Month: October 2017

Review: The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

Posted by

0

35540350

This was an interesting nonfiction book. There are many different things going on, many instances of social injustice.

It’s the story of Sasha who doesn’t identify as either a boy or girl. As a teenager, this has got to be incredibly difficult. However, Sasha is lucky to have the complete support of both parents and support systems at school. It’s also the story of Richard, a black teen who lives a completely different life than Sasha. Their paths cross one afternoon on the 57 bus, and things will never be the same for either of them.

You’ll feel so bad for what Sasha has to go through, but you’ll also feel bad for Richard and his circumstances. Go into this one with an open mind, and be ready to honestly examine your preconceived ideas.

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  The 57 Bus

Review: A Vicarage Christmas by Kate Hewitt

Posted by

0

I knew I couldn’t go wrong when I saw Christmas, Vicarage, and Kate Hewitt all on the same cover. Then to find out there are four sisters in the family… I was delighted! So this first book in a series is Anna’s story. She reluctantly returns home for the holidays – home to the vicarage where her parents live.  When things at home get too overwhelming, Anna’s introverted self traipses down to the local pub to get a moment of respite. She finds some kind of respite alright – on a barstool next to a handsome, witty, sensitive, take charge kinda guy – and from there on in her life has changed. 

Obvi I love the superficial parts of this book, but I also enjoyed the sister dynamics, the push and pull of a long-standing marriage, and the self-discovery of a woman who spent quite a many years avoiding her feelings. And I’m pretty excited to read three more! I think this quadogy or whatever it’s called really works for me: enough of a series to motivate me to get invested, but not too long of a series where storylines seem to repeat after a while. So fun. 

-calliope 

Buy A VICARAGE CHRISTMAS

Review: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Posted by

0

I’m not sure how to review this novel. Seeing so many of my friends have given this book high ratings but no reviews makes me think that perhaps it’s not just me‽

I had a really hard time getting past the grandparents. It kinda challenged my commitment to not judge other’s personal choices. The same with the parents I guess, not to the same degree, but there was still a bit of taking myself to task for some of my thoughts.

Also, I realised at some point that I might expect too much of fictional characters. I mean, I found the grandfather really weak and unlikable at times…especially at the start. However, maybe I was expecting Lefty to be this perfect literary character and not an actual person. At some point, Lefty did become real to me…and all those things that really irritated me and made me really dislike him at the start turned things around and made him real to me.

That’s what Eugenides did for me in this novel. He made all of these characters seem like every day people. He made them into my neighbours. Liking them, even though I didn’t really know what was going on behind closed doors (of course, being the reader we actually DID know what was going on).

Since I can’t really think of how to review this novel, I’ll tell you that the blurb on the cover does a nice job explaining what the plot of the novel is about. But to understand this novel…well no review can do that…no summery can do that. You really have to meet Callie/Cal to understand why this novel is so amazing.

I’m not sure the moment when Callie realised that she was different. Or when Cal realised that he was real. But he does a wonderful job at the end summing it up. Gender does not define us. We are who we are…and Cal, along with all of his family are just wonderful…faults, and non-faults alike…simply wonderful…again, gender doesn’t define us….try to remember that next time if you’re the type to judge…

Until next time…
Urania xx

Buy it now Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review: When I Am Through with You

Posted by

0

32957193

This one didn’t go anything like I was expecting.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  However, it does make for a difficult task writing a review without giving too much away.

Teenagers, weekend hike in the mountains, somebody dies.  That’s the story in a nutshell.  There’s a bit more to it, of course.  Ben starts off the story by telling you that he killed someone.  Not just any someone, but his girlfriend while at the same time claiming to love her very much.  Just how and why he killed her remains a mystery for much of the story.  Along the way we’re introduced to a host of other characters with their own bits of intrigue.

While this was a good enough story, I feel like it could have been more.  I somehow felt cheated by the ending as I was expecting something a bit juicier.  Still, it’s suspenseful enough to keep you interested as you wonder just what’s going to happen with this ragtag group of teenagers out in the middle of nowhere.

Read it and let me know what you think!

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  When I Am Through with You

Review: Dark Sword series by Donna Grant

Posted by

0

I spent last week binge reading this series. For some crazy reason, I read the two series that followed this, Dark Warriors and Dark Kings, but I never read this one. So weird.

