By Amanda Hocking

Part 1 of the Trylle Trilogy

***~~ (3/5)

Switched By Amanda Hocking

Click here to buy the book Switched by Amanda Hocking form The Book Depository (with free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

Wendy Everly knew that there was something different about herself when her mother had tried to kill her on her sixth birthday. She accused her of being a monster that had been switched at birth with her real baby.

Wendy doesn’t feel like a monster, but she can’t help but feel that she doesn’t quite fit in. She is bored and frustrated with life in her small town, and to top it off, she’s the new girl in school. There is also a secret that she has discovered about herself that she can’t tell anyone…. Wendy has the mysterious ability to influence people’s decisions just by willing it to happen.

The one night, Wendy’s world is turned upside down and inside out when she finds Finn, the strange and intense boy from school, who also happens to be darkly handsome, right outside her bedroom window. All Wendy’s questions may finally be answered…

Book Review:

I quite enjoyed reading this book by first time author Amanda Hocking. Hocking is 26 from Minnesota, and has apparently become a self-published ebook phenomenon, having sold one million books to date. The Trylle Trilogy is now being published in hard copy form by St Martin’s Press New York.

I have to qualify: if you are one of those people who wouldn’t touch Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight with a barge pole, please stay away from this book as it is very similar in genre and I’d have to say not as gripping in plot. But if you are a fan of Twilight, you may enjoy reading Switched too.

One more note on Switched’s similarity to Twilight –it seems that every boy Wendy comes across is GORGEOUS and a potential mate. The main character goes on and on about how attractive he is. There’s even a line in the book where she says she is thinking of setting up a life with the boy – she’s just met him! This may be a teenage thing, but there seem to be superflouous amounts of fluttering over how good looking a boy is and how unsure she is are of if they like her or not. Ok…fine… thinking back to my teenage hood, this was often pretty much the case, so maybe this is a true reflection of teenage hormones combined with lack of experience in such matters.

The book is funny at times and a very easy read. I kept reading because I wanted to know more about the changeling world, which was quite interestingly set up.

I questioned some of Wendy’s motivations – why wasn’t she thinking more of her family? As a reader, I was frustrated along with Wendy about how little she was being told, which is a good sign that I’m on her side.

I hope do first time writer Hocking will develop into a more sophisticated writer. Maybe we might even see this develop in the next two books of the Trylle Trilogy, just as we saw with Stephenie Meyer’s books. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to reading the following two books Torn and Ascend.

x

Julie

Online Bookstore and Book Review Site

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Eoin Colfer

Science Fiction / Children’s Books / Young Fiction Ages 8-12

Click here to buy the Book: The Supernaturalists by Eoin Colfer

Click here to buy the [Audio Book: The Supernaturalists by Eoin Colfer]

Book Synopsis:

Future, Satellite City.

Cosmo Hill is 13 years old and lives at the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. Cosmo Hill is an orphan, otherwise known as a ‘no-sponsor’. No-sponsors are put to work by the government as human lab-rats. Day in and day out, they test dangerous products. Night in and night out, they sleep in their cardboard utility pipes covered in scars, sores and burns from their hard day’s work.

Cosmo Hill needs to escape. But how? Cosmo prepares for the day when he can make his daring getaway from Clarissa Frayne…

After a tumultuous escape, Cosmo is saved by a gang of kids with amazing psychic powers. They are able to see ‘supernatural parasites’, invisible creatures who suck the life force of humans. Cosmo finds that he has psychic abilities of his own.

And this is where the adventure begins…

My Book Review:

Eoin Colfer is a young peoples writer and I enjoyed reading his first Artemis Fowl book (I’m about to read the second Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident). However, I guess I was expecting something more sophisticated when I bought the audio book for The Supernaturalist. I found it in the Sci-Fi section, and assumed it was an Adult Sci-Fi book. I realize now from Eoin Colfer’s website that the book is meant for 8-12 year olds!

I was not personally engaged with the story. However, I am really of the wrong demographic to judge this book so harshly. If I were pre-teens, I would probably quite enjoy this book. I think that The Supernaturalist contains characters that young people would identify with.

The story has larger then life characters (or in this book’s case, smaller than usual), and has high stakes and big twists.

