Tag: endsinger • BookLikes

review 2018-11-24 13:52

somewhat problematic but I was drawn through the story

This is set in a pseudo Japan of Western Fiction. Several people have posted about issues with book 1 and book 3 doesn't make things much better. Quite probably this would be, for someone of Japanese Heritage the equivalent of some fiction set in Ireland. I did find it kept me reading even though sometimes I just wanted things to move on.

It's the conclusion of the series, they discover the reason behind the Lotus burning and the Russian analogue, Morcheba, are quite pivotal in the end battle. There's a lot of complicated politics and characters that are followed and several interesting people die. Interesting but could be better.

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review 2015-04-28 11:56

Mini Reviews

sunsetxcocktail

This Song Will Save Your Life - Leila Sales

The Sin Eater's Daughter - Melinda Salisbury

Let the Right One in - John Ajvide Lindqvist

This is What Happy Looks Like - Jennifer E. Smith

A mini review post for some of the books I finished this month but didn't feel like writing full reviews for.

17 & Gone - Nova Ren Suma - 4 Stars. This author is now on my must buy list. 17 & Gone is a strange mystery about a girl who hears and sees the ghosts of teen girls who have gone missing at 17 and no one ever really knows what's happening to them. Its a unique concept as I never quite knew what was real and what was not, is some of it in the narrator's head or what? A moving look at mental illness as well. Very compelling. A little slow and weird, almost dream like at times, but highly recommended.

This Song Will Save Your Life - Leila Sales - 5 Stars. I just loved this book. There are some books you know is going to be a winner right from the start and for me this was one of those books. I could really identify with the heroine in this one, and her voice is so honest and realistic, the journey she takes through the novel is very moving. The entire cast of characters is fun (with some exceptions) but its so realistic. Fantastic book.

The Sin Eater's Daughter - Melinda Salisbury - 1 star. I thought The Jewel by Amy Ewing was the stupidest book I've ever read but this one takes the cake (at least while stupid The Jewel was entertaining) this book was just awful. High fantasy, the main character supposedly has a terrible gift where she touches people they die and it makes her the queen's high executioner. Flat, boring characters. A main character with no personality, a romance with no passion. A royal line who think they are the next Targaryens (Game of Thrones reference for any who don't know) ripe with incest and a bitch of a queen. The bitch of the queen who was pissy she had to marry a cousin when her brother died and was perfectly willing to marry her own son at one point to keep the line going. NO. JUST NO. Awful book. – High Fantasy Square for Book Bingo.

Dangerous Girls - Abigail Haas - 5 Stars. - another author on my must buy list. I loved Dangerous Boys. I loved Dangerous Girls. This one is a courtroom drama and murder mystery. One of those wonderfully twisty turny books with no characters who are purely good or purely bad. I did figure out the twist about half way through but it was still so so good. The characters and the story telling are so totally engaging its impossible to put down. Something I could read again and again.

Mosquitoland – David Arnold – 5 Stars. I got this book on a recommendation from one of those Epic Reads ‘what should I read next’ games. So when I saw it whilst browsing through Amazon I thought what the hell. So I got it. And I loved it. Mim is on a road trip to find her mother. Can’t stand her family situation, she needs to get out. Mim has all sorts of adventures on her trip across the US and meets a whole host of unique and quirky characters. This was such a fun and different type of book to me. Mim has a very unique voice. Quirky and she’s not all there, she may or may not have a mental illness which is addressed in the book very well. The character growth in this book is moving and incredible. I just loved it. – Illustrated Cover for Book Bingo.

Rebel Belle – Rachel Hawkins – 4 stars. This was so much fun. The Buffy/Charmed fangirl in me who refuses to die no matter how old I get had an absolute blast with this book. I loved the Southern setting, and I loved Harper, the perfect southern belle. Usually this type of perfect over achiever irritates me but Harper was so much fun. The world building and mythology was quite unique and not seen anything like it at all. I did feel it got a little silly towards the end, but it was still really fun.

