Review: Mindful Things

Mindful Things by Mya Duong
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

DNF at pg 316/595 (53%)

I always feel crappy when I get free copies of books in exchange for reviews and then fail to finish the book. But this was just too much of a chore and the formatting errors detracted from the story so much that I found myself skipping chunks before finally resigning and sticking the DNF label on it.

So here's my thoughts on the first half of the book, with thanks to the author for my copy.

Firstly, the formatting.

The copy I had had incomplete sentences and also seemed to be missing whole scenes. It meant that I missed vital information and was left confused when things were referred to later that I hadn't actually read. Sentences stopped halfway through a word, and there were messy formatting marks in some places. I understand this will be the case for very few people but for me it just made the whole experience a lot harder.

Now, the story.

I really liked the premise. The orphan who is secretly super powerful and has to deal with the adjustment once strange things start happening is always a solid formula, even if it's been done plenty of times before. But this was so painfully slow, and heavily overshadowed by Lauren and Quinn's insta-love. It's kind of explained away but it was way too cheesy for my tastes. I rolled my eyes a lot. By the time I gave up, we'd only just learned about Lauren's secret identity. If I'm halfway through a book I'd want to have had at least a little action, not still be in the midst of setting the scene. It was such a drainer.

Also, the characters are dull and don't actually seem to act according to who they've been written to be? They're just stereotypes and cliches all smooshed together to do the same predictable things the same characters do in other books. It's all very unoriginal. There are no dynamics between the relationships, and everyone is just chill and bffs etc and BLEH. SO DULL.

As far as the writing goes, there's evident talent but it's used poorly and needs more originality. There's some creative use of figurative speech, but it tends to try too hard to make the point and so comes across as overblown and excessive. That being said, I think a lot of my issue with the writing is created by the lack of originality in the story so I'd like to see this author try her hand at something completely out of her comfort zone; something completely different to what she personally reads. There's an obvious creative spark but to me it seems like it's been tainted by the desire to follow a familiar formula.

I feel like I'm being particularly harsh on this book and I know there will be others who truly enjoy this story, but it just wasn't enough to suit my tastes. I'd probably recommend for younger readers, who will be less likely to have encountered a similar story before and so will appreciate these characters more than I.

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Review: One Dark Throne

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Now THIS is more like what I expected from the first book! Plots and schemes and darkness and blood and attacks and drama and savagery.

Much more entertaining than the first book!

Warning: This review contains unhidden spoilers for the previous book. Continue reading at your own risk.

So! Where do we begin??

Oh, that's right! Katherine is back from the dead, Mirabella has fallen from grace and Arsinoe is, GASP! actually a poisoner!

One of my biggest issues with the first book was that it felt quite dull and slow at times; that's absolutely not the case here. We get straight into the action, as the queens are finally trying to kill each other and it's getting nasty. Kat in particular has become a total savage and I love it. She's putting in the most effort to kill her sisters and seems to have totally embraced her dark side. Arsinoe is still pretty chill, just going along with things, and Mira is still trying to be a hero and fight the system. So they're very different girls and you'll inevitably pick one over the others as your fave.

The boys also have a bit more screen time in this one so prepare to have your heart squeezed a little. Where Joseph was the talk of the town in the last book, Billy has now stepped up as leading man and his relationship with Arsinoe comes close to #relationshipgoals just because of how snarky they are to each other. They're adorable.

It's just a much more fun ride, and we're finally starting to see some more of the darkness that the story brings. There's still a lot that's not explained which is incredibly frustrating - there's no world building to explain how this society has come about, and there's no background on how Arsinoe could possibly have ended up somewhere she shouldn't have. It leads to the question of whether it means Kat is a naturalist or whether there were two poisoners or whether Kat has no power at all. It's just not explored at all which is disappointing.

I also had a lot of questions and doubts about some happenings, particularly surrounding Braddock, the BFF bear. The magic in this book doesn't really seem to have a lot of rules, and I feel like there were always options they didn't explore. But if you kind of ignore all the things you're not being told and just relax into the story it's actually a lot of fun. Nice and brutal. And a killer ending that totally makes up for the predictability of the first one.

So a much stronger installment in the series, and I'm hanging out for book three now, but I'm really hoping we get a bit more history!


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Review: The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts

The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts by Annie Darling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Honestly not entirely sure why I enjoyed this as much as I did! I have so many nitpicky complaints but overall I actually got caught up and, even predicting everything that was going to happen, I still enjoyed the story. I think I might be coming down with something. Hmm.

So here's the plot: Posy works at this adorable little bookshop, and suddenly finds herself the owner of it when her dear friend passes away. Lavinia had been like a second mother to Posy and her brother, Sam - who have been living above the shop - since their parents passed away years earlier in a car accident. But ownership of the bookshop comes with the pressure of turning it into a profitable business, and the frustrating interference of Lavinia's grandson, Sebastian, who's the totally-rude-but-secret-heart-of-gold love interest.

