TenYear-Old Boy Adventure Books

Hello Everyone! I am here today to share with you my completely unironic love for a genre I like to call:

Ten Year-Old Boy Adventure Book! 

This includes things like Charlie Bone, FableHaven, Keys to the Kingdom, Magic Thief and so many more. 

The fabulous thing about these books is that they are fast-paced, because they're geared towards an audience who can hardly sit in front of a television for half an hour. Also, they often take place in worlds where anything can happen. In the Keys to the Kingdom series, Garth Nix created a world that exists outside of the realm of physics or logic, and even with ones set in "our world" like Charlie Bone or FableHaven, predictability isn't an issue. They're fantastical, fabulous, and you never have to worry about an unhappy ending or an errant x-rated moment that sends you throwing the book across the room.  I've read the first FableHaven book at least four times, I'm rereading Keys to the Kingdom (the ones that I own) for the third time in the past year, and when I picked up Charlie Bone several months ago, it was just as good as it was when I was ten. 

I may have never been a ten year old boy, but these are all definitely some of my favorite books, and I highly, HIGHLY recommend checking them out, you won't be disappointed!!

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Bumped

Megan McCafferty

"A virus has swept the world, making everyone over the age of eighteen infertile. Teenagers are now the most prized members of society, and would-be parents desperately bid for "conception contracts" with the prettiest, healthiest, and smartest girls—cash, college tuition, and liposuction in exchange for a baby. Sixteen-year-old Melody has scored a record-breaking contract with a rich couple. And she's been matched with one of the hottest "bumping" partners in the world—the genetically flawless Jondoe. But her luck is about to run out.

She discovers she has a sister—an identical twin. Harmony has grown up in a strict religious community and believes her calling is to save Melody from her sinful intentions. All Melody wants is to meet Jondoe and seal the deal—but when a case of mistaken identity destroys everyone's carefully laid plans, Melody and Harmony realize they have much more than DNA in common. Sharp, funny, and thought-provoking, this futuristic take on teen pregnancy is compellingly readable and scarily believable." - Amazon Description

Folks, Anya - Book Master Extrodinare-, really isn't sure how she feels about this book. 

Imagine a world where every girl wants to be famous and star in the biggest movie with the hunkiest actor. Now switch that around so they're trying to get the most money for the hunky boy's baby, and trying to pop out as many as they can before the age of 18. 
Now you have this book. Despite the obnoxious, fluffy beginning, this books is written in much the same manner as any of the mass produced, young adult, pseudo-dystopian series of late*. It could have come out of the same Build-a-Book as Matched. That is to say, it was fine. It wasn't fantastic, or life changing, it was just fine. But, BUT it was definitely a society that I had never read about before, an original idea, and that gets major brownie points from me. 

There are two twins (we'll get back to them in a second), yet only one of the twins experiences major character development. Actually, only one of the characters experiences character development. Among the other cast were you're stereotypical annoying tweens (except obsessed with being pregnant), your best friend that shares a similar interest but that you feel you're growing apart from (being pregnant) and the hardly-present, nondescript overbearing parents (except obsessed with getting their daughter pregnant), and girl you and your BFF hate (who has a cute baby bump than you)

NOW: back to the twins. One of them has perfect girl syndrome**, and while this does play into the plot (meaning she'll be the best for breeding), Twin Perfecta is also the one with very little character development, that just flat out annoyed me. 

This book also had a story line set on the straight-and-narrow…until the first twist. And let me tell you, once one twist hit, it was like something out of a soap opera. Even if they weren't true 'twists' there was an overabundance of "this, no this! Hahaha, no, it's THIS", so that at least kept me interested (even if it did give me a mild case of whiplash).  

