Review: Together by Christmas

Together by Christmas by Karen Swan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eugh.

I just loved it, okay?!

Yes. It's true. This piece of Christmas fluff has thawed my icy heart and left me a melted mess of joy and tenderness and good old Christmas Spirit.

I mean, I don't even know how to explain why I got so much enjoyment out of the emotional rollercoaster this story took me on. I felt every emotion a human can feel reading this book, I'm certain of it. I was so thoroughly hooked that I didn't even have time to feel ashamed of myself for loving a romance novel so much. I just fully embraced the love. If that isn't Christmas spirit right there, I don't know what is.

This wonderful Christmas story follows Lee, who is a single mother to 5yr old Jasper, who is the most important thing in her life. She's got no time for romance, but thankfully her job as a celebrity photographer keeps her busy and allows her to meet people to scratch the itch when she needs it. Then of course something unusual happens - a book ends up in her bike basket, and it's got a strange message scrawled inside. Lee sets about trying to solve this puzzle; meanwhile secrets from her past are drifting to the surface and her simple, controlled life begins to get a little out of hand ...

I won't lie: I was mildly concerned when it started in a war zone, since I abhor reading war stories. However, beyond the prologue I found it added such a fascinating depth to the story through Lee's character, and I just really loved her journey from a war photojournalist to this celebrity photographer still trying to make a difference in the lives of others. I loved who it made her, but also her growth throughout the story as she began to deal with these things.

There were a few different things going on but it never felt messy or out of control - rather, it added a fullness to the story that made it even more enticing to me. Like Lee, I got swept up in the lives of the people around her, and I loved all of them. I loved that Lee would help out almost incidentally - like it was just part of her DNA. But she's no martyr, either - she sticks up for herself, she doesn't hide or lie about her feelings (much) and she is determined to do things on her own terms.

The motherhood angle is another one I'm wary of because I can never relate but, again, I was completely sucked in by the relationship between Lee and her son. It's such a beautiful, meaningful part of the story, and I loved that he was always her number one concern no matter what else was happening. It struck me as much more real than some other stories I've read, where children tend to take a backseat to new love. Jasper was a huge part of this novel, and Lee's love for him is where this novel gets so much of its heart.

At the same time, it was also a lot of fun falling in love with pretty much all the men in this novel. I'm so glad that, as a reader, I don't have to choose - I can have them all! Sam is obviously the one who stole my heart the most, but I also just loved how supportive her friends were, and even the sincerity of the friendship between her and Harry (even though it's kind of messed up on the surface). They were all such real characters and even though they had their own moments of pain their places in this novel brought me so much joy.

The mystery with the book was quite curious, but was just another layer to fatten up the story, rather than the sole driving storyline. I liked that. I appreciated that it wasn't laser-focused, and that Lee still went about living her life in the meantime.

There really was a lot going on in this story but I was drawn in so thoroughly that it seemed to flow together pretty seamlessly to me. Some may find it a little long but I honestly couldn't get enough.

Honestly, I am feeling so much Christmas cheer right now, thanks to this book. It's literally Christmas Eve, I've barely thought about Christmas once this year, and now suddenly I'm just overflowing with love and gratitude and I want to go hug my neighbours. (Obviously I won't, since 2020 is the year hugs were abolished.)

I freaking loved it. It made me so happy. I think it's the first time I've rated a romance novel 5 stars. I don't even care. *happy sigh*

Thank you to the person who recommended I read one of her Christmas novels. You have given me a great joy this holiday season. :)

With thanks to Macmillan for an ARC

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Review: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF @ Pg 536 (61%)

I think it's time to review this monstrosity.

Paolini is a fantasy author and nowhere is that more apparent than in this, his sci-fi debut. Stick to fantasy, buddy.

Let me just start with a list of my complaints and go from there.

