Review: Master on 'Starcrossed'

Hello there! Here we have Master's first review, enjoy :)

Title: Starcrossed

Author: Josephine Angelini

Author's official website: http://www.josephineangelini.com/

ISBN:  978-0-330-52973-0

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My rating for Starcrossed: 4.5/5.0

Me summing up this book in 3 words: mythology, cinematic, gripping.

Review:

Starcrossed is the first book in Josephine Angelini's debut series, and in my opinion this is a very promising start. It is arguably my favourite out of all the books I read last year, probably because it is just a great big ol' mix of a lot of things I'm into at the moment. To be completely honest, it was very difficult to put this down and I was pretty much hanging onto the edge of the book the whole time.

The story is based on Greek mythology, specifically Helen of Troy, but is set in modern day Nantucket. [If you want a proper plot synopsis read further. I just didn't want to spoil anything.] Even though there are other series based on modern-day versions of mythological characters, the way this is written plus the clever intricacy of how the myth is weaved into the plot, in my opinion, makes this stand out amongst the crowd.

The language used in the book is never really very complex, however it is used in such a way to create absolutely splendid imagery in the reader's mind. The scenes just play out in your head like a movie, which just makes it so much more enjoyable.

I would highly recommend this if you like Greek mythology, romance, drama and suspense!

Spoilers from here onwards.

Review: Wicks on 'Burn Mark'

Our second review, this time from dear Wicks :)

Simon Wicks here, bringing you my first book review!

Title: Burn Mark 
Author: Laura Powell
Author's website: http://www.laurapowellauthor.com/
ISBN-10: 1408815222
ISBN-13: 978-1408815229
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As I haven’t actually finished the book Gerry lent me I can’t review that... However I thought the book club blog looked a little bare so I’m going to review the book Ruby bought me for Christmas: BURN MARK by Laura Powell. ‘Ancient witchcraft. Modern world.’

Like it says on the cover, this book is all about witchcraft. The concept is that certain people develop the power to use magic in their late teens.  It tends to run in families, but not always! Now, we can’t just have magic users running around doing whatever they want. But luckily there is a big scary organisation called ‘The Inquisition’ to keep us muggles safe. The big punishment for those witches who step out of line?... You guessed it... burning at the stake. Now if you’re a witch and you want to stay within the law, you can get a job doing regulated magic or you can get yourself bridled. Bridling is where you register as a witch and you are fitted with iron cuffs that stop you doing magic. Now if you don’t fancy either of these options you can live the dangerous life of an unregistered witch. The ‘covens’ are mafia style gangs run by these underground witches.

The main storyline follows two teens living two very different lives (of course) but who have to learn to work together (didn’t you just know I was going to say that!). Firstly we have Glory, a coven member, trying to live up to the celebrity (and perhaps notoriety) of her grandmother and great aunt, the Starling Twins. I never usually sympathise with chavvy characters like Glory here but she does have charm in an ‘I can look after myself’ kind of way. We also have the much more refined Lucas, son of the High Inquisitor (avoiding spoilers- but no prizes for guessing what happens to him).

The story did feel a little formulaic at times but I found myself getting drawn in, even though I was reading on the train and there were a million distractions. Didn’t take me long to read either despite cringing at some of the burning scenes. It even taught me a few things about witches, which I must say was surprising! Overall an enjoyable read and one I will no doubt read again.

Rating: 13/15 Simon stars. 

One to read if you enjoyed: The Hunger Games, City Of Bones.

Feel free to comment below your thoughts on 'Burn Mark' if you have read it or are planning on reading it :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all have a wonderful day with your loved ones :)

Book Brawl: ConscienceSarah vs. DisneyLoverMolly

Today is the day that ConscienceSarah and DisneyLoverMolly initiated their reading battle. At breaktime they went to the library, agreed on a book and borrowed a copy each. Here they will compete head to head to see who can finish the chosen book first. The book they chose is Charles Dickens' 'Nicholas Nickleby'. Keep an eye out on this post as we will be keeping you updated on their progress every step of the way!

Updates:

Tue 26th Mar '13, 19.30: ConscienceSarah - Finished 35 chapters.
Mon 25th Mar '13, 17.16: ConscienceSarah - Finished 30 chapters.
Fri 22nd Mar '13, 19.05: ConscienceSarah - Finished 25 chapters.
Fri 22nd Feb '13, 21.03: ConscienceSarah - Finished 20 chapters.

Sun 17th Feb '13, 11.32: ConsienceSarah - Finished 15 chapters.

Thu 14th Feb '13, 09.50: ConscienceSarah - Finished 11 chapters.

Wed 13th Feb '13, 18.59: ConscienceSarah - Finished 10 chapters.

Thu 7th Feb '13: ConscienceSarah - Finished 3 chapters.

Mon 4th Feb '13, 18.40: ConscienceSarah - Finished first chapter.

Mon 4th Feb '13: The race begins.

Review: ConscienceSarah on 'Touch Not the Cat'

Here we have our first review by ConscienceSarah! Enjoy :)

Title: Touch Not the Cat

Author: Mary Stewart 

ISBN-10: 1444715038 

ISBN-13: 978-1444715033

Preferred age rating: 15

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Review:
Touch Not the Cat (by Mary Stewart) first published in 1976

When I first started reading this book, I checked back to the author and other books she'd written because I recognised her name and her beautifully descriptive style of writing that shows particularly when she's describing places. I discovered she'd also written The Merlin Trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills & The Last Enchantment) which I read the summer before last and thoroughly enjoyed.

First impressions/Stewart's writing style:
The first chapter of Touch Not the Cat opens with a quote from Romeo and Juliet: 'It is my soul that calls upon my name'. This encompasses many of the key themes introduced in the first chapter (love and death for instance) which also feature in Romeo and Juliet. The quote itself echoes the relationship between the two main characters from the first chapter: Bryony Ashley and unidentified character, who Bryony assumes is one of her second cousins, and with whom she has a telepathic connection. The quote also reflects the repeated calling of Bryony's name throughout the first chapter.

Stewart uses lots of description to build up a picture of Bryony's life and history. The long, informative passages progress through Bryony's own life or the history of her family before arriving at the day where the story starts with some reference to the imminent death of Bryony's father. Then the process starts again. The passages in the rest of the book are more chronological with fewer historical stories cropping up.

The first chapter is largely written in the first person from Bryony's point of view. However the last paragraph is in the third person and presents the thoughts and feelings of a man at Ashley Court in 1835 who is, again, unidentified, setting up the mystery to be unravelled...

A great read if you love mystery and/or romance.

WARNING: The rest of this post contains SPOILERS!

Well fancy seeing you here...

Hello!

It's Gerry the Gerbil here, presenting you with another blog! I'm genuinely so excited about this and I can't wait to see where we go with it. If you're still a little unsure about who I am or stuff like that, feel free to read some of the descriptions at the bottom of the page and also check out the original Gerry the Gerbil blog.

So, the way it's going to work here is that along with a group of friends (who you can read about at the bottom of the page), we shall read and review different books. The reviews will be posted and then we shall have a little discussion about it in the Comments section of the post. How does that sound? We have a lot of stuff in store for you, currently we're just trying to get it off the ground as we've just got to finish writing some reviews and then hopefully we'll get into a regular posting pattern of some sort.

So until next time, keep you eyes peeled for new posts. Don't forget to follow this blog too (you can follow by scrolling down to the Followers section).

Gerry :)