Review: The Reluctant Assassin (W.A.R.P, #1)

The story here largely involves W.A.R.P (Witness Anonymous Relocation Programme); a secret FBI operation that hides key witnesses in the past to ensure their safety, before testifying in major trials. In this instance, the witnesses are sent back to early 19th Century England.
Riley is an orphaned boy living in Victorian London, who has the misfortune of being apprenticed to sociopathic illusionist Albert Garrick. A man who now uses his power of misdirection towards murder. On one particular job, Riley finally has to prove himself to his master by making his first kill; instead he finds himself hurtling forward through time.
It's in modern day London that Riley is saved from his fate, by Chevie Savano; a plucky junior FBI agent with a lot to prove. Now on the run, Riley and Chevie must evade the murderous magician as they are hunted down through time.

We've all been in this place; one of your favourite series ends and the author begins anew. You can't help but harshly judge the new series before you've even read it, because let's face it: it'll pale in comparison right?
Right. Well, wrong really. I was really excited when I found out about this series, and it was largely to do with the fact that I absolutely adored Colfer's previous series Artemis Fowl; but new series are always a big deal for me- it's a way for the author to show a different side to them, and I definitely saw one.

Of course, it was wonderfully fast paced- I just couldn't put it down. It also had the same familiar Colfer wit; and it had the same art of making me love the villains probably more than the heroes, but it's the start of an entirely different series. Artemis Fowl had an absurd brilliance to it that was absolutely wonderful. Sometimes things got silly, and the sillier it got- the more I enjoyed it. The Reluctant Assassin possessed something much darker though, and a lot more serious. There was real pain for the characters in the book, for both hero and villain alike.

The characters were great in this, it's always refreshing when female characters are obviously badass without being irritating and Chevie is one of them. She's gobby, reckless and annoying but still pretty great. Riley, unlike Artemis uses a combination of street smarts and sheer dumb luck to claw his way out of sticky situations. Sometimes his innocence is astounding, and plays his role of a cheeky young boy very well. (He deserved a clip round the ear, on a few occasions. Just saying.)
And Garrick? Well, Garrick. What can I say, penchant for reluctantly super smart sexy villains and all that rot. As well as being relentlessly evil, there were times where I genuinely felt sorrow in my heart for his character. He reminded me of a scruffy, long haired Oliver Reed, in Oliver!

In short, I welcome W.A.R.P. with open arms. It's not Artemis Fowl, but it is something new. The only problem about it being new though, is having to wait to find out what happens next. Watch this space, I guess.

Rating: ★★★★☆

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: Slaughterhouse-Five

At the age of 21, Billy Pilgrim was drafted into the Army where he was a front line soldier in Germany, 1944. It is here he becomes "unstuck in time," reliving and re-experiencing  certain moments of his life; the time he was prisoner of war in Dresden or when he was abducted and taken to live in Tralfamadore with a porn star named Montana Wildhack. Billy's personal calling in life is spreading the teachings of the Tralfamadorians (well, it seems to be that way anyway). 

I read this book on a whim, it's one of those cult classics you're a bit scared to pick up, just in case you don't like it very much. Or at all.
I've got to say I was pleasantly surprised, not that it was a brilliant read (and a brilliant read it was) but by how much I loved it. Towards the end of the book I started reading at a snail's pace, savouring every single word and quite frankly, not really wanting it to end.

I loved the protagonist Billy Pilgrim. I love him and I adore him.
He reminds me of a less cynical, grown up version of Holden Caulfield, (Salinger's Catcher in the Rye) he was so lovely and kind to every person he comes into contact with. Even when they weren't very nice to him, which is a regular occurrence in the book (I'm talking to you, Roland Weary!) It's the kind of love that makes every fiber of your being ache for their happiness, I really wanted everyone to believe him about Tralfamadore. 

Incidentally, I found the writing style of this book to be very similar to Catcher in the Rye, it's not the only reason I loved reading it but it did relax my nerves once I started to get into it.
I couldn't recommend this enough, it's beautifully written and an absolute joy to read. I hope I get the chance to read it again one day, because it's easily dropped into my favourite reads category!

Rating: ★★★★★

Review: The Invisible Man

If the internet generation has taught me one thing, it's that anonymity brings the best and worst out of people. When it comes to the worst, you can feel empowered and brave- after all, you can do and say whatever you please when no one can see you.
The Invisible Man follows the same social conduct, even though it was written in the turn of the 20th Century. Of course, there was no social media back then but man's search for power is a tale as old as time.

In the novel, we learn of the antagonist Griffin, a seemingly brilliant medical student who becomes fascinated with optics. Upon his research he discovers that invisibility can be achieved through the change of an object's refractive and reflected properties. (At least I think so, the science bit confused me some.) The physical body would remain the same but visually it can not be seen.
The story is based around Griffin's plight, the erosion of his moral compass and his susceptibility to murderous rage. 

I feel Wells made it as easy as possible to dislike Griffin and that was probably the point; I found it to be a distraction in the end as there were no other real characters to form a connection with.
Ignoring my dislike for the main character, it was written wonderfully and I found it to be an absolute joy to read. Often with sci-fi, the science bit can get a little daunting but this was written in a way that most, if not all of the audience can achieve a loose level of understanding. 

This is the first novel I've read by H. G. Wells, it's not my favourite book in the world, as far as science fiction goes but it hasn't put me off reading more by the author.
I don't know if I'd recommend this book to anyone, but if you like H. G. Wells and you like repulsive men doing equally repulsive things that mirror today's society... I'd say this is right up your street.  

Rating: ★★☆☆☆