Paladin by Dave Luckett

“Good if they were good, but they weren't always good... Power goes to most people’s head, you know.” (p. 27)

Paladin by Dave Luckett is the exploration of truth and justice by placing the protagonists into fantasy second dimension/world. Sam and Finny live as outcasts in their city, until they find out that they belong to another world. Both Sam and Finny have magical talents that are needed in to fight evil in another land.

Firstly, the novel was a pleasant short read but it wasn't a great book. Paladin isn't bad but it isn't very good either, it’s just mediocre. While, I enjoyed the hour or two it took me to read I wouldn't recommend this book, simply because there are other fantasy novels that are better. The main reasons for this were that it was very brief and unoriginal. However, there were some nice themes investigated.

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

“You will profit by failure, and will avoid it another time. I have done a similar thing myself, in construction, often. Every failure teaches a man something, if he will learn.”

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens is the tale of the intertwining lives of 19^th Century British families, from different social and economic statuses. Little Dorrit was born and raised in the Marshalsea debtors’ prison. She meets Mr. Clennam, who had just returned from his travels abroad, after his father died and left a mysterious watch for Mrs. Clennam. After seeing his mother being unusually nice to Little Dorrit he begins to suspect that his mother, the watch and Little Dorrit are all connected. He also suspects that his mother had taken some part in the financial state of the Dorrits. Mr. Clennam, with the help of friends and high powered connections investigate this case. What we find out in the end is a bigger twist to the story than Mr. Clennam ever suspected when he began to investigate.

Like many 19^th Century, English classics, Little Dorrit is a humongous text that explores the unfair working of society, the gap in the upper and lower classes and especially, the obsession people have with money. I found this book was sometimes very confusing and at other times very intriguing. The start was very long and it only became to be interesting only a third of the way in, mostly because it was when I started to understand the story – others more proficient in classic literature may completely disagree with me. What I found the hardest to follow were all the jumps from each family every few chapters. However, I didn’t worry about this too much because I had already learnt from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, which followed the same style. And as expected, the confusion all pays off when all the characters come together to form part of just one story.

Warning: This is a somewhat lengthy review  of the ideas on the book and it contains  some spoilers.

O Meu Primeiro Blog: De Volta aos Quinze por Bruna Vieira

“Dizem por aí, e eu concordo plenamente; a melhor maneira de ser feliz com alguém é aprender a ser feliz sozinho. Daí a companhia será questão de escola, e não de necessidade”

O livro, De Volta aos Quinzes por Bruna Vieira é o primeiro da triologia do Meu Primeiro Blog. A história é sobre uma mulher - chamada Anita - de 30 anos que estava muito infeliz com a vida, sobretudo estava infeliz com o trabalho, falta de relacionamentos e acima de tudo com as escolhas dela. A amiga de Anita manda o link para o velho blog de Anita, e desde esse momento a vida da Anita se transforma. Quando ela abriu o site, ela é transportada para o passado, de volta aos quinze, e tem a oportunidade de mudar e recomeçar a vida. Mas, as consequências das escolhas não são como ela esperava e acabam deixando a vida dela muito mais complicada.

Vou começar dizendo que eu amei este livro! Eu li o livro inteirinho em apenas um dia e meio. O que me deixou mais impressionada foi o quanto Bruna já conseguiu com só 19 anos. Saber isso, me deixou inspirada para seguir os meus próprios sonhos. Voltando ao livro, eu sempre adoro livros que lidam com a idéia  de trocar de corpo ou, come neste caso, trocar de idade. Histórias assim sempre são muito engraçadas, são um jeito interessante de escrever críticas da sociedade e ensinar bons valores para o leitor. Fazer a Anita voltar aos 15 anos várias vezes, mesmo depois de ter aprendindo uma lição foi um jeito muito bom de botar uma novidade em uma idéa velha.

Zoé et la sorcière du quatrième

« Vous aimez votre fille. Seulement, ça ne suffit pas. Il faut prendre le temps de le lui dire, à cette petite biquette. Aujourd’hui, et puis demain, et puis toujours… »

Zoé et la sorcière du 4^e par Thierry Lenain et Colonel Moutarde est une livre sur une petite fille, qui s’appelle Zoé. Elle est toujours seule parce que ses parents travaillent beaucoup. Zoé a pleine d’imagination et  elle croit que sa voisine du dessus, Mme Mizu, est une sorcière.

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

“If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness. " - [Monseigneur Bienvenue] Les Misérables.

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is the story, set in the 19th Century, of the intertwining lives of Jean Valjean, Fantine, The Theodores, Javert, Cosette and Marius Pontmercy. Jean Valjean was a convict, released after 19 years in prison. He goes from a distraught, dark and even malicious man to a "saint". He grows to become very successful and a respected man in his new town. That is, until Javert (a police agent) discovers the truth and Jean Valjean must escape. The others are characters that he meets later on that affect his actions and attitudes. 

This book was amazing!!! Don't get me wrong,I struggled a lot at the start and it took me months to read the book, but it was all worth it! Because the stories all intertwine at the end, it is only at the end of each chapter and especially at the end of the book that the story seems to be making complete sense and it is at such moments that the book becomes so gripping. Victor Hugo did a fantastic job exploring the darkest parts of society and while it seemed dry at some parts, it all joined up to create a very well written and intriguing book. It is one of those times that you have to step away to see the whole picture. I have to admit, the language was quite hard at times and I did not understand everything and I'm sure I missed important ideas Hugo wrote. I will definitely revisit this book in a few years to get even more from it...

The Quentaris Chronicles- The Cat Dreamer by Isobelle Carmody

"Magic is a kind of dream, and love is a dream, and hope is a dream. Without our dreams, there is no sweetness, no purpose to life.” 

This book is one of many in the Quentaris Chronicles. Each book in this chronicles are written by a different author and has different characters and the only thing that is the same is the setting. The Cat Dreamer is about a mysterious fog that appears in Quentaris, followed by many unexplained suicides. Iakas, a secret agent, is sent to the city to investigate this. She can change from being a woman to a cat and she can also enter people's dreams. Iakas enters Igorik's dreams to learn what he already knows and tell him how to fight the fog. 

The Dead of the Night by John Marsden

In The Dead of the Night, Ellie and her five friends decide to go back to Wirrawee to see if Corrie and Kevin are fine and try to get more information about the Showground. After sharing what they found out they decide to go to see what's on the other side of Hell and hopefully find  more people. 

This is the second book in the Tomorrow series. It's more violent and more adventurous than the first. They kill more soldiers and there are more attacks. Because of this, Ellie feels guilty and feels 'shadows' following her. 'I live in the light, but carry my dark with me' is how she describes what she is feeling. The group continuously change from young and naive teenagers to more experienced and strategic people. They are more careful and aware of the situation that they are in. They are already giving each other advise on how to keep calm when they are attacking and aren't as clueless as they were in the start of the first book. 'When you're scared you can either give in to the panic and let your mind fall apart, or you can take charge of your mind and think brave.'