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Review: Emily Barr – The Truth and Lies of Ella Black

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The Truth and Lies of Ella Black
Emily Barr

Ella has just been ripped out of school and taken to her dream destination, Rio. Unfortunately, her parents won’t let her out of their sight and she knows there’s a big secret they are keeping from her. She’s keeping her own secrets, like how she just put a hammer through a fledgling’s head…

It had the potential to be a thriller, but thanks to The One Memory of Flora Banks, I was primed the whole time for something interesting to be going on with Ella’s brain. And it turned out that there really wasn’t anything that exciting. That romance? Pathetic. Oh, star-crossed lovers etc etc. I’ll tell you all my secrets, and you will return them. Yeah sorry, but one sorrow does not cancel out another, and it doesn’t seem like Ella even took anything on board.

I polished this novel off very quickly, but in the end I didn’t really feel very satisfied by it. Does Ella actually understand herself better? Is she still a selfish, horrible person? It’s not Bella that is at fault, it’s Ella through and through that is entitled and a cry-baby.

On that note, I found the take-over of Ella by Bella completely unrealistic and repetitive. Is she that bloody naive? I thought maybe she had some strange version of multiple-personality disorder. But no no, it’s just simple repression. Ella talking to herself just comes across as strange, particularly her thoughts of suicide vs her preservation instinct.

The more I write this review, the less I like the novel. I’ll give it 3 stars because I didn’t struggle to finish reading it. Not highly recommended.

Penguin Random House | 2nd January 2018 | AU $17.99 | paperback

Review: Gregg Hurwitz – The Rains

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The Rains
Gregg Hurwitz

Chance Rain is just a simple farm-boy with a love of science until the asteroids arrive. Then all the adults turn into zombies, and only children are safe – until they turn 18 of course. With a single adult left to guide them, and a Bully-boy to try to control, can the Rain brothers still make it through and come up with a solution to the invasion?

I was glopping through the mud and becoming numb to the spectacle of adults mapping the ground blindly right from the beginning. I could feel the fear sweat running down my spine. Plus, I loved that joke ‘Rain can only go in one direction – down!’. The the two brothers turn out to be the most hardy of all of the child survivors, but they don’t really know why.

What I didn’t understand was Eve and Chance’s relationship. If Eve was that into Chance, why wouldn’t she go on missions with him? And Chance’s relationship with Alex – well, I thought Alex was a bit of a manipulative survivalist. If the two boys in charge of looking after her are in love, of course they will put her needs first. Smart move.

I also don’t understand why they are so special. Wouldn’t there be kids somewhere else that have taken down a Queen? Or some towns that were smart enough to chop down the poisonous vines before they took over? I feel like there have got to be some parts of the world that are still safe such as Australia. No-one cares about Australia, including aliens most of the time.

I really thought that this novel might be a stand alone, but once again, I was disappointed. However, it looks like a duo, and for some reason, the back cover makes me think that the other one is already out. But how could that be when this one was given to me by publishers? Anyway, the conclusion of this one was quite ok, but then there was a cliffhanger introduced right at the end. If you haven’t picked up this novel yet (or even if you have), I’d recommend waiting until you have that second novel.

 

This was an unexpectedly good dystopian novel that deserves to be given a chance (haha). 4 stars from me.

Penguin Random House | 2nd January 2017 | AU$19.99 | paperback

The 18 Best Reads of 2017

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Best Reads of 2017

I thought about the new year coming, and that I had best give you a quick overview of what my highlights were! I also found it interesting to discover that some of my favourite authors, such as Juliet Marillier, were not on the list. Maybe I can hope for more novels from them in 2018…

January: Emily Barr – The One Memory of Flora Banks and Sara Barnard – A Quiet Kind of Thunder. Both of these novels are worthy YA novels that tackle interesting neurological disorders.

February: Vic James – Gilded Cage and Emily Reynolds – A Beginner’s Guide to Losing Your Mind. A nice fantasy/futuristic novel and another neurological offering (but this time a personal story).

March: Sally Hepworth – the mother’s promise and Laurie Frankel – This Is How It Always Is. These two novels took us out of YA territory and into more Adult fiction. The former novel looked at a hypothetical problem, while the latter looked at real life gender non-conformity.

