Scookie Reviews

WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart  5 Stars Verdict: Unconventional and thought provoking. I’m glad this was a short story because the writing style was poetically, erm, you know... Pretentious. It was pretentious. Phew. Glad to get that word out of me. Okay, so sometimes it was beautiful. I decided at the beginning to not let that bother me because when it worked, it worked damn well. For every paragraph which sounded melodramatic, I could pull out ten more which I loved to bits. And what’s wrong with British toothpaste? That’s probably the weirdest thing that’s irked me about a novel. Somehow Lockhart has made me patriotic over toothpaste... Back to the review. The characters inspired emotions in me. I loved to hate the manipulative granddad. I enjoyed reading how the spoiled sisters tore their family apart from the inside out over their own greed. The romance that strung the mystery together had me reading on and on. The little fairytales were a nice touch - short a...

ALLEGIANT by Veronica Roth  5 Stars  Verdict : Ouch. #1 - Divergent #2 - Insurgent I can’t review this book in detail without spoilers, so I’m keeping it short and sharp -  which is fitting, as this book felt like a knife to the heart. No, not a knife. This book is Roth’s warning: Enter my imagination at your own peril. What I will say, is that this book is very different from the others. It had to. The end of book 2 was a game changer, and so this book isn’t the final step in the revolution. It’s much more of a message. A statement. And in true Divergent fashion, it’s slow to get going but hard to put down. Until that final section. I’ve come to terms with the ending now. It held a lot of meaning, and felt like the realistic option. A bold move, by all accounts, but after reading hundreds of pages, I feel disappointed, jilted, and well and truly done. The next in the series doesn’t interest me. It was good while it lasted, but so long Divergent...

INSURGENT by Veronica Roth  5 Stars  Verdict : Gradual twisting plot with a prose that kept me entwined. #1 - Divergent #3 - Allegiant I love the way Roth writes. One sentence slips into the next, punching you in the gut or sending shivers down your spine depending on what the situation calls for. I lingered over several lines when reading them, soaking up the impact. Not one of those lines overstep the boundary into purple prose or pretentious, in my opinion. Just beautiful and meaningful. The story picks up where we left off, with a steady pace and a gradual build. The factions become a lot more salient in this book, and the world develops in the way I hoped book 1 would have explored; I felt like Roth knew what she was doing from the start. Tris and Tobias have issues to sort out in this book, and the state of their relationship is put to the test. I wouldn't call it action packed until past the half way point, but it’s an enjoyable read. Lot’s happens, th...

TALON by Julie Kagawa 3 Stars  Verdict : A romance novel with the slightest touch of dragon. I haven’t read a book on dragons before, I somehow I still don’t feel like I have after this one. The reasons that drew me in to the book didn’t transpire on the page. That said, Kagawa has a way with words that melts descriptions off the page to form images right there in front of you. Although Talon wasn’t my favourite read of the year, I’m tempted to checkout Kagawa’s Iron Fey series. Let’s get one thing straight. Talon is a romance novel, not action. It has a slight fantasy twist as the word ‘dragon’ is used a lot, but it doesn’t have a fantasy feel to it. If you think you’d enjoy a love triangle centred on the military and secret operatives, this is probably the book for you. As far as young adult novels go, this book felt on the younger side of the spectrum. Our main dragonell, Ember, sounds and acts younger, so maybe that’s why it didn’t appeal as much to me. I pref...