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btwnprintedpgs's Reviews (1.3k)
This review is a tad bit late, but better late than never.
I was not expecting what happened in this book. I thought maybe some dystopian world, the buildings fall and anarchy begins. If anything, it'd be kind of like The Day After Tomorrow. But the entire book spans over one day. While that should have been expected, given the title, I was shocked that so much could happen in a day, and yet it's also done so realistically, it seem plausible that such a turn could occur in the span of 24 hours or less. It was extremely well done, freakishly realistic, and an eye opener to what can happen when technology gets a little too advanced.
Day One was extremely creepy at times. This one scene had me at the edge of my seat screaming, "NO DON'T GO IN THERE!" But they did. And they regretted it. The creepy and the freaky parts were all so realistically done that it fascinated me and had me shaking my head in horror at the same time. I have to say, once the story got started it was a page turner that I couldn't get enough, until the end (but that's 'cause the book ended). The description and execution of this story was written and orchestrated extremely well.
Earlier, I said "once the story got started." It wasn't that the beginning was slow (though it kind of was) it was the fact that I didn't really know where everything was going. Character history blurbs that go on for pages get me down, especially when they're placed at the beginning of the book. I understand that it worked with what happened later but I would have preferred if we had gotten a little more minute to minute stuff over the info overload we got instead. Aside from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and how detailed it was about everything. Throughout the meaty part of the novel, it was the details that really made a difference in what happened later.
I honestly enjoyed the characters and each of their individual personalities, faults and all. Admittedly, some of the people kind of, really sucked, but aside from that they kept the story interesting, as each character was unique and brought different information to the table, and very different attributes and values. Each of their voices made them memorable and if I were to ever forget their names, I'll always remember the facts that defined them because they were revealed at such groundbreaking moments that really hit hard. Their team work (and lack there of) throughout the book really illustrated the conflict between staying together or maintaining the "every man for himself" attitude. The characters definitely made the book.
Overall, this book surprised me. It was creepy in ways I could have never imagined and I enjoyed (almost) every second of it. Extremely well written, Kenyon realistically illustrates the downfall of the world based on our dependence in technology. It's a scary future, ladies and gents, and a darn good story.
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.44/5
eARC provided by St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
I was not expecting what happened in this book. I thought maybe some dystopian world, the buildings fall and anarchy begins. If anything, it'd be kind of like The Day After Tomorrow. But the entire book spans over one day. While that should have been expected, given the title, I was shocked that so much could happen in a day, and yet it's also done so realistically, it seem plausible that such a turn could occur in the span of 24 hours or less. It was extremely well done, freakishly realistic, and an eye opener to what can happen when technology gets a little too advanced.
Day One was extremely creepy at times. This one scene had me at the edge of my seat screaming, "NO DON'T GO IN THERE!" But they did. And they regretted it. The creepy and the freaky parts were all so realistically done that it fascinated me and had me shaking my head in horror at the same time. I have to say, once the story got started it was a page turner that I couldn't get enough, until the end (but that's 'cause the book ended). The description and execution of this story was written and orchestrated extremely well.
Earlier, I said "once the story got started." It wasn't that the beginning was slow (though it kind of was) it was the fact that I didn't really know where everything was going. Character history blurbs that go on for pages get me down, especially when they're placed at the beginning of the book. I understand that it worked with what happened later but I would have preferred if we had gotten a little more minute to minute stuff over the info overload we got instead. Aside from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and how detailed it was about everything. Throughout the meaty part of the novel, it was the details that really made a difference in what happened later.
I honestly enjoyed the characters and each of their individual personalities, faults and all. Admittedly, some of the people kind of, really sucked, but aside from that they kept the story interesting, as each character was unique and brought different information to the table, and very different attributes and values. Each of their voices made them memorable and if I were to ever forget their names, I'll always remember the facts that defined them because they were revealed at such groundbreaking moments that really hit hard. Their team work (and lack there of) throughout the book really illustrated the conflict between staying together or maintaining the "every man for himself" attitude. The characters definitely made the book.
