Monday, April 25, 2016

Review - Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Title: Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Publication
 Date: September 24th, 2013
Paperback/Hardcover:
364
Genre
: Young Adult, Fantasy
Find it at
Goodreads / Bookdepository



 Summary:
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?


Review:

I confess I had been meaning to read this book for a long time but only recently got around to doing it.

I thought the premise for Vicious was very interesting and so I had high expectations for the book. Gladly, I was not disappointed.

I quite enjoyed the characters in this book and have to confess that Victor was my favorite. He’s extremely complex, dark and mysterious. He’s methodical and intelligent and will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants.

Eli is as ambitious and as hard to peg as Victor. As I read I knew exactly which one of these characters I wanted things to work out for but I realize both of these characters are complex and it’s not easy to qualify them as either good or bad. Probably because, at times, they can be both.

I also really enjoyed the secondary characters and thought they all brought something important to the story. Mitch and Sydney, especially, give us a different insight into Victor.

Plotwise, Vicious is extremely well-written and develops at just the right pace. I enjoyed the fact the readers get to understand what happened in the past and made our characters who they are in the present.

All in all, Vicious is one of the best books I have read lately. It is extremely well-written and thought-out and the characters are simply flawlessly fleshed out. The plot is imaginative and had me hooked right from the start.

I would definitely recommend Vicious to all fantasy fans.

This is definitely a must read.


Rating:
Must Read (5 Stars).

Monday, April 11, 2016

Review - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Title: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Publication Date: April 22nd, 2014
Paperback/Hardcover: 422
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Mystery
Find it atGoodreads / Bookdepository


Summary: 
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

Review:
 
I’m probably a little late for the ‘I’m reading Gone Girl party’ but better late than never, right?
I don’t even know what to say about the two main characters: Amy and Nick. At one time they seem to be one thing and then, as the story develops, they turn out to be completely different people.  This is obviously the author’s goal and it works perfectly.
This story is all about two people who don’t and, at the same time, do know each other perfectly well. The things they do, the people they deceive is amazing.  Amy, especially, is probably one of the most complex characters out there.
The way the book is written purposely makes the reader think one thing when the truth is completely different. And once everything is revealed you are left thinking about how some people really do go through life pretending to be someone else and are capable of anything to get what they want.
This book is full of surprises and schemes and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book is written in a very smart way and I was hooked from the beginning. I don’t want to give anything away to the people who haven’t read the book yet so I’ll just say this book is incredibly well-thought out and definitely left an impression on me.
This is definitely a must read.

Rating:
Must Read (5 Stars)