Review: The Swan's Daughter: A Possibly Doomed Love Story by Roshani Chokshi

The Swan's Daughter: A Possibly Doomed Love Story by Roshani Chokshi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC and an ALC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I really loved this!  This borders on cozy, but still has a fairytale/retelling vibe.  It has been a long time since I've read the Swan Princess so I can't speak to the similarities or relation, but it feels like a modern fairytale.

This follows Demelza, daughter of a veritas swan and a wizard, but unlike her sisters and mother, she can't turn into a swan and she doesn't sing beautifully.  Her song like all veritas swans does force those who hear it to tell the truth.  When her beloved father threatens to use her in the most horrible of ways, she runs away and finds herself accidentally entered into a tournament to win the hand of the heir of the neighboring islands.  Girls from kingdoms wide and far have come to enter the tournament to win the hand of Prince Arris.  Some are there to murder him outright, while others are there to find love.  Demelza makes a deal with Arris to use her song to learn the intentions of the ladies in exchange for his protection.  Unfortunately, she finds herself having to participate int he trials herself.  In doing so she strikes up a friendship with the prince and his twin sister, only to find that she might actually be exactly who he is looking for.

In a kingdom where the heir is doomed to be murdered, and where true love can drive a person to do unthinkable things can our couple find true love and choose each other every day or will they be doomed by fate and circumstance?   I really loved getting to know Demelza and Arris!  I thought their character development was excellent and the world building was lush.  There were so many unique things to be discovered as the trials went on and as the characters got to know one another.  While there isn't a ton of chemistry as our couple get to know one another, this is more of a romantic love story where their relationship will grow after the book is closed.  There are quite a few miscommunications between our couple as the trials go on which is part of the plot which I won't spoil, but they get there in the end.  

The audio narration was wonderful!  I highly recommend the audiobook, but it was also nice to have the ebook available to refer to specific details of the various characters, as there are many to keep track of as the trials go on and refer to different plot points to make sure you have everything straight as things progress.

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Review: Try Me by Adriana Locke

Try Me by Adriana Locke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the author, all opinions are my own.

This follows Gianna, who we have met before in Play Me, as she is one of Astrid's best friends and is a spin off of the Brewer family series.  You don't need to have read any of the previous books that mention the Brewer's or Astrid to pick this up as it reads as a complete standalone.  Gianna is an artist and she says whatever she thinks, which works well for her highly successful podcast <i>Gianna Knows Things </i>.  She is a current day Dear Abby, giving advice on relationships and love often telling her listeners the truths they already know but needed someone else to voice.  Fellow podcaster Drake, a retired football player believes that everyone deserves love and that Gianna hasn't ever been treated right, hence her advice to eject from a relationship at the first sign of distress.  She doesn't ask questions and doesn't want details when things feel off, she'd rather cut things off clean before things get too messy.  Drake on the other hand feels that communication is key and relationships take work.  He is determined to make Gianna see that there is another side to love that what she has seen so far.  They agree on air to a 6 week trial dating period and their ratings soar both on an off the air.  They have instant chemistry as Drake wines and dines Gianna in a way that both frustrates and charms her.  They have great banter, and she learns that love doesn't have to be earned.

I loved this!  Drake was such a gentleman as he courted Gianna and showed her that relationships don't have to be performative.  While there are some very spicy scenes, they also built a great relationships as they learned about each other and talked about everything and nothing during their 6 week "fake" relationship period.  They were open and honest with each other and supported each other during highs and lows.  This also packs a punch in the emotional department as Drake's parents deal with early onset dementia or Alzheimer's diagnosis for his dad, (forgive me I don't recall if it was mentioned specifically), and his family has to figure out how to manage his care.  This was such a well rounded book as it has humor, spice, emotion, great banter, and wonderful characters.  

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Review: Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ALC and an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.  The audio was amazing, the narrator had a different voice for each character which adds a different experience to the novellas.  McGuire's writing is so rich and descriptive that you can't go wrong with listening or reading these.

This is book 11 of the Wayward Children's series, and while some of these stories can be read as standalones, I wouldn't recommend reading them that way.  This one in particular is interconnected beginning with the very first story as well as many others in between and won't make sense if you haven't read the others.  It has been a very long time since I've read Nancy's original story and I feel like a re-read of the whole series may be in order after reading this one.

Nancy has been happily serving in the Halls of the Dead after spending some time at Eleanor West's School for the Wayward Children years ago.  She once again must return to the school and enlist the help of her friends as the living statues are being attacked and the Lord and Lady of the Halls are helpless to stop it.  We are reunited with Kade, Christopher, Sumi, and others from the previous books as they return to the Halls of the Dead to help Nancy figure out why the dead are killing the living statues.  They quickly uncover the source and an old foe.  To say more would spoil the rest.

I have grown to love this series and look forward to each new quest.  I love when we meet an entirely new character or when we tag along with those we already know.  This particular installment is more plot focused as we have already met most of the characters and know their stories already, hence the reason you need to read all of the prior installments.  As with all of the stories in this series it questions "Are you sure?" to the main character to ensure that they are sure if they want to stay within or return to the world of their door or return to the "real" world.  As always I look forward to seeing who the author decides is worthy of the next quest or what interesting new character we get to meet next.

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Review: The Twin Paradox by Charles Wachter

The Twin Paradox by Charles Wachter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This has been sitting on my shelf for several years, and I finally picked it up.  I'd recommend this for fans of Michael Crichton or Dan Brown as it has that same type of vibe of their sci-fi thrillers.  There is quite a bit of science/pseudoscience  to sift through as well as more action packed thriller scenes.   I saw somewhere that this was being adapted to a movie, and I think that this will translate well.  I actually liked Jurassic Park better as a movie than I did the book, and I think the same is true for this. 

