On Godstones: A Review of The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

The Girl of Fire and Thorns is another one of those books that just kept getting recommended to me, and I kept putting off reading it because there are too many YAs in my pile already. I finally picked it up on a whim, and now I can say: Yes, you were all right, it's not half bad at all.

Elisa is the less attractive younger princess, the underdog princess if you will, who's one shining trait is that she was gifted with the Godstone--an extremely rare mystical gift. This means that she has some big an important task to complete, though she has no idea what, and she definitely doesn't feel up to the challenge. Elisa is married off to a foreign king in secret, and shuffled off to his kingdom where supposedly she'll be safer. Instead, she is swept up in a war, made an unlikely leader, and has her faith and her abilities tested again and again.

Positive Comments

The characterization of Elisa struck more than one cord with me. He lack of self confidence and general awkwardness could have made her pathetic, but instead they make her easier to like. She's also a stress eater...not just fat, not just unfortunately pudgy by genetic design, but a character who deals with stress by stuffing herself sick. Who among us doesn't know someone with that particular problem? Yet it rarely gets written about with such honesty, unless the book is specifically about eating disorders. So bravo, Rae Carson, for giving your fantasy heroine real life flaws.

I liked the plot and all of the fantasy elements it incorporated. The magic that's used is kept simple, which is nice because it means the author didn't have to info-dump in order to keep us informed. The reality of the Godstone creates an honest purpose for our heroine, as well as a dilemma as she struggles to identify what God wants from her.

I thought that the faith element of the book was very interesting. Interesting, for example, that a heroine with clear, indisputable proof of God's existence could still go through a crisis of faith. As a whole, the book handles the question of religion simplistically, but hints at a larger scope that I would like to see more of.

Critical Comments

I was a little disappointed by how Elisa's "marriage" was handled, and the characterization of the Alejandro overall. I say "marriage" in quotes because it is absolutely just a plot device that amounts to no human connection whatsoever. They never consummate their union (I guess that doesn't matter in this culture?), they never have more than a handful of interactions, and it's all pretty meaningless. It felt like the author just really wanted her heroine to be the queen, but also to remain a virgin and available for any romantic connections she may have planned for future books. It came across to me as contrived. Furthermore, it was disappointing because I really wanted to understand Alejandro's character better, but he sort of ends up as a secondary character at best.

Recommendation

This is a good young adult novel for those who prefer "classic" style fantasy. The heroine is highly sympathetic, the plot is engrossing, and the end will leave you wanting more. 4 stars.

Follow Friday 7/12/12

 

Q: What drove you to start book blogging in the first place?

 I read a lot, and I started to really feel like I was the only one. None of my friends really read much, and while they might occasionally politely listen to me describe the latest book I'd read, it became increasingly obvious to me that they don't care. Much. So I got into book blogging as an outlet for talking about this hobby that is such a huge part of my life. 

The Things I Read For Love: Captain America: Winter Soldier

Have I mentioned that I SUCK at reading graphic novels. It takes me hours and hours to get through books that your average reader can kill in one sitting. I'm a slow reader anyway, but graphic novels just kill me. All the pretty pictures activate some kind of latent ADD in my brain and I just space the heck out looking at them and I lose track of dialogue...So anyway, knowing how painful it is for me to read these things, you should never take a graphic novel recommendation from me lightly. I spent a lot of time with this book, and if I can still honestly type the words "I liked it," that means it's a good book.

Captain America: Winter Soldier is essentially the story of a prisoner of war. It's about how Cap's partner/sidekick, Bucky, was thought dead but was really captured by the enemy. The KGB finds him frozen, revives him, and decides to use him as a weapon against America and it's allies. They continually brainwash him and keep him on ice between missions so that he doesn't remember his previous life and loyalties...Except little things keep creeping back in, and he does start to question his orders. Then, Cap discovers the truth--that his old friend might be alive in some capacity--and he wants to save him.

