Review: Paintbrush by Hannah Bucchin

Paintbrush by Hannah Bucchin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Blaze Publishing and NetGalley, as I absolutely loved this! I couldn't put it down, I read it in almost one sitting. It was such a sweet contemporary romance. And can we talk about the beautiful cover? The cover is what interested me, the description drew me in, and after the first couple of chapters I was done for. That's saying alot as I don't read a ton of contemporary books. I've been reading some heavy, dark stuff lately and I was in the mood for something lighter and this just hit the spot.  There was just something about this one. Hannah Bucchin did such a wonderful job on this.  Congratulations, on your debut novel, I can't wait to see what else you have in store for us!  This is set to be released July 11, 2017.


The story follows the alternating perspectives of Josie and Mitchell, who live in the Indian Paintbrush Community Village. It is a commune named after a flower founded by leader Myra who keeps the community running smoothly, but unlike those with a cult following, its just a group of people from all over that have kind of settled together to make a sort of community family. Some people have traditional jobs, some just work at the village, everyone kind of looks out for one another, and there is no weird religion or anything strange going on. It is a place for people who are down on their luck or who have lost their way and need a place to call home. That is how Josie's family came to live in Paintbrush. Josie grew up with Mitchell and they've always been friends but as they got older they kind of grew apart after they stopped homeschooling together. Mitchell wants to get as far away from Paintbrush as possible after graduation, while Josie can't imagine herself anywhere but a part of the community she loves. Both of their lives are filled with family drama, which happens to be the thing that brings them closer together and rediscover the bond they once had. They realize that they may have deeper feelings for each other, and I really appreciated the development of their relationship and the real world problems they faced. Their emotions were raw, ugly, and very realistic and very appropriate for 18 year-olds facing the situations they were in. Their relationship leaves them both reconsidering what they thought they wanted for their futures.

I loved the supporting characters, the family members, the members of the community, the best friends were all well written and I felt like I was part of the story not just and outsider reading about them. I love that in a book. This book left me wanting more, what happens to future Josie and Mitchell? I wanted to know more about Josie's sisters, and Mitchell's parents, and everyone else in the story. I also liked that I could imaging any future I wanted for them, left me with a huge smile on my face and hope in my heart. The humor was well placed throughout the book and there were many times I laughed out loud while reading this book. I also really appreciated a YA where there is no sex, there is kissing, swearing, and some mature situations discussed, but sex is not something that is a necessary part of their relationship or a necessary part of the plot development.

Review: The Halloween Children by Brian James Freeman and Norman Prentiss

The Halloween Children by Brian James Freeman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I'm not sure why I thought I was getting a whimsical book about Halloween, but instead I got a creepy story about Halloween gone wrong.  I think I thought this was middle grade or YA, but it is definitely adult content.  I was surprised at first but I really enjoyed it.  A great read for the fall and Halloween season.  If you like horror, give this a go.  Be warned, the ending is pretty gruesome and graphic. This is a horror book after all and the authors do a great job.

The story, follows the Naylor family, Harris, Lynn, Matt, and Amber and their life in Stillbrook Apartments. Harris is the apartment handyman, and Lynn works from home as a help desk technician for a computer firm. Harris and Lynn have their share of marital woes each thinking the other has annoying behaviors, but their main issue is Harris feels Lynn favors Amber while Lynn feels Harris favors Matt. This theme is ever present through the story and is a major problem in their relationship. Amber and Matt seem like two normal kids, and to the outsider looking in, their parents seem to be doing the best they can. Then some strange things start to happen just before Halloween, even more so as the apartment manager cancels the annual Halloween party. The book is mainly told from Lynn and Harris's perspective's but periodically we get a few emails from another resident, Jessica, but they always have a bit of weirdness to them. Things that make you think that something sinister is happening at Stillbrook. Bad things have happened at Stillbrook before, and they are definitely happening again.

This book covers the challenge prompt for book set around a holiday other than Christmas.  I love Halloween so it was totally fitting.  The ebook will be published on June 13, 2017, plenty of time to prep for Halloween.

Review: Every Heart a Doorway by Seannan McGuire

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was ok.  A home for wayward kids who have been to a mythical storybook world and can't cope because they want to go back sounded amazing. The idea behind the story was really intriguing, but I felt like the execution was lacking. This book got so much hype and so many good reviews, but I don't get it. I feel like the story was rushed and jumbled, which is unfortunate because this book had so much potential. I feel like had this been a full novel versus a novella it would have been everything I wanted.  I think I wanted more, maybe because this has gotten such amazing reviews.  I felt like this was more of a teaser or a prequel story.