April: Brigid Kemmerer – Letters to the Lost, John Scalzi – The Collapsing Empire and Amy Tintera – Avenged. Three hits here, another YA, the only Sci-Fi of the year and a Fantasy. Avenged was the second novel from Ruined in 2016.

May: I spent some time overseas in May, and thus, no 5-star reviews here either.

June: Emery Lord – The Names They Gave Us. Just one novel this month, a fabulous YA novel from an author I am coming to adore. Another of her novels starred in November. When We Collided is her novel from 2016.

July: Kathleen Duey – Sacred Scars. I had reviewed Skin Hunger, and read this one at the same time, but I took a long time to get around to reviewing it. Actually, this is not even a new novel to my shelf or new in any sense of the word. Many years later we are still waiting on the third and final novel in this series…

August: No novels reviewed here, due to my PhD completion. I’m Dr. Herbert now!

September: Megan Jacobson – the build-up season. This YA novel was a worthy successor to her first novel, yellow. Once again, Jacobson attempted to address some holes in YA fiction with interesting family relationships.

October: Allison Rushby – The Fifth Room. Here we have a bit of science, and another hypothetical. How far would you go to do the experiments you wanted to do?

November: AJ Conway – The Successor, Krystal Sutherland – A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares and Emery Lord – the start of me and you. Conway’s other novels My Nova (2012) and Skyquakers (2016) are more Sci-Fi, while this novel is a straight fiction. Krystal Sutherland follows in the great YA standard she set in Our Chemical Hearts. And finally we see a third brilliant novel from Emery Lord (which honestly I didn’t expect, as when there is more than one novel per year by an author, I start to worry about quality).

December: Katie Kennedy – Learning to Swear in America and Garth Nix – A Confusion of Princes. Finally we see one of my old favourite authors here, Garth Nix. Technically this novel probably isn’t a 5 stars for me any more, but it was still awesome for its age-bracket. Learning to Swear in America brought a little science back into YA to round out the year!

Keep in mind that I did not get around to reviewing some of these novels until well after their release dates. That means that for those where you can expect a sequel, well, those are almost released! This includes ‘Gilded Cage’, expect a review of the second novel, Tarnished City on the 9th of January 2018. There are also some novels left that I have read but not reviewed, and these will now roll over to 2018.

Review: Michael Tolkin – NK3

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NK3
Michael Tolkin

North Korea released a virus that turns people into Drifters, or essentially, Zombies. Some people are immune, or have been retrained in time. All technology has been lost – except one plane out of there. I didn’t hang around long enough to find out if they even left.

“Deliciously dark prose”? Try incomprehensibly dark plot line. I tried desperately to connect with any of the characters, but instead found them falling out of my mind faster than a Drifter forgot their families. Skipping around different perspectives gives this novel nothing worthwhile, and just left me confused and irritated. There seemed to be no forwards plot that I could identify in the first half of the novel, and after that I gave up.

Looking for a virus/biohazard take-over-the-world thriller? Try SKITTER or The Ego Cluster. Want something with Zombies? Try The Rains (review to come). This one is probably not going to be for you unless you enjoy incomprehensible plots with characters that you can’t connect with. I couldn’t finish this novel. 1 star.

Allen & Unwin | 31st October 2017 | AU$29.99 | paperback

Review: Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski – Edgeland

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Edgeland
Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski

The Drain is designed to take the rich dead through to the afterlife. No-one knows what is actually beyond the drop, but when a death boat accidentally takes a funeral payment with it, Alec and Wren fall in. If they are ever to get out of the Drain they will have to understand its problems and its secrets,

Wren is a plucky heroine that seems to be afraid of nothing except perhaps another betrayal. Alec on the other hand seems a bit wussy to me (which is perfectly ok), but he toughens up and becomes a character you can empathise with. They don’t really know what to expect next, and so neither does the reader.

This reminded me of Nightfall, honestly, which shouldn’t be surprising, as it’s by the same authors. Another novel by them is Dormia, which is also a decent read. But why aren’t they working on the inevitable sequel to Nightfall? There was certainly more there to be explored as well.