Positive Comments

Captain America happens to be one of the super heroes that I really, really like, for a number of reasons. He represents, in my mind, that ridiculous overblown surge of patriotism that existed once upon a time (now seen only in brief glimpses), and to me there's a certain romance in that. I liked the movie, for example, because it had this hilariously uncomplex plot where Cap represents all that is good and American, and he fights the clearly evil Nazis and he wins. This book asks the question of how that exact character would fair in the modern world, having faced multitudes of personal tragedies. Suddenly the politics are more complex and things are less black and white. I liked the switch up.

This book really made me care about Bucky, if only for Cap's sake. It does a good job of convincing you that these two men were great friends, and that the loss of that friendship was devastating. With that in place, when Cap starts to realize that Bucky could be alive, but may have done some horrible things, you feel his conflicted emotions and his desire to fix everything.

Negative Comments

The art is kind of a mixed bag. There are times when the characters look too old and too rough. But I'm not expert in art, so take that with a grain of salt.

I really wanted more from the ending. I understand that this is part of a series, and not the complete story, but I was taken aback by the abrupt cut off.

The villain. God, I really can't seem to get behind comic book villains. Lukin comes across as a one dimensional guy who is already pretty evil, and then he gets kind of brainwashed into acting even less rational..yep, seen that before. And possessions and split personalities and all that crap. Bleh, boring, whatever.

Recommendation

So, yes, I would recommend this book. Even if you aren't too familiar with Captain America, there is enough of an intro to give context to the story, and the plot is interesting by itself. I found the entire story very engaging. 4 stars.

Misc. Monday: Super Heroes v.s. Less-Than-Super Heroes

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As Josh and make our way through the Batman and Superman animated series, I'm struck by how much more I like Batman in general. It's tempting for me to say this is because Batman is so much darker and edgier, while Superman often has a campy tone. That reason is valid, but in truth my fondness for Batman has more to do with his humanity.

Batman has no super powers. He's basically an ordinary guy who trains really hard in mixed martial arts and bad assery. Sure, he's really rich and can afford all of the best gadgets, so not exactly your average Joe. But overall, his lack of supernatural/superhuman advantage keeps him more sympathetic, more likeable, and easier to relate to.

Extending this principle into my wider fictional preferences, I notice an interesting trend. I do tend, overall, to like underdogs and less-than-super heroes more than those with a ridiculous multitude of superpowers. Some of my very favorite leading men--Jamie Fraiser, of Outlander, Nora Robert's Quinn Brothers, Sam and Dean of Supernatural--are entirely human, and have to deal with whatever crazy crap is happening via wit and brute strength. I'm also deeply fond of characters with very limited powers--enough to keep them alive, not enough to make them Superman. Curran, of Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniel's books, has powers and is very strong, but in the context of that world his powers are exceptional. It's more his personality and leadership skills that make him the alpha. I enjoy the struggle, the adversity that they have to overcome to save the day, or the girl, or the orphan, or the basket of puppies that are in sudden peril.

For writers of PNR and urban fantasy, it must be tempting to gift your protagonist with whatever unreasonably fantastic super powers you can think of at the time. But if you do that, you run the risk of making him a godlike figure that no one can feel connected to. Superman is less interesting to me because he exists in a world of mere mortals, where any remotely challenging villain has to be a robot or an alien. So the general rule, for me, is this: the more powerful the hero, the more deeply twisted the world building needs to be. It's fine to have a super strong lion shapeshifter, if the world around him features magic and gods and vampires that eat people. Plop Curran in our world, and he'd still be sexy, but I wouldn't be worried or interested in what happens to him. Adversity is a vital story element.

Now I pass the ball to you guys: think of your favorite fictional heroes. How powerful are they, and how do their powers fit into the world around them? Do you find that you like the ubber-strong god types, or do you prefer them more human?

Follow Friday 7/5/12

Q: Jumping Genres: Ever pick up a book from a genre you usually don’t like and LOVE it? Tell us about it and why you picked it up in the first place.

