quinta-feira, 29 de agosto de 2013

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

(I'll keep this review short and free from spoilers since this is a sequel to Uglies)

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I did Uglies.I still had some issues with Scott Westerfeld's writting style but I felt that he developed the story quite well in this second installment. So, I'll just summarize the main ideias I took from this book:

  • Even though Tally's development was somewhat expected, it was nice to see that she still managed to remain true to what she thought during the first book (even if some of her memories were blurred)
 
  • Shay became one of those characters that I actually "liked" hating; I knew she was immature and didn't seem to have a mind of her know but I never thought would rebel in her own way and make herself special in a peculiar way
 
  • This book was a lot more dynamic than the first one. There was a lot more going on and I really enjoyed how the characters interacted with each other
 
  • Loved the fact that we got to know a bit more about the world created by Scott Westerfeld and the twists he incorporated took me by surprise
 
  • I missed David in this book .... I thought he would have a bigger role in this sequel

  • Loved the ending! Blew my mind and left me wanting more!

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and I thought it was more engaing than the first one. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

quarta-feira, 21 de agosto de 2013

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld



Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The "Special Circumstances" authority Dr Cable offers Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

My Thoughts: 

This book had been on my wish list for a long time. The reviews I had read were quite positive and it seemed to have an interesting concept - somewhat different from what I had read so far. Needless to say, my expectations were relatively high and I was really excited to start this series.

Starting with what I loved about this book.

I really enjoyed the whole concept and the idea that people needed plastic surgery to enter the different stages of their lives. Yes, it was a bit weird that everyone kind of looked the same and that they were so focused on their appearance - something that I (personally) find quite unhealthy and excessive -  but in their world it made perfect sense to be like that and to basically bash the way they looked before the surgery.  The idea that was promoted by this society was incredibly wrong and appalling but I enjoyed it because it made me think about it and because it made the story a lot more captivating.

I also liked its messages and how the book tried to educate the reader through its story. However I couldn't help but feel that some of them were targeted to a younger audience (maybe between the ages of 14-16) but I was still able to appreciate them and understand what they conveyed.

Unfortunately, there were some things that didn't sit that well with me.

I felt that it's pace was somewhat irregular. The beginning was fast; Shay and Tally became best friends instantly and soon began the drama. Then it dragged for about 50 pages and when Tally arrived to a new city, again, it all seemed to happen too fast. It annoyed me and it actually compromised my connection with the story.

The characters weren't (in my opinion) that relatable and I felt that they weren't that well written. Shay didn't seem to have a mind of her own, was a bit childish and easily influenced by others. Tally was smart but too brainwashed by the society's ideology (I can't really blame her for that) but I liked her transformation throughout the book and the fact that she started to see things differently. Finally, there was David; he seemed a lot more rational than the other characters and I liked how knowledgeable he seemed to be. Unfortunately this is all I can say about this characters; they didn't have much more going on ...

I also didn't like the fact that this book was written in a way that was actually distracting and confusing. I wouldn't always gather what was actually going on and it wasn't sufficiently engrossing - I even got sidetracked a couple of times.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I felt that it set some interesting foundations for the following books. It's a bit juvenile but I was able to appreciate it, its story and messages. I just hope that the next books are more enthralling and that the characters have a bigger development. 

I give it 3,5 out of 5 stars

sábado, 17 de agosto de 2013

Aniversário Sonhar de Olhos Abertos

A Catarina do blog Sonhar de Olhos Abertos está a comemorar 6 mesinhos de existência e por isso para assinalar esta data especial, foi criada uma rubrica na qual participaram várias bloggers portuguesas. A ideia era que cada uma sugerisse um livro e explicasse porque é que o escolhia.

Para ver as várias participações quejá foram feitas basta clicar aqui

Muitos parabéns ao Sonhar de Olhos Abertos e à Catarina :)

sexta-feira, 16 de agosto de 2013

#Friday Reads (12)

This weekend I'll be finishing Uglies, the first book on the Uglies series created by Scott Westerfeld. This is actually one of the books I pledged to read this year for my A to Z challenge. A lot of people like this series and I want to see what it has that makes it so special.

Here's the synopsis:

Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The "Special Circumstances" authority Dr Cable offers Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

I've already read about a third of the book and so far I'm enjoying it. As soon as I'm done with it, I'll post my review :) 

sexta-feira, 9 de agosto de 2013

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

My Thoughts

When I first started watching book reviews on Youtube, I found a video from a girl that was always raving about this book. She would always say that this was the best high fantasy book out there and that everyone should check it out because it was amazing. 

I was curious and bought the book, but it was so big that I had to postpone its reading to a more suitable time. I was also a little affraid I wouldn't like it because I'm not used to that particularly genre and since the book was nearly 800 pages I just kept thinking that if I didn't like it, it would become a burden and that I would really have to push myself to finish it. Fortunately that wasn't the case, because this book is fantastic and the story is so engrossing that I would completely forget about its size.
Patrick Rothfuss has an amazing writing style. He doesn't waste our time with details that aren't important to the story, the characters are so well writen that we can easily picutre them and the dialogues are fantastic. 

I also like the way he incorporated traditions and tales to the story; it was almost like the story itself was based on ancient history and it was something that I really liked because I felt that it made the story a lot more engaging. I really enjoyed reading about all those tales and knowing more about the origins of this world.

As for the characters, I think it's impossible not to be - even if just a tiny bit - amazed by Kvothe. He's incredeably smart and the way he sees the world and how he faces the many ordeals he has to deal with is quite unique. I also liked his parents, not only because of the way they educated Kvothe - they helped him develop his intelect but also to grow with a set of good values -, but also because of their love story and their devotion to one another.

Overall I loved this book. My expectations were somewhat high given the reviews I had read but, fortunetely, this book didn't disapoint me. The story is quite enthralling and the characters, especially Kvothe, are amazing. This is only the first instalement of the Kingkiller trilogy and I can't wait to read the remaining books, even though the third one will only come out in 2014. The books are all huge but after reading the first one I'm not surprised; there is still a lot to be told and a lot of mystery to be unfolded.

If you haven't checked out this book yet, than you definitely should :)

5 out off 5 stars

terça-feira, 6 de agosto de 2013

Reading Challenge Update #6

I'ts been a while since I've done one of these but the truth is during the month of June I didn't read any of the books from my challenges so I thought there was no point in doing a post about that.

Here's what I've been doing as far as the challenges go

  • A-Z challenge: I've read 3 books from this challenge and they were Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (review here), The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak (review here) and A Great and terrible Beauty by Libba Bray( review here). So far I've read 10 of the 25 books I pledged to read
  • Books on my bookshelves challenge: I've read only two books for this challenge and they were The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (I'll try to post my review during this week) and The English Patient by Michael Onndaatje. (this challenge was created by deliberatereader.com).

domingo, 4 de agosto de 2013

Read in July

Here are the books I read during the month of July


I actually won this book on a giveaway on Youtube. You can check out my review here



One of my favorite books of the year; it's AMAZING! Review here


Funny book but far from hilarious ...


I've also read Trangressions by Roger D. Griffin but I didn't like it ...

It wasn't a bad month. I thought I would read much less :)