My Book Reviews

The Hunt by Tim Lebbon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was so disappointing.
I bought this book because the description at the back caught my attention. The part that got me was (as written on the book):

"Chris returns from his morning run to find his wife and children missing and a stranger in his kitchen.
He's told to run.
If he's caught and killed, his family go free. If he escapes, they die."

It had so much potential, but the whole thing was a little too Hunger Games for my liking.
There were several repititions in terms of describing the landmarks, and several grammatical and sentence structure errors that I had to re-read twice before understanding.

I took a few months off from reading this book because I just had no interest in it whatsoever, but didn't want to chuck it aside (just a habit/trait I have) if I could help it. Thankfully, more than halfway through, the story managed to catch my attention enough for me to actually finish it.

And then the ending...
It was almost.. meh. All that supposed buildup only for it to end just like that. If I hadn't known, I wouldn't have guessed that that was it; and thought that there had to be more than this.

Bottom line, not my cup of tea at all.

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Zombie Britannica by Thomas Emson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

And that's me being kind. Don't get me wrong, the plot was ok and everything, but what brought it down was the constant grammatical and punctuation errors. I don't mean to sound harsh, but honestly? It says that the author is an 'award-winner', but I'm seriously wondering how the hell that can be, judging from this book.

It also gets me wondering what on earth the proofreaders were thinking. Sure, I understand that a typo or so here and there are inevitable, but the ENTIRE book is FILLED with them. Unless of course, he didn't have a proofreader.

'Quiet' was spelled as 'Quite'. Question marks are absent where they should be throughout the book. And this may be just me, but certain names of the characters have such 'unique' spellings, that it makes me think that the author might not have known the correct spelling, and just cooked up his own spelling for it (Kathrine/Catherine = Catrin, Dana = Dayna).

The story has quite a few 'revelation' points when the author reveals how they're connected to one another. The story also ends in suspense, leaving the reader to contemplate the ending on their own.
It has it's other good parts as well, and it's an absolute shame that the bad outweighs the good.

He would've been a good author otherwise.

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Unfed by Kirsty McKay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I admit, I would have probably been able to finish this in a seating or two, but I grew a bit lazy.

Truth is, this isn't some Stephen King novel. I think that's pretty obvious. It's more targeted for the preteen/YA demographics, in my opinion, so I would say that this is a light read.

The story overall is okay, though I admit the finale was good. Otherwise, I think the story moved in just about the right pace.
I hadn't read the previous book ('Unfed' was the sequel) , so there were certain parts that left a blank; but nothing too bad.
Some words that the kids used were too 'bimbo-ish' for my liking, and Alice annoyed me to no end. Personally, I would have let her die. Lol. Her character seemed to be like the typical spoilt-rich-kid, and even when she tried to be sarcastic, it was a poor attempt.

So yeah, I'd call this a light-reading zombie novel. If you're looking for an easy read that packs a decent punch, this book is it.

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Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

... Soooo I think it's safe to say that this has been the longest it ever took me to read a book; no less a book of this size!
My reason for doing so is (unfortunately) simple: it was boring.
Just a few notches shy of me actually giving up on finishing it (I came close to it), actually; which is sad because it's a Jane Austen novel!!
As a fan of classical novels, I find that this was rather disappointing. The title of the book is, I find, also rather misleading. The reader would suppose that the main plot of the story would revolve around Northanger Abbey (or at least be a huge part of the story), as the title suggests. However, mentions of the Abbey only came up more than halfway through the book. Compared to the first half of the book (which consisted mostly of Catherine & James Morland and John & Isabella Thorpe's antics in Bath), I'd say that Northanger was only part of the story.
Also, I felt that they left some strings untied; namely what happened to James and Isabella, and what about those contradicting letters that they sent to Catherine?? It may be just me, but I felt like there was no conclusion to it. Who was telling the truth, and why did the other lie?
If anyone has answers, feel free to let me know.

