Tag Archives: 3-stars

Review: Robyn Mundy – Wildlight

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Wildlight
Robyn Mundy

Stephanie has been exiled to an Island for the final year of her high school in her parents’ quest to recapture peace. Her time is split between her school work, her art and taking weather readings of the lighthouse. When Tom shows up, Stephanie’s days take an interesting turn and it seems like she’s found her first love.

27993790I always wanted more. It wasn’t enough for me that Stephanie’s brother was dead. I wanted the gruesome details. And it wasn’t enough that her mother wept, or that there was something interesting going on in the deal with her grandparents, that we never found out about.

The time period passed rapidly. Too rapidly. I didn’t get any sense of the days dragging on for Steph at all. It felt like I only really heard about her at the interesting points, so what she views as an exile from the mainland is just a really short period for us readers.

Frank is scary, I’ll grant you that. But Tom is really just a wuss. Sorry Tom. But why can’t you stand up for yourself? Really? It’s too hard? And when you decide, it’s like you can’t make sense of it and you want to wander off. That’s about as spoiler-free as I can be.

How did I really feel about the ending? Satisfied? Actually no, but I was ok with that. I think. I don’t know! Tom’s struggle seems real, while Stephanie hardly seems to have changed. It was nice seeing the future, but it was left so open-ended.

It wasn’t the fast-paced novel I thought it would be. 3 stars.

3star

Review: Sharon Guskin – The Forgetting Time

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The Forgetting Time
Sharon Guskin

Noah spends his nights in nightmares and his days fearing water. His mother is at the end of her patience – job running down, daycare refusing her son, and the situation getting worse all the time. When psychiatrists can’t help her, she turns to a man losing language to see if he can get her inside Noah’s mind.

9781509806805The back of the novel simply didn’t pull me in, but I took it with me somewhere and I couldn’t sleep, so of course this got read! It should have said something more about past lives, and then it would have gotten me straight away.

Ooooh, the premise of this book is a tricky one. Chasing past lives is interesting enough, and then there is someone trying to do science on it. I would have enjoyed more stories, but overall it was fascinating enough. The trials and tribulations of both of the adults felt real and relatable.

In the swaps between perspectives I could definitely tell the differences in the mental voices. That brought alive for me the other parts of the story (such as the teenager). It highlighted to me again though that the law system can be so very wrong, even if murder is an accident.

I’m not sure what else to say about this one. Worth a read. It sent me away questioning all kinds of things, and wanting to read some of the reference materials that the author presented in the acknowledgements. I’m a scientist for goodness sakes! I guess that’s what appealed to me about it.

3star

Review: Jim Carrington – Boy23

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Boy23
Jim Carrington

Boy23 is released into the wild with instructions to run. The problem is that he has never been outside before, and has never seen another human. He doesn’t know that other humans might die from coming in contact with him, or that they might want to kill him. All he can do is follow the instructions of The Voice and hope for the best.

23524633The changes between the different perspectives were clear between adults and children, but the two kids, Jesper and Carina, their voices weren’t well defined. I could read one, and because what they saw overlapped, I got confused about how many things had happened.

The idea is interesting, but not unique. I was really looking forward to it, but was left underwhelmed. I am certain I have read other novels of the ‘left outside to fend for yourself’ genre. Not that their names come to mind at the moment. I did at least get all the way through this book in one sitting, which is more than what I can see for the other couple I have been reading (and not yet finished for reviewing).

The ending left me underwhelmed. There was no sign of actual conclusions, and as far as I can see, there is no sequel planned. Now normally that would be ok, but the ending isn’t really a satisfying wrap up of the novel here.

I’ll give it 3 stars – ok, but it’s ok to give this one a miss. There are other novels out there that are equally good or better.

3star

Review: Tara J Lal – Standing on my Brother’s Shoulders

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Standing on my Brother’s Shoulders
Tara J Lal

Standing on my Brother’s Shoulders is a novel about Tara J Lal and her journey towards acceptance of the grief brought by her brother’s suicide. She also must face her father’s madness and her mother’s death.

25614430It could be quite a heavy book but Lal makes an effort to keep the action moving and to always have a bit of humour. If not, there was a profound insight being shared, or expanded upon. I particularly enjoyed the notes from her brother’s journal.

I read about half of this novel, put it down, then read whole bunch of other things, and came back to it. I actually felt like the story action grew on me more after letting it sit there. I wasn’t particularly focused within reading the novel perhaps because I just wasn’t particularly convinced that she knew what she was doing in the order of actual writing.

