There was a reason that Melina Marchetta launched this book. I think I can safely put up a big sign over Pip Harry’s name that says, “Watch This SpThere was a reason that Melina Marchetta launched this book. I think I can safely put up a big sign over Pip Harry’s name that says, “Watch This Space.”
And because Pip Harry is Australian – instead of being lauded as brilliant and fantasmazeballs, she just gets put in that neat little category of Great Australian Writers like Melina Marchetta, Kirsty Eagar, Markus Zusak, Garth Nix, Shirley Marr, Lucy Christopher and Laura Buzo. I’m sure at least a couple of them aren’t really Australian but we have a tendency of just claiming people as our own – so just go with it.
This was the story of socially awkward Goth girl, Kate, dealing with being kicked out of home, relating to a bunch of boarders and rectifying her home situation whilst dealing with her own crushing insecurities.
It’s about being fifteen and stupid, and lucky, and angry, and confused and frustrated.
What really spoke to me was the brash reality of Kate’s life. Things aren’t just glossed over or purified through a decency filter for the reader. This isn’t about teens hanging out in designer clothes and playing baseball with their parents on a Sunday afternoon. This is about a girl who drinks, who wants to have sex, who has an uncontrollable temper and a difficult personality. And since Harry embraces that truth and rawness of narration, she’s able to induce strong emotional moments between the characters of the novel.
My biggest concern was on the Goth thing. I was concerned that the book would be full of bad poetry and musings about the futileness of happiness. And in the interest of full disclosure, everything I learned about Goths came from Southpark.
[image] It's where I learn most things, to be honest.
But it turns out, like with most things, the label is just a window dressing for an otherwise normal girl dealing with otherwise normal teenage things. She just happens to be Goth while she’s doing it. And even though I still don’t know what that means, I learned a very valuable lesson… don’t piss off Goth people or your intestines will become their floss! Okay, maybe not the lesson you’re supposed to learn, but, whatever.
I enjoyed Pip Harry’s style of narration and the book flows well for the first three quarters. Right up until the last quarter I would have said it was a five star novel. In the last quarter, the narration really slips into denouement mode and becomes very telling and to be honest, both myself and the story weren’t quite ready for that. It’s like when you’re still colouring and your parent/teacher comes along and starts asking you to pack up and you’re like, “Hold it! I’m still going here! THE FOOT ISN’T FINISHED!”
There was still some story left to go but the edge had gone from the novel because we were in the nice, comforting wrap-up phase of storytelling.
If you’re a fan of Aussie novels, Melina Marchetta, heart-warming tales or good times, then I highly suggest you give this one a go.
I have a scale for YA books I read, since I’ve read so many. It looks something like this.
-I hope this book dies. Right now. And takes a 100km radiusI have a scale for YA books I read, since I’ve read so many. It looks something like this.
-I hope this book dies. Right now. And takes a 100km radius with it just to be sure.
-Terrible book
-Not my thing
-Meh
-Yeah that was okay
-Hmmm. Interesting
-I was pleasantly surprised
-Yeah I liked that
-That was a great book
-Wow I loved that book!
-FIZZJERBLEDEEGOOK! That was Freaking AMAZEBALLS!
-I will read that book again
Allow me to lay down some perspective. At this moment I have no fewer than sixty-three ARCs sitting around waiting to be read. I have specifically enough time to scratch my head in bemusement between reading one book, reviewing it, contacting the appropriate people and picking up the next one. I do not have time to reread books. So whilst there are plenty of books that I greatly enjoy and even love, the pool for the number of books I reread is currently at five. Five. This book makes five books I reread.
It is not that it’s a perfect book – but that it is perfect for me. I loved everything about it. Brennan’s writing style, humour, wit and dialogue shines in everything she writes. This book is filled with atmosphere, mood and the perfect level of creepy. It’s characters shine through as it’s strongest advantage. Each independently strong and lovable, Brennan pulls out all the stops in creating a Scooby Gang of epic proportions.
Easily the biggest selling point is Kami and Jared. But mostly Kami. Kami was rocking so hard that I had residual whiplash. Strong, smart, brave – a theme with almost all the women in the novel. She was quirky enough to be cute, independent enough to be admirable, vulnerable enough to be loved – strong enough to lead this novel and stand on her own. Jared with his flawed complexity and bad boy characteristics was lovable and pitiable. I know I have a soft spot for bad boys, but it’s hard not to root for him and hurt for him throughout the novel.
The pacing and plot were pretty much spot on perfect, never getting boring or easing up on the good times which balanced with the action and suspense.
I think this book earned each and every one of those five stars. It earned them hard and I need the next one NOW.
**Original Prereview below**
So I opened the book and by page five I was like:
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And we met Kami and Angela and Ash and Jared and Holy and I was like:
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Then I saw that there was a love triangle and for a minute I was like:
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But not even two pages later I was just like:
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Then the mystery revved up and I was like:
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And then the intrigue and danger and relationships started to evolve and I was like:
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And every time Kami said something hilarious I was like:
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So basically how I feel about this book is that if I had a choice between reading the sequel and a threesome with:
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Then I would probably choose Unspoken #2. Yes. I said it.
And how I feel about the fact that the next one is so far away:
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This is just a temporary review. Keep an eye out for my proper review in August.
