Film Review: The Girl With All the Gifts

I read the novel The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey about two years ago now and it’s definitely a book that has stuck with me. Excellent writing, lots of tension, great characters, and a unique twist on the zombie genre. If you’ve followed my blog for a while now, you know I love all things zombie, so to find such a well-written addition to the genre was great.

Understandably, I had high expectations for the film adaptation, especially after seeing some glowing reviews from the likes of Empire.  Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed!

I dragged my boyfriend along to see the film and, strangely, we had an entire screen to ourselves. This was good in the sense that no one would be talking or texting, but bad in the sense that when Mark left to go to the loo, I was sat in a big screen watching a zombie movie all by myself with surround sound. Needless to say, it was creepy.

Anyway, onto the film itself:

The film itself is very, very true to the book. A couple of scenes were dropped, along with the concept of the “Junkers”, but the vast majority of the major plot points are pretty much identical, which was amazing.

For those of you who don’t know, The Girl With All the Gifts tells the story of Melanie (Sennia Nanua), a young girl kept in an army base along with other children. Each day, she is strapped into a wheelchair by guards who treat her like she’s dangerous and taken to a classroom for lessons from the kind Miss Justineau (Gemma Arteton). That’s when we discover that, outside the army base, the world has been ravaged by a zombie virus, specifically a fungal virus that turns people into “Hungries”. Melanie and her fellow kids in the classroom are Hungries, but they’re different. They aren’t mindless and feral, but instead act like any other average human child. I won’t say why, but be prepared for a very unique zombie story.

And then, one day, it all goes wrong and the army base must be evacuated. Only a handful escape, including Melanie, Miss Justineau, Sergeant Parks (Paddy Considine), Dr Caldwell (Glenn Close) and a couple of soldiers. Will they make it to safety? Can the calculating Dr Caldwell develop a cure? You’ll have to wait and see.

The heart of the story is Melanie. A kind and courageous girl, you can’t help but become deeply attached to her whilst almost slightly fearing her, and I thought Sennia Nanua did an excellent job of portraying the complexities of Melanie on the big screen. Interestingly, in the novel Melanie is white and Miss Justineau is black, but it’s been reversed in the film. I think it’s great that a young black girl has been given such a big part as the main protagonist here, and she was definitely the best actress to play Melanie.

Aside from that one change, I thought all the characters were very true to the book in terms of personality. Helen Justineau’s kindness and protectiveness, Sergeant Parks’ bravado hiding a softer interior, Dr Caldwell’s determination, Private Gallagher’s innocence. It really is a very true adaptation, keeping the core values of the book and much of the plot.

However, whilst this is a film about zombies, it is truly a film about humanity. Some of the best zombie films and books are the ones that look at humanity, not just the blood and gore. I can’t explain too much without revealing the ending, but there are some huge moral dilemmas in The Girl With All the Gifts. Me and Mark had a long conversation about it all afterwards, with differing opinions on morality. It’s definitely a bittersweet story.

The film has also clearly taken inspiration from Danny Boyle’s amazing 28 Days Later so, if you enjoyed that, you should enjoy this. I don’t think it’s as scary as 28 Days Later (Cillian Murphy in the church? The infected at the window? Terrifying), or even as scary as the novel, but it’s not trying to terrify you with jump scares; it’s about so much more than that. It’s about terrifying you with the prospect of the end of humanity.

In addition, I have to give a special shout out to the score for this film. It’s amazing. So creepy and tense and eerie, it was one of the best scores I’ve heard in a long while for a horror film. EDIT: (See link at the bottom to listen to the main theme).

However, there were a few slight negatives to the adaptation. One was that I think the ending was a little rushed. It needed more explanation. This was where me and Mark argued a little as the climax missed out some key aspects from the book and I had to explain it fully to him to make him understand the reasoning behind some of the actions in the finale. There were also a few scenes from the novel I would have liked to have seen included, but there was probably issues with running time. Lastly, whilst most of the big scenes did make it to the screen, some had been changed, and I would have liked them to be the same as the book because I think it would have had more of an impact. But hey, that’s just me being a picky reader.

Overall though, this was an excellent adaptation of the book and I was thoroughly impressed. Excellent acting, very true to the novel and a great score, I couldn’t have asked for much more. I definitely recommend both the book and the film.

