Tag Archives: 4-stars

Review: Ilka Tampke – Skin

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Skin
Ilka Tampke

Ailia has no Skin. She doesn’t know who her parents were, and so she cannot learn or do anything in society. Like any other untutored woman, she wants to learn more of the world – and in learning more of the world she will either save or destroy it.

I could accuse this book of taking a slow pace of progression, and spending too much time on the details. But I wouldn’t, because it’s deftly crafted in that I didn’t feel the passage of time (just as Ailia does in the Mothers’ world) and I slipped fluidly from scene to scene. The world building, while it has the support of being crafted on a real-world geography, felt nicely fleshed out, despite focusing on such a small part of a landscape.

Ailia is all you could want in a gritty heroine. Like others of her kind, she is different from the rest of the community. But she is able to reach out past that – she isn’t always lonely, other people still see some good in her. Despite not being able to completely be treated like a true member of society, she has friends, she’s protected to some extent, and for what she is, she has a good place in life. She doesn’t mean to go off-track, it just happens!

It’s amazing how often I am drawn to historical fantasies without realizing it. This novel takes fact and fiction and intertwines them in a manner that means you can’t see how history could have happened without magic.

While I could predict some of what Ailia’s journey would be, other parts of the novel surprised me. I didn’t see a number of twists coming (although many of them appeared to happen from the same instance), but they were nicely woven into the rest of the storyline, and there wasn’t anything that came completely out of nowhere.

What frustrated me was the comment from Isobelle Carmody on the back, saying this novel had something to do with human yearning. No! This novel is so much more than that! While Ailia wants to learn things, that doesn’t mean she’s a love-sick idiot. She knows exactly what she should expect from life, and instead of yearning after it, she goes and does it.

I finished this novel on a very satisfied note. No, not everything turned out the way the reader might expect, but at the same time it was so so satisfying. I didn’t feel like the author had set it up to be a cash cow and write more sequels, I felt like she had reached the end of that saga, sat back, and been pleased with her work.

This novel suckered me in. I should have been doing some housework, and instead I sat down with a doona and a cup of tea to read this novel. 4.5 stars from me, simply because I’m not sure it’s good enough for a reread. Otherwise, highly recommended.

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Review: Katerina West – Witchcraft Couture

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Witchcraft Couture
Katerina
While Oscar Pellegrino has had bursts of creativity, he finds himself in a creative slump again. Fleeing from himself into Russia to visit his mother’s birthplace, he himself undergoes a transformation to become the slave of the Sampo.
Oscar seems like he got all the wrong things from his mother, and it seems fitting that the Sampo, while bringing Oscar’s creations to life, seems to be sucking the life out of his mother. Is it a metaphor of the Sampo’s abilities? Is it really happening? Oscar refuses to ask himself these questions for fear of the answers. It is a story of magic having its price, yet with an air of reality that makes the reader doubt his or her own mind.
Sarah is just a rotten egg. She’s ambitious, driven and an all around killer. I felt like she was responsible for all of the failures in Oscar’s life – her and his mother do an excellent job of breaking him If it wasn’t for them, Oscar could have held it together! Instead he’s off on a chase in Russia, which begins his rollercoaster ride to the top of fashion and back down.
Something the author brought in for me was that the fashion houses were always undergoing changes, their popularity changing over time.  I’ve never been very interested in fashion, but I do know that certain clothes suit certain people. This is an exploration of the concept of that it is ‘truly the clothes that make the woman’. Anyone can look good in Oscar’s clothes.
I didn’t understand why Ben would destroy the dress. Veronica wears the dresses without any ill effects. Some of the people just seem so suspicious. I think it is somewhat absurd that ordinary people would believe that dresses can have such an effect on people – that’s what the novel seems to ask the reader. This reminded me of the feminist ideas that are always being rolled around somewhere in the world. It is ‘always’ the woman’s fault for being raped, because if she didn’t dress provocatively, no one would have been raped.
While the drawn-out descriptions of colours and tastes might put you off, instead read them as another insight into Oscar’s mind. The text is beautifully written and edited. I wasn’t even put off by a small detail being out of place, in fact the world felt so complete to me that I stepped into it and I was lost within it while reading. I finished reading this novel feeling like something profound had happened to me while reading it. This is what I expected from Strum, but failed to find.
Even if literary fiction isn’t your thing, I really suggest giving this novel a go. While the beginning is a little slow, it speeds up until you can’t bear to put it down. I became so invested in the outcome of Oscar’s designing that I continued thinking about it even when I put it down.
I think I’d give this 4-5 stars. It’s unlikely that I will re-read it so I can’t give it an unequivocal 5 stars, but it’s so worth reading even if you have just a crumb of interest in literature.

