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thecaptainsquarters
I read all 64 of these as a younger person. I loved them. I didn't feel like putting all 64 in me read list but was glad to represent them all at once. So fun! Arrrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! This here be the last book in my Scallywagathon 2019 Challenge. Challenge four was Lost in Space: chosen by someone else. Well the first mate never gets to order me around so I thought it would be fun to order ask that scallywag to choose the final book for me. He picked this one.
Marisha Pessl is an auto-buy author for the first mate but he was slightly hesitant to pick up this one because it be young adult. When he ended up loving it, he told me that I should read it. I kept picking up other things until this readathon. I visited the maman (hi ma!) for mother’s day which involved quite a bit of driving. The audiobook of this novel kept me well entertained in the car.
This book follows five young adults who were best friends until the sixth member of their group – Jim – committed suicide. Beatrice, his girlfriend, was devastated and also convinced that Jim’s death wasn’t an accident. A year after graduation, she meets up with the old gang determined to find out exactly what happened to Jim. But the night goes wrong when the group is in a car accident. They get stuck in a time loop called the neverworld wake where they relive their last day until they all vote unanimously on the only one who will survive.
The story is told from Beatrice’s perspective. The novel was a little hard to get into at first. The beginning is rather odd up until the young adults enter the neverworld wake. The first mate claims that I previously started the story and gave up before the wake started. Well I am glad I stuck with it this time because the wake and mystery aspects were so interesting. Seriously the ramifications of the wake were both horrifying and fascinating. I can’t really explain much because a) it is fun to read yerself; and b) it is multilayered and lovely. I can see how some crew members might not like this book though because the writing style, pace, and plot are rather unusual.
The book is split into four parts. The first two parts had me thinking it was a five star read. But the third part brought it down a bit. There was a subplot involving Jim’s family that I absolutely could have done without. I thought it muddied the story and was rather lame in execution.
The other problem with the book was how absolutely hateful some of the characters were. I loved Beatrice, Martha, and Kipling. But Cannon and Whitley were horrible. They were teens who terrorized their friends and everyone around them. Why did the adults not do anything? Why was ANYONE friends with them. I know they were rich but so were basically all of the other kids at school. I just couldn’t stand them and they never really took responsibility for their choices and only apologized when they were caught. Insincerely that is. And I did think that Beatrice’s guilt was a bit overdone in comparison. Plus all of these people are so irresponsible in terms of their drinking and drugging problems. Being a high school and college student is not a good excuse. They were all self-destructive and put other people’s lives at risk. Not cool.
But the last part of the book was mostly back to being awesome and so I ended up really liking this read. Seriously how the neverwake evolved and was used was awesome. The audiobook was excellent and I thought Phobe Strole did a wonderful job. I am so glad I finally listened to the first mate. Scallawagathon Challenge Complete! Arrrr!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
Marisha Pessl is an auto-buy author for the first mate but he was slightly hesitant to pick up this one because it be young adult. When he ended up loving it, he told me that I should read it. I kept picking up other things until this readathon. I visited the maman (hi ma!) for mother’s day which involved quite a bit of driving. The audiobook of this novel kept me well entertained in the car.
This book follows five young adults who were best friends until the sixth member of their group – Jim – committed suicide. Beatrice, his girlfriend, was devastated and also convinced that Jim’s death wasn’t an accident. A year after graduation, she meets up with the old gang determined to find out exactly what happened to Jim. But the night goes wrong when the group is in a car accident. They get stuck in a time loop called the neverworld wake where they relive their last day until they all vote unanimously on the only one who will survive.
The story is told from Beatrice’s perspective. The novel was a little hard to get into at first. The beginning is rather odd up until the young adults enter the neverworld wake. The first mate claims that I previously started the story and gave up before the wake started. Well I am glad I stuck with it this time because the wake and mystery aspects were so interesting. Seriously the ramifications of the wake were both horrifying and fascinating. I can’t really explain much because a) it is fun to read yerself; and b) it is multilayered and lovely. I can see how some crew members might not like this book though because the writing style, pace, and plot are rather unusual.
