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Muh, das Telefonbuch

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Brave New World
David Bradshaw, Aldous Huxley
Men of the Otherworld (Otherworld Stories, #I)
Kelley Armstrong
Tales of the Otherworld (Otherworld Stories, #2)
Kelley Armstrong
Room - Emma Donoghue 3.5
Smaragdgrün - Kerstin Gier 4.5
Saphirblau - Kerstin Gier 4.5
The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden, #2) - Julie Kagawa Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.
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Even as a child, Allison Sekemoto had to get along on her own. So it is not too big a problem to travel alone again, especially since she is a vampire now and has the strength to take care of herself. However, she might not need to fear rabids too much, but there are still people she should stay away from. Unfortunately, one of them is exactly where she wants to go.
There is unexpected help though from someone she never wanted to meet again, and from someone she never expected to meet again – still, she has to accept because she is running out of time and the way is long. Not to mention the one problem she constantly has to deal with: will she be one of the monsters she despises so much in the end, or will she be able to keep some of her humanity?


I already had some problems with the first book, but never so much that my interest in the ongoing story faded. Book two, on the other hand, does some more mistakes, so that I find myself doubting whether it was such a good idea to continue reading – even though I still hope that this is just one of those second books that often are a disappointment.

It is not too likely, however, as a lot of things are going on in “The Eternity Cure”, which is why it cannot be seen as one of those “gap books” that are supposed to make a trilogy out of a duology. Still, much of what is happening is very foreseeable. During the first 30% of the book there is nothing that would be the least bit surprising. Normally, this is not exactly required for a novel, but there clearly is something amiss if one is able to guess every single turn. It changes slightly as the story goes on, though only because the concerning characters did not appear often beforehand and were therefore not well-known or remembered. Real surprises – and in this case something that would create suspense – is not to be found in this sequel. Even in the end, when something happens that did surprise me with its radicalness (though the occurrence itself was, again, not surprising at all), the author managed to take a turn which makes me sure I know where all of this is leading to.

Another thing about the ending that irked me: Allie comes to a conclusion I could not completely follow, but to elaborate that further would be a spoiler. However, in general the protagonist shows something I would name the Meghan syndrome. Julie Kagawa’s other protagonist was in a constant need of rescue and used to be extremely whiny. The first one fortunately still does not apply to Allie, but she did develop a nasty tendency to overdramatize things. Sometimes, she made herself the very centre of some new information and interpreted it in a way that made it clear she sees herself as a little bit too important. This is why I liked her a little less. Furthermore, the author includes romantic scenes where none should be. The current situation is serious, so characters really should have other concerns than kissing – instead, many have to be actually dying for the others to get back to business. Why? Where is the sense in that, or is it to make readers angry? I am not opposed to romance, but everything has its time and it is really not like Allie could not help.

Otherwise, the book offers nice entertainment, paradoxically thanks to a character that should not be likable at all. Some characters do not show any notable development compared to the first book and it cannot be said about some other ones because they did not appear often or for very long. Anyway, there is a reunion with Jackal, who is, in his reckless and murderous way, quite funny and not the villain he is thought to be; still, it will not do any good to trust him too much.


“The Eternity Cure” is not a bad book, but unfortunately, Allie slowly becomes a second Meghan which she really cannot afford to do just now. Besides, 90% of the book are rather foreseeable in such I way that I think I roughly know how it is going to end. It could have been so good: Julie Kagawa does not deal with unimportant details and presents a quick-paced story with an actual plot. Still, in the end this is only enough for a moderate rating.
Cain's Blood - Geoffrey Girard I find the idea interesting that this tells the story of "Project Cain" from other perspectives, but this book is ridiculously expensive. (Especially when it's - basically, even though the details may differ - the same story.) :/
House Rules  - Chloe Neill 3.5
Etiquette & Espionage  - Gail Carriger Uw, just read that the British edition will be anglicized. <3
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell 3.5
Dylan & Gray - Katie Kacvinsky, Ulrike Nolte 3.5
Flirt mit der Unsterblichkeit  - Rachel Caine, Sonja Häußler 4.5
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk 3.5
Bittersüßer Verrat (Broschiert) - Rachel Caine, Sonja Häußler Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.
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Actually, there was hope: things have been bad for Morganville, but the danger was averted and it might even be that things will look much better for the human population. So everything is all right? Hardly. Some people want to use the chance to get back at the vampires and most problems are far from solved. How can you expect everything to go well when vampires, humans and sort-of-ghosts meet each other? Furthermore, Claire gets into some private trouble as Eve meets the charismatic Kim, who seems to take over Claire’s place as the best friend.


