#readingchallenge2016

Автор: Зорейда Кордова.

Книга: Labyrinth Lost.

Серия: Бруклинские ведьмы, #1.

Опубликована: 6 сентября 2016 года  by Sourcebooks Fire

Язык прочтения: Английский.

Жанры: Фэнтези, Young Adult.

Аннотация:

Алекс -- бруджа, самая сильная ведьма своего поколения... и она ненавидит магию. Во время празднования её Дня Смерти, Алекс накладывает на себя мощное заклятье, которое должно было лишить её магии. Но этого не происходит. Вместо этого исчезает вся её семья, она остается одна с Нова, бруджо, которому она не может доверять.

Единственный способ вернуть свою семью -- отправиться с Нова в Лос Лагос, на земли такие же тёмные, как Лимб, и такие же странные, как Страна Чудес.

Отзыв:

Итак, пора бы уже распрощаться с долгом прошлого года. Книгу читала для December Diversity Bingo, в категории “действие происходит не на западе” (не совсем подошла под данную категорию).

Алекс очень могущественная ведьма, но иметь свои силы ей совсем не хочется. В её семье все ведьмы, они готовятся у её Дню Смерти, который наступает в её шестнадцатилетие. Алекс читает то самое заклинание и всё идёт наперекосяк. Чтобы вернуть свою семью назад, Алекс необходимо отправится в Лос Лагос, а делать это можно только с Нова, который там уже был и знает про это место.

Сюжет. Интересно, но очень жаль, что “вливаться” в книгу мне было трудновато. Слишком медленное начало для меня и это очень большой минус. Но что касается самого развития сюжета, то было очень даже неплохо и все плот-твисты работали как надо. Отдельный плюс за включение в сюжет и объяснение латиноамериканской мифологии. 

Персонажи. Не скажу, что я почувствовала “связь” с ними, но мне определённо понравились Алекс и её подруга Риши. Что касается Нова, то... Сразу скажу: он очень мутный тип, но он может завоевать ваше доверие где-то к середине книги. Использование его как персонажа было довольно разумным для сюжета, хотя и предсказуемым.

Любовная линия есть, существует и даже представлена геометрическая фигура. НО! Любовный треугольник (хехе) здесь необычный для YA и идёт в пользу здоровых отношений. Не собираюсь спойлерить, но когда я читала, я знала, что будет такой оборот и была в команде этого пейринга. Что ещё клево, на протяжении всей книги Алекс понимает кто она есть и что она делает в этом мире, в помощь ей идут именно эти отношения в любовном треугольнике.

В итоге: хорошее использование латиноамериканской мифологии, интересный сюжет, но медленное “вливание” в книгу, отличные и сложные персонажи, хороший любовный треугольник. Если говорить о стиле письма, то он совершенно обычный.

68. The Circle - Dave Eggers 

Date completed: December 15, 2016

Genre: science fiction, dystopia, technology

In a nutshell: Mae aspires her dream to work at The Circle, the most powerful internet corporation in the world in this clever satire of our relationship with technology. 

Recommendation: Despite the fact that you’ll hate the protagonist and won’t understand the ending this book is incredible and gripping, so you should read it. 

Rating: 

Is this a satire? Is it how the author ACTUALLY sees our world? I don’t know, but this book is powerful and incredible. It’s soon to be a movie starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks too! I’m pretty excited for the adaptation. 

“You sit at a desk twelve hours a day and you have nothing to show for it except some numbers that won't exist or be remembered in a week. You're leaving no evidence you lived. There's no proof.”

From the help of her friend Annie, Mae has just landed a coveted job at The Circle: the biggest internet company in the world. Mae quickly learns that along with her role in customer service and keeping her “rating” above 95%, she is expected to attend many parties and events and to share everything she enjoys with others online. She quickly meets two men: Francis, a socially awkward tech support worker, and Kalden, a mysterious man whose position at The Circle is unknown. Mae stops spending every weekend with her parents and tries to lose contact from her ex-boyfriend Mercer, who is against technology and this world of no privacy, as she excels at The Circle and spends all her time at work. She anxiously awaits for encounters with Kalden, who seems to slip into and out of her life on whim. His behaviour is beginning to become erratic as he warns her of the dangers in this technological “utopia.” 