The book is split into four parts. The first two parts had me thinking it was a five star read. But the third part brought it down a bit. There was a subplot involving Jim’s family that I absolutely could have done without. I thought it muddied the story and was rather lame in execution.
The other problem with the book was how absolutely hateful some of the characters were. I loved Beatrice, Martha, and Kipling. But Cannon and Whitley were horrible. They were teens who terrorized their friends and everyone around them. Why did the adults not do anything? Why was ANYONE friends with them. I know they were rich but so were basically all of the other kids at school. I just couldn’t stand them and they never really took responsibility for their choices and only apologized when they were caught. Insincerely that is. And I did think that Beatrice’s guilt was a bit overdone in comparison. Plus all of these people are so irresponsible in terms of their drinking and drugging problems. Being a high school and college student is not a good excuse. They were all self-destructive and put other people’s lives at risk. Not cool.
But the last part of the book was mostly back to being awesome and so I ended up really liking this read. Seriously how the neverwake evolved and was used was awesome. The audiobook was excellent and I thought Phobe Strole did a wonderful job. I am so glad I finally listened to the first mate. Scallawagathon Challenge Complete! Arrrr!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
Ahoy there me mateys! So I have a wee bit of an obsession with Garth Nix and his wonderful stories. I love him so much that he was the featured author in me first broadside. I have read 25 of his novels. So when I heard he was writing this fairy tale I had to have it. Plus awesome cover.
In his "Acknowledgments" of this novel, Mr. Nix claims inspiration from "the works of Lloyd Alexander, Nicholas Stuart Gray, Diana Wynne Jones, Robin McKinley, and T.H. White." I don't know Nicholas Stuart Gray's work (must remedy) but I can certainly see nods to all of the other authors he listed in the story.
The story centers around Anya who is the youngest princess of the kingdom of Trallonia. One of her sister's suitors is transformed into a frog by their evil sorcerer step-stepfather. In order to stop the tears and hysterics, Anya promises to turn him back into a human. This inadvertently becomes way more complicated than originally planned thus leading Anya off on a Quest!
The subversive nature of the story is what I loved about it. Favorites include the use of the magic carpet, Gerald the Heralds, otters transformed into people, how the army is formed, having step-stepparents, snow white, etc. I very much enjoyed Anya as a character. And the frogs were just delightful.
The only downside to this novel for me was the pacing. It is a very episodic story where the heroine gets a lot of help from people she just happens to meet along the way. Makes more sense after reading the acknowledgements but I would have preferred Anya to show a lot more initiative. Of course Anya doesn't really show initiative in the beginning and is a very reluctant hero who grows into her role. But unlike many of me other Nix reads, this didn't zing.
I am okay with that lack of zing. This was a solid story with a lot of fun ideas and characters. Mr. Nix continues to remain an auto-buy author. And apparently he has a new novel coming out in October this year. Arrrr!!!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
In his "Acknowledgments" of this novel, Mr. Nix claims inspiration from "the works of Lloyd Alexander, Nicholas Stuart Gray, Diana Wynne Jones, Robin McKinley, and T.H. White." I don't know Nicholas Stuart Gray's work (must remedy) but I can certainly see nods to all of the other authors he listed in the story.
The story centers around Anya who is the youngest princess of the kingdom of Trallonia. One of her sister's suitors is transformed into a frog by their evil sorcerer step-stepfather. In order to stop the tears and hysterics, Anya promises to turn him back into a human. This inadvertently becomes way more complicated than originally planned thus leading Anya off on a Quest!
The subversive nature of the story is what I loved about it. Favorites include the use of the magic carpet, Gerald the Heralds, otters transformed into people, how the army is formed, having step-stepparents, snow white, etc. I very much enjoyed Anya as a character. And the frogs were just delightful.
