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Finding Miss Write – By Gena Webb – Book Review

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When suspense novelist Carla Williams is accused of planning an actual murder, her life takes on more plot twists than one of her books. Sure, her life’s in danger, but she’s also caught the attention of handsome detective, Roger Graf, so that kind of evens things out. As Carla nears the end of her novel, it’s up to Roger to catch the killer, or it might be the end of Carla’s life story as well. 

This book was a fun light read.

It starts off in hilarious fashion as Carla and her best friend, Maggie are having lunch in a restaurant and start talking about murdering someone. Of course, Carla is referring to a character in the book she is writing but the couple who overhear the conversation don’t know that. This sets off a chain of events that turn Carla’s life upside down.

I really enjoyed Carla as the main protagonist of the novel. She is smart, quirky, with a great sense of humor and a moral compass. Too often in books when a new romance starts there always something about how the main character never does such and such thing (like jumping into bed with the hot guy she just met) and then does that exact thing! Carla isn’t like that. She’s still grieving the death of her husband from two years ago and although she does start a new relationship it’s much more how a real relationship would go. There’s actual time for the bond between them to grow emotionally, not just physically.

The side characters are fun and interesting too. I especially loved the dynamic between Carla and Maggie. They’re been best friends for years and it shows in the way they interact.

I may have watched too many psychological thrillers in my life so my brain was going a mile a minute while reading, coming up with different scenarios based on small details that amounted to nothing. Yes, there is a killer and yes, its a mystery that needs to be solved, but honestly, it felt rather anti-climactic compared to all the stuff going on in my head.

**TRIGGER WARNING***

***SPOILER WARNING***

A dog is murdered in this book. That is a warning for anyone sensitive to animal violence. The scene isn’t graphic and it isn’t particularly described. I’ve read worse accounts of animals violence. However, having recently lost a very loved pet, this was definitely a trigger for me. After that reading session I cried for at least ten minutes straight.

***END TRIGGER/SPOILER WARNING***

Overall, I wanted more from this book. I wanted some little detail to turn into a huge plot twist. I didn’t end up getting that, but that is no way a bad reflection on this book. It was my own over active imagination that lead to my personal disappointment.

My rating for this book is 3 out of 5 stars. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a quick murder mystery to read.

As always, thanks for reading!

Miranda and Caliban – By Jacqueline Carey – Book Review

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Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A lovely girl grows up in isolation where her father, a powerful magus, has spirited them to in order to keep them safe.

We all know the tale of Prospero’s quest for revenge, but what of Miranda? Or Caliban, the so-called savage Prospero chained to his will?

In this incredible retelling of the fantastical tale, Jacqueline Carey shows readers the other side of the coin—the dutiful and tenderhearted Miranda, who loves her father but is terribly lonely. And Caliban, the strange and feral boy Prospero has bewitched to serve him. The two find solace and companionship in each other as Prospero weaves his magic and dreams of revenge.

Always under Prospero’s jealous eye, Miranda and Caliban battle the dark, unknowable forces that bind them to the island even as the pangs of adolescence create a new awareness of each other and their doomed relationship.

Miranda and Caliban is bestselling fantasy author Jacqueline Carey’s gorgeous retelling of The Tempest. With hypnotic prose and a wild imagination, Carey explores the themes of twisted love and unchecked power that lie at the heart of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, while serving up a fresh take on the play’s iconic characters.

Jacqueline Carey is one of those authors that I absolutely adore. When she writes a book, I buy it, no questions asked. She has never disappointed with her novels and she continues to live up to the pedestal I have placed her on in my mind.

I, personally, have never read The Tempest, the Shakespeare play this novel is based on, but I don’t think it’s necessary to have done so before reading this book. I did look up a summary of the The Tempest so I had some idea of what to expect. A part of me wishes I hadn’t because it gave away much of the story.

Anyway, this novel begins when Miranda is only 6 years old. She has been living on the isle with her father and several elementals that act as servants to her father. Except for a random wild boy that sometimes leaves gifts for her, there is on one else on the isle. When Miranda’s father summons the wild boy and essentials binds him into servitude, the plot truly begins.

Caliban, the wild boy, has lived alone on the isle since the death of his mother. He is unable to speak until Miranda begins teaching him. For the first time, Miranda has a friend and companion to spend her days with. As they grow up together, it is only natural for them to form a strong bond.

Jacqueline Carey captures the essence of a Shakespeare play without actually using the same type of language his plays were written in.

I loved Miranda and felt a great deal of compassion for her as she grows up knowing only obedience to her father, who is quick to punish any kind of disobedience with physical pain. She is little more than a pawn in her father’s plans with no real choice in what her life will become.

