Casiopeia Tun has an unenviable life. Taken in by her mother's wealthy family after the death of her father her mother and her are treated like servants rather than family. As you would expect this doesn't quash her spirit, it just makes her dream of the day she can escape her controlling family and get away to the city where Jazz Babies with their flashing ankles and shingled hair dance to fast music, swim in the ocean and drive automobiles. When her grandfather punishes her by making her stay home instead of joining the monthly pilgrimage to the Cenotes she lets her inquisitive nature take hold and opens the mysterious traditional Mayan decorated trunk in his room. Like Pandora before her this brings disaster upon her and her family. Rather than releasing the ills of the world it releases Hun-Kame, an ancient God who was imprisoned by his twin brother Vucub-Kame with the assistance of her grandfather. Cue a race across Mexico to retrieve Hun-Kame's missing ear, finger, jade necklace and eye and an ultimate showdown on the Black Road of Xibalba between the brothers and also Casiopeia and her cousin Martin Leyva.
Unfortunately, for me the telling was all a little pedestrian and I found it very difficult to really care about any of the characters within it. There is an attempt at characterisation but I never really got a sense of any of the protagonists as anything more than ciphers on a page. The exception to this was Martin Leyva, despite his obvious flaws he was the only one that really came across as a person beyond the page. This was quite a surprise as the majority of the book is told from Casiopeia's point of view and we only hear from Martin a handful of times. It seems that these were enough to give the impression of a boy floundering in to manhood and struggling to find his place both within the familt hierarchy and the larger world.
The mythology that forms the basis of the book is well described and I did find it quite informative about Mayan beliefs. It only really deals with the Lords of Death and their realm of Xibalba but it was well explained whilst treading the fine line between treating the reader like an idiot or assuming they already knew these creation tales. I did find it quite startling how similar to other belief systems these tales and locations where as I knew very little about Mayan civilization (apart from ritual human sacrifice).
The story itself is more of a romance mixed with a coming of age for a young woman of impecunious means. Not really what I was expecting from the blurb. Overall this was just an okay read.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM THE PUBLISHER.
Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Thursday, 8 August 2019
Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard
3.5 Stars
As is now a fairly standard trope the story starts with a murder and then works in a timeline of events to get to it. Although there is an awful lot of jumping around within the story between pre and post the cataclysmic event and this actually works to the tale's detriment. It all gets very confused, very quickly and the vast cast of characters don't help.
Unfortunately, as soon as one particular is introduced you know exactly who murdered the ill-fated Natalie Marie O'Connor Kerr and you even know why. As this happens about a third of the way through the book it sort of ruins the rest of it a little. The huge cast doesn't help matters, especially as they all seem to get to have their point of view immortalised on the page. I can see how this was intended to disperse and then build tension but it just wasn't taut enough to achieve this - a firmer editorial hand was required methinks.
None of the characters is particularly strong and there are A LOT of characters to get to grips with. Some of them serve a genuine story purpose, others are there merely as padding (or so it seemed to this reader) and others are clearly there to act as red herrings. Unfortunately, none of them really managed to capture my imagination or even break out of their two dimensional paper prison. The nearest one was Andrew but even he became a series of cliches rather than a real person.
Focused around the disappearance of Instagram Influencer Natalie O'Connor and fledgling journalist Audrey Coghlan's attempts to investigate the reader is taken from a vibrant Dublin to the bleak coastal town of Shanamore. The difference between the two locations is stark and does work quite well. The settings are probably the best bit of the book and have a life that the characters simply don't have.
Ultimately, this was a somewhat disappointing read that didn't really conceal any surprises. It does try to raise topical themes (such as The Dark Web and Influencers) but in a fairly superficial way that leave the story stranded at that Shanamore high tide line.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK SUPPLIED BY READERS FIRST.
As is now a fairly standard trope the story starts with a murder and then works in a timeline of events to get to it. Although there is an awful lot of jumping around within the story between pre and post the cataclysmic event and this actually works to the tale's detriment. It all gets very confused, very quickly and the vast cast of characters don't help.
Unfortunately, as soon as one particular is introduced you know exactly who murdered the ill-fated Natalie Marie O'Connor Kerr and you even know why. As this happens about a third of the way through the book it sort of ruins the rest of it a little. The huge cast doesn't help matters, especially as they all seem to get to have their point of view immortalised on the page. I can see how this was intended to disperse and then build tension but it just wasn't taut enough to achieve this - a firmer editorial hand was required methinks.
