Review: Jackaby

Jackaby by William Ritter

My rating:

3.5 of 5 stars

"Sherlock meets Doctor Who"? Hmm, sounds appealing, but that wasn't the reason why I decided to pick this book. "Cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre"? Yes, please.

Young Abigail Rook travels to New England with the purpose of having a job and to prove her parents that, even though she's a woman, she can sustain herself. When arrived in there, she meets the mysterious R.F. Jackaby, a scientist of the unexplained, and becomes his assintant.

"Scientist of the unexplained"... Now that I think about it, that sounds slightly familiar to something I have heard before. And its name has an "M" in it...

Yes, that's what it reminded me to: The Monstrumologist. Now, this was what called my attention. I mean, scientist of the unexplained? Innocent assistant who seems to be the only person who understands the monstrum—er, seer? Yes, please.

But there is where the comparison dies, gratefully and unfortunately...

Jackaby promised to be a great mystery/paranormal novel, and, you know, since it was supposed to have "a dose of the macabre," I was expecting all the perturbatively delicious amount of darkness, blood and violence that was present in The Monstrumologist. But it fell short on that. The truth is: Jackaby felt like the innocent, cleaned up version of The Monstrumologist. And by "cleaned up" I mean, washed out of the bloody material.

And now, I'll tell you about the characters...

Abigail Rook, as I said, is a young woman in look for a job. She's a likeable narrator, though I didn't particularly root for her. She can be very impressive sometimes: She seems to be intelligent, observant, and (here's the best part of her) strong. I liked her on the most. Something that didn't convince me a lot about her was the fact that she could swallow the fact that there are ghost and other supernatural creatures so easily; I mean, if you were told there is a pixie living on your head, would you just say "Oh, really?" and start wondering about how many species of fairies are there or would you be like "Umm, okay..."?

But Jackaby is the centre of my attentions. He has the intelligence and deductive abilities of Sherlock Holmes (Let's be silent for a minute. He's amazing. Holmes, I mean), and, based on what I've read about Doctor Who, since I haven't watched that series, the doctor's charisma. He sounds like an appealing character, doesn't he? Well, he is. Not that I loved him, but he was good enough for me to choose him as my favorite character in the novel. Too bad he seemed distant throughout the novel. A point in his favor? He knows chemistry! (But so does Warthrop, and Sherlock. Sorry Mr. Jackaby, but this seat is already taken)

The relationship between Jackaby and Miss Rook felt a bit unrealistic, though. I mean, she met the man, and in less than a day she trusted him completely. I don't know if it is because I don't trust people easily, or if it really is that Abigail trusted him too fast. Futhermore, in less than day she understood him as one would understand someone you nkow since your childhood, not an almost complete stranger. What do you think about that?

The writing in the book was neither great nor bad. What I mean is that it was simple, fast-paced and enjoyable. (Though I really wanted the darkness I was expecting). It was filled, at some points, with humor, which made the story more interesting. One complaint I did have for the writing is that it felt insipid. Abigail narrated the actions without filling it with emotion: It felt the same throughout the book. Imagine that you go to a restaurant, your food is brought, and when you taste it, you discover it has no condiments –no salt, no pepper, no anything. You wouldn't enjoy your food because it doesn't taste like anything. This is what I felt while reading this book. It fitted the time in which it was written, if that may add something good to it.

Another thing that I would have wanted to enjoy more was the storyline. Yes, that's perhaps the most important thing, but I didn't feel very thrilled and immersed in the story. It was predictable and it wasn't as exciting and addictive as I thought it would be. Part of it was the writing, again, because the writing was lacked of sentiment. And the job of Mr. Jackaby didn't sound as terrible as Abigail said it was. Her narration didn't make it sound dreadful. If anyhting, it just made it sound dull –and for me, it is a very intriguing job.

My favorite quote in the book? There you have it:

"Monsters are easy, Miss Rook. They're monsters. But a monster in a suit? That’s basically just a wicked man, and a wicked man is a more dangerous thing by far."

Sorry. I know you know what this reminds me to, but I can't get over that series. Nor I can stop this fangirling. My father says it's lack of social life. Or that I'm already crazy and I have no way back.

Anyway, this was, overall, a good read. Fast-paced, with likeable characters, a paranormal twist and some humour. Given the fact that I'm not usually craving for paranormal/fantasy books (I laugh everytime the words "ghost", "troll" or "fairy" is mentioned. I just can't believe in the existence of those things, not even in books), this was fairly good. I didn't find it ridiculous, and it was a fun read.

