Book Talk: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Hey Guys!
Today’s book review is in honor of Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest minds of our time. When he passed away in March, we lost an amazing scientist. So let’s talk about his book A Brief History of Time.

A Brief History of Time – Cover from Goodreads

 

The Plot:
With A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking explains physics in words that everybody is able to understand. From the big bang to relativity and quantum mechanics. He covers it all!

 

The Rating:
I’ve always been interested in physics but unfortunately at my school there were basically no classes. So I felt less than informed on the topic and didn’t know where to start to learn about it.
A Brief History of Time was certainly a good choice. First of all, Stephen Hawking tries to cover a lot of stuff and explains from the very beginning. Thus, the reader can follow the evolution of physic!
Furthermore, he uses some nice metaphors, to make it easier to grasp. It definitely helped to have a familiar picture that I could connect with the sometimes complicated topics.

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Book Talk: The Girl Who Takes and Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz (Millenium #5)

Hey guys!
It’s book review time. I finally managed to get hold of the latest part in the Millenium series at the library. Let’s how David Lagercrantz worked with Stieg Larsson legacy!

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Cover from Goodreads)

 

The Plot:
After all that happened in the last book, Lisbeth is in jail. In a high security prison to be more precise. However, not everybody is safe there either…
Meanwhile, Mikael Blomkvist investigates the strange changes about Leo Mannheimer…

 

The Rating:
First of all, let me talk about Stieg Larsson’s legacy. When David Lagercrantz continued the Millenium series I had second thoughts but he surprised me with The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Lagercrantz is not Larrson, his writing style is somewhat different and the reading experience is not 100 % the same despite Lagercrantz working with the familiar characters. However, he did a very good job picking up where Larrson had left off, despite a lot of pressure coming with the task.
I enjoyed the last book quite a lot, so I was excited to get my hands on more from Lagercrantz. The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye is fascinating. The novel was impossible to put but I still have some critical remarks.

Book Review: The Immortal Circus: Final Act by A. R. Kahler (Cirque des Immortels #3)

Hello my lovely readers!
I just finished the final installment of A. R. Kahler’s Immortal Circus trilogy and I am beyond pissed. Want to why? Keep on reading…

The Immortal Circus: Final Act (Cover from Goodreads)

The Plot:
Vivienne finally know what she’s been running from for so long. But instead of making her life easier, it all just got even more complicated. Especially since the demon Kassia is about the make hell break loose and war seems inevitable…

 

The Rating:
You know, I’ve had my problems with this series and mixed feelings about the whole thing.
However, the final novel seemed very promising. Despite a few confusing moments (and big gaping holes in the logic) the third part was very intriguing and I was very excited to see where Kahler would lead us.
Everything was good until the final two chapters and the epilogue. Just was just about the worst ending ever. You know who in highschool you just wrote “and then she woke up and realized everything was just a dream” when you couldn’t come up with a good end for a story?

Book Review: The Immortal Circus: Act Two by A. R. Kahler (Cirque des Immortels #2)

Hey Guys!
Remember my review on Act One of The Immortal Circus by A. R. Kahler? Well, I just finished Act Two. So without further ado, let’s get started!

The Immortal Circus: Act Two by A. R. Kahler (Cover from Goodreads)

 

The Plot:
No matter how hard Vivienne tried to run from her past, it seems to be catching up with her. Despite her new life with at the circus with her glittering boyfriend Kingston, visions keep plaguing her. Is she strong enough to find out what she tried to escape? And how does it tie in with the war to come?

 

The Rating:
Act Two is definitely better than Act One. However, I am still not happy.
The story get slightly more interesting and you keep reading out of fascination (not just out of pure obligation to finish the book). I have a hard time really caring for any of the characters, so my connection with the novel is shallow at best.
At least things get moving and the plot moves forward. That’s a thumbs up on this front. Kahler did good on that respect. But as I’ve mentioned in my last review, The Immortal Circus is his first series of books. And that shows. I’m not sure whether I can keep up with his style of writing for another novel. It just not as refined and he keeps repeating himself a lot. If it were just one book, I might be okay with it, but for three books straight this is rather annoying. 

Book Review: The Immortal Circus: Act One by A. R. Kahler (Cirque des Immortels #1)

Hey guys!
There’s an interesting trilogy I want you to check out. Today I want to talk about the first installment of A. R. Kahler’s Cirque des Immortels series. So let’s find out about The Immortal Circus: Act One.

Immortal Circus: Act One (Cover from Goodreads)

 

The Plot:
You know the expression “to run off and join the circus”? Well, that’s exactly what Vivienne did. The weird bit: she barely remembers a thing about her past. When a troupe member is killed, she realizes that it isn’t an ordinary circus. It’s run by Mab, Queen of the Faeries, who’s at the brink of war with Oberon…

 

The Rating:
I’ll tell you upfront: this is not the most amazing book out there. You can tell that Kahler hadn’t been a seasoned writer yet and this was one of his first attempts at a novel.
Nevertheless, I think he did a decent job.
The story is interesting enough and surprising at times. It wasn’t quite what I had expected from the title, but hey – let’s just go with the flow. Some characters have more depth than others, meaning that many of the side characters will feel like a bit of blur as some of them are rather similar. 

Book Review: The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3)

Hey Guys!
I just finished the latest part in Rick Riordan’s series about the Norse Gods. It’s called the Ship of the Dead, so let’s see what it is about!

The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan (Goodreads Cover)

 

The Plot:
Magnus and his friends have to save the world by preventing Ragnarok. That basically entails defeating Loki and stopping his ship of the dead from sailing.
Piece of cake, right? The have a nice handkerchief that unfolds into a violently yellow boat to send take them through the nine worlds…

 

The Rating:
I’m sure that by now you all know that I’m a huge Rick Riordan fan. After reading all his books dealing with Greek mythology I was excited about this new series about the Norse Gods.
So far, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard has been a fascinating insight. I already learned so much!
The first two books were impossible to put down, so I was very excited to finally pick up book #3.