None of the characters is particularly strong and there are A LOT of characters to get to grips with. Some of them serve a genuine story purpose, others are there merely as padding (or so it seemed to this reader) and others are clearly there to act as red herrings. Unfortunately, none of them really managed to capture my imagination or even break out of their two dimensional paper prison. The nearest one was Andrew but even he became a series of cliches rather than a real person.
Focused around the disappearance of Instagram Influencer Natalie O'Connor and fledgling journalist Audrey Coghlan's attempts to investigate the reader is taken from a vibrant Dublin to the bleak coastal town of Shanamore. The difference between the two locations is stark and does work quite well. The settings are probably the best bit of the book and have a life that the characters simply don't have.
Ultimately, this was a somewhat disappointing read that didn't really conceal any surprises. It does try to raise topical themes (such as The Dark Web and Influencers) but in a fairly superficial way that leave the story stranded at that Shanamore high tide line.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK SUPPLIED BY READERS FIRST.
The Bastille Spy by C. S. Quinn
Attica Morgan is one heck of a heroine. She may be from the wrong side of the tracks and not at all at home in London's High Society but her paternity means that is where she belongs. Strong, smart and with an overwhelming sense of justice nothing is going to stop Attica and her Mangbetu knife. Throw in a spy ring, a pirate and an impenetrable prison and you know you are in for a bumpy and breathtaking ride.
The book takes you from Empress Catherine's Russia to the salons of London; from the parliament buildings of Westminster to an elegant Pirate rig; from the streets of Revolutionary Paris to houses of ill repute; from the plaster mines under Paris to the very heart of the Bastille. Attica never stops for long and drags the reader tearing along with her.
There is just enough historical accuracy thrown in to the mix to give the story a nice edge of veracity. Certainly the tension on the French streets is well realised on the page and there is a genuine sense of peril. I particularly loved Robespierre's misunderstanding of the codenames - even so early in the book that gave me a little chuckle (although for some reason my mind kept going to The Black Fingernail rather than The Scarlet Pimpernel).
The plot swoops along at a fair old lick and you do need to pay attention to keep up. There is a little bit of switching up the points of view going on so you do get to hear directly from Robespierre (actually, he is quite sympathetically drawn in the book and not the cardboard cutout villain that he easily could have been). There are also little sections narrated by the duped Grace Elliott but the majority of the tale is told by Attica. This is no bad thing as she is a fun, and flawed, character with a strong voice that comes alive in your mind as you read.
There are some strongly realised action scenes, particularly when you toss Jemmy in to the mix and the assault on the Bastille is both highly enjoyable and perilous. Loved the swooping from on high in true piratical fashion.
This was a fun story that gave me an awful lot of pleasure in it's reading.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
The book takes you from Empress Catherine's Russia to the salons of London; from the parliament buildings of Westminster to an elegant Pirate rig; from the streets of Revolutionary Paris to houses of ill repute; from the plaster mines under Paris to the very heart of the Bastille. Attica never stops for long and drags the reader tearing along with her.
There is just enough historical accuracy thrown in to the mix to give the story a nice edge of veracity. Certainly the tension on the French streets is well realised on the page and there is a genuine sense of peril. I particularly loved Robespierre's misunderstanding of the codenames - even so early in the book that gave me a little chuckle (although for some reason my mind kept going to The Black Fingernail rather than The Scarlet Pimpernel).
The plot swoops along at a fair old lick and you do need to pay attention to keep up. There is a little bit of switching up the points of view going on so you do get to hear directly from Robespierre (actually, he is quite sympathetically drawn in the book and not the cardboard cutout villain that he easily could have been). There are also little sections narrated by the duped Grace Elliott but the majority of the tale is told by Attica. This is no bad thing as she is a fun, and flawed, character with a strong voice that comes alive in your mind as you read.
There are some strongly realised action scenes, particularly when you toss Jemmy in to the mix and the assault on the Bastille is both highly enjoyable and perilous. Loved the swooping from on high in true piratical fashion.
