Review: JLA: A League of One: Deluxe Edition

JLA: A League of One: Deluxe Edition by Christopher Moeller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A fun Wonder Woman story backed up by an interesting yet ultimately confusing sci-fi tale about the JLA piloting mech units. Good bang for your buck if you get the two together in this edition, but the first story is really all you need.

A League of One: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In this first story, Wonder Woman knows she's the only one who can save the world from a reawakened dragon, so she's gotta take out the members of the Justice League so they don't get in the way. It's a nice, simple story brought to life by gorgeous paintings. I loved studying these pages and just absorbing all the details. Beautifully rendered in such a way that you get this gorgeous fantasy story while still making it believable that the JLA are involved.

The gnomes are delightful, as are WW's two helpers. The colours are gorgeous, and the story is told well. A fun DC fantasy story.

Cold Steel: ⭐⭐

Generally terrible.

I liked it at first - beautiful artwork, and strange looking alien creatures. But as the story progressed it became increasingly difficult to hold the thread of what was happening and by the end I had no idea what had transpired.

A lot of work put into the mech designs for them to not really see a lot of logical action, and there was no clear reason they played such a role. It felt forced and as a consequence the story suffered.

Still gorgeous art, and I'd happily flick through just to marvel over the colours, but the story leaves a lot to be desired.


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Review: Songs of the Dead

Songs of the Dead by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Narrated by Jack Ayres
Presented by Bolinda Audio

Sanderson's name does more heavy lifting than the exceptionally bland story.

Honestly, I got bored with this at about 30% and the rest was just such a drag. I definitely zoned out a ton, so keep that in mind.

The story follows rocker Jack Solomon as he is introduced into a strange new world of music-magic, light-magic, and a whole bunch of dead people and stuff. *shrugs*

I was actually hooked by the premise - it sounded like a unique idea, and Sanderson is pretty good at creating fascinating magic systems. But this was messy. Music AND light AND dead people ... and a gratuitous amount of musical name drops. Layer upon messy layer of new ideas, new magic, new weapons and new people, and so many info-dumps I'm amazed I took any of it in at all.

This does not read like something from the mind of Sanderson. This reads like a book written by an aging musician who wants to convey the power of music in a new and interesting form while mentally reliving his own glory days. But those who aren't as musically-inclined will likely be alienated by the sheer volume of references, and it makes the book feel a little bit obnoxious. Jack strikes me as the kind of guy that would name an obscure band and then shame you for never having heard of them. Sanderson may have helped develop the magic but this strikes me very much as the pet project of Peter Orullian.

I might have given this an extra star if I'd read a physical copy and therefore followed the action a little better, but it just didn't interest me at all. The narrator does a fantastic job nailing a bunch of different accents but still somehow makes a handful of characters sound the same.

Did not expect him to sing to me, though; that was wild. Especially after every single other 'song' was spoken like bad poetry.

Overall it was an underwhelming urban fantasy that came across as arrogant rather than fun. I think perhaps a physical copy would deliver a little better, but the narrator does well with what he has to work with. If you're a metal head or big on urban fantasy with a musical twist, this might be for you. But don't pick this up based on Sanderson's name alone or you might be disappointed like I was.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: Wish You Were French

Wish You Were French by Elaelah Harley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Oh dear.

Look, every now and then I take a chance on a genre I don't often read. I thought this might be a cute lil romance that would melt my icy heart a little - especially with my own love of French things - but sadly this was not for me at all.

I appreciate our Australian indie authors. They've got a tough gig, and I honestly really admire anyone who completes a book and then releases it into the wild world. Which makes it so much harder to write a negative review.

But this was just so trite, so full of stereotypes and dull maturity. In the real world, I LIKE when people have mature conversations and understand their own emotions and own up to their faults etc. But in a book it just means zero excitement. Where is the action???

Audrey was a painful character that I disliked from the beginning. She was obnoxious and rude and Theo falling for her instantly felt so forced to me. Theo himself is a little more bearable, but he's still over-the-top smug and annoying.

The writing is awful, with no real major plot points to make things interesting. Nothing of note really happens throughout the story, other than a kiss here and there to add 'spice'. The story is so bland and everything happens so awkwardly. The romance between the two never feels genuine, because there's no time taken to develop the characters before they're thrust together.

Plus the whole 'wish you were French' thing is basically non-existent?! Like she wants to move to France and she wears French-inspired outfits (aka berets) and that's kind of it on the French side? This has very little to do with the French way of life at all. I was very disappointed.

The side characters give some spark, but it's not enough to save this story.

I really wanted to like this, but everything about it was forced and awkward. Not to mention you can see everything coming from a mile away and the French theme is sadly lacking.

Maybe romance fans will appreciate this more than I did but it didn't have anything close to what I hoped for in a sweet lil romantic diversion.

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Review: Bad Influence

Bad Influence by Will Carver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Narrated by Georgie Sadler and Nezar Alderazi
Presented by Bolinda Audio

Loved it!! An excellent, twisted story.

