All posts tagged book reviews

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys… Oh My!

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments

slasher girls and monster boys coverThe end of October is upon us.  I’m not into scary stories or spooky things, but I figured that I’d read Slasher Girls & Monster Boys for the season anyway.  I’m not really big into short stories, but thanks to a Top Ten Tuesday topic from earlier this year, I’ve discovered that some of them are pretty cool.

This anthology has stories from several authors that I wasn’t familiar with, as well as some that I’ve heard of but haven’t read yet (like Kendare Blake) and some that I’ve read before (including my favorite author, Marie Lu).  They all have their own styles that they bring to this genre, and some of the stories I liked much better than the others.

Each of the short stories in Slasher Girls & Monster Boys was based on a classic movie or story.  I don’t really think that knowing the original story really gave away anything in the ending.  For example, “In the Forest Dark and Deep” was based on Alice in Wonderland.  Knowing the Alice story didn’t really give away what was going to happen in the story.

I didn’t really find these stories to be scary.  They did seem to have a lot of stories of the supernatural and of revenge, however.  I did like that about these stories.

Some of these stories I was just okay with.  There were a couple with bizarre endings that I would have liked to have been explained more.  I think that it’s normal in an anthology that you won’t like all the stories equally well though.

Here were some of my favorites:

“The Girl Without a Face” ~ Marie Lu.  Well, duh!  I’ve never read anything in the “horror” genre by Marie Lu before, but this story definitely has a lot of Lu-like elements to it.  The voice is familiar, as is the overall message of this story.  Sorry, I can’t give away what that message is, because then I’d pretty much spoil it!

“On the I-5” ~ Kendare Blake.  I bought Three Dark Crowns earlier this year but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.  “On the I-5” is a story of a girl who meets someone at a truck stop on the I-5 (which runs from Washington State to Southern California).  Again, I can’t really tell you much more than that without spoiling the story, but it was pretty good.

“The Birds of Azalea Street” ~ Nova Ren Suma.  I’ve seen the Hitchcock movie The Birds more than once in my lifetime, and although I did have a guess as to what was happening in this one, I thought it was a sweet story about justice.  If sweetness can be a little dark and creepy and involve death.

“In the Forest Dark and Deep” ~ Carrie Ryan.  This was another tale of jerks seeing justice.  I think there’s a theme to my favorite stories here, because all the stories that I’ve pointed out here include some form of justice for somebody.  This story has a tea party/Alice in Wonderland influence to it.

If you’re looking for something to read this year with just a little bit of the creep factor, but you don’t want to commit to a full length novel or two, you might want to check out Slasher Girls & Monster Boys.  Chances are you’ll recognize a few of the authors, and you might find a new author you want to read more of!

I Was Into the Hollow

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Into the Hollow coverLast week, I read Into the Hollow by Lynn Vroman.  I have to thank Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read it.  This is a really sweet story and I enjoyed it a lot.

Freedom (she goes by Free) hasn’t had the easiest life.  After her mother died, her dad took her to Needles, California, where he met another lady and had another child, Little.  Little’s mom had postpartum depression, and they left to go back to Appalachia, where they were originally from.  When our story begins, Free is a doting sister who adores her half-brother.  She works at a grocery store to try to make ends meet.  Her daddy digs up ginseng to try to bring in some extra cash.  It’s a hard life.  They live in a small house without electricity or water, and sometimes there isn’t enough to eat.

Cole is her next door neighbor, but they’ve never spoken.  His life isn’t much to brag about either.  He has a father and brother in prison for dealing drugs.  His sister is a teenage mom and is a former drug addict; her mother still is addicted to drugs.  Cole’s sole goal in life is to graduate from high school and save enough to rent a crappy apartment someday.

Sometimes they see each other when Free drives by in her beat up Buick, but they’ve never spoken.  Still, they seem to be drawn to each other (although Free would never admit that).

When Cole starts working at the grocery store with her, she tries to keep her distance.  He wants to get to know her, but she doesn’t want him to find out her secrets.  Then something happens, and her world is turned upside down.  She turns to Cole for help.  In turn, she seems to help him in a way.

I absolutely loved this story.  Both Cole and Free are responsible teens just trying to survive in a world where the adults in their lives haven’t made it easy for them.  You want them to make it.  And you want them to be together.