After six books you should know what to expect and “Fade Out” meets those expectations. That already starts with Rachel Caine’s laid back style.
It is as always a quickly finished book, but it is also less thrilling than its predecessors. The war is over, after all, so it is just the usual madness. But do not worry; it will not get boring at all: next to the best-friend-problem there are unruly vampires, vindictive computer ghosts and something else I did not expect – how could that not be entertaining? It all comes to Claire and her friends again; that is what you get from being able to defend yourself against a bunch of vampires. In the end, enough problems are left to promise some serious fun in the next book, especially since Morganville is forced to change again. We already learned that then everything can happen.

There are no real surprises when it comes to the characters. Shane and Claire are “stable” as always. There might be some doubt every now and then, but both are usually sure about themselves and each other. They are not perfect, but everything else would be unsatisfying.
There is a little bit more trouble with Michael and Eve whose relationship already had a difficult start; though I think she is sometimes a little bit unfair to her vampiric boyfriend. He tries, but in the end he will always be a vampire. They should know by now that not all vampires are (that) bad; instead they ask of Michael to be something he is not – really not fair if you ask me. Eve is still the most annoying, though. She can be pretty tough, but most of the time she gets a little bit too hysterical. As a result, she offends her friends. Seeing that this is happening over and over again, I will abandon any hope that the two of us might become friends at some point; it does not really matter, though, as long as there are the others and characters like Myrnin. (Besides, she is not actually the biggest pain in the neck; that is Kim.)

Is there anything else to be said? No. It is solid Rachel Caine entertainment and if you could enjoy that so far, you will do it again. There really is not much more you need to know.


“Fade Out” is a “Morganville Vampires” book just like the others – that means good entertainment with many laughs and an interesting, though not too thrilling story, solid characters and loads of problems. If you had fun with that before, well – enjoy the book!
Die Keime (Old Souls, #1) - Julia  Mayer 1.5
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Im Jahre 2074 haben sich einige Dinge verändert, unter anderem sind sich die Menschen einer Sache ganz besonders bewusst: der Wiedergeburt. Genau sie ist es, die die Menschheit in eine neue Krise stürzt, denn sie wird blockiert; niemand wird mehr wiedergeboren, und verantwortlich macht man dafür die Keime, die erste Stufe des Zyklus. Avery ist ein solcher Keim und auf der Flucht vor jenen, die sie eliminieren wollen, um selbst nicht vergänglich zu sein. Auf der Suche ist sie nach ihrer Vergangenheit und ihrer Zukunft zugleich – wenn sie nur eine Stufe aufsteigen könnte, wäre sie vorerst gerettet.


Ihr seht mich wieder einmal mit einer Inhaltsangabe konfrontiert, bei der ich nicht so recht weiß, was ich schreiben soll – aus dem einfachen und traurigen Grund, dass es da gar nicht so viel zu erwähnen gibt. „Die Keime“ hat insgesamt gesehen keinen nennenswerten Plot – Avery ist auf der Flucht und fertig. Sie mag den einen oder anderen Charakter kennenlernen und es gab ab und an sogar Punkte, bei denen ich zumindest dachte, dass die Geschichte nun richtig startet, allerdings habe ich mich jedes Mal getäuscht. Sie ist auf der Flucht. Und das war’s wirklich.

