Review: The Magician's Workshop, Volume One by Christopher Hansen and J.R. Fehr

The Magician's Workshop, Volume One by Christopher Hansen and J. R Fehr

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided this for an honest review.  I'm also using this for my Popsugar Reading Challenge prompt, A Book with Multiple Authors.  I've completed 11 of the 52 prompts so far.

This book has promise, its whimsical and the idea behind the magic system is really interesting. I think if I were a much younger reader, I would enjoy this book alot more.  I think my 9 year old would enjoy this, I thought of him throughout the book as I was reading it.  I can picture him laughing at the many antics the kids in the book are apart of. There's no real plot to the story, if there was I missed it. The story is called the Magician's Workshop, but it isn't about the Magician's Workshop at all, it is about way to many characters and the time leading up to their color test. A color determines if you are going to be a mage and maybe one day make it to the Workshop, this part isn't really clearly explained and kind of confusing. Every person in the land can use magic, or projections, but commoners are limited to what they can do were as mages are not. Everything is centered around projections in the society the characters live in entertainment, the food they eat, the clothes they wear, social status, wealth, etc.

Every two chapters or so you are following one of 8 or so characters in the book and their story line which is way too many people to keep track of, and it was cumbersome to keep switching back and forth between stories. The character lines aren't really flushed out either, they don't pick up where they left off and I just found them jumbled and confusing.  Each of the characters story lines leads up to the color ceremony day where they can take different tests to earn chips for their projections, but none of that actually matters because the tests don't determine if they have color or not. The book kind of just ends and says read volume two to find out what happens next. And you don't know if any of the kids are successful, void of color, and you only know that one of them actually registers to be tested.

I will say you want to find out what happens to them when you are done and you start to care about the characters which is good, but I was left feeling like "what is the actual point to this story" when I was done.  I have a huge issue with books with no closure at the end.  I prefer structured plots with a definitive ending, even if the story line will continue on in another book in the series.  A volume should stand on its own with a beginning, middle, and end.  This just misses the mark for me.


View all my reviews

Review: Dorothy Must Die: Stories Vol. 2 by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die: Stories Vol. 2 by Danielle Paige
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This compilation was really dark. They fit in nicely with the story line and kind of answer the how did they get this way question that I've been asking myself since I started the series. The personalities of the beloved characters from my childhood make so much more sense in the retelling of Amy's story after reading these.

The first story is about the Tin Woodman and his love for Dorothy. It isn't a normal, romantic, sweet love. It is a toxic, creepy, stalker love. He is consumed by his love for her. Upon her return to Oz, he is overwhelmed by her presence and will do anything to be near her and make her happy. When she is displeased with him or his actions which happens frequently, he is devastated. He teams up with the Scarecrow to create an army of experiments to protect her an her new kingdom. Glinda also plays a part in helping him show Dorothy that he will do her bidding to make her happy and show his love. This was dark and disturbing.

The second story follows the Scarecrow's short reign as King of Oz. He is quickly usurped by a girl named Ginger and her girl army. Ginger doesn't believe he should be king, and attacks the palace. The Scarecrow and the Lion escape and team up with the beasts and the monkeys, but they prove match for Ginger and her army. Enter Glinda, again with a sinister plot, to help Scare win the day. She suggests placing Ozma on the throne, as she is the true ruler of Oz anyway. The people of Oz seem pretty happy with Ozma, however Ozma is not very happy about taking orders and suggestions from Glinda and the Scarecrow all the time. She's the queen afterall, she shouldn't be taking orders from anyone. Clearly this doesn't make Glinda or the Scarecrow happy as they felt they could rule from behind the scenes. This story was very insightful, and while it didn't really add much to what I already knew, it helped fill in some gaps.

The final story is about the no longer cowardly Lion. This one was my favorite of the 6 short stories. I also felt like this one filled in the most gaps for me other than story 1, which is about Dorothy and actually takes place after story 6. The Lion, who is no longer scare of anything these days, and much more lion-like is finding himself pretty bored as king of the beasts. Other than taking pleasure in eating, there isn't much more for him to do. Glinda appears and suggests he go to the city and spend some time with Ozma, but also take on a quest to find a ruby necklace as an undercover quest. The Lion jumps at the opportunity to have something to do and goes. Glinda has told him to be suspicious of Ozma, but he finds himself becoming friends with the girl. Ozma has a quest of her own and invites him along with her to the kingdom of Ev, where the Gnome King resides. This part is very interesting and we learn alot about Ozma that we haven't seen before and get quite a bit of information about the Gnome King and Ev. Upon their return from Ev, Ozma must face Glinda as she knows she is up to no good and has been for some time. Sinister forces are at play and the Lion has to choose a side.

View all my reviews

Review: The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was not what I expected in such a good way. This is dark and twisty, but so good. It is violent, and not for the faint of heart or for the squeamish. It was the perfect Halloween time read. There are 89 chapters to this book, or atleast there are in the audio book. Don't let that deter you, some of the chapters are very short. The book keeps going at such a good pace and I found myself wanting to listen to just one more chapter to find out what happens next.  The two narrators were excellent.

