So many books, so little time

  Read in November 2020 Early this year, I picked up Vox by the same author. I enjoyed it so much that I could not stop reading it and had finished it within a day. When I saw this on Netgalley, I knew I had to try and get my hands on a copy (thanks HQ for approving my request!). Q is just as thought provoking as its predecessor. Yet again, it focuses on something we take for granted, in this case education, and how in a dystopian future it could be strictly controlled or even taken away from some. The thing I like most about Christina Dalcher's work, even though it scares me a little, is how realistic this feels. Given the state the world is in currently, this could happen to us very soon and that's a chilling and sobering thought. I am intrigued to see which aspect of society Dalcher writes about next.

Read in November 2020  Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of The Thirteenth Fairy. This is my honest review. I am a massive Disney fan and have heard a lot about Melissa de la Cruz so I was very excited when I got this ARC. Knowing it would be about storybook characters coming to life was the icing on the cake.  The story starts off very reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty but Melissa de la Cruz puts her own spin on it. As she says, "the tales are wrong. The tales are twisted and untrue*". And then we meet Filomena. A 12 year old not very socially outgoing bookworm with overprotective yet loving parents. She is eagerly awaiting the final book of a series that defined her childhood. This is describing me! I have a strong feeling we would be friends in real life. Reading this was such an enjoyable adventure. My younger self would have loved reading this book. As a twenty something now, I am also so happy I picked it up because I spent a delightful couple of hours reading it. My ...

  Read in November 2020 Not what I expected. For this book, two authors who normally write romance teamed up to write a thriller and let me tell you it doesn't really work. It is not immediately obvious there will be more focus on BDSM and relationships than the actual crime solving. The portrayal of the former is not done very well in my opinion due to too much emphasis on abuse, misogyny and objectification. (I know it happens but I'd like to point out that not all relationships are like this so don't tar them all with the same brush.) None of the characters are likeable at all either. The book is also in need of more editing. I spent some unnecessary time trying to figure out if Darek was a typo because it looked like a combination of Darren and Derek and not a real name. And it needs a proper ending. I'm all for cliffhangers but I still think each book in a series should have some sort of satisfying climax and not just fizzle out. I get it's a marketing thing so...

  Read in November 2020 A new Naomi Novik trilogy that's been described as a dark Harry Potter? Yes, please! This is one of my most anticipated releases of 2020. ~*~*~*~ 4.5 stars. WOW! The worldbuilding and magic system are so creative. There's a fantastic mix of wicked darkness and high school cliquey drama here too. I love it! I also love El. She's so sassy and snarky. It's great to see the struggle she has trying hard not to be the maleficer she is apparently destined to be especially when magic tends to go wrong for El. "I've got a summoning spell that raises a dozen of them," I said. "It was used to burn the Library of Alexandria". "Why would you ask for a spell like that!" "What I asked for was a spell to light my room, you twat, that's what I  got! " She is also so fantastically blunt. "Reader, I ran the fuck away." I cackled so much at that line. Didn't I say El was great? Her friendship with the clu...

  Read in October 2020 Discworld grows on you. My first foray into Discworld was  The Colour of Magic  which I thought was just okay but it didn't put me off from reading more. You might think that 40+ books is a big commitment but this is the best thing: Discworld books can stand alone. Yes, there may be hints and links that hardcore fans will understand more but they will still be enjoyable for readers like me who pick up the odd book or short story in the series from time to time. When Small Gods was offered as a group buddy read, I decided that now was a good time to return to Discworld. I really liked this instalment. I had a smile on my face as I read this sparkling, sarcastic, sassy and satirical take on religion. Om and Brutha were great. Terry Pratchett is so creative and witty. I can see why many people say this is one of the best in the series. Will I dip into Discworld again? Is the Great God Om a tortoise? Because, you betcha, I'll be back some time. Om's tot...

  Read in September 2020 Flashbacks within flashbacks tangled in twists, turns and tropes. Some characters were vapid, some were pretentious and most had very little chance of development. I couldn't connect with any of them but I did enjoy the unreliable narration and that everyone had secrets. I had suspicions within a couple of chapters and was dreading that I'd be proved right and praying for red herrings. Luckily, this book did keep me guessing even if I didn't feel overly surprised by how it all turned out.