I’ll be keeping this novel on my shelf as a 4-star winner. I know some other readers who might enjoy it, and I’d love to get the opportunity to lend it out to them! For a ‘Hot Key’ book, it was very good. I’ve had bad experiences with them before, such as fly on the wall, but these authors kept me much better entertained.

Allen & Unwin | 1st August 2017 | AU $16.99 | paperback

Review: Garth Nix – A Confusion of Princes

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A Confusion of Princes
Garth Nix

Khemri is Prince. But unfortunately, there are 999 other candidates for Emperor – and the rest are not as new to their roles as he is. With less than 2 years to prepare before the Emperor resigns, Khemri is asked to go on seemingly innocuous missions to prove his worth.

This is a usual good-quality Garth Nix novel that didn’t disappoint me. The main character Khemri certainly develops as a character, and it is interesting to see his progression/regression from Prince to person. Basically Khemri is ripped away from everything that is familiar, and then thrust into a world that not only does he have faulty information about, but also is out to kill him. The ending really came as a surprise to me. Wow!

I confess, I rescued this novel from a garbage bin. My copy was donated to the op-shop where I volunteer, and it was a rather badly beaten up ex-library copy, not even good enough to pass on for a book sale. Never fear though, it will now have a long and healthy life on my shelf.

You could consider this sci-fi, but it is very light sci-fi, perfect for a teenager to get into the genre for the first time. I confess that I am probably too old for this novel now, which is why I have starred this as both 4 and 5 stars. But if I need a light read, and Garth Nix is calling my name, this one might be it (or Eoin Colfer’s The Supernaturalists).

Review: Darren Groth – Exchange of Heart

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Exchange of Heart
Darren Groth

Eve’s death has devastated Munro’s life to the point that he’s suffering flashbacks and anger on a daily basis. The voice in his head is constantly taunting him, and the only way to escape seems to be run all the way to Australia on student exchange. A volunteer placement at an assisted living placement shuts up Munro’s little voice some of the time, but can Munro silence it for good?

Hmm, I really wasn’t convinced by Munro’s story about Eve’s death, particularly as it was interspersed with the flashbacks he was having. I also felt that he was suffering from PTSD – why wasn’t anyone helping him with that? Yes, getting away from a situtation will help, but as Munro learns, it can’t fix all the problems.

I read this so long ago, probably when it first came out in July, especially as I had an ARC copy. Thus this review is not as in-depth as it should be. From what I remember, it gave me a lovely warm fuzzy feeling as I was reading. As I dipped back into the novel to refresh my memory, I remembered that there was a nice selection of supporting characters, and his love interest was believable.

I like that it’s not stacked full of ‘Australian vernacular’ like some novels that have an American protagonist. Something about having a protagonist from another country seems to make authors feel that they can get away with ‘G’day’ and a lot of things that regular Auzzies like me don’t even say. Groth is a native Australian.

It’s not a re-read for me, but it was a pretty RAD and AWESOME good book. 4 stars.

Penguin Random House | 31st July 2017 | AU $19.99 | paperback

Review: Brooke McAlary – SLOW

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SLOW
Brooke McAlary

When Brooke realised there wasn’t enough time in the day she didn’t start staying up later! Instead she chose to cut down on the number of things she did in her life. That start with saying ‘no’ and progressed to having the time to appreciate the important things in her life.

I’ve spent the last 4.5 years (let’s be honest, probably my whole life) being completely stressed out by completing my PhD (you may now call me Dr. Rose). Now I have a summer ahead of me that seems pretty empty at this point. I think I’ll be practicing Slow living without trying. It’s sort of regressing to an old style of living, which I have always supported. If you enjoy making your own bread, take the moment to do so, and enjoy the process. Be mindful the whole time.

I’m a bit more of a minimalist and an environmentalist (Zero Waster) than your average person (also a FI:RE dabbler). That honestly means that I couldn’t finish reading this book. But! I have written down some major takeways from this. The one that resonated the most with me is knowing how to say ‘no’. I admit I’m not very good at it, because my high-school principal’s motto was ‘Make the most of your opportunities’, as so far that’s stood me in good stead. But it leads to my plate being overfull, and stressing myself out.

