Review: The Faraway Inn

The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Soneela Nankani
Presented by Macmillan

This one might have just been a little too cosy for my action-loving heart.

A young girl, Calisa, goes to help her eccentric great-aunt at The Faraway Inn for the summer, but her great-aunt doesn't want her there. Seeing the place is quite rundown, Calisa decides if she helps to fix it up, she might be allowed to stay.

For me, this was just a little too slow to start with the fantasy. There's a lot about Calisa escaping an ex, about how rundown the place is, and how handsome the local lad is. Then the great-aunt tells her she can't stay, and it becomes all about cooking and cleaning.

Some odd things happen, suggesting the magic we're really here for, but nothing really gets started in that direction for a while. I found myself waiting for something exciting to happen.

Finally, when the whimsy comes it is indeed quite sweet and fun, with quite a wholesome feel to it all.

The narration was pretty solid, if a little slow. There are a lot of characters and the narrator did a fair job of giving them all unique voices, while injecting life into the story.

The vibes are very strong cosy fantasy, where everyone dreams of settling into the routine of maintaining a magical B&B. So if you like that kinda thing, you should adore this one.

A little too slow for my personal tastes, but a wonderfully whimsical story for the cosy-fantasy-inclined.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: The Lady Killer

The Lady Killer by Masako Togawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another one that missed the mark a little, but was still an enjoyable mystery.

It's broken into a couple parts - first, from the perspective of the Lady Killer himself then later from the viewpoint of a lawyer working on the case.

I really enjoyed how it started, with some interesting aspects to the murders and their strange connection to one particular man. But the murders came hard and fast until it was soon just a jumble of information with no real space or time to work out what was happening.

When I read about the lawyer and his various visits to find clues, I found it hard to follow at times. I wasn't quite sure on the logic of some of it, and other clues didn't seem to fit very well at all. Then there was the thin attachment to his own personal life, without really giving us time to be invested in him as a character. I wonder if maybe some of the emotion was lost in translation.

The solution wasn't the creative breakdown I've come to expect from Japanese detective novels, despite a plethora of strange clues and red herrings. At no point were all the dots connected clearly and cleanly - it all felt a little jumbled and stretched at the end, making for an unsatisfying conclusion.

I did still really enjoy the setup, and the nature of the murders was curious and enough to keep me interested and invested. It's not one of the strongest of the genre, but there's still enough here that I'd recommend it for fans of Japanese detective stories. The writing style is unique and always a fun experience.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

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Review: Strange Pictures

Strange Pictures by Uketsu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this one, but it wasn't quite the clever puzzle I wanted it to be.

It's a series of linked short stories, each containing at least one illustration that suggests clues to the story.

I found, for the most part, that the illustrations didn't really have a lot to offer. It was an interesting idea, but their explanations when they came felt a little flimsy.

The story itself, though, was interesting, and I liked the way they all intertwined without you really understanding how until later.

There were some intriguing mysteries, for sure, and I enjoyed trying to puzzle them out. And while some of the explanations seemed a little off, I enjoyed thinking about the puzzles and how bizarre some of the setups were.

I'll still recommend this one for fans of strange mysteries - the gimmick with the pictures is fresh and adds something not many other books have, making it interesting just on that factor alone. It also introduces some fascinating characters, and some of the stories were wonderfully twisted.

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Review: The Blood-Born Dragon

The Blood-Born Dragon by J.C. Rycroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun dragon fantasy with plenty of action and lively characters.

Des makes a great heroine, though I was absolutely not a fan of Liv. As a consequence, their relationship irritated me a lot. Des, you can do better girl.

Strong love for Squid though - it's about time fantasy brought in a dragon this sassy!

The writing is solid, telling the story easily with plenty of time for action as well as rumination on feelings. The world-building is decent, keeping it simple but intriguing. I would have liked a little more flesh on the bones of the world, but what we got was still enough to colour the setting.

