I can honestly say that I have not been quite so disappointed in a book in a very long time. I am a fan of Joe Hill. I love his writing. Heck, I even own my very own copy of Heart Shaped Box. I could not wait to get my hands on horns. It only took me to the first flashback to regret that feeling.
That is the main problem with the book. The story goes through one flashback after another. It is very hard for the reader to keep up with what is actually happening in the moment and what is a memory. Another sticking point, is that some of the flashbacks seem more like fillers than anything else. Most do absolutely nothing to further the story. Even the side characters have a flashback in the book, it is all time consuming, disjointed, and quite jarring to the pace of the book. More than once, I thought to myself, "Oh, just get on with it." That is never a good sign.
The other problem I have with the book is the main character himself. When Igg dicovers his power, he basically does nothing with it, other than talk to snakes - which, in the end do not help him at all- and scare away some teenagers. He hangs around in the woods all book long, for the most part, and gets his butt handed to him at least three times by the baddies. It just makes no sense. Another thing that makes no sense is the ending, the reader is left having no ideal what actually happened to Igg. Even when he finally does beat his arch-rival it is without any fanfare. The source and scope of his power changes too much in the story as well. Some characters who were effected in the beginning were not in the end. Some folks who saw the horns at one point seemed almost like they couldn't at other times. It is a little tough to explain without giving away the plot. But needless to say, by the end, the reader has no ideal what Igg can or can't do. That in itself pretty much ruins the whole book. I give it 2 stars - at best.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
book review: The Hunger Games
As you probably know by now. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a worldwide phenomenon. With the opening of the movie, this book has been introduced to the entire world, and boy has it ever taken off! To say it is the next Harry Potter or Twilight, I would guess, at this point, is a safe bet. However, seeing as I loathed both of those franchises, I was a more than little hesitant to get invloved in this one. Oh how I was wrong! I will prefacate this by saying I have only read the first book in the trilogy - and I have heard that the remaining two aren't nearly as strong.
The Hunger games, at its heart is a wonderfully painful story. It is about teenage love, unwavering loyalty and struggle, mixed with a bleak outlook for the future of mankind. Hollywood and their machine have turned this into an advertising blitzkrieg. None of that would be possible if it weren't for a great book to base it all on. That is exactly what The Hunger Games is...a great book. It is one of the best I have read in a long time. It is written on a YA level, so as not to be too sappy or wordy - which I love, and it was a fairly quick read, which left me thirsty for the next installment.
Overall, I say that Suzanne Collins deserves every bit of the praise that will be coming her way... She has authored one of the best YA books to come down the pike in years.
The Hunger games, at its heart is a wonderfully painful story. It is about teenage love, unwavering loyalty and struggle, mixed with a bleak outlook for the future of mankind. Hollywood and their machine have turned this into an advertising blitzkrieg. None of that would be possible if it weren't for a great book to base it all on. That is exactly what The Hunger Games is...a great book. It is one of the best I have read in a long time. It is written on a YA level, so as not to be too sappy or wordy - which I love, and it was a fairly quick read, which left me thirsty for the next installment.
Overall, I say that Suzanne Collins deserves every bit of the praise that will be coming her way... She has authored one of the best YA books to come down the pike in years.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
My thoughts on Tom Cruise and the upcoming Jack Reacher movie
Tom freaking Cruise?! Really?! If I made master list of all the Hollywood types, I am pretty sure he would be the last name on the list to play this role. Do you remember the good ole days where Mr Cruise played tough guys in movies like Far and Away? Me neither, these days he is something more skin to Jerry maguire. Not only does his acting chops not line up with Jack Reacher's, but the physical resemblance is too far off. I know the movie gurus work around this alot nowadays, but come on! Reacher is six foot four, two hundred fifty pounds and BLONDE! I just can't see how the producers can work with this without major changes to the story arc. And to learn that our beloved creator of said Reacher-- Lee Child--approves of the casting...huh...it boggles the mind. I think I am going to get on the ole inet and see how other fans feel. I personally think this blows.
