Tag Archives: 3-stars

Review: Danielle Paige – Stealing Snow

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Stealing Snow
Danielle Paige

Snow has been institutionalised ever since she tried to walk a friend through a mirror. On a serious cocktail of drugs, it’s not clear what is fantasy and what is truth. When she’s broken out of the Institute by a handsome trickster to rescue her hot lover, life is going to be more magical than she imagined.

30309128I feel like I didn’t get a really good grip on Snow’s character. But then you consider that she has been locked up and completely drugged for the last 10+ years and you can’t be surprised. She felt quite cold to me, and never seemed to warm up. I’ll be looking for more character development in the second novel of this.

The back of the novel promises me that ‘her choices of the heart will change everything’. What we actually see though is her ?three? love interests all wanting to kiss her or for her to kiss them. What’s so big about a kiss? Seriously guys. Just chill. Snow, kiss them all. Deal with the consequences. This is life.

Dude! How could that happen? It was a twist I wasn’t expecting at all. And I still don’t know why or how it happened. Something for the next novel! The plot circled around, and gave nutty things the ability to happen. I think maybe it could have been overwhelming.

I’m going to give it 3 stars. I think it just didn’t give me enough of an impression to feel polarised by it.

3star

Bloomsbury | October 2016 | AU $16.99 | Paperback

Review: Kerry Drewery – Cell 7

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Cell 7
Kerry Drewery

Martha has killed a famous celebrity – or at least she said she did. Now waiting her fate in an increasingly smaller set of cells, her last days on earth are not only numbered, but also watched 24/7 by the public. That public will decide whether she is guilty or innocent by voting. The only problem is that the system is rigged for those who have money to have the potential to make more votes.

29864658Martha has lost a lot of important people, and I can see why she does the things she does. But she came across as a selfish, shallow character that I simply couldn’t like very much. And considering that I was supposed to get attached so I would be worried when she was close to dying, well, I wasn’t.

It’s unclear how the different people come on board with the ideas that Martha and her offsider are working on to change the world. Not enough clarity around a lot of issues actually, which was really frustrating.

I’m sorry. Even if this is a new thriller series, I couldn’t give points for the ending. It felt like no progress had been made at all, particularly with the authorities showing some really clear blind eyes (if there is such a thing). I read the novel, and the pacing was fine, but the plot was transparent and I couldn’t care about the characters. 3 stars from me.

3star

Allen & Unwin | 28th September 2016 | AU $19.99 | Paperback

Review: Sue Durrant – Little Bits of Sky

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Little Bits of Sky
Sue Durrant

Ira, short for Miracle, is a care kid, as is her brother. For years, they trade between homes until they come to an orphanage where the gardener is the nicest person there! But everyone deserves a happy ending…

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What am I missing? Seriously. Goodreads is full of positive reviews for this novel, going so far as to call it a ‘Modern Classic’. I was left underwhelmed by this novel. I’m not sure what I missed that should have made it a brilliant novel. I guess I didn’t get attached to Ira in any way, and Zac wasn’t any better.

There are other orphanage novels that are more interesting than this one. For that matter, there are plenty of children’s novels that are more interesting than this one. There just wasn’t anything super special. I’d choose Bridge to Terabithia for a similar level of reading – and hard truths.

I waver between giving this novel 2 to 3 stars. It’s not badly written, I finished reading it, yet I was left feeling like I had wasted that hour and a half of my life.

2star

Nosy Crow | 22 June 2016 | AU $14.99 | Paperback

Review: Dianne Wolfer – The Shark Caller

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The Shark Caller
Dianne Wolfer

Izzy’s brother has been killed in a diving accident, and she’s returning to Papau New Guinea to spread his ashes to the sea. She’s always been drawn to sharks in a deeply visceral way – now she must brave the deeps in order to preserve her family’s old ways of life.

30346739This novel reminded me of another that I read a while ago, but never got around to reviewing (very naughty of me). It seemed to be aimed at younger readers, with just enough danger to excite them. Apart from the initial rather traumatic way that Izzy thinks of her brother’s death, it’s not too scary. I can’t think of the ideal audience though, apart from children and early teens who love reading. There are other novels which stand out for me a lot more strongly.

