Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in the Harry Potter series. It starts off as any other Harry Potter book would with Harry at his aunt and uncle's house. After being rescued by his friend Ron and his brothers, Harry stays at Ron's house for the remainder of the summer. When summer ends, Harry and Ron go to Hogwarts, a school of magic. After a few weeks or so, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine find out that students are being petrified. They decide to try to ask Draco Malfoy, Harry's rival, if he is the one doing all this. They need to brew an advanced potion called the Polyjuice Potion, which can turn them into any person that they can get a part of. After months of brewing, Harry and Ron become Crabbe and Goyle, who are Malfoy's best friends. When they ask Malfoy if he was the one petrifying people, he said that he wasn't. Hagrid later gets blamed for all of the petrifying and is sent to Azkaban (wizard prison). Harry and Ron soon find out that Hagrid wasn't actually the culprit by a giant spider that Hagrid raised named Aragog. Harry and Ron decide to go to the chamber of secrets, as they have pieced together enough information to find out where the Chamber of Secrets is. Harry and Ron are split up in the Chamber, forcing Harry to face the rest of the chamber alone. As it turns out, Lord Voldemort is the one behind all of the petrifying and he has a basilisk to fight Harry with. Harry, of course, wins and ends the petrifying.
Thoughts:
This book was show more definitely a step up from the first one. With a bit more depth into wizarding history and more foundation to build on, this is a great sequel. Although the characters leave a little to be desired, the writing is still pretty good. Unfortunately there isn't any substantial history until around Goblet of Fire. Chapters like The Dueling Club and The Burrow felt like they were just filler, but it was fine as they had some good dialogue and added some slight substance to the book. I definitely enjoyed this book, although it only gets better in the rest of the series. I would recommend this to anyone who has already read the first book and isn't sure if they want to continue. show less
Thoughts:
This book was show more definitely a step up from the first one. With a bit more depth into wizarding history and more foundation to build on, this is a great sequel. Although the characters leave a little to be desired, the writing is still pretty good. Unfortunately there isn't any substantial history until around Goblet of Fire. Chapters like The Dueling Club and The Burrow felt like they were just filler, but it was fine as they had some good dialogue and added some slight substance to the book. I definitely enjoyed this book, although it only gets better in the rest of the series. I would recommend this to anyone who has already read the first book and isn't sure if they want to continue. show less
Summary:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an illustrated novel about middle school student Greg Heffley, who writes his problems in middle school in his diary that his mom gave him. The story starts with Greg writing about what the people in his school are like and writing about his family. Greg also writes about his best friend Rowley, who he spends most of his time with. Greg is basically just trying to survive middle school, and possibly try to do something fun in the process.
Thoughts:
This book was a fun, short read. Greg's character kind of sucked. Same with all the other characters. I swear that every character in this book is so vindictive. Even the well meaning characters always are annoying. However, the situations that they are put in is what gives this book reading value. The story is very non-linear with no real end goal or thing for the protagonist to achieve. This way of plot writing is fine, as the ending isn't dis-satisfying as there is nothing to expect from it. This book's dialogue is kind of meh, with phrases that basically no middle schooler would say un-ironically like "say what?". Overall, this book is a decent, quick read. I would recommend this to anyone interested in a quick series to burn through.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an illustrated novel about middle school student Greg Heffley, who writes his problems in middle school in his diary that his mom gave him. The story starts with Greg writing about what the people in his school are like and writing about his family. Greg also writes about his best friend Rowley, who he spends most of his time with. Greg is basically just trying to survive middle school, and possibly try to do something fun in the process.
Thoughts:
This book was a fun, short read. Greg's character kind of sucked. Same with all the other characters. I swear that every character in this book is so vindictive. Even the well meaning characters always are annoying. However, the situations that they are put in is what gives this book reading value. The story is very non-linear with no real end goal or thing for the protagonist to achieve. This way of plot writing is fine, as the ending isn't dis-satisfying as there is nothing to expect from it. This book's dialogue is kind of meh, with phrases that basically no middle schooler would say un-ironically like "say what?". Overall, this book is a decent, quick read. I would recommend this to anyone interested in a quick series to burn through.
Summary:
Sitting Bull; Great Sioux Hero is a biography of Sitting Bull, the leader of the Sioux tribe the Hunkpapa. When Sitting Bull was a child, he was always preparing to become a warrior. Whether it be the games that he played with the other children, or the stories told to him by the elders of the tribe, he was always learning. When Sitting Bull (his name was Slow at this time of his life) was around ten years old, he went on his first buffalo hunt. This was the start of becoming a warrior, which also included things to do like "counting coup" and the vision quest. After completing that, he participated in the Sun Dance, the final rite of passage into manhood. After his father died in battle, Sitting Bull had to face a new challenge; American westward expansion. After many battles with the Americans, the Sioux tribes all decided to come together to try to stop the Americans under one chief. The chief that was unanimously chosen was Sitting Bull. The U.S. had been trying to convince the Indians to move to reservations, but Sitting Bull was against the idea of giving up their holy land; The Black Hills. This continued the fighting between the Sioux and the U.S.. The Sioux, although able to take out many troops (killing Colonel Custer as well) they were eventually scattered, with those tired of fighting leaving Sitting Bull's group to go to the reservations. Sitting Bull eventually tries to move to Canada was denied and captured by American troops and taken to a show more reservation. A year later, he joins Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show and travels around America for a while. When Cody was invited to bring his show to Europe, Sitting Bull refused to come with Cody and stayed with his people. After a while, Sitting Bull was arrested because he was a leader in the religious ceremonies that the government agent that oversees the reservation disliked. Sitting Bull was shot in his bodyguard's conflict to save him from capture.
Thoughts:
This book was a surprisingly fun read. This book showed a lot of the things that American Indians did before being disturbed and eventually booted from their original land. It is saddening knowing that this is not the only (or even first) injustice done to American Indians. The book also had extra side notes to give contextual information about something happening. It also gave extra information about the images shown in the book, which was helpful. I do wish that it was a bit longer, as I'm sure that there is extra information that couldn't be put in for one reason or the other. I definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in this topic. show less
Sitting Bull; Great Sioux Hero is a biography of Sitting Bull, the leader of the Sioux tribe the Hunkpapa. When Sitting Bull was a child, he was always preparing to become a warrior. Whether it be the games that he played with the other children, or the stories told to him by the elders of the tribe, he was always learning. When Sitting Bull (his name was Slow at this time of his life) was around ten years old, he went on his first buffalo hunt. This was the start of becoming a warrior, which also included things to do like "counting coup" and the vision quest. After completing that, he participated in the Sun Dance, the final rite of passage into manhood. After his father died in battle, Sitting Bull had to face a new challenge; American westward expansion. After many battles with the Americans, the Sioux tribes all decided to come together to try to stop the Americans under one chief. The chief that was unanimously chosen was Sitting Bull. The U.S. had been trying to convince the Indians to move to reservations, but Sitting Bull was against the idea of giving up their holy land; The Black Hills. This continued the fighting between the Sioux and the U.S.. The Sioux, although able to take out many troops (killing Colonel Custer as well) they were eventually scattered, with those tired of fighting leaving Sitting Bull's group to go to the reservations. Sitting Bull eventually tries to move to Canada was denied and captured by American troops and taken to a show more reservation. A year later, he joins Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show and travels around America for a while. When Cody was invited to bring his show to Europe, Sitting Bull refused to come with Cody and stayed with his people. After a while, Sitting Bull was arrested because he was a leader in the religious ceremonies that the government agent that oversees the reservation disliked. Sitting Bull was shot in his bodyguard's conflict to save him from capture.
Thoughts:
This book was a surprisingly fun read. This book showed a lot of the things that American Indians did before being disturbed and eventually booted from their original land. It is saddening knowing that this is not the only (or even first) injustice done to American Indians. The book also had extra side notes to give contextual information about something happening. It also gave extra information about the images shown in the book, which was helpful. I do wish that it was a bit longer, as I'm sure that there is extra information that couldn't be put in for one reason or the other. I definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in this topic. show less
By Brian Jacques Lord Brocktree (Redwall) Lord Brocktree (1st First Edition) [Paperback] by Brian Jacques
Summary
Since this book does have split storylines that connect in the end, I will just sum the story up as a whole. Lord Brocktree is mostly about a badger named, you guessed it, Lord Brocktree. The first branch of the story is about an old badger named Stonepaw, who rules the mountain Salamandastron. As most of the young hares have left in search of adventure, there is none to defend it but Lord Stonepaw and the older fighting hares. Seeing this weakness, Ungatt Trunn, a wildcat, decides to take Salamandastron with the massive army he commands. Lord Stonepaw is soon overpowered and retreats to the secret cellars of the mountain, where they hide until they find a way to sneak out. Fortunately they do before they starve, as there was no food in that cellar, but Lord Stonepaw had to sacrifice himself to give his remaining hares the time to escape. The hares escape the mountain and meet an otter clan who help them try to starve out the army that took Salamandastron. The second branch is about Lord Brocktree, who meets a young haremaid named Dotti. Both creatures are headed for Salamandastron. They soon meet an otter named Ruff and he joins their party on the journey to the mountain. Ruff helps them traverse the land even faster by using a boat. After traveling for a while they meet a mole family who let them stay and eat for a while. One of the sons, Gurth, joins their group. After traveling a little longer, they come across a baby hedgehog stuck in the water with a pike show more coming towards it. Ruff wrestles the pike until they can rescue the baby hedgehog. After meeting the shrews, who had also seen the baby in the water but couldn't do anything about it, the shrews all decided to join Lord Brocktree and help him on his quest. They then met the cast of the third branch of the story. The third branch of the story is about a hare scout sent out by Lord Stonepaw to gather more troops before Ungatt Trunn attacked. He met a tribe of squirrels who decided to help him gather an army. They found out about a small kingdom of hares from an owl and met a rabble of hedgehogs along the way. They then met the second branch's group when they were looking for the hare kingdom. They found the hare kingdom, beat the king and gained the hare army. They then went to Salamandastron where they met the first branch's group and joined forces to defeat Ungatt Trunn. They then had a massive battle and Lord Brocktree beat Ungatt Trunn. Lord Brocktree became ruler of Salamandastron.
My Thoughts
Lord Brocktree was a great read, I definitely enjoyed it. All the characters were well done, and the dialogue was very well written. The great amount of different dialects spoken by all of the different animals is very cool. I always liked the badgers, so having an entire book all about one is awesome. Lord Brocktree was a really great main character. The villain was not the best though. I would definitely reccomend to anyone looking for a fun read. show less
Since this book does have split storylines that connect in the end, I will just sum the story up as a whole. Lord Brocktree is mostly about a badger named, you guessed it, Lord Brocktree. The first branch of the story is about an old badger named Stonepaw, who rules the mountain Salamandastron. As most of the young hares have left in search of adventure, there is none to defend it but Lord Stonepaw and the older fighting hares. Seeing this weakness, Ungatt Trunn, a wildcat, decides to take Salamandastron with the massive army he commands. Lord Stonepaw is soon overpowered and retreats to the secret cellars of the mountain, where they hide until they find a way to sneak out. Fortunately they do before they starve, as there was no food in that cellar, but Lord Stonepaw had to sacrifice himself to give his remaining hares the time to escape. The hares escape the mountain and meet an otter clan who help them try to starve out the army that took Salamandastron. The second branch is about Lord Brocktree, who meets a young haremaid named Dotti. Both creatures are headed for Salamandastron. They soon meet an otter named Ruff and he joins their party on the journey to the mountain. Ruff helps them traverse the land even faster by using a boat. After traveling for a while they meet a mole family who let them stay and eat for a while. One of the sons, Gurth, joins their group. After traveling a little longer, they come across a baby hedgehog stuck in the water with a pike show more coming towards it. Ruff wrestles the pike until they can rescue the baby hedgehog. After meeting the shrews, who had also seen the baby in the water but couldn't do anything about it, the shrews all decided to join Lord Brocktree and help him on his quest. They then met the cast of the third branch of the story. The third branch of the story is about a hare scout sent out by Lord Stonepaw to gather more troops before Ungatt Trunn attacked. He met a tribe of squirrels who decided to help him gather an army. They found out about a small kingdom of hares from an owl and met a rabble of hedgehogs along the way. They then met the second branch's group when they were looking for the hare kingdom. They found the hare kingdom, beat the king and gained the hare army. They then went to Salamandastron where they met the first branch's group and joined forces to defeat Ungatt Trunn. They then had a massive battle and Lord Brocktree beat Ungatt Trunn. Lord Brocktree became ruler of Salamandastron.
My Thoughts
Lord Brocktree was a great read, I definitely enjoyed it. All the characters were well done, and the dialogue was very well written. The great amount of different dialects spoken by all of the different animals is very cool. I always liked the badgers, so having an entire book all about one is awesome. Lord Brocktree was a really great main character. The villain was not the best though. I would definitely reccomend to anyone looking for a fun read. show less
Summary:
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone is a book about a boy living in the cupboard under the stairs in his aunt and uncle's house. Harry soon finds out that he is a wizard from an incredibly tall man named Hagrid. Hagrid takes Harry to a school for wizard children called Hogwarts. Harry meets his friends Ron and Hermione as well as his enemy, Draco Malfoy. Harry is sorted into Gryffindor, one of the four houses, and so are Ron and Hermione. Harry, Ron, and Hermione find out that Hogwarts is guarding a secret item; the Sorcerer's Stone, which can grant the owner the elixir of life and the ability to make infinite gold. After the school year is nearly over, Harry, Ron, and Hermione find out someone is trying to steal the stone. In the middle of the night, with the invisibility cloak Harry's dad gave him, they snuck out to stop whoever was going to steal the stone. After solving puzzles and getting through the magical defenses Harry was the only one able to confront the stone's burglar. Ultimately, the person who was trying to steal the stone was Voldemort, a powerful dark wizard who had tried to kill Harry as an infant. Because Voldemort was still so weak from their last encounter Harry was able to defeat him. Harry saved the stone and Voldemort was repelled from rising back to power.
