Mini Reviews: Shine & Scarlet

Shine (Shade #3) by Jeri Smith-Ready
Paperback, 416 pages
Published May 1st, 2012 by Simon Pulse
Source: Library

This is the third book in the Shade trilogy and this should be a pretty spoiler free review for the whole series.

I really like that creative world that has been created here.  The whole idea of ghosts being something that kids of a certain age and younger can see is pretty awesome.  And how it affects people really feels real.  I also enjoy the characters a lot.  I think they had to grow on me but by this book I was for sure loving them!

This was the final book and so I was hoping everything would play out good.  And it did.  I was worried that there wouldn't be enough of a conclusion, but there was and I was happy with it.  I almost wish series was going on for a bit longer.  Maybe a companion novel?

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Hardcover, 292 pages
Published February 14th, 2012 by Walker Childrens
Source: Gift

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.

It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

I have wanted to read this book for so long!  I have some fascination with Robin Hood and I recently started watching the BBC show of it and love it!  Since I had that show in my head I was picturing things like in the show.  The story isn't the same as this is Scarlet's story and there isn't a Scarlet in the show (well, there kind of is, but I don't want to spoil anything).  And this was definitely it's own story.  But the villages and the woods, it was all there in my head.  And I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

I really found myself fascinated with the story.  The author tries to write in dialect a bit, like Scarlet doesn't say 'was', everything is 'were' and while I normally love things wrote in dialect, this was a bit hard for me to get use to.  But it didn't ruin the story or anything.  And Scarlet as a character initially felt much younger to me.  More like 12 rather than 16.  But later on I realized she didn't feel so young anymore, so I'm not sure what changed.  I also wasn't in love with the romance.  There was a bit of a love triangle and I didn't really 'feel' it, I guess.  But since the rest of the story was so great I was able to overlook that.

If you're interested in Robin Hood stories I definitely recommend you give this one a try.  The story felt very true to Robin Hood, though he was a bit moodier in this (I wish maybe he'd been a bit more cheery like he usually tends to be), but he was still his honorable self.

What do you look for in a review? And what compels you to read a book?

I wrote this post several months back as a kind of back up post, to put up when I was lacking content.  I haven't had that issue apparently so I decided it was time to pull it up and get it published!  Recently(ish) Melissa from I Swim for Oceans did a post called Let's Talk: What Makes a Good Book Review.  I urge you to check it out and those that linked up.  There's some good thoughts there!



Those are kind of two different things asked and I'm going to approach the first one first.  What is it that you like in a review?  Personally I like to know their thoughts about the characters, whether the plot was good and moved at a decent pace, originality of the story, the content and whether it all worked together, and of course I want to know the good and the bad.  I don't want anyone to get all mean about a book, keep in mind it's just your opinion, but if something didn't quite click with you please let us know in a nice way.  I don't care for reviews that point out all sorts of good things but then rate it 3 stars.  Clearly there was stuff you loved LESS, please give us an idea what it was.  It can be that it just didn't quite have a WOW factor even, I just want an idea what it was that made you not love it.  Of course you can switch that around too and say all kinds of negative things and then give it 3 stars, so to me 3 stars says you liked it.  Maybe not loved it, but liked it and it was worth the time you took to read it.  So please, don't say only negative things then give it 3 stars.  I need to know what you DID like about it as well.  {I do know that some people rate on a different scale, I'm speaking on a scale of 1-5 here.}

I don't mind lengthy reviews if they are wrote well.  I try to keep my reviews at a medium length.  Short reviews often don't give me enough insight for me to determine whether I want to read it.  However some books just don't leave a huge impression and writing much about them is rather difficult.  I also don't mind a short review when it's a book later in a series.  Just knowing if it was good, if the characters lived up to expectations, etc is enough for me.  Reviews of children's books are also fine in short version.  What about you, what's your preferred length?