Cue shenanigans.

Character-wise, there's not really anything new here. Posy is the cute, awkward protagonist who does dorky things and has trouble standing up for herself but is a genuinely thoughtful person who looks out for her friends and loved ones. I didn't mind her, but she frustrated me a lot with the amount she lied and hid things and just her general awkwardness. Also, she totally got off light with the 'I used to be your colleague but now I'm your boss' drama. She just took right over and that was that and I'm not sure it was totally believable because she was so uncertain in everything else.

Her ragtag band of fellow workers/friends are cool but pretty simple, and though they are a diverse cast, they're never really a big part of the story. I liked Nina and Verity, but Tom didn't really rate and I kind of forgot who Little Sophie was? At least they were different enough that I remembered who was who, though!

Now where do I even begin to talk about my feelings towards Sebastian.

We all knew where this was gonna go just from reading the blurb (and if you don't foresee romantic hijinks, do you even read?) but the whole 'jerk with a heart of gold' shtick was too much jerk and not enough gold for me. I mean, Sebastian really is a total dick at times. He says totally horrible things and Posy is humiliated but still falls for the guy? I tell you what, if a guy starts flinging around insults that cover my weight, size, hair and general appearance, he's gonna cop a black eye , not a feel. But he also did the typical helpful things like pay for everything Posy could possibly need because of course the man is always the rich one.

I mean, this story is quite obviously influenced heavily by Pride and Prejudice (which I actually loved. Sue me.) but because it's set in present day it just made for a lot of sexism and maybe I'm overreacting but that kind of bothered me. Darcy acts cold and indifferent but is actions are just misinterpreted by Elizabeth. So she only thinks he's been a jerk when he's actually being a total hero. Whereas Sebastian is not only acting like a jerk but speaking like a jerk and that kinda makes him a jerk. Plus, the whole deal with him not hearing no just infuriated me.

So why was I still shipping them?!!

Not gonna lie, I'm slightly depressed by my warm reception of this novel. It makes me wanna feminist-rant to myself about how women just let themselves be treated like crap and how that should not be romanticised etc but I liked it and I hate myself a little for it.

Darling's writing is okay and pretty typical, but Posy's writing is utter trash. I could not help cringing at the smut she wrote! But hey, at least she kind of realised it? I appreciated her giving herself crap for it because that echoed my sentiments.

It was such a predictable book with a familiar romcom plot, and I knew every single plot development before it happened, but I still enjoyed the way it all played out. I don't know if this book is gonna rate higher with lovers of chick-lit because they appreciate the genre more than me, or if they'll rate it lower because it's such a familiar story. It's definitely frustrating and there's so many parts I want to criticise but I gotta own up to how much I actually enjoyed reading it. God help me.

So I guess I'd recommend it to lovers of chick-lit? It's a nice trashy piece of fluff and it's centred on a bookstore so who could get mad about that, right?

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Review: Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English

Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English by Eric Partridge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my favourite book to refer to when musing over the slow death of the English language. It references so many phrases that are confused in modern times, and even completely redundant in today's society. It's an apt title, because it makes you realise just how much language has come to be abused on a daily basis.

Obviously a lot of my vocabulary has developed and grown from my love of books, and a love of classics in particular has left me a familiarity with words and phrases that give me a red squiggly underline, should I choose to type them. For example, I've always used 'amongst', but these days it's considered a redundant synonym for 'among'. I was starting to think I'd actually invented the word in my own mind before I thought to look it up in this beauty of a reference book.

My point is, it makes me sad for the English language, but it is also a handy guide for those of us who have trouble letting go. I will cling to these words and phrases for as long as possible, so I'm grateful to have this little guide to back me up.

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Review: The I Quit Sugar Cookbook: 306 Recipes for a Clean, Healthy Life

The I Quit Sugar Cookbook: 306 Recipes for a Clean, Healthy Life by Sarah Wilson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I am a terrible cook.

I hate cooking. I am rubbish with even just the most basic ingredients. I make a stir fry using jar sauce and I often eat toast for a main meal. But I want to get better, because I know learning to cook better is going to allow me to eat healthier.

That being said, this book pretty much lost me straight away with the whole, 'don't waste anything' bit. It's hard enough trying to use the actual main product without stressing about how to utilise the bits and pieces I never even realised were edible.

I mean, I get that sugar is a Big Bad in the health industry, and I like the idea of cooking delicious things that are actually nutritionally beneficial. But I bought this book AGESSSSS ago and I still don't think I've used a single recipe from it.

I think if you are actually a decent cook interested in more nutritionally sound meals, this will be a great tool, but this is like, advanced cooking.

