Book Reviews

The Deep

2009-04-23T13:19:00.003-05:00

HarperCollins Children's recently sent me The Deep by Helen Dunmore to review. This book happens to be the third in a series about the magical and mysterious underwater world of Ingo. Not having read the first two books prior to beginning The Deep, I must admit that I started out a little confused as to what was going on and with whom. However, the story soon captivated me and I was swept away.

The book takes you on a journey with Sapphire, a girl that is mixed with both Mer and human blood. She does not truly fit into either world and yet she must adapt to this new life of not belonging and the internal struggle that it causes. But when the Mer people's lives depend on her, she does everything she can to save them.

Sapphire and her friends show us that it is okay to be different. That sometimes our differences are what make us so special that we can do things that others can not. I applaud Dunmore for not only writing such a captivating story, but also for addressing issues that are everywhere today and showing how they can be dealt with and accepted.

The Magic Thief: Lost

2009-03-20T21:34:00.003-05:00

Connwaer is back in the second installment of Sarah Prineas' trilogy, The Magic Thief: Lost. In the first book Conn sacrifices his locus magicalicus to save the city of Wellmet and the magic that lives there. Now, without his locus stone the magisters feel there is no reason for him to continue on as Nevery's apprentice. But the magic has other plans for Conn when it begins to be drained yet again and people begin to be attacked by Shadowmen and turned into stone. Now it is a race against time to save not just the people of the city, but to once again try to save the magic itself. Just one problem, how do you save an entire city with no locus stone and the only way to communicate with the magic is to use pyrotechnics, which happen to be illegal?

Faery Rebels Spell Hunter by R. J. Anderson

2009-02-14T01:19:00.000-06:00

Amazing! Anderson leads you on a spectacularly imaginative tale of magical proportions. I found myself on the edge of my seat unable to read fast enough in an attempt to find out what would happen next. Will Knife find out in time what is killing the other faeries and be able to restore their magic, or will it be to late? This YA book is perfect for any age to read. I can only hope that this is not the last we hear of Knife, Paul and the faery Oakenfolk!

The Unseen

2008-12-30T05:02:00.000-06:00

As part of a book reviewer program that Thomas Nelson Publishing Company offers, I agreed to read and review The Unseen by T. L. Hines. This is not the kind of book that I would normally read, but I decided to plow ahead with it and see what it had to offer. The following is my review.

The book begins very slowly and yet grabs your attention from the very beginning. Who could resist reading about someone that finds it perfectly normal to hide in the spaces between floors of a building and other tight spaces to "watch" people. Well that is what we find out from the very beginning Lucas does for fun. He spends his time observing people from a hidden location, usually their place of employment. If he feels there is a "connection" between himself and his subject then he takes something that belongs to them as a totem to add to his collection. He is a loner that moves around to different locations in the city to live; anywhere from a sewer room to an abandoned office, etc. I found myself loosing interest in the book about a third of the way through because this is all that has been discussed at this point. Then Hines kicked it up a notch.

The rest of the book was like being on a literary roller coaster. There were times when I would read a few chapters and put the book down and then there were times when I just had to know what came next. The last third of the book had me hooked to the end. Lucas finds himself in a big mess because he has gotten involved with this whole group of "watchers" called the Creep Club. His attempt at intervening in one of their projects, a man and her husband, just makes things worse for him. When he finds himself with only 36 hours to live, Lucas must really make miracles happen with no clues as to how. If you want to know what happens to Lucas then I suggest you go buy the book. As for me, I give it a 7 out of 10.

Welcome

2008-11-27T16:49:00.000-06:00

First Post! Come back to see what I have to say about upcoming book releases. Is it worth your money? I'll let you know!