don't be dull, be fannish

#37 "Perfect Day" by Josh Lanyon

♥ ♥ ♥

Sweet little story but rather predictable if you are familiar with Josh Lanyon's writing. He can do better.

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#38 "The Pirate King" by R.A. Salvatore

♥ ♥

Basically, the bad guys win at everything, the good guys lose everything and a bunch of them dies, too. If this is your cuppa, good for you. I hated it. It felt like an exercise in futility, a train-wreck in slo-mo. Call me naive but I want my heroes to prevail and win despite all the odds stacked up against them. I don't want to feel drained, depressed and even irked or annoyed once I finish a book.

And that's exactly how I felt when I finished this one. I kept asking myself, why didn't Maimun go to Deudermont, why didn't he tell him that the high captains were behind the chaos in the streets once he found out just how twisted their plan was? Maimun's tears were really pretty - and really useless at the end. Why didn't Drizzt open his frickin' mouth to tell them that it was rothé meat and Dark Realms mushrooms? That meant that drows were involved! That might have given a pause even to a man as pig-headed as Deudermont!

Frustrated, angry, dissatisfied, discontent. That's how I felt when I finished this story. I give it 2 stars only because I liked Drizzt and Regis traveling through the Tyria together.

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#39 "Ouran High School Host Club #1" by Bisco Hatori

♥ ♥ ♥

A funny commentary on the crazy parts of the otaku culture. A bit too crazy for my liking - in that regard it reminded of Gravitation - but since I already watched the anime and I'm aware of what's to come - more or less - I know it's worth sticking around.

"Bleach Vol. 14" by Tite Kubo

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

My favorite part was the confrontation between Ichigo and Zangetsu. Ichigo's soulscape - or whatever it's called - is so unique. And I wonder who the monster was with whom he fought, the guy who then talked to Zangetsu about devouring Ichigo. Cannot wait for more!

" Stargate SG-1: Sunrise (Stargate SG-1 #21)" by J.F. Crane

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ •

An interesting premise but towards the end, the story started to drag. I loved that they showed the consequences of one of the common episode plots, something we haven't see on the show itself. And I also didn't notice any canon mistakes - that's a thing that really turns me off in tie-in novels, when the writers get basic canon facts wrong. What I liked best about the book was how much the team cared about each other and how in-character they all were, no OOC behavior. More books like that, please.

"Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collection, Book 1" by Mark Millar, Geoff Johns

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Beautiful artwork and great story. This was my first X-Men comic book - though I'm a big fan of the movies - but I hadn't even finished it yet and I was already ordering Book 2, so that's telling. Like always, I was mostly interested in Charles and Erik's story. Which was quite interesting in this volume. I'm curious what happened to Magneto and if Professor X knows...

"Blood Brothers (Sign of Seven #1)" by Nora Roberts

Rating: ♥ ♥

Good idea, poor execution. Halfway through the book, I got bored. I understand that it's a romance, I didn't expect a Stephen King level of horror story, but to me if felt like all the elements simply didn't mesh.

Also, I didn't like the women in this book. Especially Quinn rubbed me the wrong way. I love assertive women, but she wasn't assertive, she was bossy - and so way Cy, but she didn't play as prominent role as Quinn, so - she behaved like she was somehow owed all the information. Basically, she had the "let the girls handle it, boys" attitude and it irritated me immensely. I was rather ambivalent about her for the most part, until the moment of her love confession, that's when I started actually disliking her. Because when Cal came to her and told her that he didn't think it was a good idea, their relationship, that they didn't know anything about each other - they had known each other only 14 days or so at that point! - that for him, love meant a marriage and kids... and she got all hostile and attacked him with, "I never promised to bear you a kid!" - basically proving his point. Yeah... romance or not, this was ridiculous. And it went downhill from there.

I might continue this trilogy because I'm curious how they will defeat Twisse, but... eh, I expected much more from this book.

"Black Lagoon, Vol. 7" by Rei Hiroe

Rating: ♥ ♥

And Roberta's revenge arc continues. And it goes on and on and on while the Black Lagoon crew plays second fiddle once more. I'm really tired of them being guest stars in their own manga. I can't remember the last time the series actually focused on them. I miss the good old days when it was Rock, Revy, Benny and Dutch against the world. These days, it's like Benny and Dutch almost don't even exist anymore. I get that the author is doing some world building but it's at the expense of the main characters. I freely admit that I don't like it. In this book, I liked only two or three scenes, those that focused on Rock and Revy. The rest was all about politicking, gangsters sitting around tables and talking about other gangsters. Not my cuppa.

I do own volume 8 - I bought this manga in bulk long time ago - but I don't think I will continue it after that. I fell in love with the manga because I was smitten with the Black Lagoon crew. But the series has been less and less about them and more and more about Roanapur in general with each volume. And that's not what I signed up for.

"The Death Cure (The Maze Runner #3)" by James Dashner

Rating: ♠ ♠ ♠ •

3.5 stars. This book felt much more action driven than the previous two. The last 10 chapters or so were one hell of a ride. The whole book also had a very "zombie apocalypse" feel to it. Also, compared to the previous books, this one felt broader, larger, not as intimate and self-contained as far as the setting goes.

( Spoilers! )

Overall, I liked the trilogy and I'm interested in reading the prequel, The Kill Order, too. I can't wait to see the movie now.

"Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires #1)" by Rachel Caine

Rating: ♦ ♦ •

2.5 stars. This was a re-read for me. And honestly? I liked it better the first time around. This time, I really noticed just how stupid, naive and reckless Claire was and that basically, all that happened was her fault because she ran around half-cocked instead of listening to what the others were telling her, instead of asking for advice. Not knowing the rules, the hierarchy and structure of the vampire society, she went to a man she barely knew and almost invited him inside their house! Girl, I thought you were a genius, but you're just a dumb 16-year-old. I liked Michael and Shane who were the saving grace here but... I guess the saying you can't step twice into the same river is true - don't re-read your old favorites, you might not like them anymore.

"The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner #2)" by James Dashner

Rating: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

I love Thomas' growth in this book, he went from someone who only REacted to someone who actually ACTED. He finally took his life into his own hands and decided that enough was enough. Though ouch, all the stuff that happened to him...

I know that many people hate Teresa for what she did, but I don't. I actually admire her for her selflessness. On the other hand, I'm glad that the author didn't gloss over what she did to Thomas, that he didn't forgive her. Because, yeah, knowing that someone did something to save your life is one thing, actually living through the horror of it, is something else completely.

Personally, I don't like Teresa or Brenda that much. They are both just way too weird for my liking.