Overall, this book surprised me. It was creepy in ways I could have never imagined and I enjoyed (almost) every second of it. Extremely well written, Kenyon realistically illustrates the downfall of the world based on our dependence in technology. It's a scary future, ladies and gents, and a darn good story.
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.44/5
eARC provided by St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
Books like this make me want to become a law or psych major ’cause it seems so interesting. I heard about the Girl in the Box story from my friend, who is in fact a law major. We thought it was absolutely insane, and never really considered the psychological side of it all. I didn’t even know that the author was the same one until I had buried myself in the book.
This book is FREAKY. The book is from a third person omniscient perspective following past victims, current victims, psychopathic child molesters, and police officers. It’s an intense book that really opens up victims’ and predators’ minds for us to look into and examine. While I was expecting a little more psychological enlightenment, I really enjoyed this book.
Reeve is jumpy, slightly paranoid, and very much inside herself at the beginning of the book. She had been held captive for four years and six years have past since then. Although she wishes she could push away all the memories, she finds herself unable to live forward as someone “normal”. However, when she’s asked to meet another young victim, who had just been found by sheer luck, she learns something that she can’t just lay to rest. Determined to find out the mastermind behind the serial kidnapping, she delves deep into a world in which she’s unwanted.
I love how Reeve’s confidence grows throughout the book and that she manages to piece together things that the police and other authoritative figures hadn’t been able to. She’s a great character, and she manages to grow up and become someone admirable by the end of the book.
I also loved getting into the minds of other characters. It really gave the story juice and instead of wondering WHO it left you wondering WHEN. HOW. WHY. And I think the change in which questions the readers are asking really added to the suspense in the novel and left you questioning the characters motives and decisions with each page.
Although I really enjoyed the mystery and the craziness of this book (even though it’s definitely something that could happen in real life), I wish that the author had delved more into the psychological side. Don’t get me wrong. It is there, but I was expecting more. More about the captivity syndrome, more about the minds of the psycho kidnappers, just MORE. That was probably the only disappointing part about this book.
I would just like to take this moment to state that this book BLEEDS creepiness. LIKE IT JUST FALLS FROM THE PAGES. This is not a book you want to read in the dark at 2AM in the morning… Trust me. -shivers-
AHH I really want to write more, but I feel like I’ll be giving stuff away, and I REALLY don’t want to do that… SO JUST TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING.
Masterfully constructed, The Edge of Normal is a thrilling mystery that will trap you within the pages until the very end. I am really impressed with this novel and would definitely recommend this to everyone who loves a good thriller or psychological mystery.
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.18
A copy of this book was provided by St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
This book is FREAKY. The book is from a third person omniscient perspective following past victims, current victims, psychopathic child molesters, and police officers. It’s an intense book that really opens up victims’ and predators’ minds for us to look into and examine. While I was expecting a little more psychological enlightenment, I really enjoyed this book.
Reeve is jumpy, slightly paranoid, and very much inside herself at the beginning of the book. She had been held captive for four years and six years have past since then. Although she wishes she could push away all the memories, she finds herself unable to live forward as someone “normal”. However, when she’s asked to meet another young victim, who had just been found by sheer luck, she learns something that she can’t just lay to rest. Determined to find out the mastermind behind the serial kidnapping, she delves deep into a world in which she’s unwanted.
I love how Reeve’s confidence grows throughout the book and that she manages to piece together things that the police and other authoritative figures hadn’t been able to. She’s a great character, and she manages to grow up and become someone admirable by the end of the book.
I also loved getting into the minds of other characters. It really gave the story juice and instead of wondering WHO it left you wondering WHEN. HOW. WHY. And I think the change in which questions the readers are asking really added to the suspense in the novel and left you questioning the characters motives and decisions with each page.
Although I really enjoyed the mystery and the craziness of this book (even though it’s definitely something that could happen in real life), I wish that the author had delved more into the psychological side. Don’t get me wrong. It is there, but I was expecting more. More about the captivity syndrome, more about the minds of the psycho kidnappers, just MORE. That was probably the only disappointing part about this book.
