Review: See What I Have Done

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

To be perfectly honest, I knew very little about Lizzie Borden before picking up this book. It just sounded like a great story, and I got hooked pretty quickly. Then I started watching Season 11 of Supernatural (those Winchester boys are always teaching me cool new stuff) and there was an episode about the 'Lizzie Borden case' and I cottoned on that this is something that actually happened.

So that whole historical aspect is pretty cool and I love that it's a fictionalised account that makes assumptions but it's gonna eat away at me not knowing the actual truth. Unsolved mysteries get me every damn time. Gotta admit though - Lizzie is pretty suss.

So I can't say much about the actual characters since they were real people, but the way they were written was fascinating. This novel paints the picture of a sordid family of mostly despicable human beings. (Emma was okay, but she was nuts to put up with Lizzie like she did.)

Lizzie's clearly got a couple of screws loose, and you kinda feel for pops and the step-mum, but then you realise they are also really crummy people. That family just sounds like it was all kinds of messed up.

The entire mystery is absolutely riveting, particularly when you add the whole 'possible poisoning' element. It's so confusing. I wanted Sherlock Holmes to give it a once over because there were just so many dangling threads that seemed impossible to tie together. This case is gonna haunt me, I can feel it. It was an easy hook and I powered through this novel trying (unsuccessfully) to figure it out.

The writing style was a bit odd, and at times it frustrated me, because it felt like it was trying to be clever literary fiction but it was also really simplistic? Skipping words, repetition, etc.

I did really enjoy the personality that was injected into the characters though.

Overall it doesn't give too much more than a Google search turns up, but it does humanise the characters and add a little more feeling into cold hard facts. It was a 4 star read for me, but it was the plot and the madness of the characters that got me, so I feel like I can't really give all that credit to the author. The writing didn't impress me and, as mentioned, it doesn't do anything particularly novel with the story, so there's not really anything new to sink your teeth into. As a novel it was a great read, but for those reading it for a new angle on a historical case, you may be disappointed.

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Review: Behind the Night Bazaar

Behind the Night Bazaar by Angela Savage
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Oh boy. How do I even attempt to make this review kind?

Firstly, it's such a nothing story. It sets itself up as crime but there's zero mystery and it all gets solved pretty quickly. It's more about corruption and how it's dealt with.

That being said, it also has a bunch of x-rated scenes that totally threw me. I felt super awkward reading about the licking of arse cracks and cresting orgasms and hard nipples and packages, etc. So not my jam. It was such a ridiculous inclusion and I honestly can't understand what the value was. If you're going to write hardcore erotica, better to make that clear from the get-go than trying to disguise it as a crime novel.

So as a crime novel, it was insubstantial and terrible, with no mystery and too much sex but, as an erotica novel, there was no chemistry, no plausibility, and no build up to the relationships.

Jayne is a terrible, colourless character. Everyone who meets her wants to bone her, but she's totally ordinary. She's also incredibly arrogant and frustratingly self-absorbed and I just did not like her one bit. She has no personality. She has no real feeling. She was just ... meh.

In fact, I didn't really like any of the characters. Actually none of them. I didn't even realise that Komet wasn't an ancient old fuddy-duddy until the last 20 pages or so. They're all so bland and boring and preachy and one-dimensional and there's just zero to relate to. There's nothing worth investing in.

I wasn't thrilled with the Thailand setting, because it was dark and grimy and it really just feels like the author is trying to shove in your face how much she knows about Thailand compared to the tourists who flock there on a regular basis. I don't think it was necessary to include as many Thai phrases as there were. The whole thing just felt incredibly condescending. Maybe it'd be different if I'd been to Thailand, but I doubt it.

So.

Constructive criticism?

Build a plot that hooks the reader with little mysteries that aren't easily resolved. Create deep, multi-dimensional characters who have qualities the reader can relate to. Tone down the sex, or amp it up to a proper erotica novel. Commit to the story. Don't try to impress your reader as anything other than a talented author. Use names that are easy to comprehend on paper.

I didn't like it. Not even a little. Sorry. I mean, I'm always impressed by any author who actually finishes a novel, but this particular work suggests a lot of room for improvement.

This is a particularly scattered review, I know. I'm just trying really hard not to go on a mean rant and slam this book as much as my heart yearns to.

If you like Thailand, or murder mysteries with no mystery, or lots of references to sex and homosexuality, go ahead and pick this one up. As it stands, this was nowhere near my cup of tea.

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Review: The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Mate. What was that?

Like, I have no idea what just happened.

I happily admit this was a thousand and one times better than Shiver, but I'm just so confused.

