Review: The Island

The Island by M.A. Bennett
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

What a ridiculous book.

Check my updates - that word basically sums up my entire feelings towards this book: RIDICULOUS

The short version: Ostracised nerd Link is stranded on a deserted island with fellow schoolmate stereotypes. They must learn to work together to survive. There are a sh*t ton of pop culture references.

'People that are bullied aren't necessarily nice people, just because they're victims.'

That quote basically sums up the horror that follows. Link, who is bullied for three years by his classmates, turns into a total menace on the island. He's actually bummed his classmates survived and proceeds to use mind games to assert his domination over them. It's pretty messed up.

I honestly didn't like any of these characters, and the whole thing is just so far-fetched. Firstly, all the stuff at the school. Totally unbelievable that students would be treated in such a manner. It was so exaggeratedly absurd that I was rolling my eyes from the start. How am I supposed to feel sympathy when I just don't see any of this stuff actually happening? Bullying is a very real problem and I feel like this book really undermined the seriousness of it. Then for Link to become an absolute tyrant on the island just seemed too much. I hated the way he thought, and acted, and treated everyone. When we were giving redeeming qualities, they were too little, too late.

Then you get to the actual idea of these kids being stranded on a deserted island. Except no one remembers the crash, no one has shoes, and a whole ton of stuff doesn't add up. I was so bothered by stuff these kids didn't even think twice about. Idiots, the lot of them.

Also, this scrawny, non-athletic kid gets muscles after like three weeks? On a diet of fish and goat? PLEASE. Dude didn't even lift.

The whole overlying theme of this 'Deserted Discs' business did nothing for me, because I've never heard of it. I know maybe a handful of the songs mentioned. Maybe that will be more interesting for English people. *shrugs*

The one thing I did love was the book references, particularly the devotion to The Count of Monte Cristo, which is of course written by my favourite author of all time. But I gotta say, watch out for spoilers because this book has now ruined The Mysterious Island for me. There's a ton of references to books that involve islands, obviously, and the natural reference to The Breakfast Club, and a ton of music references ... it's all about that pop culture. It pokes fun at itself with continual references to Lord of the Flies. But ultimately it fails to be anywhere near as intelligent as all the books it references. It's just too strange and unbelievable.

Sigh. It wasn't terrible writing, it was just a really weak story. The idea is interesting but it went in strange directions and I just never got into the groove. Overall, it was just kind of disappointing.

If you're expecting any of the things the blurb brings to mind (Lord of the Flies, Breakfast Club, Gilligan's Island, etc.) then you're likely to be disappointed. I'd say the key to enjoying this one is low expectations.

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Review: Louise de la Vallière

Louise de la Vallière by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is easily the weakest book of the series, but it still gets four stars from me because this series stole my heart and will keep it eternally.

Unlike its predecessor, this book is aptly titled because the focus moves away from our beloved musketeers and onto court intrigues, particularly surrounding the titular Louise, who has been (un)lucky enough to capture the attention of King Louis XIV. This is the main aspect that makes this book drag so much, as we're inundated with lovers' quarrels and meetings and plots etc. There are still some fantastic characters, but the action is less and the politics more.

The story opens with Athos asking the King's approval for Raoul to marry Louise (on Raoul's behalf). Sadly, that's the last we hear of Athos for the rest of the book. Ah, how I missed him and his invaluable sense of honour! I can just imagine him hearing about all of the drama that follows and thinking, 'I am way too old for this sh*t'. We get a little of Raoul as a consolation prize, but even he's sent away for the latter half of the novel. Thank god for de Guiche, who compensates a little for the loss of these two illustrious figures, even if he loses his own head to love.

D'Artagnan appears to face down the smack-talking de Wardes, who is the son of the dude d'Artagnan pretended to be back in The Three Musketeers in order to bed Milady. It kinda makes sense that de Wardes is a little angry but he talks so much crap about everyone that it's nice to see him get served so elegantly by d'Artagnan. Also great that Raoul is surrounded by supportive friends in de Guiche and Buckingham, who back him up and threaten to rumble with de Wardes if he doesn't reign in his mouth. I loved the interactions between these young fellas. You can kind of see a shadow of our musketeers in their friendship.

