East by Edith Pattou

Basically, this is a re-telling of an old fairy tale--East of the Moon and West of the Sun I do believe (I may have mixed up the order there). The story mostly focuses on a girl named Rose and a mysterious white bear. A mysterious white bear that can talk, and looks somewhat intelligent. Not to mention acts very un-white-bear-like. Rose ends up going with him to save her sister (he offers to bring good fortune to her family if she goes with him) and ends up at a castle-y place where she has no idea what she's supposed to do. The story is told from several different perspectives (way too many in my opinion. I think it is a tad bit repetitive--in the beginning at least--and seems like a way to avoid having to give insight into each person's--or bear's, as the case may be--character and thoughts.) Anyways, I will say however, that it is quite interesting, if somewhat unconventional, in several respects.
First of all, the bear's thoughts are done in short, poetic chapters. It creates a very nice effect and reflects his struggle quite well (you'll have to read it to figure out which struggle I mean). I also thought the birth-direction-reflects-personality bit was interesting though I didn't totally love it. It adds an element of pre-determined fate and seems to me like a way to avoid having to portray characters' personality through description. Nonetheless, it's something I'd never seen before and it's possible that it was also a part of the original story. I felt like it should have been much longer. It was lacking a lot of the detail needed to make it seem that time passes and what makes these sorts of adventure books so interesting to me. I feel like it falls somewhere between a summary and a story due to the lack of details and it felt like it covered a few weeks rather than several years. The very beginning is also never tied up (it starts with a random girl finding a box containing the story). I found that in particular to be quite unnecessary and it could have been away around some sort of difficulty thinking of how to start the book (the characters' accounts began with things like 'I'm not quite sure where to start' and other similar things, making the beginning only a means to get to the story rather than having any real significance, especially without a return to it in the end). It also left me with lots of question that I feel would have been explained if the story were more detailed.
While I did enjoy reading it, I think East is best read by those who want a quick read and don't care for too many details.
Next I'll be writing about a spin off of Robin Hood.

The Fire Spirit Series: Books One and Two by Samantha Young

This series can be summed up pretty much as your average paranormal romance story, albeit more creative and featuring genies instead of werewolves and vampires. But other than that, your typical teenage paranormal romance. The main character is Ari: a senior girl in high school. Essentially, she feels alienated as the only one of her friends who doesn't know what she wants to do with her life (a big shocker considering most seniors don't know either). She's in love with her old best friend Charlie who has become a druggie because he blames himself for his brother's death. Then, lo and behold! Ari discovers that she's a genie on her 18th birthday and that a. her father isn't really her father, and b. it wasn't actually Charlie's fault that his brother died; it was an evil genie. From there the story procedes to include her mysterious uncle and her incredibly handsome (of course) protector Jai who she most certainly doesn't fall in love with due to her oh-so-totally-reasonable feelings for Charlie. And thus the story continues.
But seriously, the story is good but the execution is terrible (unless you're totally into the whole spineless-totally-useless-dependent-on-a-male-hopelessly-in-love-and-never-falling-out-of-it obnoxious Twilight girl thing. Which I'm not). My preference in books is that the story takes precedence over the romance. Especially the whole fall-in-love-at-first-sight-never-think-about-anything-but-how-sexy-he-is-even-if-you're-in-mortal-danger kind. Those kinds of books are so degrading! I mean, what girl wants to be like that? Women aren't mindless sex objects! Come on you female authors! You're failing your own kind here! It just drives me absolutely crazy. These people! And then you wonder why there's sexism. Honestly. Anyways, I also wasn't terribly fond of the numerous grammatical mistakes, misused words, and typos in general. It's possible that the author didn't have an editor (I guess you can do that now what with the whole ebook thing. I suppose that's what I get for reading one of those super cheap/free to prime members kindle books). Unfortunately this series is a waste of a good idea. I'd be totally psyched for a re-write of this book but for now I'm quitting while I'm ahead! (I don't even know why I read the second book. I suppose I thought it would get better. Plus I was curious about what was going to happen next: it was a bit of a cliff hanger). Anyways, next I'll probably go back to my goodreads recommendations. They seem to be a lot better than the Bookies thing I started following on facebook.

Scriber by Ben Dobson

Well, again I finished a book quite quickly. As I cannot even begin to think how to write a synopsis of the book, I will take the lazy way out and provide the Amazon version:
"Disgraced scholar Dennon Lark only wants to be left alone in his self-imposed exile—an exile that ends when a rebel army wielding impossible powers launches a series of brutal attacks on villages across the Kingsland. Forced from his home, Dennon is drawn back into a world he wants nothing to do with. His research into the kingdom's lost past—the very research that sent him into hiding—may hold the answers to a great many questions about the rebels. Questions about their shadowy motives; about their mysterious abilities; and about their ever-increasing numbers, constantly bolstered by those thought killed in their attacks. And only the King's infamous warrior niece Bryndine Errynson and her company of female soldiers trust him enough to help him find the truth before the rebels burn the Kingsland to the ground. Following a trail of historical clues across the kingdom and pursued by forces they don't fully understand, Dennon and Bryndine may be the realm's only hope. But in order to preserve the Kingsland's future, they must first uncover its past."

Onto the review: Though I usually end up reading books with female main characters, I did not miss that element in Scriber. Quite the opposite actually. Dennon proves to be a very interesting character in his unusualness, by which I mean his rudeness. He is very blunt with people and despises his work of dealing with the common, uneducated folk of the kingdom. The story itself is nothing to be ignored either. It is very unique (at least, I haven't encountered the idea before) and executed brilliantly. Dobson doesn't neglect any of the characters--all are well thought out and have a lot of depth to them. Honestly, I don't have anything negative to say about the book. Great characters, great plot, great execution: a highly satisfactory read for those interested in other world fantasies.

