I was extremely happy when I saw that my library got The Cemetery Boys in. I immediately grabbed it from the shelf and started wishing that it wasn't on hold for someone else. Ever since I heard about this book when Brewer first started hinting toward it, I was hooked. I'm a big fan of Brewer, and I follow a few of her social media sites. I have read the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod they are not reviewed because I read them looong before I started this blog. I have read the first couple of books of The Slayer Chronicles, I have read and reviewed the first book in the Legacy of Tril. There are a few other little short stories out by Brewer that I haven't been able to get my hands on.
Stephen knew there wasn't any other choice when his father told him that they where moving to Spencer. They were broke from paying Mom's hospital bills, and they had no one else to fall back on but grandmother. She's not that great though, she's bitter and stuck just like Spencer. After meeting Cara and her twin Devon things seem not as dull, but there is more than meets the eye. They have family troubles as well and Stephen can relate to the both of them. The closer he grows with both of them, the more he sees that something isn't right. The Playground, the Winged Ones, the "bad times", and Devon's group of friends, it all just doesn't seem right. And it might be too late before Stephen can do anything about it to save himself.
I don't have many likes, I will get into why with my dislikes portion. Brewer herself is a very openly loving person. She doesn't care what walk of life you have or had, what your gender is, your sexuality, etc. So I wasn't surprised when a few of the characters where open loving themselves. I liked this because I myself am openly loving. This is something we as humans need more of. We need more openness and acceptance. People need to know that this is okay! Another thing I was happy to see Brewer incorporate into The Cemetery Boys was the mental health subject. Like I said before I follow Brewer and I was excited when she hinted toward this. Yet again this is something humans need to know is a part of life. People have mental illnesses, and they need to know that there is help. Okay touchy subjects over. I don't know if I have said this before in a review, but I love to hate characters. Stephen's Grandmother would be the one that I am loving to hate, though I am more on the disliking side then the loving. The state that Brewer placed this in made me smile from square one. It's Michigan. Though I hate it in the winter and bitch most of the time about it, it's my home state. The last thing I enjoyed about reading this book was the twist with Cara at the end. Boy, did I not see that coming!
To start off the dislikes, I almost didn't finish this book. Not because it was bad, it wasn't, it's because the hype that was built up to it, and the excitement didn't last. After about the seventh chapter I didn't feel captured with the book any more. I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for things to happen. I got half way through the book then three-fourths through the book and still nothing *for me* had happened. Things really didn't get moving till the last 3-4 chapters, and by then I wasn't too terribly concerned with finding out what happened in the end. My next dislike is more of an annoyance with the character Harold (Stephen's dad). He waited until what felt like the last moment to even talk about what happened with Stephen's mom. Most of which I think came from the fact that he found some alarming drawings of the Winged Ones from his son. Don't wait till problems start to arise. Let the child know that it is okay to come to you when they feel as though they need to. I'll leave it short and sweet like that. Speaking of the Winged Ones, I was really hoping for more of an encounter with them (if they were real?) I felt like that whole scene was built up to and then nothing again. My last dislike was how I felt when I ended the book. We have all had the feeling of "that's it?" but mine was really just, after all that that's it. I'm sad, this is a stand-alone and that is how I was left feeling.
I wasn't overtly disappointed, but I really hoped for more. Granted this is more for the younger reader and I am not super young, so I won't be completely harsh. I did enjoy laughing just a couple of times, and it was a pretty quick read altogether. Do I recommend The Cemetery Boys? Yes, to those younger readers. Though if you are older and think you may like this I truly say go for it. Will my opinion change in the future? Who knows, maybe it will, maybe it won't. Do I want to own this book? At this time, I don't feel too terribly consumed with wanting it. I want Brewer's other books more over this one. I don't think I will be rereading this anytime soon. This is definitely a book I see myself reading again after a number of years, which isn't a bad thing! Did anyone else read this and have the same feelings as me, or different? I'd really like to know.
Rating: Very low 3 out of 5.
Page Count: 273 pages (hardcover)
Price: $17.99
Next Book: (hopefully if I can finish it before it has to go back to the library) Zomburbia by Adam Gallardo
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
Showing posts with label Heather Brewer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heather Brewer. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Soulbound by Heather Brewer
Soulbound is the first book in the Legacy of Tril. There will be a second book, but it is going to be released as a ebook in the US. There is no talk yet of it being an actual book-book, but I am going to keep my fingers crossed because I do not own anything for ebooks, sadly. The release time is Fall 2015, so it is not too far away for those of you who are waiting. I hope everyone enjoys!
In Tril there are Barrons, Healers, and Unskilled. Barrons and Healers are bound together, for both are born at the same exact time. Healers do exactly as they are named, heal, and Barrons are to fight. Kaya isn't to keen on this idea, with being a Healer. She wants to be able to protect herself and anyone else who needs it. She is demanded to come to the Shadow Academy where it is against Protocol for Healers to fight, so in secret she learns. There is a war going on against the Graplar King, a man who uses the Graplars to kill. The poor Unskilled have no clue as to what is going on around them.