Having made his peace with de Wardes, d'Artagnan then sadly disappears for the next 400-odd pages, leaving us to deal with all the drama at court. And man, is there drama.

There's the jealous Gaston d'Orleans, brother to the king, married to the sister of England's new king. The sister is Henrietta, who is loved by basically every male who meets her, causing all kinds of drama. Buckingham, de Guiche, and even the king, who is her brother-in-law. She, in turn, seems to love all of them until she decides she's over it, and basically rampages around stomping on people's hearts, or stamping her foot petulantly if they remove their heart from her range, first. She wasn't my favourite, but she sure makes things interesting!

Louis is quite a fascinating character, as he's trying to be responsible and run a country, but he's kind of being carried away by his heart. Everyone in this book seems to do stupid things in the name of love. Boys were so much more romantic back in the day. *sigh*

Louise herself is my least favourite character because I'm completely devastated by her disloyalty to Raoul. That boy loves her with his whole heart and Louise gets carried off by a fancy for the king? These hoes ain't loyal! It made me so mad that she barely stops to consider him. Raoul totally deserves better.

Aramis, the sly fox - or master spider, rather - is tangled up in his own little webs, manipulating everyone in favour of Focquet. He's always up to something, and appears the most of our favourite four musketeers, albeit still too infrequently for my liking. I have enough loyalty to love him no matter what, but I really question his actions. He's certainly nowhere near as noble as Athos and I cringe at some of the decisions he makes! I'm so glad that d'Artagnan is there to love and yet still suspect him on my behalf. It's such a twisted relationship, and they lie to each other constantly, but at their core they're still bffs so it's all good?

Then poor old Porthos is stuck in the middle, unaware! I have so much respect for our friendly giant. I mean, he's kind of savage, and I get a malicious glee when he destroys things accidentally because he's misjudged his size or strength, but he's so caring and loyal and naive and never suspects any of his friends of wrongdoing or deceit. I love when d'Artagnan wins him over to his own side, but in my mind I suppose Porthos will always be Aramis's right-hand man. His sword-arm, really.

There are some seriously interesting dynamics between that constantly evolving friendship of our four musketeers.

There are still some great moments in this book, and de Guiche had a few at the end that had me pretty anxious and biting my lip! Even all the plots are so twisted that they keep things interesting.

When I originally read The Man in the Iron Mask, I skipped this book in my impatience to get to it. Now that I have a better understanding of all this drama that's happened, I'm really looking forward to having a better understanding of what comes next. I don't think it's particularly necessary to read this one, but it certainly adds a lot more meat to the story, and gives some fascinating history, too.

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Review: Eleanor's Secret

Eleanor's Secret by Caroline Beecham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Finally manage to find a war book that wasn't a complete drainer!

This actually kept me pretty entertained. It was blessedly light on all the horrors-of-war details and focused more on the art and artists, which I found quite interesting. It's a new angle, thus quite refreshing.

The split views between the 1940s and 2010 also allow for variation and make things a bit more interesting, particularly as the mystery surrounding Jack's disappearance grows deeper and more intriguing. I was very curious about what happened to him, and was praying for a happy ending!

On that note, I feel like the conclusion fizzled a bit. There was the potential for big dramatic impact but it was a lost opportunity. I don't think I felt quite the desired effect.

It was an entertaining story pleasantly divided between Eleanor's past and Kathryn's present. It tackles a unique angle which makes this instantly more entertaining than so many other war books out there, and the characters were likable enough to inspire a little empathy.

Highly recommend for those who love war-era historical fiction.

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Review: Grace & Fury

Grace & Fury by Tracy Banghart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I CAN'T DEAL WITH MY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW.

I mean, DAMN.

This book blew me away.

1. Feminism
2. Nomi
3. Asa vs Malachi
4. Empowerment

JUST WOW.

Story: Serina and Nomi are sisters, inseparable until now. Serina has prepared her whole life to be a Grace - basically a pleasure slave/arm candy/trophy mistress for the prince. Nomi, her spirited younger sister, is destined to serve as her handmaiden. Naturally, things go awry and suddenly Nomi is the Grace and Serina is spirited away to an island prison full of rebellious women where she has to fight to survive.

