[Review] Obsidio, by: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

The Illuminae Files #3

OBSIDIO

by: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Publication Date: March 13th, 2018
Read Date: January 18th, 2019
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover (library book)
Pages: 628

 

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion?

Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

my rate

Well, I haven't written a review in a LONG while, and I have been reading this book for a LONG while too. So, if you are good at math, this adds well. I remember when I first read the other two books in this series, I was so stocked for everything. These books are formatted very differently and I think that's what I love the most of it, so reading the third (and last) was a must. When I finally got it in my hands, I was like "gonna finish it in a day". But when I started reading it I noticed that this book was (1) long, (2) complicated, but (3) I didn't have the time to actually finish it in a day. Days passed by, then weeks and finally, months. But I finished it today, so I will not put off this review as much as I did reading the book.

The Iluminae Files are a bunch of files (for lack of words) that recapitulate everything that happened in the invasion and the killing of thousands of people thanks to BiTech. In this book, the face of the company is on trial, but to know the verdict, first, we must read what happened after the station got blown away. That is when dear Hannah starts.

If the first book was what happened with the ships that "rescued" people from Kerenza IV, and the second book is what happened when they went to look for help at Heimdall, then this book is about what happened to all those people that were "left behind" on Kerenza, and how the Iluminae group is going to rescue them. If the first book was "around" the couple Ezra and Kady, and the second book was "around" Hannah and Nik, then this book will go "around" Asha and Rhys. I'm telling you that all these characters are important and are keys to the Illuminae Files.

This book is packed as much as the ocean is full of water. From riots inside the Mao to riots on Kerenza IV. Going back and forth was exasperating because the authors would always cut to the other place on the good moments. The suspense of some scenes were killing me. The stubbornness of some characters were trying my patience. But the romantic scenes were melting my heart. The sad parts were making my eyes water, and the action had me at the edge of my bed. This is a series that cannot be compared to anything I have read or ever will.

Recommending these books is beyond already said. You won't regret it. It had heroes, it had villains, but the monster is the one you will love the most. Remember those words when you read these. I will miss these "kids", they made my heart soar at the end and that's what I'm most grateful about.

reviews in this series

 

[Review] Lady Midnight, by: Cassandra Clare

The Dark Artifices #1

LADY MIDNIGHT

by: Cassandra Clare
Publication Date: March 28th, 2016
Read Date: April 22, 2018
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 698

 

In a kingdom by the sea…

In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.

A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.

Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.

Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?

The darkly magical world of Shadowhunters has captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Join the adventure in Lady Midnight, the long-awaited first volume of a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare.

my rate

Have you ever been present where an accident is about to happen? Like you see all the pieces apart, and you know that when they get together a bomb will go off. That's what I felt when reading this book.

I started this book TWO YEARS ago because it took me this long to finish something that was hurting my heart. I was NOT looking forward to reading this series because I knew it was going to be bad, for the lack of words. I knew that my favorite OTP couldn't be together. I knew it was going to be tough to put my thoughts aside from what I was actually reading. And THAT was my problem with the whole book.

Look, the series is not bad. The story in this book is NOT bad, like the overall thing. The romance can be thrown to the trash (my feelings are talking here), but it was well written. The whole mystery to be resolved was good. The action scenes were packed. And the freaking plot twist at the end was not expected.

I'm telling you, this book ripped my heart out, but am I going to read the next two? YES! Am I hoping for a happy end? Yes. Do I think is going to screw my mind from here out? Yes.

Overall, I want more. I know Ms. Clare will keep stabbing my heart, but at the end, she will stick out for me (us, the readers).

[Review] Coraline, by: Neil Gaiman

CORALINE

by: Neil Gaiman
Publication Date: August 4th, 2002
Read Date: March 2nd, 2018
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Children's Lit
Format: Paperback (from Library)
Pages: 163

 

The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring....

In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it's different.

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

my rate

I have to say that when I found this book in the library that I work, I squee of glee because I didn't know we had a copy when indeed we have two. The movie creeped me out so bad, but I said I was going to be brave enough to push through this book. Lo and behold, I made it and I wasn't as creeped out as in the movie.

Coraline is a girl that cannot stay put doing just one thing. She has to explore, she has to keep moving around. But her exploring made her reach a place just like her home with wonderful parents that looked like the ones she had, but she had to give up things that she actually treasures. Everything was a trap and she knew it, but she had to be brave and confront the evil other mother.

Look, the story IS creepy because is told by a girl that doesn't know better, so that's why we don't understand what is fully happening. Every "other" person creeped me out enough to put the book down, but I wanted to push through. So be aware of that if you reading this with kids or something. The pictures are as creepy as the movie, so there's that. I don't recommend the movie to anyone, even though is good, but I hate horror.

In the end, everything became better than expected. But I truly believe that the evil was not defeated, just put away. For heaven's sake, is in the bottom of a well! I will never see wells good anymore. First, The Ring makes me think that a murdered girl will come out and now, Coraline, is an evil thing that is in the bottom. BYE. No más.

