Title: Eleventh Metal
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Collection: Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 21 of 831
Published: 2016, Tor Books (first published 2012)
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5
Title: Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Collection: Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 40 of 831
Published: 2016, Tor Books (first published (2014)
My Grade: 3 out of 5
Title: Crossroads of Twilight
Author: Robert Jordan
Series: The Wheel of Time #10
Narrator: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 26 hours 4 minutes
Published: 2017, MacMillan Audio (originally published 2003)
My Grade: 3 out of 5
Review Summary: Crossroads of Twilight is a slower-paced, but still extremely detailed instalment in The Wheel of Time series, focusing heavily on political maneuvering and the aftermath of earlier events.
T
itle: Winterkeep
Author: Kristin Cashore
Series: Graceling Realm #4
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 528
Published: 2021, Dial Books for Young Readers
My Grade: 3 out of 5
GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION
Four years after Bitterblue left off, a new land has been discovered to the east: Torla; and the closest nation to Monsea is Winterkeep. Winterkeep is a land of miracles, a democratic republic run by people who like each other, where people speak to telepathic sea creatures, adopt telepathic foxes as pets, and fly across the sky in ships attached to balloons.
But when Bitterblue’s envoys to Winterkeep drown under suspicious circumstances, she and Giddon and her half sister, Hava, set off to discover the truth–putting both Bitterblue’s life and Giddon’s heart to the test when Bitterbue is kidnapped. Giddon believes she has drowned, leaving him and Hava to solve the mystery of what’s wrong in Winterkeep.
Lovisa Cavenda is the teenage daughter of a powerful Scholar and Industrialist (the opposing governing parties) with a fire inside her that is always hungry, always just nearly about to make something happen. She is the key to everything, but only if she can figure out what’s going on before anyone else, and only if she’s willing to transcend the person she’s been all her life.
MY REVIEW
It wasn’t that long ago that I read the first three books from Kristin Cashore. No, wait, it’s already been 7 years. In any case, I’ve since then thought that the Graceling Realm was one of my favorite series. I absolutely loved it. All the colors and vibrancy of the story. I especially loved Fire, the second novel. It was beautiful!
With that said, I had high expectations on this fourth instalment in the series. And I have to admit that it did not live up to them. Not even close. It was still a good read at the end, but it took me about half of it to really get into it and actually wanting to continue to read.
At first, I couldn’t sympathize with the characters. They didn’t feel real and alive and Lovisa’s behavior was unrealistic and erratic. It felt like she did things that didn’t quite follow a red thread. Or maybe that was the character, just acting strange and irregular. She became more real at the end though. Something changed in the middle of the book with lots of things. The same things goes with natural conversations that felt more real at the end.
The pacing was different throughout as well. Sometimes the story flowed really well, like the last half of the book. The first half on the other hand sometimes felt like a stutter, the flow just wasn’t there.
I know that it is a young adult fantasy story, but this one, I got the impression that it was aimed for a younger crowd than the previous three, even if Bitterblue had grown even more. That wouldn’t have been a problem, if it weren’t for the fact that there was a lot of sex. Not A Court of Thorns and Roses much, and no details, butstill, sex in many different scenes. It was a bit contradictory.
And the last thing, the names. All of the names were aligned with the previous story, all made up. And then comes the main character, Lovisa. Maybe it’s not a common name outside of Sweden, but for me it was super weird reading all of these fantasy names, and right in the middle of it all, was the basic Svensson-Swede Lovisa.
In any case, the story wrapped up nicely and got really exciting at the end and my general thought when finishing it was that it was a good read, even if I did struggle a bit in the beginning. But that was probably because of the disappointment from my high expectations. Maybe, the first three are similar, just that I forgot since it was so long ago I read them. I remember them being amazing without being able to tell exactly why, it’s just the general feeling. Like with His Golden Compass. I don’t think I want to reread any of the series just in case I will change my mind about them. Winterkeep will get a 3, no time was wasted while reading it. I’m not sure I will pick up the next one (unnamed at the time of writing this review) right away at release. Depends on my TBR-pile at that moment.
