Book Monster

When I first saw this book, I thought it’s a fairytale retelling of Snow White. However, it’s not a fairytale retelling at all. I’m not really into crime and detective books, but I was intrigued by the premise of this book and I expected it to be good. And it turned out to be awesome. It was action-packed, intense, thrilling and I read it in two sittings. Once when I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down. Why did I think this was a Snow White retelling? Because this trilogy is also known as Snow White trilogy. Why is it called Snow White trilogywhen it’s not a retelling of Snow White? Because the main character is called Lumikki, which in Finish means Snow White. The fun thing is, she doesn’t look like Snow White at all. Isn’t that cool?

I absolutely loved the plot in this book. It kept me at the edge of my seat and I just wanted to find out what was going to happen next. I loved these different POVs because we got to see both Lumikki and the ”bad guys”, but it didn’t really spoil anything and it was done very well. It just managed to confuse me even more and I kept flipping pages to see what happens at the end. And except the main mystery about the money and crime, we also find out that something happened Lumikki in the past, but we don’t know what exactly. It’s definitely something dark and unpleasant, but we get to see only snippets from her ”old” life which only made me more curious and I really want to find out what is it that made her who she is. I think it’s really cool how past and present intertwine throughout the whole book and even though one mystery is solved at the end, there are so many more questions left unanswered and it makes me want to pick up the second book immediately.

I really liked Lumikki. She was fantastic protagonist and this book was so awesome mostly because of her. She was very unique and very different from any other female character I’ve ever read about. She was strong, determined and even though she went through a lot, she stayed cold-headed and brave. All these little details we find out about her through the book were just building one on top of another until we could picture her character and what she may have been through. I could also relate to her and I found out that we are very simmilar in some ways, but completely different in others.
Elisa was my second favourite character. At the beginning she seemed like another shallow popular pretty girl, but toward the end of the book, she went through huge character development and I ended up really liking her. She practically grew up in these five days when book takes place.

Terho was probably my least favourite character and he wasn’t even the biggest criminal and bad guy out of all of them. I just hated the guy. He was selfish, stupid but tried to be presented as a good guy who found himself in something bad. Well, I don’t buy it. It was his decision and he should’ve think about concequences before. Idiot.

I actually didn’t like the writting style very much. I found it a bit amateur and not very special, but it’s a possibility that this is because of translation (the book is originally written in Finish, then translated to English, and then my copy also from English to Croatian) so I wouldn’t be surprised if the writing style got lost in the process. However, I didn’t care much about that because the plot itself was interesting enough. There were some beautiful quotes as well, and this book had some awesome creepy atmosphere. I could easily get into it and finish it in no time.

I would definitely recommend this book to you if you haven’t read it yet. I know that I’ll be reading the next book very soon because I need answers!

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years. Literally. It’s in my possesion since 2006. I thought it was about time for me to finally read it. I didn’t expect much, so I was not disappointed. The whole idea is actually quite interesting and I found myself really liking the world of Minimoys. Although, it could’ve been executed a bit better. The world building itself was not very neat and I kept wondering about stuff that were quickly mentioned, but never actually explained.

At the beginning everything starts slow and I was struggling to continue on. Only halfway through the book Arthur actually gets into the world of Minimoys and from that point plot is so fast paced and just crazy. It was all a bit predictable and obvious, but since this is a children’s book, I couldn’t really expect some huge plot twists. There were few exciting scenes which made the whole adventure interesting, but nothing really big and interesting actually happened throughout the whole book. The cliffhanger at the end, however, was very good and it makes you want to read the sequel because at the end of this one, you basically know nothing except that shit’s gonna go down in the next book.

I did not like any of the characters. At all. Arthur was way too perfect and I didn’t buy all this hero and a golden kid presentation. I found him annoying and stupid at times. Yeah, I know, he’s just a kid, but he’s not a very bright kid. I couldn’t connect with him and I couldn’t make myself to like him. Nope. I also didn’t like Selenia. She was portrayed as a total bitch and I really don’t see why Arthur though she was so special. She was arrogant, mean and very annoying. At the beginning, I was actually starting to like her because she was a badass, but later it all became only annoying and she really had no reason to act like that. Beta was the only character I kind of liked. Kind of. I found him incredibly cute and I felt sorry for him when everyone else were looking down on him. That was so unfair. However, later in the book he also became a bit annoying. Not like other two main characters, but still annoying. Also, relationships between characters were way too unbelievable and strange. I did not buy this Selenia/Arthur romance. First, they are supposed to be the same age, but Selenia is portrayed much more mature than Arthur. While reading, I had a feeling like Selenia is 16 or something, and Arthur 10, even though they are both 10 or so. Weird and unrealistic. I would rather say that Beta and Arthur were the same age.

The writing style was very… interesting. It felt more like reading a screenplay rather than a book. Which is understandable since Luc Besson is actually a movie director, and not a writer. It was very movie-like, and I guess that’s one of the reasons why this book was so fast paced. The narrative was nice and neat, but action packed scenes happened way too fast and it all became confusing at times. And one thing that really bothered me was that in one line we follow Arthur’s grandma in the living room, and then, without space or any other separation, we follow Arthur in the attic in second line. Then few lines later, we’re with grandma again. I got so confused, because this is what they do in movies, but this tehnique doesn’t work well in books.