The Hallowed Ones – Laura Bickle. 4 stars. I got this from the library. This is one of the most unique vampire./ world on the brink of dystopia books I have ever read. With one of the most unique heroines. Katie’s Amish lifestyle is something I found completely fascinating. She’s also one of the smartest, strongest, sensible heroines I have come across in a long time. Not being of the modern world seemed to give her a stronger edge in how to compose herself when things started going wrong. Good strong head on her shoulders, and no insta love. Her sense of duty and honour was pretty damn amazing. And while there was an awful lot about faith and Amish beliefs, I didn’t find it preachy in the slightest. Highly recommended. – Horror square crossed off for Spring Bingo.

Let The Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist 5 Stars. I’ve had this on my kindle for several years. After watching the original movie and finding to be one of the creepiest vampire movies I have ever seen, I wanted to read the book but never got around to it. I finally did. Very very disturbing novel. Yet at the same time, in a weird way compelling. Despite of how uncomfortable reading this book made me, it was impossible to put down. Its also really hard to actually like most of these characters. Except Oskar and Eli. While Oskar’s mind was kind of messed up, considering the hell he goes through with the bullies at his school, its understandable. Even though Eli is one hell of a scary character, there’s something almost likeable about her as her friendship with Oskar develops. Creepy, but good. Bullying square crossed off for Spring Bingo.

This is What Happy Looks Like – Jennifer E Smith. 5 Stars. This is possibly one of the fluffiest, cheesiest romances I have ever read. And I loved it to pieces. After reading some rather gut wrenching books and very emotional this month (Let the Right One In, Endsinger, Little Peach, Mosquitoland) I needed something light hearted and fun. And this book was perfect. Very very predictable. But the characters were enjoyable, believable. And the romance was adorable. And it was just what I needed. And I’m apparently a big softie when it comes to fluffy romances because it made me cry. Yellow Cover square crossed off for Spring Bingo

Endsinger – Jay Kristoff - 5 Stars. The final book in the Lotus War trilogy. Left me an emotional wreck. Worse because I knew the war in this was coming for two books, but that didn’t make it any easier to read, seeing some beloved characters die. You know its going to happen, but its still. Nothing at all what I expected, but a pretty much perfect conclusion to one of my favourite trilogies. (I haven’t really got a lot to say about this that wouldn’t be terribly spoilery, other than I loved it) Aussie Author square crossed off for Spring Bingo.

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review 2015-01-20 00:00

Endsinger

anti-book-snob

Oh. My. Gods.

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review 2014-12-30 21:57

Let me show you what one little girl can do.

Irresponsible Reader

Let me show you what one little girl can do.

Of course, if you've read the first two novels in The Lotus War, you'll know the list of what this one particular little girl can't do is probably much shorter. The only question at this point is, can one little girl survive?

Kristoff has quite the wringer to put you through before you get the answer to that. For example, within the first thirty pages -- thirty -- Kristoff reveals something about a character I'd grown to have a certain affection for, and pitied after what happened to them in the previous book. And then he does something to that character I'm not sure I'll forgive him for (will still read him, don't get me wrong, I'll just bear a grudge).

On the other hand, Endsinger is filled with so many fist-pumping moments, and fun sentences -- like

Hiro laughed like a man who'd only read about it in books.

that you can keep pressing on -- and actually enjoy the book. Another example of this:

Michi's foot connected with the Inquisitor's groin like a redlining goods train. It was the kind of kick that made one's testicles throw up their hands and move to a monastery in the Hogosha mountains. It was the kind of kick that made orphans of a man's grandchildren.

I mean, that's something that Bruce Willis should be saying as he takes on Hans Gruber's second-cousin or whatever.

I'm not going to describe much plot-wise here. It'd bee to difficult to do it justice at this point -- if you ahven't read teh frist two books anyway, there's not a lot you'll undertand here without a lot of effort on my part. And if you've read the first two, you don't need that to be an inducement to read the this one. It'd be easy in a book like Endsinger to just point every character at the final battle, throw in an obstacle or two along the way and let that be that. Heck, just coming up with an excuse to have Yoshi and Buruu travel around for 70-100 pages as the best buddy comedy pair to come along lately would've been a very satisfying way of spending time before the big battle. Instead, we get character development -- a lot of it. We get mysteries explained. We get new characters, we learn new things about characters that we've known really well since book one (or thought we did, anyway). And they're all thrown at a couple of really big battles, with some obstacles to overcome along the way.

