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fiveforsilver5. *Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (337)
Wow.
It's taken me this long to review this book for two reasons: 1) because I'm tired all the time from my new job and 2) because this was a very stressful book and it took me a while to get past it. Anyway.
This is the journal of a girl - 16 years old, something like that? - at the end of life as we know it. At the beginning of the book, everyone is excited about a meteor that is going to hit the moon, big enough to see the impact from Earth, during the day. Everyone (well, most everyone on the right side of the planet to see it, presumably) goes out to watch it happen, and...somehow the astronomers got it wrong and the impact doesn't happen quite how they predicted. Because of what does happen, the climate starts to change, all sorts of natural disasters, basically the end of the world. It's apocalyptic fiction; those aren't spoilers, it's expected. The story is about how the girl and her family - and the people around them - deal with it.
As I said, it's in journal format. It is just at the cusp of being too neatly written to be a diary - whole conversations transcribed word for word, that sort of thing, but it wasn't that big an issue because the writing in general, and the story and characters, were so strong. Overall, it made me want to go out and buy lots of bottled water and canned goods, just to be on the safe side...
6. The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley (216)
I generally read this when I'm stressed (reading the previous book is a good example of that) and need to calm down considerably. They're all beautifully written and none of the stories are particularly tense (sometimes to the point of being anticlimactic, unfortunately).
The Door in the Hedge
The kingdom borders the fairy land and the occasional infant boy and teenage girl are kidnapped by the faeries. Nobody expects the beautiful, accomplished (though surprisingly not Mary Sueish) princess to be taken, because the faeries have always before been careful not to end families, and she is the only one. But, of course...
The writing, the language of the story is standard fantastic beautiful McKinley. The first half of this story is wonderful and I always tear up when, well, what happens happens. But the resolution doesn't really make much sense or explain things, unfortunately.
The Princess and the Frog
I like this story much better - we're dropped into the middle of a story where an evil smiling wizard or mage or what-have-you is slowly, insidiously taking over the kingdom from the inside. The princess is spunky and holds her own as well as she can, and the frog is great. Once again the climax leaves a little to be desired, though.
The Hunting of the Hind
The princess in this story is one of my favorite fairy-tale princesses. She is reminiscent of Aerin from The Hero and the Crown, the all-but-forgotten daughter of a king's second marriage who nonetheless loves her country and her family. For her beloved brother, she embarks on a quest that a dozen men have failed at before her. As with the others, I like the first half of the story but the second half doesn't quite live up to it.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The twelve princess dance holes through their slippers every night and an aging soldier goes to find out how and why.
Definitely the strongest story of the bunch, start to finish. There are a few unexplained bits, but overall it works regardless. This is my favorite story in the book.
6 / 110 books. 5% done!
3 / 75 *new books. 4% done!
1716 / 33000 pages. 5% done!
Wow.
It's taken me this long to review this book for two reasons: 1) because I'm tired all the time from my new job and 2) because this was a very stressful book and it took me a while to get past it. Anyway.
This is the journal of a girl - 16 years old, something like that? - at the end of life as we know it. At the beginning of the book, everyone is excited about a meteor that is going to hit the moon, big enough to see the impact from Earth, during the day. Everyone (well, most everyone on the right side of the planet to see it, presumably) goes out to watch it happen, and...somehow the astronomers got it wrong and the impact doesn't happen quite how they predicted. Because of what does happen, the climate starts to change, all sorts of natural disasters, basically the end of the world. It's apocalyptic fiction; those aren't spoilers, it's expected. The story is about how the girl and her family - and the people around them - deal with it.
As I said, it's in journal format. It is just at the cusp of being too neatly written to be a diary - whole conversations transcribed word for word, that sort of thing, but it wasn't that big an issue because the writing in general, and the story and characters, were so strong. Overall, it made me want to go out and buy lots of bottled water and canned goods, just to be on the safe side...
6. The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley (216)
I generally read this when I'm stressed (reading the previous book is a good example of that) and need to calm down considerably. They're all beautifully written and none of the stories are particularly tense (sometimes to the point of being anticlimactic, unfortunately).
The Door in the Hedge
The kingdom borders the fairy land and the occasional infant boy and teenage girl are kidnapped by the faeries. Nobody expects the beautiful, accomplished (though surprisingly not Mary Sueish) princess to be taken, because the faeries have always before been careful not to end families, and she is the only one. But, of course...
The writing, the language of the story is standard fantastic beautiful McKinley. The first half of this story is wonderful and I always tear up when, well, what happens happens. But the resolution doesn't really make much sense or explain things, unfortunately.
The Princess and the Frog
I like this story much better - we're dropped into the middle of a story where an evil smiling wizard or mage or what-have-you is slowly, insidiously taking over the kingdom from the inside. The princess is spunky and holds her own as well as she can, and the frog is great. Once again the climax leaves a little to be desired, though.
The Hunting of the Hind
The princess in this story is one of my favorite fairy-tale princesses. She is reminiscent of Aerin from The Hero and the Crown, the all-but-forgotten daughter of a king's second marriage who nonetheless loves her country and her family. For her beloved brother, she embarks on a quest that a dozen men have failed at before her. As with the others, I like the first half of the story but the second half doesn't quite live up to it.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The twelve princess dance holes through their slippers every night and an aging soldier goes to find out how and why.
Definitely the strongest story of the bunch, start to finish. There are a few unexplained bits, but overall it works regardless. This is my favorite story in the book.
