And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None

by Agatha Christie

Synopsis by Goodreads:

First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

Recommended for: Mystery and thriller lovers

Read Count: 1
Rating:

Read from July 20 to 21, 2012

I rented this book from the library on recommendation from Wendy Darling. She had just read the book Ten by Gretchen McNeil (which is based off of And Then There Were None), and thought it would be interesting to have a compare/contrast done between the two. I gladly accepted the challenge.

It is quite obvious when starting this novel that it was written in a different age. The terminology, slang, and overall verbose writing style of the novel are a far contrast to what one is familiar seeing being published in 2012.

However, if you go into And Then There Were None aware of the time period and audience it was meant to speak to, it is much more enjoyable. Nothing is handed to you in the plot. You are left wondering just "who dun it" until the very last page of the book, and even then it seems to come out of nowhere.

I literally shut my nook and did this:


The book opens up with each section of a chapter introducing you to ten individuals, all with a somewhat shady past. Each one has received an invitation to either work, visit or relax upon a tiny mysterious island near Devon, England that was recently placed up for sale. As all ten people arrive on the island and realize that they are suddenly stranded there with a murderer on the loose the tension becomes almost palpable.

As the first of the ten started dropping like flies, I found myself rolling my eyes and thinking, "Some thriller this is, it's not even scary." (And that's saying a lot coming from me, I have to read scary novels in broad daylight... I can't watch a horror film without first reading the entire plot on wikipedia so that I know something is about to happen.) By the time there were only four people left on the island, I realized that my stomach was in knots and I was sitting hunched over my nook frantically reading as fast as I could to figure out who the murderer could possibly be.



Even after the last person dies, you are left questioning what exactly took place on the island, and it's only truly revealed through an after note to the story, in the form of a message found in a bottle.

If you enjoy a good mystery and suspenseful novel, go ahead and pick up And Then There Were None. Overlook some of the antiquated actions and language and settle back to enjoy and try to figure out a timeless riddle: Who dun it?

“Many homicidal lunatics are very quiet, unassuming people. Delightful fellows.”
— Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly

by Cynthia Hand

Recommended for: YA fantasy lovers, anyone losing faith in angel/demon YA

read count: 1

Rating:  



Summary from Goodreads:

 In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.


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Review Coming Soon!

Reader Reviews and About Me

What would you like to see reviewed?

Is there a book that you would like to have reviewed before you try it out?  Or do you just want to chat about a book you love.  Leave your name and book suggestions on this post!

A little bit about me:

I like a fairly eclectic mix of genres, though my go-to genre will always be mid-fantasy (not sci-fi: not a big space ship fan), and lately I've really enjoyed quite a bit of YA fiction.  A few of my favorite authors/books are Neil Gaiman, Edgar Allan Poe, Diana Gabaldon, and Maria V. Snyder.

I typically get to read during the early hours of the morning, with midnight being my favorite time to curl up with a glass of wine and a bath along with my book (or nook!).  During the day, I'm chasing after a 4 1/2 year old little girl, 2 cats and a black lab, and it can be exhausting!

I prefer to read the real book, but I finally gave in last year and bought a nook to consolidate space (and because I just don't have enough room to bring 20 books on a road trip!).  If I really enjoy the book, I will buy it in hardback or paperback to add to my library.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Poison Study 

by Maria V. Snyder

Goodreads Blurb: 

Choose: A quick death... Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve.  She'll eat the beset meals, have rooms in the palace - and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster.  But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust - and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting.  Rebels plot to seize Ixea and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control.  Her life is threatened again and choices must be made.  But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

Recommended for: YA fantasy lovers

read count: 4

Rating:  

I bought the second book in this trilogy on a whim while passing through the store about five years ago, completely oblivious to the fact that it was the second and not the first book. When I realized my mistake, I put it on my bookshelf and promptly forgot about it for the next year. (If only I had known what I was missing.) After reading the back cover multiple times, I finally decided to pick up Poison Study... and promptly devoured it in one sitting.

This book has everything you could want in a YA fantasy novel. A great plot, a mystery that keeps you hooked, amazing side characters that aren't cardboard cutouts, and a couple that finds love together that isn't instant. In fact, the main character starts the book hating him.

Maria V. Snyder is great at showing, not telling. We see through Yelena's actions how she starts to become a confidant and powerful woman that doesn't need a man to kick ass, but doesn't refuse help when she knows she's in above her head.

