Precious Stones & Romance Sucks

Today, I am going to belatedly review the Young Adult novel Sapphire Blue, by Kerstin Gier. The novel was released last month, and is translated from German by Anthea Bell.

Sapphire Blue is the sequel to Ruby Red, as well as the second book in a trilogy. I received an ARE of the novel, and did not previously read the first novel.

Overall, I found this novel fairly enjoyable. The novel appears to leave off approximately where the first one leaves off. This in medias rei approach is nice, because the pace of the novel is quick and fun...

At least, for the most part. The "romance" story line was:

a. predictable, &

b. annoying.

The protagonist's waffling between "empowered female" and "why doesn't he care about meee" whining may be realistic, but here's a secret:

Teenage girls who are in love and unsure if those feelings are returned are boring.

At first, as a reader, you're listening to the whining and you're sympathetic. Poor, poor Gwyneth - the guy she likes seems kind of like a dick. Luckily, she realizes this, and can move on to find someone else.

Oh, wait. She's doing that thing where she lets him kiss her because she's still not over him? Well, that's realistic...

& now she's crushed b/c Douchey Love Interest isn't being nice to her again... Who didn't see that coming?

Oh - Gwyneth didn't see it coming? It's not like this behavior is out of the ordinary for him - What is she, mentally deficient?

OMG - she's still going on about this guy! And acting like she wants to die because of some guy she's only known for a few weeks? (Stephenie Meyer - I'm blaming you for this.)

Ok. She needs to shut up, or I'm going to burst my eardrums, on purpose, even though I'm reading this ridiculousness & that action would do me no good.

So, yeah, the romance story line really got on my nerves.

Other than that, though, I found the novel fairly enjoyable.

The time travel important to the story lines of this trilogy is very interesting, particularly because the writing of the time shifts is very well done.

I was able to follow along very well, but still recommend that you read Ruby Red before delving into this story. I got a good feeling for all of the characters, but felt that it would have been a little bit more fun to be revisiting them in Sapphire Blue rather than meeting them for the first time. Also, while I caught on to most of the time travel lingo going on, it probably would have been easier had I read the first novel.

I will say, despite the annoying romance stuff, that I will probably read the next novel (Emerald Green) in the trilogy to find out how the series ends!

Have you been reading this trilogy/novel? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

A Glimpse into a Different Perspective

I just finished reading Minding Ben by Victoria Brown.

I think it's a good thing that I read this book, but I don't know that I would have wanted to pay money for it. Intellectually, it was something interesting for me to read. Based on Brown's own experiences, the book details a girl from a Trinidadian island who comes to America at 16, is abandoned by her own family, and has to find her own way. If she goes back home, she won't ever be able to come back to America, and because America has more opportunities than her life back home would, she's willing to put up with A LOT of shit from the American trademark: the asshole.


Since I am not an illegal immigrant from a warm location where life can seem stagnant and never-changing, I could not really relate. That is why I think that reading this book was a good experience for me. It really opened my eyes a bit. Sometimes, people, at times, have falsely accused me of being a grammar Nazi. I'm totally not - mostly because my comprehension of grammar isn't good enough to reach that level of tyrrany - but I do like for a sentence to be well put together. So initially, a lot of the dialogue kind of irked me. In fact, if anyone who has grown up in America had written this, I would have called it pretentious and overbearing. But the writer didn't put her dialogue together in the manner that she did to make fun of anyone - it's based on her personal experiences. Once I thought about it that way, I realized I was being a bitch and that I deserved the eye-opening.

I felt like the book was realistic, but I also felt that it was slightly meandering. The plot did not seem tightly constructed. Now, those of you who have been reading my blogs for awhile or who know me in person already know I have ADD, so about halfway through the book, I was wishing I was done and anticipating the next novel on my TBR list (which kept changing, by the way, and culminated in Red Riding Hood).

One of my other problems was the strength I previously mentioned: I really didn't understand the protagonist Grace. I haven't lived through her life experiences, of course - but it wasn't just that. I have empathy. I really like to be able to put myself in the character's shoes. And Grace just didn't seem to add up correctly. Smart, adventurous, headstrong - I get that. But I only get that impression from what other characters say to her. I don't see it in her actions. In fact, Grace repeatedly perpetrates actions which give me the exact opposite impression of her. This character ambiguity, in particular, really irked me.

So, like I said earlier, I'm glad that I read the book. I feel like it broadened my horizons. Yet, I don't know that I recommend buying the book.

Murder Mystery Mayhem!

I recently finished reading The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino.

Scheduled to be published February 2011

When I began the novel, I had no idea what to expect, other than that it was a mystery, it revolved around a murder, and it was supposed to be "really good."


I used quotes around "really good," though it's really a paraphrasing, b/c I like a great mystery as much as the next person, but I don't think that I necessarily look for the same things in a mystery to cause me to qualify it as great. (Say that last sentence ten times fast on camera, post it on YouTube, and you'll be my hero. & probably suffering from lack of oxygen.)


In general, however, when I think of a mystery, it is a puzzle which the reader, as well as the protagonist, is supposed to solve.


This book wasn't like that.


In this book, in fact, I didn't particularly feel that there was one specific protagonist. There were many characters whom I grew to care about, the detective, perhaps, least of all.

The Devotion of Suspect X revolves around the murder of a man named Togashi, the ex-wife whom he was seeking, the neighbor who is infatuated with the ex-wife, a few detectives, and a very smart physicist-assistant-professor at a local university. The book feels like a battle of wits, an elaborate chess game from which only one man may emerge the victor, waged between two men of genius (infatuated neighbor Ishigami & physicist-asst-prof Yukawa).


It is so much more than that, however. As I said, you grow to care about the characters, and I feel that this book, particularly towards the end, really shows the difference between logic and emotion. Much of the discussion in the book is so logical, that it could quickly devolve into an almost sociopathic view of a murder. Higashino does a very good job, however, of reminding the reader that the discussion involves humans, and that all people matter, regardless of how much personal interaction occurs between them.


Overall, I felt that this book was a solid read. I particularly liked the ending. I also enjoyed the intellectual discussions.


I did not feel the push to read this book that sometimes occurs from reading thrillers where a THE-SUSPENSE-IS-KILLING-ME-I-NEED-TO-KNOW-WHAT-HAPPENS-NEXT often consumes the reader and causes voracious page-flipping and staying up into the wee hours of the night. I am not sure if that is due to the translated nature of the book, however. At times, I felt that the translation was different - inevitably, of course, the translation will be different, but at times, there was a jarring effect that a reader does not want to feel.


Still, if you're a mystery fan, or a genius fan, this book is definitely worth reading.