Author Archives: Rose Herbert

Review: Brigid Kemmerer – A Curse so Dark and Lonely

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A Curse so Dark and Lonely
Brigid Kemmerer

Harper hasn’t led a sheltered life in Washington, DC. Her mother is dying of cancer, and her older brother Jake is still determined to protect her, even though she’s able to look out for herself. When she tries to protect another girl, Harper instead finds herself sucked into Rhen’s world – Rhen the Prince who is trapped to repeat the autumn of his 18th year until a girl falls in love with him.

Three months is such a short time to fall in love with someone, yet Kemmerer avoided making them cliche into love at first sight. I liked the way she set it up with Harper knowing exactly what was going on, even if at first she didn’t want to believe. Harper doesn’t want to fall for Rhen and she’s such a strong protagonist that the reader doesn’t want her to either. We’d be ok if you chose Grey!

I’m not sure if Harper’s cerebral palsy was consistently approached in the latter half of the novel. In the beginning, it is quite obvious what her limitations are, and how far she is able to push herself. When the creature comes though, she seems a lot more stable. I’d have to reread to make certain (Oh what a problem, I’ll have to reread it!!)

I initially thought to myself that this would be just another Beauty and the Beast retelling. But no! The characters in this felt real enough to come off the pages, and weren’t your normal run-of-the-mill prince/princess. Not to mention that deliciously evil sorceress. What I was very sad about was the fact this this is a series? duo? I’m not sure. But I have to wait a whole year for the next one! The conclusion to this one was satisfying though, and I really felt like the last chapter could have been left out.

I was very keen on reading this novel when it came in the door, and I had read it within two days. My hopes were high due to my enjoyment of Letters to the Lost and Thicker than Water and I was not disappointed. I still need to read More Than We Can Tell, and you better believe I’m even more excited to get my hands on it now. 5 stars for this novel from me. Thanks Bloomsbury!

Bloomsbury | 4th February 2019 |AU$16.99 | paperback

Review: Uzma Jalaluddin – Ayesha at Last

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Ayesha at Last
Uzma Jalaluddin

When does Ayesha get to choose her own path? As a high-school substitute teacher with little interest in getting married, she feels pressure to meet her extended family’s expectations. This includes looking after her cousin Hafsa, who is determined to have 100 marriage proposals before settling down. When her path intersects with Khalid, the two must decide for themselves how much they are willing to sacrifice – and gain.

You can tell that this novel is written by someone who actually understands Muslim culture, and isn’t just writing a novel in the ‘genre’ because it’s ‘popular’. Often I find in novels that there is a lot of going on about hijabs, when really most of the time it’s not anything out of the ordinary for the woman in question. Ayesha is comfortable with her faith even as she rebels against some of the requirements and expectations of her family.

I envy them their faith. I hope that people who do not understand or do not want to understand Muslim culture can read this novel and have their views changed. The sad fact is that many people are like Sheila the Shark – out to tarnish everyone of a religion/culture/group/minority with the sins of one person. This novel hopefully starts poking holes in those assumptions. Ayesha is a believable character that I found it easy to relate to.

Now, given the hassle of organising my own wedding lately, you’d expect that I felt indifferent or fearful of this novel. But my own life is far removed from this one. My parents certainly have never considered arranging a marriage for me (and I’d be pretty surprised if they did). Many people see arranged marriages as old fashioned and stuffy, but others of my friends who are older and having trouble finding a life partner feel differently. I guess it also depends how close you are to your parents.

Um, this is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice? Ugh, suddenly my star rating wants to go down a bit… No, I think this novel stands fine on its own and shouldn’t be compared to a stodgy Jane Austin novel. It’s a clean, touching romance novel that still had some bite and edge to it. I’m giving it 4 well deserved stars because I found it really difficult to put down, and I found myself second-guessing the story right up until the last 3 pages.

Allen & Unwin | 4th February 2019 | AU$29.99 | paperback

Review: Bren MacDibble – The Dog Runner

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The Dog Runner
Bren MacDibble

Ella and Emery have a long way to go to get to Christmas’s place. Armed with their five big doggos and a dry-land dogsled they must head away through rough terrain to reach the relative safety and food of Emery’s mum’s place – but will their other parents ever catch up?

