Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Narrated by Steve West and Fiona Hardingham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really loved this! The audio was fantastic, Steve West and Fiona Hardingham are quickly becoming two of my favorite narrators.

This is my first Maggie Stiefvater book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the setting of the island of Thisby and the mythology behind the races. There is a blurb at the end of the audio that talks about the mythology a little bit and I loved how she came up with the magical water horses that are at the center of The Scorpio Races. I enjoyed the writing and I'm looking forward to reading more from Stiefvater.

The Scorpio Races follows Puck Connolly and her horse Dove and Sean Kendrick and his strange red stallion Corr. Corr is not an ordinary horse, he is a water horse, a capaill usisce, a violent meat eating horse born of the sea. Every month in November, the capaill usisce climb out of the sea, wreak havoc on the town of Skarmouth, the people capture them if they dare and train them to race. The winner takes home a fat purse while the losers face death and dismemberment. Those who race know what they are getting themselves into, Sean more than anyone. His father raced Corr and lost his life, Sean now trains Corr for the races and has won several times. Sean works for a local horse breeder and Sean is his horse whisper. Puck on the other hand only has her gentle mare Dove, she knows nothing of the violent water horses. Her family is poor and she and her brothers do what they can to make ends meet. Her older brother decides he wants to leave the island and find work on the mainland, and in her desperation to keep him at home Puck decides to enter the races. If she wins she can earn the money she needs to keep their house. Her older brother is leaving no matter what she does, while her younger brother Finn does what he can to help her train. Terrified by the capaill horses, Puck decides to race Dove in the Scorpio Races. Puck faces adversity at almost every turn, but she is determined to win, but if she is going to win she has to train. During her training, she finds herself befriending Sean. Sean also wants to win the race so he can finally purchase Corr outright. In the end they develop a beautiful friendship that leads to more, but the romance is barely there. It is a pleasant development in the book, but it does not take over the story. Sean's relationship with his horse is beautiful as well and much more present in the story. I loved learning about the horses and the interaction they had with Sean, they were terrifying and powerful and unpredictable but Sean always loved and respected them. The races are only a very small portion of the book, the story is more about the lead up to the races. If you've ever watched a horse race or any race for that matter it is over in seconds, but the training and preparation takes months. That is how I would describe this book, it is more about the lead up to the races and the trials and tribulations our characters must face to get to the finish line, not the few minutes they actually race. That part is there too, and it is everything I expected.

Review: As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This book will be published on January 2, 2018.

As You Wish is a coming of age story that takes place in the sleepy town of Madison, Nevada. Madison is on the outskirts of Las Vegas and Area 51, but nothing really happens there, except everyone in the town of Madison gets to make a wish on their 18th birthday. The gift of wishing is a well kept secret amongst those living in the town of Madison because no one ever really leaves Madison, and if they do they tend to come back. Main character Eldon is about to turn 18 and make his wish, only he doesn't know what he wants. He is obnoxious, self-centered, and very immature. He blames all his problems on everyone else and the wishes they've made. His attitude made the books hard to read sometimes because you just wanted grow up. Then again there weren't very many likable characters in the book. Most of the wishes were shallow and self serving like making yourself better looking or the most talented at something. Then again when you are 18 and don't know any better what would you wish for? Probably something shallow and self-serving. Each person of the town has to live with the consequences of their wish, some good and some bad. Eldon starts to research wishes and their consequences as his wish day approaches only to find out that most people's wishes didn't exactly have the effect they'd intended. Some people learned to live with their wishes, while others are miserable. Eldon only sees the bad that has come from wishing. Part of Eldon's problem is that the whole town is obsessed with wishing, everyone wants to know what you are going to wish for, and everyone is telling you what to wish for, and his parents are telling him what to wish for because their wishes didn't work out for them. Eldon hasn't had an easy time of it as his 18th birthday approaches, some of it is his own fault, some of it is not his fault at all. Eldon never takes ownership of his own actions, he just blames everyone else for being angry and mean to everyone. There are plenty of lessons to be learned from reading this, but they took way to long to develop for my liking. Eldon is the epitome of flawed.

In the end this book was just OK for me. I didn't connect with the characters or the story. It just felt very immature to me, as an adult reader who likes YA I find that is a problem at times. While the dialog may be realistic as if it were coming from high schoolers, there were some very immature comments in the dialog between characters that did not appeal to me, and I'm sure people will find them hurtful if not harmful. That is not what I want my kids thinking is OK, so I don't want them reading it in the books they read. I did appreciate that there was atleast one character that was trying to stop it, even thought not very forcefully. The premise is interesting enough and kept me interested.

