Translate

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The Rithmatist -- A Review


The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson:

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity's only defense against the wild chalklings---merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the wild chalklings now threaten all the American Isles.

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then studens start disappearing---kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody frind themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery, one that will change Rithmatics--and their world--forever. 

*5/5 Stars*

I wasn't going to give this book 5 stars originally..But dat ending!! I am not the kind of person who tries to figure out the ending, so I'm surprised. But I was totally shocked by the one that was actually written.

At first, I thought the story was kind of slow. There was a lot of explaining this new form of magic called Chalklings and there was a lot of Geometry going on. How to draw circles, different points of circles and how a crooked line could mess everything up. I didn't know that this book took place in the early 1900's. If you didn't read the map at the beginning of the book, you wouldn't really know that. There was one part where Joel and Melody were talking about women's rights and worrying about carriages and such...I was so confused...At one point I was curious about how the world was set up, so I looked at the map and saw the date...That would have been good to know earlier...unless I missed it...which I might have. XP Also, I had a small problem with the main characters. The characters acted a lot younger than 16. Melody was whiny and Joel...there was something about him that I thought seemed odd. Like he was way too immature to be 16. I thought he was 12 multiple times...

Despite my confusion with the ages of the characters, I did enjoy them. They weren't my favorite main characters ever, but I felt like they did grow a bit, and I have a feeling they will continue to grow. I LOVED the world. I loved that it was based in the US, but the US was broken down into islands and everything had an alternate history. I mean, chopsticks being essential to Italian food? How cool is that? ...Well it's pretty cool to me...XP Also, I enjoyed the nods to steampunk culture. And once I got used to the magic, thought even with the pictures I had a hard time picturing what was happening, and I thought it was a bit awkward at times, I loved it. It is very different from anything else I have ever read and I really appreciate the creativity! Especially the fact that it is an artistic type of magic. That is neat. ^^ I thought the twists were cool too. Rithmatics is more complicated than even the main characters think it is. And the whole problem with Nebrask, so interesting!! >w< I can't wait to find out what happens in the next books!!

Well, that's enough for now!~ I really love Brandon Sanderson...He is officially one of my new favorite authors. I don't think I could not like anything he writes!~ He is just that good. ^^

Until next time my sweet little peaches! Tootles!~ 

A Spell for Chameleon--A Review


Xanth was the enchanted land where magic ruled--where every citizen had a special spell only he could cast. It was a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks.

For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth was no fairy tale. He alone had no magic. And unless he got some--and got some fast!-- he would be exiled. Forever!

But the Good Magician Humfrey was convinced that Bink did indeed have magic. In fact, both Beauregard teh genie adn the magic wall chart insisted that Bink had magic. Magic as powerful as any possessed by the King or by Good Magician Humfrey--or even by the Evil Magician Trent. 

Be taht as it may, no one could fathom the nature of Bink's very special magic. Bink was in despair. This was even worse than having no magic at all...and he would still be exiled!


*4/5 Stars*

My ex boyfriend had been telling me about this series for a year and he finally lent me his copy! But he was on my case the whole time I had it, so I read it to shut his face up. XD I'm glad I did though!

At first, I had a bit of trouble getting into this book. The writing style was not really something I had expected, there was a lot of describing of things and I felt like things just kind of happened. There also wasn't much of a conflict. Bink is looking for his magic, saw a magician, some stuff happens, and everything just seemed to fall into place.

This book is heavy on magical theory, so if you don't like philosophy, you probably won't like this book. I, on the other hand, being fascinated by magic, really appreciate it. I also enjoyed the characters. They aren't necessarily deep, but they are interesting. My favorite character is probably Chameleon. She has very interesting magic and is a pretty complex character. The ending of this book was super sweet as well! I wasn't expecting that at all!! I literally went, "Awwwwwww!!!" That in itself was worth it. ^^ 

This is a 40 (possibly 40+) series of companion novels, so it is a bit of a commitment, but I think I will try and see if I can read them all!~ My friend says the second one is his favorite, so I'm looking forward to starting that one, possibly next month!! Until next time!! BYIE!!!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

April Book Haul Pt 2

I ended up getting a few more books before the month of April was over, and I'm super excited about these purchases, so I thought I'd share them with you!! So, here they are!!!


Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake: So this was the first book I put in my cart in my first ever Book Outlet order! I have been looking for this book for a very long time, and when I saw it for a couple of dollars (not in the scratch and dent section), I decided I would make an order..but I wanted to get more than one book, just to make it worth the $3.99 shipping. So I got....



Cinder by Marissa Meyer: I got this book!! I have been wanting this book for a very long time. A VERY long time. It was super cheap, in hard cover, and wasn't in the scratch and dent section...so I grabbed it!! I am so happy to have this book in my possession!! >w<



The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas: If you have read any of my other posts, you would know that I was trying to get enough points on my Opinion Outpost account so that I could get this book for free. Well, I missed the pre-order date, but that's ok, because the book ended up being $2 cheaper that it originally was, so I had an extra $2 that I put towards the pre-order of Heir of Fire....September....GET HERE FASTER!!!!! \>___</


Well that's all I bought for this month. ^^ I don't really plan on buying much in May because I will be saving my money for Disney World!! >w< I probably won't buy any souvenirs, but maybe I'll find a nice bookstore. XD I'll be posting my May TBR next!~ Until then!! Byie!!!

Book Outlet: http://bookoutlet.com/