This is another wonderful, thought provoking novel from Bren MacDibble. Her first novel, How to Bee, examined how a world without bees would survive. This novel takes this a step further, envisioning a future where grasses and grains have been lost to a deadly fungus. This novel is probably another candidate for a upper primary school reader novel and thought-provoker.

The story slips out in nibbles, teasing the reader along even as Ella and Emery make it further and further away from the city. I was occasionally irritated by the way Ella ‘spoke’, but the action kept me reading. The way this is written, Ella could be a boy or a girl, and I think that makes it easier for any reader to empathize and truly consider her circumstances. This is a really possible future for Australia and the world – we are so reliant on grains for basic food and feeding livestock. Have we learnt nothing from the Irish Great Famine?

If this novel does nothing else, hopefully you enjoy the fast paced travel and fraught hideaways of Ella and Emery. They are brave kids, and I think the novel is really realistic in the way Ella reacts to the world falling apart around her. If Ella had been ok with eating dead humans all of a sudden, I would have been really concerned!

I’m giving this 4 stars, and I am looking forward to when I have a younger reader in this age bracket to read and review it with me.

Allen & Unwin | 4th February 2019 | AU$16.99 | paperback

Review: CWA NSW – Everything I Know About Cooking

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Everything I Know About Cooking I learnt from the CWA of NSW

“With tried and true recipes for a perfect sausage roll snack, a succulent Greek-style roast chicken for dinner or honeycomb cheesecake slice for dessert, Everything I know about cooking I learned from CWA is the perfect kitchen companion, in a deceptively small format. Offering a range of tried and tested recipes to suit both the beginner and the expert cook…”

I put off reviewing this book because I wanted to cook some things out of it to really get a feel for its usefulness. In the end though, I didn’t cook anything out of it because I just didn’t have the motivation to go search out the ingredients, and I also don’t eat many of the items in it (like slices or some veggie dishes).

The index in this book is useless. I wanted to make scones (a CWA staple as far as I’m concerned) so I looked under ‘S’ for ‘scone’. Nope, no scones. Oh! But there is a chapter labeled ‘scones’. But then the recipe… When have I ever made scones with no butter, and with powdered sugar?  For me, scones start with the irritating process of using a fork/fingers to work the butter into the flour. I didn’t end up making the recipe.

I’m not sure how many people actually use cookbooks anymore in print format. Why would you go finding a recipe in a cookbook when you can just ‘google it’? I certainly do, unless its a recipe I have use many times, in which case I have a small box of recipe cards. And I have a tome of a recipe book (The Encyclopedia of Cooking) that I use for other popular things I make.

So who would I buy this for? I’m not sure. Its value is probably its nostalgic quality, and it could be a good starter cookbook for a beginner cook just learning on their own.

Murdoch | 1st April 2018 | AU$16.99 | hardback

Review: Gavin Francis – Shapeshifters

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Shapeshifters
Gavin Francis

Humans have an enormous capacity for change. “In Shapeshifters, physician and writer Gavin Francis considers the inevitable changes all of our bodies undergo–such as birth, puberty, and death, but also laughter, sleeping, and healing.”

I started reading this book, and then put it down in favour of something else. When I picked it up again, I had to start from Chapter 1 because I honestly didn’t remember what came before that. That first chapter is one of the most interesting ones – what I would think of as true ‘shapeshifters’ such as the biology behind the myth of werewolves. After this there are discussions of pregnancy, menopause, tattoos and other body changes. Which are interesting, but just not what I expected.

This book read as a bit of a jumbled mess that I found difficult to follow and thus enjoy. I’m not sure what the purpose of this book was. It is an exploration of old folk tales and history combined with the author’s clinical practice. For me, I would have liked to hear more about the clinical practice so that I could link it to what I was reading about. If I had wanted to read Ovid’s Metamorphoses, I would have done so earlier!

Pick this up if you are interested in finding out the links between clinical practice and ancient texts, but don’t go expecting to hear about supernatural shape shifting. You may or may not learn something interesting from this book – it just wasn’t for me.

Allen & Unwin | 23rd May 2018 | AU$32.99 | hardback

Review: Jennifer A Nielsen – The Traitor’s Game

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The Traitor’s Game
Jennifer A Nielsen

Kestra has been ordered home by her father, but instead is kidnapped by an old friend on the way there. She receives a second set of orders from the Coracks – find the Olden Blade and betray her family and monarchy. Once at home, not all is as it seems – everything Kestra remembers is wrong.