The only downside to this novel for me was the pacing. It is a very episodic story where the heroine gets a lot of help from people she just happens to meet along the way. Makes more sense after reading the acknowledgements but I would have preferred Anya to show a lot more initiative. Of course Anya doesn't really show initiative in the beginning and is a very reluctant hero who grows into her role. But unlike many of me other Nix reads, this didn't zing.
I am okay with that lack of zing. This was a solid story with a lot of fun ideas and characters. Mr. Nix continues to remain an auto-buy author. And apparently he has a new novel coming out in October this year. Arrrr!!!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
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Ahoy there me mateys! Novellas are floating me boat these days and this one was no exception. I have been meaning to read this author’s work for forever and was drawn into picking this up based on the armadillo on the cover. This story follows a 12 year old mage named Oliver who only knows three minor spells but is sent on a quest to save his village from a drought anyway. Oh and the armadillo is his familiar.
This was fantastic. It has the feel of an old school folktale in the beginning but quickly becomes more nuanced. It is this blend of light but fun plot and deeper truths that quickly drew me in. The writing style was fascinating. Plus the armadillo talks and is sarcastic. The humor throughout is an excellent addition.
Oliver himself is a perfect protagonist. He is a minor mage not only because he is young but also because his mentor was a 90 year old with a failing mind. Oliver didn’t get a chance to actually learn much practical magic. So when Oliver sets off he is ill prepared but determined. It is watching Oliver make mistakes and grow that caused me to fall in love with his character. He is honorable and wonderful and magical even if he doesn’t know many spells.
Apparently T. Kingfisher is a pseudonym for Ursula Vernon’s adult books. The author’s acknowledgement says that “I believed then and believe now that the Minor Mage is a children’s book. Various editors have attempted to disabuse me of this notion, but they were all adults and thus their opinion is suspect. (Of course, so is mine).” I very much believe that this be a children’s book. I suspect some grown-ups object to the unsavory things in the book. There are adults who make bad choices, monsters, bandits, suffering, death, and murderers. There is also friendship, compassion, perseverance, personal growth, and doing the right things in hard circumstances.
Seriously, I would have adored this a kid, perhaps even more than I adored it as an adult. I wish this would have existed when I was younger or that I could travel back in time and gift it to me younger self. Anyone who thinks this book is not appropriate for kids honestly hasn’t read enough traditional fairy tales where bad things happened all the time or remember what is was like to read scary things as a kid. There was (and still is) something wonderful in the chills that would run up yer spine and the subsequent fierce internal debate about whether ye were too old to sleep with the light on even though those stories weren’t real or laying in the dark waiting for the goblins to get ye and wishing that ye lived in the story, bad creatures and all.
If this is what T. Kingfisher books are like then I need to read them all. Arrrr!
Side note: I hadn’t realized it until I was writing this post but this book is one of the 2020 Hugo award nominees (well the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book). I can see why this was nominated and this means I have now read four of the six. Arrr!
This was fantastic. It has the feel of an old school folktale in the beginning but quickly becomes more nuanced. It is this blend of light but fun plot and deeper truths that quickly drew me in. The writing style was fascinating. Plus the armadillo talks and is sarcastic. The humor throughout is an excellent addition.
Oliver himself is a perfect protagonist. He is a minor mage not only because he is young but also because his mentor was a 90 year old with a failing mind. Oliver didn’t get a chance to actually learn much practical magic. So when Oliver sets off he is ill prepared but determined. It is watching Oliver make mistakes and grow that caused me to fall in love with his character. He is honorable and wonderful and magical even if he doesn’t know many spells.
Apparently T. Kingfisher is a pseudonym for Ursula Vernon’s adult books. The author’s acknowledgement says that “I believed then and believe now that the Minor Mage is a children’s book. Various editors have attempted to disabuse me of this notion, but they were all adults and thus their opinion is suspect. (Of course, so is mine).” I very much believe that this be a children’s book. I suspect some grown-ups object to the unsavory things in the book. There are adults who make bad choices, monsters, bandits, suffering, death, and murderers. There is also friendship, compassion, perseverance, personal growth, and doing the right things in hard circumstances.
