Black: The Birth of Evil

Ted Dekker

The Circle #1

Summary:

Enter an adrenaline-laced epic where dreams and reality collide.

Fleeing his assailants through deserted alleyways, Thomas Hunter narrowly escapes to the roof of a building. Then a silent bullet from the night clips his head...and his world goes black.

From the blackness comes an amazing reality of another world-a world where evil is contained. A world where Thomas Hunter is in love with a beautiful woman. Then he remembers the dream of the chase as he reaches to touch the blood on his head.

Where does the dream end and reality begin? Every time he falls asleep in one world, he awakes in the other-both facing catastrophic disaster. Thomas is being pushed beyond his limits...even beyond the limits of space and time.

Black is an incredible story of evil and rescue, betrayal and love, pursuit and death, and a terrorist's threat unlike anything the human race has ever known.

Some say the world hangs in the balance of every choice we make. Now the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance of one man's choice.

In One Word: Woah!

Plot:

Okay, so what do you get when you cross Narnia, with some crime thriller about a terrorist attack? You get this book, and it’s fascinating. I really liked this story, although it did drag on a bit in the middle. The whole idea of two completely different worlds linked by one man is extremely interesting. Then add some weird bat things and trees that glow, and a very scary virus and you’re set. Overall I felt like this was an extremely original idea, but the writing was not as good as I would’ve hoped. That might improve as the series progresses, though, we shall see. I do think the story was more than just interesting, though, Dekker is a genius at allegories.

Characters:

This is where the book disappointed me a little. The story was very unique and interesting, but it felt a little like the characters weren’t as important to the author. Which is very weird for a Dekker book, since he usually focuses primarily on the characters, not the story. The characters were all a little flat and at times even a little silly. I do, however, hope for improvement for the other three books.

Who should read this:

12+, there is quite a bit of violence, but it’s never extremely graphic or disturbing. If you like Narnia, then you might enjoy this, since one half of it had a very similar feel to it in my opinion. If you don’t like books that have Christian undertones, or want a light, happy read, don’t read this.

My rating:

This book wasn’t perfect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I loved the ideas and concepts. 4/5

Quote:

“How can there be love without a true choice? Would you suggest that man be stripped of the capacity to love?” 

The Edge of Nowhere

Elizabeth George

Saratoga Woods #1

Summary:

Becca King is on the run. .From an abusive stepfather and from her own unusual talent for ‘hearing’ other people’s thoughts. Becca’s mother arranges safe haven on Whidbey Island but that doesn’t quite turn out as planned, and Becca is left to rely on her wits – and on the islanders.

Whom can she trust? Eighteen-year-old drop-out Seth Darrow? Motel owner Debbie, raw with grief at the death of her daughter? Derric Mathieson, a Ugandan orphan with a mysterious past and a painful secret of his own?

Becca is on a voyage of discovery, one that leads to a deepening of her powers and an eventual understanding of why fate has brought her to this island.

In One Word: Meh...

Plot:

This story had a lot of potential. 'A girl who can almost read minds has to run for her life and then a lot of crazy things happen and she gets mixed up in it all' sounds pretty awesome when you hear it like that. However, this story was just mediocre in every sense. The writing was probably the thing that bothered me most, since it seemed choppy and almost like a retelling of the story instead of the actual book. I also think there could’ve been a lot more done with Becca’s ‘power’, but instead she plugs in a device so she (and the reader) can’t hear anything, which is great if such a power was real and you wanted to be a nice person, but the story would’ve been almost exactly the same even if she’d just been a normal person.

Characters:

The characters were also a little flat, but unlike the story there were moments where I connected with them. The overall feel of the characters were, however, that the author tried too hard to make them interesting and forgot to give them normal human feelings and just describing those. I liked most of the characters well enough, but I kept feeling like I was missing something where they were concerned.

Who should read this:

10+, there are some references to drugs, sex and violence, but nothing too extreme, as well as some cursing. This is not as complicated a story as the summary might make it sound, and it’s not hard to understand. If you like stories about mind readers I guess you might like this one, but I cannot say that I’ll recommend this to anyone.

My rating:

I didn’t feel connected to this story or the characters, even though the subject matter and idea fascinates me, so that’s not a good sign. 2/5

Quote:

And once again, I couldn’t find a quote that I liked...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Mark Haddon

Summary:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour’s dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

Plot:

I thought this was a very good story. The writing is simple and straightforward, easy to understand, but the story never becomes predictable. The plot is original and different and it kept me interested throughout. I also really liked the way the author ended the book, it wasn’t too happy, just realistic.

Characters:

The strange thing about this book is I didn’t really like the main character, Christopher, but I still rooted for him. He got on my nerves at times, but this only made me sympathise with his parents more and made them much more understandable. They were probably my favourite characters in this book, especially his dad. Christopher got a little annoying, but the way he narrated the story is something almost like a journal was a lot of fun to read.

Who should read this:

13+, mainly for the language, a dog is also killed (not graphic), and there are some mentions of people cheating on their spouses, but no real sexual content. If you want something that will touch your heart, has an unique story and perspective and is easy to read, this might just be the one for you. This is a pretty light read, but it has some darker themes.

My rating:

I really enjoyed this book. It’s not my absolute favourite, mainly because I didn’t like the main character all that much, but I think it’s a very good novel overall. 4/5

Quote:

“Everyone has learning difficulties, because learning to speak French or understanding relativity is difficult.”