So in my opinion, Luc Besson should stick to directing and leave writing books for someone else. I’m not saying this was bad, I still had a lot of fun reading this book, but it could’ve been done way better. I would recommend this book only to very young readers, because everyone who has some reading experience is going to notice all the flaws. But it’s still enjoyable.

The sequel was even better than the first book, and I believe thatThe Titan’s Curse is going to be even better than the first two. I love the world and all the characters, but my favourite aspect of this book (and the entire series) are all those myths and stories from Greek mythology which are wrapped up in the story and the plotline so nicely and on such a fun way that I couldn’t stop smiling while reading this book. Percy Jackson has a special place in my heart and it’s on a good way to become my favourite middle-grade series of all time (yeah, it’s a great competition to Harry Potter).

The plot was even more exciting than in the first book, there were a lot more monsters and different myths which I loved so much. I loved the action and how Percy kept getting in trouble before he even got rid of the previous one. There were a lot of unexpected plot twists from the beginning so when I once started reading, I just couldn’t put the book down (which also made my mum crazy because I was supposed to help her with the housework, but whatever). In The Sea of Monsters the real problems start to show and this book sets foundation for problems in next books. Also, the huge cliffhanger this book ends on is just so exciting that it makes me want to pick up the third book, The Titan’s Curse, right away.

Characters are still amazing and I still love them all. Percy is still sassy and awesome, Grover is still fun and cool, Annabeth is still smart and kick-ass, Luke is still a jerk. But we also meet some new characters, who are super-interesting. Tyson was an amazing character and I really love him a lot. Also, his relationship with Percy is great, it almost made me teary-eyed at times. Tantalus was such an annoying character, I just wanted to punch him every time he spoke. Gods, that guy frustrated me so much. Clarisse went through huge character development in this book and I actually started to like her, and I hope this would continue in the next book as well. As I said, all the characters are fantastic and so well done, I just want to hug them all and never let go. They definitely have a special place in my heart.

Rick Riordan managed to make a fun, interesting world full of possibilities and he knows it so he definitely uses all those possibilities. I absolutely love his writing style, it fun and easy to read, but also intense and action-packed. And, of course, very emotional at times. If I ever need a pick-me-up book, I know that I’ll be picking up Percy Jackson because these books can always make me smile and that’s what makes a good book, right? Another thing that made me smile were these extra pages at the end of the book where is a short description of all important Gods and monsters that appeared in this book. So cool, I laughed so hard at that.

If you haven’t read these books yet, I definitley recommend them to you because these are just awesome, if you didn’t get that from my review by now. It doesn’t matter how old you are, I assure you that anyone can enjoy these books.

I expected a lot from this book, so I ended up a bit disappointed. When I first heard about this book from Catriona (Little Book Owlon Youtube), it sounded like an interesting read so I decided to give it a try. When I read the first chapter I was really intrigued and I was sure that this book was going to be fantastic. But then, a second chapter came and I didn’t like it. The same happened with next chapters. It all just became weird (I usually like weird, but this was too much for me) and I didn’t enjoy it at all. The idea itself was very good and I understand the message this book is sending, but I don’t think the book was done very well.

There was no some particular plot, just a bunch of random descriptions of situations that had nothing to do with each other. Yeah, I understand that it was because the narrator has mental illness so he’s not very reliable, but again, it didn’t work. (For example, in The Shock of the Fall, the narrator also has mental illness and the plot was confusing as well, but there it was done properly and it all worked in the end.) There were, however, some interesting parts which kept my attention, especially at the end when we find out that huge plot twist (which I knew from the beginning because I was accidentally spoiled). It feels like Chuch Palahniuk knew that he wants this big plot twist at the end, but he didn’t knew how to make a story about it. Because twist itself was fantastic and it would also be mind blowing if it was done a bit better.

I didn’t like any of the characters in this book, either. Except for Marla, maybe. The narrator, whose name we don’t know, but at the back of the book (on my copy) the author says that main character’s name is Jack, is so annoying and I couldn’t connect with him at all. Tyler was a bit more interesting, but I still didn’t like him. I didn’t like how the narrator (Jack) was basically opsessed with Tyler (there is a reason for it, though, but still…) and how weird their relationship was. Yeah, it was interesting on some level, but only at times. Marla Singer was an interesting character, and probably the most likeable one, but I still can’t say that I really liked her. One thing I don’t get about her is why she stayed with Jack/Tyler the whole time. I mean, the romance was so not there and it was all just unbelieveable to me.

As you probably noticed by now, I’m not a big fan of Chuch Palahniuk‘s writing style. I find it really confusing and weird, but interesting at times. The message of this book is clear and that’s the main reason why this book got three stars and not less. I can see what the author was trying to do with this book, but I don’t think he succeeded. I don’t think I’ll be picking up another of his books in near future, but never say never.

Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend this book to you, but since there are a lot of people out there who love Chuck Palahniuk and this book, I’m not saying you shouldn’t read this book. Definitely give it a try, you may even like. Just because I didn’t enjoy it, it doesn’t mean someone else won’t. We all have different tastes.