Review: The Return of the Knights

The Return of the Knights by Gregory Kontaxis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think describing this book as 'Game of Thrones meets Greek mythology' is far too generous, but it was still a decent read.

The story begins with Elliot, a kid from a village who seems to have been tasked with saving the world from a tyrant. Said tyrant, Walter, is travelling the place sacking cities, murdering, raping and pillaging as he goes. Elliot rushes to the aid of Sophie, a new queen whose forces are much diminished after all the fighting. Elliot has a plan to save them all.

Firstly, I hated Elliot. He's just some random kid from the 'burbs who shows up and starts ordering everyone around. And when they don't go along with him, he gets all smarmy and like, 'yes good call it is just as it should be even though you should believe me' which just irritated me to no end. I wanted to know him as a person with flaws and feelings, but he's bossy and angsty and not much else. I couldn't see him as a hero at all.

Somehow he becomes the leader of a little band of misfits who love and adore him and I just was not buying it one bit. I LOVE a good group of misfits but I wanted MORE from these characters. I wanted to know them better and share adventures with them. But it's just always about Elliot and what he thinks and does and how these people relate to him. They never got the chance to show their own personalities. For example, I was ready to fall in love with Long Arm but was never given the proper opportunity to.

Added to that, there is SO MUCH WAR TALK. I know some people will LOVE this aspect of it - those interested in military history and the wars of the ages will enjoy the strategy sessions and planning etc but I went into this expecting a fantasy adventure so it really took the fun out of the story for me.

Fantasy levels are minimal and there's also very little adventuring. I was curious about the lore and history and myths etc but there was so much of it that I got a little lost and found it hard to follow. I could tell there was a substantial story, but I felt too distanced from it to become invested in the world. The fantasy elements that were included felt cliché and unoriginal; it was easy to predict things and there wasn't nearly enough done with it to stand out.

On the surface, it's an entertaining story. The writing is decent enough that I was never really bored by it, but it does feel very much like the depth is missing. There's variety in the characters and some colourful scenes, with some great moments. However I felt the disconnect and was never able to truly immerse myself in this world.

I'd say this will definitely appeal more to those more interested in politics and war strategy. Fantasy lovers may be a little disappointed like I was, but it does seem there's potential for things to really open up in the sequel.


With thanks to the author for a copy

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Review: Breasts and Eggs

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Quirky and somewhat pointless, yet somehow intriguing from start to finish.

The story is broken into two parts, with the second containing two-thirds of the novel. The first part discusses the breast enhancement surgery Natsu's sister is considering, and is honestly kind of a mess. It's more about the relationship between Natsu's sister, Makiko and Makiko's daughter, Midoriko, which is fraught with tension. Midoriko's stopped speaking, so we get her journal entries instead and it actually took me way too long to realise it was Midoriko's journal and not that of a younger Natsu. I was very confused.

Part two is about Natsu's contemplation of single parenthood and the artificial methods involved. I found the moral questions quite interesting, though it was hard to tell where Natsu stood.

It wasn't until about 100 pages from the end that I realised what my major issue with - Natsu's complete lack of personality. It took her actually getting fired up about something for me to realise that she's so complacent and dull throughout the entire novel. It's hard to get any sense of personality from her, and being told in first person really didn't help her case.

There are a lot of feminist issues here, which I found quite captivating, but there's also that insight into Japanese culture to give it an angle I don't experience often. The role of caregiving is much more prominent in Japanese culture, so it was interesting to read this with that in mind.

There's no real plot to drive it, and there are a lot of ramblings and nonsensical moments that shouldn't have worked but somehow still did. I can't tell you WHY I kept reading, only that I did; almost compulsively as the novel drew towards its conclusion.

I think those more inclined to take their time with books and mull over the themes will receive this quite well. There's a merit to the writing style that it could entertain me with a story I otherwise would have found quite dull, so those intrigued by this kind of story should be happily entertained.


With thanks to Macmillan Aus for a copy

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Review: My Last Empress

My Last Empress by Da Chen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There's no denying the author can write lyrical prose, but the content is awful.

I'd talk about the plot, but it doesn't involve much more than a pathetic white man with a Lolita complex.

Obviously, I hated him. He's a loathsome protagonist who sees himself doing no wrong because he's led by the ghost of a lost love. He sinks into depravity very quickly and it's nauseating reading his justifications.

Honestly, he's just a terrible human being which made this story awful to read. There's an obsession with sex and fetishising any young female that appears, and there's zero talk of his lack of morality. Any other plot was easily overshadowed by his single-minded focus on getting his rocks off.

This book is a major ICK and will leave you desperate for a hot, cleansing shower.

Not for me, friends.