Have you read The Girl With All the Gifts? Or seen the film? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!

EDIT: I just managed to find the main theme from the composer on Soundcloud, so check it out here.

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Review: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Genre: Contemporary / Young Adult

Publisher: Harper Collins, 2016

My Rating: 3/5

Synopsis: What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?

Frances has always been a study machine with one goal, elite university. Nothing will stand in her way; not friends, not a guilty secret – not even the person she is on the inside.

But when Frances meets Aled, the shy genius behind her favourite podcast, she discovers a new freedom. He unlocks the door to Real Frances and for the first time she experiences true friendship, unafraid to be herself. Then the podcast goes viral and the fragile trust between them is broken.

Caught between who she was and who she longs to be, Frances’ dreams come crashing down. Suffocating with guilt, she knows that she has to confront her past… She has to confess why Carys disappeared…

Meanwhile at uni, Aled is alone, fighting even darker secrets.

It’s only by facing up to your fears that you can overcome them. And it’s only by being your true self that you can find happiness.

Frances is going to need every bit of courage she has.

My Review

Let me start this review by saying that I’m not a huge fan of Contemporary. A Contemporary novel has to be amazing for me to really like it. I’m talking things like Jenny Downham’s novels, which are so gripping and so real, or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which is one of my all-time favourite novels.

So, when I heard everyone raving about Radio Silence, I thought I would give it a go and see if it could be one of those few Contemporary’s that manages to capture me. Sadly, it didn’t live up to my expectations, so I’m a bit disappointed.

What let this book down for me was the plot, the pacing and the characters. That sounds like a lot, to be fair. Let me clarify that this certainly wasn’t a bad book, I just don’t think it was for me. The plot and the characters never really got me hooked and I didn’t care much about them. I felt that the story plodded along a bit and I never got invested in it. I wasn’t interested in the podcast of Universe City, although it did sound cool at first, and, crucially, I wasn’t interested in the main characters of Frances and Aled. I definitely connected with some of Frances’ social anxiety, which struck a chord with me at the beginning, but I don’t know what it was that kept me from fully connecting with these two protagonists. There just wasn’t anything about them that I really loved, which was a real shame. In fact, my favourite character was most probably one of the side characters, a girl called Raine.

So because I didn’t entirely care about the characters, I didn’t care about the plot either. Like I said, it just seemed to plod along at too slow a pace for me. Whilst the potential for something really dramatic to happen involving Carys did keep me going, I found it to be an anti-climax. This meant that the climactic scene also didn’t excite me. I felt like it was trying a little too hard to instill some drama into the plot all of a sudden and, as a result, was a bit unbelievable and fell flat. The character of Carol was meant as a kind of antagonist and, although she was a total psycho, I just wasn’t that scared of her and I feel bad for saying that. She did some horrible things but I felt like there needed to be more of a build-up, more hints dropped, as to her true nature. Maybe because I wasn’t too invested in the characters it meant I also wasn’t repulsed enough by the antagonist.

However, on the upside, I did think the writing was great. The first-person POV had a distinct and interesting voice and I enjoyed the style. Also, this book is very diverse in terms of race and sexuality which was a definite plus point, and there’s a clear message in this book to just be yourself.

It’s a shame that I didn’t entirely enjoy it overall, yet I just think this book wasn’t for me. If you like Contemporary novels then I think you will most probably enjoy this book, but if you’re more into Sci-Fi and Horror and Fantasy like me, then maybe this won’t be for you either. I think I’ll look out for more of Alice Oseman’s work in the future because the writing really was good, but I’ll try and read some more reviews first to get a feel for the story and see if it’s my cup of tea.

Have you read Radio Silence? Or Alice Oseman’s first novel Solitaire? What did you think? Do you agree with my review? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below!

ARC Review: Goldenhand (Old Kingdom #5) by Garth Nix

Goldenhand by Garth Nix

Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult

Publisher: Hot Key

My Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: Lirael is no longer a shy Second Assistant Librarian. She is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, with dead creatures to battle and Free Magic entities to bind. When Lirael saves Nicholas Sayre after he is attacked by a hideous Free Magic creature, she finds he is deeply tainted with Free Magic. Lirael must seek help for him at the Clayr’s Glacier – her childhood home.

But even as she returns to the Clayr, clouds are gathering. A messenger is trying to reach Lirael with a dire warning from her long-dead mother about the Witch with No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning?