  Read in August 2020 An interesting concept that should have been so exciting to read about but it wasn't. The plot was sometimes convoluted and characters were a bit bland. I'm not sure how much input Neil Gaiman had with the story - I suspect very little because it doesn't have the same style, feel and magic as his other books. I don't think I would have even considered picking this up if Michael Reaves was the only author listed. The book description on here describes Joey as  very average  and that is exactly how I'd categorise this book. I understand it was initially intended to be a TV project and maybe it would have been better in that format. I won't be continuing with the trilogy.  (less)

  Read in July 2020 Well, at least I can say I've read this classic. It is far too long with way too much detail. Putting my English Literature student hat on, I can appreciate it as an important work full of symbolism, allegory and other literary devices. But, personally, even though I did find some unintentional innuendo amusing, I feel that overall this is not a book to be read for enjoyment because it is just so dense and the many, many passages about whale anatomy and behaviours etc were a bit textbook-ish and felt never-ending. I chose an audiobook version of Moby Dick (narrator: Anthony Heald) and that made the experience more bearable. If I'd been reading it myself, I may not have made it to the end. Occasionally, while reading, I wanted to recommend  The Old Man and the Sea  instead which shares some plot similarities. I really dislike that book but at least it felt like it had more action. I recently had a conversation on here about treating classics differently...

Read in July 2020 So detailed but occasionally it felt like I was just reading a list of places and names. Plus, it was more like an academic commentary than a fantasy story. A good chunk of the book was dedicated to comparison, analysis and exploration of various versions of this tale and the editorial and writing decisions that were made. The actual story of the Fall of Gondolin only takes up about 1/3 of the whole book. It wasn't as magical as the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings because even though Tolkien's manuscript was edited by his son, it still felt unfinished to me. I think it's a must read for Tolkienists who devour anything to do with Middle Earth lore but perhaps not for casual fans like myself

  Read in June 2020 Well, well a graphic novel I can actually read. By that I mean that I am more used to pages of prose and usually moan there aren't enough words in the speech bubbles of comics to tell the story. Not here, though. It was quite a pleasurable reading experience. I really enjoyed Nimona. It's a story full of sorcery, science, shapeshifting and sass. I adored how the whole hero/villain dynamic was portrayed and how the story got a little darker as we found out the characters' back stories. I felt some scenes could have been expanded a little but this was such a quick, fun read that left me wanting more. I hear that there's going to be a film in 2022 - I'll be checking that out! And if Noelle Stevenson wants to create any more graphic novels about Nimona and co, I'll definitely be buying a copy!

Read in June 2020 Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Many countries are in/have been in lockdown due to the corona virus pandemic. Maybe I picked a bad time to read this because the start was prophetically close to our current situation. I said a few months ago that now feels like chapter 1 of a dystopia. I don't want it to go any further if it's anything like the events in the subtle yet haunting Station Eleven. Ignoring the parallels with reality, this was a simmering, beautiful interconnected story that was very character driven. I couldn't put this book down. I would like to read it again when I'm not worrying so much about real life

  Read in June 2029 A marker of how much I enjoy Shakespeare's plays is if after reading them, I want to see a performance of it. So far during my personal lifetime challenge to read his complete works (about 20 plays read to date), there are three I would love to watch in a theatre: Macbeth, The Tempest, and now  Hamlet . Hamlet is eminently quotable and definitely one of Shakespeare's best. I enjoyed it so much. Especially, as all I really knew about it before reading was that the Lion King was essentially the same story with hyenas instead of a skull 🦁👑💀. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much if forced to study and overanalyse it at school. But, I would really recommend you read this for pleasure if you can.

  Read in May 2020 I noticed that Hamilton Wright Mabie combines different elements into one fairytale. For example: * One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes was very similar to Cinderella * The Magic Mirror had echoes of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. * The start of the Enchanted Stag sounded a lot like Hansel and Gretel I was even surprised to find some linked to Arthurian legend. How interesting! A few stories were new to me but I'd heard the majority before. Maybe it's because I'm familiar with a lot of the stories but I would have liked a bit more creativity in these retellings. Some were quite trite and simplistic while others had unexpected darkness. Most were very repetitive. I also think that reading the originals would have been better because something appears to have been lost in translation here.

