Skip to main content

The Finisher by David Baldacci

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): The city of Wormwood is the only place Vega Jane, her brother John, and fellow Wugmorts (villagers) have every known. When Vega's mentor at work suddenly disappears leaving Vega a map of the Quog (area that surrounds Wormwood), her entire world view comes crashing down when she finds out that most of what she thinks she knows is built on lies.

Category: YA

Why I chose this book: Sounded interesting as I was looking for audio book to listen to

My personal opinion (the review): I have mixed feelings about this book. Vega Jane is an interesting enough character and most of the story line works fine, but there were also so many unanswered questions that I just felt frustrated. The how and why of all of her after hour trips to Stax never get explained and the way that she discovers her "powers (I'm not even sure what that is supposed to mean) and her special tools just don't work right. I liked the characters of Delph and Duff but almost everyone else fades into one lump sum of drinking, crass men. It seems that there are only a dozen or less women in the story (And Baldacci's use of "male" and "female" to refer to people became really annoying for me.) I'm interested enough to keep listening to the second story, but overall it's not one that I would recommend.

Warnings
Language: A dozen or more instances of hell, bloody (as in bloody hell, etc), and I think there were one or two damns
Violence: Lots - minor/moderate graphic fight scenes 
"Adult" situations: None
Death: Yes, not main characters

Movie rating equivalent: Probably R for language and violence

Protagonist description: Vega Jane just wants to do right for herself and her brother John, but when things start to spiral out of control she isn't afraid to ask hard questions and do what it takes to find the answers. 

Point of view of story: 1st, Vega

Book length: Long

Story flow: Relatively smooth, however I feel that some parts were not needed (having Vega fight in the duelim didn't really do anything to further the plot except show Vega's ability to reason things out combined with quick thinking in the moment. 

Grammar and spelling issues: There are some alternate words used. Wug=human/villager, sliver = minute, Noc = moon, session = year, day = light, 

Character connection (no spoilers): I'd love to know more of Morrigone's past and Duff's future.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happily Ever After Kiera Cass

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Short novellas and after stories from the perspective of other main characters from The Selection Series. Includes: -The Prince (with the two bonus chapters), Maxon’s novella -The Guard, Aspen’s novella -The Queen, Amberly’s novella -The Favorite, Marlee’s novella -Three scenes from Celeste’s POV -Lucy’s scene (bonus scene from The One) -The bonus epilogue -Where are they now? Category: YA Why I chose this book: Selection of novellas filling in gaps in The Selection series.  My personal opinion (the review): Of the entire series this was by far and away my favorite. I loved getting to hear parts of the stories from other perspectives. There was also additional details not found in the original story. All my questions or things I wondered about where answered through these stories.  Warnings Language: None  Violence: None "Adult" situations: As with the other novels, a few scenes with more description than I would have liked. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

By
Summary: Every book needs you to turn the pages. But not every book needs you to tap it, shake it, jiggle it, or even blow it a kiss. Innovative and timeless, Tap the Magic Tree asks you to help one lonely tree change with the seasons. It begins with a bare brown tree. But tap that tree, turn the page, and one bright green leaf has sprouted! Tap again—one, two, three, four—and four more leaves have grown on the next page. Pat, clap, wiggle, jiggle, and see blossoms bloom, apples grow, and the leaves swirl away with the autumn breeze. (Amazon) Attention Span/reading level: Perfect for my three year old. I would say that ages 2-10 would really enjoy something like this. It really keeps kids engaged and makes them feel like part of the story. There is one word to one sentence per page. Good uses for book in teaching: Interaction, that the reader takes part in making the story, what a tree can do (leaves, blossoms, fruit) Favorite part:      Child: The fact that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh

By
Summary: Two mice make a teeter totter. Soon a frog comes along and wants to join. Can the mice balance all the friends who want to play with them? Attention Span/reading level: 3-6 years old, usually 5 or less words on a page Good uses for book in teaching: Balance, science Favorite part:      Child: When the frog joins in     Mine: That the mice keep playing at the end  Least favorite part: None:   W arnings/negative feedback: None.  Review: This is a really simple but fun way to introduce the idea of balancing and weight to kids. It's fun to show them how it must be equal on each side to balance. Showing that size can affect weight is shown on the page where all the animals are on one side with the big bird on the other. This could be a fun activity to replicate with toys if doing a science lesson at home. 
Post a Comment
Read more