Category Archives: Book Reviews

Review: Michael Hurley – The Prodigal

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The Prodigal
Michael Hurley
I didn’t really connect the blurb on the back with the novel inside. I kept looking for romance, but didn’t get it. I didn’t really want romance, but I was promised it! I guess it’s present a little between Aidan and his next chosen girlfriend, but it’s not clear (or sexy) like I expected it to be. I didn’t get anything about a Gypsy either – it just wasn’t the big part it was suggested to be.
I received this novel for reviewing, and that’s the only thing that kept me reading for the first half of the book. I couldn’t have cared less about his lawyer drama – if he’s going to have an affair, he better let it pass by his Jury decision making process! Later we find out it’s going to be stuffed around anyway, but it seems like a waste of a bunch of pages. Additionally, the language seemed very pretentious in the first couple of chapters, but this did improve.
The second half of the book becomes much more satisfactory, and I actually felt more compelled to read it, with the race and everything. Yay, the race! Best part of the whole novel, if heartbreaking 🙁
I did like the characterisation in this novel. I felt like I was standing there looking at Marcus and Aidan. Their flaws are believable, and I loved Marcus despite of it. If only all priests were like him, I might have more patience for the whole profession.
I didn’t understand the inclusion of some of the characters. Bobbie just seems like an irritating person designed to offset Molly in the most offensive manner possible. I don’t think she was necessary at all! I felt personally offended by her behaviour, and I wouldn’t consider myself a prude.
The ship/boat, whatever she was, didn’t get a clean-cut conclusion about the contents of her hull. I’m glad she was so lovingly maintain and ended up with someone who would care for her.
This novel should come with a warning for a graphic depiction of almost rape, and references to rape culture. If that upsets you, I’d advise not reading those sections – the bar, and part of the section after the boat’s launch.

I think if you like this sort of thing, about lawyers and perhaps mid-life crises, then this could be a bpok for you. I can’t argue with its well-written characterisation being amazing, but I didn’t love the actual storyline.

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Review: Leisel K. Hill – Quantum Entanglement

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Quantum Entanglement
Leisel K. Hill
The action grabs you right from the beginning and refuses to let you go. There’s no time to sightsee, everything is all systems go. Maggie has been taken back to her own time, but she’s destined to travel a lot more – and take her brother with her. With dangers around, will Maggie and Marcus ever be reunited? Will the Collectives win?
The character development that was really apparent in the first novel is lost a little in this one. Most of the characters have already been established, and this novel really builds on them through their actions. The exception to this is for Marcus – some of his memories are brought to the fore, and we experience more with him as a result.
The neurochemical ability to Travel is confusing, as all time-travelling abilities are. My brain got a bit warped just trying to believe it all! I have no idea how Karl keeps it together. Equally, the shots into the future and how Hill deals with them speaks strongly for how she has planned out the other novels in this series.
Most of the action in this novel takes place outside of the Interchron. We have a chance to see the world outside – but not much of it is described. Mainly the focus is on the characters, and the action taking place. However, I particularly enjoyed the jumps through the ages that gave glimpses into the disintegration of human-kind into the Collectives. Things like that give me a grounding that Hill has fully realised the world of her novels.
This novel is satisfying, and yet leaves you wanting more. I don’t know how I am going to survive until the next one is released. It didn’t leave me on a cliffhanger in the way that many second books in series do, and I thank Hill for that. A well rounded novel.
As an example of dytopian sci-fi, it’s thrilling. I can’t say I love the genre as a whole, but this is such a fine example, that even if you think you won’t love it, go get yourself a copy anyway – it’s amazing. If you’re still a bit hesitant, go enter the giveaway on Goodreads (click here). It’s not going to cost you anything, and you might get the chance to read this brilliant book for free.
I can’t believe how much I want to rave about this novel. I read it while I was at work, and thrilled through it the whole time. I just couldn’t click away from the screen.
I read the first one as a review copy in paperback, and it was beautiful. It’s a mark of how much I loved Quantum Entanglement in that I will be purchasing a paperback copy of it as soon as I have the spare money (or perhaps as a birthday gift to myself!).