Monday, January 3, 2011
book review: The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***
I just had to add that tag line. I couldn't figure out how to review this book without giving some of it away. There is a simple reason for it when I sit down a think about it. Simple...it is a Sparks book. As I am sure most of you out there by now have either read one of his books, or at least seen a movie. Nicolas Sparks tends to follow a pretty basic outline when it comes to writing, which is a good thing since it works for him. Pretty much all of his books go something like this, girl hunts for love...boy stumbles upon girl...they fall for each other...some conflict comes between them...conflict is resolved in some life-changing miraculous way that makes the reader weepy eyed. Then again this has been a time-tested formula, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
He definitely doesn't veer too far from the standard in The Lucky One. The book closely resembles his other works like A Bend In The Road and The Guardian. From my point of view, that is lofty praise, as both of those previously mentioned books were pretty good in their own right. That is the thing with a Sparks book, even if there are flaws, usually the strength of the characters and the story prevail enough to make it an enjoyable read.
There are really a few glaring flaws in this story. The first being the main character's name...Logan Thibault. In my humble opinion, it is never a good start when the reader needs to Google the correct pronunciation of the protagonist's name. The basic premise goes a little something like this; former Marine Thibault finds a photo of a lovely girl in the sand over in Iraq. He places it on the bulletin board at the base for someone to claim. When no one does, he-- for some reason never quite fully understood-- takes it, and keeps the picture...of a perfect stranger mind you...for himself. While it seemingly brings him good fortune, his friend Victor calls it a lucky charm, those in his squad...uhhh...not some much. They pretty much are dropping like flys in the flashbacks. Course they begin to notice and stay the heck away from "Mister Lucky."
Now this is where the believability sort of comes into question. He makes it back home and then meets back up with his buddy Victor to go on a fishing trip to Minnesota. No sooner than Victor tells him he needs to go find this girl in the picture than a runaway boat cuts him in half. I'm not making this up. Then, Thibault walks across the country from Colorado to North Carolina to find the girl in the picture. Some authors would write another book out of that journey all together...i.e. Richard Paul Evans...but Sparks doesn't fill us in on those boring details..oh no. We pick up right where Thibault finds deputy Clayton taking some compromising photos of naked coeds. Because lets face it...anyone who lives in the South knows that we go skinny dipping down here as often as possible...That couldn't be just made up in Hollywood back lots now could it? As fate would have it, Clayton is the girl in the picture's ex...he is also part of the rich family who runs the town...and a first rate jerk. The girl in the photo turns out to be Elizabeth. She has a little boy named Zach and of course he takes a liking to Thibault. well Thibault gets a job working at Beth's house helping her grandma at a dog shelter...convenient, since he has a dog named Zeus with him all the time. As the story progresses Logan and Beth fall head over heels for each other...much to the chagrin of Clayton. Clayton follows around the couple spying on them throughout the book. Thibault was a highly skilled combat Marine and seems to notice every little detail about everything, but yet never notices the cop tailing them. Also, I find it a little weird That in the book Clayton and Beth still continue to go to the same church. We find this out because Thibault apparently can do a little of everything including play the piano. I'm not kidding he plays the piano at the church with the ex husband...jealous ex-husband I might add...sitting right there in the front with his family. Why didn't he get up and leave? Beth mentions in the story that Logan playing piano would be gossip talked about for years. Yet where I come, from even in church a divorced couple sharing custody of a child in the same congregation might be grapevine material as well.
In the end Clayton exposes Thibault has been looking for Beth all along, and if fact she is the reason he trekked across the country on foot. The problem is he is right Logan is a complete stalker...hello people. I know he is handsome and all but really. Sparks also does something that is a big no no for most writers starting out. He conveniently gets rid of the inconvenient character...in the form of drowning Clayton.
Yeah, I know, found a bunch of flaws with this book. Guess what? I still loved it. Like most Sparks novels even if you know whats coming, or don't believe what is going on so far...the books are still good reads. It is hard to put them down.
