Blood Red Road by Moira Young

 

 Series: Dust Lands
Author: Moira Young
Page Count: 459
Published: June 7th, 2011
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
  2.5 Stars ★★

Saba lives with her father, her brother Lugh, and her sister Emmi. Their home is in Silverlake, where they live alone beside a drying-out lake and face sandstorms regularly. When Lugh is taken by strange men on horseback, Saba vows to rescue him and she starts on a journey to get him back.

But her journey is anything but smooth, and she must face harsh weather, dangerous creatures and people with evil intentions. With the help of some friends along the way, she's hopeful to get Lugh back before anything happens to him. But what if she doesn't make it in time?

I feel a bit conflicted over this book. There were some things that I liked, but the things that I didn't like are quite significant and affected my reading experience greatly. I hate giving books a low rating, but I can't find any way to justify rating this over a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

So the best thing about this book was the story. I loved the concept of a dystopian wasteland and the thing that really kept me reading was the events and struggles that Saba faced, and the hope that she would find her brother. I had trouble putting this book down because I wanted to hurry up and read it to find out what happened to Lugh, I wanted to see if she would save him. 

Saba's journey was an interesting one, filled with fights and scheming and making new friends. However, while I enjoyed the story, I can't say that I enjoyed the book itself.

The big issue for me was the writing style. The author decided not to use punctuation such as quotation marks when someone was talking, so that made for some confusion when there was a conversation between several people. I'd have to go back and read the page over to make sure I knew who was saying what. Sometimes I couldn't tell if something was being said out loud, or only in Saba's head. 

To add to the confusion was the deliberate misspelling of words to convey an accent or style of speaking. I understand wanting the reader to know what Saba sounds like, but this along with the lack of proper punctuation just added more confusion. I get that the author was probably trying to make her book unique, trying to make Saba seem more real and genuine, however it didn't work for me. 

I felt a bit distanced from the events that took place. In many books I feel like I'm actually there with the characters, and I find that makes a story all the better. But I felt more like just a spectator in this one, and I found that disappointing. If not for my interest in the ending, I probably wouldn't have continued reading past the first one hundred pages. 

Overall, a unique read with a great concept, but the writing style didn't work for me. 

Fans of futuristic and dystopian novels may like this. If you like action-packed stories and the writing style doesn't seem like it would bother you, I think it would be worth a try. 

Find Blood Red Road on Goodreads

~Thank You~

Hey everybody, how's your Friday going?

I was considering how my blog has changed and evolved over the past year and few months, and it got me thinking about how my interactions with my followers and readers has changed and grown as well. It got me wondering if all of you knew how much I appreciate you.

So, here it is!

I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who follows me, reads my posts, comments on them, re-tweets them, favourites/likes them on my various social media, et cetera. It means a lot to me to have people interested in what I have to say about one of my favourite things: books.

To make it clear, I don't blog for a follower count or a comment goal. But these little things add a smile to my face!

Sometimes, when I've had a tough day, I come home to a notification that somebody has commented on an Instagram photo, or a blog post, and it brightens my day immediately. It means a lot to me and I am so grateful for every single comment, every single follower, every single like....

I'm hoping to continue growing my blog and reaching a larger audience, hopefully at some point I'll be able to post more often, and maybe even host a giveaway!

So, that's really all I have to say for now. I know it's not a lot, but it conveys how happy I feel and how grateful I am for all of you!!!

Thank You!

Shelf Control: The Peculiars

This feature is from Bookshelf Fantasies

In this feature, you can share a book that you want to read that you already own.

My pick this week is The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

This dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine, will captivate fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance.

On her 18th birthday, Lena Mattacascar decides to search for her father, who disappeared into the northern wilderness of Scree when Lena was young. Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena’s father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears.

(Synopsis from Goodreads)

How I got it:

I got it at Chapters! It was on sale.

When I got it:

2 years ago.

Why I want to read it:

I initially bought this book because the cover intrigued me. After reading the synopsis, I confirmed that I wanted to read it because I am interested in books about people who are 'different' in some way, and this book seemed to have those kinds of themes.

