Review: Spellslinger

Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Eugh.

This was kind of a love-it-hate-it book that rounded out into decent but mediocre.

It's slow, it takes place entirely in one small village and our protagonist, Kellan, is so ignorant it hurts.

Lucky for him (and us readers) his life is intercepted by the fantastic Ferius and the psychotic Reichis. Without those two I would have thrown this book in the bin (metaphorically, of course. I'm not a monster).

Plot: Kellan is a bit of a loser, and in a village where magic is everything, he's having a hard time because his magic is almost non-existent. Then a random, sassy stranger shows up and starts interfering, and Kellan begins to realise that his village's ways are pretty messed up tells her off repeatedly for slamming the ridiculous backwards ways traditions of his people.

I don't really know how else to sum up the plot because there's not really a lot to it? It kinda jumps around a lot and mostly involves Kellan facing down the same bad guys repeatedly. It gets a little dull. Then there's the whole magic obsession and honestly Kellan's naivety bugged the crap outta me. He's been so brainwashed that nothing gets through his thick skull and I kinda wanted to slap him. Not exactly someone fun to root for.

That being said, I liked that he was clever, and that things didn't go his way, and that he wasn't really a hero. I didn't like the arrogance but I did like that he messed up constantly.

His story is kind of boring though, so thank god for Ferius and Reichis. Mostly Reichis. He's a total nut job and I love it.

Side note: this book gets so DARK and I was not expecting it. Wow. See spoiler tag for elaboration: (view spoiler)[ All the tearing and shredding and impaling and broken bones and disembowelment and torture etc was kinda ... icky. (hide spoiler)] It was so weird to have this light, sorta dull, YA magic story then nek minnit BLOOD GUTS GORE SLASH SLICE DIEEEEEEEEEE. I mean, please. Chill out guy.

But back to psychotic Reichis. What a badass. I feel like he should have a scar underneath an eye-patch, you know? He's so violent. I love it. He busts his butt and throws himself wholeheartedly into fights whether he can win them or not and I just thoroughly enjoyed his fearlessness and savagery. I hope the rest of this series sees him claim a whole lotta eyeballs. You earned 'em, bud. *proud tear*

The magic was a bit complicated and not really explained and I really didn't need all the hand signals. Younger readers might enjoy trying to recreate the hand signs when they're trying to do their own spells but for me it just slowed down the story. (I don't need hand signals, obviously. I'm magic enough without them.)

Also, Kellan's family and friends are really horrible. They are terrible people.

Let's face it: besides Ferius and Reichis, I basically hated all of the characters.

I enjoyed it enough that I'm curious about the rest of the series, but not curious enough to go tracking down the second book any time soon. I'll probably just go search for some spoilery reviews to tell me how things pan out for this kid.

It's a tough one to recommend because it seems better suited to the younger readers, but those dark bits are pretty dark. Older readers might find it a little slow. But if you like violent psychopath supporting characters, there might just be something in this one for you.

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Review: Weapon

Weapon by Lynette Noni
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well this is definitely going to be too hard to write a normal, coherent review for.

WARNING: This review may contain spoilers for the first book in the series

Things I liked:
✓ The pace
✓ The action
✓ The location(s)
✓ The DRAMA
✓ So. Many. Secrets.
✓ Riley
✓ Memory travel
✓ All these fun abilities weeeeeee

Things I didn't like:
✘ Zombie Ward
✘ Kael being a jerk
✘ Arryn
✘ Lack of Enzo
✘ Alyssa being oblivious
✘ Like ... really oblivious
✘ So many good characters, so little page time
✘ But hey look who got a spine and also SO BOSSY in the second book *eyeroll*

So basically this was an insanely addictive read even if I could see things coming that Alyssa could not. Also the love triangle between her, Kael and Ward needed some work because Kael was clearly more entertaining but could she see that? No. Sigh.