Look, it doesn’t really matter what star rating I’d have given this book. Because, at the end of the day, nothing would have been able to take awayLook, it doesn’t really matter what star rating I’d have given this book. Because, at the end of the day, nothing would have been able to take away from how unflappably cool Hannah Moskowitz is. She’s like the genius rockstar of the YA world.
So I guess it’s just a good thing that I completely, truly and irrevocably (I feel Twilight has ruined this word forever) loved this book.
For a book that doesn’t have a giant, action packed plot or complicated message, Gone, Gone, Gone manages to be brilliant in the most understated, replete fashion.
It’s language is simplistic, I’d even go so far as to say MUNDANE, but it’s packed to the brim and even the most inane parts are interesting.
“I’m not an enigma. I’m just talked out, probably permanently. I said all I needed to say when I was a boy made of sticks and radiation and half-digested oatmeal. I don’t feel good. I want to go home. Make it stop. It’s been seven years, and I’m still out of words.”
Well and truly it is the intense characterization of Craig and Lio that make this novel. Clearly Moskowitz doesn’t just do characterization. She DOES characterization. You know. Like, when she writes a character – that character has been written. That character KNOWS it's been written. That character will probably tell all it's friends about that time it was written really well. Then it will compare all other writings to the writing that Moskowitz gave it. Thoroughly.
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I mean, if Craig and Lio had any more personality, oddities and complexities then her characters might just come alive and start trying to murder their creators and Moskowitz would have to hide her status from them forever like that guy in The Solitaire Mystery. Actually, just for good measure, don’t ever get stranded on an island Moskowitz. Especially not a magical island that brings your day dreams to life because then you’re probably screwed.
It’s going to be hard to sell this book. Usually you latch onto something easy like describing a book as being The Hunger Games meets Madame Bovary or some other such nonsense. But it’s a little hard to do that. I could go the easy route and tell you it’s Awesomness meets your mind, or fabulous meets the written word. But that doesn’t really translate well into what this book is about.
But this book is about a lot of things. Mostly it’s about two boys who fall in love while dealing with themselves. Mostly it’s about healing and growing and loving.
Mostly it’s about me kicking your ass if you don’t add it to your TBR list, alright?
[image] There are just a thousand and one uses for this pic!
This is the good thing about Goodreads. When you start reading, the mediocre fare doesn't seem so bad, maybe even enjoyable. But after reading your huThis is the good thing about Goodreads. When you start reading, the mediocre fare doesn't seem so bad, maybe even enjoyable. But after reading your hundredth YA paranormal romance with Mary Sue, Miss Goody-two-shoes, virginal blob, it starts to leave a sour taste in your mouth and a dissatisfying sickness in your gut.
But on Goodreads, you get to learn about books like this. Books you might never have discovered if a friend hadn't reviewed it or someone hadn't recommended it to you.
After all those same books with the same themes and same stories and same characters, I started looking for different books. Amazing books with excellent writing and brilliant execution. Books that shine or burn or blaze their way through your mind. That's what this book was for me.
Marr's writing is raw and spartan, but her imagery is complex and her characters are deeply flawed, interesting and vivid.
Eliza Boans, sixteen year old rich brat and school socialite is in for murder. Why? From the very first page Eliza flashes you her bratty, shallow, vicious personality - daring you to contradict her. But the tale that unfolds shows a different person. She is often unlikeable but never unreadable and this is the distinction that so many authors miss out on.
The tale is gripping, pulled through by the beautiful tapestry of characters and relationships and mystery that surrounds Eliza's fall from grace.
My favourite thing about this book is Marr's ability to translate Eliza's emotions and personality to the reader. She's able to help the reader feel Eliza's rage, her frustration, her loneliness and helplessness.
Also, you get TOTAL hipster points from reading this book - great for trolling.
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*Also, we have an interview with Marr and a giveaway for this book and her new release, Preloved up on our blog....more
*This ARC was provided to me by the publisher. No money or gifts were exchanged for this review.
I want to make it clear that, all in all, this is not *This ARC was provided to me by the publisher. No money or gifts were exchanged for this review.
I want to make it clear that, all in all, this is not a bad book - so much as it's simply not a good book.
Dead of Night is continuation of the forbidden romance between Jesse, an almost vampire, and Catlyn, an almost Van Helsing. And the problem is that this story is almost readable - but like it's two main characters, it just can't seem to go all the way.
I'll try to give an example of what I mean.
"Jesse did even better than that; he set up a table and two chairs behind the back bookcases where we could work without being seen from the front of the shop. Then he carried out the first bin and began unloading it. I rolled up my sleeves and got started on the first tally sheet of the collection.
After he set down the first stack of books, he leaned over and gently touched the abrasion across the back of my wrist. "You hurt yourself.""
Look, you can't find too much technically wrong with the above writing. But, like the vast majority of this book, it's dry! It's bare, it's flavorless - bland. There is no flare, no spark and no passion.
Not between the characters, not in the writing, not in the plot or narrative.
There is nothing technically wrong with Viehl's novel. There's just not very much right about it either....more
Damn you, Leigh Barduga. Damn you for tricking me.
Leigh Barduga is like some kind of literary crouching tiger, hidden dragon or something.
You would beDamn you, Leigh Barduga. Damn you for tricking me.
Leigh Barduga is like some kind of literary crouching tiger, hidden dragon or something.