The characters didn't have enough development and their stories weren't well explored, though they could have easily had a full chapter or even a full novella/novel explaining their experiences in their storybook world and their issues coping. The mention of asexual and transgender characters was a nice attempt at diversity but it added nothing to the story. I didn't feel that the characters were developed and what those terms mean were explored or explained enough to add anything to the story.
The main character Nancy's character was developed a little more than the other main character Kade, but honestly it was just glossed over. There were too many plot holes and the ending was just too convenient. The murder mystery just didn't fit, maybe because I rather would have heard about the worlds the kids went to than gruesome murder. Those scenes were pretty detailed and grotesque, I wanted that kind of detail in the characters and about the worlds. This just fell flat for me.

On to the actual story, the novella follows Nancy, a girl who has travelled to the Halls of the Dead.  She has come back changed from her travels, and her parents want her back to the way she used to be.  Nancy just wants to go back to the the land of the dead which to her felt like home, but she was sent back to reality to make sure the Halls of the Dead was where she wanted to make her permanent home.  She is having a hard time adjusting to reality, and she ends up at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children.  Ms. West boasts the ability to help kids like Nancy adjust while still getting the required education.  They've all had similar experiences in life and they are all "troubled".  Eleanor herself has been to a fantasy world, and unlike many of her wards can go back whenever she likes.  Many of the kids at the school have been sent back for breaking some rule or another of their storybook world and can never go back.  Shortly after Nancy's arrival at school, her roommate turns up dead and several other students are found quite gruesomely murdered as well.  Nancy teams up with other students to find the culprit as she is quickly a suspect being the new girl and a lover of the world of the dead. They quickly realize who the killer and everything kind of ends pretty quickly.

I'm happy to see that there will be more books in the series, and those will perhaps explore the characters in more depth. From the bonus chapters included in the e-book it looks as if they will.  As I've said earlier, I love the concept of the series but I wanted more world building and more character development.  I hope to see that in the next book which comes out fairly soon.

This came highly recommended by several librarians and is my recommended by a librarian pick for my reading challenge.  I hope to continue on with the series as the next book shows alot of promise from the excerpt I read.  I would recommend this for a mature teenage audience as it was pretty grisly with the murder descriptions and discusses some more mature teen topics.

Review: The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson

The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I thought the premise of this book was really interesting, but it got off to a slow start. I felt like I kept reading it and I wasn't getting anywhere, I'm glad I kept with it though. It picked up at about the halfway point, and kept a great pace through the end. The story is told with the chapters alternating between past and present. The present time chapters are told from the first person perspective of main character June while the chapters of the past are told from the perspective of our other main character Peter. The alternating times and perspectives took a bit of getting used to, but the writing was excellent. The ending left me wanting more and wanting to check out more of Wilson’s work. His attention to detail in both the technical and historical areas is fantastic.

June is a mechanician, a scientist who has devoted her life to the study of clockwork artifacts. She's been inspired by an artifact that she wears around her neck and has yet to discover all of its secrets. It was given to her by her grandfather. He found the artifact in 1942 in Stalingrad after an encounter with an invincible man, an avenging angel, who saved his life. Peter is that avenging angel who June's grandfather saw, and the artifact is a relic he lost that day. Peter is an avtomat or a clockwork man, who is much older than anyone knows. His story begins in Moscow 1709 when he is awakened from a long slumber by another mechanician of Peter the Great’s court. Peter and his clockwork sister Elena embark many journeys together. Each avtomat must serve their “word” to fulfill a deeper purpose and trying to uncover the purpose of their creation. Peter tries to fulfill his word by devoting himself to monarchs and protecting Elena.  Elena's word is logic, she devotes herself to learning everything she can, but quickly masters every topic.  Elena is crafted as a young child with features much like a doll and the two must move frequently as their lack of aging draws questions from the humans that serve them.  As time passes Peter finds himself unable to fulfill his word which is essentially justice, and Elena longs for companionship of other of their kind, logical and strategic challenges. They both find themselves in a clockwork war with an enemy they can’t remember, hiding from her as well as humans. June finds herself drawn into the avtomat war and the only one who can figure out their mechanical secrets and save them all.  June accepts her role in the dangerous clockwork war and is quickly accepted into the avtomat society because of the artifact she holds and her ability to understand her new machine companions.

This book will be published on August 1st, 2017.  I highly recommend it if you like steampunk, robots, sci-fi, Russian history, or any combination of those subjects.

I used this as my popsugar challenge to read a steampunk novel.  That puts me at 26 novels read or listened to for the challenge, halfway done!


