Tag Archives: 3-stars

Review: Kathryn Barker – In the Skin of a Monster

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In The Skin of a Monster
Kathryn Barker

Alice’s twin sister killed people in their local school. Since she was identical to Alice, people can’t see Alice for who she is, they can only see her deadly sister. When Alice is swept up into a dream world, things get even more complicated, and it’s no longer clear what is going on.

25380845DON’T READ THE BLURB. It will trick you into thinking that this novel is straightforward. Instead, you need to go into it with a mind blasted wide open, with the ability to let it stretch further. This is one very strange novel.

I would have liked a more concrete approach to dealing with things. Swapping between the different perspectives was more confusing that I would have liked. I just couldn’t grasp anything that was going on. Nevertheless, the dream-scape set up is amazing and well described. The author appeared to think of everything that could possibly exist in it – bubbles of people, monsters, everything else!

It was quite compulsive reading, despite its faults. Did I actually like Alice? No, most of the time I thought she was an idiot. Did I really understand what happened? Goodness no. Did I keep reading anyway? Yes. I ended the novel feeling completely disorientated and annoyed. Even after running over the plot with my partner, I couldn’t work out what the point of the whole novel was.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this novel is going to expose great secrets of a person who looks like a murderer. Yes, killing people causes a great lasting impact, but people do recover. I don’t think this shows enough recovery. Mainly it shows people being stupid.

I can only think negatives about how Alice punishes herself for being like her sister. She’s committed to a mental institution for 3 years. I can understand the guilt she feels, but at the same time it should have been obvious to her that it’s not her fault and that she isn’t the same person. This got even more confusing for me as time went on, because it wasn’t clear whether Alice had demented thinking caused by the incident, or it was from the beginning. Just because you are identical to someone doesn’t mean you have to live like them.

I don’t know whether to suspend my disbelief for the story or not. In fact, unlike other novels I have read in this genre, this novel is not fiction that would fit into the everyday run of things. The attempts at making this fit into the Australian landscape fail miserably.

I mainly just came away from this very confused. There are other novels that are more awesome than this one. If you want to give this one a go, go right ahead. But if you’re looking for something with a convincing dreamscape, I’d be going for something like Dreamfire – I gave it 5 stars, go and try it out.

2star

Review: K.A. Tucker – Chasing River

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Chasing River
K.A. Tucker

River is the bad boy in town, and Amber the single-wanderer idiot. After an explosive first meeting, Amber finds herself wanting more of River, even as he tried to chase her away. Amber goes against her usual self and decides to grasp him anyway, finding herself getting more deeply involved every day.

23522253First things first – I didn’t read this as part of the series. I picked it up, hid it from my girlfriend, and promptly sat down to read it. Once she caught me, she tried to ruin it for me by telling me it’s the third book in a series! But it was too late, I was already hooked in. I did spend some time away from it thinking about going back to reading it, but no real in-depth wondering about what was happening to the characters while I was away.

I found myself frustrated by Amber and her naivety, but this was something I believe the author crafted. As the novel progressed, Amber became a bit less stupid – a bit more world-wise as her teacher would have wanted her to be. Still though, how could she be so stupid in the first place? Sure she was travelling Europe. But still, that she hadn’t been taken up and raped yet? When she’s happily wandering around where no-one else is?

The novelty of this book to me was that I never got many history lessons about Ireland, and this had a briefing on the Irish potato famine, which I had only ever heard of as a ‘joke’ by less politically-correct-minded friends. There were some really good discussions about the IRA (google it – or just be taught about it by the novel in a relatively unbiased manner) and references to Ireland’s oral culture. I could have done with more of this!

There seemed to be a lot of focus on how different Ireland was to Oregon. I’ve never been to Oregon, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you the difference between that town, and any other one. Amber constantly thinking about what it is like in her old home town isn’t useful, and doesn’t actually add to the storyline. More solid comparisons would have done the trick for me.

I’m putting this under the category of Young Adult, but only because of the sex scenes in it. Granted, they are brief, but they are slightly graphic. Otherwise I’d be putting it down as teenage fiction because its storyline isn’t that gripping, and I simply didn’t feel any depth – typical romance blah blah. At least Amber was smart enough to take some of her father’s advice….

