The Woman in Black — by Susan Hill

Rarely does a person ever say that the movie adaptation is better than the original book. And while I haven't actually seen the movie yet, the trailers for the latest Daniel Radcliffe flick "The Woman In Black" (an original book circa 1983 "The Woman in Black" by Susan Hill) looks SOOOOOOOO creepy good.


I first saw the trailer while on the Goodreads website immediately requested a copy from the library, which of course took months to get to me. Compared to other books currently on the market, the 164 pages was less-than-intimidating, and I looked forward to a quick, creepy read with a good plot. Instead, the book was a huge disappointment.

For example, the main character Mr. Kipps (played by Daniel Radcliffe in the movie) hears an unusual sound coming from a room, which the author describes as "bump bump, pause, bump bump, pause, bump bump..." (p. 116). I'm not sure if it was from the trailer (which I had seen months previously) or just my supreme intellect, but I immediately knew the sound was a rocking chair.

Now don't those trailers look great??!

In my opinion, the author took too much time setting up the story line in the beginning of the book, which is actually more of a flashback to something that occurred 20 or so years previously to the beginning of the book. In the introduction the main character is so deeply disturbed by what has happened, and has not ever told anyone about it, that he decides to write out what happened in an attempt to rid himself of the alleged daily remembrance of what happened.  Throughout the book the writer brings the reader back into the "present" by referring to how the main character is recounting the events and that it wasn't actually occurring at this point in time — pointless in my opinion. The author also uses odd word choices too, writing things such as that the character "decided" to do something, and then telling us that he did it. On first reading the passages I thought the character was completing the action twice. For these reasons, I sadly rate this book 1 star out of 5.

After viewing the trailers again for this post, I still want to see the movie. Especially since so much has been changed about the story (for example, in the book Mr. Kipps is single, but engaged) and apparently in the movie he is married with a child that I can't help but think that idea would have made a greater impact on the book itself. I also get the impression that in the movie we see more of "The Woman In Black" and her effects on the town and house inhabitants. This time it looks like "Hollywood" got it right, if not better, than the original!

Storm Born - by Richelle Mead

As a big fan of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series, I wanted to try out another book by the author. I stumbled upon the first book in a series starring Eugenie Markham, Storm Born. While the Vampire Academy books were geared towards young adults, the Storm Born was definitely geared towards more mature audiences.

The story centers around Eugenie Markham, a shaman whose normal day centers on banishing elementals to the Underworld. When she becomes interested in a special case, involved visiting the Otherworld, she learns more about the Shining Ones than she bargained for, and learns a lot about herself too.

Although I was prepared for the occasional light curse word, the language in this series was much more mature, with frequent swearing, and the multiple sex scenes and even rape attempts. Despite the language, I initially wanted to say I liked the story line, but it was so laden with sexual tendencies and innuendo that it was difficult to look for a storyline that didn't center on sex. What Mead did do well was create characters the reader would want to read more of. Mead also uses such vivid and descriptive language that the reader can easily visualize what she is describing.


While I want to rate this book higher than a 1 star, I just can't due to the prevalence of sex and foul language. If these things don't bother you, you may really like the book and series.

Cloaked in Red- by Vivian Vande Velde

After seeing a recommendation for this author from a friend on Goodreads, I picked up the book "Cloaked in Red" by Vivian Vande Velde from my library. (I must admit I LOVE saying this author's name).

Upon reading the author's note at the beginning of the book (see HERE for a view of it on GoogleBooks) I couldn't wait to start the book. Based on the introduction, the reader was in for eight snarky, silly takes on the classic "Little Red Riding Hood" children's story. I anticipated reading the story through varied viewpoints  — the girl, the wolf, grandmother, the wood cutter, etc. — but was sorely disappointed to see odd variations on the story, none of which were as humorous as the introduction was.

While the book itself is rather small and compact — a mere 127 pages long — I couldn't bear to read any more than the first three entries, which came to less than half of the book. While the writing was good, it wasn't captivating. The short storied themselves also prove it difficult to identify with the characters and really root for (or against) anyone in particular.

I give this book 1 star out of 5. While I didn't care for what I read in the book, it definitely gave me some interesting ideas for short stories of my own. Perhaps some day I'll use Vivian Vande Velde's ideas for writing my own version of Little Red Riding Hood.