Suzanne Selfors – Coffeehouse Angel (2/5)

Cover:

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

This is the book for you if you like:

- Superficial romance stories
- Angel mythology

Summary: (from author’s website)

When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother's coffee shop, she leaves him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans, and some pastries to tide him over, never expecting this random act of kindness to turn her life upside down. The adorable vagrant, Malcolm, is actually a guardian angel on a break between missions, and now he won't leave until he can reward Katrina's selflessness by fulfilling her deepest desire. Fame and fortune seem like the obvious requests, but after two botched wishes, Malcolm knows Katrina is hiding something from him. But how can she tell him the truth, when her heart's desire has become Malcolm himself?

Thoughts on covers:
Hardcover edition, paperback edition, French edition

I really dislike the hardcover edition, but I think the angel coffee cup one is pretty cute.

Title:

I think the title covers both of the important aspects of the story, so it’s fitting. It’s also different enough to attract attention.

Characters:

I don’t have any real feelings towards the characters in this book. Katrina, the protagonist, is annoying in many ways, though she gets better ‘til the end. Vincent and Elizabeth are presences that don’t have much of a personality. The ones I loved the most were Malcolm – for his strange ways, his outsider status, his unintentional wit – and Irmgaard, who had the most interesting story of all and who I really wanted to get to know better.

Setting:

The story is set in Nordby, which, in this story, is an American town that has both people with Norwegian roots as with Native American roots. It took me a while to get where exactly it was located, because there’s a Nordby in Denmark too, which at first seemed like the more logical location (the only question then was, why on earth would an American writer write a story set in Denmark?). I don’t think the setting does much to the story; had it just been an average town in America, with an average mix of people, the story would have remained the same. I wonder why Selfors took so much effort in describing the Old Ways, as they are called quite often in the book, without actually having them influence the story.

General story:

I feel like this story was trying to be three stories at once, with each story just out of reach of being good.

At first glance, based on the summary and the designated genre, you expect a love story. And it partly is; there is this whole flirtation going on between Katrina and Malcolm, but for three third of the book I wondered whether maybe Vincent was supposed to be the love interest. And it’s not even like it’s set up as a love triangle either; the ending of the book makes it perfectly clear that Vincent and Katrina really see each other as friends. I don’t feel like Malcolm is enough of a presence in Katrina’s life to make this a romance story; there isn’t much of a relationship at all, actually, just attraction on her side and intrigue on his side.

Then, it is a story about friendship and what friends should do for each other. Katrina is very focussed on what others should do for her because of their friendship, but in the entire book we don’t once see her do something for either Elizabeth or Vincent. She only complains; about Vincent dating Heidi and betraying her, and about Elizabeth having so much money that she’d never understand.

Then, this story seems to want to give us a lesson in everyone has a talent and be careful what you wish for. It seems weird to put the first lesson in a story that has magic beans, and the second one is weird because the story ends with a wish that made everything perfect. Also, the moralising paragraphs were weirdly intertwined with the dialogue/action ones. The transitions were a bit jarring.

Mind you, I liked some of it. Actually, I liked every part that was about Malcolm’s life as a messenger. The envelope that kept getting heavier, his black notebook, his life that isn’t a life but just an existence… I feel like Selfors could have done so much with the mythology she built around him, and instead she had him around for what seemed like only half the book and spent the rest on a coffeehouse rivalry that just seemed ridiculous. The same goes for Irmgaard; she’s such an interesting character, and her story is really great, but she’s handled as an aside. I would have loved it if this story had been told from Malcolm’s perspective; that’d have been great.

Will I read other books from this author?

I probably won’t.

Overall rating: 2/5

Suzanne Collins – Mockingjay (3/5)

Series: Hunger Games #3

Cover:

Genre: YA Dystopian

This is the book for you if you like:

- The first two books in the series

- Well written action

Summary: (from author’s website)

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

Thoughts on covers:

As with the first two books, I’m in love with the German cover. They are so gripping!

Title:

I think Mockingjay is the only fitting title for this book, not only referencing the previous books but also Katniss’ role in this story. The German title, Burning anger, seems a bit misplaced to me.

Characters:

Katniss, who was so great in the first book, is so, so annoying. The first couple of chapters I just wanted to scream at her. I also feel like she’s written inconsistently. Most of the time, she’s just so self-centred; she doesn’t care about other people, not really. And then there are moments like this:

[Gale] strokes my face as the pain ebbs. “You’ve got to stop running straight into trouble.”

“I know. But someone blew up a mountain,” I answer.

That is the Katniss I want to see! But most of the time she’s whining about how everybody is using her, while simultaneously whining that she doesn’t get to actually fight. The whole book people keep telling her that she has this air about her that makes people follow her lead, but I, as a reader, don’t feel it. I wanted her to take control, as she did in the first book – she was so kickass in the first book! – but at no point did she decide that this was her war to fight too.

