Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton

Image taken from shearersbookshop.com.au

Just finished reading this book today, and had to tell you all about it before I went to bed tonight. The other books I had read in the past couple of months, and just didn't get around to reviewing them until now.

"Blood Harvest" details the lives of three ordinary people: a ten year old boy, whose family has just moved into the quiet village of Heptonclough, a psychiatrist who is working with a patient living in the same village, and a priest who has just arrived to take on the parrish there, which has been left neglected for a few years. The novel describes how these three characters interact with each other, as weird happenings begin to occur. The boy keeps seeing a deformed child hanging around the church graveyard, beckoning his younger siblings to follow her. The patient of the psychiatrist, whose daughter had died in a fire three years ago, insists that her daughter is not dead, and that she comes back to haunt her. And the priest, while outwardly welcomed by members of the village, receives chilling and deadly cryptic messages to keep his nose out of learning about the town's past. Three seemingly different scenarios, yet they are all linked up as part of one big chilling murder mystery.

I bought this book purely by chance as I was finishing off Torment, and was desperate for a new book to read. I had never heard of S. J. Bolton before, nor had I ever heard any of the other books that she has written. But if she writes with the same mystery and suspense in this book as she does in her other ones, I am going to have to seek out her other books as well. She sets up a very intricate and elaborate plot, which all comes together nicely in one stunningly chilling conclusion (you will NEVER guess who the real killer is!)

All in all, it was a very enjoyable read.

Torment by Lauren Kate

Image taken from OBS Book reviews

The sequel to Fallen is just as good as its predecessor. While I NOW know what the story line is about, I ended up buying the book to find out what happens next, and not because of another stunning front cover (although, to tell you the truth, I really like the front cover to this as well)...

At this stage, Luce has just found out that she is in love with a fallen Angel. She and Daniel have been together for centuries (hence all the de ja vu feelings in the first book), and that ever seventeen years or so, he has to watch her die and come back to him again, reincarnated, all because of his choice to be with her instead of tending to his heavenly duties. This is all that Luce knows so far about her past. But because she didn't die like she was supposed to this time around, everybody - angels, demons, even Luce herself - are confused as to why things are different this time around. There is talk of end of days, the final battle, when eventually angels and demons will have to fight again for the last time. And there are a truck load of other supernatural beings all either fighting for Luce to join their side, or simply to kill her off. These are very dangerous times for Luce and for the people she cares about.

On the plus side, the "shadows" that Luce had originally mistaken in the first book to be bad omens are actually quite helpful in helping her glimpse into her past lives. She learns at her new school how to summon them and be able to see into her past for clues as to what her relationship with Daniel had been like in the past. But will this knowledge end up furthering enlightening her on her past, or destroy her hopes of her ever being together with Daniel for eternity? One must read on to find out...

While the content in this book is still pretty dark, I found the book to be more comical than the first one was. There are new characters introduced who add a bit of humour to the plot. Not that this is a bad thing, as the characters are quite likeable. And there's another love interest added to the plot, with Miles also trying to get with Luce. AND, Luce is wondering whether it would be better to be with him or not, so the relationship with her and Daniel gets more complicated than it originally was.

In all accounts, a very good read indeed. Cannot wait until the third installment comes out in a couple of months time!

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Image taken from freebooks.net


OK. So I've been meaning to read this book for a while, managed to get myself a copy of it last year, which I did not get the chance to read until early this year. To be honest, it was not so much the storyline that got me hooked (because I didn't know what it was about), but it was actually the FRONT COVER that drew me in. A couple of people have joked with me when I've told them the story that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I have to say that the story is just as good as the front cover that adorns it.

The story is about 17 year old Lucinda Price (Luce for short), who is sent to a reform school after a dreadful accident which happened to her would-have-been boyfriend, none of which she has ever recollection of happening, but which the authorities believe she is in someway responsible for. We learn that ever since she can remember, she has been followed by these supernatural creatures called "shadows", who continually pop up just when something dreadful is about to happen either to her or one of her friends. Determined to stay off the psychotic drugs she had been forced to take as a child because of these sightings, she lies to her parents and to her doctor that she has stopped seeing them. However, they still haunt her, and they appear to be haunting her more frequently now that she is away from home.

