Review: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brandon Sanderson got me into the epic fantasy genre, so of course I could count on him to engage me during a reading slump. Seriously, he has never failed to wow me, other than Way of Kings (which I actually ran out of time since it was due at the library) which I'll be rereading.

Review: The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I quite genuinely enjoyed the plot of this book, which is pretty amazing considering that my usual tastes are for character-development based books.

I loved all the characters, especially despite the fact that even though this is a middle grade novel. All the characters were very morally gray. In fact, Alice, even with her natural good nature acknowledged that she would have to yield to some pretty shady tactics to reach her own goals. And you can't even fault her for it, her situation really is almost completely out of her control, and drastic measures call for drastic actions.

Review: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Boy, oh, boy.

I did not see that coming.

I listened to the audiobook of this, the narrator was great, and I loved listening to him switch to different British accents.

The plot of this book was great, the plot twists were even better. I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant eating soup, and when the plot twist hit me I pretty much screamed in front of everyone, drew quite a few suspicious glances haha.

Review: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

'that is the secret of happiness and virtue - liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that. Making people like their inescapable social destiny.'

This entire novel is an argument between two conflicting ideologies, moral codes, and standards of behaviour.

The World State is a "utopian" society in which no one must wait in want of something. Gratification of appetite is instant, emotional extremes are never reached, desire for intense relationships are conditioned out with neo-Pavlovian methods while they are children. The individual is sacrificed for the stability of society: "Everybody belongs to everybody".

Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really wanted to give this 5 stars.

The first half of the story was great, out of everything I enjoyed reading the aphorisms of Harry. He is a despicable character, but some of the things he says does have some merit to them. While the other half of the things he says are just complete fallacies, and have no ground in reality. I've never felt an author agree and disagree simultaneously so strongly with his own character. I could really pick up on the aphorisms that Oscar Wilde agreed with, and the ones which he used to mock Harry.

Review: Durarara!!, Vol. 2 by Ryohgo Narita

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loving this series so far, especially the light novel version. Again, like my last review, I'm going to repeat how much easier it is to follow along with the novels. Everything's so much more straight forward. Narita Ryohgo is probably one of my favorite authors now. I just have one question...
Did this man study psychology??

It could be said that this entire series is about the human condition... And boy, did Narita get so much stuff spot on.

Well, I'm too tired to say anything else, I'm currently holding myself back from buying the 3rd and 4rth novels until the 5th one is translated in November.

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Review: Durarara!!, Vol. 1 by Ryohgo Narita

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me start off by saying that Durarara!! is probably my absolute favorite series.
Ever.

The reason for this is the characters.
I have watched the anime countless times, read parts of the manga, and searched up everything that a person could possibly search up about this series. Everybody has that one series or novel that changes their life on a massive scale, this is what Durarara!! is to me.
Heck, I even read the afterword at the end of the book. That is how obsessed I am.

Review: Starbird Murphy and the World Outside by Karen Finneyfrock

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So, this didn't quite go the way I expected.

Starbird Murphy is about a girl that lives on a communal farm, she is completely oblivious to the rest of the world. She has no idea what cellphones, and computers are. And is totally ignorant to pop culture. One day she gets her "Calling" to go to the farm owned café in Seattle, where she is finally introduced to the rest of the modern world.

What bothered me was the incredibly slow plot. It felt like there was a lot of unnecessary filler that was kind of repetitive, the first half of the book could have been much shorter. The second half on the other hand was much better, and once I got to it, it felt like the book finally started.

I loved how the book touched on propaganda, and how religion can occasionally be used as a tool of mind control when in the wrong hands. The book teaches us to question the environment we are raised in and the things we are taught.

What was interesting was that the "main villain" didn't actually have bad intentions, but he did use some very unethical methods.

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Review: The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, this is such a sad melancholic book.

Pay close attention to the lessons in this book, it's trying to teach you something. You know what it is, we all know what it is. But, for some reason, these lessons are something we can't truly understand till after we are dead. It's like a word on the tip of your tongue, that's what the lesson feels like. As if you know what the ghost in the story is telling you, but you can't quite reach it.

As other reviewers have mentioned, nothing happens in this book. Nothing. The entire book is like a single fleeting thought. Just like life, and time. But it is so, so important.

Don't ask me what the lesson is, because even I can't quite understand it yet. Any analysis or evaluation of the messages within this book has turned into emotions I can't understand, completely intangible things, yet there all the same. I do know one thing, this book has increased my appreciation for life tenfold.

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