In My Mailbox: One

I love this idea, and even though I don't get books every week, I'm still going to start it (: So! This week I got three new books.

Under The Dome by: Stephen King

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens — town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing — even murder — to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.

Bride Of Pendorric by: Victoria Holt

Favel Farrington meets Roc Pendorric on the idyllic Mediterranean island of Capri, where she was raised and lives with her father. Roc sweeps her off her feet, taking her from her home by an emerald sea to the ancient family home of the Pendorrics, in Cornwall. His sister and her family await them with open arms, welcoming young Favel. She is the much anticipated Bride of Pendorric, a name that amuses and flatters her.

The castle is beautiful in its way, but the atmosphere is foreboding. Roc’s twin nieces begin watching her carefully; even the stones in the courtyard seem to have eyes. On the walls hang portraits of two other Brides of Pendorric—one of them Roc’s mother—who died both young and tragically. Favel’s fear increases as Roc seems to be growing more and more distant. Has her courtship and marriage been just a deception?

Soon Favel can no longer dismiss as accidents the strange things happening to her. Someone is trying to kill her and she must confront the very real dangers that surround her.

Shutter Island by: Dennis Lehane

The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple-murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades—with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal countermoves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems.

Utopia by: Sir Thomas More

Oh, Utopia. I had to read this for history class. The book has a great premise, the main character listening to a traveler explain about his time spent in a place called Utopia, where everything is perfect. Everyone is happy, life is good and fair to everyone [aside from the slaves]. In the sixteenth century, it would've been the best place to live. Nowadays, a lot of things would have to be changed to make it desireable, but the term is still used quite openly.

I didn't hate this book, it had some great ideas, especially for being written centuries ago. I didn't love it, either. Mostly because the whole novel is like one big monologue. There isn't a lot of dialogue or plot, so it dragged in some parts.

This is a book I would recommend to anyone with an English or Philosophy major. It raises some good questions, the main one being that if you could live in a place like this, would you? Can a place like this exist? Things like that.

My rating: 5/10

New Awesome Contest!

So, there's another contest in our midst! Book Bound is hosting an awesome contest, where four winners could have the change to win twenty dollars worth of books from the The Book Depository

Check out all the information here to find out how you can enter!!

--Faith

The Angel Maker by: Stefan Brijs

Synopsis:

The village of Wolfheim is a quiet little place until the geneticist Dr. Victor Hoppe returns after an absence of nearly twenty years. The doctor brings with him his infant children—three identical boys all sharing a disturbing disfigurement. He keeps them hidden away until Charlotte, the woman who is hired to care for them, begins to suspect that the triplets—and the good doctor— aren't quite what they seem. As the villagers become increasingly suspicious, the story of Dr. Hoppe's past begins to unfold, and the shocking secrets that he has been keeping are revealed. A chilling story that explores the ethical limits of science and religion, The Angel Maker is a haunting tale in the tradition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein. Brought to life by internationally bestselling author Stefan Brijs, this eerie tale promises to get under readers' skin

[from barnesandnoble.com]

The Angel Maker was a book I just picked up at the library on a whim. I fell in love with the cover and when I read the back blurb, I knew I had to read it. I'm glad I did. The book, very subtlely written, was a great read.

It's broken up into three parts. The first part focuses on the children and Charlotte, the second on Victor and his past, and the third tied them both together. It's written in third person, which helps the reader get points of view from many characters, which turned out to be quite important for the story.

The basis of the story really depending on both science and religion, and how they intertwined. It raised a lot of questions to the characters and the readers, it really makes you think, which I love in books. It's a twist on the mad scientist, one that I really liked. I really liked the children, and how their names tie to the title of the novel. It's all very closely related, and you've got to read the whole story to get all those litte things to make sense.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes philisophical books, ones that make you think.

My rating: 8/10

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Go join now!

--Faith

Rosemary and Rue by: Seanan McGuire

Synopsis:

October "Toby" Daye, a changeling who is half human and half fae, has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Faerie world, retreating to a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world has other ideas...

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer.

[from barnesandnoble.com]

I first heard of this book from a blogger I enjoy, BookLoveAffair, who reviewed it a while ago. I quickly added the book to my list, and I'm not disappointed.

Rosemary and Rue is a strong debut novel, and I hope the rest of the series lives up to it. October "Toby" Daye is a strong character, because she's not a strong character. She's vulnerable, weak, and can't always take care of herself. But she's also got a lot of mental strength locked within herself.

The supporting characters are well written. I love Sylvester, Luna, Dare, Manuel, and Tybalt. They're all amazing characters, in my opinion. And the atmosphere that this world is built around is also well written. She combines the San Fran streets with the Faerie world really well, so it was very believable.

I loved the little sayings they had, such as "oak and ash", I thought it was a great touch.

One thing I didn't really understand, persay, is why her family turned her away after she turned up fourteen years later. I'd think they'd be glad she was alive, so I was a bit confused on that part. I hope we learn more about the decision on Cliff's and Gilly's part to turn October away.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how the plot was going to wrap up at first, because there are many major fights in this novel. Toby's always getting her ass kicked, and I wasn't sure how it was all going to work in the end because the novel wasn't really moving. She'd get in a fight, get hurt, be healed, get in another fight, get hurt again, heal, repeat. However, in the end, I understood why McGuire wrote it that way.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading the sequels, I'm sad the next novel doesn't come out until March! I'd definitely recommend this novel for all fans of UF.

My rating: 8/10

Dark Water by: Koji Suzuki

Anyone who has been following this blog knows that I adore Koji Suzuki. So, naturally, I picked up his short story collection from the library! Dark Water consists of seven stories, along with a prologue and epilogue. This review is going to be a bit different, I'm going to go through each short story and give my opinion on it.

Floating Water: This was a good short story. The Americanized movie of it sucks, I hated it. But it's much better written down. It's still not my favorite in the collection, but I do think it was suspenseful and I liked the gloomy atmoshpere.

Solitary Isle: This book was creepy. Downright weird. Which I love. However, I didn't really see what it had to do with the water aspect, aside from them being on an island. I also really couldn't get into the characters. In the end, it's a forgettable story.

The Hold: This was a really good story. I loved the premise of it, and I thought it was well written. The ending of this story is amazing. I thought it was a great twist, and that the character really deserved what came to him. One of my favorites of the collection.

Dream Cruise: This was a great, you get what's coming to you, story. Kind of creepy, kind of left the reader with some questions. I loved the image at the end, it was very dramatic and just in your face. This story would definitely make me rethink swimming in the ocean at night, where you can't see anything.

Adrift: I loved Adrift. I love the idea of a haunted ship, it's just always been one of my favorite ghost stories. A phantom ship looming through the fog. Another one of my favorites. The ending had a great twist, that I was definitely hoping would happen. Great story.

Watercolors: Watercolors was the weakest story of the bunch. I didn't really understand why it was in the story. It was written well, but I just don't think the plot was up to par with the others. Very much the odd story out.

Forest Under The Sea: All I could think of while reading this was the movie The Descent. In the end, I wasn't in love with this story, but I liked it. It wasn't so much the water aspect that scared me, it was being trapped in a cave. Very scary situation! I liked the ending and how it went twenty years ahead in time. Very cool aspect. The switch in perspectives was nice. Overall, it was a decent story.

Prologue and Epilogue: At first, I had no clue what the Prologue and Epilogue would have to do with the stories. And then, ended up being tied together with the ending story, which I thought was really cool, and very much a Koji Suzuki thing to do.

Overall: I liked the stories, and it's a must read for any Koji Suzuki fan. The Ring trilogy is far better, but I enjoyed Dark Water.

My rating: 6/10