Icons by Margaret Stohl

Brilliant plot dulled by sub-par writing
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Icons 

by Margaret Stohl

Little, Brown | Hardcover, 428 pages

In the far distant future, aliens invaded Earth. The invasion wasn’t violent. All they did was stop nearly everyone’s hearts from beating, killing them instantly from where they stood. Almost majority of the population perished save from a few thousands (?).  Humanity’s dependence on electricity and technology was their downfall. Icons – towers fell in major cities of the world. They stood like the all-seeing eye of Sauron. Watching everyone, waiting for flickers and sparks of electricity so they could shut it down again. Life as they knew it, ended on The Day. The Icons were virtually indestructible. Come close to within its sight and it stops your source of power.  Humans die on the spot, ammunitions rendered useless. 

Four children, born with extraordinary powers will have a chance to end the occupation. Love, Sorrow, Rage and Freak - born on the same day, created to defeat a seemingly indomitable foe. 

Margaret Stohl, the other half of the Beautiful Creatures series writing duo, set out to write a book about an alien invasion. Aside from the fact that the Icons came somewhere from space, this book, much like Yancey's The 5th Wave, didn't really have physical alien life forms wreaking havoc in its pages. When I started reading this book, I promised myself that I wouldn't do any comparison. It turns out, I didn't have to make that promise. There really was no comparison. You can take that as you will. 

This book was such a disappointment. Sparks of brilliance snuffed by pallid writing. Prose that didn't make sense, prose that left me flustered. Being inside Doloria's head was painful. She dragged the story line down until I couldn't stand to read her thoughts. She tried hard to be deep and poetic but only succeeded in inflicting more pain.

Stohl had the barebones but failed to flesh out her characters and story. There were points of interest that could've saved this novel. I really didn't get how the emotional focus could destroy a machine. Really? A mechanical structure powered by a computer? I don't get it. Why reiterate the emotional bomb when the enemy doesn't even feel at all?  If it was a fact, that the Icons can kill those with a heartbeat aside from the four teens, then how did the rest of the population survived? How did the teens get their powers? There were so many holes it looked like swiss cheese.

The pitfalls of co-writing a book and then going solo is that your readers will finally know exactly what you're made of. I'm oddly looking forward to reading Kami Garcia's solo offering just to see where all the brilliance of Beautiful Creatures came from.

My rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Oddly romantic and sublimely funny
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The Rosie Project

by Graeme Simsion

HarperCollins | Paperback, 329 pages

Prof. Don Tillman's life is measured in precise minutes, rigid schedule and obsessive organization. So when he decided to finally find himself a wife, he creates a foolproof questionnaire meant to find his one true life partner. With the help of his very married friend, Gene, a philandering womanizer intent on sleeping with women from all over the world, he sets out to find the perfect wife.

When Rosie enters the picture, Don knew she didn't quite fit any or all of the criteria. This, however, didn't stop Don from saying yes to Rosie's quest to help her find her biological father. In fact, the more time they spend together, the more he realizes the folly of his research.

Don Tillman was a character that will warm your insides. Among other things, readers will get an insight to how someone with an undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome live. His obsessive-compulsive tendencies was adorable to say the least. Don's mind doesn't work like everyone's. His actions are dictated by his brain without the influence of emotions. And on the same token, his emotions are dictated by scientific deductions. Things can be explained in black and white but when he fell in love, he sees the world in different prisms.

The geneticist has a way of simplifying life's otherwise puzzling conundrums. If we all live the way he thinks, I imagine our lives would be infinitely better.  Simsion's light and effective way of showing his readers exactly how someone like Don acts, reacts and interacts with the people around him was an education in itself. He created a character with a brilliant mind and whose response to embarrassment is to further highlight what it was that made him a target to begin with. He's like a sponge; able to suck up any information and teach himself anything he sets his mind into.

The search for Rosie's biological father was just as entertaining as are the other characters that you will meet in this book. Simsion flawlessly wrote an endearing book featuring an unforgettable character in Don Tillman. Though this is a work of fiction, and perhaps it would not sit well with some of those affected by Asperger's, I applaud the author's take on the disorder. It's not that he's made light of it, he's just given us (those not familiar with it) a perspective on the syndrome.

If it's tender romance you're after, you might just fall in love with Rosie and Don.

My rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Hoarders, Books Edition: Episode 78

Hello.

I realize I haven't been around lately but there's a perfectly good reason why. 

One word: busy. Yep. 

grateful blogger is grateful. 

Books above were sent to me by Simon and Schuster Canada (unsolicited). I don't know who exactly has me on their radar over there but if you're reading this and would be so kind to send me an email, I'd gladly name my third child after you. Serious. Business. 

The Great Calamitous tale of Johan Thoms (How one man scorched the twentieth century and didn't mean to) by Ian Thornton - title's quite a mouthful but damn, this book sounds kick-ass. I'm debating whether or not to go ahead and open the package but it's soooo lovely. 

Smoke by Ellen Hopkins | Friday Never Leaving by Vikki Wakefield | 

To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones | Eternity by Elizabeth Miles

Thank you, Simon and Schuster for these books. You slay. You rock. 

irresistible bookstore is irresistible.

And of course, I can't resist the call of the bookstore so here's my purchases for the last two weeks. 

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown | Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Linked by Imogen Howson | Rush by Eve Silver | Dance of Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

I bought these two books from a tiny bookstore by our cabin. 

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova | The Age of Hope by David Bergen

And that's my haul for the last two weeks, folks. I hope yours is just as awesome. 

random thoughts are random. 

My reading chair in the cabin. I wish we live here. Sigh. 

Dave Bergen (author of The Age of Hope) was my husband's English teacher in high school. He made him sing Canada's national anthem in French for the whole week in front of the class as a punishment for being an unruly teen. My husband is oddly proud of this...

Hoarders, Books Edition is a semi-regular feature on the blog where I show you the extent of my madness. It was not my idea, mind you. It's a cop-out version of The Story Siren's In My Mailbox.