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.

Book Review #776 - Hive (Hive #1) by A.J. Betts

All I can tell you is what I remember, in the words that I have.

Hayley tends to her bees and follows the rules in the only world she has ever known.

Until she witnesses the impossible: a drip from the ceiling.

A drip? It doesn't make sense.

Yet she hears it, catches it. Tastes it.

Curiosity is a hook.

What starts as a drip leads to a lie, a death, a boy, a beast, and too many awful questions.

My Rating: 2/5

I had to read this book for a book club and as an added bonus being a local author, A.J. Betts came and spoke to us about the book as well.

Firstly, the book pitched to me was not the book that I had expected to read. I was told it was a story about a girl living in an underwater city and not knowing that until she one day finds a leak.

Instead, the book was an underdeveloped utopian story that was more confusing than anything else.

I really would have liked more world building as I think what was delivered was interesting just massively underdeveloped.

Book Review #766 - P is for Pearl by Eliza Henry Jones

From the talented author of the celebrated novels In the Quiet and Ache comes a poignant and moving book that explores the stories we tell ourselves about our families, and what it means to belong.

Seventeen-year-old Gwendolyn P. Pearson has become very good at not thinking about the awful things that have happened to her family. She has also become used to people talking about her dead mum. Or not talking about her and just looking at Gwen sympathetically.

And it's easy not to think about awful things when there are wild beaches to run along, best friends Loretta and Gordon to hang out with - and a stepbrother to take revenge on.

But following a strange disturbance at the cafe where she works, Gwen is forced to confront what happened to her family all those years ago. And she slowly comes to realise that people aren't as they first appear and that like her, everyone has a story to tell.

My Rating: 3/5

I had to read this book for a book club and it is definitely not a book I likely would have read otherwise.

I wanted to like this book and I can definitely see why pretty much every other member of my book club did but for me personally it was too overly poetic and I found myself constantly waiting for something to happen.

The book follows Gwendolyn who is recovering from a traumatic event from her past. The only thing that kept me motivated to keep reading is I wanted to find out what happened as that was the closest it came to having a plot.

This book was definitely character driven and I did really like all the characters especially Gwendolyn's little sister who provided the majority of the lighter moments in what otherwise was quite a darker toned book.

Book Review #756 - Neverland by Margot McGovern

Kit Learmonth would rather die than grow up and leave Neverland …

When she was twelve, Kit Learmonth watched her parents drown in a storm as their boat sailed over the Tranter Sink Hole. Now seventeen, Kit doesn’t remember the incident, and she doesn’t want to. In fact, her only clear memories from before her parents’ death are of the fantastical stories of pirates and mermaids that she and her dad invented about the small island where she grew up, a place she calls Neverland. 

Following Kit’s parents’ deaths, her uncle and guardian, Doc, transformed the island into a boarding school for mentally ill teenagers and sent Kit away to school on the mainland. But when Kit tries and fails to end her life, Doc brings her home to the island and places her in the care of his colleague, Dr Hannah Ward. 

Resisting her treatment, Kit instead pulls her friends deeper into her world of make-believe. It’s only when Kit and her new boyfriend, Rohan, take the fantasy too far and land themselves in very real danger that her faith in Neverland is shaken, and Kit must find a way back to reality.

My Rating: 2.5/5

I had to read this book for a book club and it is not a book I would have likely picked to read myself.

First of all I have absolutely no personal knowledge of mental illness, depression, self-harm etc but I felt like this was not properly addressed in this book for example the protagonist Kit never really gets the help she desperately needs.

This was one of those books that the characters drive the story and I struggled with that style with this one because I never really connected with any of them. 

I loved the setting of the island especially the secret cave that Kit escapes to throughout. I also loved the sailing element although I know nothing about it, it felt like it was accurately described and well researched.

The mystery element was really slow paced but ultimately worth the wait as I didn't see it coming.

Overall, I felt like this book had similar elements to it as P is for Pearl another book I had to read for my book club but I felt that P is for Pearl was better written.

Book Review #734 - If I Tell You by Alicia Tuckerman

Life and love don’t wait until you’re ready, but what if finding yourself means losing everything you’ve ever known?