 I don't know if this really counts, but I used to never, ever read young adult. Ever. I didn't read it when I was a teen. I picked up Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series because at the time, I really loved her adult series. It's safe to say it worked out well, because these days I read YA pretty regularly.

On Grim Reapers: A Review of First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

This book came to me with nothing but great reviews. And not just great reviews from readers, but also from writers like J.R. Ward and Kresley Cole. People genuinely love this book. Now, having finally read it, can I just say...meh?

Whatever magic everyone else feels for this book honestly eludes me, and it's hard to say how much of my reaction is due to a genuine lack of quality, and how much is due to a let down from all the build up of my expectations going into this. Because believe me, a recommendation from the great authors of paranormal romance will always stack my expectations sky high--and maybe that's a bad thing.

The story is about Charley Davidson, aka the Grim Reaper. She can see the dead and they can pass through her to the other side. In the meantime she can help them tie up loose ends and settle their affairs and what have you. Unsurprisingly, she is also a private investigator (although, to me, she seems really bad at it). So, in this book there is a big mystery surrounding three dead lawyers, a falsely accused murderer, and another unconnected falsely accused murderer who has been having dream sex with Charley and stalking her for years. No, I'm not kidding.

Positive Comments

So much potential. Seriously, so much freaking potential. You have a quirky heroine. You have a sexy, mysterious hero. Funny ghosts. The potential for heart felt stories about death and moving on. The potential for wackiness. The potential for heart stopping, unique romance.

I really liked where the book was going with Reyes. I wanted it to be just about him. Honestly, that would have put this book easily in the 4 to 5 star range for me...

Critical Comments

...but Reyes isn't really a character. Well, he is, but he isn't. He's a being. He's a mystery. Which is fine, up and to a point, but won't work for an entire book if what you intend to do is write a romance. We see Reyes and a sex symbol, a problem to be solved, a puzzle piece, but we don't get to connect with him as a person. You can't call what he has with Charley a relationship, because it's formed in this vague smoke-and-mirrors telling that leaves me feeling distanced from it. To me they seem like potential lovers, but not necessarily anything more.

This book does a lot of telling instead of showing. Charley's backstory, for example, get's told via her explaining her past to others. This was so frustrating to me. She talks about these huge events, but she's flippant about them. We don't actually get to feel her emotions in those moments that supposedly shaped her into who she is today.

I didn't feel a connection to Charley, mostly because of the above mentioned problem of too much telling, but also because the narration was trying way to freaking hard to be witty and fun. The events are described as though from a third party commentator with a penchant for sarcasm, rather than from the point of view of someone who this is actually happening to. 

We are told that Charley is smart and good at her job, but I don't see either of those things as actually being true. Mostly she relies on others to help her figure stuff out (a really fantastic PI indeed). She gets her ass kicked more often than not, and we are told repeatedly that she's always having to be rescued. And as for her role as counselor to the dead, she seems kind of whiny about it. She'll help the ghosts with their problems, but only because she's the only one who can, and her attitude about the whole thing is jaded and put-upon. All of these people literally passing through her life, and she can't muster up one emotion that strikes me as genuine (except lust for Reyes).

The plot has ADD. It is seriously all over the place. It wanted to be a mystery...but we also have to fit this romance in...wait, we have to cram some backstory in now....what about these ghosts, maybe we should give them a few subplots...and back to the mystery! I felt distanced from the story because it lacked cohesion.

Recommendation

I just don't know, you guys. I feel like I read a different book from everyone else, because based on the reviews I've seen and the overall ratings on Goodreads and Amazon, this book is much loved. I don't get it. 2.5 stars.

Find your copy here: First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, Book 1)

RP Goes to the Movies: The Amazing Spider Man

I want to explain to you guys where my head was at as I sat through this movie.

There was pretty much no food in our fridge on Monday. All day long, all I ate was a small peach and a cheese sandwich. You guys, I don't do hunger. I seriously become ill, which is bad because then I can't eat. Anyway, by 6pm when my dinner break at work rolled around, I was prepared to eat the fastest available thing, which happened to be a prepared deli sandwich. I bet you can imagine where this is going.