My frustrations with Liv persisted throughout the book, and I found there really wasn't much to like about her. Even as we learned more about her I still didn't find it excuse enough for her behaviour, so her part in the story was harder to swallow.

Still, the story held my attention throughout, and I was curious about the dragons and where this story would take us.

I'd happily recommend this one to fantasy fans needing a dragon-driven narrative in their reading life.

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Review: A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance, Vol. 2

A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance, Vol. 2 by Rick Remender
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not quite the strong conclusion I wanted but still not too bad.

I think the strength of the series has really been in using images, rather than words, to tell the story, but having finished it feels like it just didn't tell us enough. There are still a lot of unanswered questions and holes in the narrative.

Still, the story progression was fun, giving a little more background and creating a little more of an emotional attachment to the story.

I enjoyed the story overall and will happily recommend, though personally I would have liked a little more detail to really fill out the story and bring it home strong.

Buddy read with Jet and Tasso

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Review: A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance, Vol. 1

A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance, Vol. 1 by Rick Remender
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Strong opening to the story!

I've found a lot of Remender's stories to be a bit average - he seems to have great ideas but doesn't really know how to captivate with his writing or character development.

This, however, speaks really well through it's minimal dialogue and narration; Remender gets out of the way and let's the art tell the story.

I really enjoyed the setup, though the blurb tells what's more of a mystery when reading. I wasn't sure how our protagonist was involved, and I wanted more back story, but was happy to wait.

The violence, when it comes, is brutal and not for the faint of heart. It's detailed and attention is paid to every wound inflicted, meaning if you're squeamish with body horror this may not be the best fit.

Ultimately this first volume was a great setup and I really enjoyed it.

Buddy read with Jet and Tasso

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Review: Cleopatra

Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Adjoa Andoh
Presented by Harper Collins UK Audio

Mixed but mostly negative feelings about the audio. I think she actually did a (mostly) brilliant job but it just wasn't for me.

The story itself was a bit disappointing to me, as I think it tried too hard to make her a sympathetic character. Cleopatra has always seemed like such a badass of history, and this rounds her out a bit more, but with tales of woe and hardship rather than steel. There's a huge focus on her as a mother and a lover, and I wanted more of her as a ruler. I guess that's kind of the point of the story - to offer the bits history doesn't - but to me it watered down the character into less than I expected.

I was also increasingly frustrated every time the story referred to things yet to come. While Cleopatra is such an iconic figure from history, I think there are many who don't know all the details of her life so it ends up spoiling a lot of big moments. I'm one of them - I know her as a badass queen but not too much about the details, and I was excited to learn more through this medium. So naturally, many of the references were big spoilers. I HATE SPOILERS. I'm the kind of person who doesn't even want to know how a book made you feel because it's a spoiler on how I might feel reading it.

I'm in two minds as to how I would go with the physical, compared to the audio. On the one hand, I think I would have appreciated Cleopatra as a person a little more, but I also think I would have been even more bored with the length of the story. This really does travel, giving plenty of detail of Cleopatra's life, and while it's nice to hear about everything, it does make it long and a little tedious at times. I enjoy audio for books like this, because I can zone out a little without missing much. But I always get a richer experience with reading physically so this may have led to a better impression of the character.

The narration itself was very hit/miss for me. I enjoyed the strength of her voice and its representation of the character, but at times it didn't seem to suit. Some of the pronunciations bothered me, and I felt sometimes it was a little more dramatic than necessary. But then at other times I was completely swept away by the performance, feeling true anguish when the character experienced it. I'd want to listen to this narrator on another book to see how it differs.

I did enjoy the story, but it didn't capture me quite as much as I wanted it to, and I wanted to hear more of the coldhearted queen of history. Still, it's stirred up more interest in researching the historical woman so that's never a bad thing! I'd definitely still encourage people with an interest in the Egyptian Queen to give this book a go.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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