Review: Signal to Noise

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Kyla Garcia
Presented by Spotify Audiobooks

Meche is kind of a terrible person, but I somehow still felt for her.

This was a sweet coming of age tale set in Mexico City, featuring a splash of magic to make things interesting. I enjoyed it.

Essentially, three friends discover magic through music, and decide to cast some spells to enhance their lives. But they're also moody teenagers, so naturally nothing goes smoothly.

It jumps back and forth between 2009, where Meche has returned to Mexico City after her father's passing, and 1989, when Meche and her friends, Sebastian and Daniela discovered magic.

This is very much an ode to music, with countless titles and artists mentioned, and a cheeky throwback to Walkmans and record players. I imagine the nostalgia will hit harder for those who grew up in Mexico City or surrounds, but even as an Aussie I found myself chuckling at my own memories similar to what the characters were experiencing.

As much of the story focuses on the three teens, there are a lot of emotions flying around. It's easy to judge Meche but when one recalls what kids are like, the feelings toward Meche soften. I thought she was a well crafted character, and the different shades of her personality fitted well to make this story interesting, if dramatic in the way only teenage drama can be.

The narrator did a great job of telling the story and injecting personality into each of the characters. I find I really enjoy the audio presentations of books that use foreign (to me) languages, because the pronunciation is naturally better than I'd read in my head and it gives it a much more authentic feel. So I'm very appreciative of the narrator for that. She did a great job.

A fun listen, and a great example of the scope of this author's writing. I believe this is a re-release of her debut novel, so I'm happy to have experienced it.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: The Mercy of Gods

The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

DAMN this was insane and made me feel things.

The plot sees Dafyd and his friends kidnapped by an alien race and transported to another world, where they're forced to prove themselves 'useful' or suffer the nasty consequences.

I don't want to talk too much about the plot, because I really enjoyed how completely unpredictable it was so I'd hate to spoil that for someone else. But, safe to say, this particular alien race is quite a nasty foe.

So much of how I felt reading this book relates to the contemplations of humanity, and how humans would feel and adapt to such situations. I think that's something Corey does well - they can plant the story in a completely foreign setting surrounded by completely foreign creatures and entities, and you still end up mulling over humanity with all of its strengths and weaknesses.

The characters portrayed those ideas brilliantly; even though I didn't like Dafyd at all, his behaviours made this story so much stronger. I loved reading the different reactions and thought processes, and while I sometimes didn't agree with what a character was doing or thinking, I easily understood it.

This story takes a lot of care to develop its characters, but its never dull. There's always action just around the corner, and it's hard to catch a breath before the next twist knocks you for six. As mentioned, I loved how wildly unpredictable it was.

Such a brilliant, fascinating read, that touched some very deep emotions within me. Easily one of my favourites this year, and I can't wait for the next installment!

With thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC

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Review: Echoes of Memory

Echoes of Memory by Sara Driscoll
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Cynthia Farrell
Presented by RB Media

An interesting premise, but the story was a little too slow for my tastes.

A woman with a traumatic brain injury witnesses a murder, but her condition means she has to write everything down before she forgets what's happened. But once the memories fade, how does she tell what's real and what's not?

I really liked the idea of it, and Quinn was likeable enough as a protagonist. I appreciated the detective and that, for the most part, Quinn wasn't treated like a nutjob. There was a lot of respect given to her and her condition, and the inclusion of her TBI support group helped explain the condition in a compassionate way.

Aside from that, I never really became as invested in the story as I wanted to be. I found myself tuning out a lot and losing interest and therefore focus. There's a lot of attention on Quinn's injury and how she goes about everyday life with it, so it took away from the crime aspect a lot and really slowed the story down.

The narrator did a decent job bringing the characters to life, though some sounded similar enough that I was a little confused as to who was speaking. I also got genders mixed up a bit and lost track of some of the less distinctive characters.

I did enjoy it, but it wasn't particularly memorable. It was an easy enough listen with an interesting premise, but not quite thrilling enough to hook me.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: The Butterfly Garden

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Narrated by Lauren Ezzo, Mel Foster
Presented by Brilliance Audio

A rather disturbing crime novel, presented well through audio.

I think it probably would have been more satisfying as a read, but I also wouldn't have got around to it as soon as I did, so split the difference, I guess! It was still an easy 4-star read - tense, intriguing, and disturbing, with plenty of twists and questions to keep you guessing.

Maya tells FBI agent, Victor Hanoverian, about her time in 'The Garden' - where a serial killer keeps his 'Butterflies'. The wings tattooed on Maya's back mark her as one, as do those on the backs of the other women the FBI has recently rescued.

The story moves easily between the past in the garden and the present, where Maya brings the detectives up to speed on what happened there. The short version? Nothing nice.

