The Art Thief by Noah Charney (by Anndy Alarcon)
Book Review: Slide by Jill Hathaway
Vee has a unbelievable secret: she has been officially diagnosed as suffering from narcolepsy, but instead of falling asleep during her episodes, she slides into another person’s mind and watches their experiences through their own eyes. Vee has gotten used to having these episodes, but she gets the shock of her life when she slides into an unknown person’s mind, and watches them hover over the body of Sophie, her sister’s best friend – silent, bloody, dead. The cause of death is judged to be suicide, but Vee is tenacious and is desperate to reveal the truth.
Slide is an extremely fast-paced and enjoyable thriller. After only 50 pages I had been exposed to so much and I was reading it intensely. It’s one of those reading experiences that makes me sigh at that thought of getting off the bus and going to work – I wanted to keep on reading. At only 250 pages, it’s not a highly detailed thriller full of multiple layers, but it isn’t meant to be. Jill Hathaway does not purely focus on the murder – although it is, of course, the main plot – but also on human relationships. I loved reading about Vee’s emotional conflicts, about the strained relationship she has with her younger sister and her mostly-absent father. We learn that her mother is deceased and that Vee deeply misses her. We learn that her schoolmates have some terrible secrets of their own. Slide encourages the reader to feel empathy for the most surprising of characters.
Slide is an extremely entertaining yet poignant novel. I had expected something else entirely from the ending, and so I was disappointed a little, but it’s worth reading for the exciting murder mystery, and for Vee, who I thought was an excellent main character. It also can be read as a standalone even though it’s part of a series, which is refreshing.
Thank you HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing this book for review!
Rating: ★★★½
(by pointlessstuffs)
Kníhkupectvo Martinus.sk, Bratislava, Slovakia
Book Review: The Snow by Adam Roberts
The Snow was loaned to me by a science fiction enthusiast, a friend of mine whose favourite author is Adam Roberts. I began this book not knowing anything about it – not even what my friend thought of it because she wouldn’t tell me! – and so I revelled in reading a book where anything could happen.
The Snow is set in a truly post-apocalyptic world: “..the snow doesn’t stop. It falls and falls and falls. Until it lies three miles thick across the whole of the earth. Six billion people have died. Perhaps 150,000 survive.” We’re acquainted with Tira, our main character, shortly after the snow starts to fall. It continues and we see her attempt to survive. She keeps contact with family until the phone line goes dead, she obtains tinned food from her deceased neighbour, and abandons her house to acquire shelter and human interaction elsewhere. It seemed to me as if The Snow would follow a typical apocalyptic storyline of human survival and adventure, but it provided a level of depth that I enjoyed and appreciated immensely.
The story is told in a scrapbook sort of way, made up of illegal, censored official government documents - mainly Tira’s account of life during the snow, interviews, and government explanations. This added an element of realism to the storyline. It made it feel as if I wasn’t just reading a fictional account but authentic evidence of a cataclysmic event. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about government conspiracies, philosophically and sociologically-referenced rebellions, and even reading about Tira’s personal relationships. The Snow allows the reader to wholly understand how North America reacts to the snowfall, how it affects the nation as a whole as well as its individual citizens. The ending was, to put it bluntly, not to my taste at all, but it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the book.
The Snow is a wonderfully constructed and developed apocalyptic story; a deceivingly tiny book that has a lot to offer. I’d eagerly suggest it to anyone who loves post-apocalyptic fiction but wants to read outside of what is currently popular.
Rating: ★★★★
(by anndydepp)
In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself … I see with myriad eyes, but is still I that see … I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.
(Source: presentingbooks)
cinderella in the ashes. (by weepy hollow)
(by lil.ellen)
A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man’s mind can get both provocation and privacy. - Edward P. Morgan
(by Ray)
(by Liis Klammer)
