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Aug. 31st, 2011 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gala_applesBasic opinion: I recommend
-The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd
-The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem
-Going Bovine by Libba Bray
More complicated opinions on the first seven books I read:
1) The Unnamables by Ellen Booraem.
The book is set in a world where things are either Named very specifically for their use (a beet is now a Crimson Boiling Root) or Useless and unnamed (all birds are seabirds). But then there's the third category: Unnameable. Unnameable gets you banished. Medford Runyuin washed up on shore as a baby, his Useless last name the first strike against him. He has Unnameable secrets, and eventually they begin to pull his life apart. In a Puritan society this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I loved the use of language. It gets sort of purple prosey in places, but it's done on purpose to show how ridiculous speech can be. About halfway through a magical element gets added out of nowhere. Aside from the blindside of it, it's really interesting, and it's not like it's added willy nilly. It's crucial to the plot.
2) Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray.
Blake, Sim, and Kenny's friend died. It's everyone else's fault, and the funeral was shit, so they decide to steal his ashes and scatter Ross in Ross Scotland, because he always wanted to go there.
It was well written. Bad parts: The shocking twist was hardly shocking. It was also really Britishy. I think a few months ago I wouldn't have understood all the parts about transportation, because UK transportation is soooo much different than how Canada works, or at least Manitoba. It was still good, it just wasn't OMG MUST REC! good.
3) The Amanda Project by Melissa Kantor.
Amanda Valentino goes missing, her three friends (unknown to each other) try to figure out where she's gone.
Okay. I have to admit it was well written. But it said NOWHERE on the cover that it was book one of eight. I don't DO WIPs. And if you go to the website, apparently it's a blog/shared verse? Like everyone that signs up writes what they think happened to Amanda, and the owner of the series picks someone to write a book. Which is cool with Terri Windling, or fanfic authors I trust, but random thirteen year olds do not generally have great quality control. So it's a good concept, but if I try again I'm waiting until all 8 books are out.
4) Andromedia Klein by Frank Portman.
I got maybe fifteen pages into it. I get it, I fail at life because I don't know anything about tarot. Maybe if you did you would like this. To me it just read like one massive in joke I didn't get.
5) The Carbon Diaries by Saci Lloyd.
Diary entries from a teenager that's living in the UK when carbon rationing starts in 2015.
I started reading it at a post-perfect time. In the book there were a lot of riots, and a scene of a hurricane on the east coast. Oh hi real life! How you doin'? It wasn't particularly preachy, for pro or anti rationing, which was nice, I didn't feel like I was being sold. My only dislike with this book is that it has a sequel, set in 2017. My library makes it really difficult to find paperbacks.
6)Duckling Ugly by Neal Shusterman.
An Ugly Duckling horror retelling.
Gross, dude. Thanks for the detailed description of zits exploding when your boyfriend touches your face. Definitely a grossout horror, not an actually scary horror.
7) Going Bovine by Libba Bray.
A terminal boy finds out from a punk rock angel that he can save himself and prevent the end of the world if he goes on a quest and takes his video game obsessed dwarf hospital roommate
with him.
This was really great read. Aside from the funny stuff, like the lawn gnome that's a reincarnation of the Viking god Balder who HATES having his picture taken, it also deals a lot with what fate is, and what makes a life worth living. Maybe it was a bit hard hitting for me, with my diagnosis up in the air there were a few OMG I HAVE WHAT CAMERON HAS moments. But it was still excellent, and I'd venture to say most of you won't have the same issue.
-The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd
-The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem
-Going Bovine by Libba Bray
More complicated opinions on the first seven books I read:
1) The Unnamables by Ellen Booraem.
The book is set in a world where things are either Named very specifically for their use (a beet is now a Crimson Boiling Root) or Useless and unnamed (all birds are seabirds). But then there's the third category: Unnameable. Unnameable gets you banished. Medford Runyuin washed up on shore as a baby, his Useless last name the first strike against him. He has Unnameable secrets, and eventually they begin to pull his life apart. In a Puritan society this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I loved the use of language. It gets sort of purple prosey in places, but it's done on purpose to show how ridiculous speech can be. About halfway through a magical element gets added out of nowhere. Aside from the blindside of it, it's really interesting, and it's not like it's added willy nilly. It's crucial to the plot.
2) Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray.
Blake, Sim, and Kenny's friend died. It's everyone else's fault, and the funeral was shit, so they decide to steal his ashes and scatter Ross in Ross Scotland, because he always wanted to go there.
It was well written. Bad parts: The shocking twist was hardly shocking. It was also really Britishy. I think a few months ago I wouldn't have understood all the parts about transportation, because UK transportation is soooo much different than how Canada works, or at least Manitoba. It was still good, it just wasn't OMG MUST REC! good.
3) The Amanda Project by Melissa Kantor.
Amanda Valentino goes missing, her three friends (unknown to each other) try to figure out where she's gone.
Okay. I have to admit it was well written. But it said NOWHERE on the cover that it was book one of eight. I don't DO WIPs. And if you go to the website, apparently it's a blog/shared verse? Like everyone that signs up writes what they think happened to Amanda, and the owner of the series picks someone to write a book. Which is cool with Terri Windling, or fanfic authors I trust, but random thirteen year olds do not generally have great quality control. So it's a good concept, but if I try again I'm waiting until all 8 books are out.
4) Andromedia Klein by Frank Portman.
I got maybe fifteen pages into it. I get it, I fail at life because I don't know anything about tarot. Maybe if you did you would like this. To me it just read like one massive in joke I didn't get.
5) The Carbon Diaries by Saci Lloyd.
Diary entries from a teenager that's living in the UK when carbon rationing starts in 2015.
I started reading it at a post-perfect time. In the book there were a lot of riots, and a scene of a hurricane on the east coast. Oh hi real life! How you doin'? It wasn't particularly preachy, for pro or anti rationing, which was nice, I didn't feel like I was being sold. My only dislike with this book is that it has a sequel, set in 2017. My library makes it really difficult to find paperbacks.
6)Duckling Ugly by Neal Shusterman.
An Ugly Duckling horror retelling.
Gross, dude. Thanks for the detailed description of zits exploding when your boyfriend touches your face. Definitely a grossout horror, not an actually scary horror.
7) Going Bovine by Libba Bray.
A terminal boy finds out from a punk rock angel that he can save himself and prevent the end of the world if he goes on a quest and takes his video game obsessed dwarf hospital roommate
with him.
This was really great read. Aside from the funny stuff, like the lawn gnome that's a reincarnation of the Viking god Balder who HATES having his picture taken, it also deals a lot with what fate is, and what makes a life worth living. Maybe it was a bit hard hitting for me, with my diagnosis up in the air there were a few OMG I HAVE WHAT CAMERON HAS moments. But it was still excellent, and I'd venture to say most of you won't have the same issue.