Title: Kometen Kommer (~Comet in Moominvalley)
Author: Tove Jansson
Series: Mumintrollen #2 (~The Moomins)
Narrator: Mark Levengood
Genre: Fantasy, Children’s
Length: 3 hours 31 minutes
Published: 2007, Bonnier Audio (first published 1947)
My Grade: 3 out of 5
GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION
When Moomintroll learns that a comet will be passing by, he and his friend Sniff travel to the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains to consult the Professors. Along the way, they have many adventures, but the greatest adventure of all awaits them when they learn that the comet is headed straight for their beloved Moominvalley.
MY REVIEW
The second book about the Moomins was about the comet that flies across the sky. I like how it actually deals with science and explains it in a simple way. Even if it is not described in detail. There are new characters introduced and once again, I’m sad to have listened and not having seen the illustrations. The Snork and Snork Maiden are similar trolls, but change colors. The Snork is so extremely blue it’s ridiculous. But I guess that’s how a children’s book should be written, in extremes to show a point. I honestly found it a bit annoying. And something else that’s annoying is Sniff, the small animal they found in the first book. I’m guessing he’s gonna be by Moomintroll’s side throughout the whole series. He is such an annoying baby. Maybe these stories are better to read myself instead of listening to when the narrator apparently is doing such a good job at reading out loud, haha!
I still very much enjoy the setting and storylines though. So it still gets a three.
Title: The Haunted Mask
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #11
Genre: Horror
Pages: 144
Published: 1993, Scholastic
My Grade: 3 out of 5
GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION
How ugly is Carly Beth’s Halloween mask? It’s so ugly that it almost scared her little brother to death. So terrifying that even her friends are totally freaked out by it. It’s the best Halloween mask ever. It’s everything Carly Beth hoped it would be. And more. Maybe too much more. Because Halloween is almost over. And Carly Beth is still wearing that special mask…
MY REVIEW
It was a while ago I read any Goosebumps now. And honestly, it was because I had one book to reach my Goodreads’ goal of 20 books. I reached the goal before finishing this, but it’s nice to read a variety of books.
I have to admit that this book was not as predictable as the previous ones. All the chapters still end with a huge cliffhanger and some were super easy to know what the following page would read. I had no idea how it would end though. I had an idea and it was in the ballpark, but not entirely.
There was one thing that really bothered me though. When she first takes on the mask, she gets super angry and can’t control her feelings. But those feelings are completely gone later on? It feels like either Stine forgot about it, or he had a deeper meaning of it. But since it’s a children’s book, I doubt the latter.
It was an enjoyable read and gets a 3.
Title: Rich Dad Poor Dad
Author: Robert T. Kiyosaki
Series: Rich Dad #1
Genre: Nonfiction, finance
Length: 6 hours 9 minutes
Published: 2012, Brilliance Audio
My Grade: 3 out of 5
GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION
In Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, Robert Kiyosaki shares the story of his two dad: his real father, whom he calls his ‘poor dad,’ and the father of his best friend, the man who became his mentor and his ‘rich dad.’ One man was well educated and an employee all his life, the other’s education was “street smarts” over traditional classroom education and he took the path of entrepreneurship…a road that led him to become one of the wealthiest men in Hawaii. Robert’s poor dad struggled financially all his life, and these two dads—these very different points of view of money, investing, and employment—shaped Robert’s thinking about money.
Robert has challenged and changed the way tens of millions of people, around the world, think about money and investing and he has become a global advocate for financial education and the path to financial freedom. Rich Dad Poor Dad (and the Rich Dad series it spawned) has sold over 36 million copies in English and translated editions around the world.
Rich Dad Poor Dad will…
• explode the myth that you need to earn a high income to become rich
• challenge the belief that your house is an asset
• show parents why they can’t rely on the school system to teach their kids about money
• define, once and for all, an asset and a liability
• explain the difference between good debt and bad debt
• teach you to see the world of money from different perspectives
• discuss the shift in mindset that can put you on the road to financial freedom
MY REVIEW
I am one of those people that Robert Kiyosaki frowns upon who says that I have no interest in money. I’ve grown up thinking it doesn’t matter, as long as you don’t get yourself into debt. This April, in the middle of the Covid-19 crash of the market, I bought my first few stocks. I love numbers. So why have I never thought that money interested me? Honestly, it still doesn’t. Even if it is fun to watch the numbers change and my savings increase more rapidly than if I had them on a zero interest account. But money is not all, there are other things I value in life as well and I don’t want to spend my valuable free time working to get wealthy.
