FINISHED SINCE THE LAST UPDATE:
Kiersten White’s reimagining of Vlad Dracul and his rise to power gets stronger and stronger. There is something about watching someone as fierce and determined as Lada not being given her due because of her gender that makes me want to take up a sword myself.
I flew through Lisa Jewell’s latest novel. There are some major flaws with it. I figured out the mystery man’s identity well in advance, and I couldn’t stand one of the characters. Yet, I found myself unable to stop reading it. The story drew me in so much that I didn’t mind having figured out the mystery and my dislike of one of the characters was not enough to diminish my enjoyment of it.
The latest Sarah Lotz novel is an engaging, tension-filled adventure story. I tore through it in two days and now have a greater appreciation for mountain climbers, even while I question their sanity.
DID NOT FINISH:
This was just an odd book. I’m sure it is highly entertaining, but the verbiose and pretentious language kept me from becoming interested in the story. Plus, after one-third of the way through it, I had no idea what the conflict of the story actually was. No clear direction, language that sounds like someone was trying to use their SAT vocabulary, and a character who was a snob made this something I had no interest in continuing.
CURRENT READ:
CURRENT LISTEN:
I managed to listen for another hour or so. I’m making progress.
NEXT UP:
So, what are you reading?
I’m currently reading Hello, Sunshine by Leila Howland and The Smallest Thing by Lisa Manterfield. Bot are interesting so far. Hope you enjoy your current reads.
Thanks! I hope your two reads end up remaining interesting and enjoyable.
Looks like some great reading this week. I’m definitely curious about Now I Rise.
I’m hoping it is a great reading week!
Oh I am totally going to have to get The White Road. I have no desire to climb mountains but this sounds good!
I am so sad I couldn’t get into And I Darken last year. Lada seems like I character I should love. Glad you’re enjoying those!
This actually made me (briefly) contemplate wanting to climb mountains. The cave thing though – it just confirmed I can never go spelunking.
I’m sad you couldn’t get into it either. I do think my fascination with the real Vlad the Impaler does help though. It impresses me how she is able to keep events true to what happened even with the changes she made to the key figures.
So The White Road is good, huh?! I read The Three a long time ago and thought it was super weird, but kind of couldn’t stop reading. Maybe it’s time I try another Lotz!
I liked it a lot. It wasn’t perfect, a bit odd, but man, those parts on Everest were amazing. It actually got me thinking that I might want to climb it someday. Since I have a fear of sheer cliffs the insanity of that idea quickly passed, but the descriptions are so good.
Interesting your comments on the Lucy Ives book. I also find that language choice itself can keep me distant from characters and plot.
I am usually not bothered by language in a novel. Fancy words never scare me. There was something about the combination of language, lack of conflict/story, and character that struck a nerve this time. It doesn’t happen often, and now I will sweat that I stopped reading a book that everyone is going to love.