Once more a great danger threatens the Old Kingdom, and it must be forestalled not only in the living world, but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.

My Review

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinion of the book in any way.

This review will contain no spoilers for Goldenhand and only contains very minor spoilers from the previous books, so if you’re new to the series, read on if you want to!

As I have said so many times on this blog, the Old Kingdom series is my absolute favourite. I was extremely lucky to get an ARC of Goldenhand, seemingly turning up at the right time and place at YALC to get my hands on a copy. So, after all the excitement, I had high hopes of this novel. And, of course, I wasn’t disappointed.

Let me just start by saying that to get the most out of this book, you need to have read both The Creature in the Case from the Across the Wall anthology and Clariel. It’s not absolutely necessary, but it does overlap with The Creature in the Case, so read that first if you don’t want Goldenhand to spoil the events of that novella. As for Clariel, Goldenhand doesn’t really spoil any plot points from Clariel, but it well better your understanding and enjoyment of Goldenhand if you’ve read Clariel first. And, of course, you will need to have read Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. 

So, what did I love about Goldenhand? Everything! Garth Nix once again weaves a dark, lyrical tale of magic and intrigue. The novel centres mostly around Lirael and Nicholas Sayre, but old favourites Sabriel and Touchstone appear, as well as Sam and Ellimere, and a few more… It was great to be back with these characters again after a few years away from them. I found myself easily slipping back into the world, only needing to refresh my memory a little around the events of Abhorsen.

The story is gritty and very fast-paced, but is injected with a good amount of humour that made me laugh out loud at some points. I laughed, I cried, I worried, but I loved it all. This book will definitely please old fans, like me, but is also something for new fans to look forward to; they can rest assured that the series doesn’t falter after Abhorsen.

Goldenhand also introduces us to parts of the Old Kingdom we have previously never explored. We travel to the lands north of the Clayr’s Glacier – the steppe where the horse-nomads roam, and the Great Rift beyond. From these nomad clans comes a young girl named Ferin, desperate to deliver a message to Lirael from her dead mother, Arielle. I really loved Ferin and her journey. We got to learn so much more about the northern reaches of the Old Kingdom and the people who inhabit it. There is also clearly a lot more still to be discovered so I hope Garth Nix will take us to these places and people in future novels.

This mix of new with old was excellent. We get chapters centred around previously unexplored lands, and then chapters filled with well-loved places, like the Clayr’s Glacier and The Wall. And don’t worry, there are plenty of battles with the Dead and Free Magic creatures. Also, the plot is original in terms of the series; it doesn’t feel like Nix has just regurgitated the plot from Sabriel or one of the others.

What’s more, there’s just so much scope in these novels and it’s all written so convincingly. The pacing is fast, the prose is tight, the characters are complex and likeable; I hope to be reading these books for years to come! It’s a very unique Fantasy series and I can’t compare it to any others. It doesn’t have to borrow heavily from other Fantasy novels or rework old tropes, instead each installment, as well as the world and characters themselves, feels fresh and original.

So, I don’t really want to mention much more as I’ve tried not to reveal too much about the previous novels, in case any people who are new to the series read this, or to give too much away about the plot of Goldenhand. However, it is a deeply satisfying read and I promise it won’t disappoint.

Goldenhand will be released 4th October in the UK.

Have you read the Old Kingdom series? Did you enjoy it? Are you excited for Goldenhand? Let me know in the comments below!

Waiting On Wednesday: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Breaking the Spine where you showcase which books you’re looking forward to being released.

I haven’t done a Waiting on Wednesday in a while so I thought I’d try and get back into it!

This week I’m waiting on Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, and I am so excited for its release:

UK Release Date: 20th October 2016

I absolutely adored Illuminae. I was hesitant about it at first because of its unique format, but I found that it only enhanced the novel and my enjoyment. The book made me laugh and cry in equal measure, and it was a mashup of so many different genres; your typical Sci-Fi set in space, Horror, Action, Thriller, Drama. It had everything you could possibly want in a book and more. I’m still in awe of it.

I could not be more excited for the release of Gemina as a result. I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next and meeting new characters. Hopefully it’s just as good as its predecessor and, if you haven’t read Illuminae yet, do it now! I can’t recommend it enough.

Synopsis for Gemina:

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.

Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, Gemina raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless.

Have you read Illuminae? Did you enjoy it? Are you excited for Gemina? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Review: The City of Mirrors (Passage #3) by Justin Cronin

The City of Mirrors (Passage #3) by Justin Cronin

Genre: Science Fantasy / Post-Apocalyptic / Horror

Publisher: Orion, 2016

My Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: The plague that almost ended humanity is finally over. For a new generation, the once-feared virals have begun to seem almost like imaginary monsters, creatures from a fairy tale they no longer believe in.

For Alicia, however, the bad dreams can never be forgotten. And the voice in those dreams is leading her towards one of the great cities of The Time Before. The ruined city of New York.

Ruined but not empty. For this is the final refuge of Zero, the first and most terrible product of the viral experiment. And Alicia knows that the nightmare can never truly be over until he is destroyed.

But what she finds is not what she’s expecting.

An opponent at once deadlier and more human than she could ever have imagined, who takes her on a terrifying journey into the past to learn how it all began.

And to find out how it must end.

My Review

WARNING: This review will contain minor spoilers for the first two books in the series. No major plot points will be revealed, nor information on who lives and who dies. Read on at your own risk. However, this review is spoiler-free in terms of the plot of The City of Mirrors.

I’m so sad to have finished this series. I started reading it back in 2010 when The Passage was first released. I was hooked from the start. At the time I was only 15. Now I’m 21 and this trilogy has remained with me, as well as remaining one of my favourite series of all time.

So, after the events of The Twelve, peace seems to have finally returned to North America. Or so it seems.

Make no mistake, this final book isn’t just a long, drawn-out conclusion tying up a bunch of pointless loose ends. No way. It’s just as poignant, hopeful and exciting as the first two installments, with an abundance of drama and tension.

The Passage was a rip-roaring read, most probably my favourite book in the series. The Twelve was excellent, however I felt it dragged a little in some places. Not enough for me to lose interest, of course, but still slightly slower in comparison. Thankfully though, it was by no means that dreaded filler book that the second novel in a trilogy quite often is; like The Passage, it had its own clear arc and revelations. As such, I like to think of this series as a vampiric The Lord of the Rings. Like The Fellowship of the Ring, The Passage gets the action started. We learn who the main players are and the identity of the main antagonist (Zero here, Sauron in LOTR), but we’re nowhere near close to defeating him yet. Instead, the antagonist of this first book is a lesser player, Babcock in The Passage and the Balrog of Morgoth in Fellowship. Subsequently, the group splits and moves on to the next antagonist, the main villain’s second-in-command. In The Twelve, it’s, well, The Twelve (or rather, the Eleven); the main virals, Zero’s henchmen. In The Two Towers, it’s Saruman, Sauron’s right-hand man. Now that they’ve been defeated, we’re onto the big one, the main villain, the final adversary who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes all along. Zero here is our Sauron, and The City of Mirrors is our The Return of the King.

Now, that’s where the similarities end, of course. No orcs or hobbits, but the The Passage series is no less epic in its own way. Thankfully, the final installment didn’t disappoint. I finished this book with tears in my eyes, barely able to see the last page. It’s a bittersweet book, a culmination of blood, sweat and tears from the characters (and from the author, I suspect). For years, the characters have struggled against the wasteland they inhabit – where the virals roam and Zero watches on – desperate to finally live in peace. The characters’ arcs reached their conclusion in this book, all in a satisfying way. There is an air of destiny in this trilogy and all the characters fulfilled theirs, whether it be good or bad, but I couldn’t argue that it all felt right. Everything about this book seems deliberate. Nothing is rushed or a coincidence. Everything is clearly mapped from the start, all the fates intertwined, and that’s what makes it a joy to read.

However, this series is all about a girl who saves the world, Amy Harper Bellafonte. Does Amy save it? I won’t say, but Cronin has written a remarkable set of characters, with Amy at the centre. This is a series with a huge cast and here we continue with the lives of Peter, Alicia, Sara, Hollis, Michael and Carter, among many other new characters. And we also finally get to know who Zero, aka Dr Timothy Fanning, really is. Somehow, Cronin has managed to create a villain you feel sorry for. Fanning has done terrible things, but in this book you’ll learn why. I could see the logic behind his actions and I pitied him, yet it didn’t excuse what he’d done; it was time for Fanning to give up his hold on the land.