This book was however very inspirational. He lists the lessons his rich dad taught him at a young age in the beginning of the book and ends the book with a list of actions to take. I am very inexperienced and felt that that list did me next to no good. I don’t know what I should do.
He is mostly a real estate investor and he keeps saying that you don’t need money to make money, as long as you have financial intelligence. But even his example of a man who bought a house to rent and only paid the down payment of 7 900 USD, is so far away for me. For him, with millions of dollars working for him, that might not be much, but for me it is.
It would be great to be out of the rat race one day, but I don’t feel like this was the book to help me get there. But like I said, it was inspirational and I will take a few things with me as I invest more and more on the stock market (the real estate market in Sweden right now is completely out of the question, it’s insane!!):
It is a book full of motivation and reminded me a lot of Omgiven av Motgångar by Thomas Erikson. It is not super well written (there are so many adverbs in it, why are there so many adverbs in a self help book on personal finance?! He did definitely not read Stephen King’s On Writing), but the message is loud and clear. No one likes losing money and the goal should not be to not lose money, but to gain money.
I will give this book a 3. It was short and inspirational and worth my time reading. I hope it will bring me some joy in the form of some kind of wealth sometime in the future.
Title: Chasing Ghosts
Author: Pittacus Lore
Series: The Legacy Chronicles #4
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 126
Published: 2018, HarperCollins
My Grade: 3 out of 5
GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION
Six and Sam feel responsible for Ghost, one of the young Human Garde they’d met back in New Orleans. They’re not sure why the girl turned against them in Mexico, but they are determined to track her down and get some answers. But are they chasing after a friend or a foe? And will they need to rescue her or defeat her?
When the group finally makes contact, it seems like they might be able to convince Ghost to come back to the Academy. That is until then their plans go up in flames, forcing Six and Sam to jump into action. Without any backup from McKenna or the HGA. Without their Legacies fully returned. And without a clue as to who their real enemy is.
MY REVIEW
There are two reasons why it can take almost two months to finish a hundred page novella. It’s either because I’m doing something else than reading (=writing, although I haven’t written much lately either), or because it just isn’t good enough to capture my interest. It does though. I love this universe that James Frey among others under the pseudonym Pittacus Lore have made up. It’s amazing! But I think I found it more interesting when there were aliens inhibiting these powers, not human teenagers. They are all so stupid. I guess that is the point though, to show what problems our society would face if a part of our population got super powers.
Since I’m note super invested in this sequel storyline with humans and there are so many main characters, it’s hard to stay focused. Like who is who? Who came to the Mog house with who and who betrayed who and why?
It’s still an enjoyable read and it therefore gets a 3 out of 5.
Title: Fugitive Six
Author: Pittacus Lore
Series: Lorien Legacies Reborn #2
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 464
Published: 2018, HarperCollins
My Grade: 3 out of 5
GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION
The Human Garde Academy was created in the aftermath of an alien invasion of Earth. It was meant to provide a safe haven for teens across the globe who were suddenly developing incredible powers known as Legacies.
Taylor Cook was one of the newest students and had no idea if she’d ever fit in. But when she was mysteriously abducted, her friends broke every rule in the book to save her. In the process, they uncovered a secret organization that was not only behind Taylor’s kidnapping but also the disappearance of numerous teens with abilities. An organization that has dark roots in the Loric’s past, untold resources, and potentially even a mole at their own school.
Now these friends, who have become known to other students as the “Fugitive Six,” must work together to bring this mysterious group to an end before they can hurt anyone else.
MY REVIEW
It took me a while to pick this one up, and the third and final installment in this series about the Human Garde has even been released. I think the reason for that is because I miss the original Garde. They do not take a big part in this new series. I want to know what John Smith is up to! Nine is here, but not as the person he was in the original series.
It is however a very cool continuation with humans getting Legacies but I do not feel as strongly towards this type of magic as for example with Harry Potter. Maybe I’m more fastidious when it comes to magic now than what I was twenty years ago, haha!
It was a year ago that I finished Generation One, the first in this trilogy, and I had honestly forgotten about the characters and it took me so long to get back into it. I don’t know if that has more to do with me than with the book, but also, following so many different characters is difficult. Is it nine?
It is still very good though and I love that we got to continue in this world after the main series ended. But does not quite reach up to that potential so I give Fugitive Six a three.
