Scan barcode
chrissie_whitley's reviews
1547 reviews
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
4.0
I admit, I was completely skeptical about this one. Frankly, the cover is a little more than girly and/or cheesy—that fluffy-ass dress is a little overdone, no? But, there are so, so many YA fiction novels that fall into that same trap, that type of excessive cover picture, and this is really where that old adage comes into play. (Do not judge a book by its cover.)
I zipped through this book for several reasons. 1) The writing had a clean, but poetic quality to it like a stream or brook just flowing along; 2) It wasn't mired down in endless descriptions, or nonsense court-related duties, or the backstories of secondary or tertiary characters; and 3) It was just so damned engaging—I did not want to put it down.
The Winner's Curse is the type of book that presents a story to you, and then attacks it head-on. There's no wasteful meandering about, exploring dead-end storylines for uninteresting or sidelined characters. There are no seemingly endless descriptions of the rooms, furniture, dresses, landscapes, and battles. Most importantly, at least to me, at this point in the year, each sentence doesn't feel irritatingly urgent, and the chapters do not end with the type of dun-dun-dun!-attempt at an epic sentence.
Plus, I really liked these characters. Kestrel and Arin are just enchanting. They are stubborn, smart, and calculating. There's no instant love here, so instead we get to enjoy the slow-build of actual romance, resistant though it was.
I zipped through this book for several reasons. 1) The writing had a clean, but poetic quality to it like a stream or brook just flowing along; 2) It wasn't mired down in endless descriptions, or nonsense court-related duties, or the backstories of secondary or tertiary characters; and 3) It was just so damned engaging—I did not want to put it down.
The Winner's Curse is the type of book that presents a story to you, and then attacks it head-on. There's no wasteful meandering about, exploring dead-end storylines for uninteresting or sidelined characters. There are no seemingly endless descriptions of the rooms, furniture, dresses, landscapes, and battles. Most importantly, at least to me, at this point in the year, each sentence doesn't feel irritatingly urgent, and the chapters do not end with the type of dun-dun-dun!-attempt at an epic sentence.
Plus, I really liked these characters. Kestrel and Arin are just enchanting. They are stubborn, smart, and calculating. There's no instant love here, so instead we get to enjoy the slow-build of actual romance, resistant though it was.
Messenger, Volume 3 by Lois Lowry
The most emotionally anchoring of the three books, Messenger picks up six years after the events in the previous book, [b:Gathering Blue|12936|Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1388195391s/12936.jpg|2134456], bringing the first two books together in a collision of events and characters.
Our narrator is Matty, known by his one-syllable name Matt in the second book, and he's grown so much and matured to the point of deserving his own book. I really enjoyed reading and experiencing this novel through his voice, eyes, and mind.
[a:Lois Lowry|2493|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1348162077p2/2493.jpg] gives us so much in this third book. We learn what happened to Jonas and Gabe from [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234], and we continue with Kira's involvement in the greater story. Along with adding new characters, the blind man from the second book plays a larger role alongside Matty and in Village, the community so willing to help and heal and nurture. Messenger took us on another magical journey, delving farther into the overall arc of the series. I look forward to reading the last of the quartet, [b:Son|13324841|Son (The Giver Quartet, #4)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1349952095s/13324841.jpg|18252076].
4.0
He wept, and it felt as if the tears were cleansing him, as if his body needed to empty itself.
The most emotionally anchoring of the three books, Messenger picks up six years after the events in the previous book, [b:Gathering Blue|12936|Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1388195391s/12936.jpg|2134456], bringing the first two books together in a collision of events and characters.
Our narrator is Matty, known by his one-syllable name Matt in the second book, and he's grown so much and matured to the point of deserving his own book. I really enjoyed reading and experiencing this novel through his voice, eyes, and mind.
[a:Lois Lowry|2493|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1348162077p2/2493.jpg] gives us so much in this third book. We learn what happened to Jonas and Gabe from [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234], and we continue with Kira's involvement in the greater story. Along with adding new characters, the blind man from the second book plays a larger role alongside Matty and in Village, the community so willing to help and heal and nurture. Messenger took us on another magical journey, delving farther into the overall arc of the series. I look forward to reading the last of the quartet, [b:Son|13324841|Son (The Giver Quartet, #4)|Lois Lowry|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1349952095s/13324841.jpg|18252076].