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The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

FINALLY I've finished this book! It's the longest I've EVER taken in my life to finish a 180-page book. And truth be told, after finishing it, I still think the price of it (RM42) is a bit too much. That's saying something, as I managed to find a website selling it at the lowest; other sites were selling it at about RM80 for paperback.
It feels like a great weight off my shoulder, finishing this book. It has been dragging on because most times I never felt pulled enough to pick it up and finish it; yet I wanted to get it over and done with as soon as I could, so I would be able to finally pick up another book. (I have this thing where I have to finish a book I started before going on to the next one)
I first got to know about this book through an Oprah video where she interviewed the author. Back then, the topic they were discussing intrigued me, and I read an excerpt of it on the Oprah Book Club website, and it sounded interesting too.
I admit I was disappointed though. Don't get me wrong, there were some good bits here and there that I've taken to practicing, but what I found especially annoying was Singer's tendency at starting sentences with "If you were wise, you would...", "People who are wise would/would not do so-and-so" and "It's really that simple". I dunno about other readers, but those words made me feel like I was stupid. After all, he mentioned that 'if we were wise' we would do it. And we as readers obviously haven't, because well, we bought his book to learn how, didn't we? And when he mentioned that it was 'really that simple', it somehow felt like a bit of a mockery to me.
See, Singer's methods require constant repetition of practice. It requires concentration and dedication to follow through it at all times. Sure, when you've become used to it, it feels routine, but TO LEARN TO PRACTICE IT takes time. So when I read lines like that, it makes me feel as if I'm dumb for not finding it as 'easy' as he claims it to be.
Singer also, I noticed, had the tendency to repeat his points. He would repeat a point several times over, just changing the sentence structures (active-passive, passive-active etc). While repetation is good in some ways to get it in your head, it gets frustrating when you have to read the same points 2-3 times over.
While I admit that certain of Singer's good points were, well, good, I wouldn't have paid that much for the book. Initially I hadn't minded as much because I thought it would be a very good book, seeing as it was so expensive everywhere else.
But eh.. I guess I don't regret the knowledge I got from this book (knowledge is never bad, no?) . Just.. not much my cup of tea.

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Claws of the Macra by Trevor Baxendale

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Yes, believe it or not; I'm done. (And I DID say it was light reading, did I not? ;) )
Though I admit I just followed where my choices led me in the story, when I would have normally read through all possible choices.

Also, there was supposed to be an online interactive thing as well that goes together with the book, but when I went to the url, it said that the Decide Your Destiny part has been discontinued, so that's a bummer.

But yeah, I found that this was a children's book anyway too, so no surprises that I finished it in record time.

The choices didn't go forward in the book as most decide-your-own-stories do; this one goes back and forth, which can be a wee bit tiresome after a while. Either way though, like I said, this makes for decent light reading.

A Ghost A Day: 365 True Tales Of The Spectral, Supernatural, And Just Plain Scary! by Maureen Wood
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm FINALLY finished with this book and I can say I couldn't be more glad.

Sorry to the authors, but I felt like this book, to me, was a big disappointment. It also goes to show that one should not, literally, 'judge a book by it's cover'. I picked up this book because of the way the cover drew me in, promising '365 True Tales of the Spectral, Supernatural, and... Just Plain Scary!'. However, I can say that the 'scary' and 'interesting' stories were such a select few, I could count them on one hand. (Or maybe two hands. Maybe. I can't really remember, to be honest.)

I had been hoping to give myself a good scare, but it had been mediocre at best. And that, coming from me, should definitely be saying something; coming from a person who has sworn off zombie movies (and practically any horror movie, to be honest) after watching 28 Days Later in the cinema.

From a personal opinion, it may be because almost all the stories involve speculation, and not personal experiences (there was only one story in which author Maureen Wood personally experienced, but even that was not given a detailed account). All of the stories involve mere hearsay, and though I don't doubt that some of them just may be true, it's just not enough to pique my interest. I daresay that the only reason I even finished it was because I don't like reading books and abandoning them halfway through.

On the bright side though, if you're someone who's looking for some not-so-scary ghost stories, this just may be the book for you.

Cleo: How a Small Black Cat Helped Heal a Family by Helen Brown
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm actually REALLY glad to have finished this book.

I enjoyed the first few chapters; they were laced with the cuteness of Cleo and the bond she built with the family; which is familiar, since I have cats at home too. It made me go 'awwww~' on more than one occasion per chapter, but after the 5th-6th chapter onwards, anything other than that of Cleo was, quite honestly, boring.