Okay, so what compels you to read a book?  I get many review requests each day.  Sometimes I just know it's not my thing and I delete it.  Other times I decide to look up reviews and get an idea of the feedback.  And what often makes me decide to hold off on a book is all positive reviews.  I'm been reviewing books for a few years now and I've found that if a book ONLY has good reviews then there's something fishy there.  I know, that sounds bad.  And actually, if there are only 5 reviews on that book and they are all positive I'm well aware that it's very possible it's an excellent book.  But it could just be that those 5 people are friends and family of the author.  When I see a book has a variety of ratings and I read through and see what peoples complaints were I have a much better idea of whether it's for me.  For example, a person may not like a book because they prefer no strong Christian themes in their books and so they rate it 3 stars for that reason alone, if I liked strong Christian themes (I don't actually...) then I know that I may like it.  Or if someone rates it low because they hated the cursing, and personally I don't love a lot of cursing but it's never made me rate a book less, so I might still like the book.  But if many people say that the grammar and editing needs quite a lot of work and it's said over and over again I may ask the author if it's been updated and/or if I can get a sample before committing.  My point is, I want an idea of whether this book is for me and all positive reviews aren't giving me enough.

Now when you're reading reviews on a blog what is it that gets you to say I MUST READ THAT?  If the reviewer points out how much they loved the characters I'm probably going to want to read the book.  I guess some additional info helps, like if they were absolutely hilarious- yep, going on my pile!  I also am a sucker for unique-ness.  If I hear that a book is so completely different from anything else out there, well I'm likely to give it a try.   And incoherent raving sells me every time.  Okay, so not really.  But if there's incoherent raving and then a review pointing out everything I want in a review (characters, plot, setting, pace, etc) then I'll certainly be putting it on my list.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to get a book on my pile.  Not long ago someone sent me a recommendation via goodreads and I checked it out (I don't usually) and saw lots of good reviews of it and so I bought it (it was only .99 cents).   Sometimes I get a review request and I just say yes because of the description alone.  I think it's all about my mood and how I'm feeling about my TBR at that particular moment.  Luckily that one was a winner and ended up on my favorites list for the year.

So tell me, what are your thoughts?

Review: On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

Paperback, 319 pages

First published September, 2011

Source: Publisher

When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments - instead of his friends.

Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter. Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

When I first got the review request for this book I was hesitant.  Honestly it looks like chick lit, which isn't always my thing.  But a good summer read did sound pleasant so I checked out the reviews.  Suddenly I started remembering that I did see reviews for this book and people are raving about it!  So then I couldn't resist.

Honestly, I knew very little about the book when I started reading.  I suppose I just didn't remember what I had read about it.  So I wasn't exactly sure how it would go down.  I mean, I knew they were stranded on an island, but I had no idea it was for this long.  And you know that being stranded on an island would bring all sorts of things.  Thirst, hunger, shelter, cleanliness, sicknesses, wildlife & sea life and so much more.  Each of the challenges they had to overcome was fascinating and with each thing they had to survive I found myself relating to and understanding the characters a little more.  They only had each other and two people together, surviving (barely) alone with nothing and no one else, would most definitely grow close.  And watching how close they came gradually, was pretty awesome.  Don't worry, there's no case of an adult falling in love with a child, he was an adult before things ever went anywhere, but that allowed for the tension to build up.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about it all, honestly.  But I think it was very sweet and realistic.

Another concern I had was would they be on the island through the entire book?  I really wanted to see where things would go once they did get off, or if they even got off.  And I got my satisfying ending, for sure.  I felt like maybe it went on a bit longer than necessary and at times felt my attention waning, but I wasn't ever bored.  It's just not some fast paced book.  But it is entertaining, thought provoking and gets your emotions worked up.  I felt bad for them so many times, and other times I felt furious because of what they had to go through (not only on the island) and feeling those emotions made the book even better.  And don't worry, this had some giggles to go along as there are plenty of funny moments and lots of very sweet ones.  And the beauty, oh I felt like I was ON the island with them!  Seriously, what gorgeous scenery! 

I definitely recommend you give this one a try!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book for review purposes, I was not paid or influenced in any way.  All opinions expressed are my own.