There really were so many amazing characters that I just didn't get the chance to know. Plus the old friends?? I mean, poor ol' Slasher and Sneak were zombiefied last we saw but they barely rate a mention here? Also personally offended by the lack of Enzo. He made the first book so much fun and there just was not enough sass with him hiding out of sight for so much of this book.

Lyss was such a great character in the first book because she was so broken but now all of a sudden she's this badass, all-powerful warrior who is bossing everyone around and the 180 made me dizzy. Her and Cami entirely switched places and it didn't sit right with me. Cami was the hero of the last book and she didn't get nearly enough credit in this one because she was too busy being Lyss's lap dog. Plus ... ALYSSA. HELLO. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE HUMMUS GIRLFRIEND. Honestly could she be any more self-absorbed? She coulda been staring at a billboard that said 'OBVIOUS SIGN HERE' with an arrow and she wouldn't have noticed because she was too busy worrying about the crushing weight of responsibility that comes with her all-powerful genie Speaker abilities.

But GOD was it addictive. There was so much going on . I mean, it's a lengthy book but there is never a dull moment. There are so many secrets and reveals that my head was spinning by the end of it.

Smith was a hidden gem, as was Riley. OMG RILEY. MY HEART. TAKE IT.

Did I love reading this book? Hell yes. Did I enjoy the story as much as the first one? No, probably not. Am I happy with the way it ended? In general, yes, but in detail, no. Do I think this is another amazing cast of characters for me to fall in love with? Of course.

Like I said, coherent thoughts are lacking.

Great read, though. Really great.

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Review: Whisper

Whisper by Lynette Noni
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Re-read 02/20

So this was just as good the second time around! I think it helped that I'd forgotten most of it. That fact also makes me glad I re-read it before moving on to book 2 because otherwise who knows where my thoughts would be.

I'm so keen to jump into book 2 with a renewed love for Kael and Cami and see whether I can forgive that JERK or not. He has a LOT to make up for.

Otherwise, I stand by my original review.

***

Original Review 05/18

What book lover doesn't love a great story about the power of words?

Naturally I was hooked from the first page, and completely unsurprised that I read this in a day. (It's why I waited for a day off to start it.) As a fan of The Medoran Chronicles, I was expecting this new offering from Lynette Noni to be pretty addictive and it didn't disappoint. That being said, I'm glad it went in a totally different direction from the fantasy world of TMC, because it made this book that much more refreshing to read.

So here is Jane, trapped in a secret government facility and experimented on. She refuses to speak. When her rigid schedule changes up and she's introduced to a new 'evaluator', things take an interesting turn.

Always fun when the cast involves a handsome, protective gentleman, who only wants the best for our heroine. The best part of YA (or any book, really) is forming unhealthy attachments to fictional characters, right? Ward, Enzo, Cami, Kael ... love them all. They are such a great crew, and really fun characters to get to know. There's also that splash of grey to give them depth, and flesh them beyond typical stereotypes.

I actually rather enjoyed how broken Jane was. There's the whole 'superpowers' angle that's alluded to in the blurb, but there's real pain in Jane's emotions, and how she reacts. I felt quite distressed by her pain, so I really loved the progression of that journey.

This is an origin story that has beautiful development made fun by colourful characters. As a lover of words myself, the theme really spoke to me (see what I did there) and I rather enjoyed that exploration, even if there was a lot to take in. The info-dumps were modulated so it wasn't too much of an overload, but it's still pretty rich in detail.

The Sydney setting was fun, too!

There were a few occurrences that I kind of expected, and the formula of the story seemed familiar, but these things made it no less enjoyable for me. I'll admit it, though - I'm a bit biased by my love of TMC. I'm so looking forward to the next installment, though, because I'm expecting it to get pretty badass.

Lovers of The Medoran Chronicles - Akarnae, Raelia, Draekora, Graevale should enjoy this new series just as much, even if it's a little different. Noni's writing still grabs you and refuses to let go. I'd also recommend this to readers who enjoy YA and dystopian, and suggest 'give it a go' for anyone looking for an easy read with some memorable characters.

