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saraeli's reviews
234 reviews
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 2 by Diana Wynne Jones
3.0
This book is another 2-in-1 volume. I enjoyed the story about the feuding families, although it is not as strong as the stories in the first or third volumes of this series. The story about the school children was much less enjoyable - I didn't find any of the characters particularly likable and the deus ex machina ending was really disappointing. Still giving it 3 stars because this author is so imaginative that even her less-good books are still entertaining, even if disappointing compared to others in this series.
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
3.0
This one was a quick, enjoyable read - finished in two days. The story and characters were charming, and the mystery and mythology were effectively used. It's hard to review this without giving too much away. At the end of the book, certain revelations removed some of my sympathy for certain characters, which was disappointing. I had been thinking I was reading a story with an unusual type of hero character and then it turned out to be not-so-unusual, which was disappointing. I'd like to re-read this one to see how well the later reveals jive with the beginning of the story, and also just because this was a pleasant story to read and should be very re-readable.
Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
3.0
how frustrating! i waited a long time for this to come out, after the massive cliffhanger ending of demonglass, and hawkins served up a good story but she didn't do it justice. she introduced too many new elements and didn't give them enough depth. with hex hall and demonglass, the stories moved along very quickly (i reread each of them in a single day per book before this book came out), the dialog was hilarious, sophie made some mistakes but ultimately kicked butt, and the relationships between the characters were awesome. this book leaned on the relationship building of the previous books too much. instead of having to make mistakes and figure things out as she went, sophie is often let off the hook of a series of difficult situations, either by things being easier than they seemed or by some deus ex machina kind of help. i did still enjoy this book and the series as a whole. i'm just frustrated because hawkins is such a good writer, but this book didn't live up to its predecessors. nonetheless, i am very excited to hear there will be a spin off novel in the works. really looking forward to reading more by rachel hawkins.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
5.0
what a fun read! like american gods for the middle school set.