The Immortalists

 by Kyle Mills. approx 10 hours.

The reason I bought the book was because I read the preview and it had caught my interest. In the review, a top biologist researcher came home and discovered an unknown man in his house. This man then forced her to kill herself, just because someone had ordered her assisination to look as a suicide. Quite intriguing, eh?

The Synopsis.

The story then unfortunately follows a man named Richard who is also a biologist, one of the best in the field after supposedly, as the aforementioned woman biologist had died. Richard had a daughter who suffers a genetic disease where she grew old at an extremely fast rate.Racing against time, he tries to find a cure to her daughter's condition. Through certain cimcustances Richard and his wife discovered that an organization has discovered to reverse aging and in his pursue to save her daughter, they are in turn pursued by the organization itself, The Immortalists.

Language
The book has very concise words, some that I even don't know. Actually, I had to look up most of the words. That being said, I wouldn't say the writer only uses bombastic words to impress, since they are used 'appropriately'. Cathartic, is one of the example, where a scientist threw all his research and Richard asked if he didn't save even any of the research and was answered, " No, it wouldn't be cathartic if I do that, would it?" There are a few more examples but this stuck to my mind.

Recommendation.
This is an action packed story after all, it was not meant to be make you ponder that much, right. Still, when I stopped reading for a while, I find it hard to pick the book up again. Mainly because I don't really care what happens to the main character, he's a bit selfish you know. And the fact that he is a biology genius(really?) doesn't help.
Regarding the compact language, it was enriching to learn new words but on the other end, the book suffers since the book is made up of very short chapters. It left me wishing the writer had written more to describe the action. He leaves most of the plodding to the mind, but if most of the imagining is left to the reader, why read a book , right? At least, that's what I felt.
In the end, the book is meant for a one gulp reading, I think. Mostly recommended for a 9 hour flight maybe where the action will take you through the journey and leave you with a little more vocabulary in the end. Better than an action flick, aite.

I do however like what they did with the book, where they plastered G A T C at the top of the pages. It took me awhile to make me notice and make the connection.

Overall, okay book but not much to be remembered.

The Underland Chronicles

The Underland Chronicles


written by Suzanne Collins. Approximately 4-7 hours each book.
It seems lately that I have been only reading Suzanne Collins books since the reviews are back-to-back. That is not true. I have read a few other books in between this reviews but since I have not the mood to a review, hence this state. I'll review more often in the future.

Synopsis
The story is about a boy who fell through a hole in his laundry room and into another whole world down under, appopriately called Underland. He then proceeds to solve quest and discover adventures in this fantasy world.
In the first book, Gregor the Overlander, the boy named Gregor discovered about his father location, who was until then had been missing for two years after his sudden disappearance. Other than that, Gregor also discovered that he is viewed as a warrior by the people of the Underland(Underlander) due to his circumstances matching an ancient prophecy.
In Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor discovered he had to go back down again in order to save the Underland, also due to a prophecy. In fact, all the books in the series deal with prophecies: Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Mark of Secret, Gregor and the Code of Claw. Basically that's why I lump them altogether because the chronicle is one continuous adventure conveniently chopped into parts.

Language
I think it's only a little bit higher than Enid Blyton's book. In other words, the language for the book is really simple. I do think the sentences structure are a bit weird and abrupt but I think they are so, because the books are meant to be short

Storytelling
Plot is also simple. Heroes comes, read the prophecy and then saves the day. There are other plot where the hero/reader are guessing a character real intention and such but other than that, it's pretty linear.
My main complain with the book is that it relies too much in prophecy. Problem with that is I do not believe in them and I find them annoying. There are also a lot of part where the prophecy are repeated in order to understand the 'meaning' behind them, so I end up finishing the book quite fast since I glance over those part.
Suzanne Collins did manage to make the Underland believable tho. The species(Rats, Spiders, Humans, Cockcroaches etc) are given a lot of thought and the main character are pleasing enough.

Recommendation/reading age
The book theme seems about peace and war, and how to go about it. It is something that I wouldn't think appropriate for younger teens but then again the language are a bit too easy for older teens. Since you would be preached on difficult themes, why don't you try a book with a more complex story and enriching prose?
So in the end I think this book is for adults who want to have some easy read, like me!, where a hero goes on adventure to kill bad guys, with the theme of peace and war thrown in just for zest.
An easy read. For your free time.

On a previous note, try to read Hunger games if you haven't, instead of this.