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Showing posts from December, 2019

Book Review: Noughts and Crosses

NOUGHTS AND CROSSES by Malorie Blackman 3 stars Verdict: An important story but no-frills writing. I’ve wanted to read this book since I was a child. Now fully grown and still enjoy YA fiction of all kinds, I couldn’t ignore how this has been recommended to me throughout the years. That’s why I don’t like that I didn’t enjoy it. Despite seeing its value as a teaching device, the truth is I found it taxing to reach the end. Plot and themes aside, the author’s writing style isn’t one I particularly enjoy. The writing sticks mostly to dialogue so there’s almost no description, no visuals, no imagery or flare. There’s a slow grind to the fifty percent mark where the actual plot hits, and beforehand, the only real world-building is swapping around the words ‘white’ and ‘black’: a powerful idea in it's simplicity, but there's not really enough going on for half the book. Then years fly by in paragraphs, a writing choice that leaks the tension for me. Truth be told,

Book Review: Girls of Storm and Shadow

GIRLS OF STORM AND SHADOW by Natasha Ngan Girls of Paper and Fire #2 3 Stars Verdict : Middle book syndrome. Travelling? Check. Cliche twins? Check. Shaky love triangle? Check. I'm afraid this book is suffering from middle book syndrome. Book two picks up where we left off, tense and fast with plenty to question: is Lei being followed, is the king alive, can Ketai Hanno be trusted? With luscious writing and a fiery romance, it promises a grand adventure full of political intrigue, battles, and romance. But then it sort of withers away. We see Lei become reckless and riled up at silly times, and quite frankly putting her spur of the moment needs in front of her friends' safety. But when she's not riled up, she's travelling or eating or having one too many drinks. This all equates to not a lot of progress for your pages. A band of new characters are introduced, including twins. Hopefully this isn't considered a spoiler as not all of these things hap