The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson
Showing posts with label maureen johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maureen johnson. Show all posts
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Book Review: The Shadow Cabinet
There was actually a novella that came out in-between this and The Madness Underneath called The Boy in the Smoke and looking at this post I think I did actually read three of the four stories but I have no idea where. If you can also find those stories I do recommend reading them at some point since Stephen remains an important character in the series but I don't think it's vital that you have to read them before you track down The Shadow Cabinet.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Book Review: Madness Underneath
EDIT: Well this is a first, apparently this is part of a four book series, not a trilogy as I originally thought, so I'm having to change some things in the The Bad section. Doesn't change my feelings on the book but obviously if the series isn't a trilogy I can't refer to it as such!
In case anyone is confused, I'm switching the book and manga reviews up this week since I only had a chance to grab manga/comics from the not-so-local-library on Wednesday, was sick on Thursday for a lot of the day, and just haven't had a chance to read anything beyond the second volume of Swan yet (and since it's been so long since I talked about the first volume I didn't feel like I would write a very good review). However, I have read this book, the sequel to 2011's The Name of the Star which was one of my favorite books that year and I've been dying (ha-ha, it's a book about ghosts) to read it since it was released in February and can certainly talk about that instead. However, much like Swan, while I remember the plot I had a hard time remembering some details about the individual characters which is never a good sign....
The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
Summary: It's only been about a month since the American Rory was attacked and nearly killed by an ex-British-policeman-ghost-hunter (who was a ghost himself) at her London school and while she's not exactly eager to go back she's not happy where she is now either. But it appears that the British police have gotten wind of what else happened during the attack, namely that Rory has gone from someone who can simply see ghosts to someone who can kill them with a touch, and they want her back in London, and Rory isn't too happy about any of that.
The Good: I still rather like Rory as a character, even though she does a lot of things I thought were dumb (and would have thought were dumb at her age) and I was surprised at how much I liked the London group as well, I hadn't remembered that. I was also happy that the story didn't immediately drop the school aspect of Rory's life or pretend that she could miss a month at a very high level school and still be doing fine in her classes, it was a touch of realism I don't often find in books of any genre and appreciated it.
The Bad: I had some problems with how this book was laid out in regards to how it's going to fit into an entire series. There's no villain like there was in the first book until the very very end and, while that and another subplot might make for interesting conflict by the end, at this point they feel much less threatening than the villain of the first book which isn't generally how you're supposed to make it work. I was also hoping for a connection to the first book's villain which again, might happen in a later book (especially since the characters have mentioned how confused they were by the reveal and I doubt Johnson would have reminded the reader of that if she didn't plan to use it later on) but nothing happened here. And that's my overall problem with this story, it feels like the stereotype of the middle book in a series or trilogy, not much happens until the very end (where something happens that will make everything easier/harder for the main characters in the next book) and lacks both the plot and character development that the first book had.
I was actually a bit less frustrated with the book before I, erm, laid out exactly why I was unhappy with it, but this was still a disappointing read none the less. I'm going to give it 2.5 out of 5 stars and hope that the third book, which I imagine will be out sometime next year, will be worth it.
In case anyone is confused, I'm switching the book and manga reviews up this week since I only had a chance to grab manga/comics from the not-so-local-library on Wednesday, was sick on Thursday for a lot of the day, and just haven't had a chance to read anything beyond the second volume of Swan yet (and since it's been so long since I talked about the first volume I didn't feel like I would write a very good review). However, I have read this book, the sequel to 2011's The Name of the Star which was one of my favorite books that year and I've been dying (ha-ha, it's a book about ghosts) to read it since it was released in February and can certainly talk about that instead. However, much like Swan, while I remember the plot I had a hard time remembering some details about the individual characters which is never a good sign....
The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
Summary: It's only been about a month since the American Rory was attacked and nearly killed by an ex-British-policeman-ghost-hunter (who was a ghost himself) at her London school and while she's not exactly eager to go back she's not happy where she is now either. But it appears that the British police have gotten wind of what else happened during the attack, namely that Rory has gone from someone who can simply see ghosts to someone who can kill them with a touch, and they want her back in London, and Rory isn't too happy about any of that.
The Good: I still rather like Rory as a character, even though she does a lot of things I thought were dumb (and would have thought were dumb at her age) and I was surprised at how much I liked the London group as well, I hadn't remembered that. I was also happy that the story didn't immediately drop the school aspect of Rory's life or pretend that she could miss a month at a very high level school and still be doing fine in her classes, it was a touch of realism I don't often find in books of any genre and appreciated it.
