Review: Unhallowed Halls

Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was so much more twisted than I expected??? But I really enjoyed it.

There was a lot going on in this one, but it also made it a little more unexpected which was nice.

It begins with the new girl at school, not like other girls because everyone around her is from rich and prominent families but she's just there because she did something bad and now she's here to try and learn how to control her powers.

The academia side of things was weird, with just a whole lot of references to ancient Greek philosophers and the like; it was too much but also somehow not enough at the same time? Like, it's constantly referenced but also these kids never seem to be in class? The whole structure of classes etc was very confusing, because it was all over the place. Kinda seemed like the kids just do whatever they want.

The relationship between the group was a weird dynamic, but I did end up growing to love them. They're a rag-tag bunch but they're not all stereo-types, thankfully - just the queen bee. She's always there as a protagonist in this kind of story, I guess.

The magic was ... interesting. It was a bit odd, but I did love how much of it revolved around nature and for this reason I really loved Oak. I wanted more of him, tbh.

Overall, it did wind up feeling a little long, but I'm okay with that when it's a fully contained story - I'd rather put up with an extra 100 or so pages to wrap things up completely than end up having to read more books in the series.

I'd definitely recommend this one to fans of Dark Academia looking for something a little different. It's a bit light on both the 'dark' and the 'academia', but it's still a fun story and quite intriguing. So definitely worth a read if you're on the fence!

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Review: The Cutting Garden: A Graphic Novel

The Cutting Garden: A Graphic Novel by Darcy Van Poelgeest
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Absolutely gorgeous visuals. The art throughout this story is stunning, with beautiful use of colour to affect mood.

A mysterious girl, Adeil, tells a mysterious story to a florist who makes an arrangement for her. Chapters are separated by detailed illustrations of flowers and plants, and the whole thing does give a strong appreciation of the natural world, which quite appealed to me - especially when depicted so beautifully.

The story itself is too thin to really engage on a deeper level, but it's interesting enough to keep you hooked throughout. I think unfortunately it asks more questions than it answers, leading to a lack of satisfaction when the end comes around.

There are some really interesting threads to the story, so I would really have liked to know more. I think there's a lot of symbolism and analogy here that's simply lost in its attempts to be subtle. I love the gentle poetry of it, but it just seemed too convoluted to be able to try and tease out all the intricate meanings behind each sentence.

The watercolour art is beautiful, though, and honestly just taking in the pages was such a pleasure. I think if you took a panel from this featuring one of the women, and hung it in your house, it would be something you'd be constantly thinking about. This artwork really provokes thought, and I suppose the scarcity of the story sort of assists that.

So for me, it's a 3-star graphic novel that gets a bonus star simply for the artwork and how engaging I found it. I'll happily recommend this to graphic novel fans looking for something thought-provoking.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

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Review: The Library of Amorlin

The Library of Amorlin by Kalyn Josephson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Max Meyers, Jesse Vilinsky
Presented by RB Media

This was an interesting new fantasy, but didn't totally sell me.

There's a magical library that is home to a multitude of beasts (as opposed to a multitude of books, which was half of why this title interested me), and a con artist is signing up to be the assistant librarian to escape being sent back to a cell.

Naturally, the head librarian is handsome, looks to be slightly older than our protagonist (though in reality he's really, really old) and is ridiculously powerful. Plus he's brooding and moody and he doesn't trust her but wow she really intrigues him like no one is his hundred years has.

So the cliches bothered me a bit.

The protagonist, Kasira, is not a particularly likeable anti-hero. Her whole thing is how she's a masterful con artist, and she's a brilliant liar, everything is lies, lie lie lie, etc. So much deception (so very 'not like other girls'). To the point that it was like, please show some growth at any stage now. She just stayed in this same character mold for the entire book and it got really tiring. It also, as a consequence, grated on me the longer it lasted and made her a rather unappealing lead.

Allaster, the head librarian, also didn't do much for me, though I liked him more. I think the narrator did him a little dirty because the 'growls' were whispered and in general I feel things were delivered with the wrong inflections. But same kinda deal where there just wasn't a lot of character growth beyond him coming to like (like, like) Kasira.

