This is not a bad book at all. N.D. Jones knows how to write, creating characters, setting and atmosphere with a few strokes, in an engaging style that, even if at the beginning is a little bit difficult to follow what is going on, the author throwing you to a whole new world, is easy on the eye, and good in giving flow to the story. The characters, even if of the cardboard type, are relatable, easy to like (and/or hate) and do not overstay their welcome.
However, I have to say that "Crimson Hunter" left me kind of cold. Because, even with all the metal, witches, and werewolves in another world (or maybe because of that), it has nothing that makes it stand out from the herd of similar novels, nothing new here that you haven't read or seen before, and probably done better. The relationships are stereotypical, the whole plot can be inferred after, like, one third of the book (or less) and, for a book about witches and werewolves, it lacks... how can I say it... oh, yes, magic. Also, I found the constant sexy scenes between Oriana and Marrok pointless and without adding much to the story, the characters or anything at all. Maybe I am a prude, but I need some reason for characters to get naked.
You may not regret reading it. But I think there is better out there.
The best: the style suits the story; the characters are enjoyable
The worst: it is not particularly original; too many 'steamy' moments for my taste
Alternatives: hmmm... Karen Chance, "The Dresden Files"... I haven't read much, actually, of urban fantasy, to which, even if very different, this books reminded me of; Marissa Meyer's "The Lunar Chronicles" is a good option too
5/10
(English)
*Thank you to the author and booksirens for the copy*
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Kniven på strupen (Con el cuchillo en la garganta) - Kjartan Fløgstad
In the middle of nowhere (ok, in Norway, in a little industrial city which economy is based on oil, and where 'crazy' capitalism has taken over), some characters' lifes get entangled with surprising consequences.
But who cares about the plot? Because it is pretty clear that Fløgstad doesn't. This is a story that goes from A-ish to somewhere-ish, with simply depicted but full of life characters, whose motivations are a little bit cardboard-y. And that is because Fløgstad cares more about atmosphere, situations, use of language and criticize the modern (and not so modern) capitalist consummerist world.
And how does he fare? He actually does a really good job at it, with a great use of language (smartly translated; I can't read Norwegian), beautiful depicted situations and a clear critique of Norway and the world. At the same time, it is all kind of a mess, the story getting more and more convoluted as it goes along, difficult for the reader to care for the characters and what goes on, and with a couple of situations/comments on society that seem a little bit old fashioned (or they come out that way).
Interesting read but it fizzles a little bit along the way.
The best: Fløgstad knows how to write (and the translation is great); the sarcasm and irony that permeates the text
The worst: it is all kind of a mess; the unnecessary 'physical' moments
Further reading: David Foster Wallace, Virginia Woolf, Karl Ove Knausgård, Margaret Atwood, Shiwon Miura, Kôtarô Isaka, Jaume Cabré...
7/10
(Castilian translation by Kirsti Baggethun & Asunción Lorenzo)
But who cares about the plot? Because it is pretty clear that Fløgstad doesn't. This is a story that goes from A-ish to somewhere-ish, with simply depicted but full of life characters, whose motivations are a little bit cardboard-y. And that is because Fløgstad cares more about atmosphere, situations, use of language and criticize the modern (and not so modern) capitalist consummerist world.
And how does he fare? He actually does a really good job at it, with a great use of language (smartly translated; I can't read Norwegian), beautiful depicted situations and a clear critique of Norway and the world. At the same time, it is all kind of a mess, the story getting more and more convoluted as it goes along, difficult for the reader to care for the characters and what goes on, and with a couple of situations/comments on society that seem a little bit old fashioned (or they come out that way).
Interesting read but it fizzles a little bit along the way.
The best: Fløgstad knows how to write (and the translation is great); the sarcasm and irony that permeates the text
The worst: it is all kind of a mess; the unnecessary 'physical' moments
Further reading: David Foster Wallace, Virginia Woolf, Karl Ove Knausgård, Margaret Atwood, Shiwon Miura, Kôtarô Isaka, Jaume Cabré...
7/10
(Castilian translation by Kirsti Baggethun & Asunción Lorenzo)
Saturday, March 21, 2020
The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
Mary Sue & Gary Sue fall in love in this boring romantic story that ticks all the boxes with only one twist, the fact that both characters are cancer patients, which gives us a lot of cringey moments, as Green doesn't seem to know how to develop a story or characters.
