It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
Where have all the children gone?
Who is the Whisper Man?
What’s that sound outside your window?
Wait, no, that’s not right. We ask these three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.
The Shamer’s Daughter by Lene Kaaberbøl
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
I want to start by saying that the dragons in this are a lie. Well, sort of. They’re really just plot devices … barriers for the protagonist to overcome. Mindless, vile creatures to be feared. Which is disappointing. But on the plus side, the Shamer’s gift is awesome, and I loved the way it developed in the story, as something both vital to society and feared. Dina was a bit of a flop for me to start with, but she’s a little kid, so that’s understandable. Her arc was really fun, though, and she definitely came into her own in this. I was a little surprised, being that this book reads like it’s upper mid-grade, that there were some pretty nasty curse words and what I would consider more mature content.
The Shamer’s Signet by Lene Kaaberbøl
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
I thought this series was going to be about Dina, but here, her brother, Davin, takes center stage. Dina’s point of view is still there, but she’s more of a damsel in distress in this one, and Davin is really the main star of the story. This arc is really is. It wasn’t a bad story, but not quite what I expected. I feel like Davin is highly relatable in his struggles and would probably be a hit for the target audience, but being the old cranky lady I am, I found him a bit whiny and annoying. I did like the darkness of this book, though. Maybe not for middle grade, as I said, but there’s a war brewing, folks, and the rebellion is rising, and that’s the sort of story I’m all about!
The Serpent Gift by Lene Kaaberbøl
★★☆☆☆ || Goodreads
This is where the series sort of lost me. This book feels like filler. You know, the anime sort, where they’re sort of headed towards the main plot eventually, but you probably could’ve just removed this and it would’ve been fine because it didn’t really add anything. Dina becomes an extra special snowflake now, when I felt like being a Shamer was really enough. This just raised way more questions than it answered. I did love Sezuan, though, which just made me all the more angry at what crappy treatment he got. I ended up really hating Dina’s mother in this and Davin, though it just reinforced my love for Nico. So there’s that.
The Shamer’s War by Lene Kaaberbøl
★★☆☆☆ || Goodreads
I think I’m too old for this series. That’s my conclusion. The tropes might hit better for their intended audience, but this book felt so full of cliches and tropes that I really don’t like, personally. It also didn’t feel like the conclusion of a series. I still had so many unanswered question, and the last chapter only raised even more questions, so that was frustrating. I did love the tension of this book, though, and the slow build as the troops were gathered and everything fell into place. There were some new characters to enjoy and some old ones brought back and everyone sort of found their inner strength, which is a trope I enjoy immensely.
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
This book was … all right? It was a quick read and an enjoyable read, but I guess one that doesn’t really stick in your brain. This is another one where I feel it falls into a lot of common tropes with older protagonists without presenting something particularly new. The whole gist is that Arthur is a man of routine and never considered that his wife might’ve had a life before they met. So after her death, he breaks his routine to discover all these things about his wife that he never knew, and in the meantime, he discovers things about himself. Like I said, cute and easy to read, but not particularly memorable.
Teeth in the Mist by Dawn Kurtagich
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
I’m … confused. I’m still confused. This book was one big bundle of confusion. The atmosphere is soooo good, though. It’s all spooky and paranormal and supernatural and haunted building that you obviously shouldn’t enter but people do anyway because they silly. The story is told through three different timelines, and they do culminate in the end (eventually), but the ride to get there is often confusing and sometimes painfully slow. I’m still not quite sure what I read. I did enjoy the way it played with the legend of Faust, though, and I pretty much have to read the second book to fully figure out what’s going on in the first one.
Reviews Posted This Week
The Whisper Man by Alex North
Status: Page 155/355
After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new house, a new town. Featherbank.
But the town has a dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five residents. Until Frank Carter was finally caught, he was nicknamed “The Whisper Man,” for he would lure his victims out by whispering at their windows at night.
Just as Tom and Jake settle into their new home, a young boy vanishes. His disappearance bears an unnerving resemblance to Frank Carter’s crimes, reigniting old rumors that he preyed with an accomplice. Now, detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis must find the boy before it is too late, even if that means Pete has to revisit his great foe in prison: The Whisper Man.
And then Jake begins acting strangely. He hears a whispering at his window…
Sooo many people have recommended this book, and now that it’s starting to cool off (okay, so we had ONE morning where it was feeling nice and brisk) I’ve been in the mood for some spooky reading. I absolutely love the vibe of this one so far, even though not a whole lot has happened yet. But enough. Just the idea of the Whisper Man is scary enough, but something is obviously going on with Jake, and yes. I am so about this vibe right now.
