reviewsbytomsatrekkie

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

34. The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski - 4 Stars

This is the first book in the Witcher series, and I can’t wait to get started on the rest of the series! The Witcher universe is huge! It contains 3 prequals, 5 main books, 3 video games (that my husband says are great) and a TV show (that is just brilliant).

Geralt is a Witcher, whose powers, training and a mysterious elixir have turned him into the ultimate warrior and a merciless assassin. He is a hunter of monsters and fiends, protecting innocents from the horrors of the magical world…. for a price. But not everything monstrous is evil and not everything beautiful is good.

The last wish is a collection of short stories that come together to create a backstory for Geralt, our main character. It is a prequal and it should absolutely be read first as it launches you into this new world quite seamlessly and gives a great base before you get into the real story. I can’t give you too much of the plot due to the compilation nature of the book, but the main theme is that you follow Geralt through his many adventures and learn more about his character and history along the way. Something I loved was that each short story was lightly based off of classic fairy tales, and I had fun figuring out which fairy tale each story was based on.

The writing style was a bit different and took me a while to get used to it but after a while I began to see the beauty and poetry created. There were a few moments were the writing felt a bit off and I think that had something to do with the fact that the books are translated to English from polish so not entirely the books fault. What did get to me was that there is a bit of sexism and issues of that nature that didn’t sit well with me. It felt like the author was thinking “this is a fantasy set in ancient history I can let sexism and rapeiness be the norm, Yay!” There were a few moments where Geralt sympathises with men who have done awful things instead straight up smacking them like he should have, and that did make me a bit mad. Overall, though, I was able to see past those moments as there were just as many good moments too, I think I’m going to put these issues down to generational differences and try to read the other books with a grain of salt.

Our characters were a really good mix and had some strong defining features that I really liked. I was easily able to picture each of them quite strongly. Geralt is overall a great character, strong and warioresque but also not afraid to stick up for the little guy and he definitely has an internal moral code, what that is though is a bit hard to decipher. I’m really keen to see where the next books take his character development. I also really enjoyed a number of the smaller characters that popped up in the short stories, a number of them were really memorable and you could tell the author put just as much effort into them as he did his main characters.

This first book gives me a lot of hope for the rest of the books, and I cannot wait to get started on them. I think I’m just going to do small reviews of each so as not to give to much of the ongoing plot away. I do think this story is a great one to enjoy with others as there are so many ways to enjoy it. I only started reading the Witcher because my hubby loves the games and wanted me to sit and play it with him, but I just couldn’t sit still long enough to really get into the game. The books, though, were a way for me to connect to something he loves in a way that resonates better with me. So, if you have a friend who really enjoys the games, try learning about it via the tv show or books, if that’s what you prefer, or vice versa. It really is amazing to have so many versions that individuals can choose from.

4 Stars

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33. Ascension - Victor Dixon - 3 Stars

I feel a bit confused about this book; on one hand it was just so slow but on the other I was excited to keep reading the entire time.

Leonor has signed up to be a participant on the worlds craziest speed-dating show ever. Six girls and six boys are sent to mars to create the first ever human colony on another planet. During the long voyage through the stars, the participants will have only 6 minutes each week to interview a participant of the opposite sex, seducing, learning and deciding, while always under the unblinking eye of the on-board cameras. Leonor has signed up for the glory, for love and for a one-way ticket away from the life she had on earth. Even if the dream turns into a nightmare, it’s to late for regrets.

Ascension had a great concept; I was straight away drawn into the crazy speed dating premise as I has never read anything like that before. It was told from a few perspectives, Leonor’s on the spaceship, along with 2 or three voices from the ground. What felt lacking to me was the secret deadly twist, it was revealed so early that everything else sort of felt pointless to a certain point. It was revealed to the reader within the first couple chapters but only revealed to our main character at the very end, so I constantly felt impatient and on edge to finally get to the end which lessened my enjoyment of the other parts of the story. I also really wish we had gotten at least one other perspective from inside the ship, so much is going on up there, but we only hear from one very specific person, so it all felt very one sided. Other than that, this was definitely a very strong story, it was a great start to the trilogy.

I wasn’t super happy with the writing style, it felt really heavy and slow. There was a lot of telling instead of showing which made the book feel longer. I also didn’t feel very connected to the main character or the other characters on board the spaceship due to the fact that the perspective kept jumping around, often quite pointlessly. I also would have appreciated more worldbuilding, you never get a solid sense of how the world is currently working it’s all very surface level. It feels like its meant to be a sort of futuristic almost hellscape, where the poor have only gotten poorer and rich richer but that’s never explicitly said, it’ feels mostly like now but just slightly off.

Now this is probably where I get the most stuck, the characters in this book kinda sucked, I don’t think I liked any of them. Leonor could have been an amazing main character, but I felt like the author took her a little too far. She is meant to be a strong female character with an unfortunate/horrific burn along her back that she has to overcome. I really liked that she wasn’t “perfect”, but I really hated how the author portrayed her relationship with her disfigurement, giving it a name and using it as an excuse to be a horrible person to those around her. Like I understand she had a very traumatic childhood etc, but I can’t forgive someone for using their trauma as an excuse to be horrible to others, I mean she literally smashes a door into another participants face and threatens to kill her if she mentions the burn to others!! The rest of the characters all had their own personalities but were very surface level and most of them came across as very boring, hopefully this will be rectified in book 2 but I don’t have much hope.

Overall, I would pass this book onto others as it definitely wasn’t all bad, there’s just a couple tweaks I would make to it if I could. Just go into it with a grain of salt and you’ll probably enjoy it just as much as I did.

3 Stars

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32. The Eternal Kiss: Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire - 3.5 Stars

Full of dark seduction and modern romance, this book is a compilation of 13 short stories by 14 different authors, because of this I’m going to give each short story a mini review and star rating, then an overall rating for the entire book.

Falling to Ash – Karen Mahoney

Story is basically a vampire trying to steal something from a sexy vampire hunter for her sexy sire. Felt flat at first but I slowly got into it. Was a smidge steamy but not erotic. Main Character was intriguing; she had a sassiness that I appreciated. I liked that she was trying to maintain a relationship with her human family, it made the story feel more realistic. If the story was continued into a proper novel I'd keep reading. 3.5 stars.

Shelter Island – Melissa de la Cruz

Vampire hides in a girl’s home after being attacked by an insane vamp who hunts other vampires. The story felt silly and a bit boring. It didn't feel like there was any real chemistry between the main character and our vampire even though they share a kiss. I also felt like the ending was meant to be this big reveal, but it ended up feeling like nothing at all. The only redeeming factor was the imagery, I could vividly imagine the setting of the story, it was quite beautiful. 1.5 stars

Sword Point – Maria V. Snyder

Our main character is invited to the best fencing school in the world, only to find out that the school is partly a cover for a network of vampire Hunters. This wasn't bad, the characters were strong, the imagery was pretty strong. I liked the version of vampires used, very evil and not sexy at all. If the story continued, I would keep reading. 3.5 stars

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown – Holly Black

This one came across a bit meh. Matilda/Melinda(author kept switching her name??) has been infected by the vampire virus and has 88 days before she'll sweat it out of her system, but she had no idea she'd end up having to sacrifice her humanity to save her friends. I didn't feel a lot for the characters, Matilda/Melinda probably would have been more interesting if she hadn't been drunk for half the story. The end was good though, it made me want more. The vamps were deffs portrayed more on the sexy immortal side but there was enough gore to make them actually scary too. I would probably continue reading. 2.5 stars

Undead is Very Hot Right Now – Sarah Brennan

This was interesting, about a young teen who after being turned is forced to join a boy band as the "gimmick" and the emotional impact that has on him. The characters had some depth to them, and the setting was different. I think that's what I like most, it felt very different to everything I've read so far. 3 stars

Kat – Kelly Armstrong

This one was odd, our character is human but also supernatural in some way, she was raised by a vamp after the vampire found out her parents were letting secret experiments be performed on her. The story centres on the two of them running from people trying to catch them. It was definitely a different take on the vampire story which I appreciated but I felt the characters fell a bit flat and 1-dimensional. It was also a bit clunky and slow. 1 star

