Review: Killer (Jimmy Coates, #1)

What I truly love about literature is the infinite possibilities you have in the realm of 'firsts'. First classic, first Byron poem, first self confessed obsession with a Potions Master...
I hereby bestow the award for 'First One Sided Shouting Match with my e-Reader' to Jimmy Coates. Now, I'm not one for crazy heroics, I tend to leave that to the Percy Jacksons and Harry Potters of the world- but I genuinely thought that my emotional ramblings would change the fate of this boy. Thank you Mr Craig, for a madness worthy of the Hatter himself.

Jimmy was a normal boy, content with doing normal boy things; fighting with his sister (and losing) and pretending to be interested in the news. An evening of normality was quickly thrown into the wind when a bunch of suited men arrive to his house asking for 'the boy.' The need for safety stirred something inside Jimmy, and he found himself escaping the clutches of these men (not for the first time) in the most extraordinary way.
As the men proceed to chase Jimmy around the city, the eleven year old boy is filled with nothing but questions. Questions about his new found powers, about these mysterious men and just how his parents knew them and most importantly, what exactly was happening to him.

I didn't really know what to expect, usually when someone tells me to read a book I immediately think of all the ways it won't be like the ones similar to it; it's a bad habit I really can't shake, although this feeling usually leaves me with a pleasant surprise.
Killer is a wonderful introduction to a series, I felt it was a little bit long on the 'chase' bit of the story but on reflection I feel it was the intention of the author to thoroughly destroy every avenue of trust Jimmy had accumulated in his short life. The idea of this saddens me, but I see it now as a necessary plot device, considering what actually becomes of the boy.
Once the plot picks up, the pace quickly moves along as well, and it becomes one of those books you just can't put down. So much happens in a short space of time, I found myself having to force myself to slow down in order to properly realise what was happening, when all I really wanted to do was find out what happens next. In the interest of keeping these reviews as spoiler free as possible, there isn't really much I can say plot wise without ruining it. You're just going to have to trust me.

One thing that really surprises me is how much I felt for Jimmy, maybe it's his age, or his sheltered outlook on life- I wanted to give him a hug, ruffle his hair and tell him it was all going to be okay. After all, being a weapon isn't all that bad, right?
It could be that Craig's wonderful whimsical writing style has a lot to do with it. Although the story did get dark, at times I also found myself erupting with genuine laughter. The previously unused highlighting feature on my e-Reader got a thorough workout too, there are some wonderfully constructed sentences that just left me grinning from ear to ear. It's books like this that reawakens my dream of wanting to be a boy-hero and it's wonderfully satisfying. If the first book can have me waxing poetic like this, I can only imagine what the next book has in store for me.

According to Joe Craig's official Twitter account, the release of the seventh Jimmy Coates book is out this June- it's more than enough time to power through the others before then. I don't think anyone would be disappointed in reading them, I feel this series really needs a lot more coverage than it gets. With that said, go forth and buy! I know I will be.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review: UnEnchanted

Meet Mina Grime.
Mina is a unpopular, she's so uncoordinated she makes Bella Swan look like a master of grace and she's unlucky (although, not in the way she thinks).
After a field trip goes awry, Mina ends up almost killing (and then saving) the boy of her dreams, and is consequently thrust into the world of popularity. Her new found limelight brings an old family curse into play, for Mina is a descendent of the brothers Grimm and is destined to fight the evil stories that are trying to kill her.

Every once in a while, I get a reading request that is a bit worrying. This was one of those times, as a free e-book though I can't really complain, but I will anyway. (I should probably mention I read this with a friend and we discussed our reactions in real-time.)*

I really liked the idea of a curse like this, as darker sides of fairy tales is a personal favourite of mine. There is nothing in this world I hate more than a good idea that is poorly executed.