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or from Smashwords5star

I am the first stop in the tour for this novel. If you want to read more reviews or want to get in touch with the author, here’s a series of links to help with that…

Goodreads Author Page: goodreads.com/lieselkhill

Review: K.J. Taylor – The Shadow’s Heir

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K.J. Taylor
The Shadow’s Heir
Laela’s father has just died. When she is facing being thrown out of her village, she decides to make the move herself and abandon the life she has known so far. Little does she know that the wild city is waiting – and that the person she meets might not be the kind of person she assumed him to be.
Laela is a plucky, if somewhat oblivious sometimes, hero. I loved reading about her, and getting inside her mind (even if it seemed like she was freaking out over nothing sometimes). What did I like about her? Her determination to keep going, and please her rescuer, and then her determination to try and fix things when they went wrong.
It felt to me like the story had several parts. The beginning, and Laela’s inductions into the household was sort of part 1, followed by the trip overseas which was part 2, followed by a very short part 3. The ending seemed a little far fetched to me, that the retainers would be so supportive of some of the ideas. I didn’t really feel much suspense at the end, but it was satisfying.
What more can I say about it? Well, it seemed to me like something that had been revealed to Laela in the beginning was completely forgotten either by her, or the author. I could have sworn she knew what her real father’s name was – in which case all the worrying she does about it is unfounded.
The dialect drove me a little nuts. I don’t think it was necessary to set the tone of the novel (not like in a historical fiction book). Also there were a couple of descriptions of things that didn’t do much for me. I think those were about my only complaints with this novel.
After I had bought this book to read (blindly choosing one in *gasp* a brick-and-mortar bookshop) and had started reading it, I realised that it follows another trilogy that I haven’t read. I’d already gotten into the story by that point though, so I wasn’t going to stop reading it just for that. Also, I think I was stuck on a 14 hour plane flight at the time with limited other reading choices.
My gamble paid off – and I hope to get my hands on the others in this series soon. My birthday is soon, so there’s a chance I’ll get off guilt free in buying them!

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Review: Tanya Huff – The Wild Ways

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The Wild Ways
Tanya Huff
Charlie finds herself hot property when seal skins start going missing – at the behest of an unknown aggressor who wants to poison the seas with oil. Charlie was happy just doing her own little thing, but as a Wild Power she needs to get on the action – or get into trouble with the Gale aunties.
For this novel,the sex is more understated, although sexual attraction is certainly present in spades. It’s not explicit though. Sex magic powers the whole Gale hierarchy – and leads to some deaths, so if you think that might bother you, don’t read it.
There are lots of intercrossed storylines, which makes you want to smack Charlie up the side of the head when she’s being particularly dense. Duh! Why wouldn’t you see that coming??
The timetravel seems completely logical, although it wasn’t exactly clear to me how it was possible. Some of the other things though, such as the Selkies, stuck strictly to traditional guidelines and were simple to follow.
I’m a bit disappointed in the substance of this novel, but I loved the character of Charlie, and felt she was a kindred spirit. I completely agreed with the way she treated some things as well, so that was great and provided me with another point of reference for her. The other characters could have had a bit more depth though.
This novel comes after the events in The Enchantment Emporium and involves many of the same characters. It was nice to see the return of Jack. I’m hoping for another novel in this world, more concerned with him.
Sadly, the explanation for some of the things I seemed to miss in the first book, were still not present in this novel. I found that super frustrating, but enjoyed the novel regardless.

