Rooms by Lauren Oliver

The Blurb On The Back:

How do ghosts see?

We didn’t always; it had to be relearned.

Dying is a matter of being reborn. In the beginning there was darkness and confusion. We learned gropingly. We felt our way into this new body, the way that infants do. Images began to emerge. The light began to creep in.

Now everything is perfectly clear. We do more than see. We detect the smallest vibrations, miniscule shifts in the currents, minor disturbances, molecules shifting. We are invisible fingers; we play endlessly over the surface of things.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Lauren Oliver’s first novel for adults is a literary character study about damaged individuals and damaged relationships. It’s a slickly written affair with an atmospheric supernatural element, but the plot is as predictable as its resolution and the living characters never really rose above archetypes while a subplot involving Trenton and neighbouring kooky teenager Katie was an irritating and needlessly convoluted take on the manic pixie girl trope. I did enjoy the narration from the two ghosts, particularly Sandra, a brassy broad who led a troubled life and who takes great joy in pointing out the foibles of the living and gambling on what they will do and I also enjoyed Alice’s backstory, particularly her marriage with Ed. Although there was enough here for me to keep turning the pages and Oliver knows how to turn a phrase, this wasn’t sufficiently original to excite my interest, although I would check out her other adult work.

ROOMS will be released in the United Kingdom on 25th September 2014. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

Ruin And Rising by Leigh Bardugo

The Blurb On The Back:

The Darkling pressed a kiss to the top of my hair. “I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no other shelter but me.”

For Alina, time is running out. To destroy the Darkling, she must find the elusive firebird, and she must find it soon.

The Darkling’s power is growing. And so is his connection to Alina. Can Alina escape the hold he has over her? Does she want to?

Mal is the one person Alina can rely on. But could giving in to the bond between them be the most dangerous decision of all?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The conclusion to Leigh Bardugo’s Russian-inspired fantasy trilogy is a smartly written, tightly plotted affair that ties up the various plot strands in a satisfying way. I particularly enjoyed the way Bardugo shows the politics at play between the various factions lined up against the Darkling, notably the machinations of the Apparat who seeks to use the people’s belief in Alina’s sainthood for his own political ends. Alina also grows more as a character here, questioning her own desire for power and the conflicted emotions she has for the Darkling. I was a little bored by the repetition of the romance issues between her and Mal (much of which seemed to be a variation on issues already explored in SIEGE AND STORM) and I remain unconvinced by the supposed romantic pull between Alina and the Darkling (a shame as he gains a lot of depth here). That said, I thought that the ending was entirely fitting for the story and tied up the different plot strands in a way that left me satisfied and I even enjoyed the epilogue (a device I’m normally leery of). All in all, I thought this was a solid trilogy with an original premise and I really look forward to reading what Bardugo does next.