Don't get me wrong: I did actually really enjoy it. I have no regrets at letting FOMO and peer pressure make this reading choice for me.

But ... I mean ... I just ... what???

I think it's the blend of reality and magic that did my head in. I like a taste of magic in the real world, but this just went with it so naturally. Are we really supposed to believe a guy as popular and handsome etc as Gansey is just perfectly accepted as a superstitious eccentric? No way he didn't cop a ton of crap for it all behind his back. Teenage boys are JERKS. There's no way all this weird crap was accepted as normal. Sorry, don't buy it.

And coincidently the teacher was into the same bs? No no no. I do believe it more of the social outcast, but the alpha male's gotta at least get some weird looks.

Blue makes perfect sense, though. She's odd, and a bit of a loner. Shame she didn't get at least one bff, though!

So there's that: the formula was off like a bag of prawns in the sun.

And then just ... ley lines and energy and dowsing and stuff ... it's a lot to wrap your head around. It's modern day magic brought to life like it's the most natural thing ever and I was a bit confused by it. I'm hoping reading the rest of the series will clear up a lot but basically there's a lot of magic and it's really hard to understand what is normal and what is science and what is fantasy and WHAT GENRE IS THIS, BTW??!

I really liked the characters, though. Those boys are adorable.

Gansey is a great hero, being the rich snob who's trying really hard (and failing) to not be a rich snob, and he's well balanced with his realistic, poor friend, his aggressive, idealistic friend and that one guy who doesn't say a lot. The boys make a great crew; a bromance for the century. I like that there's so much testosterone-fuelled angst thrown around but they still manage to stay thick as thieves. That's pretty cool. (view spoiler)[I definitely wanted to high-five Ronan for decking Adam's old man. Hes the real MVP. (hide spoiler)]l

Blue is a quirky little misfit but I like her assertiveness. Shame about that whole 'no kissing' thing, though. Total bummer.

Her wacky fam is fam goals. I mean, maybe not quite craziness at that level but just that honesty and community and trust etc. It's heartwarming to read about actual decent parents in YA - they always cop a raw deal! So Blue's family were a welcome addition to the plot. Handy having an in-house psychic!

Whelk was a creepy ol' douchebag so I was quite happy to hate him. What. A. Loser.

It's a pretty quirky story with a bunch of random symbolism that hopefully clears itself up in the next few novels. If you just kinda relax and go with it, it's a pretty enjoyable story. There's plenty of action and intriguing developments to drive the narrative, and how the characters relate to one another is probably the greatest charm of the book.

Can I just talk about the ending for a sec?

(view spoiler)[So I have no idea what happened with Adam? I think the vagueness failed to penetrate my thick skull. I thought he was gonna end up in Gansey's body (otherwise what was that 'I'll be your eyes and ears' crap?) and then he got not-shot which kinda confirmed my theory but then no one was shot? And Adam was basically the same except on a power trip? So was his sacrifice actually to the Latin trees? (Also, lol at the Latin trees) And why did we jump straight from there to the happily ever after?? What a terrible conclusion. I mean, I'm glad it wasn't a cliffhanger but that was a pretty terrible ending.

And what's up with Gansey being all, 'OMGeeeeee Adam you totally let him be trampled, you murderer!' (And also, I'm still confused about what did the trampling?? Like, I kinda just pictured Arwen's badass water horses from the Lord of the Rings movie but I'm pretty sure these things were more tangible. But where did they go???) Because Gansey seems like a pretty reasonable guy so I thought it was a bit condescending for him to suddenly be all accusatory towards one of his best mates. Plus, he's a weird dude. So I get that he might feel a bit sick over witnessing death but surely he kinda saw it coming after messing around with all this crazy stuff. Sigh. It just didn't make a huge amount of sense to me.

And since I'm divulging spoilery feelings, I'm totally shipping Gansey and Blue. Adam is aiight, but he's all soft and dull. Whereas Gansey can be soft but is more sharp, shiny edges. In short, he's a billion times more fun. Top pick for Raven bf.
(hide spoiler)]

I expected to love this because everyone else seems to (and that worked well for me with Six of Crows) but ir didn't nab me as hard as I hoped. I really enjoyed it, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one, but I'm not feeling obsession, so it didn't quite hit the 5-star mark.

I was also a bit frustrated by the writing - like when the author forgot she knew more than us. Eg. When Girlfriend is referred to by her name, creating a hitch in continuity. It still feels like messy writing but, considering it's come such a long way since the train-wreck that was Shiver, I'm pretty dang excited for what will be spawned in the future from such magnificent author growth.

Final verdict: quirky, but loveably so. Characters that are easy to fall for, and a story that raises plenty of questions, driving the pace. Best served with a grain of salt. YA lovers should be suitably smitten.