Seventeen-year-old Alex Summers lives with a secret and the constant fear someone will find out. But when a new family moves to town, they bring with them their teenage daughter Phoenix Stone. When Alex falls for Phoenix, there is no warning. In a small town with small minds, girls don’t go out with other girls, even if they want to.

In fear there is bravery – you can either cling to the edge or have the courage to jump. But what do you do when you’re left spiralling through the free fall?

 

 

My Rating: 5.5/10

 

 

This is not a book that I would typically read but I was required to read it for a book club. I am happy that I read it though as I have been meaning to read more diverse books.

 

This book follows a girl called Alex who lives in a small, conservative Australian  country town.

 

A new girl named Phoenix arrives in town with her family and the town are horrified to discover that Phoenix is openly gay. This however awakens something in Alex who commences a secret relationship with Phoenix.

 

I never really felt the romantic connection between the two. They just felt more like friends to me and that Alex was only interested in Phoenix because she was the first lesbian she had met. Not to mention how fast their relationship progressed.

 

I predicted the ending about 100 pages from the end and I was so mad at myself for this because I felt like the ending did not impact me as much as it should have because I saw it coming.

 

I did not like Phoenix at all. Without spoiling anyone, I thought she was extremely selfish in the way she treated Alex throughout.

 

I thought that the reactions to Alex coming out were realistic for the narrow minded town that she lived in.

 

Overall, I feel like this book tried to accomplish a little too much. It is hard to elaborate on that opinion much without spoilers though and that was also the general view everyone had at my book club when we discussed this book. 

Book Review #721 - The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

 

 

My Rating: 8/10

 

 

I read this book straight after I finished the Wings series and whilst I would usually read a couple of book between picking up a book in a similar genre, I couldn't on this occasion as this book was for book club.

 

I have tried reading Holly Black before (not including her books with Cassandra Clare) and have never been able to get into them so I was rather worried this book would suffer the same fate.

 

 

When I first started this book, I found it really slow and if it wasn't for book club I probably would have given up. It took me around 100 or so pages though and then I couldn't put the book down. I ended up staying up until around 4:00am to finish it and read it entirely in one sitting.

 

 

The faeries in this book were simply amazing. I loved the mythology behind them and because the narrator Jude was a human surrounded by these immortal creatures, they were rather scary at times. This was the first book I have read where the faeries were portrayed on the darker scale - and I loved it.

 

 

I don't usually enjoy politics in books but I found this was one of my favourite elements in this story especially as the story progressed. There were so many twists along the way, it was never boring.

 

 

I loved Jude as a narrator. She was kidnapped from her human world and so has virtually grown up in the faerie realm her entire life. Even though it is completely dangerous for her there, this is the only home she has ever known so she doesn't have many options.

 

 

Jude's twin sister on the other hand makes entirely different life changing decisions than Jude and so I am eagerly anticipating the next book to see where that, and about a thousand other things are going to go as this book has endless possibilities.

Book Review #717 - Right Where You Left Me by Calla Devlin

In search of the perfect story to put a human face on a tragedy for his newspaper, my dad will fly into the eye of the storm. And now he’s heading to Ukraine, straight into the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. I don’t want him to leave. I don’t want to spend the week alone in a silent house with my mother, whose classically Russian reserve has built a wall between us that neither of us knows how to tear down. But I don’t tell him this. I don’t say stay.

I think I’m holding it together okay—until the FBI comes knocking on our door. Now it’s all I can do to fight off the horrifying images in my head. The quake has left so many orphans and widows, but Mom and I refuse to be counted among them. Whatever it takes to get Dad back, I’ll do it. Even if it means breaking a promise…or the law.

My Rating: 5/10

I had to read this book for a book club and it probably otherwise wouldn't have been a book that I would have chosen to read on my own. 

This book was rather short (just under 300 pages) but it felt much longer because I felt like it tried to accomplish too much.

Charlotte's father who is a journalist goes missing whilst covering an earthquake in Ukraine. We see Charlotte's grief and anguish as she deals with this. 

