Category Archives: Review

Review: Beartown by Fredrik Backman

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33413128Beartown by Fredrik Backman (Björnstad, #1) translated by Neil Smith
Publication Date: April 25th, 2017
Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Sports – Ice Hockey
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Goodreads Summary
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove returns with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream—and the price required to make it come true.

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever-encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

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Reasons To Read Lord of the Rings: A Trilogy Review

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The Lord of the Rings has had an incredible influence in the world of literature and film. The film franchise paved the way for fantasy films, proving that epic fantasy can be visually and emotionally engaging, building a franchise that has a lasting legacy on the industry. None of this would have been possible without J.R.R. Tolkien. This post highlights the many reasons you should read the Lord of the Rings.

Characterisation

The most distinctive difference between the book and the film is in the characters. The changes in the film, especially with Aragorn’s reluctant leader persona, benefitted the dramatic tension in the film. However, the book sees him assert his role quite early on in the series with a clear understanding of his destiny. The dynamic between the fellowship was particularly compelling as the bonds that bound them were tested and loyalty wavered under the influence and threat of the one ring. Continue reading →

Review: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

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Strang29748925e the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1) by Laini Taylor
Publication Date: March 28th, 2017 by Hodder & Stoughton
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult/Adult
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Goodreads Summary
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around – and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
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Review: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

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10803709Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Publication Date: May 1st, 2005 by Gollancz
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction.
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Goodreads Summary
ELANTRIS WAS A PLACE OF GLORY

The capital of Arelon, the home to people transformed into magic-using demigods by the Shaod.

But then the magic failed, Elantris started to rot, and its inhabitants turned into powerless wrecks.

And in the new capital, Kae, close enough to Elantris for everyone to be reminded of what they have lost, a princess arrives. Sarene is to be married to unite Teod and Arelon against the religious imperialists of Fjordell. But she is told that Raoden, her husband to be, is dead.

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Review: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

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30831912Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Publication Date: February 7th, 2017 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Rating: 4 Stars
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology, Short Stories
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Goodreads Summary
The great Norse myths are woven into the fabric of our storytelling – from Tolkien, Alan Garner and Rosemary Sutcliff to Game of Thrones and Marvel Comics. They are also an inspiration for Neil Gaiman’s own award-bedecked, bestselling fiction. Now he reaches back through time to the original source stories in a thrilling and vivid rendition of the great Norse tales. Gaiman’s gods are thoroughly alive on the page – irascible, visceral, playful, passionate – and the tales carry us from the beginning of everything to Ragnarok and the twilight of the gods. Galvanised by Gaiman’s prose, Thor, Loki, Odin, and Freya are irresistible forces for modern readers and the crackling, brilliant writing demands to be read aloud around an open fire on a freezing, starlit night.

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Review: Obsidio by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

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Obsidio (The Illuminae Files, #3) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Publication Date: March 13th, 2018 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Rating: 5 Stars
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
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Goodreads Summary
Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they’ll find seven months after the invasion?

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Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

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34499221To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Publication Date: March 6th, 2018 by Feiwel & Friends 
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
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Goodreads Summary
Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

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