A lot of people gave this book low ratings and I understand why. Mae is probably the most disliked protagonist of all time. She is blind and follows orders at The Circle without question. She is mind-numbingly stupid and naive. She doesn’t stop at anything and her job performance takes precedence over everything. I believe this book is a satire on modern society and how everyone feels the need to share everything online. In fact... writing a book review on this subject online for all to see is it’s own satire. Why read all these books if you can’t boast about being well-read? If you didn’t post about your most recent read on Goodreads, did you actually read it? Who is posting about all your books benefiting? Clever Mr.Eggers, clever. 

The ending kind of sucks. But if you read the book, you’ll probably agree that any other ending would diminish the entire plot. It’s basically the opposite of 1984. 

Don’t look for any sort of character development in this book. Mae’s character does develop... but in the opposite direction. Annie is the over-achiever and Mae believes shes jealous of her, so their friendship suffers essentially because Mae is all high and mighty. Then you have Francis, who is extremely socially awkward in every way. I mean... he hides wine in a waterfall. Who does that? And Kalden... you have no idea what he’s thinking. And then there’s Bailey who is basically holier than though and your friendly neighbourhood Mr.Rogers that thinks you should reveal everything to everyone. 

It seems like I’m critiquing the book a lot, so why does it get a high rating from me? I couldn’t put the damn thing down. Every page just raised more questions and made me want to find out more... even though there was nothing more to really discover than was already known if that makes any sense. In a way the book got repetitious, but I couldn’t stop reading. It was like an addiction. It had me hooked. 

It kind of goes into your mind and makes you wonder what the purpose of technology really is. 

Here are my list of tops I read this year. All of my reviews aren’t finished yet, but I finished reading the books!

The ONE thing I said i was going to do this year was read 75 books, and I did just that. No, they were not all short, they varied in lengths and of all different genres. SO here is my list of my favourites of this year.

Top fiction: 10. We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson (A gothic classic written by the mother of the horror genre. "Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat. You'll poison me!") 9. The Circle - Dave Eggers (an internet corporation owns and controls EVERYTHING, and Mae, a new employee is honored to be a part of it but is warned of repercussions. Soon to be a movie starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks.) 8.Night Film - Marisha Pessl (a famous horror/cult film director's daughter commits suicide, but a journalist suspects foul play to uncover mysteries of her dark family) 7. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (Willy Wonka meets the Matrix as a teenager competes against everyone else in the OASIS, a video game that mirrors real life, in order to win the estate of the video game developer and all of his money.) 6. The Nest - Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (four siblings rival over money left to them in their father's trust fund in this story of a dysfunctional family.) 5. A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (A little boy must face his biggest fear, a monster outside his bedroom window, as his mother is victim to a terminal illness.) 4.The Kitchen House - Kathleen Grissom (A young orphan is taken in by the slaves of a tobacco plantation and raised in the kitchen house. This is a heart-breaking story of historical fiction, comparable to Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.) 3. The House We Grew Up In - Lisa Jewell (Siblings come together for their mother's funeral and delve into the family's past, filled with memories of their mother's hoarding addiction and tragedy.) 2. My Grandmother Asked me to Tell You She's Sorry - Fredrick Backman (Elsa carries out strange requests from her dead grandmother, who wishes to make peace with others in this heart-warming tale of imagination and love.) 1. A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara (This tragedy follows 4 college graduates and friends who are struggling to make their way in New York. This is not a small book, but it is beautiful and a tear-jerker.)

Best non-fiction 3. I am Malala - Malala Yousafzai (A young girl stood up for her right to an education and was shot point blank by the Taliban. I read the "young reader's" edition, which according to my research is more in HER voice rather than the original version by Christina Lamb) 2. When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi (a neurosurgeon was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and wrote about the relationships between doctors and patients in this compelling read.) 1. On My Own Two Feet - Amy Purdy (Amy lost both her legs below the knee at 19 years old to bacterial meningitis and went on to compete in the sochi olympics for snowboarding and finished second on Dancing With the Stars. This book tells how she overcame her obstacles and survived with a 2% chance of survival. I can't recommend this book enough.)