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Review: Lake Town by Jane Redd

Lake Town by Jane Redd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this dystopian book. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read the first book, that's purely my fault. I didn't realize it was #2 in a series. I was able to figure out what was going on for the most part pretty quickly, the writing is pretty solid and the book gives enough background info to stand on its own. The alternating perspectives from our two main characters Jez and Sol was done very well. I definitely want to read the first book and will continue on with the third when it comes out.  I recommend reading book 1 first so you aren't confused like I was in the beginning, had I had more time I would have read them in order and wish that had been the case.  Either way Lake Town was a great read.

This is a dystopian book about a civilization that is ruled by the Legislature. It rains all but 2 days a year and everything on the planet has flooded save one mountain top where the remaining 2 million people reside. Emotions are controlled by Harmony implants and those whose implants don't work or choose to remove them face banishment. Our heroine, Jezebel or Jez for short, her implant doesn't work and she's had to pretend she doesn't have emotions for much of her life. She meets some others like her and discovers that she is the key to the rebellion that all of these dystopian books have.   Jez is the only living Carrier and can restart the city's generators and jump start the Lake Town rebel groups revolutionary plans.  They have technology that they hope can reverse the flooding and maybe make the rain stop.  To get their plan going they need Jez to get the power working again, they just aren't sure if it will kill her or not.  In the very beginning of the book Jez is evacuated to Lake Town for her own safety while Sol stays behind to cover their tracks. Sol is the boy Jez has fallen in love with, he's also an undercover agent for the Lake Town rebellion.  He has also infiltrated the cities highest levels on behalf of the people of the Lake Town to learn what he can and send information back to his home so they can prepare their invasion.  Sol is caught, sentenced to execution, and recruited to the other rebel group, The Faction. He finds allies within The Faction, in two hacker types who help him navigate through the computer systems of the city.  They cause some chaos of their own and aid in the Lake Town offensive.  All the while, the people from the Lake Town are preparing their own offensive. Nothing goes as planned for any of the groups involved. The book ends with losses for all 3 of the groups, and everyone trying to regroup and figure out their next steps. I'm axious to see what happens next.

This also cover's my popsugar challenge for a book by an author who uses a pseudonym as Jane Redd is Heather B. Moore's pen name.  I've read some of her other works and recommend her if you like clean reads.  Sometimes you just need something wholesome that's entertaining too.

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Review: Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town by Warren St. John

Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town by Warren St. John
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I learned quite a bit from this book, and I'm glad I read it.  This isn't something I would have normally picked up, but thanks to the reading challenge I'm doing and a prompt to read a book about an immigrant or refugee I choose this.  I found it at the library by doing a key word search for refugee and this came up.  I played soccer and this sounded perfect. I have to admit that I'm not very educated on refugee's coming to the US from other places and the struggles they face. This book gave me some perspective.  I have a much better understanding and much more empathy for those who have been uprooted, many in a pretty violent way, and left to figure out this new land on their own without much support to learn English, find work, support their families, learn job skills, and other things I kind of just take for granted.

This book tells the story of Luma, a young woman from Jordan. She came from a relatively wealthy family and came to the US to go to college. She's been well educated and taken care of most of her life. She wants to be independent, which her father does not really appreciate. When Luma decides to stay in the US, she is cut off from her family's financial assistance. Luma struggled to make ends meet, but found ways to support herself. She found her calling helping young refugees from various countries that had been relocated outside of Atlanta. She brought the young boys together by coaching soccer. Her role as coach was more than just just coaching the team, she was translator, tutor as many of the boys didn't speak english, mentor, 2nd mother, among other things. Luma helped the parents as much as she could as many of the families were poor and the parents found work where they could at low paying jobs. The kids were unsupervised much of the time because the parents worked shifts just to buy the necessities. The soccer teams kept the young boys out of trouble as Luma had very high standards, it was her way or the highway.

Luma had her own struggles, the community wasn't able to provide her with a safe or suitable field for the team to practice or play on. The kids didn't have gear, and by gear I mean shoes and appropriate clothes. Luma had fight gang presence to keep the boys out of trouble as the gangs seemed to promise more protection and a better life than what the boys were living.

This book is pretty eye opening, not only to the changes that the community around Atlanta saw with the relocation of the refugees to area, but the struggles that the people being relocated face once they get here. It is the story of one woman's fight to bring together people from a bunch of different places and teach them life skills, the game of soccer, how to survive, and that there are people out there who care. Luma's efforts are to be commended, and her work continues as she was able to turn her volunteer work into something amazing and sustainable.