It does come with a sh*t-ton of recipes and info, though, so I guess it's good value for money?

Also, I don't like how preachy she is. But maybe that's just me being bitter because she can cook and I can't.

Maybe one day I'll cook something from this book and rave about it so much that I have to bump up my rating, but let me try and master sauce first or something.


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Review: Emotional Intelligence: Managing Emotions to Make a Positive Impact on Your Life and Career

Emotional Intelligence: Managing Emotions to Make a Positive Impact on Your Life and Career by Gill Hasson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So the first part had some interesting ideas, and the second part was all familiar territory, and the third part completely lost me.

Emotions have such a massive impact on our lives, and as someone who likes to bottle them, I was really interested in reading this and learning how they impact our lives through the way we manage them. I was hoping for some tips on being more able to feel without negative consequences. So I was interested in the first part, which breaks down the science of emotions, and talks about the secondary emotions that may be hidden by immediate emotional responses. It raised some interesting ideas, and talked briefly about some techniques to manage intense emotions: slow breathing, snapping an elastic band on the wrist, relaxing the shoulders ...

Part Two explored managing emotions in more depth, but a lot of it was old news to me. The communication stuff is all advice I've heard in my experiences working in retail, as it's all about building rapport and active listening to create clearer communication. Assertiveness is another thing I'm familiar with, so it mostly made sense, but it didn't feel particularly relevant to managing emotions. I mean, I guess it kind of does, but assertiveness takes rationality, and emotions are very rarely rational. It's like telling a depressed person to just be happy - it's not really that simple. Plus it then suggested some small techniques for managing emotions: slow breathing, snapping an elastic band on the wrist, relaxing the shoulders ... Suddenly I was starting to feel a little wary reading this book.

Part Three completely destroyed any credibility this novel had.

Spoiler alert: according to this book, if you are being bullied in your workplace, the best way to manage the bully is to quit your job.

Sorry, what?!

So if I have a job I love, and some new person comes in and happens to be a bully, and they make my life a living hell, then quitting the job I love is the most effective way to manage the situation?

I don't think so.

And if I have a child or niece/nephew who is being bullied at school, then I can either have a go at the bully myself or get the kid to quit school? Or 'include them in my group'? So, isolate them from childhood? How exactly is that gonna work?

Oh, and if I do choose to stand up to a bully, there are a few techniques that I can use: slow breathing, snapping an elastic band on the wrist, relaxing the shoulders ... Gee, now WHERE HAVE I HEARD THAT BEFORE?!?!

What a load of utter crap.

Then there's a bit about 'motivating and inspiring' others:

'You might need to negotiate and compromise; be prepared to offer something in return for the other person doing what you want them to do.'

Um, pretty sure that's called bribery.

So yeah, this three star read lost an entire star thanks to that last section of tripe.

It was such a great concept but it was delivered poorly and was weak in its logic. The research felt incomplete and the techniques were repetitive. I was really hoping for more but this felt like a desperate attempt at a self-help book where there was just not enough material. And the repeated refrain: '-and that's emotionally intelligent!' was just patronising and unnecessary. Also, who exactly are you trying to convince? Because saying it's emotionally intelligent doesn't make it so.

No recommendation for this one at all. People who need strong communication in their workplace may benefit a little but honestly I feel like this is going to do more harm than good.

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Review: The Lost World

The Lost World by Michael Crichton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not even close to as amazing as the first book, but this still has some great dino moments and absolutely fascinating ideas.

WARNING: This review contains unhidden spoilers for Jurassic Park.

The sequel is a little slow to get into. It's been six years since the events of the first book, but it's all been covered up and the people involved deny having been a part of anything. Hammond has stayed dead (unlike Malcolm) so we need a new reason to head back into dino territory and that reason comes in the form of a curious scientist, Levine, who strikes up a bizarre friendship with Malcolm based on the theoretical idea of a 'lost world' - an isolated location where animals previously considered extinct may have actually survived.

Thing is, this is the theory that starts us off, but it's a pretty flawed theory because these animals didn't survive - they're a product of Hammond's greed, which was so beautifully destructive in the first book. Obviously we already know there's going to be living dinosaurs, and as soon as they mention 'Site B' you can pretty much rule out natural occurrence. So why bother with Levine's ridiculous theory in the first place?

The science is this book both fascinated and frustrated me. There's so much of it, and honestly I loved how crazy the theories were but I'm pretty sure if you actually knew a bit about science and examined this you'd pick out a lot of flaws. But, since this book is smarter than me, I kinda just went with it and appreciated learning all these new things about biology, evolution, extinction, chaos, etc. But it comes thick and fast and this book is far more interested in examining theories of dinosaur behaviour and extinction than bringing the thrills and chills that the first book delivered so brilliantly. Malcolm has a ton of info dumps and it's hard to keep up, meaning the pace really drags at times. I was never bored though? I was really interested in all the behaviour discussions, but as for proteins and chemicals it kinda just whooshed on over my head. It was fun to try and comprehend it, though, and act like I was smart.