And it all starts well enough, Hazel and Augustus's introduction funny and relatable. However, it is pretty soon that one notices that both characters (their illness apart) are too perfect, handsome, beautiful, smart, already in university even though Hazel is still sixteen and also a writer of poetry... etc., etc., on top of both of them being basically the same character: Augustus and what for Augustus a perfect female would be, a strange wish fulfillment of a male's idea of a female. Even Isaac is basically the same character. And throwing into the mix a random and very cringey character doesn't help the story (view spoiler). And also, Augustus being kind of a sacrificial lamb for Hazel, the prince in a shining armor that comes to bring light to the depressed female, didn't sit very well with me.
Poor romance with a twist that seems to have been put there just to make readers cry, "The Fault in Our Stars" lacks.
The best: the beginning; some humor; the story is easy to follow
The worst: read the first thirty, forty pages and you have already read all character development; the plot is very simple and basic and goes downhill pretty fast; the characters are very poorly drawn; the humor becomes repetitive; I can't believe this love story; the protective male
Alternatives: just read Jane Austen, or Margaret Atwood, or Marian Keyes...
5/10
(English)
And it all starts well enough, Hazel and Augustus's introduction funny and relatable. However, it is pretty soon that one notices that both characters (their illness apart) are too perfect, handsome, beautiful, smart, already in university even though Hazel is still sixteen and also a writer of poetry... etc., etc., on top of both of them being basically the same character: Augustus and what for Augustus a perfect female would be, a strange wish fulfillment of a male's idea of a female. Even Isaac is basically the same character. And throwing into the mix a random and very cringey character doesn't help the story (view spoiler). And also, Augustus being kind of a sacrificial lamb for Hazel, the prince in a shining armor that comes to bring light to the depressed female, didn't sit very well with me.
Poor romance with a twist that seems to have been put there just to make readers cry, "The Fault in Our Stars" lacks.
The best: the beginning; some humor; the story is easy to follow
The worst: read the first thirty, forty pages and you have already read all character development; the plot is very simple and basic and goes downhill pretty fast; the characters are very poorly drawn; the humor becomes repetitive; I can't believe this love story; the protective male
Alternatives: just read Jane Austen, or Margaret Atwood, or Marian Keyes...
5/10
(English)
Immortal Defiance - Laura Maybrooke
Picture me pleasently surprised by "Immortal Defiance", a fantasy book well grounded, that instead of centering on big fights and journeys, decides to center on the relationship between Dulcea, an elven enchantress, and Krath, a vampire.
At the beginning we find Dulcea in danger, betrayed by one of her own warriors and in the hands of her enemies. Enemies that are going to sacrifice her to their god, so she becomes his maid for all of eternity.
But then, out of the blue, Krath appears and saves her. Krath being a vampire and not very willing to let her go back to her war.
What follows is an interesting and enjoyable (and sometimes a little bit worrisome for me, Dulcea too willing to put herself under Krath's influence) story, Dulcea's fears and desires being shaped by her new acquaintance, a vampire that makes her see things in a new way. It is a nice touch that the author has decided to center on the characters and she has a knack to make them relatable and interesting, even if a little bit stereotypical.
The story (this is the first volume of a trilogy) is well developed, even if there are too many flashbacks to tell of what has come before, and sometimes I wished the plot developed faster, but these are minor quibbles. Also, Maybrooke's writing style is perfect for the genre, with a good balance between dialogues, description and a good care into developing the atmosphere and the scenery, the world in which the story happens.
A good fantasy book. And a nice first step into a new world full of mysteries and adventures waiting to happen.
The best: the relationships between the characters are well developed, and they feel alive; that Maybrooke can pull Dulcea and Krath's relationship off
The worst: the relationship between our two heroes sometimes falls into the worrisome, the masculine dominating the femenine (decide whatever you want about this); the plot could go faster
Further reading: this kind of books falls into the David Gemmell or Terry Pratchett (minus the humor) fold: good characters (and maybe not so much plot)
6/10
(English)
*Thank you to the author and booksirens for the copy*
At the beginning we find Dulcea in danger, betrayed by one of her own warriors and in the hands of her enemies. Enemies that are going to sacrifice her to their god, so she becomes his maid for all of eternity.