I’ll be giving this a solid 3 stars, just because it wasn’t as ‘grabby’ and believable as I could have hoped. I remain willing to read more of this author, and see if this is a typical example of her work.

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Review: Amanda Hocking – Crystal Kingdom

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Crystal Kingdom
Amanda Hocking

Bryn is exiled from the life she knew before. With her lover and friends left behind, she’s faced with her oldest enemy and needs to come to terms with the wider world. That world involves all of the other troll tribes – some of whom will be friendly, and others who are against the side of ‘right’.

25574705While the conspiracy is deeper than it seems, it wasn’t obvious why I should should care about it. Having a terrifying overlord is bad, but without actual threats to people I cared about, meh, I didn’t care. That being said, the depth of plot turns and the like was very nice, and kept me guessing.

The fighting scenes in this were perhaps the worst part of the novel. It felt very dry, and I didn’t feel even a shred of emotional angst over Bryn potentially being harmed. The dialogue between Bryn and various troll leaders was far more convincing, and I liked the way that Bryn and Ridley interacted.

I would say that the style on this is similar to the last book – sometimes I was too busy reading the words and terminology to really get into the story. It didn’t push me along, rather I found myself dragging myself further. I did eventually get into the plot, but I probably could have put it down at any point.

Although this would like to bill itself as a romance, I certainly didn’t get any sort of ‘triangle’ happening. Sure, there were some wayward kisses, but those are bound to happen when people are under stress. The sex scene in it is textbook simple, and if not for that inclusion, I’d be firmly placing this in the teenage fiction category.

The ending just wraps things up too neatly. Yes, some people die, but honestly, I wasn’t very attached to them. Or if I was, it was obvious why they couldn’t be allowed to live. All things peachy. Hint – don’t read the blurb, or you’ll find yourself reading half of the plot and being mislead as to the contents of the novel.

I found this novel disappointing, but I think that it could resonate well with those enjoying urban fantasy that has a mystery element to it. For me, the style wasn’t to taste, and so I don’t think I’ll be purchasing any more novels by this author – although I remain able to be won over.

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Review: Amanda Hocking – Frostfire

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Frostfire
Amanda Hocking

24059777Bryn’s job is to rescue her people that have been placed in human homes to generate revenue for their real parents. But her dream is to be part of the elite guard protecting the royals – made difficult by the fact she’s just a little bit odd compared to everyone else.

At first it isn’t obvious what is special about Bryn. But Hocking gently guides the reader, until bam! You know what she is, who she likes, and everything else in between. Except the writing was poor. This felt dry, and not too well written. I simply couldn’t get into the story. There wasn’t enough feeling attached to the Bryn for me. She felt like a placeholder just put there to be different, and let the story revolve around her.

The romance element in this novel that I was promised in the blurb, and the chance of her to ‘lose her heart’, are slim as far as I can see. I wasn’t buying the touching romance, in fact it just felt like a set up. Can’t she keep a hold of herself? She’s going to live a while longer right?

This novel felt incomplete at the end. It felt like it was waiting for a sequel – and it fact, it has a sequel so that’s not so bad. But! It just didn’t feel complete, and had I needed to wait to read the sequel, it’s possible I never would have picked it up.

I received this novel free in preparation for reading and reviewing (plus interviewing!!!!) the newest novel in this trilogy, Crystal Kingdom. The boss has said I can’t read it until I’ve done these reviews, so here I am.

Nothing special to see here folks, a 3 stars from me. But when you combine it with the second novel in the series, things do improve. Stay tuned for that review.

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Review: Tracy Alexander – Hacked

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Hacked
Tracy Alexander

Dan is a hacker. When he drifts from one side of the law to another in order to get justice for his friend, he suddenly finds himself on the wrong side of the law – with no-one listening to what he can do to help.

22678001Ok, first off. It’s a plot driven novel. That basically means you can kiss goodbye to character development. In fact, if you ignore character development all together, you would be better off. I found the characterisation of the main character patchy, and I never really got into the motivations of the other characters.