I have so many feels for Kaya, she is sixteen and has the weight of the world on her shoulders. She handles everything pretty well for her age and I applaud that. Being sucked in from page one I devoured this book to say the least. For being a 'Teen' book, it was a pretty damn good one. Brewer does not give too much detail as to body build, facial structure, height, and things of this nature. Of course you know that people (Barrons) are going to be pretty fit because they are training to fight, and have been for a good portion of their life. I do and don't like this. I like it because it leaves more up to the imagination, and the reader gets to have their own input in the story. There are some details put in just not a lot. I will say why I don't like this later on as usual. There is a bit of romance between Kaya and Trayton, the guy that she gets bound to not too long after entering Shadow Academy. Life there isn't too great for Kaya and the bits of romance help to calm things after you get ticked off right along side Kaya, because of people at Shadow Academy. For me there really wasn't a dull moment, something was always happening or being hinted toward. A lot of it wasn't crazy fast paced, which helped out because I didn't feel overwhelmed with everything going on. I know before I have said that I didn't like this but with Soulbound it balanced out nicely. You expect things to always be happening because of the war with the Graplar King, and the lurking Graplars. Soulbound isn't too predictable, but there are a few things that you may or may not guess some details to. Something else that I loved but by far not the last is the insert about Brewer at the end. "She was inspired by her daughter to write the Legacy of Tril series because the world needs more girls who can stand up for themselves always and kick some butt when necessary." I whole heartedly agree with this, because when necessary I believe that women should stand up for themselves and what they believe in.
As to why I don't like the lack of detail is because I like to picture the characters, and how the authors pictured them or described them. Now I am not too upset about this, to the point that it ruined my view of the book. I just had to get used to it after having every other book describe everything for me. Per usual I am miffed about the ending because it is the biggest cliff hanger and realization for three characters. I didn't see it coming though I thought something like it would happen. *SPOILER-ALERT* Kaya was told that her Soulbound Barron had perished, straight away you know that maybe that isn't true from the way that it is told to her. And the ending lets you know the truth for that but not why. *SPOILER-ENDED* I don't have anything else that I didn't like, I really enjoyed this book through and through.
Definitely do I recommend this to everyone, not just teens. There is so much more to this book, and I really enjoyed reading it. Brewer has a way of telling a story that really does draw you in. I want to own this book and any other books that may follow it. I can definitely see myself reading it over a few times and not getting bored with it. I will say that with the second book being published by a different company I am hoping that not too many things change. I do know sometimes an author has to change their original plans for their books once one company has published one book under their name, and another is going to pick up the rest of the books. Once there is a specific release date I will be sure to say something SO LONG as there are other books that I want to review coming out. Otherwise I will make a quick note in a review to come, so be sure to look out for that.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Page Count: 394 (hardcover)
Price: $17.99
Next Book: Zom-B Baby by Darren Shan
Thank you so much for reading!
~Jade
In Tril there are Barrons, Healers, and Unskilled. Barrons and Healers are bound together, for both are born at the same exact time. Healers do exactly as they are named, heal, and Barrons are to fight. Kaya isn't to keen on this idea, with being a Healer. She wants to be able to protect herself and anyone else who needs it. She is demanded to come to the Shadow Academy where it is against Protocol for Healers to fight, so in secret she learns. There is a war going on against the Graplar King, a man who uses the Graplars to kill. The poor Unskilled have no clue as to what is going on around them.
I have so many feels for Kaya, she is sixteen and has the weight of the world on her shoulders. She handles everything pretty well for her age and I applaud that. Being sucked in from page one I devoured this book to say the least. For being a 'Teen' book, it was a pretty damn good one. Brewer does not give too much detail as to body build, facial structure, height, and things of this nature. Of course you know that people (Barrons) are going to be pretty fit because they are training to fight, and have been for a good portion of their life. I do and don't like this. I like it because it leaves more up to the imagination, and the reader gets to have their own input in the story. There are some details put in just not a lot. I will say why I don't like this later on as usual. There is a bit of romance between Kaya and Trayton, the guy that she gets bound to not too long after entering Shadow Academy. Life there isn't too great for Kaya and the bits of romance help to calm things after you get ticked off right along side Kaya, because of people at Shadow Academy. For me there really wasn't a dull moment, something was always happening or being hinted toward. A lot of it wasn't crazy fast paced, which helped out because I didn't feel overwhelmed with everything going on. I know before I have said that I didn't like this but with Soulbound it balanced out nicely. You expect things to always be happening because of the war with the Graplar King, and the lurking Graplars. Soulbound isn't too predictable, but there are a few things that you may or may not guess some details to. Something else that I loved but by far not the last is the insert about Brewer at the end. "She was inspired by her daughter to write the Legacy of Tril series because the world needs more girls who can stand up for themselves always and kick some butt when necessary." I whole heartedly agree with this, because when necessary I believe that women should stand up for themselves and what they believe in.
As to why I don't like the lack of detail is because I like to picture the characters, and how the authors pictured them or described them. Now I am not too upset about this, to the point that it ruined my view of the book. I just had to get used to it after having every other book describe everything for me. Per usual I am miffed about the ending because it is the biggest cliff hanger and realization for three characters. I didn't see it coming though I thought something like it would happen. *SPOILER-ALERT* Kaya was told that her Soulbound Barron had perished, straight away you know that maybe that isn't true from the way that it is told to her. And the ending lets you know the truth for that but not why. *SPOILER-ENDED* I don't have anything else that I didn't like, I really enjoyed this book through and through.
Definitely do I recommend this to everyone, not just teens. There is so much more to this book, and I really enjoyed reading it. Brewer has a way of telling a story that really does draw you in. I want to own this book and any other books that may follow it. I can definitely see myself reading it over a few times and not getting bored with it. I will say that with the second book being published by a different company I am hoping that not too many things change. I do know sometimes an author has to change their original plans for their books once one company has published one book under their name, and another is going to pick up the rest of the books. Once there is a specific release date I will be sure to say something SO LONG as there are other books that I want to review coming out. Otherwise I will make a quick note in a review to come, so be sure to look out for that.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Page Count: 394 (hardcover)
Price: $17.99
Next Book: Zom-B Baby by Darren Shan
Thank you so much for reading!
~Jade
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