The dinosaurs that we meet are familiar faces, but they seem far less antagonistic in this one, and everything is 'fascinating, unusual behaviour' rather than 'HOLY JEEZUZ THE DINOS ARE GONNA EAT US.' Which made me sad, because I am a twisted person who enjoys reading about fictional people suffering gruesome deaths at the hands of dinosaurs and other savage creatures. It doesn't really amp up until about 3/4 of the way through, but at least the ending is action-packed! I probably would have enjoyed less raptors because they did all the menacing of the first book so I was ready for something different. Also just would have been nice to have new dinos to learn about. But hey, who can really complain about those savage velociraptor claws?

The characters blended together a little bit again, but you could also kinda guess who was going to end up as dino-chow. The kids were less annoying, but Arby was like a washed out copy of Tim from the first novel, so he and Kelly didn't really bring much to the table. Also they seemed a bit unbelievable for a couple of 13yr olds. I liked Sarah, and I liked that she was gung-ho, but I did think it was a bit much at times? (She was far more annoying in the movie, though. Book Sarah I can actually stand. Movie Sarah needed to be trampled by triceratops or ravaged by raptors.) Malcolm had so much sass in the first book but he's relegated to snarky scientist in this one so it takes out a bit of the fun. I do still love him as a character though. I like that he's so cynical.

I love the setting, and this idea that there's these dinosaurs living on their own private island roaming free. The whole 'studying extinction' side of things was a bit of a mess, but meh. I wasn't particularly invested in their research, anyway. I just wanted plenty of interactions.

Crichton writes the interactions and encounters wonderfully - he has a gift at creating suspense and formulating a fantastic visual to accompany the story. There was some great tension throughout.

It doesn't quite live up to the first book, but there's still some fascinating ideas and suspenseful moments. This book has solidified my love of Crichton's work, so I'll be working my way through his books in the future.

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Review: 2017 on Goodreads

2017 on Goodreads by Various
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So 2017 was a highly successful reading year for me! I set a goal of 70 books and finished 95 so I'm pretty pleased with that effort! I generally spent more time reading and less time watching TV, and I put more effort into reading on public transport instead of just playing with phone. I really enjoyed rediscovering the comfortable solitude of being immersed in a good book.

Best books I read in 2017:
-The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
-Duskfall by Christopher Husberg by Michael Crichton
-Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

I also had a lot of fun with self-development books and learning a bit more about mind and spirit. There were some groundbreaking ideas for me and the process of putting some of these things into practice was very enlightening!

Game-changing Non-Fiction:
-Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
-The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
-The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy
-Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works by Evelyn Tribole
-The Little Book of Lykke: The Danish Search for the World's Happiest People by Meik Wiking

I won a few giveaways:
-The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney
-Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit
-Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley
-The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey
-Finding Hannah by Fiona McCallum
-Forgotten by Nicole Trope
-The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
-The Greatest Gift by Rachael Johns

Read some more classics:
-Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
-Tales of Horror by Edgar Allan Poe
-The Two Dianas, Volume 1 by Alexandre Dumas
-Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
-Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
-Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
-Selected Poems by William Blake
-Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
-To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
-The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins
-The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot
-The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
-The Art of War by Sun Tzu

I read some pretty decent trash, too, but who wants to hear about the trash?!

That being said ...

Biggest disappointments:
-The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
-All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I also re-read the entire The Dark Tower Series Collection: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, The Dark Tower and I'm still just as in love with it as ever. I was also pretty stoked to receive Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born as a gift - my first comic book ever! :)

I also made a lot of new GR friends and it's been such a thrill interacting with so many new, book-loving individuals! I've found myself being heavily influenced by everyone else's reviews. I was reading more YA towards the end of the year and this seems to be a growing trend in 2018.

Honourable mentions:
-Draekora by Lynette Noni - I'm so in love with this series! (Check out my review for the latest book, Graevale, here.)
-The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte - I'm obsessed with Dumas so this was a great read. But it still mentioned so much literature I've yet to read! So I'd love to re-read it again one day.
-Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier - I put this book off for ages but when I finally read it, it blew me away. Fantastic that Jo is an Aussie author, too!

Overall, 2017 had some wonderful reading moments for me.

2018 is starting strong so here's hoping I outdo myself this year! :)

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Review: The Apartment

The Apartment by S.L. Grey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well damn, this was creepy as f***

I mean, it starts out a little dull and vague but it's the vagueness that draws you in and keeps you reading. Even though it's not particularly action-packed, there's this driving need to figure out exactly what's going on, and what we're missing.