You know something is wrong when the characters are so flat and unlikable, not even borrowing obvious traits from other book series help plump them up. (We even had a Snape moment, you guys. Turns out Mina's father James is a no good, arrogant, imbecile too!)
We also have the two polar opposite boys to help form the love triangle: the brooding misunderstood rich kid, and the quintessential leather jacket clad, motorcycle riding, bad boy. He's also brooding. The minor characters are no different, really. Same unlikability, in different bodies. It almost doesn't need to be thought about.
They all have their roles, and stick to them rigidly, the boys spend their entire time saving the damsel in distress, fighting with each other and mooning over their emotionally unavailable object of affection. Even Mina was tiresome for someone who, for a lack of better phrasing, should have been learning to kick some serious ass. She spends most of her time being stubborn, unreasonable and feeling ridiculously inadequate to every single person around her. It was entirely unbecoming, I was half hoping she'd get killed off and we'd be allowed to see her mute younger brother get a piece of the action.

The character jumping in this book was the least of my problems, although trying to figure out who's point of view I was looking at did leave me with a migraine. The plot and writing style ranged from dire to unintentional hilarity and I found I was trapped between a rock and a hard place (or in this case, grimacing and howling with laughter). You don't have to be a master of grammar to understand the basic concepts, the amount of typos borderlines worrying. My all-time favourite incident being, "Mina, they're coming over her!"  The plot holes were many and the editing was questionable at best- I was led to wonder if anyone had actually proof read it at all.
Where it lacked in grammatical correctness, it all but made up for it in the sheer abundance of misinformation and general ridiculousness. A special mention here goes to the casual racism in the form of Mr and Mrs Wong, who not only own the Chinese restaurant underneath Mina's apartment but are guilty of more spoonerisms than William Archibald Spooner himself.

There was so much wrong with this book, that I ended up loving it for all the wrong reasons. It is, in short, an exquisite guilty pleasure and I just can't wait for the sequel. I hope is just as irksome as this one. If you want to join in on the fun, you can download the e-book here.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

*Thanks for making all the live reaction readings bearable, Emma!

Review: Uglies

In the first of this series we are sent into a future world where, at the age of 16, every person undergoes a form of extreme plastic surgery to turn them from an 'ugly' to a 'pretty.'
The theory behind is this, if everyone is beautiful and looks the same, the petty bias that comes from looking different will ultimately be eradicated. I guess because they're too busy looking sexy to fight.
Tally Youngblood is 15 and a resident of Uglyville, she's recently just lost her best friend to New Pretty Town and is eagerly awaiting the day she can join him in the land of the pretties. Of course, the way things are- nothing is what it seems. Tall finds herself in a particularly bad situation where she has to choose between betraying her friends or remaining an ugly forever.

Complete with Government cover ups, conspiracy theories and living in a blatantly obvious Big Brother lifestyle. This has all the generic bits and pieces to the typical YA dystopian future story. Uglies focuses very obviously on norms that run amok in today's society, particularly that of body images and what it is that people see as ugly and beautiful. I really liked the ideas behind this story, and while I enjoyed it- I did feel parts of it could have executed a lot better.

I found no strength in the protagonist, Tally or in her sidekick- Shay. Both of their desires to seek the truth behind the beautiful lie (and every subsequent action) has to do with their immediate attraction to the 'ugly' but oh-so-dreamy David. At times I found this very uncomfortable to read, unlike other female protagonists there is no real courage in their convictions. (What would Buffy say, really?)
I'll give her something though, Tally has moments where she's completely badass on a hoverboard- but my estimations take like a stone to water when she has a ridiculous cat fight with her newest best friend over a wilderness boy. (I know it's set hundreds of years into the future, but surely they could have kept the idiom bros before -- you know what, never mind.)
Another thing I found difficult to deal with was the overuse of the words 'ugly' and 'pretty', I get the feeling the author wanted to make it abundantly clear that we should never see the world so black and white but were forced to do regardless, and by the person who is telling us not to. It got too confusing for words, really.

