Monday, July 18, 2016

Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Winter by Marissa Meyer
Published: November 10, 2015
Publisher:
Feiwel and Friends
Pages:
824 (Hardcover)
Series:
The Lunar Chronicles #4
Source:
Bought
My Rating:
3 of 5 stars

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Sunday, May 15, 2016

New Releases: May 15-21

Release of the Week

A Ghost Trapped in a Tower. A Peasant Girl. A Curse Six Hundred Years Old . . .

For six hundred years I have dwelt in this prison. Trapped. Helpless. Unliving and undying.

For six hundred years I have watched as cursebreakers come and go. Brave young women all, gifted with powers beyond mortal understanding.

I have watched them die. I have watched them wish to die.

Once again the Family of Night invades this country to claim its dues, and this generation’s cursebreaker has her chance to break the endless chain of torment. To save me. To save her sisters.

But how can a peasant child scarcely fourteen years of age discover the three-part key and liberate the captives? Will she too be doomed to join the Death Dance binding us all to the Family of Night?
Other Releases
 


Saturday, May 14, 2016

Review: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
Published: April 26, 2016
Publisher:
Scholastic Press
Pages:
438 (Hardcover)
Series:
The Raven Cycle #4
Source:
Bought
My Rating:
5 of 5 stars

Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.

For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey…and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Thoughts for Thursday: Female Characters

Thoughts for Thursday is a discussion post mainly about book related things. It isn't every week, but we try to do it as often as possible.

Erika

Most Young Adult books have a female protagonist, but how many of those books have a heroine worth reading about? Honestly, not many in my opinion. I have a very specific idea of what makes a good heroine and you're all probably thinking that I'm going to say that the best are the badass ones that don't need anyone to save them. While I do love these characters, I find that a lot of the time they fall flat in another area.

A lot of the time I see people praising the strong female characters and bashing the ones that show any sort of weakness. But I don't think that a female character needs to be badass or strong to be a good character. There are plenty of female characters that aren't like Celaena from Throne of Glass and they are still good characters. Do you really only want to read about women that could kill a man? After awhile wouldn't that get a little boring? I'm not saying don't write those characters. I love them, but I also love heroines that show weakness and emotion. 

On the flip side, I find it very irritating when a female character is reduced to one thing like I believe Natasha Romanoff was in the latest Avengers movie. I loved Black Widow in the previous movies, but her character seemed so off in the new movie and it was really disappointing. Her character served the purpose of being a love interest and when her tragic back story was revealed it was used to further a connection between her and her love interest.

I feel like a female character shouldn't be valued or defined by a specific characteristic because that isn't realistic. They should have depth and a wide range of what kind of character they are, rather than just defined as strong or weak.

Nikki

This might sound rather boring but I yet again agree with Erika here. I think that the YA genre has gotten swamped with "badass" "feminist" characters that aren't all what they appear to be. For example, the bestselling series at the moment are The Hunger Games, Divergent, Legend, The Mortal Instruments, and The Maze Runner. What do they all have in common? The "uniquely strong female who surprises the male with how unfeminine they are and ends up having a romantic relationship with said male". 

Not only do I need diversity, I need pop culture to accept masculine and feminine features as equal. I need female characters who aren't put down for being flawed. I need a well-written book that isn't all about the girl finding romance. I need female characters who aren't bashed for the same characteristics men are praised for. A novel is not the place for a shallow character who can't decide which boy she should date (what makes it worse is that my description can be about several different popular books in the YA genre). The Young Adult book target audience shouldn't look at these  female characters and think that they are perfect role models and that they need to be like them. As Erika said, having specific characteristics isn't realistic. Being labeled so easily shouldn't be what's imprinted on a young girl/boy's mind. I would say the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus does an 'alright' job with female diversity. I also think the new Ms. Marvel comics have great potential (I've only read the first issue as of now). I think it shows just what a sorry state the genre is in that I can't think of any more right now off the top of my head.