The ‘Papau New Guinea’ language was completely lost on me, perhaps as is normal for me. It’s not something that I’m going to use any other time, and honestly it just interrupted the flow of the novel. I had to stop, work out what they were saying, and then keep reading. Or worse, I just skipped over the words and kept going.

I’m giving this novel 3 stars. It simply didn’t call to me enough with any of it. The sense of inevitability basically covered the whole plot line, as as far as I was concerned, it was completely transparent and unexciting, albeit well written.

3star

Penguin Random House | 1 August 2016 | AU $17.99 | Paperback

Review: Simon Mayo – Blame

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Blame
Simon Mayo

Ant and her brother Mattie have been incarcerated for crimes they never committed – it’s called heritage crime, and because the authorities couldn’t catch their parents, Ant and Mattie have to serve the time. There’s certain perks that the neighbouring crime jails don’t have, but also other dangers.

28248382Ok, so another reviewer has pointed out that the novel is filled with predictable character types. I think that’s certainly true – plucky heroine protecting her too kind brother and tolerating the hatred of a foster brother who blames her for his parents’ fates. However, I didn’t find it offputting. It gave me more space to think about the implications of the novel, rather than having to do too much thinking about the characters.

That being said, there were a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming. Amos, you idiot! Ant, how did you think that was a good idea? Mattie, were you even thinking at all? Completely clueless.

I’m not sure how I felt about the ending. Why would a big piece of information like that be stored in that particular inaccessible place. Surely there are safer places to keep it? Anyway, just suspend your disbelief and be carried along anyway.

Now this novel knocked my socks off. I couldn’t wait to keep reading it, and see where they went. Unlike Cell 7, I liked the characters are there was plenty of action to keep me entertained and worried – particularly as it seemed as if some of my favourite characters would die. 4 stars from me.

4star

Penguin Random House | 29 August 2016 | AU $19.99 | Paperback

I’m not actually sure if I received this novel from the publisher, or a new collaboration I am working on with SocialBookCo.

Review: Kim Hooper – People Who Knew Me

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People Who Knew Me
Kim Hooper

Emily Morris married young from college and set out to support her husband’s needs first. After his business fails and his ailing mother moves in with them, Emily needs a break. one so drastic that she pretends she is dead and moves to an entirely different city.

People Who Knew Me - Cover ImageUnfortunately the blurb gave away pretty much everything in the past sections of the novel. I was promised a suspenseful novel, but from the outset I knew what would probably happen. Then, finally, I HATED the ending of this novel.

Emily, I wanted to care for you. I understood what was wrong with you. I was happy with your affair. I was happy with your new life. I can’t see what made you do those final things. Ugh. There’s a good reason you walked away. Bad Emily. Why you so stupid? Why must you annoy me so much?

3 stars from me. I’m going to put this in line with Promise, as another ‘Women’s Fiction’ novel that could have been amazing but just didn’t hit all the right notes.

3star

Pan Macmillan | May 2016 | AU $29.99 | Paperback

Review: Kiersten White – And I Darken

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And I Darken
Kierstan White

Lada has been ruthless from the day she was born. Destined to be a boy, but born a weakling girl, Lada knows that the only way up in the world is to be hard and cruel. When she and her brother are sent off as hostages, Lada sees it as both exile and freedom.

25324111I wanted to like this novel, I really did. But instead it reminded me of Ruined, without the magic. Or maybe Red Queen, which also has that whole creeping up on the throne thing. Have I lost my touch, and I only love fantasy novels again? I don’t think so…

Apparently this is based on the Ottoman empire and Vlad the Impaler, but I didn’t realise that until later. The Ottoman empire sounded familiar, but if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, I’m certain you would remember that I’m not all that great at history or geography.

I finished this novel with a sense of having slogged through a hard read. I then complained to my partner that it felt like I had wasted my time. It’s not badly written, but the story and characters lack a spark that would have made the novel better. For that reason, I’m giving it a rather miserable 2 stars. Spend your reading time elsewhere.