Then from day one when she arrives at the school, she meets the most handsome young man she has ever seen named Daniel, who she feels a strange connection to. Sometime, somewhere, they have known each other before, but Luce is unable to pinpoint where, and how this is even possible. But Daniel knows her all too well, and is initially unprepared to tell her anything. That is, until strange events begin happening at the school, and Luce insists on knowing what the shadows and her de ja vu feelings for Daniel have in common. The truth which she eventually finds out in the end is both beautiful and unbearable. To find out what that truth is, you will just have to read on for yourself...

Lauren Kate sets up this book quite nicely, detailing the scenery of Sword and Cross and of what it is like to live there. The gives subtle hints as to where the story is about to go, without giving too much away. Her description of "the shadows" and their appearance at various stages of the book come at times just when you are feeling "comfortable" with the narrative, shocking you back into a feeling of uneasiness and suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense I was feeling all the way towards the final chapter.

While this is definitely catered for young teenage girls, guys such as myself can appreciate its slightly dark undertones, not to mention the little bit of violence that is contained in it. As a romance novel, it does not go "mushy" or "over the top" with its romantic content. As a contemporary gothic novel, it has all the makings of a good horror story.

In short, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is into either of those genres.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Image taken from Hunger Games Wiki.

The second installment in the Hunger Games trilogy was just as interesting as the first installment. Without giving too much away for those who have not read the first book, Katniss and her friend Peeta are the two survivors of the Hunger Games, something which the Capitol sees as a form of rebellion (there can only be one winner, and the actions they took in the first book led them both to victory). Because of the stunt they pulled, the President of the Capitol is determined to make Katniss' life a living hell. And what better way to make the make life hell for the person who you see as a threat to your rule by arranging to send them BACK into the Hunger Games the following year!

Yes, Peeta and Katniss are sent back into the Games - into a new arena, with new weather conditions, and contesting against other previous victors from the other districts.

Meanwhile, there are others in the various districts who have taken inspiration in Peeta's and Katniss' defiance from the previous year's games and have started uprisings, which the Capitol is truly annoyed about. There is also talk of the mysterious District 13, who was supposedly wiped out by the Capitol for their defiance, but who could possibly still have survivors living underground. In short, the book is just as suspenseful as the first installment.

I'm afraid I might give away too much again, just suffices to say that it is indeed another good book.

Will be starting on the final installment shortly...

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

Image taken from Imp Awards.

I read this book a long time ago when I was a teenager, and had the opportunity of reading it again this year. As beautiful as the Disney film is, it cannot be compared to the book that inspired it.

Originally titled "Notre Dame de Paris", (Our Lady of Paris), the story was originally meant to be focused on the cathedral itself, and not entirely on Quasimodo; the change of focus is something that contemporary interpretations of the narrative have to thank for. And if you read the book carefully, you can see how everything that happens in the story is directly or indirectly connected with the cathedral, it in itself being the central character of the whole book.

Hugo uses his descriptions of the scenery of Paris in the 1480's and his descriptions of Notre Dame to share symbolically what the narrative is trying to teach us. It is a deeply thought-provoking book that comments on many political issues that are prevalent both in Hugo's day in in the times of Medieval Paris. Unfortunately, trying to briefly cover them all in this short review would not do the book any justice, so I recommend that the reader of this article seeks for himself/herself a copy of it to read for themselves.

The copy I read was the Wordsworth Classics edition, and is the one that I would strongly recommend, if it is available to you. It contains an introduction by Keith Wren, who delves into the political issues the book discusses in greater detail, and helps readers understand what Hugo was trying to say within those political debates. If this edition is not available, I am certain there are plenty of detailed online essays that also discuss the political issues of the book in greater detail.

A classic and a must-read for all Victor Hugo fans out there.

The Genius Wars by Catherine Jinks

Image taken from Allen&Unwin.com


Looking back at the last few book reviews I have written here, I have realised that I have been WAY behind in updating you all on the new books I have been reading! For this I apologise...

To return to what I have read, I have definitely finished reading the conclusion to the Genius Trilogy, and just like the other two books, Catherine Jinks does not fail us in providing a rather entertaining tale!

"Genius Wars" sends us a few months later after Genius Squad has eventually been disbanded. Cadel is enjoying life as a university student, until random sightings of Prosper English force Cadel to once again live a life of hiding. This would be tolerable for him, if it weren't for the fact that his friends from the Genius Squad - not to mention his soon-to-be adoptive parents - have had threats carried out against them. Once again it is up to Cadel to save the day and protect the people he holds dear.