This was a fun story that gave me an awful lot of pleasure in it's reading.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
No One's Home by D. M. Pulley
3.5 Stars
This was a pretty good book that, initially, certainly ratcheted up the tension. With multiple storylines centred around the history of the sprawling Rawlingswood mansion. It seems that the house is plain old bad news and that nobody has ever been happy here - well, almost nobody.
For me, it was just a shame that the final reveal felt like a bit of a cop out. From the identity of the shadowy girl that seems to be haunting the mansion and the Spielman's to the secret, literally, buried in the garden. By the time I got to the end I was pretty much just reading to complete the book rather than to find out what happened. It didn't help that the majority of the book was set in the present day and centred around the Spielman's - a dislikeable pair of parents and a pretty standard teenage boy. To be entirely fair Hunter is the best of the three but Myron and Margot are unlikeable characters, I get the whole tragedy has shaped them thus thing but wow, what a pair.
The whole is interspersed with flashbacks to various inhabitants who have all met with various tragedy under the roof of Rawlingswood. All except the Bells; seems they had a pretty good shot at living there on the whole. It just never really seemed to settle in to a cohesive whole and left me feeling a little blah about the whole thing. The identity of the shadowy figure was flagged way too early on and I did find it hard to generate any sort of enthusiasm for the haunted aspect of the book.
Far too much gets thrown in to the story somehow and there is little doubt in my mind that all the history of the town and the land is a distraction to the actual tale. It may have helped if Hunter and his friend Caleb didn't keep mentioning the film Poltergeist as a touchstone for what was happening in the house - to then have a similar plot point roll out just made me roll my eyes somewhat.
Not a bad novel but it failed to grip me as much as I would have anticipated.
This was a pretty good book that, initially, certainly ratcheted up the tension. With multiple storylines centred around the history of the sprawling Rawlingswood mansion. It seems that the house is plain old bad news and that nobody has ever been happy here - well, almost nobody.
For me, it was just a shame that the final reveal felt like a bit of a cop out. From the identity of the shadowy girl that seems to be haunting the mansion and the Spielman's to the secret, literally, buried in the garden. By the time I got to the end I was pretty much just reading to complete the book rather than to find out what happened. It didn't help that the majority of the book was set in the present day and centred around the Spielman's - a dislikeable pair of parents and a pretty standard teenage boy. To be entirely fair Hunter is the best of the three but Myron and Margot are unlikeable characters, I get the whole tragedy has shaped them thus thing but wow, what a pair.
The whole is interspersed with flashbacks to various inhabitants who have all met with various tragedy under the roof of Rawlingswood. All except the Bells; seems they had a pretty good shot at living there on the whole. It just never really seemed to settle in to a cohesive whole and left me feeling a little blah about the whole thing. The identity of the shadowy figure was flagged way too early on and I did find it hard to generate any sort of enthusiasm for the haunted aspect of the book.
Far too much gets thrown in to the story somehow and there is little doubt in my mind that all the history of the town and the land is a distraction to the actual tale. It may have helped if Hunter and his friend Caleb didn't keep mentioning the film Poltergeist as a touchstone for what was happening in the house - to then have a similar plot point roll out just made me roll my eyes somewhat.
Not a bad novel but it failed to grip me as much as I would have anticipated.
The Cactus by Sarah Haywood
I'm not entirely sure if I enjoyed this book or not.
It is certainly very well written. It certainly has strong characters. It has a believable(ish) plot that moves fairly smoothly.
However, I did find that I couldn't actually read for more than an hour without having to put it down and go and do something else. I'm not entirely sure why this was but it was perhaps more to do with Susan's character than anything else - abrasive doesn't begin to even cover it. Sadly, I did recognise myself in a lot of Susan - particularly when at work and her desire to generally avoid human to human interaction. Maybe this just made it all cut a bit close to home but I'm genuinely not sure.
It also didn't help that I found the romantic facet of the story to be a rather strange. Yes, you can guess where it will all end up more or less from their first meeting but getting there wasn't exactly fun. Despite Susan's protestations of self-reliance it all feels a little bit desperate and hostile rather than insouciant with hefty dollops of "methinks the lady doth protest too much". I did like how Susan's character softens throughout the story though and how this was shown as being due to friendships that crept up on her rather than merely hormonal.
