Book reviews: Death Most Definite | The Magicians of Caprona | Reptilrummet

Title: Death Most Definite

Author: Trent Jamieson
Original title: Death Most Definite
First published: 2010
Genre: Fantasy, Adult
Series: Death Workers #1
Publisher: Orbit
Format: Paperback
Pages: 372
Finished: 25/04/2019
Summary: Steven de Selby has a hangover. Bright lights, loud noise, and lots of exercise are the last thing he wants. But that's exactly what he gets when someone starts shooting at him.
Steven is no stranger to death-Mr. D's his boss after all-but when a dead girl saves him from sharing her fate, he finds himself on the wrong end of the barrel. His job is to guide the restless dead to the underworld but now his clients are his own colleagues, friends, and family. Mr. D's gone missing and with no one in charge, the dead start to rise, the living are hunted, and the whole city teeters on the brink of a regional apocalypse-unless Steven can shake his hangover, not fall for the dead girl, and find out what happened to his boss- that is, Death himself.

My thoughts: I read this for the reading theme of April; A skeleton in the closet! This book is about ghosts and death, so I thought it would be very fitting indeed.
And it was good! Best book I’ve read since February, though it doesn’t reach higher than ⅘ stars for me. It was entertaining, humorous, fast paced, and pretty action packed. Not a work of art, but I think it definitely deserves a higher rating on Goodreads. Overall very pleased with the reading experience! I also want to read more Australian literature after this, seeing as I’ve also enjoyed “Jam” by Yahtzee Croshaw and “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak before (both Australian authors if I’m not mistaken, can’t be bothered to Google atm).

Rating: 4/5

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Title: The Magicians of Caprona
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Original title: The Magicians of Caprona
First published: 1980
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Series: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci #4
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 273
Finished: 26/04/2019
Summary: Tonino is the only person in the famous Montana household who wasn't born with an instinct for creating spells, but he has other gifts. His ability to communicate with cats just might help defend the city of Caprona against a mysterious enchanter -- but only if Tonino can learn to cooperate with a girl from the hated Petrocchi family of spell-makers.

My thoughts: So this is a book that I started reading a few years back but for some reason didn’t have the energy to finish even though I literally only had 50 pages left (lazy). This wasn’t my favourite book in the series so far; I think the sheer amount of characters threw me off from the start and I just never caught up. I also didn’t find the protagonist to be as appealing as in the previous two books (we follow a new character in every book). However, I’m still in love with the world and Chrestomanci, and the story in itself is well written and enjoyable. I will most likely continue to read the series.
Btw this is a bind-up edition, so I only read the first book, and the second book in the bind-up is "Witch Week". Idk why that feels important to mention, but now u know.

Rating: 3/5

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Title: Reptilrummet
Author: Lemony Snicket
Original title: The Reptile Room
First published: 1999
Genre: Middle grade
Series: Syskonen Baudelaires olycksaliga liv #2
Publisher: Richters
Format: Hardback
Pages: 200
Finished: 29/04/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! Dear Reader,
If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale, I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled. If you know anything at all about the unlucky Baudelaire children, you already know that even pleasant events lead down the same road to misery.
In fact, within the pages you now hold in your hands, the three siblings endure a car accident, a terrible odor, a deadly serpent, a long knife, a large brass reading lamp, and the appearance of a person they'd hoped never to see again.
I am bound to record these tragic events, but you are free to put this book back on the shelf and seek something lighter.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

My thoughts: I’m back to the Series of Unfortunate Events after reading the first book in January (link to that review HERE). This is a very solid children’s/middle grade series and I’m a bit saddened that I wasn’t introduced to this when I was younger. Nevertheless, the author has a quirky writing style that appeals even to older peeps like me. I believe these books would be fun to read to children (at least those who are patient enough to listen these days). All in all, this was a solid book, though I wasn’t feeling very involved in it. After all, I’ve already seen the entire Netflix adaptation, so the plot is fresh in mind. It lands on a middle-ish grade.
(yes, it bothers me that this is the best picture for the cover I could find)

Rating: 2,75/5

Covers in the World: Engelfors

Swedish covers 1:
I really love these covers; they're clean, detailed, and original.


