Review: Flyaway

Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ummmm I think I'm in love.

The story is about Bettina (Tina), who goes searching for answers about what happened to her family. Along the way, we get stories within her story; although I wouldn't consider this a book of short stories as all of the shorter stories contribute to the plot.

Things I loved

It's an Australian setting, but it's not all dry heat, scorched earth, blokes and sheilas and roos and Mick and Shazza having a fag and a stubby etc. I freaking LOATHE those Aussie stereotypes so it was so refreshing to read a story set in a small Australian town without any of that crap. The bush in this story is closer to my experience of it - dry, sure, but the life is still there. It's beautiful in its own unique (slightly deadly) kind of way. Plus it feels so isolated - like, even Aussies don't properly know about this secret place.

The mix of Australian setting and whimsy was so beautifully done. It meant that I could see this setting so clearly, while at the same time still firmly believe that strange creatures lurked behind shrubs and hung from the trees. The blend was PERFECT.

Speaking of the whimsy, GOD this had me so hooked! The whispers and legends and darting shadows and echoes ... I gotta tell ya, I was thoroughly spooked. It's so damn eerie and I was just so in love with it all. The magical element of this story is so unique, and there is part of me that was just so ... proud ... to feel like, 'this is how we do spooky creatures in Australia'. Which I'll admit seems a little bizarre, but there you have it. It's like ... this story built so well the whole secrecy side of things that reading it allowed me to take ownership of the secrets a little. It felt like I was in on it, and as spooky as these things were I wanted to protect them.

The atmosphere is properly spooky, and Tina's whole situation is such a mystery. Clearly she's a space cadet compared to her former self but what the heck happened to her? We've got Gary and Trish to ground the story, though, which mean this is more 'magical realism' - while Tina is a little bit off with the fairies and you can't trust anything she says or thinks, we have two very rational characters who still tell these mysterious stories and their own experiences. Rather than 'rational' being thrown out the window, its definition expands to encompass the unusual. It was so elegantly done.

Which brings me to the glue: the writing. It's so beautiful, man. It gave me such a clear image of the place, but it never got bogged down in details. It gives you a taste of the mystery and releases information in small doses, but there was never a moment where I felt the story had stalled. It flowed on so naturally. This is not a stagnant creek, nor white-water rapids. It's just a steady flowing stream with a few bends and dips to navigate along the way. No words are wasted, and while there is a lot of unusual happenings, it never goes over your head completely. It's strange, but not frustratingly so. It's strangeness is what enamoured me so completely.

I just loved everything about this book. It's relatively short, but not condensed. It tells these incredible myths that are woven into the story. The creatures were all totally new to me, but I fell in love with them immediately. Seriously - does legend of the 'Megaritty' exist beyond this story? Because I Googled and came up empty. But I'm so in love with this ruthless little beastie - I want to know more! It just felt like all these creatures belonged to the land, making for such a rich setting.

I suppose this is less about the story and more about the whimsy along the way, but it still kept me curious and entertained and honestly if the author ever visits this place again I AM THERE.

This will appeal to so many people: it's got beautiful language for the slow digesters; it's an authentic Australian setting that will appeal to Aussies like myself while not being a stereotype and therefore alienating those who, like me, are tired of small Australian town settings all being the same; its being Australian isn't actually a huge focus, so the setting won't deter anyone; it's got a mystery to solve; the magic is vivid and yet not overwhelming for those not particularly interested in fantasy; and it just leaves you with so many things to think about after reading.

I can't fault it.

This is definitely one I'll be talking about for a while. Absolutely one of my favourite reads this year. Get on it!

With thanks to Macmillan for my ARC

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Review: The Five Greatest Warriors

The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Re-read 08/20

This one had the giant task of tying together all the threads that were scattered in The Six Sacred Stones, so naturally it's rather epic.

Here are the things I loved:
- Treasure-hunting adventures
- Fun traps
- Gruesome deaths
- Ridiculous stunts
- Epic battles
- Super fun, badass characters
- Interesting take on history
- Fascinating locations
- Daring deeds
- Kamikaze moments

Here are the things that cost it one star and why:
A little too long
The scope is HUGE and as a consequence a lot of details are skipped over. It has a lot of ground to cover, so it takes a lot longer to get through the adventure. There are also more bad guys so you have to keep on top of who wants what outcome and why, as well as who works for whom.

