Lexicon by Max Barry

Title: Lexicon
Author: Max Barry
Genre: Thriller/Science Fiction/Fantasy

Maturity Rating: 13+
*Graphic scenes, but more than manageable for high level teen readers*
Overall Rating:

My Quickie Synopsis: Wil Jamieson finds himself in the center of a war that he cannot comprehend; there are people who can wield words as weapons, bending the world around them to their will. Caught in a tug of war between the two factions, Wil must fight to survive and uncover his hidden past before it's too late.

Enjoyment Factor: 

This is one of those books that grabs you by the collar on the very first page and dares you to look away. It's pretty balls-to-the-wall from the get go. It's uncomfortable. It's fantastic. It's bizarre. It's thought-provoking. There's a reason why the likes of TIME Magazine and NPR are shouting its high praises as one of the best reads from 2013. And yes, I know. It's 2014, but that doesn't make this book any less stellar. You know how in high school, or college (if you took certain liberal arts courses) you had to read books and write book reports? Yeah, this is a book that makes me want to write a book report. There's so much to discuss and I'm already having a hard time not jumping right into any highfalutin BS that you didn't come here to read. The premise is extraordinarily smart and edgy and it makes sense. Words have always held power, but their power is much more immediate and tangible in Mr. Barry's imagined world.

Start to think about why words, even images, affect you the way that they do.

But let's step aside from the intellectual side of Lexicon for a moment, shall we? I want to point out that Mr. Barry presents a highly entertaining read. You don't have to dig deeper to find the "greater meaning" of the book to enjoy it. It's an action-packed roller coaster ride of adventure and even if you only give it a surface read, it more than blows away most expectations for a good sci-fi thriller.

Technical Rating: 

Character Building:
I am not entirely certain how I feel about the main characters. I'm not sure whether my indecision is due to weak development, or just a general sense of unease about their attributes. That being said, the reason why I ultimately downgraded this particular rating had nothing to do with the protagonist(s) of the tale. The antagonist felt grossly glossed over. The announcement of the villain felt underwhelming in many ways, and truth be told, it detracted from the story.

Plot Strength:
For the most part (I'm talking a solid majority kind of part) I loved the plot. However, there are a lot of vague concepts that are never fully explained. I'm going to go ahead and say that the fuzzy "what the what?" feelings that Lexicon provides are purposeful; I think one of the main points to the tale is that you'll never fully understand every how or every why. Just like it's nearly impossible to wrap your mind around the why and the how of words affecting people the way that they do. Sure, you can give a technical explanation by going into the details of the brain and its mechanics, but after a certain level, you'll be left grasping at straws. Anyway, I'm starting to get into that highfalutin BS I promised I wouldn't get into, so let me just say why I didn't give this category a full star: the ending. It's such a cop-out! I actually felt a little shortchanged. Here I was, completely invested in what was going on, even though at times the story crumbled under its own weight. And then, BAM! A watered down ending that felt like Mr. Barry just wanted to be done with writing.

Sincerity:
Terrible ending aside, I think the sincerity was spot on. The way the plot was set up, I could see the events as having plausibility. And the characters felt like they belonged in that crazy world with their super secret war raging.

Editing/Writing:
I caught a couple of strange typos, but I'm going to chalk it up to E-book conversion. 
By the way, I haven't made any serious note about this, but I do generally read books in some kind of e-book format. At the moment it's just the more economically sound decision!

Pacing:
As I said before, Lexicon was a roller coaster ride, and the pacing reflected that. It picked up where it needed to and slowed down when it was appropriate for the tone of the events.

My Icing on Top:
So this review had been finished. And then it didn't save properly and I lost about half of it; I just can't catch a freaking break! I do feel slightly bad about getting back to re-writing it so long after the fact, but I owe you all quite a few reviews at this point! Anyway, go read Lexicon if you're looking for your summer fix. It's an intelligent story that will have you glued to the pages (or screen) until the very end. And if you're the type that likes to discuss the deeper meanings of books, hit me up! I'd love to discuss this with you :)

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K

The Atlantis Gene (The Origin Mystery #1) by A.G. Riddle

Title: The Atlantis Gene
Series: The Origin Mystery #1
Author: A.G. Riddle
Genre: Thriller/Science Fiction

Maturity Level: 13+
Some mildly graphic scenes of violence, but an okay read for an advanced teen reader
Overall Rating:

My Quickie Synopsis: The secrets of the origin of modern day humans are closer than ever to being revealed, but the world may be unprepared for the consequences of that knowledge. David Vale, an international intelligence agent, and Dr. Kate Warner, a lead genetic researcher, must pair up to defeat a centuries old organization before they doom humanity.

Enjoyment Factor:
I was teetering between the 2 star and 3 star mark, but I gave in to the three stars because this really is a very entertaining read. However, it's a very exhausting read. The chapters jump so fast back and forth to different locales and different characters that it'll make your head spin.

Trying to navigate the story was quite an undertaking!

It takes some getting used to, but it does make sense in terms of what Mr. Riddle presented as the plot line. I'm not entirely sure whether I want to read the second book, simply because The Atlantis Gene wiped me out. I feel tired after completing it, and I'm not sure how soon I want to zap my energy again.