The story is first and foremost a crime novel in my eyes, but it does indeed border on horror. Less jump scares and atmosphere, but plenty of horrific things are done to these girls to warrant the label.

I found it easy to fall into, and the narrators did well to bring these characters to life. It was a little strange to have Maya narrate her parts, but then the male narrator voice her during his own parts, but not so much that it took me out of the story.

This is an addictive story that will keep you guessing til the last moment. I really enjoyed it, and I'm curious enough to look into the sequel.

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Review: The Honjin Murders

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is exactly how I like my detective novels - clever and straight to the point!

The story is set in late 1930s Japan, in a small town where a murder has been committed.

This book sets it out perfectly: set up, crime scene, clues, suspects, resolution. There's no side story about the tragic past of the grizzled detective on the case, there's no romance, there is no empty apartment with a lone cat for companionship. It commits to being a murder mystery with no extra fluff and I honestly could not have been happier.

The storytelling is quite fun, with it being penned by an unnamed chronicler, much like John Watson told the stories of Sherlock Holmes. Our detective Kosuke Kindaichi bears a strong resemblance, too - he's determined to use logic to solve the puzzles of crime and often notices the minute details others easily miss. He enjoys the thrill of solving a well-perpetrated crime and, as a consequence, often expresses joy at the most inappropriate times.

The crime itself was fascinating, with many random clues that didn't at all seem to relate. I loved how random it all seemed, and thoroughly enjoyed the conclusion. It's nice to read such a tangled, unpredictable story after so many crime novels with the same formula.

I picked this one after listening to book #5 on audio and enjoying it thoroughly, and I wasn't disappointed. It was great to read the first book introducing Kindaichi, and I've got the second one ready to go!

Highly recommend to lovers of detective novels and crime puzzle-solving.

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Review: When the Moon Hatched

When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ok so I'm gonna need a happy ending to this story ASAP.

The story follows our Friendly Neighbourhood Assassin, Raeve, who gets caught doing assassin things and finds herself in hot water. In the process, she meets a mysterious (devastatingly handsome) male, who seems to have met her before. Naturally, things are gonna get dangerous, and things are gonna get spicy. There are also dragons.

I'm honestly so torn over rating this one. It was such a beautiful, addictive story, full of insanely good world-building, delightful characters, and a deep, meaningful love story. But I also just have such a low tolerance for smut in fantasy. I'm still mad at Sarah J. Maas for causing this massive surge of graphic sex scenes in what would otherwise be epic fantasy novels.

That said, everything about this book that would normally annoy me seemed so fresh here. Raeve is the hardcore tough female who refuses to get close to anyone because otherwise they get hurt, and Kaan is the classic brooding male who will move heaven and earth for his true love. Raeve's stubbornness definitely frustrated me at times but still I liked her and her tenacity. Her trauma feels real and genuine and I think because of the way that aspect was handled, it made her stubbornness more believable. I could see why she was hurting so much.

Kaan's love, on the other hand, was so pure and unconditional that I couldn't help but be moved by it.

Outside of the romance, there's such a great story here about tyrant kings, corrupt government, missing memories, trauma, friendship and, of course, dragons. There's a trigger warning list in the back of the book, so check it out if you have some concerns because this book does not pull punches.

I was completely enamoured with this world. The setting is richly detailed but simple enough to follow easily. The world is easy to fall into and vibrant with colourful creatures. The dragons were spectacular, and this is easily one of the best dragon stories I've read. There are just not enough dragons in fantasy these days, so it's incredibly satisfying when they're as well done as they were in this book.

But.

I'm a bit old school in that I feel like graphic sex scenes kinda tarnish the romance. I think you can tell an epic love story - and more effectively - without needing to talk about how much they want to jump each other's bones. I believe the intimate details about their physiological responses reduces the relationship to base needs, and detracts from the emotional connection being formed.

I wanted to be swept up in their love story, not their sex lives.

Still, I couldn't help but love this story. There was so much to it that had me reading compulsively, and I still have so many questions. The characters were so easy to love, and I want more of characters like Veya, whose chapters were rare but so incredibly fun.

There's a family tree, glossary and pronunciation guide at the back of the book, which I found didn't really give me any info I hadn't drawn from the story but still added to the depth of the world. I'm so keen to jump back in and learn more details about this place and its creatures.

This would have been an easy 5-star without the smut. Still, even with the smut this is a 4.5.

I'll call it 4 for now since I'm very picky about giving 5 stars, but may round it up later if it stays on my mind.

With thanks to Harper Collins for a copy

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Review: Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hectic.

This is a Joker origin story and it's wild. Joker's determined to prove it only takes One Bad Day to turn the sanest person crazy.

The story is super dark but it's fascinating to finally get a reason for Joker's descent into madness. He's a proper villain here, showing why he stands as Batman's greatest adversary. It was chilling to read at times.