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Review: Cassandra Clare & Holly Black – The Iron Trial

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The Iron Trial
Cassandra Clare & Holly Black

Callum doesn’t know what he is, or why he’s at the Magisterium. But he knows he doesn’t want to go somewhere that there are eyeless fish waiting to eat him, and there is magic running rampart that is the same as that which killed his mother.

Apparently this is a middle grade series, but maybe that was made it so pleasant to listen to. Each word was perfectly chosen, and I didn’t find myself impatiently waiting the narrator to move through the scenes.

I loved the reader, his deep grumbly voice was perfect for Master Rufus. I did feel like sometimes I didn’t know who was speaking, but it was entirely context dependant. I think some of the text could have become readily boring, but because it was read and I didn’t have a perfect memory of the sentence structures, it worked for me. This was especially true of the sand-herding exercises.

This could feel like a rip-off of Harry Potter, but it really isn’t. The dangers feel much more real, and they are consistent, like the authors have actually worked out what the complete series is going to be like. Also Harry is always a hero, and he’s always nice to everyone. Doesn’t that get a bit cloying at times?
Callum doesn’t make you like him. And he seems to be going out of his way to get on everyone else’s nerves. But inside there is a soul that wants to do the right thing, as angry as it is. Aaron and Tamara provide a more rational backdrop to him, and make it possible for Call to change.

The end is a twist! You guess from the beginning what might have happened, but there isn’t anything to support your thoughts until later, and by that time it’s too late! You’re already committed to reading the novel from page 1.

I don’t think this novel is meaty enough for me to want to read it a second time, so that makes it a 4-star novel. But it’s a very good one, and I’d highly recommend it to beginning fantasy readers. I can’t wait for the second book in the series to be released as an audio book – I’ll gladly spend some of my commuting time devoted to it.

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Review: Katharine Kerr & Mark Kreighbaum – Palace

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Palace
Katharine Kerr & Mark Kreighbaum

Vida is destined for sexual slavery, even as she tries to escape the protective confines of anonymity in a brothel. A lucky ‘chance’, set up by the previous generation means that there could be a way out – if only her fiancé would stop drinking and she can manages not to be killed by the Lep assassin sent against her. Meanwhile, someone is destroying the Map and making a mess of the whole basis of Palace’s society.

While I was most interested in Vida as the strong female protagonist, the cheeky Rico got a lot of my attention too. The rapid changes in perspective seemed clean and sensible, and I didn’t find myself wishing that I was back with the last person. It kept me reading frantically to the end. 

Look, I thought it would be hard for me to keep track of which character was which, and which person acted for each faction. The factor/mentor/mentee relationships became more clear over the course of the novel. And indeed, I feel like I’d like to read it again, just to make sure that I got all the points in it. But my complaint was that the novel felt unfinished. Yes, some people suffered, but other people just got away with things!
The torturing methods described were a little graphic. But then I have a thing about eyes. So if you don’t like torture, just skip over that paragraph or so. The death of a thousand cuts is fine though. Just not my eyes, my poor eyes!
Ah, to live in a world with a true mix of fantasy and sci-fi. The cyber-hardware could have been explained in more detail. I found it interesting that the different pieces of a person’s body could have different implants, but it wasn’t really clear why this was the case. The world building on the other hand was detailed, and the authors made a point of reminding us readers why each place was important, but did it as subtly as possible that I didn’t just skip over those parts.
While I was drawn to this novel because it had Katherine Kerr as an author, I’ve actually only enjoyed a subsection of her prolific writing. That was way back before I got into fantasy proper. The promise of an equal collaboration, combined with the attractive blurb got me eager to read it. However, once I got into the novel, I felt like the blurb wasn’t actually very accurate. Yes, it has those characters in it, but the focus is not at all on Arno. In fact, I’m not sure he even ever gets a change to ‘speak’ with his own written voice during the text.
I picked this novel up from my local Op-Shop for a grand total of, um, maybe 50c? Or $1? Totally worth it. 4 stars from me, only because I don’t feel the need that I have to reread it right now, and I was content to move on to another book, even though this one left me gasping for air near the end.
I have just had a look on Goodreads and it seems there is a sequel. Given that my copy is a beaten up old one, is there anyone out there who has a copy of the second novel? It looks like these novels haven’t been touched by reviewers anywhere in recent history!