I would just like to take this moment to state that this book BLEEDS creepiness. LIKE IT JUST FALLS FROM THE PAGES. This is not a book you want to read in the dark at 2AM in the morning… Trust me. -shivers-
AHH I really want to write more, but I feel like I’ll be giving stuff away, and I REALLY don’t want to do that… SO JUST TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING.
Masterfully constructed, The Edge of Normal is a thrilling mystery that will trap you within the pages until the very end. I am really impressed with this novel and would definitely recommend this to everyone who loves a good thriller or psychological mystery.
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.18
A copy of this book was provided by St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
I appreciated the other characters but ... Adam was ... annoying. And that's the nicest possible way I can put it.
I am seriously conflicted when it comes to this book. As much as I loved the plot and (some of) the characters, I couldn’t bring myself to love the writing and a great part of the narration.
Let’s start with the writing. It wasn’t bad. The book itself was actually pretty good. However, I found that everything was dramatized for the narrator. She would blow everything out of proportion, make semi-relevant analogies, perform useless and stupid actions in times of distress, and rush into things. The beginning, especially, was rushed. Too much, actually, to the point that readers go through information overload. While I can understand the need to rush to the action and the magic parts, I wish that the beginning would have been slowed down a little, maybe a peek into her life before hand, or even just get us to see her relationship with her parents, as she misses them, but we know very little about them… like so little I don’t even remember if they had names…
At another point, the MC feels pity for her “kidnapper” and immediately states that it’s Stockholm Syndrome. This hit a nerve, maybe ’cause I just took a psych and law course, but she trivializes something that shouldn’t be trivialized. Stockholm syndrome is is basically when a victim feels pity or protective of their kidnapper, and it’s something that affects lives of many people who’ve been held captive for a long time and have been only found recently. I really don’t think it’s something that someone could develop in 5 minutes. And I’m not even sure if it took 5 minutes for the MC to diagnose herself with it. But it was something that really bothered me.
Some points also just seemed… cliché? Like when one of the characters say, “What if I told you that you are not actually who you think you are?” That’s such an atypical line and I feel like, with the rest of the book proceeding it and revealing everything just right, this part, the big secret kind of thing, could’ve been executed so much better.
[Note: all the bits I've just included are from the beginning of the novel, so don't eat me alive for spoiling the book]
After the initial reveal of all that is magical, the book gets a lot better and the writing hits it’s prime and begins to smooth out, becoming more coherent and easier to understand. It was all, generally, less dramatic and BAM in your face. The dreams and memories really helped sort out of the current plot from the past one, and I thought that it worked really well in keeping the two worlds apart, yet slowly piecing them together, as well.
Now for the plot. I thought the concept was really interesting, with the magicians and the tribes, and all the memories and dream sequences weaving two separate stories that clash against each other and yet fall into place perfectly. Throughout the book, I was constantly surprised by the plot’s twists and turns, as well as the fact that some parts managed to get me really excited or afraid for the characters, whom I got really attached to, especially the guys. The pace of the novel was great too, save for the beginning. It would be a boatload of excitement, and then moments of rest and relatively mundane days, full of training and flashes to the past. Overall, the two different times were weaved together well, and the plot panned out really well and kept me guessing.
If you haven’t already noticed, the MC, Gwen, kind of really annoyed me. She was very… selfish. Everything revolved around her, and her problems always were blown out of proportion to the point where her indecision concerning love interests was a GIGANTIC problem and of course took precedence to other people’s issues and bigger issues that arose throughout the novel. While she may be powerful, she has to get over herself, and fast, because she really got on my nerves.
Aside from Gwen, I really liked the male characters, especially Garrison and Kian. I always love the happy-go-lucky comedic relief, which was, more often than not, Garrison’s character. He was really laid back and took things in stride, and I loved his bromance with Seth. Their friendship was fun and full of teasing and poking fun at each other and their character’s really made the book. Kian, on the other hand, I liked the fact that his character developed well throughout the novel, each action making me love him (and hate him) a little more. By the end of the book, I was totally rooting for Kian. These guys made the book worth the read, because their unique personality really added colour to the otherwise bland and boring world painted by Gwen.