You would be forgiven, upon commencing this novel, for thinking Shadow and Bone is redundant, cliched piece of tripe book with poor story-telling, average writing and a predictable plot. People who haven't read countless Young Adult novels probably wouldn't notice the trends, but I did. This is what I thought and Leigh led me down the primrose path until... BOOM!
Game change. Glorious, glorious game change. Black is white, up is down, you are not secretly attracted to me. EVERYTHING CHANGES.
Kaching. Lights on. Real show begins and we hope you enjoyed that prelude. Also, while you weren't looking, we falcon-punched your ovaries.
The themes of Shadow and Bone center around power, and the struggle for it. What does it mean? What is it worth? What do you do with it? Also, there's love and romancey stuff for those who care for such things - and who have a functioning heart.
More importantly, for me, was the violence, court intrigue and sexy times of which make up some part of this novel. These aspects were definitely there but they were flirted with. I would have liked more of these and a little less of the boarding-house shenanigans and bitchy-mean girl drama. It was outside these factors that I loved the novel.
It's strengths definitely rely on its characters and powerful storyline because the actual narration and writing tended toward the telling as opposed to showing side.
For example:
Alexei's fingers slipped on the railing. I lunged forward and grabbed his arm.
"Hold on!" I cried.
Then the flame vanished, and in the darkness I felt Alexei's fingers pulled from mine.
"Alexei!" I shouted.
His screams faded into the sounds of battle as the volca carried him into the dark. Another burst of flame lit the sky, but he was gone.
Still, I'm wondering if maybe the things I loved most about Shadow and Bone will be carried on in the next novel. To the very last page I loved the Darkling - not because he was sexy - but for the dark, rawness of his character. The dynamic it played with Alina in how she saw herself. Identity, concepts of misplaced idealism. Lust, love, ownership vs freely given love. It was all there amidst a world-building that was surprisingly lite for this caliber of novel - yet hinted at so much more.
Overall, a great read and I look forward to the next book where Leigh will probably rip out my still-beating heart and feed it to a raging bear while I applaud in amazement. Or, you know, something synonymous....more
If you’re anything like me then you probably spent a great deal of your childhood pool and ocean experiences trying to look like this:
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ItIf you’re anything like me then you probably spent a great deal of your childhood pool and ocean experiences trying to look like this:
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It’s entirely more likely that you looked like a drowned rat because the ocean is a cruel, cruel mistress who only allows us to live so that she can prolong our misery. Just as an aside note, there is a hotel on the top of the Himalayan mountains for those who wish to give a metaphorical “screw you” to mistress ocean. After reading Lies Beneath, that might not seem too radical a notion.
But I get ahead of myself. Calder is a mermaid and along with his mermaid sisters, he meets Lily and wants to date her and get invited home to her family… so they can torture and kill her father.
And then things get dark.
[image] Less lame. More emo. Less leather. More evil. Comparable amounts of eyeliner.
This is not a perfect novel, but what it does do well – it really does well.
For starters, it’s dark. It’s like jaws if the shark were actually scary and could stalk you on land. I’m excluding the concept of landsharks from this review because the terror of such a creature might overwhelm some of my more fragile readers.
The writing is thoughtful, descriptive and very serviceable. My one issue with it was that it didn’t always translate emotion. Sometimes a conversation took place and it was difficult to gage what the characters were thinking or feeling or wanting or hoping. Sometimes a character would say something like, “I’m in the depths of despair!” but it didn’t feel any different to them saying, “I prefer Ben and Jerry’s!”
However, most of the characters I did like and it starts with Lily who is refreshingly pragmatic and not afraid to call a shovel something she’ll use on your fragile skull if you don’t stop stalking me you creepy merman. It always bothered me that Edward Cullen’s (and others like him) behaviour is treated as romantic and swoon-worthy. Lily straight out turns Calder down because he creeps her out. And when she busts him being extra stalkerish, she backs away even more. She doesn’t have an issue saying, “Hey! Thanks for saving my life but you’re a big creeper so I’m going to go shopping with people I know and trust! Laters!”
It’s nice. It’s not the kind of thing you should be in the habit of praising literature for doing, but unfortunately for the current state of YA, we need to.
Calder is a conflicted, interesting character. He’s everything you want in your friendly, neighbourhood psychopath. Handsome, friendly, cocky and able to be redeemed into a non-psychopath.
The whole novel has this dark, murky feel to it. Like every body of water is teeming with death-monsters ready to nibble on your unmentionables. Maybe even like the water itself has it in for you.
Like I said, it’s not perfect. The plot and story could have been a little tighter. However, over all I thought it was an interesting, fun read and I’m curious to see how the rest of the series progresses.
Until then, anyone feel like a swim?
[image] Just let me get my swimsuit. I left it smack in the middle of the Australian Desert. Also, I’m not coming back....more
A list of things I would do if I were in someone else’s body:
*Moon nunneries *Spend a day doing nekkid performance art in illegal locales *Yell atA list of things I would do if I were in someone else’s body:
*Moon nunneries *Spend a day doing nekkid performance art in illegal locales *Yell at people randomly that they can’t handle the truth *Trick various people into skinny dipping with people and then steal their clothes. *Randomly strip on trams and use the pole to dance
A list of things old people would apparently do in my body:
*Drink/Club *Sports *Sex *Bungee Jumping
If anything is representative of the generation gap – I think that is.
