And here I am, your slightly insane, mostly friendly neighborhood dimension-jumper having briefly returned from recent travels to offer you...

Interdimensional Travels: Log Two

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And here I am, your slightly insane, mostly friendly neighborhood dimension-jumper having briefly returned from recent travels to offer you my thoughts on them. I’ve been some pretty cool places recently, so let’s go ahead and get started. :)

Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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I will never not say “sabotage in Hacker’s voice.

Anywho.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Review: Interesting story, but not nearly as fun as the last. It was more like the first one, Found, where things took forever to get going and there were NO answers until the end. Now, I’ll admit, sometimes that can be done really well, like with Ted Dekker’s Eyes Wide Open. But with Sabotaged... it didn’t work for me. I just ended up kind of annoyed with everything as I tagged along behind the characters, not so annoyed that I ended my visit early, but irritated enough that I didn’t engage with this one as well as I think I could have.

As far as other elements, like the characters and writing, everything was just kind of... okay. Maybe because I didn’t engage as much, I couldn’t get the full effect of the characters’ coolness or the writing’s wonderfulness, but... I don’t know. For me, this book just didn’t work so well. It wasn’t bad persé, but I’m afraid it won’t end up on any of my favorites lists either.

The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer
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Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

Review: I liked this world a lot: the storyline was fun and intriguing, there are a lot of great one-liners (both funny and philosophical), the characters were cute and well-developed, and Connor consistently made me chuckle.

One thing I found particularly interesting about this one was the siblings’ dynamic. Since Alex was all smart and logical and Connor was kind of a goofball, it seemed like their whole fairytale views and their reactions to being tossed into The Land of Stories should’ve been reversed: Connor should’ve been the one running around. wanting to do everything, and Alex should’ve been the logical one focused on getting the items and getting home. But since the roles were switched--Alex was kind of a not-so-logical fangirl, and Connor was the one eager to complete the quest and get the heck outta there--it added a lot more depth and complexities to their characters, and that was really cool and fun to follow.

Quick note for younger readers: there are a few curse words and some “passionate” kissing, but besides that, it’s pretty clean. A nice, interesting fantasy read.

The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill
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Rating: 5 stars out of 5.

Review: So generally when I take travels to other parts of our contemporary world, I don’t enjoy them as much. I mean, not to say that I dislike contemporaries, cuz that would be totally untrue, but they normally don’t hold the same appeal for me that, say, a fantasy or a sci-fi world does.

Not so with Ellie Sweet.

I LOVED THIS TRIP. By far my favorite one of the summer (besides Hacker). The plot was interesting, the characters dynamics were fascinating and engaging when they totally could’ve come off as cheesy and cliche, the charries themselves were SUPERB and CUTE and freaking GORGEOUS. (I mean, Chase. Just Chase.)

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I especially loved how much Ellie sounded like a teenage writer. I completely related to her struggle, everything from the way her mind processed things to the way she handled rejection to her general tentativeness to enter the big, bad publishing industry. The whole thing was just great and glorious and OH MY GOODNESS I JUST HAD SUCH AN AMAZING TIME WITH THIS ONE.

This is basically the way I feel about this book. 
Anyways. I highly recommend it :D

***

And that’s it for this month! I have visited a few other worlds since my last Travels Log, but I already reviewed them either on Verbosity or my Goodreads, so you can check those two out if you like. :)

Question time! Which of these dimensions looks the most intriguing to you? Visited any of them before? What kind of armchair adventures have you had lately and--one last one--do you also say “sabotage” in Hacker’s voice every stinking time? Comment me!



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10 comments:

  1. Oooh, it's been a while since I've read anything by Margaret Peterson Haddix, although I remember really liking some of her stories. I haven't read the series you mentioned though, so I may have to check it out at some point. *TBR falls* *gets squished* And I've never read anything by Stephanie Morrill. *hangs head in shame* IN MY DEFENSE I DID NOT KNOW THIS WAS ABOUT A WRITER--WHY HAVE I NOT READ THIS??? *stumbles over self trying to get ahold of book*

    As for me, I've been doing a lot less reading lately because I got a new job and I'm super busy, but I finished Ruthless by Carolyn Adams, which was really good, aside from some language and awkward bits. And I'm reading Monsters of Men so far, which is good, but maybe not quite as good as the first two books in the Chaos Walking Trilogy.

