December Review

Ending the year on a high note!

In December I finished 6 books!!

Let's just get through this:

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Published September 2017, by Margaret K. McElderry Books

So this one I got in my November Uppercase box. I hadn't heard of it before hand and was actually pretty excited about it. Despite there being a person on the cover I think the art is well done enough I didn't mind it. The font however, there needs to be more of a contrast. The story itself....well here's the synopsis real quick:

We follow Isobel, a human who's good at her craft in a world where the fae crave craft. The fae cannot produce any craft of their own, so they seek human craft. Isobel is a portrait artist who's name is starting to be well known through out the fae kingdom's. So when she get's commissioned by the Autumn Prince, Rook, she feels confident that her craft will create a stable living for her, her aunt and her two sisters. But when she makes the mistake of painting human sorrow in the Prince's eyes, Isobel must stand trial, as the mistake could cost Rook his crown. Rook escorts Isobel personally to the Autumn court but along the way they find challenges with The Hunt and the Alder King of the Summer Court. They must rely on each other if they want to survive, but will their feelings get in the way?

So...I actually thought the synopsis sounded really interesting, and as I read the book I was actually loving the detail of the writing, and the characters. However, some characters felt flat, and the plot really wasn't there. I loved the feelings that came from Isobel and Rook, and the fun banter and the magic, until the end.

Spoiler Alert:
I mentioned this in a couple other posts but I'll repeat it here, the cliche of "Four dates then marriage" is so irritating to me. This is how the book ends, with Isobel defeating the Alder King, and because the Fae Courts don't get past down by blood line but rather through challenges and defeats, Isobel is now considered Queen of the Summer Court (the highest court as it would seem) and Rook purposes marriage because this is the only way he get's to be king. Not only was the fight with the Alder King very anti-climactic but the fact that the book ends with both of them thinking that marriage will be a breeze compared to their adventure was bit...abrupt. I personally felt it left more questions than answers.

Aside from that thought the detailed writing of the environments and the characters of Rook and Isobel were fun. 3 out of 5 stars

The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen

Published September 2017, By Simon and Schuster

This was a fun little quick read that my co-worker gave to my niece. The illustrations themselves were very nice and I enjoyed the monochromatic scheme with tints of red and silver. There were also creative pages in which the interacted with each other through cut outs, which was a nice surprise. One thing I did have an issue with was that in a couple of random spots the text didn't flow like it did through out the rest of the book. Like most picture books the text was along the bottom of the pages, but here and there (thinking about it I'm pretty sure it was only one page....it was enough to bug me....) the text was in the upper left hand corner, which felt random. If every other page had done so or if the whole book was structured like that, I wouldn't have minded but this one page just felt unorganized.

Over all not a bad book, it follows a little girl who finds a reindeer and she befriends it. 3 out of 5 stars. Decent but a bit forgettable.

Giant Days Vol 1. by John Allison, Illustrated by Lissa Treiman and colored by Whitney Cogar

Published December 2015, By Boom! Box

This graphic novel series follows three girls going through college. Helping each other get through break ups, sickness, hangovers, sexuality discovery, and classes.

So far this is very entertaining. I love the illustrations and the over all theme is fairly fun and light hearted with some heavy undertones. With this being the first one it wasn't too much of a "wow" factor for me, but it was fun enough that I ordered the next two volumes. Plus it's about college, which, I mean, is always fun. 4 out of 5 stars.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

Published October 2017, by Graywolf Press

I'm not sure how to describe this book. Aside from that it was a collection of short stories about women. It pushed boundaries psychologically. All of these stories could be considered "weird" but some of them pushed it beyond. The odd thing about this book, and I think the whole intent was to get us thinking. There were a couple of stories where I just found myself lost in my own thoughts afterwards. I'd have to set the book down, and just think. A couple of them stuck out more than others but over all a very entertaining and thought provoking read. I also really enjoy the complexity of the cover. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Published September 2008, by Harper Collins

This book follows Nobody Owens, a child who escaped the murderer who killed his family and wondered into a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants agreed to raise and protect the boy.

So I listened to this on an audio book. And started it around Halloween... I, for the most part, really did enjoy this book, however I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I read it physically. There were parts in the audio that were hard to understand. mostly the Seer, this snake like ghost that protects a treasure buried in the graveyard, it's the oldest thing there, but the voice representing it in audible was so hard to understand at times that I just became disinterested. Other than that it was just a case of wanting to move on to other books, but a good book nonetheless. 4 out of 5 stars.

And finally, the last book I read for the year

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling Illustrated by Jim Kay

Published October 2015, by Arthur A. Levine Books

Ok how could I not? To be fair though I switched from this illustrated version to the regular hard back edition, just because I found the illustrated one a bit big to carry around with me everywhere. Plus I thought it'd be a perfect ending to 2017.

And there you have it! with those I have completed my 2017 Goodreads goal of reading 52 books this year and have already made plans to increase that to 60-65 for 2018

I thank you for reading and hope to see you in the new year!

Litta