Children's Fiction ~

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark

Review by: Bluninja29

Opening Thoughts:

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark is a collection of stories based off the TV show Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2003 TV series.) It has 11 Short Stories all based off episodes from the TV show. with more view points that we didn't get to see in the show. One of the Short stories im are gonna look at is about Count Dooku.

Story:

Count Dooku was surprised attacked by the Republic.

Presentation:

I do like how these are in the characters point of view like Count Dooku. I also like how all the stories are based off the show. What I didn't like is how these are short stories, but it is a nitpick so I won't get crazy over it. I honestly liked this book.

If you are a star wars nerd or want to give your kid a star wars book to read. then this is the book for you!

4/5

Title :The Thrid Mrs.Durst

I wasn't sure at the beginning of this book, and there were a couple of moments in the middle that made me wonder, but this ended up being a good book and the perfect ending to the story.  It is so nice to have conclusions that are actually difficult to get to and people who are not perfectly perfect.  And two of the series that I read this month really made the characters work for their happy ending

I get so bored with the perfect main character (especially when she's female) who meets the perfect mate (especially when they are perfectly fit, absolutely gorgeous, and somehow extremely wealthy) and everything just happens so perfectly easy with them.  Even when bad things happen, it all gets wrapped up so perfectly easy.  Even if it's a good book, when I get to the ending and my first thoughts are "that was too easy," it ruins the whole book for me, and makes me feel like I just wasted a bunch of time.

Now to figure out what I'm going to read next.

I went into this series unsure whether I would like it or not.  The bad reviews I read about it spoke of very unlikeable characters and a lot more romance than history, but I went ahead and gave it a try anyways.

They were right.  There are some very unlikeable characters in these stories, but I disagree with the ones that say there's nothing redeemable or likable about the sisters.  They each have very good parts to them, and have, over time, changed in ways that I did not like at all, making some of my favorite characters not my favorite at all, however I wouldn't say they weren't redeemable or likable, in their own ways.  Horrible things have happened in their lives, as well as wonderful things.

(I'm trying ever so hard to not spoil things for anyone who plans to read the series.  This is hard.)

My favorite part so far is seeing another side to a character I have loathed for almost two books.  To see the change that has come over him, to see him express his feelings, something he's never done in all this story, was just amazing.  When I finished reading what he had to say (it was towards the end of book two), I just sat there, Kindle in hand, trying to digest it all.

This whole series - good parts and bad parts, rape scene and death - is well worth the read just for that one experience.  I can't wait to finish this book, but am also saddened that the story will end when I do.

I will be honest - I'm not exactly sure I like where one character is heading so far in this book.  She wanted so much more, and I feel like part of her thinks she's in the position where she has to settle not finding her true purpose (or maybe she has and I just haven't seen it yet).  As I've learned with the other two books, though, you never know where its going to head.

The librarian usually sends out links for each months topic. This month, her links include an article titled something like "what is urban fantasy" that only says it's a marketing category and a list of "where to start" that has more male authors than female authors. I, just, I don't know, ya'll. If I were introducing someone to UF, I'd probably talk about the use of noir tropes in contemporary fantasy settings, broken vs unbroken masquerades, and Carrie Vaughn's theory, "these books are symptomatic of an anxiety about women and power." But, sure, here's a dude saying it's meaningless marketing and a list of mostly dudes to read.

The other big UF reader in the group is going to be out of town for this one, so I'm trying to psych myself up to deal with a room full of guys all talking about Harry Fucking Dresden. 

I'm also bounding myself by recommending in-progress series or stand alone books. A few months back, one of the members asked for recommendations for completed UF series that weren't PNR, and I want to avoid repeats. Okay, he didn't say PNR, he asked for books that weren't all about vampire sex. So at least one person may have some non-Dresden. . . take a deep breathe, Saturdays, you don't want to start another fight in book club.

Whatever. I love this genre. 

Shadowshaper - Daniel José Older. So far this series has 2 novels and 3 novellas and is dynamite. The protagonist is an artist who discovers her legacy includes channeling spirits into physical forms. She makes her graffiti come alive. Yeah, that's right, I talk all that shit and then start off with a book by a man.

Owl and the Japanese Circus - Kristi Charish. Action packed with an unlikable heroine, this series follows an antiquities thief and her vampire hunting cat through endless poor decisions and explosions. I adore that she isn't good with weapons and doesn't have powerful magic abilities. I just recently finished the 4th installment, and the heroine is consistently a train wreck.

Zero Sum Game (Russell's Attic) (Volume 1) - SL Huang. Fast paced, plenty of violence, and her magic power is being really good at math. Do I need to go on? 

Drink, Slay, Love - Sarah Beth Durst. A teenage vampire gets stabbed by a unicorn and finds herself able to go out in daylight. Her family decides to enroll her in high school so she can lure teens back to the rest of the bloodsuckers. This is a lighthearted, almost rom-com book that is exactly as much fun as my first sentence indicates.

Broken Monsters - Lauren Beukes. The protagonists are all human in this not-quite police procedural where strange murders point toward incomprehensible motives.

 And I think I'll stop there. I really want to add about 10 more books. We'll see where the night leads.