John Dies at the End by David Wong - BOOK REVIEW

John Dies at the End was written by David Wong, aka Jason Pargin in real life. Published as webserial in 2001, because of its success and number of readers (spread through word of mouth as Dave mentioned) it was then printed as paperback in 2007. David Wong is a data entry clerk turned writer, this was his first novel, a sequel entitled This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously Dude, Don't Touch It was released on October 2012.

John Dies at the End follow the story of David Wong and presented in his POV. Dave, is self-centered and a bitter guy. His only friend is John, and sometimes hard to be acquainted with and chooses to be by himself for some reasons maybe influenced by his past. But as the plot continues, he will slowly redeem himself and will show the other side of him, aside from being the ever loyal bestfriend to the end he passes also for being a hopeless romantic, in his own ways of course.

 What I really enjoyed are the antics of John, the other protagonist. I laughed a lot during his fight using the chair, and bashing it to the wig monsters. He find ways to incorporate the word “chair” in between his moves (I sentenced you death by a chair. etc. etc.) and that makes it very funny. Another thing is that despite of all their misfortunes he always turns the mood in a different way with just his one-liners, that’s John the best friend.

The book started by a question whether an ax that is used overtime, change the handle, then replace the wedge blade if it will also be the same ax  This seems like an odd question but at the end of the story, why the question is asked will be answered and why it is relevant. John Dies at the End is suspense, horror comedy novel. This is a mashed up of Ghostbusters/GhostFighter (anime,yuyuhakusho) wherein they have to battle the dark side but in a comic way plus all the holy water and peculiar gadgets/weapons.

The monsters and villains were also witty and funny. They have been detailed as gory as ever but with all the side comments made by the protagonists and the ability to say effing word very frequently, and let’s not forget how they are named (Shitload is the best monster there haha), you tend to forget they’re not hesitant to behead a person anytime.

The plot has been very well presented and laid out beautifully by Wong. Right from the start you will be enthralled with all the mysteries that surround them, most especially the first and second part. And this ended with a very loud BANG on the third and last. Until the end you will end up guessing and looking forward to unravel the mystery. And Wong succeeded in that, it really is the ingredient for a successful suspense novel.

Forgive all the cursings and profanity by the characters and you got a very good, hard to put down book.
 It has been a roller coaster hell of a kind read for me. And definitely I will have to grab its second installment.

Now..did John really died at the end? or who really died? It's for you to find out.

4 of 5 Hard Hats. Nice read for my April-end post.

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Book Review : Titan's Curse, Book Three Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan

Book Review,
Titan’s Curse
Book Three Percy Jackson Series
By Rick Riordan

The book was written by Rick Riordan, a Texas-based author, taught English and social studies for eight years, then turned novelist. Awarded Master Teachers Award in 2002. He wrote the first part of this series in 2005 which was later on adapted to movie. He is also the voice behind the hit series The Kane Chronicles and the follow up to Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus series. And on 2015, he’s planning to pen again a new series which will have a Norse-mythology theme.

The book, which is based in Greek Mythology, mainly focused on the adventures of the protagonists as they solve mysteries which involve the Gods and Goddesses, and yes they are alive and kicking and still fighting each other even this 21^{st century.}
And even violated their own rules not to have sons/daughters to a human, and created more heroes, the demigods. Now enters the Percy Jackson, the main character, he is the offspring of Poseidon, the God of the Seas and a mortal mother, Sally. As a demigod, he is dyslexic and has ADHD. Another heroine is Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, a strong willed woman, intelligent, an architect aspirant and has an invisibilty cap. Part of the team is Thalia, daughter of Zeus, a hot tempered lady and has superiority complex due maybe to the status of her father and that she’s the oldest. And finally, Grover, a satyr, a goat boy. He is dedicated to find Pan, the Lord of the Wild, and somewhat an interesting part of the story.

The story opens up as Percy Jackson, Annabeth and Thalia, seek to the aide of Grover who finds two new demigods, Nico and Bianca. With the help of the Hunters which was led by deity Artemis, they successfully saved the two recruits but eventually lose Annabeth in the process. The plot will be focused mainly on saving the heroine as well as the deity for she will also be captured. What is interesting, which make this a hard-to-put-down book, are the twists and turns which were strategically located per chapter. Also knowing who Thalia really is, for in the second installment of the series, she was saved from being a tree through the Golden Fleece. Grover the satyr, made the whole situation a light one by his humors and constantly throwing a comment from everywhere (and he loves dam cookies…). Another surprise and exciting is his abilities, which is presented on this book and been very useful in their escape most of the time.

The book is very well written, for because it was intended as bedtime story for his children, Riordan explains every detail in a simple way. And while educating the reader about Greek Mythology, you will be captivated to a whole new world of the deities. But what is interesting is the character given to Percy Jackson, and some of the demigods. They are sometimes rude to elders, not following rules and most of the time fighting with authorities, I mean the Gods. If this was really for young ones then I think it’s better if protagonists should behave as what they are expected to be and be role models. Another disturbing is the way he kills some of the characters, maybe a little bit gore sometimes, and maybe too much for a very young reader.

With that being said, the book is still a good read. A kind of feel-good novel and can bring back memories of your childhood. As the book ended up and presented other mysteries for the next installment, it will make you eager to hold the next book. As for me, I’ll definitely check that one again.

I give this book, 4 out of 5 Hard Hats. (I typed "star" earlier but changed to hard hat, it suit me maybe for being an engineer hehe). I love it and I recommend it.

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