The Murder Complex follows our two main characters Meadow and Zephyr. They are connected but they don't know it in the beginning. They come to find each other later after an accident and make and unlikely coupling. Their relationship is kind of underwhelming for the most part.

Meadow is strong and will do whatever it takes to survive and keep her family safe, even if it means killing. She has been trained well to survive in The Shallows by her father and feels no remorse for her survival. Meadow has a deep need to keep her little sister Perry safe, and feels almost a sense of duty to protect and obey her father and brother Koi.

Zephyr is a ward, an orphan, who spends his days cleaning up The Shallows with his best friend Talon. The two of them clean up the streets after the nightly murders take place or whatever odd jobs the Initiative solders aka Leeches find for them to do each day. Zephyr sometimes wakes up in a fog feeling terrible after having gone on his own murder rampage, feeling overwhelming guilt about what he's done. He mourns the lives he's been forced to take, but can't remember why he's done it.

We finally find out what the Murder Complex is about half way through the book. We learn why it was created and who created it. I won't spoil it. This is where we kind of get into the normal recipe of dystopia, bad thing happens, new government takes over to keep the populace in check, and resistance swoops in to overthrown the government. Enter Meadow and Zephr to lead the resistance to glory...read book two to find out what happens next. I'm anxious to see what happens in the next book.

The actors who played the alternating perspectives in the audiobook were fantastic. They both had a wonderful ability to make unique voices for all of the characters in the story. I normally don't like dual perspective books, but it especially well in this audio presentation.  The audiobook was very well done. I'm not really one for all the violence that is inherent in this book, but it is so different from what I normally read. I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the next one, The Death Code.

View all my reviews

2017 Popsugar Ultimate Reading Challenge

In an attempt to read a little more diversely and meet my Goodreads reading goal for 2017, I'm participating in the Popsugar 2017 Reading challenge.  There are 52 challenges in total, 40 regular and 12 advanced reading prompts.  I found this challenge through YouTuber Bree Hill.  I'm hoping to use this challenge to breakout of the YA Fantasy binge I've been on and read some different genres, read some books on my TBR list, and maybe read some new books I've never heard of.  The Goodreads group has been a great resource so far for suggestions for the prompts.  I highly suggest you join.

There really aren't any rules other than you have to follow the prompts and have fun.  The prompts are open to interpretation by the reader.  I've already read/listened to 15 books this year and several of them fit on the list so I'm well on my way.  I'm trying only count one book per prompt, but we'll see how I do.  I have a bunch of books that count for more than one.

I'm going to create a google doc to keep track of my progress, check it out here.  Feel free to make suggestions.  I feel like the excel doc will be easy to manipulate as I read more books, plus I just like to use excel for lists.

Happy reading!

Review: Winter Falls: A Tale of the Snow Queen by Jacque Stevens

Winter Falls: A Tale of the Snow Queen by Jacque Stevens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was provided for an honest review. Let me start out by saying I enjoyed this book. If you read the author's note at the beginning, you can really tell that the author was going through something when she wrote this and it comes through in Katie's story. The message of the story that whatever struggles you are going through end and that you can over come them is a great one and I really appreciated the message and the way that the main character never gave up, though you thought she might a couple of times. My only real issue is Katie's self loathing attitude, I have a hard time connecting with characters like Katie. She refused to admit her feelings for other people, refused to be cared about by those around her, and never knew her own worth, and for me that gets old after a while. I needed her to snap out of it sooner than she did. I don't think it is an issue with the writing or the character development, I think after having read a few characters like Katie, I just don't connect well with them.

On to the actual story...Katie Graham lives in a hotel with her father. The book starts with Katie finding Avery, a talking crow from a place called the Four Kingdoms. Where Avery is from there are all manner of talking animal and fairy tale creatures, specifically the Fairy Princesses of the four seasons who take turns ruling. Avery has a broken wing and Katie vows to nurse him back to health and find his way home, in the meantime the two become inseparable companions. In the meantime, at the age of 7 Katie must take over the hotel while her father mourns the loss of her mother. Katie wants to keep the hotel in business and she has to grow up way to fast. The story follows her from the age of 7 to 17 while she runs the hotel, her father gets remarried and has more children, and Katie never feels like she is part of the family, she always feels left out even when she's included. Part of her issue is because she closes herself off to everyone and is cold so she doesn't get hurt. Even to Shay the boy who has liked her since they were 7. Much of the book follows Katie through her life at the hotel and her interactions with her family and the townspeople. After a while the story begins to alternate between Katie's adventures in the Four Kingdoms.

One of the guests at the hotel turns out to be the Snow Queen, Flurry. Flurry takes Shay to the Four Kingdoms, and Katie isn't very happy about it. She can't decide if they are just friends or something more, but she knows she has to go after him, so she goes to the Four Kingdoms herself and meets each of the princesses, who help her along the journey in some way. Katie's perseverance to save Shay and restore the Four Kingdoms and reunite the fairy sisters was really enjoyable. Overall a great retelling of the Snow Queen tale.

