Tag Archives: 3-stars

Review: Danielle Paige – Wish of the Wicked

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Wish of the Wicked
Danielle Paige

“For centuries, Farrow’s family—the Entente—have been magical advisors to the Queen. Until a new queen, Magrit, takes power, outlaws magic, and executes the entire Entente race. Only Farrow survives. Since that day, Farrow has dreamed of revenge. The best way to reach the evil queen is through her son, Prince Mather, who is nearing the age when he must select a bride. When a special ball in his honour is announced, Farrow sees her opportunity. All it will take is a young woman named Cinderella who dreams of true love. But the closer Farrow gets to the prince, the more she finds herself drawn to him.”

I thougth because this had a fairy godmother aspect it would just be like the Twisted Tales I kept seeing in the newest releases brochure – and therefore that it would be a standalone and I’d be free to read it and then move on. But nooo, it has to be the first in a series. I wondered why the first half of the book took so longer to get started – it was just setting the stage to painfully draw things out to a non-conclusion.

I’ve read Stealing Snow by this author a long time ago and I found it to be just ok. Wish of the Wicked isn’t even ok because it’s written clearly to be the start of a series. I polished this off in an evening of fevered reading because as I got towards the end  and saw the 480th page coming I thought that the ending would be swift and deadly. Nope.

I love the idea of being a wishing fairy rather than any of you standard transformation, lightning and food fairies. I also appreciated the ideas of the Fates – I thought their embodiment was pretty cool. But ugh! The ending just killed the rest of the boom for me. So disappointing.

I read this as a proof copy, and there were definitely some awkward turns of phrase and subpar dialogue that I assume will be solved in the final copy. Could I have loved this book? Yes, if it had been condensed and a standalone. I could tolerate Farrow, I thought the idea of body double companion was neat and I was ok with the queen just dying. Not neat enough for me to recommend that you read it. Sorry.

Bloomsbury | 7 November 2023 | AU$17.99 | paperback

Review: Hisashi Kashiwai – The Kamogawa Food Detectives

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The Kamogawa Food Detectives
Hisashi Kashiwai

“Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner treats its customers to wonderfully extravagant meals. But that’s not the main reason to stop by… The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as ‘food detectives’. Through ingenious investigations, they are capable of recreating a dish from their customers’ pasts – dishes that may well hold the keys to forgotten memories and future happiness.”

The concept is quite novel, yet something that we all should know the basics of. It’s not just about the taste of a meal that evokes the memory, it’s also the scent and sight – the anticipation of it. This is a great bite-sized (haha) read for those who enjoy Japanese cuisine and love to hear about each of the dishes in turn. It made me crave some sushi or sashimi (which is sort of odd, since that wasn’t really the food the Kamogawa’s specialised in).

I found the set up of the Detective’s Agency quite weird. Why was it Koishi who did the interviews? It seemed like Nagare was the one with the expertise who might know the right questions to ask. Koishi also let a lot of her own feelings and perceptions out when doing the interviews – something that I felt would hinder it rather than adding to the memories brought out in people. The concept would never work if Nagare didn’t seem to have a geographical and food memory running the spread of Japan.

I didn’t understand why, if their food was so popular, Nagare complained about sushi being too expensive! Why not make a little more money by advertising to just a couple more people. I get not wanting to be run off their feet like a popular resturant, but also, making enough money to cover Nagare’s trips around Japan might be useful?

Pan Macmillan looks for books with great translators, or take the effort to choose novels that read well in their non-original language. I felt that this translation could have been a little more nauanced in tone, but I can only think that the original text was a little stilted.

This is more like short stories rather than a novel – so go into it expecting that. I don’t care much for short stories so it was never going to get more than three stars from me. If I had any say in what comes next in the series, I’d recommend having at least 10 stories in the book to make it a decent read (rather than the 1 hour or so I spent reading it). If there is a plot outside each of the eaters, I didn’t see it.

Pan Macmillan | 10 October 2023 | AU$19.99 | paperback

Review: Brandon Sanderson – Secret Project #2

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The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
Brandon Sanderson

“A man awakes in a clearing in what appears to be medieval England with no memory of who he is, where he came from, or why he is there. Chased by a group from his own time, his sole hope for survival lies in regaining his missing memories, making allies among the locals, and perhaps even trusting in their superstitious boasts. His only help from the “real world” should have been a guidebook entitled The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, except his copy exploded during transit. The few fragments he managed to save provide clues to his situation, but can he figure them out in time to survive?”