A lot of the plot, while a great idea seemed to take an absolute age to unfold, it made the reading difficult and I didn't sink into the story as quickly as I'd have liked to. I don't usually count pages of chapters but I found myself waiting to see how many pages it took for something new to happen. The writing itself was a fine read, although there wasn't much jumping out at me. I always expect these sorts of novels to lead me one way and then jerk me round a corner to somewhere completely different, this novel however took me on a very clear path. I knew what was going to happen and wasn't surprised when it did.

Not to say I didn't enjoy this though, I couldn't really put it down even when I wanted to. I'm not sure if it was because it was an addictive albeit easy read, or I just wanted it over and done with.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review: The Hobbit

I don't usually make it my business to review books I've already read, but when the opportunity arises to wax poetic about one of the literature loves of my life?
Well, I'm not immune to everything!
With the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey last month, I feel the irresistible urge to persuade people to read this wonderful tale.

Hobbits, are a simple, peaceful and largely unadventurous race- Bilbo Baggins of Bag-End is no exception. One fateful evening brings a party of dwarves to the hole under the Hill, and Bilbo finds himself in the throes of a quest to retrieve treasure guarded by the  dragon, Smaug.
We follow the adventure as Bilbo and the band of dwarves face cave-dwelling goblins, giant spiders, a seemingly never ending forest and man-eating trolls; all before they end up at their final destination The Lonely Mountain and the Desolation of the Dragon.

I first read this book at 11 years old and ever since then it has been a popular re-read. This is everything a children's fantasy book should be, it's witty and charming, it's chock full of adventure and it's got more courage and heart than you can shake a stick at. It really is a short story of epic proportions, and definitely one of Tolkien's easier reads. Although it's still incredibly verbose, it was definitely written with children in mind, so the pacing is a lot quicker and the descriptions are a lot easier to wrap your head around than they are in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I freely admit that when it comes to the works of Tolkien I can't really give a balanced review, it's a part of me as much as my skin is. There really isn't a part of this book I didn't enjoy, not when I was 11 and not 13 years later. It's a definite read, and re-read, and a perfect opportunity to pick it up before The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug comes out later this year.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

First.

Tomorrow is The Big Bad Booklist's First Birthday!

Not on this exact blog (it humbly began on Tumblr), but the concept was born almost exactly a year ago and I've got to admit I couldn't be happier about it. I never ever thought I'd still be doing this a year on and that I'd still be enjoying it as much as I do. I'm forever getting bored with things and I find I've never really updated my blogs as much as I say I'm going to.
A huge thank you and masses of love going out to all of you who take the time to read my reviews and for the continued support, it really means the world to me.

My first ever reading challenge went incredibly well, 11 books over my target! (I tried to take a picture of them all. but they just wouldn't fit. I gave up.) I'll be raising the bar to 65 books in the coming year. It's still a massive challenge and a huge commitment but I feel it can still be accomplished.

I've had a lot of literary based opportunities in 2012, from participating in World Book Night to being in a reading group for The Guardian First Book Award. As well as reaffirming my love for the written word I have recently been getting to know the world of spoken word, which has been a real treat for me. I'm hoping that I have even more fantastic literary based memories in 2013, I have a few ideas hiding safely under my wizard's hat but more on that later.

I've received a fair few books over the Christmas period (some will technically be re-reads), so I already have a lot of ammunition for this coming reading challenge. I honestly can't wait! I'm so excited! Although, I really have no idea where I'm going to start.

Happy New Year, you fabulous, amazing, wonderfully inspiring people! I'll see you in 2013.
And as always, happy reading!

--Kaveeta.

Review: The Black Book of Secrets

I picked up this book up for about 80 pence from a charity table at a supermarket. It was a whimsical purchase on my part, I didn't even look at the blurb when I decided to buy it. As soon as I saw that Eoin Colfler was quoted on the cover, I suddenly couldn't wait to get home and read it. (I highly recommend Artemis Fowl, a YA Sci/Fi Fantasy about a boy villain. It's brilliant!)