My Thoughts
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone is a great book, especially for the start of a series. It definitely falls short in many ways to any of it's successors though. It's show more world building is not the best, as most of the later books do a better job. This is because the wizarding world has basically no depth to it in this book. This is easily rebutted, however, with there being six more books to follow up this book. I definitely like how Harry Potter makes a school setting in a story actually interesting, it adds so much more flair when the whole place is magical. Although this first book s the weakest of the seven, it still means next to nothing when this book, not compared to the others, is still a really fun read. I would definitely recommend to anyone who hasn't gotten into the series yet (you've only had, what, 22 years to read it?). show less
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone is a book about a boy living in the cupboard under the stairs in his aunt and uncle's house. Harry soon finds out that he is a wizard from an incredibly tall man named Hagrid. Hagrid takes Harry to a school for wizard children called Hogwarts. Harry meets his friends Ron and Hermione as well as his enemy, Draco Malfoy. Harry is sorted into Gryffindor, one of the four houses, and so are Ron and Hermione. Harry, Ron, and Hermione find out that Hogwarts is guarding a secret item; the Sorcerer's Stone, which can grant the owner the elixir of life and the ability to make infinite gold. After the school year is nearly over, Harry, Ron, and Hermione find out someone is trying to steal the stone. In the middle of the night, with the invisibility cloak Harry's dad gave him, they snuck out to stop whoever was going to steal the stone. After solving puzzles and getting through the magical defenses Harry was the only one able to confront the stone's burglar. Ultimately, the person who was trying to steal the stone was Voldemort, a powerful dark wizard who had tried to kill Harry as an infant. Because Voldemort was still so weak from their last encounter Harry was able to defeat him. Harry saved the stone and Voldemort was repelled from rising back to power.
My Thoughts
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone is a great book, especially for the start of a series. It definitely falls short in many ways to any of it's successors though. It's show more world building is not the best, as most of the later books do a better job. This is because the wizarding world has basically no depth to it in this book. This is easily rebutted, however, with there being six more books to follow up this book. I definitely like how Harry Potter makes a school setting in a story actually interesting, it adds so much more flair when the whole place is magical. Although this first book s the weakest of the seven, it still means next to nothing when this book, not compared to the others, is still a really fun read. I would definitely recommend to anyone who hasn't gotten into the series yet (you've only had, what, 22 years to read it?). show less
Summary:
No Pretty Pictures: A Child Of War by Anita Lobel is a biography about her (Anita Lobel's) life as a jew during WW2. Before she was a refugee, Anita was a decently well off child. When she was almost five years old however, many of her family's belongings were taken by Nazis. Later many of her family members were deported and eventually Anita's mother and Nanusiu (nanny) had to take her and her brother to the countryside to try to get away from the Nazis. Anita's mother stayed in the city, as she had false papers to get her by, and the children and Nanusiu had to go to the countryside. Anita, here brother, and Nanusiu survived by begging and trading household goods from the old house for food. After moving many places and living in hiding they eventually move into a convent in which they stay for a while. Later the convent was caught housing Jews, and the Nazis took Anita, her brother, and the rest of the Jews to a prison, in which they would stay before being shipped off to a concentration camp. Many Jews were shot after they came in. The time she did spend in the prison camps she fortunately was able to get good food from a Nazi soldier who let her and some of her other deported family eat in his room. This went on until the camp was marched into the Auschwitz. They only spent one night there though and they had to move into a train the next day. The train took them to a small base in which they stayed for many days. They were then saved by soldiers (Anita knew show more they weren't Nazis but she didn't know who they were) who took them from the base and into Sweden. Anita and her brother were sick with tuberculosis and had to stay in a sanatorium. Almost a year later Anita was sent a letter from her mother, and after a while she got a letter from her father too. Anita had to leave the sanatorium and leave her brother behind, as she had recovered from tuberculosis and her brother had not. She was taken to Poland to a shelter for Polish refugee children, where she stayed until her parents came to get her. When she was taken back by her parents, she lived in a boardinghouse with her parents. Eventually her parents got jobs and were able to afford new clothes for Anita. When her brother finally recovered from tuberculosis they needed to get a larger apartment. Anita was finally able to go to school for the first time in her life. When she was in high school, Niania died from a brain tumor. When Anita was sixteen, her parents decided to move to America. She left behind her best friends and her first boyfriend to leave for New York City.
My Thoughts:
This story was really great for me to understand how the Jews were treated and lived in hiding during WW2. It was absolutely heartbreaking to read how Anita completely lost so much of her trust for people because of living in hiding so long. Anita, even after being saved by the soldiers, was so wary of everyone trying to help her. She thought that the Polish refugee shelter was another prison camp. It is fortunate she was able to hide for so long, she might not have made it out of the prison camps alive if she was caught earlier in the war. It was also sad reading that her brother didn't even recognise his father when he came back from the sanatorium. Her brother was way too young to remember his father before the war. This book gave me a lot of insight on what it was like to live in hiding from the Nazis and live in prison camps as a Jew. show less
No Pretty Pictures: A Child Of War by Anita Lobel is a biography about her (Anita Lobel's) life as a jew during WW2. Before she was a refugee, Anita was a decently well off child. When she was almost five years old however, many of her family's belongings were taken by Nazis. Later many of her family members were deported and eventually Anita's mother and Nanusiu (nanny) had to take her and her brother to the countryside to try to get away from the Nazis. Anita's mother stayed in the city, as she had false papers to get her by, and the children and Nanusiu had to go to the countryside. Anita, here brother, and Nanusiu survived by begging and trading household goods from the old house for food. After moving many places and living in hiding they eventually move into a convent in which they stay for a while. Later the convent was caught housing Jews, and the Nazis took Anita, her brother, and the rest of the Jews to a prison, in which they would stay before being shipped off to a concentration camp. Many Jews were shot after they came in. The time she did spend in the prison camps she fortunately was able to get good food from a Nazi soldier who let her and some of her other deported family eat in his room. This went on until the camp was marched into the Auschwitz. They only spent one night there though and they had to move into a train the next day. The train took them to a small base in which they stayed for many days. They were then saved by soldiers (Anita knew show more they weren't Nazis but she didn't know who they were) who took them from the base and into Sweden. Anita and her brother were sick with tuberculosis and had to stay in a sanatorium. Almost a year later Anita was sent a letter from her mother, and after a while she got a letter from her father too. Anita had to leave the sanatorium and leave her brother behind, as she had recovered from tuberculosis and her brother had not. She was taken to Poland to a shelter for Polish refugee children, where she stayed until her parents came to get her. When she was taken back by her parents, she lived in a boardinghouse with her parents. Eventually her parents got jobs and were able to afford new clothes for Anita. When her brother finally recovered from tuberculosis they needed to get a larger apartment. Anita was finally able to go to school for the first time in her life. When she was in high school, Niania died from a brain tumor. When Anita was sixteen, her parents decided to move to America. She left behind her best friends and her first boyfriend to leave for New York City.
My Thoughts:
This story was really great for me to understand how the Jews were treated and lived in hiding during WW2. It was absolutely heartbreaking to read how Anita completely lost so much of her trust for people because of living in hiding so long. Anita, even after being saved by the soldiers, was so wary of everyone trying to help her. She thought that the Polish refugee shelter was another prison camp. It is fortunate she was able to hide for so long, she might not have made it out of the prison camps alive if she was caught earlier in the war. It was also sad reading that her brother didn't even recognise his father when he came back from the sanatorium. Her brother was way too young to remember his father before the war. This book gave me a lot of insight on what it was like to live in hiding from the Nazis and live in prison camps as a Jew. show less
Summary:
This book is about a film-maker who made some of the first and few black casted movies. Spike Lee was a black film-maker, and at the time it wasn't easy being one. He started off making small films, until his first higher budget movie, She's Gotta Have It. This was still a very low budget film in perspective of the multi-million Hollywood productions. He didn't gain much popularity until his first controversial film, Make The Right Choice. After the publicity given to him by this controversial movie he started to slowly take off, getting director deals with Nike and even starting his own record company. His most popular movie was about Malcom X, the militant African-American leader.
Opinion:
This was an interesting book that I was surprised I liked. I hadn't even heard of Spike Lee before reading this book, so it was very interesting to read about him. I think that Spike is someone who just wants to bring his community together, and that, to me, is respectable. With his movies he tried to point out the problems with society. Spike stood his ground in the waves of controversy. I'm glad that this is not really pushing any agenda down your throat. This was a fun read and I'm glad I read it.