The Paris apartment is totally creepy. I myself intend to visit for a holiday in just over two months and I have to say, this raised all kinds of worries about my trip that I'd never considered. Just that notion of being isolated in a foreign country, surrounded by unhelpful strangers, added an extra level of chills to the story. (I'm hoping the creepiness of this story will have faded by the time I go there, though.)

And you know what? The apartment itself is not actually that haunting - it's just run down. It's more like a modern day horror - living without wi-fi and a proper coffee machine. Oh, the terror!!

It's just so mysterious. Clearly something weird is going on but how does it all relate?

I confess, I didn't like Mark from the get-go. I like brave characters and this he was not. Steph definitely wears the pants in the relationship and I loved her for it, though I got frustrated when she put up with all his crap.

The fun(???) thing about thrillers like this is that you wonder how much is legit supernatural occurances and how much is in the mind of the protagonist(s). I suspected a little PTSD but the story keeps you questioning and there's that slow leak of facts and happenings that draw you in no matter your theories. I'm not entirely sure I enjoyed reading it, but I certainly couldn't stop.

I don't even think the story was that great but it's left me with a serious case of the willies so I've gotta give it props for that. It also gave me some mad cravings for coffee.

Not exactly a fast-thrills horror story but a distinct creepiness and mysterious happenings will keep you hungry for an answer. Don't get too excited about the Parisian setting - there's very little about quaint cafes and beautiful boutiques and minimal reference to the Eiffel Tower - but it does offer a unique darker glimpse at the city of romance.

... and now I'm off to find something ridiculously cheesy to read.


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Review: Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well it was no Six of Crows but it was still a pretty fun read!

It was slower to get into but once it got rolling I enjoyed it. I actually really liked The Darkling! I expected him to be the evil villain but then he was all shy and considerate and helpful and I kinda fell for him a bit. (view spoiler)[So yeah, he kinda blind-sided me there. What. A. Jerk. (hide spoiler)]

Alina was okay but definitely could have used more sass. I mean, I liked that she said what she thought but she did also start mooning over The Darkling pretty quick. I mean, I don't blame you, girl- dude's got game! but it took away from the sass and that made me sad. I'm also a bit confused about how her power works (come on, guys, it's not a spoiler, it's in the blurb, ok?). Like, it seems to be heat and light but the sun is pretty powerful so does she modulate it or does it not burn her because she's weak? I think it just could have been explained better. Same will all the -aki Grishas - they all mingled together and were confusing to keep track of and I was thankful I read Six of Crows first so that I kind of had an idea of what things were but wow. So much magic. So much confusion.

The general plot was a bit familiar - orphan discovers super magic powers, goes to special facility to train, is teacher's pet - but I still kinda enjoyed it? I guess that's why the formula is repeated in so many fantasy novels - it works. I missed Mal, though.

I can't say too much more without spoilers and who can be bothered hiding them all but let me just say it was a decent, not-too-much-of-a-cliffhanger ending that still makes me want to read the next one. I'm also still kinda waiting for one particular character to show up coz okay maybe I spoiled one or two things for myself by reading SoC first but *shrugs*

So now I have to go buy the next one. *sigh* I need to stop reading first books and actually finish some of these series.

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Review: Three Dark Crowns

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(view spoiler)[I TOTALLY CALLED IT. (hide spoiler)]

Dang, how about that ending, huh??? *wink*

But seriously, this started out so dull but totally had me hooked once I started shipping Joe and Mira. I'm not the only one, am I??!

So, okay, look, this is real confusing at the start but once you accept that and kind of just go with it it's not so bad. I wasn't really taken with any of the characters at first but they did become a little more badass further on and now I'm pretty keen to read the second book.

I got a bit confused about who some of the characters were but they didn't seem too important. For example, Luke. Totally forgot who he was, how old, how they knew him etc but I knew he was kind of a pal? So yeah lots of names with immemorable descriptions.

There's some real nasty goings on here. So much plotting! But it's not really clever plotting? I don't like that all the grown-ups are doing all the hard work while the kids just follow blindly. I think that's why I liked Mira so much.

So plot wise it takes a bit to get into it all but the second half of the book races along and is a lot of fun to read.

I felt like there were a few errors though - it's got this gorgeous map in the front but it must have been flipped at some stage coz travel down the 'west coast' mentioned a lot of places in the east, according to the map. There was something else I spotted but I forget so ehhhhh. I basically got really lost trying to understand where everything was.

It's interesting that the blurb makes naturalists sound like glorified gardeners when I think it's pretty cool that they get familiars. As if we haven't all imagined having a badass pet we could turn loose on our enemies. Animals make any story a hundred times better. Especially when said animals are loyal sidekicks.

