Quoting madly 3

 

I love books and in some of them you can find an awesome quotes, heartbreaking ones, encouraging, inspiring, or just funny which made you laugh. I want to pick those which I liked and present them here.

 

“What happened to your face?” I say. My lips feel clumsy and too large.

She laughs. “Look who’s talking. Should we get you an eye patch?” - by Christina and Tris

“A brave man acknowledges the strength of others,” Four replies.

“A brave man never surrenders.” - by Eric and Four

“You chose us,” he says. “Now we have to choose you.” - by Eric

Mini reviews 2

A Black Deeper than Death 

Original name:

Author: M.E. Purfield

Translation:

Series: Mikki Radicci (Tenebrous Chronicles), 1/3

Number of pages: 98

Published: 2012 by Smashwords

Type: e-book

Genre: thriller, crime, urban-fantasy, super-powers

Mikki is sixteen years old famous painter and she can feel others strong feelings or pain but after she witnessed a murder, not only police became interested in her. Mikki's curiosity drive her to solve the case on her own even it could be very dangerous.

Author's style was really my taste, even he used some clichés and not original thoughts he was able to put them in the story by the amusing and interesting way so I was able to enjoy it. And of course I love his sense of humor.

Characters were well-made. Mikki was sometimes a little bit annoying at the start but it can be pardoned because it just go well with other characters. And I loved the chemistry between her and police officers. On the other hand Chris were quite a poitless element here. I mean he showed up, been with Mikki for a while and then just died in absolutely stupid way. Probably because of tension but it didn't work for me.

Story goes well too. It was interesting, sometimes little thrilling, and I really wanted to know more about Mikki's power and relationship with police officer. Yeah there were some things which didn't make sense or were obvious (Mikki told police what she saw even it would be impossible without her power so she became suspect, she get into dangerous club just to be caught and almost killed, Chris showed up just from a nowhere and has an interest for her) but overall I enjoyed it and it was really relaxing read.

Rating: 8/10

Second Bite

Original name:

Author: Lauren Stewart

Translation:

Series: 

Number of pages: 76

Published: 2012 by Off The Hook Publishing

Type: e-book

Genre: urban-fantasy, vampires, romance

Olivia works as organiser and her newest event is birthday party of vampire boss. It's quite a nightmare for her because she don't trust them even they declares themselves as harmless. But everything changed when she met Daniel.

A lot of story is about nothing, just some blabbing between Olivia and Daniel which didn't have any sense. I mean, she was freaked about vampires but two sentences from Daniel just convinced her that everything is just OK. Sorry but this is highly unbelievable. And what's worse, they can have some very intimate moment together. Surprisingly this was abandoned by greatly made plot twist which was expected but still made awesomely well.

Characters, well, in so tiny time I wasn't able to get into them. There wasn't any deeper things or precisely made background. Daniel got a little more of spotlight but still everything interesting was just spoiled by his resurrection and I am not a fan of those.

Overall. It had good idea but for me it was too short and unedeveloped.

Rating: 3/10

Roadwork by Stephen King

Roadwork was quite a good book but insanely slow and something very interesting happened only in the end. But what about covers?


Bulgarian editions:

First one is just too plain for me, too average, but in next to it the second one is really better. I like the colours because red, black and white makes awesome combination. And there is very nice drawing which makes me feel a little bit uneasy and that works very well for King's books.


Czech edition:

Another quite plain design even I like how they worked with colours, they just match together, and I like how it goes with book's theme.


Dutch edition:

I don't like colours of this. Maybe if it would be only black and white it would be better, but the threatening vibe is awesome.

English editions:

Wow, lot of them have western style XD and that is not my cup of tea. But the last one is one of the best here. I like composition and toning of colours and how they creatively put book's name there. This cover is just awesome.


French editions:

First one looks like for some third-grade horror movie about vampires or other monsters and it quite don't fit. Second one is better even colours are quite dismatched for my taste and have weird tones.