I was fine through the rest of work, at after when we got in line for the midnight showing of The Amazing Spider-man. I was happily drinking my soda (caffeine is non-optional at these things) and munching popcorn. I was tired (a whole day of moving followed by 8 hours of work), but functional. About halfway into the movie, I started to feel nauseous on and off.

Peter Parker was being an angsty orphan teen and I was holding my aching head and cursing God.

The lizard guy was being all lizardy and I was biting my tongue to keep from yawning.

Peter was flirting clumsily with Gwen Stacie and I  started to feel like my sandwich had betrayed me.

They shared a kiss and I was pretty sure that I was going to throw up.

The one thing that you shouldn't do, if you are planning on having a mild case of food poisoning, is try to sit through an action moving with stunts that involve swinging from roof tops. And you definitely shouldn't do so in a room full of unwashed folks of dubious character, because two seats down from me there was a guy who clearly had not bathed today, and maybe took a nice long jog outside in the 90 degree weather before coming to the movies. I think he was in league with the sandwich.

I want to say this very clearly: The movie was actually pretty good. What I was able to focus on, I found appealing. And I never lost track of the story, despite being ill, which tells me that the plot flowed fairly well.

Here's What I Liked About It:

• There's a shameful part of me that sort of enjoys teen angst (that's why I read YA), and this movie has that. The actor who plays Peter Parker pulled his character off very well. He's twitchy and awkward, but clearly smart. He has these amazing powers, but it takes time to learn to use them. He has cocky and humorous moments. He likes Gwen, but fluctuates between trying way too hard and stuttering. The contemporary YA fan in me eats that up like days old turkey on mildly stale wheat bread.
• It's a darker, more emotionally gripping telling of the Spider-man story than the previous movies. 
• I liked the effects (up until they made me all woozy). I like that they put the viewer in Spider-man's POV as he figures out how to swing and jump about. 
• I found the romance passably believable. Disposable, unnecessary, but believable.

Here's What I Did Not Like:

• The editing was a little choppy. This is one of those movies where the subplots had subplots, and in several instances it felt like the pieces were pasted together in the wrong order. Slightly.
• The villain was dis-interesting to me. His motivation is wanting to grow back a missing limb, so he injects himself with essence of lizard and...it makes him crazy. So predictable, and so unimaginative. But hey, it's a comic book movie.
• OMG the pseudo-science. I wish these movies would not try so hard to make the science believable. You can't. You have a giant lizard man in a lab coat. It's ridiculous. Just accept it, and don't stop to try to explain lizard biology to me.
• I did not like that on our way home, Josh had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting a bunny, causing me to finally throw up the minute I got out of the car. I hope your happy, you stupid rabbit.
• I do not like turkey anymore.

So, in conclusion, it's a good movie that I would recommend to fans of comic book type movies. And fans of teen angst. I liked The Avengers slightly more, but that may be the turkey experience skewing my views. I definitely thought this was better than Spider-man 3. Overall, I'm glad they did a reboot. 

Blog Tour Review: The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

This is one of those times when I find myself really, really liking a book for reasons I can't entirely explain. One thing I can tell you for sure is that this is a young adult novel that takes it's audience seriously.

All of her life, Sophie has lived in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with her father. The story opens with the police coming into the house to arrest her father for shooting a young man, and discovering that Sophie is a long lost victim of a much publicized missing child case. From that point on, the story is divided between the story of Sophie and that of her parents, and we slowly learn the details of her life and the curse hanging over her head.

Positive Comments

With a relatively simple story structure, this book examines a multitude of complex issues. It does so subtly, with thought and respect. We are shown the story from different perspectives, with each character perceiving things differently. On one hand, Sophie's father seems abusive and insane. On the other hand, he's the hero of his own tragic love story. To one character, religion and curses are superstition, while to others they are absolute reality. Even as a reader, you find yourself questioning what is right and true, gaining clarity only as Sophie herself does.

I liked that there was no real villain. We are made to understand Sophie's father, to a point where his disturbing behavior is rendered almost logical.