Snap to, readers! (Again, sorry. I needed to use that)

P.S.: I'm secretly jealous that this book, with less than a year of publication, is far more popular than The Monstrumologist, which at this moment has 6 years of circulating. I guess I shouldn't be worrying about that (the one who should be jealous is not even me), but I can't help it.

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Review: The Monstrumologist

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

My rating:

5 of 5 stars

“These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed.

But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets.

The one who saved me … and the one who cursed me.”

When I first found about this book, I didn't quite want to read it. I was really hesitant to pick it up. I already had not-so-high expectations for it. I mean, monsters? I'm not usually attracted by that kind of things. They don't scare me, and I think they're for children. It didn't sound like the kind of book I might enjoy, but I'm glad I finally made up my mind and gave it a try.

I don't regret at all my decision. I love this book, and have loved it since... What is it? July 2014? See? A short time. This is the kind of thing this series provoke. It's perfect in its own way. In fact, it is perfect for me. I don't have a single complaint for it. The plot, character development, writing... everything is done incredibly well.

So now I'm going to introduce you to the world of The Monstrumologist...

Monstrumology is “the study of life forms generally malevolent to humans and not recognized by science as actual organisms, specifically those considered products of myth and folklore.” The book starts with Mr. Yancey talking to someone who has some papers for him. They belonged to a now dead man who called himself by the name William James Henry. So, the book is supposed to be the diary of this Will Henry, and Rick Yancey's role was as the editor of the book.

The book's setting is in late 19th century New Jerusalem (New England, Massachusetts), and we have Will Henry (at the moment a 12-year-old boy), the orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, the monstrumologist, as the narrator of the story. In this case, they are brought a nightmarish creature that feeds himself on humans –the Anthropophagi– and they have to get rid of his pod before it is too late and something really bad happens.

The plot sounds too simple for what the book really is. I mean, intertwined with the hunt for the Anthropophagi, there is some philosophizing about human nature (my Philosophy teacher would kill me for putting the words "human" and "nature" together) in the way, but it does not bore you; or at least, it does not bore me. And also, there is a constant (yet not explicit in this first installment) struggle between good/evil, man/monster, science/superstition, and that makes me love the book even more.

“We are very much like them: indiscriminate killers, ruled by drives little acknowledged and less understood, mindlessly territorial and murderously jealous - the only significant difference being that they have yet to master our expertise in hypocrisy, the gift of our superior intellect that enables us to slaughter one another in droves, more often than not under the auspices of an approving god!”

There is a question that is constantly analyzed throughout the book, and that one is: When does man become the very thing he hunts? I know that at some time, you have to become what you do. For example, if you're a hunter, you have to know how the prey thinks so as to get hold of it...and in this case, if you're a monstrumologist, then I suppose you must be one of the monstrosities you claim to hunt in order to do a good job.

The character development in the book is done in such a good way that you could almost feel them as real people. In fact, you could feel them as real people, since Mr. Yancey, being he the “editor” of Will Henry's diary, said he wanted to know who this Will Henry was, and also, because at the beginning of the book, it is stated that Will Henry had just died –at the age of one-hundred and thirty-one years.

Will Henry, as I said before, is the 12-year-old narrator of the story. He's too young to be doing the kind of job he does with the doctor, yet he does it. He's brave, innocent and loyal. His bravery, also, is realistic, for me. I know no 12-year-old kid would be able to bear the things Will Henry bears, and that makes him even braver. Besides, he's no fearless hero. He sometimes felt weakness inside him and sometimes fear got better of him, but that made him more realistic. He's now an old man writing down his memories, and we know his past was horrible and that he is doomed.

The doctor I mentioned before, Dr. Warthrop, is the other major character of the book. He's clever, serious, ice-cold, terribly egotistical, cruel, proud, easily exasperated, determined and cares for nothing but his work. He can spend many days and nights in his basement (laboratory) working in a case that has been brought to him, and he will not leave it unless his body cannot endure it anymore. He's my favorite character in the book and the entire series. I even admire him and wanna be like him some day--err, I mean, I want to be in love with and determined to my job, just like him. Oh! And I almost forgot: He loves scones.

Jack Kearns (or whatever his name is) would be the perfect definition to what a dangerous man means. If I ever thought Warthrop was inhuman, then wait to know how this man is.

“There is no morality save the morality of the moment.”