Seriously, I would have adored this a kid, perhaps even more than I adored it as an adult. I wish this would have existed when I was younger or that I could travel back in time and gift it to me younger self. Anyone who thinks this book is not appropriate for kids honestly hasn’t read enough traditional fairy tales where bad things happened all the time or remember what is was like to read scary things as a kid. There was (and still is) something wonderful in the chills that would run up yer spine and the subsequent fierce internal debate about whether ye were too old to sleep with the light on even though those stories weren’t real or laying in the dark waiting for the goblins to get ye and wishing that ye lived in the story, bad creatures and all.
If this is what T. Kingfisher books are like then I need to read them all. Arrrr!
Side note: I hadn’t realized it until I was writing this post but this book is one of the 2020 Hugo award nominees (well the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book). I can see why this was nominated and this means I have now read four of the six. Arrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received an eArc of this contemporary novel through Edelweiss in exchange for me honest musings. Though me focus is on sci-fi, fantasy, and young adult, this Captain does have broader reading tastes. So occasionally I will share some novels that I enjoyed that are off the charts (a non sci-fi, fantasy, or young adult novel), as it were.
This book drew me attention because of the cover. The crew knows that I was a horse lover before the sea stole me heart. I saw this book compared to Elmore Leonard’s work and thought “I be in the mood for a western with a girl on the cover.” Ummm well this is not a western. Apparently Mr. Leonard wrote all kinds of things besides westerns. I know of him by reputation only, having never read any of his work. But I be glad the comparison made me pick up this book.
This novel takes place first in Ohio and then in Kentucky. It revolves around an old run-down farm in Kentucky. The main character is a woman named Billie who inherits the farm, a mountain of debt, and a two year old thoroughbred. After coming back home, Billie gets wrapped up in the world she left behind and the colorful characters around her.
The stereotypes of small town life seem to be here – old local lawyer, rich clueless racehorse owner out to take down the old farm, drunken beat-down trainer, local kid hanging around, and Billie who wants to quickly escape them all. However, I ended up loving all the “good guy” characters and watching all the “bad guys” machinations came to naught. These stock characters still seemed fresh and fun.
Really this novel was just cozy and comfortable. None of the plot was super exciting given how many racehorse books I read as a kid. That said, it was engaging and I knew everything was gonna to turn out just fine. Which it did. I was happy and relaxed reading this novel. I loved this novel about Billie and how her family turns out in the end. Arrr!
This book drew me attention because of the cover. The crew knows that I was a horse lover before the sea stole me heart. I saw this book compared to Elmore Leonard’s work and thought “I be in the mood for a western with a girl on the cover.” Ummm well this is not a western. Apparently Mr. Leonard wrote all kinds of things besides westerns. I know of him by reputation only, having never read any of his work. But I be glad the comparison made me pick up this book.
This novel takes place first in Ohio and then in Kentucky. It revolves around an old run-down farm in Kentucky. The main character is a woman named Billie who inherits the farm, a mountain of debt, and a two year old thoroughbred. After coming back home, Billie gets wrapped up in the world she left behind and the colorful characters around her.
The stereotypes of small town life seem to be here – old local lawyer, rich clueless racehorse owner out to take down the old farm, drunken beat-down trainer, local kid hanging around, and Billie who wants to quickly escape them all. However, I ended up loving all the “good guy” characters and watching all the “bad guys” machinations came to naught. These stock characters still seemed fresh and fun.
Really this novel was just cozy and comfortable. None of the plot was super exciting given how many racehorse books I read as a kid. That said, it was engaging and I knew everything was gonna to turn out just fine. Which it did. I was happy and relaxed reading this novel. I loved this novel about Billie and how her family turns out in the end. Arrr!