Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts

Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Illuminae // Book Review

So this was the first book I read in 2016 and I had some pretty mixed emotions about it. I went from the verge of boredom, through to "WTFFFFFFF", then about 30 pages to the end I was begging it not to end. And so the story goes (....along with a cheeky bit of sketching I've been up to); 

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again."


So here's the deal, chick finds love, loses said love, loses parents (why not), gets caught up in an interstellar war, interacts with artificial intelligence, and also gets caught in the fray of infected individuals which makes for great character building. 

The main thing I want to point out is the unique plot progression of the story. It's honestly nothing I've seen before. Basically the book is a series of documents, audio transcripts, military files, psychological musings of aforementioned AI and strategically censored blackouts. It read quite seamlessly even in the transitioning of documents, the perks of this kind of writing allows maps, behind-the-scenes-planning-that-will-soon-bite-the-arse-of-the-protagonist-to-be-fleshed-out, and creative digression in the layout. 

Yep, have a page dedicated to the word "silence" (*grammar Nazis feel an excruciating pain in their proverbial heart*) and have it positioned to the right about three-quarters down the page for dramatic emphasis [p49]. Totalling 600 pages, don't mistaken this to be a LoTR novel because in actuality, a considerable amount of pages (if not all the pages) are not full... if that makes any sense. To give you some confidence there are 6 consecutive pages in one section that has a total of seventeen words. [pp578-583] 


SPOILER ALERT ~ SPOILER ALERT ~ SPOILER ALERT  

You know Adian, right? OK I have to admit, I had a love-hate relationship with him. Oh man, I hated him so much when he said he was pretending to be Ezra. That broke me. Also the fact that you were engrossed in the mind/thinking process of an AI just made the scene all the better. The sardonic big brother was humorous as much as he was cold hearted heartless. 

When I was OK with the fact that Kady was going to die, she backflips and makes it home after exploring two juggernaut space ships. Which makes sense because this will be a trilogy.  


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Sunday, 18 January 2015

'The Vogue Factor' - Kristie Clements

My latest read was 'The Vogue Factor' by ex-editor of Vogue Australia Kristie Clements. I actually devoured the book in a few days only because I was going out a lot and had to savor every free moment! I'm actually infatuated by the lavish high fashion world (puh-lease, who isn't) and astounded by the sheer luck some people are blessed with to be able to penetrate the sphere of this totally different world! More so, Kristie herself who started at Vogue as a receptionist swapping calls. 


I have no idea how she can play down these 'pinch-me' moments when she's dinning with the Estée Lauder, rubbing shoulders with Beyoncé and chatting with Cate Blanchett!


So I really enjoyed reading about the travels to amazing Armani parties with 'unbelievable food', waiting in backstage Louis Vuitton while pups swarmed at your feet, Karl Lagerfield's small and intimate hosted lunches at his home Rue de l'Universite and the ornaments and architecture in the palace where Princess Mary of Denmark now resides!






Besides capturing the lux and glamour you really get to see the headaches and mini tantrums of running a magazine. The real world stuff after descending from the dream of front row fashion week and ready to wear (RTW) shows in the fashion capitals. 


How they manage to deliver each month is a wonder to me. The whole book is as upbeat as the job itself - never a dull moment! You almost get a taste of the frustration as plans fall apart and photographers and Hollywood agents play hard to get! Here the media and newspapers are the baddie and the insight into girls aspiring to make Vogue can also be shocking!

It's a truly crazy world but boy is it an addictive one! 


Kristie inspires you to take and never doubt your chances, to ignore the pretentious players social climbers of the industry (Cause they don't last), to travel and live abroad and to be determined in your goals in the same way she envisioned to rebuild her Vogue! Also - knowing French may come in handy so you get placed next to Mr Armani as the only journo/editor to speak his language! Plus now she has two very good looking twin sons  (single perhaps?) and very privileged, envious experiences to look back on!

For the rest of us, we can just follow the new league of fashion bloggers on Instagram like Natasha Goldenberg (@ngoldenberg), Anna Dello Russo (@anna_dello_russo) etc etc to get a taste of what she writes about (apparently the Vuitton events trump all).




The book is a definite must read! This would be one of my first biography kinds of books about the fashion industry and it certainly won't be my last! If you want to start out in fashion, or are content with dreaming about fashion (like me) or just curious then this is the one to get into! Needless to say I'll be looking out for other books exposing the fashion industry - the good, bad and downright ugly.

3/5

MVPD


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