The setting of Into the Hollow is fairly unique.  I haven’t read a lot of books set in Appalachia.  As I read the book, I can visualize the forest, and the run-down houses, and the things that make this area what it is.

Into the Hollow was a book that I didn’t want to put down.  I’m not sure how much publicity it’s going to get, but it probably won’t be enough.  It’s one of those books that might end up in a “hidden gems” type of Top Ten Tuesday post, because I enjoyed it so much, but I’m afraid not many people are going to hear about it.  It won’t be released until November 6th, but you can pre-order it now.

War Storm was Electrifying

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War Storm CoverI recently finished reading War Storm by Victoria Aveyard.  It was an amazing end to this series.  This is a huge book (672 pages), but I read it in three days because I couldn’t put it down.  Although the ending was quite fitting, I was sad to see the series end.

Because this is the fourth book in a series, this review may contain spoilers for the previous three books.

As the book begins, Mare and Cal have decided to part ways.  Despite the fact that they obviously love each other, there are things that they can’t agree upon.  Mare is dedicated to her cause of equality for reds and silvers, while Cal feels that becoming king is the best for both him and his country — even if it requires that he marry Evangeline.

Almost nobody wants Cal and Evangeline to get married.  They don’t want to marry each other.  Mare doesn’t want them to get married.  Although Mare and Cal’s friends tend to be indifferent about the subject, they’re still a little annoyed with having to watch Mare and Cal moon over each other all the time.  The only people that really want them to get married are Cal’s grandmother and Evangeline’s father, as a way to strengthen their alliance.  That seems to be a recurring theme in real history as well though.

War Storm‘s extension of the world of the Red Queen series is outstanding.  As the whole continent is at war now, we’re now dealing with characters from all over the place.  We get to see more of Montfort in this book (whose allowance for same-sex marriage is tempting to Evangeline) as well as characters from the Lakelands.

This book seems to have a theme of what our destiny is, and whether we can make the choice to change things.  Evangeline and Cal don’t seem to think that they have a choice in their futures, or even in the future of their nations.  As the series comes to a close, they begin to realize that maybe they do have a choice after all.

The book’s ending was fitting.  I thought it rang true to how the characters were behaving, especially in this last book.  I finally didn’t mentally yell at the characters about how foolish their choices were.  It may not be the ending that I would have chosen, but I thought it was the right ending.  And I didn’t end up crying or throwing the book in frustration (yes, I’m still talking about Allegiant chapter 50).

I definitely recommend War Storm and the entire Red Queen series if you like fantasy, stories about equality, or just really good books in general.  I was happy to find out how this series ended, yet sad to see it end at the same time.

The Wren Hunt Sings

By Brookelorren on 3 Comments

The Wren Hunt coverI recently read The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson (thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury YA for an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for an honest review).  It is a magical book in a fairly unique setting that made me want to keep reading.

The Wren Hunt is set in modern-day Ireland.  The story starts out with some excitement: every year after Christmas, some boys chase Wren (our heroine) until they catch her, and demand some sort of trinket for her.  Wren doesn’t find this chase amusing, but for some reason, they continue to bully her year after year.

Soon, we find out that the boys that chase her are part of a group of people that her family has been feuding with for generations.  Like in Romeo and Juliet or The Weight of Feathers, Wren’s family is part of the augurs, and the boys that bully her are the judges.  Both judges and augurs have a sort of druidic magic to them.  Wren’s gift allows her to have visions of the future, although sometimes it is difficult to interpret what they mean.

The augur’s magic appears to be fading, and they blame the judges for it.  Wren is sent to take an internship at a business run by the judges, in order to spy on them.  The judges there don’t know that she’s an augur, and if she is found out, it wouldn’t do well for her.

Over the course of this book, she falls in love, finds out some shocking truths about herself, and has to make difficult decisions about her life.  There’s betrayal, and twists, and things aren’t always exactly as they seem.  It all makes for a great story.

Setting

I love how Ireland was used as the setting for this book.  It makes an excellent backdrop for the druidic magic.  The Wren Hunt transports you to a small village in this country.  The town has this small-town feel of a place that kids grow up in and don’t really escape from.  It’s unlike a lot of fantasy book settings, which made it interesting.