The down-played role of the stones vs the previous book
I definitely got confused about what all the stones and pillars were for in the last book, so their role being not as important in this one made it even more confusing. I lost track of what each of the six stones was used for, and what the deal was with all the pillar rewards. It felt like there were just too many to keep track of, and because the warriors are important here, the stones just became a little bit meaningless. Which is weird, since we're still talking about all-important ancient artefacts.

Less trap adventures
The first book was so amazing the way everything had a dedicated trap system to it. In SSS, we started strong with traps, but by the end here no more f*cks are given and the treasures are a little more easily accessible. I mean, it was handy, because it saved time, but it also took away some of the finesse.

The part of the Warriors was a little thin
It's in the title, but they didn't all play a huge part. They're all involved somehow, but some have massive parts while others seemed a bit inconsequential. The importance of the five just seemed to be reaching a little. Understandable, though, I suppose, when this is really just a continuation of the SSS adventure.

Less team focus
I am a big fan of motley crews so to see this one so divided kinda hurt my heart a little. They're all such a great team and are so fun together, but they get split up here so there's less banter and having each other's backs. They're still all kicking butt in their respective duties, but I miss them all hanging out together. Plus Astro totally got shafted in this book and that makes me sad. I have such a soft spot for him.

Overall these are fairly minor complaints because the whole series is just so manic fun. You really have to not overthink things and just sit back and enjoy the ride. I love how crazy the adventures are, and how different parts of history are rewritten to suit this story. I like that so many different aspects of history are included.

It's pretty epic in scope but it does a great job of tying together all of the previous adventures, giving us a satisfying conclusion. There are some pretty cheesy moments but I just love the characters so much that I can forgive them for those. XD

A really fun, treasure-hunting adventure. Highly recommend this series.

**Original Review 01/16**

No matter which book you pick up, Matthew Reilly consistently delivers great action. I've particularly enjoyed the Jack West series because I love the ancient history, and I'm quite happy to believe Reilly's telling of it. There's great diversity in the myths and locations and I love the variety of the locations, even if they do have similar trap systems. I was delighted by Pooh's role, and there were some seriously bad ass action sequences that had me irrepressibly grinning on the train. On the down side, I thought the notion of the rewards from the pillars could have been delved into a little deeper, and the ending seemed a little rushed to me - I was eager to read how the rescue played out, so was disappointed in it being skipped over. Overall though another thrilling ride with great characters and crazy, suspend-belief action.

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Review: The Court of Miracles

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is basically about one small, insignificant girl having all the hot/powerful people at her beck and call. It's freaking ridiculous.

I've not read Les Miserables, but I do know that it's over 1000 pages long, so if this book is supposed to be a retelling of it - with its mere 400 pages - that would explain why it feels so cluttered and chaotic. There are so many characters and plots etc that it leaves no time for actual tension or - most importantly - character development.

Nina has to be the most annoying, arrogant, self-absorbed idiot I've met since Harry Potter. She seems to think that she's righteous and clever but she just rampages about destroying lives for the sake of saving her sister. Allegedly. Mostly it's just awkward sexual tension with every boy she meets, and powerful people being unbelievably charmed by her and so doing whatever she asks of them. I don't get it.

Here's the thing: if you take away Nina, this is actually a pretty good story.

I love stories about assassins and thieves, so I really enjoyed the mix of all these rebellious guilds. Even though there was a lot of them and it was rather difficult to keep track of who was who, particularly when they all came with extra names and titles. Super confusing. But fun! Handy little chart at the front which actually shows the guilds and their leaders, although not all of them featured in this story, and I still got mixed up. There were some fun stand-out characters, though, and it was interesting the way they all kind of cooperated without really liking one another.

The scope of the story is huge, and as such there are a lot of characters that play their parts. I actually really loved Montparnasse, and would have appreciated if he'd been given a little more personal development and limelight. His skills were entirely wasted in this story, and so much of his time wasted over the cringe-inducing romantic tension between him and Nina. Just let him go out and kill some people FFS. I wanted so badly to fall in love with him but he just never got the respect he deserved.

There's also St. Juste (and don't even get me started on the names) who is the heart-of-gold, Captain America-type character who is all business but his business is standing against tyranny and protecting those who can't protect themselves. He also gets sucked in by Nina and there are so many moments where he steps out of character to flirt with her a bit. He also seems to still like her even though she repeatedly does sh*tty things to him? I'll say it again: I DON'T GET IT.