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Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what to say about this book. It has taken me several months to finally finish this book, partially because I had checked it out of the library and I had to wait on the wait list between requests and partly because it is extremely long. While I liked the journey, the ending left me wanting. I felt like I read all that and you leave me with that ending?  Huge cliffhanger!  I'm glad to have finished it finally and I can check off unreliable narrator from my reading challenge list.

The story finds Kvothe or Kote as he is known today in an inn where he has been an upstanding citizen of the town when a stranger enters the picture. This stranger is a chronicler and he is looking for the famous Kvothe and wants to write his story. Kvothe is a famed hero, but he's hiding out undercover as an inn keeper and the chronicler wants to know why and wants to document all of Kvothe's adventures. After some persuading, Kvothe agrees, but his terms are specific. He begins his tale in his childhood and we learn about his family, how he came to discover magic, and his many other adventures as a youth. We then hear about his trials and tribulations as the University, where he learns to hone his magic craft, but his is always finding mischief. His story is not one of fame, fortune, or heroism. Kvothe has had a terribly sad life, and he is on a mission to right the wrongs that were done to him and his family.

The story of his time at the university was interesting but it was long. It was slot at times, and not so slow at others. It picks up about halfway through the book, and the pace is steady from about the 50% mark to the end. There is more action happening at that time as well. I didn't find the story boring at all, just long. This was not a book I just couldn't put down, and even when I read for long stretches of time I didn't make much progress which was discouraging. I felt some of the plot lines were unnecessary, while other's could have been more explored. Kvothe himself doesn't seem to be doing anything for long stretches of time except going to classes or hanging about one place or another for long periods of time. I did like alot of the side characters, Kvothe's friends and instructors had great personalities, and his apprentice Bast who we meet at the end has proven to be more than what he appears.

I'll continue on with the series, as I did like The Name of the Wind and I do like Rothfuss' writing. I am anxious to hear about what happens next in the tale and some of the more action packed adventures that are hinted at during the telling of Kvothe's life story.

Review: Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to say I was kind of stunned by the ending, but it was perfect and the book was excellent. I listened to it on audio and just couldn't put it down. Victoria Schwab is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her writing is dark, emotional, and just fantastic.

We pick up several months after we leave Kate and August. Kate is in Prosperity, a city rumored to have no monsters, but Kate has become a monster hunter. She has found herself a group of friends who have named themselves the Wardens and they hack into the city's systems at night and help Kate fight what goes bump in the night. Kate finds a new monster, unlike anything she has ever seen before, dubbed the Chaos Eater, and it infects Kate. Kate fights the monster's need to invoke fear and chaos into the humans around it so it can feed for the entire book. The monster flees to Verity and Kate follows. Meanwhile, August has take up Leo's role as head Sunai in the FTF in the fight against the monster population in Verity. He is at war within himself to be the monster his brother wanted him to be, the monster the people need him to be, and the human he wanted to be. We also get to know Soro, a new Sunai, who while a monster provides some great non-gender representation. Soro is referred to with they and their throughout the books, and there is a section when August asks if Soro is male or female and Soro says they just are. I really liked that especially since this is YA. I would have loved to see more of Soro and Ilsa in the book, but they probably could have novels of their own.

August and Kate have been thinking about one another since they parted ways and when they are reunited, August is not the same. She challenges him at every step to be the boy she once knew, while he challenges her as he always did to make more rational decisions. With both of their worlds unraveling the friends must find and battle this new monster, Sloan the monster from their past that Kate thought she killed, and Alice her own personal nightmare.

I loved the characters in the series. I loved Kate and August throughout the series. The development of the characters, family ties, and friendships among all the characters was excellent. I loved the life lessons in the book.  I would have liked a bit more on the Chaos Eater and the Wardens.  Overall, I really loved the series, and I'll be looking to add these books to my permanent collection soon.  Therese Plummer did an awesome job with the audio!

Review: Little Boy Lost (The Librarian #1) by Eric Hobbs

Little Boy Lost by Eric Hobbs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.  I'm not sure how I got on Eric Hobbs' email list, but I'm glad I did.  This book has been on my Amazon wishlist for a while now.  It showed up as a recommendation for fans of the Percy Jackson books.  I jumped on the chance to review books 1 & 2.  I need to get to book 2 so I can find out what happens.  This was a quick and enjoyable read.  Eric was nice enough to send me an autographed copy as well which I'm super excited to put with my actual books.  I highly recommend this for middle grade readers.  I think my 7 and 9 year old would really love this series.  They love watching Once Upon a Time with me on TV and seeing all the fairy tale character retellings.  I would highly recommend it for young readers who like adventure stories in a fantasy setting.