I thought the narrator, Jack Davenport, was very easy to listen too, as well as being a very capable narrator. He shifts accents for almost every character, which sounds like he’s just showing off his range at first, but it also adds an extra multicultural aura to the futuristic Satellite City. However, the choice to make Stephan’s voice so deep, drew me away from the ‘reality’ that the characters are all young people, teenagers themselves. In the audio book, I began to think of them more as adults because of this choice and I think it would have been more effective for me if I been able to imagin them as teens trying to save the world.

If you have children, or are looking to buy a gift for a child, or if you are a child, I think you’d enjoy the adventure and imagination in Eoin Colfer’s books.

Click here to read my review of Artemis Fowl

x Julie

Online Bookstore and Book Reviews

Reading Like Rabbits

Reading Like Rabbits Book Review’s Meet the Author with S.M. De Silva Part 1

Reading Like Rabbits Book Review’s Meet the Author with S.M. De Silva Part 2

Click here to go to The Daywalker Chronicles official website

x Julie

Book Reviews and Online Bookstore

Reading Like Rabbits

The Daywalker Chronicles: Volume One

by S.M. De Silva

***½~ (3.5/5)

Fiction / Vampires

Click here to buy the book Blood On The Moon by S.M. De Silva (with Free delivery)

Singaporean buyers can click here to order their copy (free delivery and gift wrapped!)

Click here to visit The Daywalker Chronicles official site

Book Synopsis:

Sleet City: decadent and alluring, but infinitely dangerous. A city where crime, cruelty and glamor reign supreme. Vampires and were-creatures have come out of the closet and now mix openly in human society. Vampires are the new breed of celebrities, the glamor gods of Sleet City.
Alegria, a Singaporean supernatural species consultant, receives a package. A package that contains a ring. A ring attached to a severed finger. A severed finger belonging to Alegria’s sister.

And from here the relentless action begins. Alegria is on a mission to save her sister from Sleet City.

My Book Review:

I was really excited when I was asked by S.M. De Silva to review of her debut novel: Blood On The Moon. The Daywalker Chronicles: Volume One. [My first advanced review! Reading Like Rabbits is taking off!] But I was also nervous. What if her book was rubbish, badly written, or worse, boring?

It was none of these things. I thoroughly enjoyed Volume One and can’t wait for her 1st book to be a roaring success, so I can read Volumes Two and Three!

De Silva has joined the Vampire novel craze! In her world, Vampires and Weres have come out of the closet, and are living openly in our world. It’s not surprising that most of the celebrities on the red carpets have turned out to be vampires, with their immaculate figures and dazzling good looks. [This makes perfect sense to me. I've always suspected Nicole Kidman of being a Vampire] And humans have gone mad for them, vampires are all the rage.

Blood on the Moon contains action, dark pasts, sexual tension, and most importantly an endearing protagonist: Alegria – a Eurasian woman from Singapore who is a supernatural species consultant, with some natural gifts of her own.

The action begins right from the first chapter when Alegria receives a horrifying gift. A diamond ring, attached to a severed finger. Her sister’s finger. This takes her to Sleet City, to the mansion of Joao, Prince of the City… I wont give anymore of the plot away, you’ll just have to read it to find out more.

The story flows easily with exciting turns and revelations. There were only a couple of moments where the logic did not quite fit for me and it took a little while for my suspension of disbelief to kick in. But these were only minor. I’m also not used to reading about a Singaporean character, so when Alegria mentions a pair of tigers in her back yard, I immediately thought “There aren’t any tigers in Singapore anymore!” but then I had to remind myself, there aren’t any Vampires either… or are there…?

I particularly enjoyed De Silva’s humorous footnotes, which provided interesting facts and details pertaining to Were and Vampire culture, among other digressions. There’s also a mouthwatering section where Alegria teaches a werepanther to make debal curry. Yum!

De Silva has created a full, detailed and imaginative world of Sleet City and Vampire culture. Blood On The Moon is rather cinematic in its construction and pace and I can easily see it being made into a movie. [I'll be first in line to audition for the role of Alegria. She'd be a fun and challenging role to play. Though I'm not sure I'm the right type of Eurasian]

S.M. De Silva is a promising new writer. I know she’ll just get better and better!

