THE DEATH CURE by James Dashner

From Goodreads:
Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test. What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says. The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.Will anyone survive the Death Cure?






* CONTAINS SPOILERS *


I quite enjoyed the end to this trilogy, and thought it took some very interesting, and somewhat unexpected, twists. There was certainly more depth to the characters in this novel, and it was definitely more emotional.


While I thought the idea of the ending was good, I did feel let down that we never really found anything out. I was disappointed that Thomas did not ever get his pre-Glade memories back, I would have liked to know what his role in WICKED really was, and more about his relationship with Theresa. And, I found the "last goodbye" with Theresa to be too short and left too much unresolved.


I also thought that the whole Right Arm section should have been more in-depth. There was a lot of really great opportunity there that wasn't explored at all. And what about the Chancellor? She seemed to be an important character, and yet she had - literally - no dialogue in the book. Why did Thomas never get to meet her? How did Brenda know her? How did she orchestrate it all?


In fact, I think this book could have been 100 pages or so longer, if everything had been fully explained and explored.

I do think that it was a good idea for there to be somewhat of an uplifting ending (although I did find that it went too quickly from the final battle to the very end), since SO MANY characters died. I thought the cyclic nature of the storyline in this one was interesting. I also enjoyed the re-emergence of some of the "lost" characters (I'm looking at you, Gally), and the friction between Jensen and Thomas was very well done. And the progression of Newt's character was excellent, he hadn't really been one of my favourite characters until this book.


All in all, I did enjoy it, but was left a bit "wanting" for more. My rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

From Goodreads:
"Opens at Nightfall; Closes at Dawn." The Le Cirque des Rêves is a circus unlike any other, just as this magical debut novel is equally unique. At the center of The Night Circus spectacle are two specially gifted young magicians, Celia and Marco, pitted against each other in professional competition, drawn towards one another in love. Erin Morgenstern's literary fantasy has already drawn raves for its captivating evocativeness: "A world of almost unbearable beauty.... A love story on a grand scale: it creates, it destroys, it ultimately transcends." "A novel so magical that there is no escaping its spell... If you choose to read just one novel this year, this is it."

Well.... huh. I'm slightly conflicted about this one. I'd heard so many good things about The Night Circus, and I was SOOOO excited to buy it when it was released. However, I'm just not sure it lived up to the hype.

In some ways, I really enjoyed it. In other ways, I felt like I was forcing myself to finish. I found the endless, long descriptions of circus tents less enjoyable, but I very much liked the parts where the characters were interacting. The storyline and the characters themselves were intriguing and entertaining, and I especially enjoyed the chapters about Poppet and Widget (twins born to circus employees on the opening night of the circus - secondary characters, for sure, but there's just "something" about them).

However, the "battle" between Celia and Marco was severely lacking in substance. There wasn't actually any competition to speak of! It was more a series of "I can do better than you" that eventually turned into a talent competition wherein the characters attempt to impress each other.

I found the jumping timeline to be slightly confusing, which was likely exacerbated by the fact that I read it on my Kobo - so while the chapter title said "1902" I sometimes forgot by 1/2 way through the chapter where we were in time. And, really, for a "period" novel, there was little-to-no description regarding the period! If it weren't for the occasional mention of long dresses, corsets and bowler hats, the novel could have been set in 2011.

I was also slightly thrown off that the narrative was written in third-person present tense. It detracted from my connection to the characters.

I think that people who enjoy books that are flowery and descriptive will be fans of this book. However, I also think that I need a bit more action, and less scenery.

But, I didn't DISLIKE the book. I just wouldn't necessarily recommend it, and I was quite disappointed that it wasn't anywhere near as good as I hoped it would be. I did TRY to love the book, I just didn't succeed.

All in all, I'm sad to say.... my rating of The Night Circus is 2/5 stars.

The First Post

So, yeah. I had a horrendous week at work, to the point that I seriously considered quitting and getting a job at Chapters.... But, instead, I decided to start a book blog. I have NO idea what I'm doing, and probably no one will ever read it, haha. Maybe if anyone comes across this in the next couple days, you could maybe give me some hints or direction or something. That would be great :)