Month: January 2014

Review: Defy by Sarah B. Larson

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17406847 This book is labeled as a YA fantasy book which had me excited as soon as I read the blurb about it. But the blurb also had me conflicted from the get go because it mentioned a a love triangle which is a tricky thing in any genre but is particularly tricky for me in a YA genre right now because it’s been done to death. On top of that is that while I love the cover because it’s just very pretty but it reminded me right away of another YA fantasy book I loved – Graceling. I just don’t love that books in a similar genre have such similar covers. 3236307

Alexa was forced to disguise herself as a boy as a child and was trained to become part of the Royal Guard defending Prince Damian. She doesn’t have almost anyone to confide in and is pretty miserable keeping her secrets. Meanwhile, the Royal Guard is busy trying to keep magic and sorcery out of their realm. When Alexa is assigned to protect Damian personally she discovers some of his own secrets and she comes to realize that the Prince she took as a lazy, snobby boy has a completely different side. At the same time her steady friend, Rylan, revelas that her secret may not be so secret after all and things become even more complicated for Alexa.

I was drawn into this world pretty easily and thought the author did a good job of building the world. I was horrified at the parts of the world that were meant to be horrifying. However the love triangle was a little forced. There was definitely some insta-love that seems to plague YA books and the part of the triangle that would have been the more natural part is of course the person that is not actually fallen for.

There was a lot of potential in the book and it’s possible that other people don’t have the same irritations I do with these kind of books. Try it out for yourself and see. It is well written and I liked both the premise and the main character.

3 stars.

~ Clio

Buy it Now Defy

Review: The Whole Golden World by Kristina Riggle

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20140101-075407.jpgIt’s easy enough to write about difficult topics, especially if it’s fiction. Child abuse, incest, murder, school shootings…they’ve all been covered at one time or another with varying degrees of success. But to be able to do so in a way that doesn’t make the reader cringe and push the book aside is no easy feat. Kristina Riggle has done just that with this intriguing novel.

The story centers on the inappropriate relationship between seventeen-year-old Morgan and her math teacher, TJ Hill. Morgan has always been considered mature for her age and seems wise beyond her years. A gifted musician who also writes poetry, she finds herself tiring of the usual teenage drama all around her. A beautiful young woman,she’s nonetheless extremely self-conscious about a scar on her face resulting from a childhood injury. TJ is one of the most popular teachers at the high school. He has an easy rapport with his students. He’s also under a huge amount of stress at home as he and his wife, Rain, continue a barrage of medical treatments as they attempt to conceive a child. Morgan provides a shoulder for him to lean on as he deals with this pressure. She, in turn, thrives on the attention from a wise, mature older man. When their relationship is discovered and charges are filed, Morgan finds herself sitting opposite her parents in the courtroom as she defends the man she believes to be the love of her life. The question is, was Morgan the victim of a manipulative older man or is she a delusional teenager obsessed with her teacher?

If these were the only two characters in this story it would still be a winner. But the author has added a cast of supporting characters that provide enough of a story on their own. There’s Joe, Morgan’s gruff but loving father who just also happens to be the assistant principal at the high school. Dinah, Morgan’s mother, thrives on being involved in her children’s lives but also runs a successful, popular coffee hangout for the local teens. At the same time, she must stay on top of Morgan’s younger twin brothers, Jared and Connor who suffer academic and behavior issues as a result of a difficult birth. And of course there’s Rain, TJ’s supportive but unsuspecting wife who bears a striking resemblance to Morgan.

A story with this many characters always has the potential for being a big confusing mess. Not in this case. Riggle successfully ties everything in to the main storyline while at the same time keeping the reader’s interest spread all around. The story alternates between Morgan, TJ, and to a lesser degree Rain while at the same time keeping us interested in what’s going on with everyone else. As I read this book, I found myself connected to all of the characters, not just Morgan and TJ. There’s no question that this type of relationship is never appropriate, regardless of the student’s age. Those in such positions of power bear a huge responsibility for staying within the boundaries. This story deals with the legalities and morality of such a situation while at the same time showing how other friends and family members are affected. Five stars for me!

~Thalia

Buy it Now: The Whole Golden World

Review: The January Wish by Juliet Madison

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20140102-152247.jpg The January Wish is women’s fiction, family drama, and romance all rolled into one — and set in Australia. I loved the plot: Sylvia reunites with the daughter she gave up for adoption 18 years ago. And I enjoyed the subplots: Sylvia breaks up with one guy and falls in love with another; Sylvia’s daughter experiences young love; small-town citizens support each other personally and in business.

I didn’t like the characters, though. I thought they were a little wishy washy, a little boring, a little unrealistic in their behavior. For example, we hear repeatedly (too many times, really) about Sylvia’s reserved and organized life – from her wardrobe to her car to her office – and then she lets loose dancing on the bar at a bachelorette party (hen night). That just doesn’t make sense to me. That kind if thing happens more than a few times. Later in the book, two conservative characters decide to play strip Scrabble. It just didn’t seem natural based on what the author told us about this couple… So why add it?

The unnatural dialogue hurt my ability to enjoy the book as well.

“Yes, she mentioned how she quite enjoys her acupuncture sessions now… But how anyone could enjoy having tiny needles stuck into their skin is beyond me!” Sylvia managed a friendly laugh.

Even if someone were to say those exact words, I imagine them said under the breath or out of the side of the mouth, not exclaimed and followed by laughter (and this is spoken by the reserved, boring gal).