I LOVE this story. It's all about women being oppressed, so it kinda takes real world problems and magnifies them to make them a thousand percent more obvious and it sets my Inner Feminist raging. EQUALITY FOR ALL, DAMMIT! But really I think what makes me most mad is that women are not allowed to read or write and that's just the most hideous form of oppression I've ever heard of. (I'm exaggerating, obviously. Please don't skewer me. My point is just BOOKS ARE LIFE.)

So straight away I was hooked because I felt an immediate sympathy for these two sisters and their horrible prospects. Plus, they just seem like good people. Obviously I had a softer spot for Nomi because she's the rebel, and who doesn't love a rebel? But I also really loved Serina being the protective older sister. Full marks for sibling love.

The princes confused me. And I'm pretty sure they're not technically princes but I'm gonna call them that anyway. I liked Malachi straight away even though Asa seemed like the cheekier of the two, but then throughout the story I kept changing my mind. They both have good points and bad points. However, I think it's safe to say that I've wound up firmly in Camp Malachi. Super fun dynamics there, though.

Prison Island was so much fun! I mean, brutal, obviously, but who doesn't love a good training montage? And some of these women are so badass! It was all very Wonder Woman - had that real Amazonian vibe. My soul was crying out for them all to rise up and conquer together.

Val was a really important character in that I think it was necessary to have a strong male presence that was in favour of women's rights. Plus he cute and all. <3

The alternating viewpoints were much appreciated: I hated leaving one sister for the other but I got so invested with every single chapter. It's like cliffhangers over and over and over. But gratification like a chapter later. So it keeps the tension up and makes the book hard to put down! Plus it was really interesting to compare the sisters' views and experiences.

For YA fantasy, this just felt like a really powerful novel. I feel like the whole topic of female oppression is handled really well, though I'm looking forward to this world being fleshed out a little more in the sequel. Some fantastic characters, and heart-stopping moments, and from about halfway onward this book was like a thousand anxiety attacks. SO TENSE. I both loved and hated it at the same time.

Highly recommend for lovers of YA fantasy, women who support women, men who support women, people who love twists and turns and battles and plots and basically just go read this book okay?!

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Review: Intricate Deceptions

Intricate Deceptions by Jennifer Rayes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is another one of those times that I've been disappointed by the blurb.

It sounded so exciting and dynamic, and there are some great ideas here, but it's poorly executed and relies on too many cliches.

Here's the story: Gaia wakes up in a cell, having been kidnapped by bad guys. Her cell mate is a girl called Emily who she befriends almost instantly, but they're torn apart when Gaia is rescued but Emily is left behind.
Gaia is taken to the palace of Prince Raoul, who gets a bad case of insta-love, and romantic hijinks ensue while Gaia tries to figure out who she is.

So firstly, there's a weird blend of modern and fantasy, because we have trafficking rings and drug cartels and normal hospitals and paramedics but as soon as you introduce a prince from a made-up land I'm thinking fantasy. So I had a really hard time figuring out the setting, and even though there was absolutely zero mention of it, I felt like there were spaceships involved. I don't know why my mind went there - it does weird things, sorry. But I would attribute my over-active imagining in this case to a lack of exterior details. I found it all really confusing because nothing was really described beyond cells and palaces. What world was this set in, exactly?

Second, the plot weaved all over the place. I was hoping for dramatic action (that blurb really talks it up!) but, even though there is a lot happening, it races through the action to focus on the romance and that bugged the crap out of me. Gaia is rescued and lives in a palace for a bit while she tries to remember who she is. Then she's told who she is. But through it all we learn very little about how she's dealing with everything - ptsd from being captured, anxiety from not knowing her past, not knowing who she can trust, who anyone is, living this life of luxury after being kidnapped - none of this rates because she's too busy getting all flustered over boys.

Now let's talk about that romance, shall we?

I'm guessing the author is a big reader herself, because I read a lot of scenes in this that I've definitely read elsewhere. Unfortunately, because these weren't uniquely created moments, they were delivered poorly. Let me also talk about one scene in particular that gets my blood boiling.