I requested The Sign of Nine from my library waaaaay back when it came out, and we finally got it in! The wait is real. But so worth it. In the meantime, I simply convinced a few more people to try the series, so it was time well spent. But now I have it in my hands, and I’m so excited to find out what happens next! I’m ready!
I honestly am sort of unsure about A Hero Born and how much I’ll like it, because the early reviews seem a bit mixed. I enjoy the wuxia genre, for the most part (and Xianxia), but I’m so picky about translations because it’s easy for them to go wrong. Not gonna lie, when I was looking for Dante’s Inferno, I spent hours looking for the perfect translation and sampling all the different versions until I found just the right one. So I’m cautiously optimistic with this one, because the translation can really make or break my opinion.
When I first saw Steel Crow Saga, it was advertised as Pokemon meets Avatar: The Last Airbender AND I AM SO HERE FOR THIS. Everything great about my childhood? Why, yes, I’ll take one of those, please. *flails* This was also my very first NetGalley wish ever granted, and it couldn’t be more perfect. If you need me, I’ll be over here in the corner with my daughter’s Pikachu plushie, humming a certain theme song under my breath while I read.
I had Teeth in the Mist on my list to read, but I may pass on it for now. I don’t like being confused!
Oh yeah, if you like linear stories, this one probably won’t work. It’s very … windy? xD I think it’d be easier to read it with the sequel so you don’t have that wait between them.
Oh please lord let Steel Crow Saga come through… say it with me now…
If it doesn’t, I will spend the week in a corner crying. I have such high hopes for this one!
I KNOW RIGHT! I need a sci-fi hit right now. I haven’t had one in a bit.
Gosh I have had a giggle reading the progression of your Shamers reads culminating in being too old for this!! Sounds like you had a frustrating week here’s hoping next is better
I’m glad it was entertaining. It was so disappointing, because I enjoyed the first half of the series a lot, and it seemed like it was going great. I don’t even know what happened. xD
You’re series review is inspired! I just muddled through trying to review a whole series without spoiling anything and it was just a stream of ummm….well….I liked it. This is much better! I have a bunch of reviews for series this month so perhaps I will try your more pointed method.
I’m glad I could help. xD I hope you like your series more than I did, though. So disappointing when a series flops midway through. Though, to be fair, there are definitely some series where all I really have to say is that I like it, go read it now. xD
awww that’s a shame that the series went downhill like that! those covers are so nice! and i’ve heard so many great things about the whisper man! i’m interested in seeing your feedback.
It was SO GOOD. I felt like it was sort of pretty typical psychological thriller, you know? Nothing really stands out as fantastic, except that the author really captured the vibe and creepiness so well and there were a lot of little twists and turns. I think if you read a lot of that genre, it’s probably going to sound similar to others, but I don’t and I really liked it! Couldn’t put it down.
Interesting to see your thoughts on The Shamer’s Daughter books, especially that you don’t feel they fit MG well as that’s where I had them pegged. I have the first one here but not read it yet, so will see..!
Glad you’re enjoying Whispering Man more!
It’s marked as YA and not MG on Amazon, but it’s also ages 10 – 14 which feels more upper MG into lower YA. I just wouldn’t be comfortable with my 10-year-old reading some of the things, personally, but it really depends on your child’s maturity level I’d be interested to hear your thoughts when you get a chance to read it. 🙂
Oh that’s good to know, thank you! I’ll let you know when I’ve read it!
Oh noo, I’m sorry to hear that The Shamer Chronicles went down so badly for you 😩 I hate when a series starts off strong and slowly but surely disappoints until the end. Even worse with all the unanswered questions! Yikes. D’you reckon it’d be fine stopping after the first book (or does it end on a cliffhanger)? 😂 Can’t wait to see what you think of Whisper Man too. Hope you have a great reading week, Sammie!
Right? It’s so disappointing. But then again, I do think it’ll hit the target audience better than it did me. I’m old and jaded and ask too many why questions. xD I mean, the overall war doesn’t end until the last book, so if you want to know how that concludes (hint: it’s exactly what you’d think), then you have to read them all. But each one stands all right to stop after, I would think. But you would love Sezuan from book three, I think! He’s adorable and deserves hugs.
You were so right about The Whisper Man! I really liked it! Knew most of what was going to happen, but there were a lot of little surprises along the way and that spooky atmosphere, man! Loved the ending, though. <3
Hahaha I think I’m becoming more like that too because I just read this book and the whole time I was thinking OMG NO why are there no questions answered?! How can I accept this?! 😂 Let’s see how I go with the first book and if I feel the urge to continue!