[image] See Dad, first I mooned the nuns while a friend took pictures. Then we uploaded the photo to fifteen different social media sites. Then we photoshopped their faces to meme rage faces, loaded it to our blog, monetized it and made a fortune from all the clicks. Now I’ll show you how I paid my own college fund by replying to popular youtube videos and turned a Republican candidate’s name into a euphemism for something you’ll ground me for describing. This is how we have fun!
This is not a bad novel – but nor is it a perfect one.
Price has strengths, which make this book an enjoyable read, but she also has marked weaknesses. It is those weaknesses, unchecked, that ruin an otherwise enjoyable tale.
The story, a futuristic dystopian Body Snatchers of sorts, is a fast paced, thrilling read. It has a great cast of characters, an interesting story-line, and a tight plot.
Price’s strengths lean toward the adrenaline-pumping action, the intriguing plot side of things. Where the novel falls apart is all related to the relationships and how her characters interact.
I’m quite sure Michael plays some pivotal role in a future book – but for this book he felt entirely unnecessary and his relationship with Carlie felt baseless and meaningless.
Similarly, Blake’s reactions and relationship with Carlie felt forced, inauthentic and completely unbelievable. Whatever spark Price wanted us to feel, just wasn’t there for me.
Perhaps the biggest factor that crippled the novel for me was in the M. Night Shyamalan like story telling. Everything was a twist!
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When your villain is always one step ahead, it’s fascinating and exhilarating. When your villain is 2,568 steps ahead, it starts to look a little comical and super villainy with twisty mustache included. Or like the author is giving him inhuman powers of foresight to act as a deus ex machina.
I really, really wanted to like this novel. Despite the low rating, I would be interested in reading the sequel to see where Price takes some of the themes and storylines and to see if she improves on the weaker elements of her writing.
Until then I’ll be over here planking, splanking and plankouring.
[image] My generation makes no sense. Planks can’t parkour!...more
There has been a great discussion in the comments about pulled Fanfictions and whether they are morally reprehensible for their past or should be judgThere has been a great discussion in the comments about pulled Fanfictions and whether they are morally reprehensible for their past or should be judged based on their quality and degree of separation from their source material. Unfortunately this book fails both tests. Yes, it is a reworked fanfiction. I was willing to maybe put that aside if it was good because I remember the relationship dynamic and characters being very different from the source material and, indeed, being very different from any book I'd ever read.
That part is still true - but I'm saved from having a moral dilemma over whether to give this book a high rating or not - because this is not a good book.
I could rattle off the usual. The characters are two dimensional and unconvincing, the plot is a haphazard hodgepodge of nonsense and the writing is mediocre. The exboyfriend was mustache-twirling ridiculous, the three brothers lacked a realistic bond or even respectable backstory. The main female protagonist was laughably incomplete as a character and still managed to be scarily dependent on her boyfriend despite the fact that he was both homeless and mentally-ill.
All of this would usually still leave you with somewhat of an okay story. Readable but nothing spectacular. Unfortunately, the novel's history caught up with it in the least expected the way.
You see, Fanfiction and novels appear on the outside to be similar mediums. Both narratives that span similar lengths from novellas to sprawling epics. Yet, it's in their conception and delivery that makes them markedly different.
A novel is written, edited and then published for public consumption. This hopefully means that the story has been smoothed out and any plotting problems sorted. The consumers receive the book whole and can read it in one sitting. The author then has the luxury of evenly spacing the story arc and gives the book balance.
Fanfictions, are written and published (or updated in the fanfiction world) chapter by chapter. Sometimes the author has a plot worked out but often not. Updating sometimes happens as often as weekly or can stretch out to be several months between updates. As such, readers follow many stories at once and thus the skills of a successful fanfic deviate heavily from a successful novel.
For starters - relationships can not take an entire book to develop. After some general polling a couple of years ago, fanficers reported that they would abandon a story should the main characters not "unite" within 9-11 chapters (considering many fanfics have 30+ chapters, this is a rather short amount of time). Then it's a matter of dragging the story along for awhile until people start to get bored. In the last five chapters or so, fanfiction authors tend to shit out a resolution, wash their hands of it and move on.
This is exactly what happens in Poughkeepsie. The couples mostly resolve their issues and are happily together. There is a visible moment in the story when the author shits herself, realizes she needs a tidy way to resolve the plot and then sets about creating a ridiculous ending.
What I had hoped was that this novel, when pulled, would be seriously - and with great consideration - edited into a respectable piece. In this I was disappointed. I can't see anything new or different from the Fanfic. I would go through my version to see if the author has done anything more than find and replace the names, but I can't be bothered.
The chance I had been willing to give this novel is now squandered. I guess now we'll never be able to know what brilliant argument I would have come up with to justify the morality in its publishing. Which is a shame. I love arguing.
There is something ineffably magical about Marillier’s novels. There are precious few authors, in my opinion, who create as earnest a fantasThere is something ineffably magical about Marillier’s novels. There are precious few authors, in my opinion, who create as earnest a fantasy environment replete with mysticism and magic as Marillier does.
I feel a little embarrassed and ashamed. I was desperate for this book. After loving Wildwood Dancing and Heart’s Blood with a fiery passion, I was sure I’d adore this one too.
