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Book Review: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Oct 3, 2015

Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Pages: 528
Publish date: October 6th 2015
Publisher: Penguin Australia
ISBN: 0141342420
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.
One day, he’s tracked down by an uncle he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. His uncle tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god. The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war.
Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years. When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision. Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .

The Sword of Summer:

I received an advance copy of The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan from Penguin Australia in exchange for a review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts about the book.

I cannot explain my feelings when this showed up at my PO Box. I got home late from University and there is was sitting on the table. I ended up hugging the book around the house for the next hour. Yes I said, hugging. And then I started to read it right away and I wasn’t disappointed.

Rick Riordan is a genius. He knows how to write a fun, exciting and engaging novel that keeps you reading and reading.

“You missed a pedestrian,” I said. “You want to go back and hit her?”

I’m a massive fan of mythology. I studied it in high school, I am doing a class on it at university and I have grown up with it. So it’s something that I hold dearly to my heart and I love reading retellings or books based on myths. The thing is, I don’t know too much on Norse Mythology – so I was happy that I start getting into it.

The Sword of Summer reads much like his other novels, in a sense that it reads for Middle graders, however anyone can read it. And come on all the main characters are just so loveable.

Magnus Chase; man I love him. He is quite similar to Percy in a sense, but much more sarcastic. He had off my seat laughing, I couldn’t read it late at night because I was going to wake up my siblings for all the laughing. A lot of the time he was funny and sarcastic and brilliant, then again at times he broke my heart. I am an emotional person so most of you won’t tear up, I just cry at everything. In saying that Rick Riordan was able to balance the two well and not have it too heavily funny. It would have made it unrealistic because of the events that happen before and during the novel.

“Then why don’t you just say A.D.?”

“Because Anno Domini, in the Year of Our Lord, is fine for Christian, but Thor gets a little upset. He still holds a grudge that Jesus never showed up for the duel he challenged him too.”

There is something about Rick Riordan characters that I just love. He is able to write characters that you just want to read about. That you want to know more about. That keeps the story going.

The plot of The Sword of Summer like other Riordan novels are quite similar. There is a boy, he turns out he is special, people are after him and so on. It’s the hero story and it might sound the same as other books, but there is something about Riordan’s writing like his characters that are unique and is intriguing.

I also really adored The Sword of Summer because of the diversity in characters. And it shows that not only contemporary novels have diversity, nevertheless fantasy can have it too.

The writing style is easy to read, however it does use a good deal of Norse mythology references and names. If you don’t have some knowledge with how to say these words and worlds, you might stumble a bit.

The Sword of Summer takes you on an adventure. That you can’t help, but keep on reading. I also love Riordan’s play on Norse mythology and the Norse Gods. They had me laughing at 1 am.

Not only was the words of book funny, sarcastic and brilliant but the chapter headings – holy – they are the most amazing chapter headings in the world.

There is also surprise visitors that made me squeal and it looks like some might make some appearances in the rest of the series.

The Sword of Summer is a book that takes you on a journey of laughs, heartache and fun. Rick Riordan doesn’t fail in his newest novel that any new and old fan will love.

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Book Review: Paperweight by Meg Haston

Aug 15, 2015

Paperweight by Meg Haston

Pages: 285
Publish date: July 2nd
Publisher: Hot Key Books (Five Mile Press)
ISBN: 9781471404566
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Seventeen-year-old Stevie is trapped. In her life. In her body. And now in an eating-disorder treatment center on the dusty outskirts of the New Mexico desert.

Life in the center is regimented and intrusive, a nightmare come true. Nurses and therapists watch Stevie at mealtime, accompany her to the bathroom, and challenge her to eat the foods she’s worked so hard to avoid.

Her dad has signed her up for sixty days of treatment. But what no one knows is that Stevie doesn’t plan to stay that long. There are only twenty-seven days until the anniversary of her brother Josh’s death—the death she caused. And if Stevie gets her way, there are only twenty-seven days until she too will end her life.

In this emotionally haunting and beautifully written young adult debut, Meg Haston delves into the devastating impact of trauma and loss, while posing the question: Why are some consumed by their illness while others embark on a path toward recovery?

Paperweight:

I received a copy of Paperweight by Meg Haston for an honest review from Hot Key Books (Five Mile Press). This has in no way influenced my review.

I have been reading mixed reviews about Paperweight and I can see why some people may not have liked it, but I loved it. Paperweight is such an emotional, gut-wrenching read. I was trying not ball out crying on the train.

Paperweight follows seventeen-year-old Stevie and her journey in a treatment centre and man this book is hard to read. I also think that this book might be triggering for some people.

All I wanted to do was hop in the book and hug Stevie, I just felt for her so much. I wanted to cry so many times while reading Paperweight because Stevie emotions were so wonderfully conveyed.

I also think that it being in, first person made such an impact. It would have felt so different, if it was from third person and it might have felt – fake.