- Dull and slow from the get-go
- Science is generally pretty light on, unless it's going into pointlessly detailed explanations of something
- Characters are annoying cardboard cutouts
- Frustrating behaviour
- The plot is almost non-existent
- The aliens are a friggin parody
- Tons of inconsistencies
- Just so pointlessly looooooong

*sigh*

Dull, slow, pointlessly long with a non-existent plot
Here is the formula of this story:
Kira, our protagonist, finds an alien super suit. She passes out. She has a weird dream. She wakes. They are travelling to another location. She goes to sleep. She has a weird dream. When she wakes, they are arriving somewhere. There is a fight. She passes out. Has a weird dream. Wakes up, they're headed somewhere else. Another fight. She passes out/goes to sleep. Has a weird dream. ARE YOU SEEING WHERE THIS IS GOING?!

I read over 500 pages of this stupid book and still have no freaking clue what the actual point of it was. I have no idea what was happening because it was all so similar it just blurred together. Honestly, if I had to read one more fking dream sequence I was going to scream. THERE IS NO NEED FOR THIS BOOK TO BE NEARLY 900 PAGES LONG.

The science
Admittedly, I don't read a huge amount of sci-fi, because the science tends to go over my head. However I recently read (and enjoyed immensely) The Salvation Sequence and this is the sci-fi I am comparing this book to.

I enjoy science that goes a little over my head, but in The Salvation Sequence the point of all the fancy sci-fi lingo was explained. For example, there would be a scientific explanation for something like about how energy would be channelled through the Thingamajig which would multiply the trajectory of the Whatchamacallit into the square root of pi or whatever and then it would explain, 'basically, when the Thingamajig went off, the tunnel would be blown to smithereens' (Clearly this is an example not just of what I mean but also of my complete lack of comprehension of some of the science stuff haha). Point is, no matter how lost I was with the science, I still understood what was happening.

In this book, there's actually not a lot of science, despite being set in space in the future. It's all kind of dumbed down, but then it will have a little fit here and there where it goes into a scientific explanation about something and you just have to understand it or you get left behind. I'm not exactly an advanced physicist (shocking, I know) so I definitely didn't get it.

Meanwhile, they nickname the giant squid aliens JELLIES. *facepalm*

Cardboard characters with frustrating behaviour
First we have Kira, who is our saintly protagonist who can do no wrong. Even when she's accidentally slaughtering people she's forgiven, because she didn't mean to, and she feels really bad about it. Also she's somehow always saving lives but don't thank her because she's just doing what anyone else would have done. Honestly, how everyone saw her as a hero constantly kind of mystified me because half the time I had no idea what they were referring to. She seemed to always be causing more trouble. She makes so many stupid mistakes and questionable choices and I just could not root for her. Especially when no one gave her nearly as much crap as she deserved.

Next we have the motley crew, and anyone who knows my reading habits knows I love a good motley crew. But these guys were just SO BORING. They are nothing new: the brooding Captain who everyone loves and respects and who our main character is definitely going to bang at some point (mercifully I didn't get there but I guarantee it happens eventually), the gruff sidekick who is actually more kind and considerate than you'd expect, the tough, quiet one with a soft spot, the feisty warrior one, the joker ... and honestly again they all blended together because they were so unoriginal I didn't give two craps about them. I hope they all get blown to pieces in a grand finale. (Tell me they do and I might reconsider finishing this book.)

Among all of this is a handful of terrible jokes and a little bullying on the side which I can only assume is both an attempt to lighten the mood but also teach people that bullying is wrong. (Thank you, Mr Paolini, for pointing this out to me in your super wise, realistic, science fiction/fantasy novel. I am so moved by this completely random message.)

Honestly, THIS IS A TRAINWRECK OF A BOOK.

The aliens and the inconsistencies
So the Big Bad are aliens which apparently look like giant squid and our protagonist and her squad take to nicknaming them Jellies. Because why call them squids, right? Also, even though Kira and her squad have come up with this nickname, it is coincidentally the same nickname EVERYONE IN THE UNIVERSE picked and chooses to use - even after knowing (or even ONLY knowing) their actual species name. Because 'Jellies' just represents such an intelligent, malevolent kind of vibe, right? How am I supposed to take this threat seriously?! I just kept thinking this was actually set deep in the ocean with mutated sea creatures. Maybe it would have made for a better story if it had been.