The Thirteenth Step – Libba Bray

This one felt actually creepy and very culty. A coven of Vamps uses the facade of a homelessness/drug shelter to turn helpless teens, in the hope of one day ruling the city. Our human is hired as an assistant who slowly learns too much and suffers the consequences. What I liked about this one is that it did feel at least a bit actually scary. The Vamps were very traditional, while also a bit sexy but not unrealistically. The characters were strong, and the story felt like it was really well self-contained, like it didn't need to be continued. The imagery was great, super gritty and easy to envision. 4 stars

All Hallows – Rachel Caine

This one was not great, definitely a teen focused story, in fact there wasn't even that much story at all. Our human is dating her recently turned vampire boyfriend. They decide to go to a party but along the way vamp boyfriend gets himself into a pickle and somehow human girlfriend is going to be the one who saves him. This was meant to be a short story, but it felt like the author expected to have more time to explain things as a lot of the time you’re only left with this vague notion of what going on. The action was okay though and the characters, though basic, were fine. I did like the message of sticking with your friends through everything, that was nice. 2 stars

Wet Teeth – Cecil Castellucci

This one was probably the most like realistic in terms of vamp lore, but it was also very disappointing and just plain depressing. Our vamp struggles with his urges and doesn't want to be what he is, he somehow becomes acquaintances with a teenage girl, a street artist. She makes the mistake of following him on a hunt, for art inspiration, and ends up paying the worst price. Both characters fell really flat, they didn't really have a personality just general features, no depth. There was also no real story to it, we just follow Mr. Vampire has sort of stalks Ms. Human. Wouldn't continue reading at all. 0.5 stars

Other Boys – Cassandra Clare

To me, this story just didn't make sense and didn't actually feel like a vampire story. At first our main character is just a normal human girl with her first crush, when they go on their first date though things go very badly, and it is revealed our normal teenage girl is not so normal after all. This story makes out vampirism is a curse passed down genetically, but the parents of our main character decide not to tell her anything which just seems completely stupid and counterproductive. The writing style felt off and clunky, and the emotional reactions from people were just straight wrong. 0.5 stars

Passing – Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie

I really didn't like the love story in this one. Vampires and humans are at war, our teenage heroine is studying to be a vamp hunter at the most prestigious school in the world, but all her plans change when she falls "in love" with a leader of the Vamps. During their final exam though things change all over again when her hunting partner admits to loving her. This was a classic love triangle with the interesting addition of a war. My biggest problem with it was the author tried to squish too much into a short story, it was really hard to follow. I also hated the rather ridiculous twist ending, it felt over the top and unrealistic. 1 star.

Ambition – Lily St. Crow

This one was intriguing. Our human is a poor young girl, getting by on a scholarship and her father’s measly paycheck. When she meets our vamp her life changes forever. This felt very twilight at first with a very similar Mary Jane meets amazing sexy vamp who somehow picks her storyline, but, after a while, I realised there was a little more too it. Our vamp is really mysterious, we don't get to know much about him at all nor do we know what happens to our human. The mystery of it was great and makes me want to read on. The writing style was just so annoying though, it felt like the author was trying to be artsy and poignant, but it read as choppy and badly thought out. Not bad but not good. 2.5 stars.

All Wounds – Dina James

The last story was actually pretty good, and I would have absolutely kept reading. Our main character is in high school and is currently playing adult while looking after her Nana who has early on-set dementia. Her whole world is flipped upside down when a vampire rocks up at her front door seeking a healer, her Nana is suddenly back to her old self and is taking charge of the situation like she's done it a million times before. The story was different and interesting, while it did lean on some teen/vamp fiction tropes I was able to see past them to the good story underneath. Our characters were good, and somehow managed to be well defined in a short amount of time. Overall, a pretty good read. 3.5 stars

This book definitely gave me some conflicting emotions, one minute it was good, the next awful. But, in the end, I really did enjoy reading these short stories and would probably pass the book onto other readers. 

3.5 Stars

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31. Sky In The Deep - Adrienne Young - 4.5 Stars

“Vegr yfir fjor. Honour above life.”