I enjoyed this book, and I'm anxious to get to book 2. Hobbs blends some of our favorite children's stories into this tale but gives them a distinct twist. Our main character Wesley finds himself on a field trip to tour a local library. Also on the trip are his best friend Taylor and worst enemy Randy. Wesley is regularly bullied by Randy and his crew of goons, while Taylor is always sticking up for him and telling him to stand up for himself. Wesley and Taylor break away from the history lesson on the tour and end up learning that the historical library is more than it seems. There are some truly magical things hiding in its walls. Randy's father is also on the trip with the class, but it turns out he wants to demolish the historical library and all its magic. While trying to stay out of Randy and his father's sights, Wesley finds himself drawn to a strange painting of Neverland. He also runs into Locke, who happens to be one of Peter Pan's Lost Boy's from Neverland. Locke is looking for the mysterious Librarian.

Wesley, Locke, and Taylor can't find the Librarian, but they do discover that Locke must get back to his own story. The kids end up in Oz and learn that once a story is written, it must not be changed. Taylor won't be swayed though and she is determined to help the Tin Man find his true love. If you know the rules of time travel, they kind of apply here, you don't mess with the timeline or it will have consequences. Eventually the kids face off with Randy and his dad to get the Neverland key back so Locke can go back. The find the Librarian and face off with the Headless Horseman. Wesley who is almost irritatingly weak throughout the story, finds his inner strength and starts to stand up for himself. He gets tired of being pushed around all the time which is a good lesson for young readers especially if they are in a similar situation with a kid like Randy. Locke heads back to Neverland, but Wes, Taylor, and the Librarian are left in the real world to deal with the mess they've made. The story ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, but not a bad one. I kind of saw it coming.

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Review: Sourdough by Robin Sloan

Sourdough by Robin Sloan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book was extremely charming. It has its quirky. weird parts, but I really loved it. I loved all the technical references and all the baking information. I honestly wish someone would gift me a magical bread starter. I love to bake but can't make bread, it is my nemesis. I have a background in engineering and robotics, so I loved that part just as much.

I used this for my challenge prompt to read a book about food, only 7 more books to go for 2017.  I struggled to find a book for this category.  Sourdough came up as a recommendation several times, but it wasn't until I saw a review by PeruseProject on YouTube that I actually wanted to give it a shot.  It never appealed to me until Regan reviewed it as a weird, yet charming book and I 100% agree with her.  I can relate to Lois in several ways, which made me like this even more.

Lois Clary is a gifted, young computer programmer. She was recruited from her auto manufacturing job in Michigan, to work in in the cutting edge start-up disctrict of San Francisco. In California she works endless hours as a robotics programmer trying to solve big problems, living on nutritive gel called Slurry, barely sleeping, and really not finding satisfaction in what she is doing. One night she finds a menu for Clement Street Soup and Sourdough, and orders spicy soup and sourdough bread. The exotic food comforts Lois and it is all she eats, when she doesn't eat Slurry that is. Lois gets to know the 2 brothers that operate Clement Street just as they have to close their shop and leave the US. They gift her baking supplies and a crock of their bread started and instruct her on how to keep it alive. Lois decides that she'd going to try her hand at making bread from the starter, so she does some homework and buys some cooking supplies online. After struggling to get it right, Lois finds success in making sourdough bread with the magical starter. She starts out just making bread for herself, then she starts sharing with neighbors, and before she knows it she's selling her delicious bread to the chef at work and has a market stall at a weird farmers market. Lois quickly finds herself teaching a robotic arm how to make bread, and learns that her starter is not just any old sourdough starter. Eventually Lois must choose between her job as a programmer or her job as a baker, she also has to deal with the tempermental starter that kind of has a mind of its own.

I really enjoyed this. I loved Sloan's writing. The mysterious backstory about the starter was really interesting as were all of the characters. I ended the book wanting a "double spicy", or atleast some sourdough bread.

