Book Review: Duck Boy

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Book: Duck Boy

Author: Bill Bunn

Recommend: I wasn’t a big fan of this one, it just felt tired and overdone.

I received this book as an ARC through netgalley about a month ago and finally got around to it. I don’t know why I delayed so long but something just kept pulling me away to something else. I wish I had waited longer or just not gotten to it.

While this book wasn’t a bad read, it wasn’t really good either. The whole plot line felt very tired and worn. The magic or alchemy system felt flimsy and needed more thought. The other world they travel to, is very vague and hard to imagine. The characters were somewhat interesting, however the main character frequently repeating the nickname others called him was distracting. If the author had done it even half as much as he did, it still would have been too frequent. The kids seemed to have so much freedom and ability to influence their world that it came off as completely unbelievable.

This author has some potential but I think this book needed a major rewrite to be an enjoyable read.

Final Rating:

TRASH IT!!

Book Review: Once

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Book: Once

Author: Anna Carey

Recommend: It went a different direction than I expected but definitely a good read!

The second book in the Eve trilogy, this picks up right where Eve left off and then twists the plot in a direction I don’t think anyone saw coming. It was refreshing to see a young adult author take a book exactly where the reader wasn’t expecting it to go! Caleb‘s life is hanging by a thread again, we finally find out exactly who Moss is and Eve is placed into a crazy situation that is very shocking.

This book was a great read. I love being surprised by a plot and this one definitely did it. By the end of the book though, as a reader, I have a certain distrust of the author and so when she claimed that someone was dead, I just can’t bring myself to believe her. This series is really so well written and engaging. I can’t imagine many people not enjoying this series.

You can find my review of the first book here. I can’t wait for the conclusion to this intense trilogy!

Final Rating:

Buy it new

Book Review: Leviathan

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Book: Leviathan

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Recommend: Definitely!

This is my first introduction to Scott Westerfeld and I can’t wait to read more. Leviathan was even better than I thought it would be. A big fan of steampunk, this book was a huge hit with me.

To say that Deryn is a hug tomboy would be a large understatement. When she decides to disguise herself as a boy and enter the military so that she can fly, she knows it is a huge risk but decides that it is worth the risk. Everything seems to go well for her until they crash and a mysterious boy comes to rescue her. When her loyality is divided and it either her kingdom or the safety of the boy who saved her life, which will she choose?

Okay, this is some of the most inventive steampunk I’ve run across. The writing is great, fast and entertaining. At first I didn’t think I would enjoy the illustrations but after a while it was a help to envision some of the more bizarre things described in the book and they didn’t happen so frequently that they were a distraction. First time I’ve ever really seen full out illustrations be truly helpful to the story telling.

If I had to come up with some kind of criticism for this book it is that Deryn is just a bit too convincing as a boy. You don’t really see her struggle to maintain her lie very often. I think the conflict that should be here hasn’t really shown up and I hope that Deryn becomes a bit more realistic in the second book.

This book was great and I can’t wait to read the next book in this wonderful trilogy!

Final Rating:

Buy it new