Concluding thoughts
Essentially, this is a fantasy novel, set in space, featuring evil sea creatures and it just DOES NOT WORK. There's so much being crammed in but there's not really a plot to drive it or even tie it together neatly. It's just a mashup of a bunch of ambitious ideas.

Imagine this: You decide you're going to let out this massive scream, right, so you draw all this air into your lungs, you're sucking it back, your chest is expanding, it is going to be a scream heard throughout the world, and then when you finally open your mouth ready to unleash this scream ... you let out an involuntary huff of breath - 'ah'. THAT'S THIS STORY. The ultimate disappointment. It is a world built of scraps and falling apart at every join.

My feelings toward this book perfectly sum up my feelings toward 2020: I was excited, had big plans, expected great things, and then as soon as it started it was falling apart and it just got worse and worse and more and more frustrating and now I am just overjoyed that it's OVER.

With thanks and apologies to the publisher for my ARC

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Dymocks 2020 Challenge Eleventh Hour Update

Down to one last book for this challenge, and since I don't even have it yet I think I'm looking at a substitution!

I've been so lucky this year to receive so many great books from publishers, friends, family and authors. It's meant my reading list has been constantly adapting but spending half the year in isolation certainly allowed me the opportunity to read more than I ever have before, so I'm very grateful. Keep an eye out for my 2020 reading breakdown, coming soon!

December is a busy month for me with my martial arts training going into overdrive, but once the madness is over I should have a week or so left to squeeze in the last book for this challenge. Hopefully a few others as well to take my grand total for the year to 150 books read. 

Happy reading!

Progress: 25/26
✔Australian Author: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte (AA) Review Here
✔Indigenous Author: Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina (AA) Review Here
✔From Top 101: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black Review Here
✔Kid's Top 51: Withering by Sea by Judith Rossell (AA) Review Here
✔Dymocks 'Book of the Month': House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas (March) Review Here
✔Re-read favourite book of all time: The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien Review Here, Here and Here (updated from The Three Musketeers)

✔Friend's recommendation: Mao's Last Dancer by Cunxin Li (AA) Review Here
✔Featuring favourite country (France): Josephine's Garden by Stephanie Parkyn (AA) Review Here
✔From TBR pile: North Star Guide Me Home by Jo Spurrier (AA) Review Here
✔Award winner: Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA) Review Here
✔Mystery/Thriller: One Last Child by Anni Taylor (AA) Review Here
✔Memoir: A Sceptic's Search for Meaning by Mike Willesee (AA) Review Here
✔Outside usual genre: Entranced by Nora Roberts Review Here
Short stories: Saga Land by Richard Fidler & Kari Gislason (AA)
✔Self Help/Motivation: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Review Here
✔Fairytale/Fable adaptation: Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth (AA) Review Here
✔Book 1 in Fantasy series: Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan Review Here
✔Teaches something new: Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall Review Here (updated from The Power of Positive Thinking)

✔Adapted to film/TV series: You by Caroline Kepnes Review Here
✔Red cover: Cherry Pie by Leigh Redhead (AA) Review Here
✔Colour in title: Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin Review Here (updated from Beyond Black)

✔Read in a day: Weapon by Lynette Noni (AA) Review Here
✔About books: The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury Review Here
✔Makes me laugh: Challenge Accepted by Celeste Barber (AA) Review Here
✔Published this year: Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA) Review Here
✔Said I've read but haven't: The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien Review Here (updated from Wuthering Heights) 

Review: Meditations

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed taking my time with this one.

There's so much wisdom in this book and it absolutely came at the right time for me. It's not a light read - you really have to ponder every line and think about what it all means.

At times, it does feel a little like you're reading a diary. Only the diary of someone super wise who is trying to be the best version of himself he can be, so instead of juicy secrets we get worldly wisdom and inspiration to become better ourselves.

"Meditations" is an apt title as these are things you can ruminate on endlessly. Among the wisdom is the frequent reminder of our individual insignificance in the scope of time, and that we can only be responsible for our own thoughts and actions, so there is no need to bother about what others think of us. It reinforces the message of being a good, kind person and of living life sticking to your own moral compass, no matter what anyone around you is doing.

