Final book to the Inda series, a series I love with all the heat of 10,000 suns. This book was very dense and covered a very long period of time (yearFinal book to the Inda series, a series I love with all the heat of 10,000 suns. This book was very dense and covered a very long period of time (years and years and years) with a cast of what felt like hundreds. On one hand, I liked that Smith humanizes so many characters, but on the other, you spend time with some you don't really care about and the more interesting ones get short-changed. I thought the buildup to Evred and Inda's inevitable conflict at the end was nicely done throughout all the books and the resolution bittersweet. I liked how views of sexuality and monogamy were presented in the book/this world and in general, how everyone seemed so human, both in thoughts and actions. Yes, in certain aspects Inda was idealized, but I didn't mind at all; he represented an innocence and naiveté that was both endearing and frustrating, and an innate goodness and strength of character you rarely find in people in real life.
Quick review of Inda, The Fox and King's Shield by Sherwood Smith.
I have to say that I am loving this epic fantasy series, really loving it. A lot of Quick review of Inda, The Fox and King's Shield by Sherwood Smith.
I have to say that I am loving this epic fantasy series, really loving it. A lot of world-building, plotting, and complex characterization despite the many, many characters involved. Books 1-3 deal with Inda ages 10-20, so A LOT of things are going on, beginning with his entry into the military academy. Smith describes warfare and battle, both on land and on sea (PIRATES!), in an interesting and exciting way and all the political machinations and military training never got boring. She also isn't afraid of killing beloved characters if the story calls for it, which is both satisfying and scary.
Smith also raises important questions about loyalty, command, friendship, injustice and especially war. But to me her true strength lies in her characters - their motivations and actions remain genuinely human and complex and I couldn't help but care deeply about them.
My favorite of these 3 was the second book, The Fox, which is basically the rise of Inda. ...more
**spoiler alert** Columbine is one of the most compelling and chilling true crime novels I've ever read. This non-fiction reads like a novel and trace**spoiler alert** Columbine is one of the most compelling and chilling true crime novels I've ever read. This non-fiction reads like a novel and traces the history leading up to the event as well as it's aftermath. An impressive work of investigative journalism, the book is written from information from the killers' journals, videotapes (Basement Videos), website, police files, and interviews with survivors, their families, classmates, administrators, law enforcement, and experts.
Cullen debunks a lot of the theories that floated around after the shooting -- no thanks to the sheriff's department and the irresponsible behavior of the media -- that they were Goths, into heavy metal, persecuted by the jocks, bullied, loners, or druggies. It wasn't even a school shooting; it was a year-long detailed and planned school bombing, culminating in a dream of terrorizing a nation. I felt that the author tried to be as fair to everyone as possible, especially to the Harris and Klebold family. And this is where it gets to be most interesting to me. Motive. Cullen theorizes that it also wasn't their parents' upbringing that led the boys down their chosen path of destruction (as do the boys themselves). Dylan Klebold is described as depressive and suicidal, while Eric Harris is plainly diagnosed as a psychopath and the mastermind. Psychopaths lie to and hurt others simply for their own enjoyment, there is no rhyme or reason, except for their own massive ego and a superiority complex. They are amoral and without conscience or emotion. They are hard to identify and almost impossible to treat. In fact, therapy makes them worse, because it teaches them how to manipulate authority. Harris was calculating and rational when he planned his attack to kill hundreds of people and I think understanding what kind of person he was was most troubling, and interesting, to me. It's scary to think that the friendly and intelligent teenager next door could be planning to blow up kids for his own pleasure and it's just as scary to think that there are those who refuse to believe that these kind of people exist. It's safer for a lot of people to think that "Satan made me do it", easier to place blame on the Goths or the jocks, than to confront something you don't understand.
Harris also wrote about his desire of raping and killing women. Psychiatrists believe that if Columbine had been thwarted, Harris might have lived and gone on to further develop his skills, perhaps fully realizing his murderous dreams and ambitions. Terrifying to think about what could have been....more
Man, I LOVE this series!! I loved the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, but I think this one is even better! Little Flavia de Luce, Man, I LOVE this series!! I loved the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, but I think this one is even better! Little Flavia de Luce, the precocious, (but not precious, thank gah), poison-obsessed, 11 year old, murder-solving genius makes me giggle like a little schoolgirl. Her voice is so distinct, so funny, so literate, so know-it-all, and her thought-process and every day observations entertain me to no end. The mystery is still secondary to the characterization, but the plot does give you something to think about while the author gives you a slice of British village life, with Flavia going her merry way, manipulating the townsfolk (so she likes to think), uncovering murders and long-kept secrets, learning about her long-dead mother, all the while growing into her pre-adolescent skin, despite how her sisters treat her, ie, not nice at all!
One word: AMAZING. What a powerful, heartbreaking and beautiful book. It's about popular, Mean Girl Sam who relives the last day of her life 7 times, One word: AMAZING. What a powerful, heartbreaking and beautiful book. It's about popular, Mean Girl Sam who relives the last day of her life 7 times, and how each day opens her eyes - from her perceptions of other people to awareness of her own actions and self-identity. I couldn't stop racing through the book, trying to figure out the mystery and meaning of Sam's experiences and if she could change the future, and perhaps save her life. Well, when you reach the end, all I can say is that the last couple of pages are some of my favorite of the book. The last third of this book was especially emotional and I couldn't stop crying because you're working out the patterns the same time Sam is and you see her bravely trying to change, to make a difference, to make it more than just about herself, and you want to see her succeed, she DESERVES to succeed, and yet maybe life, and death, isn't fair like that. Or is it?
The day Sam spends with her family was personally painful for me. She takes the day off school to spend with her little sister and thinks to herself, "I feel like my heart is breaking in that second because I know I'll never be able to tell her any of the things I need to." Like about her first kiss, or falling in love. It just killed me because reading that day coincided with the second anniversary of the death of my own younger sister, who never had the chance to meet the love of her life or have children of her own.
I finished this book days ago and it still haunts me. Highly recommended. ...more
Jenn "Awww Yeaaahhh"
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Books:
fave-2010
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