Swedish covers 2:
They tried to print it in paperback in Sweden but I don't think it was a big hit, at least not with this cover. I don't mind it, but I like the originals better.

English covers 1:
You do RIGHT in copying the awesome flawless Swedish covers!


English covers 2:
I have complained about this before but please let noses exist peacefully in this world. No blurring, no shading light, no nonsense. Don't let Voldemort set the beauty standard! Other than that, I like the cool eyes and the general aesthetic, even though they basically just consist of faces.


German covers:
Nice! But! More difference please!


Latvian covers:
Woah, pretty scary. Preferably keep this far away from me. Call security!


Estonian covers:
I actually don't mind, despite the inconsistency. I like the title styling.


Hebrew covers:
If only a little more creativity had been put into this... think of all those artists out there, who are looking for jobs, wanting to work on something unique and creative. Somebody could have done this so well, but instead somebody else put this together. I feel like this is the case with a lot of book cover series; where are all those talented people at and who's taking their jobs??


French covers:
Movie cover for the first book! Haven't seen that anywhere else; tbh the movie wasn't a big hit. I feel that these covers stray from the atmosphere of the series, but otherwise they're ok.


Turkish covers 1:
I like it! Sticking to the spirit of the original covers, but still doing its own thing.


Turkish covers 2:
Fun fact; "halka" in Swedish means "slip". These covers are a bit plain, but it could be worse.


Italian covers:
We all live in a burning submarine.. burning submarine... burning submarine!

This has been an overview of the different covers of the series "Engelfors" by Sara Bergmark Elfgren and Mats Strandberg. What is your favourite? What do you hate? I love the original Swedish covers, and I'm not a huge fan of the Latvian covers. Glad the series has been translated to so many languages, though! <3

Book reviews: The Near Witch | Så talade Zarathustra | Red Queen

Title: The Near Witch
Author: Victoria Schwab
Original title: The Near Witch

First published: 2011
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Series: --
Publisher: Hyperion
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 282
Finished: 31/03/2019
Summary: The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. There are no strangers in the town of Near. These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

My thoughts: This is Victoria Schwab’s debut novel; since then she’s written masterpieces like Vicious and A Darker Shade of Magic. “The Near Witch” really shows how much Schwab has developed as an author. While this book isn’t bad, it did lack some things when it came to the characters; I never connected to anyone, didn’t care about what happened to them, and the relationships didn’t convince me. This led me to not enjoying this as much as I’d hoped for, but I’m still really glad that I read it.

It should be said that when I found this, in first edition, in a secondhand store in Lund, I was almost moved to tears. That’s how happy I was. One of my best finds and bargains ever, in terms of books.

Rating: 3/5 

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Title: Så talade Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra)
Author: Friedrich Nietzsche
Original title: Also sprach Zarathustra
First published: 1883-1885
Genre: Philosophy, fiction
Series: --
Publisher: Symposion
Format: Paperback
Pages: 317
Finished: 08/04/2019
Summary: Nietzsche was one of the most revolutionary and subversive thinkers in Western philosophy, and Thus Spoke Zarathustraremains his most famous and influential work. It describes how the ancient Persian prophet Zarathustra descends from his solitude in the mountains to tell the world that God is dead and that the Superman, the human embodiment of divinity, is his successor. Nietzsche's utterance 'God is dead', his insistence that the meaning of life is to be found in purely human terms, and his doctrine of the Superman and the will to power were all later seized upon and unrecognisably twisted by, among others, Nazi intellectuals. With blazing intensity and poetic brilliance, Nietzsche argues that the meaning of existence is not to be found in religious pieties or meek submission to authority, but in an all-powerful life force: passionate, chaotic and free.

My thoughts: I read this book for philosophy 2. I’d never laid my hands on a Nietzsche work before, so I thought now was the perfect time. From hearing about his works earlier, I’d gotten the impression that this book would be a challenge. Was I going to understand anything? Would I even be able to read the entire thing, with its tiny text and 300+ pages?
In the end, I finished the book after more than two months of reading, but understood very little of it. I think I’ll appreciate it more if I read some essays to help me understand what Nietzsche is trying to convey. Though, I did understand that Zarathustra, the main character, dislikes women, priests, religion, Jews, Romans and people in general. On the other hand, he enjoys caves and complaining, and has a love for being dramatic.
My overall thought it that reading this book was very interesting, and it’s cool to be able to say I’ve read something by Nietzsche. While it was a long and slightly painful experience, I somehow enjoyed the dramatic narrative and Zarathustra’s whiny personality.