I did like the friction between Susan and Edward; fraternal relationships can be so difficult. The battle surrounding her deceased mother's estate was well constructed and all too realistic - right down to the needless litigation. Although, the conclusion of that felt like a little bit of a cop out somehow.
On the whole I was left a little bit confounded by this book and although I finished it nearly a week ago now I'm still undecided as to how enjoyable I found the reading experience.
It is certainly very well written. It certainly has strong characters. It has a believable(ish) plot that moves fairly smoothly.
However, I did find that I couldn't actually read for more than an hour without having to put it down and go and do something else. I'm not entirely sure why this was but it was perhaps more to do with Susan's character than anything else - abrasive doesn't begin to even cover it. Sadly, I did recognise myself in a lot of Susan - particularly when at work and her desire to generally avoid human to human interaction. Maybe this just made it all cut a bit close to home but I'm genuinely not sure.
It also didn't help that I found the romantic facet of the story to be a rather strange. Yes, you can guess where it will all end up more or less from their first meeting but getting there wasn't exactly fun. Despite Susan's protestations of self-reliance it all feels a little bit desperate and hostile rather than insouciant with hefty dollops of "methinks the lady doth protest too much". I did like how Susan's character softens throughout the story though and how this was shown as being due to friendships that crept up on her rather than merely hormonal.
I did like the friction between Susan and Edward; fraternal relationships can be so difficult. The battle surrounding her deceased mother's estate was well constructed and all too realistic - right down to the needless litigation. Although, the conclusion of that felt like a little bit of a cop out somehow.
On the whole I was left a little bit confounded by this book and although I finished it nearly a week ago now I'm still undecided as to how enjoyable I found the reading experience.
Monday, 5 August 2019
A Summer To Remember by Sue Moorcroft
This was an okay read but somehow I never really felt immersed in the setting or found myself really caring about the cast of characters. There was a bit too much relying on misunderstandings and happenstance in the plot for me and strangely, one too many plotlines straggling through made it overpopulated and somehow "bitty". I'm all for complexity and depth but prefer this to come from my characters rather than the scenarios and with so much going on for, and around Clancy it all became a bit much.
Variously this book deals with the aftermath of a jilting at the altar, an affair that is revealed in a dramatic way, loss of a business, difficulties of rural living, same gender relationships, parental pressure, the dangers of gossip, new love, intrusive family and probably a lot more. Certainly every chapter brings some new dilemma and seeks to address an ongoing one. To be honest it all got a bit overdramatic and wearing by about halfway through. For me this needed stripping back and the number of issues facing Clancy and, to a lesser extent, Aaron needed to be pared back to allow a fuller exploration of the themes.
The writing, as always, is really good. Unfortunately, the story lets it down. The plot is so all encompassing that the only pace is urgent and breathless as you jump here, there and everywhere without really settling and exploring any one facet. The characters of Clancy and Aaron are quite well drawn but everyone else is almost a caricature (Alice - entitled and selfish, Hugo - scuzzy, Will - attractive and untrustworthy, Lee - frail and damaged) and it does distract the reader and detract from the overall story.
It would make a good holiday read where you tend to pick up and put down a book several times a day for brief periods. The constant shuttling about and ever changing problems are less obvious that way. The only thing that saved this for me was the warmth of the writing.
Variously this book deals with the aftermath of a jilting at the altar, an affair that is revealed in a dramatic way, loss of a business, difficulties of rural living, same gender relationships, parental pressure, the dangers of gossip, new love, intrusive family and probably a lot more. Certainly every chapter brings some new dilemma and seeks to address an ongoing one. To be honest it all got a bit overdramatic and wearing by about halfway through. For me this needed stripping back and the number of issues facing Clancy and, to a lesser extent, Aaron needed to be pared back to allow a fuller exploration of the themes.
The writing, as always, is really good. Unfortunately, the story lets it down. The plot is so all encompassing that the only pace is urgent and breathless as you jump here, there and everywhere without really settling and exploring any one facet. The characters of Clancy and Aaron are quite well drawn but everyone else is almost a caricature (Alice - entitled and selfish, Hugo - scuzzy, Will - attractive and untrustworthy, Lee - frail and damaged) and it does distract the reader and detract from the overall story.
It would make a good holiday read where you tend to pick up and put down a book several times a day for brief periods. The constant shuttling about and ever changing problems are less obvious that way. The only thing that saved this for me was the warmth of the writing.
