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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Review: The Red Winter

The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun fantasy debut from an Aussie author!

Sebastian is our reluctant hero, returning to finish unfinished business from 20 years ago. Back then, he helped to hunt the Beast of Gevaudan as it terrorised the countryside - now it's returned and the son of his estranged lover has come to beg him back to finish the job.

It sounds messy but it's actually a bundle of fun, jumping between the present and the past, alongside snippets of history relevant to the story. Certainly never a dull moment, this one is packed with action, mystery, intrigue and charm. There's an eclectic cast of characters supporting Sebastian, and they add energy to the story with their unique personalities.

The writing is easy to follow, and the pace is fast but not blindingly so. There are quiet moments in which we get to know the characters and learn to love (or loathe) them.

There's also a fantastic story around the beast itself, and the magic of this particular world is brilliant.

An incredibly satisfying fantasy, featuring characters I'd happily read more of. Highly recommend for fans of high fantasy looking for something a little different.

With thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC

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Review: The Beast King: Master of Medicines Vol. 1

The Beast King: Master of Medicines Vol. 1 by Tatsukazu Konda
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a cute start to the series!

It's been ages since I tried a new manga series and I grabbed this based on cover alone. So happy that it lived up to my expectations.

It's a fairly simple story - a girl is saved by the king of monsterkin and ends up in debt. His demand? She has to help him save the life of monsters.

There are some cute creatures in this first volume, and the budding relationship between Tina and the Beast King is quite sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing more of their teamwork.

I'm actually really keen for Vol 2, this was too cute. Definitely a good filler for people who want more Delicious in Dungeon kinda vibes.

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Review: Without a Trace

Without a Trace by Mari Hannah
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

God, this was awful.

Towards the end of the book (Chapter 88, I think) there's a summary of everything - honestly just read that instead and save yourself the trouble.

Poor writing, zero plot, characters having the same conversations over and over and over again and actually very little happening. Maybe readers who have known this character for the previous six books will appreciate her more but to me she was horrendous - conceited, dramatic and not even good at her job. The constant show of how 'tough' she is was just ridiculous and bogged the story fown endlessly.

Also it spends the first half of the book talking about luggage??

Absolute rubbish from start to finish.

Will happily never read a book from this series again.

This was book 4 from my Advent 2 Challenge

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Review: Counterattacks at Thirty

Counterattacks at Thirty by Sohn Won-Pyung
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Honestly? A bit of a nothing book about being nothing and nobody and trying to rebel against a broken system but failing because the system has all the power.

Hmmm ...

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, to be fair. Nothing really happens, but I think that's kind of the point?

The writing is straightforward, and there are a lot of references to Korean culture and the nuances of language. I think Korean readers will enjoy those details a lot, as it will probably resonate a little more.

I don't know that it's strong enough for me to recommend it, but if you're already considering it, I'd give it a go. It has an interesting way of looking at things that seems particularly relevant in the current climate.

This was Book 2 of my Advent 2 Challenge

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Review: The Ex-Wives Club

The Ex-Wives Club by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun little audio that I listened to free thanks to Kindle Unlimited.

It's a short crime story built on interviews with suspects in the death of Ian Curley - essentially a rich jerk that has wronged everyone he's ever met.

There were definitely a lot of names in such a short space of time, so the characterisation wasn't great. I did get the ex-wives and daughters etc a little bit confused - not at all helped by the fact that this was something I listened to while working so was not at 100% focus.

Still an easy way to spend the time and I enjoyed the conclusion, even if it seemed to not quite suit the story I listened to.

I think I might have to keep exploring Sally Hepworth's books, they're a lot of fun!

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