Book Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Publisher: originally George M. Hill company
Publication date: originally 1900
Pages: 78
Source: free e-book
For: a classic double pair
Series: Oz Series, Book 1

Summary (from goodreads):

Follow the yellow brick road!
Dorothy thinks she's lost forever when a tornado whirls her and her dog, Toto, into a magical world. To get home, she must find the wonderful wizard in the Emerald City of Oz. On the way she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. But the Wicked Witch of the West has her own plans for the new arrival - will Dorothy ever see Kansas again?

Things I Liked:
It felt so lovely and old fashioned! It definitely had a timeless quality to it, despite it feeling so different from modern-day tales. I thought it was weird how very indifferent sometimes the characters were to tragedy or difficult things happening to them or their friends. Oh, I shall cry for them. Oh well. Having based my entire knowledge of the book on the movie, I was quite surprised to find things very different - why did they make her shoes red? Plus, a huge part of the book comes after the witch is dead. They have lots of further adventures. And it is quite obvious along the way how each of Dorothy's companions get what they are asking Oz for, and rather humorous how he gives it to them. I'm glad to have read this one finally and hope to share it with my daughter when she's ready.

Things I Didn't Like:
Some of the same things above detracted from my enjoyment, most notably the way the characters would respond to certain situations. Well, nothing we can do for them, let's just leave them or cry about it and move on. Some of the things they said felt a little strange too, like Dorothy talking about how cowardly the lion is, on a regular basis. Sometimes she didn't feel like such a "sweet" little girl.

Read-alikes:
can't think of anything :)

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: none

Overall rating: ****

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Book Review: The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication date: September 2014
Pages: 320
Source: Won!
For: Fun
Series: The 5th Wave, Book 2

Summary (from goodreads):

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

Things I Liked:
I enjoyed seeing more about why the aliens invaded, more fast-paced action, and loads of interesting twists and turns that I did not expect.  This is definitely an edge-of-your-seat kind of read - give yourself the time you need to just finish it already.

Things I Didn't Like:
I did not enjoy it nearly as much as the first.  I'm not entirely sure why, can't seem to put my finger on it, but it did seem a lot less clear to me.  It was more confusing with all the hints and vague reasons why the aliens might have come.  I still don't know and I'm not sure if I should have figured it out or not.  It was also super violent and sometimes left me feeling a bit ill, but very much a readable action flick kind of book.

Read-alikes:
Start with The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Reminds me of the Partials series by Dan Wells

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@
some, not too overwhelming

mrg-factor: X
a little bit of implied stuff, not on page

v-factor: ->->->
sometimes to the point of making me sick

Overall rating: ***

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage