Category: Paperback

OtherEarth (Last Reality #2) – Review

Title: OtherEarth

Series: Last Reality (#2)

Author: Jason Segel, Kirsten Miller

Type: Fiction

Genre: Science Fiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 320

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Borrowed from the library

Rating: 3/5

Blurb: Simon saved his best friend, Kat, from the clutches of the Company and their high-tech VR gaming experience, Otherworld. But it was at a steep price. Now he, Kat, and their friend Busara are on the run. They know too much. About the Company’s dark secrets. About the real-life consequences of playing Otherworld. And about Kat’s stepfather’s involvement in everything. The group is headed to New Mexico to find Simon’s old roommate, who is a tech genius and possibly the only person who can help them reveal the truth about the Company before it’s too late and the line between what’s real and what’s fantasy is erased… forever.

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I borrowed this book from the library following my read of OtherWorld (Last Reality #1) by the same authors. I had to reserve it AND wait for it to be transferred from a different library to my local one. I paid a grand total of 75p for this pleasure. The cost didn’t really bother me, it was definitely cheaper than buying a copy of the book – especially since I wasn’t really sure whether I would like it or not.

Set in the same video-game/virtual reality world(s) as the first book in the series, we meet Simon and Kat again, along with some other key characters from the first story. This book picked up EXACTLY where the first book left off. This is not something that always happens in sequels, often you find that there has been a certain length of time passed between books but this did not. It was super easy to dive back into the story, continuing along the journey with Simon. Following him from the real world to the VR world and wondering what they were going to do in order to overcome the predicaments facing them. After reading some of the reviews on Goodreads, it seems I was not the only one able to easily continue with reading the story at the beginning.

Pulling up into the home run, where all the major action normally takes place, this book did not disappoint. We had plenty of action and lots of major plot points seem to be coming together. I got very excited thinking of everything that would be happening and then BOOM!!! It threw me off a bridge. So dang confused. I’m hoping 100% that the third book due out later on this year will bring everything round to a close. Make sense of the bits that have left me thinking WTF.

**If you have NOT read this book, please DO NOT read any further**

 

CLICK HERE TO READ SPOILER

Simon has been in and out of OtherWorld so many times, he has no idea what is real and what isn’t. There are plenty of hints given to this effect throughout the story, particularly by his Grandfather. Busara confuses me more and more as the story goes on, her main reasoning behind this is kind of explained as we draw to a close BUT that final chapter is the one that completely left me dumbfounded. It’s rare I feel this way about a book but man I was left feeling completely betrayed. Was the whole book a simulation, or just part of it? At what part in the story did it become a simulation? Why was it not obvious to readers such as myself (and I’m normally quite good at guessing twists)? I don’t even know where that leaves us now?
I’m feeling quite nonchalant about the whole series right now, especially as it’s fresh in my mind (I finished it about an hour ago). Is this what we want from a cliff hanger? I like a book that leaves me wanting more, a need to read the next book to see what happens next but I’m just not feeling that at the moment. I am waaaayyyy too confused right now.

“Karlology – What I’ve Learnt So Far? by Karl Pilkington” Review

Image result for Karlology - What I Have Learnt So Far

I used to really enjoy watching Karl Pilkington in his TV Show – An Idiot Abroad. In this book, Karl tells us all about the things he has learnt whilst visiting various attractions in and around London.

Each chapter is a section on a specific visit, from an Egyptian display to a museum, various different places are explored. Karl tells us about the place he visited and provides his insight into a lot of what he learnt.

I didn’t find this book as entertaining as his TV show, I felt like it was lacking in the usual flair I had come to expect from Karl but there was just enough “Karlology” to keep me going at a fairly quick speed.

Title: Karlology – What I’ve Learnt So Far

Author: Karl Pilkington

Pages: Unsure at time of writing review

Genre: True Life

Format: Paperback

Owned/Borrowed/Given Etc: Owned

Rating: 3/5

The Kill Order (The Maze Runner #4) Review – James Dashner

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1 stars (1)

James Dashner is well known for his writing of The Maze Runner series of books. The trilogy that includes The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. I say trilogy because that was clearly all it needed to be. Sure a bit about the background and how W.I.C.K.E.D came to be would be nice (which I now believe is explained in The Fever Code, although judging by the majority of the reviews I’m not sure it actually does give us any unexpected answers) but Dashner could’ve just stopped at the end of The Death Cure.

The Kill Order, book #4 in the series is a prequel. Set not long after when the sun flares have finished but left the entire planet in disarray, The Kill Order takes us to a time when people were trying to stay alive and survive. Not to end up with the “madness” that so many have already succumbed to.

In The Kill Order we meet BRAND NEW characters. NONE, and I mean, NONE of the characters from any of the original trilogy are in this story. Whilst I appreciate, that the previous characters are of YA age, it would have been good to have been able to connect the characters in this story to the original trilogy. The only connections between this book and previous books are 1) the crazies (people affected by the madness) and 2) the sun flares.
I think I understand what Dashner was trying to do, by telling us more about the world before the “maze” it would give us a clearer picture of what was happening but to be honest, I didn’t feel that at all. We didn’t learn anything in this particular prequel that we didn’t already know from previous instalments.
I not only had issues with the story, but with reading this book. I started reading it back in August 2018 but due to having difficulties (which I’m not sure was due to myself or the book) it took until today to finish it. I couldn’t read more than a few pages at a time.

While I did have issues with it, when reviewing I try and provide some positives as well as negatives. Had this been a stand alone story, it could have worked as a good old apocalyptic action story (there was definitely plenty of action).
I had a favourite character, I usually do, even in books I don’t like. Alec an older ex-forces gentleman, leading the charge throughout the book, he made it worth sticking with. I liked him.

James Dashner, I’m disappointed in this particular book. Not only did it not deliver what I thought it would, I’m not sure that it delivered what you wanted it too either.