Ich kann mit einem mangelhaften Plot leben, wenn andere Seiten des Buches überzeugen – es wäre nicht das erste Mal, dass es mich nicht stört, dass nichts passiert, beispielsweise weil die Charaktere mitreißen und wunderbar unterhalten. Diese Option entfällt für „Die Keime“ leider auch. Avery ist, um es kurz zusammenzufassen, anstrengend. Dass ihre Situation schwierig ist, kann nicht bezweifelt werden, sodass der eine oder andere Tiefpunkt vollkommen verständlich ist. Wenn dann aber die eigene Existenz nicht ausreicht, um vom ängstlichen Dauerphilosophieren hin zu sinnvollen Taten zu führen – und nein, bekanntermaßen dummer Drogenkonsum gehört nicht dazu –, dann hört mein Verständnis irgendwann auch auf.
Andere Charaktere werden eingeführt oder zumindest erwähnt, bei manchen blieb schleierhaft, warum es getan wurde. Da hätten wir Cash, dem ich während 90% seiner Auftritte einen Therapeuten gewünscht habe, der ihm hilft, um aus seinem Loch herauszukommen; ein wenig tatkräftiger ist da schon Cosima, die genauso wie Skar auch mal Dinge tut – letzterer wurde leider als vollkommener Idiot dargestellt, der er mir eigentlich gar nicht zu sein schien. Vielleicht liegen auch hier die Gründe für die leichte Abneigung, die ich mit der Zeit immer mehr Avery gegenüber hegte. Bei einem weiteren Charakter muss man sich vermutlich bis Band 2 gedulden, ehe da Näheres beleuchtet wird, und mit etwas Glück betrifft das auch die Regierungschefin. Das Einzige, was mir ihre Kapitel verrieten, war keineswegs, dass sie ihre Motive hat und nicht nur als die Böse angesehen werden kann, sondern dass sie eine unsympathische, egoistische Person ist, die die Heuchelei zur Kunst erhoben hat. Ihr Mann ist so ein böser Kerl und nimmt keinerlei Rücksicht auf ihre Gefühle, aber hey, schlachten wir mal eben massenweise Menschen ab, weil wir sonst nicht wiedergeboren werden können.

Was mich zum Konzept des Ganzen bringt und … nein. Vielleicht wird es im nächsten Band klarer, aber vorerst machte all das für mich keinen Sinn.
Fangen wir mal mit den groben Fakten an: Wir haben das Jahr 2074 und da es eine Dystopie ist, kann ich wohl davon ausgehen, dass die vorherigen Systeme die unseren waren. Seit circa 62 Jahren ist man sich also der Wiedergeburt bewusst und lebt mit ihr – man halte fest: Das ist nicht einmal eine ganze Generation.
Nun funktioniert das Ganze mit der Wiedergeburt aber nicht mehr, und man vermutet (!), dass es an den Keimen liegt. Logische Handlunsgkonsequenz? Jagen und töten wir sie, warum auch nicht? Mir stellt sich allerdings die Frage, wie das Ganze danach weitergehen soll; sollten die Keime verantwortlich sein – wie das sein kann? Gute Frage, im Buch wird’s bisher nicht geklärt –, könnte ihre Eliminierung sicherlich helfen. Allerdings wird es auch danach wieder Keime geben, und was passiert, wenn es wieder Probleme gibt? Geht die Hetzjagd wieder von vorne los? Ohnehin erscheint es mir ein wenig fragwürdig, dass die Leute nach gerade mal 62 Jahren der bewussten Wiedergeburt sich überhaupt nicht mehr vorstellen können, wie es ohne ist, sodass sie – zu einem gewissen Teil ruhigen Gewissens – andere Menschen töten. An der Stelle ging an mir auch ein wenig die Dramatik verloren – ich kann verstehen, dass es im ersten Moment schrecklich ist, jemanden endgültig zu verlieren. Es ist aber nichts, mit dem man nicht umgehen könnte.
Auch physikalisch hat mir das Buch Rätsel aufgegeben, und das, obwohl Physik nie eines meiner stärksten Fächer war. An einer Stelle ist im Buch aber von einer Expansion des Universums die Rede – dachte, das wär ohnehin unendlich? – und die Erde wird als ausgestoßener Planet beschrieben. Scheinbar muss sie dabei ein Stück näher zur Sonne gerückt sein, weshalb man sich Sorgen darüber macht, dass die Erde irgendwann verbrennt. Vielleicht überschätze ich hier auch die Kraft der Sonne, aber wenn wir auch nur ein kleines Stück näher rücken, wäre es das nicht ohnehin schon für uns gewesen? Aufgrund neuer Informationen muss diese Kritik zurückgenommen werden - wobei eine ausführlichere Ausarbeitung des Themas von Vorteil gewesen wäre.