For me, I mostly enjoyed the references to nurturing the soul first and foremost, with the body being nought but a shell to house the soul. This was probably my favourite line in the whole book:

Disgraceful if, in this life when your body does not fail, your soul should fail you first.

For a little context, I have been on a journey of personal growth through martial arts, and we talk often of how the mind fails before the body. The challenge is to not let the pain signals of the body cause your mind to falter. The body can always handle so much more than the mind thinks it can, so I'm at a point in my life when I'm really testing those boundaries and this book was such a comfort. I love the notion of being much more than the body experiencing discomfort.

It also speaks of death, and how we shouldn't fear our time ending, if that what is necessary for the Whole. These fragments may rub you the wrong way if you're not particularly spiritual or religious, but I found them to be very wise.

This is the sort of book that carries weight in every word, and as such it's one that you can return to at any time. There's even an index in the back (of this edition, at least) so that you can jump to wisdom for specific challenges you may be facing.

Because its his own musings, it does get a little repetitive in places, but I still found an element of enjoyment to that because it's a good reminder that he was human like everyone else, and he was just trying to be the best human he could be.

On the whole, this was a really comforting read. Great for those on a spiritual path, but also just an inspiring read for those looking for some wisdom that may help in a troubling situation. Take your time with it, digest it slowly, and you're bound to find something that resonates.

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Review: Creed

Creed by James Herbert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the writing of this, but the story was a little underwhelming. Only I don't know if it was the story itself or just the 2020 bug. I think, from a distance, it should be a 4-star book, but my experience was a 3-star. So let's call it 3.5.

The Good

1. Creed is a Jerk
He's such a brilliant anti-hero. He's self-centred, smokes and drinks far too much, treats people like dirt, and he delights in his job of snapping embarrassing photos of the rich and famous. He excels at his job. Because he has no shame. He is a despicable human being and totally doesn't care.

2. Creed is a Cynic
This guy doesn't believe anything he can't see with his own eyes. And even when he does see it himself, he'll still try to find a logical explanation for it. This made for an interesting mind-f*ck. Because it makes us, the reader, cynical as well. Are we going to believe in the supernatural occurrences? Or are we going to believe whatever thin logical explanation Creed finds?

3. The Storytelling is Fantastic
More than anything, I loved the way this was written. This is a proper story-telling narrative, with the author explaining things for us and injecting some brilliant humour in the process. It's clever, witty, and I found myself just really enjoying the narrator as a character himself.

4. The RANDOMNESS
Honestly, most of the time I had no idea what was happening, where it was going, what it was trying to set up. Zero ideas. It was hectic. There was so much random stuff happening - demons and vampires and bugs and faces at windows and evil toilets and ... SO MUCH. I thoroughly enjoyed how disturbing it all was, but I found it more amusing than terrifying. Did I mention the evil toilet??

The Bad

1. The Plot is ... What?
I still am not 100% sure of what the heck was happening here. It begins with Creed snapping a photo he shouldn't have, and it leads to this absolute chaos that is basically Creed being terrorised for reasons I couldn't work out. It was strange and hard to follow and it lessened my motivation to pick it up because the drive wasn't really there for me.

2. The Scare Factor is Low
I was hoping for a horror story but this definitely felt more like comedy. There are some creepy moments but the way Creed (and the narrator) deals with everything just makes it more humourous. I think, because Creed never entirely believed any of this horrific stuff was happening, it took the threat out of it. It was hilarious, but never raised a single goosebump for me.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I won't lie, the 2020 bug has really affected my reading experiences this year, and I find I'm a lot harder to please. I suspect this story lost a star to that. On paper, this book is everything I should have enjoyed, but it took me a lot longer to read than I anticipated, because I never really had the urge to pick it up again. I think that's part the fault of the plot, but also part me.

It's funny and unique, and Creed is a brilliant character, but as a horror novel it does fall a little flat. Still, there are some really interesting monsters here and the writing is truly brilliant, so others are likely to be more impressed than me.

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