Have you read The Peculiars? What did you think? Feel free to comment below!

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan

 

Series: Battle Hall Davies
Author: Sara Ryan
Page Count: 215
Published: May 26th, 2003
Publisher: Speak
  4 Stars ★★★★

Nicola is taking a summer course in archaeology at the Siegel Institute, because she wants to make sure that archaeology is really a field she wants to go into. She expects that confirming her dream of becoming an archaeologist will be the focus of this summer, until she meets Battle. 

Battle is beautiful, a minister's daughter, and soon captures Nicola's heart. While helping her new friends deal with their own issues, Nicola has to come to terms with her sexuality, and face her attraction to another girl. 

I thought that this was a nice twist on the YA summer romance trend. It has a lot of the same elements as others in this branch of YA, including spending time at another location, in this case an academic camp or institute, it includes making new friends and helping them deal with their struggles, and of course experiencing attraction to a beautiful peer. The twist is that two girls are the love interests, which is a welcome change.

Nicola is a great main character, I find her very relatable and believable because I feel like a lot of her struggles mirror those that teenagers face in real life, and therefore making a connection with her was very easy. Understanding a character's feelings and where they're coming from with their thoughts is important to me because it makes for a more emotional or a deeper read. 

Nicola is the kind of character you'd like to be friends with, the kind of person you'd be able to have a chat with and enjoy being around. Battle seems a bit more intimidating or untouchable, with Nicola's descriptions of her beauty and family issues, but she's still a generally likeable character as well. The rest of  Nicola's group of friends, Isaac, Kevin and Katrina, make the whole situation seem more plausible as well with their own issues, for example dealing with divorce. They were a great group of characters to read about and I like that over time they changed or evolved, even if only a little bit.

The author's approach to sexuality was well done, with Nicola's struggles and internal dialogue being extremely believable and realistic, and avoiding some of the stereotypical LGBTQ tropes I've come across in other books. The word bisexual was even used, and in a fairly positive way as well, which really impressed me because I feel like multisexual identities are so rarely discussed in an outright manner. The addition of homophobic characters was necessary, in my opinion, to mirror real-life issues that LGBTQ people face and the author delivered on this platform as well. Overall, I am very impressed with this book.

I do take issue with the length of the novel! The author did such a great job, but the book was so short. I wish it had been longer, and that maybe certain issues could have been expanded upon, such as Battle's family life. I'm going to be looking for the sequel and I really hope that it lives up to Empress of the World. 

I recommend this book to people looking for realistic portrayals of LGBTQ struggles in YA novels. If you want a short contemporary romance, this book is for you.

Find Empress of the World on Goodreads

Top 7 Book Crushes

So I saw a post I really liked at The Butterfly Reader and it got me thinking....All I really see is "book boyfriends", where people describe the hot, sweet, or otherwise desirable male characters they come across in books. But what about all of the lovely book girlfriends? What about swoon-worthy nonbinary characters?

As a pansexual person, I personally find myself attracted to people of all genders / regardless of gender. This, of course, carries over into the realm of book characters! So I thought I'd join in on these lists with my own interpretation. Here are my top 10 book crushes.


1. Raven from Vampire Kisses

 

She seems like she would be super fun to hang out with, she's sweet and I have a thing for goths. 

2. Sam from Shiver

 

A werewolf? Who sings????? Sign me up! 

3. Eve from Eve

 

Eve has a rebellious side, she's incredibly intelligent and she fights for what she believes in. I find those things super attractive in a person.

4. Varen from Nevermore

 

This list would not be complete without Varen, a mysterious goth boy who kind of reminds me of myself. Though that might just be wishful thinking ;) 

5. Meghan from The Iron King

 

I feel like Meghan is a very brave character and is loyal towards those she loves. 

6. Tanith from Skulduggery Pleasant / The Maleficent Seven

She's a bad-ass. She's got magic. She's pretty. She's determined. What's there not to love?

7. Bram from Dearly, Departed

I think that Bram is a really sweet character, and he's funny too. Definitely one of my book crushes.

So those are my top 7 book crushes as of now! I'm sure I'll end up with many more in the future. Who are your top book crushes?