4 stars
I just had to add that tag line. I couldn't figure out how to review this book without giving some of it away. There is a simple reason for it when I sit down a think about it. Simple...it is a Sparks book. As I am sure most of you out there by now have either read one of his books, or at least seen a movie. Nicolas Sparks tends to follow a pretty basic outline when it comes to writing, which is a good thing since it works for him. Pretty much all of his books go something like this, girl hunts for love...boy stumbles upon girl...they fall for each other...some conflict comes between them...conflict is resolved in some life-changing miraculous way that makes the reader weepy eyed. Then again this has been a time-tested formula, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
He definitely doesn't veer too far from the standard in The Lucky One. The book closely resembles his other works like A Bend In The Road and The Guardian. From my point of view, that is lofty praise, as both of those previously mentioned books were pretty good in their own right. That is the thing with a Sparks book, even if there are flaws, usually the strength of the characters and the story prevail enough to make it an enjoyable read.
There are really a few glaring flaws in this story. The first being the main character's name...Logan Thibault. In my humble opinion, it is never a good start when the reader needs to Google the correct pronunciation of the protagonist's name. The basic premise goes a little something like this; former Marine Thibault finds a photo of a lovely girl in the sand over in Iraq. He places it on the bulletin board at the base for someone to claim. When no one does, he-- for some reason never quite fully understood-- takes it, and keeps the picture...of a perfect stranger mind you...for himself. While it seemingly brings him good fortune, his friend Victor calls it a lucky charm, those in his squad...uhhh...not some much. They pretty much are dropping like flys in the flashbacks. Course they begin to notice and stay the heck away from "Mister Lucky."
Now this is where the believability sort of comes into question. He makes it back home and then meets back up with his buddy Victor to go on a fishing trip to Minnesota. No sooner than Victor tells him he needs to go find this girl in the picture than a runaway boat cuts him in half. I'm not making this up. Then, Thibault walks across the country from Colorado to North Carolina to find the girl in the picture. Some authors would write another book out of that journey all together...i.e. Richard Paul Evans...but Sparks doesn't fill us in on those boring details..oh no. We pick up right where Thibault finds deputy Clayton taking some compromising photos of naked coeds. Because lets face it...anyone who lives in the South knows that we go skinny dipping down here as often as possible...That couldn't be just made up in Hollywood back lots now could it? As fate would have it, Clayton is the girl in the picture's ex...he is also part of the rich family who runs the town...and a first rate jerk. The girl in the photo turns out to be Elizabeth. She has a little boy named Zach and of course he takes a liking to Thibault. well Thibault gets a job working at Beth's house helping her grandma at a dog shelter...convenient, since he has a dog named Zeus with him all the time. As the story progresses Logan and Beth fall head over heels for each other...much to the chagrin of Clayton. Clayton follows around the couple spying on them throughout the book. Thibault was a highly skilled combat Marine and seems to notice every little detail about everything, but yet never notices the cop tailing them. Also, I find it a little weird That in the book Clayton and Beth still continue to go to the same church. We find this out because Thibault apparently can do a little of everything including play the piano. I'm not kidding he plays the piano at the church with the ex husband...jealous ex-husband I might add...sitting right there in the front with his family. Why didn't he get up and leave? Beth mentions in the story that Logan playing piano would be gossip talked about for years. Yet where I come, from even in church a divorced couple sharing custody of a child in the same congregation might be grapevine material as well.
In the end Clayton exposes Thibault has been looking for Beth all along, and if fact she is the reason he trekked across the country on foot. The problem is he is right Logan is a complete stalker...hello people. I know he is handsome and all but really. Sparks also does something that is a big no no for most writers starting out. He conveniently gets rid of the inconvenient character...in the form of drowning Clayton.
Yeah, I know, found a bunch of flaws with this book. Guess what? I still loved it. Like most Sparks novels even if you know whats coming, or don't believe what is going on so far...the books are still good reads. It is hard to put them down.
4 stars
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