Review: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Definitely a pointless money grab, but it's been on my shelf since 2010 so it's nice to finally tick it off!

This lil story follows Bree, a young vampire that pops up briefly in the Twilight saga. Here she's running with a vamp pack and getting close to Diego while they try and work out what their secret leader, 'her', is up to.

Now it's a novella so only 175 pages or so, but there are no breaks at all. It's quite a breathless (haha) sort of narrative, with run-on action that isn't even really that interesting. It doesn't have any big reveals or shocking moments so while it just keeps going there's not really a lot of excitement in it.

The biggest focus seems to be on the whole 'sunlight doesn't actually kill us' thing which honestly just seems more like Stephanie Meyer patting herself on the back for coming up with something so clever.

There's the gratuitous appearance of the Cullen fam through the eyes of a stranger that will have fans getting excited, but ultimately there's just not a lot of substance to this story.

Even the romance was pathetic - easy come, easy go.

Very much a pointless addition to the Twilight fam - you're not missing anything if you skip it.


View all my reviews

Review: Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another Audible win!

Apparently I enjoy thrillers more in audio format. I actually listen properly! How fun.

This one starts with a murder, and that's not even the focus of the plot! How cool is that! The story is about Quinn running after murdering her husband and ending up in this dingy motel that has a lot of secrets. Ooooh.

I really enjoyed the narration, and am impressed at how easily I told the characters apart. Nice work with the differentiation. The characters each have their own secrets and it's fun to guess at who is hiding what.

The pace is helped along by big revelations followed by changing viewpoints, which is equal parts frustrating and fun. The different perspectives round out the story really well and help to fill in the blanks slowly so that the tension stays tight throughout.

Some great twists, here, too, as well as great character development.

Really enjoyed this one! These last two audiobooks have given me greater respect for audiobooks in general so I'll definitely be dabbling more.

View all my reviews

Review: The Wolf Den

The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fantastic read!

There was actually such a wonderful lack of smut for a book set in a brothel. I appreciated that so much!

The story follows Amara, a brothel slave who works for Felix. She and her fellow whores work for the Wolf Den, with their sole role being the pleasing of men. However Amara wasn't always a slave, and she'll do whatever it takes to win her freedom back.

I really, really loved Amara's character. She does some morally questionable things that really drive home that she will honestly do WHATEVER IT TAKES and I think it was really important to the story. She's a fierce heroine, yet she's still loyal to her friends. She fights, but she makes smart calls, too. There's more to her than just whoring, but that's also a huge part of who she is.

The themes are quite dark, with slavery and prostitution obviously sitting at the forefront. Agency and self-worth, basic human rights. It was quite fascinating to me to read all about it, and it was interesting to see how all the different men Amara interacted with treated her and the other working girls.

There was certainly a lot in this story to unpack, but the writing helped everything flow so well, dancing around different ideas at different times. I found it to be an easy, addictive read and could easily have read it all in one sitting if I'd had the time.

An excellent read, and I'll definitely read the next one. Thanks Juliette for the recommendation!

View all my reviews

Review: Stiletto

Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A chunky read and yet still ridiculously addictive.

WARNING: this review contains spoilers for The Rook

This book is so much bigger in scope than The Rook and adds a couple more protagonists to share the load.

Felicity is a Rook, and Odette is a Grafter. Negotiations are underway to have the two organisations work together, but things are not going smoothly. Added to that, people are dying all over the place and supernatural happenings are keeping everything tense.

This book tells a lot of back stories, and it likes to include plenty of absurd details. I'm not usually one with patience for absurd but in this story it works really well. I enjoyed how bizarre things got and appreciated the long-winded explanations of strange things. It was actually such a fun part of the story.

Added to that, there's plenty of non-stop action. The sheer number of outfits that were destroyed throughout this book is ridiculous. Poor Odette just could not stay clean.

Myfawny is there, too, keeping everything in order. She's really come a long way since her amnesia of the first book and it's great to see how her character has developed.

Once again, this book was just buckets of fun. It's definitely a long one, so some patience is required, but I found it to be an addictive, fun thriller with some fantastically horrific moments. It's such an interesting mix of fantasy, sci fi, horror and comedy.

Highly recommend this series for those looking for a unique supernatural thriller that will keep you guessing.

View all my reviews

Review: Fat Girl Dancing

Fat Girl Dancing by Kris Kneen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fattastic, insightful read that will particularly resonate if you've ever lived in a bigger body.

I really enjoyed this, but at times it was really f*king depressing and it got to me. I appreciate the frankness, but it also broke me a bit.

It's a memoir, and it winds around with the thread of the story being a self-portrait the author wishes to create.

It explores a love of the water and adventures in diving; it explores art and eventually brings us to the dancing hinted at by the title. As someone who loves dance I wanted more of the latter, and felt a little cheated by the title since there wasn't more.

Still, the approach to each facet of her story with such brutal honesty was something I loved and could relate to in quite a few places.

There are plenty of awful moments here that had me feeling second-hand shame, and it was that feeling that repeatedly had me setting down the book in favour of something cheerier. At the same time, it was addictive to read about experiences similar to my own so I never stayed away long.

This is a candid account of a person in a fat body trying to find acceptance in a world that is not designed for fat bodies. It's raw and upfront and I really enjoyed it.

View all my reviews

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

View all my reviews

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

View all my reviews