The Bad: I had some problems with how this book was laid out in regards to how it's going to fit into an entire series. There's no villain like there was in the first book until the very very end and, while that and another subplot might make for interesting conflict by the end, at this point they feel much less threatening than the villain of the first book which isn't generally how you're supposed to make it work. I was also hoping for a connection to the first book's villain which again, might happen in a later book (especially since the characters have mentioned how confused they were by the reveal and I doubt Johnson would have reminded the reader of that if she didn't plan to use it later on) but nothing happened here. And that's my overall problem with this story, it feels like the stereotype of the middle book in a series or trilogy, not much happens until the very end (where something happens that will make everything easier/harder for the main characters in the next book) and lacks both the plot and character development that the first book had.
I was actually a bit less frustrated with the book before I, erm, laid out exactly why I was unhappy with it, but this was still a disappointing read none the less. I'm going to give it 2.5 out of 5 stars and hope that the third book, which I imagine will be out sometime next year, will be worth it.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Book Review: The Name of the Star
Despite the fact that I follow Maureen Johnson on twitter (and really love her twitter) I haven't read that many of her books. I've read Suite Scarlet (which I didn't really like) and then the two Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes books (which I did) so initially I was only a bit curious about her new series. But then her publisher kindly put up over 50 pages as a preview and I was hooked. Sadly the book came out over the holiday season last year so I couldn't buy it (and I haven't been this tempted to blind-buy a book where I haven't read any other volumes in the series in a long time) but thankfully it showed up at my local library this summer and I was able to finally read the rest of it.
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
A nice cover which, for the hardcover, also has an interesting texture to it (and I mean that in the most literal way possible, it's not quite raised but it has a very slightly more bumpy feeling to it than most covers do). There's something about the colors that feels just a little off to me but it's a good, fairly unique looking image which combined with a title that has no immediate connection to the image (Jack the Ripper fans will probably spot it right away however) and it's a good, grabbing cover.
Summary: Rory is excited to spend her senior year of high school in London not because her hometown in Lousiana is boring but because London is different and exciting. Really exciting as it turns out since someone is going around and imitating Jack the Ripper and Rory's school is right smack in the middle of all the old crime scenes. And nobody has a clue how these crimes are being pulled off even when they have the CCTV footage right in front of them, it's almost like the ghost of Jack the Ripper itself has come back.....
The Good: One thing that I liked a lot about Thirteen Little Blue Envelops was how the characters were realistically weird with a quirkiness that I don't often find in fiction but find a lot in real life. Johnson has once again nailed this, Rory feels like a completely believable character and so do the others, their interactions and relationships also feel perfectly natural for high schoolers. On the flip side of things, I like how the supernatural was integrated into the story and felt like just enough was explained for a first book in a series and in-series that the characters explained everything they already knew. I'm really curious to see where the series goes next, some of the events in the ending went quite differently than I expected, maybe this time I'll be able to buy it right when it comes out!
The Bad: There wasn't much I disliked about the book actually, I felt like some of the side characters dropped out around two-thirds of the way through but since this is a series there's a good chance they'll come back later so I can't complain. I am also a little worried/curious about what the plot of the next two books will revolve around since, if you were to cut out one scene, the story would be entirely self-contained. But even that isn't a really bad thing, or at least it's something that's a bit silly to be worried about at this point.
If I had gotten a chance to read this book back in 2011 it almost certainly would have been on my favorite books of the year list, 2011 was actually a really good year for me when it came to YA books. Come to think of it, there haven't been many books at all that did/will come out in 2012 that I was/am excited for (only three or four I think) and while I have read a few books from this year already I haven't been grabbed as strongly by them either, perhaps that's why I've been reading more adult fiction that usual this year.....
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
A nice cover which, for the hardcover, also has an interesting texture to it (and I mean that in the most literal way possible, it's not quite raised but it has a very slightly more bumpy feeling to it than most covers do). There's something about the colors that feels just a little off to me but it's a good, fairly unique looking image which combined with a title that has no immediate connection to the image (Jack the Ripper fans will probably spot it right away however) and it's a good, grabbing cover.
Summary: Rory is excited to spend her senior year of high school in London not because her hometown in Lousiana is boring but because London is different and exciting. Really exciting as it turns out since someone is going around and imitating Jack the Ripper and Rory's school is right smack in the middle of all the old crime scenes. And nobody has a clue how these crimes are being pulled off even when they have the CCTV footage right in front of them, it's almost like the ghost of Jack the Ripper itself has come back.....
The Good: One thing that I liked a lot about Thirteen Little Blue Envelops was how the characters were realistically weird with a quirkiness that I don't often find in fiction but find a lot in real life. Johnson has once again nailed this, Rory feels like a completely believable character and so do the others, their interactions and relationships also feel perfectly natural for high schoolers. On the flip side of things, I like how the supernatural was integrated into the story and felt like just enough was explained for a first book in a series and in-series that the characters explained everything they already knew. I'm really curious to see where the series goes next, some of the events in the ending went quite differently than I expected, maybe this time I'll be able to buy it right when it comes out!
