We're an Open Book
Young rulers, fugitives on the run and war on the horizon. The Legend by Marie Lu and Cinder by Marissa Meyer audio books wow’d the contributors at Book sand Sensibility last year with their intriguing worlds, complex story lines and smart plotting. In 2013, both series debuted their second installments and I’m ready to see how these sequels hold up to their predecessors.
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Release Date: May 4th 2010
Pages: 344 Pages
Audiobook: 10 hours and 8 minutes
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Contemporary
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Release Date: October 3, 2011
Pages: 279
Audiobook hours: 7 hours 44 minutes
Genre: Contemporary/Magic Realism
Publisher: Little Brown Books For Young Readers
Lucky Linderman didn’t ask for his life. He didn’t ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn’t ask for a father who never got over it. He didn’t ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn’t ask to be the target of Nader McMillan’s relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.…
“You list the dead. You tell the stories of the past. You write about the catastrophes and the massacres. What about the living, Finnikin? Who honors them?”
― Melina Marchetta, Finnikin of the Rock
Synopsis: Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive.
Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.
But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin’s faith in her . . . but in himself
Being an epic fantasy, Finnikin of the Rock is completely outside of the genres I usually read. I had previously seen the blog Sash and Em gushing about this book on Twitter so when I spotted the audiobook at the library I was confident I would enjoy it. The world created in this novel has so much terminology, so let’s hope I get them all right
After the assassination of the royal family and rouge uprising, in an incident known as the Unspeakable the once peaceful kingdom of Lumatere is cursed and locked away. Half the Lumaterens are trapped inside and other half scattered across the neighboring kingdoms to live as exiles; forced to survive fever, refugee camps and the bloody rage of their neighboring kingdoms.
As son of the imprisoned captain of the guard and best friend to murdered Prince Balthazar, Finnikin has always felt a certain responsibility to help lead his people to a place they can call home. Traveling with his guardian Sir Topher, they’ve spent the last 10 years since the Unspeakable trying to find a second Lumatere. When Finnikin awakes from a dream that leads him to a temple and a novice girl named Evanjilin, a new Lumatere is suddenly closer for Finnikin than he ever imagined.
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Synopsis: Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures… until the day their adventures turn all too real. They stumble upon The Dark Library, and secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies are discovered. Father forbids that they ever enter the room again, but this only peaks Victor’s curiosity more. When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is not be satisfied with the various doctors his parents have called in to help. He is drawn back to The Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life. Elizabeth, Henry, and Victor immediately set out to find assistance in a man who was once known for his alchemical works to help create the formula
This Dark Endeavor is a man before the myth story of the boy who will become famous for creating the most notorious monster of all time.
I went into this audiobook with only a fleeting knowledge of the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley. While you don’t have to read the classic novel to understand this book it may help you make some connections.
16-year-old Victor Frankenstein and his twin brother, Konrad lead a life of privilege in their father’s estate in Geneva. But when Konrad falls ill, Victor finds himself on a dark journey to save his brother using forbidden methods he doesn’t fully understand. To me this book can be best described as steampunk meets alchemy meets Downton Abbey. Which seems totally weird, but in this book it works.
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Synopsis: The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Forget everything you know about time travel. It’s 2009 and 19-year-old Jackson Meyer can travel through time, but it’s nothing too exciting; until the day he gets stuck in the past.
This book is interesting because it falls more into the New Adult category than Young Adult. Our protagonist, Jackson is a student at NYU and falls into the older side of YA protagonists at 19. His girlfriend Holly, an NYU freshman, doesn’t know he can time travel and is the basic pretty, middle class girl with standards and modesty about her success.
I knew this book has lukewarm ratings so I was hoping the audiobook would help me like it more. I found the narrator to be spotty and at times his voice for a character would become inconsistent. Some of his voices were even kind of annoying. His voice for Holly’s friend Jana was just so ridiculous I couldn’t take it seriously.
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