This book is about a film-maker who made some of the first and few black casted movies. Spike Lee was a black film-maker, and at the time it wasn't easy being one. He started off making small films, until his first higher budget movie, She's Gotta Have It. This was still a very low budget film in perspective of the multi-million Hollywood productions. He didn't gain much popularity until his first controversial film, Make The Right Choice. After the publicity given to him by this controversial movie he started to slowly take off, getting director deals with Nike and even starting his own record company. His most popular movie was about Malcom X, the militant African-American leader.
Opinion:
This was an interesting book that I was surprised I liked. I hadn't even heard of Spike Lee before reading this book, so it was very interesting to read about him. I think that Spike is someone who just wants to bring his community together, and that, to me, is respectable. With his movies he tried to point out the problems with society. Spike stood his ground in the waves of controversy. I'm glad that this is not really pushing any agenda down your throat. This was a fun read and I'm glad I read it.
Summary:
Mossflower is about a strong-willed warrior mouse named Martin, with his friends from the woodland rebellion Gonff the mouse-thief and Dinny the mole. Under the reign of Tsarmina, a wildcat, the woodland mice, moles, otters, squirrels, and their badger leader, Lady Bella fight for freedom in Mossflower woods while Martin's group searches for the great mountain Salamandastron, and the powerful warrior badger that lives there, Boar the Fighter, Bella's father. The two plots intertwine as Martin, with his new sword forged by Boar, sails back to Mossflower woods to help fight Tsarmina with the army he has gathered while the woodlanders carry out plans to sink Kotir, Tsarmina's fortress. This ends in a great battle with Martin fighting Tsarmina. Martin killed Tsarmina, but was gravely wounded after the battle. It took weeks for him to heal, and he nearly died, but fortunately he was able to survive. the story ends with Lady Bella telling the ending to Gonff's grandson.
Opinion:
This book was one of my favorites when I was younger, and I decided I wanted to brush up on this old series. This story is geared more towards younger kids, but it still holds up as one of my favorite books. One of my gripes though, is that the book gives no idea of scale. For example, the book does not describe if the trees are scaled like in real life or are scaled down for the sake of the smaller animal sizes. This still is a great book though, as it has a good cast of characters and allusions show more to lore from Salamandastron's engravings. The main protagonist, Martin, is, although slightly boring, a fine character. His cave warrior past really intrigued me and made me exited to read the book about his backstory. I would recommend this to any reader interested in a simple and easy book.
R.I.P. Brian Jaques, you have given me countless hours of future reading and fun, thank you. show less
Mossflower is about a strong-willed warrior mouse named Martin, with his friends from the woodland rebellion Gonff the mouse-thief and Dinny the mole. Under the reign of Tsarmina, a wildcat, the woodland mice, moles, otters, squirrels, and their badger leader, Lady Bella fight for freedom in Mossflower woods while Martin's group searches for the great mountain Salamandastron, and the powerful warrior badger that lives there, Boar the Fighter, Bella's father. The two plots intertwine as Martin, with his new sword forged by Boar, sails back to Mossflower woods to help fight Tsarmina with the army he has gathered while the woodlanders carry out plans to sink Kotir, Tsarmina's fortress. This ends in a great battle with Martin fighting Tsarmina. Martin killed Tsarmina, but was gravely wounded after the battle. It took weeks for him to heal, and he nearly died, but fortunately he was able to survive. the story ends with Lady Bella telling the ending to Gonff's grandson.
Opinion:
This book was one of my favorites when I was younger, and I decided I wanted to brush up on this old series. This story is geared more towards younger kids, but it still holds up as one of my favorite books. One of my gripes though, is that the book gives no idea of scale. For example, the book does not describe if the trees are scaled like in real life or are scaled down for the sake of the smaller animal sizes. This still is a great book though, as it has a good cast of characters and allusions show more to lore from Salamandastron's engravings. The main protagonist, Martin, is, although slightly boring, a fine character. His cave warrior past really intrigued me and made me exited to read the book about his backstory. I would recommend this to any reader interested in a simple and easy book.
R.I.P. Brian Jaques, you have given me countless hours of future reading and fun, thank you. show less
Overview:
This was one of the few dystopia themed books that I've read (other than Maze Runner) and I'm very impressed. Divergent has a strong plot and good cast of characters, although there are some parts that I disliked, which I will describe later. So, with all that said, let's just jump into it.
Summary:
I am going to cut this short and sweet, as I really just have much more to say about this book than I want to wait for, so summary, BEGIN! In this dystopian world humanity is split up into factions that represent a value that a person chooses (similar to a Hogwarts house, but much more specific) with values like Bravery (Dauntless), Honesty (Candor), Intelligence (Erudite), Happiness (Amity), Selflessness (Abnegation), and if you are booted from your faction you become a Factionless, a part of the slums.
The main protagonist is Beatrice (later known as Tris), an Abnegation girl who is nearly ready to choose her faction (you choose your faction when you become 16). As it turns out, she's Divergent, which is when your test results for your faction are indecisive. She later leaves her family to join the Dauntless instead of Abnegation (both of which were her two results). The Dauntless are very dangerous, being skilled in hand-to-hand combat and use of weaponry such as firearms and knives. She gains two friends in Will and Christina who support Tris through the trials of the Dauntless. She also meets powerful enemies in Eric, the sadistic and corrupted Dauntless leader, and show more Peter, Molly, and Drew, some of Tris' fellow Dauntless initiates. The Initiation proceeds with many challenges for Tris, as she has to hide that she is Divergent. Later on she falls in love with her instructor/Dauntless leader, Tobias, and together they find out that the Dauntless are being corrupted by the Erudite, in Erudite's plan to take over all of the factions.
My Thoughts:
This, I must admit, was definitely not a book targeted a my demographic, probably written with pre-teen/teenage girls in mind. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I am not one to really let bad parts of a book get to me. So I'm just going to list some of the Goods and the Bads of this book.
GOOD:
I thought that the dialogue was very natural and well written and was definitely nothing to sneeze at.
The plot is definitely what carried me through the bad parts as I was really engrossed in finding out how the Erudite conspiracy would unfurl.
Most character deaths were great, well written, and were also complete surprises. A great example would be Tris' mother, in her heroic sacrifice to save Tris from Erudite/Dauntless soldiers. It was surprisingly graphic, and one of the saddest in the book. I am not usually one to cry over a character death, so unfortunately I did not get the full "Character Death Experience" as any normal person would.
Peter was such a well done villain. He is literally, straight from the start, written to be incredibly dislikable. I think villains like these, the ones that make you feel at least a decent dislike for them, are the best villains (other than relatable/redeemable villains that are the complete opposite of these types of antagonists).
BAD:
Most of the supporting cast was pretty bland, like Will and Christina, who basically are just there to show Tris and the reader what life in the other factions is like.
This gets it's own paragraph because it's just that bad...
TOBIAS AND TRIS' RELATIONSHIP:
I was actually worried that this would be THE thing to ruin this book for me, but fortunately later on it wasn't such a big theme. Firstly, WHY DOES TOBIAS EVEN LOVE TRIS?? This relationship just kinda came straight out of the blue and slapped me in the face, because there were two or three chapters of them making out halfway through. I feel like this added nothing but useless romance to the story and could have really just been done without.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
It's good book with a solid story, it just has a few problems that I hope the rest of the series fixes. I would definitely read the next book in the series after this experience. show less
This was one of the few dystopia themed books that I've read (other than Maze Runner) and I'm very impressed. Divergent has a strong plot and good cast of characters, although there are some parts that I disliked, which I will describe later. So, with all that said, let's just jump into it.
