I’m not completely back from my hiatus yet but I wanted to get some things done and these reviews were burning under my nails. Have a great day, peas!
The game with no name by L.G. Cunningham
Izzy Miller has grown out of ‘family-game-night’. As a mature and sporty twelve-year-old, playing boring board games with her family is not her idea of a good time. But when her brainiac twin, Noah, discovers an ancient board game and casts the dice, he unknowingly sets off a chain of events that freezes time and leaves the twins with a frightening choice – play or never see your family again. To make it across the board, the Miller twins must face life-threatening (and yet eerily familiar) tasks involving a sweltering jungle swamp, a battleship at sea and a castle with a mystery murderer on the loose.
As a kid “Jumanji” was one of my favourite movies. It still is if I’m being honest. Reading a book that follows a similar premise like the movie, was a no-brainer for me. The overall idea was pretty good. I liked the idea of the different board games and the challenges. I’m afraid that’s where my fascination with this book ends though. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really make myself root for the characters at all. I found them inconsistent and unlikeable, mostly Izzy who changed her tone and opinion so rapidly that it gave me whiplash. Furthermore, the dialogues seemed clunky and strained to me which kept tripping me up while reading. I really wish I could have liked the book more, because the idea and the sibling relationship surely had a lot of potential but unfortunately, as it was, the book was not for me.
Crisanta Knight by Geanna Culbertson
I was going to be a great protagonist. At least that’s what my mom, Cinderella, kept telling me. I, however, had my doubts. Unlike most main characters at Lady Agnue’s School for Princesses & Other Female Protagonists, I was opinionated, bold, and headstrong. Moreover, for a princess, I had a lot of issues. I’m talking vicious nightmares about people I’ve never met, a total stalker prince, and a Fairy Godmother for an enemy. But I digress. Because here’s the thing about living in an enchanted realm of fairytale characters, crazy junk you never planned on happens all the time. One minute you could be practicing fainting exercises in Damsels in Distress class, sword fighting in a field, or flying on a Pegasus, and the next, BAM! Your book has begun and you’re saddled with a prophecy that changes everything. I still don’t know if I will be a great protagonist one day. But I know one thing about my fate, for certain. Despite what The Author and the antagonists have in store for me, whatever it costs. . .I’ll be the one taking charge of my own story.
I feel like the book and I came off to a wrong start. I was approached by to author asking me if I would review her book, I read the premise and thought this would be a fast and fun read that I could read over a weekend. It wasn’t. I took far longer to get into this book than anticipated which squashed my morale a bit. Starting the book, I was confused about all the concepts and I felt a little overwhelmed with the motives. It took me about half the book until I warmed up to Crisa, the protagonist. In a way, I’m surprised that I stuck with it that long. I did like the idea and the motive of choosing your own fate though. If you have enough patience and like opinionated, headstrong protagonists that are out to take charge of their own life, this might be for you. I, myself, am not sure if I would continue the series.
Memento by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufmann
Memento is a prequel digital novella and #0.5 of the Illuminae files that gives readers a hair-raising glimpse into the calamity that befell the invincible AI system known as AIDAN–and the daring young programmer who would risk her life to keep it from crashing. AIDAN is the AI you’ll love to hate. The advanced AI system was supposed to protect a fleet of survivors who’d escaped the deadly attack on Kerenza IV. AIDAN was supposed to be infallible. But in the chaotic weeks and months that followed, it became clear that something was terribly, terribly wrong with AIDAN…
Well this f***ed me up at 8 in the morning. Looks like Kristoff and Kaufman did it again.
I loved the little Prequel to Illuminae and it filled me with the same wonder and dread as the other books. It’s great to have some insight in what Aidan did before Kady and the others came on board.
Even though this novella is not even 100 pages long, it still has fully-fleshed out characters that seem real and likable and of course our favourite murderous AI.
Great read and exactly what I needed this morning.
Oooh The game with no name seems incredible !
I wish I could share your enthusiasm but unfortunately I didn’t like it much. But it’s on Netgalley if you wanna give it a try. 🙂
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