The themes of the first two books continue to be explored here. The two that stuck out the most for me were: what makes a hero, what do they look like and what's worth fighting for -- honor, family, love, something else. Heroes aren't what you think they are, don't look like you think they should like -- even (especially) to themselves. But everyone knows one when the see and/or hear one. As for what's worth fighting for? That's different for every one.

You don't think people should know what happened here?"

"Oh, I think they should know, no doubt. I just don't think they'll care."

"How could they not?"

"Because it will be different next time. It always is."

"Different?" Akithito frowned at the cloudwalker captain.

"Different," the Blackbird nodded. "Whatever they fight over. It'll have a different name or a different shape -- religioin or territory or black or white. People will look back on us and say 'we could never be that blind.' People don't learn from history. Not people who count, anyway."There's a measure of cynicism, realism and idealism in Kristoff's exploration of these (and other) themes. It's tough, and probably ill-advised, to try to pin one of these viewpoints on Kristoff. But it seems to me that idealism's voice is a bit louder than the rest.

Kristoff is great at keeping you on your toes. Things are bleak, but you start to think that hope is on the horizon, that one calvary or another is coming -- and coming soon. And then the hope is dashed. Or you start to think that all hope is gone and things are going to fall to ruin, and this is going to turn into a YA historical dystopian series, but then a new source of hope, a new rabbit gets pulled from a hat. He blindsides you time after time, from every direction.

Kristoff is great at his pacing, there are many moments he lets breathe, lets the readers and the characters observe everything going on, taking in all the sensory information and the thoughts of everyone. But he's also capable of throwing in a sudden scene to grab the reader. The quick scenes bouncing around between the various characters in the heat of battle really work well to keep the tension high (though that can be a bit confusing unless you force yourself to slow down and read carefully -- which is the last thing you want to do at that moment).

After awhile -- about three-quarters through the book, after alll the death, destruction, and (seemingly) climactic confrontations and battles getting you to that point, you simply can't believe Kristoff can keep it going. How can the book last so many more pages? Is he going to give us a Peter Jackson's Return of the King-style multi-epilogue? Probably not, it really seem to be Kristoff's style. And then Kristoff shows you how he's going to fill the rest of the book, and you pity all his characters, even those you've grown to despise, because that's just not right.

In the end, Endsinger is a very satisfying conclusion to one of my favorite series in recent years. It'd have been easy for him to go for a "Everybody lives, Rose" kind of thing, where Hiro and the Lotus Guild are destroyed, Yukiko and Buruu are universally hailed as heroes, the Kage take over, and happily ever after. But he doesn't give us that. Instead, we get the kind of conclusion promised in the first two books: it was emotionally satisfying (and induced a wide range of emotions), it gave characters real conclusions to their arcs (not all happy endings), it tied up what needed to be tied up and it pointed towards the future. I'm going to miss this world and most of these characters. But I'm glad Kristoff didn't try to milk this longer -- it's great as it is.

Source: t.co/7zauwSWAfe

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review 2014-12-15 18:41

Bibliofiend's Bookbag

No specific spoilers here. It has taken me a few days to try to write a coherent review following my emotional turmoil and profuse sobbing after completing this series.

Endsinger is a truly satisfying conclusion to the Lotus Wars. Kristoff continues to solidify himself as a master storyteller. The sheer creativity of the plot, well developed characters and relationships as well as the profound writing style make this a stunning read. Reading this series is an experience for the senses.

Having read Kristoff's stance on happy endings, I tried to prepare myself for the worst but hoped for the best. I was not disappointed. The losses sustained are meaningful and necessary for the story. That being said, they were still gut-wrenching. Despite the heartache, this remains probably my most memorable read of 2014. I have the strong desire to immediately start the series again just to relive the highs and lows of such a beautiful kinship and poignant portrait of human and beastkind at their best and worst.