Review: Will Love For Crumbs by Jonna Ivin

Will Love For Crumbs by Jonna Ivin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked this up a few years ago when it was free on Kindle. The synopsis sounded interesting, and it had a ton of good reviews. I never got around too it, and I probably wouldn't have were it not for the reading challenge I'm working my way through. The prompt was to read a book about a difficult topic, so I thought this would be a perfect fit. This is a tale about emotional abuse, a traumatic childhood, dysfunctional relationships, addiction, her strange relationship with God, and poor decision making.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was a memoir, but it read like a fictional story. Many of the situations are very dramatic, and I just can't relate to drama like that. To quote a like in the book "No one's life is that dramatic" kept popping up in the back of my mind as I read the story Jonna painted as she tells the story of her life. Jonna says this to a group of Red Cross volunteers she is working with in reference to Chris, after hearing about his crazy yet very sad life. Chris and Jonna end up having a whirlwind relationship, and eventually end up together. Jonna learns that Chris is not who he says he is and he's been lying to her about everything. She stays with him because he makes her feel taken care of, which makes you want to shake her and yell at her because she is too old to be this immature and irresponsible. Her sister actually does this at one point and she still doesn't do anything. Many of Jonna's mistakes and poor decisions stem from growing up with an alcoholic mother and no father in the picture. She just wants some one to love her and take care of her like her parents never did. Chris enters her life like a freight train, large and in charge, and gives her the sense of stability and care she was always missing. Yet after she learns of his betrayals and bad behaviors, it takes her a long time to leave even thought she writes about doing it for several chapters. Its like she was addicted to him and his lies. I just can't relate to not learning from my mistakes and being in a position like this. I give Ivin credit for writing her story, it takes guts to put your story out there for people to read and criticize. I don't want to criticize her life and her choices,, but I do have thoughts on the actual technical writing which I think is a valid critique.  I wish she had a support system to tell her to get her act together and help her. I hope that she's gotten that since writing this.

I didn't care for the writing style at all. This was written in a disjointed chronology, which I really don't care for in general, but as the author is telling her life story it jumped around and she never closed the story. It just abruptly ends, leaving so many pieces of her life unexplained. Like whatever happened to Adam, he was in her life then he wasn't. What happened with Greg? A memoir usually closes with what the author learned as their life went on or where they ended up in the present. This just ends and you are left almost with a cliffhanger. There are alot of holes that left me scratching my head. As many other reviewers mentioned, this book could have used a good edit. There were so many mistakes, it was sometimes hard to read.

Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this! This was exactly what I wanted from the first book. I loved the focused attention to Jack and Jill's story. I was pretty hard on Every Heart a Doorway because I felt like there was too much going on. There were all these wonderful characters, but the main story line was kind of lost because there was a murder plot, and so many characters that you wanted to investigate.  I wanted to hear more about the main character and her experience.

I really loved getting Jack and Jill's backstory and learning about how they found their door. We learned about the world behind their door in such detail and how it shaped them into they ended up as as teens when we met them at the home for wayward children. Their characters make much more sense now that we know them so much better.  I want to go back and read Every Heart a Doorway now and see what I think.  I really loved getting to know Jack, the mad scientist's apprentice and Jill who longs to be accepted as a vampire. Their parents broke them and their bond as sisters and they are doing their best to find something to put themselves back together as individuals.  This book is dark and sometimes gruesome, but it is also kind of magical in a strange way.  I really enjoyed it.

Seanan McGuire's writing was beautiful and poetic and I read this book in one sitting. I can't wait for the next book.  I hope it is like this one where it is focused on one character and their adventures behind their door.

This is listed as young adult, but there is some content I would recommend for more mature YA readers.  There is also a horror element to the story which also adds to the more mature nature of the content.  It isn't overly graphic or grotesque, but just something to to consider.

Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the ending to this trilogy. It picks up about a year after Adelina forms the Rose Society and takes over as queen. She is still fighting with the Daggers and spiraling down into the depths of her own darkness. She is cruel and brutal, making those who wronged malfettos and elites in the past pay for their crimes with torture and death. She rules with fear, only allowing Magiano and Sergio to provide her with council, and she rarely takes their advice. As Adelina ruthlessly takes over more land, she continues to succumb to the madness of the whispers and illusions in her head. Magiano keeps her grounded. They continue to flirt, and you are never quite sure where her heart lies with Magiano or with Enzo. I like that the romance is not overwhelming in the book and it isn't necessary to move the plot along.

