Review: DEJA DEAD

Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs
Book 1 of the Temperance Brennan series
Read by Barbara Rosenblat
Genre: crime fiction
Format: ebook/paperback & audiobook

About Déjà Dead:

Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan has finally planned a weekend off to explore Montreal. But when an unidentified female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in garbage bags, her weekend plans -- and her life -- are turned upside down.

Source: Info in the About Déjà Dead was taken from Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231604.D_j_Dead on 18/02/2013.

Review:

Okey, I confess that the only reason that I picked this book up was because I am now a Bones TV series fan and waiting impatiently for Season 8 to become available in the UK. While waiting, why not read the book? So I already have David Boreanaz's image firmly in my head as Special Agent Seeley Booth, plus a serious crush on his character! I also expected this book to read very similarly to the pilot episode of Bones. I was pleasantly surprised that though it did read similarly to a Bones episode, it was not a Bones episode. There are distinct dissimilarities. I am glad of that because then it opens up to surprises. However, I could not quite marry the image of Sergeant Detective Luc Claudel with David Boreanaz. I don't know, for some reason it just don't match!! How silly is that! But there I was... slightly disappointed. David is more like Sergeant Detective Andrew Ryan. Maybe...

I love the way Barbara Rosenblat infused vivazz into the story with the way she reads compensating for the quality of her voice which to my ears is not as pleasant as Alyssa Bresnahan's nor Therese Plummer's. I also needed the paperback or the ebook to keep up with the story. It might be because of the French words because I don't understand French from Greek. Or it could be my unconscious way of telling myself that I needed a moment or two of lag time to digest the story. Or it could also be that I am now used to listening to an audiobook with a print copy at the same time. Whatever the reason, I needed the ebook/print copy to understand the audiobook, which is not a very encouraging sign. However, I do like the occasional humorous commentary between the pages. Humour never fails to pick me up!

The book series and the TV show has two main similarities and then it deviated from each other. One, the forensics similarity is just the idea of forensics and naught else. The forensics lab and team are totally different. Second, is the name Dr. Temperance Brennan. The Dr. Brennan in the Bones TV show is totally different to the book. The one in the book is too stupid to live (TSTL)! I prefer Emily Deschanel to the book... At the end of it, the book wasn't that bad, but it was a bit of a disappointment after the TV show.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3
Character development = 1.5
Story itself = 3
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 3
Pace = N/A (16 hours of listening time)
Plot = 3.5
Narrator = 3.5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

Review: DREAM DARK

Dream Dark by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Book 2.5 of the Caster Chronicles series
Format: ebook
Genre: urban fantasy, YA

About Dream Dark:

When Link joined his best friend, Ethan Wate, on a quest through a mysterious network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, he knew the journey would be dangerous. But returning home to Gatlin, South Carolina was just the beginning...

Wounded during a climactic battle, Link discovers that tending his injuries won't be as simple as visiting a doctor and that healing his arm should be the least of his worries. For being bitten by a Supernatural does more than break the skin -- it changes a person, inside and out, turning Link into someone more and more like the dark creature who injured him.

In this never-before-seen short story by New York Times bestselling authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, listeners witness Link's heart-racing transformation. Dream Dark is set before the much-anticipated third Beautiful Creatures novel, Beautiful Chaos, and as a special bonus includes an exclusive sneak peek at the first five chapters.

Source: Info in the About Dream Dark was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11568316-dream-dark on 22/09/12.

Narrative Evaluation:

Dream Dark is meant for old Caster Chronicles series fans only. This book does not exactly have a beginning and an end though a little explanation is given sorrounding the event where the story took place, but it is not enough for new comers to this series. There isn't enough info about this world or the events before or the characters, really, for a reader who is new to this series to follow the story line. Having said that, there isn't much else that can be said about this novella. Lena is still the striking black-haired girl in my imagination as when I first encountered her in Beautiful Creatures. But Lucille the cat, my favourite character is nowhere to be seen in this novella at all, which is a bummer for me! However as an old fan of this series, I think this novella is a wonderful addition and carried the same masterful story telling quality while the story building is left off altogether. The story building is hinged mainly on the full-novel books in this series which you have to read to fully understand this one. This novella is also broken down further into two shorter stories. The first one is from Link's POV and the second one is from Ethan. And I liked it that I got the chance to see things from Link's point of view. It was interesting! On the whole I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all Caster Chronicles fans!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
Cover art = 2
Story itself = 4
Plot = 4.5
Pace = 3.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Image Credits:
Lucille-like picture - was taken from moroka323's site at http://moroka323.deviantart.com.
Lena-like picture - was taken from Lady-Symphonia's site at http://lady-symphonia.deviantart.com.

Review: THE VOICE

The Voice by Anne Bishop
Novella in the Ephemera series
Genre: fantasy
Format: eBook short story

About The Voice:

An original novella from the New York Times bestselling author of Bridge of Dreams…

In a small village outside the city of Vision, the people know no sorrow or grief. But this seemingly idyllic community is hiding a terrible secret. As a young child, Nalah did not know why she was told to bring a cake to the mute girl known as the Voice whenever she was upset, only that doing so made her feel better. Now grown, Nalah understands the dark truth, and yearns to escape from the oppressive village that has been her life-long home. But it is only after visiting the city of Vision and discovering the Temple of Sorrow that Nalah understands what she must do to be free…

“Bishop’s talents lie both in her ability to craft a story filled with intriguing characters and in her flair for smoldering sensuality.”—Library Journal

“[Bishop’s] worlds are so fully realized and three-dimensional, they jump right off the pages.”—Fresh Fiction

Includes a letter from the author and a special preview chapter from the latest novel set in the world of Ephemera, Bridge of Dreams (available March 2012).

Source: Info in the About The Voice was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13456428-the-voice on 19/02/2012.

Review:

I bought this ebook because it's an Ephemera novella. However this book reads more like The Black Jewels series than the Ephemera series. The tone is quite dark and disturbing. The very reason why I stopped reading the The Black Jewels series. Anne Bishop has a very masterful author's voice which brings the story vividly to life. The down side of that is, it also brings to the forefront of the reader's mind, the dark and disturbing aspect of humanity and the evil humans can do to each other that is depicted in the story in vivid details. I read to escape, not to scare myself. So safe to say that this is not my kind of read. Although this novella plays in the world of the Ephemera series, it does not read like one. And this short story carries a completely different set of characters as oppose to that of Sebastian and Belladonna (Books 1 and 2). It also does not mention any of the old beloved characters from previous books. I would not recommend this book to readers who does not like horror and torture kind of reads. If not for the masterful story telling quality, I would give this book a rating of 1, as it is I would give it a 3 out of 5.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 1.5
Ending = 2.5
World building = 4
Pace = 3

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries


Other Book(s) In The Ephemera Series: