The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and The Return – L.J. Smith

These are the second and third books in the Vampire Diaries series. They are actually the last lot that were published in the 90’s. Everything that came after was published after 2009. I guess it would be fair to say that these two are the end of the original plot/arc. The ending is pretty solid too. I reckon that if no more books had been published it wouldn’t have been that bad. I also misspoke in my previous review, this first quartet were in fact written by L.J. Smith, it is the next few books after that have been ghost written. The last four I believe or something like that were written by a named author who wasn’t L.J. Smith. Now that I have clarified my mis-step, we can moveo n with the review.

These two were longer than the previous two and I honestly can’t remember if Elena is even alive/part of the first book? I’ve just done a quick read of the Vampire Diaries Wiki and have been informed that The Fury is the book where Elena becomes a vampire and then is killed by Katherine. Sorry for the spoilers, but this book did come out almost 30 years ago. I feel like you’ve had a chance to catch up by now. So yeah, the Fury focusses on the vampire Elena and the trio’s battle with Katherine, of course accompanied by their human pals and Bonnie, who isn’t quite human? At least that’s what the TV show suggests. I’m not sure which to follow or if I should combine the two and use the books as the main source of lore with the series to fill in the gaps?

The second book brought Klaus to the forefront and whilst he wasn’t the Klaus of the show, he was still a great big bad. Obviously I am slightly in love with The Originals Klaus, but this Klaus was good too. I will admit that I am pretty sure I thought Katherine had said that she killed Klaus in the previous book, but oh well I guess? That must have been a red herring.

These books worked well together. It was nice to see the mc shift to Bonnie with Elena out of the picture. Although Bonnie’s character is really bad in the books, it was nice to see her be treated better than she is in the show. And Matt. I really like that he is part of it now. He is the new third member to Bonnie and Meredith. As he should be. I have decided that I adore both book Matt and TV show Matt. He deserves better and I am glad that so far he has managed to stay human in the books and that he stays human in the show.

I honestly think that this book series is the epitome of teenage girl vampire novels. They came out a few years before the Twilight Saga and honestly the only comparison points for the two are the fact that there are vampires and werewolves etc, but that’s more of a genre issue. I honestly don’t know what point I’m trying to make here, maybe that this series is actually better? Or healthier? For young girls? I don’t know. I mean, when comparing the two main characters, Bella is a wet wipe when compared to Elena. Elena is actually in charge of her own destiny and speaks up for what she wants. Bella just kind of goes along with what she thinks is best for everyone else. This is definitely not the main issue with Twilight, but it has made me think, that if I had a young daughter I would definitely encourage her to read the Vampire Diaries over Twilight. Hmmm. Maybe something to explore more in depth at a later date.

Obviously I’m going to give this duet 4 stars. It’s not groundbreaking and I didn’t wizz through it, but that’s mostly because as I write this I should really be packing to go back to uni… I am currently reading the next book and I can’t wait to finish it. It’s about 300 pages longer than the previous 4, so I anticipate it’s going to take me a while. But once that review has come out, keep an eye out for my revie of Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney, because that is my next read and my god I am so excited to get to it!!

Chloe

The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch

So I have finally gotten around to reading this masterpiece. I think it came out in 2005 and so whilst I wouldn’t have read it then, due to being 5, but I feel like I could have gotten there before I hit the ripe old age of 20… This book is pretty much exactly as good as the hype around it suggested it was. I will say that I am not sure if I want to read the rest of the series. I have Big Book Fear™ and so facing this book – which is over 500 pages and therefore bigger than most of the books that I have read recently – was kind of scary and also a relief. I’m glad that I have managed to check it off my to-read list. Also, the next book that I am reading, which I might not review on here, is over 700 pages long and therefore even scarier. The nook is A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and I may not review it because it might actually destroy me. I’ll get back to you on that. But anyway, back to this incredible book. I kind of can’t believe it’s a debut. It’s too good.

I kinbd of adore Locke Lamora. Although I kind of hate the ending. I think that his actions felt really out of line with his character and the development he went through during the book. The character arc made no sense Lamora definitely wouldn’t have become such a good generous person. It made him seem very selfless which just did not fit with who he was during the entire book.