2star

Penguin Random House | 28 June 2016 | AU $19.99 | Paperback

Review: Lola Lafon – The Little Communist Who Never Smiled

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The Little Communist Who Never Smiled
Lola Lafon

A merging of fiction and non-fiction to fill in the gaps, this novel follows the early life and career of Nadia Comaneci, a pioneering Romanian gymnast who broke the scoring system by receiving the first 10 in the history of gymnastics.

9781781255148The first half of the novel kept me enthralled, but this petered out in the second half. I was fascinated by the gymnastics, not by the politics. In the end, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to take away from the novel. Translated from French, I think this novel may have lost some of its charm.

At times I felt like the narrator and Nadia spent too much time fighting – and I was really confused about the intersection of the conversations they had. Were these actual conversations the author had with Nadia? Or something else? Nadia has also written an autobiography which I think could also be interesting.

Off the back of this novel, I watched Nadia’s performance at Montreal on Youtube. It is amazing the things they used to do on bars (they weren’t separated as they are now). My breath stopped every time it looked like she was going to fall. What many of the commenters on these videos were saying were that the tricks back then were easier than they are now. Having read this novel, I can confirm that is not the case. Many of the moves have changed, due to changing equipment or banning of particularly dangerous moves.

I’ll give this novel 3 stars – 4 stars for the first half, and 2 stars for the second half!

3star

Allen & Unwin | 27th July 2016 | AU $27.99 | Paperback

Review: Claudia Gray – A Thousand Pieces of You

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A Thousand Pieces of You
Claudia Grey

Maggie’s father has just died, and the culprit has run off – into an alternative dimension no less. With the help of another student, Maggie forces her own way across dimensions in a hunt for him. Little does Maggie know that things will always be more complicated than they seem.

20969698I liked the realistic imagining of the different time periods. Phew, parallel worlds went completely nutty! There are so many ways for people to die, and then be refound. Maggie in particular gets to ‘enjoy’ this particular feeling, which is pretty crazy!

Now, I read part of this, and then put it down again. I just wasn’t in the mood of it I guess. It’s promised that this will have an ‘epic love affair that feels both dangerous and inevitable’, but I didn’t feel it. It wasn’t epic at all! Yes yes, you might be falling for two guys at the same time, and yes, you might have gotten confused about who is who and who might be real.

You will not expect the ending. You will not expect most of the action. You may feel lost and confused at times. That is ok. Maggie feels the same way, and since you are seeing things from her point of view it’s to be expected.

I didn’t feel anything in particular after having read it, which is a bad sign. It took a while to warm up, and then I felt like I wanted some other perspectives to work with (very strangely for me, I normally hate other perspectives).

If you want a novel with time travel, please look at The Square Root of Summer. That was the last time bender I read, and it had a great storyline that kept me consistently reading.

3star

Review: Sarah Armstrong – Promise

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Promise
Sarah Armstrong

Anna hears screaming coming from her new next door neighbours, and recognises the sound as a child in danger. Calling protective services seems to do nothing, and when it seems as if the child is likely to be murdered, Anna takes matters into her own hands.

9781743535844How accurate are the court scenes in this? I think that this author will have done due diligence in her research. But please! Don’t take the law into your own hands! I know that child protective services will often err on the side of caution to not take a child away. As I learnt in How (not) to Start an Orphanage, the best place for children to grow up is in a caring (usually biological) family environment. This book takes that to extremes.

There are a number of interesting interlocking situations that have led Anna to feel this way about a child. I sometimes felt that these overshadowed the main point of Charlie’s welfare, but I also understood that the author included them in order to add depth to her character. It’s interesting to see how the past influences the future.

My goodness gracious me. It took a lot for me to pick up this novel. Then I happily read until I was about a third of the way through. Then the pace stopped. I kept reading until halfway, and then stopped reading for a bit. It was just so slow from there on! By the time I got to the end of the novel, I was barely invested in the outcome.

For this reason, I’ll only be giving it 3 stars. If it had been able to maintain the momentum from the first third of the novel (including perhaps a more exciting ‘chase scene’), that would have pushed it over the line to 4 stars just for the concept. If you enjoy Jodi Picoult’s thought provoking works (I’ve read and reviewed four of them, as linked), this is going to be for you.

3star

Pan Macmillan | 28th July 2016 | AU $32.99 | Paperback