The book starts off from Yelena's point of view as she's dragged from a dungeon where she has been imprisoned for the past year.  Assuming she's about to receive her punishment by execution, she's extremely surprised when she is offered a deal.  Choose to be her leader's food taster and risk death with every bite, or choose her execution immediately.

The story is fast paced and quickly races on delving into Yelena's somewhat murky history as an orphan, why she was imprisoned in the first place, and her daily fear of death by poison.  Instead of being cut and dry and describing every single meal, Snyder throws in a dash of romance, a pair of friends that aren't there just to have extra characters, and a mystery that will draw you in so deep you don't realize that you've laid in bed reading and suddenly it's 5am and starting to grow light out.

I've now read this entire trilogy 3 times, and each time I pick the books back up, it's like going home to a world and friends that I love dearly.

I highly recommend you give this book a try!

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Near Witch

by Victoria Schwab

Summary by Goodreads

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen.
The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.
And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

 

Recommended for: amateur YA readers, those that like a taste of mystery with no kick

Read count:1

Read on May 04, 2012

Rating: 

I wanted to like this book, I really did.  The book held quite a bit of promise.  Unfortunately the author just didn't deliver.

Let's start with the cover.  It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful!  And it doesn't represent the book in any way, shape or form.  One of the most disappointing things for me is to finish a book, put it down and see the cover and realize that it doesn't portray the book in even the slightest sense.

Next, the summary.  It sounds exciting! Haunting! Mysterious!  In reality, you know who the near witch is within the first chapter, and there is absolutely no mystery at all.  The book is never really haunting, barring one passage late in the book.  Rather than focusing on the mystery of the Near Witch, we are instead forced to focus on the mystery of the mysterious boy for chapters upon chapters of repetitive action involving Lexi sneaking out of her house, running into the boy, and trying to hide from her Uncle.  This happens no less than 4 times, in detail, throughout the book.

Finally, the neat of the book, the story.  *sigh* I don't even know where to start.  The protagonist, Lexi, is completely flat.  She had some potential, but she falls into the general YA trope of a girl who needs a man's help and love to do anything/everything.  Her inner thoughts are also rather irritating.  Rather than self-confidant, her stubbornness leans more towards childish willfulness. Her Uncle Otto is extremely sexist and surrounded by a gaggle of sexist men who loudly protest if a woman is seen outside of the house not doing her "womanly duties".

Lexi's father was extremely interesting, and at first you think she may break the mold and follow in his footsteps, but she instead decides to fall instantly in love with a mysterious ghostly boy, and abandons the issue of children going missing in the village to try and protect her new love interest from her Uncle and his gang.  With no information about the new boy, Cole, she decides that there is absolutely no way that he can be involved in the children's disappearances and makes it her sole mission to prove him innocent.

This book suffers from the INSTANT!LOVE that seems to be predominant in most YA fiction right now, and it was truly frustrating in The Near Witch because it just came out of nowhere and slapped you in the face.  You went from the two main characters tracking children to all of the sudden they are kissing and she's "in love".  It felt hasty and pushed on the reader, just so that the author could say that her fairy tale had a romantic aspect.  For me, the story would have held truer if she had just left the character's friends.

This story held so much wonderful potential, but it just fell flat.  In fact, I found myself bored for about 3/4s of the entire novel.  The one thing that Victoria Schwab has going for her is that her way with words is gorgeous.

“Maybe one day the words will pour out like so many others, easy and smooth and on their own. Right now they take pieces of me with them.” 

"Of every aspect of the moor, the earth and stone and rain and fire, the wind is the strongest one in Near. Here on the outskirts of the village, the wind is always pressing close, making windows groan. It whispers and it howls and it sings. It can bend its voice and cast into any shape, long and thin enough to slide beneath the door, stout enough to seem a thing of weight and breath and bone." 

“The music continues, clearer than ever, and it’s hard to listen with only the edges of my ears, because I never noticed how beautiful it is. It’s still on the wind, made by the wind itself, but its wafting toward us like the scent of my mother’s bread, oddly filling.”

― Victoria Schwab, The Near Witch 

Schwab just has a way of stringing words together into sentences that are ripe with scent and taste and texture, sadly, she needs a little more practice in taking each sentence and turning them into a story that contains the same aspects.  

Victoria Schwab has potential, and I will give her next book another try in the hopes that her writing will strengthen and grow and The Near Witch will just be a blip in her history.