I think the spooky atmosphere of Whisper Man is what really makes it, for sure! So glad to hear you enjoyed it 😍
I can definitely see how my reading style has developed as I’ve gotten older, because when I was younger, I was fine just taking things at face value and didn’t have a problem with it. Now that I’m older, though, I want to know why. Which is funny because you’d think it’d be the opposite, but no. xD I hope you enjoy it, though.
I’m so the same! Lol starting a blog, writing reviews and interacting with other bloggers has also definitely changed how I read stories. Sometimes it’s good but sometimes I get annoyed at myself for questioning too much when I just want to read mindlessly 😂 bahaha
I think I’ve forgotten how to read mindlessly sometimes. xD There’s always that naggy adult voice in the back of my head.
Enjoy your reading!
I’m currently reading A hero born!
(www.evelynreads.com)
I should be starting that next. What do you think so far?
I actually just DNF’ed it.. I really couldn’t get into the story.. opefulyl you like it better!
I suspect I’ll have the same problem, but I’m going to give it a go! Sometimes you just have to admit when a book isn’t for you.
Yes you should! Maybe you like it better!
I never really got into Pokemon when I was younger, but I’ve been enjoying its comeback all the same. I hope Steel Crow Saga is everything you want it to be!
(Also, what is with all the crow books lately? It’s insane.)
Pokemon was totally my thing way back in the day. My daughter enjoys it, but not to the extent that I did lol.
I don’t know, but there’s a lot of them lately, isn’t there? I’m digging the crow theme, though, so I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts.
I agree, the crow theme is fun! I’m just having trouble keeping them all straight…
The Whisper Man has such a cool cover! I keep hearing amazing things about it.
Happy Reading! 😊
It was a really spooky book! Definitely a good read for this time of year. 🙂
OMG I didn’t realize you ended up reading Teeth in the Mist! I’m gonna try to read it in October so it can be my Halloween read or something. Trying to scare myself during the fall.
I diiiid! It was a super last-minute read, though, because it came in at the library and I’d heard good things about it and really wanted a spooky read. I think it was creepy, but it didn’t really scare me at all. I think it’d make a great Halloween read, though!
I keep hearing that Steel Crow Saga is really good. It definitely sounds amazing! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
I haven’t heard anything about it yet, so I’m glad that you’ve heard positive things! I can’t wait to start it.
A shame about the dragons in that series… I’m not sure I’d like how they are used in the plot. I’m curious to see what you will make of The Whisper Man! Have a wonderful week and happy reading.
I definitely wouldn’t recommend picking up the series for the dragons! But there are other good things about it, aside from that. The Whisper Man was really good! Very spooky and a great fall read.
Good to know! And I might just leave The Whisper Man for next month as it sounds like a good Halloween read.
Definitely would recommend it as a Halloween read!
That’s it, I’m definitely reading it next month then!
Yaaaay! <3 Can't wait to see what you think. I hope you enjoy it.
I can’t wait to read it!
When you said “humming a certain theme song” all I could hear is “I WANNA BE THE VERY BEST LIKE NO ONE EVER WAS” and I’m kinda getting emotional and nostalgic because that’s my childhood right there… and well, Steel Crow Saga is one of the intriguing books I’ve come across because of how it’s advertised by coining two of my favorite shows as a kid. I hope you enjoy it and it gives you a sense of nostalgia!
YES! I’M GLAD YOU GOT IT. Obviously, we’re destined to be best friends. *links arms with you and leads you away*
Pokemon, Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, and Avatar were all soooo huge in my childhood, so having two of them comped to this? No way I could pass that up.
Lene’s books looked interesting but it sucks that the last books were eh. The Whisper Man looks So good but so scary! I get scared easily lol
It wasn’t that scary! It was definitely creepy, but the bigger plot was mostly predictable, so you sort of know going in what’s going to happen. It’s just got a really creepy atmosphere that was really enjoyable. I get scared easily, too, and this one didn’t bother me. If you can handle true crime, it felt more along those lines to me.
I’m honestly a little floored by how many books you got through in the last week. I can’t imagine completing such an undertaking myself, YA or otherwise. Bravo! Also, not sure if I’ll end up checking it out, but Teeth in the Mist is a wonderful title. Who doesn’t love things that sound both threatening and bewildering?
Right? I’m honestly not sure how the heck I did it. I’m pretty sure that’s my record right there.
It’s a great title! And the quote on the back of the book was really intriguing. I think, though, that it’s a series that would almost be better read all at once than as they come out.
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