But then, out of the blue, Krath appears and saves her. Krath being a vampire and not very willing to let her go back to her war.
What follows is an interesting and enjoyable (and sometimes a little bit worrisome for me, Dulcea too willing to put herself under Krath's influence) story, Dulcea's fears and desires being shaped by her new acquaintance, a vampire that makes her see things in a new way. It is a nice touch that the author has decided to center on the characters and she has a knack to make them relatable and interesting, even if a little bit stereotypical.
The story (this is the first volume of a trilogy) is well developed, even if there are too many flashbacks to tell of what has come before, and sometimes I wished the plot developed faster, but these are minor quibbles. Also, Maybrooke's writing style is perfect for the genre, with a good balance between dialogues, description and a good care into developing the atmosphere and the scenery, the world in which the story happens.
A good fantasy book. And a nice first step into a new world full of mysteries and adventures waiting to happen.
The best: the relationships between the characters are well developed, and they feel alive; that Maybrooke can pull Dulcea and Krath's relationship off
The worst: the relationship between our two heroes sometimes falls into the worrisome, the masculine dominating the femenine (decide whatever you want about this); the plot could go faster
Further reading: this kind of books falls into the David Gemmell or Terry Pratchett (minus the humor) fold: good characters (and maybe not so much plot)
6/10
(English)
*Thank you to the author and booksirens for the copy*
Normal People - Sally Rooney
A horrible book about a sick relationship between two toxic people, a relationship that never feels real, between two characters that are as cardboard-ish as they come, with zero arc and non-relatable at all, "Normal People" is a failure on all levels, a novel that is boring as they come and that could be summarized in: we like each other but we will make each other and people around us miserable; wash, rise and repeat.
Connell and Marianne are both studying at the same high school, but while Connell, even if from a poor family, is a good student and also good at soccer, Marianne comes from a rich family (for whom Connell's mother works as a cleaning person), nerdy and anti-social (and bullied). The book centers on these two despicable (because they are) characters and drags us for almost three hundred (million) pages through their lame, superficial, boring and stereotypical lives, till... Well, I will not spoil the ending.
Poorly written, with an unclear and unfocused writing style, and zero ideas on where to take the story, Rooney fails on all levels in making the story interesting at all, or of giving us an insight to the lives of these broken people. Instead of understanding them, we will end up hating them, and finding their behavior just plain boring.
Not worth your time.
The best: a couple of surprisingly well written paragraphs (maybe because all the rest is so rubbishy)
The worst: boring, horribly repetitive, despicable and toxic characters
Alternatives: Jonathan Coe, Shiwon Miura, Margaret Atwood, Jaume Cabré... if you want a touching and well written look on humans there are many good options, way better than this book
2/10
(English)
Connell and Marianne are both studying at the same high school, but while Connell, even if from a poor family, is a good student and also good at soccer, Marianne comes from a rich family (for whom Connell's mother works as a cleaning person), nerdy and anti-social (and bullied). The book centers on these two despicable (because they are) characters and drags us for almost three hundred (million) pages through their lame, superficial, boring and stereotypical lives, till... Well, I will not spoil the ending.
Poorly written, with an unclear and unfocused writing style, and zero ideas on where to take the story, Rooney fails on all levels in making the story interesting at all, or of giving us an insight to the lives of these broken people. Instead of understanding them, we will end up hating them, and finding their behavior just plain boring.
Not worth your time.
The best: a couple of surprisingly well written paragraphs (maybe because all the rest is so rubbishy)
The worst: boring, horribly repetitive, despicable and toxic characters
Alternatives: Jonathan Coe, Shiwon Miura, Margaret Atwood, Jaume Cabré... if you want a touching and well written look on humans there are many good options, way better than this book
2/10
(English)
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Metropolis - Philip Kerr
Bernie Gunther is a young detective who gets the opportunity to join the homicide's department in this prequel to the series that ended up being the swan song by Philip Kerr. Gunther gets the order to help investigate into the killings of prostitutes by a figure known as 'Winnetou' by Berliners, in reference to the character from Karl May's novels. And the investigation will take Gunther to the darker side of the Berlin of the era.