View all my reviews

Review: Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft by Heather B. Moore

Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft by Heather B. Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was provided for an honest review. I very much enjoyed this. I loved learning about the Salem Witch Trials in my youth and the cast of familiar characters and excerpts from the actual trials was a very nice touch.  I actually wrote a paper on the Witch Trials in high school after having visited Salem on a family vacation to Massachusetts.  The trials were a testament of how awful people can be to one another and how people will turn on one another.  Moore does a good job capturing that in the book and trying to give a bit of a history lesson within the story.

The story follows Susannah North Martin at various times in her life, the story alternates between her time in jail as a 71 year old woman accused of witchcraft and as a 25 year old unmarried woman living with her family. Susannah's time in jail shows us her strength and devotion to her family and her faith.  She never once broke her faith in God and never once let her moral compass slip like so many of the other accused did.  Her time as a young woman, though she was almost a spinster for the times, tells us the story of a woman devoted to her family but who had a mind of her own and often said what she thought and did what she thought was right. This was not generally accepted in 1646, and those who did not conform to social norms did not often do well in the community. As the Salem trials proved, those who dare cross those in power ended up at the Gallows.  As I learned about the trials from my own research, accusations were made if you didn't agree with the masses or those in positions of power which is what happened in this story.  If you did something unfamiliar or not generally understood, you must be a witch.  Susannah often spoke up when she was supposed to be reserved and quiet, usually trying to do what was right or speak out toward injustice and it ended bady for her.  Susannah's story takes us through her romance with her new neighbor George and develops their relationship nicely. Their love story was really sweet, the kind of love that really endures.  Moore states that Susannah Martin was actually her relative, and while I'm sure much of story is fiction I hope some of it is true I really loved George and Susannah.  I really appreciated revisiting the subject and the author's ability to stay true to the events that took place during the time.

View all my reviews

Review: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Bone Witch.  The story was very interesting, a girl who can use dark magic instead of light magic.  She can raise the dead, and she's got an attitude.  Tea our main character isn't porcelain doll to be put on display, she's powerful but lacks control.   I felt the writing was well done, but the book itself was flawed. The book is good for about the first half then it drags on for quite sometime where nothing happens. There is a weak attempt at a love triangle that doesn't really materialize, I think we'll see more of that in the next book. There is one really good plot twist, that I didn't see coming, and one I figured out early on. My biggest issue is the ending. The story builds up to some epic thing that is supposed to happen, but it never occurs. I huge pet peeve of mine is books that don't stand alone and close completely. I want to feel closure when I close a book, and be compelled to read the next book. I have to read the next book to find out what happens, I'm given no choice. I have no clue what happens next, and that irks me. There are a lot of loose ends that weren't wrapped up in this book and I hope that they are tied up in the next book.

The Bone Witch follows our main character Tea, who discovers her affinity for magic at her brother's funeral.  Tea discovers she is an asha and can control magic, but she is also a bone witch and can control the dead.  Tea begin's her journey to learn control over her abilites with the help of fellow Bone Witch, Lady Mykaela, and recently raised from the dead brother, Fox.  Mykaela takes Tea to the Willows, a place where asha like Tea, learn the arts of music, singing, dancing, history, fighting, social graces, and how to control their magic.  Asha, similar to a Geisha, are things of beauty in appearance and ability to entertain as much as they are able to control the elements and wield magic.  Being a Bone Witch means that Tea and Mykaela can control dark magic where as the other girls can control light magic like the elements.

The story stalls out shortly after Tea and Mykaela arrive at The Willows and Tea is accepted into the House Valerian to begin her asha training.  Tea is taken on as a house maid as part of her asha trials to teach her obedience.  Tea causes causes some accidental trouble, which puts her in the limelight and her training is sped up.  This is where the story kind of becomes repetitive, Tea just takes lessons for a while and doesn't really do anything but asha training, none of it specific to her dark nature or her being a Bone Witch.  Mykaela is off fighting daeva (demons) or recovering from fighting and doesn't really teach Tea anything.  Tea gets adopted by some older asha and they begin teaching her but this goes on for a while but again they don't really do anything for quite some time.  Eventually they actually go fight a dragon, and that is where the story gets interesting again and the pace picks up again.

The chapters alternate between Tea's past learning to be a Bone Witch and her present time in exile.  You never are sure if she is guilty of her the crimes she is accused of.  She was sought out by a bard during her time in exile and she is telling him her story.  The chapters are very short, but help tell of things past and things to come.  In between, the chapters tell Tea's story as a child and her journey to become a powerful asha.  I normally don't like flashbacks/flashforwards, but I felt this was done well where the future time chapters were short enough that they didn't detract from the main story and they gave just enough info so as not to spoil the story yet to be told.  These chapters tell the story of Tea's exile and seem to be ramping up to her doing something epic.  This leads me to my biggest issue with this book.  The epic thing never happens.  She can raise the dead, and she spends many of these alternating chapters, telling the bard her story, but we never find out why she was exiled, or what she is going to do.  You have to read the next book to find out.  After all the anticipation, you don't even have a hint of what she is going to go do with the creatures she's raised from the dead.  I'm left wanting at the end with no closure.  I am interested in reading the next book and hope that all the loose ends are tied up.

    

View all my reviews