Caliban is also an interesting character. Seeing through his eyes as he learns how to speak and comprehend and more and more is amazing. Prospero, Miranda’s father, I feel, is the true villain of the story even if Caliban is made out to be so at certain times. If someone bound you against your will, forced you to do all the chores and punished you for the slightest infraction, you’d probably want to kill them too.

I particularly felt for Miranda when she got her first period. She had absolutely no prior knowledge of what to expect and of course was alarmed when she suddenly started bleeding. Even thinking that she was somehow bleeding internally. It was a very stark contrast to the current time when girls are educated about puberty and what to expect to happen to their bodies. I try to imagine not knowing that such a thing was perfectly normal and then have it happen. It would be a terrifying experience to say the least. The description of Miranda’s confusion and symptoms were so very apt.

The ending felt a little vague, perhaps leaving it open for a sequel. I would love to read one if one was ever written. It was also rather bleak, as you don’t know what might come next. My imagination could certainly fill in a few dark happenings afterwards.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and give it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Shakespeare retellings, fantasy novels, and well, anyone who just loves good books.

Have you read Miranda and Caliban? Do you agree with my review? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

The Redemption of Althalus – Book Review

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Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

Althalus is a young thief and occasional killer known for his skill and incredible luck. A number of capers end without much monetary reward for him, until he stumbles into a shrine built to the fertility goddess Dweia. Soon afterward he meets with the wizard Ghend, who hires him to steal the Book, a magical tome that can be found in the bizarre House at the End of the World. There, Althalus discovers Dweia in the form of a black cat and learns that she has chosen him to aid her in a war against Ghend and her evil brother, the destroyer god Daeva. Together Althalus and Dweia use the power of the Book and gather together a small team of questionable heroes who must battle Ghend’s supernatural forces and armies. The thief Althalus can only hope his luck holds out for this one last task, since the very fate of humanity is at stake.

What to say about this book? Well, first, this book is fairly long, clocking in at just under 800 pages and is actually a stand alone novel, which is a bit unusual for a fantasy novel. (if you know of others, I’d love to know too)

The tone of this book very much has a feel of when it was published. First released in 2000, it reminded me of other books published around that time that feel heavily influenced by Lord of the Rings. Of David Eddings’ other books, I’ve only read his Dreamers series, which I don’t remember much of, so perhaps this is simply his writing style, I’m not sure. I don’t really know how to describe the feel I got from the tone either.

Anyway, at first I felt like the pacing of this book was a bit off. There seemed to be a bunch of stuff at the beginning that didn’t really matter to the story overall and it would jump ahead in time fairly often. Turns out that in the end, it all mattered, so that changed my feelings about the start of the book.

I wouldn’t call the story particularly original. The basics of the plot are the basics of most high fantasy novels: an likely group of individuals come together to fight against evil in order to save the world. The people making up this particular band are a bit stereotypical. You have the charismatic thief, the warrior, the priest, the beautiful girl with a special gift, a young noble woman, and a smarter than can be believed kid. Leading this group is the maternal and loving goddess, Dweia.

There’s only one race in this fantasy world: humans. As for magic…there is magic, but only Althalus really uses it and not even that much. It’s more like divine power from a Knife and a Book.

There were a few things that bothered me about this book. One was Leitha’s insistence on calling Althalus “Daddy.” Yes, he establishes the group to be a “family” and as the male leader he takes on the role of the father, but why “daddy?” It felt ripe with sexual innuendo and I cringed nearly every time she said it. The tampering with time also bothered me. That’s a really difficult thing to pull off without thinking through every little detail and I don’t think it was.

What did I like? Well, considering how generic I thought the basic plot was, there were actually a few surprises that I didn’t see coming. I couldn’t for the life of me think how everything was going to be wrapped up by the end of the book and not have a sequel. Well, it all came together nicely and you could probably tack on a “happily ever after.”

Overall, this wasn’t a bad book. I didn’t stop reading it, though I didn’t spend long periods of time on it. I wouldn’t say it was bad either. My rating for this is 3 out of 5 stars. I’d recommend this to people who are maybe just getting into the Fantasy genre and just want to dip their toes into without getting into a long series. Also for fantasy fans that don’t want to get in to a long series, this could be a good read.

Have you read the Redemption of Althalus? What did you think? Do you agree with my review? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading!

Adventures in TV – American Horror Story – Murder House

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I know I’m very late getting on the American Horror Story train. This is a show I’ve long wanted to watch but didn’t have access it, until I recently discovered that it’s available on Star through Disney+. Discovering this, I immediately started watching. I devoured it in two sittings. I probably would have gone through all 12 episodes in a single sitting if not for the annoying fact of having to sleep and go to work.

The plot of the first season of American Horror Story is a fairly typical one. A family moves into a new house for a “fresh start.” Naturally, the couple is having marital problems and their teenage daughter is unhappy and bullied at school.

