Book Review #800 - Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

The 50 contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras.

But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What’s a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness.

My Rating: 2/5

I went into this book having read back to back 5 star reads in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Light Between Oceans and so this could be a reason why I did not like this book.

The book started off really well and I was enjoying the story and of course the satirical humour but it just got to the point where this became too much. When I reached that point I wasn't even half way through and so in my opinion the book was way too long to sustain just a story and style of humour.

Comparing this book to The Lord of the Flies is interesting because in that book the characters lose their humanity over time whereas in this book I felt like the girls became more human the longer they were removed from their toxic lives.

One of the issues I had with this book was distinguishing the characters because sometimes they were mentioned by name and sometimes by the state they were representing.

There was a lot of representation in this book with there being a lesbian, a transgender and a girl with a hearing impairment. The only issue with this was the transgender was bullied when found to be transgender and this behaviour was never really challenged.

Overall, I really wanted to enjoy this book as I usually love survival stories but this one was just too weird for me. I should have realised that when the pirates were introduced.

Book Review #799 - The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

A captivating, beautiful, and stunningly accomplished debut novel that opens in 1918 Australia - the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife who make one devastating choice that forever changes two worlds. 

Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby's cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. 

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom's judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them. 

My Rating: 5/5

This book has been on my radar ever since the film adaptation was created but I didn't think it was my kind of book as I only read Young Adult exclusively back then.

It wasn't until recently when I learnt that the book was set in my home state of Western Australia that I saw it as a book that I wanted to read.

I loved the setting. It was very Australian and the fact that I have visited the lighthouse (pictured above) that was the inspiration for the one in the book made the setting so rich and vivid in my mind.

I absolutely loved the genuine Aussie feel the book from settings to characters. I found it very immersive and hard to believe it is the author's first book she has written.

The characters all felt so real and set against the backdrop of post World War I it was all very page turning.

The book was told in three parts. The third and final part was by far my least favourite as I didn't like leaving the setting of Janus Island (much like Lucy) but I was so deeply invested in the story at this stage that it wasn't that much of a problem.

Having read this book straight after The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo I had high expectations for another 5 star read and amazingly those expectations were met.

Book Review #798 - Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha #1) by Tomi Adeyemi

They killed my mother.

They took our magic.

They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

My Rating: 3.5/5

This is a book that had been on my radar for a long time but the mixed reviews I'd heard put me off from ever picking it up. The only reason I even read it now was because it was chosen for my book club.

This book was written by a Nigerian author and is rooted in African folklore which is something I have never encountered before so I loved that unique element.

I did for the most part really enjoy this book, that was until the romance was introduced about 80% into the story.

The romance, for me, was extremely unnecessary. There was no build up to it at all and suddenly they are all claiming they are in love. I didn't buy it.