Aquisições de Novembro (2)

Ai ai... apesar de achar os livros portugueses ridiculamente caros (e agora ainda mais), não consegui resistir ao famoso "Deixa-me Entrar". E também não resisti a mais umas compras no The Book Depository. *suspiro*

. Deixa-me Entrar de John Ajvide Lindqvist

. Once a Witch de Carolyn MacCullough

. Siren Song de Cat Adams

. The Body Finder de Kimberly Derting

. The Iron Daughter de Julie Kagawa

. Mockingjay de Suzanne Collins

. Numbers de Rachel Ward

Review: Incarceron (Catherine Fisher)

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Publisher: Hodder's Chidrens Books (2007)

Format: Paperback | 464 pages

Genre(s): Young Adult, Sci-Fi

Description: "Finn knows he doesn't belong in Incarceron. Although he has no memories of anything save the last three years of his life, he has flashes, visions of things that couldn't possibly exist in the gloomy halls of Incarceron. His wing's Wise man says he's a Starseer, a special human that can lead them out through his Visions; but Finn isn't so sure. When he comes into possession of a strange crystal object - which he somehow knows is a Key, although no-one in Incarceron even knows what a key is - he starts to believe he can actually Escape the supposedly inescapable prison.

Claudia Arlex leads a charmed life... at least in appearance. Daughter of the powerful Warden of Incarceron, she feels trapped by her upcoming marriage to the Crown Prince and the unending "Protocol" which dictates that all progress is forbidden and that all subjects must emulate the lifestyle of the 17th century. So instead of high technology and comfort, Claudia lives with candle light, carriages and corseted dresses. But one day Claudia breaks into her fathers study and finds a crystal Key; one that she believes, might lead her to Incarceron, the famed prison built 160 years ago to be a paradise."

Well... this book had quite an abrupt start and quite an abrupt ending... I hope more books follow, because there are a few questions left unanswered!

I must say that I was pretty curious about this book. It's story reminded me a bit of John Carpenter's Escape from New York since an enormous prison and an escape were involved. But it's actually quite different, although the ambiance of Incarceron is very similar to the one we encounter in the prison from "Escape from New York".

We follow the adventures of Finn, an inmate of Incarceron and Claudia the daughter of the Warden while they try to find a way out (or in) of the prison.

While this book had changing POVs (sometimes Claudia, sometimes Finn), the author managed to make it work, because both stories were connected. I really liked the pacing of the story (despite it's abrupt start, ahah) and how Claudia and Finn discovered more and more about the prison's origins as they progressed in their quest to find a way out. The texts presented at the beginning of each chapter were a clever way to present the reader with more background information about the purpose of Incarceron and how all went wrong.

The only problem I had was with Finn. He was pretty one-dimensional; while Claudia and all the other characters (Keiro, Attia, etc) seemed to have hidden motivations, flaws and qualities and grew a bit as characters as the story progressed, I thought Finn didn't particularly stand out and wasn't really fleshed out as the protagonist.

Overall this was a pretty interesting read. The author gave us all the relevant information about Incarceron and why it was built (something that isn't very common in YA sci-fi books where lots of things are left unexplained), the characters were likable but not overly perfect and the world-building was pretty good. I am interested in knowing more about "The Years of Rage" and what happened before that so hope this is just the first book of a series.

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Review: Hunger

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Publisher: Harcourt Graphia (2010)
Format: Paperback | 180 pages

Genre(s): Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

Description: "“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”
Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?"

"Hunger" is not a particularly impressive book in terms of story and character development. In fact it is little more than a short story and the fact that Lisa, the protagonist, is "drafted" to become Famine is only explored as part of her inner journey to understand herself and her problem. So, even if there are some supernatural elements, this book focuses mostly on a teen that has a very bad problem to solve.

But this book does touch a very important subject that affects a lot of people, especially teenagers: Anorexia. The way it presents the problem seems frighteningly real, and I really liked how the author used the fact that Lisa had become "Famine" to make her understand some things about herself. And how her problem still controls her, even after all she's seen as a Horseman (if she were "cured" it wouldn't be as realistic, I reckon).

Although small, this book is not an easy read (mostly due to the content itself... it's not light reading). Still I think it should be read because it actually helps people understand a little more how patients with Anorexia think and feel.

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Review: The DUFF

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Publisher: Little Brown/ POPPY (2010)
Format: Hardcover | 288 pages

Genre(s): Young Adult, Romance

Description: "Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone"

It all started when Wesley Rush, the school's playboy told her she was "The DUFF" (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) of her group. Since then everything became so much more complicated. Bianca finds herself having a very satisfactory relationship with Wesley (whom she can't stand by the way) as a way of relieving stress for the problems in her life.

