Monthly Archives: July 2024

The Maze Runner by James Dashner (2009) – BR00260 (R2024) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
July 30 2024

Plot or Premise

A teen wakes up in The Glade, a large field and homestead surrounded by four high walls with doors that open for part of the day, giving entry into a maze filled with untold dangers. This is the first book of the Maze Runner series.

What I Liked

The initial premise is interesting, a micro-society made up of teen boys, with no memory of the past, although many of them remember nicknames. The main character is named Thomas, and he has slightly more memory than the rest. Food and supplies arrive monthly through the same metal elevator that he arrives in, but nobody knows what’s going on. As time progresses, it becomes pretty clear that this is some sort of experiment, although more clear to the reader than the boys in the Glade. Eventually, they have to push the boundaries of the maze and then life starts to get more interesting.

What I Didn’t Like

While the premise is on the same level as The Hunger Games or Divergent, I marked it down a peg because the life they’re leading in the Glade is a little too “pat”. You find out a bit more in book 2, but in book 1, it all seems to run a little too well for a bunch of young teens who have no memory of the past yet somehow maintain a certain level of advanced maturity anyway…farming, treating the sick, dealing with trauma and chaos, etc. It has a bit of a “hey we’re not Lord of the Flies” but with no explanation of how they developed. Plus, it’s hard to believe NOBODY figured stuff out for the Maze before Thomas, yet part of the experiment was to do exactly that…

The Bottom Line

A great start to a great series

Tempted by P.C. Cast (2009) – BR00259 (R2024) – 🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
July 29 2024

Plot or Premise

The sixth book in the House of Night is all about Kalona invading Zoey’s dreams.

What I Liked

There is some interesting stuff with Shauna Rae and the red fledglings, including who is falling in line and how isn’t. And we get to see the governing council of vampyres in Italy. Plus we get to see more of Rephaim with Shauna Rae.

What I Didn’t Like

The love quadrangle has morphed into some polygamy arrangement for Zoey (finally?) yet the angst still remains. And again, we have the “we can’t ever go back to the HoN” followed a couple of chapters later by, “Hey, why don’t we go to the HoN?”. I know it’s a mother / daughter writing duo, but are they writing different chapters and not reading each other’s stuff?

The Bottom Line

Not much happening

Hunted by P.C. Cast (2009) – BR00258 (R2024) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
July 29 2024

Plot or Premise

The House of Night series continues with book 5, with Kalona and Neferet spreading their power over the House.

What I Liked

The red fledglings have a bigger presence with Shauna Rae in the lead as their de facto High Priestess, and we start to see Neferet’s relationship with Kalona. And just for fun, Aphrodite has imprinted with Shauna Rae. I also like that Zoey retreats from the sexual maturity she developed in book 4, instead of just “okay, let’s have sex with anyone now cuz I did it with Blake”. Real consequences, real reactions to the betrayal. The addition of the Raven Mockers is a major uptick in the baddies department, all leading to a real battle at the end.

What I Didn’t Like

The book is a bit slow in places, and the whole Erik / Stark / Heath quadrangle is vomit-inducing — pick one, don’t pick one, don’t care. I’m also getting tired of the “we can’t go back to the HoN” one minute followed by “the only place we can go is the HoN” flip/flop.

The Bottom Line

Good battle, but not much else

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene (1930) – BR00257 (R2024) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
July 28 2024

Plot or Premise

Nancy Drew almost runs over a young girl who darts out on the road, but manages to avoid her. As she meets the girl and the two sisters looking after her, Nancy learns that they are the potential heirs to a promised fortune, but the only will known to exist disinherited them. Nancy searches to see if there is another will.

What I Liked

Nancy meets four or five groups of deserving “heirs” and they all are a bit one-dimensional but good. They each have a small piece of the puzzle to share. The family that currently is set to inherit everything are not very nice, and while equally a bit one-dimensional, they serve their function well-enough. As do the various bad guys running around (a secondary story of thieves robbing houses). Almost a hundred years later, the story still holds up.

What I Didn’t Like

As I said, the characters are a bit one-dimensional. Equally though, it becomes very clear quite quickly where the hidden will might be (clue: it’s in the title!) and so it is more a scavenger hunt than detective work. Similarly for the secondary story of the thieves, which knocks the overall score down a peg.

The Bottom Line

Welcome to the wonderful world of detective Nancy Drew

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (2021) – BR00256 (R2024) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

The PolyBlog
July 28 2024

Plot or Premise

A young Indigenous teen growing up in Northern Michigan on the border with Canada deals with love, friends, hockey and crime in her community.

What I Liked

Daunis is trying to figure out who she is — as a person, as an Ojibwe native, as a friend, as a daughter. She lost a family member under a cloud, and some young members of her community have been overdosing of late. It’s cool to see the personal side develop as she meets a new member of the local hockey team, and tries to resist his charms without much success. Meanwhile, there are lots of side developments. There’s a particular scene with her community as she turns 18 that is really moving and heartwarming. I liked the overall story enough just to read about her, without introducing the whole “FBI informant” role as they investigate drugs coming into the community. It is not a typical style of story that I like, but it was amazingly well done, and I enjoyed visiting the community through her eyes.

What I Didn’t Like

Some of the action stuff is a little overdone, but not enough to pull away from the overall story.

The Bottom Line

Come for the mystery, stay for the story