Nov 16 2011
What Jia’s Been Reading, Late October/Early November
Both my reading speed and time have taken a serious hit the past few weeks. Hopefully, my upcoming vacation over Thanksgiving will remedy that but who knows?
Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara
I’m a big fan of Michelle Sagara/Michelle West’s books but this one didn’t live up to my expectations. It seems like every couple Elantra books, there’s one I find completely uninteresting. This, apparently, was the one. (Full review.)
The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin
The conclusion to the Inheritance trilogy. It’s a very different sort of book from the previous two. Both more and less epic at the same time. I have mixed feelings about it but overall, I liked what it was trying to achieve: the story of a child-god who has to grow up. I thought it was the perfect finale for the trilogy but I can see how readers who wanted something like the first two would be disappointed. Full review to come.
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | nook | Sony | Kobo
India Black and the Widow of Windsor by Carol K. Carr
I think my mistake going into this book was thinking it’d be an over the top spy caper along the lines of the first book. It’s not. It’s still a spy novel, but it’s not quite as over the top which made it less entertaining for me. I also thought India was presented as more of a bumbling spy — she is inexperienced and a woman but I disliked how she was constantly put down by all the men around her — and I didn’t care for that at all. Full review to come.
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | nook | Sony | Kobo
Scored by Lauren McLaughlin
In some ways, I think it’s a shame the YA dystopian subgenre is so glutted. With so many books having similar premises, titles are bound to be overlooked. This one tackles the idea of teenagers being “scored,” essentially mapping out their futures. I didn’t realize until I started reading it, however, that the protagonist was biracial. What’s more, the book touches on race and class and whether or not a “score” is the great equalizer. Surprisingly deep for such a slim book. Full review to come.
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | nook | Sony | Kobo
What about you guys? Have you read any of these? Looking forward to the holidays in hopes for time to read?
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Nov 16, 2011 @ 14:53:50
^^ I totally loved Cast in Ruin and am very happy to see it added via write-in vote to the semifinals of the GoodReads Choice awards in the category of Best Fantasy just now.
I think I said that at your review already, though, but the link leads me to a 404 page so I can’t check.
I liked the final Hundred Thousand Kingdom novel, but I actually wanted the book to be two books – one centring on Sieh and one on the adventures of Glee and Ashad.
Nov 16, 2011 @ 15:14:02
You’re the second person to recommend Scored. It’s in my pile, but I have to admit the cover threw me off (it felt very meh) and the lack of knowledge of it didn’t help, either. I am definitely going to check it out.
Nov 16, 2011 @ 15:23:10
@Estara: Oh whoops, I messed up that link. Fixed it, thanks for pointing that out.
@John: The cover is very generic on top of having a very nondescript color palette but it was good. I was surprised.
Nov 16, 2011 @ 15:26:35
I was fairly disappointed with the Black book and never finished it. I didn’t know whether it was my lack of interest in the ongoing relationship of Finch and India or how the spy story was played out. I’m glad I didn’t read much further, though, to see her diminished as a character.