I really LOVED this book! It is so well written, with a beautifully done, simple storyline that catches your attention and doesn’t let it go. This will be staying on my bookshelf for a very long time.

17-year-old Viking Eelyn has been raised to fight alongside her Aska clansmen in an age-old war against the Riki clan. Her life is violent but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she discovers her brother fighting with the enemy, the brother she watched die 5 years ago on the same battlefield. While facing her brothers betrayal, Eelyn must survive the harsh winter in a mountainous Riki village where everyone is her enemy.

Sky in the Deep does have a simple storyline, based mostly on the classic plot of rivals having to work together to defeat a common enemy but the author managed to make it so much more than that with her incredibly emotional story of growth and acceptance centred on our main characters. The very first chapter jumps right into a battle between the Aska and Riki, because of this we meet the characters in states of turmoil and therefore get to know who they are quicker without all the boring preamble and introductions. The pacing was perfect, I never felt bored even during the slower sections of the book. This is one of the few books I can say that kept me engaged the whole way through.

Adrienne Young’s writing style was just amazing, I can’t even begin to explain how much it moved me. It was soulful and poetic but never pretentious or boring. She created a beautiful Norse world without getting bogged down in too much description, but I still felt like I was right there with Eelyn, whether she was gathering herbs or fighting on the battlefield. In one brilliant part, she was able to make me feel true terror for one of the younger characters of the book, with only a few sentences, I was in awe at the emotions she was able to bring out. At another point I was holding back tears at the sadness she was able to portray. The dialogue was beautiful, every time someone spoke there was meaning behind it, it never felt pointless or aggravating, it perfectly supported the story.  

I feel like the romance was done really well too; it was important to the story, but it never felt like it was overshadowing anything. It built slowly and appropriately given the situations our characters face. But there was a passion and hunger behind it that fit the fire of our characters beautifully. The only thing that upset me a smidge was that there was some domestic violencesque interactions between the two characters before any feelings are felt between the two, I worry that these sorts of relationship portrayals aren’t healthy for younger readers. Of course, in the case of this book, it does makes sense, and it only occurs to protect Eelyn from worse treatment, but it did still grate on me.

Eelyn is a force of nature, she truly embodies at least my idea of a strong female character. She is an independent and fierce warrior who fights for what she believes in wholeheartedly but she’s also kind and vulnerable. Her reality is completely shattered, and the author actually allows her to go through the grief and acceptance needed for the story to make sense. She will be a favourite for a long time. The other characters were really great to, each one separate and distinct with their own issues to work through, each one found a place in my heart while I was reading. The only character that fell a bit flat was Iri, Eelyn’s brother. I wanted to better understand why he made the choice to stay with the Riki, why he didn’t even tell his family he was alive. I mean its explained but never really with his own words, I think he could have been a stronger character if we were given that insight.

There is no doubt that this book will live rent free in my heart for a long time.

“Qnd eldr. Breathe fire.”

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30. Delirium - Lauren Oliver - 1 Star

This book made me role my eyes so much it gave me a headache. I only got about halfway through before I just couldn’t waste anymore of my time, it was just so boring!

The United States has declared love a disease and forces all citizens who reach the age of 18 to be “cured” via lobotomy. Lena Haloway is terrified of the disease and cannot wait to be cured, and living a safe, predictable life. But her life is flipped upside down when she meets Alex, a boy living under the governments radar, who might just convince Lena that Love is no disease at all.

The concept of this book was initially compelling and sounded like a very interesting version of the dystopian society plot, but I very quickly became frustrated as I realised the author had no idea how to make it feel believable. The world building was just plain weird and there was not enough explanation as to how the American government was able to convince sooo many people that an emotion is a disease that needs to be cured. The author also shows that Christianity and the bible have been rewritten to fit the agenda but how would that have happened??? I just cannot believe that the millions of Christians in America would have let the government change their religion so drastically, it just made no sense to me.

Something that really irked me was how parenting was portrayed. All parents have been cured of love and therefore only raise their children out of moralistic duty, so children are not being raised with any real support and affection. But every teen in the book comes across as almost perfectly normal instead of being riddled with attachment disorders and other issues that can arise from growing up in these kinds of environments. It felt like the author didn’t even think about it or didn’t want to think about it.

