This book starts with a good premise but falls a little flat in its execution. It has some mindbendy horror, a splash of romance, and some late 1700'sThis book starts with a good premise but falls a little flat in its execution. It has some mindbendy horror, a splash of romance, and some late 1700's fantasy with an element of maybe magic is real and maybe it isnt.
In the end its okay at best, the twists were more jarring than horror, and some parts clearly feel like they needed a bit more fleshing out if we as readers were supposed to fall for a bit of a trap. The main antagonist motivation is a little weak and felt more contrived, and the resolution was even worse.
It was cute in its own way, the world itself seems rich and it was fun getting to explore and extrapolate a few points about the world but in the end its nothing special and isnt enough to have brought the book to a point where I could say I really enjoyed it, even if it was fun branching out to this genre combination....more
I really enjoy these movie novelizations. They usually give you a little extra insight into the characters and how a particular scene was written or rI really enjoy these movie novelizations. They usually give you a little extra insight into the characters and how a particular scene was written or rewritten to fit.
In the end this one is almost beat for beat exactly like the movie except for a partial rewrite of Riddicks past to make him more sympathetic right off the bat which.. I dont agree was necessary but did help set the atmosphere for the finale a little better....more
**spoiler alert** Ive been trying to get a hold of this one for the better part of a year so I could continue my animorphs binge, and it finally arriv**spoiler alert** Ive been trying to get a hold of this one for the better part of a year so I could continue my animorphs binge, and it finally arrived.
Ive been really enjoying going back and revisiting my childhood in this series, and remembering the old lessons they taught a much smaller dan about the world.
We get back into some darker themes but this time through Cassie, the groups heart if you like to assign tropes to characters and the sacrifices she had and has to keep making for a less and less clear bigger picture all come into focus on this really sad moment.
The animorphs was particularly cunning here, and with it being a cassie story it felt much more grounded. A great 90 minute read and a welcome reprieve from the last story in Ax's perspective....more
Seriously. The book gets dark, deals with some very disturbing and chilling subjects and basically just loves to giAbandon all hope ye who enter here.
Seriously. The book gets dark, deals with some very disturbing and chilling subjects and basically just loves to give you hope before crushing your dreams. Much like being a teenager felt like sometimes.
Its a fabricated journal (well two journals) of a young girl and it covers subjects like bullying, peer pressure, drug use, rape, teen pregnancy and just how quickly things can spiral out of control from only a few bad decisions. And honestly, there are parts that really did strike the right tone of being a teenagers journal and where the logic to an adult is pure fridge horror looking back.. its easy to see how some of those decisions were made and kept getting worse through the lens of what I remember being a teenager was like.
There are of course parts that dont make any sense for it to have survived in journal form that somewhat break the immersion of reading about this life. There is more introspection about the dangers that the actions usually have. And it definitely had a more.. alarmist tone. Or alarmist as far as something written in the last 60's and early 70's could be. It also has a few blatantly pro-religion overtones that.. seem somewhat out of touch with reality.
But hey, it was still deeply enthralling and frighteningly nostalgic. I didnt go through the same traumas the character did growing up. But it absolutely struck that resonant chord of some of the worst parts of being a frustrated teenager and it was a fantastic use of the journal format to tell a horrifying (not as a horror, but as a denial of hope) story.
I know too many people who have had too many similar traumas for this to not stick around in my brain for a while....more
This collection of short stories took me 4 months to finish it. Not, as the blurb would tell you, because its disturbing dark. More so bNo. Just dont.
This collection of short stories took me 4 months to finish it. Not, as the blurb would tell you, because its disturbing dark. More so because its really quite terrible.
There was exactly one story in this collection I was interested in reading. Which was Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman and it was good, maybe not great. But good. A retelling and even darker version of Snow White from the brothers Grimm with Snow herself as a vampire and antagonist.