“If you let this disease take you, you’re giving up all the power you actually do have. Just giving it up, without a fight.” – Page 209

I liked that Meg Haston flipped through the present and the past. We weren’t just told what had happened to Stevie, but it’s shown and that made such an impact. However, sometimes it was difficult to distinguish what was the past and what was the present.

I liked both the stories that we were being told. The one before Stevie entered the treatment centre was certainly interesting to read about. The reader was able to see how she turned into the person she is at the time of the novel. But this time is also heartbreaking because the reader is able to see before Stevie released how hurtful her relationships were.

I also enjoyed the story inside the treatment centre. It was very, very hard to read, I am not going to lie. But it was also quite amazing and done brilliantly. Haston could have gone somewhere else with Paperweight, she didn’t let all the medical information take over. It all felt real.

I also actually like a lot of the side characters. Ashley, oh gosh, my heart ached for her. I wanted to hug all the girls in the treatment centre. It was all heartbreaking.

I really didn’t like Eden, but she had problems of her own and so I did feel for her a little bit. However, she was certainly manipulative and it not only her herself, but those around her, and for the most part, Stevie.

She is a virus, and I have been fevered with her since the first day of the seminar. I thought she was the cure. That she could fix me. But instead she’s kept me sick, and needing her, because that’s what she needed. – Page 230

Paperweight is written beautifully. We could have had a protagonist that whines all the time, but instead we didn’t see Stevie whining. We see her struggling and trying to come to terms with herself.

There is some stuff that I am not going to mention as it think it will wreak the surprise that comes with reading Paperweight.

Overall, Paperweight is a powerful, heartbreaking and beautiful contemporary. With beautiful writing from Meg Haston and a story that could be real for anyone.

Have you read Paperweight? What did you think of it? Will you read it?

Book Review: Adrift by Paul Griffin

Aug 2, 2015

Adrift by Paul Griffin

Pages: 228
Publish date: July 31st 2015
Publisher: Text Publishing
ISBN: 9781925240160
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Five of us went out on the water that night.
None of us came back whole, and not all of us came back.Best friends Matt and John are spending the summer working: Matt to save money for college, John to kill time before trade school. On the beach, the beautiful Driana stops Matt in his tracks.
Dri, Stef and JoJo invite the boys to a party at Dri’s Hamptons mansion, and Matt drags John along.When Stef decides it’s a beautiful night to go windsurfing, the others race out on the water to make sure she’s safe. But with no land in sight and a broken boat engine, it’s not just Stef they have to worry about. And as the hours turn into days, the prospect of rescue seems further and further away…

Adrift:

I received a copy of Adrift by Paul Griffin from Text Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced by thoughts about the book.

I liked Adrift by Paul Griffin, but I didn’t love it. I really enjoyed the plot and most of the characters, but I felt that everything went too fast.

Adrift follows Matt and his best friend John on a summer journey that isn’t that they were expecting. I still don’t know if I like Matt, though the book was told from his perspective, I felt that he was really disconnected and at times I couldn’t trust him. He is sort of the omniscient narrator. Matt is the nice guy, but he is also quite boring and I think that is one of the reasons why I didn’t love the book.

John on the other hand as very intriguing and I wanted to know more about him; but he hid himself a great deal and although Matt is his best friend he doesn’t really know him well in a sense and just sees what John puts up. I wanted to hug John, he has been through quite a lot and from the start of the book; I got the idea that he is the suffer in silence kind of guy and Matt just doesn’t see this. As the book goes on Matt starts distancing himself from John and it broke my heart for John because he needs someone.

The other characters are Driana, JoJo and Stef and you know what? I didn’t really care about them. I know that this sounds bad, but I felt that Matt had no emotional connection with them which is ironic for people who have read the book. Their personalities just didn’t shine.

I also felt that they were, dare I say it; stupid. Just why, oh why would you take a boat out without checking how much fuel it has or checking if it works. At this point, no one was in trouble, but four of you go and jump in without thinking about it.

Other than that little stuff that I had everything else was quite realistic and had me turning page after page. Once they were out in the open sea, everything just seemed so much more real. I was intrigued at how the characters interacted with each other, I really thought that this was done really well. I also like how they all felt differently about what was happening and how being stranded out at sea affecting them.

I was left on my seat for most of the book, not knowing what was going to happen, asking all these questions. It was thrilling at times.

The medical and psychological aspects of Adrift was done brilliantly. It was gross, interesting and so intense. The way that the injuries were described were so disgusting, but done in a way that seemed so real. Also that fact that Matt is studying things to do with medical made it interesting; seeing him trying to figure out what to do.

I didn’t really like the writing style of Paul Griffin in Adrift. There are a lot of short sentences that ‘cut in’ of what was being said and I felt that the sentences were uncompleted. It was sentence after sentence, it didn’t flow nicely.

I was also disappointed in the ending. Yes it was realistic, but it was also a letdown. Everything was different from before; obviously, but I thought from those who survived that they would be brought closer together.

Overall, I liked Adrift, it was a fast paced, emotional thrilling read that kept me on edge.