Artwork is solid and matches the tone of the story so well. Some really clever style choices, and the colours are just as insane as the Joker. Brilliantly complements the story.

This is one of the big stories that all Batman fans need to read. It's brilliant and important and short enough that it won't take too much reading time.

A little too dark to say I enjoyed it, but it was really well done and I highly recommend it to Batman fans.

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Review: The Paleontologist

The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

An okay story with some interesting info about paleontology, but ultimately disappointing.

Simon has returned to his hometown to take a job at the Hawthorne Museum - the same place his little sister went missing from when they were kids. He's determined to figure out what happened to her, but he's also being haunted by the dinosaur ghosts of the museum.

I am always here for dinosaurs, but I think this one tried too hard to be for real. I mean, dino ghosts?? I'd have been fully on board if this had just embraced the supernatural but instead it introduces South African spiritual beliefs (among other strange excuses) to justify the bizarre occurrences. As such, the happenings and explanations were a massive stretch and I couldn't get involved as much as I wanted to.

Simon is a deplorable character who I never warmed up to. He's whiny and makes a lot of dumb decisions. I found myself constantly frustrated by his behaviour. He also jumps to conclusions constantly which is one of my pet hates. Just stop and THINK for a second!

This is set in peak Covid era, so there's plenty of talk of masks, social distancing, isolation, and of course the museum is closed as a consequence. That works for the eerie hauntings, but wasn't entirely necessary. That said, I kind of appreciated that it was part of the story. It's officially part of our world, now, so it makes sense that more recent stories set in our world should mention it.

Still, the hauntings were dismal. It was more jumping at shadows than any decent scares or horror.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did. I wish the dino-ghosts were given more time and respect, and I wish this book had just run full throttle with the idea.

I'd have a hard time recommending this for the horror, but there is still plenty of info on dinosaurs and paleontology. The story is kind of sad and pathetic, but it's still curious enough to hold the interest.

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Review: Werewolf: The True Story of an Extraordinary Police Dog

Werewolf: The True Story of an Extraordinary Police Dog by David Alton Hedges
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Michael Puttonen
Presented by Post Hypnotic Press Audiobooks

I think I would have liked this more with a different narrator, but it was an okay listen for a freebie.

This is the true story of Police dog, Brag, and his handler. The author starts with the beginning of their relationship, and how things were rocky at first, but eventually the two developed a close working partnership, which did of course graduate to friendship.

The relationship between dog and handler was sweet, though it was hard for me to imagine such a fierce, cold dog. Brag is tough, arrogant, and clinical in his work. It was quite fascinating listening to the different anecdotes about how a dog fits in with police work, but it was hard to get to like this dog in the beginning.

That said, there's a lot more to being part of a K9 unit than I suspected, and I did get a quiet joy out of knowing these dogs are out there biting bad guys.

There was a great balance of police work and details of the relationship between the two. I found the author's behaviour questionable at times, but the pair seemed to suit each other quite well. The structure of the story was clever and followed a logical progression.

The narration really didn't work for me. He seemed to inject feeling and emotion that didn't match the words, and I found myself thinking about how I would have read it different. I was frustrated with how it kept pulling me out of the story. It's also a bit of a weird complaint, but with this being an autobiography I found it frustrating that the voice didn't really match the person I envisioned. Basically, the story sounded much more hardcore than the guy telling the story. Sorry!

Overall, though, it was an interesting listen. It's not the kind of book I would normally pick up for myself, so I'm glad it was a 'listen now', otherwise I probably wouldn't have bothered.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: Murder on Devil's Pond

Murder on Devil's Pond by Ayla Rose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Narrated by Maria Ru-Djen
Presented by Dreamscape Media

This was a sweet lil cosy mystery!

Hannah Solace runs a sweet lil inn with her sister Reggie, until one of her close friends - an 80yr old recluse - is murdered. Now she has to solve the mystery in order to clear her name.

This whole story felt very wholesome.

Hannah strikes me as an old lady at heart - her bond with Ezra forms over birds and bees, plants and gardening. Their relationship is sweet, and there was certainly no harm in a dog being involved, too. I really liked the setup.

Ezra naturally has a greedy family, greedy neighbours, and a secret past, so there's plenty to keep you guessing. Most of the characters beyond Hannah and Ash are frustrating and shallow, helping us sympathise with Hannah and what she's going through.

I thought the characters were well-written, and brought to life well by the narrator. Not too many pauses, and a lively voice helped the story to flourish and kept me entertained.

The mystery didn't suck me in too much, but at the same time it was just pleasant to listen to the story flow along. I enjoyed travelling along with it and the conclusion was satisfying. A little bit of a stretch in places, but ultimately sweet enough to be entertaining throughout.

