Title: Dream a Little DreamAuthor: Kerstin Gier
Original title: Silber
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Feelgood
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Feelgood
Series: The Silver Trilogy #1
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 319
Finished: 20/07/2015
Summary: Mysterious doors with lizard-head knobs. Talking stone statues. A crazy girl with a hatchet. Yes, Liv's dreams have been pretty weird lately. Especially the one where she's in a graveyard at night, watching four boys conduct dark magic rituals.
The strangest part is that Liv recognizes the boys in her dream. They're classmates from her new school in London, the school where she's starting over because her mom has moved them to a new country (again). But what's really scaring Liv is that the dream boys seem to know things about her in real life, things they couldn't possibly know--unless they actually are in her dreams? Luckily, Liv never could resist a good mystery, and all four of those boys are pretty cute....
My thoughts:
I was obsessed with the Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier for a good while, but at the time no other books by her had been translated to neither English nor Swedish, so I was left with either learning German or just wait for some publisher to get the brilliant idea of translating something. And someone finally did! I got Dream a Little Dream for my birthday and read it in July. I'm happy, though not surprised, to say I was far from disappointed. This book was all I could've hoped for and more. The characters, especially Liv and her sister Mia, were so easy to relate to and I felt at home reading from Liv's point of view.
As for the dream world, I found it a really interesting concept that I've never even heard of before. I always like originality in books! And the humour! Gier's characters are the funniest there is to find out there. Well, at least some of the funniest. The only thing I found was less good with this book was the romance. I liked it, but I felt it lacked something. I hope to see more development in the upcoming books. The sequel will be out in January!
Rating: 5/5
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Title: The Wasp Factory
Author: Iain Banks (1954-2013)
That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again.
It was just a stage I was going through."
Title: The Wasp Factory
Original title: The Wasp Factory
Genre: Adult, Thriller
Genre: Adult, Thriller
Series: ---
Publisher: Abacus
Format: Paperback
Pages: 187
Finished: 24/07/2015
Summary: Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least:
"Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim.That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again.
It was just a stage I was going through."
My thoughts:
I am putting it mildly when I tell you I have mixed feelings about this book. It was very, very, very different from what I usually read. I'd say the writing style is kind of similar to Stephen King and Terry Pratchett, a little. I won't tell you too much about the actual plot, because I think it's best if you go in not knowing a whole lot.
I had problems connecting with the main character at some points in the beginning. He has some opinions about certain things that I strongly disagree with, and he does things that I didn't always really understand the reason behind. But this is the kind of story where you get to know the main character in a very personal and intimate way. It's just the way it's written, and unfortunately that's not something that a lot of YA books include. It's very clear that this is the story of Frank, and we get to know him so well it's like he's a real person. In the end, I felt sympathy for Frank, but I think he's a bit crazy.
On the other hand, I really liked his father. Such a weird and quirky character. And I really felt for Eric, the poor guy.
All in all, not a book for everyone, but a great book for somebody. It was a very special read.
I had problems connecting with the main character at some points in the beginning. He has some opinions about certain things that I strongly disagree with, and he does things that I didn't always really understand the reason behind. But this is the kind of story where you get to know the main character in a very personal and intimate way. It's just the way it's written, and unfortunately that's not something that a lot of YA books include. It's very clear that this is the story of Frank, and we get to know him so well it's like he's a real person. In the end, I felt sympathy for Frank, but I think he's a bit crazy.
On the other hand, I really liked his father. Such a weird and quirky character. And I really felt for Eric, the poor guy.
All in all, not a book for everyone, but a great book for somebody. It was a very special read.
Rating: 3/5
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Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Original title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Genre: Magical realism, Adult, Horror
Genre: Magical realism, Adult, Horror
Series: ---
Publisher: William Morrow
Format: Paperback
Pages: 178
Finished: 03/08/2015
Summary: Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
My thoughts:
I read and finished this book in one day as my first pick for BookTube-A-Thon. The Ocean at the End of the Lane went with the challenge to read a novel with blue on the cover.
I went into this book not knowing at all what it was going to be about. I like when I don't know, sometimes. It feels like I connect better with the characters if I don't already kind of know what's going to happen to them. So I won't talk too much about the plot, because I don't want to spoil anyone. All I'll say is it was a delightful adventure to read, and maybe just a bit magical.
Oh, and don't let the summary of the book mislead you as it did for me. This book is a lot more than it first may seem.
Rating: 4.5/5
My thoughts:
I read and finished this book in one day as my first pick for BookTube-A-Thon. The Ocean at the End of the Lane went with the challenge to read a novel with blue on the cover.
I went into this book not knowing at all what it was going to be about. I like when I don't know, sometimes. It feels like I connect better with the characters if I don't already kind of know what's going to happen to them. So I won't talk too much about the plot, because I don't want to spoil anyone. All I'll say is it was a delightful adventure to read, and maybe just a bit magical.
Oh, and don't let the summary of the book mislead you as it did for me. This book is a lot more than it first may seem.
Rating: 4.5/5
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