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Review: Dan Gemeinhart – The Honest Truth

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The Honest Truth
Dan Gemeinhart
Mark lives a normal life. He’s got a great friend, a supportive family and a beloved dog. Except, it’s a as normal as someone who is sick all of the time can be normal. Mark knows he’s getting sicker, and maybe he won’t be able to climb any mountains before he dies.
The backstory on this is neatly woven into the text. I didn’t feel like any of it was a step back in time. The novel kept moving inescapably forwards, regardless of what the reader desired. The splits between the two perspectives didn’t feel false, and each break didn’t make me try and skip through the person I wasn’t interested in.
I guess the basis of this novel is the relationship between a man and his dog. A common theme, true, but this is a truly equal partnership, as shown by a couple of points in the novel. In this way, it makes it more relatable to kids who haven’t been so sick, but have owned a pet of their own which makes life so much better.
I’m not sure how I felt about the hiaku poems Mark writes. Sure, they’re neat in a way, but I don’t think it gave me any more insight into his personality. Cryptic notes are good and well,
This novel is either going to be one you are gripped with, or you can’t wait to get away from it. I came from the ‘gripped’ category, but a housemate said she wouldn’t touch it because ‘sob stories aren’t my thing’. I think it’s very unfair to call this novel a sob-story – it felt genuine and gritty and painful. I think what kept me reading was that fact that Mark’s future was really uncertain. His best friend understands what he needs, even if it kills her not to tell.
This is the first middle grade novel I’ve reviewed in a while, and I had to readjust my expectations. once that was done, I really enjoyed it. Maybe 4 stars for me – it’s in the region of novels such as ‘Bridge to Terabithia‘, that would be perfectly readable to its target audience and brings up some important questions to think about in life.

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Review: Paul Collins – Dragonfang

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Paul Collins
Dragonfang
There are five pentagram gems on offer, bringing with them the promise of easily accessing distant worlds – whether that’s to bring back armies or missing companions. Jelindel stars again, but Daretor and Zimak have a role to play in the places they find themselves.
I have similar things to say about this one to the first in the series. Jelindel is starting to feel like a real adult, and Zimak and Daretor are progressing as characters. That being said, the plot is what makes the novel enjoyable, and makes it possible for reluctant reader to get in on the action.
We see the return of the lindraks in this novel, and see what the Deadmoon lindraks have changed. They’re still cut-throat assassins, but some of them are growing conscious of the importance of saving the whole of Q’zar.
Yes it makes sense that Jelindel would want to get her companions back, but seriously, hunting for extremely magical gems at the precise time she needs to? As it is a novel, I guess that’s what I should expect, but I at least want some suspense. Everything is just a little bit too easy (I’m sure Jelindel wouldn’t say the same thing).
This novel seemed like a tag-on to Dragonlinks. It was like the publisher discovered that the first novel was popular, and said, ‘quick, write me a sequel’ without considering whether the first novel should have been a stand alone or was originally designed to be read as one.

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Review: Paul Collins – Dragonlinks

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Dragonlinks
Paul Collins
Jelindel’s family has been murdered, and she is just struggling to survive out in the real world. Throw in a thief and a warrior consumed with honour, and you find that they make an incredible team.Which is good, because they’re trying to hunt down missing links of a chain mail shirt in order to destroy it forever.
The characters are fleshed out nicely, and I was able to empathise with them. The only complaint I continue to have is that the characters don’t really show much growth – particularly Jelindel’s sidekicks. Even Jelindel herself doesn’t change much, except to be more plucky.
Something I truly respect about Jelindel is her search for knowledge for knowledge’s sake. I couldn’t understand why she just didn’t take all the skills from the dragon links! More skills are never a bad thing. Even if she didn’t use the powers (which wouldn’t seem very honourable), they would still be useful to have waiting around. That might have made the following books more exciting in terms of her abilities. Simple binding words get way too much importance – or maybe that the simplest things in life work best.
The plot is quite straightforward, but there are some diversions from the set path that you can’t begin to predict. My partner had trouble getting into it, she’s a slow reader. She commented the beginning was quite slow. I like the beginning! But I’ve always enjoyed simple things like learning lessons and working in an everyday life just for a change.
I have reread this series more than once over the years, but obviously not for 3+ years now! I would choose it as an excellent novel for reluctant female readers, or to a beginning fantasy reader.

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Review: Maggie Stiefvater – Sinner

