fiction

Running on a Hamster Wheel

~ garrettpinder ~ Leave a comment

After picking a book up and being really excited about reading it– IT’S THE BOY VERSION OF HUNGER GAMES!!– I wasn’t completely impressed with The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Maze Runner

I really struggled getting into this book. As I mentioned, I was looking forward to reading this book because there has been quite a bit of hype surrounding it. Along with so many other popular young adult series, this has also scored a movie deal. (Go figure.) Needless to say, I had high expectations. Some were met, some left my wheels spinning.  (Ha! – running…hamster wheel… spinning… see what I did there?)

We’ve got a teenage boy with amnesia that pops up in a world with bunch of other boys that have amnesia too. I think the author was trying to be clever in the reader’s connection with the protagonist — learning new information as they learned — but instead I found it downright frustrating. I felt as though a lot was deliberately being withheld such as “why do we do this?” or “what is that?” So many characters brushed off the protagonist, and therefore, the reader, which made me feel like the book was telling me “STOP READING ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!”

(Un)Fortunately, I was stuck with it through about 10 hours of plane rides over the last week and decided to plow my way through, breaking this wild horse of a book and beating it into submission. Rather than giving away any real plot points, mostly because I really want other readers to suffer like I did, I’ll just say that by the end of the book, I am intrigued.

Let’s see where the rest of this series goes. For now, I’ll catch my breath from my sprint through this book, stretch for a spell, and perhaps pick up another book with a more moderate pace.

A Crack in the Facade

~ garrettpinder ~ Leave a comment

Somehow I made it through the holidays without buying a single book! My family and friends also listened to me when I said NO to books (and video games), which made gifting a lot more interesting this year. Who knew you could get things like wine?! Hello! Where have I been?

The one book I received was a cocktail recipe book — which you all know I don’t count towards the Sickness. Rather than books, I was able to focus on, dare I say, more practical and much-needed things. I DID receive a single Barnes & Noble gift card for a birthday present… but it wasn’t spent until we were well into the new year! On what you ask?…

Beautiful Creatures

There has been quite a stir surrounding this Beautiful Creatures series. What with a pending movie starring Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson, it could be the next big thing! However, I’m more intrigued by the authors and the writing style. Beautiful Creatures, written by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl. That’s right — TWO authors. After further investigation, I discovered that the authors actually sit down and write collaboratively, rather than alternating chapters, or having one write and one edit. I can only imagine this is a painstakingly long process, but it seems to work for them.

When I looked up the book to purchase online, I happened to find a neat hardcover boxed set with all four books in the series, typically listed for $75 on sale for $45! That works out to be quite a deal… one that I eventually gave in to. Unfortunately, the set was back ordered due to popularity, and even with two-day shipping, it took over a month before I received it!

With the movie set to be released for Valentines day, I didn’t have a whole lot of time to read the 500+ page book. Thankfully, I was pretty interested in the book, and I sped through it pretty quickly, as did several of my friends — all of us excited for the film. Reading a young adult love story, written by two women, from a boy’s perspective is definitely interesting… I must admit, at first, I thought the narrator was female. I quickly caught on. I quite enjoyed the setting, and many of the characters stood out…. which reminds me…:

A word of caution to anyone that is interested in either seeing the film or reading this book: THEY ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. I won’t spoil anything for anyone… But you will be disappointed if you read the book and then see the film. I’m generally very forgiving when it comes to adaptations to the big screen, and while this production was impressive (and yes, enjoyable), it diverges from the book quite substantially. Many main characters are omitted (including my favorite, a librarian! — unacceptable!), and major plot points were changed considerably.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I do look forward to reading the rest of this series; however, I do not anticipate seeing the rest of the series adapted for a screenplay.