ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that... Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power. He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 406
From Goodreads: "Things are getting desperate for Maya and her friends. Hunted by the powerful St. Clouds and now a rival Cabal as well, they're quickly running out of places to hide. And with the whole world thinking they died in a helicopter crash, it's not like they can just go to the authorities for help.
All they have is the name and number of someone who might be able to give them a few answers. Answers to why they're so valuable, and why their supernatural powers are getting more and more out of control.
But Maya is unprepared for the truths that await her. And now, like it or not, she'll have to face down some demons from her past if she ever hopes to move on with her life. Because Maya can't keep running forever.
Old secrets are revealed and unexpected characters make a surprising return in this stunning conclusion to Kelley Armstrong's New York Times bestselling Darkness Rising trilogy."
Kelley Armstrong is one of my few go-to authors, from her "Women of the Otherworld" series, to her "Darkest Powers", to this series, her "Darkness Rising". However, I must admit that this is series is my least favourite of hers- however, this book is my most favourite of this series (a double-edged sword, of sorts). That being said, while this book is my most favourite of the series, that it is not to say that it is not without flaws. My two largest complaints about this novel were the presence of a love triangle and the ending.
In all honesty, I was quite blindsided to be faced with a love triangle in this book. I thought that Maya had dispelled any possibility of that in the previous books in the series- having eyes only for Rafe, seeing Daniel as nothing more than her best friend. Furthermore, I think that didn't think that this book has near as satisfying of an ending as the "Darkest Powers" series did, in fact, I would go so far to say that this book has a cop-out ending. Withholding any spoilers, essentially the characters go against all of their beliefs/ everything that they have fought against for years, taking what many would consider the "easy road" out (additionally, I found that the ending was quite rushed, for years we had been told that there would be three YA trilogies in this overarching series, however, it appears that there will just be two, therefore perhaps leading to the many loose ends of these books having to be hastily tied together).
That being said, as mentioned, Kelley is one of my most favourite authors- basically I think that anything that she touches is gold. Therefore, despite my complaints, I did really enjoy this series and it is up there among the top YA series I have read to date- Kelley is able to do what so few authors are able to, successfully combine a number of different magical races in a realistic, not to mention not overwhelming, way (I personally love all of the references to her different series, for instance, Derek, Chloe, the Cabals, Sean, etc.). Furthermore, each of her characters are extremely charming in their own way, shape, or form, and all of whom the reader can truly connect to. I hope that one day Kelley will revisit this world, either in the promised third trilogy, or by adding these characters to her adult series, as I hate to let them go.
Rating: 4/5
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