Boneshaker by Cherie PriestMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Falling into the steam-punk literary genre, Boneshaker tells the story of an alternate 19th-century Seattle, one that falls victim to technology, resulting in a quarantined city infected with deadly gas and ruthless zombies. Briar Wilkes, the widow of the inventor of the machine that devastated the city, dares to traverse Seattle's ruins as she searches for her son, Zeke, who ventured into the quarantine to find out the truth about his father.
Despite this interesting-enough premise, the writing quality falls short. Everything felt too contrived to me: the characters, the dialogue, the descriptions, the action. A book that could have been a delightful escapist novel I felt was resigned to shallow reading that didn't do much for me.
The Magicians by Lev GrossmanMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
My husband and I listened to this book on a road trip and were both gravely disappointed. Apart from the superfluous foul language, the story is dull and unimaginative. Grossman borrows frameworks from the Harry Potter and Narnia books but fails in creating an "edgy" HP, an objective I perceived in the plot. The characters are unlikeable and self-pitying. Grossman tries to fit so much into one book that there's no real cohesion to the story. Perhaps it would have been a little better if the author had focused on just one of the many stories he tries to weave together. Regardless, this book was tedious, at times offensive, and hardly qualifies as mediocre.
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So if you were looking for weekend reading, these are not recommended options. My current read, however, is great weekend-book fodder. Right now I'm in the middle of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and while I've heard from Jessie that the movie is horrific (it's harder to skim icky parts in movies than in books), I'm finding the book to be well paced, captivating, and intense.
Happy weekend, everyone! I hope this January weekend you get to cozy up with a book, like I plan on doing.
5 comments:
oh dee! Thanks for the warning.
All I can say is I certainly hope it's better than the movie. But I should have known better than to watch it in the first place. Although in my defense, Timm rented it.
i just go done reading the girl with the dragon tattoo and i really enjoyed it! (although it did scare the crap out of me too)
That's such a pisser when books end up being shallow and offensive!
Good to know not to read the Magicians, someone at blogger bookclub said that a few people had suggested for her to read it and we were thinking about it so so good to know :)
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