Technical Rating:
Character Building:
The main heroes are explored adequately, but I think overall, character building came across as fragmented due to the constant shifting of focus. For a while, I didn't even have a clear image of what the main characters even looked like because they don't have memorable descriptions. It's not the worst offense in the world, but it is something that Mr. Riddle can address.

Plot Strength:
Again, the constant shifting is a problem here. The plot is fine, but it can be hard to follow at first because there's really no clear sense of what the story is actually about. You can't just pick up this story without reading the book cover first because it takes a while for the book to start coming together.

Sincerity:
The Atlantis Gene is a well thought out conspiracy theory story from an author who clearly did a lot of research. Some of the plot elements are a little far-fetched, but that's what you get with over-the-top super action-packed thrillers most of the time. But, everything is plausible within the world Mr. Riddle built.

Editing:
No one can fault Mr. Riddle when it comes to the editing of his grammatical structures, however, I think that editing should have included the flow of the overall story.

Pacing:
The pacing in the story is choppy at best. It strives to be so fast-paced, that at times the plot trips over itself.

My Icing on Top:
On the bright side, I think that the plot is intriguing enough, which in the end, counts for a lot. I'm not going to say that I think it's entirely original; conspiracies surrounding origin and the like have been around for quite some time, and I can't say that I'm entirely "WOW"ed by the theory presented. But I didn't drop the book. Mr. Riddle provides a story that is compelling in its own right and he does explore some thought-provoking aspects of humanity. This is his first book, so perhaps the story-line will come together more for him in his following books.

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller/Contemporary

Maturity Rating: 17+
Initial Rating: 5/5
Technical Rating: 5/5

My Quickie Synopsis: Nick Dunne finds himself in a whirlwind of trouble when his wife, Amy, goes missing from their quiet town. Although they played the picture perfect couple, Nick quickly arouses the suspicion of both local authority and former friends alike. But he stands by his innocence, even as his world is crumbling around him, and his daydreams turn slightly psychotic. What happened to the beautiful Amy Dunne, and who is to blame?

My Initial Response: Gone Girl is one of those polarizing books. You'll either love it, or you'll hate it. Do you remember when I reviewed Avoiding Commitment by K.A. Linde? Well, this story is somewhat like that in the sense that the concepts that Ms. Flynn writes about aren't the normal, fluffy, light crap. Which is understandable for a Mystery/Thriller. But the main reason why I compare the two is because the main comment against the books are their gross levels of wrongness. The difference for me, however, is that the level of wrongness in Gone Girl feels undeniably right for the story.

My dual reactions upon figuring it out

I don't want to get into too many specifics; with any mystery review, I feel you run the risk of spoiling the plot. That being said, once you figure out what's going on, be prepared to feel at least a tiny twinge of "What the hell?!" That's a sort of hallmark for a good mystery book, don't you think? I feel at odds for enjoying this book though. It's so dark and depraved, that you begin to wonder about the state of your own mind when you can be entertained by such things. There's a saying for that; "I looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked back." That's probably a bastardization of the actual quote, but you get what I mean. On to the technical side!

Character Building: 1/1
All of these characters are incredibly flawed. Every. Single. One. And yet, Ms. Flynn somehow miraculously makes it all work and makes it so the reader understands these flaws with what seems like little effort. The characters in Gone Girl are not the kind that you actively want to feel a connection to, but you can't help it. It's the same idea of not being able to pull away from some horrifically terrible scene unfolding. The level of magnetism that these characters have is outstanding, and I have to applaud Ms. Flynn for her terrific character building.

Plot Strength: 1/1
Any mystery or thriller is made or broken by the strength of its plot. Too much information too early, and readers already know what's going to happen and are more likely to become bored. Too little information too late, and readers can't even begin to understand what happened or why. Gone Girl finds the happy medium, and as a reader, you can follow right along, gobbling it all up. Granted, I know a few people who figured it all out a little sooner than maybe Ms. Flynn would have liked, but that happens. You can't fool them all!

Sincerity: 1/1
Ms. Flynn creates a very believable story-line. Is it crazy? Absolutely! Does it work? You betcha! The truth of the matter is that we all know people that are just like the main characters to varying degrees. It's not a stretch that such events could happen. I mean, turn on your local news, or simply peruse the bizarre stories posted to online newspapers. Stranger things have happened!

Editing: 1/1
No complaints here. The language is a little rough sometimes, but it goes with the story, so it's more than acceptable.

Pacing: 1/1
I think that the pacing here is just right. It can be frustrating at times though when you want Ms. Flynn to reveal everything, but patience is a virtue. The build-up is for a reason, and it's worthwhile in the end.

My Icing on Top:
I haven't been into mystery books really since my days of reading Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys and The Boxcar Children. That was quite some time ago! But Ms. Flynn here may have thrust me back into the genre full force. This isn't quite the sleuth-tale that I was used to, but it really worked for me. And beyond that, it must have worked for quite a few people since a movie is currently in the works. I'm not entirely sure how they'll nail down the feel for the book since a great deal of it is internal storytelling, but I look forward to seeing it, nonetheless. I would suggest this book if you're in for a new mystery/suspense book to read; just be warned that it isn't going to be a smooth ride getting to the conclusion!

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K