1.
Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer. I didn't like this one as much as
Cinder, probably because I was never a fan of Scarlet as a character, and also because this book was extremely predictable (and not just because of the fairytale thing). Also, I'm really not a fan of the kind of romance that's in
Scarlet that's so common in YA and fanfics, the really fast-paced but very pained one. "I like him, but I probably shouldn't, and does he like me, should I just go with it, but we haven't known each other for very long, this probably isn't a good idea, we are so not good for each other, but omg I like him so much and I suspect he likes me too, omg, what should I do, waaah~~" Ffs. The really good parts of this book were the ones with Cinder, Thorne and Kai in them, there were also some nice glimpses of Scarlet and Wolf when their budding romance wasn't so very painful to read (most of the time I was afraid my eyes would get stuck in the back of my skull reading about them). But yes, Cinder and Thorne saves this book, big time, and they are also the reason for the unreasonably high grade I gave this book on Goodreads.
2.
Yuko, by Jenny Milewski. I had really, really high expectations for this book. Swedish story, in a Swedish setting, by a Swedish author, but with a Japanese ghost story twist. Seeing as
The Grudge is the only horror movie that has ever given me nightmares (and recurring ones at that!) I was expecting some spine-thrills. I got annoyances. This story takes place in the 90s, before mobile phones, when the phones were actually plugged into the wall, and there's this one guy in the entire dorm that has a computer, and they still play records alongside CDs. A girl finally gets a room in a dorm after having rented a couch from a family in the university town. She moves in right away, only to discover that a Japanese exchange student had killed herself in the bathtub of her room. From here it's just a long repetition of scenes taken directly from
The Grudge and put into print, mixed with some drunken university scenes. From the mysterious shoes thrown everywhere in the hallway, to the patter of bare feet to clumps of hair coming out of the drains and from inside newly opened butter packages (butter instead of eggs). Even the scene where the ghost crawls over the main character under the cover of the bed is described in detail. All of it was so extremely obviously copied from the movie. And then the dorm buddies decide to put the ghost to rest, by stealing her unclaimed body from the morgue and giving her a proper burial. All the while reading this I felt like yelling "you can't apply Western logic to Eastern myths!" and ofc it didn't work. The main difference between Eastern and Western horror is that in Western ones there's always a safe place you need to get to and there's always a way to defeat the evil. That's not the case in Eastern horror. There is no safe place. There is no end. You can't defeat it. It's never over. Ever. And that's why it's so scary. You're completely helpless in the face of this evil- There's nothing you can do. You're doomed, and you will die. That's the feeling I was looking for in this book, and I was sorely disappointed.
3.
30 Days of Night, by Ben Templesmith. Omnibus of the three comics making up the
30 Days of Night series. I really liked the story in this, but I thought the artwork was too odd and too messy. The setting of the Alaskan winter and the long night, is the same kind of setting that was used in the first Swedish vampire movie. I like the twist of the vampire legend in this story, and I liked the idea of the main character of trying to bring the truth about vampires into the public knowledge. Not much more to say about this book. I liked the story, didn't really like the artwork, but it made for a few enjoyable hours.
4.
Cress, by Marissa Meyer. The best book in the
Lunar Chronicles alongside
Cinder! Probably because I absolutely adore Cress and I love to watch her grow as a person. I love every single part of the story in this book. It's fast-paced, it's never boring, and it keeps twisting. It made me laugh out loud a few times, because their plans always turn out ludicrous, but yet always work (duh!) and the reaction of Kai when he discovers he's been kidnapped by Cinder is amazing. And Torin definitely grew in my eyes and gained a whole other aspect to his character in this book. I loved every single moment between Cress and Thorne and between Cinder and Kai, and the never-changing comic-relief in Iko was especially on-point in this book. I kind of, sort of, actually cheered a bit when Cinder defeated Sybil Mira. But, yes, probably the best book in the series.
5.
Winter, by Marissa Meyer. This final installment of the
Lunar Chronicles, was good, but loooooong. And there were to many times were I thought "now the rebellion starts!" And then it didn't, then we got to a point in the story later on and I thought "now the rebellion starts!" And it didn't again. I think that happened three or four times before the rebellion actually happened, which was mostly annoying. At first I found Winter adorable, but the more I saw of her character the more annoying she got. Scarlet really improved for me in this book, though. From not liking her at all in her own book, to kind of actually enjoying reading about her in this one. Confinement suits her :P