I'd recommend this easily to fans of cosy mysteries. It's the first in the series, too, so we can look forward to more of Hannah and her delightful little inn.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: Elsewhere

Elsewhere by Sarah Tierney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Narrated by Lorna Bennett, Kat Rose-Martin
Presented by Dreamscape Media

Pretty thin in the suspense department. I was expecting a dead body at some stage though so that's probably on me and my misguided expectations.

The story here follows estranged sisters Catherine and Anna as they come together for a couple weeks at a cabin off the grid. No wi-fi, no electricity, just each other and a bunch of strange happenings. Hmm.

So things get a little creepy for the sisters when someone trashes their outside area early on, and then suddenly their water runs brown. A local explains it's just peat in the water and that this is a regular occurrence after rain, but Catherine is convinced it's something more sinister.

Basically, this book is a lot of Catherine being convinced someone is out to get her with not really much reason.

I found her chapters almost unbearable. She comes across as paranoid and a little crazy, rather than the story seeming eerie and thrilling. Her chapters were slow and frustratingly deluded. I didn't like her at all and I found myself eager to get back to Anna.

Anna was much more fun, and her chapters injected a little more cheer. She seemed a little more logical, and more likely to think things through. She was able to think of solutions, but she was also very boy-focused which does get a little tiring after a while.

Ultimately, I just didn't really like the characters, and there wasn't enough happening for this to feel like a thriller to me. There was an interesting twist but it didn't seem to fit the story at all - it seemed more like the story was built around the twist and, as a consequence, there wasn't a lot of substance.

Narration was kind of awful - Catherine's chapters were morose and slow, hard to understand at times and there wasn't a lot of character coming through her voice. Anna's narrator was a little better, but there still seemed to be times where the emotions didn't seem to match the words.

I thought this would be an eerie murder mystery but it's really just two lonely girls hanging out in an isolated cabin for a little bit. There just wasn't much here for me to get into.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: The Assassin of Venice

The Assassin of Venice by Alyssa Palombo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Narrated by Nicol Zanzarella
Presented by Dreamscape Media

Exceptional!

This was such great fun!

Valentina is a courtesan, but also happens to be an assassin. She loves what she does and she's good at it, too. But her next assignment leaves her questioning everything.

Man, I was HOOKED! The narrator drew me straight in, had me onside with Valentina and Bastiano instantly, and listening to things unfold was so entertaining.

Valentina is a fantastic leading lady - she's confident without being arrogant, and she's competent. She enjoys what she does and feels no shame, and she creates meaningful connections - it's not all about seduction and manipulation (though there's plenty of that, too). She's easy to root for, and the narrator did such a fantastic job of bringing her to life.

The story is full of intrigue, with plenty to keep you hanging on. Her life as a courtesan is interesting enough, before adding in everything else! There's never a dull moment and the characters do well to hold the story strong.

The Venetian setting is delightful and well crafted, and the historical aspect adds a real romanticism to everything. I loved the time I spent in this world - it was truly fascinating.

Absolute props to the narrator - was not bored for a second. She brought the characters to life, distinguished everyone so well, while somehow conveying the different levels of wealth through voice alone. Masterfully performed and I would happily listen to this narrator any day.

Immensely enjoyed this one, and I'll be keeping an eye out for more from this author AND narrator.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: Secrets of Rose Briar Hall

Secrets of Rose Briar Hall by Kelsey James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Sofia Willingham
Presented by HighBridge Audio

Not quite what I was expecting, so a little disappointing, but still some interesting ideas.

I thought this was going to be a murder mystery, but it was really more concerned with feminism and the treatment of women as objects during this time period (early 1900s).

The story's catalyst is a party, during which a guest died. Our protagonist, Millie, hosted the party with her husband, Charles, but remembers nothing of it. She awakens weeks later with a pounding headache and no memory of what's occurred.

From the beginning, everyone is very secretive, and it's instantly frustrating how everyone coddles Millie, refusing to tell her the truth. The story that follows seems more a question of whether she's a victim of gaslighting or whether Millie truly is mentally unwell.

I liked Millie as a lead - she's quite intelligent, and not afraid to speak up for herself. She suspects wrongdoing and makes it known, but then is forced to face the consequences of not being quiet and meek and going along just to get along.

I enjoyed that aspect of it - exploring the discrimination from someone willing to speak out against it, but also seeing those consequences of being so outnumbered. At the same time, I thought there would be more about the events of the party than there was, so I was a little disappointed in that regard. Still, I was kept curious about the truth of what had happened and was happening.

The romance didn't do a lot for me, and I was disappointed in Millie a bit for her actions at times. Some of it made her a little hypocritical I felt, even if it made sense.

The narrator did a decent job of invoking sympathy for Millie, and differentiated the characters well. I did listen at 1.75x speed, so lots of pauses, but otherwise she read it okay.

This was an easy listen - not quite the murder mystery I was expecting, but an interesting historical fiction providing a glimpse into the discrimination women faced during the early 1900s.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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