Do I actually see this ‘cruel and bloody fist’ of Lord Endrick? Nope, I do not. All I see is simple Kestra getting simple revenge on her captors, and them having revenge on her. While there was potential for intrigue, instead I felt like Kestra was holding all the cards and the reader didn’t know enough to actually imagine what was happening behind the scenes. In fact, I felt that Kestra was particularly slow in working out what was going on (even with really clear clues).

I was horrified to get slightly further into the novel and find that the perspectives suddenly changed between Kestra and Simon. I felt this was unnecessary. I didn’t see much benefit from reading Simon’s perspective – apart from the fact that across three days he went from being vaguely in love with her / hating her, to being completely in love with her.

Kestra is claustrophobic, but the majority of the time it seems well controlled. And when she’s in those situations, most of it seems to be from Simon’s perspective, so the effect of it is only what he sees. I didn’t feel the claustrophobia with Kestra at all so it wasn’t a useful character flaw that made me like her.

The events in this novel take place over the course of 3 days, but it honestly felt like the action was still slow enough to occur across a week. Every time Kestra gets caught doing something she shouldn’t be there are hardly any consequences, or I didn’t actually care about the consequences. The person I did vaguely care about apparently died. I’m not even sure whether this person did die or not, it’s so uncertain whether I should be sad/angry/upset or not.

Stating that you can see someone else’s barriers going up is just pathetic. And to have it stated multiple times in the course of two pages? I should just be able to tell that from the characters’ expressions, not have them do it for me. 3 stars from me.

Scholastic | 1st July 2018 | AU$19.99 | paperback

Review: Lynette Noni – Whisper

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Whisper
Lynette Noni

Jane Doe is stubborn. She committed herself to a psychiatric ward so that she wouldn’t harm anyone else, but in the end she found herself trapped in an underground facility with a daily psychologist appointment, martial arts training and a torture session with a brain chemist. Suddenly befriended by one of the staff, will Jane finally crack? And if she does, what lies in store for her?

I liked Jane precisely because she was a blank slate with little personality. I think believing you’ve killed someone important to you would definitely stunt your growth, as would not speaking for more than 2 years. I watched her grow and Speak and I was excited for her!

What about the premise? That a drug given to women for fertility can have supernatural effects on their progeny… Yes, I could see it happening. There is so much we still don’t know about the brain. And it won’t be the first time a drug given to pregnant ladies has a bad/strange outcome for offspring (Thalidomide, anyone?) I would have loved to hear more about the science behind the scenes (literally and figuratively), but this novel is ultimately about Jane and her fears.

I do have to say that a lot of smirking took place. And I couldn’t possibly condone some of the behaviour. According to other reviewers there’s a love triangle happening here. I’m sorry, I didn’t see it. Mostly I just saw Jane being terrified and stressed out. Yes, she may have noted at some point that she cared about the other characters, but I didn’t see a love story. I guess now I fear that the second novel will suffer from a gooey protagonist. Let’s hope not.

This novel came in the front door and I immediately got stuck into it. I didn’t put it down until I was finished and I ignored all else in favour of it. It was entrancing and sublime and I need to read it again – as soon as the second novel is out. Arg! I can’t wait, considering that I read this before the official publication date! … and I have now waited a year to reread and review it, and I was just as captivated with it the second time around. 5 stars. Please Lynette Noni, write us the second one! If you are looking for other similar novels in the mean time, try Burning.

Pantera Press | 1st May 2018 | AU $19.99 | paperback

Review: Stephen Giles – the boy at the keyhole

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the boy at the keyhole
Stephen Giles

Samuel’s mother left in the middle of the night leaving him with only Ruth for company. Soon, Samuel is paranoid that Ruth has killed his mother, and he finds himself searching everywhere in the house for truth. His uncle and his best friend can’t help him – what is true and what isn’t?

I started diligently reading this novel, and then got bored with the incredibly slow progression. I did want to know what happened though, so I basically just skim read to the ending. I’m fortunate that I didn’t waste my time on this novel because the ending was disappointing anyway.