Title: Metro 2035
Author: Dmitry Glukhovsky
Translator (Swedish): Ola Wallin
Series: Metro #3
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic
Pages: 622
Published: 2017, Coltso
My Grade: 3 out of 5
GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION
World War Three wiped out the humankind. The planet is empty now. Huge cities became dust and ashes. Railroads are being eaten by rust. Abandoned satellites hang lonely on the orbit. Radio is mute on all the frequencies.
The only survivors of the last war were those who made it into the gates of the Metro, the subway system of Moscow city. It’s there, hundreds of feet below the ground, in the vaults of what was constructed as the world’s largest air-raids shelter that people try to outlive the end of the days. It’s there that they created a new world for themselves.
The stations of Metro became city-states, and its citizens, torn apart by religions and ideologies are fighting for the now scarce commodities: air, water, and space. This tiny underground world can only remind humans of an immense world they once were the masters of.
It’s been twenty years past Doomsday, and yet the survivors refuse to give up. The most stubborn of them keep cherishing a dream: when the radiation level from nuclear bombings subsides, they will be able to return to the surface and have the life their parents once had.
But the most stubborn of the stubborn continues to search for other survivors in this huge emptiness that once was called Earth. His name is Artyom. He would give anything to lead his own people from the underground onto the surface.
And he will.
MY REVIEW
The Metro trilogy has come to an end. It started out real strong with 2033, came out flat with 2034 and ended a little confusing and complicated with 2035.
I honestly love this setting, and that alone will make me recommend this series to people. And I would probably say something like: yes, read the first one, it was amazing! The second, not so much, but if you’re anything like me, then you won’t be able to stay away because you want to know what the author has to say. The third is very similar to the first. What happened with the second, I don’t know. Probably just read them all.
But other than the really cool setting and the reality of it (except for the black ones in Metro 2033)… it was Russian, that’s for sure. One thing I found really hard to follow were all the names and nicknames every character had. I had no idea who was who. I guess that’s a cultural thing?
Some parts were very confusing, but I guess that was because Artiom was rambling in his radiation sickness? It was also confusing with what was real or theories. But that’s not a bad thing. That’s the author being very true to his character. You only get to follow Artiom and only his thoughts and ideas and perspective. So when he is certain of something, the reader gets certain of it too. But in the end?
Kind of a big reveal at the end and the reactions from everyone are not surprising, yet maybe a little. A good ending. I want to read Metro 2036 (if Dmitry ever decide to write that book) because it would be very, very different from the first three.
I recommend it, but only to get a proper ending to Metro 2033 which was incredible!
Title: The Atlantis Complex
Author: Eoin Colfer
Series: Artemis Fowl #7
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 357
Published: 2010, Puffin Books
My Grade: 3 out of 5
GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION
Young Artemis has frequently used high-tech fairy magic to mastermind the most devious criminal activity of the new century. Now, at a conference in Iceland, Artemis has gathered the fairies to present his latest idea to save the world from global warming.
But Artemis is behaving strangely – he seems different. Something terrible has happened to him . . . Artemis Fowl has become nice.
The fairies diagnose Atlantis Complex (that’s obsessive compulsive disorder to you and I) – it seems dabbling in magic has damaged Artemis’ main weapon: his mind. Fairy ally Captain Holly Short doesn’t know what to do. The subterranean volcanoes are under attack from vicious robots and Artemis cannot fight them. Can Holly get the real Artemis back before the robot probes destroy every human and life form?
MY REVIEW
It’s been a while since I read The Time Paradox and I don’t think I misremember when I think back on the five previous books as really good ones. But while reading this, pretty early on, I felt that this was not in the same class as the rest of the series.
I love everything that has to do with underwater environments so The Atlantis Complex has always been a book in this series that I looked forward to. But, small spoiler alert, it doesn’t have much to do with Atlantis. And it didn’t really feel like the typical Artemis Fowl book where Artemis had a goal, a heist to complete, but rather circle around events that doesn’t really impact the rest of the story (the last book in this series).
In other words, it kind of felt a little bit uneccessary for the whole Artemis Fowl story. But what do I know? It might be of importance that Artemis developed an OCD-like complex in this installation.
Still entertaining, but I have higher hopes for The Last Guardian. It gets 3 out of 5.
Bemm 