Book Review: Den of Thieves

Review: #8
Title: Den of Thieves
Series: Cat Royal
Author: Julia Golding
Read Before: no
My Comments: good book, I hadnt expected it would be so but it has surprised me, it is quite interesting and even got me hooked for a bit (although not to the level of some other books). This book is the third in a series, I had read the first one (The Diamond of Drury Lane, good book as well) and had to skip the second (Cat Among the Pidgeons) since I had picked this one up. Thankfully I didnt need the second book to make sense of this one and it's funny in places. Although the story is addictive, to be honest, the plot isnt that strong, and it's all over the place, but the friendship and compassion that is gained all along the book more than makes up for it, and that's what this book is worth reading about. I also found that some of the earlier parts were a tad bit unnecessary , as it made the main character wallowing in her own self pity. If I get the chance, I will definitely read the others in this series, and also the author's other work (I have read some of her previous books before, I think The Siren's Call and The Gorgon's Gaze were another series that I thought was pretty good, that was why I picked up the first book in this series in the first place).
Rating: 7/10 (recommend)
Rereadability Factor: 5/10

Book Review: Last Battle of the Icemark

Review: #7
Title: Last Battle of the Icemark
Series: The Icemark Chronicles
Author: Stuart Hill
Read Before: yes (once last year)
My Comments: great book, but like other books that I had reread, it lost most of it's power since I know what's going to happen, but nevertheless it is still very emjoyable. I love the suspense (it's just enough, I cannot handle huge suspense novels) and it's very touching and emotional at the end, with a sad-ish ending. It is the ending that makes the whole book worth it, and where most of the points are. It's realistic enough since it does have deaths in it, and not just those "oh I should be sad since this unknown/random character dies" but are the characters where you do care about. To be honest, I do like the first book of the series The Cry of the Icemark and second book Blade of Fire better than this one, Last Battle of the Icemark just has too much of a supernatural theme to it, to the point that it made this book a tad bit too different. Either way this guy is a great author, and I love how the vampires are depicted in this book, as pale elegant warriors with blood rep lips wearing black armor and wielding serrated swords, really cool.
Rating: 7.5/10
Rereadability Factor: 6/10

Book Review: The Battle for Rondo

Review: #6
Title: The Battle for Rondo
Series: Rondo
Author: Emily Rodda
Read Before: no
My Comments: it's a fairly good book but I couldnt get into it too much, the plot doesnt seem 'deep' enough, so it didnt suck me in. Dont misunderstand though, it's still a good book but just that the plot's a bit weak and misdirected. Maybe coz this is for children or something, and there's this prophecy type thing given in the book that just doesnt have that revelling and myster feeling to it, even compared to the author's other series Rowan of Rin. I like how prophecies come true (or you understand it eventually once everything's happened) in ways you didnt expect but this one, it just didnt have the same feeling. The whole setting and the world that was created isn’t designed as elegantly as even the author’s other series, Deltora Quest (another series by the author), and I think this is the major reason why I didn't delve too much into this. Overall I think this series is a bit below what I expected from the author (her two other series that I mentioned here were really awesome) but it's still a worthwhile series and book to read.
Rating: 6/10
Rereadability Factor: 4/10 (I'll probably reread this in a year or so)

Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian

Review: #5
Title: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
Series: Percy Jackson (& the Olympians)
Author: Rick Riordan
Read Before: yes (twice, once after the other, earlier this year)
My Comments: I love this book a lot, period. I really like the descriptions of people and the love story between Percy and Annabeth, I am very touched, happy and moved by it. It is an extremely funny book and very very satisfying as the end of the series (unlike some other series...), the suspense is worth it, although there is more action in this book it's all stuck in New York, so it's a shame I couldnt 'see' other places and the updated status of monsters. I love how the author has included the Greek Mythology into the present day, very very awesome and done very elegantly. I was so sad when some of the characters died (the author has a way of just pushing all the right buttons), I do not regret rereading this book or purchasing the whole series (I usually just borrow from library). Reading this for the third time was an even better experience, you get a little bit more extra that you didnt pick up earlier each time you reread and understanding how it all fits together, just a pure fantasy masterpiece.
Rating: 9.5/10 (although I felt this was not the best book in the series, rereading it made it very very good, orignally was 9/10 but I figured it just gets so much better if you reread it I should give it a higher score)
Rereadability Factor: 9.5/10 (definitely recommend a reread even if you dont want to)