Kat was dull and I totally thought Pietyr (seriously what is UP with that spelling??) was a swine so I wasn't wholy on board with his character development. Arsinoe and Billy were cute together but Jules and Joe was a no-go from me so I was pretty happy when he went off on that sailing trip. (view spoiler)[He and Mira are the best couple in this book. They actually have passion and I don't know about them but I have no regrets about the time they spent together. (hide spoiler)] Mira was the most fun because she actually sticks up for herself a bit and goes after what she wants.

As for all the rituals and stuff, I no comprendo. It was pretty confusing and I didn't really get the point of it all. These people are weird. *shrugs* (view spoiler)[Also, what exactly was Arsinoe's plan before the bear plan? Was she just gonna get up on stage and stand there? (hide spoiler)]

And now we come to the spoiler discussion about the ending.

(view spoiler)[So I TOTALLY CALLED IT about halfway through. It seemed too obvious when Arsinoe had no animals and Kat got sick. I was kinda hoping it would come to light with Kat's snake biting her and consequently causing her death or with her taking control of the bear as her familiar but I guess Arsinoe not dying from poison keeps them all alive for the sequel. Plus I love the idea of vengeful Kat. But it was also kind of a giveaway when I started thinking how weird a name Arsinoe is and how it sounds a lot like arsenic. (It did take me half a book, though, coz I was mentally pronouncing it as Ariss-inoe.)

I am very much looking forward to Kat getting some brilliant revenge on Pietyr for being an A Grade douchebag (and spelling his name in such a ridiculous manner) and I hope her dead snake was not her familiar and she gets some totally awesome animal that can mess him up. Imagine if she got, like, a cockroach or something. Man, would that suck.

I hope Mira continues to kick butt in the second book and that her romance with old mate Joe gets so steamy Jules sets her cougar on him. I love Jules being all wound up over it. Mira's a lot of fun with her attitude and power combining to make a fierce character. I have so much time for her. Not the priestess, though. Screw her. (hide spoiler)]

Slow start to an unusual series but I did end up really enjoying it and I look forward to reading the sequel!


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Review: The Suspect

The Suspect by Michael Robotham
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was going to give this 3 stars, but I think that's just being far too generous.

The blurb starts by saying our protagonist, Joseph O'Loughlin, seems to have the perfect life. Then a body turns up and everything starts to get complicated.

The book is divided into three parts, and the first part is boooooorrrrring. It talks about the 'perfect life' and is incredibly dull. I mean, the body turns up pretty much straight away but then we hear all about Joe's daily routine and his perfect wife and perfect child. Over and over and over ...

But of course everything is complicated so Joe also has a bit of an illness to contend with, and he's so freaking mopey about it. I get that it's a sucky thing but if you're not gonna talk to people about it then you don't get to mope about it. What. A. Drainer.

So yeah, first half is dull and Joe is an unlikable protagonist.

The second part amps up the action a bit, though, as we start to learn more about the crime and chase suspects and try to figure out what the heck is going on. This hooked me a little more, because I love the psychological stuff and this is where it started getting tangled.

Part three is the climax and conclusion and it was so mehhhh. I was underwhelmed and kinda saw it coming without even knowing what IT was. (view spoiler)[IE I knew DJ was suss, and I knew there'd be a reveal of someone unexpected involved in the murder. Usually it turns out this person is actually the murderer, but in this case it was a second person when I didn't even know we were looking for an accomplice. (hide spoiler)]

So most of my complaints are with the main character, and how the story unfolds. I straight up didn't like Joe one bit because he's a liar and doesn't help the detective at all, making him seem overall like a pretty dodgy, conceited fellow. (view spoiler)[Wasn't thrilled with his cheating, either. What a douche. (hide spoiler)] Plus did I mention he whines a lot? He makes himself out to be such a victim and he does stupid things and it made me SO FRUSTRATED.

The story drags through the first half and then actually gets interesting in the second part. But the third part is a disappointing conclusion that doesn't actually cover most of the important stuff and is more about Joe being hard done by than any actual exploration of our killer and why they did what they did. (view spoiler)[For example, I kept waiting for the explanation of how the killer convinced Catherine to stab herself, and why. It never came. (hide spoiler)] It felt like such a crappy conclusion (view spoiler)[there was no real twist, and no psychological explanations to make up for it. (hide spoiler)] and none of the characters really made me feel anything, even when we discovered why the killer did their killing. It was all surface stories and emotions and I just never got attached because it was too distant and bland. I finished it last night and I've already forgotten how it actually ends. That's how uninteresting it was.

I'm hoping the second one in the series gets a bit more exciting and does more mind-meddling than this one. I probably wouldn't even bother with the second book if I didn't already own it.

Not great as far as psych thrillers go but there's probably people who will like Joe more than I did and therefore appreciate this a bit more.

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Review: The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After all the reviews I've read I knew this one would be moving, but this is also such an important voice to listen to and I honestly feel that EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE WORLD NEEDS TO READ THIS.