I felt frustrated a lot of the time with her ‘character’, but really felt like I got to know her, flaws and all. For goodness sake, seeing a counsellor is always a good place to start (yes, yes, take your own advice). I felt like I really came to know her brother as much as she herself had known him. I would have liked to hear more about her current doings now that she’s overcome her grief.

I’d recommend this normal for those that have been touched by grief and those that are interested in real life memoirs. It is not an entertaining story to read, but it is a valuable addition to anyone’s reading list.

3star

Review: Andy Mulligan – Liquidator

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Liquidator
Andy Mulligan

Liquidator is an amazing new sports drink that people just can’t resist drinking. It’s more addictive than Coca Cola and Coffee, and billed as being good for you! When a couple of kids stumble over the truth, they find themselves facing life and death situations, not just for themselves.

25464528So we’ve got a couple of kids are in high school and they all manage to intertwine into facing off the guys that are in charge of Liquidator. You see more and more characters being added to the visible ‘cast’, and yet you aren’t overwhelmed because the story is moving too quickly for that to happen!

What got me really really grumpy about this novel was that it wasn’t clear which person was speaking without reading the chapter headings. That being said, the different perspectives work really well and make it more are a unisex novel. There’s no romance as a refreshing highlight and it’s just generally a feel-good novel about what difference teenagers can make.

Something else that annoyed me was that it was all about Jamie Song. I didn’t understand why this one person could make such big difference. Even if they didn’t have his photos and he didn’t survive, I don’t think it would have made a huge difference to what happens at the concert. I mean of course they wanted to save him but any of the other records they had would have made a difference. Perhaps this was just a reflection that you need a human face to make a difference.

It was fascinating how the author brought together all the different story lines. I’m going to give it three stars from me, maybe an almost 4. I kept reading because even though I could see how the different plot points were going come together, I couldn’t believe how quickly they were happening.

I’ve got someone in mind that will enjoy this novel and that’s a teenage boy. Target genre right there! It’s action packed, any teen could get hooked. I couldn’t imagine a sequel for this but if it was to happen I would hope it would be as our interesting and complex as this was.

3star

Review: Kaz Delaney – The Reluctant Jillaroo

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The Reluctant Jillaroo
Kaz Delaney

Harper and Heidi are identical twins that are anything but alike in personality. After an accident at the last minute prevents Harper from going to her dream summer week, Heidi steps in to create instead a week of awkwardness.

27161175There’s too much reliance on obvious differences between Heidi and Harper to get some good characterisation happening. I couldn’t have cared less which one wore the pants or the skirt (and isn’t that cover awful? There wasn’t a pink tutu to be seen, thank goodness). Or which one is epic with guys, and the other is completely oblivious.

The guys themselves are just as predictable. There’s the comic duo, fighting over one unlikely lady, and the dark, steely Chaz who Heidi of could has to fall for. You could tell from the first page that he was going to be the love interest, and you would have been super disappointed if they didn’t get to be together.That’s not even a spoiler.

I would have really enjoyed more depictions of outback life, which would have made it possible for this novel to provide some interest to USA or UK markets. The things referenced weren’t in nearly enough detail. I think that could have been made more of in the campfire scenes, but Heidi was too busy staring at the sexy Chaz to pay attention.

On a final note, I’m not sure why there was intrigue added. It honestly didn’t do much for the novel, and I would have given a lot to have some more realistic characters in that page space. Or more character background. Or different perspectives.

What frustrated me the most was the too-neat, super annoying ending. Of course! Ah yes! Why didn’t I see that? Oh, because it wasn’t hinted about at all. Or it wouldn’t fit the romance. Before that point, I might have been generous to the novel, but that just dropped my opinion completely. I’ll give it 3.

3star

Review: Philippa Christian – Nanny Confidential

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Nanny Confidential
Philippa Christian

Lindsay is an elite nanny working in the homes of the rich and famous, looking after their kids so they can present their best face to the world. As an Australian far from home, her family worries about her rich lifestyle. Lindsay on the other hand has her feet firmly on the ground.

23680856I really don’t remember requesting this novel, and I can’t find evidence for it in my inbox. But I picked it up with a positive will, thinking it would be perfect pool-side reading.

Personally, I wanted less asides into the other nannying positions she had had, and more focus on a main family. I would have been enthralled by more details. As it was, it was a little too skinny for me. The blurb writes it up as a dashing romance vs a hard life of looking after children not your own, but that wasn’t the case.

