|
Post by likeadove on Nov 6, 2012 20:16:10 GMT -6
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, which I read back in February, is the best book I've read this year. It's the best book I've read in a while, actually.
I highly recommend it. The ending is seriously one of the best endings in a novel it just destroyed me in the very best way.
|
|
|
Post by mrspettyfer on Nov 6, 2012 20:42:30 GMT -6
I was debating Scorpio Races and Raven Boys because I started Shiver, and didn't like it mainly because the view changed every chapter. Is the POV in one or multiple for Scorpio Races? Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo is really good too. The author is a huge fan of ATLA, too which is always good stuff. I heard about the book because Mike blogged about it. There is some elemental stuff going on and a swoonworthy male character that I could gush about all day.
|
|
|
Post by likeadove on Nov 6, 2012 23:37:41 GMT -6
I was debating Scorpio Races and Raven Boys because I started Shiver, and didn't like it mainly because the view changed every chapter. Is the POV in one or multiple for Scorpio Races? Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo is really good too. The author is a huge fan of ATLA, too which is always good stuff. I heard about the book because Mike blogged about it. There is some elemental stuff going on and a swoonworthy male character that I could gush about all day. I liked Shiver, although not enough to read its sequels. That was a book that was too stand alone to really need sequels. For Scorpio Races the POV does switch back and forth between the guy and the girl. And, trust me, if anyone hates constant POV switching its me, but I thought that it was well done here. I thought both characters had distinctive enough voices so that I didn't feel like I was constantly reading the same character, just slapped with a different name ( Legend, I'm looking at you).
|
|
|
Post by mrspettyfer on Nov 7, 2012 12:09:05 GMT -6
Bah does Legend do that? I bought that too and haven't read it yet. lol Vampire Diaries to me was the worst view changing ever. I couldn't finish it. I just don't need to know how both characters feel about eachother constantly. Like..
Zuko: I saw Katara today. I think I have feelings for her. Katara: I ran into Zuko today. I wonder if he has feelings for me? Zuko: I wanted to kiss her. Katara: I think he wanted to kiss me.
*face palm*
I just can't read stories when they do that lol. Leaves no room for mystery. I personally like when your in one view, because you don't know the other person's intentions, you know? I think first person view changing tends to fall into this trap more than third. The only time I like view changing is when distance is involved. Like in the finale of ATLA, the views could alternate between Aang, Zuko and Sokka, since they were all fighting battles at the same time but at different places. I'm sure there is a writing term for that sort of view changing, haha.
Hm. Yeah I think it's just first person that bothers me...and when the view just retells the exact same scene but from two perspectives. I don't like the mystery behind the romance to be spoiled that way, I suppose. If Zuko loves Katara..I want to find out when he tells her, not hear it through his head first, if that makes sense.
I've heard good things about Races though so I may just have to suck it up and try it. I've got a huge to-read list right now. I tend to buy books with the intention of reading them in the future. I probably have about 50 now. lmao
|
|
|
Post by likeadove on Nov 7, 2012 18:37:15 GMT -6
Save yourself the trouble and don't read Legend. The POV changes were stupid, since the two leads were exactly the same, just different genders. The book even acknowledges it! The male lead actually utters the words, "You're just like me except you're a girl." Not good.
Races is first person with both POVs, but I still think it does a good job distinguishing both characters from each other. I'd absolutely give it a go.
|
|
|
Post by mrspettyfer on Nov 7, 2012 21:46:19 GMT -6
That's disappointing with Legend. I'll give Races a go. Raven Boys got some good reviews too. Have you ever read any of Julie Kagawa's books? The Iron Fey series is amazing.
|
|
chromeknickers
Bender
I'm somewhere where I don't know where I am!
Posts: 216
|
Post by chromeknickers on Nov 9, 2012 14:48:02 GMT -6
Honestly, give The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver a try. It had me crying, and only my favourite books have ever made me cry. And as a historian, I especially adored the theological, cultural, and historical references.
Summary: The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in post-colonial Africa.
|
|
chromeknickers
Bender
I'm somewhere where I don't know where I am!
Posts: 216
|
Post by chromeknickers on Nov 9, 2012 16:43:48 GMT -6
Hehe. Well, you're not sobbing throughout or anything like that. There's just one particular PoV chapter told by the mother that is particularly touching and very well-written. I haven't read it in well over a decade, but the book still touches me. I lent it to a friend, who ended up losing it, so I have to buy another copy sometime.
No, I haven't read M.M. Kaye's work, but I've been meaning to pick up those books for a while, and now I have the incentive to go out and read them. I see those as my holiday reads. ^^
|
|
chromeknickers
Bender
I'm somewhere where I don't know where I am!
Posts: 216
|
Post by chromeknickers on Nov 9, 2012 17:27:33 GMT -6
It's so hard to find good fiction these days, especially within a historical and/or autobiographical context. It's like if you want a good plot you have to sacrifice good writing and if you want good writing you often end up sacrificing plot.
Sigh.
|
|
|
Post by mrspettyfer on Nov 10, 2012 0:23:44 GMT -6
Has anyone read Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo? BECAUSE YOU NEED TO! I heard about it from Mike, actually. There is some element stuff going on and a swoon worthy male lead. If you have no good reason to read it, read it for the Darkling. He's one of my favorite upcoming male characters. Annnd David Heyman, producer of Harry Potter, picked up the rights so it's going to be a movie soon!
|
|