I can't possibly feel what it must be like to face the challenges of a black person living in the USA - all I can tell you is how this novel made me feel, as a white female living in a predominantly white country.

It made me feel ignorant.
It made me feel despair.
It made me feel guilt.
It made me feel lucky.
It made me feel disgust.
It made me feel gut-wrenching sadness.

But it also made me laugh, and it filled my heart with appreciation for family and community.

This is not necessarily a novel about how hard it is to be black.

This is a novel about a teenager, for whom the colour of her skin dictates the way she is treated by society as a whole.

It's a small story that is a mere glimpse of oppression, and it's told with incredible skill and heart and it is impossible to read this story and not feel anything. As an Australian, this level of injustice is a story on Page 3 - maybe - and to think this permeates the entire lifestyle of a country breaks my heart. There's so much in this book that I needed to read to understand exactly how deep the wounds go. Even still, I don't think I'll ever properly understand, but I know I'll make more of an effort to pay attention to the things I say and do.

Now, since this is also a story told by a teenager, we're facing more than just racism here. Clearly that's the KO, but there's plenty of jabs about sibling rivalry, friendship, fitting in and family. Starr is facing all the normal issues that come with being a teenager and that is something everyone can relate to. It injects humour into a dark story, and is another facet of what makes this such a powerful novel.

I have to be honest - I hadn't even planned to read this book yet. I just happened to glimpse at the first page to get an idea, and 13 hours later I was finishing it. It grabbed me instantly, stuck its claws in, and refused to let go. It is utterly heartbreaking but also uplifting, and even though all this bs is happening Starr is part of an incredibly strong family unit that sticks by her like glue no matter what. Even when she's in trouble they've got her back, and that's exactly what family is and I'm so, SO glad that her family was written that way.

On a much lighter note, I also really enjoyed the sneaker talk. I'm becoming a bit of a sneakerhead myself so it was a lot of fun to actually know what Jordans she was talking about and understand their value. It made me love her instantly.

This novel is written brilliantly, so that you're getting this powerful story with all the sass of a teenager. The language makes it so easy to play this as a movie in your head, and see the characters brought to life. The novel covers a hard topic, but using the voice of a teenager cuts out all the political bs and it all boils down to a very simple message: why is one life worth any less than another?

Now, here's the tough part.

I've never considered myself racist. I've never thought people should be treated any different just because of the colour of their skin, or how they look. But when I look deeper at my thoughts and reactions to people who are different, I have to seriously consider how much of my ingrained behaviour actually makes me racist without realising it?

And I think that's what makes this such an important novel for everyone to read.

It's not enough to just say, 'I'm not racist.'

We need to recognise all the behaviours that are so natural yet damaging to minorities. We need to actually consider things from the other side of the coin and acknowledge our white privilege as a serious thing. We need to accept: white people have it pretty good.

This book really made me think, but it also broke my heart (and then stuck it back together).

Honestly I encourage everyone to read this novel because it will open your eyes and hopefully allow you an insider's glimpse at a world you're completely ignorant of. The better our understanding, the better our chance of changing the world.

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Review: Traitor to the Throne

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first book in this series, Rebel of the Sands, was a lot of fun. We got to know Amani and Jin, and learn a ton about all the myths and legends in this world. It was a good adventure story with fun characters.

This one is so much darker.

There's a lot of politics and death and slavery and torture and Jin and Amani are fighting but the reason is WEAK. Apparently during the story between the two we have, Amani got herself shot and Jin disappeared because he couldn't hack it. So there's this weird, lame tension that's never really tense because, duh, we already know they love each other so it's just ridiculous to believe they're mad at each other. So yeah, Jin is gone so no Jin really in the first chunk of this book.

Then Amani winds up in the Sultan's palace (it's only a spoiler if I tell you how - she's there for a decent chunk of this novel making it kind of the main story) and it's all intrigue and politics and 'oh, maybe the Sultan isn't such a bad guy' which, compared to Kadir, he's kind of not? But he still kills people whenever he feels like it so, um, yeah. Definitely a bad guy.

There's a ton of ladies in the Harem (go figure) so there's nastiness (though I would have been entertained by more) and not nearly enough eye candy (figuratively speaking, of course) but there's a tiny ray of hope in Rahim, who is the prince-who-is-more-of-a-soldier, typical-good-guy, selfless type. A reasonably familiar character, but I liked him all the same. I'm expecting a solid love triangle in the third book, but that could be wishful thinking. Just for the drama, though!! Jin will always be my fave <3

Amani's still pretty sassy which I truly appreciate because all of this drama needs some sass to lighten the load a little. Also Shazad hangs around a bit here and there which is a blessing coz she's totally badass. There's a new fellow, too, who is fun.

