JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier

 

Sierra has a despised and forbidden gift — she raises power from the suffering of others. Enslaved by the King’s Torturer, Sierra escapes, barely keeping ahead of Rasten, the man sent to hunt her down. Then she falls in with dangerous company: the fugitive Prince Cammarian and his crippled foster-brother, Isidro.

But Rasten is not the only enemy hunting them in the frozen north and as Sierra’s new allies struggle to identify friend from foe, Rasten approaches her with a plan to kill the master they both abhor. Sierra is forced to decide what price she is willing to pay for her freedom and her life …

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel, which is the first in a fantasy series titled Children of the Black Sun. Spurrier has perfected the art of illustrating a fantasy world without killing 100 trees to do it. The reader is immersed in this cold, depressing, unrelenting world from page one, and although I was a little confused at first and would’ve like a little more explanation, the rest of the book helped the background unfold.

The characterisation and mood are the strengths of this novel, with the main characters (Sierra, Isidro, and Cam) seeming like heroes and villains at the same time. I’d recommend this book for anyone who loves Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. This book would do well with a younger (but mature) audience, although readers be warned that there’s quite graphic torture detailed in this text.

Spurrier paints the cold, bleak world with ease. I felt chills when reading the book, and the characters’ experiences with the unrelenting winter reminded me of north of the wall in Game of Thrones.

My Score: 9/10

Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe

I feel obliged to adore all classic books simply because they’re classics, and although that statement works well for Perfume or Lord of the Rings, I didn’t love Robinson Crusoe as much as I would have liked. Perhaps it was because Crusoe, who survives a shipwreck and is stranded on an island for 28 years, isn’t actually stranded until 1/3 of the way through the novel. Or perhaps it’s because Defoe goes into such great detail about Crusoe’s time on the deserted island that it made me a little sleepy.

Crusoe spends 28 years building his own fortress on the island (mostly from things he salvaged from his destroyed ship) by taming animals, gathering food, and learning to hunt. Although detail is needed for the reader to envision Crusoe’s predicament, I often skimmed certain sections of a page because I didn’t feel like reading another explanation of how Crusoe grew his crops and organised them.

I must applaud Defoe on his ability to skip ahead of time without jolting the reader. Much like how Suskind’s Perfume jumped ahead seven years, Defoe is able to skip a couple of years in one line of prose, and the reader rolls with it. But then again, after reading the ’28 years’ in the blurb, the reader is probably aware that some sections of the book are going to skip ahead a few years.

My Score: 7/10

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

I should really review Divergent and The Hunger Games in the same post, because of all the similarities. They’re both dystopian, and the main character in both novels is a feisty female who must learn to survive in an environment full of people trying to kill her.

I read Divergent on a plane from Sydney to Brisbane. I bought it just to read at the start and end of the plane trip when you’re not allowed to listen to music because you have to “switch off all electronic devices”. I ended up reading it the entire trip and then finishing it when I got home.

The premise is at first confusing: futuristic, post-apocalyptic Chicago is separated into different factions (similar to the districts in The Hunger Games). These factions are Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Erudite, and Dauntless. Beatrice Prior grew up in Abnegation, the faction known for being selfless. However, in the year she turns 16, she – and all the other 16 year olds in Chicago – can choose if they want to change. Beatrice changes to Dauntless, and becomes Tris.

She is thrust into a violent faction filled with deceit, lies, murder, and brutality. She is trained to be a fighter and defender of the city, and those who fall behind from the group are cast aside and deemed factionless.

The novel has an intriguing premise, but the first fourth of the novel is a little confusing and Roth doesn’t quite explain the setting well enough for the reader to picture it. The main character is refreshingly feisty and learns how to survive. The book has a strong romantic element that I think is missing from The Hunger Games. Tris is independent and relatable, and Roth’s writing is strong. The pace moves quickly and she’s created three dimensional characters.

My Score: 8/10

 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I always know when I’m reading a brilliant book because it influences my mood, and Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl made me feel frustrated and angry for the 48 hours that I was reading it.

The novel is about Nick’s wife, Amy, who goes missing on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary. The first third of the novel functions like any crime/thriller. Someone goes missing (presumed dead), and the first suspect is questioned (usually the husband). But when you get to Part B (the second third of the novel), you’re inundated with twists and horrible acknowledgements from both characters. Part C adds to the suspense in a ‘how will this novel end?’ kind of way. I can’t say much without ruining those twists, so I’ll keep my review vague.

You realise quite quickly that this novel is not like most crime/thriller novels. The characters have depth, and their motivations and background is explained well. Flynn switches point of view between Nick and Amy (this seems like a spoiler, but Amy’s point of view is from the past in the form of diary entries), and the transition is handled quite smoothly. Flynn has established their voices really well, and they don’t intertwine and ever feel like similar characters.

The only downside to the novel is that neither character seems relatable. Nick is a cheater (sorry for the slight spoiler, but you learn this pretty early on), and Amy is a manipulative bitch (excuse the language). It’s hard to know which character you like more, because I felt like I didn’t really like either character. Still, I wanted to know what happened to Amy. And Gillian knows how to write a great thriller.

My Score: 9/10

The Fictional Woman by Tara Moss

I’m one of those people who doubted Tara’s ability to write because she’s spent so many years not trying to be a writer. Perhaps I thought that great writers are those who have always wanted to write, or tried to write. Many doubted the quality of Tara’s crime novels because she spent her adolescence as an international model. I haven’t read any of her crime novels – mostly because of this doubt – and was therefore the perfect person to read ‘The Fictional Woman’.

Tara squashes those who don’t believe she can write. The book is well-written and Tara comes across as honest, compassionate, and very self-assured. She talks about some very sensitive topics in a respectful way. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of Tara’s life, and the book could probably be read in a different order and still make sense. In each chapter, Tara weaves in personal stories, anecdotes, and facts to argue a certain side of her that she feels she needs to reflect.

The pace, however, does slow down mid way through (around the chapter on the gender wars). For a few chapters, there are few personal stories and a lot of facts, and I felt myself losing interest. She did regain my interest for the final third of the novel, but by then, I was inundated with information and statistics. After a while, you become quite passive to the facts and statistics because there’s too many of them.

This non-fiction novel highlights Moss’ intelligence and awareness of women and their importance in society. The book becomes an insightful eye-opener for those who don’t realise how marginalised women can be in the home or in the workplace.

My Score: 8/10