The Bad: There wasn't much I disliked about the book actually, I felt like some of the side characters dropped out around two-thirds of the way through but since this is a series there's a good chance they'll come back later so I can't complain. I am also a little worried/curious about what the plot of the next two books will revolve around since, if you were to cut out one scene, the story would be entirely self-contained. But even that isn't a really bad thing, or at least it's something that's a bit silly to be worried about at this point.
If I had gotten a chance to read this book back in 2011 it almost certainly would have been on my favorite books of the year list, 2011 was actually a really good year for me when it came to YA books. Come to think of it, there haven't been many books at all that did/will come out in 2012 that I was/am excited for (only three or four I think) and while I have read a few books from this year already I haven't been grabbed as strongly by them either, perhaps that's why I've been reading more adult fiction that usual this year.....
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Book Review: Zombies vs Unicorns
Considering my overall impression of the Mars anthology was only lukewarm at best it may seem a bit odd that I decided to read another anthology immediately afterwords, the only explanation I can offer is that I'd been meaning to read this book for years (I followed Justine's blog back when she was still able to update and might have been around for the original blog post). So, knowing full well that just because an anthology is hyped well and has a lot of authors in it that I like doesn't mean that it's going to be good (I'm looking at you Geektastic) I decided to give this one a shot anyway.
Zombies vs Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
I'm curious how the paperback cover works since the hardcover book here has the black dust jacket with cut-outs of a zombie and a unicorn which can be removed to show a mural of unicorns and zombies fighting each other printed onto the book cover itself. I think the dust jacket idea is clever although I'm not that fond of the art style used for the images themselves, it's a neat idea regardless however.
Summary: Originating from a debate in the comments of author Justin
Larbalestier's blog, she and Holly Black head up this anthology which
compare zombies and unicorns with 12 stories from well known young adult
authors who try to prove why their side is better.
The Good: I was quite pleasantly surprised to see that not
every story in the anthology involved romance, I simply like a break from it
sometimes, and that there were two LGTB romances in the anthology as well
(oddly enough both zombies, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Alaya Dawn Johnson and "Inoculata" by Scott Westerfeld), a very nice change of pace
overall. There are some stories in here which I’m confused if they were written
to be parodies (all unicorn stories, Meg Cabot’s "Princess Prettypants" and Naomi Novik's "Purity Test")*
but they ended up being so genuinely hilarious that in the end I ended up not
caring, I had fun reading them. Fun actually sums up a lot of the anthology,
given my bad track record with anthologies I really wasn’t expecting much out
of this one yet I enjoyed it and can see why so many other people have as well.
The Bad: I’m simply not a big fan of dystopias, for reasons that
deserve their own post someday, and since a number of the zombie stories were
set in dystopias I didn’t like them as much (which may sound harsh but as I’ve
said before, it’s not plot but setting that’s the most important part of a
story for me and that’s extra true with such stories like these). None of the
stories were bad however, there were just some not to my taste and only about half of them stuck in my mind only a month after I read them which speaks volumes on it's own.
Probably the best anthology I've tried in the past few years but since it had been at least six months between whatever my last anthology was an the Mars one that's not as grand a statement as it sounds. Not sure if I would want a copy of my own for rereading but I'd certainly recommend this to many of my friends, it's a fun book with variety that I can see appealing to a lot of people.
*so
zombies do romance and unicorns do comedy? No wonder I like unicorns better
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Book Review: The Last Little Blue Envelope
I didn't have this book on the list of 2011 books I hoped to get around to reading in 2012 but that was because I had forgotten that Maureen Johnson had put out two books last year, not just The Name of the Star. Actually, I was also a bit surprised that this book exists, it's a sequel to one of her earlier works, Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, which I thought stood perfectly fine on it's own and didn't see why it needed a sequel. In the original, Ginny Blackstone has received a package of letters from her dead aunt encouraging her to go on a crazy journey all across Europe, grows as a person, discovers more about her aunt (who had been rather eccentric and hadn't been in her life a lot the last few years) and eventually comes across her aunt's hidden collection of paintings and auctions them off. In the process however the last of the thirteen envelops is stolen along with Ginny's backpack and she's resigned herself that she'll never see the real thing, even though she figured out what the contents must've been. It's one of my favorite realistic fiction YA books because it's rather whacky, and who wants to read boring realistic fiction, so even though I was rather confused why it needed a sequel I was completely up for more crazy adventures.
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
I'm not particularly fond of this cover for no real reason (well, it's pretty clear to me that the title was added onto the envelope in post-production which bothers me) but it works. Maybe I just don't like all of the pinks, reds, and blues together, the colors seem to clash a bit.