Seriously, so many characters got ripped off by having so much of their time wasted on mooning over Nina.

Because there's the prince, too - of course she enamours the prince, despite the fact that when she first meets him she's a 9yr old girl who sneaks into his room to steal from him. HOW ROMANTIC. *eyeroll*

AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THIS PARTICULAR DEVICE: (view spoiler)[The whole, 'the only way I can possibly get out of this situation is to kiss the cute boy!' shtick. Especially since in the Prince's case, SHE'S 9 FREAKING YEARS OLD FFS. (hide spoiler)]

But, like I said: take Nina out, and you've got an interesting story of uprising and revolution and the criminal underground of Paris in the early 1800s. Which is actually kinda fun. There is trickery, backstabbing, secret allies, prison breaks, daring deeds, disguises ... there is actually a lot to love.

I just can't stand the main character. It's Harry Potter all over again.

Nina makes dumb decisions for dumb reasons, and a lot of her story is just not logical. All of these powerful people being at her beck and call, all of the attractive people being in love with her (despite an actual lack of any kind of decent romance at all), everyone playing into her hands and her being able to fool everyone who has been doing this way longer than her. I think the fact that she gets a cool nickname before she's even done anything cool kinda sets the tone for how high her pedestal is going to be for the entire novel. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Also, because so much time is wasted on how amazing Nina is and how everyone is so impressed by her, it just leaves so little time for the action. This is such a richly detailed world but it's neglected in favour of talking about Nina. The revolutionary tale is so powerful, and with the moral questions about family, and betrayal, and injustice there is quite a bit to ruminate on. There are so many ideas and powerful statements in this book that could have been built on; there are so many characters that could have grown throughout the novel, and had really strong moments that made us fall completely in love with them. But everything is wasted on trying to convince us that Nina is the best thing since sliced bread. (Ha! See what I did there with the bread ... and it's a story about famine ... not having enough bread ... ok, I'll show myself out.)

So I suppose, in conclusion: if this had been longer, more detailed, and less focused on Nina, I would have really enjoyed it. There is a lot to love about it but the ridiculousness of the god-like worship of Nina just sours the whole thing. She doesn't really grow or develop - she starts amazing and is amazing to everyone she meets throughout. And she meets a lot of people.

If you can get past Nina's arrogance and righteousness, you'll likely enjoy this a lot more than me. If you can suspend disbelief and just let the story and all its terrible cliches wash over you, it'll be good fun. There's enough here to entertain, and it does seem to set up for a sequel which honestly I'd be keen to read. There definitely is plenty here to love.

Just don't go into this one hoping for a lot of character development.

Spoiler Thoughts
(view spoiler)[
- Firstly, I thought it a little bizarre how Nina goes from being ready to offer up Ettie on a platter to suddenly willing to destroy the entire world to rescue her. She seems to forget all about the sister she was originally trying to save, all in favour of Ettie, who is essentially useless aside from being cute.
- Grantaire is so much more interesting that St. Juste, and after their first meeting with Nina I was hoping we'd get our sass from him, so imagine my disappointment when the serious one is the one who pulls the focus. Another wasted opportunity. There was so little humour in this story, yet that first glimpse of Grantaire suggested there was the potential for a lot more fun.
- I found it interesting the way Nina always said how much she loved Tomasis and how devoted she was to him, despite the fact that he was barely in the story. It made me assume it was all a set up for a stinging betrayal, so I was completely unsurprised by that turn of events. Another character that got the short stick, poor fella.
- What's up with the assassin lady being magically able to hypnotise an entire roomful of people with a pocket watch? LOL
- Also wtf did Nina actually do with her days because for someone who is supposed to be a thief she spends a lot of time co-mingling with the other guild members and tricking everyone around her.
- Honestly, I was kinda hoping for a dramatic surprise murder at the end - preferably Nina, but I would have taken the death of Ettie. Since she's the reason for all the drama. Very Helen of Troy.
- What actually happened in the end to the sister who was the start of all this??
- And Femi???
(hide spoiler)]

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Review: The Mermaid

The Mermaid by Christina Henry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If I'm honest, this was a little disappointing after all the dark, twisted re-tellings I've read by the same author. It was sadly pretty PG.

It begins with a familiar sort of tale about a mermaid with an abundance of curiosity, who falls in love with a human. This story is relatively short and sweet before the mermaid's tale evolves into one that introduces us to a famous historical figure: P. T. Barnum - a man with an insatiable appetite for the curious.