The first thing that you should know about Shadowfell is that it’s not as much the same ilk as Wildwood Dancing and Heart’s Blood. It’s closer to her Daughter of the Forest series in tone and story telling though less adult. The second thing you should know is that the pace and story telling of this novel is even slower than that of Daughter of the Forest. If you’re not familiar with Marillier’s prior work then you will need to consider where the aspects of Lord of the Rings series in which Sam and Frodo were walking to Mordor were something you enjoyed as a reader. If they weren’t then I would highly advise you give this a skip. In fact, if you’re not a fan of walking in general then give this book a skip – there was a lot of damn walking in this book. A LOT.
Whilst the prose and characters and suspense made up for a lot of the stagnation in plot – it didn’t always feel enough to carry the novel enough for me to give it four stars. Neryn’s character in particular gave me great pause. Marillier’s female protagonists are often strong, capable, wise and dignified. That’s just the way she writes them and I love her for that. But Neryn lacked the spark of personality, of substance that I usually enjoy. She has no real flaws – unless you count not being able to trust a man who she has no reason to trust (I call that common sense). Perhaps she has a whole breadth of character that we haven’t seen yet. I don’t know. This novel doesn’t afford her to show much since she lives in a constant state of survival mode.
Over all, I would still pick this novel up over a whole host of novels, but for a Marillier novel, I felt a tad let down. I’m hoping the next in the series shall rectify that and contain a great deal less walking.
*This book was provided to me by the publisher....more
Shatter Me, otherwise known as: When Creative Writing Class Goes Wrong.
I am all for experimental writing, for stretching your abilities anShatter Me, otherwise known as: When Creative Writing Class Goes Wrong.
I am all for experimental writing, for stretching your abilities and trying to find fresh ways to express ideas. Occasionally you end up with genius, but most of the time you result in pretentious, awkward prose that stick in the proverbial craw of readers. This book is that writing. There are plenty of examples that I can give as evidence – but I shall stick with two relatively short ones:
“His eyes scan the silhouette of my structure and the slow motion makes my heart race. I catch the rose petals as they fall from my cheeks, as they float around the frame of my body, as they cover me in something that feels like the absence of courage.”
The absence of courage? Are you fucking kidding me? We have a word for that. I believe that is almost the dictionary definition of the word coward. I would explain what was wrong with the rest of the paragraph too but I want to keep this review to a 10,000 word thesis at max.
“I always wonder about raindrops.
I wonder about how they’re always falling down, tripping over their own feet, breaking their legs and forgetting their parachutes as they tumble right out of the sky toward an uncertain end.”
…right.
I get, artistically, that Mafi wanted to expose her readers to the mind of a girl whose sanity is fragile and questionable, and that she’s trying to show this through the prose. I don’t think the effect works or is done particularly well. I think the workings of a troubled mind would result in more than bad analogies and a bunch of numbers. Despite the fact that Juliette’s backstory and premise is interesting, we still end up with the same mundane, cookie-cutter heroine that can be seen in the vast majority of Young Adult literature. The only thing insane about this novel is how predictable and trite it is.
[image] It would not be completely unreasonable to question my sanity in regards to reading Young Adult novels.
When are popular young adult authors going to provide more to the characterization of their main protagonists than: Irresistible, unique outsider, in love with a guy?
Can’t male protagonists have other qualities than: in love with main character, hot, tragic backstory to illicit excessive brooding?
The entire premise of Shatter Me promised something different and new. Yet we still end up with the same bland old fare.
The plot and pacing is awkward and cumbersome. Even when situations are supposed to be tense, there is a sense of boredom and predictability. I feel sad that this is yet again, another disappointing dystopian Young Adult novel that will join its sisters in the Mediocre Hall of I Can’t Be Stuffed.
But, if you do decide to visit, at least you get a free shirt!
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One last thing (view spoiler)[– the ending? That pissed me off the most! Xavier’s school for Mutants in Rebellion of the Oppressive Dystopian Régime? FML! And the suit, using that word loosely, that they provide for her at the end? Yeah, that’s great…
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Doesn’t EVERY woman look at this suit and just say to themselves, “Yes! I can’t wait to wear this! This doesn’t objectify me as a woman, degrade me as a human being and make an embarrassment out of everyone involved. Not. At. All.
My first inclination upon finishing Night Beach is to flood my review with several happy, dancing gifs. [image] Yeah, that will do.
That would be a helluMy first inclination upon finishing Night Beach is to flood my review with several happy, dancing gifs. [image] Yeah, that will do.
That would be a helluva lot easier than trying to express why and how I loved this book so much.
However, allow me to give you some very valid reasons to read this book:
1. Eagar is an extremely promising Australian author. 2. This book is blurbed by Melina Marchetta for a reason. 3. I told you to.
Not everyone is going to completely get Night Beach. Eagar's style is both raw and brutal, showing no mercy. Her characters, so real, tangible and lovingly created, are stripped bare for her audience. Nothing is hidden or glossed over. No emotion is withheld and no reality is too stark to express.
At first Abbie seems an unlikable character, but her self-awareness and patheticness lends her a touch of palatability. But there is a depth and strength to Abbie that becomes increasingly evident as the book progresses. At first you think Abbie's obsession is like Call of Duty Nazi Zombies - endless and a little pointless but you can't stop yourself. But Abbie has so much growth, so much passion and so much heroism that she was almost addicting.
