Ring of Fire:

So, I got a bunch of new books for Christmas (yay!) and I decided I would review them. I just finished reading Ring of Fire. Here is what it says on the back of the book: "Every Hundred Years, humankind is put to the test. Every hundred years, four young people must take on an enormous challenge. Another century has passed, and the children have been chosen. The challenge begins in Rome, the city of fire." It sounded really good, and I was really excited to read it. But, in reality, it was a let down.

1.) The book was translated, and all the verbs were weird. Like, usually, a book is past tense. So, it would be like, "she said" or "he replied". But no in this book. It was "she says" and "he replies". It was very distracting.

2.) There is occasional cussing in the book. From what I remember, about six instances.

3.) There is a gypsy that does palm reading, and in the book, it was "real". It was very odd.

4.) In the book, the characters come across a map (of Rome) and four tops ("tops" being the ones people can spin on a flat surface). The characters spin the tops on the map, and, depending on what the top is, it will tell you about the place. So, the book takes place in Rome. The characters spin the tops, and the top that means "danger", circles around the part in Rome that is dangerous. The top that means "safe" circles around the part that is safe. Etc. In a way, that seems like witchcraft or something...

5.) In the book, one of the people say that the wisemen in the Bible used the map and tops to find Jesus. And that they followed a comet. Seriously? Yes, seriously... What I was excited about though was that the author didn't say "three wisemen", like so many people do. We don't know if there were three! There were three gifts, not three wisemen. Good for the author! lol.

So, I give this book .5 bookmarks. Why ".5" and not "0"? Because I actually finished the book... lol, I rarely finish books, so when I do, it's a miracle. A lot of my friends can vouch for me.