German editions:

First one looks very amateurish and simple, like they didn't want to spend more time on it. I really like second one. It's the best of simplistic ones. Only two colours and picture which says a lot. This is my second most favourite. Third cover is good too, picture gaves me shivers but title is in bad colour almost lost here.


 Greek edition:

Ok, it matches the theme but that big purple name is just horrendous.


Italian editions:

First one is quite interesting. I like its colours and that title with author's name don't strike the eyes. Second one is great. How they used colours, the theme of it, and title with name is nicely visible. Really good work.

Norwegian edition:

This one is just weird. If I would pick it up jost for the cover I wouldn't have idea what it is about. And colours are just in wrong tones.


Polish edition:

Another simple one which looks quite good. The dark atmosphere is really great. But sadly font is very plain and there is no creativity in it.


Portuguese edition:

Great colours and I love how they put name and title there. It just catch your eyes.


Russian edition:

Another awfully colourful one which has very bad horrorish vibe.


Spanish editions:

First two are quite same but second is better done. Colours, creativity and font is likeable. Third one is best of these. There is similarity to the second one (background) but it's more darker.


Swedish edition:

Quite nice and simple but there is no need for more than three colours if it is like this.


Turkish edition:

Quite don't understand this one. Why skyscrapers? And there is too much colours for me and it's very chaotic.

So, which one do you like the most? And why?

Stargazer

Original name:

Author: Melanie Matthews

Translation:

Series: 

Number of pages: 183

Published: 2012 (U.S.)

Type: e-book

Genre: sci-fi, dystopy, romance, young adult

Ava had woken up in a laboratory with no memories about how did she got there or who she really is. Everybody tries to convince her that she is Stargazer, alien very similar to humans but with purple eyes, hair and inhuman strength but she didn't believe it. Stargazer are known as a race with no emotions and Ava has a plenty of them, there is no way!

This book is young adult and I am not a big fan of them but even that it still has something fresh and individual. Narrative style is very well-made, detailed on a inner world of main character which perfectly fits with first-person. The author also managed to perfectly master the background of her story and this is very important for me. I need story to live, to feel like this could happen or believe it could work like this. And Stargazer definitely gave me this impression.

Characters were good and developed. Ava was really great heroine, very sympathetic, thoughtful and pondering. I liked her immediately and due to the narration I empathise with her very quickly. Red Woman was this kind of character you would hate but she was made like that and I accepted her role in story. John and Victor were also interesting. Their attitude towards Ava or system in Corporation was enjoying and I understood their difficult decisions or behaviours. And Henrietta? This character went through amazing evolution and it hadn't felt rushed. About Stargazers, they were mysterious element here and they will definitely attract your attention so it's kinda sad there weren't much about them.

The story itself opened with a lot of questions which were answered through the story, but between that it still caught my interest. It revealed small hints and you could interpret them correctly or wrong and even some things were predictable, the final outcome was quite surprising. The dystopian element itself was, as I mentioned, very good. Ava coped not only with her memory loss but also with unfamiliar system. Mysterious tyrant Pallas was like a God in Corporation, he controlled the lives of all inhabitants and everything slightly off the regulations was strictly punished. Author just had a lot of great ideas and she was able to use them properly. Unfortunately the ending was very rushed, as if the author wanted to have the whole story finally over and it really didn't make good.

Some authors stretch their story ad absurdum but Stargazer would definitely need more additional pages. The Stargazer's impact to the story, Pallas and his back story, unnecessary deaths of several characters... This book suffers from too rapid closing pace, not developing things which were extremely interesting and would make story way more better. I felt very sorry for it because I loved the story and characters.

This rushing was also reflected in the relationships when Ava felt too quickly for John and Victor as they for her. It was almost immediately and for me this kind of things needs some time, not just first glance and first few words.

Overall. Book with awesomely good start and elaborated characters and world but suffers from the fact that everything is bit of hurried.

Rating: 6/10