And then, because im a damned fool I kept reading the rest of them. And I hated almost every moment of it. At best most of the stories were 'Murder with an oral fixation' but usually it was an excuse to write something that doesnt deserve being posted outside of some extremely crappy fiction forum where you are just trying to shock the reader with poorly written body horror in the guise of a fetish. When these short stories were bad, they were really bad.
Credit where its due where most of the stories range from 'Bad' to 'Mediocre at Best' there are a few that were all three Vampire, Erotica, and Actually Really Good. But they are few. And no diamond in the rough is worth digging through the rest of this bile inducing drek.
Congratulations Love in Vein II, you have set a bar so low that I have a new benchmark for how bad something can be. ...more
**spoiler alert** I picked this up mostly because of how much I enjoyed the Zombie Survival guide and WWZ. And in terms of quality this absolutely did**spoiler alert** I picked this up mostly because of how much I enjoyed the Zombie Survival guide and WWZ. And in terms of quality this absolutely did not disappoint.
Its not all that often you find a book in the horror section that is horror and not a thriller (if even that) but this one gave me chills. That crawling sensation when the hairs rise up on your neck as you think you might just see movement out the corner of the window type chills.
The only real complaint I have here is that the journal entry format, finding a written left behind diary felt a little forced in its implementation. It absolutely worked for telling the story but it doesnt sit quite right even with the trappings Brooks used to justify it. Its still a style he does incredibly well but it leaves this disconnect in an otherwise incredibly personal story and makes all of the characters feel just a little emptier and one step farther removed.
Solid book. Slow start but it absolutely delivered in the end....more
I really enjoyed the book, but im having trouble articulating exactly why. Its well executed, but mild at best in terms of horror. Its vague but stillI really enjoyed the book, but im having trouble articulating exactly why. Its well executed, but mild at best in terms of horror. Its vague but still very relatable from the perspective of dying small towns as the driving industry leaves. And the secondary plots feel both at times completely unnecessary (which is probably why the movie dropped them wholesale) but also help add some much needed depth to whats otherwise a fairly shallow story. The ending felt rushed and abrupt but in its own way left this perfect feeling of victory and... yeah.
So much of what I think was good and bad about the story contradicts itself and has a lot of overlap, and none of it is because the writing was bad. There is a lot of character (even if it gets a little cheesy and hammy at times) and I had a lot of fun on this journey.
Ill keep trying to sort out my thoughts and I might have to come back and read this again at some point. Its certainly not a book I would regret picking up again for another go....more
And hey! Back to the darkness of child soldiers, ptsd, horrific injuries and war crimes :)
Marco isnt my favorite perspective, but I do appreciate the And hey! Back to the darkness of child soldiers, ptsd, horrific injuries and war crimes :)
Marco isnt my favorite perspective, but I do appreciate the viewpoint and the struggles he brings to the group. Each character grounds the story in a unique way (except ax so far) and Marcos is one based in overcoming profound fear for the sake of family and friends, and compensating for trauma and that same fear with humour.
This one was particularly heart wrenching in some ways. And the three laws of robotics come into play here a little a very interesting way (its a story about androids, cmon).
Anyway, im still loving this blast from my childhood and the nostalgia it brings me. I also still cant believe the PURE NERVE it must have taken to get these books okayed for children but im incredibly glad they pulled it off....more
Thoughts: I got the grown up version this time! And to the surprise of no one its a lot better, and about 3 times longer than the one for kids I read bThoughts: I got the grown up version this time! And to the surprise of no one its a lot better, and about 3 times longer than the one for kids I read before.
Its a story that holds up really well but it has a lot of cultural baggage at this point. Everyone knows the twist but its much different than how most more modern retellings or iterations of the character address the story. And its still weird not being able to talk about a story without spoilers when the ending is so well known.
Thanks to OSP for reminding me I needed to read this. ...more
I knew the rough outline of the story before I finally got to read the book, but ive never watched the shows, movies, or really read a review of it beI knew the rough outline of the story before I finally got to read the book, but ive never watched the shows, movies, or really read a review of it before this and its certainly not what I expected. There is a terror in this book that isnt remotely horror and im not entirely sure how to process that.