This is the first book by Kerr I have ever read. And I have to say I am pleasantly surprised: nice and streamlined written style, with little touches and flourishes that give life to the text; well developed characters (even if of the card-board variety); and an amazing depiction of the life and atmosphere of an era (or at least as how we could imagine that era to be). The plot, the mystery, is also well told and developed, even if it is a little bit (a lot) obvious. The only big downside is the constant messages around strong-men-that-drink-and-get-all-the-women type. It gets a little bit too much, our hero your prototypical and boring charming rogue.
The best: the characters have personality; the atmosphere and the environment are top-notch
The worst: the killer is an obvious choice; those 'bad&violent-men-but-also-soft-inside' archetypes that perpetuate silly (and dubious) ideas around masculinity
Alternatives: older like "Man In The Queue"; Japanese like Edogawa or Kirino; Val McDermid or Camilla Läckberg
6/10
(English)
This is the first book by Kerr I have ever read. And I have to say I am pleasantly surprised: nice and streamlined written style, with little touches and flourishes that give life to the text; well developed characters (even if of the card-board variety); and an amazing depiction of the life and atmosphere of an era (or at least as how we could imagine that era to be). The plot, the mystery, is also well told and developed, even if it is a little bit (a lot) obvious. The only big downside is the constant messages around strong-men-that-drink-and-get-all-the-women type. It gets a little bit too much, our hero your prototypical and boring charming rogue.
The best: the characters have personality; the atmosphere and the environment are top-notch
The worst: the killer is an obvious choice; those 'bad&violent-men-but-also-soft-inside' archetypes that perpetuate silly (and dubious) ideas around masculinity
Alternatives: older like "Man In The Queue"; Japanese like Edogawa or Kirino; Val McDermid or Camilla Läckberg
6/10
(English)
Saturday, March 14, 2020
One of Us is Lying - Karen M. McManus
A highly entertaining but shallow book, "One of Us is Lying" is not the worst you can do on a free afternoon, but it won't really surprise or shock you particularly.
It all goes around Simon, Simon being the 'official gossiper' in his particular high school, the teenager who gets to know all the secrets to then post them on the internet, to the chagrin, anger or enjoyment of his schoolmates.
Simon dying from an allergic reaction pretty soon in the book. To then becoming the four students that were with him in detention suspects in his death. While reading it, it reminded me, of course, of all those shows like "Pretty Little Liars", where teenagers with extraordinary romantic/sex lives get entangled in surprising mysteries and deaths.
We get prototypes here: the jock, the geek, the pretty and shallow one, the bad guy... Who McManus does a great job in developing, creating nuanced and full of life characters, people you will feel close to and care about, and worry that one of them may or may not be Simon's killer.
However, all this great character creation and development, and stale but enjoyable depiction of high school life, gets bogged down by a pretty poor mystery, and a resolution that seems fairly obvious once you are one third into the book.
The best: the characters are well fleshed out and you will care about them and their world and evolution
The worst: you can see where all of it is going pretty soon; some of the connections to real life events may not sit well with some readers (in particular if you are sensitive/close to those events)
Further reading: there is so much mystery to read out there... so, "Gone Girl" or if you are more into YA... not a mystery one, but "The Hunger Games" or "Cinder" are highly entertaining
6/10
(English)
It all goes around Simon, Simon being the 'official gossiper' in his particular high school, the teenager who gets to know all the secrets to then post them on the internet, to the chagrin, anger or enjoyment of his schoolmates.
Simon dying from an allergic reaction pretty soon in the book. To then becoming the four students that were with him in detention suspects in his death. While reading it, it reminded me, of course, of all those shows like "Pretty Little Liars", where teenagers with extraordinary romantic/sex lives get entangled in surprising mysteries and deaths.
We get prototypes here: the jock, the geek, the pretty and shallow one, the bad guy... Who McManus does a great job in developing, creating nuanced and full of life characters, people you will feel close to and care about, and worry that one of them may or may not be Simon's killer.
However, all this great character creation and development, and stale but enjoyable depiction of high school life, gets bogged down by a pretty poor mystery, and a resolution that seems fairly obvious once you are one third into the book.
The best: the characters are well fleshed out and you will care about them and their world and evolution
The worst: you can see where all of it is going pretty soon; some of the connections to real life events may not sit well with some readers (in particular if you are sensitive/close to those events)
Further reading: there is so much mystery to read out there... so, "Gone Girl" or if you are more into YA... not a mystery one, but "The Hunger Games" or "Cinder" are highly entertaining
6/10
(English)
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