I loved the drama of this from the get-go, and how Alyssa and Less are always doing things that you want to mildly judge them for but also admire.

The fit-fluencer drama and the social media stuff was a really fun angle, but it also makes valid points about how staged some of these things are. I enjoyed that there was a deeper aspect to make the story important, while maintaining a fun, hectic veneer.

I would like to get a physical copy of the book - I feel like it would probably read better, with the social media posts. But that said, the narrators did a brilliant job and I really enjoyed listening to them tell this story. I'd happily listen to either (and this story!) again.

It was also just FUN. Funny, yes, but also adventurous and risky and a breath of fresh air in the serious world of crime fiction. I really enjoyed the whole VIBE of this book.

Really enjoyed it from start to finish, and I didn't zone out at all! Which is a big thing for me with audiobooks. This one captured and kept my attention throughout.

Highly recommend for fans of dark humour and crime fiction with a twist. This will likely sit better with younger readers who are more social-media savvy and understand some of the ins and outs of 'influencer' behaviour, but it should be a fun read for most.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: WE ARE MERIDIANS: BOOK ONE

WE ARE MERIDIANS: BOOK ONE by S. Ghali
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Could definitely have used a little more work, but it still held my interest. The writing is just kind of terrible.

This is another book that I requested back in 2019 from NetGalley, and never got around to reading. I can't say it was worth the wait, but it wasn't quite as terrible an experience as expected.

The plot is pretty simple - A bunch of Meridians (a technologically advanced offshoot of humans) have to go to earth to recover a weapon but they must do so with the help of an alien prince. Basically.

I'll be real - I don't remember all the random names at all, really. The Prince and our Meridian cadet, Elmyra, have to form an uneasy truce, encouraged by the civilian Effra. There's not a whole lot of characterisation so I was never particularly attached to the characters, though they still have their own individual quirks that will entertain the less picky.

Mercifully, the action rampages on so that the story progresses rapidly and we don't have to flounder in bad writing for too long. Though that's not particularly fair - it's not that the writing is bad, per se, it's more that it feels amateur and under-developed.

Basically, there's a lot of potential here for a great space opera, but it falls short due to the lack of polish.

I didn't totally hate it - I was happy to keep picking it up, and there weren't any dull moments. There are plenty of things that could easily have been expanded on, but as it is the story is not without its moments. Highly predictable, but still fun.

I think with further development this could be a really solid entry into an epic sci-fi series, but as it stands it doesn't quite get there. Still, it's entertaining enough for those who might find themselves with a copy.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

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Review: The Boleyn Secret

The Boleyn Secret by Alison Weir
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Narrated by Rosalyn Landor
Presented by RB Media

DNF @ 66%

Bailing on this one. Just kinda bored with it! The historical stuff is interesting but Kate has become an incredibly dull character and there are exactly zero secrets here.

The story begins with Kate, niece to the queen Anne Boleyn, being sent to her side while Anne awaits death. What follows is an express lesson on the history of Henry VIII's wives and their various endings, with very little of note to report. Then it kind of devolves into Kate's personal life which is dull as dishwater, and by the time I gave up it was starting to veer into the topic of religious unrest.

I just stopped caring for anything, and realised it was not something I was excited to keep listening to. The narrator does a decent job but the content just doesn't have a lot going for it.

With a title suggestive of a big secret, this had nothing that wasn't easily predictable and immediately brushed to the side in favour of other issues. Incredibly disappointing on that front, and a dire lack of secrets anywhere else in the book.

It does give a crash course in history at the time, so fans of historical fiction may get a kick out of that aspect. But the story itself doesn't have enough to draw you in and make you really feel anything for anyone. I don't know that I could recommend it for anything other than the historical points of interest.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: Of Flame and Fury

Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I rather enjoyed this!

Also grateful that the romance was nice and tame.

Kel is part of the Howlers - a phoenix racing team. She's the tamer, and her bond with her phoenix, Savita, is special. Unfortunately, their team is about to change, including the addition of Warren Coupers - a reckless rider and Kel's mortal enemy. They'll be forced to work together under the sponsorship of tech wiz and suspicious billionaire Cristo.

Savita was easily the star of the book, and I really wanted to get to know her and the other phoenixes a little better. The concept was quite interesting and unique, and while the racing itself didn't really interest me, the notion of taming phoenixes did.

The story was easy to follow with a natural progression and plenty of elements to make things interesting. I mostly enjoyed the cast of characters, though the bickering between Kel and Coup was incredibly frustrating at the start, and Dira wasn't particularly likeable at all. I enjoyed the way they worked together though.

I think probably my main issue is just that it didn't feel like there was a lot of character depth. The story was fun and interesting but it was hard to really understand the characters and their motivations on a deeper level.

Still, a really interesting, unique idea and a fun story. I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a different take within the fantasy genre.

My copy signed by the author at Supanova '26

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