SERIES REVIEW: PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS
Series Title: Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Number of Books: 5 (Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse, Battle of Labyrinth and Last Olympian)
My Comments: two words: PURE AWESOMENESS. Nothing I have ever read is like this, this is the best series I have ever read, it encompasses everything in my idea of an adventure in the present day, it's perfect. The series totalled 1637 pages, and I had finished it in two weeks straight (but on and off reading during the day, I do have a life), not bad, not bad at all.
Rating: 10/10

Can't wait until the new book for the sequel series come out, The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero, although it has a different cast of protagonists, at least the original cast gets some limelight. I'll probably read this series again during my next big uni holidays (during Christmas).

And thus ends my day of book reviews, I just wanted to squeeze in the book reviews for the percy jackson series, :)

Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth

Review: #4
Title: Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth
Series: Percy Jackson (& the Olympians)
Author: Rick Riordan
Read Before: yes (twice, around last year, second time immediately after since it was such a great book)
My Comments: another great book in the series, this is why Percy Jackson is my favourite series, all the books are great and engaging!! I love a few parts, very touching and everything, and love the chemistry going on between the main protagonist couple (Percy and Annabeth), and one part that really affected me was the part with Calypso, ahhhh, that was sooo sad. I love these parts in the book so much I keep getting a tugging feeling to reread them or check again to make out some more details that I may have missed the first time around, which is annoying sometimes coz I cant resist.
Rating: 9/10
Rereadabilty Factor: 9/10

Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse

I had actually finished rereading this just today, :)

Review: #3
Title: Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse
Series: Percy Jackson (& the Olympians)
Author: Rick Riordan
Read Before: yes (twice)
My Comments: surprisingly really really good and got me very addicted to it, I was very touched and felt the pain and sadness with the events (no spoilers in my reviews, I will only hint, you will know what I am talking about if you read the book). I did not want this book to end (nor the series for that matter), probably best in the series surpassing even Battle of the Labyrinth whom I had previously thought was the best. I have never been this emotionally attached to a book before, not even the Twilight series nor Harry Potter, this series is perfect for me. I managed to finish this book in 250 mins or 4.17 hours, which is weird coz it's only like 70 pages less than The Lightning Thief and I took two hours less, my timing must be wrong. To be honest, in terms of the best book in the series, I think it's a tie between the last three books. I like Titan's Curse because of the emotional bits, like every time something major happens I felt a "pang!"; for Battle of the Labyrinth I like because of all the monsters they fight, the variety, as well as the protagonists gaining a lot of others things; while I like The Last Olympian because it's the grand finale, where it sorts everything out and ends very nicely and satisfying. Either way Titan's Curse is a great book and a must read!
Rating: 9/10
Rereadability Factor: 9/10

Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Review: #2
Title: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
Series: Percy Jackson (& the Olympians)
Author: Rick Riordan
Read Before: yes
My Comments: it is a really funny and awesome book, I didnt realise it was this good when I had reread it twice before (a long time ago), I had originally thought this was the worst book in the series but after reading the first book and then this one (i.e. in chronological order) I think it is a great book. This is definitely worth a read and a reread, it gives a lot of nods to the previous book as well.
Rating: 7.5/10
Rereadability Factor: 5.5/10

Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Review: #1
Title: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Series: Percy Jackson (& the Olympians)
Author: Rick Riordan
Read Before: no (and then I reread it afterwards)
My Comments: it is a good book but not exceptionally so, especially when compared to the other books in the series (this was the last book I had read in the series - couldnt find it in the library), but it is still worth a read and many funny parts. I reread it two weeks later, and rereading it is worth it, as you get a lot more stuff that you missed out the first time, and I didnt get bored rereading it so soon. I think because it is the first book in the series it has to take on the labor of explaining a lot of things and that clogged up a third of the book (not that it's boring or anything). Reading this was an enjoyable experience, I laughed at stuff again and so excited by the things happening it felt like I was reading it for the first time, all in all a great book. (I took me roughly 392 mins to read this book, or 6.53 hours, not sure if that is fast or not...)
Rating: 7/10
Rereadability Factor: 8/10 (good to reread)