This is going to be short. Blame
Divergent.
Divergent by Veronica Roth, finished 3/18. Reviewed in a
separate post because I couldn't stop thinking of things to say.
Boundless by Cynthia Hand, finished 3/19. I don't think I really expected to finish the Unearthly series. For me, it didn't stand out. (Which can be good, since that means it wasn't absolutely terrible. I gave each book a 3-star rating, meaning I enjoyed it enough but probably wouldn't re-read it.) I think the series is good in the way that it is about angel-bloods, something I rarely read about. The only bad thing I can say about the entire series is the love V. It exists the
entire series. It isn't resolved until the end of
Boundless, no matter how many times Clara tries to decide. I honestly think that both Christian and Tucker would be good for Clara, so I don't mind her final choice. And, saying that, I'm starting to realize why the love V exists -- because I didn't care who she ended up with. My only problem was really that she took
three books to make up her mind, and that she see-sawed so much about it. Then again, I honestly don't know how I would react in that kind of situation (having two equally nice guys), so it could be a very valid reaction of Clara's. I'm just kind of bitter about the love V trope.
Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub, finished 3/25. For an impulse-pick, I'm really glad I decided to check
Still Star-Crossed out. I was slightly surprised that I would choose to read something so directly related to Shakespeare, especially how I hated trying to get through
Romeo and Juliet freshman year. But I think
Still Star-Crossed did really well, both with the storyline and handling the "box" it was set up in. I mean, if you're writing a continuation of a story as infamous as
Romeo and Juliet, there's only so much wiggle room. And, surprisingly, the language didn't drive me crazy! Maybe it was the extra narrative that helped to explain the dialogue more, maybe it was two years' worth of extra Shakespeare knowledge, or maybe it was the fact that it reminded me vaguely of the
Stravaganza series that I love so much. The love V trope ends up present by the middle of the book, but it wasn't that annoying. It wasn't so much about Rosaline fretting about who she liked more -- it was more about the guys trying to decide if they wanted to admit their feelings, and all three of them struggled on what implications their relationship might cause in a city where everyone keeps getting killed for stupid reasons.
The Cydonian Pyramid by Pete Hautman, finished 3/27. I'm not sure why I decided to continue reading this series. I wasn't very impressed with
The Obsidian Blade. Anyway, it took me longer than I expected to read
The Cydonian Pyramid since I would really only read it while waiting for my computer to boot up or when it decided to go unresponsive. It was fairly easy to read, and I liked how it focused a lot on Lahlia's adventure, but it was a little bit confusing as I'd forgotten a lot of Tucker's story between now and the time I read the first book. The science and time travel parts were fairly easy to understand, even for someone like me who isn't very good with either. I'm pretty sure
The Cydonian Pyramid falls under the category of 'it was well-written but not my type of book'.
Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard, finished 3/31. I don't actually have much to say about this book. It's very much a fluffy romance book, but it does have some heavier topics, like abusive relationships and semi-existential crises. Well, not exactly, but Bria and Rowan do have the occasional deep / meta conversation. All in all, I really just had a neutral reaction to the book. The sketches that are included are nice, though, and learning about "backpacking culture" was pretty interesting.