What I’ve always loved about this story is its mix of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Like I said, there’s a real sense of destiny in these books, a mysticism in its words, coupled with a raw humanity that I loved, and of course the origin of the vampiric, zombie-like virus isn’t wholly within the realm of science. This is a series of death and destruction, love and hate, joy and sorrow, with no punches pulled, but at its core is hope.

The plot of this book is faster-paced than The Twelve, I would say, and still as exciting as both its predecessors. All loose ends are tied up neatly, including the ending. I thought the ending was really well done. There’s nothing worse than getting attached to a series, only for the finale to be anti-climactic and just plain wrong. Thankfully, this trilogy doesn’t fall into that hole. As I said, I finished this with tears blurring my vision, and that was the case for much of the book.

I don’t really know what else to say. This series is brilliant. Complex, tense, exciting, heart-breaking and hopeful, it’s everything you could ask for. These characters are ones that will stay with me for a long time, as will the story itself. However, it’s not truly over. Before even The Passage was published, the film rights for the series were bought. Ridley Scott is the director so I am extremely excited; I don’t think anyone could do a better job at making these books into films than him. So that’s something to look forward to in the future. For now, I’m going to feel sad probably for a whole week, but also happy. It’s bittersweet to finish a series you loved, especially one as good as this, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Have you read this series? Or do you want to start it? Let me know in the comments below!

 

The Willoughby Book Club Unboxing #2

So, another month, another package from The Willoughby Book Club! This is my second package in my three month membership and, once again, it was lovingly wrapped.

For anyone who doesn’t know, The Willoughby Book Club is a UK based book subscription service. Shipping is free to anywhere in the UK, but they do ship internationally for a fee, of course. They have a range of subscriptions, from Children’s to Young Adult to Historical to Non-Fiction. I have the Bespoke subscription, whereby you tell them what genres and authors you like best and they choose books based on your preferences. So far, they haven’t disappointed.

Last month, I got Vivian Versus the Apocalypse which I’m excited to read. This month, I didn’t get any freebies, but in terms of books I got I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.

 

I’ve seen the film adaptation with Will Smith and I thought it was great but, for some reason, I just never got round to reading the novel! I’m pretty excited to finally give it a go as it’s the book that inspired a lot of the zombie virus and vampire works in popular culture today. And, if you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know I like zombies!

Also, as a side note, that cover is pretty freaky.

If you want to check out The Willoughby Book Club, you can find them here. I really do recommend them. They have so many different subscriptions and are great at tailoring books to your preferences. That way, you know you’re going to get a book you’ll like. Also, if they happen to send you a book you already have (which only happens to 1% of customers), they’ll send you a replacement completely free and let you keep the duplicate book so you can give it to a friend.

Are you a The Willoughby Book Club subscriber? Do you subscribe to any other book subscription services? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian / Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Mira Ink, 2015

My Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: In the town of New Temperance, souls are in short supply and Nina should be worrying about protecting hers. Yet she’s too busy trying to keep her sister Mellie safe.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their existence, she’ll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal church.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a mysterious fugitive who has already saved her life once. Wanted by the church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she needs Finn and his group of rogue friends.

But what do they need from her in return?

My Review

This is the second book my boyfriend bought me and, whilst Soundless was a flop, The Stars Never Rise was not. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and fast-paced read. There were some flaws, hence the 4/5 rating instead of 5/5, but it was still a fun, and surprisingly mature, book.

This novel is set in the future, 100 years after a war between humans and demons, and the occurrence of stillbirths due to there not being enough pure ‘souls’ to go around. The vast majority of America was ravaged by the war, but big towns and cities survived, protected by high walls and the authority of the Church. The rules of society are strictly upheld and sins severely punished. Sins include anything from blasphemy to fornication. And as if that wasn’t enough to contend with, ‘degenerates’ also roam the badlands, demons occupying decaying human bodies, searching for human flesh and a new human vessel to occupy.

The world-building was really interesting and unique, and I’m excited to learn even more in the sequel. The author doesn’t info-dump all this information either. It’s given to us in drips and drabs, mainly through clever dialogue.

