This was a little slow going into it, but halfway through it really picked up the pace.

Was it everything I was expecting it to be? No. But I loved Seraphina's bravery, and her resolve. I loved the friendships and the exploration of human emotions. Seraphina's relationship with Orma, and Orma in genral, were the absolute best. The former even made me tear up a little bit.

I wasn't too impressed with the romance, to be honest. Sure, they were cute, but they were lacking something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Don't let the three stars fool you. I enjoyed this a lot, and will be reading the sequel the minute I get my hands on it. I just thought the book had a lot more potential than it delivered

2.5 stars

Don't listen to my low rating. I actually really liked this book. I'm just in a funny mood and was didn't have a lot of motivation to finish it. It is VERY good. Seriously. Don't listen to me, just this once.

4.5 stars

One of the things I love most about Jonathan Stroud is that, despite the fact that his novels are almost always shelved as "Children's" and "Middle Grade", (they're sometimes shelved as YA) there's absolutely nothing juvenile about the writing. Stroud gives you a narrative that flowing and eloquent - no juvenile short sentences and basic descriptions here - and main characters mature enough that you never once question their manner of speaking.

Like with the Bartimaeus Sequence, Lockwood & Co. is set in an alternate England, except that, instead of djinn, afrits, imps and magicians, the British Isles have to deal with a ghost problem so bad that exorcisms and proper burial rituals just ain't gonna cut it.

I don't think I have to tell you how much I loved this concept.

I adored the three main characters. Lockwood, the scamp, stole my heart with his first 100 watt grin. I loved George's insistence on being prepared - how he balanced out the other two, who were compulsive by nature, but being methodical and practical and always insisting that they go into situations fully prepared. And Lucy...

I love it when a hero/heroine feels real. I love it when they're scared and hesitant, but brave in the face of their fear. I love it when they mess up but learn from their mistakes. I love it when they're uncertain about themselves, but are confident at the same time.

Lucy Carlyle is all of these things. It's all in little doses at the moment, mind, but I'm pretty sure that by the end of this series, she'll have fleshed out into a wonderful fictional heroine. And I am very much looking forward to seeing that.

Full review here

The Whispering Skull is the second book in the series, set six months after the events that took place in The Screaming Staircase. Picking up the pace from the first one, TWS sees Lockwood & Co. a little busier than they were accustomed to, thanks to the shiny reputation they gained after solving a case in one of England’s most haunted houses.

If I’m being completely honest, the cast and the dialogue coming from the three main characters (and the skull) are probably the best things about this book. Which isn’t to say the rest of it was bad. Yes, the narrative reads like a YA novel thanks to Lucy’s vocabulary and manner of speaking (one of the things I love about Stroud’s writing) but it’s important to remember that this is still a children’s book. So the plot’s not overly complex, and it kind of lacks the punch that Stroud gave us in the Bartimaeus Sequence, and… it’s missing that sense of urgency of danger from his first series as well. And if you’re looking for the same wit and snark had us cackling with ol’ Barty, then you’re going to be disappointed. I mean, the snark’s there, just not at the same level as Barty’s.

But this could just be me nitpicking. It’s a good book overall. An enjoyable, if somewhat slow, read. The cast definitely makes up for any of it’s shortcomings, and I definitely do recommend it.

2.5 stars, marked up

NBC’s Hannibal has spoiled me rotten.

Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham is so full of character; a sad, angry conflicted, mentally unstable little puppy dog (shut up), and Mads Mikkelsen’s Dr. Lecter is a smug, intelligent, manipulative, self-assured nutter.

Book Will Graham was nothing like his TV counterpart. We were told he was mentally unstable. We were told that his ability to understand killers took a severe toll on him. We were never shown these things. TV Will Graham is actually a pretty good profiler. Book Will Graham was kind of shit at his job – especially when you consider how badly Crawford wanted him on the case. Like, "you were this desperate for… this ? ???"

Book Hannibal was, yeah, alright, smug and narcissistic, but… not much else. He was only mentioned in, like, five pages.

This book wasn’t about Hannibal Lecter. This book wasn’t even about Will Graham. You could say that it was actually about Dolarhyde, but personally, I’d say even that’d be a stretch. And if it was actually about Dolarhyde… what was the point in calling this the first Hannibal Lecter book?

Red Dragon’s saving grace was Harris’ obvious talent with ideas. The idea for this book was great. Dolarhyde was a very good antagonist. You could sympathize with him, and simultaneously question your sanity for feeling sorry for a crazy murderer.

I didn’t hate this book, no matter what this review makes it sound like. I just didn’t particularly like it either.

