Review: Hotel Lucky Seven

Hotel Lucky Seven by Kōtarō Isaka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Narrated by Pun Bandhu
Presented by RB Media

I liked this so much I finally bought the first book in the series haha.

Following on from Bullet Train, this sees our unlucky Ladybug delivering a painting to a hotel. Naturally, things go awry and dead bodies begin to accumulate.

The audio was an interesting treat, though I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I'd read it physically. The narrator did a decent job, but there are only so many ways you can change your voice to represent different characters, and so a lot started sounding the same. Particularly Pillow and Blanket - men doing female voices always sound a little too odd for me and these two were indistinguishable. I'd love the experience of creating my own ideas of each character in my head, so I'd love to re-read it with a physical copy.

There's also so much action that the details become important, and I'm not as good at absorbing details in audiobooks (usually because I'm multi-tasking). So as much as I really enjoyed listening to the story play out, I think there'd be even more enjoyment to be had slowing down and re-reading the sentences that get really hectic!

The story itself is the same kind of crazy/insane that Bullet Train was, which was thoroughly enjoyable. I really love this series with its unique characters and wild occurrences!

In terms of reading order, this does make several references to the events of Bullet Train which could be considered spoilers, so I'd read that before tackling this. But certainly if you enjoyed that one, this will be no different for you.

Highly recommend this series for people looking for a unique crime/thriller with comedic elements. I'm very much looking forward to going back to the beginning!

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: Queens of Themiscyra

Queens of Themiscyra by Hannah M. Lynn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My biggest complaint about this one is that it was roughly 200 pages too long.

BUT.

Switching between the e-book and the paperback, I realised the paperback has roughly an extra 100 pages?! Which is wild. I can only assume it's an earlier draft, though to be honest it's a neater read.

So I guess e-book is the way to go? It's definitely more concise and I do remember thinking often reading it that I really appreciated the way it didn't linger or drag things out for too long.

Whereas the paperback lingers, so if you prefer the deeper details, go for the print version.

PLOT: It's death to any man who sets foot on the lands of Themiscyra, yet when a boat of them turns up one day it'll change the future for the Amazon warriors who reside there. Queen Hippolyte and her sister, Penthesilea, in particular will find themselves on paths they could never have fathomed.

I picked this one up as both a fan of mythology and of Wonder Woman (who of course hails from Themiscyra). Fans of the latter will be mostly disappointed, but fans of the former will get plenty of bang for their buck.

The main focus here is on Queen Hippolyte, and she's not quite the powerhouse from the WW comics that we know and love. In fact, she's my other main complaint. She's supposed to be the leader of this super powerful race of warriors, known for their lack of tolerance for the BS of men. She's supposed to be fearsome and wise and strong. So when her actions began to contradict all of those traits, it infuriated me.

I spent so much of this book frustrated by Hippolyte and her behaviour. I wanted her to see the very obvious red flags. But as I read on and thought more and more about her behaviour in situations, I was reminded of the very real issues of domestic violence in our own world. My compassion towards women in these situations transferred to this character for me, and I found a little more understanding. I didn't like it - it was tough to read - but I understood her actions a little better in this light.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed how Penthesilea lived up to the Amazon name. She's exactly the ferocious sort of character I wanted to read about, so I really enjoyed her story. Mostly.

I do really feel there were too many events covered in this story. I think the last little bit was unnecessary and dragged on for too long, and it just felt like the ending kind of tapered out into nothing. I wanted a strong finish but I guess it's just not that kind of story.

Mythology fans will love all the references, but may also be let down by the absence of endings for other characters that play a role. This is very much focused on the Queens of the title, and no other resolutions are to be found.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this one but did struggle emotionally with some of the content. I loved the mythology, but also was disappointed that some parts seemed unfinished. The paperback seemed too long, but the e-book was wonderfully streamlined.

I'll still go ahead and recommend this one, particularly for the feminist angle. This is a book full of strong women, and that's never a bad thing. I also think this will be a win with fans of mythology retellings.

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Review: Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know

Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know by David Hone
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Graham Mack
Presented by Highbridge Audio

Aw man, there were a lot of big words in this book!

I'm a dino enthusiast, and I thought the narrator was fantastic, and yet somehow I still found it a little too hard to follow.

Very thorough, though.

This is more of a reference for people who work in a relevant field, so lots of technical terms for the uninitiated. I found it quite difficult to absorb the information because there were too many scientific names and terms to navigate before arriving at the point. Those who understand such terms, however, will find some interesting ideas.

Another thing that bothered me was its readiness to fence sit. I think reiterating the point that we can only speculate on many things related to dinosaur behaviour allows freedom TO speculate. Yet rather than do so, this book works its way AROUND things rather than drawing any possible conclusions in the face of no support.

Basically? I wish this book had more courage.

The narrator did a great job of pronouncing everything and differentiating between parentheses etc, though unfortunately I did find his voice a little monotonous at times. Once again, it was all about straight up technical details - no room for frivolity here. The audio does a decent job of referencing pictures and diagrams in the print and e-book editions, though, so I wonder if seeing those images would alter a reading of this one and add a little more curiosity to the reading.

Some really interesting ideas here, but I think the author has designed it more to be a resource, rather than an interesting exploration that might appeal to all fans of uncovering dinosaur behaviour. I recommend it for those with a closer scientific knowledge, but casual dino fans might be a little underwhelmed.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An intriguing collection, but not as satisfying as I hoped.

There are some really great, horrifying ideas here - undead children, haunted cities, creepy obsessions ... a lot of brilliant, unique ideas absolutely perfect for a collection of horror stories.

But almost every single one of them ends in such a way that the story seems unfinished, and it's incredibly frustrating. In many cases it's an unsatisfying ending, where the reader can infer many things. I don't mind this kind of thing every now and then, but when it's every single story it's kind of brutal.

I did, however, get sucked into every single story - I think that's why the abrupt endings hurt so much. This stuff is GOOOOOD.

So I really love the ideas she's produced for this collection, but I wanted more.

I'd still recommend it for horror fans, because the ideas in it are crazy. And I feel like maybe these are the kinds of stories that would hit harder on a second read or even just further contemplation. So horror fans, absolutely give it a shot.

For those who need clear cut resolutions with their short stories, though, prepare to be frustrated.

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