"The DUFF" was a quick, satisfying read. It explores the growth of the relationship between two teenagers who wouldn't usually get along, since the female protagonist, Bianca, despises Wesley for sleeping around. What I liked about this book is the fact that Bianca's attitude starts by matching Wesley's (she sleeps with him wanting a "one-night stand" and then continues on, "using" him to escape her life) which in turn leads to a better understanding of Wesley's own behavior (which, as I said before, she despised at the beginning of the book).

I thought the author could have explored Bianca's and Wesley's problems not to mention the development of their relationship better; everything was resolved too quickly in my humble opinion, it almost seems like some "steps" of the process were missing.

Still it was a real page-turner. Oh and I loved Keplinger's portrait of modern teenagers, I think it was spot on. The characters seemed pretty real, not the sanitized version of teens you find in most YA books. Maybe it's because Keplinger isn't that much older than her character, but she did a great job.

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Opinião: Os Jogos da Fome (Suzanne Collins)

Os Jogos da Fome de Suzanne Collins

Editora: Editorial Presença (2009)

Formato: Capa Mole | 286 páginas

Géneros: Ficção Científica, Lit. Juvenil

Sinopse (Editorial Presença): "Num futuro pós-apocalíptico, surge das cinzas do que foi a América do Norte Panem, uma nova nação governada por um regime totalitário que a partir da megalópole, Capitol, governa os doze Distritos com mão de ferro. Todos os Distritos estão obrigados a enviar anualmente dois adolescentes para participar nos Jogos da Fome - um espectáculo sangrento de combates mortais cujo lema é «matar ou morrer». No final, apenas um destes jovens escapará com vida… Katniss Everdeen é uma adolescente de dezasseis anos que se oferece para substituir a irmã mais nova nos Jogos, um acto de extrema coragem… Conseguirá Katniss conservar a sua vida e a sua humanidade? Um enredo surpreendente e personagens inesquecíveis elevam este romance de estreia da trilogia Os Jogos da Fome às mais altas esferas da ficção científica."

"Os Jogos da Fome" é o primeiro livro da trilogia de ficção científica com o mesmo nome, direccionada para jovens adultos.

Neste livro a acção passa-se num futuro distante em que uma qualquer catástrofe transformou radicalmente o sistema político e social dos Estados Unidos. Qual a catástrofe e há quanto tempo aconteceu não nos é dito. O certo é que Katniss Everdeen, a nossa protagonista, vive em Panem, uma nação dividida em doze distritos (cada distrito é responsável pela produção de um recurso específico) e controlada por um misterioso corpo político, o "Capitólio". Apesar da cidade onde está sediado o Capitólio ser bastante moderna, na maioria dos doze distritos o nível de vida é bastante mais modesto, tendo Katniss de recorrer à caça para alimentar a família.

Todos os anos, o Capitólio organiza um evento chamado "Os Jogos da Fome", que pode ser descrito como uma mistura entre as antigas lutas de gladiadores romanas e o programa "Survivor". Cada distrito deve fornecer, obrigatoriamente, 2 "tributos" um rapaz e uma rapariga com idades compreendidas entre os 12 e os 17 anos. Os Tributos são depois levados para a cidade do Capitólio e largados numa arena onde são instigados a lutar até à morte até haver apenas um sobrevivente. Este é um acontecimento mediático, e tal como um reality-show é transmitido todos os dias em directo e ao qual as pessoas são obrigadas a assistir. Os Jogos da Fome servem o propósito de mostrar o poder do Capitólio sobre os doze distritos (aquando desta explicação, Katniss também nos informa da existência de um décimo-terceiro distrito que há muito tempo atrás se havia revoltado contra o Capitólio, tendo por isso sido destruído).

Quando a sua irmã Prim é escolhida para entrar nos jogos, Katniss decide tomar o seu lugar.

Esta é a história de "Os Jogos da Fome". Não a história "base" ou o ponto de partida, mas o enredo completo. Basicamente Katniss oferece-se para entrar nos jogos no lugar da irmã, entra na arena e tudo o resto é um relato de como ela sobrevive através daquilo que aprendeu por ter de caçar nos bosques perto de casa para alimentar a família. Não digo que não tenha sido uma leitura... interessante, mas as reacções da personagem principal aos vários desafios que lhe apareceram à frente e basicamente a premissa inteira do livro não me pareceram muito... realistas ou credíveis; Katniss não me parece ter a resposta emocional correcta à violência e destruição que acontecem à sua volta. Quanto à premissa, como é que o povo não se revolta? Talvez haja uma explicação, mas não nos é fornecida, o que, confesso, me incomodou. Isto é, claro, fruto da narrativa na primeira pessoa que não nos permite ter informação sobre acontecimentos exteriores à vida do narrador.

