BOOK REVIEWS: WONDER WOMAN - WARBRINGER

TITLE: WONDER WOMAN - WARBRINGER

AUTHOR: LEIGH BARDUGO

I was thrilled when I found out that DC Icons Series was being cooked. But my excitement sky-rocketed knowing that the first book was about the crowning jewel of the DC Universe - Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is one of my favorite characters among the DC icons. She is in my opinion a true embodiment of what a woman is in general - strong, powerful, courageous, sensitive and a total bad-ass all in one. I know, I am self-confessed feminist - growing up in a household filled with strong willed women in my family made me one. I truly believe that women can rule the world if they wanted to and wonder woman's world of Amazonian warriors from Themyscira could vouched for that.

“You do not enter a race to lose”

The story begins with a quote from Queen Hippolyta to her daughter, young Diana before she joins the amazon race.

I like the way Leigh Bardugo plotted the story. Before there was the infamous Wonder Woman that we know, she was once a young Amazonian princess name Diana. Growing up in a mysterious island filled with strong women who are battle ready wasn't easy for the pampered princess. She was trained by one of the bests in combat but still she was yet to prove to them that she was more than just the daughter of the queen. She hungered for glory and to stand side by side among the fiercest warriors in the island, eager to prove herself so her comrades will see her as their equal. She wanted to be out there, taking challenges, quests and proving her strength and worth to all of Themyscira.

The story will take you to a girl's journey of becoming the mightiest Amazonian princess that she would become someday. A heroes journey must start somewhere and this action filled novel will give you a different take of how a legend was made.

This is a good YA novel for me. I totally enjoyed every page. I felt her dilemma as she made the hardest decision, seeing the reality of the world, discovering the value of humanity and friendship and love.

Bravo to the author!

 

BOOK REVIEWS: The Host

I have this book in my eBook-shelf since for-e-v-e-r. I really don't know what took me so long to pick this book and read it. I knew that the movie adaptation will be coming soon but I normally shrugged this off and pass.

Then the first week of February came and I was in a book-sale killing time which I normally call it my ME time during weekends.   I was randomly picking books when a copy of "The Host", came tumbling down and landed on my hand. At first I was skeptical if I should buy it or not since I already got the eBook version of it on my iBook. But still the idea of having the actual book in my hand was too hard to resist. You know, despite of this electronic revolution that we have in this new age, still, nothing can beat reading with a tangible book in your hand. The smell of the paper, the nostalgia, the feeling of flipping the pages, it's just different.

So I ended up purchasing the book in a lower price and went home.

I started reading it. At first, I found it hard to think that this book is actually written by Stephanie Meyer, the author who started the Twilight Mania. Well, I don't really hate that series, I admit that I literally devoured those four books and even watch the movie. But as many readers said - we should not be judging the book by its movie in which I definitely agree. The movie adaptation can be awful, especially when the actor portraying the lead role murder the character that you grow to love but that doesn't mean that the book is equally distasteful.

Now, I don’t normally read post apocalyptic or post-invasion whatever type of genre. The first dystopian world I encountered is that of the Hunger Games and Oh yeah! How can I forget that wonderful book called Warm Bodies? I love that book!

Though there are others that I braved myself reading but I am not going to talk about it right now.

Okay back to The Host. I am intrigue with the premise of the story. A worm like alien with a size of a thumb called the Soul, inserted in a human body (The Host) for it to have access of that body and gain total control. That’s how this little alien succeeded its invasion and won the planet Earth. Humans are in the brink of extinction because The Souls are targeting them to make a Host of their bodies. But just like the old stories of Alien Invasion, Humans will not easily give up without a fight. They will always fight back. Technically, that’s the entire story goes…

But what makes this book tick for me is how the characters are woven together. A lot of reviews online claimed that they are undeveloped, they maybe are but as I always said, I am not a critical reader and as long as the novel entertains then that book served its purpose.

I like those main characters of the alien Wanda and the host Melanie. Though the two of them are trapped in Mel’s body, still, you can easily see the difference between the two. Then there is Jared and Ian and Mel’s uncle Jeb and many more – humans that are part of the resisting colony. Now, Wanda is a Soul, an alien, but the longer she stays with the human the more she become attached to them and even fall in love to one of them. She also realized that she is becoming more of them than being the Soul that she is. She understood the human ways of existing. Wanda’s struggle is very enthralling for me. Her inherent goodness and self sacrificing won her a spot in the human colony. She is genuine and I think her principle is more human than alien. When I finished reading the book, I am still longing to know more about the characters. I am happy to learn that Stephanie Meyer decided to continue writing this book in a series. I will definitely wait for the next installment.

    

Yeah, I've seen the movie too... I dragged my partner to the movie house just to watch it. Well, apparently I ended up explaining almost every sequence to him while watching. I have to say, I enjoyed it and the lead actor Saoirse Ronan who I think looks like a young version of Cate Blanchett did a great job portraying Wanda/Mel, so is that hot dude called Max Irons as Jared (drools).

Xoxo

  

BOOK READS: SHOOTING KABUL

I am very particular when it comes to genre of the book that I wanted to read. Lots of times I'm drawn to the cover of the book that makes me want to read them.   I don't consider this a good idea but of coarse it's not a bad idea either.

Just that, all through these years of spending hours in a bookstore particularly in a book-sale, I learned to flip at least few pages of the book and read the teaser of the story written normally at the back before purchasing it. I no longer rely on the the book cover itself.

The book cover and the content are totally different thing, created by totally different mind. There are lots of great books out there with stories that will pinch a heart with just a very simple cover. There are also a lot of awesome covers out there that will give you a straight to the trash-can stories.

"Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai is one of those great stories with simple cover. First, this book is not actually my genre because I am more interested with genre that deals around Fantasy Fiction and Supernatural stuff. So to say the least, this book is way out of my comfort zone. But just lately I decided to open myself to other genre to broaden my views. I want to learn more about sub-cultural books, historical fiction and thriller. A good autobiography is a go for me and some books that dwells between chic-lit or satirical prose probably written by female comedian or gay authors. 

Now, this gem of a book is from the sale section of the bookstore and I really got it in a very low price. The cover was just a so-so but the thing that caught me is the thought about a family escaping from the border of Afghanistan in the midst of the Taliban war. The journey that the family took to get to that border so they can hop on the Truck that will take them to America with the Asylum Visa given to people living in a war zone. The entire story is told by a young protagonist as one of the member of the family escaping. His younger sister has been left behind in the midst of the chaos when the truck comes and lots of family who wanted to escape the war are pushing their way to get into the truck. Because the little girl is so young, she loose her grip and lost her way to get into the truck.

The entire story is told in a subtle way and every scene and struggle of the family when they get to America is palpably executed well. The burden of our young protagonist is raw for his age and I really feel for the kid. He is a dreamer like me, but of coarse he shape his dreams to help solve his family's problem but because he is still young, he can only do much. The frustration that he feels is very real for me. A lot of times I choke to fight back tears.

This book also deals about how Afgan. families cope during the time of the 7/11 tragedy. This particular struggle is experience by our young protagonist when one of his schoolmates call him terrorist. 

All in all, I totally love this book. It's a simple read but it fills the heart with knowledge and love for religion, country and for being alive.