SON OF NEPTUNE by Rick Riordan

October 4th, 2011 - Hyperion

Synopsis: In The Lost Hero, three demigods named Jason, Piper, and Leo made their first visit to Camp Half-Blood, where they inherited a blood-chilling quest:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Who are the other four mentioned in the prophesy? The answer may lie in another camp thousands of miles away, where a new camper has shown up and appears to be the son of Neptune, god of the sea. . .

With an ever-expanding cast of brave-hearted heroes and formidable foes, this second book in The Heroes of Olympus series offers all of the action, pathos, and humor that Rick Riordan fans crave.

Well, I wasn't able to post on Friday because I left for a Boy Scout camp out. Turned out pretty well, but it was, like always, dirty, and kind of annoying.

Anyway, this will be another quick review because I'm working on Biology exams tonight. LAST WEEK BEFORE WINTER BREAK! :D

Pretty simply put, this book is fantastico-amazing-ish-coolarific. So so so so so so so good!

I'm a HUGE fan of the Percy Jackson books and so, of course, I'm a huge fan of this continuation, the Heroes of Olympus series. This series is really quite awesome-especially since the first two books of this series start with demigods being claimed by their parents. Also, there's kind of the introduction to a place that plays a ginormous rule in this series (won't say what for those of you who haven't read THE LOST HERO).

Of course, Riordan's really fun humor is in this. Sometimes it comes in the form of an elephant, a hippy goddess with vegan snack bars, reptilian salespeople, and dumb/cute frost-giants. :DDDDDDDDDDDDDD

I totally and completely recommend this series to anyone who likes YA/Middle Grade.

Well, as I write this, work on Biology, and have Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland playing, I feel the beginning of a cold coming on....... Oh, gosh. It's the scene where she's jumping across the featureless gray, floating heads. Ewwwwwww.

Happy Frabjous Day,
-Aaron

LITTLE BEE by Chris Cleave

February 16th, 2010 - Simon & Schuster

Synopsis: We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn't. And it's what happens afterward that is most important. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

First of all, sorry it's been awhile since I posted. What with the climax of NaNo and it's finale, trying to finish up school, and, you know, life, I've been pretty busy. Also, my status on NaNo...... Drumroll, please.................................................................................. I failed miserably! :D

No, but really. I only got about 12k words in. Which is more than nothing, and at least it forced me to focus on finishing my novel-sticking to that darn outline and trying outlandish and crazy techniques. I wouldn't have given up the experience though.

Well, review time!

Kind of.

As the synopsis says, a lot shouldn't be said because they want to let it unfold. And.... Well, I'm not going to show much more than what the synopsis says.

If you open to the publication page, as I did because I always think it's funny, the words they list as "fiction" at the bottom (i.e., 'love-fiction, memory loss-fiction'). Anyway, if you read it mentions things like Nigerians, England, and immigration. And OMG. Was that African beach scene horrific, or what?

The only other thing I'll say about this is that I adore. Oh, I adore this so, so, so, so, so, so, so much! There's something I want to jot down in my book of quotes on every other page. I know it sounds cheesy to say this, but it's pure poetry. I mean, just listen to this:

'On the girl's brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.'

O_O Beautiful, isn't it?

Besides the god-like writing, the story is phenomenal. It's all so real. You know that feeling you get when an author writes something in their book that makes you go, "Woah. That's totally how I feel sometimes, completely captured in these words. I've never heard any other writer talk about that"? That's what this book does. Throughout the ENTIRE FREAKING THING.

Peace, unicorns, and lots and lots of egg rolls,

Aaron