No fundo, apesar do conceito ser original (ou mais ou menos, pelo que se diz, acho que o livro "Battle Royale" tem uma história semelhante e é anterior aos Jogos da Fome), penso que o livro sofre devido a um desenvolvimento muito incipiente quer das personagens quer do mundo onde decorre a acção. Digamos que a autora não nos deu "história de fundo" suficiente para termos uma ideia do porquê a sociedade de Panem ser como é. No entanto, sendo apenas o primeiro livro de uma trilogia talvez essa informação nos seja facultada em livros posteriores.

Acho também que a obra seria mais interessante e o potencial do enredo mais bem aproveitado se este livro não se dirigisse ao público juvenil mas a uma audiência mais adulta.

No geral, este livro não foi mau... mas também não foi assim nada de especial. Esperava mais, uma vez que tem tantas boas críticas. Mas considero que foi uma leitura mais envolvente do que outros livros juvenis que li este ano.

Aquisições de Outubro (2) + Aquisições de Novembro (1)

Aqui ficam o resto das minhas aquisições de Outubro mais uns livros que comprei para celebrar o novo mês (ai ai). :)

Outubro (2):

. The Duff de Kelly Koplinger

. Hunger de Jackie Morse Kessler

. Unwind de Neal Shusterman

. Behemoth de Scott Westerfeld

Novembro:

. Sonho Febril de George R. R. Martin

. Em Chamas de Suzanne Collins

Review: Nevermore

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Publisher: Atheneum (2010)
Format:  Hardcover | 543 pages

Genre(s): Young Adult, Mystery, Urban Fantasy

Description: "Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.

His life depends on it."

Finally an YA urban fantasy/paranormal with a story that hasn't been totally overdone! :p

Isobel Lanley seemingly has it all: she's pretty (and blonde), popular, a cheerleader and dates the most sought-after guy in school (who is, of course, a football player). So when her English teacher pairs her with Goth (and very unpopular) Varen Nethers for an assignment, she is less than thrilled.

Suddenly her whole (and perfect) life changes as her friends draw away from her for even talking to Varen, her boyfriend has jealous fits and even her father seems to think she is turning into a troublemaker for spending time with whom he calls "a hooligan". Worse, she can't seem to get out of trouble long enough to actually meet Varen and get their work on Edgar Allen Poe done. Not to mention, of course, the strange voices she's been hearing or the weird man that seems to follow her everywhere. As she draws closer to Varen and away from her former life Isobel begins to understand that Varen is more than just a tortured Goth... he may just be in real trouble.

"Nevermore" was a veritable breath of fresh air. Do you like YA urban fantasy but are tired of reading about a) exclusive and mysterious private academies where supernatural beings go to school and everything seems to happen or b) melodramatic and unrealistic love stories between a mortal and a supernatural creature? Well, then "Nevermore" is the book for you.

In this book there are supernatural creatures and supernatural events, yes, as it is after all, urban fantasy; but both the hero and the heroine are human. There is also a romance but it happens gradually, not after two chapters... and this for me is worth an entire half-star because I am ever so tired of all the Twilight rip-offs out there where the characters fall madly in love at first sight. Ugh. Also, the heroine isn't totally useless and actually has some backbone!

Of course, while I found the plot and characters refreshing, this book still had some problems.

For instance, for the first 60 or something pages I found some of the character interactions and general attitudes a little unrealistic and exaggerated. I just couldn't understand why Isobel's friends immediately started an intimidation campaign towards Varen when it wasn't even their choice to work together, it was their teacher who decided to pair them up for school work.

It's not like I didn't expect it to happen eventually if and when Varen and Isobel started to spend more time together (I could understand the boyfriend's jealousy then, for example) but I didn't get why they freaked out as soon as Isobel told them she was working with Varen. Later on, when it became apparent that some of the girls wanted things that were Isobels' (like Alyssa, who wanted her place as main flyer in the cheerleader squad), it made a little more sense, but I still didn't understand Brad's attitude or Nikki's.

As for the story, while the pacing was really good I think the author didn't flesh out her dream world well enough. There are a lot of things left unexplained, the most important of all being what is exactly this dream world (how and why does it exist, etc), why Varen could interact with it and change it (or Poe, for that matter; I get that it was the act of putting stories to paper and having imagination, but wouldn't that make every writer a potencial target?) and why did the Queen want a fusion between worlds. Maybe all this will come up in later books, but I found the vague information a bit confusing and since it wasn't explained very clearly why the Queen of the dream world wanted both worlds connected, I didn't quite get the point of the whole story, except that she wanted power (but why would the fusion give her that power we aren't told exactly) and Varen was the way to get it.

Still, the author managed to write a very compelling and fresh story and as it is the first in a series maybe these questions will be answered later. Pretty interesting overall.

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