This book wastes no time in getting into the action, and is just as fast-paced as the first installment was. Jinks has cleverly managed to answer all questions that were left unanswered from the first two books, and manages to keep the suspense going up until the very end. The rather "ambiguous" ending I also find to be quite clever, for reasons you should find out for yourself by reading this book.

All in all, the Genius Trilogy are three of the best books I have read in a long time.

Iqbal by Fancesco D'Adamo

Image taken from Merlin

This is probably one of the most influential books that has made an impact in my life, second only to Christobel Mattingley's No gun for Asmir. It is the ficitonalised account of Iqbal Masih, a child slave who escaped from his captors to become a crusader against child slavery, only to be murdered on Easter Sunday of 1995. He was about 13 years old.

I read the German translation of the original Italian text, but I do believe there is also an English translation out there somewhere; I just haven't found it yet. I've also seen a French translation somewhere online, so it has been translated into a number of languages, and is accessible in most parts of the world.

Francesco D'Adamo is a very good story-teller. Although he admits having never visited Pakistan or walked through the streets of Lahore, he describes the scenery as though he has been there before. His brilliant imagination allows us to think about what it would be like to live in child slavery, and what it would feel like to not know what freedom is. Often sad at times, the book stirs up our emotions, and leaves us questioning why child slavery still exists, and why so little has been done to stop it from continuing.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in politics and human rights.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Image taken from the 5th Grade Literacy Circles website.

Matilda Wormwood is a child prodigy, although her parents don't seem to care or notice. Her father runs a dodgy car sale business, while her mother is addicted to bingo. Her brother is hardly ever at home. While all three would prefer to sit in front of the television all night, Matilda prefers to read books. These are the circumstances we find her in as she attends her first day of school, where her teacher, Miss Wormwood, is the first person to notice how special Matilda really is....

OK. So I'm going through yet another childhood phase, but so what? Roald Dahl's books are amazing, as every child who has ever read them can tell you (as well as every adult who remembers growing up reading them). Packed with adventure, humour and fun, his books have entertained children and grown-ups alike. The new editions of his books that are coming out now all boast on the front cover that he is "The World's no. 1 Storyteller", a title that Roald Dahl very much deserves to have. It has now been over a decade since he has passed away, but his memory continues to live on through his books.

The new editions also come with interesting trivia facts about Roald Dahl and his life, giving children the chance to learn more about this great author. They also explain on the back cover that 10% of author royalties from the sales of his books are now being donated to Roald Dahl Charities, which cares for children with "epilepsy, blood disorders and acquired brain injury". So by purchasing the new editions, you are not only revisiting childhood memories, but you are also making a difference in other children's lives.......

..... Not that I'm trying to promote sales in any way..... :-P

Anyway, "Matilda" is one of those books that you MUST read, either BEFORE or AFTER seeing the film version starring Mara Wilson and Danny DeVito. Seriously. You should. It's very good.

More reviews on Roald Dahl's books to follow soon!

The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertholt Brecht

Image taken from http://www.sdsuniverse.info/sdsuniverse/news.aspx?s=71091&rss=t

I am a HUGE fan of Bertholt Brecht and his plays, which is why I was so excited to learn that I would be studying Brecht this semester at Uni. The Good Person of Szechwan is one of the plays written by Brecht that I will be studying this semester.

The Good Person of Szechwan tells the story of three powerful Gods who are on the search of finding at least one good person left on the earth. They tarry the night with a woman by the name of Shen Teh, a "good-hearted but penniless prositute" (back cover), who is struggling to get out of her current situation and start a new life. Believing that Shen Teh has great potential of doing much good for other people, the Gods give her a sum of money, so as to be able to help her start her own tobacco business, and no longer work on the streets to earn money. Problems arise when the other characters in the play prey on Shen Teh's kindness and try to manipulate her, and in order to escape from such corrupt persons, she disguises herself as a Shui-Ta, a ruthless and very clever "cousin", who does not take kindly to Shen Teh's ill treatment by the other characters. Further complications arise when Shen Teh falls pregnant, and can no longer keep up the charade of being Shui-Ta. It is a riveting and thought-provoking story, one that I would like to see performed on stage one day.

As with all of Brecht's plays, the play addresses a lot of social issues that cannot all be listed here. A few of them include the nature of survival, the business world and its potential to become corrupt, and the line drawn between when is being too lenient and when is being too harsh, (how to be "nice" while at the same time being assertive and not have people walk all over you. This commentary is especially noted when Shen Teh switches from being herself, to Shui-Ta).

This is a must-read for all lovers of theatre and of Bertholt Brecht.