Summary:
I am going to cut this short and sweet, as I really just have much more to say about this book than I want to wait for, so summary, BEGIN! In this dystopian world humanity is split up into factions that represent a value that a person chooses (similar to a Hogwarts house, but much more specific) with values like Bravery (Dauntless), Honesty (Candor), Intelligence (Erudite), Happiness (Amity), Selflessness (Abnegation), and if you are booted from your faction you become a Factionless, a part of the slums.
The main protagonist is Beatrice (later known as Tris), an Abnegation girl who is nearly ready to choose her faction (you choose your faction when you become 16). As it turns out, she's Divergent, which is when your test results for your faction are indecisive. She later leaves her family to join the Dauntless instead of Abnegation (both of which were her two results). The Dauntless are very dangerous, being skilled in hand-to-hand combat and use of weaponry such as firearms and knives. She gains two friends in Will and Christina who support Tris through the trials of the Dauntless. She also meets powerful enemies in Eric, the sadistic and corrupted Dauntless leader, and show more Peter, Molly, and Drew, some of Tris' fellow Dauntless initiates. The Initiation proceeds with many challenges for Tris, as she has to hide that she is Divergent. Later on she falls in love with her instructor/Dauntless leader, Tobias, and together they find out that the Dauntless are being corrupted by the Erudite, in Erudite's plan to take over all of the factions.
My Thoughts:
This, I must admit, was definitely not a book targeted a my demographic, probably written with pre-teen/teenage girls in mind. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I am not one to really let bad parts of a book get to me. So I'm just going to list some of the Goods and the Bads of this book.
GOOD:
I thought that the dialogue was very natural and well written and was definitely nothing to sneeze at.
The plot is definitely what carried me through the bad parts as I was really engrossed in finding out how the Erudite conspiracy would unfurl.
Most character deaths were great, well written, and were also complete surprises. A great example would be Tris' mother, in her heroic sacrifice to save Tris from Erudite/Dauntless soldiers. It was surprisingly graphic, and one of the saddest in the book. I am not usually one to cry over a character death, so unfortunately I did not get the full "Character Death Experience" as any normal person would.
Peter was such a well done villain. He is literally, straight from the start, written to be incredibly dislikable. I think villains like these, the ones that make you feel at least a decent dislike for them, are the best villains (other than relatable/redeemable villains that are the complete opposite of these types of antagonists).
BAD:
Most of the supporting cast was pretty bland, like Will and Christina, who basically are just there to show Tris and the reader what life in the other factions is like.
This gets it's own paragraph because it's just that bad...
TOBIAS AND TRIS' RELATIONSHIP:
I was actually worried that this would be THE thing to ruin this book for me, but fortunately later on it wasn't such a big theme. Firstly, WHY DOES TOBIAS EVEN LOVE TRIS?? This relationship just kinda came straight out of the blue and slapped me in the face, because there were two or three chapters of them making out halfway through. I feel like this added nothing but useless romance to the story and could have really just been done without.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
It's good book with a solid story, it just has a few problems that I hope the rest of the series fixes. I would definitely read the next book in the series after this experience. show less
Summary
God's Smuggler is a book about a Dutch missionary in the 1940's through the 1960's by the name of Andrew, who goes on trips to smuggle bibles into the Communist Iron Curtain to support the struggling churches in those countries. The book starts off describing his child life of pranking the neighbors and even the Nazi occupation. Andrew then joins the Holland military to fight in Indonesia, where he truly starts to fall apart. He would drink until all reason left him, and started up smoking. One day a bullet smashed through his ankle and he was out of the war. After he recovered he went back home to his family. In the time he was in Indonesia, his mother, who had a weak heart, died. Andrew's family was very religious but Andrew was not, and he drifted further and further from God. He got back into Christianity when he was invited to a tent meeting that night, and after it was over he started to read his Bible again. He started to go to church every time there was a service to go to. He stopped drinking and would turn down his old military friends' requests to have a "drinkfest". One night he decided to let go of his ego, and give himself to God. In a sermon done by a famous Dutch evangelist, Arne Donker, where he prayed over him and his friend Kees. Mr. Donker appointed them to preach in their hometown to learn how to be a missionary. After he preached in his hometown he decided to get a manufacturing job at a large chocolate factory to preach there. He got the job, show more and worked in a room of perverted wisecracking women. One day when their ringleader, Greetje, was mocking one of the crippled girls, Andrew told her to "shut up. And shut up for good!". After days of getting her out of her shell, she was converted to Christianity. After getting a new job, Andrew decided to enroll in some courses to prepare him to be a missionary. He decided to quit smoking because he would be able to buy his books that he needed to get for his schooling. He wanted to become a missionary sooner, because it would take twelve years to finish his education. Then he was informed about the WEC (Worldwide Evangelization Crusade), which would train the people who were ready for two years before sending them into the mission field. But there was one problem, there wasn't enough room for him in the school, which was in Glasgow, Scotland, so he went to London to wait. He was taken in by a man named William Hopkins, an associate of the WEC. After a while, there was finally a space for Andrew in the WEC. During this semester, Andrew subsisted off of gifts from friends and strangers all in God's perfect timing for when he needed them. When his two years in WEC training were almost over, he was invited to a socialist festival in Warsaw. He met up with a church and preached his first sermon behind the Iron Curtain. Afterwards he passed some booklets around town, and even to some communist soldiers. After this Andrew began his mission to strengthen the churches behind the Iron Curtain. He would smuggle bible in his car and distribute them to the community. He started an organization of people who would also get bibles across borders and preach to the disheartened people of the Communist countries. He even found a wife in his former co-worker Corry, who had three children with him. Even the people withe the worst starts can become a great child of God like Andrew did, and that's how he recruited so many people.
My Opinion
This book was a great read for me, and I would definitely recommend it to any Christian who wants to know about mission-work in foreign countries. It was an inspiring book that really gave me a new idea of what mission-work is like. This book was well written, and there were so many great extra parts that if I added them in the review would be far too long. All the interesting people Andrew met on his journey were exellently put onto paper. I don't generally enjoy non-fiction books, but this one was really fun, especially after the halfway point. I don't really have any criticisms for this book that aren't super nit-picky. Overall this book's a 5/5 because I had no real problems with it. show less
God's Smuggler is a book about a Dutch missionary in the 1940's through the 1960's by the name of Andrew, who goes on trips to smuggle bibles into the Communist Iron Curtain to support the struggling churches in those countries. The book starts off describing his child life of pranking the neighbors and even the Nazi occupation. Andrew then joins the Holland military to fight in Indonesia, where he truly starts to fall apart. He would drink until all reason left him, and started up smoking. One day a bullet smashed through his ankle and he was out of the war. After he recovered he went back home to his family. In the time he was in Indonesia, his mother, who had a weak heart, died. Andrew's family was very religious but Andrew was not, and he drifted further and further from God. He got back into Christianity when he was invited to a tent meeting that night, and after it was over he started to read his Bible again. He started to go to church every time there was a service to go to. He stopped drinking and would turn down his old military friends' requests to have a "drinkfest". One night he decided to let go of his ego, and give himself to God. In a sermon done by a famous Dutch evangelist, Arne Donker, where he prayed over him and his friend Kees. Mr. Donker appointed them to preach in their hometown to learn how to be a missionary. After he preached in his hometown he decided to get a manufacturing job at a large chocolate factory to preach there. He got the job, show more and worked in a room of perverted wisecracking women. One day when their ringleader, Greetje, was mocking one of the crippled girls, Andrew told her to "shut up. And shut up for good!". After days of getting her out of her shell, she was converted to Christianity. After getting a new job, Andrew decided to enroll in some courses to prepare him to be a missionary. He decided to quit smoking because he would be able to buy his books that he needed to get for his schooling. He wanted to become a missionary sooner, because it would take twelve years to finish his education. Then he was informed about the WEC (Worldwide Evangelization Crusade), which would train the people who were ready for two years before sending them into the mission field. But there was one problem, there wasn't enough room for him in the school, which was in Glasgow, Scotland, so he went to London to wait. He was taken in by a man named William Hopkins, an associate of the WEC. After a while, there was finally a space for Andrew in the WEC. During this semester, Andrew subsisted off of gifts from friends and strangers all in God's perfect timing for when he needed them. When his two years in WEC training were almost over, he was invited to a socialist festival in Warsaw. He met up with a church and preached his first sermon behind the Iron Curtain. Afterwards he passed some booklets around town, and even to some communist soldiers. After this Andrew began his mission to strengthen the churches behind the Iron Curtain. He would smuggle bible in his car and distribute them to the community. He started an organization of people who would also get bibles across borders and preach to the disheartened people of the Communist countries. He even found a wife in his former co-worker Corry, who had three children with him. Even the people withe the worst starts can become a great child of God like Andrew did, and that's how he recruited so many people.