The characters are written with a brutal honesty that makes them real. Oddly, Sophie is the character that I felt the least connected to, and yet even she struck me as life like. I could understand how her life so far would render her so uncertain of herself, and at times unable to cope in the larger world. It's rewarding to see her find her place.

Critical Comments

The pace is a bit slow. You'll connect the plot dots for yourself early on, but have to wait for the book to explain it all to you anyway. Personally, I found this to be a minor flaw, because I really enjoyed the deeper examination of how the story unfolded.

Recommendation

This is a dramatic contemporary young adult novel that would easily appeal to an adult audience as well. It's light on the romance, and at times actually a bit depressing. But if you want a serious book, and a very smart book, this one is a keeper. 4.5 stars. 

To purchase a copy, click here: The Color of Snow

Misc. Monday: Some Changes in the RtP World

That's right folks, it's finally happening: I'm moving! Josh and I are so excited to finally (after just six short years!) be moving into our very own apartment. I feel like this signals the next level of adulthood for us. No more living with our parents, or with college roommates. We finally get to share our day to day lives and annoy one another from a much shorter distance. Hoo-ray!

But what does this mean for you guys?

Unfortunately it may initially mean less frequent posts, while I try to organize and pack and move and unpack. And paint the kitchen and assemble the furniture and wait for the internet guy to come hook us up. Oh, and plan my wedding. I tried to prepare for this and have some posts set to go up in advance, so you shouldn't be greeted with total deafening silence here, but I may not be around. Just talk amongst yourselves. Possible topics of conversation may include:

The evolutionary history of flightless birds.

Who is the most attractive Hemsworth brother, and why.

Milkshakes vs. Smoothies--What is the difference, and which is better?

Why men squeeze from the middle of the toothpaste tube, even though this is obviously less efficient than squeezing from the bottom.

...When I am able to return to full scale blogging, I'm hoping to implement some small changes. I do, of course, welcome your opinions on these matters.

1) I would really like to build a Reading Penguin Recommends page. It would definitely include all of the Book of the Month winners so far, as well as other outstanding novels. I have to decide how to organize it, however, so that it will be as user friendly as possible.

2) Josh and I would like to start doing movie reviews together via video. We intended to start that project long ago, but forced separation has stalled it. I think the vlog format is more appropriate for movies, but it also takes a little more effort. Ideally, look forward to seeing that happen two or three times a month.

3) More guest reviews! I will, of course, be reviewing more of Josh's graphic novels (starting with Captain America, very soon). Once the dust settles, he will be reading American Gods. After that, I think I'll leave it up to you guys--what should we make the guy who never reads novels read? Your recommendations are welcome.

4) Conduct a survey for followers. Yeah, I meant to do this after my 1 year blogiversary, and obviously it didn't happen. I do want to get all of your opinions about how this blog can improve, but I don't want to conduct the survey until I actually have the time to implement any changes. So, keep an eye out for that.

In the meantime, like I said, talk amongst yourselves. I really appreciate all of your visits and comments, and I so look forward to returning the favor!

Best Book of June/July Preview

Retrieved from: http://blisscarmannews.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/weird-wacky-8-the-firework/

There's no point lying to you guys--June was a rough month for Reading to Penguins. My personal life exploded with a series of things that NEED TO GET DONE, RIGHT NOW, OR OMG, THE WORLD MIGHT END. So books took forever to be read, there were a good number of DNFs, I haven't been visiting other blogs or commenting as often as usual, and I haven't participated in any hops or followed anyone new in weeks. But July is going to be better, right? Well...

Because I'm moving next week, and because our internet may take some time to get set up, and because my wedding is in August (AHHH!), I honestly don't know if I'll be able to do better. But I'll try. So keep visiting, keep commenting, keep being the awesome followers that you are, and just know that if I don't respond right away it's probably because I'm lost in a maze of boxes. I will reply and visit you back...eventually.

Okay, so we do have to crown the book of the month. The winner is--