Characters

I really liked the characters and relationships portrayed in this book as well.  Although she lost her parents when she was young, Wren is close to the family members she lives with, as well as her childhood friend.  In this book, Wren is growing apart from her family, and I love how Ms. Watson tackles this.  There are also enemies, a growing but sometimes awkward attraction to a boy, and coworkers.

Overall

Will The Wren Hunt make my list of Top Ten Books I Read in 2018?  No, but I’ve read a lot of books this year, and a lot of good books aren’t going to make it onto the list.  This book is a unique book that kept my attention from the beginning until the end.  I definitely recommend it.

The Wren Hunt won’t be available until November 6th, but you can pre-order it now.

Ever the Brave Was Beautiful

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Ever the Brave coverI first heard about Ever the Brave when I kept seeing that Once a King was going to come out this fall.  The story sounded really interesting, so I just had to get the books from my library.  I read Ever the Hunted in July (you can read my review here), but I had to wait a lot longer in order to read the second book in the series.  This book was worth the wait.

Since this book is the second in a series, it may contain spoilers for the first book.

Britta might have gotten herself out of immediate danger in Ever the Hunted, but her life has not gone back to normal.  She now has this mysterious bond with King Aodren, and on top of that, he now seems to have the same kind of mysterious connection to her that she used to have with Cohen.  Of course, she’s in love with Cohen, which makes the situation even messier.  To make things worse, the king seems to be developing feelings for Britta.

The danger in Britta and Cohen’s life hasn’t gone away, either.  The Spiriter that was controlling Aodren is now wreaking havoc in the kingdoms of Malam and Shaerden, threatening to destroy the fragile peace between the two countries.  Cohen has to track down this Spiriter, which is causing strain in his relationship to Britta.

Britta eventually discovers that she has to choose between Cohen, who sometimes is a little overprotective of her, and Aodren, who continues to shower her with gifts.

Choice seems to be a pretty big theme in Ever the Brave.  Cohen has to learn that even though he wants to protect his love from all of the dangers of this world, he can’t make that decision for her if he doesn’t want her to feel smothered.  He also feels like he needs to give Britta the freedom to choose between her and Aodren, even if it means that she might not choose him.  I thought it was sweet that he cared enough for her to want her to make that decision, even if it potentially could hurt him in the end.

I loved the ending of Ever the Brave and am looking forward to reading Once a King at some point, even though Britta and Cohen won’t be main characters in that story.  This is a sweet story with a beautiful ending.  I highly recommend it.

Evenfall Fell Short

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments

Evenfall CoverI was recently given the opportunity to read Evenfall by Gaja and Boris Kos (thank you Netgalley for the ARC).  While I thought the concept of the book was good, it sadly did not live up to expectations.  Evenfall did have to follow some of the most amazing books I read this year; even still, it was just okay.

After I was about 25% of the way through the book and I still wasn’t feeling this book, I tried to figure out why this book just didn’t mesh with me.  I think the biggest problem was that there was a lot of infodumping.  Ember, our heroine, was confused and was trying to figure out what was going on.  Her new friend Ada was trying to help her understand, but there was a lot of explanation and not much action.  For a lot of the book, there wasn’t a lot of dialogue either.  There were descriptions of them eating breakfast, traveling to Ada’s house, and a little bit of hiding, but there wasn’t a lot going on.

The action did pick up some in the second half, when Ember’s interactions with the “bad guy”, the Crescent Prince, pick up in earnest.  The last 20% of the book was actually fairly good.  Still, I thought there was a love interest that sparked a little too quickly in the last bit (Ember and another person declared their love to each other after knowing each other for probably less than a week).

Despite all of the explaining that was going on, there were times when the character seemed to know things that she shouldn’t have.  I hope that these are fixed before the finished product comes out, but there were two occasions where Ember names a character they were going to meet when we hadn’t been introduced to them previously.

On a positive note, the magic systems and the storyline were interesting and complex.  I started to feel like I was getting to know Ember by the end of the book.  I could also feel for her and the fact that she didn’t want to be used as somebody else’s pawn.  There were a lot of interesting aspects to the world here.

Considering that the action did pick up towards the end of the book, I might think about reading the sequel.  It’s not something I’d put at the top of my TBR, but there is a part of me that wants to see this world put back together.

Muse of Nightmares is a Dream

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Muse of Nightmares coverMuse of Nightmares was released last Tuesday, and if you haven’t read it yet, you should definitely put it on your TBR.  It’s getting to be that time of year where I start thinking about what the best books of the year were, and there’s a good chance that this book is going to make the Top Ten Books I Read for the First Time in 2018 list.