City Of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
4.5 Stars
I fell in love with this book almost from the very first page. The writing is vibrant and the narrating character, Vivian, is full of verve and pluck that just shines right off the page. The story itself takes the form of a longform confessional statement made by Vivvie to the mysterious Amanda. All we know is that Vivvie knew her parents and that Amanda has informed of her of her father's passing but now her mother too has passed and she is in contact again. Why this has led to Vivvie writing this piece we, the reader, aren't sure and neither do we know who Amanda is but somehow that doesn't matter as it is absorbing reading.
Set in the 1940s Vivvie is a woman way before her time. Raised in a privileged and wealthy family she is somewhat of a disappointment. Crashing out of Vassar, failing to meet a suitable husband and just generally cluttering up her parent's home she is sent to stay with her bohemian Aunt Peg in New York City. Somehow the whole feel of the early years of Vivvie's life felt more 1920s than 1940s but they really drew me in and me want to be right there alongside her. Life at The Lily Playhouse is one long hedonistic whirl for Vivvie and populated with wonderful characters - the stunning showgirl Celia Ray, the dour Olive and the impeccable Edna Parker Watson.
My only real problem with the book was that after her somewhat shocking fall from grace and her banishment back home to rural stultification some of the colour is lost from the book. Everything suddenly becomes rather rushed and rather than a languid recollection of early days it is a rapid fire recounting of the war and post war years. Unusually I found myself wanting more pages rather than less (not a usual occurrence).
This is a wonderful novel that beckons you in to a lost world. A world that at once feels wholly nostalgic, entirely real and yet completely fantastical. The narrator's voice is strong and although we never hear from any of the other characters (or even Amanda's rebuttal) somehow Vivvie makes them come alive for you. Boiled down to it's bare bones it is a story of one woman who breaks the mould of her time by embracing her sensuality and following her heart (and her sewing machine) wherever it leads her - even if that means trouble.
Warm, funny and heartbreaking in it's honesty. This is an almost perfect read that will silently steal hours from your day and give you a great big grin on your face.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER.
I fell in love with this book almost from the very first page. The writing is vibrant and the narrating character, Vivian, is full of verve and pluck that just shines right off the page. The story itself takes the form of a longform confessional statement made by Vivvie to the mysterious Amanda. All we know is that Vivvie knew her parents and that Amanda has informed of her of her father's passing but now her mother too has passed and she is in contact again. Why this has led to Vivvie writing this piece we, the reader, aren't sure and neither do we know who Amanda is but somehow that doesn't matter as it is absorbing reading.
Set in the 1940s Vivvie is a woman way before her time. Raised in a privileged and wealthy family she is somewhat of a disappointment. Crashing out of Vassar, failing to meet a suitable husband and just generally cluttering up her parent's home she is sent to stay with her bohemian Aunt Peg in New York City. Somehow the whole feel of the early years of Vivvie's life felt more 1920s than 1940s but they really drew me in and me want to be right there alongside her. Life at The Lily Playhouse is one long hedonistic whirl for Vivvie and populated with wonderful characters - the stunning showgirl Celia Ray, the dour Olive and the impeccable Edna Parker Watson.
My only real problem with the book was that after her somewhat shocking fall from grace and her banishment back home to rural stultification some of the colour is lost from the book. Everything suddenly becomes rather rushed and rather than a languid recollection of early days it is a rapid fire recounting of the war and post war years. Unusually I found myself wanting more pages rather than less (not a usual occurrence).
This is a wonderful novel that beckons you in to a lost world. A world that at once feels wholly nostalgic, entirely real and yet completely fantastical. The narrator's voice is strong and although we never hear from any of the other characters (or even Amanda's rebuttal) somehow Vivvie makes them come alive for you. Boiled down to it's bare bones it is a story of one woman who breaks the mould of her time by embracing her sensuality and following her heart (and her sewing machine) wherever it leads her - even if that means trouble.
Warm, funny and heartbreaking in it's honesty. This is an almost perfect read that will silently steal hours from your day and give you a great big grin on your face.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER.
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Lego Tony Stark's Sakaarian Iron Man 76194
I know nothing about the "What If" TV show but what I do know is that I absolutely LOVE Mechs and Lego always manage to put somet...
