All posts filed under: 3.5 stars

Book Review – Goldenhand by Garth Nix

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Hello, everyone! So amid my flurry of writing job applications, I managed to squeeze in reading the latest installment in one of my FAVOURITE series. Goldenhand is the fifth book in this super awesome series. As normal, with this being a later book in the series, I want to avoid any spoilers of any of the books but you can go read my review on the first book, Sabriel, to find out more about the series, but in a few words it’s about: Magic, Necromancy (both good and bad), bells, and talking animals! I really enjoyed this installment, although Sabriel does still remain my favourite of the series. We get to revisit some of our favourite characters in this book (although perhaps not a much of the talking animals as I would have liked), as well as meeting a new POV character. Some parts of the romance in the book felt just a little too rushed, and just a little out of character (but that could just be my non-romantic cold, cold heart). Unfortunately, this was …

Book Review: The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude

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I was going to wait until my hardcover of this arrived for pretty photography before posting this review, but I’ve become impatient and it seems it’s going to take a while to come as it’s on backorder. What it’s about: The residents of a commune in the Ozarks are terrorized by something coming from the forest at night to mutilate both animals and people. What I thought: First of all, I have to say that this book has a BEAUTIFUL cover, which is what initially drew me to it. I thought it would be a creepy mystery, but it actually had more of a horror vibe to it, and I do love my horror, so that was a bonus. I read this book in less than 24 hours. Once I started I was pretty hooked. Although I really enjoyed this book, it was, in my opinion missing something in that, while it was very readable, it didn’t really make me feel anything. I didn’t really care for any of the characters, as they were all pretty …

Book Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

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“I assumed everything bad in the world could happen, because everything bad in the world already did happen.” I picked this one up fairly soon after finishing Gone Girl because I was just so intrigued with Gillian Flynn’s incredibly writing and the way she sees the world. The way she highlights the stark truths that are right in front of us but we are often too distracted to see.I just needed more of it. What’s it about: Libby Day’s family was brutally murdered when she was seven, suspected as part of a Satanic ritual, and her testimony against her brother, Ben, put him in jail for life. Years later, she meets a group of people obsessed with her family’s murder who believe that Ben is innocent. “It was surprising that you could spend hours in the middle of the night pretending things were okay, and know in thirty seconds of daylight that simply wasn’t so.” What did I think: In true Gillian Flynn fashion, this was a nasty little scab of a book. That is not to …

Book Review + Giveaway: Cypulchre by Joe MacKinnon

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“If you can’t kill the dreamer, kill the dream.” What’s it about: Paul, an exiled, schizophrenic, neuroscientist hacker who invented the CLOUD, a virtual reality internet-like thing that is difficult to explain but is totally bad and has allowed the Outland Corporation to basically control everyone and everything, teams up with some rebels to destroy his creation and save his estranged family (and the rest of humanity). What I thought: I really liked it. It’s got everything from CLOUD addicts and mad-max-esque gangs to tech geniuses and gun-toting men of the cloth, from android strippers, to bionic samurai and even giant insectine war-robots. How can that not be awesome? Paul is an interesting character. Although I didn’t exactly buy his schizophrenia, he was definitely unhinged, and his actions constantly surprised me, and not always in a good way. I would have liked to see a lot more of the other characters though, as well as more of the CLOUD and the world in general. I think it could have been more thoroughly explored. I also …

Book Review: Silvermay by James Moloney

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There comes a time in all young parents lives when they must ask themselves the question: Should I kill my baby for the good of all mankind? for most of us, the answer is most likely ‘probably not’, but for young Silvermay, who finds herself the primary carer of baby Lucien, her answer might just be ‘yes. yes I should.’ What’s it about? When young, beautiful Nerigold goes to work for a Wyrdborn lord (basically sociopaths with magical powers – FUN!) and ends up with no memories of the last few months and a baby in the belly, she, and a mysterious-yet-really-really-ridiculously-good-looking travelling companion claiming to be the Baby Daddy, go on the run to protect her baby from his evil real daddy. When a weakened Nerigold and her newborn, Lucien, literally fall into Silvermay’s lap, ends up being the live-in (or rather on-the-run-with) nanny. And of course she ends up falling for Mr Dream-Boat McFake Baby Daddy. What did I think? So I have been eyeing off this book for quite some time. I mean seriously just …

Book Review: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

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“Someday we will be more than words in the dark.” I have to say that I am in agreement with most of the reviews I’ve read about this book. That up until the 75% mark, this book would have been a solid 2.5 stars. It is the last 25% that bumps this book up to 3.5 stars. What’s it about? A small number of refugees from the kingdom of Winter are trying to reclaim their homeland from the evil Spring kingdom, who killed their queen and enslaved and brutalised all their people. But no one really knows how hard this has been on one of the young refugees, Meira, because trying to save her people is really getting in the way of Meira being Meira. Until she gets a nice hard reality check right in the face, gets over herself and becomes pretty awesome. What did I think? I know my intro might make this book sound bad, and for the first 75% or so of the book, Meira is a whiny, although often hilarious, little brat. But …

Book Review: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

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“Even a book can be dangerous in the wrong hands, and when that happens, you blame the hands, but you also read the book.” What’s it about: In a fantasy universe that is somehow a future version of our universe, but actually nothing like it except that we share some of the same literature, a young girl named Kelsea seeks to reclaim the throne of her kingdom, The Tearling, and free it from the oppressive dominion of the neighbouring country ruled by an evil queen. What I thought: I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews about this book, and I am a bit mixed myself. I loved Kelsea as a character. She was strong, intelligent, knew right from wrong, and had a very realistic hang up about her looks. I have heard so many bad things about how Kelsea felt about her looks from reviewers, and I kind of get the impression that these people are probably attractive themselves. Living in a world that values beauty above nearly anything else, you’re constantly aware that you …