I want to read the next 2 installments in the trilogy so click here to pre-order Blood On The Moon: The Daywalker Chronicles Volume 1 from Amazon now!

[Note: There is only free delivery for the book Blood on the Moon in Singapore. Go to The Daywalker Chronicles website to find out more.]

x Julie

Book Reviews

Reading Like Rabbits

The Daywalker Chronicles: Volume One

by S.M. De Silva

Fiction / Vampires

Click here to visit The Daywalker Chronicles official site

Book Synopsis:

Sleet City: decadent and alluring, but infinitely dangerous. A city where crime, cruelty and glamor reign supreme. Vampires and were-creatures have come out of the closet and now mix openly in human society. Vampires are the new breed of celebrities, the glamor gods of Sleet City.
Alegria, a Singaporean supernatural species consultant, receives a package. A package that contains a ring. A ring attached to a severed finger. A severed finger belonging to Alegria’s sister.

And from here the relentless action begins. Alegria is on a mission to save her sister from Sleet City.

Watch out for the review coming soon!

My friend has written a vampire novel! I’ve just received an advanced reader copy, and what I’ve read so far looks really promising!

S.M. De Silva’s debut novel is out in stores and on Amazon on 31st May 2010. You can visit the official Daywalker Chronicles site to pre-order your copy, as well as read the first couple of chapters of her book.

x Julie

[Note: There is only free delivery for the book Blood on the Moon in Singapore. Go to The Daywalker Chronicles website to find out more.]

Book Reviews

Reading Like Rabbits

Part 1 of the Inheritance Cycle

by Christopher Paolini

Click here to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

A poor farm boy counts himself lucky when he stumbles upon a shiny blue stone. But little does Eragon realize that his find is actually a rare dragon’s egg. He has chanced upon a legacy as old as the Empire.

Eragon’s simple life is turned upside down as he is plunged into an unknown world of dragons, magic, destiny and power. Eragon has to leave all that is familiar and find his way through the Empire ruled by the evil king.

With the future of the empire resting in their hands, Eragon and his young dragon must step up to the challenge and the live up to the legend of the Dragon Riders.

My Book Review:

I was amazed to find out that Christopher Paolini began writing Eragon when he was 15 years old.

Paolini’s clear use of language and his precise descriptions of the landscape, fight sequences and emotions are simple yet (without insulting the capabilities of teenagers) sophisticated for the writing of a 15 year old. What an ambitious and exciting task for Paolini to have embarked on!

I enjoyed reading Eragon whilst on holiday in Bali. It’s perfect for pool-side and bedtime reading. Eragon is the first part of the Inheritance Cycle trilogy and I have yet to read Eldest or Brisingr.

It’s strange how fictitious beings like elves and dwarves have come to be so formed in our minds, from books like Tolkein’s The Lord of The Rings and Raymond E. Feist’s Magician: Apprentice, that once the word ‘elf’ is mentioned we know exactly what it entails: pointy ears, magical powers, ethereal, mysterious…And dwarves are obviously short and carry hammers. In this sense, Alagaësia, the world in which Eragon is set, is familiar. When I was reading Eragon, I felt like I had visited his world before. However, I did find the dragons and the politics of the land new and fresh (especially the telepathic communication between dragon and rider).

Although this is a fun fantasy book with much adventure – dragons, magic, and a hidden legacy, traveling across vast deserts and fighting cruel enemies – oddly, it seemed like not much actually happened. I know this is totally untrue, but the feeling I got while reading was that the true events hadn’t started yet. This was just the set up. I think what contributed to this feeling of occasional monotony in the book was that Eragon got into so many scrapes during the course of their long journey that, for me, they eventually started melding a little into each other.

I guess this is my frustration with some trilogies. You get to the end of the first two parts but you don’t feel the satisfaction of an ending, because you are only in the middle of the adventure. Trilogies are like one really really long book. I get so hungry to find out what happens next that I can’t read fast enough!

So, my conclusion is, I can’t complete this book review, nor do the series any justice, without finishing both Eldest and Brisingr. Till then…

x Julie

Book Reviews

Reading Like Rabbits