My Opinion
This book was a great read for me, and I would definitely recommend it to any Christian who wants to know about mission-work in foreign countries. It was an inspiring book that really gave me a new idea of what mission-work is like. This book was well written, and there were so many great extra parts that if I added them in the review would be far too long. All the interesting people Andrew met on his journey were exellently put onto paper. I don't generally enjoy non-fiction books, but this one was really fun, especially after the halfway point. I don't really have any criticisms for this book that aren't super nit-picky. Overall this book's a 5/5 because I had no real problems with it. show less
Summary
Dinotopia is a wonderfully illustrated book about a world where dinosaurs live in harmony with humans. The book starts off with a father and his son, saved by the dolphins, shipwrecked on a beach. They soon find out that this beach is part of an island which supports the life of dinosaurs. For the first half of the book our narrator is Arthur Denison, father of Will Denison, who, with the help of his son, discovered a group of dinosaurs and is led to "The Egg Hatchery" by a girl named Sylvia. The book then shows some of it's amazing illustrations of The Egg Hatchery's various items/appliances such as the; guest bed, the "dinosaur nannies", and the Hatchery itself. After this, Arthur and Will leave after their short stay at The Egg Hatchery to go to Waterfall City, where they must go to to register their arrival and learn about this Dinotopia. Along the way they stop at a city called Pooktook, which yet again has a beautiful illustration of the city's streets and other little parts of the city. Arthur and Will then meet Lee Crabb, who believes that Dinotopia is a prison and a "terrible place". He takes them to the town of Volcanium where they meet Tok, who also believes that Dinotopia is a prison. There, they also meet a Skybax Rider, who informs them that Waterfall City is ready to welcome them. After seeing the Skybax Rider, Will was determined to become one. They are accompanied to Waterfall city by Bix, a Protoceratops. Once getting to the city, they learn so show more much more about the Dinotopian culture. Will even learned the Dinotopian alphabet. After two years living in Waterfall City, Arthur and Will decided to leave for Treetown for the annual journey to the Habitat Conference. It took a week to prepare for the journey. They then met the leaders of the various areas of Dinotopian territory, such as, Oolu and Lightwing, Bracken and Fiddlehead, and Moraine and Bigtusk to name a few. After the convention they continued north to Treetown where they stayed for a while. Will decided he wanted to compete in the Dinosaur Olympics, held each year in a settlement called Cornucopia. Will won with his trio of, himself, Sylvia, and Claw (a Deinocheirus). This victory ensured their going to Canyon City to become Skybax Riders. Soon after this they departed for Canyon City. The book then illustrates the chasm-like city of Canyon City at a great angle, showing the extent of how long this canyon goes. Will is then taught by Oolu how to fly. While in a lesson, Oolu spoke of a "World Beneath" which intrigued Arthur very much. Arthur then set out to go to the "World Beneath" shortly after, while Will continued his Skybax training. The Narrator then switches to Will, as Arthur is in the "World Beneath". Will, to complete his Skybax training, must climb the mountains in search of "The Tentpole of the Sky". Sylvia accompanied him, as she is also seeking to become a Skybax Rider. After setting off, they made it to a village "shared by humans and large mammals" which was their first goal. After another long day of climbing, they finally made it to the "Tentpole" and met a man named Levka Gambo, who took them inside to rest for a few days. Afterwards they boarded the Sky Galley, an airship that supplies the "Tentpole", to get back home to Canyon City. Because of the rough weather, the Sky Galley crashed and they had to head to Sauropolis, the nearest city. One of the officials of the city approached Will and Sylvia, informing them that Arthur and Bix were here. She showed them the vessel Arthur and Bix came from, which was a primitive submarine. Once their Skybaxes came back for them, they flew to Waterfall City, where they met up with Bix and Arthur and recollected their separate adventures.
My Opinions
This was a great read for me, as I really love "what if" scenarios made into stories. Of course, similar to all reviews of this book, I thought the illustrations were beautiful. The art really helped to immerse the reader and was remarkably creative. The story was pretty good, but it was only solidified more by the illustrations (how many times am I going to say illustrations in this review?) which really fleshed out the world that the book showed us. The characters, unlike the story, were very bland, you probably could replace them with cardboard boxes and the book would be pretty much the same. However, this book certainly had it's main focus on the world it created and not the characters, who were really just the readers' eyes in this world. When I checked, there were many more books expanding and building upon the foundation this book laid for this universe, so I'm hoping that even more of this world is explored than it just being more of the same thing. Overall, this was a good book, I would recommend it to anybody looking for some interesting ideas and places, and it get's a 4/5 because it's good but could be better. show less
Dinotopia is a wonderfully illustrated book about a world where dinosaurs live in harmony with humans. The book starts off with a father and his son, saved by the dolphins, shipwrecked on a beach. They soon find out that this beach is part of an island which supports the life of dinosaurs. For the first half of the book our narrator is Arthur Denison, father of Will Denison, who, with the help of his son, discovered a group of dinosaurs and is led to "The Egg Hatchery" by a girl named Sylvia. The book then shows some of it's amazing illustrations of The Egg Hatchery's various items/appliances such as the; guest bed, the "dinosaur nannies", and the Hatchery itself. After this, Arthur and Will leave after their short stay at The Egg Hatchery to go to Waterfall City, where they must go to to register their arrival and learn about this Dinotopia. Along the way they stop at a city called Pooktook, which yet again has a beautiful illustration of the city's streets and other little parts of the city. Arthur and Will then meet Lee Crabb, who believes that Dinotopia is a prison and a "terrible place". He takes them to the town of Volcanium where they meet Tok, who also believes that Dinotopia is a prison. There, they also meet a Skybax Rider, who informs them that Waterfall City is ready to welcome them. After seeing the Skybax Rider, Will was determined to become one. They are accompanied to Waterfall city by Bix, a Protoceratops. Once getting to the city, they learn so show more much more about the Dinotopian culture. Will even learned the Dinotopian alphabet. After two years living in Waterfall City, Arthur and Will decided to leave for Treetown for the annual journey to the Habitat Conference. It took a week to prepare for the journey. They then met the leaders of the various areas of Dinotopian territory, such as, Oolu and Lightwing, Bracken and Fiddlehead, and Moraine and Bigtusk to name a few. After the convention they continued north to Treetown where they stayed for a while. Will decided he wanted to compete in the Dinosaur Olympics, held each year in a settlement called Cornucopia. Will won with his trio of, himself, Sylvia, and Claw (a Deinocheirus). This victory ensured their going to Canyon City to become Skybax Riders. Soon after this they departed for Canyon City. The book then illustrates the chasm-like city of Canyon City at a great angle, showing the extent of how long this canyon goes. Will is then taught by Oolu how to fly. While in a lesson, Oolu spoke of a "World Beneath" which intrigued Arthur very much. Arthur then set out to go to the "World Beneath" shortly after, while Will continued his Skybax training. The Narrator then switches to Will, as Arthur is in the "World Beneath". Will, to complete his Skybax training, must climb the mountains in search of "The Tentpole of the Sky". Sylvia accompanied him, as she is also seeking to become a Skybax Rider. After setting off, they made it to a village "shared by humans and large mammals" which was their first goal. After another long day of climbing, they finally made it to the "Tentpole" and met a man named Levka Gambo, who took them inside to rest for a few days. Afterwards they boarded the Sky Galley, an airship that supplies the "Tentpole", to get back home to Canyon City. Because of the rough weather, the Sky Galley crashed and they had to head to Sauropolis, the nearest city. One of the officials of the city approached Will and Sylvia, informing them that Arthur and Bix were here. She showed them the vessel Arthur and Bix came from, which was a primitive submarine. Once their Skybaxes came back for them, they flew to Waterfall City, where they met up with Bix and Arthur and recollected their separate adventures.
