Friday, January 7, 2011

Recap 12/18 to 1/7


In case you missed anything, here's a recap of what was posted Saturday, December 18th through Friday, January 7th. This is a larger Recap post due to my holiday break.



Reviews:


A Match Made in High School, by Kristin Walker
(Click on the link to go to my review)


Forgive My Fins, by Tera Lynn Childs
(Click on the link to go to my review)


The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall
(Click on the link to go to my review)


The Vespertine, by Saundra Mitchell 
(Click on the link to go to my review)


The Two Princesses of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levine
(Click on the link to go to my review) 


Cloaked in Red, by Vivian Vande Velde
(Click on the link to go to my review) 


Cover review: The Luxe
(Click on the link to go to my review)


Cover review: The Replacement
(Click on the link to go to my review) 

Memes:


Spotlight: 

Blog Award Nomination
2011 Challenges Entered 
How To Make a Progress Bar
How to Customize a Progress Bar
Busting the Newbie Blues Recap

Vote: Do you want an email alert when I respond to your comments?
(Poll in the top right sidebar. Closes at the end of the month.)


What's Your Status? Is a new meme created by Zakiya from Butterfly Feet Walking on Life where we recap our reading week. Here's how my week went:

Finished:



Tighter, by Adele Griffin
(Click on the link to go to Goodreads)

StarCrossed, by Elizabeth C. Bunce
(Click on the link to go to Goodreads)


The Iron King, by Julie Kagawa
(Click on the link to go to Goodreads) 


My Soul to Take, by Rachel Vincent
(Click on the link to go to Goodreads) 


Dead Beautiful, by Yvonne Woon
(Click on the link to go to Goodreads) 

Currently Reading: 




Athena the Brain (Goddess Girls #1), by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
(Click on the link to go to Goodreads)
 
Did Not Finish: 



I truly am so disappointed I didn't like this book. I had never read Robin McKinley before and, knowing that is a travesty, I figured what better book to start with than Pegasus? Honestly, I was captivated by the cover. It is gorgeous. One of those covers I want to hang on my wall as artwork. It's stunning, and it's even more beautiful in person. 

But a book is more than its cover, and unfortunately I found this book tedious. The narration constantly shifts from the present to memories of the past, without any warning or indication. This not only made things confusing, but I also was never really able to get into the story. Just as I would become immersed in events, the narrative would suddenly shift to a memory. I felt like I was reading a bunch of fragments only loosely tied together. Another effect of this was that the story never really took off. Events happened, but only after a ton of detours and tangents into only somewhat relevant memories. I read up to page 126, and nothing happened that wasn't already described on the jacket. 

I kept trying to force myself to read this book because I can see McKinley is a brilliant writer. Her characters, world, and writing style are just what I want. I can easily see myself falling in love with her books. The slow pacing and back and forth with the memories was killing me, though. The final nail in the coffin was when I discovered this book apparently ends on a gigantic cliffhanger with absolutely no resolution. There will be a sequel (and maybe a third?), and so, given that, I am not about to force myself to the end of this book only to have it not actually end. 

I'll wait until the complete story is published and maybe try again. Or maybe I'll just try another McKinley book in the meantime. I have a number on my TBR. 

The Healer's Apprentice, by Melanie Dickerson
Page 26 of 261

There's nothing wrong with this book, but I didn't connect with the characters and things seemed a little too...smooth? Perfect? Does that make sense? The main character seemed a little *too* good. I read a few reviews looking for information about the characters. It seems others said similar things. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, but it didn't work for me now.

Miss anything last week? Click here to see what happened.




Posted by Small Review at 12:46 AM
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9 comments:

  1. AyleeJanuary 7, 2011 at 1:52 AM

    Hmm, I've heard good things about Robin McKinley as well so I've been meaning to read something from her. Perhaps not Pegasus though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 7, 2011 at 5:15 AM

    Hi, just a quick comment to let you know I'm still reading :) I have read most of your reviews above. I really should comment more!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Small ReviewJanuary 7, 2011 at 9:31 AM

    Aylee, I'm thinking of trying either Beauty or The Blue Sword. I've heard positive things about both of those. Her writing was very nice, just not the style of storytelling she chose.

    The Slowest Bookworm, Thank you! I appreciate you letting me know, but as long as you're happy then I'm happy :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. BookGeekJanuary 7, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    I will say, I LOVE Robin McKinley, but haven't read Pegasus. I would recommend The Blue Sword or The Hero and the Crown. They are older books, but I still reread them. They are so rich in history and lore and have incredibly vibrant characters.

    Also, I am continually stunned by how much friggin' reading you do! *bows*

    ReplyDelete
  5. danyaJanuary 7, 2011 at 1:19 PM

    Wow, you were busy over the holidays! I know what you mean about Pegasus - I found the first part very slow-moving and it had to go back to the library before I really got into it. I had heard beforehand that it ends on a cliffhanger so perhaps I should wait until book 2 is published before trying it again. Don't give up on McKinley though! I love her book Beauty, that's the one I personally would recommend.

    ReplyDelete
  6. La ToyaJanuary 7, 2011 at 2:53 PM

    Love that you do a recap! How cool are you?!

    Sorry to hear you didn't like Pegasus..from your review it sounds like I would've hated it as well.

    Goddess Girls looks super cute!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Small ReviewJanuary 8, 2011 at 3:34 PM

    Book Geek, I will definitely be checking out more Robin McKinley. I own a copy of The Blue Sword, so I think I'm going to try reading that one for a few of my challenges. Haha, I'm always frustrated by how little I read compared to how long my TBR is!

    Danya, I'm thinking I'm going to wait until the next book in Pegasus is published too. I won't give up on her though! I promise! I've heard nothing but excellent things about Beauty.

    Lazy Girl, Hehe, thanks! I totally took the idea from a bunch of other bloggers. :P

    Goddess Girls was really cute! I should have a review up Tuesday (if I can write it in time!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Zakiya LadyWingsJanuary 9, 2011 at 11:06 AM

    Great post this week! Thanks for participating! :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Gina @ My PreciousFebruary 28, 2011 at 2:50 PM

    Ok, makes total sense why you didn't like the Pegasus sounds like you may give it another chance when its closer to the release date of book two, but then again maybe not. I hate it when a storyline is clouded with tense shifts, memories or character changes without warning because I struggle to follow what's going on in the story.

    One book, however, that I almost gave up on called Tuesday tells it Slant uses similar writing styles, but I'm glad I chose to keep reading because suddenly out of no where the author begins to tie everything together and it all begins to make perfect sense. It ended up being one of my favorite books. Very creative indeed!

    ReplyDelete

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