Spoilers in this section: The killing of his friends was just wrong. Especially of Bug who was a literal child. Yes I understand why it was done, but it definitely felt senseless. And the killing of the twins was harsh. I am glad Jean got revenge by killing the grey king’s sisters. But it was all kind of a lot. I really enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes I do wonder if these authors forget about the capabilities of the human body. Sometimes it did feel like Jean and Locke should have just collapsed from the pure stress of it all. Also, whilst I do appreciate that Locke did in fact pass out, he also then recieved multiple injuries and he really should have been in too much pain to move. So idk, I get that it’s fantasy, but it’s fantasy with human people. Surely some of the same rules should still apply? No? Or maybe Lynch just doesn’t really care and you know what, I actually respect him for that haha.

No spoilers now. This book was actually really good and whilst it definitely couldn’t have been shorter, I do wish it had been. This book is a beast. 500 + pages and my god, those pages were packed. Small font, right to the edge of the printing lines. It was a lot. Much like other series, I don’t think I’m going to go out of my way to read the rest of it. If I see the books in the charity shop I will most likely pick them up, but otherwise probably not tbh. And that’s fine. I really cannot afford the space or the money to buy more books.

I honestly cannot remember what I rated this book but it was probably 4/5 stars? Maybe 5? Goodreads knows. Oh well, I liked the characters and the pacing, but my god it was so long and it felt like the author didn’t know what he was doing some of the time, which is honestly a mood. If you can get easy access I would for sure read this book, it is a fun adventure and the exploring a new city is fun, especially when it’s fantasy. The world building was very good. That I can say for sure.

Chloe

The House on the Strand – Daphne Du Maurier

The best way to describe this book would be interesting. And I don’t know if I mean that in a good way.

Du Maurier wrote a lot if not most of her books set in Devon and Cornwall. This gives me a local connection to it due to where I live. And it was nice to be able to mentally locate where she was writing about and even to see some local spots be mentioned. I don’t know if it benefitted from being set in the South West, but it certainly did not take away from it. I have not checked to see if any of the historical players were real, but I like to think that they are. Of course due to the fact that the historical aspects are set in the 14th century makes it difficult for Dick, the main character, to easily find those he meets, or is introduced to. Which definitely adds to the question of how much of what he experienced actually happened and how much of it was a drug trip that was pure imagination based hallucination.

I found Dick to be a very unsympathetic character. Especially his behaviour towards his wife and step-sons. Towards the end of the book I was beginning to wish Vita would leave him. He was clearly becoming more and more, not unhinged, but disconnected from reality. He kept saying that what he was doing was harmless and only to keep testing whether he and Magnus were having a telepathic trip or if they were separate. It honestly just felt like excuses, to me, the reader. He was unecessarily cruel to Vita and her friends due to the fact that he kept experiencing come downs that were honestly, not really worth it. And the fact that he was so trusting of Magnus as a scientist and academic to just blindly take what he was told is wild. The fact that he was taking bottle C after Magnus’ death and he had no way of knowing what was in it??? Fucking insane. Only later does he find out that it could potentially KILL him! And then he keeps taking it??!?! Absolute insanity. Who is he to think he can beat science? So bold. And with consequences. Not to spoil, but the book ends with him either becoming paralised or forced back into the trip. So it is ultimately proven that he cannot beat science. In a sense he is humbled.

I enjoyed the bringing back in of the doctor. He wasn’t just a character we see once, but one who becomes instrumental to the plot towards the end. I actually really enjoyed his character. He was realistic and looking out for Vita and her sons as much as Dick. He was an excellent example of a southerner being welcoming to those that aren’t local. A nict bit of Cornish hospitality.

Continuing on the spoiler train, no pun intended, Magnus’ death felt quite anticlimactic. Of course I kept expecting Dick to be hit by a car or something, so having Magnus die by tran was fitting. But because it happened off screen, so to speak, I felt like something was missing. It just felt a bit lackluster. I don’t know. It also should have been enough to get Dick to stop – but it probably would have taken him witnessing Magnus’ death to do so. Even then I’m not sure.

I did not see the horror aspect of this book. So I am very confused by the blurb saying it has them. I literally did not get horror from this book. But I suppose if there was to be any it would be a more psychological aspect. I think a lot of this book is to show the falling apart of someone’s psyche and how that affects their life. I have no clue though.

