The Red Scrolls of Magic

The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I think I know where this book fits in with the rest of the Shadowhunter books, but there are so many of them, that I could be totally off.

I feel like this book was chaotic. There was so much going on and so many random characters introduced for little to no reason. I have to say, I think I have a problem. I'm not really a huge fan of the Shadowhunter universe, but I keep reading the books, so take that for what you will.

Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK

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Space Case

Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I read this book mostly because of the title. I really liked the play on words, so good job Stuart Gibbs.

Space Case is a futuristic book following a group of families that live on the moon. When one of the scientists die under mysterious circumstances, twelve-year-old Dash is convinced that something is up. He doesn't believe the official story, and is determined to find out what really happened. Along the way, a humorous cast of characters is introduced and the truth about what really happened is slowly revealed.

I really was not expecting the ending, which made it a fun read. When the answer to a mystery is obvious early on in a book, it is hard to find the desire to read it until the end. There were so many possible scenarios going on, that the number of suspects was continually growing, and answers came from an unexpected source.

I also really enjoyed the little side stories about the characters. Most of the time, I want the main story, and get frustrated by the fact that the story keeps getting off track, but not this time. I feel like the side stories served a purpose. They added humor, while also providing some back story that helped add to the mystery. When you start the book, there seems to be only a couple people that could have had anything to do with the mystery, but the more backstories you read about, the more people you start to question. After a while, you wonder who is not a suspect.

All in all, it was a fun read, and I appreciate that it wasn't one of those books that takes place on the moon but has everyone living life like they do on Earth. The environment is different there, and so people living in that environment would face situations that are different than what we face. That is not lost in this book, but it is also not a huge focus.

Author: Stuart Gibbs
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 16th 2014

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The Rosie Effect

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a cute addition to the Don Tillman series. I have to admit, while I did see somethings happening, there were others that took me by complete surprise. Don's way of looking at the world makes it so the reader never really knows what is going to happen next. Things that seem completely logical to him, are unexpected, at least to me. I will say though, the scene on the plane made me think people were over reacting. I guess there are some people who would jump to the conclusions the people in that scene did, but I didn't see anything wrong. Of course, I also knew about the character and the background, so my thoughts might have been different if I did not know that.

For some reason, the part of this book that I enjoyed the most, was Don and Rosie using B.U.D. as a name for the baby. Second favorite part was Don bringing a fake Rosie to events he did not want the real Rosie to know about. That provided great material later on in the book.

Really, there were a bunch of great moments that only Don Tillman would find himself in. I like stepping back from my life and looking at the world from his point of view. I'm glad there is another book in this series so I can see what happens next.

Author: Graeme Simsion
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Publication Date: September 24th 2014

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