Honestly, the whole museum/circus side of things really didn't do a lot for me. Historically, it's not something I'm particularly interested in and all I know about this man comes from a single, half-asleep viewing of The Greatest Showman. And the charismatic Hugh Jackman is far easier to love than the Scrooge-like figure of this story.

There's some entertaining chemistry between Amelia (our mermaid) and Levi, but for me the most entertaining relationship was that between Amelia and the young, honest Caroline. I really loved the blend of youthful innocence and acceptance in Caroline compared to the naivety of Amelia.

To begin with, it's very much a story about grief and belonging, which was a little too depressing for me, though it's well done. Henry explores the emotions tied to loss of a loved one, and the antagonistic feelings of trying to move on whilst feeling guilty for doing so.

There's also a lot of subtext in the way Amelia looks human yet has the soul of a wild creature from the sea. There's a lot about caged animals, and judging people because they do things differently, and because it's set in 1842 there's also some feminist notes in the whole idea of women being the property of men. It's an interesting, insightful story, but unfortunately that's just not what I was hoping for.

If you've not read any of the author's other work, I imagine this will be a fun, historical fiction novel with a little magic worked into it. As a dark re-working of The Little Mermaid it's woefully inadequate. I think the main draw of this story will be its focus on 'caged animals' and all that entails, as well as the complicated nature of Amelia's relationship with Levi. I enjoyed these things, but was let down by expectations based on other books by the author.

I wanted teeth and claws and physical ferocity - turning on captors, sea creatures wreaking havoc, twisted, depraved characters and stormy relationships. What I got was a lukewarm love story about a girl who doesn't quite belong.

An entertaining read, but likely to be more successful with first time readers of this author, and/or those with an interest in a new take on the character of P. T. Barnum.

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Review: Reasonable Doubt

Reasonable Doubt by Xanthé Mallett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating look into miscarriages of justice.

This true crime offering explores the fallacies of the justice system - globally, though with a specific focus on Australian cases.

It covers things like evidence tampering and contamination, forced confessions, poor police work, and false or misleading evidence from eyewitnesses.

The book focuses on six case studies where innocent people were imprisoned unjustly, and that chilling concept is what makes this book hit so hard. The justice system isn't perfect, and when people make mistakes, there are far-reaching consequences that destroy innocent lives.

I really enjoyed the way it was set out. The case studies all provide different examples of injustice, but there are also inserts that provide further insight into legal procedures and forensic evidence. There's a lot to learn, but it's also incredibly frustrating to read about how authority figures responsible for seeing justice done failed their jobs so completely.

For example: Khalid Baker, who spent 13 years in prison despite his friend claiming to this day that if anyone was at fault it was himself. Even with that confession, it seems apparent that it was a tragic accident for which no one should have suffered. I was also horrified by the case of Kelvin Condren, who spent six years in prison for a murder than another man confessed to before Kelvin's case even went to trial. This book also covers the recent case of the notorious Lawyer X, who denied many of her clients a fair trial by informing on them to police concurrently.

The ramifications are astounding, and I appreciate the way this book questions, and provides facts and suggestions, without necessarily damning anyone. It approaches the cases from an informed, unbiased perspective, and with the information provided it is evident that there are serious flaws in the justice system.

This book isn't about raising hell, or questioning legal procedures, or condemning the justice system. It's about the ramifications of mistaken convictions, and the need to 'Fight hard, but fight fair.' It's about the lives impacted. It's an informed, intelligent compilation that encourages the reader to always question things, and not let blind faith or inherent biases affect our judgement of others.

I really enjoyed it, and it's given me a lot to think about. Highly recommend for those interested in the True Crime genre.

Available from July 28, 2020. With thanks to Macmillan for an ARC

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Review: Beauty in Thorns

Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions that started strong but ended a little weakly.

It's another book where the blurb tells the whole story, which is frustrating but understandable when there's no real beginning, middle, or end. It's a fictional account of real lives, which I suppose makes it a little harder to form into a concise narrative.

So what's it about?

Painters. Poets. Artists. The women they surround themselves with. And all the drama that weaves their lives together.

Ned Jones - kind-hearted, soft. In love with Georgie since they were children.
William 'Topsy' Morris - a gentle soul with a fierce temper, always the butt of the joke. Falls head over heels for Janey, a girl from the slums.
Gabriel Dante Rosetti - charismatic and fun, playful and romantic. Enamoured by his model, Lizzie.