Remember the question I said was analyzed throughout the series? Well, this man is a perfect example of a man who is what he hunts. Within his charming smile and his silky blond curls, there is madness. He can throw a convincing lie without flinching, he can use a person as bait for the Anthropophagi without remorse, he can humiliate and frighten the great Pellinore Warthrop, he delights in suffer, he doesn't fear death, etc. It's implied that this man is the famous Jack the Ripper. If that doesn't prove he's mad, then I don't know what does.

One of the things I really liked throughout the series was the Will/Warthrop relationship. As stated before, Will was an orphan. His parents died in a fire, and therefore he had no one else in life, and so, Warthrop "adopts" him as his new assistant. Warthrop is also alone in life: He's not married, has no children and all his family is already dead. Will and Warthrop have just each other. Their relationship is like that of a father and a son, and I loved it. At some point in the novel, Will says he doesn't love the doctor, nonetheless, it's really obvious he does care for him. He's loyal to him and he's always trying to impress him.

As for Warthrop, he also loved Will... in his own way. He's uncapable of showing any emotion besides anger or hatred, but he cares anyway, because he's always trying to protect Will from the dangers they get into, and if something happens to him, he feels guilty and worried.

And the writing is simply mesmerizing. It is filled with many action-packed, fully-detailed scenes... but it is also similar to Mary Shelley's writing. This is perhaps what I admire the most in Rick Yancey's books. I've read two series by him until now, and they both have a marvelous writing. In this case, it's very dark, gothic and also poetical. His descriptions are pretty vivid and horrifying. It has a big amount of blood and gore, which made the book more enjoyable scarier. To add another praise for it, it fitted the time in which it was set.

“Our enemy is fear. Blinding, reason-killing fear. Fear consumes the truth and poisons all the evidence, leading us to false assumptions and irrational conclusions.”

Speaking about scary things... Holy. Mother. Of. God. This book was completely creepy. There were parts that made me feel uncomfortable while reading, and I was never alone at the house. There were some parts that made me look around me just to make sure there was anything wrong in the house, and there were others that made me stand open-mouthed and blank-faced. It was so disturbingly horrifying. I wanted to hug myself tightly most of the time.

This brings me to my next point, that is, why this book is tagged as YA. I don't say it is meant for adults because the hero is far too young and the theme might not call adult readers' attention, but the book is so exceedingly violent and gory that I often wondered if it was really aimed for YA readers. It is obviously not for MG readers, for the previously stated fact that it is far too violent for them, yet the protagonist is the age of most MG's fiction protagonists.

However, it's not only the violence that makes me question this. This book is filled with vocabulary that not everyone is going to understand, for example, names of chemical compounds, parts of the body that you don't hear about in everyday life, words in latin or greek, references to classic figures, etc. Also, it has no romance, which we know is ever-present in YA fiction. Well, I guess this question will remain unanswered and I will bring it to my grave still unanswered.

But the sad part about this series is that almost no one knows it. The 5th Wave has been read by almost every person on Earth, but strangely enough, this book is, in the majority of the cases, not even known to Rick Yancey's readers. I guess my greatest hope is that this book gets some popularity one day.

Anyway, I'll stop here. I feel I've written a Bible, so I'll finish by saying that after this re-read, The Monstrumologist is still my favorite series of all time. In my opinion, it is where Rick Yancey shows us his best. If you're a fan of gothic horror, then this book might be just for you, but don't wait the entire series to be just blood, blood, blood, because it is more than that. This series starts as one thing and ends up being completely another.

So now, what are you waiting for? Go read it! And snap to!

“Yes, my dear child, monsters are real.”

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Review: Othello

Othello by William Shakespeare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I think I have said many times by now that you don't fully appreciate a book until you read it for a second time. And I was right about this one. I hadn't realised that this book was a favorite of mine when I first read it because I had to read it for classes, and I've noted that books read for academic purposes (and read in high school) are often underestimated. This was mainly why I decided to re-read it. But I'm glad of my decision.

We all know what Othello is about, don't we? I mean, the exaggeratedly jealous man? Well, if you don't know what this book is about, then I don't know in what world you live in.

This is, so far, my favorite Shakespeare tragedy. It's not that I have read all of his works, but this one has remained my favorite for three years now. And it doesn't help that his language is so deliciously beautiful. His writing is what magnetizes me, if not the storyline.

But the plot in this one...I loved it. First, how Iago plans his little things, then how he makes Othello feel jealous, how he later confesses he was lying, and how he remains safe and sound (and villainous) in the end while everyone is grieving the deaths. Okay, I realise I'm not really commenting on the plot itself but on Iago.