Because this review is the second in a duology, there may be spoilers for the first book.

This book begins where Strange the Dreamer left off.  Lazlo discovered that he was godspawn, Sarai was dead, and Minya was trying to get Lazlo to do her bidding to allow her to go down to Weep and let her get her revenge on the humans.  What a mess!  Of course, Lazlo is this gentle soul who wouldn’t hurt a fly.  What is a poor boy who loves his Sarai to do?

In addition to the difficult situation the godspawn were left in, we were left with questions.  Where did all the other babies go?  Why did Lazlo suddenly turn into godspawn when for twenty years he was just an ordinary boy?  What does the bird flying around have to do with anything (and why is the bird on the cover of this book?  All of that will be answered in Muse of Nightmares.

I don’t want to give too much away, but Lazlo and Sarai’s relationship continues, the humans down in Weep finally meet the godspawn, and secrets are revealed about the universe that I certainly didn’t expect.  The characters that we loved in the first book are back, and most of them grow and become better people.

Just like Strange, Muse is a beautiful book with gorgeous prose.  Laini Taylor has such a lovely way of writing.  The alluring words made me want to keep reading.  The world that she built is imaginative, and the way that she writes it makes it vivid.  You grow to love the characters and empathize with them.

Another thing that I loved about reading this book was that it has such a beautiful message to it.  Minya wants revenge for what happened to her.  The humans who were exploited have reason to hate the godspawn.  Another character that we will meet when we read this book has another reason to hate.  One of my favorite lines in this book is repeated twice: Let all the ugliness end here.

It’s such a timely message.  Let all the ugliness end here.  If we could get one thing from reading this book, that would be it.  Wouldn’t the world be such a better place if we could all just listen to each other?  To try to understand where other people are coming from?  There would be so much less anger floating in the air if we could just get that.  Just like the humans, godspawn, and the new character we meet in Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares, almost all of us are trying to do the right thing.  Sometimes the right thing is not easy to discern.  Maybe if we were all a little more like Lazlo and Sarai, our hearts would heal.

The ugliness does end, at least for the characters here.  I won’t say what happens, but I was in tears for the last 50 pages of the book or so, it was so beautiful.  The ugliness even ends for some of the characters that you might not even think could change.  Not everyone gets a happy ever after, and not everybody’s soul can mend, but the end was perfect.

Or was it?  This book opens itself up to fanfiction or further books in the series.  Maybe we’ll see some more novellas from here.  That would be nice.

Everless was Endearing

By Brookelorren on 6 Comments

Everless coverI recently read Everless by Sara Holland.  Driving my daughter to school takes quite a lot of time, which I can use to listen to audiobooks.  This one came available at my library recently.

Jules lives in a humble village with her papa.  They barely are able to make ends meet — then again, that’s true of most people in the village.  Once again, the rent is due, and they don’t have the money to pay for it.

Everyone in Sempera uses time as a currency.  If you can’t pay the rent, then you can take it out of the time you have remaining in your life.  Most of the poorer people have shortened lives as a result.  In a place like Everless, where the wealthy people live, some people can live for hundreds of years.

Jules used to live in Everless, as a child.  A tragedy forced them to flee years ago, however.  Now that Jules is 17, she can help Papa pay the rent by using her own time.  Papa forbids it, but if he uses some of his time, he might die.  In an attempt to save Papa’s life, Jules decides to go back to Everless, where well-paid jobs as servants await, preparing for the wedding of Roan Gerling and the queen’s adopted daughter.

Roan and Jules used to be friends as children.  Going back to Everless means that she will see Roan again, although he will be marrying someone else.  It also means that she will see his nasty brother, Liam.  Everless is not a very safe place to be, and Jules believes that part of that reason is Liam.

As the story progresses, we find out why Everless is such a dangerous place, and we find that there are long-buried secrets held there.  We find out that things aren’t exactly as they seem, and the past may come back to haunt everybody.

I enjoyed this book.  The imagery was wonderful.  I started getting my suspicions about some of the plot points partway through the story, although there were still some surprises, even at the very end.  When I was getting towards the end of the story, I would want to sit in my car a little longer, just to find out what was going to happen next.