The problem may have been that I’m not familiar with any of the celebrities that were mentioned, or hinted about. I understand about the limitations of working with famous people and writing not always positive things about them!

Unfortunately I felt a bit empty after reading it. Where did that time go? Did I learn something useful? Not really. Is it perfect for a light read? Yeah, maybe, if you like to peep into ‘Celebrity lives’ at home. I”m going to be generous and grant it 3 stars, because it wasn’t awful.

3star

Thanks to Allen & Unwin for this complimentary copy. As always, my views are my own.

Review: Keren David – This is NOT a Love Story

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This is NOT a Love Story
Kerin David

The world never seemed to revolve around Kitty. But when she finds herself in an entirely new environment with two hot boys to chase (not that she would ever admit to liking them), she creates a new persona for herself.

22838328This novel started out with so much promise, but failed to deliver. What you think is a horrifying lovers spat gone wrong is nothing more than a joke – on both the reader and the characters. Kitty! You stupid, selfish character. You’re so busy being ‘cool’ that you missed everything. And being cruel to the other characters is just ugh. Did not endear me to you despite you being the main character.

And this Instagram thing, which I assumed was included to ‘keep up with the times’? It just dated the novel for me, and didn’t actually do anything to further the story. Maybe if images were included, then it would have been more useful. As it was, I could have done without it, and more character development.

Considering that more than one point of view is shown in the story, you would expect to get a good grasp of the characters. But I didn’t feel like I knew any of them. Ethan was ‘moody’, Theo was ‘clever’, but apart from Ethan being constantly rude and Theo focussing on London Jewish politics, that was it. It had promise, it really did. Ah, but it was all lost.

Oh! And did I mention some of the characters were gay? Just goes to show that you need some solid story as well as some queer references to get my vote. 2 stars from me, with a sympathetic 3 if I must.

2star

Review: D.E. Wyatt – No Good Deed

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No Good Deed
D.E. Wyatt

Elsabeth and Hieronymus are always getting into trouble, yet always manage to scrape out by the skin of their teeth. When Elzabeth forgoes a warning in favour of sex, things get a little more heated that she intended.

18710486This novel reminded me a bit of Robin Hood, except that the two main characters couldn’t have cared less about anyone else. But you know what? I don’t actually have a problem with that! It’s nice to have protagonists that aren’t ‘nice’ for a change. Scoundrels can get away with a lot more fun things.

Elsabeth is great at everything she does – swordfighting, sex and scams. But she’s just not very good at thinking. Compared to the other protagonist, Brother Hieronymus, she does more thinking, but damn, they’re both stupid! Why do you not get that you are being led on the whole time?

In this novel I felt like I was being spoon fed too many details. I didn’t need to think for myself at all. I was told, not shown, most of the excitement. There could have been more immediacy to the whole thing.

I received this novel from the author quite a while ago *cough cough, 2013??* but never got around to reading it because the front cover just didn’t fill me with glee. I’m giving it 3 stars now, but that’s being generous. I could put it down and pick it up far too easily.

3star

Review: Anthony Horowitz – Crocodile Tears

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Crocodile Tears
Anthony Horowitz

Genetically changed crops are the next stage in feeding the world. But of course, they can also be the source of a plague. Alex Rider is pitted against someone that isn’t even the obvious threat. It’ll take his wits (as usual) to get out of it…

6566616This novel gets off to a roaring start with a party and a road accident. Things seem to go back to normal then, but of course, Alex is in the middle of something before he even notices. Alex never learns. He just can’t help himself, and so he gets into trouble, and he doesn’t know if he’ll survive. But he just has to do it! MI6 chose the right person for the job.

I find myself frustrated by the usual formula of needing to use every gadget you are given! It means that I knew how things would work out. But then again, I love gadgets, and I would have been happy to see a bunch more of them! Gadgets are way more exciting than guns.

The blurb says that this is ‘his most dangerous adversary yet’, but I don’t think it is. All of the villains get a bit same-y eventually. Their motives are usually power, or money. And they all feel the need to brag about their plans! And pretend that it’s cool that it’s a 14 year old in front of them, a bright one, but still too young to make any sort of sense of most of the stuff.

It had been a while since I read the other novels in this series, but it honestly didn’t matter. This book is a stand-alone, any extra information you might need is briefed by one of the other characters. 3-4 stars from me, simply because it wasn’t that absorbing. I got it as a talking book to listen to while I worked, and it made a lovely distraction.

3star