Bogormen

Title: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2)
Author: Amie Kaufmann & Jay Kristoff
Genre: Sci-fi, epistolary
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 500
Date read: October, 2018

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.


Soooooo, I may have read this book in a day :-D Well, it IS a quick read, thanks to its unique writing style, and now that I knew what I was in for, I didn't have the same issues getting into the book as I had with the first one. I really liked both Hanna and Nik, and didn't miss Kady and Ezra as much as I had expected to (although I'm really looking forward to seeing them all together in the next and final book in the series). Once again, there were twists and turns I hadn't expected, and though I'm not sure I really got all of the pseudo-science behind some of them, I don't care :-P My favourite part of Gemina were Hanna's journal entries. Great addition to the chat / radio logs and surveillance cameras.

Can't wait to pick up the last book and see how everything works out.

Title: Waking Gods (Themis Files #2)
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Genre: Sci-fi, epistolary
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 336 pages
Date read: May 2017, June 2018, May 2025

As a child, Rose Franklin made an astonishing discovery: a giant metallic hand, buried deep within the earth. As an adult, she's dedicated her brilliant scientific career to solving the mystery that began that fateful day: Why was a titanic robot of unknown origin buried in pieces around the world? Years of investigation have produced intriguing answers - and even more perplexing questions. But the truth is closer than ever before when a second robot, more massive than the first, materializes and lashes out with deadly force.

Now humankind faces a nightmare invasion scenario made real, as more colossal machines touch down across the globe. But Rose and her team at the Earth Defense Corps refuse to surrender. They can turn the tide if they can unlock the last secrets of an advanced alien technology. The greatest weapon humanity wields is knowledge in a do-or-die battle to inherit the Earth... and maybe even the stars.


This book picks up 9 years after the first one left off which disappointed me a bit at first (I wanted to know what happened RIGHT after), but worked quite nicely once I got further into it.

Though obviously not as 'unique' as the first book, "Waking Gods" was every bit as good and every bit as difficult to put down. Even the (relatively) open ending didn't bother me too much, as it fit in with the rest of the plot. Still, I'll be keeping an eager eye out for the third book in the series.

I'm really fond of the writing style. It's a bit of a stretch to call it "epistolary" as a lot of it is transcripts of interviews/conversations, but there's no "narration" - everything is told through dialogue or journal entries. It adds a certain twist to the atmosphere which I really like.

Rather dark at times (Sylvain Neuvel is not afraid to "kill his darlings" - so don't expect anybody to be safe "just because") but still written with a good dose of humour. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to read more.

Reread in 2025: I downgraded the rating a bit on this reread (from 4.5 to 3.5) - there were just too many things left unanswered and too many jumps in narration. I realize this was a deliberate choice by the author, but it kept pulling me out of the narrative. Still enjoyed it otherwise though.

Title: S.
Author: J.J. Abrams & Doug Dorst
Genre: Epistolary
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 456
Date read: October, 2015

One book. Two readers. A world of mystery, menace, and desire.

A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.

THE BOOK: Ship of Theseus, the final novel by a prolific but enigmatic writer named V. M. Straka, in which a man with no past is shanghaied onto a strange ship with a monstrous crew and launched onto a disorienting and perilous journey.

THE WRITER: Straka, the incendiary and secretive subject of one of the world's greatest mysteries, a revolutionary about whom the world knows nothing apart from the words he wrote and the rumours that swirl around him.

THE READERS: Jennifer and Eric, a college senior and a disgraced grad student, both facing crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they're willing to trust another person with their passions, hurts, and fears.


I don't usually post photos in my reviews, but the charm of this book is best explained via visual aids.


The minute I saw this book, I knew I had to have it. I adore books that play with the media ("Lost in a Good Book" and "The City of Dreaming Books" spring to mind as other books that do this really well), so when I realized that half the plot in this book was told via the book "Ship of Theseus" and the other half was told through comments in the margin of said book as well as clippings, photos etc. inserted throughout the book - I was sold. What an altogether brilliant idea! I almost didn't care about the plot itself.

And the book didn't disappoint. I loved getting to know Eric and Jen through the comments in the margin - trying to figure out the timeline as they jumped back and forth to have conversations and follow up on things. I cared less about the story of SOT, but I don't think we were really supposed to, as it was mostly a means to an end. The main problem with the book - and the only reason it didn't make a straight 5 star rating - is that it was almost too realistic in Eric and Jen's way of communicating, so some things were just implied or understood, as they were referring to events they obviously both knew the outcome of. This also made the ending slightly abrupt, and left me with a few unanswered questions.

Nothing major though, and at the end of the day, the charm of the book won through. Definitely the most unusual book I have ever read.

Title: The Green Gables Letters
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Genre: Non-fiction, epistolary
Rating: 2.5/5
# pages: 94
Date read: March, 2015

Letters from L. M. Montgomery to Ephraim Weber, 1905-1909.

I bought this at a time where I wanted to read everything and anything concerning L.M. Montgomery - especially as Ephraim Weber got mentioned quite a bit in her journals. However, having read the journals, there was very little new in this book, although it was interesting to see how she described her reactions to the publishing of the two first Anne books to somebody else (and that Mark Twain wrote her a review!). Also, I had forgotten how quickly she was pushed to write more - "Anne of Green Gables" was initially supposed to be a stand-alone novel!