[Series Review] A Series of Unfortunate Events, by: Lemony Snicket

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

by: Lemony Snicket

#1 The Bad Begining
Publication Date: 1999
Read Date: October 7th, 2017
#2 The Reptile Room
Publication Date: 1999
Read Date: October 15th, 2017
#3 The Wide Window
Publication Date: 2000
Read Date: October 20th, 2017
#4 The Miserable Mill
Publication Date: 2000
Read Date: October 24th, 2017
#5 The Austere Academy
Publication Date: 2000
Read Date: October 28th, 2017
#6 The Ersatz Elevator
Publication Date: 2001
Read Date: November 4th, 2017
#7 The Vile Village
Publication Date: 2001
Read Date: November 11t, 2017
#8 The Hostile Hospital
Publication Date: 2001
Read Date: November 21st, 2017
#9 The Carnivorous Carnival
Publication Date: 2002
Read Date: December 9th, 2017
#10 The Slippery Slope
Publication Date: 2003
Read Date: December 10th, 2017
#11 The Grim Grotto
Publication Date: 2004
Read Date: January 1st, 2018
#12 The Penultimate Peril
Publication Date: 2005
Read Date: January 5th, 2018
#13 The End
Publication Date: 2006
Read Date: January 6th, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Children's Lit
Format: Library Bound
Pages: 3,360 in total

 

my overall rate

“Are you ready?" Klaus asked finally.
"No," Sunny answered.
"Me neither," Violet said, "but if we wait until we're ready we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives, Let's go.”
--- The Ersatz Elevator

Back at the end of 2016, I saw the first season of A Series of Unfortunate Events because everyone was watching it, saying that it was good, so I was bored and watched it. I enjoyed it, but as I always am, I wanted to know more. What would be the end of the Baudelaires? My only option was to read the books. Somehow it took almost a year later to finally find the access to have the books and read them. It was a tedious moment in life in where reading was my only true escape. Mr. Snicket wrapped me up in his writing and make me devour book after book.

The Bad Beginning is literally the best title to begin this whole story of the Baudelaire siblings. Usually, the story starts normally, then the unexpected happens and at the end everyone has to deal with the disgrace, right? Well, not this story. The Baudelaire parents have died in a fire that consumed their home too. Now they are orphans hoping around guardian after guardian until they become of age and can gain access to their fortune. But the villain of the story is literally there, following their steps, always lurking in the corners looking for the right moment to bring them to their dismiss so he can get the fortune instead of the kids.

"A series of unfortunate events can happen to anyone, no matter what they want, and even though the three children did not want [...], everything happened that the Baudelaire orphans that they did not want at all."
--- The Carnivorous Carnival

Count Olaf is a villain that sometimes is smart, but others is just too freaking annoying. How is this guy alive for 13 books? This guy disguises himself every single time and NO ONE notices, only the kids. For real? This is why the book is Children’s literature. I was annoyed like the Baudelaires. No one believes those kids no matter how right they were. I seriously dislike Olaf and the reason is that the author did such a good job in making me hate him. There is no other explanation. I hated him. I don’t even have an ounce of pity for him after his story slowly comes to light.

    Violet Baudelaire is the inventor. She does everything with almost nothing and out of the blue, always saves the day and their lives. I liked that she was really a kickass. She transforms from a girl that loved to invent for fun to a teenager that invent to prevent Olaf doing harm to her and her siblings. She stopped being afraid and started kicking ass for real.

    Klaus Baudelaire is the nerd, no other word. He’s super smart. A bookworm. A kid that loves to read about anything and everything. He, too, would come up with crucial information to save his and his sisters’ lives. Sometimes being smarter than a maniac called Olaf was a good thing to be. Plus, his research will continue to live in the storyline for quite a time.

     Sunny Baudelaire is an interesting character. She barely speaks and when she does is like talking nonsense. She says one word and it can mean a paragraph. She is actually really smart and helpful when is most needed. I’m slightly weird out that she has such strange teeth. Always bitting stuff. *shrugs* I have to point out that in the last books she became as kickass as Violet. She became the “chef” of the three and started talking more and making sense easier for adults to understand. She finally grew up to be as good as her siblings.

Other characters worth to mention are in this paragraph. The Snicket family. I swear that the Baudelaire family is so entwined with the Snicket one that I didn't know where one started and where the other continued. Is worth mentioning that Kit was badass, even more, because she was pregnant. Also, I was so happy to know about Jacques but I was very sorry for his short appearance. I have to say that I despise Mr. Poe was much as Count Olaf because the damn guy was always coughing, never listening and always telling the Baudelaires they were children. I also despised Esmé Squalor and Carmelita, I swear that those two combined were more annoying than any other villain in the whole series. I feel very sorry for all those good guardians that wanted to do good for the Baudelaires but failed and the bad way, meaning something deadly.

