perspective which is not the background i come from and i certainly have never explored that perspective before.

But religious notes aside, i love the story!

The story of Suvi’s very troubled life, the complication of being involved with a secret agent , her fall into despair believing herself unworthy of anything better, the turn-around she made only to be faced with the demons from her past yet again, the 2 men in her life who love her and would not give up on her, her journey to finding peace, love and acceptance in Jesus Christ… kept me reading and reading as i was taken on an exciting, sad, at times funny, scary and ultimately happy journey with Suvi.

The writing and pacing was good, although i did question for a while what was the missionary doing in the story as he didn’t meet Suvi and seemed to be leading a completely separate life till about a third of the way into the book. i also enjoyed the different perspectives of the different major characters, it gave a lot of insight into their motives and beliefs as well as their pain and struggles.

The main characters were nicely developed but a little predictable in their reactions to the events of the story. i would have liked to see more facets to the 2 men, James and Austan, who play such major roles in Suvi’s life. Maybe that would come in the sequel, Secret Keepers, which by the way, is already available for purchase.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable read and i look forward to the sequel!

Well Done Char!

Oh, do hop over to her blog. She has lots of gems to be found on there; advice about writing, funny posts about her family and her likes/dislikes, serious ones about heart issues and ones where she gives away stuff… go and enjoy!

syc

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Book Review: Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

A view into the teenage boy's mind...
A view into the teenage boy’s mind…

This book was picked as one of our book club reads before we disbanded (sob). So i decided to read it since i had bought it.

i did not read the reviews before i read it so i dived in without expectations. And when i say “dived in”, i really mean fell in the deep end.

This was the first time i have read a book mainly about boys; teenage boys in an all boys boarding school in Ireland! So i was a little lost at the beginning (emotionally and culturally) and Paul Murray’s writing style did not help. However, once you get used to the rambling style, which i have come to accept as a reflection of how the mind of a teenage boy would function, the story does grab you.

The fact that Skippy dies within the first few pages kept me reading on, wanting to find out how, why he died. i came to enjoy the way Murray writes; the chopped-up, rather disconnected (or maybe it is connected, just weirdly) thoughts of teenagers really came through the writing. The way the story is structured also reflected the chaotic way a teenager’s life can be, flying back and forth between internal thoughts, external action, past memories and secrets; it can be hard to follow but it makes for an interesting read.

The all girls school next door certainly was fuel to the fire as what else could distract a teenage boy from his video games. The back story of the history teacher known as Howard the Coward shows us that a mind can indeed be stuck in the past by one simple incident; in a way he never stopped being a teenager. The story also shows the difference between the way a teenage girl handles a relationship and the way a teenage boy does, which of course is well used to advance the plot. The various ways people handle pain and suffering is also a major part of the story.

i love the way the book ended, even though lives were shattered as a result of Skippy’s death, there are people who will eventually pull themselves together and unlikely ‘friendships’ form, but there are those who don’t. And in the end, life still goes on.

i have read various reviews for this book before writing this and all i can say is that you either love the book or you don’t.

So dive in at your own risk!

syc

PS: the language used by the characters in the book is NOT for the faint-hearted and i was told that the audio version of this book is really good, it really brings out the Irish feel of the book.

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Book Review: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

i had finished reading Inkheart quite a few weeks ago but have put off writing this review. At one point, i even thought i would not review it because it has been reviewed and reviewed. A Google search for “Book Review Inkheart” returned 18,400 results in 0.27 seconds – see what i mean.

Then i thought maybe i will wait till i finish the whole series of 3 books but that may take me a fair while (talking months here) as i don’t like reading the same author consecutively (yes, it’s a quirk). So here it is – my book review of Inkheart.

i had watched the movie quite a few years back and have been waiting to read this book so there was a level expectation already. And i’m happy to say the book does not disappoint. Even though this was marketed as a middle-grade book, i believe any adult who enjoys a good fantasy will enjoy reading it.

Inkheart
Inkheart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The characters of Mo and Meggie captured my heart from the first pages. i kept wanting to know what would happen to them. i kept following their journey, hoping and wishing them well. Dustfinger started out (for me) as a rather mysterious and untrustworthy character. i was screaming in my head for Mo not to trust him and was very curious as to why Mo did and why Mo felt indebted towards him. But as the story moved on, i came to pity Dustfinger, to feel for his situation. And i can say that in the end i was even rooting for him to get his wish.

The antagonist in the book, Capricorn, along with his henchmen, Basta and Flatnose, did not lose in the battle for the reader’s emotions. But they were very different emotions indeed. Through their actions you could tell where their heart laid and i hated them and their dark hearts. Their hearts weren’t all necessarily dark in the sense of evil, some were dark in the sense of lost. The cruelty Capricorn displayed made me pity the men under him even more, made me realise how desperate they must have been to decide to serve under such a horrible (that’s putting it mildly) person.

The supporting characters of Elinor and Fenoglio were not just flat characters either, although they remained pretty much steadfast in their beliefs, their actions showed how their eyes were opened as they were drawn into the story. Elinor moved from a stubborn woman who loved books above all else to a woman who would welcome a family to live with her. Fenoglio was a forgotten writer who got to meet his creations and went on to live in his created world.

The pace of the book was fast, yet not so fast that you are fighting to catch your breath and understand what just happened. i love how somewhere past the middle of the book it all seemed resolved and there was just one more thing Mo had wanted to do and then suddenly they were back in the thick of it.

i also liked how at the beginning of each chapter is a quote from fairly well-known books which Funke had read and liked. i enjoyed trying to guess which book each quote came from. It has also added to my to-read list.

So if you are looking for adventure with passion, along with good action and fantasy thrown in, Inkheart is your book. It is not as heavy going as an adult fantasy book but it certainly does not lack depth and action.

If you have already read Inkheart, let me know what you think.

syc