Amy's Review - The Hour of Tiamat

Title: The Hour of Tiamat

Author: Lisa Taylor

Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal

Format: Hardcover, Paperback or E-book

Rating: 4.85 stars

I was excited to start this book, since it's the first one I've been asked to review for our new little blog. The Hour of Tiamat is Lisa Taylor's first novel, though she's previously published a collection of poetry. From the description, I could tell that the idea was brilliant, but I was nervous to see how Taylor followed through. All worries were blown away, though, within the first chapter.
The novel starts in the middle of the action, and is so fast paced that major plot events happen in the first few pages. "All killer, no filler," you could say. The Hour of Tiamat begins with four friends: Malaki, Celicia, Tara, and Tristan, about to begin an evil plan that will cause the end of the world. At first we are lead to think Celicia is the main character, but Tristan quickly stands apart. He's easy to empathize with, and complex enough to seem real. I have to have characters who are believable as people, and this novel brings that with every single character we meet. Everyone's got a complicated history, and we can always understand the reason for their actions (even if we don't agree they're right.)
Next we meet Evelyn, who gets mixed up in the four friends' plot. Evelyn has problems of her own: an abusive father, a dead mother, and a little sister (Emma) that she's willing to protect no matter what. Evelyn and Tristan (who rebels against the other three) team up with Hunter, who works at an occult shop, to stop the end of the world. There are also ghosts, but I don't want to spoil the story for you!
The middle section of the book reads a little like a teen movie, and not in a bad way. Evelyn, Emma, Tristan, and Hunter are on the run. There's a car chase and a wild teen party, and plenty of adventure.
Later on, several characters use astral projection (a favorite topic of mine!) to get to the final battle. I wish the battle itself could have been longer, but it was still amazing. I feel like this would translate well to film, if Taylor's novel ever gets picked up by Hollywood.
The bottom line: The Hour of Tiamat is a great novel with an epic story, but no epic length. It's a fast and fun read, and very different. It's darker than, say, Meg Cabot's Jinx, but there's still happiness at the end. (And an epilogue that nearly left me in tears!) The only points taken off from its rating come from a few minor yet annoying typos sprinkled throughout that I wish the editor would have caught. Hopefully these will be fixed in the movie-tie-in second printing that I predict is in this novel's future. I'd love to read more of Taylor's work, and you should read The Hour of Tiamat.

Amber's Review - My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands

Title: My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands 

Author: Chelsea Handler

Genre: Chick-lit

Format: Paperback or E-book

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I was looking for something new to read and stumbled across this on the Barnes and Noble list. Since it was on sale I decided to give it a read.

I never really knew anything about Chelsea Handler or her life but the short stories in this book are hilarious. Although the title implies that the book is full of sexual content I found it to be relatively clean and enjoyable.

It starts off with Chelsea as a little girl and follows her in the mischief she continues to get into as an adult. After following Chelsea through years of guys and one-night stands she finally realizes that maybe there is more to life than this.

Amy's Review - Doctor Who: Judgement of the Judoon

Title: Doctor Who: Judgement of the Judoon 

Author: Colin Brake

Genre: Science fiction/ mystery

Format: Hardcover, E-book, or audiobook

Rating: 3.75 Stars

    I picked this book up with a stack of other Doctor Who books at Half Price Books. The Doctor Who novels are one of my guilty pleasures, because I love the tv series. (Classic and new! I’m in the middle of watching a first-doctor story called The Space Museum right now.)
    This one is a tenth-doctor story, so we get to picture David Tennant’s lovely face, scruffy hair, and billowing coat while reading. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) The Doctor is without a companion for this novel. No Rose, no Martha, no Donna... you get the point. But he does run into a lovely lady named Nikki, who’s running her dad’s detective agency in his abscence. Nikki reminds me of Arianne Chavasse, Audrey Hepburn’s character from Love in the Afternoon.
    As a rule, Doctor Who is science fiction, but this book wanders pretty far over into the mystery genre. That’s fine by me, but it may put off some fans. The Doctor is tasked with solving the problems that have been going on at recently-opened Terminal 13 on the planet of New Memphis. He has to find the mysterious Invisible Assassin, find a key to a luggage locker, etc. At one point there are bombs to be dismantled. Basic stuff, but still gripping. Colin Brake writes The Doctor well, and this story could easily be a real tenth-doctor episode. His portrayal of Judoon Captain Rok-Ma seems a little out of character, but that turns out to be part of one of the “lessons” The Doctor has to learn in this story: don’t pre-judge people based on their race (or in this case, species.) Don’t worry, the lesson aspect of the story isn’t too heavy-handed. I was left hoping that Nikki and Rok-Ma would get together, which shows that Brake’s original characters had as much life in them as his Doctor.

Amy's Review - Bumped

Title: Bumped

Author: Megan McCafferty

Genre: YA lit/dystopian

Format: Hardcover or E-book

Rating: 2 Stars

    I recently read Bumped with the Litwits book club on Tumblr. I was excited to start the book, because I’d just finished Divergent and the Hunger Games books, and was in a huge dystopia-frenzy. (I still am, actually.)
    Bumped follows twin sisters Melody and Harmony, in a future world where only teens can get pregnant. There’s a lot of pressure on teens to have babies and basically sell them to the highest bidder in order to keep up the world population. Harmony and Melody were separated at birth, so they’ve only just met when the book starts. Harmony is the religious one whose ideals dictate that she marry young to have her own babies. Melody is the modern one whose parents have signed her up as a professional surrogate mom. Both main characters are annoying.
    I can’t quite pinpoint why, but the book reads as a nice-quality fanfic, not a real novel. (Not that I could do any better.) The sisters are always harping on their values, and neither one is fleshed out as a real character. Instead of a single powerful Katniss, Tally, or Tris, we have two weak twins.
    And, the book isn’t truly a dystopian novel. There’s no powerful government controlling the teens’ pregnancies. Again, it’s all a mess of values. LD debaters would have a field day with this book.
    There’s also a bit of a love story. Two, actually, because of our mirror image protagonists. Harmony predictably has a Janet Weiss-esque shift to sluttitude, and Mel gets together with her male best friend.
    It’s not really worth writing more about Bumped. The story isn’t that great, but it is interesting. It’s a wonderful idea that could have been a lot more than it is. McCafferty is planning two sequels, which I’ll probably read because I’m crazy like that.
    Bumped would be good for a younger teen who likes edgy ideas and books that aren’t difficult to read.