Ill get into some of the easy stuff, the pacing of the book was quick, effective, and easy to manage. Unlike a lot of what ive read from King this one didnt go completely off the rails while the writing quality spirals downward for no reason and it was a really good, if extremely dark, read.
There is something about the story, from the bullying to the home situation that resonates, even without being able to really understand the extreme worst case scenario portrayed in the book that makes me a little uncomfortable, but also made it so I really wanted to continue reading in the end just to.. well.. see what happened in a fascinated, morbid kind of way....more
**spoiler alert** Thoughts: To start.. the book is fiction, though closely based on a true story. Wrapping my brain around that took some metal gymnast**spoiler alert** Thoughts: To start.. the book is fiction, though closely based on a true story. Wrapping my brain around that took some metal gymnastics and exactly how much of it is true and how much is fiction isnt exactly clear, but a few cursory searches seem to indicate its not too far off the mark in any particular respect.
Anyway, wow. I can see why this book got so popular so quick. Regardless if its simply a new author (which she was) getting her feet under her or if it was intentional the choice to use simpler language and easier words had an interesting effect when you are dealing with subject matter so awful. Because with the choice in language the story flows easily and quickly, so quickly at times that I forgot (before it all came crashing back) that its talking about Auschwitz and just how horrifying that entire... well.. everything about it was.
Those sudden jolts of realization and remembering what was actually going on did a wonderful job of sparking some rather strong emotions, and I have to give credit to the choice to tell the story like this. The downside is that because of the way the story was told it only works if you are rather familiar with the material otherwise it feels like a 'sanitized for soft constitutions' version of the history. And I kinda feel like blunting the impact of that horror does history and the lessons learned by it a disservice....more
A novella? Its not a full length book, but its not a short story either. Im going with novella for now.
Anyway, the story aged remarkably wellThoughts:
A novella? Its not a full length book, but its not a short story either. Im going with novella for now.
Anyway, the story aged remarkably well. There are a few parts that definitely make the book give away the time it was written, but they are minor and easily escape into the background of this atmospheric (the puns!) story.
I did watch the movie before, but I dont think that I needed it to form a chilling image just from kings writing. Its still tense, and I still enjoyed working through the novel even knowing (largely) how it all worked out in the end! I do think the movie had the better ending, but the book (outside of an awkward.. thing..) led up to it a little better.
I could go on about the writing of some incredibly strong and provoking characters or bring up how a few choice sentences are going to stick with me for a long time... but the short version is that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
With Halloween tomorrow (as of the time in writing), I wanted to grab a horror story off the shelf and The Mist with its spoooooky weather fit the bill wonderfully. ...more
Victor Frankenstein is an idiot. That special 18 INT 8 WIS type of idiot.
The story itself was well written with good **spoiler alert** First thoughts:
Victor Frankenstein is an idiot. That special 18 INT 8 WIS type of idiot.
The story itself was well written with good pacing and a frankly excellent story to tell. There isnt a lot of fat to trim, and I appreciate the narrow focus of the layered stories.
The Monster (That is, the main character who DID NOT: leave his close adopted sister to die, ignore the emotional straights of his family so he could throw a pity party, or break his word of honor and physically destroy any hope of happiness of his opponent.) Was eloquent, well reasoned and understandably angry. The parts of the story of him applying his mind to solving problems and just learning was fantastic and it really helped realize the monster as a character.
Victor on the other hand.. got what he deserved.
Anyway. The story has been told and retold so many times and with so many variations that I was pleasantly surprised when I went back to read the original story. There has been so much drift away from the conflict and the moral battlefield the story takes place on that a modern telling of the story that I would be hard pressed to call them similar in anything but name and I honestly like this version best.
Im glad I read this, though I wish I had read it sooner. It holds up remarkably well for a book just over 200 years old and im pleased that one of the founding works of the sci fi genre held up so well.
Also, just in case you forgot. Victor Frankenstein is an idiot.