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Sinner
Maggie Stiefvater
Cole is an appropriately tortured musician with the usual past of drug use and overdoses. The difference is that he has the ability to turn into a werewolf – but only if he uses drugs or gets cold physically. His love from the past doesn’t believe anything of what he says about being clean. Torturing each other and themselves seems to be the way to go when you’re on reality television.
Isabel is all I would hope for in a heroine. She doesn’t take crap from anyone, and she has a firm position in life. Yet at the same time, she has underlying insecurities to make her real. She isn’t as powerful a character as Cole though, despite getting equal air time.
I enjoyed that the novel was written from both perspectives. It kept the book moving, and didn’t feel repetitive. I’m not sure I noticed a difference in tone between the two, but the feelings emanating out of them were distinct, even as they ripped the characters themselves apart.
The characters have flaws, they’re the sort of people you’d expect to find in Hollywood. As far as I could tell though, none of them try to change. I had hoped from more from Sofia, and I just didn’t get it. She doesn’t show any character development, and I think that while that is reasonable, I just didn’t feel comfortable with the way things were left – surely Cole and Isabel could make more of a project of her!
The action progresses almost effortlessly. The writing style is clean and to the point. Stiefvater has nailed the right mix between dialogue and scenery. Once one scene is filled out, you do need to remember what it is – she expects the reader to become engaged with the novel.
I put off reading this book until far after its publication date because I thought it was the 4th book in a series. Instead when I sat down to get through my backlog of novels, I discovered that it was a stand alone. There were hints to the past, that if you hadn’t read the other novels, allowed you to pick up what came before – tantalisingly so you wanted to keep reading to see whether your suspicions were confirmed.
Is this romance? Sort of. but it’s a gritty romance that makes you think you don’t know how it ends, and that, for me, is the best part. 4 stars from me, simply because it’s not a reread. But as a piece of standalone fiction, it’s excellent.

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Review: Valerie Davisson – Shattered

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Shattered
Valerie Davisson
Logan is going to lose her job, she’s lost her music, but at least she has her car. And going back to work at the fairgrounds where she grew up seems like she’s stepping backwards in time. That’s the sort of thing she needs to keep going.
Logan’s relationship with her friends starts out with her being supported still from her husband’s death. Then in turn, she supports them when things get rough. Logan is not a simple character, she keeps growing.
I have to say that in a couple of points in the novel, I was thrown out of the rhythm by some overly descriptive passages, and some rough dialogue. The rest of the time though, it was compelling.
Something I really loved, and that make this book ‘pop’ and remain fascinating the whole way along was that there were several interlocking storylines, and it didn’t feel like the minor ones were put in just for show. It created a real world.
Ben and Logan’s relationship is touching, not too cloying, and it seems very ‘real’. Both are characters in their own right, although Ben could have done with a bit of fleshing out. Nevertheless, it wasn’t overstated and I felt like it fitted in nicely with the other elements of the story.
Something I have to say disappointed me was the title. ‘Shattered’ didn’t really describe the way I felt about Logan’s life. Yeah, she’d had a rough time, but it wasn’t that bad! And ‘Shattered’ didn’t really reflect the murder weapon, although I see now it’s perhaps because there is a focus on glass blowing in this first novel. I didn’t realise it was a series until I googled for an image.
Would I give it 5 stars? I’m not sure, but 4.5 for sure. A nice read, even if mysteries aren’t really your ‘thing’, there are plenty of other elements to keep you reading.
I received this novel for free, in both PDF and paperback formats. As always, my opinions are my own.

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Review: Laylah Hunter – Gabriel’s City

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Gabriel’s City
Laylah Hunter
Colin is a upper class boy with a gambling problem so bad that he can’t go home, and is hunted through the streets. Gabriel is a touched boy who takes a shine to Colin. As Colin’s old life slips away, it’s Gabriel who will take that empty position.
The beginning was a bit of an annoyance for me. I didn’t like the tense it was told in, and I felt like the background information could have been incorporated better. It’s separated into three parts, across the seasons. Although this sounds like a logical order, it’s not actually really related to the seasons. There are several main events.
Gabriel and Drake’s tentative love for each other is both touching and realistic. You don’t realize that Drake has any experience in this area until later in the novel. And Gabriel seems like he might have been abused, but he warms to Drake’s tentative touch. This thread of romance isn’t overdone, it’s just the right amount.
Something that might make some people uncomfortable are the descriptions of sex in the novel, and the straightforward facts of whoring in the slums. I found them well written, without any cloying descriptions, and they actually add something to the characters.
As Colin (Drake) took on the persona more, the character naming was reflected to show that. The entirity of the text is written from Drake’s perspective after all. This was a clever device used by the autho, and I really appreciated it. The transition was so smooth, that I had to double check the ending and beginning to make sure I hadn’t gotten confused!
I sat still for several hours to read this. Once I got in, I couldn’t get back out again. Amazing how a good author can produce such in-depth characters with a sense of pace that won’t let you go.
It’s amazing how much trouble two young men can get into when they set their minds to it. But they’re both really good at their job, as bloody and messy as it is. I can’t even blame Gabriel for being a bit… well, creepily interested in collecting body parts. Most of the targets they are set on deserved their treatment as far as I am concerned.
I was requested to read this novel, and was provided with an ARC. This was in electronic format, but I had such faith in the publishers that I opted to read it.

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