In addition to this, there was thankfully no preaching. Of course, this novel deals with Christianity, yet it doesn’t force any ideas down your throat. There’s no preaching or mention of Biblical stories and figures, or even God for that matter. There’s nothing wrong with having religion in a book, but I was worried this novel might go on and on about the power of God or something like that. However, it also doesn’t insult religion, so people of any faith, or no faith at all, can read this without feeling offended or preached to.

Also, the novel doesn’t gloss over sex and swearing like some YA does. It’s silly to think teenagers don’t engage in these activities or don’t know anything about them, because they do. Nothing is gratuitous and any mention of sex is referred to vaguely, but it’s at least mentioned.

Our story follows the life of Nina. Neglected by a sinful mother, she’s forced to steal in order to care for her sister Mellie. Nina is headstrong and practical; she knows what she needs to do to survive, until the night she meets Finn. One thing I did enjoy about Nina is that she wasn’t overly trusting. Too often, the female protagonist is swept off to safety by a handsome boy and she falls madly in love within about five seconds. Nina, however, after being helped by Finn, keeps trying to bolt. She doesn’t fall straight into his arms and believe every word that comes out of his mouth, which was really refreshing to read. If I was in some dire situation and a boy saved my life, I’d be very grateful, but I certainly wouldn’t fully trust him. I know a character being trusting, or not trusting enough, can be a personality trait, but too often these girls are more trusting than is normal.

Finn himself is an interesting character. He has a particular ‘quirk’ that makes him stand out from other love interests, but I won’t spoil it. At first, this quirk of his was strange to get my head around and put me off a little, just like it does Nina, yet I eventually got my head around it, especially because he’s a very likable character. Witty, caring and confident, he was a love interest I genuinely liked. Too often the male love interests are just as formulaic as the female protagonists. Finn was certainly his own person. However, the romance itself was a little strange, mostly due to Finn’s quirk, but also because of its progression. Yes, Nina wasn’t entirely trusting at the start, yet I did feel like the romance suddenly progressed quickly over the span of about two days. Still, there was no insta-love, with no “I love you’s” being thrown around.

The plot is fast-paced with twists and turns. Some of the twists I worked out early on, others took me by surprise, and the twists keep coming right until the very end. This was definitely a plus point; the plot is never stagnant and neither is the ending, with action going on right to the very last page. Sometimes, endings can just fizzle out, with the action pretty anti-climactic, but here it was done well.

Lastly, the writing was good, successfully building up the tension. The emotion of it didn’t feel forced and it was poetic at times and, as a result, I enjoyed reading from Nina’s POV.

So, overall, it was a quick read with an abundance of action and a refreshing take on the Dystopian genre. The oppressive government being the church made for an interesting spin and there were also multiple layers to the oppression and deceit. This is a book I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys the Dystopian genre but is perhaps fed up of a lot of the current books feeling too similar, especially because this series has the added element of Urban Fantasy.

Have you read The Stars Never Rise? Or any other of Rachel Vincent’s novels? Did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Review: Soundless by Richelle Mead

Soundless by Richelle Mead

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Publisher: Puffin, 2015

My Rating: 2/5

Synopsis: For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village. Her people are at the mercy of a mysterious faraway kingdom, which delivers food in return for precious metals mined from the treacherous cliffs surrounding them.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, their rations shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the boy she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

Then Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon . . .

My Review

I feel bad that I gave this book 2/5, not because it doesn’t deserve that score (it does, unfortunately), but because my boyfriend bought it for me as a present and I feel bad for not enjoying it more! So sorry Mark, you bought me a dud, but you weren’t to know.

But anyway, yes, this book does deserve a 2/5 rating. This was my first Richelle Mead book and I’d heard a lot of good things about her writing. Sadly, this novel has put me off reading any more of her work. In a nutshell, Soundless was clunky, predictable and lacking emotion.

The premise of the novel is great. An isolated village atop a mountain, populated by people who have lost their hearing and are gradually losing their sight. With arable lands cut off behind an ancient avalanche, a town at the base of the mountain ships goods via zip-line up to the village in return for the precious metals the village mines. But with blindness overtaking the villagers, mining has become exceedingly slower and more dangerous. Less food comes up the zip-line as less metals go down. Then, one day, our protagonist Fei awakes to find she can hear. And so begins a journey to save her village from starvation.