As Adelina is conquering the world, Raffaele is trying to figure out why the Elite's are getting sick from using their powers. Eventually Raffaele figures out how to solve the riddle, and asks that the Elites form a truce for the good of all mankind, or everyone Elite and non-Elite will eventually perish. The crew embarks on a quest to heal the tear between the mortal world and the world of the gods. Their journey is not easy. Some characters finally find peace and purpose, while others find much struggle and heartbreak.

I absolutely loved the ending! I'm very impressed that Marie Lu took the story where she did and made the decisions she did. I loved the mythology she added to the book and the journey the characters took through the underworld to save humanity. The interaction with the gods and goddesses, alteast for me, was extremely interesting. I love mythology, and I need to do some research on what she based her's on or if she created it all on her own. Either way I loved what she did throughout the series with it.

I do wish we would have gotten closure on some of the plot lines and a little more interaction with some of the characters. Maeve and Lucent for instance. They are both awesome characters, but were practically absent in book 3. The same goes for Raffaele and Enzo, I would have liked to see their stories wrapped up a little more cleanly. Overall though, I really feel this book was beautiful, I loved the writing throughout the trilogy, and the narrators were excellent on the audio version.

Review: Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings

Zenith by Lindsay Cummings
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

I read the first part of Zenith a while back when it was going to be published as a set of serials. I was really into it, but it was short and left me wanting for more. I much prefer the longer version were get to see where the story goes instead of being left wanting after just a few chapters. I'm looking forward to where Sasha and Lindsey take the 2nd book. 

The story is told from the perspective of several different characters, I would have preferred just 2 characters, but I wasn't distracting or confusing.  There were times where it didn't make sense to read from one character's perspective, but knowing how the book ended it sets up book 2 to hear more from that character. Speaking of characters, I loved the banter between the crew on the Marauder and Dex. It was genuinely funny. I can't decide if I like Andi or not yet. She is a strong warrior one minute, then she is crying over something the next. Her sad story was repeated a few too many times for my liking, I would have liked a hint then a big reveal with all the info.  There is alot going on in Zenith, but I didn't think it was too much to keep up with.

Zenith follows the all female crew of the Maruader, captained by Androma or Andi, also known as the Bloody Baroness for her ruthlessness in a fight. Andi and her crew are almost always on the run for the unsavory jobs they take, but Andi is wanted for other crimes she has committed in her past. Dextros, Andi's former flame who also has become a bounty hunter must team up with the ladies of the Maurader on a near impossible mission to save the kidnapped son of a General. The General will wipe everyone's slates clean if they pull of the mission and save his son Valen. Everyone hates Dex for what he's done to Andi in their past, and the girls let him know it, especially Andi. Forced to be a team the agree to work together so they can clear their names and gain a chance at a decent life for themselves and their crew. Both Andi and Dex learn that neither of them know the whole truth about their past actions towards each other and make a pact to move on. Meanwhile, Valen is being brutally tortured to the brink of death in prison on Xen Ptera. The Queen of Xen Ptera, Nor, wants to eradicate everyone who has ever wronged her or her people and has been working on a secret weapon aptly named Zenith to make her revenge dreams come true. The queen will stop at nothing until her planet and her people have been avenged.

I'm anxious to see where the series goes from here.  I've read several negative review's that compared Zenith to other YA series and for it's lack of originality.  I've read some of them and I haven't read others, I see some of the similar themes but, you know what people read YA or any genre because they like that recipe.  The setting of Zenith is different, and there is some interesting and creative thought put into the development of the places and people presented in the various places the main characters encounter.

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NEW RELEASE: Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid Now Available

If you haven't figured it out by now I'm a big Penny Reid fan.  Her Knitting in the City series is awesome, and I love the Winston Brothers.  I read the first installment of Kissing Tolstoy forever ago when it was just a short, and then it became a staple in Penny's newsletter as a gift to her loyal readers and fans.  I'm so happy to have it all in it's entirety.

Kissing Tolstoy, an all new standalone from USA Today bestselling author Penny Reid is available now!

Proceeds for the month of November go to hurricane relief efforts!

What do you do when you discover that your super-hot blind date from months ago is now your super-hot Russian Lit professor?

You overthink everything and pray for a swift end to your misery, of course!

‘Kissing Tolstoy’ is the first book in the Dear Professor series, is 46k words, and can be read as a standalone. A shorter version of this story (28k words) was entitled ‘Nobody Looks Good in Leather Pants’ and was available via Penny Reid’s newsletter for free over the course of 2017. 

 

Read Today!

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Meet Penny Reid:

USA Today bestselling author Penny Reid lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband, three kids, and an inordinate amount of yarn. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books.

 

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