The premise of this novel is that it is easy to cross a line with hacking on the internet. There’s a couple of different terms I could use, but the easiest is ‘White Hat’ and ‘Black Hat’. Basically, the Black Hats are the guys with a malignant intent – they want to destroy things just to prove they can. Then there are White Hats, those who find the holes in security and help out the ‘good guys’.

The ending was particularly unsatisfying. Yay, happy for everyone. But not really… I wanted more meaty bits of details! How many other people were scammed? The second half of the book was far weaker than the first.

Dan didn’t seem like he was 16 years old. He could have been younger. In fact, his friends also acted very young, with the exception of the girl he liked – who seemed a bit up herself to be honest. She saw only black and white, no grey.

I didn’t like the explanation of ADHD being the reason Dan wasn’t to blame for anything. it’s a diagnosis. It’s the first line of the blurb. But it doesn’t do anything for the story. It’s about the computers, and I don’t think the author should be trying to sell anything else with it.

Other reviewers have given this one star. I don’t think it’s that bad, honestly, provided you read it for what it is, and you hit the target market just right. It’s not going to appeal to everyone, that’s for sure.

I put off reading this novel because I was warned it wasn’t very good. I actually enjoyed it, and read it in one sitting. Granted, I had nothing else to do, but I just couldn’t seem to put it down. The more I think about it, the more holes I want to poke in it though. My initial assessment was 4 stars, and I’m going to leave it at that (err on the side of nice). It’s a driving plot that should keep people enthralled – even those people who ‘hate’ reading.

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Review: Eve Ainsworth – 7 Days

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7 Days
Eve Ainsworth

The fat kid in old clothes is always going to be bullied. Jess doesn’t know how to stand up for herself, and Kez takes advantage of that fact every time. Kez has her own problems, but she refuses to admit anything, or back down.

18679049The world-building in this novel was vivid. I realised that it was based on a real place, but I’d never been to the place in person. But the end of the novel though, I had a really good grasp in my head where everything was, and I could ‘see’ the action happening. The characterisation was ok, but that was sort of secondary to Ainsworth’s bullying agenda.

I have to say that Ainsworth really got her teeth into the subject matter and tried to provide some really decent insight into how a victim and the bully feel. I can’t see this a school reading material – but maybe it should be. With concerns about bullying going rampant across Australia and other places, another expose can’t hurt – particularly if it’s one that teenagers can actually relate to.

Look, the hype about this book simply didn’t live up to my expectations. There are many rave reviews on GoodReads, but honestly I wasn’t left with too much of an ’emotion-hangover’ at the end of reading this, despite feeling somewhat invested in the characters throughout the novel.

I didn’t even really feel tension at the end of the novel. I felt that they were both shallow and weak, and I couldn’t care whether they died or not. I had some sympathy for Jess, but I couldn’t believe that Kez could get away with so many things, even in her household.

If it was read squarely by its target teen audience, I think you’d be looking at 4 stars. But for me, I simply didn’t feel enough compulsion when reading about the characters to give it that. 3 stars from me. Don’t let it be said that I don’t enjoy other teenage novels – I am capable of giving them 5 stars, but it has to be a particularly great novel for me to do so.

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Review: J.D. Watt – Burnt

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Burnt
J.D. Watt

Michael meets Simone at a bar, and finds himself suddenly smitten with her, despite being 20 years older. Their relationship develops through text messages, skype and emails, until Michael finds himself deeply in love with her. There’s a rival for Simone’s affections though, and what the men don’t know could harm them both irrevocably.

burntHow much do you love this cover? I absolutely loved it! It’s one that is going to get people talking, particularly if you’re reading the novel out in public. That can only be a good thing. There’s plenty of talking points to be gotten from this novel, particularly that both men and women can be unfaithful, even if it always seems to be the man’s fault to other popular fiction! These days, I think it’s equally likely in both sexes, even if men have gotten away with it with a pat on the back so far.

The blurb is probably what destroyed the novel for me. I found myself completely uninterested in the early dating stages of Michael and Simone, simply because I was promised that things would get messy and there was no chance this was actually going to work out. I wanted to see the ‘train-wreck’ happening faster! Particularly since once I worked out what was going on, it was obvious what the next stages would be.