Summary: Ginny Blackstone's adventurous summer is long gone and, as she's racking her brains trying to come up with a way to fit it into her college application essays, she gets an email from someone who has found her missing envelope and tracked her down. There's a catch however, the boy who found her envelope (Oliver) won't simply give it to her but insists on accompanying her as she follows the final instructions in yet another jaunt across Europe. Ginny's kinda-boyfriend from the first adventure, Keith, and his sorta-girlfriend as they all get involved in various hi-jinks.
The Good: The tone that I liked so much in the first book returns here and Ginny's adventures manage to oddly feel more realistic because of it's weirdness. The main events are certainly stuff that would only happen in a novel (breaking into a restaurant to steal a table? sure!) but I really did love a lot of the little moments, like when all four characters and said table are all trying to fit in a small car. I know that my life has plenty of quirky little moments in it so for me these two books feel a lot more realistic and like my life than most of the realistic fiction out there and it's a nice feeling. I also liked how Ginny progressed here, she's regressed a little bit from the end of the previous book (which is to be expected after she went back to her ordinary life for four months) so it was nice to see her grow back into herself and see that she finally gets some closure about her aunt's death. Really that was my favorite part, seeing her get that closure that she always wanted in the first book and didn't quite bit and letting that help her move forward in life.
The Bad: A small nit-pick, Ginny is applying for colleges in late December/early January (assuming she really did wait until her adventure was over to finish writing her essays) which seemed really late for the US*. As for bigger nit-picks, I understood why Keith was in the story again (Ginny has a history with him and that subplot is unresolved) but he just didn't add anything to the story. His girlfriend for me added much more, even though she seemed a bit extraneous, and Oliver's story felt rather unfinished. It's a short book, just under 300 pages, but I thought for someone who is so important to the story that Oliver would really get more development and in the end all there is is a bit of an awkward relationship. I was also sad that Ginny's uncle Richard didn't get more page time but since he's in London and the story spends over half of it's time not in London that's fairly understandable.
So I liked the tone of the book, really liked Ginny, and thought that every other character came off as unneeded which is odd since without these other characters the story wouldn't have happened in the first place. In the end the book was alright but I really need to reread the first book now to see if Keith really wasn't as nice as I remember or if his apparently personality change happened between the two books.
*in the US you generally apply in October for early admission, where you hear back in late January, and then by late November/mid-December for regular admissions (where you would hear back in the spring). I suppose applications might be open until December 31st but I recall doing mine a few years ago much earlier and with how studious Ginny is set up to be that bugged me.
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
Summary: Ginny Blackstone's adventurous summer is long gone and, as she's racking her brains trying to come up with a way to fit it into her college application essays, she gets an email from someone who has found her missing envelope and tracked her down. There's a catch however, the boy who found her envelope (Oliver) won't simply give it to her but insists on accompanying her as she follows the final instructions in yet another jaunt across Europe. Ginny's kinda-boyfriend from the first adventure, Keith, and his sorta-girlfriend as they all get involved in various hi-jinks.
The Good: The tone that I liked so much in the first book returns here and Ginny's adventures manage to oddly feel more realistic because of it's weirdness. The main events are certainly stuff that would only happen in a novel (breaking into a restaurant to steal a table? sure!) but I really did love a lot of the little moments, like when all four characters and said table are all trying to fit in a small car. I know that my life has plenty of quirky little moments in it so for me these two books feel a lot more realistic and like my life than most of the realistic fiction out there and it's a nice feeling. I also liked how Ginny progressed here, she's regressed a little bit from the end of the previous book (which is to be expected after she went back to her ordinary life for four months) so it was nice to see her grow back into herself and see that she finally gets some closure about her aunt's death. Really that was my favorite part, seeing her get that closure that she always wanted in the first book and didn't quite bit and letting that help her move forward in life.
The Bad: A small nit-pick, Ginny is applying for colleges in late December/early January (assuming she really did wait until her adventure was over to finish writing her essays) which seemed really late for the US*. As for bigger nit-picks, I understood why Keith was in the story again (Ginny has a history with him and that subplot is unresolved) but he just didn't add anything to the story. His girlfriend for me added much more, even though she seemed a bit extraneous, and Oliver's story felt rather unfinished. It's a short book, just under 300 pages, but I thought for someone who is so important to the story that Oliver would really get more development and in the end all there is is a bit of an awkward relationship. I was also sad that Ginny's uncle Richard didn't get more page time but since he's in London and the story spends over half of it's time not in London that's fairly understandable.
So I liked the tone of the book, really liked Ginny, and thought that every other character came off as unneeded which is odd since without these other characters the story wouldn't have happened in the first place. In the end the book was alright but I really need to reread the first book now to see if Keith really wasn't as nice as I remember or if his apparently personality change happened between the two books.
*in the US you generally apply in October for early admission, where you hear back in late January, and then by late November/mid-December for regular admissions (where you would hear back in the spring). I suppose applications might be open until December 31st but I recall doing mine a few years ago much earlier and with how studious Ginny is set up to be that bugged me.
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