Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I had really high hopes for this… and to be honest, they weren’t
really met. I read a few reviews online of it after reading (to check that I
hadn’t just been idiotic and not understood it or something!) and they point
out that the main character, Guy Montag, fluctuates wildly from being
intelligent and acting logically to being a complete idiot. The ideas in it
were interesting, but I just really didn’t enjoy the way that the story
unfolded or how it was written, or how it ended. Sigh! I might try more of Ray Bradbury’s stuff
though, just to see if I had wayyy too high expectations for this! (I feel this way about a lot of older science fiction/dystopian fiction - the ideas are interesting, but something about the way that it is written puts me off. Not that it was written badly, but.. the character development and the plot just lack something.)
Mind you, as I always do with books like this, I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it. Yay!
Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
I enjoyed this, although I’m glad that I read it after the
hype had died down, as I think I might have been disappointed if I had gone in
expecting more. I felt like most of the characters weren’t really that
likeable, so if that’s an issue for you this might not be the best book to
read. It’s well written, but I did feel that there was something… lacking,
although it’s hard to put my finger on what exactly. I would like to read The
Engagements, which has a more interesting sounding premise!
The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder by J.W. Ironmonger
I LOVED THIS! It was fun, quirky, and of personal interest
to me, as the two main characters, Maximilian Ponder and his friend, Adam Last
both spend some of their childhood living in Africa, and my Granddad also lived
in Africa as a child, (although a few decades earlier than the story is
set). I highly recommend this to anyone
who wants a fun, interesting read. Yay!
The Crash of Hennington – Patrick Ness
Yup, more Patrick Ness! Haha. This is his first novel, and
is not YA. I really enjoyed the characters, and the idea of a herd of Rhino
just wandering through a city, but I feel like it might have been a bit too
overly complicated for its own good. I was forced to take notes to keep up with
who everyone was! I also didn’t care that much for the ending… there wasn’t
anything wrong with it per say, but I think it could have been more
interesting. I enjoyed every second of reading the book though, which isn’t
always the case!