I have given this book 3 stars, but the more I think about it the more disappointed I am. If I could be bothered to change my goodreads rating I would probably rate it 2. But I cant, so it’s gonna stay at 3.

Chloe

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling or Where I ramble about Harry Potter in general for a few hundred words…

I recently re-read this for a project me and some mates are working on and I had legit forgotten how much I loved this book. It is easily in my top 3 favourite Harry Potter books without a doubt.

I have a weird relationship with the Harry Potter series, both book and movies. The movies I seriously cannot remember more than snippets of any of them and I know for a fact that I have seen all of them. I think between maybe 4 and 6 I fully can remember none of them at all. Aside from like 30 seconds of Goblet of Fire. The books I have read some more than others because I started on the fifth one because that was all that was available to me. I was trapped in Spain for a week and my cousin had brought the 5th, 6th and 7th Harry Potter books with him. When I got sick of rereading Alex Rider for the ninth time I decided to read the HP books and my cousin picked up Alex Rider. And so I have read those three and the first one, and now the 4th more than the 2nd and 3rd. Which is a weird position to be in tbh. I read the 1st after seeing Cursed Child and I decided that I needed to re-read it for sentimentality and then went no further because boy do I have a lot of books on my to-read shelf.

This book is one of my favourites for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s actually one of the funniest ones for what happens. It also explores the relationship between Harry, Hermione and Ron quite well and introduces the idea of Ron and Hermione to the reader. I think if I was to re-read the series I would find some more hints dropped by Rowling towards Ron and Hermione. I like that Hermione is the glue that holds them together, but I also don’t like this one bit because it’s often the woman who holds relationships together and I don’t like that it is on her again. Also Ron treats her really badly whilst he tries to figure out what he’s feeling. I don’t even know if it could be said that he makes it up to her.

I love Hermione so much. She knows what she wants and how to get there and she doesn’t let Ron or Harry stop her. I appreciate that she lets them stick up for her to Snape but also takes no shit and punches Malfoy in an earlier book. Honestly, the best bit in the entire series. That and Snape finally dying. That was truly the best moment, and Dumbledore dying… okay maybe those are the top three moments with Hermione punching Malfoy coming right at the top.

I think I’ve said before that I really hate Dumbledore. He’s an excellent character but possibly one of the worst people in the book series. Arguably worse than Voldemort but that might just be me.

In this book we see the rise of Voldemort after like 15 years of struggling to survive and honestly Rowling wrote this villain really well. Well, she wrote all of her villains well. But I really love how Voldemort talks and the way he is described. She really did well on that front.

Cedric dying really triggers the rest of the deaths. This is the beginning of the dying in this series. The first three books are definitely more child friendly, but this one is where you can see Rowling allowing her audience to grow with the books. She knows that they can handly Cedric’s death and so she uses it to trigger the beginning of the tragedies. When I used to marathon these books I would always skip over Sirius and Dumbledore’s deaths because they made me cry to hard and I knew what was coming. Now I think if I was to go back and re-read the entire series I would only skip over Sirius’, but perhaps he deserves better than that?

It was weird to me how Barty Crouch Junior new how to act to keep the suspicion off of himself as Mad Eye Moody. Like what are the odds that he had all of those mannerisms down and the knowledge, and like I get that he had Mad Eye trapped in his own chest but if he was hit with a question that he had to answer right away and didn’t know the answer? Then he was pretty screwed. Honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Barty Crouch jr had a Drama GCSE cause he sure deserved one after that performance. Cause he sure did put on a performance.

I really loved our brush with two of the other magical academies. It would have been really nice to have been introduced to some others, whether it just be through a mention or having more than three schools in the competition. I like that it got a bit more wordly in this book, but I think it would be really nice if JK Rowling was to continue in the Wizarding World she did it elsewhere and not just focussing on Harry Potter characters cause honestly, shes milked that so much that the cow is dead.

Basically this book is great and it really marks a turning point for the rest of the series which I really appreciate. Rowling is maturing the tone of her wrtiting as her characters and readers also mature which I really like. It makes it feel more accessible to a wider range of readers. This is a good development in the series and I just wish I could read this series for the first time at this age to see how I would view it and how different that view would be.

Chloe