This is fun in some ways, but pretty stupid in others. I’m ok with carp diem! Ie. Fish the day. It’s not seize the fish, which is what John thinks/pretends it. One of the best things about these Secret Projects is that this one and Tress are filled with plenty of odd metaphors and random puns. My favourite!

What else positive can I say about this book? Well, Sanderson definitely seemed to have fun writing it. It still has his lyrical prose and multi-faceted characters. I mostly just feel sorry for John since he isn’t the brightest, but he does try to be likeable at times. I’d certainly lose my temper a bit if I ended up in his original home situation (which is gradually pulled out of the text slowly). He’s just too ‘meh’, and I couldn’t care enough in it or the premise of travelling down different dimensions to ‘time travel’.

Go on and bite me, but I didn’t like this novel. That’s not to say that I love everything in The Cosmere equally and was influenced by the fact that this is NOT a Cosmere novel. I just didn’t care for the topic or the narrator. Yes, I’ve read it twice now, but even just trying to explain the plot to my wife made me think ‘Woah, why am I reading this again?’ I don’t think I’m going to revisit it, unless I’m looking for a happily-ever-after that can be knocked over quickly.

Review: AF Steadman – Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

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Skandar and the Unicorn Thief
AF Steadman

So it turns out that unicorns are real! And, they’re limited to just a single island, everyone wants one, and they eat meat and small fluffy animals. Oh yes, and spirit unicorns are deadly unicorns that mean that if you are meant to be a spirit rider, you will fail your entrance exam to unicorn school no matter how hard you study. Skandar’s sister didn’t get a unicorn and it almost broke her – it’s up to Skandar to carry on their father’s unicorn wishes.

Seriously, if the whole island is covered with wild unicorns, how can there be any furry creatures left? There are so many plot holes. So many. Oh look, a book that will teach you everything! Oops, lost it. Wooh, got past one enemy and now assume that I’m invincible! I was very disappointed in the end of both books, particularly the second one. Has Skandar just conveniently forgotten about the other unicorn that he keeps running into?

Other reviewers have commented that it’s so unlikely that the whole world would want to believe in unicorns and watch a race once a year that determines the ruler of the magical island. I’m telling you, those people can’t be Australians! In Victoria, Australia we have The Melbourne Cup, which is horses racing around a track – ‘the race that stops the Nation’. We even get a public holiday to celebrate it! So to me, the notion that a race stopped everyone from doing anything was pretty straightforward.

I was given the first book for review, and bought the second book as a 14th birthday gift. The teenager hasn’t been raised on a diet of Harry Potter (thank goodness), she prefers Tamora Pierce, Garth Nix and other EXCELLENT books. She said that Skandar was better than Percy Jackson, the books looked attractive and there was a gift solved (the age-old gifting problem). If you grew up with Harry Potter or Percy Jackson as a child then Skandar is a weak shadow and not worth it if you are now an adult reader. It’s fine for middle-grade and teens, but I wouldn’t rate it that highly. 3-stars from me, for the right audience.

Simon & Schuster | 28 April 2022 | AU$19.99 | paperback

Quick Reviews of Fiction eBooks #2

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The In Between
Marc Klein

Tessa’s grown up in foster homes and knows to trust no one. But then Skylar enters her life, and Tessa sees some hope for the future. But what if there’s no future for them together? I’ve started sorting through teenage fiction that includes foster children in the hopes that I’ll identify some good ones worth buying and keeping for the foster teenagers that we have in our home. This one though is not it. I’m pretty sick of the foster-teen-finds surprising-love while also being-a-photographer with weird afterlife vibes. I’ve seen this same thing done slightly differently in Watch Over Me with slightly more sinister tones, and a younger version in Everything We Keep.

That Bonesetter Woman
Frances Quinn

Bonesetting was a craft before doctors became actually able to cure people! Durie has only ever wanted to be a bonesetter like her father – putting dislocated joints back into place and easing people’s strains (really, a cross between a physiotherapist and a chiropractor). Being unattractive is so hard, particularly back in the day when women were just commodities to be sold to the highest-husband bidder. I have to say though that sometimes Durie was a bit dumb, despite being smart enough to remember things! Like really? What? But I hung on and got the ending that I wanted, even if it wasn’t quite the one I needed. I’d highly recommend reading this one if you like your historical fiction with a decent working-class protagonist who isn’t beautiful.