It started off alright. I wasn’t immediately hooked, but the world-building was at least interesting. Then came the pivotal moment of Fei regaining her hearing… and it was anticlimactic. There was a page or two of “oh, what’s this? What’s going on?” and then Fei seemed to forget all about the fact she could actually hear and got on with her daily duties. Perhaps Mead was trying to convey the idea that Fei’s hearing was coming back gradually, but instead it felt more like Fei just had selective hearing.

The story progressed, yet the action and emotion did not. There were perhaps one or two moments of action that made me tense a little. One such moment resulted in a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter, however, instead of eagerly turning the page, desperate to know the fate of this one character, I closed my book and went off to get something to drink. I just didn’t really care. I knew this character wasn’t going to die and oh, lo and behold, they were fine! No life-threatening injuries, not even concussion. It was all too formulaic and the writing lacked any feeling.

As a result, I didn’t care for the characters or the romance between Fei and old flame Li Wei. Mead tried to capture the tension between the two, but I felt nothing. The sentences weren’t original and nor was the romance itself. By the end of the novel, Mead clearly expected the reader to be totally wrapped up in the romance between the two characters. The rhetoric and the repeated motifs fell flat. Fei would repeat a sentence Li Wei had apparently said earlier about the two of them being good at the impossible, but I couldn’t even remember when he’d said that. In fact, I’d spent some parts of the book daydreaming, my eyes still reading a paragraph, and I’d realise I had no idea what I’d just read.

There were also some parts that needed to be elaborated upon. I felt 260 or so pages was not enough to convey the story and that’s why the emotion and the action was lacking. It’s strange to say a short book lacked action because normally shorter books are nothing but action. However, the action itself was too rushed, with no build up of tension. This meant things often went over my head, particularly Fei mentioning in passing how she also felt some kind of ‘connection’ to do with her hearing. I was halfway through the book by this point and couldn’t remember a time when this had previously been explained.

In addition, the plot was often too convenient and unbelievable to be true. MILD SPOILER AHEAD. DOESN’T SPOIL ANY MAJOR PLOT POINTS DIRECTLY BUT DOES HINT AT ONE:

Fei pulling herself up the zip-line, anyone? How on earth could a teenage girl pull herself hand-over-hand for hours up a zip-line that travelled the height of a mountain? Totally ridiculous!

SPOILER ENDED.

So overall, this book was pretty predictable and lacking any real feeling. The parents were conveniently out of the way (aka dead), the first person POV had no special voice, and the romance barely even fizzled. I really wanted to love this book as I enjoy Fantasy settings inspired by China and Japan etc., but it was just a bit of a disappointment.

Have you read Soundless? Or any other books by Richelle Mead? What did you think?

I’ve now started the second book my boyfriend ordered me, The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent, and it’s much better. So, Mark, you didn’t fail completely. 😉

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

The Sunday Post #13

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

My Weekly Recap

It’s been a pretty uneventful week in terms of my life! But next week I’m starting my part-time job to bring in a little money whilst I work out my career after uni, so that’ll actually be a reason to stop lazing about the house!

However, I’m almost at 200 followers on WordPress and Bloglovin, so a huge thank you to everyone who’s followed me! I’ve only had this blog since March so it’s amazing to be so close to such a milestone.

Anyway, this week’s posts were:

• The Versatile Blogger Award
• Let’s Wrap: August
• Review: The Fireman by Joe Hill
• YA Series I Haven’t Finished (And Probably Never Will)

Coming Up

I’m currently about halfway through Soundless by Richelle Mead but it isn’t really living up to my expectations. I love the premise but the execution is lacking. However, I’m hoping it’ll pick up. My review should be up next week!

After that, I’m onto The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent which I have higher hopes for. And then after that I’m going to read the final novel in Justin Cronin’s The Passage series. It’ll be sad to finish it as this series has been with me for quite a few years, but I’m excited to see all the loose ends tied up.

I haven’t done Waiting On Wednesday in a few weeks so I’ll try and get back into it. Other than that, I have no specific posts planned right now, I’m having a little bit of blog writer’s block, but I’m sure I’ll come up with things to discuss next week.

And Finally

I haven’t been listening to anything really new recently so here, have some Foals. (Who make great writing music, by the way).

Review: The Fireman by Joe Hill

The Fireman by Joe Hill

Genre: Apocalyptic

Publisher: Gollancz, 2016

My Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. But everyone knows it as Dragonscale, an incurable spore that kills its host through spontaneous combustion. A million people have it. There’s a fire on every street corner; hospitals have become funeral pyres. Civilization is disappearing fast into the smoke.