This follows a group of teens as they sort out the government's plans to gain scientific supremacy using time and cloning.  Having gathered the DNA of some of the greatest minds in history and brought them back to life, the government questions the impact of nature vs nurture with their latest experiment and wants these exceptional teens to solve the weakness in their particle accelerator where 3 minutes of our time equal 10 years inside a remote facility in Texas.  Russia is also interested in this technology, and both sides are racing to control time and scientific research because time is money after all.

I found this confusing at times.  This follows several characters and while the premise is very interesting it jumps from place to place which left me confused about what was happening.  I believe this was a conscious choice by the author as I was wondering what happened to so and so or what is going on with this plot point.  I think that will translate well to the screen, but in a book the gaps were too big to keep me engaged with the plot and the characters,  The author writes about certain plot points or certain characters from chapter to chapters, leaving that topic alone for several chapters until you forget about the details and then circles back to it.  In an almost 400 page book, I had to go back an look up what were things left off because I had forgotten about those topics, which really took me out of the storyline.  It took me almost 3 weeks to finish this because I lost interest and lost my place so often.  I found this to be very slow paced, versus the fast paced rollercoaster this was advertised to be.  I think I would have preferred this on audiobook to give it the life it needed for the action scenes, but all that is available is a virtual voice option from audible which I tried, but I couldn't listen too, it had zero intonation and emotion.  As this follows several different characters this lacked the character development I wanted to see from them.  I also wasn't connected or rooting for anyone.  I need a villain to hate or a hero to root for and I didn't feel like there was a clear line when it came to any particular character.

I thought this had promise and a really interesting concept.  I'm interested to see where book 2 is headed, but it doesn't look like it is going to be published anytime soon.  I thought the beginning of the book started out strong, but as it went on the pacing really slowed down, and I need a book like this to be fast paced and action packed to keep me interested.  

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Review: Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson

Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided an ALC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this collection!  It features short stories with some being flash fiction and only a few minutes/pages while others are novella length.  Each story is followed by a post script explaining where the idea for the story came from and if it was published somewhere else and what universe it is tied to if related to another one of the author's series.  This was helpful to me as a reader familiar with Sanderson's work but someone who hasn't read any of his novels yet.  You don't need to have read any of his prior works to appreciate any of these stories, but readers familiar with his novels will appreciate connections to several of these stories.  There is a  nice mix of sci-fi and fantasy subgenres across the nine works in the collection.  The advanced audio didn't come with a supplement of the artwork, each chapter is prefaced with a description of any art connected with the story for anyone visually impaired or without access to the art.  That was a really nice touch and something I haven't come across in an audiobook before.  As for the audiobook, I jumped at the chance to listen to it as it has a knockout cast of narrators!  Anytime I see one of their names narrating a book I want to read I immediately choose to listen to the audiobook instead

Snapshot - this was a cool scifi thriller about two cops who investigate crimes within a snapshot of a day.  It was a cool multi-verse concept story with Minority Report vibes.

Brain Dump - this is an interesting story about a couple shopping for a designer brain for their future child.

I Hate Dragons - this was a humorous story about a boy who can hear punctuation and is used as dragon bait by a band of dragon hunters.

Dreamer - in this action packed story body jumpers play tag

Perfect State - this had Matrix vibes, but all of the "liveborn" are aware they are in a simulation.  In this world our main character Kal is a warrior emperor who is forced to go on a date where he must face off with his nemesis.  The concept and the world were pretty cool.

Probability Approaching Zero - this was super short and featured aliens

Defending Elysium - This is tied to the Skyward series and has to do with an agent at the Phone Company.

Firstborn - This was an interesting story about the human condition and clones.  Can the clone of a master tactician defeat himself?

Mitosis - This is tied to The Reckoners series which I haven't read yet, but I want to now.  A villain named Mitosis attacks Newcago and David needs to figure out a way to defeat him and his many copies.

Moment Zero - This is a full length novella about two partners who are investigating a crime that get caught up in a time warp and have work together from the past and the future to prevent the apocalypse from happening.  It features an interesting zombie/vampire like creature.

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Review: Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher

Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a wonderful, weird book!  This is set in the desert and follows Selena and her Labrador Copper to a strange little town to visit her Aunt Amelia in Quarts Creek.  Upon arrival she finds that Amelia has passed away, with no where to go, no money, and no true desire to return to her controlling ex-boyfriend and no other family, she decides to stay for the night in her aunt's house.  On the long walk from town she runs into Grandma Billy, who is a delightful character, who helps Selena get settled.  One day turns into another, and the people of the town help Selena make a bit of a life for herself in the desert.  With the help of Grandma Billy, the local priest Father Aguirre, and Aunt Amelia's travel journals, Selena finds herself making the house a home.  She also finds that the desert is home to gods and spirits of the supernatural kind and one has taken a liking to Selena now that her aunt is gone.  She isn't interested in him and he isn't too happy about it.  

This starts off slow, but as Selena gets to know Grandma Billy and Father Aguirre and the other people of town it picks up.  It also picks up as strange things start to happen around her house and around town.  She is slow to accept that the supernatural exist, but once she accepts the possibility things really start moving.  I loved that the townsfolk took Selena and her dog in without batting and eye and helped her without asking any questions.  They were exactly what she needed.  Grandma Billy was hilarious while Father Aguirre added some calm and logic to the situations.  

This was light on the horror side of things.  Is cozy horror a thing?  This doesn't have any gore, but it does have a creepy and unsettling vibe especially when it comes to Snake-Eater he's super creepy and weird.   The found family aspect makes it kind of cozy and heartwarming.  I liked the mix either way and really enjoyed this.

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