Rating: 2/5

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Title: Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Original title: Red Queen
First published: 2015
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopian, YA
Series: Red Queen #1
Publisher: Orion
Format: Paperback
Pages: 383
Finished: 21/04/2019
Summary: The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

My thoughts: Somebody told me this was supposed to be some good shit, so I read it. To be honest with you, I went in with hesitant expectations. I remember when this book first came out; it was hyped to the brink of starting a new religion (or so it seemed on the YouTubers I was watching at the time), but the reviews that came out of it were mixed. Some said it was amazing, perhaps the best book of 2015. Others said they'd expected more, that it was over hyped but bland in an ocean of similar young adult fiction. Keeping that in mind, and being someone who backs off in the presence of hype, I didn't have sky high expectations going into this. So, what side did I end up on; the praisers or the shruggers?
After finishing “Red Queen”, I unfortunately have to admit that I belong to the group that weren’t very impressed with the novel. But hear me out; I do believe I have some valid points, and I’m not about to throw this book in a muddy puddle and let it rot.

There are several good aspects of “Red Queen”, some of which I think strongly contributed to its success. One is that it’s a mix of fantasy and dystopia, two genres that have been massively popular the past 10+ years. Along with that, super powers are another popular aspect to modern time fiction, as we can clearly see in the success of Marvel productions. “Red Queen” manages to mix elements of both “The Hunger Games” and the Marvel franchise, creating something that is tailored to modern tastes. Furthermore, this results in an idea and world that are definitely cool and worth exploring. I’ll also admit that the plot, along with the world, has potential to develop into something promising. With these words, I’ll leave the praising part of this review in favour of criticism.

Despite the potential of the premise, “Red Queen” did not, in my personal opinion, live up to even half of the hype. I say this with regret; of course I want to love it. I even started out by consciously ignoring the flaws I saw with the novel at least 100 pages in, but when it continued to produce flaws, both new and similar, throughout the whole book, I found it hard to overlook them. Even when I did overlook them, there was little else for me to actually enjoy about this book. If you like this novel and feel insulted by my review, you are welcome to stop reading here, as I start my list of complaints (consisting of two major faults). I will try to keep myself short.

1: The storytelling. First of all, the author seemed to have a hard time showing rather than telling. Instead of describing what the main character felt in a discreet but understandable way (such as “I clenched my fist around the fork handle, glaring at my plate in barely upheld silence” to signal anger, would instead be “I was fuming with anger and therefore tried to stay silent so I wouldn’t say anything rude”). With such a hyped book, discovering this as a common fault throughout the book makes the author seem unprofessional. Secondly, the exposition was poorly executed. Once again, exposition is something that should be unravelled in a careful, natural way in the storytelling, rather than being dumped on the reader all at once in a clumsy manner. I found that this graceless exposition could have been made so much better than it was. Thirdly, the plot was rushed where it shouldn’t have been. In exciting and important scenes, the reader should get a good description of the events that led there, and in no way should details that could enrich the atmosphere be left out. What I mean by this is that a lot of exciting plot points in this novel were weakened by rushing through them. Thus, where it could have turned epic, to me, it often fell flat. My last complaint with the storytelling is that the characters were poorly built; not in that they weren’t individuals, but that I as a reader didn’t get to see them enough in the plot to bond with them, and therefore I only cared for what happened to less than a handful of characters.