Lena has probably been the most boring, aggravating and weak character I have read in a long time, I just could not get behind her at all. She had no real depth other than her terror of being like her mother, who loved her children even after being “cured” 3 times. Her love interest Alex was just as boring and came across as a typical “YA heartthrob” without any actual personality. The way their very short-lived relationship completely flips Lena’s beliefs was just so ridiculous, the “he kissed me once so I must be in love with him!!” trope.

I think the thing I hated the most with this book was the writing, there was so much monologuing, so much drivel coming from our protagonists head that I just couldn’t stand it. All of it was sappy, over the top and fearful. I really did give myself a headache from rolling my eyes so much at all the teen dramaesque sentences that I had to read. It was just really not my style at all.

I will not be passing this book along, in fact I have already donated to my closest op-shop, along with the second book that I made the mistake of buying in advance. If you’re a fan of Lauren Oliver, you may like this book but if your sick of typical YA romances, steer clear of Delirium because you won’t like it at all.

1 STAR

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29. Haunting Jordan - P.J. Alderman - 4 STARS

I really loved this book, it was an almost perfect mix of suspense, cosiness, ghosts, mystery and history. I am so upset that to buy the 2nd book, Ghost Ship, in Australia it’s going to cost me over $35 to have it shipped from America as its not available over here, so frustrating.

Jordan Marsh is the prime suspect in her cheating husband’s murder; needing some much-needed R & R, she thrusts herself into renovating a charming Victorian house in the quaint town of Port Chatham. As she tries to put all talk of homicide behind, she finds out the house she bought comes with two lively and talkative ghosts, who need her help to solve a century-old murder and clear the name of the man who hung for it. With the police breathing down her neck, Jordan must now investigate two murders before her time runs out.

In this book we almost get two stories in one as it jumps from the 1890’s, where we follow Hattie Longren as she goes down a perilous yet righteous path that eventually leads to her murder, to present day, where we watch as Jordan tries to decipher the clues to the past with the help of her two residents ghosts. The idea was great and, though it was sometimes slow and a bit predictable, I felt immersed in the story almost from the very start. I had to know what happened to poor Hattie, even though I guessed the murderer correctly in the first half of the book, there were enough suspects that I was always second guessing my choice. The time splits were a little jarring at first, but I quickly became used to it, when reading Hattie’s story all I wanted was to know what Jordan was up to, while reading Jordan’s all I wanted was to know what Hattie was doing. I loved Alderman’s version of ghosts too, it was so fun to read a ghost story where the ghosts are not actually there to scare you and you don’t just hear ominous noises etc..

Something I really liked was the setting, I could easily imagine the present-day cosy town of Port Chatham and the 1890’s somewhat more disturbing version of the town. I really felt like it leaped off the page, I mean, yes, the setting is just a simple town but there was just something so genuine and beautiful about Port Chatham that definitely rivalled some books I’ve read that have more complex worldbuilding.

Where this book really stands out for me were the Characters, everyone was distinct and most of them had a likeable quality that made the book hard to put down. Hattie & her sister Charlotte were just wonderful, their unique and lively personalities were incredible. Our 1890’s suspects were all very well drawn up and had distinct motives, which each characters true personality slowly revealing itself throughout the book. In our present-day story, we also had a number of brilliant characters, including the towns police chief Darcy and our amazing furry sidekick who doesn’t have a name until the second half of the book. Our protagonist though was a bit blah, she is a defined character and doesn’t come across like a copy, she was just somewhat boring. The other, more eccentric, characters more than make up for this though.

I don’t know what, exactly, it was about this book that made me love it so much. Tt just felt so warm but also exciting and suspenseful, I just couldn’t put it down. I will be passing this along to anyone and everyone who wants to read it!

4 STARS

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28. Graceling - Kristin Cashore - 1.5 Stars

This book frustrates the hell out of me, on one hand, it was terribly written and had some serious world building issues, on the other, I did like reading it and liked a number of the characters.