I'll be eagerly awaiting book 2.

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Dymocks 2020 Challenge First Reads

One of the best parts of doing prompt challenges is finding books that fit! I've still got a few gaps to fill, and this list is subject to change, but I'm pretty happy with the books I've set myself for this one.

My first read from the list was The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Feret-Fleury. This was a Book about books that was a little too strange for my tastes. It does include a reading list, though, which is pretty handy!

Second, I tackled the Indigenous Author prompt with Catching Teller Crow by brother and sister duo, Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina. This was a mystery set in a small Australian town and told by a dead girl so it definitely held my interest. 

The Mystery/Thriller prompt was tricky, because I do enjoy this genre, so I went with an Australian author I'd never read before. One Last Child by Anni Taylor is the first in a new crime series set in the Blue Mountains, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Most recently, I finished A Sceptic's Search for Meaning by Australian journalist Mike Willesee which is a Memoir that absolutely blew me away. It raises some really fascinating questions and is my first five star read of the challenge.

So four books down, 22 to go!

Here's the list again, with links to my reviews so far.

• Australian Author: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte (AA)
• Indigenous Author: Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina (AA) Review Here
• From Top 101: TBA
• Kid's Top 51: TBA
• Dymocks 'Book of the Month': TBA
• Re-read favourite book of all time: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
• Friend's recommendation: Mao's Last Dancer by Cunxin Li (AA)
• Featuring favourite country (France): Josephine's Garden by Stephanie Parkyn
• From TBR pile: North Star Guide Me Home by Jo Spurrier (AA)
• Award winner: Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA)
• 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
• Short stories: Saga Land by Richard Fidler & Kari Gislason (AA)
• Self Help/Motivation: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Fairytale/Fable adaptation: Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth (AA)
• Book 1 in Fantasy series: Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
• Teaches something new: The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
• Adapted to film/TV series: You by Caroline Kepnes
• Red cover: Cherry Pie by Leigh Redhead (AA)
• Colour in title: Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
• Read in a day: Weapon by Lynette Noni (AA)
• About books: The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury Review Here
• Makes me laugh: Challenge Accepted by Celeste Barber (AA)
• Published this year: Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA)
• Said I've read but haven't: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Happy reading!

Review: A Sceptic's Search for Meaning

A Sceptic's Search for Meaning by Mike Willesee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not converting to Christianity any time soon but WOW did this give me some endless thought chains to pursue.

Also just so fantastic to read about this cynical dude who found something to believe in, that gave him peace at the end of his life. Whether you believe him or not is irrelevant.

Okay. Let me break it down.

Firstly, MISLEADING TITLE ALERT. This is not about a dying man's search for meaning. It's about a sceptical journalist who chased down 'miracles' with the intention of exposing them as fraudulent.

I'm not old enough to have ever encountered Mike Willesee before this book, but it seems he was quite well known here in Australia and did some pretty decent investigative journalism in his heydays. This book skims over those early years of success and hones in on when Mike was convinced to investigate an incident in Bolivia that involved a bleeding statue of Christ.

What follows is a bizarre account of Mike's witnessing various 'miracles' that were deemed 'proof of God'. This book also includes premonitions, weeping and bleeding statues, stigmata, and hearing the voice of Jesus, among other things.

It's really fascinating to read about these things, and I think even if you don't believe the author recounted things truthfully it raises some really interesting theological questions. I'm sceptical about religious 'miracles' myself as I don't believe in God, and I have my own theories about Jesus and religion. But they do use scientific testing and Mike really does question everything. It's evident that his scepticism in those early days was legitimate.

At the same time, when his conversion comes, it's quite sudden. I have mixed feelings about that. Because his scepticism is what made this such a fascinating story, so when he stopped questioning everything it was almost a disappointment for me the reader, and it suddenly made me doubt things more. But this is a biography, and knowing that he finally just relinquished his scepticism and allowed himself the comfort of absolute faith is really uplifting for me. Faith is such a powerful thing in that it doesn't matter what the truth is - the faith you have in your own beliefs is enough. So whether you believe his story or not, whether you believe in the holiness of the things he experienced or believe it all to be fake, it absolutely does not matter because this man believed, and that belief gave him a comfort at the end of his days that no tangible truth could.