Leider konnte es auch der Stil der Autorin nicht wirklich für mich retten. Julia Mayer kann durchaus mit Worten umgehen, nur war oftmals zu viel gewollt. Wenn man es kurz zusammenfassen wollte, könnte man sagen, dass „Die Keime“ ein recht langer, aus aneinandergereihten Metaphern bestehender Monolog ist. Erstens gibt es reichlich wenig Dialoge – die zudem aus allerlei Flüchen bestehen –, was der Protagonistin viel Platz für ihre Gedanken einräumt, die in diesem Fall nicht für ein besseres Verständnis, sondern für Ermüdung sorgen.
Zweitens wird mit Metaphern geradezu um sich geschmissen. Selbst bei den einfachsten Ereignissen muss eine besondere Formulierung her – da geht eben nicht ganz normal die Tür auf, stattdessen gibt das Holz nach. Es gibt schöne und interessante Stellen im Text, allerdings auch weniger gelungene und rein grundsätzlich wird mir auch von meinen Lieblingssüßigkeiten schlecht, wenn ich zu viele davon esse. Weniger ist manchmal mehr, und das gilt genauso für schöne Worte. Ab einem gewissen Punkt wuchs das Bedürfnis, den Text nur noch zu überfliegen, mit jeder Seite – schade drum! Insofern war die Bemerkung einer mitlesenden Freundin nicht ganz unpassend: „Die Dialoge spiegeln die Emotionen des Lesers wider.“

Ein weiterer Punkt muss noch angesprochen werden: die Rechtschreibung. Wer sein Buch eigenständig veröffentlicht, muss nun einmal auch die Kontrolle selbst übernehmen, was hier nicht immer geglückt ist. Ich will nicht behaupten, dass „Die Keime“ nur so vor Fehlern strotzt, aber sie tauchen doch oft genug auf, um negativ aufzufallen – die ärgerlichsten sind dabei vermutlich die Apostrophe zur Abtrennung des S‘ im Plural und Genitiv.
An mancher Stelle wird dadurch für eine unfreiwillige Komik gesorgt, die keineswegs im Sinne der Autorin gewesen sein kann. Es ist ein himmelweiter Unterschied, ob Häscher und Agenten den Auftrag haben, bestimmte Leute „festzunehmen“ oder „fest zu nehmen“ – letzteres steht im Text, passt inhaltlich aber besser in einen Porno.
Anderes ist dagegen nicht direkt falsch, aber sehr missverständlich. Ohne klärende Anführungszeichen hat der Satz: „Scheiße schwebt stumm auf Skars Lippen“, eine zweite Bedeutung, über die ich gar nicht so genau nachdenken möchte. Allerdings muss dazu gesagt werden, dass das tatsächlich die größten Stilblüten des Buches sind, die aber für unbeabsichtigte Lachtränen gesorgt haben.


Was macht das am Ende? Eine interessante Grundidee, die nicht ganz nachvollziehbar umgesetzt wurde und auf keiner Ebene wirklich zu überzeugen vermag. „Die Keime“ hat durchaus seine guten Momente, allerdings gibt es diese viel zu selten und nicht alle davon waren tatsächlich so geplant.
Sprich - Laurie Halse Anderson Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.