The Dark Sword series is about Scottish warriors who have gods living inside of them. The gods come to the strongest in each clan. The men had no idea they had god inside of them until the evil Deirdre took them captive and unbound them. These book are their stories of how they escaped and how they vowed to seek revenge and destroy her.

Each story is filled with action and adventure and, most of all, love. There is the perfect woman for each man. And of course, then men don’t feel worthy, due to there being a god inside of them. They’re afraid of the god taking over and making them evil, so they try to stay away from the women they want. And plus, Deirdre will do anything to hurt them and bring them back under her mountain. She wants their power and will kill anyone that gets in her way.

Since I read the first series last, I saw so many familiar faces. It makes me want to do a massive reread, but I just don’t have the time. *pretend I’m making a sad face* You’ll feel the same way once you read these also.

If you like a world filled with magic and druids and sexy highlanders, then this is the series for you.

~Melpomene

Grab the full series
Dangerous Highlander~ http://amzn.to/2zc8w56
Forbidden Highlander~ http://amzn.to/2x0r7Ax
Wicked Highlander~ http://amzn.to/2xJzy7A
Untamed Highlander~ http://amzn.to/2yrc5qm
Shadow Highlander~ http://amzn.to/2zeN9Qx
Darkest Highlander~ http://amzn.to/2yNU9rA

Review: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Posted by

0

What an interesting novel. I’m not even sure how to explain it. I’m not even sure what happened really. However, what I am sure of is that I loved it. I was captivated by it. I want to read more about Ruth and Nao. I was sad when the novel finished. I won’t lie. Parts of the novel really sickened me and made me extremely sad for humanity. There are some really horrible instances of bullying and at times Nao and her father continued to break my heart over and over and over again. I wanted to grab them both and hug them and never let go. Of course, I am sure this would have freaked them both out equally, but I would have just held on until hopefully, their discomfort eased.

If you’re looking for a book that fits nicely into a box where everything ties together and it all comes together at the end then this isn’t the book for you. But…if you’re looking for a book that’s imaginative in a way that isn’t able to be placed in a box, one that will make you sad, happy, having you laughing out loud at times, and cringing at other times, then this might very well be the book for you!

After finishing the last page, I read the blurp for the book, and really it does sum it up rather nicely…

“Full of Ozeki’s signature humour and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth, A Tale for the Time Being is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.”

I’ll definitely be looking for more of Ozeki in the future!

Until next time…
Urania xx

Buy it now a tale for the time being ruth ozeki

Review: Christmas in London by Anita Hughes

Posted by

0

Anita Hughes writes for the reader who wants to escape. No matter if you’re reading Hughes’ beach vacation novels or her holiday books, you’ll remove yourself from reality, suspend your disbelief, and enjoy a ride through luxury. 

In Christmas in London, baker Louisa gets whisked away to London by television show producer Noah. She and her cinnamon rolls are needed for filming a Christmas special with a handsome, charming, world-famous chef and cookbook writer. 

When I read Hughes, I just latch on to the main character and forget my real life. In London, I got to wake up to the smell of coffee and pastry, buy fancy new clothes, take walks with the cutie pie producer, take cooking classes with the famous chef (and hang out in a mansion with him), and live the tv star life for a week… not to mention get a happily ever after (and watch a new friend get one too).

Not a bad way to spend 288 pages.  

-calliope 

Buy CHRISTMAS IN LONDON

Review: Most of All you by Mia Sheridan

Posted by

0


Mia Sheridan books melt my heart. They really do. And Most Of All You was no exception. From the very first chapter, my heart was in my belly. The pain and sadness was real. Mia brings out all the feels in this beautiful story about being broken and finding the strength to put yourself back together.

Gabriel and Ellie had horrible beginnings. And I do mean horrible. The worst. No matter what I type out, nothing could explain the heartache that these two have felt. But as with all Mia books, the hurt in necessary to get to the healing.

How had it come to be that I was broken and lost, heading home with a man I barely knew, a man I couldn’t begin to understand, a man who both soothed me with his gentle manner and scared me with his knowing eyes? And yet as I lay there, I admitted he was also a man I somehow innately trusted when I trusted no man. Ever.

My goodness.

I love Gabriel. He was pure in his feelings and naive in his actions. He’s lived a half life. In fact some would say he was alive but not living. That is until he met Ellie. He saw something in her and he needed it. Too bad it took her a while to understand what that was. She was too broken to believe that she was good enough to help anyone.

“You have hands for creating beauty.”

“I don’t create beauty, Eloise, I just reveal what’s already there.”