This book calls for introflection, but in a more palatable manner than How to be Bored and How to Think. It could be a suitable Christmas present unless a person has already expressed an interest in cutting down. You have to be ready for the book’s message, because it’s a little more hardcore, and yet easier to manage, than Mindfulness.

Allen & Unwin | 5th September 2017 | AU $32.99 | hardback

Review: Angela Slatter – Corpselight

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Corpselight
Angela Slatter

Verity has unexpected drownings in daylight and her not-dead mother to contend with, oh, and she’s just had a baby. But never mind, she’s just got to keep pressing forwards. With family coming out of the woodwork faster than she can keep track, can Verity protect her immediate family and keep her Normal partner happy?

I’d like to know, even with Wanda’s magic, why Verity is up and about after such a traumatic birth pretty much 2 days later. Any baby that comes out in the space of an hour is going to rip some serious damage. Or maybe the time passed faster than I thought, which it might have because I had no sense of timing throughout the whole novel.

I don’t really understand Verity’s role. Why does she feel this compulsion to help out the Weyrd? Maybe that is something that is covered in the first novel, but she continually keeps ‘fixing things’ for them, despite them abandoning her, which is a major theme of this novel. Also, does she get paid for this role? I have trouble understanding how she normally functions. I resisted reading this novel because I knew it was a sequel, but I honestly think that that is the least of its problems.

It’s a struggle to finish this novel, and I’m still not sure I will. The pacing is incredibly slow, and the storyline very predictable. Everything always overlaps in these novels, and so once one ‘puzzle’ is solved, the rest fall in line for the reader, if not Verity. I have other attractive things to read instead, and it’s a serious backlog because I just discovered a stash of novels I had wondered where they got to, but couldn’t find them.

Honestly, all the f-words? They don’t do anything for me. Verity uses them so often that their potential impact is negligible. Using more sparingly, they might actually convey a sense of urgency. There’s some nice lines that could have been worth laughing about, such as Verity’s daughter not liking decanted breast milk! Yet they are delivered so flatly that my reaction was more meh, nice try.

I’m giving this 2 stars. Surely it appeals to some audiences, but it just doesn’t appeal to me. Summing up: it was too slow, too laced with pointless cuss-words (and I’m not a puritan!) and too predictable. I’d recommend as a light read, although not fantasy based, Turbo Twenty-Three.

Hachette Australia | 11th July 2017 | AU $32.99 | paperback

Review: Katie Kennedy – Learning to Swear in America

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Learning to Swear in America
Katie Kennedy

Yuri’s Doctoral work should win him a Nobel prize – it’s not like everyone can use physics to analyse antimatter to divert a meteor from destroying Earth. There’s only one small problem – he has to leave his native Russia and come to the USA, and he doesn’t speak the language. A local teenager he meets by chance might show him why the lives he can save are actually worth saving.

I love how Yuri analyzes scientifically everything that goes on in his head. It reminds me of how I read everything that passes by me too. Yuri’s English isn’t that great, but he certainly can speak a language beyond what is offered. I love Yuri’s stubborn nature, and how he sticks to his goals. And how brilliant he is! How one boy can have so much knowledge, and yet know so little, astounds me.

NB: You won’t actually really be learning how to swear in America(n). The swear words here are very mild, and still perfectly suited to teenagers that are sensitive to swearing in novels.

There’s lots more young adult novels coming out now about the importance of science, particularly astrophysics, including The Square Root of Summer and Stargazing for Beginners. Most people think of Newton’s apple when they think about physics – but there is so much more to it! Physics is the beginning of time-travel, and once we have explored the current natural world (think biology and chemistry), it’s important to examine more of things outside of earth.

I swear to you that I previously reviewed this novel, but apparently it has been eaten by something. So, I just had to reread a little bit of it to make sure it was as good as I had previously thought it to be. I realised then that I had gobbled it up on the first sitting, and didn’t remember all of the fabulous punch-lines as well as I could. 5-stars from me. Don’t let its plain cover fool you – it hides an entrancing storyline inside.

Bloomsbury | 1st August 2017 | AU $12.99 | paperback