My Opinions
This was a great read for me, as I really love "what if" scenarios made into stories. Of course, similar to all reviews of this book, I thought the illustrations were beautiful. The art really helped to immerse the reader and was remarkably creative. The story was pretty good, but it was only solidified more by the illustrations (how many times am I going to say illustrations in this review?) which really fleshed out the world that the book showed us. The characters, unlike the story, were very bland, you probably could replace them with cardboard boxes and the book would be pretty much the same. However, this book certainly had it's main focus on the world it created and not the characters, who were really just the readers' eyes in this world. When I checked, there were many more books expanding and building upon the foundation this book laid for this universe, so I'm hoping that even more of this world is explored than it just being more of the same thing. Overall, this was a good book, I would recommend it to anybody looking for some interesting ideas and places, and it get's a 4/5 because it's good but could be better. show less
Summary
The Maze Runner is a book about a boy named Thomas who is sent to a mysterious place called the Glade with no memories of his former life. In the very first page of the very first chapter, you are introduced to this new world with great descriptive adjectives and verbs such as; lurching, stale, tinny, ascended, and flooded. This can really help the reader feel much more immersed in the new world they just plunged into and understand the protagonist's feelings much easier. After this great start, it begins to slow down a bit to actually introduce the reader into this new world now that they are immersed in it all the while intriguing the reader to learn more about this "Glade". It then introduces the secondary characters such as Gally, Newt, Chuck, and Alby, all of which have good development and importance to the story. After the introduction of the characters we get introduced to the location, the Glade, which as the reader and Thomas find out, is a giant maze this group of kids have been trying to escape for years. At the end of this same chapter, we are eluded to a horrifying thing that will be later be discovered by Thomas and the reader as the Changing. After this is what I believe to be the long rising action. Over this period of time Thomas is slowly becoming a Glader (what the boys in the Glade call themselves) and finding how he fits in. One day a girl shows up in the box in what can only be described as a coma. This girl came with a message. "Everything show more is going to change." She is then taken to the Homestead, where everyone lives, to recover. Thomas knew from the moment that he heard about the Runners that he wanted to be one, so that's what most of the rising action is. He finally becomes a runner by running into the Maze to save Alby and the Runner Captain, Minho. This leads to an incredible sequence of events that I think are some of the best parts of this book. This starts off with the walls of the Maze closing and trapping Thomas, Alby, and Minho inside the Maze. This gives an idea of how horrifying the Maze is to these boys as Minho runs away, ditching Thomas and Alby, at the very sound of one Griever. The entire reason they couldn't get out in time is because Alby got stung by one of the Grievers knocking him out. Thomas' efforts to drag Alby were futile, so he climbed up the vines growng on the walls of the maze and tied Alby to them. Once he got up there, he tried to hide from the Griever in some of the most suspenseful moments in the book. In these paragraphs, the reader is introduced to what a Griever is. A Griever is described in the book as a sluglike creature, with spikes sucking in and out of its body and arms that have various functions. As Thomas is hiding in the wall, the Griever starts to climb it. Thomas is forced to leave Alby's body behind and start swinging through the vines in a nice suspenseful chase sequence. This ends with Thomas finding Minho and finding out how to "kill" the Grievers. After this the trio finds it's way back to the Glade as the first Gladers to ever stay in the maze for an entire night. Thomas then becomes a runner after a night in the Slammer (the Gladers' prison) because he broke the number one rule: Don't go into the Maze if you're not a Runner. After becoming a Runner, Thomas goes on his first legal expedition in the Maze with Minho. On this trip, they test the Cliff, an endless drop into nothingness, which was what they used to "kill" the Grievers by tricking them into rolling into it. They found that one specific spot in the air would make anything disappear. The next morning Thomas woke up to a gray sky, implying that this new world was fake. The mysterious girl woke up and finally met Thomas, telling him her name is Teresa. Since most of the Gladers were thinking the gray sky was somehow related to Teresa, she was forced to spend her night in the Slammer. That night, the doors didn't close and the Gladers were completely exposed to the Grievers' wrath. This is what I think is the beginning of the climax. Thomas and most of the other Gladers decided that trying in a last-ditch effort to get out of the Maze was much better than being eaten by the Grievers. After this the Gladers figured out that the Maze is a code with Teresa and Thomas' help. This was the code with which they would turn the Grievers off with. After that Thomas got stung on purpose so he could go through the Changing, which brings back memories of before the Glade. Thomas did that because he needed to know how to escape the Maze and he knew that in his past life that he helped design the Maze. Thomas found out after the Changing that they were all "Orphans raised by scientists." as Frypan, the chef, said. Even more insight that Thomas gained through the Changing was that they needed to go off the Cliff (now known as the "Griever Hole" because Thomas and Minho found out that that's where the Grievers go when they're not in the Maze). After crafting a plan of attack, the Gladers' army went through the Maze and to the Cliff, where all of the Grievers lie in wait for the Gladers' attack. It was a gory and gruesome battle with Gladers clearing the way to the Griever Hole for Thomas, Teresa, and Chuck, who Thomas asked to come with him into the Griever Hole. Once they got to the Griever Hole, they had to jump in and disable the Grievers. Teresa worked on disabling the Grievers while Thomas defended her and Chuck. Thomas had to kill one and fight off the other to give Teresa time to enter the code. Once she did, with the help of Chuck, all the surviving Gladers came down the Hole, twenty- one in all. They then went down a long slide into a room where they were greeted by a woman who congratulated them for surviving. Next to her was Gally in an overly large sweatshirt, his hood up over his head. Gally threw a dagger from his hand at Thomas and Chuck took the blow for him. Thomas then proceeded to beat the tar out of Gally. Then a squad of "rebels" comes in, storms the room, and "saves" the Gladers. The Gladers are then taken to a bus where a scraggy woman runs up to Thomas and starts yelling about something called the "Flare". Thomas then boards the vehicle and is whisked away from that world they called Glade. They are then told that the people who rescued them are rebels and are against the experiment that the Gladers were forced into. Afterwards, they are taken to a place to sleep and are given pizza for dinner. And in the Epilogue, it is revealed that the "rebels" who saved the Gladers were actually a part of the organization that put the Gladers in the Maze, and that the Maze was just one of the first trials they would face.