The characters and dialogue just weren’t up to par and really hindered any enjoyment of the plot. The writing was so verbose and descriptive at times, I was distracted from the plot. (Um, recurring mentions of Mr. Benson — why? How did this relate to the story?) I started skipping paragraphs just to find something related to the plot or subplots.

All in all, I didn’t like the writing, characters or dialogue. Unfortunately, they took away too much from a beautifully thought-out plot.

— Calliope

Buy it now The January Wish

Review: The Girl in the Yellow Vest by Loretta Hill

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20140103-110631.jpg Two great falling-in-love stories, a child custody case, and coal shipping on Australia’s eastern coast fill this novel with fun and adventure.

The characters of Will and Emily were well-developed, as were the secondary characters of Charlotte and Mark. Though their romances were the driving force of the plot, Loretta Hill impressed me with meaningful storylines about Charlotte’s sister Zara, Emily’s breakup with Trent, Mark’s grief, and the raucous nature of 200 men working on the coast away from their families.

Apart from the engineering and shipping explanations (they took up a lot of pages and I skipped over some), I was hooked on this novel and didn’t want to stop reading it. I finally put it down at 80% only because it was 1:30 a.m.! I was too tired to fully enjoy what I knew would be an excellent ending.

I finished the book just now with a full heart, as the characters came to heal their hearts with the love and support of friends and family — and a wild turkey. 🙂

–Calliope

Buy it now The Girl in the Yellow Vest

Preview: Hope Flames, by Jaci Burton

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15808325 This book doesn’t come out til Tuesday, but I was so excited, I just had to tell you about it. I was lucky enough to win a copy of Hope Flames ARC and must admit that I’ve never read a book by Jaci. I’ve heard of her, and many of my friends have told me to read her, but I just haven’t. But that all changes now. Because if all her books are like this one, I will be a very happy camper.

Emma Burnett is beginning her life again, after coming out of a disastrous relationship. She decides to go to college and become a vet. She moves back home and buys a local vet clinic and is determined to live her life without a man to muddle it up again. She wants her independence and doesn’t want anyone to make decisions for her.

Luke McCormack is the super hot, super single, cop who is happy in his life. He has no need for relationships, after his disastrous divorce.

They first meet each other when Boomer, Luke’s police dog, needs medical attention, after injuring himself on a police chase. There is instant chemistry between Luke and Emma, but Emma is quite skittish, so Luke decides to be friends with her only.

I totally fell in love with Luke after seeing him care for his dog. I mean, who can pass up a hot guy and a cute dog??

Seeing them try to remain friends only, was quite amusing. It seems that even Luke’s brother, Logan, and Emma’s parents saw what was happening before they did.

There was a good amount of romance and a bit of suspense sprinkled in. I was quite happy with this and I can’t wait til the next one comes out. I want to hear about Logan. I just know something good is going to happen for him.

~Melpomene

Release date Jan 7
Pre order it now Hope Flames (A Hope Novel)

Review – The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell

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15818333In 2013, the age of Instant Messaging, texting, face-iThingy, etc…, how many of us really know or speak to our neighbours anymore? Would you notice if two teenage girls were living with abusive and irresponsible parents? Would you notice if those parents were to disappear? Well, luckily for you, Lisa O’Donnell explores this conundrum in her debut novel, The Death of Bees. Set in present day Glasgow, O’Donnell presents the reader with Nelly and Marnie – two teenage girls growing up in some of the worse conditions imaginable. Their situation gets exponentially more precarious when their parents die, and they are suddenly left to fend for themselves. Don’t worry, I didn’t just give away a spoiler – you know this happens right from the get go. Marnie and Nelly’s quest for survival from both death, and the social services is the main focus of the story and along the way, we meet a host of interesting characters that intersect with Marnie and Nelly.
O’Donnell’s narrative is split between 3 people, and each one provides a different view point of events. At first it was a little jarring to read through the eyes of Nelly, as she has a very particular way of speaking. However, you soon get used to it and it really provides character. The amount of time spent on each narrative is perfect; you never once feel like you’ve been spending too long reading as one character. The language used by the characters is not pretty – but then life isn’t always pretty – it is honest, sparse, and real.
If you’re looking for your next unique read, I would highly recommend this one. It runs the gauntlet of emotions (it will even make you feel physically sick at one point!) and does not let up, but at the same time, it isn’t depressing for the sake of being depressing. There is light amongst these characters and it shines just as often as it is put out. It is a relatively short read, so if you can read it in one sitting, or even two, then that would be the way to do it so that you don’t lose the rhythm of the narration.
You can get this fresh, unique and honest story here – The Death of Bees: A Novel

~ Pegasus.

Review: The Holiday Survival Guide by Jane O’Reilly

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20131228-082612.jpg New Release!

This sexy novella tells the story of London tabloid writer Erica and the survival trip she signed up for in the dead of winter. Her survival guide is Nathan, whose wife she publicly, and in low tabloid style, busted for cheating.

The story was equal parts scary snow survival and steamy sex. Erica and Nathan had great chemistry and creativity. The well-written sex scenes were integrated perfectly into the plot, the dialogue was smart and natural, the characters were likable and well-developed.

I totally enjoyed this winter romp, which came with a bit of commitment and a happy ending. I’d read it again, and I recommend it even to readers who don’t usually read novellas. This is one of very few that uses its 60 pages so wonderfully!

A note to American readers: This HOLIDAY refers to vacation, not Christmas!

-Calliope

Released January 1, 2014.
Buy it now The Holiday Survival Guide