The author sets us up to hate Ruth simply because it is told from Samuel’s perspective. Ruth is portrayed as overbearing and a perfectionist, and very controlling. It’s hard to tell whether she really is these things, and whether she has killed Sam’s mother. That’s where the psychological thriller part should have come in, but I honestly didn’t care about his mother.

I honestly thought that this would be a novel similar to The Girl in the Red Coat, where Samuel was locked in his room all the time and could only peer out through the keyhole, and not be allowed to go to school. I also didn’t finish that novel, so perhaps it’s not a surprise I didn’t read this one thoroughly. 1 star. Try babydoll for a truly horrifying kidnap/isolation narrative.

Penguin Random House | 17th September 2018 | AU$29.99 | hardback

Review: A.C. Gaughen – Reign the Earth

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Reign the Earth
A.C. Gaughen

Shalia will marry to stop her desert family from warring with the Trifectate. Calix the God-King will stop at nothing to destroy the Elementae – little does he know that his soon-to-be wife may have the power of Earth. Can these two strong willed people fall for each other? Or will they be ripped apart by their different beliefs.

Shalia is a decent enough character who is determined to stand on her own two feet. However, sometimes this just doesn’t work for her. I felt confused that sometimes she stood up for herself against Calix, but the rest of the time she didn’t. Do you have the power or not Shalia? She seems to have faith in the power of marriage even as she subverts it. I didn’t understand her well enough to get what she really meant.

Now, about those almost- sex scenes. I appreciated that the author wanted Shalia’s first time to be acceptable enough, and I was grateful that the rape was not depicted. But what I was disappointed in was Shalia’s expectation that loving someone would mean that everything was ok.

Good, but not good enough you know? I finished reading it, and instead of being excited to read the next novel I felt myself wanting to just go find the ending, rather than investing the time and effort to search it out. Or perhaps not. It could have been that this was a reread and it just wasn’t worthy of rereading. It’s been a full year since I received this novel for reviewing, and perhaps it’s time for the next to appear. The author was suffering from a range of health issues which I can only hope have resolved for her.

Now that I look at the synopsis on Goodreads for the second novel, it doesn’t appear to be about Shalia at all. I expected that it would be about the next part of the prophesy that Calix is so worried about. That synopsis feels like another cliched story waiting to begin.

Think Warbreaker or any other range of novels where the princess falls for the wrong guy after marrying for an alliance. There’s a lot of them! This is one of the better ones with a strong fantasy element in it though. I’m giving it 3 stars here, but I rank it far higher than Ash Princess.

Bloomsbury | 1st February 2018 | AU$16.99 | paperback

Review: Amy Lilwall – The Biggerers

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The Biggerers
Amy Lilwall

Jinx and Bonbon live with their She-one who feeds them flakes from a bowl. They have an active social life Outside where Chips and Blankie visit them. These four people just happen to be only a foot or so high – and they aren’t supposed to be human. Being human could get them kidnapped.

Now, this was a decidedly odd novel. I forced myself to read it because I believed that it could get better or have something really powerful to offer me. Cloning to produce little humans as pets? It could be really fascinating because it’s a possibility.

If memory suppressants work on Littlerers, why not just use them on the old people who don’t want to be lonely without their dead partners? Why clone and produce little humans? I don’t get why people would want a pet human. What’s wrong with a dog? The pet humans aren’t even as intelligent as a dog – they aren’t supposed to communicate after all. And of course, they aren’t supposed to be marketed as toys for children, even though I felt like they could have just been dolls for the way that their owners tended to treat them. What the author did manage really well was the characterisation and character growth of Jinx and Bonbon. They really were little people!

I didn’t understand, but did understand at the same time, the behavior of Susan and Hamish. They both spend a lot of time introspecting about their feelings, and blaming each other for the relationship. And of course there is Hamish’s relationship with Emma. Was their relationship supposed to represent the typical disconnected people that will exist in an age where digital technologies are all that are on offer?

The ending left me feeling very confused. Was the storyline with Watts and Drew in the past? What were those last two chapters really about? This novel had excellent potential as a plot but the language left me cold and uninterested. Maybe pick it up at the bookstore and read the first couple of pages or so to see if you can tolerate the language. If you can, maybe buy this novel to read. But be prepared for a wishy-washy ending. 2 stars from me.

Bloomsbury | 1st August 2018 | AU$29.99 | hardback