delicate-eternity’s Book Review: The Host (The Host #1) by Stephenie Meyer

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Earth has been invaded by souls; pretty shiny silver things that connect to a host body, and control them. The souls infiltrate Earth because they believe the human race is not appreciative of their planet. The Host follows the body of Melanie Stryder, and how her mind refuses to allow the soul inserted into her; Wanderer; to completely overtake her. Wanderer’s own thoughts are constantly interrupted by Melanie’s memory of Jared, the man she loves. It is this love, that begins to influence Wanderer, that sets the events of The Host into motion.

OKAY. So, I saw the movie a few weeks ago, and I simply loved it. I was so surprised, as I was expecting something exactly the same as Twilight, but with souls instead of vampires. I was so pleasantly surprised, and I can say that The Host is one of my favourite movies I have seen this year.

That being said, I enjoyed the book less than I enjoyed the movie, but nonetheless, I really liked the book.

Once again, when I picked up The Host, I expected something akin to Twilight, which I didn’t have a particular fondness for. I was wary to begin the book, but once I did, it drew me in. I was surprised at how different Meyer’s writing style was in The Host compared to Twilight. I felt that it was much more descriptive, and flowing, and engaging.

I loved the descriptions of Wanda’s journeys to other planets, and the stories she told. I also enjoyed the explanation for the souls’ taking over Earth. Especially since I do believe that humans are taking this planet for granted.

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delicate-eternity’s Book Review: Cross My Heart, Hope To Die (The Lying Game #5) by Sara Shepard

Rating: ★ ★ 1/2

Cross My Heart, Hope To Die is the fifth instalment of Sara Shepard’s The Lying Game series. The books follow Emma Paxton, a girl who has been in and out of foster homes since age five. Then, one day, she receives a message from a girl who claims to be her twin sister. Willing to meet her, Emma ventures out to Tucson, only to find that her twin sister has been murdered. The murderer warns Emma that if she doesn’t play along, and pretend to be her dead twin sister, Sutton, she will be his/her next victim.

In each book, Emma has been pretending to be Sutton, in order to find out who killed her sister. Each book goes through a suspect, or two, only to find out that the person is innocent.

Cross My Heart, Hope To Die is no different.

I’m not particularly sure why, but I didn’t like this book as much as I have liked the previous four in this series.

I didn’t warm to the author’s description of mental illness, and its effects on people’s lives. I felt like she was demonising mental health patients, and I didn’t appreciate the notion.

That aside, I felt like nothing much, in terms of plot development, occurred in this book. Emma went through another suspect; this time her mother. She had make-out sessions with her boyfriend, Ethan, and went shopping with Sutton’s friends. It all felt a little repetitive.

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delicate-eternity’s Book Review: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy #1) by N.K. Jemisin

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms follows Yeine’s journey from ‘barbarian’ of Darr to heir of the hundred thousand kingdoms, and a member of the Amameri family. Imprisoned in Sky, a palace above the Earth, Yeine is thrust into a world of magic, gods, assassination, evil, power, and secrets. As the choosing of the next heir looms closer, Yeine must endeavour to find out why she was summoned to Sky, and what this means for her, and for the rest of the world.

Okay, my synopsis is vague, but so is the one on the back of the book, and I do not want to give away too much of this fantastic story.

I am so confused as to whether or not to rate this 5 or 4 stars, and whether to put it in my favourites list. I think I will mull it over for a few days more.

I found The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms in a second-hand bookshop. I didn’t have my glasses with me, and so I just decided to buy it because the cover was intriguing, as were the few words of the blurb that I could read. I picked this book up to read two days ago, and at first it was confusing. The narration is in a style all of its own (which I later loved dearly) and the fantasy terms were a little hard to follow. Ashamed to admit, I almost put it down.

And then, out of nowhere, I was absorbed into the story, the characters, the world, everything. I couldn’t put this book down. I loved that Yeine was nineteen; it is so hard to find books about girls my age, and I was supremely happy that Yeine was. I loved that she was strong, and knew what she wanted. I loved Sieh, and his childlike manner. I loved Nahadoth, in all his faces.

I must admit, there were some unnerving moments in this book, as it is set in a world far different from our own. But that was one of the reasons I loved this book as much as I did.

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delicate-eternity’s Book Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Rating: ★ ★ ★

The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows a year in the life of Charlie, a boy who is about to start high school, and is about to be thrown into the midst of the teenage world of love, lust, sex, drugs, fear, and hope.

I picked up The Perks of Being a Wallflower because I adored the movie. Now before all of you ‘read the book before you see the movie’ people get on your high horse, Stephen Chbosky wrote the screenplay for, and directed the movie. So there.

To be honest, I felt like I connected to Charlie, and a lot of the other characters in The Perks of Being a Wallflower more whilst watching the movie than reading the book. I suppose I liked the flow of the movie better.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book.

I loved Charlie’s description of things, the way he was so open with the thoughts that ran through his head. Sometimes I laughed with him, and sometimes I felt like crying with him. His thought-train was the aspect of this book that I loved. I loved how he described his feelings, and what he saw, and what he listened to, and how it all affected him.

Often, in books and movies, teenagers are presented as these very stereotypical characters, and in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, this was not the case.

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delicate-eternity’s Book Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #5)

Rating: ★ ★ ★ 

At the beginning of City of Lost Souls, Jace is missing, and all those who care about him are frantically searching for him. Sebastian/Jonathan is also missing, and Jace’s blood was found at the scene of the Lilith showdown at the end of City of Fallen Angels. So, the question on everyone’s mind is: where exactly are they?

Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Clary all believe that the Clave gave up too easily on the search for Jace. And in their own way, each of them loses something in their quest to find him.

Clary, always intent on saving the day, enters Sebastian/Jonathan’s world in order to save her beloved Jace. But will she be able to escape it?

I really like The Mortal Instruments series, I do. Really. But I am getting so frustrated at the whole: Jace and Clary can never be together because something awful is always happening. Always. And the mere weeks of happiness they had in between City of Glass and City of Fallen Angels weren’t included in the books. Now I know some might say that happy delirious uninterrupted love is boring. But face it, it’s what we want from these books, and it seems as if Clare is intent on not giving it to us. This somewhat saddens me, as I am a sucker for happily ever afters.

I liked the fact that Clary was so bad-ass in this book. She’s learned how to fight like a Shadowhunter now, and she can hold her own in battle. She doesn’t take crap from anybody, and I really admire her for that.

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