This book is not trying to convert you. This is the story of a cynical man who was transformed by his experiences of too many things he couldn't explain. No matter what your own beliefs are, this is a truly fascinating story written by an intelligent man.

Aaaaaand this is the part where I end my review instead of rambling on about my own beliefs.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking biography, and I'm keen to hear the opinions of people who hold different religious beliefs. Personally I think it's worth a read for everyone, and it's definitely one that will stay with me.

Many thanks to Macmillan for my ARC

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Review: One Last Child

One Last Child by Anni Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ah it's so hard to find a surprising crime novel these days but damn if she didn't do it. I had no idea where this was travelling.

Here's the lowdown: Five 3-year-olds go missing from a daycare excursion. One of the children is granddaughter to our cop protagonist, Kate, so you can bet she's gonna move earth and water to find the people responsible. Three years later, four of the kids show up unexpectedly. Now Kate is really mad because guess which one wasn't returned?

One thing that really struck me with this book is that it seems a lot of care was taken to research and include realistic details. Procedures, interview tactics, childcare, cameras and technology ... all of it seemed pretty in depth. I liked that.

This one is all about the children, but Kate's got another case as well, looking for a young woman's murderer, so that leads us down an interesting side-path to keep things varied. I always assumed they'd end up entwined somehow, but working multiple cases at a time is reality. So I enjoyed its inclusion.

Kate's a grandma so, as a single lady, her family stuff didn't really do much for me. She's got her rock solid husband, drama with the daughter, an ailing mother ... all things that I can't relate to. However I think there's a lot who will be able to relate to Kate and thus will feel a stronger bond with her. She didn't do much for me but she got the job done which I did enjoy.

The tension wasn't particularly tight throughout but I certainly had a lot of questions, and towards the end it got pretty hard to put down. Things went in directions I didn't expect and it all seemed to come together in the end quite well.

My thoughts on the ending:

(view spoiler)[I was surprised it was Penny, because I never really cared for any of the parents. They all kinda blurred together in my mind. And for the second person to be unrelated to the rest of the story felt like a rip off! Also the reasoning was so out of left field. I think these things are what made it so unpredictable for me. I don't know how to feel about it because I hate predictable stories but at the same time ... was this too random? Also, the timing of Penny making a run for it exactly when they figure out it's her seems too neat. Also Bryce? Harper dated him and you're a meticulous detective but you missed that? HOW?? I mean Nola was always suss to me so I'm really disappointed she turned out to be guilt-free. Ah well. (hide spoiler)]

Overall a decent crime novel that will keep you guessing. I'll be keeping an eye out for the next one.

With thanks to Netgalley for a copy.

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Review: The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finished this series and I don't know how to feel.

It was a lot of fun.

This one got a little dark though, WOW.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for the previous books.

Plot: Here we are at the last book of the series, so things are getting serious. It's time for Percy and co to finally take down Kronos, Typhon and the rest of the titan army. Plus there's that whole 'prophecy' thing about Percy maybe destroying all the gods with his bad choices so I guess don't make any rash decisions, buddy.

So, because it's the last book, ALLLLLLL the monsters have come to say goodbye. This is fun. I still can't get over seal-dogs being evil. But it's not all battles because Percy still has a few things to figure out, like how to tell Rachel he's quite obviously madly in love with Annabeth.

Okay, honesty time: Was totally more interested in Percy an Annabeth finally getting together than any of the titans vs gods stuff.

But the battle is still good and it still name drops gods and monsters and in classic series form, there's a nod to a particular myth. These are the kinds of things that have entertained me the entire way through the series so was really glad that was still here.

I can't really blather on about it too much. The entire series has been really entertaining and this book was no different. It brought everything together and tied it up without being too heavy on drama.