Let's all hail Shakespeare for creating such a villain. I just can't. He's my favorite character in the play. Yes, he made Othello fall, but he's so well constructed I could not care. Besides, I found Othello to be annoying most of the time.

Jealousy blinds us. This is not something new, and I know this is not the first time you ever hear this. Jealousy is what brings Othello to his end. Blind panic also makes us do actions that you would regret doing if you were on your right mind. Every emotion in extreme has bad consequences. Even Iago's actions were product of blind feelings, but in this case, we learn, through Othello, about how jealousy can make you a fool. Better to live isolated from the world so you only have to worry about yourself.

Just kidding.

Read this. It's marvelous.



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Review: Sobre héroes y tumbas

Sobre héroes y tumbas by Ernesto Sábato

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Sobre Héroes y Tumbas is the second novel by Ernesto Sabato. It was a good complex read that explores the depth of humanity. The book starts with an announcement that the late Alejandra Vidal Olmos has just shot her father and then burned herself alive, and so, the book is mainly about the lives of these two characters and what led to the afore mentioned situation, though the plot is developed through other characters.

Before continuing, I must say that the book was divided into four chapters. Each chapter's name has an important meaning, so don't forget them:

1. El dragón y la princesa (The dragon and the princess)
2. Los rostros invisibles (The invisible faces)
3. Informe sobre ciegos (Report on the blind)
4. Un dios desconocido (An unknown god)

Martín is the protagonist of parts one and two of the novel. He is a troubled teenager who feels loneliness most of the time. He doesn't feel loved and he's in constant search for himself. In this situation is in which he meets Alejandra, a beautiful and mysterious lady who claims to need him. Thus, Martín is quickly immersed in Alejandra's world, and thus, he falls in love with her, which only causes more loneliness inside him, since Alejandra is very reserved and can be cruel at times, because of the things she faced in her past.

And let's don't forget about part three of the book, the Report on the blind. That one was simply astounding. It could almost feel as fantasy. In this part, for those who haven't read this book, Alejandra's father (Fernando) is the narrator. He is obsessed with blind people. For him, blind people are the ones who rule society by a supposed sect in which the members are solely blind. From this, we can clearly see that Fernando is a paranoid and very selfish, what we would call “an unlikeable character”.

Having read both El Túnel and this one, I can say for sure that Sabato was a talented writer. Did you know he was a physicist and he left science to dedicate his entire time in writing? No? Well, now you can go and tell your family and friends this new fact. Of course this was not necessary, but I wanted to mention it. His writing is captivating and beautiful.

One thing I really liked was that the characters were greatly developed, especially their psychological side, which sometimes is left untouched. This is something that, in both of books I've read by Sabato, is well done.

The novel's title was perhaps what initially brought my attention to it. I won't say anything concerning this matter besides that it is powerful. Consider it: Sobre héroes y tumbas. In English, On Heroes and Tombs. Heroes... tombs... Throughout the novel I wanted to understand the meaning of its title, and now, I finally do. And it does justice to it. You'd better read it to get what I mean...

What else can I say besides what I've already said? Well, for one, I will most certainly read the last one of Sabato's novels. And then, I recommend you to read this book. It is complex, but it is intriguing and is well written. I'll probably re-read this eventually, just to make sure I understood it completely. Not that re-reading it is something bad. No. I will gladly read it a hundred times.



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Review: The Winter's Tale

The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It's a good thing when you start a book without having a clue about what is going to happen. Of course that is not a good idea, but when it comes to Shakespeare, that is not such a great risk.

Why do I say this? Because... because... because I didn't know a thing about this play, okay? I was looking at the index of the copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and I saw that name. It caught my attention and I started reading it.

What it The Winter's Tale about? Well, again we have some misunderstandings about the infidelity wife to her husband, just this time, the wife is carrying a child. When the child is born, the husband immediately wants it dead because it is not her son but that of his wife's “lover.” His wife is then publicly humiliated at a trial, his husband declaring she's not with him. And when news finally arrive that her wife never was cheating on him, it is already too late.

So we have a hypocritical husband, the King, who falsely accuses his wife, the Queen, of infidelity. The man suspects this without any evidence, and thus, when the inevitable tragedy occurs, he's devastated. But, as this is not a tragedy, it must have a somewhat happy ending, doesn't it? Well, here's were the biggest plot twist in history happens. It's even bigger than this:

Remember when I said that it is not such a great risk to read Shakespeare's works without reading the premise? Well, I said it precisely because of the plot twist. I had no clue about that. But really, how could I have foreseen that? To be honest, I never saw that coming.

