(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I actually originally read this book when I was at school. I remember it having quite a different cover, but when I started reading this book again, I found myself remembering a lot of the storyline.

The idea behind this book was a pretty unique one. It was the first book I ever read that was about a dystopian society and it was also a book that stayed with me for quite a long time.

I really liked Jonas as a character, although I felt his evolution wasn’t as strong as it could have been. It seemed very much like there was one event in particular that was the turning point, rather than that he realised the society wasn’t perfect gradually.

It was interesting to see Jonas’ relationships with the other characters and particularly with his family. The way the society differs so much from today’s society is actually a really interesting thing to see.

I think it would have been nice to see more of the other characters, particularly Asher and Fiona. Although the film had some issues, I did like the fact that it did more with the minor characters.

I also particularly liked Lily as a character. She was quite sweet and I would have liked to see more of her interactions with her brother. I also really liked Jonas’ relationship with Gabriel. The ability to give and receive memories was quite an interesting one.

It was quite interesting to see the different types of jobs there were in this society and how the family units worked. I also liked the hints of the Giver’s personal life.

The book had a bit less action than the film, but I felt it worked fairly well as a character-driven story. The ending was quite ambiguous, but I did find this book to be a really easy read. If there are other books set in this world, I would probably read them. And I’d also read other books by this author at some point in the future.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. The blurb sounded intriguing, but I thought it would be a fairly complicated read and that I wouldn’t necessarily get behind the characters. As it was… all of the journeys that there were in this book were really intriguing and I found myself eagerly reading to find out what would happen next.

I found Zach a particularly interesting character. I felt the author did quite a good job of showing what the world was like for an autistic child, both through the eyes of the child himself and through the eyes of his mother.

The idea of the Commons was a really unique one. I really liked Ken and Po as characters. It was interesting to learn what Po’s origins were… but I would have liked to know what Ken’s were as well. I also quite liked Porter as a character, though I would have liked some more information about where his powers had actually come from.

I did have a couple of confusing moments in this book and I still had some questions by the end of it. I did really like Annie’s relationship with Zach. I felt that her protective instincts came across really well.

I also did like Paul as a character. His whole relationship with the Commons was really interesting as well.

I did think there were quite a few creepy moments in this book, particularly the one where Zach was going down the staircase. The Commons itself was an intriguing mix of fantasy and horror. I would have liked to be able to see more of the world and how everything fit together.

I would definitely like to see more of the world and its characters. Although the book had a ‘proper’ ending, I feel there could be so much more of the world and the characters explored. And, of course, there would be other Journeys to follow. I found this book to be really well-written. It doesn’t fit neatly into a category, but I still found it a quick and easy read. I recommend giving it a try if you’re on the fence about it.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book to be a really fascinating read. Although it was the third in a series, I still found it really easy to follow and I was pulled really easily into the world and its characters.

The front cover was helpful, because it gave me some idea of what the cat people might look like. I found it quite fascinating that there were different types of of big cats used as the basis. For instance, they weren’t all tigers, or leopards, or cheetahs… I would have liked a bit more detail about how it was possible for the different types of big cat to breed together, though.

I was quite intrigued to see that the culture of the cat people had roots in Japanese (and probably Chinese as well) culture. I would have liked to see a bit more detail about how those cultures were formed… as well as what the cultures of the other kingdoms were like.

By the end of the book, I was quite fond of a lot of the characters, even though there were times I got confused by the different names used for them. I really liked Setse and her brother. I would have liked to see a bit more of them together and their history. I also really liked Fallon. Some of what she came out with made me smile.

This book was quite well-written and I could picture a lot of the events happening in my mind. Probably because I came into this world on the third book in, I was very confused about Kirin’s relationship with Sherhann, among other things.

The situation with the Ancestors was pretty interesting and I would have liked to see a bit more about how they related to everything.

It was interesting to note the different characteristics that were linked to the animal parts, such as the movement of the tails and the claws. I did notice that there was a lot of, ‘For the cats were…’ sentences, which I felt was unnecessary, since those sentences were usually preceded by an example of what the cats were. (Superstitious, for instance).

At some point in the future (when I have much less to read), I would like to read the other books in this series. This was an engaging, fascinating world and it would be nice to see where the characters go next.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

The concept behind this book was a really intriguing one, but I did struggle a bit to connect to the characters.

It was interesting to see the legends detailed at the start of each story and see how they fit in with the stories that were detailed. I didn’t feel like enough detail was given about the characters for me to properly care about what happened to them.

It was interesting to see some aspects of the culture in this book, but there were words used in the original language… which, considering a book set in another country is one you just assume would use that language, always seems pointless. (It’s a bit like having random Japanese words in a story that’s written in English but set in Japan).

I found the second storyline to be quite intriguing. It was good to see how the whole sins and repentance thing was dealt with… and that one of the characters still clung so much to the fact that he was right, he refused to learn the lesson he was being taught.

I couldn’t really get into the mysteries, to be honest. A lot of them just involved talking/sensing things without said things being indicated. The only possible exception was Honor… and that didn’t really seem to have a proper ending.

The last story was interesting, but I felt that the ending didn’t really work too well.

I did like the correlation and connections between the stories. If I could have connected to the characters more, I’m sure I would have enjoyed the book better.