Behind Blue Eyes

Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr by Garth Nix My rating: 2 of 5 stars When I glance at the reviews for this book, I'm actually surprised. Not that people would like this book, but that everyone would like it. I thought for sure there would be more of a split on it. I mean, the writing is good. Nix can put together sentences and his plot is soundly articulated. His Old Kingdom is a vast and impressive construct, and his imagination is superb. There were even a couple really good scenes in here. I just...I don't know. I couldn't wait for it to end. I hated the characters. As much as I love Tim Curry as a narrator, even he couldn't save this audiobook. Lirael was annoying, and her dog was worse. Sam started out alright, but I came to loathe him more than Lirael herself by the end. Mogget the cat was pretty good, nearly as enjoyable as he had been in the first book. The first book, which I had liked. What happened here? Ahhh, don't know. Maybe it's suffering from m...

Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Almost 4.0 (As I write this review, I'm actually rounding up to 4) This was a fun read. I liked it better than Howl's Moving Castle , which I'd read earlier in 2014. There was a nice mixture of wit and magic, and some characters I could really get behind. The concept was absurdly brilliant - a fantasy world used as a theme park by Pilgrim Parties that come to live the adventure. Derk is chosen to be this year's Darklord and must go out of his way to give the tourists the best possible epic thrillride. Execution was nice too. Jones had a way of smooth prose and timing. This book was actually much darker than I'd expected (despite the title) and I'm not really sure I'd call it "YA", as the marketing has it. The light tone (though darker subject matter at times) and satirical approach might have played into that, but it certainly wasn't childish. Much. There was a mo...

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. This really had some potential, and some of the stuff was downright hilarious. But it did seem to run a bit long at times. Still, Christopher Moore is a funny dude and I'll read more of his stuff. Plus, the audio was dead-on. The narrator, Tony Roberts, had a great voice for narration and nailed the characters. His delivery of Moore's punchlines was spot on too. View all my reviews

The Free by Brian Ruckley My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC review copy from NetGalley . Looking for a stand-alone epic fantasy? Want some grimdark gritty kick-ass action and some badass magic-fuqery? Look no further. If Joe Abercrombie and Steven Erikson had a secret love child, this would be it. A gruff company of legendary warriors thrown in together with some cool battle scenes, occasional humor, and a wicked magic system with such dire consequences. Magic users that throw this fuqery and its results, along with the cost of these energies, both to the receivers and casters of said magic. Why 4-stars rather than 5, if it has all the great things I like about fantasy? Well, the pacing was a bit slow at times, and the ending had some parts that seemed rather abrupt. Though the majority of the ending was good for me. This book is satisfactory as a self-contained story, but it might just leave you wanting more anyway. There's a lot of great wo...

A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry by Charles Dickens My rating: 5 of 5 stars Brilliant! Here we have the wonderful prose of Charles Dickens, read by one of the best voices out there, Tim Curry. I love Dickens for language and humor, and Curry captured that perfectly here. He really brought Scrooge to life. A great story to begin with really comes home for Christmas with this audiobook. View all my reviews

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn My rating: 3 of 5 stars Eh..I didn't like this as well as Dark Objects or Gone Girl . Still pretty good, though. Flynn is certainly good at characterizing messed up people, and making the unlikeable ones compelling. Twists and turns and dark secrets. Good stuff overall, and pretty good first novel all in all. View all my reviews

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn My rating: 4 of 5 stars Wow. Another mindfuq from Gillian Flynn. I see a theme in the making. I think I still liked Gone Girl a little better, but not by much. This had some really interesting developments too. I probably liked the character set a bit better in this one, though to say I like any actual Flynn characters might be a stretch. Some I thought I liked, but eventually decided they were fucked up. Some characters I loathed though, which didn't really happen as much in Gone Girl . I really hated Runner and Deondra with the heat of a thousand hells. I haven't loathed characters like this in some time. And when I say I hated the characters, I mean that I hated the actual characters. I love how they were written. I'm supposed to hate those two, and Flynn did a really good job making me loathe them. So yes, after two of her books that what I think Flynn specializes in: well written good characters that make good story but that I wouldn...