Guess who DOESN'T spend time at the palace? *eyeroll*

If you go into this book hoping for fun hijinks from the dashing Jin, you will be sorely disappointed. (I was.) There is NO JIN at the palace. Which, as mentioned, is most of the book. *tears*

So no, this book was not nearly as fun as the first one, but that being said I do think it was an important story to tell. We needed that insider glimpse of the Sultan so that we can properly understand our villain, and I think it's valuable that he's fleshed out with a bit of grey, too, because that creates a much more entertaining dynamic. It was good getting to know a few more characters, and build on the dynamic between the existing. I did get a little mixed up with all the rebels, though. I couldn't remember who did what and who was related to whom. (There's a handy little character chart at the front, though.)

It was a slightly disappointing read after how much I enjoyed the first one but mostly just because it felt half-baked. It was such a long novel compared to Rebel ... but it needed more depth; like the emotion was missing a bit and things were being told instead of felt. I love Amani as a protagonist (though not entirely sure I'll be backing her in the next one) and I love her and Jin as a team, so I'm kind of just clinging to that. I'll be really interested to see how the series concludes because this was such a change from the first one - things escalated really fast so will be interesting to see what kind of scale the conclusion is on.

Fingers crossed for a lot more Jin in the next one, too!


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Review: The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Look I get it and I also kind of don't.

The themes and story are powerful; this is a dark, dystopian world not too far from our own, and a lot of its ideas make sense in a really scary way. I don't want to delve too deeply into female oppression and misogyny etc. but this made me furious at times and had me ranting like a rabid feminist when I've never considered myself such before. I can't imagine the effect it would have had on women at the time of its original publication.

The whole premise is that women are divided into categories, and the protagonist is a Handmaid - a woman whose sole job is to fall pregnant to important men in the place of their wives. It's pretty sickening but here's the thing: the whole reason is never really fully explored?

I take it the wives are barren, and this is a fairly recent change to society so many of these marriages were probably already in place, but I didn't really comprehend how the pairing up works, and how widespread it is, and how women are divided up into the other roles, like Aunts etc. It was so focused on the consequences and the now of this horrid society that it didn't really seem to be properly explained. It was kind of like a feminist version of 1984 only there was not really a lot of explanation of why . Why are children so important? Why is procreation considered the single most important thing in this new society? It painted such a bleak picture but it lacked that 'this is possibly our future if we keep doing x' factor that helped 1984 pack such a punch.

Also.

The writing was TERRIBLE.

I understand that it's a stylistic thing designed to symbolise the telling of the story, but here's an example that hopefully explains my frustration:

'Nights falls. Or has fallen. [...] Maybe night falls because it's heavy, a thick curtain pulled up over the eyes. Wool blanket. I wish I could see in the dark, better than I do.'

Honestly I found it tedious at times, dealing with her musings. There are so many commas and disconnected thoughts, and the tense jumps around all over the place. I understand why it was written that way, but it made it harder to read and that could easily put people off.

I did actually really appreciate the story, as it gets the wheels turning and it encourages discourse on gender inequality, which I think is incredibly important. Surface level, I was so curious about her past so putting all the pieces together was actually kind of fun. I suppose I just felt like the jigsaw was only 80% completed, and missing all the outer edges.

The ending was never going to be happy but dang, was it frustrating! (See below rant of immediate impressions) Screw that. It was such an enormous let down. Can't say I was surprised, though.

As for characters, they were pretty bland, as far as characters go. There's not really any attachment because they're so imperceptible; they live inside their definitions and there's no room for their personalities to really stretch out or break free. The Commander was strange, the Wife was sullen, Nick was a barely defined outline and Offred herself was difficult to understand, particularly as an unreliable narrator. i found it so hard to align the present-day narrator with the past she spoke of. It seemed like such a dramatic change in so short a time and I think that right there pretty much sums up my biggest issue with this novel. I think I figured out that all of this had come about in the space of three years? Hmmmm ...

I still have so many questions and this one really hurts my head to think about it any kind of detail. It's a fascinating commentary on society but a somewhat shallow, as opposed to comprehensive, viewpoint, in my opinion. It is an interesting story but this is a politically charged novel and not a light read.

I understand why it's popular: it raises some important questions through portrayal of a society drastically changed by ideals that are rampant in our present day society. It is written in a unique style, and everything is written with purpose. I think these things allow some to overlook the tedious writing, and gaps in the world-building. The story is enjoyable enough on the surface, but I wouldn't call it a page-turner. This is another book that's all about what's being said between the lines. I liked it, but I won't be raving about it.


***

Immediately after finishing:
...

WHAT THE FRENCH FRY WAS THAT???!

Nah, screw that ending!! I'm so mad!

What a load of ... !!!!

I'm too mad to write a proper review. I'm gonna need a minute over here.

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