The Passing Playbook
Isaac Fitzsimons

Hehe, the title is sort of a pun! Spencer is both trans and passing, and a soccer player and passing! Anyway, this book gave off vibes of Felix Ever After but was more solid and enjoyable to me. I appreciated the nuances the author had to deal with when creating Spencer, and I think despite part of the local problems of Spencer being marked as F on his birth certificate, this book will continue to remain relevant. This book made me think of a Queer event that I went to and someone trans asked when they could stop representing all other trans people. That’s the question, isn’t it? When will being trans not make someone a different ‘category’ of human? I don’t have the answer, and neither does this novel, but it’s a good one to add to your Queer bookshelf anyway.

Review: Alexandra Rowland – A Taste of Gold and Iron

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A Taste of Gold and Iron
Alexandra Rowland

Arasht is known for its pure currency that is determined by touchtasters. A plot with counterfeit coins could threaten the whole realm, and Kadou needs to solve it. Kadou is a bit of a mess, so it’s a good thing that he has a beefy bodyguard to keep him out of trouble. Will there ever be something more between them?

It took me ages to read this novel because 1) I thought it was the first in a series and I didn’t want to commit and 2) I didn’t notice that it had gay protagonists. Unfortunately the plot was lacking. I’m not sure why I kept reading it – maybe I got too attached to poor Kadou and his panic attacks? Then again, I hated Kadou’s ex- who was just a comical steriotype of a gay man calling everyone ‘darling’ and ‘sweetheart’. Evemer tries to be the hard counterpoint to the ex- but never really becomes a 3D character.

The plot of this novel was quite weak, and it was very easy to see where the book would end up. It was obvious who the villians were from the start, and it was clear that it didn’t actually matter if they were caught! I mean, there was a moment where they couldn’t trust anyone, but it was all good! They just pulled in a truth-seeker.

What I loved most was the use of another non-binary gender in a way that the author just created a new term. The author just rolled with it and didn’t give the reader a chance to be transphobic. The role of male partners was also curtailed by body-father (basically sperm donor) and women only giving another person law/love control over the offspring if they wanted to. Seliha is a bit dopey, but gets there in the end I guess.

This reminded me a bit of Ash Princess in the way that it had a (to me) traditional feel of bodyguard falling for a princess/prince/whoever. It was inevitable that they would fall in love, because why else would the book exist? I’m giving this a generous 4 stars since I did keep reading it, but the plot was just pathetic.

Pan Macmillan | 30 August 2022 | AU$34.99 | paperback

Review: Laura Taylor Namey – A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

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A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow
Laura Taylor Namey

Lila had plans. Finish school, take over the bakery with her grandmother, employ her best friend to support her through college and maybe get married to the love of her life. Unfortunately she can only do one of these things for certain – suddenly the rest of her life is in upheaval and she’s shipped off to England.

I found it fascinating how much freedom Lila had! My parents would never consider sending me overseas like that to deal with a problem (in fact, they made sure I wouldn’t be equipped to do that). I can’t really imagine managing a kitchen at 18 either, but I guess it’s what you are used to. I totally saw where this novel was going, and I was perfectly happy to go there. I wanted a soft, casual read on vacation that I could drop out of at any time.

What this book also does quite well is validate creativity in baking. Sure, Lila knows her stuff well enough to out-cook the resident baker, but she knows that she has more to learn. Trades are a legitimate job choice, and I’m happy to see it being promoted here. I’m not sure what this would look like in Australia though. The restaurant industry can be very tough, particularly in the aftermath of COVID-19.

The way that Lila literally ran to deal with her feelings was quite novel. I feel like most of the time someone takes up running to be thinner, or just because they like it. Lila does state she enjoys it, but running past the point of being sick is something else. Not to mention dragging her friends in to run with her!

I enjoyed this novel as a light 3-star-worthy read. I read it as an eBook, which doesn’t help the story to stick in my head though (several months later anyway…). Highly recommended for anyone who likes a baking vibe to their fiction (eg. Caramel Hearts).

Review: Tom Rob Smith – Cold People

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Cold People
Tom Rob Smith

Humanity has been exiled to Antarctica by an alien race that cares nothing for humans. Given 30 days to race there by any means possible, the novel follows the unlikely love story of Liza and Atto, and their daughter Echo, from Announcement Day to the Days of the Cold People. Genetic experiments have bred new beings that thrive in the ice – but are they human? Do they care about humanity?