Serena Valentino has written several stories focusing on the villains from Disney films. I read a few of them in May 2020. They are supposed to stand alone but there is something that connects them all. FAIREST OF ALL: the story of the Queen from Snow White. I was annoyed that Ms Valentino wasn't creative enough to think of a name for the Queen. It would have helped me connect with her story more. ⭐⭐⭐ THE BEAST WITHIN: the story of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast.  First of all, I have issues that  the Beast  Prince Adam is portrayed as a villain here. Is he really? Arguably, the witch who cursed him is the true villain. And then there's Gaston and the madhouse owner who have evil tendencies. Personally, I stand by Adam being misunderstood. Belle  is my favourite Disney Princess so I always have high hopes that retellings do her story justice. So far, it's been hit (such as  As Old As Time ) or miss (e.g.  Beastly ) for me. The Beast Within is unfortuna...

  Read in May 2020 Picture this: Harry Potter with the violence of Game of Thrones but set in Ancient Rome. That's the feeling I get from this book especially when reading Elias' chapters. Don't get me wrong. I did really enjoy this book though. It was so gripping that I finished it after a couple of days. It would have been a lot better if the characters didn't act like lovesick puppies with crushes on each other. Forget love triangles, this was more like a love dodecahedron.  

  Read in April 2020 Until now, I didn't know much about Norse mythology and it wasn't a subject I would have chosen to read about. But when it was chosen as a group read and on offer, I thought I'd give it a go because I do like Neil Gaiman's work. I was pleasantly surprised by this. It's a bit dark occasionally but also incredibly vivid throughout. The thing I loved most was that the book had a tantalising, entrancing and lyrical quality and I could totally imagine it being read aloud which is kind of the point with stories like these. I also really liked that Loki was portrayed as misunderstood which is how I like my villains to be.  All in all, a great book which leaves you wanting to find out more because there is so much left to explore about the Norse gods

  Read in April 2020 I like fairytale retellings especially if they are a little dark. This book ticks all my boxes and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I was a little upset when it ended because I wanted to read more straightaway. Stepsister focuses on the story of Cinderella's step sister, Isabelle, and picks up from the traditional fairytale at the point where they are trying on the shoe. I loved all the little nods to the many different versions of the well known Cinderella stories - clearly Jennifer Donnelly has done her research. She has also managed to put her own twist and spin on the tale by introducing Fate and Chance. I was really interested to see what impact they had on the story.  

  Read in November 2020 Thank you Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book. This is my honest review. To Kill a Queen is a story of Princess Raine, a reluctant heir, trying to find her older sister. She sets on a quest with Archmage Kirin where her life is in danger. The world building in To Kill a Queen was good but needed a little bit more explanation. There was a very interesting premise and it is a good strong foundation for a new fantasy world. In hindsight, though, some plot developments were obvious but still didn't get much page time in my opinion. Something would be revealed and before the characters have had chance to absorb it, the story moves on. I also thought the last few chapters were rushed and could have been expanded into a whole additional book because here it seemed to be resolved a bit quickly. I think this book is supposed to be the first in a series but I don't really see how it could carry on. I think To Kill a Queen works well as a standalone so...

  Read in March 2020 I found it hard to forget about other media portrayals of Frankenstein and his monster while reading this but I could appreciate this for what it is: a classic piece of gothic literature that has inspired and influenced the horror and science fiction genres. There wasn't enough tension and suspense for me and at times too much minutiae. I found it difficult to distinguish the narrators. It was also very slooooow up to Chapter 5 but I stuck with it because it did get better.

  Read in February 2020 I like Elizabethan history and I am trying to read the complete works of Shakespeare so this should be my sort of book. However it didn't quite hit the mark for me. The era was vividly brought to life by Cornwell but it focused more on theatre than the intrigues of the time which would have been more exciting for me. For a good chunk of the book, I felt not much happened apart from banter between the company of actors which was a bit too bawdy and immature for me. At times, it read a bit like a literary criticism of Shakespeare rather than a novel. I have read better by Cornwell and would recommend The Warlord Chronicles instead of this if you want to try this author.