Although this is a fairly common premise for a horror story that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good one. From the first moment, I felt drawn in to the story and engaged. We start off knowing that the mother of the family, Vivien, has recently had a miscarriage and her husband, Ben, was unfaithful. The dynamic between the two as they try to rebuild their life is really interesting. Vivien’s struggle to forgive her husband and let him back into her trust is very real. Vivien wasn’t a character I could immediately relate to, having never been in a situation like hers but I could empathize. As the story moved along, I felt for her more and more and was rooting for her until the very end.

Ben was not a character I liked. I don’t think the audience is meant to sympathize with him over much. He made a lot of stupid mistakes and brought on a lot of the things that happened to him all on his own. Violet, the family’s teenage daughter, isn’t the most unique character. She’s moody, and angry with her parents and the world, much like a typical teenager. That’s not to say I didn’t like her. She had her purpose in the overall narrative.

Over the twelve episode run, the history of the house is slowly revealed in flashbacks, showing all the unspeakable tragedy that the house has been host to right from the original owners. The show doesn’t shy away from showing a fair amount of gore, so anyone who doesn’t like to see that kind of stuff may wish to steer clear of this particular show. That being said, the gore isn’t really gratuitous. There’s a good mix of mystery and horror there that leaves room for the audience’s imagination to run a bit wild.

There’s a few good twists that I didn’t see coming that will keep you on your toes and have you eager to get to the next episode each time one ends. Once the season ends, there’s lots to look back on and think of that will have an even harder impact the more you think about it. Like any good horror, this one will stay with you long after you turn off the TV.

Overall, I really enjoyed this show. There isn’t much that I can think of to name as a flaw or something I really didn’t like. 5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this to any lovers of horror out there who haven’t already discovered this show. I can’t wait to start the next season.

Have you watched American Horror Story: Murder House? Let me know what you thought in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Adventures in Music – K-pop #1 – Stray Kids #1

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If someone had told me five years ago that I was going to be a K-pop fan today and I would have glared and said “yeah, right.” I’d long since moved away from a lot of pop music, having gone through the teenage Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls phase, and had started in on heavier stuff like In This Moment and Five Finger Death Punch.

Then I started watching Korean dramas and came across one called Dream Knight. This show, though a bit corny and low budget, starred the boys from GOT 7. When I realized that they were an actual band, I decided to see what they were really like. I found the video for Just Right on YouTube, which started by adventure into K-pop.

Stray Kids is a fairly new band, having debuted in 2018. The first song I ever heard by them was Side Effects. That song led me to Miroh, which I didn’t love at first, but has since grown on me. From there, I found more and more of their songs (mostly through music videos on YouTube) like Victory Song, Voices and District 9.

So, naturally when they come out with a new video, I’m fairly aware of it. Not like a hard core fan, but I do become aware of it fairly soon after release. Recently I saw the video for Back Door, which is, correct me if I’m wrong, their latest release as of the time of this posting. Well, I loved it. Everything about it. The video is fun, the dancing is awesome and the song makes you want to dance along (since I can’t really sing along).

Naturally, the next step was to purchase the album, which I did yesterday. This morning, I gave it a listen while working. It played through 2 or possibly 3 times. There were no songs that I didn’t like or wanted to skip. Back Door continues to be the song that stands out the most to me but I also liked Wow and B Me.

I purchased another album at the same time but I’ll talk about that in a different post.

Do you like Stray Kids? Have you heard their latest album, In Life? What did you think?

Announcement – August 22, 2020

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After much thinking and deliberation, I have decided to change the name of the blog and basically rebrand.

Initially, this was supposed to be a blog for book reviews. However, I am the type of person who will become really into one thing while losing interest in other things. This means that I don’t always spend most of my time reading. I may get really into a mobile game, or watching Netflix shows or doing jigsaw puzzles. It all depends on my mood and what my weird brain feels like doing.

So, on that note, this blog is going to change. It will still include book reviews, as books are always going to be a favourite thing of mine, but it will also branch out into other things. Whatever I’m feeling most into at the time will dictate what shows up on this blog.

I hope those who already follow me will enjoy the new content and hopefully some new people will be attracted to my broader thoughts.

Expect new content soon!

Pride – Shifters #3 – Rachel Vincent Review

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PrideSynopsis (from Goodreads): I’m on trial for my life. Falsely accused of infecting my human ex-boyfriend–and killing him to cover up the crime. Infecting a human is one of three capital offenses recognized by the Pride–along with murder and disclosure of our existence to a human.I’m two for three. A goner.