This book did introduce the one Hunger Games character I actually care about: Boggs. He was awesome, he stood by Katniss every step of the way, no matter how awful she treated him. He’s the best. I also started really liking Finnick; I would have loved to read the story of Finnick and Annie.

Setting:

The beginning of this story is set at Rebel Headquarters, and it ends at the Capitol.

General story:

Like usual, Collins’ action scenes where the best. I loved the middle of the book, I loved people trying to figure out how to overthrow the Capitol. But when it wasn’t about the main rebel plot, it was about the love triangle, and not at one point did I care – mainly because I was convinced Katniss didn’t love either of them, so her choice would never be about love and would inevitably end up hurting both Peeta and Gale.

I thought the best part of this book was the middle, setting it apart from the first two that were best at its endings. Here, the first part had too much focus on a whining Katniss, and the third part had all this deaths that didn’t make me tear up so much as annoy me. I get that people die, but these felt more unnecessary than war casualties.

I thought the ending seemed rushed a bit. I would’ve preferred to spend more time with these characters in the aftermath of the win of the rebels, instead of getting these meagre plot points. Then again, Collins’ character work has never been stellar, so maybe it isn’t that bad that she didn’t get around to it. What I did like about the ending was that it wasn’t an entirely happy ending; it held some reality.

Will I read other books from this author?

I might, but I won’t go looking for them.

Overall rating: 3/5

Kelley Armstrong – The Summoning (2/5)

Series: Darkest Powers Trilogy #1

Cover:

Genre: YA Fantasy

This is the book for you if you like:

- Characters discovering their gifts for the first time

Summary: (from author’s website)

Chloe Saunders sees dead people. Yes, like in the films. The problem is, in real life saying you see ghosts gets you a one-way ticket to the psych ward. And at 15, all Chloe wants to do is fit in at school and maybe get a boy to notice her. But when a particularly violent ghost haunts her, she gets noticed for all the wrong reasons. Her seemingly crazed behaviour earns her a trip to Lyle House, a centre for disturbed teens.

At first Chloe is determined to keep her head down. But then her room mate disappears after confessing she has a poltergeist, and some of the other patients also seem to be manifesting paranormal behaviour. Could that be a coincidence? Or is Lyle House not quite what it seems…? Chloe realizes that if she doesn’t uncover the truth, she could be destined for a lifetime in a psychiatric hospital. Or could her fate be even worse…? Can she trust her fellow students, and does she dare reveal her dark secret?

Thoughts on covers:

I’m not a big fan of any of the covers. The first suggest the necklace is a central plot point, while it’s just something that’s mentioned in two scenes and the third one is so generic I would never pick it up. I almost like the middle cover, the German one, because I love the colouring, but I feel like the fact on that cover is weird. I don’t know.

Title:

The title does a pretty good job of describing the focal point of the story, so it’s an okay title.

Characters:

Where do I start? I felt like none of these characters had actual personalities, not even Chloe – and the book is written in the first POV. Chloe is just there; this story is happening to her and she’s trying to react to it, but she’s not really doing anything. I still don’t really know what her characteristics are; I would have no idea how to describe her.

The other people at Lyle House are, if possible, even worse; they all seem to have one characteristic – Derek is blunt, Simon is protective, Tori is a bitch, Rae is childishly excited – without any other signs of having a personality.

Setting:

The story is mostly set at Lyle House, the centre for disturbed teens where Chloe ends up after she starts seeing ghosts. The building is a pretty generic one; a creepy basement, a creepy attic and rooms for the kids in between, boys and girls divided. It’s nothing special.

General story:

One day, Chloe suddenly starts seeing ghosts; she freaks out at school and gets send away. Diagnosis: schizophrenia. It would have been interesting to see how she handles the diagnosis, or the confusion about whether she’s seeing ghosts or hallucinating, but we don’t get to see any of Chloe’s inner turmoil.

Instead, it immediately turns into a story about how Derek knew what Chloe could do and he – not very subtly – urges her to find out about her powers. Again, this could be an interesting story, but suddenly there is this conspiracy about Lyle House and its caretakers. There is little development about Chloe getting used to her powers or what she can do; she’s suddenly swooped up in the story of Simon and Derek, a story that wasn’t that interesting to begin with.

Chloe and Derek develop a plan for Chloe and Simon to escape Lyle House and find Derek and Simon’s father. I wish we had known more about their father and how he could help before they escaped, because now it just felt like a useless exercise – especially with the way this book ended.

There could be this great story here. Unfortunately, instead of focussing on the characters and their feelings, Armstrong focuses on the plot – which is, to be honest, quite predictable and thus loses most of its impact.

Will I read the other instalments in this series? Nope

Overall rating: 2/5