Time for another round of Yvo’s Shorties! Another YA edition… The first a final book of a trilogy, Champion by Marie Lu, which I didn’t find to be as strong as the first two books. The other title is my first Dutch read of the year. A Dutch translation of The Year Of The Rat by Clare Furniss, which was quite good overall.
Title: Champion
(Legend #3)
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: YA, Dystopia, Romance
First published: November 5th 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Finished reading: July 8th 2018
Pages: 384
“Sometimes, the sun sets earlier. Days don’t last forever, you know. But I’ll fight as hard as I can. I can promise you that.”
I decided to pick up Legend book number three shortly after finishing the second one as part of the promise to myself to start finishing more series. After enjoying the first two books, I was actually quite surprised I didn’t enjoy the final book of the trilogy as much as the previous two. I can’t put my finger exactly on the why, but I think it has to do with the fact that I just didn’t think the plot was as interesting as I would have hoped for a final book. Also, the love triangle really started to get on my nerves… But then again I’m never a fan of those in the first place. Champion wasn’t a bad read, but it lacked the little something extra from the previous books for me. Sure, the writing has the same quality and I guess fans of the genre and series will have a good time with it, but I hoped for something more. This also goes for the ending, which I didn’t like at all. It’s kind of an ending that can go either way for you though, because there are some twists that will definitely mess with your emotions and it depends on how you react to that. All in all not a bad read, but I had hoped for a stronger ending of the Legend trilogy.
Title: The Year Of The Rat
Author: Clare Furniss
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Fiction
First published: April 24th 2014
Publisher: Querido
Finished reading: July 10th 2018
Pages: 272
(Read in Dutch: ‘Het Jaar Dat De Wereld Op Zijn Kop Stond’)
“You shouldn’t be wasting your time worrying about what’s going to happen after you die. It’s pointless. Think about what’s happening now. In your life. That’s what’s important. ”
I still can’t believe I was able to finish my Dutch read of the year this quickly! The Dutch translation of The Year Of The Rat was quite a fast read and that definitely helped me reach the final page easily. I’m not a fan of reading in Dutch, but I liked this story well enough and it was interesting to see what loss and grief can do to a person. Although not perfect, the story itself was well developed and I definitely appreciated that there almost wasn’t any romance included in the plot. The Year Of The Rat is a mostly family focused and character driven story where we follow the main character Pearl as she tries to deal with the fact that her mother died giving birth to her little sister. While I can’t say I was able to connect to the main character, there is no doubt some very powerful emotions are described; it’s a story that will make you think. If you are looking for something easy and fluffy, you are definitely looking at the wrong story, because you will find some very difficult moments in this read.
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I spent five minutes trying to decipher the Dutch title before realising it was not in English xD
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Hahaha I did trick you here by putting the English title in most other parts of the review. 😉 (I admit I was lazy since the Dutch title was way too long to type haha)
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Great reviews Yvo! The Legend series is one that has been on my list but then I gave up haha. I am now convinced that I am not the best audience and made a good call by not picking it up.
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Yeah I’m not sure if you would enjoy the series… I’ve heard The Young Elites is better and I’m really curious about that one, although in way I’m afraid it will be another cliche YA dystopian series.
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I do tend to like YA dystopian (huge Hunger Games fan) but is hit and miss haha.
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I used to love them until they became too predictable haha. I can still love them though if I don’t read too many of them. 😉
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Yes haha. I have been spacing them way out and favoring adult spec fic more of late.
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I seem to be more on a mystery/historical fiction/contemporary binge myself lately… I’ve tried starting something more fantasy once or twice but I’m just not in the mood for it. xD
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It happens for sure!
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Great reviews! Love the short and to the point thoughts 🙂
I of course have come across the love for Marie Lu series but I never felt compelled enough to jump straight in, I guess the towering tbr pile doesn’t help either, hehehe…
I think it’s great you read in Dutch! I also am trying to make an effort to read a bit more in Estonian… I find the differences in what a language other than English can bring across in a book so vast… Is it the same with Dutch? The descriptions and the way the language can be so much more colorful than English?
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It took me years to actually finish the Legend series, so I can relate haha.
And about reading in Dutch… I confess my Dutch is really rusty and it no longer feels ‘natural’ reading in the language; it makes it hard to compare. But I do have a similar experience with Spanish. Because the language has a very diverse vocabulary they have a lot more options to describe a situation or character and this can make the prose a lot more interesting. I personally prefer the more ‘direct’ way of the English language, but it’s nice seeing the differences.
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