Now we’ve discovered a rogue stray terrorizing the mountainside, hunting a wild teenage tabbycat. It’s up to us to find and stop him before a human discovers us. With my lover Marc’s help, I “think” I can protect the vulnerable girl from both the ambitious rogue and the scheming of the territorial council.

“If” I survive my own trial…

Buy Now: Amazon

This book was both awesome and frustrating. Going in, I was really anxious to discover what would happen to Faythe regarding her trial. Naturally, the author wasn’t just going to put the reader of their collect misery and tell us. Nope, she drew it out as long as possible, making it really hard to put the book down.

As other events surround them, mainly the discovery of strays in the neighboring woods and missing hikers, we get a new perspective on werecat society, mainly the politics of their society. Unfortunately, their ways, especially regarding women, are archaic, to say the least. To the majority, the women are seen merely as a vessel for the next generation of werecats. Something to be protected and kept sheltered at all costs. They are not meant to have an opinion and certainly not to voice it. they should pick a tomcat and start having babies as soon as possible.

Faythe can’t possibly fill that role. She has too much fire in her. She’s a leader and a fighter. She’s willing to put herself in danger to get the job done, to the horror of every male around her.

Funny though, often Faythe is “left behind” where she will be “safe” while all the men go out to face the big bad threat. Then, it turns out the threat is coming for Faythe while all the men are gone. And guess what? She kicks ass well before any back up shows up. A weak baby maker she is not.

Despite her flaws, mainly her out of control temper, Faythe is beginning to grow on me as a character. She’s learning from her past mistakes (of which there are many) and growing up little by little. The men need to wake up and realize that she doesn’t need to do be coddled all the time or locked up for her own protection.

I rate this book 4/5 stars because, while I couldn’t put it down, I was also very frustrated with how it went.

Have you read Pride? What did you think?

 

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2020 Reading Goals

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2020! New year, new decade, so new reading goals, right? Well, no, not really. For awhile now my reading goals have been consistently the same. 1. Read books that are stand alone or part of a series that is completed and that I own. 2. Make a gap on my physical bookshelf. 3. Don’t buy books.

Guess how well that has worked out so far! Not so good. So I go back to those same goals and hope to achieve them a little better this year. For reference, I’ve taken a picture of my bookshelf. I hope to read as much from this list on my Goodreads account as possible.

I always start out the new year with good intentions, but it just doesn’t always work out the way I hope. Wish me luck this year! What are your reading goals?

Inu x Boku SS volumes 5 & 6

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*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ PREVIOUS VOLUMES***inu x boku 5

Summary (from Goodreads): In search of independence and solitude, the sharp-tongued Ririchiyo Shirakiin moves to the Maison de Ayakashi, an apartment building with its own Secret Service. Ririchiyo is eager to be alone, but upon her arrival, she is greeted by Soushi, an SS agent who seems…familiar somehow. Familiar and yet…not quite the same. Troubled by recurring dreams of a different Soushi-a man who loved her…and suffered for her-Ririchiyo chooses to accept her new circumstances and embrace the Soushi who now stands at her side…

Buy Now: Amazon Chapters Barnes & Noble

This volume is somewhat confusing to begin with. It seems like the story has circled back to the very beginning but it isn’t quite the same as it was. Clearly something has happened that isn’t revealed until later in the volume.

The relationship between Ririchiyo and Soushi hasn’t changed all that much. Soushi is still completely devoted to her, but now it seems he doesn’t know the reason why. Their relationship is actually quite dysfunctional. Soushi is very good at manipulating Ririchiyo to get exactly what he wants, which is generally being with her all the time.

I’m not entirely certain where this story is going.

inu x boku 6Summary (from Goodreads): To get better acquainted – and, in some cases, reacquainted – with each other, the residents of Ayakashi Hall spend the last weeks of summer break at a seaside vacation spot. Between beach basking and tests of courage, Ririchiyo slowly warms to her new cohorts, but the one resident who never seems to betray his emotions is Miketsukami – and the group is determined to fix that! Will her efforts to unmask Soushi expose the truth of who he is – that is, who he is not?

Buy Now: Amazon Chapters Barnes & Noble

I’m not quite sure what to say about this volume. On the inside cover, there is a blurb explaining precisely what is going on. This may contain spoilers! So basically, everyone except Sorinozuka was killed by the Night Parade and have now been reincarnated and are again gathering at Maison de Ayakashi. In a way, they are repeating what happened before, with Ririchiyo moving to Maison de Ayakashi and meeting Soushi, but there are differences that make it not exactly the same. Everyone but Soushi, Ririchiyo and Watanuki remember their previous lives, until Kagerou shocks Ririchiyo into remembering. After that, she is able to come to terms with the Soushi of “before” dying.

I think this may be the point where the story really starts going. The Night Parade is still out there and now that Ririchiyo has accepted the past, I think they can all begin the real fight.