Charlotte is also about to graduate high school and commence college. She is indecisive about which branch of photography she wishes to pursue. 

Then there is also the family dynamic. Charlotte's mother is Russian and there was a lot of Russian folklore thrown in there which I actually liked. 

On top of all that there was a romance which felt completely out of place with the tone and other elements in this book. 

Book Review #711 - Carousel (Carousel #1) by Brendan Ritchie

Nox is an arts graduate wondering what to do with his life. Taylor and Lizzy are famous indie musicians, and Rocky works the checkouts at Target.

When they find themselves trapped in a giant shopping centre, they eat fast food, watch bad TV and wait for the mess to be sorted. But when days turn to weeks, a sense of menace grows.

 

 

My Rating: 5/10

 

 

This book is set in my home town of Perth, Western Australia and even though I have never been to the shopping centre where this book is set (Westfield Carousel) I was familiar with all of the shops mentioned.

 

This book is the author's first foray into novel writing. His author bio says he was previously a screenwriter. This was rather obvious by his fragmented style of writing. For example, one of the main characters is never properly introduced, he just suddenly appears.

 

The timeline of events was also rather confusing. Not far into the book, when I was waiting for some character development or twist it was very casually mentioned that they had been trapped there for a year.

 

I own the sequel to this book and I will definitely get around to reading it just so I can find out what direction this series will go but I'm in no rush to do so.

Book Review #706 - Saving Jazz by Kate McCaffrey

Jasmine Lovely has it all – the looks, the grades, the friends. But when a house party spins out of control, Jazz discovers what can happen when your mistakes go viral ...

We know our kids are at risk of becoming victims of cyberbullying. But do we know how at risk they are of becoming perpetrators? This controversial new novel tackles cyberbullying from a whole new perspective.

My Rating: 5/10

This review is likely to contain spoilers so you have been warned!

This book tackles a very serious topic that is prevalent in society today. The book approached this topic in a very intense and realistic way. 

I loved the small town setting of Greenhead, especially as it was set in my home state of Western Australia and I had actually been to the town which made the book feel even more realistic for me.

The narrator Jasmine at first comes across as someone likable and relatable as she supports her friend who is being cyberbullied. It is not until midway through the book that Jasmine's real role in the whole thing is revealed that I started seeing her differently. 

It was interesting to have the narrator be in that role and not the victim like any other book probably would have done especially the way it was suddenly sprung on the reader. 

After the big reveal, I felt like Jasmine was trying too hard at trying to play at being a victim when this was very far from the case. 

Overall, I loved that this book was brave enough to tackle this type of story especially in the way it did, but I didn't connect to it as much as I expected to mostly because of the way Jasmine tried to be the victim rather than owning up to what she did. 

Book Review #630 - No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club: A Diary of a Sixtieth Year by

My Rating: 2/5




Source: Book Club




Goodreads

Marie Sharp is heading toward sixty and is just fine with it. She’s already had plenty of excitement in her life: sex and drugs in the freewheeling sixties, career and children, marriage and divorce. Now she’s ready to settle into a quiet, blissfully boring routine. No Italian classes or gym memberships or bicycle trips across Europe, thank you very much! Marie just wants to put her feet up and “start doing old things.”

She’s even sworn off men! But as it turns out, life still has some surprises in store, the biggest of which is a new grandson on the way. What’s more, Archie, her old childhood crush, suddenly reenters her life, and her closest friend falls seriously ill. Armed with a biting sense of humor, Marie wrestles with a life that refuses to follow her plans—and may still offer more possibilities than she realizes.

I read this book for the book club that I attend.

First of all, almost all the members of my book club are around the protagonist's age which from the title is obviously 60. I, on the other hand am young enough to be her grandchild. So obviously I am not the target audience for this book.

Books written in diary format have not gone down too well with me in the past (just read my review of Bridget Jones's Diary) and so I went into this book not expecting to like it.

Marie (the narrator) was so self-absorbed and the book just consists of her rambling for almost 250 pages.

The lack of plot and direction made this book seem slow and if I  wasn't 'required' to read this I would probably still be reading it now.