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Review: The Partner

The Partner by Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Never thought I'd be entertained by a 'legal' thriller, but here we are. Another addictive read!

The plot begins with the capture of 'Danilo' - an ex-lawyer who stole 90 million bucks from his partners and fled.

First and foremost, I LOVE that I spent this entire book rooting for the crafty lawyer who stole a ridiculously excessive amount of money. That's great writing, right there. Patrick was a fantastic protagonist and I wanted so badly for him to get away with everything.

This book really plays on that fantasy we've all had of running away from all our problems; of having more money than we can dream of; of pulling off the perfect crime. It banks on our sympathy for Patrick, who only did what we all have wished we could do at some time in our lives. It succeeded.

The story of Patrick's perfect crime unravels over the course of the book, and it's the slow leak of details that keeps the tension taught throughout. We're dying to know how he pulled it off, but we're also secretly waiting to find out why we're totally okay with it.

A cleverly composed story with fantastic character development to tie everything together. Highly recommend.

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Review: Abaddon's Gate

Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another fantastically addictive book in the series!

I never have any idea where these books are going, and things got pretty wild here. I love being able to just sit back and let everything happen with absolutely zero predictions.

Here we're met with yet another evolution of the protomolecule, and the stakes are getting higher. Holden and his crew naturally find themselves in the centre of things, but there's a larger involvement from some new players, too. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about all these new people, but they inevitably grew on me.

I really enjoy the unpredictability of this series, and how it's so character driven but keeps the story moving at quite a fun pace. There's plenty of action, and a lot of scenes that left me absolutely gobsmacked.

The addiction is real, and its the kind of book that I avoided picking back up unless I had a decent chunk of time to read it because it was so hard to put down.

Perhaps a little slow getting to know all the new people at the start, but that's about my only complaint. Keen to get to the next one soon!

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Review: Big Beautiful Female Theory

Big Beautiful Female Theory by Eloise Grills
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's going to be difficult to put into words how greatly this affected me and why, but I'll do my best!

This is part poetry, part comic, part picture book ... but mostly 'word-blurt'. Just a random assortment of words thrown together and labelled as art.

Now, normally that's the kind of 'literary' work that does my head in completely and frustrates me to tears but somehow there was such a profound meaning to these thrown together words that I suspect maybe they were thrown together with intentional exactness. A logic to the nonsense that hid so cleverly I felt it more deeply once I understood. This was, in my humble opinion, actually art.

Accompanied by an assault of naked portraits from a self-proclaimed fat woman this should have greatly offended me and yet I absolutely delighted in the raw honesty of it all. I adored this brutal self-reflection that almost brought me to tears. I languished over the words and enjoyed teasing out the meaning. And the meaning I was able to draw from these words and images made such an impact on me that I spent almost the entirety wanting to hug this woman or high five her or just nod and say, 'I understand.'

This is absolutely not what I was expecting from this book and I'm thrilled by it. More than a 'feminist manifesto', this spoke to me most because of the accounting of a fat woman. For the detailed experiences caused by a woman's body and society's negative connotations with the idea of 'fat'. SO MANY of the experiences she details are ones I've experienced myself and for that alone I was moved. I felt so much compassion, yet was somehow also inspired. Something about the way she relates her experiences speaks to me of a willingness to heal; a secret positivity that lurks behind even the most self-deprecating words.

With the personal reflections, an accompaniment of women and feminism from many angles - many of which I had to Google. I actually learned a lot reading this, and I enjoyed the delivery immensely. It scratched the surface of an awareness I've only recently felt springing to life so I enjoyed chasing all the leads and learning more about these other women and their stories.

Raw, brutal and utterly captivating.

It shouldn't have worked for me, but it absolutely won me over wholeheartedly.

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Review: Eyes of the Void

Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Going into this, I wasn't sure it would grab me. I figured I wouldn't need the next book - I thought I didn't need to know how this would all end.

Now I'm desperate for it!

What a fantastic read this was!! Thrilling, intriguing, tense ... I flew through it, actually. Couldn't wait to get back to it, every time I ran out of reading time.

The characters stole my heart in the last book, so it was great to hang out with them again. Olli's hostility towards everyone and everything just makes her so endearing to me and it somehow adds a gritty reality to everything that occurs.

This book really delves into Idris's Intermediary skills and it's so satisfying. We're starting to crack open some of the mysteries of this universe and it is a lot of FUN.

Some new players coming in to mess things up, and some really interesting turns that should make the next book pretty epic.

Of course most of the science goes a bit over my head but it's easy enough to get the bigger picture.

Such a great series and I'm firmly on board now! Need the next one soon!

With thanks to Macmillan for a copy

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