I DID however love the beasts and the variety of them. I think a read would have given me a better visual of them all, but I still enjoyed their presence in this book. They add a lot of light and heart, and for that reason I do wish they'd been better utilised. They're a fun, unique pull for this story and they would have been a more interesting focus than all the con-artist-this and brooding-librarian that.

As far as the audio goes, I did really enjoy both narrators, though Kasira's narrator was the better of the two. Perfect delivery, excellent inflection, and presented in such a way that I could become absorbed in the story without really hearing the voice as a separate thing. Would happily listen to either of these narrators again.

An interesting idea, but it did feel a little long and monotonous by the end. I think fantasy fans needing a mythical creatures kick might enjoy this one more than the romance fans, as the relationship is VERY slow-burn and PG. Nothing really much there at all, to be honest. But the world-building is pretty cool and the creatures are fun so there's still some points of interest. I'll probably still recommend it, as there's enough different about it that I think it's worth giving a go.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

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Review: Teen Titans: Raven

Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This did some great work putting the 'teen' back in Teen Titans.

Raven has amnesia and is troubled by nightmares, and the voices inside other people's heads.

A fresh introduction to the Titan we know and love, this story goes out of its way to emphasise the life of a teen - it's not enough that Rachel is dealing with these supernatural things, she's also trying to juggle schoolwork and boys. I enjoyed the fresh take.

The art style uses colour in an interesting and unique way, keeping things visually clean and easy to follow while allowing art to tell its own story.

A simple, easy read, this is quick to get through and holds interest throughout. Perhaps not a lot of excitement to rate this higher for me, but I thought it was a strong entry for the series and I'm keen to read more.

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Review: Daredevil: Back In Black

Daredevil: Back In Black by Charles Soule
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the first two ARCs but with the annual things got weird and never really improved from there.

This was actually my first Daredevil story and unfortunately this didn't sell him on me at all. I enjoyed the stuff with Blindspot, and I liked the story - it was solid, interesting, and more than just beating up thugs.

But the two confusing stories in the middle seemed really pointless, and add Punisher into the mix and it's just bland brawn, with everyone fighting everyone and arguing over who is good and who is bad without any real depth or story.

So while the first portion was interesting, it wasn't enough to have me keen to read more DD.

Maybe DD fans will get more out of this than me, and perhaps sticking to just the Soule run would be a more entertaining option, but I won't be raving about this one.

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Review: Empire of the Dawn

Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bruhhhhhh

What an epic ending. I am ... emotional. To say the very least.

Highly, highly recommend this series if you want to feel all the things.

Honestly no notes on this grand finale. This was absolutely a worthy end to roughly 2400 pages of emotional damage.

It's been a while since a book (/series) has effected me this much so I'm really happy to have given my soul to it.

You should give yours, too.

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Review: Something Bad Happened Here

Something Bad Happened Here by Zoe Rosi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Narrated by Andy Stevenson
Presented by Xpresso Book Tours

This started pretty dull and never really improved, unfortunately.

An okay listen in lieu of nothing else, but ultimately disappointing.

A woman moves to a new area after the death of her mother, wanting some time away from everything. Unfortunately, the cheap house she moves into was once the scene of a grizzly murder, and now strange things are happening that she can't explain.

Firstly, I'm not sure why we needed to go through all the boring process of her acquiring the house. Completely superfluous stuff, and the changing perspective didn't really add much.

There was a lot of excess stuff in this one that just contributed nothing to the story, so by the time the horror started to make itself known it wasn't enough to erase the tedium of the whole thing.

Then the time jumps around a little bit, making it hard to follow what's happening when.

I also had a problem with the narrator, and question the choice to have a male narrator on a book told from a female perspective. This guy made the ladies sound like ridiculous caricatures and it gave the book a sense of parody rather than anything dark or ominous. I wouldn't recommend the audio version for this reason. Perhaps in print there's a little more to get behind.

Some interesting ideas but poorly executed, and not really enough to make the excess stuff worth slogging through. Added to that, painful narration of the audio version. Okay in a pinch, but otherwise not much here.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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