Kane was... Kane. Kane was many young, stupid Australian boys that I've met and Eagar's ability to capture the young, male Australian specimen for display here is almost a feat of genius. I think the brilliance of Eagar's writing for Night Beach is her ability to mirror a longing in the audience that is reminiscent of Abbie's own feelings and obsession. Those brief flashes of something worthwhile and lovable in Kane which are briefly littered through out the novel. It keeps you hoping that maybe, just maybe he'll be good enough for Abbie. Maybe one day he'll be all she wants and needs from him.
If I were to describe Eagar's prose as ambitious and artistic, some readers may have horrifying Shatter Me flashbacks. This is a different kind of ambitious and artistic. Phoebe North, I believe, said it best in her review when she wrote:
"I believe that the onus is on the writer to earn our trust in their mastery over prose. I never was quite convinced that Mafi was the master here; her writing was just too imprecise, connoting all the wrong things (and clearly not intentionally) entirely too often."
[image] In other words: your language seems pretty but, on reflection, is stupid, painful and nonsensical.
This sentiment, and her entire review, I completely agree with. Happily, it is not the case with Night Beach. Eagar's language is descriptive and powerful, but it is also precise and Eagar wields it with precision and great skill. I wanted to find an example of Eagar's skill and the tightness of her prose. But her language is so understated and appropriate for the narrative that excerpts simply don't do it as much justice. The plot issues I had with Raw Blue were nonexistent here. The book felt complete and entirely satisfactory in its ending. What's more is that it made sense and was true to the themes and the characters.
Perhaps the best part of all this? Kirsty Eagar has joined with Melina Marchetta and they are both now my favouritest authors ever. They both live in Sydney. Guess where I live and what I'll be doing now?
You know when people keep talking about a book. Lah, this is fantastic! OMG, you have to read this! If you don’t read this I’ll shank you and playYou know when people keep talking about a book. Lah, this is fantastic! OMG, you have to read this! If you don’t read this I’ll shank you and play hackeysack with your kidneys!
The usual…
This is one of those books. I was cruelly declined on netgalley so had mostly buried it in my TBR pile and forgotten about it until people started terrorizing me with demands to read it.
Oh am I so bloody happy I did! I loved this book! I stayed up most of the night to read it! It wasn’t perfect, of course. There are several things I might have liked to be changed about it but I feel the characterization of the two main protagonists was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and the story.
There’s really not much for me to do here. I mostly just want to find everyone else who read this book and give them the highest of fives.
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I mean… yeah, if you want to get technical, it annoyed me that all the antagonists were women (and that there were only two positive female characters outside of the main protagonist) and they were all horrible people. That breeding of distrust for the sisterhood always raises my hackles and most people won’t be bothered by that. I would have liked the atmosphere of New Beijing to feel more… atmospherey, ya know? The actual location felt a little under developed in that regards. Sure I don’t expect every sentence would be filled with reminders to the location but I wanted to feel the city and the people and the world – which I often didn’t.
I hope there’s more cyberpunk in the next one. Hovercars, screens, id bracelets, androids and cyborgs is cool but let’s amp up the imagination! Let’s build that world and make it even more fantasmagorical!
But mostly, Meyer is seriously on my shitlist for that ending! I can’t believe I have to wait until Scarlet! SO UNFAIR!
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How could you?! Do you hate us? Are you trying to punish us? What, oh WHAT did we ever do to deserve the agony of having to wait for Scarlet?
I may never forgive. Unless, ya know, Scarlet is REALLY awesome.
I need to take a moment to do something before beginning this review.
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Stormdancer is a fantasy nerdgasm, written by a fantasy nerd, for tI need to take a moment to do something before beginning this review.
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Stormdancer is a fantasy nerdgasm, written by a fantasy nerd, for the fantasy nerds – and if it sounds like I just pilfered some of the Gettysburg address then that’s because Abraham Lincoln riding a grizzly bear was just about the only damn thing missing from this book.
[image] Image by Rando
Subsequently my life is now complete.
Stormdancer is a world one step removed from our own. Imagined as a Japan with Steampunk technology and alternate history, choking the life out of itself by growing and harvesting the Blood Lotus – which fuels all their mechanical marvels. And then there’s Yukiko. Daughter of the Hunt Master, subject of the terrifying and cruel Shogun, impure yokai-kin sent on an impossible mission to find the mythical griffin and capture it for the Shogun.
Things I liked about Stormdancer:
Buruu
The Writing
Yukiko
World-Building
Buruu
Michii
Kasumi
Buruu
Buruu
and
Buruu
Obviously the scene stealer of this novel is Buruu. Proud, funny, vicious, blood-thirsty and beautiful. But characters aren’t enough to breath life into a novel. What Stormdanver has is the near-perfectly constructed prose which transform this beautiful narrative into a sprawling epic. Kristoff’s style is rich, whimsical and near lyrical in his form and structure. Novice’s to fantasy may either get swept away or drown if it’s too deep for their skill level.
Clearly a great deal of tender loving care has gone into Kristoff’s stunning debut, as visible from every single page labored with meaty lore, obsessive detail and great imagination. Some may enjoy the subtle, or not so subtle, nods to other fantasy and science fiction that litter this book. The plot and pacing keep up a steady stream of interest and enthusiasm, I felt. Making this book exceptionally readable and enjoyable.
And now that I have gotten all the obligatory serious discussion and annoying stuff that I have to do to be taken seriously as book blogger out of the way, may I just mention one, juvenile thing that I rather enjoyed:
[image] Original picture by Cory Doctorow – alteration based on Darkstarz
All the jizzworthy toys. Yes! Great characters, writing, world-building, plot, pacing, blah-blah-blah… GIVE ME MY CHAINSAW KATANA, KRISTOFF!
