Book Seventeen.

 Well, I completed the mini-challenge... Three and a half books read this half term so far, and I still have today and tomorrow to read another one to make it four and a half.

Title: Skeleton Key
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Summary: Sharks. Assassins. Nuclear bombs. Alex Rider's in deep water. Reluctant teenage superspy Alex Rider faces his most dangerous challenge yet. On a private island near Cuba, the insane Russian General Sarov is hatching
explosive plans to rewrite history. Alone, and equipped only with a handful of ingenious gadgets, Alex must outwit him, as the seconds tick away towards the end of the world ...
Genre: Adventure/Action
Time Started: 14th April, 10:30pm
Time Ended: 17th April, 12:05am
Page Count: 325
Age Rating: 11+
Warning: Violence
Appeal Rating: 9/10

This book was amazing. I really enjoyed reading it. Poor Alex can never get a break - even when MI6 doesn't send him looking for trouble, trouble finds him. But then again, he found Sabina, too, so I doubt he's complaining. Speaking of Sabina - when she kissed him, I died a little inside. Not of jealousy or anything ... nooo, that'd be stupid. They turned me into mushy fangirl-ness. It was adorable. And I don't care if I'm spoiling it by telling you about it; I can't keep it back.

The door opened. Somebody had come into his room. It was Sabina. She was leaning over him. He felt her hair fall against his cheek and smelled her faint perfume; flowers and white musk. Her lips brushed gently against his.

"You're much cuter than James Bond," she said.

And then she was gone. The door closed behind her.

You had to read the part before to understand it, but cliffnotes version, Sabina wanted to know what he was hiding, he said he was a spy - like a teenage James Bond, but Sabina didn't believe him. Aw, they're so cute together. And so, naturally, I enjoyed the ending, when they found each other again. I thought it was very, very cute. 

It was a really amazing plot in this book; the thought that went into it is fantastic. Alex was going all around the globe and so much happened in each place. It's just unbelievable that such an extensive plot can fit into such few pages. The characters were, as per usual, really well-written ... Conrad scared the crap out of me. Not in a "AHHHHH!" way, but in a "Oh my god, freak!" way. He's really ... *shudders*. I didn't like him. But he's an amazing character. 

Sarov broke my heart. Even though he's the villain, and he planned to destroy half the world ... the way he treated Alex just made me melt. And the last time we see him in this book is definitely the part that brought me close to tears. I can't imagine being Alex, he must feel so guilty. Sarov has a heart, which you don't see a lot in villains, and all he wanted was Vladimir. Awh. Like I said ... he made my heart melt. I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's really hard not to ... I'm trying to keep quiet. 

Moving on ...

Really amazing book. Recommended? Of course.

Book Sixteen

Title: Point Blanc
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Summary: Alex Rider, teenage superspy, is back. Fourteen-year-old Alex is back at school trying to adapt to his new double life ... and double homework. But MI6 have other plans for him. Armed only with a false ID and a new collection of brilliantly disguised gadgets, Alex must infiltrate the mysterious Point Blanc Academy and establish the truth about what is really happening there. Can he alert the world to what he finds before it is too late?
Genre: Adventure/Action
Time Started: 11th April, 10:15pm
Time Ended: 14th April, 11:30am
Page Count: 281
Age Rating: 11+
Warning: Violence
Appeal Rating: 9/10



I read the majority of this book last night; over half of it, in fact. And then I finished it this morning. So I have just about the entire plot at the front of my mind. Horowitz is so amazingly intelligent and logical. Not only can he delve into the mind of a fourteen-year-old boy, but he can form a deep, clever mystery for Alex to solve - in the Alps, no less. I would love to write a spy book, but I would never be able to come up with a decent mystery for the spy to solve. So much thought has to go into it - why does the villain want this? Does he know he's doing wrong? How strongly does he believe in what he's doing? Who will need to be involved in this - on both the good and bad sides? Who needs to be manipulated? Where is a good location, and what needs to be there? How does he plan to carry out his tasks? It's never-ending!

And then, of course, you have to write it like you don't know what's going to happen, dropping off subtle hints that don't mean anything until the readers find out what's going on, little subplots that all tie together in the end, tiny phrases that make the reader ponder - and then go "Oh, I get it! That's what they were on about." only when the truth has been revealed. I'd never be able to do that; it's so fantastic. Even people who aren't into action/adventure/spy books still have to respect Anthony Horowitz and the depth in which he thinks up these plots. It must take him ages.

So, naturally, the plot gets a thumbs up from me.

The characters are great, too. They're all so original and different, and yet there's similarities where it's needed. Like Alex says a lot in this book, different but the same. Of course, it was essential to the plot that all the boys looked different but acted the same. It needed to happen. But it intrigued me. Naturally, I loved James; he was great. Oddly enough, I liked Fiona, too, even though she's a royal bitch. I guess it's just that her behaviour makes me laugh out loud because it's so ridiculous but it's so typically rich daddy's girl. I love how she thinks everyone's in love her, and I laughed so hard I thought I was going to wake up everyone in the house when Alex rejected her. Although honestly, if a fourteen-year-old boy was left in the same house as a gorgeous fifteen-year-old girl, regardless of how snobby she was, you'd think he'd have ... thoughts, wouldn't you? (Then again, it IS a kids' book xD) Yet Alex would rather kiss the horse. Oh, Alex, you're great ^.^

As you can tell, I really enjoyed this. It was excellent. Recommended. Obviously.

Book Fifteen.