In the end, the book wasn’t mind blowing. It didn’t shock me out of the water, nor did it make me want to hop around in anticipation for the sequel. However, the plot and (most of) the characters made the book fun and extremely riveting. Despite its faults, Lives of Magic kept me glued to its electronic pages, ready and waiting for the next surprise around the corner. Overall, a great book ~
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Writing: 3/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.82/5
eARC provided by Dundurn, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
All quotes and criticism taken from and based on the contents of the Lives of Magic ARC.
-review by Between Printed Pages
Let’s start with the writing. It wasn’t bad. The book itself was actually pretty good. However, I found that everything was dramatized for the narrator. She would blow everything out of proportion, make semi-relevant analogies, perform useless and stupid actions in times of distress, and rush into things. The beginning, especially, was rushed. Too much, actually, to the point that readers go through information overload. While I can understand the need to rush to the action and the magic parts, I wish that the beginning would have been slowed down a little, maybe a peek into her life before hand, or even just get us to see her relationship with her parents, as she misses them, but we know very little about them… like so little I don’t even remember if they had names…
At another point, the MC feels pity for her “kidnapper” and immediately states that it’s Stockholm Syndrome. This hit a nerve, maybe ’cause I just took a psych and law course, but she trivializes something that shouldn’t be trivialized. Stockholm syndrome is is basically when a victim feels pity or protective of their kidnapper, and it’s something that affects lives of many people who’ve been held captive for a long time and have been only found recently. I really don’t think it’s something that someone could develop in 5 minutes. And I’m not even sure if it took 5 minutes for the MC to diagnose herself with it. But it was something that really bothered me.
Some points also just seemed… cliché? Like when one of the characters say, “What if I told you that you are not actually who you think you are?” That’s such an atypical line and I feel like, with the rest of the book proceeding it and revealing everything just right, this part, the big secret kind of thing, could’ve been executed so much better.
[Note: all the bits I've just included are from the beginning of the novel, so don't eat me alive for spoiling the book]
After the initial reveal of all that is magical, the book gets a lot better and the writing hits it’s prime and begins to smooth out, becoming more coherent and easier to understand. It was all, generally, less dramatic and BAM in your face. The dreams and memories really helped sort out of the current plot from the past one, and I thought that it worked really well in keeping the two worlds apart, yet slowly piecing them together, as well.
Now for the plot. I thought the concept was really interesting, with the magicians and the tribes, and all the memories and dream sequences weaving two separate stories that clash against each other and yet fall into place perfectly. Throughout the book, I was constantly surprised by the plot’s twists and turns, as well as the fact that some parts managed to get me really excited or afraid for the characters, whom I got really attached to, especially the guys. The pace of the novel was great too, save for the beginning. It would be a boatload of excitement, and then moments of rest and relatively mundane days, full of training and flashes to the past. Overall, the two different times were weaved together well, and the plot panned out really well and kept me guessing.
If you haven’t already noticed, the MC, Gwen, kind of really annoyed me. She was very… selfish. Everything revolved around her, and her problems always were blown out of proportion to the point where her indecision concerning love interests was a GIGANTIC problem and of course took precedence to other people’s issues and bigger issues that arose throughout the novel. While she may be powerful, she has to get over herself, and fast, because she really got on my nerves.
Aside from Gwen, I really liked the male characters, especially Garrison and Kian. I always love the happy-go-lucky comedic relief, which was, more often than not, Garrison’s character. He was really laid back and took things in stride, and I loved his bromance with Seth. Their friendship was fun and full of teasing and poking fun at each other and their character’s really made the book. Kian, on the other hand, I liked the fact that his character developed well throughout the novel, each action making me love him (and hate him) a little more. By the end of the book, I was totally rooting for Kian. These guys made the book worth the read, because their unique personality really added colour to the otherwise bland and boring world painted by Gwen.
In the end, the book wasn’t mind blowing. It didn’t shock me out of the water, nor did it make me want to hop around in anticipation for the sequel. However, the plot and (most of) the characters made the book fun and extremely riveting. Despite its faults, Lives of Magic kept me glued to its electronic pages, ready and waiting for the next surprise around the corner. Overall, a great book ~
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Writing: 3/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.82/5
eARC provided by Dundurn, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
All quotes and criticism taken from and based on the contents of the Lives of Magic ARC.
