Review: Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

Name: Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantic
Author: Anne Rice
Type of book: ebook (recommend physical book as easier to skip to appendixes and it's better)
FREE EBOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR REVIEW FROM NETGALLEY

  If you haven't read Prince Lestat then you really need to read that first. This review contains spoilers straight away of Prince Lestat.

My Review:

The story starts where Prince Lestat ends:

 Amel is inside Lestat and they are trying to build their Court, the vampires story continues and we are also introduced to a new character who's story is crucial to the narrative.

Lestat is dreaming of a city falling into the sea and so begins the story of the Realms of Atlantis.

Anne Rice is a great writer, the atmosphere in her novels! It’s as though you are right there experiencing it all for yourself. The characters as always are real and breathing (do vampires breath?) beings, our favourites are there and it feels like meeting up with old friends. I loved the continuity- Lestat thinks about his past and remembers Claudia and little moments that I recall from the previous novels. I can’t really put into words how delightful it is to read about these characters again and read about the events in The Vampire Chronicles which I so loved to read and reread in my pre-teens!

I read some bad reviews of this novel and was uncertain whether I wanted to read it. Straight away I felt that there was just too much talking and not enough action. At times the story felt directionless, there's a lot of talking and nothing much seems to happen. It pains me to give a negative review to anyone who has sat down and poured out their soul and imagination on to paper, but I like to be honest.  There's a lot of description of clothing and surroundings but that isn't always bad, it builds up atmosphere. Loyal Anne Rice fans won't be concerned. I did get into the story though and continued reading and enjoyed it immensely until the moment of revelation where Lestat is being told a story. It reads like a report and I felt that this section did not flow very well. I skimmed through some pages because there was so much information the information did not seem relevant to me, there were too many excruciating details of Atlantis which did not seem to aid the story's plot in anyway.

I was frustrated but…

I can’t say I hated this book! I enjoyed reading about Lestat again, Lestat had been and always will be my favourite literary character. Anne Rice-despite the sluggish parts- is a great writer, her world comes to life off the page. And I loved the story, I loved the ideas and how they all come together so naturally. So how can I say I hated it!

After that section of story where I skimmed, only a few pages, I was then hooked again, it was like being in my pre-teens again where I read the books at breakfast or during school dinner break (yeah, I’m a bookworm!) eager to get to the end, devouring the contents of the book. I had to know if everything was OK and then without realising I got to the final page! And I didn’t want it to end! Confusing I know, I went from skimming pages and being frustrated to not wanting to say goodbye to Lestat. Despite what I’ve said I loved this book, I felt happy and sad: I felt everything with the characters, I lived everything with the characters.

 That’s the thing that has always kept me reading, that is Anne Rice’s main accomplishment: her characters are amazing. And if you love the characters as much as I do anything that lets this book down maybe overlook. After all how can you resist Lestat? I know I can’t.

Review of Dragon's Green by Scarlett Thomas

Name:  Dragon's Green

Author: Scarlett Thomas

Type of Book:  Hardback

Genre: Children's/fantasy

My Review

I had this book from a one-off Ninja Book Box (if you've not heard of it take a look at my unboxing also on my blog here:http://jensbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/unboxing-ninja-book-box.html) so I had no idea what book I was getting but I wasn't disappointed. It's a charming story about a little girl discovering the world of magic. 

Effie discovers the magical world after the death of her Grandfather. I loved the magical world in this book and the idea of magic, it's different to anything I've read. When Effie's grandfather dies he leaves her magical objects and a library of books. The books are sold and the story follows Effie's journey to get the books back and also her first steps into the world of magic. It's an enthralling and interesting read. A charming book which will appeal to fellow bookworms because in this world books are powerful and it is indeed possible to get lost in them. 

I could not stop reading this book and I will definitely be keeping a look out for the next one in this series called 'Worldquake Sequence'. I loved the style of the writing and the humour and the way everything comes together in the story. Each character is individual and there are plenty of mysteries still to be unfolded in the next book, one such mystery is what happened to Effie's mother. 

Although this is a children's book it is not childish in anyway and will definitely appeal to adults and for anyone who loves reading books about books.  

Book Review: Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

Name: Borne
Author:Jeff VanderMeer
From: lovereading review panel, free for review, hardback copy

I have previously read two other books by JeffVanderMeer (book one and book two of the Southern Reach trilogy) and loved them. He is an author who is completely unique, the characters/creatures and the ideas/worlds within in his novels are so imaginative, it's enough to make an aspiring writer filled with awe.

I was a bit dubious when I read the blurb online which references a flying bear, but thankfully I ignored my doubts-I should do this more often- I know that I can trust Jeff VanderMeer to write an enthralling novel to excite my curiosity, even if you do feel like the proverbial cat. Jeff VanderMeer always has a darkness in his novels, there's always something that shocks you and amazes you.

Borne is an engrossing eye-popping story,  a novel of a dark world and of the touching relationship between Rachel and the creature Borne who she discovers. You have to wonder at the ideas and imagination of Jeff VanderMeer- from huge, flying bears to worms that diagnose your illnesses. Genius.

I can only say I would recommend this book and I found it hard to put down. How can you contain it's spectacularly weird world into a few normal words to explain it to someone? I will definitely be reading more by Jeff VanderMeer, and if you love weird, unusual books, sci-fi ot fantasy you'll love this. And if you don't step outside your comfort zone and give it a try.