J. D. Montague's Hungry Garden Chronicles » Reviews

90 Second Review: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

J. D. Montague — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:03:24 +0000

Wow, was I unprepared for this book. It’s powerful, heart-rending, and potent. And I don’t use those clichés lightly. The sparse, sometimes poetic, writing gets under the skin and the story lingers long after finishing. I’m not ashamed to admit that I had to set the book aside a few times and have a good cry. Just be aware this book deals with a disturbing subject matter (spoiler alert—highlight to read: child molestation)—but don’t let that frighten you away.

Personal rating: 5/5 stars

90 Second Review: Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

J. D. Montague — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:56:13 +0000

Fun-filled zombie mayhem and brain candy at its finest. A well-worn story tweaked to be interesting. The writing was easy to digest and captivating. The pace was fast, but not breathless. And the characters, especially Remi, were sufficiently endearing. The romance angle, however, felt tacked on and the editing was atrocious with at least one grammatical or syntactical error every other page. Unfortunately these errors created unforgiveable stumbling blocks throughout the reading. Otherwise the rating most certainly would have been higher.

Personal rating: 3/5 stars

90 Second Review: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

J. D. Montague — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:13:23 +0000

There are werewolves, and vampires, and zombies, and ghosts, and other supernatural creatures, which may seem overplayed, but oh this book is tremendous fun. It’s filled with campy humor and wit without becoming over-the-top, it’s well-paced, and well-written with a fresh spin on some classic topics (i.e. coming of age, family secrets, even coping with death). In many ways it reminded me of Christopher Moore, only less explicit. A great read if you enjoy that sort of thing, and I do. Can’t wait to see what other sticky (or headless) situations the characters get themselves into.

Personal rating: 4/5 stars

90 Second Review: Trapped by Michael Northrop

J. D. Montague — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:11:04 +0000

If you ever wondered whether an entire book could be written where nothing of import actually happens, then wonder no more: It can. But not necessarily can it be done well. I had high expectations for Trapped. You take a bunch of diverse characters and lock them in a room together for days on end with limited resources and see what happens. The possibilities are endless, but it seems several teens trapped by a freak snow storm in a high school only merits one fist fight and pissing in a can. (There was a death, but it was almost peripheral.) And the ending was the worst kind of cop out.

Personal rating: 2/5 stars

90 Second Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

J. D. Montague — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:00:51 +0000

Beastly has a simple purpose: Update the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast. For the most part, it succeeded. As I read I couldn’t help thinking it reminded me of a grittier version of Disney’s animated feature (which is heavily modified from the original story). The prose was smooth, but not all that compelling and at times I got the impression the audience was being written down to. The cameos by other fairytale characters and authors was cute and the retooling of the plot worked even if it begged you to turn off your logic radar, so for the most part, I enjoyed it.

Personal rating: 3/5 stars

90 Second Review: The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

J. D. Montague — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:31:14 +0000

This trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay) is raw and brutal, the characters and their relationships are genuine, and the story is absolutely gripping. The writing so so crisp that each sentence, each paragraph, each chapter flowed into the next. My only struggle was with the third book, not necessarily because it was deficient in any way, but because it was bleak; it ultimately brought up some hard questions to answer about society and politics.

Personal rating: 5/5 Stars

90 Second Review: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

J. D. Montague — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:17:18 +0000

This is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read (speaking in terms of prose and syntax). In fact, it’s one of the only books I’ve had a desire to reread simply for the pleasure of it. The atmosphere was Gothic, murky, and mysterious. The language was lush and strangely inviting. The characters were memorable. The story was consuming, however, the denouement was somewhat weak, but when I think of the book as a whole, it’s forgivable.

Personal rating: 5/5 Stars

90 Second Review: Hourglass by Myra McEntire

J. D. Montague — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:46:00 +0000

Teenage X-men of time travel with a soupçon of romance? Excellent idea and a nice respite from the supernatural YA fare. However, an excellent idea does not a good book make. Although it’s a quick and easy read, cardboard characters who are all–amazingly enough–“gorgeous” (yes, even the villains), a romance with little actual courtship, and too much wangst bog down what otherwise would have been a fun and entertaining read. (Absolutely adore the cover, though.)

Personal rating: 2/5 Stars

*I’m actually torn on the star rating because I enjoyed where the plot was going, but the cruft was irksome. I’m inclined to say it’s worth reading, but it may be a library (or steal from a friend) read.

90 Second Review: Rotters by Daniel Kraus

J. D. Montague — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:55:00 +0000

I knew it centered around grave robbing, but this book was nothing like I expected. Joey Crouch’s, the narrator and protagonist, voice was honest and endearing despite the disturbing story he was telling. Gripping writing and vivid prose (though a few passages became a bit florid), beautifully designed characters (even the unlikable ones), and an engaging story all came together to create one of the best YA books I’ve read this year. But be forewarned, you’ll need a strong stomach to make it through.

Personal rating: 4/5 Stars

90 Second Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot

J. D. Montague — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:25:00 +0000

There is so much to love and so much not to love about this book. A modern retelling of Hades and Persephone, it’s certainly a nice deviation from werewolves and vampires, but it’s basically a foundation for the future books in the series and it leaves a lot of threads untied. The characters were well-drawn, but weren’t particularly memorable and neither was the plot, however, this book was delicious brain candy.

Personal Rating: 3/5 Stars