Even when the storyline itself was not very difficult to follow, I found it hard to figure out Shakespeare's intention. Really, what could have been passing through his mind when he wrote that? After I finished the play, I told my mother about it and she said, “But Bob Marley lived a lot of years after Shakespeare...” That got me wondering. What the hell was Will thinking when he wrote this? What could possibly have been his purpose?

It's a shame I can't ask him.

But anyway... Congrats, William, you surprised me.



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Review: City of Glass

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



No, just no.

I'm the exception here. I've read both The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, but the former is simply not for me. I liked the latter one, but I could not endure this one. Yes, TID had issues, but I could get past them. That did not happen with this series.

It's really probable that I'm the only person in the world to hate Jace, but I can't deny it: I hate him. Yes, he can be sometimes funny, but aside that point, he seemed boring to me, and besides, I hate his oversized altruism. Doesn't feel realistic for me.

Clary is the same stupid girl with the brain the size of a peanut girl as in the other books. I never liked her. Never. Not in the first book, not in the second one, and not in this one. To be honest, if anything, with every new installment, I seemed to be hating her even more. Sorry.

And then, this one is not really a complaint aobut his book in particular, but I wish the series was finished with City of Glass. After this one (and even when I didn't like it), the series s not woht it anymore. If everything felt forced in this book, now imagine how it is in the next ones (spoiler: It is more forced in the next three books).

From the beginning of the series, I could tell I wasn't going to love it. The concept was not new for me when I read this, so I didn't feel as if I were reading about an innovative idea. Nephilim, angels, demons... I've read about them in other books--and I never was particularly entertained by them; they were just dull for me.

And now:

Can I borrow this? I need to wipe these books from my memory.



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Review: The Stand

The Stand by Stephen King

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A man who worked in a U.S. biological testing facility escapes from because he notices something is wrong. He manages to get to his family and tell them to run away, without knowing he was infected by a mutated virus of the flu. It is a shape-shifting virus, which makes it more deadly –with a 99.4% of effectivity. So that's how most of humanity dies. And that is just the beginning. Then the supernatural plot is introduced. The survivors start having dreams about two figures: Mother Abagail and Randall Flagg aka The Dark Man. The ones who are “good” are attracted to the first one; and the ones who are “bad” are attracted to the latter one.

And so starts this battle between good and evil. I first thought this was going to be just about the superflu and its consequences, but I was wrong with that. I mean, before I started reading it, I was always wondering: “Why the hell would 1400+ be needed for just finding the cure to a disease? Isn't that way too much?”. But at the time, I had no idea that the superflu is just the antecedent to the real story.

You know what enriched my experience reading this book? That I got sick. Yep, I got the flu. It made me feel like living the book. I was horrified. Now, everytime I hear someone coughing or sneezing I get scared, and I guess my fear is justified, after reading this book. And you know what's worse? Dreaming about it. When I get very immersed in a book, I cannot bring it out of my mind, and I usually dream about what happened. You can guess what I dreamed about: A dark man with no face and red eyes who is chasing me. It gave me the creeps.

I loved the characters in the book and how they felt very realistic. Very few books have characters that you can easily relate to or are so well written that they seem real, even when you know they are not.

Speaking about “well written”...the writing! AMAZING. M-O-O-N, that spells amazing, as someone in the book would say. It is fully detailed, and I love detailed descriptions. It was pretty vivid –I could, with no difficulty, imagine I was in there, listening to the characters discussions.

And the ending was just as great as the whole story itself. Many books can have a great plot, and a great middle, but the majority of them fall because of the ending, which may be precipitated and fake. In this one, that is not the case. I think it ended just as it should have, with its message and its somewhat loose end.

Finally, I highly recommend this book. Of all the books I own, this one (along with Wuthering Heights –and please, don't compare them, for they are not similar at all) is my favorite (which does not mean it is my favorite book of all time). It is certainly one of my favorites. I will keep reading more of Mr. King's books, and I hope he doesn't disappoint me. So, what are you waiting for? Go read this tale of dark Christianity, as Mr. King said in his preface.

P.S.: This book strangely reminded me to Moses' story in the Bible. The Exodus and all that. I guess you know what I'm talking about, if you don't, then look for it. Am I the only one?



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