There was one thing though, that annoyed be beyond all else: you know in books where characters internal monologues/feelings towards something allude to an even that's happened in the past and the author is trying to get you interested so you can be looking forward to the great unveiling? Yeah, that happened here. Except it didn't get me excited. It was just annoying and detracted from the first four chapters, coming up way to often and shoving itself in my face. It was done with absolutely no subtlety at all. The same but opposite is true for something I didn't see coming; there were so many good opportunities for the author to add something as simple as the character hesitating, so the reader can say, "Hm, I wonder why she's hesitating!" and then later realize why as all was revealed. 
All in all a quick read with entirely pregnancy-based slang. Not bad as it started out. Not great. It ends with a non-cliff hanger, but kinda makes me wonder what's going to happen next. 
Hey, maybe I'll even read the sequel. 



*Publisher's Weekly said that McCafferty proved that "Dystopias don't have to be dreary to be provocative. I think this is stupid and I would never call it a dystopia. Dystopia is defined as "An imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one." There is nothing wrong with this society, except the fact that in our view the whole baby thing is warped. Kids go to school and live without fear and everyone eats and there's no tyrannical dictator. It's not a dystopian novel. It's one that takes place in a world that says pregnancy is awesome. Societies in this world say weirder things are awesome. Bottom line, this isn't a dystopian novel (yet, I haven't read the sequel). If you're craving something dystopian, go find another book. 

**symptoms include being overly beautiful, being excellent at sports, playing the guitar, having an above average IQ, etc.

Bumped by... I don't care

So far, this 'book' is shallowly/poorly written. I hate both the characters. One's obnoxious (and not even in a "oh, this book is good but the character's not" kinda way), one's obnoxious AND unrealistic. Just know, I'm sticking it out for all of you. Just call me Anya the Martyr. 

I really hope it gets better. I had such high hopes for it. But its 3 star Amazon rating doesn't promise much. 

More to come.....

Something Red by Douglas Nicholas

Something Red

Douglas Nicholas

"During the thirteenth century in northwest England, in one of the coldest winters in living memory, a formidable yet charming Irish healer, Molly, and the troupe she leads are driving their three wagons, hoping to cross the Pennine Mountains before the heavy snows set in. Molly, her lover Jack, granddaughter Nemain, and young apprentice Hob become aware that they are being stalked by something terrible. The refuge they seek in a monastery, then an inn, and finally a Norman castle proves to be an illusion. As danger continues to rise, it becomes clear that the creature must be faced and defeated—or else they will all surely die. It is then that Hob discovers how much more there is to his adopted family than he had realized.

An intoxicating blend of fantasy and mythology, Something Red presents an enchanting world full of mysterious and fascinating characters— shapeshifters, sorceresses, warrior monks, and knights—where no one is safe from the terrible being that lurks in the darkness. In this extraordinary, fantastical world, nothing is as it seems, and the journey for survival is as magical as it is perilous." -Amazon description

It always baffles me a little that so many world-building Fantasy books are written by old men with white beards*. And folks, Douglas Nicholas is an old man with a white beard.

That being said, let me just say that this book is not terribly exciting. I was bored by it in the beginning; it takes quite a while to get into. But the small details are there. This man knows his 13th century Britain. 

But other than that, there's honestly not a lot I can say without giving the book away. I wasn't surprised by much, and the climax comes sooner than you imagine, allowing for it all to be wrapped up nice and tight by the end. Also, there's never any statement that they're near Scotland, so the first time dialog comes around and you're completely baffled by all the dropped letters and words that are spelled the way they're being said, you have to dig out (or google) a map of mountains in Britain and deduce their location for yourself before going back and re-reading the dialog in a Scottish accent.

The one thing that did bother me was the protagonists lack of reaction to some life shifting events. I mean, if the lady you've been traveling with suddenly turns out to be someone else entirely, I feel like you'd feel a little more emotion. 

All in all, a well written novel that made me glad I live somewhere were it's 70 outside in January and my breath isn't forming icicles of the rope of the Ox that I'm leading, but not one that kept me wholly entranced. 

*note on hyperlink: Granted, I've never actually read anything by Terry Pratchett, but since he has a beard, he might be next on my list!