There's a deserted passageway Gaia is sneaking through. A Hot Boy approaches. He is intimidating, but Gaia finds him instantly attractive and it doesn't matter if he says douchey things because he's hot. For some reason, Hot Boy pushes Gaia against a wall and kisses her, against her will. Gaia is horrified but her body responds and she really enjoys this unwarranted kiss. Finally she snaps to her senses and pushes him away, he says something totally creepy that makes her weak at the knees, and then he departs, leaving her all flustered.

Firstly, women being all over this non-consensual stuff in fiction bothers me SO MUCH because THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. No woman wants to be violated against her will! And it doesn't suddenly become okay because he's attractive. No. This is just such harmful trope and it sickens me that people think this makes for romantic fiction. And I say people because this is not the first author to create this scene. It is rampant in fiction and bothers me every single time I read it. I'm gonna put it here in big, bold letters for anyone who might be confused: IT IS NEVER OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE AGAINST THEIR WILL. So yeah, I took major issue with the 'romance' in this book, because it reads more like what women fantasize about but would actually hate to experience. Sure, maybe you fantasize about that super-attractive person coming up and randomly planting one on you, but I can tell you that if it were to actually play out in real life, there's a high chance you'd feel pretty violated by the experience.

Sorry, I think I'm done ranting now.

Conclusion: the romance in this story is unrealistic and full of cliches and absolutely ruined this book for me.

The fact that I read through til the end suggests the story was still interesting enough. A lot of it was trash - but it was all the stuff that was trying to be other authors' ideas. The unique directions the story took actually kept me interested, so my main problem with this book was the taint of trying too hard to be like everyone else.

The author has talent and unique ideas, so I think if she focuses more on her own voice there's the potential to create some really strong stories in the future. With more attention to world-building and unique storytelling, this could be a real winner. Just needs to dial back the rubbish romance, create more believable characters and spend some more time crafting a dynamic plot.

This book was reviewed at the author's request. Many thanks for my e-copy.

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Review: The Novice

The Novice by Taran Matharu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Look. I've watched, like, 11 seasons of Supernatural, so when a blurb tells me a main character can summon DEMONS, I'm expecting some badass mofos that are gonna tear the place up.

What did this book deliver?

HARRY POTTER MEETS POKEMON.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

So let me have my lil (actually huge) rant and then I'll say some good stuff to soften the blow, okay?

Firstly, Fletcher seems like an okay character to begin with, and Didric was a total douchebag so I kinda wanted Fletch to get some revenge. I loved the early village stuff. I was really rooting for the guy.

But then he gets to this Battle School (don't even get me started) and he just becomes like this Perfect Prince of Justice and Equality For All and I can't deal with how ridiculously polite and accepting he is. He's always like, 'oh, I am so completely sorry, I can understand why you would feel this way, and perhaps want to kill me, but I would really like to explain to you that it would be better if you didn't kill me. But I can totally understand why you would want to, so you just go ahead if that's what you need to do.' and he instantly befriends everyone (except the bad guys, duh, because treating everyone equally obviously doesn't include bad guys) and when people yell at him he just apologises and tells them he understands and they apologise back and POOF! instant BFFs. THIS ENRAGED ME. No one has a spark of humour, no personality, no bite. They are all just boring pacifists. WHERE IS THE SASS??

So then we start having classes and meeting new people and teachers and I am not kidding when I say this seems to have borrowed a little bit from Harry Potter. The first two people Harry Fletcher befriends are a boy and girl who are kind of loners who are frowned upon by the nobles. He's also picked on by a snotty lil noble boy who doesn't think commoners should be allowed at Hogwarts Battle School. And the principal of the school seems a bit biased in his favour. As do most of the (non-evil) teachers. But the characterisation here really sucks because everyone is pretty 2D and no one really gets their own shining moments or background or anything, really. It's all Harry Fletcher. Who is an arrogant fool who bosses everyone around like he's the Chosen One. Huh. He also becomes strangely attached to teachers for no reason? What a weird kid.