The text message dialogue didn’t work for me at all. I found myself skimming over it, which is never a good sign. It seemed highly repetitive, and I would have much preferred traditional text. Even emails would have been preferable, as the text wouldn’t have jumped around so much, and I would have gotten more out of each dialogue exchange. Also, the sex scenes could have just been left out – they weren’t necessary to the text and I felt vaguely offended that they had been included without a real purpose.

I came away from this novel wishing that it had just somehow been ‘more’ in a way. I didn’t connect enough with the main character. I feel like that in the writing, the author’s attempts to continue distancing himself from his painful past hindered the reader’s understanding of it. Maybe it would have worked better had it not been so autobiographical?

I was lucky enough to receive this copy in return for a review. Despite my complaints about this novel, I think there is still some real writing potential and I can’t wait to see how the future pans out. 2.5 stars from me. I can’t tell you not to read it, because it truly is a one-of-a-kind book, particularly in Australian fiction, and there’s a good chance it will resonate better with someone else.

2star

Review: Paul Collins – Wardragon

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Wardragon
Paul Collins

Jelindel is never given a break to rest and study. Although she might like to relax as a mage, she always has more to do – new evils and old evils arrse, including those that she thought were dead. With her old friends and companions tricking her intentionally or unintentionally, she needs to find a clear way through to win the day (and the series).

Something that confused me was that in the first book, I had thought that after Jelindel pulled her trick on the mailshirt, she hadn’t completely finished it, but when it comes up again in this novel it is. So I don’t know? Maybe it has magical properties to get itself away from dead ground and make its way back into living hands?

Whoever thought of the flying chicken/bats and growing house was marvellous! Just goes to show that everyday items, infused with a bit of magic, can do wonderful and new things.

This novel focusses on the importance of magic vs cold science. As it is, Q’zar is a very magical place, and that allows for hope. With cold science, things are too sterile, and too fated towards those that are lucky to be rich at the right time.

I loved the Farvenu! I mean, yes they’re nightmares, but the explanation for their fear inspiring properties is clear and sensible. This is one of the stronger parts of a series that I would have liked to see more of.

This isn’t as strong a novel as the first in this series, Dragonlinks, but it’s a no-brainer that you’ll want to finish the series off. For an ‘additional’ novel to a trilogy, it fits in well enough.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – Elementary, All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters

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Elementary, All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters
Mercedes Lackey
This collection of short stories is a combination of new tales in Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters world, with a weird injection of some authors who have no idea what the Elements should be like.

“Fire-Water” by Samuel Conway brings a fishhawk to a rabbit to stop a small war. I found this entertaining because it was from a different perspective, and it was not what I was expecting from this short story collection at all.

“Fire Song” by Diana L. Paxson takes a young boy out of the city with his family. Fascinating bit of history to be had this one. it was predictable though, of course the son was able to do wonderful things. Masters of the elements do tend to be a bit strange, particularly double masters. I wanted to know more about the future of that child though.

“Sails of the Armada” by Kristen Schwengel forces a Galician sailor into the Spanish Armada. I did know the background for this one. The ending wasn’t quite what was typical for novels, which was actually pretty good. I only wish I knew more about his earlier life.

“The Wild Rogue” by Fiona Patton puts a young water mage into the drunk tank. This one – complete loss. I had no idea what was going on.

“Feathers and Foundations” by Elizabeth A. Vaughan induces an earth mage to seek a rift. This was more like what I would hope from a story! Yes, it had the history element, but it was also well-written and fitting in with the way Lackey writes her stories. I was just waiting for the ‘ah-ha’ moment the whole time. I wish it has been a novel.

“Hearth and Family” by Dayle A. Dermatis solves a problem for a woman without a family. This was just as good as the previous short story. This reminded me of a fairytale for some reason, but its basing in history worked well.

“Secret Friends” by Louisa Swann draws unexpected assistance to a girl who is about to lose her brother. This was perfect for a short story.

“Fire’s Daughter” by Elizabeth Waters musters new friends for Eleanora.  This would work well as a longer story. It was right within the vein of Lackey’s works. I did have a moment thinking she was trans, but she wasn’t.

“Picking Up the Pieces” by Cedric Johnson introduces another victim of Marco. I think this had Pearl and Garnet in it, and ugh, they were just too tidy and annoying.