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Review: All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Oh hey, it's unpopular opinion time!

Reading this book was a total drainer. It's so over-hyped. For some reason everyone drops their panties for war stories but it's just not my jam. They are honestly all the same to me and with everyone going nuts over this one I thought it might be different but no, it's 500 tedious pages of the same depressing crap.

So we've got this sweet lil blind girl, who's just dealt a rough hand in life. It's her and pops, thick as thieves and full of wonderful imagination to get them through dark times. It's a sweet relationship; I'm not totally heartless! I love creativity and imagination and I love that they can use it for good. So I was totally rooting for them and their naivety. (Watch out for those 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea spoilers, though.)

Then there's Uncle Etienne, who's a bit of a nutter, but a loveable nutter. He's the typical old fuddy duddy whose hardened heart is softened by youthful innocence. And he's tempered by the super positive, also creative Madame Manec, who's basically Jamie Oliver with war rations. So she's pretty handy to have around.

On the other side of the coin, there's little German Werner, who's basically a nerdy coward who does what he's told.

There's also some symbolic story about a valuable gemstone but, honestly, it's a dangled carrot to get you reading yet another war book about how much war sucks. It promises it's gonna be different, tell a unique story, but it's the same message.

Guh.

I really should not read war books. They are too depressing. They prattle on and on and on about life in a war zone - lack of food, bombs all the time, crumbling buildings, fear of soldiers, of being arrested, hiding out etc. I GET IT. I can appreciate that living through that era was absolutely horrific and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But there are so many books that have already told these stories from hundreds of different viewpoints. I'm always willing to try new things and I was fortunate enough to win a copy of this book; I had high hopes for it - I wouldn't have picked it up, otherwise! But there was too much of the same and not enough of the unique to make this an interesting read.

I was grateful for the mercifully short chapters, as it did make it easier to read, but it also made me more surprised at how much the story dragged. I get it: this is not a book for people who want a good story. This is a book for people who like to linger over prose, who like to build scenes complete with scent, sight, taste, touch etc. For people who are happy to just sit and feel for 500-odd pages. Me? I need a decent story to actually keep me going. This just wasn't it for me.

There's also a ton of symbolism so everyone who gets that is bound to come away feeling like an intellectual for enjoying this book with all its mighty metaphors.

I think a big part of the appeal of this novel is just its realism. It doesn't go out of its way to have happy endings and surprising mercies, it just straight up tells a story that very realistically could have happened. There are no heroes. I actually appreciated that Werner was a spineless coward, even if it meant I didn't like him as a character. I think he was such an important element to the story, because he does paint the picture on the other side. It does make you think about the people behind the atrocities of the era.

I mean, I really do get it.

I understand WHY people enjoyed this book so immensely, because I can see the care that went into writing it. I can see the point behind the structure, I see the symbolism, I see the hidden meanings and the brutal messages. I see it, I acknowledge it, I appreciate it for what it achieved. It just was not my cup of tea. The story was bland. It took two pages to make a really mundane point, then gave away a massive plot development with a careless sentence. I also hate reading present tense, so that was never going to help.

If you're into war stories, you'll love it. If you love literary fiction that takes pages to make a point, you'll love it. If you love feeling more than actually being entertained, you'll love it. If you love feeling super smart because you get vague references and symbolism, you'll love it. And if you love getting caught up by mainstream opinion, you'll love it.

If you want a decent story that strays away from the suckiness of war, though, look elsewhere.

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Review: Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype

Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the longest it's ever taken me to read something I've enjoyed so thoroughly. I had to take regular pauses because it's so dense, and if my heart wasn't in it I read something else instead rather than risk missing bits through lack of attention.

Imagine Wonder Woman gave birth to a girl who was even more badass than her mother and was raised by wolves. And her sole goal in life was to tell stories to women to inspire them to be just as badass and basically wreak femininely havoc on the world.

It is not an easy read. The language is fancy and elaborate (I'm pretty sure she made a ton of words up but I'm okay with that) and the material is so rich that every sentence is a loaded one. There are themes that will make you feel uncomfortable, and if you're a bit cynical there'll probably be a lot of eye-rolling. But if you approach this with an open heart and mind, I promise you will get so much out of it.

This book is like a fluffy wolf cub that you wanna cuddle coz it looks so cute and friendly but then when you go to stroke its furry little head it's face launches towards you and you feel the searing pain of teeth in your hand as it rips a chunk out of you. And you wanna get mad at it but then it looks all cute and starts licking the wound and you kind of just think, well, it is a wolf cub, after all ...