Sunny, unflappable Harper Grayson is newly pregnant when she comes up marked and sure to burn. But her baby might be born uninfected… if she can live long enough to deliver.

Abandoned by her increasingly unhinged husband, hunted by the Cremation Squads, Harper hears a fantastic rumour: the story of The Fireman. He strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who may have learned to control the flames.

In the desperate season to come, Harper will take any risk to find him and learn his secrets – before what’s left of the world goes up in smoke.

My Review

I’d heard a lot of good things about this book and, being a fan of apocalyptic fiction, I was over the moon to find a signed copy in Waterstones. And I have to say, this novel didn’t disappoint.

However, it wasn’t what I expected. The blurb makes it sound like Harper is going to have to travel a dangerous, burning America in search of the mysterious Fireman, when in fact that’s not it at all. This novel goes in a completely different direction to the usual apocalyptic fiction, whereby the hero must travel the country in search of a cure or a lost loved one. The blurb really doesn’t even hint at the depth of this novel and the myriad of sub-plots. There are an abundance of characters as well and this makes for a satisfyingly complicated read. So, when I say it wasn’t what I expected, that certainly doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.

I say ‘satisfyingly complicated’ because I was never confused. The writing style is excellent and reminded me a little of Justin Cronin’s The Passage series (which is brilliant, by the way, and if you haven’t read it go start now!). Just like that series, The Fireman is a pretty hefty book. I think it could have been a little shorter. Some scenes were quite long when they could have been cut down, and others were too short, with one scene especially springing to mind for being too short and maybe a little anticlimactic, almost a slight cop-out. To give you a hint (no spoilers), we spend much of the time in a particular setting and so may of the sub-plots and characters are weaved about this place, and then something happens that means all the loose threads abruptly come to an end but never seem to be finished. However, some continue on afterwards and come to a completion, but I still felt this particular scene could have been done differently, or extended, for a more satisfying conclusion.

But like I said, I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was witty, full of action, lots of detail (but without being boring) and hopeful, and so were the characters. Harper, our protagonist, is very well-crafted. You really get a sense that she’s an actual person, out in the world somewhere, rather than just lying flat on the page. She’s caring, compassionate and great under pressure. She grows throughout the book from a loving, but easily walked over, young woman, to a loving, but won’t take no shit from anyone, young woman. I admired her resilience and her obsession with a certain Disney musical was endearing.

My other favourite character was actually a middle-aged woman named Renée. She was funny and determined like Harper, with a real sense of justice. She’s the kind of woman you’d definitely want as your aunt.

The other characters were all well-rounded too, but those were the standout ones for me. Allie, Nick, Don Lewiston, Father Storey and The Fireman himself were all great. I especially liked how the author got an Englishman right! For once, he was referred to as ‘English’ with an ‘English accent’ (even though there isn’t a true English accent as there are so many in this country, but I hate when people say ‘British accent’ because that doesn’t exist! Your typical Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish accents are extremely different in comparison to your quintessential English accent!). So Joe Hill definitely won brownie points from me.

In addition, some of the ‘science’ was a little fantastical and most probably could not happen in real life, but that’s why we read books, to see the boundaries being pushed, and these ‘fantastical’ elements never felt silly or ridiculous. Instead, they fitted in well with the story and made for a bit of a change from your usual viral outbreak book. The virus is very unique, not just your typical coughing up blood kinda virus you get in the apocalyptic genre, and clearly a lot of thought has gone into setting this book apart as an original addition to the genre.

As for the ending, I thought it was going to be unsatisfactory but thankfully it wasn’t, at least not for me. A little extra scene included as a Coda at the end provided some hope and possibility for something that occurred in the climax, so I was happy.

Overall, my only qualms were that sometimes the scenes were either too long or too short, and one scene in particular was a bit anticlimactic, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it. It is pretty long, but it never really feels like it’s dragging, which can sometimes happen with big books. However, there was some of the best characterisation I’ve seen in quite a while so, if you want a really good character-driven book with an excellent story-line to boot, then look no further than The Fireman.

Have you read The Fireman? Or any other of Hill’s books? Do you like apocalyptic fiction? Let me know in the comments!