I wanted to like this novel, but I couldn’t. I generally hate perspectives that jump from character to character because often the change in tone isn’t noticeable enough. In this novel, it’s clear who the different people are, but I just didn’t care about any of them very much. I formed no emotional connections to the humans or the ice-adapted beings, and thus I didn’t really care one way or the other who ‘won’.

The world-building was beautiful and I could see the snow drifts of Antarctica and smelly human boats that stained the pure ice. I have no desire to go there! I would have been like Yotan’s friend’s family – holed up together until dissipating into energy particles. I still don’t know what the novel was trying to teach me though.

I received this novel as an ARC, so I felt as if I should read the whole thing before judging it. I’m not sure what exactly I was hoping to get from the ending, but I found it to be a letdown. Are we supposed to sympathise with the Cold People? Wish that humanity had treated the Earth better and that we hadn’t been so hard on the resources? I’m a geneticist “by trade” and I didn’t find it that interesting because it was clear that this wasn’t based on what we can do in genetics now. Since I finished it, 3 stars, but I guess you’d need to be really keen on Antarctica.

Simon & Schuster | 1 February 2023 | AU$32.99 | paperback

Review: Misa Sugiura – Love & Other Natural Disasters

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Love & Other Natural Disasters
Misa Sugiura

“When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind. That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer. Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she’s better than a stand-in, and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it’s not long before Nozomi’s schemes take a turn toward disaster…and maybe a chance at love she didn’t plan for.”

What a sweet little read! Don’t come here hoping for anything deep though. You’ll need to suspend your disbelief a bit, and also be willing to play along with the stupidity of some characters. I was all for ZoZo not having done anything wrong. Ok, she didn’t explain herself very well, but hey! Everyone else was happy to go along with the lie! And they blame her. Pah.

Is it just me, or did the cultural backgrounds of each of the characters not really mean anything? I knew that ZoZo was of Asian descent because of her name, but the rest? I didn’t really keep track. It’s refreshing that it didn’t matter and that I didn’t notice, but is that truly the way things are? I very briefly noticed that Arden was darker than the rest due to Willow’s make-up stash, but that was about it.

I’m not sure how I felt about Baba’s ending. Was there a right answer? I wanted there to at least be another answer. Even if hiring help just delays the problem, I thought that Baba deserved something more. Also, it’s been years since I thought about Saruko’s thousand cranes. How old is Dela in that her parents could get away with that for so long? I guess there is seeing and realising, and seeing and pointedly ignoring!

A refreshing lack of straight relationships here! I didn’t really get Max and ZoZo’s relationship – I can’t imagine being that rude to my older brothers (who would no doubt sit on me at the thought of such a thing!). The only straight relationship we see is approaching divorce. Oh, and I guess Baba and Jiji, but we don’t actually know what happened to Jiji.

Anyway, I gulped this down as an eBook from my library and now, a couple of months later, barely remember the storyline and don’t really care about any of the characters. So I guess it’s 3 stars from me.

Review: Mette Jakobsen – The Snow Laundry

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The Snow Laundry
Mette Jakobsen

“Sixteen-year-old Ally is one of 400 homeless young people who have been promised new and better lives in exchange for their votes. The once homeless children and teenagers are now warm and fed. But they are forced to work for the new administration – and their new home is really a prison. When Ally’s boyfriend Bon vanishes into thin air, her search for him leads her to discovering that the homeless kids are really lab rats intended for scientific testing. And as Ally delves deeper into her search for Bon, she learns the frightening truth behind his disappearance.”

This novel is really just another dystopia end of time book, unfortunately probably best compared to The Hunger Games. All the homeless children have been trapped/rescued into a single building where they slave away in a laundry / kitchen for the right to live.

What I don’t get is why they haven’t wiped out the undesirables of the population already. Everyone is armed, and apart from the clean up if they were shot, it doesn’t seem too different to Maslin’s end game. Is Maslin meant to be Mussolini?

Ally makes herself sick over Bon! For someone who has apparently survived on the street for a long while, she’s not very resilient. She’s got sort-of friends, and sort-of talents, but the situations and solutions she ends up in are highly improbable.

I don’t regret reading this novel, it passed the time on a very long bus ride, but I felt like there could be more substance. 3 stars, and I guess when the follow-up novel is done I might read it.