My Opinions
I thought it was a great read and would recommend it to anyone. The book used great vocabulary and literary techniques such as it's many similes and adjectives. The dialogue was very well done and almost always read like it was a real person talking, never was it rigid and boring like a conversation between two robots. The characters could have been done better though, as I don't feel like I had a strong connection with them or related to them that much. This is unlike something like a Harry Potter book where every character, even the most minute ones, have their own unique personalities. The setting was great however, with beautiful descriptions that immerse you into this gritty world. The story was well written, with the great plot twist at the end hooking the reader into getting exited to read the sequel. This book was good but I don't think it's as good as Harry Potter, which will probably remain as my most favorite book series of all time. I gave it a four because it was a great read, it's just that it needs to work out it's flaws to get a five star rating. I really hope that the rest of the series is only uphill from here. show less
The Maze Runner is a book about a boy named Thomas who is sent to a mysterious place called the Glade with no memories of his former life. In the very first page of the very first chapter, you are introduced to this new world with great descriptive adjectives and verbs such as; lurching, stale, tinny, ascended, and flooded. This can really help the reader feel much more immersed in the new world they just plunged into and understand the protagonist's feelings much easier. After this great start, it begins to slow down a bit to actually introduce the reader into this new world now that they are immersed in it all the while intriguing the reader to learn more about this "Glade". It then introduces the secondary characters such as Gally, Newt, Chuck, and Alby, all of which have good development and importance to the story. After the introduction of the characters we get introduced to the location, the Glade, which as the reader and Thomas find out, is a giant maze this group of kids have been trying to escape for years. At the end of this same chapter, we are eluded to a horrifying thing that will be later be discovered by Thomas and the reader as the Changing. After this is what I believe to be the long rising action. Over this period of time Thomas is slowly becoming a Glader (what the boys in the Glade call themselves) and finding how he fits in. One day a girl shows up in the box in what can only be described as a coma. This girl came with a message. "Everything show more is going to change." She is then taken to the Homestead, where everyone lives, to recover. Thomas knew from the moment that he heard about the Runners that he wanted to be one, so that's what most of the rising action is. He finally becomes a runner by running into the Maze to save Alby and the Runner Captain, Minho. This leads to an incredible sequence of events that I think are some of the best parts of this book. This starts off with the walls of the Maze closing and trapping Thomas, Alby, and Minho inside the Maze. This gives an idea of how horrifying the Maze is to these boys as Minho runs away, ditching Thomas and Alby, at the very sound of one Griever. The entire reason they couldn't get out in time is because Alby got stung by one of the Grievers knocking him out. Thomas' efforts to drag Alby were futile, so he climbed up the vines growng on the walls of the maze and tied Alby to them. Once he got up there, he tried to hide from the Griever in some of the most suspenseful moments in the book. In these paragraphs, the reader is introduced to what a Griever is. A Griever is described in the book as a sluglike creature, with spikes sucking in and out of its body and arms that have various functions. As Thomas is hiding in the wall, the Griever starts to climb it. Thomas is forced to leave Alby's body behind and start swinging through the vines in a nice suspenseful chase sequence. This ends with Thomas finding Minho and finding out how to "kill" the Grievers. After this the trio finds it's way back to the Glade as the first Gladers to ever stay in the maze for an entire night. Thomas then becomes a runner after a night in the Slammer (the Gladers' prison) because he broke the number one rule: Don't go into the Maze if you're not a Runner. After becoming a Runner, Thomas goes on his first legal expedition in the Maze with Minho. On this trip, they test the Cliff, an endless drop into nothingness, which was what they used to "kill" the Grievers by tricking them into rolling into it. They found that one specific spot in the air would make anything disappear. The next morning Thomas woke up to a gray sky, implying that this new world was fake. The mysterious girl woke up and finally met Thomas, telling him her name is Teresa. Since most of the Gladers were thinking the gray sky was somehow related to Teresa, she was forced to spend her night in the Slammer. That night, the doors didn't close and the Gladers were completely exposed to the Grievers' wrath. This is what I think is the beginning of the climax. Thomas and most of the other Gladers decided that trying in a last-ditch effort to get out of the Maze was much better than being eaten by the Grievers. After this the Gladers figured out that the Maze is a code with Teresa and Thomas' help. This was the code with which they would turn the Grievers off with. After that Thomas got stung on purpose so he could go through the Changing, which brings back memories of before the Glade. Thomas did that because he needed to know how to escape the Maze and he knew that in his past life that he helped design the Maze. Thomas found out after the Changing that they were all "Orphans raised by scientists." as Frypan, the chef, said. Even more insight that Thomas gained through the Changing was that they needed to go off the Cliff (now known as the "Griever Hole" because Thomas and Minho found out that that's where the Grievers go when they're not in the Maze). After crafting a plan of attack, the Gladers' army went through the Maze and to the Cliff, where all of the Grievers lie in wait for the Gladers' attack. It was a gory and gruesome battle with Gladers clearing the way to the Griever Hole for Thomas, Teresa, and Chuck, who Thomas asked to come with him into the Griever Hole. Once they got to the Griever Hole, they had to jump in and disable the Grievers. Teresa worked on disabling the Grievers while Thomas defended her and Chuck. Thomas had to kill one and fight off the other to give Teresa time to enter the code. Once she did, with the help of Chuck, all the surviving Gladers came down the Hole, twenty- one in all. They then went down a long slide into a room where they were greeted by a woman who congratulated them for surviving. Next to her was Gally in an overly large sweatshirt, his hood up over his head. Gally threw a dagger from his hand at Thomas and Chuck took the blow for him. Thomas then proceeded to beat the tar out of Gally. Then a squad of "rebels" comes in, storms the room, and "saves" the Gladers. The Gladers are then taken to a bus where a scraggy woman runs up to Thomas and starts yelling about something called the "Flare". Thomas then boards the vehicle and is whisked away from that world they called Glade. They are then told that the people who rescued them are rebels and are against the experiment that the Gladers were forced into. Afterwards, they are taken to a place to sleep and are given pizza for dinner. And in the Epilogue, it is revealed that the "rebels" who saved the Gladers were actually a part of the organization that put the Gladers in the Maze, and that the Maze was just one of the first trials they would face.
My Opinions
I thought it was a great read and would recommend it to anyone. The book used great vocabulary and literary techniques such as it's many similes and adjectives. The dialogue was very well done and almost always read like it was a real person talking, never was it rigid and boring like a conversation between two robots. The characters could have been done better though, as I don't feel like I had a strong connection with them or related to them that much. This is unlike something like a Harry Potter book where every character, even the most minute ones, have their own unique personalities. The setting was great however, with beautiful descriptions that immerse you into this gritty world. The story was well written, with the great plot twist at the end hooking the reader into getting exited to read the sequel. This book was good but I don't think it's as good as Harry Potter, which will probably remain as my most favorite book series of all time. I gave it a four because it was a great read, it's just that it needs to work out it's flaws to get a five star rating. I really hope that the rest of the series is only uphill from here. show less