Book Review #196 - Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice—until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.

That same night, an alchemist’s apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.

Will’s mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

 

 

My Rating: 3/5

 

 

This is the third Lauren Oliver book I have read, and although I didn't like this book as much as I had hoped to it won't be my last.

 

 

I really liked the pictures in the book, I thought they complimented the writing really well and added dimension to the story.

 

 

I found the book very slow paced to begin with and hence found it difficult to get invested in the story immediately.

 

 

I liked all of the characters especially Po, but I thought that they all lacked depth. They didn't have enough personality to distinguish them from one another.

Book Review #195 - Xor: The Shape of Darkness by Moshe Sipper

On his twelfth birthday Lewis Nash comes home from school to find that his house has blown up to smithereens, killing his father. Having lost his mother in an accident four years earlier, Lewis realizes he is now an orphan — but he has no time to dwell on it. The moment he gets off the school bus a fearsome wolf-man tries to grab him. The boy is saved in the nick of time by Master Long, who reveals to him that he’s a Shaper from a place called Xor, which is being devoured by the Realm Pirates. Lewis learns that he must do his utmost to become the powerful Shaper he was destined to be.

Because, it would seem, he’s the one and only chance Xor has.

 

 

My Rating: 4/5

 

 

I received this book for review from the author. The author's Goodreads page is here.


Before reading this book I was expecting it to be science fiction themed. To my pleasant surprise, it read more as fantasy.


I liked Lewis from the second he was introduced. He was a young, innocent, likeable child who I found developed steadily throughout the book.


The world building in itself was really well done. I found that it was perfectly paced and was described amazingly well.


I would have liked more information about certain things like his adoptive parents and their deaths.


Overall, I found this book really enjoyable as it had alot of action and it was an interesting concept with Lewis being a shifter. I would recommend this book to any fantasy readers.

Top Ten Tuesday #14

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and Bookish. Each week features a different topic, and you make a top ten list about it.

This weeks top ten list is the top ten older books you don't want people to forget about.

 

 

1. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling - With the movies being as good as they are, people might just watch the movies and forget about the books.

 

 

2. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - One of my favourite books that I have discovered this year.


3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Pretty much the same reason as Harry Potter.


4. A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid - A book all dog lovers must read. It is really amazing.


5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl - and pretty much every Roald Dahl book for that matter.


6. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett


That is all I can think of right now. I tend to mainly newer books and so this week it was pretty hard. I can see now that I do need to read alot more older books.