Recent good reads

Recently I have been studying for exams and hence not spending as much time blogging about what I’ve been reading. I’ve still been reading though because studying is impossible without procrastination. Graceling-Kristin Cashore- In this world children born with differently coloured eyes (such as one blue and one green) are Graced with an exceptional skill. These children are ostracised by people around them so if you’re skill is exceptionally lame (such as being able to breathe underwater for a really long time) then being Graced is not fun. The central character of this book is Katsa who is ‘gifted’ with the Grace of Killing. Great. Unfortunately this means that she has the incredibly fun role of being the King’s (her uncle’s) enforcer. To make up for this Katsa has created a network of assistance across the seven kingdoms which seeks to perform good deeds and interconnect everyone into a positive circle. Katsa is essentially going about her normal business until she rescues the King of Lienid’s kidnapped father, bringing her into contact with his grandson. His grandson is pretty hot and gifted with the Grace of Fighting which is pretty cool. He’s also probably one of the nicest characters to be a love interest in any book I’ve read so far. He has absolutely no demons which cause him to push away the heroine or say things which create misunderstandings. For this I applaud the author. His appearance causes Katsa to question the state of things around her, leading to repercussions which I look forward to reading about. Verdict: Very good book and an interesting start to a series. The Kane Chronicles-the Red Pyramid, the Throne of Fire, the Serpent’s Shadow. This series was written by Rick Riordan, who also wrote the Percy Jackson series, which are excellent. Featuring Sadie and Carter, siblings who grew up separately as a result of a nasty custody battle, one based in London and one travelling around the world with his father, this series focuses on Egyptian mythology and the impending apocalypse as a result of Apophis. We learn that there are a number of Egyptian wizarding houses throughout the world, known as Nomes. We’re also introduced to a lot of the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. The coolest characters in the series are probably Bast, the goddess of cats, and Bes the God of Dwarves. Verdict: This series is okay. The interaction between Sadie and Carter is quite funny and the plot line moves well. However, I would definitely say that the Percy Jackson series is much much better. I’m not sure whether this is because I prefer (and am more familiar with) Greek and Roman mythology as opposed to Egyptian mythology although this is probably a major factor. I just found the goals and plotlines in the Percy Jackson series more relatable and the characters more interesting. I also find Sadie’s love triangle with Anubis and Wade kind of annoying. For some reason I found that with a lot of the action scenes I read over sections without absorbing anything I read. There are funny scenes in the book and I think Sadie is the better narrator. If you do read the series you’ll know what I mean when I refer to the ‘Jelly Baby Curse’ as very funny. Thief with No Shadow-Emily Gee- Melke is a wraith whose brother has been kidnapped by the salamanders. As such she has stolen a necklace made from the tears of a mysterious fairytale creature. We encountered this creature later on in the book and he/she is very unpleasant and rapey. The storyline features quite a lot of rape/forced sex scenes which are related to the events in the book but still feel unnecessary. Bastian sal Vere is the male love interest of this book and he has to give this necklace of tears to the snake like fairy creature or else his sister will be raped and killed. Hence, he’s pretty unhappy with Melke. He spends the first part of the book ignoring her and the second half obsessed with her. At the same time he’s solving the mystery of who killed a pregnant woman in his hometown. However, most of this feels irrelevant as you know from the first few pages how events are going to unfold. Verdict: Essentially a love story with a lot of violent plot lines thrown in. For all that it’s quite a good read. I will probably read more books by this author. I’m definitely going to read The Sentinel Mage which from its blurb seems awesome.