The mechanized armor and sky ships and CHAINSAW FUCKING KATANAS and tattoos and the hundred other little Steampunk-y ideas that filled this novel up and made it stand out above the rest! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT!
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Ah… erm, that is all…
Buy this book. Buy it and read it and love it. Then make me a chainsaw Katana.
This is one of those books where the author carefully paints and dresses each of her dolls with delicacy and precision. Then she painstakingly appliesThis is one of those books where the author carefully paints and dresses each of her dolls with delicacy and precision. Then she painstakingly applies her marionette strings, lowers them to the stage, and starts the music. The audience watches in polite interest. The puppets move this way and that, dancing out their little, unremarkable performance. As a trick of the light, one by one the strings disappear and the little puppets move more and more like real people.
Before you know it, Gelbwasser has her little strings attached to you, and you feel each tug and release with sharp clarity. She writes like a true author of tragedies. It's all mistaken identities, ill-fated timing and misunderstanding. Oftentimes this can feel forcefully contrived and ridiculous plot-forwarding. But not with Pieces of Us. Instead it just felt real. Unfortunate but unavoidable and completely understandable. Each character is driven by a different need and that need is always their downfall. Do they all manage to pick themselves up at the end? I won't say. Should they have? I'm torn with that question.
This novel has a great deal of sexual content. It's a lucky thing that I'd already read Taming the Beast:by Emily Maguire. Otherwise, I don't think I would have made it through Pieces of Us with all its content.
I took issue, though, with the novels depiction of what occurs to Katie. It's a very raw, disgusting, horrifying moment in the book, and it just keeps getting worse and more graphic. Yet a male character suffers a similar fate and the author offers him the privacy and dignity of not even mentioning it. Why does he get this consideration when Katie is opened up bare? All her shame revealed and smeared around for the reader to see and judge? It feels grossly unfair. It felt cheapening. Is it more horrific and terrible if it happens to a man? Or is it just that, as a society, we're numbed to the horror of violence and sexual degradation to women?
It's hard to discuss the quality of writing in this novel. The author switches between four distinct personalities. Some of the voices worked better than others but none truly felt disengenious. Some of the writing is very telling as opposed to showing, but Gelbwassa managed to pull me in anyway.
I was completely absorbed by the dance and entirely at Gelbwassa's mercy. She almost had me. Almost. Then, just before the finishing line, the lights came on, the music stopped and I saw a tangle of strings and lifeless puppets. I felt empty, hollow, confused. I'm not sure the ending did the rest of the story justice, but when I close my eyes I can still see the silhouette from the dancing and the music still plays in my mind. I guess that still means it was a good book for me. Not to confuse my metaphors, but if Gelbwasser works on her dismount in the future, then I'll happily read any book she puts out....more
Grave Mercy is the improbable tale of an assassin-y murder-nun, Ismae, on a mission to rescue the Duchess of Brittany from a fate worse than death – aGrave Mercy is the improbable tale of an assassin-y murder-nun, Ismae, on a mission to rescue the Duchess of Brittany from a fate worse than death – a really disgusting old, pervert man. She’s joined along the way by a studly lord-type person, Duval, in order to defeat evil (the French), crown the Duchess, and get laid. So on the positive side there’s court intrigue, crossbows, britches untied and skirts hitching and all those kinds of shenangians. And given those facts, you would be forgiven for thinking that this is your average bodice ripper with all it’s stripped-to-the-shift, sexy occupational hazards of the 16th century, man-rooty goodness (…or badness?) But this is actually a YA novel, which makes it awkward because it actually reads far more like it should have this cover:
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Look, you can’t just clean up an historical romance, put it through the wash, cut out all the descriptive sex and relabel it YA. It doesn’t work like that. The result is an Historical Romance without any sex - and you’ve just removed the one reason why I WOULD read a Historical Romance. They tried to do that with that Pirates porn movie. The director loved it so much he cut out the sex and rereleased it as a feature movie. But YOU STILL HAVE A PORN MOVIE! There’s just no three way pirate sex scenes to off-put the fake books, stilted dialogue, ridiculous non-sensical story-lines… actually, it sounds like I AM describing Pirates of the Carribean – so let’s just move on.
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The premise was very interesting and I think the idea was most noteworthy. There’s nothing much to complain about with LaFever’s writing and stylistic choices in that regard. But it’s the plot and the pacing that is its biggest let down.
Quite early in this novel we see the plot mostly dry up and the fantasy of a badass killer-nun seems to be unattainable as we’re left with a soggy romance that never feels quite convincing. Certainly, both characters are likable and work well together as a team. But the actual romance is never particularly breathtaking or impassioned. Which would be fine if the movie had more throat-cutting and less awkward moments where the two main characters almost kiss.
The mystery is laughably easy to deduce which, for me, just added to a rather average reading fare. I recommend this book to those that like the idea of assassin-nuns without dealing with the mess and teenagers who want a gateway book to the historical romance genre.
I thought it was illegal to fail this hard without a permit.
I mean, if it were possible for a book to despise humanity and turn against people in genI thought it was illegal to fail this hard without a permit.
I mean, if it were possible for a book to despise humanity and turn against people in general, this would be its first step down the path to villainy.
This book is how they torture state secrets out of spies.
