This is probably one of my favorite books. When I first bought checked it out I didn't know just how much I'd love it. Here I am two years later with my own copy of the book as well as his brothers ( The Runaway King and The Shadow Throne)

The Characters?

Where do I even begin? Sage is exactly what you (well I) want in a main character, he's funny, witty and foolish. He makes rash decisions and is thought to be careless. Though, he isn't as careless as everyone thinks and is in fact intelligent but he keeps that to himself. I liked how could see the other characters developing as well despite the fact we don't hear their thoughts. Roden and Tobias were both well written. Overall their actions and thoughts were definitely relatable.

The writing style?

Quirky, definitely quirky. Not to mention fun. I love how the book could be so modern in text and speech yet keep the medieval theme/feel to it. I absolutely loved Sage's sarcastic quips, they were definitely something I looked forward to in the book

Although the book seems to depend quite a bit on coincidence it was still great and definitely worth reading

In Which I Reconsider Book Ratings

I don't often change my mind. I am the type of person who struggles over decisions but once I have made a choice I a fully committed. The problem I have found while blogging is that I have to make decision quickly on what to rate books. I have to figure out a rating and get my review up usually within 24 or 48 hours so I don't have the luxury of time for the full effect of a story to sink in. At the time I issue ratings I don't know if I will be thinking about the book months later or if it was a read once and then forget deal. 

That is why, after much consideration, I have decided to change some ratings. There are certain books that I rated lower or higher then I should have and now I want to make some official changes and give reasons as to why they are being changed.

Moving up to 5 Star Status

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
I haven't stopped thinking about this book since I finished it. Even when I rated it 4 stars and gave a reason the reason seemed shaky. Plus, Kavinsky alone demands 5 stars. I want a book all about Kavinsky, I love that motherfucking thief.

Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke 
I am a sucker for a Gothic novel, and my original justification for 4 stars was that the ending wasn't creepy enough? If I'm being real with myself the creepy children hunting the devil in a cemetery was awesome enough to warrant 5 stars. And while I do wish River had been the bad guy I wanted him to be this isn't an episode of Dexter. It's hard to love a murdering psychopath and I'm glad he wasn't one.

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
I didn't even write a review for this because I wasn't sure what to stay. But after reading it 8 months ago I still remember exactly what went down and secondary characters names so I think it's time to get real this wasn't a 4 star book it was a 5.

Moving up from 3 to 4 Stars

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
I know the exact reason I gave this book 3 stars. Length. This book was too long but now with some distance I can objectively say this book is better then 3 stars so I'm bumping it up to 4.

 

Moving down from 3 to 2 Stars

Dance of Shadow by Yelena Black
The only reason I can come up with as to why I gave this book 3 stars in the first place is that I was on the blog tour. With some distance and the blog tour in the past this book is moving down because all I can remember is how much I disliked it.

In Summary

Although I only reconsidered 5 books I am glad to have done so, it's freeing being able to change ratings rather then being stuck in a rigid number structure. Now I am curious:

• Are there books you have rated and then gone back and changed? 
• Are ratings on blogs/goodreads/amazon helpful? 
• Would you be for or against getting rid of the rating system on this blog altogether?

 Let me know in the comments!

Mortal Leap - MacDonald Harris

I'd been highly recommended Mortal Leap for about a year and a half before I finally requested it through inter-library loan (my reading time may be infringed upon by my grad student life but I wouldn't give up the library privileges for the world, except maybe graduating eventually). It showed up right as the semester went nuts. Of course, not as nuts as the plot and premise of this novel. 

Our narrator starts out as a young man in Utah, from a devout Mormon family, who will rather get caught reading a girly mag instead of the Joseph Conrad novels he loves. He has issues for sure, and before too long our narrator is on his way to reinvention, first on a ship and then having his face and hands so badly burned he cannot be identified. His purest form of reinvention is literally erasing his previous identity. 

Mortal Leap was originally published in 1964 and it's difficult to get a copy outside of libraries. The story itself is strange and captivating, and I can't seem to figure out why the book went out of print. The nameless narrator deals with what happens when one does not feel strongly attached to a particular place or way of life, and what happens when people start to drift. There are some weaknesses in the middle of the novel while there is a sense of safety where the narrator is passing himself off as a man with a wife and history outside of his own sad life, but these are remedied by the end of the novel in a very neat way. The wife that our narrator comes out of the woodwork to claim is not just some object, as the narrator first sees him, and I loved how she was given a larger role by the finale. 

There is some lower than navel-gazing, over-thinking about life, and some great commentary on readers and literature, in addition to the crazy plot. It's multilayered enough that no matter how annoying or rude the narrator becomes, there is still a reason to stick it out until the end.

A man with a poor, unimportant background sees chances to reinvent himself, finally literally as a different person, with a different identity and different family. 

(Those of you Mad Men nerds out there know what I'm talking about. The rest of you, don't Google just go watch the show. You'll see the connection and it's even more unbelievable that Mortal Leap has not been reprinted. NYRB could make a mint.)