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Review: Larry Rodness – Perverse

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Perverse
Larry Rodness
Emylene is a second generation Goth princess. Little does she know that she is soon going to be trapped in a picture frame for 2 years while her new best friend takes over her position and turns the world to bad.
I spent the first chapter wondering when the perspective and tone of the novel was going to turn into present tense. In the second chapter I figured that this was a very long prologue. By the third chapter, I’d basically given up, and resigned myself to the awkward storytelling.
I can’t say why I kept reading this novel – it annoyed me a fair bit in the way things were told to me, rather than shown, and also Emylene seemed just plain stupid. Seriously girl, get a hold of yourself! She was so prissy and rude I wouldn’t have minded if she died.
If this wasn’t an ebook, I would have been drawn in by the beautiful cover art anyway. It’s a simple design it’s true, but also all the more attractive for it. The transformations of Emylene seem hollow when compared to her original self. She should have stayed true to herself from the beginning!
Another element that disturbed me was the frequent references to sex and death, particularly in conjuntion. I believe this is a book aimed at teenagers – and I would find it inappropriate for my own teenager to read such things.
It wasn’t clear to me at the end how they survived the fire. See, I’m being nice and vague so you don’t know who I mean! But anyway, it’s a bit confusing as to why all of the specific type of creature would die, if the other progenitor was still living.
I wouldn’t recommend this novel, unless you’re a complete sucker for everything vampire. I was drawn in because of the Goth concept, but the blurb didn’t deliver in a satisfying way for me.
I received this book free in ebook form for review purposes. I was in no way compensated for this review.

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Review: Suzanne Collins – Mockingjay

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Mockingjay
Suzanne Collins
Katniss is isolated in District 13. Her role is to provide the face of the rebellion. With Peeta gone, and confused feelings about Gale’s role in her life, Katniss is cast adrift. Somehow she must kill President Snow, or die trying.
The deaths in this novel are even more futile than in the second novel. Too many secondary characters are introduced, and it feels like the deaths are just tossed in to add ‘suspense’ – which failed miserably as far as I’m concerned.
Katniss completely loses her humanity in this novel – and so she completely loses me as a character. She’s coldly calculating, which is pointed out by the other characters, yet noone seems to do anything about it. She’s just unlikeable, and gets people killed on a regular basis.
I didn’t love the ending either. I didn’t feel any sadness at the ending of the Capitol – even with some key people dying. I felt that a better ending would have been if Katniss had died – her rehabilitation wasn’t convincing either.
I’m on team Gale. Peeta is just a wuss. Yeah yeah, he’s been affected by Tracker Jackle poison and everything, but still, he’s all ‘Just let me die, I’m a casualty already’, and doesn’t make an effort to fix himself up.
It seems like the future of the world is quite doomed too. If District 13 is to control the new empire, those food rations and everything else are going to stay just as strict. As far as I’m concerned, they’re going from one tyrant to another.
Did I like anything about this novel? Not really. It had action – but it was better in the first book. It just felt forced. I realise that it had to have a conclusion, but this wasn’t what I wanted or expected.

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Review: Suzanne Collins – Catching Fire

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Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins
Katniss thought that she was free of the Arena and the Hunger Games. But now she is being sent back in, because she defied the Capitol. Faced with the choice of keeping herself alive, or Peeta, she doesn’t know what to do.
Her mentor is singularly unhelpful. Would it have killed him to tell her the plan? It seems like there are a lot of unnecessary deaths. They don’t even fill me with sorrow, or even indignation. I feel like most of them are unlikeable anyway, and I didn’t ever get attached to them.
Katniss seems to have lost a lot of her humanity, which was what attracted to me in the first place. Despite professing that she’s in it to save Peeta, she acts completely selfishly the whole time. Even the desire to save Peeta is selfish.
The Arena design is pretty fancy. I really liked the idea of it. I think it would be fun to have one like that to play games in. Not deadly games like the Hunger Games, but fun games.
After the awesomeness of the first novel, this one was a let down. It felt like the deaths were useless, people were unfulfilled in their roles, and the resistance quite futile. It is near unbelievable that the Districts could have such an effect on the Capitol.

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Review: James Phelan – The Last Thirteen #1

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The Last Thirteen #1
James Phelan

Sam has had horrific nightmares almost every night since his best friend was killed. When odd things happen to his school day and he is whisked away two different warring groups (with a third trying to kill him) he doesn’t know which way to turn. With dreams getting more confusing, it’s hard to know who to trust.

