Book Review #605 - State of Grace by Hilary Badger

My Rating: 3.5/5


Source: Hardie Grant Egmont


Buy: Booktopia


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Ever since she was created, Wren has lived in an idyllic garden with her friends. Wren's deity Dot ensures the trees are laden with fruit and the water in the lagoon is crystal clear. Wren and her friends have everything they could possibly need right there, in Dot's Paradise.

If only Wren could stop the strange, disturbing visions she's started having. Do these visions make her less worthy of Dot's love? And what does Blaze, the most beautiful and mysterious of Dot's creations, know about what's going on in Wren's head?

Wren is desperate to feel Dot's love, just like everyone else. But that's harder than ever when a creation she's never met before arrives in the garden. He claims to be from outside and brings with him words and ideas that make Wren's brain hurt.

Gradually Wren and Blaze uncover the truth: they're part of a clinical trial of an ominous drug called Grace.

 

And as she deals with this disturbing knowledge, Wren confronts a horrific secret from her past. Now she must decide whether to return to the comforting delusion of faith or fight for the right to face the very ugly truth. 

I tried reading this book when I first received it about a year ago now and gave up on it after only reading around 25 pages. I felt like there was a strong religious reference in it that I just didn't like. 

This time around although it didn't pull me in straight away, by page 50 I was hooked. 

The twist made the book for me which is the main reason why it took me so long to become interested in this book. 

This book is an unique take on the dystopian genre and even though it is rather slow paced I enjoyed it. 

Book Review #584 (Part 2 of 2) - Contact (The Phoenix Files #2) by Chris Morphew

My Rating: 4.5/5

Source: Hardie Grant Egmont

Buy: Booktopia

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As soon as Luke touches down in Phoenix, he knows that something's not right. 

The brand-new town is supposed to be a paradise, but it's not long before the cracks begin to show: malfunctioning phone lines, restrictions on car use, and a private security detail instead of a police force. 

Then Luke, Peter and Jordan uncover the true reason for the town's existence - a secret that means Phoenix is suddenly both the safest and most dangerous place on Earth. 

Someone in Phoenix is plotting to wipe out the human race. 

AND THE CLOCK IS ALREADY TICKING. 

This book takes place right where the first one leaves off which would be good continuity if you read them back to back (which I didn't). 

Like with Arrival, this book was extremely fast paced and action driven. There is always something happening which keeps you on the edge of your seat. 

This book is told from Peter's perspective (whereas Arrival was told from Luke's). I found this distracting at first as I had to keep reminding myself of that fact. In that regard, their voices were rather similar. 

There were some answers to a lot of the mystery aspects in the story, however they mostly only ended up in asking more important questions. 

Overall, I am really enjoying this series as not only is it engaging and fast paced it is also extremely fun to read. 

Book Review #584 (Part 1 of 2) - Arrival (The Phoenix Files #1) by Chris Morphew

My Rating: 4.5/5

Source: Hardie Grant Egmont

Buy: Booktopia

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As soon as Luke touches down in Phoenix, he knows that something's not right. 

The brand-new town is supposed to be a paradise, but it's not long before the cracks begin to show: malfunctioning phone lines, restrictions on car use, and a private security detail instead of a police force. 

Then Luke, Peter and Jordan uncover the true reason for the town's existence - a secret that means Phoenix is suddenly both the safest and most dangerous place on Earth. 

Someone in Phoenix is plotting to wipe out the human race. 

AND THE CLOCK IS ALREADY TICKING. 

This book is a bind-up of the first two books in the Phoenix Files series. As I read them at different times I will post my reviews separately. 

This book was incredibly easy to read as it was action packed, fast paced and there was ALWAYS something happening and was highly adventurous. 

The mystery element wasn't as strong as it could have been, simply because there was no time to ponder potential possibilities as the book moved too fast. 

Book Review #580 - The Little Book of Australia's Big Things Illustrated by Alice Oehr and Written by Samone Bos

I received this book for review from Hardie Grant Egmont Australia. 

I asked for this book because I thought it would be a cool project to do with my nephew. Even though he was a little young to do the cutting out overall we had a good time. 

This is what the book looks like: 

For those who don't know what these 'big things' are they are basically giant sculpture like objects throughout Australia and are popular tourist attractions for road trippers. Below are the pictures of my finished products: (I don't usually do craft stuff so I am quite happy how these came out)

The Big Banana: 

The Big Merino: 

The Big Ned Kelly: 

The Big Koala:

The Big Pineapple: 

The Big Penguin: 

and for those interested this is what the real Big Penguin in Penguin, Tasmania looks like (I only just went there in February): 

The Big Golden Guitar: 

The Big Galah: 

The Big Trout: 

The Big Lobster: 

And here they all together with the fold-out panoramic scene: 

Overall, this was a fun and clever idea and my nephew and I really enjoyed doing it. I was a little disappointed that none of the big things from my home state (Western Australia) were included but wasn't surprised as we don't have very many.