Reading Challenge - 50 to 55

One of the goals I had with this challenge was met: I managed to write proper reviews, instead of small ones, for the entire Challenge post! Hurray for me!


50 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games is a dystopian young adult novel, and, even if I'm slowly moving away from young adult literature, I love dystopias.

I know I will read the next two in the series, even if I'm expecting to be somewhat disappointed (from what I could gather from skimming the reviews for Mockingjay). With a more definite ending, The Hunger Games could easily be a standalone book – an a very good one at that.

(4/5)

[Full Review]



51 - The Map of Time by Félix J. Palma

I was expecting great things out of The Map of Time, after reading my friend's review of it. What I was not expecting was that it would be so good and marvellous – a strong candidate to The Best Book I Read This Year.

(5/5)

[Full Review]




52 - Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
I'm of two minds concerning Catching Fire. On one hand, it felt like a disappointment, on the other it pressed all the right buttons to keep me reading until the wee hours of the morning.

(3.5/5)

[Full Review]



53 - Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay is the last book on the Hunger Games series, a series which, in my opinion, had its peak on the first book.

Mockingjay was entertaining at first, but lost all of its appeal midway when the angst became too much – to the point that I lost all interest in it.

(2.5/5)

[Full Review]



54 - Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Graceling is a very good fantasy book, that seemed almost impossible to put down. And that smile that I had when I was reading stayed on my face long after I finished the last page. Truth be told, it comes back every time I think about this book. A fun read, and most importantly a great read.

(4.5/5)

[Full Review]


55 - Fire by Kristin Cashore

Fire is the companion book of Graceling, a sort of prequel set in the same universe, but not on the same lands, with different characters and different elements. In short, if it weren't for one character in common and some references to the Graceling world, it could have been a totally different book.

I liked this book, but kept comparing it to Graceling, which is not really fair. The book stands well on its own, it is very enjoyable, with a good plot, good characters and good worldbuilding.

(4/5)

[Full Review]

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Fire

Fire is the companion book of Graceling, a sort of prequel set in the same universe, but not on the same lands, with different characters and different elements. In short, if it weren't for one character in common and some references to the Graceling world, it could have been a totally different book.

This book takes place on the other side of the mountains, where there are no Gracelings, but that doesn't mean there aren't special powers. What exists in The Dells are special people and animals, which draw the normal ones to them, and have powers of their own. These are called monsters, and Fire, the protagonist of the book, is one of them. But, even if the name suggests something hideous, Fire can only be described as a great beauty, which mesmerises most men, to the point marriages proposals (among other things) are commonplace for her.

The story starts with an archer that mistakenly shoots Fire, but before he can say who he is and who he is working for he is killed. Fire will try to discover who was this archer, getting tangled up in political matters. However, as a monster, people don't trust her, and she has decide if helping her King is worth both the distrust of everyone and the fact that they are using her for her monster-qualities.

I believe I shouldn't have read this book right after Graceling, it suffered from comparison. Because while I liked this one, it didn't make me squee like a schoolgirl the way Graceling did. But I really should try to make a review that the doesn't focus on the differences between the first and second book (and will undoubtedly fail).

Fire is interesting, with a political plot as well as some romance. It was easy to go to this new world, even with what I knew from the first one. I kept turning page after page, not noticing the end was coming, and that the hours were passing.

I really have to show my admiration for the author, because it is not easy to come up with a world where there are fuchsia raptors, and not making it sound like a bad trip on acid. Fuchsia and lime animals didn't make me stare at the pages in disbelief, it added more magic to a place that I kept seeing in dull greys and browns.

If in Graceling one of the themes was Kings, in Fire we have Fathers, and I enjoyed slowly learning about Fire's father, even if there was not much surprise to its ending. It served to show how Fire grew, and the reason to a lot of the discrimination and hate she was constantly facing.

I liked this book, but kept comparing it to Graceling, which is not really fair. The book stands well on its own, it is very enjoyable, with a good plot, good characters and good worldbuilding.

(4/5)

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Graceling
In the land of the Seven Kingdoms there are people born with special abilities, and the way to tell them apart is by their eyes – one of each colour. They are called Gracelings, and their power is their Grace. Katsa is a Graceling, and her Grace is killing, which is exploited by her cousin, the King – Katsa is his assassin and thug, doing his dirty work intimidating, maiming and killing whoever opposes him.

But Katsa keeps her mind, and has started to do some work on her own, trying to put right the wrongs done by all the Kings of the Seven Kingdoms. And when the Lienid King's father is kidnapped, she has to investigate.

This kidnapping is the connecting thread in the story, present from beginning to end, and although more quests and subplots are added to it, it does not deviate from wanting to know who kidnapped Grampa. That was one of the main things I loved about Graceling, the fact that by the end of the book I could still see the connection to the beginning of the story.

One thing that I can say about this book is that it was so much fun to read. I had a smile plastered on my face the entire time (which meant people looking at me oddly on the train), and there were a lot of parts where I was chuckling and snickering.

The story was very captivating, even if not exactly surprising. It reads well as a standalone (although there is prequel published and a sequel announced), the story has a beginning and an end. And regarding the ending, I confess to be dreading it when I was coming close to the last pages. There were merely 50 pages ahead of me and most of the plot was yet unresolved, and with no prospects of being resolved soon. But I needn't fear – when the end came about it was perfect and fulfilling.

I loved the characters one this book (so much that it saddens me that Fire is a prequel and not a sequel). It was easy to love all the good characters, and fear the evil ones. And even if the ending was fulfilling to the point that I consider the story finished, I still want more, more adventures with those characters, more time exploring that world, because I absolutely loved it.

Graceling is a very good fantasy book, that seemed almost impossible to put down. And that smile that I had when I was reading stayed on my face long after I finished the last page. Truth be told, it comes back every time I think about this book. A fun read, and most importantly a great read.

(4.5/5)