Book Review: “Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones” by Brandon Sanderson

alcatraz versus the scriveners bonesThis is actually the second book in this series by Brandon Sanderson. If any of you are interested, you can find my review of the first book in the series, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians over at 20four12 here.

With that out of the way, we can get to the actual review. Alcatraz and his trusty companions are once again at odds with the dastardly faction of Librarians intent on taking over the world. This time, the group is trying to track down some more information about Alcatraz’s father who has disappeared because he is supposedly the only person who knows the next step to defeating the Librarians.

Alcatraz puts his amazing (and much more important and powerful than originally portrayed) power of breaking things to use quite often in this installment as he explores the ancient Library of Alexandria. This time, his uncle is along for the ride who happens to have the power of getting lost. His cousin is around as well with the power to wake up looking ugly.

If you can’t tell by now, this entire book is written somewhat tongue in cheek by Sanderson, as is, I’m expecting the entire series. At first reading this book is a little bit difficult because the narrator (Alcatraz) is often running off on tangents, discussing what appear to be trivial details, and being rather self-deprecating; all while advancing the story. It takes a little getting used to but it works, trust me. I wouldn’t want to read books like this over and over in a row, but one every so often is a bit of a humorous treat. Unless your heart is made of stone you should find yourself laughing or chuckling fairly regularly at this book. Both the situations that the characters find themselves in and the quirky humor of the author give it a light-hearted, fun air.

The characters of Alcatraz and Bastille grow up a bit in this book from where we left them in the first book. They learn a little bit more about themselves, what they really want to be as they get older, and what their responsibilities mean. It’s not overbearing, but just enough growth that you can start to feel for them as characters a little more.

Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones is technically a middle grade level book, but I heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good yarn. It’s outrageous, daring, quirky, and has surprising depth.

Grade: B
Length: 336 pages

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Born at Midnight by C. C. Hunter

Born at Midnight by C. C. Hunter(Cover picture courtesy of Down The Rabbit Hole.)

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens—and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.”  Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches, and fairies train side by side, learning to harness their powers, control their magic, and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks, either.  Or does she?  They insist Kylie is one of them and that she was brought here for a reason.  As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas.  Derek’s a half Fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past.  Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear: Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs.

Pardon me while I go bang my head against the wall.

*dull thuds are heard in the background*

Okay, even that couldn’t stop me from drawing similarities to the following books: Marked, The Summoning, City of Bones and yes, even Twilight.  I’ve read the same plot many times, just in different reincarnations.  This is just the latest, which is why I’ve developed the following formula for a successful YA urban fantasy:

Take 1 “average-looking” but really hot teenage girl who’s going through tough times at home and at school.  Add in one huge, embarrassing incident where she either gets caught doing something bad or her powers are revealed and is shipped off to a special home or school.  At said home/school Ms. Judgy will determine everyone a slut or a freak, but eventually realize that they are magical beings and she is as well, but that she is unusually powerful or completely unique.  Add in 2 hot guys: one “nice” guy and one “dangerous” guy who are both magical beings and both are in love with her.  Throughout her training, Ms. Judgy will realize that the people are not so bad and near the end of the book will uncover a plot against the school/home/students and foil it, winning the respect of everyone except your mandatory Mean Girl.  End on a cliffhanger.

Congratulations, you have now written a best-selling YA novel!

Also, I don’t need to do a plot summary because guess what?  I just described the entire plot of Born at Midnight!  Kylie is a vapid, completely uninteresting, typical YA heroine.  She’s supposed to be your average girl, but has guys tripping over themselves to woo her and telling her constantly how beautiful she is.  (Hint: real life usually isn’t like that.)  Hunter tries to add in some girl-empowerment by showing how ‘spunky’ Kylie is by breaking up the fights between her roommates and standing up to Burnett and Austin, two government agents.  Instead, it just comes off as contrived.

The plot is painfully slow at some points, but speeds up in the end to trick readers into getting the next book.  It has some ‘twists’, but I was able to predict all of them using the above formula.  Although she doesn’t choose which guy by the end of the book, I can make a safe bet by saying she’ll choose the “dangerous” guy, Lucas at the end of the series.  They always choose the “bad” boys over nice guys.  This is certainly one series I will not be continuing.

I give this book 1/5 stars.

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The Return Man by V. M. Zito

The Return Man by V. M. Zito(Cover picture courtesy of Staffer’s Book Review.)

The outbreak tore the U. S. in two.  The east remains a safe haven.  The west has become a ravaged wilderness.  They call it the evacuated states.

It is here that Henry Marco makes his living.  Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead and delivers peace.

Now Homeland Security wants Marco for a mission unlike any other.  He must return to California, where the apocalypse began.  Where a secret is hidden.  And where his own tragic past waits to punish him again.

But in the wastelands of America, you never know who—or what—is watching you…

Whoa.