 

The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers

The Vanishing Game is about a girl named Jocelyn and her search for her previously assumed dead twin brother. Stuck in foster care due to her insane mother, Jocelyn goes to her once-friend, from a previous foster care, Noah for help solving the clues her brother left behind. Problem is: ast time she saw him he told her he'd kill her if he ever saw her again.
Well, I finished that one quickly. I was too creeped out to go to sleep before I finished it, and I must say, it reminds me a fair bit of Going Bovine (if you've read that). Now, I don't normally go for this sort of creepy book (unless you count the Lois Duncan phase I went through) but it sounded so interesting that I just had to read it. I really enjoyed the book (the ending totally blew my mind) and it is totally worth a read, but I did have a few problems with it.
First of all: A boy and a girl CANNOT be identical twins. If they were they'd have to be the same gender. Not to mention that fraternal twins are only as related as a brother and sister. Now, I don't know if this was intentional or not because this was coming from a younger Jocelyn, but either way, it bothered me. Secondly, in my experience girls do not have Adam's Apples. Of course, I looked it up to double check and the website I looked at said that it is possible for a girl to have one, but seriously not common. However, the way that bit was written makes me think that the author didn't know that tidbit of information. Thirdly, I totally hate the way Jocelyn totally drools over Noah and, connected to that, the way Noah is all like, 'I'll handle these dangerous bits for you!' and Jocelyn is totally useless. Not to mention the way that he ends up solving so many of the puzzles. But anyways, despite all of its flaws, I'd say that The Vanishing Game is a good book, especially good for a debut novel.

The Rain Wild Chronicles: Books One and Two by Robin Hobb

The Rain Wild Chronicles is most strongly attached to The Liveship Traders Trilogy, but is also attached to all of Hobb's other books set in the same world. They continue the story of the serpents from The Liveship Traders Trilogy and their transformation into dragons--or semi-dragons you could say. Due to their late cocooning and old age, most of the serpents dies and the ones that didn't emerged incomplete and lacking many of their memories. Unable to fly and care for themselves, they spend years at the mercy of the rain wilders, all the while suffering and dying from the poor conditions and lack of food. Eventually they decide that they must leave and search for the ancient Elderling city of Kelsingra. They manipulate the humans into sending 'keepers' and hunters for the dragons as well as a ship to lead the way. However, rather than totally focusing on the dragons, the story line mostly follows the humans who accompany them.
While I think the idea is wonderful and has lots of potential, I was disappointed to find myself getting bored. When the latest Emperor's Edge book came out I was so excited to read it that I put the first Rain Wild book on hold and read the entire Emperor's Edge book almost nonstop. It was when I returned to this series that I realized just how less exciting the series was. Compared to Hobb's other books, I thought this series was a bit of a let down. It's also possible that after reading Hobb's books for such a long time (I've been on her books for a while since I felt the need to follow up on every single loose end) I've just simply had enough. This is not to say this series is bad; I just feel like it's time to move on. At this point I don't think I'll be reading the next book, especially since the fourth isn't even out until February, so I'm just going to quit while I'm ahead. So expect my next review to be on a book from a totally new author.

Blood and Betrayal by Lindsay Buroker

Hey, look what just came out! The Emperor's Edge Book 5! This time we get a look from Maldynado's perspective and learn a bit about his family. With Amaranthe out of the picture (remember her fall from the dirigible), Maldynado steps up to the plate as leader of the group. Well, rather, he's put in charge. But he rises to meet the challenge nonetheless. There's not much more to say about the book (honestly there hasn't been much to say about any of these past Emperor's Edge books since they're just a continuation of the story) other than what I've been saying before: good book, and it keeps up the quality of the story. The one thing I will say differently about this book (though I believe it applies to Buroker's other books as well, including the ones in this series) is that she overuses the word 'behoove'. Perhaps it wouldn't feel quite so overused if it were a commonly used word, but as it's not, it feels overused. Well, if you've enjoyed her other books I'd say you'd like this one too. Buroker is going to write a sequel to Encrypted next but EE#6 will be coming out shortly afterwards (and she plans to connect the two so I'd say it's almost like the next book in the series anyways). She plans to have them both out sometime in 2013 (I've gotta say, she is one fast writer). If you can't wait that long to hear from more about her books you should like her on facebook--she has contests and updates on what she's working on.

The Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Due to travel and a busy summer in general I haven't had a lot of time to read, so it took me a while to finish this trilogy. It comes between the Farseer Trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy. I was mistaken in my earlier comment that this trilogy was about what the Fool was up to during the time gap; really it focuses on the Vestrit family in Bingtown (and a few other people in the general area) and their unique liveships. Though all of the three trilogies can stand on their own, I think they are best read together, and in order. This means taking a break from Fitz's life for a while and working on this story line. It fills in quite a few gaps in my knowledge from both the first and last trilogy and is a worthwhile read regardless; just as good as Fitz's story. Having read all three of the trilogies I can now say that I'm glad to have read them all but I'm still left with questions about the future. But all is not lost! As I have recently discovered, Hobb has written more books set in the same world: The Rain Wild Chronicles. From the description of the first book it looks like it takes place either towards the second half of the Tawny Man trilogy or long after. I will begin the series as soon as I can but first I must complete my summer reading. I may or may not evaluate those books on here but if I'm a long time in posting again, that's probably why.