That is what he did. He dusted her off and chipped away at her outer shell until she shone with blinding beauty and realized that she was loved. There’s was a slow burning relationship. That made it all the more sweeter, in my eyes.

“I don’t mind chasing you, Ellie. Just let me catch you once in a while.”

In true Mia fashion, I was crying a few times. Ellie was so strong and yet not. She wanted to be loved, plain and simple. She needed an angel. She needed Gabriel to show her the way to healing.

“I win every time I’m bold in how I love. I want to say I win a hundred times a day, a thousand, by loving the sunrise, and the wind, and the way raindrops sound on my window…

“And you. Most of all, you.”

Read this book.

~Melpomene

Buy Most Of All You http://amzn.to/2zexvVw

Review: Dignity by Jay Crownover

Posted by

1

Can I just start off my saying that guys with glasses are sexy? They really are. When I read the dedication, I knew I was going to like this book. I may be a little biased but I don’t care. To me, glasses make the characters more real. I can’t explain it, but they do.

I started Dignity right on the heels of the previous book, Honor, and I’m so thankful I didn’t have to wait. I was rather jittery and anxious and I needed to know what was happening. From the very first chapter, I had this nervousness that I couldn’t shake. Noe and Stark were complete opposites, and yet, they were the perfect match. I needed them together. When we saw their first interaction, in Honor, I knew there was going to be something. But when he told her he wouldn’t help her, I wanted to reach in and shake him. His stone heart needed to be softened and this girl was the perfect girl to do it. And then he realized I was right, but it was too late. Now he has to find her and pray that she’s in one piece, so he can prove to her that he needs her.

I liked Noe. Her life sucked. Completely and totally sucked. Her past has shaped her and made her hard. She is fine on her own. She doesn’t need anyone. But when she asked Stark for help, that took so much out of her. I feared that if she ever got away, she wouldn’t get past that hurt.

Stark has been a robot for quite sometime now. No heart, all business. But when he finds that perfect girl, there is nothing anyone can do to stop him from moving mountains to protect her from harm. I loved seeing these two together. They were hot, I’ll just say that. Their chemistry was off the charts.

I knew what it was like to be hungry, so hungry you thought you might starve. When you finally got a bit, no matter how big or small it was, you inhaled it like you might never eat again.

This world is full of anti heroes, which I find are the best heroes. Noe and Stark set out on a mission to rid the town of utter trash that is infecting their world in a disgusting way. They don’t hold anything back. They will whatever it takes to make the Point into the city they want it to be. With the help of many of The Point’s resident heroes, they will move on from their pasts and create a future that is clear and bright. And in doing so, they find a way to be together and realize that they need each other more than they ever thought. They make a great team.

I find this dark and twisty world fascinating and I am rather intrigued as to what the future holds for them.

~Melpomene

Buy Dignity(The Breaking Point #2) http://amzn.to/2yaJeqa
Buy Honor(The Breaking Point #1) http://amzn.to/2xu9xEc

Review: The House at 758 by Kathryn Berla

Posted by

0

41SY3u63syL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_

A late-nighter for me.  That’s what this one was.  In fact, I’m pretty sure I finished it in less than a day.  It was that good.

Krista’s life isn’t going so well.  Still grieving the unexpected death of her mother, she’s also trying to cope with her dad’s new live-in girlfriend.  Her best friend is gone for the summer leaving Krista with nobody to confide in.  Rather than facing her problems head on, she escapes.  To a tent she’s pitched on her roof, to her car, anywhere but where her issues lie.

Her dad has tried to convince her to resume therapy but she’s not interested.  She’d rather, quite obsessively, watch the house at 758.  Why does this particular house hold her interest?   And what is she hoping to accomplish?

When she meets Jake, she begins to have a purpose.  Still, she has so many things she’s dealing with that having any kind of a romance proves difficult.  Then her grandpa comes for a visit.  He’s also mourning the loss of her mother, his daughter.  Can he help Krista find her way back to those she cares about?

Lots of things going on with this story, but they blend together seamlessly.  I loved reading Krista’s thoughts, especially in her self-imposed isolation on the roof.  She’s grieving but also avoiding grieving at the same time.  And the house at 758?  There’s a reason she can’t stay away.  It won’t take you long to connect the dots, but the full story doesn’t come until closer to the end.

Note:  Although this is the debut novel from this author, the Spanish version was released several years ago.  This new release is the English version.

~Thalia

Buy It Now:  The House at 758