3.5
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Melinda’s first year in High School starts but it is nothing like the exciting time you might imagine. The reason why is a party during the holidays; there, Melinda had to call the police which resulted in a lot of trouble for many people. Nobody knows why she did it and she is determined not to say one word about it. While she fights with what happened, her classmates avoid her and call her a spoilsport; not even her so-called friends stand by her, even though Melinda needs their support more than ever before. Otherwise, she might completely lose control.


“Speak” might have been fantastic if it had clicked between us. It tells the story of a girl who experienced something horrible, but instead of talking about it, Melinda remains silent, hoping to forget what was done to her. It is obvious that it does not do her any good and with every day her state gets worse. She withdraws, her marks worsen and she is not only affected mentally but also physically. She has no energy left; some passages about the High School life might be funny, but in general her mood shows in the text.
Still, I could never really relate to Melinda. Of course I felt sorry for her, especially since I knew what happened to her before even starting the book. I did hope for her to find the strength and courage to talk to someone – because that is the only thing that could possibly help her and also others. But it was never more; it would not even have been necessary to completely understand her (which I did). If I compare “Speak” with “Wintergirls” then I can get better into Melinda’s head than into Lia’s. Lia is anorexic and starves herself to death – I cannot say I will ever truly understand that and I am glad about it. However, I could relate better to Lia than to Melinda.

Normally, that would be a small problem, but in this case the story concentrates on the protagonist and her efforts to find her way back into everyday life. It is interesting and moving, but the latter could be more so – maybe it is good it is not, though. Some parts of the book could get rather depressing if it were more intense. Even so it is very sad.

What you can say for sure is that Melinda suffers more and more from depression which is reflected in the text. The farther we go, the more the events of the day monotonously follow one another and seem less important with every hour – what is the matter anyway, why should she even try? Most scenes are also very short, because what is there to tell? Instead, we get little sections, which you might like or not. Only every now and then we get to see something else than indifference when Melinda is reminded of what happened – it might even happen when they have to dissect frogs. The memory lurks everywhere and does not care about the girl it haunts.
Even linguistically the book is “loose”, just as you might expect it from a pupil. All in all, it seemed too loose and clipped for me, though the text is still nice to read. It is a small problem again, and in this case it really does not count much.


“Speak” could have been great, but I was unable to really relate to the protagonist and I thought the style was a little bit too clipped. In the end, it is a story about a girl that has to learn that we should and need to talk about what troubles us and pulls us down in order to be able to heal. The book shows what can happen if we remain silent. Therefore, I am not the least bit sorry to have read it, but I think there might be better literature about this topic.
Monument 14 - Emmy Laybourne Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.

2.5
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It is a perfectly normal day, or at least it should be. However, on his ways to school Dean’s bus is surprised by a hail storm – the bus crashes, and only thanks to another bus driver the few surviving kids get into a near supermarket where they barricade themselves. Only after some time they realize how bad the situation really is. They sent someone to get help but they should not expect to be rescued any time soon: the very air has been poisoned with chemicals and it is actually them who are in the best possible location.
That does not mean they are fine. They might be supplied with everything they need, but the youngest want to go home while the eldest fight with their very own fears. Besides, you cannot avoid conflicts when people are herded together for an unknown time in a confined space – surviving a catastrophe does not result in your other problems to clear up.


What do you do when from one day to another your world crumbles? That is the problem the protagonists are confronted with and react like many would do: with suppression. It is much nicer to be happy about being alone in a huge supermarket than thinking about the troubled world outside and the fact that your family might already be dead. We are all humans and nobody likes to deal with bad things; it is something the book clearly shows, in a way I could rely to.

