Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters

Folks I finally read the next book in the Percy Jackson series and the word is in: I enjoyed it.

I avoided the Percy Jackson books for a long time because of the frequent comparison between them and the Harry Potter series.  Now that I am reading them I do think they're good, but the juxtaposition baffles me even more.  Sure, they both have young, male, slightly magical protagonists, but that's it.  Oh yeah, there's a prophecy, but they aren't even related.  Stop comparing them, they're not the same.

In this book Percy is trying to find the golden fleece (yeah, that same one from Jason) and save camp half-blood.  Luke is still around working his wickedness and rebelling against the Olympians.  Annabeth is helping Percy and Grover is stuck in a doomed relationship.  I really hate reviewing sequels because you don't want to ruin the first book by giving stuff away and usually the plot points are related and it's so frustrating.  Listen: chances are if you read the first one and liked it you'll read this one like I did and you'll like it too.

I think I figured out why the Percy Jackson books are so fun and enjoyable.  They read like a good blog.  The first person, the hilarious chapter titles, the matter of fact way of writing that creates a casual tone, it's just good stuff.  So I'll read the third book.  I'm not chomping at the bit like I was with Harry Potter to get my hands on anything even remotely related, but I do enjoy them.  

Delirium

Delirium is another dystopian novel.  Shocker.  In this story love has been classified as a disease and everyone must undergo a procedure to receive "the cure" when they turn 18.  The government then matches them with a person of the opposite gender and sets them on a life path as an upstanding member of society.  No pain, very little crime, and minuscule divorce rates.  

Sounds like a pretty decent premise and right up my alley, but I didn't love this book.  The plot felt too much like it was trying to be Uglies.  Not only that, but this book is long (around 450 pages).  I don't have any problem with long books if the story is long, but this one suffered from a lack of editing.  The story dragged and lagged at places and the set-up took approximately forever.  Take out about 50 pages and I think I'd like this book 50% more.  It wasn't terrible, but not one I'm recommending as my most favorite of all time (hasn't that been the case with a lot of my books lately?).  Also boo, I just found out there is going to be a sequel next year.  

Paranormalcy

Is it possible to hate the main character and still enjoy the story?  For me that was the case with Paranormalcy.

Evie works for an agency that captures and contains paranormal beings to help protect humanity (including, but not limited to, vampires, werewolves, faeries, and hags).  Her best friend is a mermaid and her ex is a faerie.  When a new species in the form of a boy named Lend shows up at the center where Evie lives and works, things start to go crazy.  Something out in the world is attacking and killing paranormals and he seems to think the killings have something to do with Evie.  Turns out the world doesn't work the way Evie thought it did and things go more than a little haywire. 

I really enjoyed this story (which has elements of Stardust plot line for sure), but Evie got on my last nerve.  I swear she is the most annoying character I've ever read.  In the midst of crisis all she does is act like the most stereotypical form of teenage girl (including zebra print dresses and hot pink boots).  For the love of all that is good an holy she has a pink Tazer that is bedazzled.  I find her so obnoxious and more than a little selfish and air-headed.  However, I like the story enough to be on hold for the next installment.  Make of that what you will.

Crown Duel

Originally, apparently, this book was published as two separate books Crown Duel and Court Duel and are now published together.

I like fantasy, but.  Yes, there is a but.  I prefer fantasy with a link to my world.  Maybe it's because I feel it's more believable or that I could actually participate in this world if I tried hard enough or found the right entryway, but I prefer it.  Think of Harry Potter and Narnia and the way that another world coexists just alongside ours.  I like that.  All of that being said, this book isn't so fantasy-ish.  Magic exists in the world, but the book has a more medieval battle novel feeling than a fantasy.  Mel is a countess of a small county after her father dies.  Her brother and people unite all together to fight the evil king and re-establish fairness and peace.  The band of misfits does well until Mel is captured and taken to the king.  All sorts of drama and escapes follow as well as a very Pride and Prejudice-esque love story and an ending that I didn't see coming.  I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it.  It took me awhile to get into the story and I never really became overly-intrigued, but it's worth a try if you like this kind of thing.  

Outside In

Apparently a lot of the books I'm reading right now are sequels or follow-ups in some way.  Back in May I read Inside Out.  Finally the sequel Outside In came in at the library and I got a chance to read it.

It's hard for me to review this book without giving away what happened in the previous book and that would make me a jerk.  Just know that this time instead of the Insiders trying to find a way out of their home it seems that someone else is trying to get in.  I can't really give more details than that.  The book was good because it jumped into the action more quickly than the previous one (I'm guessing because readers are already familiar with the world), but gave enough details for me to remember the things I'd forgotten.  I quite enjoyed the book, but I hope it's the last one.  Book series sometimes exhaust me because once I've started I feel like I'm supposed to finish and then I spend so much time waiting for books to come out and it's frustrating.  Maybe I'll become one of those people that doesn't read series until all the books are out.  Anyway, give this series a try.  It's a good one. 

Tweak

I apologize in advance for the fact that I haven't blogged my books lately (I went through many rather quickly while I was home) so I'm trying to catch up all in one day.

Before I tell you my thoughts on Tweak let me just warn you.  This book is not for kids and maybe not even for teenagers.  It's real life in all it's grittiness and problems and that's not what I particularly want kids exposed to (at least not this kind of real life).

Awhile ago I read Beautiful Boy by David Sheff about his son's addiction to meth.  This is the son, Nic's, story from his own point of view.  It was certainly interesting to get the different views on the same basic events.  I really enjoyed the way Nic writes.  He seems to just tell his story the way he might tell it to you in person and uses memories as he thinks of them to fill in the back story.  I enjoyed this book, but I'm extremely frustrated at the same time.  Without giving away everything I'll just say that Nic's story doesn't have the easiest happy ending of all.  It's hard to "watch" someone you've become connected with through their story follow addictive behaviors and mess up their life.  This book has some sex and explicit details of drug use so truly be careful with the audience, including yourself if you're sensitive to these things.  Also following along with the tone of a young guy telling his own story the language is not exactly the cleanest.  

The Dead and the Gone

Hey all, remember when I read this book? Well, I decided to read the next one too, and thus you're getting this post about The Dead and the Gone.

Once again, this book is about what happens in the aftermath of the moon getting pushed dramatically closer to the earth.  This time it follows Alex Morales and his two sisters in New York trying to survive.  The circumstances and preparation of the family is much different from Miranda's family in the previous book, but they face many of the same problems.  The book was pretty good and kept me reading, but I have an issue that also comes from the previous installment.  The teenager main characters are so...unstable or something.  Their tempers flair at the most unhelpful of times.  I'm not exactly the most well-hinged person all the time, but even I can keep it together in an emergency situation.

I don't want to give you too many details because that takes the fun out of you reading it, but I did enjoy this book and read it rather quickly.  I've added the third book to my to read stack and will, of course, let you know my thoughts once I get there.