I’m looking forward to finding out what happens in Evermore, which should be coming out on December 31st.  Which is weird, because most book releases come out on Tuesdays and December 31st is a Monday, but who knows?  More than likely I’ll read it sometime next year.

King’s Cage Will Keep You Trapped (Until You Finish Reading)

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King's Cage coverKing’s Cage, by Victoria Aveyard, finally became available at the library, shortly after Glass Sword did.  In this book, we get to continue on our journey with Mare and Cal and their friends (and enemies).  This review may contain spoilers for the first two books in the Red Queen series.

When we first meet up with Mare in this story, she has voluntarily submitted herself to imprisonment in exchange for her friends’ freedom.  Although she expects to be put to death, Maven is still obsessed with her, and won’t let that happen.  Instead, she is left to rot in a nice room with a few books… and is slowly suffocating due to the effects of the silencing of her powers that occurs continuously.

Maven is engaged to Evangeline, who is looking forward to becoming queen, although neither Maven nor Evangeline are crazy about each other.

On the other side of the story, where Cal and the Scarlet Guard are, we see the story through Cameron’s eyes.  She’s not a huge fan of Cal and Mare, but she provides an interesting perspective to what is going on with the Scarlet Guard, which is continuing to gain followers.  Cameron still is trying to save her brother, and Cal is trying to get Mare back.

In order to avoid giving away spoilers, I’ll be vague about what happens next.  There are some plot twists and political intrigue, and by the end of the story, instead of wondering why Mare is acting like an idiot, I’m left wondering “Why are you so stupid, Cal?”

So far, this is my favorite story of the series.  I love how we are able to see more of the characters and of the world.  We are already familiar with Maven’s court from previous books, but in King’s Cage, we get to see more from countries outside of Norta.  As in previous books, the characters are crafty and have political motives that can’t be trusted.  In this book, the whole world seems to be at war, and people are choosing sides.  I may have to read this series a second time some day to be able to understand all of the details of this story.  It is outstanding.

As far as characters go, I love seeing the world through Cameron’s perspective.  Cal and Mare do get together again during this book (I don’t think that should be too much of a spoiler… that’s a fairly logical thing to happen) and I love seeing their relationship develop.  Again, with the caveat that I’m saying “Cal, why are you so stupid!?” at the end of the book.

If you enjoyed the Red Queen series so far, then I definitely think that you should continue to read King’s Cage.  It is a great book, and although I had to put it down to go to work and sleep and things like that, I was excited to find out what was going to happen next.

The Glass Sword Gleams

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Glass Sword coverI recently was able to read Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard.  There was a really long wait at the library, and it was finally my turn (since I was waiting for King’s Cage at the same time, I get to read that next.  I thought it was a great book.  Since this a continuation of the Red Queen tetralogy, there may be spoilers for Red Queen in this review.

When this book begins, Mare and Cal have just escaped from the Bowl of Bones.  They are with the Scarlet Guard, but there is still a distance between them and everybody else because of their different abilities, and because of what they did in the first book.

Mare becomes more of a leader in this book, and she sets out to go find all of the other people like her: reds that have the genetic mutation that gives them abilities (called newbloods).  This is a dangerous mission, and some people end up getting hurt.  Mare takes some of this burden upon herself in the form of guilt.  At times, it separates herself emotionally from some of her friends, like Kilorn.

Mare and Cal grow together as a couple in this book, although things aren’t always rosy.  They both seem to have some growing to do.  I really like them together, but sometimes I had to say “Mare, you’re so stupid!”  Not only with regards to Cal, but with regards to some of her other relationships as well.  But she does admit that she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and she does have to make some very difficult leadership decisions.  She never wanted to be a leader, but leadership was thrust upon her anyway.  I also think that other people unfairly placed blame on her for things that weren’t entirely her fault.

Throughout the book, the characters go through several different trials, and the struggle between silvers, newbloods, and reds widens.  The world is complex and the plot twists are interesting.  In addition, Aveyard is not afraid to kill off some of her babies (sorry).

Towards the end of Glass Sword, I was a little frustrated at Mare because of how she kept thinking of herself as selfish and how she alienated the people that were close to her.  We are left with a cliffhanger at the end of the book (fortunately, King’s Cage is available for me to read now), and Mare makes a decision that shows that she is at least trying to do the right thing, even though she doesn’t always know what that is.