So the worst part of this book ripping off elements of bestsellers like HP and LOTR is that it fails miserably where those books succeeded so brilliantly. For example, I was never a big HP fan, but damn, I developed a soft spot for Snape. He's so deliciously malicious. This book couldn't even make it's villains entertaining. Everyone is so bland. Aragorn Arcturus is pretty cool but he's grossly misused. I liked Othello, but he kisses Fletcher's ass way too much. Seraph was fun and effortlessly cool but just not featured enough. He needed to have a bigger role. I coulda really fallen for that guy. (Note: I am not even kidding with these names. They just get more and more ridiculous.)

The writing is pretty terrible, and I would think this should be classified more as Middle Grade, than YA. It's immature and has gaping plot holes all through it, and Fletcher constantly assumes the correct outcomes as though he's actually psychic. No one ever makes mistakes - no one ever thinks the wrong thing, jumps to the wrong conclusions, slips up with the magic ... it just adds to how boring the whole thing is. I mean, I was entertained enough by the story but there's just no drama. Easier to overlook in a new series, as there's plenty of world-building to keep things interesting, but it doesn't give me much hope for the next book in the series. It's all well and good to have creativity and a unique story idea, but you need to be decent at storytelling, too, and go a bit deeper than the single story you want to tell. I like fantasy to have layers, like a head of lettuce - where everything kinda overlaps and it gets better the deeper you go. This story settles comfortably on the surface, and we all know what happens to the outermost layers of a lettuce, right? (I throw mine in the compost. Does anyone ever actually eat them?! [I hope not. It'll ruin my metaphor.])

So, to recap:
-Fletcher is too perfect, making him perfectly annoying
-This book blatantly rips off better fantasy series, particularly HP and LOTR.
-The writing is terrible
-The story is shallow

Now, THE GOOD!

The whole demon thing.

So completely not what I was expecting. As I said, Supernatural has trained me to expect chaos and darkness and mayhem with my demons. There is zero chaos and darkness and mayhem relating to demons in this book.

That being said, these demons are the freaking cutest things ever.

This is where the Pokemon similarities come in. Because 'demons' are actually these cute lil hybrid animals from 'the Ether' who are Summoned and become bonded with their summoner. So Fletcher ends up with this lil salamander demon who is basically Mushu sans sass and more adorable. But this book describes a ton of these things (and they're all adorable - there's bonus content in this edition that includes sketches and the lil smile on the Golem's face is priceless. He's so freaking happy!) and they have battles and stuff and look, it's basically Pokemon. These kids are all basically training to Be The Very Best and Catch 'Em All.

And I don't even care how cheesy and terrible that makes this story. Animals are cute, and hybrid animals that do cool things and are super loyal will easily steal my heart and make everything okay again.

So basically, the HP part is terrible but the Pokemon part is a whole lot of ridiculous fun and there are a lot of stupid names but I guess it's not so bad. It's a terribly written fantasy with rubbish people but great animals.

Recommended for: People who love Pokemon, people who love fantastical animals, people who love horrendous character names

Avoid if: You don't want to see your precious Harry Potter ripped off (badly), you like a decent plot, you hate plot holes, you like depth, you're expecting a little carnage and/or mayhem, you hate animals (you monster!)

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Review: Siddhartha

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Me reading the first paragraph: Sweet jeezuz I feel like I'm already in struggletown with this trash.

Me from page 2 onwards: THIS IS SO PROFOUND I AM AN ENTIRELY NEW SPIRITUAL BEING.

So, yeah. Kinda loved it.

There are so many facets to spiritual growth, and I loved how layered Siddhartha's learning was. He begins his journey with a very strong will, and I was impressed by his determination to follow his own path. But every time he/the reader thinks he's become superior, there's the revelation of another lesson to learn. The discussion of materialism is here, but also of learning from all experiences. It raises plenty of psychological questions, and I really appreciated the thought that went into this story.

This is a spiritual journey that will lead the mind to a lot of interesting places, and hopefully convey some lessons that will allow the reader to appreciate more of their own life experiences. If that's not really your thing, you'll get an interesting story about a guy who wanders the world, experiencing many of its pleasures and learning from everyone he meets.

I loved this so much more than I thought I would, and I definitely got a lot out of it. I'm actually amazed at how much zen its given me. I'll have to go out and buy a physical copy so I can return to this repeatedly. There's a lot of wisdom here.

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