Title: Stormbreaker
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Summary: When his guardian dies in suspicious circumstances, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider finds his world turned upside down. Within days he's gone from schoolboy to superspy. Forcibly recruited into MI6, Alex has to take part in gruelling SAS training exercises; then, arme with his own special set of secret gadgets, he's off on his first mission. But Alex soon finds himself in mortal danger. It looks as if his first assignment may well be his last ...
Genre: Adventure/Action
Time Started: 7th April, 10:10pm.
Time Ended: 9th April, 11:35pm.
Page Count:  236
Age Rating: 11+
Warning: Violence
Appeal Rating: 9/10


This book, in the words of Mr Sayle, is bliddy amazing. Not entirely sure how he came up with bliddy, but there we go. Although some parts were quite childish, and I had to laugh and roll my eyes at them, it was overall a fantastic book. I'm not usually keen on action books, because the authors try to describe everything in minute detail and you don't get the snap-snap-snap action that you get in movies, where everything happens so fast it makes you head spin. Anthony Horowitz makes that happen. He gives it the snap-snap-snap. He doesn't worry about detail when Alex is sandwiched between two Jeeps and only just manages to escape. He just tells it as it is, giving us a quick-pace read. I love that he's able to do that.

I don't have a particular "favourite" character, but I like Mr. Grin in a sort of "You interest me..." way. He's interesting, but he kind of freaks me out, and my mental image of him is enough to give anyone nightmares. And I like Yassen Gregorovich; he's a mystery ... polite but evil. Hey, why do I ALWAYS like the bad guys? They always die in the end, don't they? Well ... Yassen didn't die ... but there's, like, seven or eight books, so he'll probably end up dying eventually. Eh, well, anyway ... I like Yassen.

Alex: "You're not going to shoot me, too?"
Yassen: "Do I have any need to?"

And I love how he's so calm and responsible, too. It's really intriguing.

"You killed Ian Rider," Alex said. "He was my uncle."
Yassen shrugged. "I kill a lot of people."
"One day I'll kill you."
"A lot of people have tried." Yassen smiled. "Believe me," he said. "it would be better if we didn't meet again. Go back to school. Go back to your life. And the next time they ask you, say no. Killing is for grown-ups and you're still a child."

Anyway, enough with complimenting the bad guys... Good book; definitely recommended. (:

Book Fourteen.

 [Mini Challenge I: Book One] (see end of this blog)

Title: Sorceress
Author: Celia Rees
Summary: Alison Ellman is still searching for information about Mary Newbury. She has a diary and some scattered information about Mary's life, but Mary has disappeared into the forests of New England and Alison has no way of following her across the centuries. Then Alison meets Agnes Herne, a descendant of Mary's who has a special skill that allows her to contact Mary in the spirit world. Now at last we hear Mary's story after her ill-fated time in Beulah - a story that takes her across the New World in an epic search for a home.
Genre: Adventure
Time Started: 18th March, 7:30pm.
Time Ended: 7th April, 8:10pm
Page Count: 303
Age Rating: 11+
Warning: Violence, mention of sex, character death.
Appeal Rating: 8/10

It was a good book and, I hate to bring it down, but the reason it took me so long was because I just didn't want to read the present day bits with Agnes and Alison. It's not because they were poorly written or boring or anything of the like, I just really only cared about Mary. So, instead of pushing through to get to Mary's parts, I just left the book, bookmark at the start of a new chapter involving Alison and Agnes until I was forced to pick it back up again (We read for half an hour every Thursday English lesson). Then I noticed how long it had been since I last read it, and I set out to change that. So for about a week, I've been pushing through to the end, trying to read the present day chapters as fast as possible to get to the parts I really wanted to read. Personally, I think Celia Rees should have spent less time focusing on Agnes and Alison, and more time on Mary. But, on with the review ...

I enjoyed this book; I loved reading about the Native ways, and trying to pronounce all their odd names was a laugh. I love how it doesn't dwell on time, how years can pass in one paragraph, yet a day could pass in an entire chapter. Celia Rees spaces it out well, leaving out parts where nothing majorly interesting happened, informing us of only the important parts of Mary's life. We don't want to read about the pattern she repeats every day, the chores and clothes she make in her spare time - we want to read about the tribe being ambushed, and Mary being mistaken for a captive. And that's exactly what Rees provided us with.

Black Fox, Mary's son, is a fantastic character - one of my favourites - but I doubt anyone can beat Ephraim. He's such a realistic character, young but determined, flawed but strong. While Black Fox was raised to be a hunter, passionate about fighting, Ephraim was just a boy that got caught up in the battle, thrown into the ways of the tribe without any preparation. And it showed, and that's why I like him. Of course, Mary was great, too.

I love how the book kept me on my toes. So much happened to Mary, and all so quickly. She constantly had to relocate, jump from tribe to tribe, village to village. It was hard to keep track of it all, but the quick-fire pace made it better, as if I were with Mary throughout her journey. By the end of the book, Jaybird and Speckled Bird* were the last people on my mind; I didn't even think of the people in Beulah until I read Alison's extra notes about them. I was wrapped up in Black Fox, Mary, the Mohawks. Actually writing this review is somewhat of a challenge for me; I am positive that I'll leave something out, and so I'm purposely keeping it vague.

Overall, it was a good book and I definitely recommend it - though, of course, you'll have to read Witch Child first to make any sense of it.

I've set myself a mini-challenge, in case you're interested, because I've been slacking with my reading lately** ... I've challenged myself to read three books this half-term (this week and next week; until 19th April), and this will be included in that since I've read over half of it since Friday. So, if I spare the time to read two more books over the course of the next week and a half, I'll have completed that mini challenge. Every now and then, when I feel like I'm not doing well enough, I'll set myself more mini-challenges, and I'll let you know when I do.

*I had to look through the start of the book because I had forgotten Speckled Bird's name. Heh.
**No sh*t, Sherlock.