“Who will take care of us out there?" Klaus said, looking out on the flat horizon.
"Nobody," Violet said. "We'll have to take care of ourselves. We'll have to be self-sustaining."
--- The Vile Village

Every guardian these kids have been with were a little annoying of their own volition. But, as I said before, the most annoying thing was that no one listened to the kids until it was too late. Mr. Poe was always blaming them for whatever that happened to their last guardian before moving them again and later on, The Daily Punctilio start making such crazy stories and everyone believe more a newspaper than their voices because somehow whatever is printed must be true. And if you think a little there is a LOT of people that are like that. I find myself quite angry in the last books whenever someone pointed out that they shouldn’t listen to the Baudelaires because they are kids. BULLSHIT. In my years working with kids, I have noticed that sometimes kids know more than some adults. Always listen to them, you never know, they can surprise you.

Lemony Snicket is the author and I don’t want to give away much his identity, even though I know less than when I started the first book, but he is a character also. He gets immersed in the story because he is the one telling it. He visited every place the Baudelaires were in. He knows every character he is talking about. He knows everything but doesn’t tell us much. He also advises every single book and almost every single chapter that this story is not a happy or happy ending story, that you must put it down and read something better. He is literally telling that the end is bad and you shouldn’t read. So DO NOT BE SURPRISED when the story ends and you don’t like how it went down because HE TOLD YOU MANY TIMES IT WAS LIKE THAT. I think everything was clever. His writing almost perfect, but I have to complain that maybe 13 books was too much. If wishes were fishes… I also have to point out that his writing tends to be very good until he likes to stop the imagery to say something that I was not much interested in that moment.

“Life is a conundrum of esoterica.”
--- The Reptile Room

Small sentence to point out that my favorite book was The Penultimate Peril because my favorite character is there: Dewey Denouement. Just saying.

This is a Children’s series, which is something that I have read before I started working in an elementary school library, but somehow I enjoyed it and I fully recommend it. Just be prepared that the middle books are annoying and that the end will not be your favorite. Because no matter what you hope, the story is just really sad. And that, my friends, is how The End leave you with.

Update: I'm going in S-L-O-W-L-Y

My life in the last three months have been a little hectic, from moving to a new country to finishing my last classes via internet and to finally land one of my dream jobs. Reading have been in the back burner for all this time, but now I'm feeling like I'm getting back on track slowly.

The job I want the most is to be a teacher, but if wishes were fishes... But I got a really close job as becoming a teacher, Librarian. Which for me is like step one in the many steps I need to take to finally reach my end goal. I work in a Library of an Elementary School. PK to 5th graders are not the bunch I was looking for to be around with, but the experience is welcomed and I'm loving it so far. I really like the kids and the staff is super cool.

Now, working as a librarian has perks and disadvantages. I get to check out whatever book I want to read, but most of the books in my library are Kids Lit, which is not really what I normally read. Either way, I'm getting used to being around these books and even interested in such lit. So far, I'm pretty much liking all the graphic novels.

  

HiLo #1 - #3

The Boy Who Crashed To Earth
Saving The Whole Wide World
The Great Big Boom

by: Judd Winick
Read on: September 18 - 26, 2017

Funny enough, I started book one after a total lockdown in the school I work (which it wasn't funny though). I was locked inside the library with a group of fourth graders. We wouldn't move from the protected spot nor do sounds, so to show the kids I was at ease, I took this book from the shelf and started reading it... the kids saw me and started to do the same with their books until they announced we were all safe to go outside.

The book hooked me in from page one and hooked me enough to read book two and three right after. Hilo is such a hilarious kid. The story wants you to read it. There are curves along the way that might be seen from pages before, but everything is funny that you just keep going even though you knew it was going to happen.

I have recommend these books to some of my kids and they have love it, so I bet you would to. Give it a try and you might never know.

GHOSTS

by: Raina Telgemeier
Release Date: September 16th, 2016
Read Date: September 27th, 2017
Format: Library Binding
Pages: 256

Now, this book is hard to find in my library. Most of the time when one class checks it in, the next one checks it out. So it was kind of hard to get a copy in my hands, so when I did, I grave it by the horns and read it all in one sitting.

Is a graphic novel, which the kids love and devour easily. Is not scary at all, and is super sweet at the end. It has history, that might be real, inside and things very deep that touch your soul. It gives a real look of how things happen and that is very good for Elementary kids.

This author created a series called Smile, which the kids love to, so if a kid read those and is looking for a rec, well Ghosts it is. Just like I rec my kids of this book, you should read them too.

ROLLERGIRL

by: Victoria Jamieson
Release Date: March 10th, 2015
Read Date: September 28th, 2017
Format: Library Binding
Pages: 240

In my school there's a book club and the kids have to read books from the Texas Bluebonnet Award of the current year. So, last year this book was part of the list and this year kids are still checking in it out, so I had to check it out myself.

It was pretty good. Roller derby is a sport that is taking quite the heat these days, so reading a book of a sport that I didn't know nothing about was super cool. I learned things and I got so invested in the story that I even saw myself reflected in it too.

Saying goodbye to friends and making new ones is not an easy job, but is something that must be done. I really rec this book to anyone, no matter the age.

So, this is it, that's the update. I have read others more, but I am not that in it to make all those reviews. But it will be soon, my darlings. See ya around, still in hiatus, though.