The first part of the book contains Marie looking forward to turning 60 because it means she won't have to try new things anymore. It's more like she can use her age as an excuse, when really she is just incredibly self-absorbed and lazy.

The second half of the book is about Marie going on and on and on (I think you get the point) about her first grandchild whilst also having to deal with the impending death of a lifelong friend.

Overall, this book was a boring, pointless, rambling mess and is the blueprint of what I don't want to be when I am 60 years old.

Book Review #623 - Lovesong by Alex Miller

My Rating: 2/5


Source: Book Club


Buy: The Book Depository


Goodreads

Seeking shelter in a Parisian cafe from a sudden rainstorm, John Patterner meets the exotic Sabiha and his carefully mapped life changes forever. Resonant of the bestselling Conditions of Faith, Alex Miller's keenly awaited new novel tells the deeply moving story of their lives together, and of how each came undone by desire.

Strangers did not, as a rule, find their way to Chez Dom, a small, rundown Tunisian cafe on Paris' distant fringes. Run by the widow Houria and her young niece, Sabiha, the cafe offers a home away from home for the North African immigrant workers working at the great abattoirs of Vaugiraud, who, like them, had grown used to the smell of blood in the air. But when one day a lost Australian tourist, John Patterner, seeks shelter in the cafe from a sudden Parisian rainstorm, the quiet simplicities of their lives are changed forever. John is like no-one Sabiha has met before - his calm grey eyes promise her a future she was not yet even aware she wanted. Theirs becomes a contented but unlikely marriage - a marriage of two cultures lived in a third - and yet because they are essentially foreigners to each other, their love story sets in train an irrevocable course of tragic events.

Years later, living a small, quiet life in suburban Melbourne, what happened at Vaugiraud seems like a distant, troubling dream to Sabiha and John, who confides the story behind their seemingly ordinary lives to Ken, an ageing, melancholy writer. It is a story about home and family, human frailties and passions, raising questions of morals and purpose - questions have no simple answer.

Lovesong is a simple enough story in many ways - the story of a marriage, of people coming undone by desire, of ordinary lives and death, love and struggle - but when told with Miller's distinctive voice, which is all intelligence, clarity and compassion, it has a real gravitas, it resonates and is deeply moving. Into the wonderfully evoked contemporary settings of Paris and Melbourne, memories of Tunisian family life, culture and its music are tenderly woven.

I read this book for the book club that my mum and I joined and this is definitely a book that was outside my comfort zone. 

This book begins by telling you the ending of the book then showing you how it got there. I had mixed feelings about this method. 

On one hand, I liked that we knew the ending because it added more intrigue to the story when it didn't look possible for the story to end the way it did. 

On the other hand, I felt like knowing the ending ruined some of the potential suspense that could have developed. 

The major problem I had with this book was the character Sabiha. I have never come across a character anywhere near as selfish or plainly unlikable as her. She ruined the entire book for me.

The title is a little misleading as when I was handed this book at book club I was dreading this being a romance book, but it is anything but. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the writing style but obviously the author is too good at writing horrible characters. 

Book Review #608 - The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters

My Rating: 2.5/5


Source: Book Club


Buy: The Book Depository


Goodreads



When Lieutenant Charles Acland is flown home from Iraq with serious head injuries, he faces not only permanent disfigurement but also an apparent change to his previously outgoing personality. After his injuries prevent his return to the army, he cuts all ties with his former life and moves to London. 


I read this book for a Book Club that my mum and I decided to join. This was the book we had to read for November 2015. 

Minette Walters was an author that I had not previously heard of, but as she is well known within the crime genre, I had expected to enjoy this book a lot more than what I did. 

The book starts off really slowly and never fully recovers from that. 

The characters were not very likable especially Charles himself. The secondary characters were highly stereotyped. 

The nature of Charles' disability allowed for him to be an unreliable narrator which made him more mysterious. Throughout the entire book it was obvious he was hiding something - although that something was rather underwhelming. 

Around chapter ten, the book finally picked up a bit and the plot unraveled further. 

I found that towards the end I was looking forward to finishing it more so I could start another book rather than wanting to discover who the murderer was. 

Overall, I found this book slow, boring and dissatisfying.