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    1. Hehe, that's the bookworm's greatest problem isn't it? That GINORMOUS TBR (or perhaps the real problem is not having enough time to get /through/ the TBR...)
      Anyways.
      Lol, You definitely should read the Ellie Sweet book, and I'd love to hear your thoughts when you do! :D

      Ah, I feel you. I got a job over the summer as well, and it's really cut back on my reading time. But one needs the money *sigh*
      I haven't read either of those, but I have heard of them. *adds to neverending TBR* *wonders if she'll get to them before she's 95*
      Thanks for commenting!

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  2. I was never much of a Margaret Peterson Haddix fan, I'm afraid, but I think I might have read at least one from that series—it was intriguing, but it didn't get me to read anything else of hers. :P Well, except for INTO THE GAUNTLET, which is among one of my favorite 39 Clues books. :)

    I was really frustrated with the first Ellie Sweet book, so even though I'm glad you liked the second I don't think I could stand to get through her story again. *deeps breathly so as not to erupt into angry rant* Anyway, thanks for sharing what you've read, Alexa!

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    1. Yeah, I can understand that. I'm reading this series because my sister recommended it, and I'll probably continue, but, like I said, it's not going on any favorites list.
      And cool, I didn't know she'd written a 39 Clues book! (but that's probably because I've only read like 1 of the series :p)

      No problem! And this actually /is/ the first book of the Ellie Sweet series, but to each their own opinion. :) (if you'd like to share what you disliked about it, though, that's totally fine. As you may or may not have noticed, I rather enjoy polite debates. :) )

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    2. (OH I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT WAS THE FIRST ONE I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SEQUEL. My Kindle has the updated cover so my brain just assumed.)

      It's probably my own opinion, honestly, and I don't think I could be fair or nice. Let's just say I was wishing for a surprise ending involving executions.

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    3. Haha, okay. Well, like I said, to each their own opinion. :)

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  3. EEEE! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'VE TRAVELLED SOME FUN PLACES RECENTLY. :") AHH! I have been meaning to read The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet, and I am so ecstatic to read this review of it! :') That sounds SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Lately, I have been journeying through . . . wait for it. THE LUNAR CHRONICLES. YES. I FINALLY GOT THEM. AND AHH. I am in the fifth chapter of Scarlet, and oh my gosh. May I just freak out? LOVE THEM. AHHH. AKDFJSKLA. Which was your favourite book out of the three? I know the fourth is coming out soon. :D

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    1. IT IS. I LOVED IT.

      YES YES YES YES YEEESSSS. I LOVE THE LUNAR CHRONICLES. YES FREAK OUT ALL YOU LIKE, I CERTAINLY AM <3 <3 <3 <3
      OH I DON'T KNOW. THEY'RE ALL AMAZING. PROBABLY ONE OF THE LAST TWO... EXCEPT THAT THE FIRST ONE IS AWESOME. ASDFGHJKL I DON'T KNOW THEY'RE ALL BRILLIANT.
      Will you post a review when you finish them?

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    2. AKFJDKLSAJFLDKSA THEY ARE REALLY GOOD. I AM GETTING A LITTLE FREAKED OUT (I AM AT THE END OF SCARLET) BAHAHA THOSE WOLF MEN, LIKE, WHAT. I GET FREAKED OUT EASILY, SO, I AM JUST HAVING A BREAK FROM THEM, LOL. XD ;) I may pick them up again soon, BUT OH MY GOSH. HOW PERFECT IS THE WRITING? THERE IS SO MUCH DIALOGUE, AND YET, THE AUTHOR ALSO KEEPS YOU UPDATED ON THE SURROUNDINGS. AHH. I AM SQUEAKING. XD
      I probably won't, BUT. I might. :D That is a good idea, actually! :') Have you reviewed them on your blog? I will search for them after I post this comment. :D <3

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    3. Oh yeah, the wolf men were kinda creepy. :p But I hope you do pick them up again!
      AND YES. MARISSA MEYER IS A PHENOMENAL WRITER. IT'S ALL SO GORGEOUS! :D <3

      And no, I never actually reviewed them, but I did do a Shipping post on Wolf and Scarlet about a year ago, if you wanna check that one out. :)

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