I honestly can’t decide which book I love the most: Feed by Mira Grant or The Return Man by V. M. Zito.  And for those of you who know how much I loved Feed, you’ll know that that’s the best comparison I can give.  This is the best book I’ve read in the past few months and is a fitting start to my reading challenge.

Marco is living in the Evacuated States, working as a return man, someone who kills the zombies of people who hire him.  The logic behind this is that no one wants to know their loved one is shambling around somewhere, slowly rotting and possibly even suffering.  However, when the Department of Homeland Security ‘hires’ (coerces) him into putting down one particular man he knew a while ago, before the Resurrection.  His connection to the man, Roger Ballard, is slowly revealed through flashbacks that, surprisingly, don’t halt the action.  V. M. Zito actually makes readers care about Marco, which is why the flashbacks are interesting and exciting.

However, Marco isn’t traveling alone to California to put down Roger.  He’s travelling with Kheng Wu, my favourite character.  I can’t say much about him because that would spoil things, but his back and forth dialogue with Marco is priceless.  The Return Man rotates between Wu’s and Marco’s points of view, which is a good thing because Wu is hiding his motivations and true identity from Marco and despite himself, will come to respect the American.

The Return Man is a pretty serious story, which is why it’s a relief that Zito used humour occasionally to keep things from becoming too depressing.  Mira Grant did the same thing with Feed (another reason why the comparison is so fitting).  Both authors write things in graphic detail, but the subject of this detail is different.

Mira Grant focuses more on the Kellis-Amberlee virus that creates zombies whereas Zito focuses on the zombies themselves.  In extremely graphic detail.  I expected some details, but the warnings in the Amazon reviews did not do it justice.  Although it takes a lot to gross me out, I suggest that the weak of stomach and regular readers do not eat while reading The Return Man.  Especially not something chewy and meaty like jerky.  You have been warned.  So don’t be like a lot of people who gave the book a mediocre rating because of the gore.  Since I’ve warned you, you have no excuse.  Here’s a sample passage from page 153:

“A sludge of blood and offal carpeted the floor, inches thick.  But solid.  Hardened with time.  The bodies had been dead for years, dried now and colourless.  Spines torn apart, brains gnashed.  These victims had been devoured too quickly, too completely to resurrect.”

The plot is fast-paced and unpredictable, what with zombies around every corner.  Unlike a lot of books with huge plot twists, the ending of The Return Man actually makes sense, even if it is a bit sad.  And what a plot twist in the Epilogue, just when you think it’s all over!  I want the next book now, but unfortunately there is no word on when Zito plans to write the sequel.  After all, his debut novel was just released in 2012.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Mad Reviewer Reading Challenge Has Begun

UPDATE: The lovely Ms. Diantha Jones designed this button for me, which you can all paste on your blogs as part of the challenge if you like.  Just please link the picture to my first challenge post here.

The Mad Review Reading Challenge

Well it’s January 1, 2013 and so my reading challenge has now started.  In case you missed it, I figured out how I’m going to do the draw.

1.  Mad Reviewer: 104 books in one year (4 entries)

2.  Crazy Reviewer: 52 books in one year (3 entries)

3.  Slightly Sane Reviewer: 26 books in one year (2 entries)

4.  Sane Reviewer: 12 books in one year (1 entry)

I am still figuring out the exact prize, which will likely be larger than I first thought because Mark Lee of The Masquerade Crew is once again helping me out by pooling our resources.  That’s really all I can say right now, but just know that the prize is likely more than just one free book.

I forgot to mention that if you’re new here and want to join the challenge, be my guest!  Anyone can join between now and the deadline (11:59pm Central Time December 31, 2013).  Anyone who reaches their first goal can upgrade and head on to the next level or if they don’t reach their high goal, will have the number rounded off to the next lowest level. Continue reading →

The Best and Worst of 2012

It’s been one heck of a year for me, that’s for sure.  Not only did I read and review 260 books, I’ve made so many new friends and discovered so many great new authors I never would have found otherwise.  When I first started my blog, my personal life was chaotic but the daily posting regime has helped me with time management and increased my sense of responsibility.  It’s also made me realize that I absolutely love blogging and will likely be here this time next year.  After all, I have to finish my own reading challenge, don’t I?

Since this is a recap of the entire year, I’m not only going to do my best and worst posts in terms of traffic, but also the most commented, most liked and the ones I think are my best work.  Well, here we go:

The 5 Best Posts (Traffic)

1.  The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton (2, 615 hits)

2.  The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome (2, 467 hits)

3.  Matilda by Roald Dahl (2, 025 hits)

4.  The Giver by Lois Lowry (1, 701 hits)

5.  Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1, 414 hits)

Now, for me this is not all that surprising.  I’ve consistently had search engine traffic for each post and most posts are older posts, which gave an advantage over the other posts that are just now gaining speed.

Continue reading →