How to train your dragon - Cressida Cowell

This book was so much fun. I wanted to read it after I discovered that the movie was based on a book, and I sure am glad I did. While the storyline of the book is vastly different to the movie, they both have the feel about them. 

Hiccup is just as loveable as the narrator, after all this is his book on How to Train your Dragon, to replace the exceedingly lacking previous book by the same title. His group of training buddies have the same contempt and disdained for the 'useless' Hiccup as they do in the movie, however I was a little disappointed that they were all male. That was a nice touch in the movie to have two girls in the group. However the dragons were a bit of a surprise. I was expecting them to be the huge dragon like creatures that initially come to mind when you think of dragons, so it was a shock when I read that they were quite small creatures more akin to Fire Lizards in Anne McCaffrey's Pern series. 

Being a children's book it made it fun to see drawings of the characters and events that occurred in the book throughout. There was even a basic replica of the original How to Train your Dragon book inserted so that the reader can "share the experience with Hiccup of opening that book for the first time". This sort of inclusion is what makes this book fantastic and would keep young readers involved and turning the pages.

Reading this book only took me a few hours, but it made me feel like I had just watched a half hour cartoon on a Saturday morning like I did when I was a kid. It was simple yet portrayed the story clearly and easily so that kids (and heck, even adults like me) would be hooked and want to read more tales of Hiccup, Toothless and their Viking friends, which is great as there are a further 11 books in the series.

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

Very underwhelmed by this book. I'm not sure if it was because of all the hype around it, but then I think that I add this book to my 'to be read' pile years ago before there was even talk of a movie being made, from recommendations and reviews on the podcast 'Books on the Nightstand'.

While it was interesting and I did want to find out what was going on, I thought it was a huge let down. Already knowing that there was a huge twist in the book, I found it totally underwhelming when I realised that I had read that part and completely missed that it was the twist. To me that part was just what would logically follow from where the book had gone.

Amy's little adventure (I'll call it that for lack of a better word) was boring and had me thinking of better ways the story could have gone. There were characters and storylines that seemed to be in there to pad the book up. And things were not tied up all nicely like the character seems to think there were. I can think of half a dozen questions that arise without even going in to detail.

Then ending was completely bland. Just like every other marriage, with compromise and both people not getting to do what they want to do. True that the compromises are on a huge scale and not what you would expect from even a million marriages but that is how it read to me. The book finished and I was trying to find the next chapter to see what actually happened to these two sickening people.

Oh and the writing in the book is so mundane that I thought it should have been a YA novel with graphic context. Sure there were a few (maybe half a dozen) words that I had to look up in the dictionary, but a good sophisticated adult book it does not make.

I just hope the movie I'm about to watch is better and has made this whole adventure worth my time.

3 stars, a thorough let down.

Revenge Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger

Over 10 years after the original Devil wears Prada a sequel has been released. The main characters are all now in their early to mid 30's with more advanced careers and have moved on from Runway. It was great to revisit the lives of Andy and Emily again and hear what they have been up to in the last decade, sort of like catching up with an old friend you haven’t seen since Uni.

However the first half of the book felt very different than “Devil”. It was a lot slower paced and the characters seem to have out grown their swearing that as very prevalent from what I remember. It seemed more of rehashing the interim from “Devil” than actually having a new story. The original was marked with a go-go-go style with no time for breaks, never ending descriptions of people’s outfits and fashion items all interspersed with chipped, snarky comments from numerous characters. So far everyone is civil to each other, there is little to no swearing, the pace is chilled out and the fashion descriptions are so minimal that you actually pay attention to them when you come across them when reading.

The second half of the book gets more into a storyline but it jumps all over the place and is disjointed. You get into a scene and want to know what happens and how things go and then Bam! you are a few months in the future with little to no reference about it at all. Disappointing.

While yes there is more of the storyline it is a boring storyline. No one wants to read a book about a person coming to terms with being married and having a kid, especially when it’s a sequel to such a fast paced, in demand, exhausting book 1.

Emily has lost all her pizazz and edge and is just another run of the mill character from any book, while Andy is a very watered down version of her 'pushed over' self. And still even then you only see that happen infrequently.

It seems as though this book was toned down to be the sequel of the movie version of “Devil wears Prada”, not a continuation of the book version. I was very disappointed and the ending made me gag. Can you get any more American Hollywood feel good ending. Not a story I would choose to read. Ever!

City of Lost Souls - Cassandra Clare

This book was much better than the Mortal Instruments Book 4 City of Fallen Angels. Where that book bored my to tears following characters that were so boring and predictable with their choices, Lost Souls actually had a storyline and made me want to continue. After the last book I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with the series, but I'm happy I did.

Lost Souls had a lot of teen angst mixed in with the action as well as the story line. I will say however, what does Cassandra Clare have with incest. It seems to be a common thing in the Mortal Instruments series. First Jace was Clary's brother and they were torn about the feelings they had for each other. Now in the latest instalment Clary's real brother 'Sebastian' wants to be with Clary citing the great Egyptian royal families as examples of how it makes it okay. It is not okay folks! So wrong in so many ways.

There were a few parts of the story that I was not expecting to happen and was happily surprised that there were twists and turns and not just the blah story from book 4. Leaving the ending as a big cliffhanger.

Waiting for the next book to be available on audiobook so I can listen to it. In the meantime I will read the Infernal Devices trilogy.

The Assassin's Blade - Sarah J. Maas

Awesome. These five novellas give you all the stories that occurred before Throne of Glass that you hear about throughout the book. It was great to have a little more explained about Celaena's past and what lead up to her being captured and sent to Endovier in the first place. I would still love to read a story about how Arobynn found Celaena as a child and then began to train her to become the worlds most famous assassin.

Here while Celaena is a little younger her arrogance is startling and almost her "fatal flaw" as most characters need. I found myself wanting to slap her every now and then due to her unwavering arrogance in the face of every situation. Interesting how Sarah J Maas could make you really annoyed at a character you love but without turning on them completely, it's more realistic that way as everyone has annoying traits.

A must for anyone who love the Throne of Glass series, especially while waiting for the third book to come out.

The Assassin and the Princess - Sarah J. Maas

What a beautiful insight into the relationship between two such amazing friends. Just a girls day out in the city. I loved the true friendship that is depicted in this short little story that made it miss my best friend.

The Assassin and the Captain - Sarah J. Maas

A little fun exchange between two of the main characters when their relationship was still forming. A love the banter back and forth between Celaena and Choal.