Reading this was like using a pineapple for a prostate exam.
In all honesty, it's not like there was a shortage of female protagonists who could charitably be described as useless, pathetic twats. I think Janie almost takes the cake as Queen of the Oxygen Thieves. I'd say she's more useless than someone who uses a Masterball on a Magikarp. She couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag if she had a map, GPS, and all her enemies were bunnies. Dead bunnies. If Kai wasn't there to wipe her ass for her, she stab herself with the toilet seat.
Her idea of a clever plan is to check both ways before getting stabbed with a knife.
I made it approximately halfway through the book in which she'd had about half a dozen fights with the supernatural. She didn't make it through a single one of them without Kai mysteriously showing up to rescue her. She's supposedly been trained since childhood for this position - presumably by the people who keep greenlighting Eddie Murphy movies, based entirely on the amount that Janie fails.
I guess what I was expecting was that someone who had spent years training as a feared warrior would be... competent? Able? Spend far less time on her ass watching other people do her job?
Kai was your requisite mysterious, dangerous, love interest. If you mistake him for a shadowy handpuppet reflection on your livingroom wall then you're not alone.
The writing is enough to make you weep with how disjointed, poorly structured and stagnant it is. The concept is convoluted and, frankly, laughably dumb. This is the cheesiest, silliest, worst homage to Buffy I've ever read. I had to check to see if it was trying to be ironic but, sadly, this was an honest attempt at story telling.
The only positive thing I have to say about this one?
Mary O'Hara is a sharp and cheeky 12-year-old Dublin schoolgirl who is bravely facing the fact that her beloved Granny is dying. But Granny can't let Mary O'Hara is a sharp and cheeky 12-year-old Dublin schoolgirl who is bravely facing the fact that her beloved Granny is dying. But Granny can't let go of life, and when a mysterious young woman turns up in Mary's street with a message for her Granny, Mary gets pulled into an unlikely adventure. The woman is the ghost of Granny's own mother, who has come to help her daughter say good-bye to her loved ones and guide her safely out of this world. She needs the help of Mary and her mother, Scarlett, who embark on a road trip to the past. Four generations of women travel on a midnight car journey. One of them is dead, one of them is dying, one of them is driving, and one of them is just starting out.
This succeeded very well for what it was - a sweet little generational story about four Irish women. If you're expecting more than that then you're going to be disappointed. If you don't like dialogue then stay far, far away. In fact, that summary up there? That is this entire book save twenty-ish pages. It doesn't get more complicated than that.
However, this book is effortlessly charming and sweet. Mary, truly is a witty, cheeky, little girl and her conversations with her mother, grandmother and ghostly great-grandmother are very amusing. The strength of these four powerhouse characters is what keeps this novel together.
I did have some issues with the book though. Some of the dialogue is downright nonsensical and this book should come with a warning for gratuitous use of punctuation.
Mary's mother, Scarlett, talks like this for most of the novel:
"Mary!" It was her mother. "How was school?!" "Stupid." She went straight past her mother, into the hall. "What's your hurry?!" "I'm starving."
It's not long before Mary says what we're all thinking.
"Great idea!" said her mother. "Stop talking like that," said Mary. "Like what?!" "Like !!!!!!!!!!!! [sic]" "Oh, no!" said her mother ,[sic] whose name was Scarlett. "I don't talk like that! Do I?!"
Note to Mary's mother: Yes, you do.
But serious question to Doyle, how do you even pronounce twelve exclamation marks? Every time I read it, because this is not the only time Mary uses a ridiculous amount of exclamation marks in lieu of a word, all I saw was someone pulling the human equivalent of this expression:
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It eventually made for some cute dialogue, but that didn't negate the original headache my editor brain gave me while reading this.
I suppose this book, as cute and fun as it was to read, only got three stars because I couldn't quite see the point of it. Mary doesn't grow or change in any remarkable way other than to appreciate her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother - which she already mostly did. With so much dialogue, most of it unnecessary, it was easy to get immersed in the characters, but not so much in the story. It took me a long time to read a very short book. Once I put it down, I felt no compulsion to pick it up again.
It was a short and sweet story, but rather like the many exclamation marks, I'm not sure I entirely saw the point or truly grasped their meaning. ...more
This certainly is fun in that Randall's personal style comes through very strongly. But don't be fooled, folks. This book ain't all about Honey Badgers - though their badassery can't be denied - it contains a few other unique species. There are many, many photos as well as a run down on each unique little animal. And there are a few unique guys in here. Maybe because I'm all the way from Australia - but I was completely oblivious to this little bundle of cutosity:
[image] Pink Fairy Armadillo says, "Take me home! But only in your hearts... because I'm endangered so you should totes protect my environment. Just sayin'.
Yet this book isn't just about mocking animals and amusing ourselves with their weird-ass, crazy ways and looks. It's a conservation effort. Every animal mentioned in this book is endangered - most of them critically. A few of them I've scarcely ever heard of.
My one critique of an otherwise funny gag book would be that there were a couple of factual errors that annoyed me. Only, I can't be sure they were intentional for the use of humour, or earnest mistakes.
Otherwise, this is certainly an amusing read. Not that the Honey Badger cares whether I approve or not. Because, if I've learned anything, it's that Honey Badger's don't give a shit.
[image] Because I can't help myself when it comes to teh cute!"...more
Kat Kennedy
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