-review by Between Printed Pages
This book is on the edge for me. I loved it and hated it at the same time. The plot was slow, but the world building was amazing. Then there's the characters, who were either boring or extremely interesting. It's a toss up, each thing on one end or the other without anything really in between.
Plot wise, the book starts with a bang - on the head. We immediately start empathizing with Tula as she struggles to figure out why her, and then becomes determined to figure out how she'll get her revenge. She grows up around aliens and then salvation comes to her in the form of three very not important humans. It's such a dynamic beginning, but the plot gets bogged down by the amazing world building. While I would've loved to see this in The Hunger Games (along with its amazing plot), and I loved the amazingly unique world that was created, the book lacked much movement in terms of plot.
However, that being said, I loved the idea of humans no longer being a dominant race among aliens. Instead, we're a race that is looked down upon, a race that is slowly failing in maintaining a population. I found the concept to be absolutely fascinating and that's probably what kept me reading.
Back to the world building. It was amazing. The descriptions were vivid, and brought the world to life. The planet, the aliens, they were all painted extremely well through the author's words, and it really added to the book (but also took away from it, as mentioned previously). You really got a feel for how Tula's world and reality had changed and how the new environment was so different in comparison to what we're used to. It was definitely a unique world, and I loved that I got a chance to jump right into it.
Lastly, we have the characters. Some of the characters were interesting, like the aliens. I liked learning about them, their way of life, how they interact, and how they treat humans, and Tula. However, Tula felt very... robotic to me. Maybe it was the writing style but her thoughts and actions were very choppy and that took away from the book's fluidity and pace. In addition, when they try to introduce some sort of love interest(s) for her, it kind of takes away from the book, as I found that the three new additions just didn't fit right. Maybe I was hoping she'd have some star crossed inter-breed love with a kind alien, but ... alas...
Overall, the book wasn't too bad. Wasn't amazing (thought the world building was pretty awesome) due to the general blandness of the plot and characters. I wouldn't go running to pick it up, but there's definitely something about it that made the novel shine.
Plot: 3.5/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Writing: 3.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.77/5
eARC provided by Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
Plot wise, the book starts with a bang - on the head. We immediately start empathizing with Tula as she struggles to figure out why her, and then becomes determined to figure out how she'll get her revenge. She grows up around aliens and then salvation comes to her in the form of three very not important humans. It's such a dynamic beginning, but the plot gets bogged down by the amazing world building. While I would've loved to see this in The Hunger Games (along with its amazing plot), and I loved the amazingly unique world that was created, the book lacked much movement in terms of plot.
However, that being said, I loved the idea of humans no longer being a dominant race among aliens. Instead, we're a race that is looked down upon, a race that is slowly failing in maintaining a population. I found the concept to be absolutely fascinating and that's probably what kept me reading.
Back to the world building. It was amazing. The descriptions were vivid, and brought the world to life. The planet, the aliens, they were all painted extremely well through the author's words, and it really added to the book (but also took away from it, as mentioned previously). You really got a feel for how Tula's world and reality had changed and how the new environment was so different in comparison to what we're used to. It was definitely a unique world, and I loved that I got a chance to jump right into it.
Lastly, we have the characters. Some of the characters were interesting, like the aliens. I liked learning about them, their way of life, how they interact, and how they treat humans, and Tula. However, Tula felt very... robotic to me. Maybe it was the writing style but her thoughts and actions were very choppy and that took away from the book's fluidity and pace. In addition, when they try to introduce some sort of love interest(s) for her, it kind of takes away from the book, as I found that the three new additions just didn't fit right. Maybe I was hoping she'd have some star crossed inter-breed love with a kind alien, but ... alas...
Overall, the book wasn't too bad. Wasn't amazing (thought the world building was pretty awesome) due to the general blandness of the plot and characters. I wouldn't go running to pick it up, but there's definitely something about it that made the novel shine.
Plot: 3.5/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Writing: 3.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.77/5
eARC provided by Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
