Tag Archives: book review

Book Review: The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

the princess bride

As Florin and Guilder teeter on the verge of war, the reluctant Princess Buttercup is devastated by the loss of her true love, kidnapped by a mercenary and his henchman, rescued by a pirate, forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, and rescued once again by the very crew who absconded with her in the first place. In the course of this dazzling adventure, she’ll meet Vizzini—the criminal philosopher who’ll do anything for a bag of gold; Fezzik—the gentle giant; Inigo—the Spaniard whose steel thirsts for revenge; and Count Rugen—the evil mastermind behind it all. Foiling all their plans and jumping into their stories is Westley, Princess Buttercup’s one true love and a very good friend of a very dangerous pirate.

Review:

Even richer than the movie, which was pretty rich. And I adored Inigo and Fezzik. How could you not? But I’m a reader who doesn’t enjoy Historical Fiction as a genre because I can’t always tell what’s the Historical and what’s the Fiction. (Drives me nuts). So, the fact that the author/narrator essentially eradicates the third wall, obscuring where the fiction and the author/narrator’s supposedly real-life commentary split drove me up batty. (Yes, I realize it’s essentially all fiction, but the effect is the same.) What’s more I found it disruptive and not as endearing as I believe I was supposed to. But man, what a story.

Book Review: Let Me In , by John Ajvide Lindqvist

let me in cover
Set in 1981, Let Me In is the horrific tale of Oskar and Eli. It begins with the grisly discovery of the body of a teenage boy, emptied of blood. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last — revenge for all the bad things the bullies at school do to him, day after day. While Oskar is fascinated by the murder, it is not the most important thing in his life. A new girl has moved in next door—a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s cube before, but who can solve it at once. They become friends. Then something more. But there is something wrong with her, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .

Review:

Seriously creepy in a skeevy kind of way. There are many monsters in this book, of which I think the vampire was the least frightening. It’s not one I can claim to have enjoyed reading *shudder*, but I’m honestly glad to have read it.

Book Review of Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1), by Jay Kristoff

I picked up a copy of Stormdancer, by Jay Kristoff at my local library. (With that cover, how could I not?)

Description from Goodreads:
A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A HIDDEN GIFT
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

Review:
This is probably a must-read for all Anime and Manga fans out there. You’ll definitely recognize the feel of it. Not to mention it’d be really helpful to already understand what a yokai and oni are, as well as any number of other recognizable Japanese words (clothing items, ranks, weaponry, etc).

I basically enjoyed it after a really slow start. I enjoyed Yukiko and Buruu, as well as some of the side characters. I probably could have done without the teenage romance, but this is a YA book so I don’t know that I can really complain about it.

Like so many YA books it is essentially an allegory. Shima’s Chi dependence mirroring the modern world’s dependence on oil and it’s destructive self-perpetuation. The maniac Shogun could easily be the greedy 1% crushing the common man, while placating him with lies and base entertainments.

All in all, well worth picking up.