You can read my full review here

2.5 stars

Full, somewhat spoilery review here

Did I love this? Did I hate this? HECK IF I KNOW.

A LIST OF THINGS I LIKED ABOUT ARCHIVIST WASP

1. The Premise -
Kornher-Stace clearly has a gift for ideas. The blurb and early reviews promised me originality, and that's exactly what I got. Basically, Archivist Wasp is about a girl named, you guessed it, Wasp. Wasp is an Archivist - a person who hunts and studies ghosts before releasing them from limbo so that they can find eternal peace with Goddess Catchkeep. For some absurd reason, Wasp's dealings with Catchkeep reminded me a little bit of Catherine Fisher's The Oracle Prophesies, which is why I even picked this book up in the first place. (Well, that and the pretty cover. I am such a shmuck. God.)
Obviously, Archivist Wasp turned out to be nothing at all like The Oracle Prophesies. Not that I was expecting anything otherwise.

2. The (lack of) Romance -
Finally a duo that don't end up falling into the bottomless insta-love pit! Finally!
The relationship between Wasp and the ghost (we literally never learn his name) is purely platonic. They're comrades, hesitant buddies; they find a little bit of themselves in each other. The ghost is very clearly in love with friend he wants Wasp to find, and Wasp doesn't really seem to have given romance much thought. SO REFRESHING.

3. The Writing -
It wasn't perfect. There were times when it got a little too clunky and a little bit redundant, and I ended up skipping paragraphs. But for the most part, the writing was compelling. I think that's a big reason why this book didn't make it onto the DNF pile. The writing was compelling, the premise intrigued me.




A LIST OF THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT ARCHIVIST WASP

1. The Characters -
There was nothing wrong with the characters. I think they had a lot of potential. But here's the thing, we didn't get to know them very well. Beyond the fact that Wasp is weary and the Ghost is desperate, I knew nothing else about about these characters. Or, at least, nothing that would help me care about them. Kornher-Stace took more pains to explain the state of the world to the readers than she did to make us give a damn. Which, personally, I think was a huge mistake, because this story is carried by these two characters. Wasp and the Ghost. I would have liked this so much better if I'd given a crap.

2.The Pacing/Content -
This is probably the book's biggest letdown. It moved too fast and too slow at the same time. There were lots of tedious bits, and portions of text that didn't really matter because some variation of the same exact thing had been mentioned before. If properly paced, this book could have been great. But it's biggest issue was that 268 pages just wasn't enough to tell the story that needed to be told. The story felt compressed and lacking, as if there was some important piece of the puzzle Kornher-Stace had decided not to include.

3.The Magic Elements -
The reason why I couldn't shelf this book according to genre was because, well, I don't know where to put it. It's not sci-fi, it's not supernatural or fantasy. It's been shelved as Speculative Fiction on goodreads, but since I don't really have any experience with that genre, I didn't feel too comfortable shelving it under the SpecFic tag. YA and Dystopian are as categorical as I'm going to get with this one. Sorry.
Magic was alluded at throughout the novel. From the Archivist's coat, to the dagger, to Catchkeep herself and the other gods. But there was nothing tying any of this to the rest of the book's sci-fi-ness. Sure, it served as a way to explain how Wasp was able to get into the underworld, etc, etc. but other than that, there was no point to it. Except for The Ghost, all the other souls of the departed seemed like last minute ideas - something the author tacked on towards the end of her planning to make all of the goings-on in the book seem a little more believable. It didn't work for me. I was disappointed.


WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE?

If what you're looking for is a compelling, not necessarily bad, original read? Yes. Definitely. Based on originality and creativity alone, this does not disappoint. But if you're looking for a book that'll make you care about its characters, give you solid, structurally sound world-building, and a story that doesn't confuse the fuck out of you every know and again, then no. I would not recommend it. Pass this one by.

There's, what, one more issue left in which I can gush about how good Staple's versions of these characters look? Alright. I am ready. I am prepared. BRING IT.

I love the way Jughead has so much more personality now. He's not just an ever-hungry comic-relief guy anymore, he's a very good friend to Archie and Betty, and this is kind of great to see.

Still waiting to see what the bloody #lipstickincident is. Argh.

I LOVE MEDA, I LOVE THIS BOOK AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.

Wait, what?

That's how it ends? THAT'S HOW IT ENDS? What ???


This was insanely (see what I did there?) disturbing, and all kinds of weird. And I loved the crap out of it until I called the plot twist, and that ending left me hanging. Lord.

Like, honestly. WHAT.