Our story begins in a dank basement room in the City, a place so vile and dirty it doesn't even deserve a name.
Ludlow Fitch has discovered that he has just been betrayed by his parents, in order to escape he hops on to the back of a carriage and rides away to safety.
He finally ends up in a small town called Pagus Parvus where he meets the strange Joe Zabbidou, a man who calls himself a the secret pawnbroker.

Ludlow learns that the pawnbroker trades secrets, and not goods, for money and is hired to write down the confessions of all those who come to Joe in the dead of night.
It is here he learns of betrayals, murder, thieving, blackmailing and bodysnatching. Not knowing whether he can trust his new master, Ludlow becomes afraid that his own murky past may come back to haunt him.

What I love most about reading is the sheer pleasure I get from when a story really surprises me. Reading this was an absolute pleasure, not only was it an addictive read but it had such a wonderful flow to it, too.  It's not the best dark children's story I've read but nonetheless, it's very entertaining and Higgins has tried really hard to make an original storyline here and I think she's done really well in that respect.
It had the perfect balance of macabre and humour, although it was dark at times- most of the confessions were usually a folly and can be enjoyed by both adults and children alike. I would have probably liked to have seen more darkness in it though, but as a children's book I couldn't really ask for much more.

The only downside is the way that it ended, I was left reeling with millions of questions and because it is a one shot, those questions will never really be answered. The plus side to this is that it is indeed a series of books documenting the goings on in the City, although I'm doubtful that any of the characters will be connected in any other way. Regardless of that fact, it's certainly something I'll be reading more of in the near future.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review: Who Could That Be At This Hour? (All The Wrong Questions, #1)

OH MY SNICKET. 

The first in a new 'All The Wrong Questions' Series, "Who Could That Be at This Hour?" follows the account of a young Lemony to a town called Stain'd-by-the-Sea which is surrounded by a waterless sea and a treeless forest.
We are treated to an adventure surrounding the reclaiming of a not-actually-stolen, priceless (as in, it is worth nothing) object.

Lemony, who is a 13 year old apprentice to the last-in-the-ranks spy S. Theodora Markson, must figure out the mystery of this nothing town while mysteriously trying to contact his ever mysterious, er, contact.
I don't think there is a simple way to explain, the only way I can sufficiently describe this book is to turn a noun into an adjective;
Snickety. A word which here means, to be a lot like Snicket.

I was both a little worried and ridiculously excited when I found out Snicket was releasing a four part series autobiography. I always am when it comes to an author I have such a deep love for, I was only a little worried when I discovered it is a sort of prequel to A Series of Unfortunate Events.
I say sort of because there are a few references to the Baudelaire stories; the continual appearance of things that look like question marks and of course, the organisation Lemony and Markson work for is conveniently unnamed. One can only assume it is the ever elusive VFD.

In a true Snicket fashion, there is mystery shrouded in confusion, wrapped in mystery and topped with a grim setting- and just for good measure, sprinkled with a generous helping of mystery. There are laugh out loud moments, the usual wonderful writing and wordplay; and a plot so topsy turvy it will probably give you a touch of motion sickness. Not to mention the plethora of bizarre and wonderful characters.
It really is, wonderfully, torturously; ridiculously... Snickety.
I absolutely cannot wait for the next in the series to arrive and if it's anything like ASOUE it can only get better from here. I'd ask when it's set to arrive, but I fear that might be the wrong question; so until then, I'll resist the urge to overturn a table and cry helplessly out of frustration.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

If you're not well versed in the world of Lemony Snicket, I suggest you become so. Immediately. There are very few authors out there who can entertain and infuriate you so well. You won't be disappointed,  I promise.  Luckily, (or should I say unluckily) 'The Bad Beginning', the first in A Series of Unfortunate Events is available online and absolutely free! You can find it here.

Happy Reading!