What I Read in 2014 First Quarter

I began writing What I Read in 2014 literally at the beginning of 2014, making it as I go, adding each book when I finished it while the story was still fresh in my mind. What I didn't expect, however, was it to become large enough that I had to split it into separate posts.

Expect a ping-pong equivalent of my writing styles as I go. These are approximate times of when I read them, especially from July on, as I was reading about 5-6 books at once.

January

Miss Peregrine's Home of Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Way better than I was expecting. I was a bit put off that it had been labeled Grade School Reader where I bought it from, but if this is what grade schoolers are reading....yeesh. To sum up it's basically X-Men children from the 1940's trapped in a time loop.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

This one I was really looking forward to. Here's a rundown of my thoughts while reading it.

"Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh Boy!"

"This book is awesome!"

"This book is still awesome!"

"This book is...taking a while."

"...For being called Maze Runner, it sure is taking him a long time to actually run though the maze."

"This book is awesome again!"

"This book is...wow, 50% of the way through and I'm still waiting to see why the author titled it Maze Runner."

"Should have called it Variables, or The Final Glader, or something."

"Okay he's been in the maze three or four times. All the times he's been a maze runner he's just in training."

"Why didn't they do X, or Y, or Z? It took them two years to finally start screwing around and discovering stuff in the process?"

"85% of the way through, been (mostly) awesome the whole time, but I really don't think I'm liking where this is going suddenly for the Big Reveal."

"Oh god I'm getting Maximum Ride flashbacks."

"More flashbacks."

"Finished. I...I don't think I want to continue the series."

It's not that I didn't like the book, but I felt really let down considering the promises that the description and first half were giving me. Suddenly it turns into Maximum Ride at the end of the book, as I mentioned, but not in a good way. While it doesn't mirror the worst parts of Maximum Ride, it does mirror the most irritating parts for sure. I already feel like I know where the series is going from there, and I certainly don't want to follow.

Practical Mischief by D.D. Scott

(Only managed 10% of the book)

When I reached "coture, halter-style Armani Prive gown" I knew it was time to stop reading.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I watched the movie first, so I already had an idea of what it was going to be like. Somehow it was exactly how I expected, better than I expected, and worse than I expected all at the same time. Definitely for people who prefer really traditional fairy-tales. 

Feburary

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

I had a different idea of what this book was going to be when I started

It was a bit of a rollercoaster of worry and excitement between "Oh crap this book is going to be boring!" and "Woo! Excitement!" (I'm simple about expressing what I enjoy.) I worried it was going to run out of plot 10-15% of the way through, but then threw a curveball at me that set the real story up. After that things really got going. No spoilers, but something happened that almost ruined my hope for the book, but came right back in a way that I forgave it (and happens to have a Checkhov's Gun I totally missed!) Overall I liked it, and would consider getting the next book in the series. I'm not exactly clamoring to get the next one, but I would certainly snatch it right up, given the right price.

For March

Starters by Lissa Price

I've been eyeballing this one for a while now and managed to pick up a used copy for cheap. I enjoyed it, but did find myself slow down halfway through as it's fairly generic in terms of YA teen dystopia. Still, I liked it enough to consider getting the sequel, especially since it's just a duet so I know the story would be dragged all over the place in an attempt to milk the series for all it's work. Given a choice between the next Rot and Ruin and the second book of Starters, I would choose Starters.

Hounded (and Hexed) by Kevin Hearne

The Kindle book was crazy expensive (they actually had to reduce the price when they realized it was more expensive than even the mass market paperback!) so I had to keep from squealing with delight when it was on sale for $0.99 during St. Patrick's Day. This one I had a lot of expectations for because, along with the Nightside and Mercy Thompson, series, I was pre-read comparing it with The Dresden Files (which meant I had a lot of high expectations of it)

Luckily I was quite happy with what I got. So happy, in fact, that I even broke my $3 Kindle Rule and bought the second one, Hexed, for $6

It's not Dresden Files, by far, but a review I read described it as "Butcher Lite" and it's quite spot-on in that aspect. There's quite a variety of magics and characters. Along with our Celtic druid main character we have: Russian and Polish witches, Indian body-snatcher, Jewish Kabbalist, as well as a handful of gods and goddesses of various locations (including the Native American trickster god, Coyote.)

One last fun little bit I hadn't even expected was that the series is chock full of massive, archaic words. Not only do I look them up, I also challenge my dad recognize them (with one exception, he's known them all)