The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney deserves a five star rating.

The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney deserves a five star rating. True, a couple of the books, namely Slither fell short of the hype; however, the long awaited battle with the Fiend made up for it in book 13. I still have some questions after reading this book. Plot questions not answered will wait for the new series already perfectly lined up with previous books like Slither and Grimalkin. As far as simplistic writing goes, I think folks should keep in mind these books are filed under children's literature. And for myself, I loved the writing. My summer reading often includes books that are not filed under children's literature and reading a kid's series was refreshing. Plus, I enjoyed reading this series with my daughter, who is not a kid, and also has reading that is far from simplistic. The Last Apprentice series is story telling at its best. The twists, scary monsters, heroes and character development is fan-freaking-tastic. I highly recommend this series!

5 Stars for The Golden Compass

 

The Golden Compass (book 1) by Phillip Pullman is a modern classic that ranks with stories like The Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time and The Lord of the Rings books. This is an impressive book for a number of reasons:

Concept

Plot

Lying for Love, not the romantic kind

Clever protagonist

Brave protagonist

Heart

World-Building

Soul, the high concept kind and the feeling kind

Human da'emons, although I don't know if I'm spelling that correctly for this book. In any case, this book shines an interesting pondering light questioning the reader's own demons - it makes you think.

With this in mind, I want to reflect on Pullman's own words a little, "As a passionate believer in the democracy of reading, I don't think it's the task of the author of a book to tell the reader what it means."

After reading a number of reviews on this story, I found this democracy to vary from one extreme interpretation to another extreme interpretation. For example, as a reader I did not see the main character, Lyra as Christ nor the Anti-Christ. I simple saw her as a young girl willing to do anything to save the people she loved even if it meant wicked lying. If anything she was only caught in the center of the polarities of good and evil. This idea stemming from Genesis, the original sin, "from dust you are to dust you will return". The idea of dust as good or bad is questionable. Dust almost seems like fairy dust giving flight to the birth of consciousness. In this way, it should be good because it makes us aware of good and evil and without knowing one we cannot know the other. This is where C.S. Lewis quotes like this come from, "Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.”

― C.S. Lewis. My interpretation of dust in this is that free will. Of course, that is only my democratic input along with a huge shout out: Read this book!

5 Stars for Double Threat by F. Paul Wilson

 Double Threat by F. Paul Wilson is about a young woman named Daley who finds an alien has resided inside her head. The plot moves from there with a "Stranger than Fiction" vibe. The humorous tone of the story changes with the emergence of a cult truly David Berg worthy. At this point, I'm reminded of Wilson's Repairman Jack series where Jack constantly averts danger to himself and loved ones. However, this book is not a Repairman Jack book. In fact, its enjoyment doesn't come from page turning danger. This is a slow burn ripe with fantastic dialogue between Daley and her alien, Daley's dynamic character change from extreme selfishness to to extrema empathy, and last Daley's paradoxical toxic relationship choices. Oh, and there's the cult based on mind bending science fiction. Wilson does a nice job of blending thriller and science fiction. Mostly, he's a natural with dialogue and immediately I am drawn into unique voices I want to root for. This book is well deserving of the applause and as much as I enjoyed the Repairman Jack books, Double Threat is better written. I suppose that comes from Wilson's dedication to perfecting his craft. I hope to see more of Daley soon. 

5 Stars for The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

 

This is my second Simone St. James book, and again I am not disappointed. St. James has a style that feels like walking into a Francisco Goya painting while listening to David Bowie's Under Pressure in the background. Fiona, the main character, is constantly struggling with a need for truth and as the premise indicates - she wants to know the truth behind her sister's murder. Fiona is a journalist, independent, self-motivated, subject to the powers of love, and somewhat under the shadow of a father who is bigger than life. That alone got me interested in this story, but as with all the St. James book there is more than one story line. The second story line dates back 64 years and centers around the death of other girls - no more word of that because I might give too much away. The second story is equally intriguing and the broken girls in that story vein are incredibly clever and strong because of their hardships. I enjoyed the different well-fleshed out personalities of each of them. I definitely leaned towards Katie the most. St. James books deliver well-thought out plots that tie up every loose end at the end, but style aside - I like her characters! I also like the spooky gothic atmosphere she plays up in her stories. It reminds me of my Stephen King favorites like Salem's Lot with extra mystery embellished in every corner. A reader cannot go wrong with books like that. I highly recommend Simone St. James's The Broken Girls.

5 Stars for The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James delivers. I wanted spooky - Got it! I wanted great female characters with some backbone! - Got it. I wanted a twist - Got it! I needed this book after reading lots of required classical lit. I highly recommend this book and more St. James. I know I will read more of her stories. 

2.5 Stars for Plain, Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

 

2.5 Stars

I could not finish it and with so many other books to read this summer, I simply didn't want to plow through. The writing is way too embellished. Beautiful writing is not just about how to turn a clever phrase. Danforth can certainly do that, but beautiful writing also means knowing what to cut. The book in general is too long. In Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster, he warns against what he calls "tea time." He explains these are scenes that do not push the plot forward. Folks sipped a lot of tea in Plain Bad Heroines. The other reason for my 2.5 star review is lack of horror and this is a personal preference from a girl who loves horror. This is a story within a story one from the past into the present. I did not understand the connection. If there wasn't going to be a real connection perhaps Danforth could have approached this story like a set of short stories set in a Canterbury Tales structure or just stuck with the past story. That one was a little interesting. In the end, I felt disappointed. I looked forward to reading this because of the unique premise and promise of horror. Instead, I found I couldn't root for any characters because they didn't seem like they needed saving. Perhaps this is the irony, thus, Plain Bad Heroines. 

4 Stars for The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

 

The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer proved itself to be more entertaining than I'd expected. It doesn't have to be read in its entirety because it is composed of smaller stories within a larger one. It almost reads like a book of short stories with dark fairy tale morals and with a big dose of humor at the expense of human folly. I loved the stories particularly: The Pardoner, The Wife of Bath, and The Squire. The ending of these tales became Middle Age preachy, but I suppose it needed redemption after the tales of lechery, bloodshed, idolatry, adulatory, and so on. For example, The Wife of Bath's tale and The Pardoner's tale embrace love of lust, power and greed with outright defiance. These two characters don't care what others think of them and firmly know who they are. They are in stark contrast to characters like The Nun, and The Knight, so for me to fully grasp the importance of the most entertaining stories, I had to read the other stories that contrasted them, so I recommend reading The Canterbury Tales in its entirety even though the stories can be read separately.