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Review: The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit by Seth Godin

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit by Seth Godin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, plus it is a very quick read. I recommend it. I don't agree with all of Godin's advice, however I was able to take away some pearls of wisdom that I can use in my personal and professional life. There were some takeaways that I can give to my kids as far as advice on sticking something because the benefit is greater than the struggle to get to the finish.

I really liked the way Godin described "best in the world" at the very beginning. Being the best at something is different to everyone. It can be personal best, best at a job or sport, and the bar changes depending on what you are doing or what day it is or where you live. The determination of best is very subjective and you need to keep that in mind when you are determining what your goals are and what you want out of life. Godin gives some great advice in this very short little book, many people quit because of The Dip, the dip is the struggle to get to the finish. Getting good at something is hard, mentally, physically, emotionally, depending on what you are trying to achieve. Godin recommends ways to determine if you are taking the right path to achive something that is worth getting out of the Dip for. Will it make you more successful, make you more fulfilled, more skilled at something, if not maybe you should quit that effort and try something else. He recommends quitting things that don't achieve a desired outcome so you can focus your efforts on things that will achieve your desired outcome or get you out of The Dip. He makes it OK to evaluate situations and quit activities that provide no value or gain and refocus on one or two things that will. Stick to the things that will make you the best at whatever you want to be the best at, and quit the things that aren't helping you. I kind of liked that message. He also advocates not starting things if they aren't going to make you the best, I can appreciate that.

I have been toying with getting an MBA, but I don't think it will provide me any professional benefit at this time in my career.  I don't see myself as an executive at the company I work for, so why take on the debt and spend the time away from my family working on it if there is no value?  I should go back to school for something that will either make me happy and fulfilled or teach me something to make me better at what I do now or help me get a better job.  If I'm happy where I'm at I don't really need a master's degree.  Godin's advice I think would be don't start at all if it wouldn't get me anywhere.  I think I'd rather spend that time reading or perfecting my baking skills instead.  

This covers my reading challenge prompt for a book with career advice, and I recommend it.  It is short and for me had some good takeaways.

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Review: Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really didn't enjoy this book. I spent most of the book wondering what the point of the book was. I struggled to find the plot. Everything is driven by fate and the "current gifts" everyone has. Really everyone is just out to get everyone else and driven by vengeance.

Our main character Cyra is from the royal or ruling family on one side of the planet, and our other main character Akos was kidnapped at a young age along with his brother Eijah. They are also from a prominent family on the other side of the planet. Akos and Eijah were taken because Cyra's brother is trying to change his fate because he didn't like the oracle's prediction and is hoping that taking them he can change the future. Akos, Eijah, Cyra, and Ryzek all have fates predicted by the oracles and are all linked in some way.

Everyone in this world has a "power" or a "current gift", Cyra can cause pain but she is also in pain constantly, Ryzek can take people's memories and give them one of his own, Akos can take away someone's gift with his touch, some people are good with machines or can see the future like Eijah. The current, is a thing that they worship like a deity or a religious object. The two main races are at war for the planet, which isn't really explained clearly why. If it was explained, I missed it.

I found none of the characters to be likeable. Akos and Cyra's eventual romance felt fake and forced. The familial relationships between the other characters were cold and robotic.

While I enjoyed Roth's Divergent trilogy, I won't be continuing on with this series. It did not hold my attention and I had to force myself to finish this first installment.  I did count this for my book involving travel for my reading challenge as there is space travel involved as they go on a sojourn in the book.

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Review: Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou

Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everyone should read this book. I read this as part of a reading challenge for a prompt to read a book by a person I admire and I can't think of a writer that I admire more than Maya Angelou.  I've read many of her biographies, poetry, and other written works, and wrote a paper on her in high school.  She's stuck with me over the years.  I'm not a huge poetry fan, but I'll read anything Dr. Angelou has written, she just had a way with words.  The cadence of her word was like a song.  The way she wrote about her life was like she was telling a story that you can't get enough of.  She spoke the same way, she was beautiful to watch and her voice just drew you in.  I can imagine that as a young woman she was a very entertaining performer.

She's done and seen it all. This book isn't very long and I couldn't put it down, but as always her words are extremely powerful and moving. Dr. Angelou never had her own daughter, however she mentored many women throughout her lifetime, and this is written for anyone who will take the time to read it.  In my opinion everyone should read this, as everyone can take something away from what she has to offer.   If you haven't read any of her biographies, this gives you a brief glimpse into her life in a compacted version, with some of her wisdom and lessons learned.  It details the places she's lived, jobs she held, travels, trials and tribulations, her faith, her growth, and her words.  Her words were her greatest legacy and if you've never heard her speak or read anything she's written I highly recommend this or really anything she's written. She was a wonderful writer, poet and speaker.



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