3 stars -- Meh...
I'm not sure if I'm being overly generous by giving this book three stars or not. It might only deserve two stars, but I think because the writing was decent, I'll stick with three stars. I will say, "Shame on you, HarperCollins. Start publishing higher-quality books!" (I find I am most frequently disappointed by Harper's books... they have so much promise, such beautiful covers and copy, and then they just go flat. Good marketing and upsell; bad manuscripts [or perhaps editing].)
The Body Finder is about Violet, who can sense the bodies of murdered victims. The majority of her life, it's been dead animals that were killed by other animals, but when she was eight years old, she found a girl. And now, years later, she's finding more.
I really like serial-killer-type books/shows. I loved Profiler when I was younger, and I adore Dexter despite its terrible acting. I'm fascinated by Wikipedia entries about serial killers. I really like the suspense that can be played up and the peeks granted into a psychopath's mind. I was really looking forward to reading this novel!
Unfortunately, it seems like the main storyline is actually, "Will Violet and Jay get together?" rather than the serial killer. Which, of course, duh. Readers can see it from chapter one, and Violet's angstiness is annoying. But I guess when one reads YA, one should expect angstiness...?
So without giving everything away (except, apparently, the main plot), the book is engagingly written. I was able to believe the characters even when they got on my nerves; there's a nice love story, which is now and then interrupted by murders. So although there's nothing deep or mind-grabbing that would make me pick this book up again, it's not the worst thing in the world to read. I just wish there had been more focus on Violet's actual abilities and the interplay between her and the serial killer (more suspense, I suppose), and less focus on Violet and Jay (less lust, I think).
Also, hide the mystery better. I hate it when I know the end of the book before I'm even through the first couple chapters.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Airman by Eoin Colfer
4.5 Stars -- I liked it quite a bit!
This is one of those pleasant surprises. I had forgotten to put any books on hold at the library for a while, and I was out of reading material, so I was relegated to perusing the shelves for books that looked interesting. I don't usually have great luck doing that. The great majority of books are mediocre or, even worse, down-right bad. I don't remember what other titles I picked up that day, but I was quite pleased by Airman by Eoin Colfer.
If you're not familiar with his name, Eoin Colfer wrote the Artemis Fowl series. My husband really likes the series, and I think we own nearly all of them, even though it's written for YA, possibly even juveniles.
But this post isn't about Artemis Fowl.
Airman is a steampunk novel about Conor Broekhart, and it is very reminiscent of The Count of Monte Cristo (I have read the book itself, which was okay, but I thought the movie was fantastic and remember watching it time and time again when I was in college).
In Airman, Conor, a young genius born to fly, is accused of murdering the king and is unfairly imprisoned. Using the knowledge gained from his French tutor before his imprisonment and advice taken from a blind musician who shares his cell, Conor has to escape and prove his innocence before the villain kills the princess too.
The story takes place on a pair of ficticious islands off the coast of Ireland in the late 1800s (obviously... it's steampunk afterall!). Conor is a strong character, and his transformation from innocent quick-witted boy to hardened prison leader, while quick, is understandable and not unbelievable. His escape plan is very steampunk-worthy.
The climax of the story, Conor's reunion with his family and the evil Marshall Bonvilain, is fast-paced and full of twists and turns, though of course everything turns out fine in the end.
Overall, I think this book is of much higher quality than the Artemis Fowl books (though those are entertaining in their own right), and I approve of Colfer's new endeavor. But then again, I'm partial to steampunk :)
So if you want a quick, riotous read and feel like a little Monte Cristo without all the dragging found in the original book, Airman is quite a suitable replacement.
This is one of those pleasant surprises. I had forgotten to put any books on hold at the library for a while, and I was out of reading material, so I was relegated to perusing the shelves for books that looked interesting. I don't usually have great luck doing that. The great majority of books are mediocre or, even worse, down-right bad. I don't remember what other titles I picked up that day, but I was quite pleased by Airman by Eoin Colfer.
If you're not familiar with his name, Eoin Colfer wrote the Artemis Fowl series. My husband really likes the series, and I think we own nearly all of them, even though it's written for YA, possibly even juveniles.
But this post isn't about Artemis Fowl.
Airman is a steampunk novel about Conor Broekhart, and it is very reminiscent of The Count of Monte Cristo (I have read the book itself, which was okay, but I thought the movie was fantastic and remember watching it time and time again when I was in college).
In Airman, Conor, a young genius born to fly, is accused of murdering the king and is unfairly imprisoned. Using the knowledge gained from his French tutor before his imprisonment and advice taken from a blind musician who shares his cell, Conor has to escape and prove his innocence before the villain kills the princess too.
The story takes place on a pair of ficticious islands off the coast of Ireland in the late 1800s (obviously... it's steampunk afterall!). Conor is a strong character, and his transformation from innocent quick-witted boy to hardened prison leader, while quick, is understandable and not unbelievable. His escape plan is very steampunk-worthy.
The climax of the story, Conor's reunion with his family and the evil Marshall Bonvilain, is fast-paced and full of twists and turns, though of course everything turns out fine in the end.
Overall, I think this book is of much higher quality than the Artemis Fowl books (though those are entertaining in their own right), and I approve of Colfer's new endeavor. But then again, I'm partial to steampunk :)
So if you want a quick, riotous read and feel like a little Monte Cristo without all the dragging found in the original book, Airman is quite a suitable replacement.
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