It's an epic conclusion to the series, with a sneaky nod to a follow up that will keep your god-loving heart happy.

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Review: The Scarred Woman: Department Q 7

The Scarred Woman: Department Q 7 by Jussi Adler-Olsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh my lord this was so tangled! And I loved it!!

As with the previous books in the series, we're trying to solve several cases all at once, so it never gets boring. This time there are a ton of psychopaths to deal with and don't hold me to it but ... is Carl actually starting to mellow a little?

BE WARNED: This review contains minor spoilers for the previous books in the series.

First, we've got the cold case, which bears striking resemblance to a new case - a murdered woman, skull caved in by an unidentified object.
Then you've got Anneli, who is a social worker having to deal with a bunch of good-for-nothing women who are clearly not stable themselves.
So Carl, Assad and friends are trying to solve the mystery while bodies continue turning up, and meanwhile they're trying to figure out how to help Rose, who is 100% losing the plot after the events of the last book. She's not in a good way, and honestly it was the most heartbreaking part of this whole book for me.

The camel cracks have been dialled back and there's less grumbling from Carl and I think it's all out of respect for just how debilitating Rose's condition is. They're her friends, so they're really worried, so there's a solemnity that hasn't been present in previous novels. They have her back, though, and that really made me happy. They just want her to be okay, so they'll do whatever it takes to help her. Good friends right there.

The split POVs are one of my favourite aspects of this series, because we get insight into the minds of the killers, and yet the full explanation is never revealed. You know these people are criminals, and they're doing horrible things, but you still have to work out how their actions tie in to the investigation, and how much they're actually responsible. For the amount of detail in these books, I always seem to stay firmly in the dark.

The dynamic between the characters is always fun and, as mentioned, the team seems a tighter unit this time around, as though they're being extra-nice to each other to make up for Rose's absence. It's really interesting to go from the comedy of her having pretended to be one of her sisters to the sombre exploration of her background and just how not-funny her situation is.

Like I said: heartbreaking.

It's not all depressing, though, as there's a nice tangled crime (or six ... ish) to sink your teeth into and once again you'll find yourself questioning your own beliefs of right and wrong, and how far you might go when you're pushed too far.

Another solid addition to the series and of course I'm keen as ever for the next one!

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Dymocks 2020 Reading Challenge

So this year's challenge set by Dymocks Books is a set of 26 specific tasks. That makes one a fortnight, so I'm quietly confident.

I'm challenging myself to read at least 13 Australian authors for this one!

Here's the list, and my picks so far:

• Australian Author
• Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte (AA)
• Indigenous Author
• Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina (AA)
• From Top 101
• TBA
• Kid's Top 51
• TBA
• Dymocks 'Book of the Month'
• TBA
• Re-read favourite book of all time
• The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
• Friend's recommendation
• Mao's Last Dancer by Cunxin Li (AA)
• Featuring favourite country (France)
• Josephine's Garden by Stephanie Parkyn
• From TBR pile
• North Star Guide Me Home by Jo Spurrier (AA)
• Award winner
• Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA)
• Mystery/Thriller
• One Last Child by Anni Taylor (AA)
• Memoir
• A Sceptic's Search for Meaning by Mike Willesee (AA)
• Outside usual genre
• Entranced by Nora Roberts
• Short stories
• Saga Land by Richard Fidler & Kari Gislason (AA)
• Self Help/Motivation
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Fairytale/Fable adaptation
• Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth (AA)
• Book 1 in Fantasy series
• Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
• Teaches something new
• The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
• Adapted to film/TV series
• You by Caroline Kepnes
• Red cover
• Cherry Pie by Leigh Redhead (AA)
• Colour in title
• Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
• Read in a day
• Weapon by Lynette Noni (AA)
• About books
• The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury
• Makes me laugh
• Challenge Accepted by Celeste Barber (AA)
• Published this year
• Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA)
• Said I've read but haven't
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Are you doing this one, or any other challenge this year? Let me know!