I love myths and legends. I love how stories from the past and from different cultures can teach us so much about our present-day lives. To see them so thoroughly explored here was absolutely fascinating. Each story is delivered then followed up with a chapter that divulges how the story can represent a facet of the female psyche. Familiar stories like Bluebeard and The Ugly Duckling took on new meaning. I love symbolism, and when the dots were connected I could see the new picture quite clearly. There were so many times I picked up this book only to find the next portion I read directly related to a current aspect of my life.

I've never considered myself to be a feminist, so parts of this did make me feel a bit awkward. But it also allowed me to understand a bit about that awkwardness. It is an incredibly empowering book, and I do certainly feel more comfortable in my feminine presence. I'm a woman, yo. I am a strong, beautiful, wild creature that cannot be contained by the rules and regulations of a rigid society. *flexes*

That being said, I do wonder how this would be received by non-traditional genders. (Forgive me if that's an offensive term, I am consciously incompetent on the subject). I really appreciate that it inspires women to be badass and embrace their wild woman, but I wonder if that means it will be less relevant to non-female readers?

BE WARNED: This book may make you want to strip naked and dance under the moonlight. It may make you want to sell everything you own and journey out into the wild world with nothing but the clothes on your back. It may make you want to quit your job, bathe in the ocean, practice witchcraft, or howl at the moon. It may awaken your soul in unexpected ways.

It may also have you scratching your head wondering what the heck is going on. If that's the case, put it down. Give yourself time to grow. Pick it up again when you feel a little more open to new ideas.

Honestly this is such a wonderful, empowering book and I cannot recommend it highly enough to woman looking for strength, growth and just that little something that might be missing in life.


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Review: The Art of War

The Art of War by Sun Tzu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Errrrr ... so I guess this was just a lot more literal than I was expecting? I mean, there was the occasional nugget of metaphorical wisdom, but there's also a lot about where to pitch your army and how and when to attack etc.

I'm not gonna lie - I was kind of hoping for some brilliantly veiled allusions as to how to triumph in day-to-day conflict. But it's actually warcraft. Literally. I hate that word because it's misused so often but it's the most appropriate word to describe this book. Since I'm not running off to war at the head of an army any time soon, there was a lot here that just didn't do anything for me.

I'm throwing it a bonus star, though, because if you are genuinely into physical warcraft this is actually a pretty detailed guide.

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Review: Shadowcaster

Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a pretty disappointing continuation of the series, considering I pretty much devoured everything that came before. I was hanging out for a continuation of the first book's adventures but instead it's all about Adrian's sister, Lyss, who has to be one of the most boring characters of the series. There's a ton of boring war talk and lots of marching, and most of the time I didn't really get what was happening. Probably didn't help that I'd mostly forgotten the first book, so there were a bunch of references I knew I was supposed to get but didn't.

The blurb builds up the inevitable relationship between Lyss and Hal, a commander on the opposite side. But aside from a random skirmish early on, we see very little of Hal until well over halfway through the novel. It made the relationship between them pretty hard to swallow, and it felt incredibly false and rushed to me. Then you've got Breon, a completely random addition who at least injects a little character into the story, but even he doesn't do anything particularly exciting.

Then, when you're finally getting used to the fact that this story is separate from the first, (view spoiler)[Jenna shows up and flies around on her dragon a bunch(view spoiler)[, which probably could have been saved for the follow-up novel. It was just too random and felt out of place in this story.

The story itself dragged on with nothing particularly exciting happening, but a lot of it. It spent so much time talking about war tactics that there wasn't really a lot of character development, and there was little fun to be had. It was simple enough to read, but I really struggled because I thought this would be a two-day read tops but I avoided reading it because it was so dull.

Plus, (and stop reading here if you don't want spoilers for the Demon King series or Flamecaster) I'm still so mad that Han was killed off and Raisa was relegated to overbearing mother. They were such kick ass characters in the first series and I just feel like this one would have been so much better if they all just slayed together. I miss Cuffs. :'( The first series he and Raisa tore it up, they were such great characters and the relationship between them developed so beautifully over the four books. And then Flamecaster came and it was all, 'they've had their big moment so let's turn their happily ever after into a nightmare so the kids can take the spotlight.' I'm just so heartbroken by that decision. This could have had crazy family dynamics and badass wizardry and mad father-son/mother-daughter/etc teams but instead the pie got cut up into giant lonely slices on giant separate plates. Devastating.

Dragons are cool though.

I don't know that I'd recommend this series after reading this book. I'll still read the third one when it comes out, just because I did actually enjoy the first one, but lets hope the writer was just off her game in this one rather than me being blind to bad writing this whole time and only seeing it now. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

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