I understand that the protagonist is literally overwhelmed with grief at the death of Sam. I definitely understand her situation, but after a while, it seems as if the protagonist contradicts her own opinions. She says that she doesn't like people who immerse themselves in self-pity, but that was EXACTLY what she did for a good period of time, months after Sam's death.
It may be because of my intolerance towards anyone who uses self-pity as a way to garner sympathy (then again, the protagonist said she's sick and tired of everyone's sympathy as well) or attention; which the protagonist says she hates as well.

Another thing that bored me was the way the author described scenes. I can tell that she's trying to be detailed, which is good, but somehow, it just doesn't get me, know what I mean? When it came to those parts, I just felt like skimming through the pages until it went back to 'story mode'.

I found it quite difficult to finish, because as much as I wanted to finish it as soon as I could, I also couldn't muster up enough interest to actually pick the book up to read. Most of the time, I forced myself to.

A little comparison, if I may, to one of the claims made by Good Housekeeping, stating that this book was the next Marley & Me. I can definitely spot instances where scenes are described in a similar fashion, but I beg to differ, if you'll forgive me. John (Grogan, author of Marley & Me) had a flair of describing scenes in detail, yet with humour, which unfortunately, I find that Helen kinda lacks.

I won't deny the 'lessons' that Cleo has taught, though. Being an animal lover myself, I definitely agree that animals DO have some sort of healing power. Not just in dogs like Marley, and not just in cats like Cleo. It could be your pet chameleon for all it's worth.

Then again, I MUST say that I mean no insult to Helen Brown. I understand that every author has their own writing style, and this was just my honest opinion. Will I pick up After Cleo? Probably not. But I've seen a good few readers who enjoyed this book. So I recommend taking my review with a pinch of salt, and not let it deter you from giving this book a shot.

Who knows, you may find that unlike me, you like it!

Waves by Sharon Dogar

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I admit... this is the longest I've ever taken to read a book.

I also admit that I kinda lost interest halfway through the book, which is probably why I left it untouched for weeks. It might just be me, but I find that the story took longer to unfold than it should, and it ended a bit abruptly. All that unnecessary drama that lead up to the finale was... unnecessary.

I found Hal's character a little hard to relate to at first, but it got better. Also, what Am did in the end kinda confused me. One minute she was all mad and 'hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-woman-scorned', and the next minute she was helping Charley. It was like Am had multiple personality disorder or something. O_o

I dunno... I just didn't really get this story.

After abandoning the book for so long, I decided that I finally had to finish it, so I could get along with my other books. I missed reading every so often, but with this book, I find that I just didn't have the mood to pick it up and read. And when I did, I quickly got bored of it. I was about 60% through with the book when I left it untouched for several weeks,so this time when I read it, I forced myself to finish it, otherwise GOd knows how long I'd take to slowly finish it.

Clouded Vision by Linwood Barclay

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I knew this book was shorter than most books I've read, and I was expecting to be done with it by evening, at the latest. But I finished it just under 2 hours.

It was a very simple murder story, with the author not going into as much detail as other books I've read. The story unfolded very quickly, and ended as quickly.

The book ends in a cliffhanger that I would have liked to know more about. I know that the author's intention was to probably keep the reader at suspense, but that would have worked better if this book had a second part to it.

It was ok story-wise, and the result of Keyshia and Wendell's face-off made me cringe (due to the happening, not because of the story!).

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Ok, before I even begin to review this, let's be real here. People are completely crazy over the series, be it crazy in love, or crazy hate. But after watching the first movie that came out, I bought the first book. Necrophilia and beastality aside, I actually thought the first book was not bad. Plus I'm sure all girls dream of having an almost illegally handsome boy fall for you, the nerd/nobody.

So I bought the entire collection.

And then I found myself actually TRYING to finish all 4 books. I would read, then get a bit bored, so I'd close it. After a few days/weeks of not touching it, I would make myself open it to continue reading, and I can say that I was actually glad when I finished it. I liked the first book, but sadly, my interest increasingly faded as I read books 2-4.