This novel tells of their lives, their loves, their scandals. Other characters come and go, but the relationships between these six form the backbone of the novel.

Gabriel was the real draw for me, as well as Lizzie, to a degree. He's charming and eccentric, and he's clearly the most talented of them all. I love that his art was so effortless, although so many times I hated his behaviours. I couldn't get a read on him, but I really enjoyed reading about him. I found him to be a fascinating character. His romance with Lizzie was such a colourful part of this story and I was so invested in it without really knowing what exactly I was rooting for.

Topsy seemed like such a sweet fellow, but his violent rages made me less inclined to support him. Whereas Ned seemed the kindest of them all so I took to him immediately. He and Georgie just seemed so perfect.

It's hard to properly rate this one, I think, because it's based on real people and real events, but I didn't like the way so much of it played out. I could never get a proper read on these people and what was driving them, but how can I criticise the author for that?! I think she's done a brilliant job in making me feel compassion for so many of these characters when they had such sordid behaviours.

The research into the subject material is clearly extensive, so if you want to learn more about these characters from history, this novel is a great way to do so. I really enjoyed looking them all up and finding the paintings mentioned, and seeing the real work of these artists. They were certainly a talented bunch.

As far as the story itself goes, though, I mostly enjoyed it but by the last third I found it a little slow and tedious. I felt the ending was drawn out rather long and the whole Sleeping Beauty theme seemed a little stretched to me. I thought the entire last section was a little pointless, despite it focusing on arguably the greatest series of work of Ned's life. I just didn't really care about his life, by that stage.

The character study is really interesting, but the scandals all feel a little watered down which left the story feeling a bit weak. It was drawn out a little too long, and I wanted more Gabriel. However the author has done a magnificent job in bringing it all together, so if you're interested in the historically accurate lives of these people, I highly recommend it.

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Review: Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie by Leigh Redhead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The composition of this novel can be roughly broken down as follows:


2% food
8% clothing
10% Simone talking about what a badass she is
25% Simone definitely not being badass
5% actual detective work
50% sexual activity or tension

My thoughts, in brief:

1. I just do not like Simone at all

2. I think this book actually has the least amount of sex of this series so far?

3. What is even the point of Alex if he's off limits? (view spoiler)[Although how convenient that the only thing stopping him from acting on his feelings is now suddenly gone? I predict a minimum 50% increase in sexual activity in the next book. (hide spoiler)]

4. I am a little confused about how everything actually tied together

5. But I'm very clear on everything Simone wore and ate while she was detecting ... things

6. My god this woman showers a lot

7. How great is Melbourne? I fkn LOVE MELBOURNE

8. Chloe is clearly the low-key MVP

9. Did Simone actually figure anything out at all?! Or did she just do a lot of convenient accidental eavesdropping?

10. Like ... now I think about it ... there should be a % up there for the amount of eavesdropping this girl does

11. All the girls have big boobs and look like strippers and all the boys are totally hot and do-able and Simone has sexually charged tension with basically everyone

12. Actually laughed out loud with the whole, 'take the glasses off and the ponytail out and the girl is miraculously transformed' bit

13. Also what's up with that whole, 'I will seduce you by shoving cherry desserts in your face' thing? Fellas, please let me know your success rate if this is something you have tried. I'm so curious. Has anyone ever fallen for a guy because he literally force-fed you? Hit me up. I MUST KNOW.

14. This book is both feminist and a feminist's nightmare. There's a lot of, 'strippers are people, too!' etc. which is great but then there's also Simone getting saved by boys a lot and also the girls hate on each other pretty hard. Simone judges everyone by their looks and basically hates fat and/or ugly women because she's a hot stripper, and how is life possibly worth living if you don't ooze sex from every pore? *eyeroll*

15. Did I mention I have a strong dislike of our main character, Simone?

The book is actually probably well-written though because it's told in first person so you can see really clearly that how Simone thinks of herself vastly differs from how she actually is. It's also somehow addictive enough that I can smash through a book in a day. But it's also full of coincidences and random convenient occurrences and Simone's inability to stop thinking about sex so it's pretty trashy, too.

Honestly I don't understand why this isn't a 1-star. How is it possible that I fkn enjoyed it. WHAT A MESS WE BOTH ARE.

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