“The Price of Family” by Jennifer Brozek presents Josie with a problem of ethics. I don’t appear to have written notes about this one…

“Arms of the Sea” by Tanya Huff challenges a crippled water master. I loved it – it highlighted stupid menfolk and the power of healing.

“London Falling” by Ben Ohlander leads a fire mage to his missing brother. This was powerful and disturbing, but I don’t think it was canon within Lackey’s works…

“The King of the River Rats” by Michele Lang involves a fire mage reporter in multiple disappearances of young women. This had the potential to be bigger, but I was personally frustrated by Jane’s minor role. Not to mention I was confused by the ending.

“Air of Deception” by Jody Lynn Nye mixes an apprentice parfumeuse with a spy. This was excellent. I feel sure however that I have previously read this or something very similar.

“Fly or Fall” by Stephanie Shaver compels an air mage with a bitter choice. This was well-written and quirky.

“Bone Dance” by Rosemary Edghill & Rebecca Fox follows an earth master in a desperate hunt. I’m not sure why it was called this. It was very good and I enjoyed the different perspective and empathised with the Captain.

“The Flying Contraption” by Ron Collins guides a young air mage into the workshop of the Wright brothers. Arg! Why was she not taught air magic responsibly? This was an interesting take on the Wright brother legend.

“A Peony Amongst Roses” by Gail Sanders & Michael Z. Williamson relates the trials of a young earth mage whose talent is growing flowers. I felt like I had read this before, but it was enjoyable and crafty all the same. It could have been a good start to a novel.

“Into the Woods” by Mercedes Lackey tells the adventures of a young earth mage in her red riding hood. This was the Mercedes Lackey original. However it didn’t have much substance and ended the way I expected – a fairy tale! Absolutely online with her other stories but nothing new, and certainly nothing exciting. This is just the beginning of Blood Red.

I read this selection of short stories a very long time ago now. While some of them were good, others failed miserably. I waited so long on posting the review because I didn’t have all the story names and authors. Even now, I think I have two of the stories mixed up…

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Review: Holly Golderg Sloan – I’ll Be There

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I’ll Be There
Holly Goldberg Sloan

Sam and Riddle have lived with their father for a long time. They are closely knit into one fabric, yet their father keeps tearing holes in it. When Sam sees Emily for the first time, about to throw up from a forced singing recital, something stirs in his heart for someone other than his brother.

9415957Why did the book grab me? Well, Sam seemed pretty cool, and Clarence had something wrong with him that I could relate to. But then again, Emily. Ok, so Emily could have been a character to hate. She’s completely trusting, naive, no idea. And her parents? Well, you think that they could be a bit more chill. Everything is a bit see-through.

I guess that that could be to contrast Sam. Sam hides so many things, and yet at the same time, he doesn’t know that it’s ok to talk to some people. It’s made clear how this situation came about, but I find it difficult to believe that life was like that for a long time. Something I didn’t understand was why Sam was still with his father even though he was 17. I understand wanting to look after his brother. But really? Something should have twigged that there was something more seriously wrong with their father and that something might need to be done about it.

I’m not sure how I felt about Clarence. It’s easy to push him into the bad guy role, it’s true he’s not nice to his kids and he’s a thief, but he has other things going on. It sounded to me exactly like he had schizophrenia. And if he did, then he wasn’t in control of himself at all really. Who knows? He could have been nice if he had been on medication.

I would have loved to have seen more done with music. Being recognised as a genius doesn’t mean much unless you’re able to write music, performing is not enough in my opinion. It started off as a theme, and could have been used to link more of the text together.

There were some jolting parts for me, such as Riddle’s asthma. Sam didn’t know about it before. No-one knew about it before. But suddenly it becomes all-important. And funnily enough, it’s not Riddle’s fault that things are going to hell! He’s survived so long in his life so far, I don’t see what all the upset is about. Maybe it is to show his growing relationship with his ‘mother’.

I couldn’t decide if I liked the ending or not. I certainly felt all the feels while I was reading it. It seemed like the happily ever after would never come. But the simplicity of it urked me, even if that was entirely proving Emily’s point that everything happens for a reason.

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