Book Review: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Title: The Book of Lost Things
Author: John Connolly
Published: New York: Atria Books, 2006
Page Count: 339
Total Page Count: 38,759
Text Number: 110
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Not long before the start of World War II, a boy named David loses his mother. David has always been an avid reader, but now his books begin to speak; his father remarries, his step-brother is born, and the war begins. Suddenly, David is pulled into a new world—the world that lives in his fairy tales, only darker and more dangerous. With his way back to our world blocked by the Crooked Man, David must journey through this new world to find a way back home—and he must become a man. Although this book begins slowly and unsteadily, it soon builds up into a twisted story that is hard to put down. Thrilling, frightening, and imaginative, this is a fairy tale for adults and a unique coming of age story. Despite its faults, I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

( Long review. )

Review posted here at Amazon.com.

Book Review: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Title: How I Live Now
Author: Meg Rosoff
Published: New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2004
Page Count: 194
Total Page Count: 111
Text Number: 38,953
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Some day in the near future, Daisy leaves Manhattan and moves in with her aunt and cousins in their farmhouse in the English countryside. Her cousins adopt her immediately, and Daisy falls in love with one, beginning the few idyllic weeks that pass before, while her aunt is away on business, war breaks out. With the country in chaos, Daisy and her cousins must fend for themselves through increasingly dismal, difficult times. Told in an immature adolescent voice and focusing on, not the political issues, but the daily life of war from a teenager's point of view, How I Live Now deals with everything from eating disorders to love to the dystopic wasteland of the abandoned countryside. The voice is difficult to adjust to and to read, the subject matter is dark and almost hopeless, but Rosoff conceives her modern war in gritty detail and brings it to life through the vibrant young characters. A different, odd, but fast-paced read, and moderately recommended.

( Long review. )

Review posted here at Amazon.com.

Book Review: Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest

Title: Four and Twenty Blackbirds
Author: Cherie Priest
Published: New York: A Tor Book, 2005 (2003)
Page Count: 285
Total Page Count: 112
Text Number: 39,138
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Eden sees ghosts—specifically the three female spectres that have haunted her and protected her throughout her life. She is also haunted by her fanatical, unbalanced cousin who has tried twice to kill her. After the second failed attempt, Eden begins to unearth her own family history in order to determine why her cousin wants her dead: he fears that she will revive the spirit of her long dead great-grandfather, an heartless African magician who desires immortality. A richly Southern gothic book, replete with dark mansions, hauntings, and a gnarled and twisted family tree, this is an atmospheric and engrossing read. However, simply unraveling the plot takes up the entire book, leaving no room for character growth or side stories, and the protagonist borders on annoying throughout the text. This is a promising first novel, but faulted. Moderately recommended.

( Long review. )