2: The protagonist. Her name is Mare, but I’ve met her a dozen times before in other young adult fantasy novels, written by other authors. To me, Mare didn’t in any particular way stand out in the crowd of female protagonists that dominate the YA category, and thus I had a hard time bonding with her and caring for what happened to her. It goes without saying that the bland and generic female protagonist that is so common is not to my tastes. Furthermore (this part contains spoilers, so mark the white text if you wish to proceed): the way Mare’s emotions shifted back and forth for Cal had me feeling that the romance was very plastic. I believe the author wanted me, as a reader, to root for Mare to end up with one of the brothers, and while Cal was probably my favourite character, I never really wanted him to end up with Mare. When she first fell for Cal, it came out of nowhere and had not at all been built up to properly. She then did several 180’s with her feelings for him, all of which seemed more and more dis-believable. In the end, I would rather have seen Mare die so that we could follow Cal as a protagonist instead, seeing as he was by far the most compassionate and interesting character (he even had a touch of a personality).

That concludes my review. Love it or hate it, that’s up to you. I am willing to give this series another go and read the second book. Like I said, I didn’t dislike everything about this book. It had its good parts and it still has potential.

Rating: 3/5

March Wrap Up 2019

Full Wrap Up in Swedish

Books read in March

1. "Chanslös" ("Changeless") by Gail Carriger
2. "Crash & Burn" by Abigail Roux
3. "I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You" by Ally Carter
4. "The Near Witch" by Victoria Schwab

Star of March
I can't decide between "The Near Witch" and "Crash & Burn"... I guess they'll share the star spot. There really was no clear favourite for me this month.

Biggest disappointment of March
I feel like all the books I read were disappointments on some level... I'm not mad about it, I just read some books that I had higher expectations for than I maybe should have had. I'd have to say "Chanslös" had me the most disappointed, though.

Surprise of March
None, really. Unless we count books that were surprisingly mediocre. In that case; all of them :P

Theme of March
The theme of this month was "borta bra, men hemma bäst", which means that while being away from home can be nice, home will always be the best. I interpreted this theme by reading two books about characters that went on travels/journeys away from home. Both "Chanslös" by Gail Carriger and "Crash & Burn" by Abigail Roux fit that description.

Series started

1. "Gallagher Girls" by Ally Carter

Series finished

1. "Cut & Run" by Abigail Roux (and Madeleine Urban)

Oldest on the shelf
This time "Chanslös" takes home the prize as oldest book on the shelf, having lived with me for about 1,5 years. I remember that I bought in Gothemburg during the annual Swedish Book Fair in 2017.

Overall thoughts
I didn't get as much reading done as I'd hoped. 5 books would have been ideal, but 4 books isn't disastrous. I probably sound more negative in this wrap up than I actually am; this just wasn't a great reading month, but I'm not super bummed about it.

March Book Haul 2019

Full Book Haul in Swedish

Books bought in 

1. "Red Glove" by Holly Black
2. "The Near Witch" by Victoria Schwab
3. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
4. "Foxfire" by Joyce Carol Oates
5. "Sköldpaddor hela vägen ner" ("Turtles All the Way Down") by John Green

Main source of books
This time it was secondhand. I drained my bank account (and will to spend money) after the book sale. Took it easy this month.

Do I reasonably have space for these new books in my room?
Well, I managed to get them all in there. Looks alright (almost).

Best find
Definitely "The Near Witch" by Victoria, which is in first edition. That edition hasn't been available to buy since at least 2014. I almost cried IN PUBLIC when I found it.

Most expensive book
The book by John Green, which cost me like 40SEK. It's nothing, really; Akademibokhandeln had 50% off the sale prices.

Best bargain
Hmm well considering that the book by John Green was on half the sales price, I'd consider it a great bargain. I doubt I'd be able to find "The Near Witch" in first edition for 30SEK anywhere else, though.

Most excited to read
"The Near Witch" by Victoria Schwab takes this spot. In fact, I read it as soon as I got it.

Most likely never to be read
Probably "Foxfire", but I can't say I bought a book that I'm certain I won't read. It's stupid to buy books I won't read, I know, but I've done the same thing before and ended up really wanting to read those books years later. So, I'd say it's just 'god framförhållning'.

Books I (kind of) regret not buying
I don't know... I've wanted to buy more books by Maria V. Snyder, since I loved the "Poison Study" series. That's not a priority at the moment, however.

New series
No new series! Only "Red Glove" by Holly Black, but that's the second book in the Curse Workers series.

Total amount of books
376+5=381

Overall thoughts

GREAT JOB at not spending lots. Gonna need my money in May.