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Sam has had horrific nightmares almost every night since his best friend was killed. When odd things happen to his school day and he is whisked away two different warring groups (with a third trying to kill him) he doesn’t know which way to turn. With dreams getting more confusing, it’s hard to know who to trust.

I’ll start off by saying that this is an action packed novel, story-focussed and story-driven. Although you might feel a little sympathy for Sam, who is the focalising character, other times you will feel like there is no depth of character and instead will be caught up in the whirlwind of exciting action.

I found it difficult to put the novel down, and devoured it in very short order. It feels like there is a lot of back story which should be in the others of this series – particularly regarding Alex. Action, action, action. With a bit more action thrown in.

I only wish there was more about the actual abilities of the current Dreamers. Eva in particular intrigued me, and I would have liked to see a bit of things through her eyes. Who knows, I might get that in the next novel!

Unbelievably enough, this book is the first in a series of 13! From the set of release dates in the back of my novel, they look like they will be released every 1-2 months for the next 2 years. Considering how much I think teens would enjoy this novel, and the suspense of the end of the first novel, it looks like a fine marketing technique that is going to keep readers engaged.

It’s fortunate that there are going to be a lot of books, because this one took me less than 2 hours to read. I’m not exactly it’s target audience though, so I’m not disappointed in that. It’s a bite-sized spy/genius/warfare novel that’s going to get your non-reader interested in reading again. If you’re not sure, to me it seemed similar to Robert Muchamore’s Cherub series.

I received this novel directly from Scholastic as an Advance Reader copy. This has in no way influenced my review – I genuinely enjoyed this book, and think it will be a hit with teenagers.

This novel will be released in September 2013 – get on it in time for Christmas! As yet, I can’t see a link on Amazon for it, although you will find it on Dymock’s website at least.

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Review: Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games

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The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
Katniss has been selected as a tribute for The Hunger Games, run by the Capitol to keep their Districts in check. Thrust into the arena with no friends that she knows of, she realises that she must kill to survive – even if it means overcoming old alliances.
Katniss appeals to me in this novel. Her personality is consistent and attractive, even if I don’t agree with all of her actions. You feel her anxiety at the choosing, and her excitement over the food on the train. All excellent character building.
I don’t quite agree with the amount of paranoia Katniss engages in. She thinks everything is a trap. The scene with Rue is particularly out of place – why should she trust her? Poor Rue.
Something I would have enjoyed was a bit more perspective from Peeta. He’s the weaker character of the two – now that they are both older, it seems like Katniss is the only one doing any work. He’s good at moping! I guess in his own way he does try to protect her, but he doesn’t do it in a particularly bright way every time.
The Arena is well imagined, although not as awesome as the Arena in the second novel. What I wouldn’t give to be a Gamemaker or a genetic engineer working for the Capitol.
After having put off reading these for a long time, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality overall. I was a bit urked at the beginning that there was so much annoying description, but it improved as the book proceeded.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – Exile’s Valor

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Exile’s Valor
Mercedes Lackey
Alberiech must protect his Queen without her knowing it. With intrigues abounding, is these anyone he can actually trust?
It’s nice to see him falling for someone! If you didn’t see it happening in the first section of this set of two novels, you’ll see it here. It adds a human element to an otherwise manly man.
The glass window and mirrors are a nice touch. I liked hearing about them being made. To me, some of the highlight of a fiction book is that you can learn things without realizing it. I only wish more authors made an effort to teach things in an interesting manner.
The game of Hurlee is also present in other novels in a slightly different form. It appears that finding a way to simulate warfare is pretty important to Weaponsmasters. Not surprising really. I find the game interesting at least, and only wish there were more byplays. It reminds me a bit of Polo in a way.
These set up nicely for the novel ‘Take a Thief’. Alberiech is often wishing he had a thief, and he’ll eventually get one. It’s amazing the amount of work he does. I only wish he had more apprentices.
A thoroughly enjoyable novel, especially after the disappointment I have had lately with other novels in this series.

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