Unfortunately, that cannot be said about everything. Some decisions border on the abstruse, just as some developments, that were probably meant to create suspense and add some drama, do; I personally thought it was too much.
It is weird, seeing that the story actually needs some turning points, only they should not be so “extreme”. There are some moments that give the story a new direction, and nobody can hide from the bitter truth forever, but in general the story is pretty slow-going. There is not much happening; the rescue barely makes progress; instead, we follow the protagonists’ (more or less successful) efforts to get along.

Thanks to the author overdoing it sometimes, the book was not as emotionally intense as it could and should be. It is not as if I did not care about the characters at all; I even started liking some despite there being so many of them that not everybody could be examined more closely. But the most I felt for them was wishing they had made another decisions, so my interest in the second book is quite limited. For that, the depths in the characters are missing.

The style requires getting used to, even though it is not exactly bad. Actually, the book is nice to read. Fitting Dean’s character, you do not have to fear endless adornments, but you get clearly said what is going on. It is something you have to like, and if you do this clearly is not the wrong book to read.
Unfortunately, it gets too clipped every now and then. Again and again, the author uses very short sentences to stress something, but she does that way too often. Sometimes it felt like walking into the wall after each sentence before you would find the door and could continue reading. You are not surprised if I tell you that this does not make much fun, are you?


“Monument 14” is not bad, but it could be much better. The language is sometimes too clipped and there is much else that is left to be desired. Few characters are properly depicted, but that has been difficult anyway given the shortness of the book or rather the amount of characters. What is worse is that the story sometimes looks outrageous, over the top. It made it difficult to really feel with the protagonists. Emmy Laybourne’s book is not a waste of time, but I do not want to continue reading the series either.
Shine Light - Marianne de Pierres Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.

The review contains spoilers about the other books.

2.5
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Naif and her friends learned terrible things, and now their aim is clear: they need to get back to Ixion to fight against the Ripers in order to save everybody who is and was on Ixion. With Ruzalia’s help they get back to the island, but nothing has been won yet. First, they have to get to know what they can actually do against the Ripers, and for that they need every help they can get. Meanwhile, Naif is still attracted by Lenoir even though he is a Riper just like any other else.


My first thought after finishing “Shine Bright” was “meh”. Actually, there is not much more to say about it, but I will try to elaborate that thought further.

Generally, you can say that the world building and the explanations offered are very vague or even non-existent. That is kind of telling for the whole series if you ask me. I was not impressed by the first book – though many loved it – and the second one only frustrated me. The plot was unnecessarily stretched and even back then there was that nasty thought that it might have been better to combine book 2 and 3 because the content is not enough for two books. Unfortunately, that nasty thought is simply the truth.
The third book is not as frustrating as its predecessor, but there is not much happening as well. It is only not that prominent because “Shine Light” generally has fewer pages. Besides that it is plain boring.

You might expect some difficulties in a final instalment to increase the suspense. However, Marianne de Pierres seemed to think that her characters had to go through enough trouble and should be left alone. As a result, they start their business and before you know where you are, they are finished.
Absolutely nothing goes wrong. Naif has an idea and promptly they find out everything they need to know. Never mind others have tried similar things before – for a much longer time at that! – and never accomplished anything. It is not surprising then that the final hurdle is taken nearly trouble-free, is it?
Reading any of this was no fun at all. The plot may not have been predictable, but there were no highlights either – why you have to publish something like this instead of leaving it to be a daydream, I cannot understand.

To be honest, I do not know what else could be said about this book. What is left? The style is nice, but that can be said about many books. The characters did make some development, but is that enough? I have to admit that in “Shine Light” they were less annoying than in “Angel Arias”, but that is not really an achievement.


The third book in the “Night Creature” series is less frustrating than its predecessor but incredibly boring. It is not as if nothing is happening – the book uses the space it has well, and nothing has been stretched to fill some more pages –, there are just no problems. Everything works perfectly well for the characters, and you cannot possibly hope to create suspense with that. If the last two books would be only one, it might still be okay, but it does not deserve a recommendation the way it is.