But dark hasnt bothered me in a very long time and Rolands wonderfully stoic demeanor as **spoiler alert** First thoughts:
Whoo.. that got dark quick.
But dark hasnt bothered me in a very long time and Rolands wonderfully stoic demeanor as he commits (REALLY commits holy shit) to this task was fantastic. Particularly in light of the moral/mental uncertainty he occasionally has.
I did read the revised version, but I also read up on one of the big changes in the original and honestly.. I think I would have preferred the original. The change just.. seems a little out of tone.
Anyway, this was a short, but very good introduction to the wonderful and bloody world of The Dark Tower and I look forward to seeing what comes next. .. even if there is a LOT left to go through. Ill get there....more
Its always a little unnerving when an author is really willing to commit to inflicting pain on his main characters, and its really rareFirst thoughts:
Its always a little unnerving when an author is really willing to commit to inflicting pain on his main characters, and its really rare to see it done in a way where the character can still remain who they are. But King pulls it off wonderfully without detracting at all from the juggernaut of resolve that is Roland.
'The Prisoner' was easily my favorite section, following along the trains of thought as Roland figures out what is going on and the development of the character he ran into here. Plus he got to show off some pretty cunning loophole abuse of the worlds mechanics with a rather fantastic payoff.
I didnt enjoy the following sections nearly as much, but so far The Dark Tower as a whole is holding its own. Only 6 books to go....more
Well it took me over 2 months. And with quite a few distractions but I did it. I finally finished this book.
I have a **spoiler alert** First thoughts:
Well it took me over 2 months. And with quite a few distractions but I did it. I finally finished this book.
I have a lot of trouble getting into the book, and I had to force myself to sit down to finally finish reading it. And its weird, because it really is a good book. The story itself is is interesting and well executed with interesting characters and more and more interesting pieces of the world coming to the forefront.
But there is something about the writing that I cant quite put my finger on that prevented me from really getting engrossed into the book. When I sat down to read it I enjoyed the story being told, but after putting it down for a day I had nearly no interest in finishing it off and concluding the tale. Its a really weird experience for me.
So yeah, its good by any standard I can actually measure. It just couldnt catch my interest and im not really sure why.
Ill probably finish the series through sheer stubborn bullheadedness. But im not really into it at this point....more
I should first comment that there are parts of the story that were fantastic, and that got me excited to continue rea**spoiler alert** Thoughts: *sigh*
I should first comment that there are parts of the story that were fantastic, and that got me excited to continue reading, they just didnt last nearly long enough and they were far too far apart. I find this series incredibly frustrating, and its even more frustrating that I can not articulate why for the life of me. The writing is.. I dont know. It has some quality that I cant quite pin down that I find exhausting.
Im sure Rolland's roll in the hay was important for him as a character.. But reading it felt like being trapped in a dream, something where you are stuck in this half wakeful state of nonsense and incomprehensibility. And no, thats not horror. Its just annoying.
A few times I found myself wondering if the last 20 pages were worth reading. If I could have just skipped a few chapters and moved on with the story as if nothing had happened and without confusion. Its always bad if a story makes you wonder something like that. Its worse when you can actually do it. It was that dull to me that a few times I actually tried it just to hold my interest via 'SCIENCE! and after another few chapters past I went back to read what I skipped and not a single word of it ended up mattering in the least.
I know some people love these stories. I understand the appeal of imagining the raw power of Rolland's Iron Will. But if I hadnt already bought the rest of the books (on a really good sale) I dont think I would have bothered to finish this one. Much less intend to continue.
Ive read stories from King that I have enjoyed, but The Dark Tower so far isnt one of them....more
Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. And this book is a pretty good example of why. Which is weird because I dont actually like thFirst thoughts.
Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. And this book is a pretty good example of why. Which is weird because I dont actually like the horror genre. But its done so well with such incredible writing, excellent internal commentary, and nostalgia dripping from each page that yeah.. I like this book.
I dont have much more to say, it was just good....more
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