Katsa is a graceling, a person born with extreme skills. Some are born being able to swim like they have gills, others are born able to cook like no one else, Katsa was born with the ability to kill. She lives a very privileged life as the niece of the king, but the king is a cruel man who uses her grace for his own petty needs. Her life quickly becomes a mess after she meets the alluring Prince Po, who teaches her to be more than the thug people believe she is.  She, and Po, end up on a terrifying quest through the kingdoms, trying to discover the truth behind a secret that could destroy the world they know with a single word.

The writing style of this book was so underdeveloped and awkward, I honestly don’t understand how some of it was approved and published. The whole way through the book I could nit-pick sentences that could have been structured better. There was way too much telling instead of showing. A number of passages just felt like the author was stuck on repeat, like we get it move on please. There were a lot of issues with the writing and unfortunately the story did suffer because of it.

You can tell the author had a really interesting storyline but not enough skill to actually create it. It was super choppy, I had trouble keeping track of what the story was actually going to be about. At first I thought it was going to be about Katsa’s evil uncle king Randa, then I thought it was going to be about her precious Council fighting for the rights of common people, but that idea got thrown out quickly when Katsa suddenly finds her spine and stands up to the king, practically leaving the Council to fend for itself while she runs off to do her own thing with Prince Po. The final story arc and villain were not bad but were not well thought out, feeling very rough and unfinished. Now even though it had these issues I did still find myself reading to the end and wanting to know what happens next as the pacing wasn’t bad and there was a nice sense of urgency, especially in the second half of the book.

I’m just going to come out and say it, Katsa is an awful person and the most frustrating character I think I have ever read. She is annoying, self-centred and abusive (to both the people she is supposed to love and to animals). She is, in almost every sense of the term, a Mary Sue. Her special grace is over the top and way better then anyone else has ever seen, she is also somehow loved by multiple men even though most “others” are terrified of her. She has no redeeming qualities, but the other main characters adore her. Her characterisation is also very inconsistent, in one scene she goes from strong female character holding her own in a political conversation to an emotional mess in seconds, to the point she has run out of the room and has what feels like the most ridiculous and unnecessary meltdown I have ever read. She even straight up punches someone she cares about when he says something she doesn’t like, nearly knocking him unconscious. The most frustrating thing was absolutely her weird views on marriage, she constantly says “I’m never going to marry” but never goes into real detail about why, even when she falls in love with a man who would clearly respect her boundaries/needs, she just says “no marriage”, without taking into consideration his thoughts and feelings. The other characters of this book were a lot more likeable and endearing, especially Po and the young princess Bitterblue.

Though I did not hate Graceling, I would not recommend this book to others. There are just too many issues with it to justify even passing the book along to my family. I don’t even feel any urgency to rush out and find the other books in the series, which is honestly the biggest indicator to me that I did not really like it. Unfortunately, I have again been left disappointed by YA lit. 1.5 STARS

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27. The Rise of Magicks – Nora Roberts - Chronicles of The One (#3) - 4 Stars

“Solas don Saol. Light for Life.”

Another really great book by Nora Roberts! This is the last book in The Chronicles of The One trilogy and, without giving anything away, it focuses on the final battles between light and dark and the continuing relationships between our multitude of characters.

Our story this time round was a tad repetitive, just a smidge less engrossing than the first two. There were multiple battles but due to Roberts’ writing style we don’t get a lot of insight into what happens during these battles. She basically starts the battle, gives a few pinpoints of actual storytelling and then the battle is suddenly over. You miss all the blood and gore and mostly get the stuff in and around, like the planning and the characters joining back together after individual skirmishes. I, personally, didn’t mind this style but after all the battles being like this, it started to get a bit old, and it was hard to envision how long these battles actually went for. It also felt less realistic when written this way as you don’t really see anything firsthand, it’s often after the battle that you see the leaders saying “this was hard, we lost a lot of people…” but you don’t really get that feeling because you, as the reader, missed it all. Other than that, the storyline worked well and concluded the novels really well.

Our characters are just as wonderful as they have been in the previous books. They all continue to grow and mature and learn as time goes on. Something that played on my mind though, was that we lose only 1 main character, so many battles and skirmishes but we lose only 1 main character?? Trust me, I hate losing my babies as much as any reader, but this just felt really unbelievable and like the author didn’t want to make any hard decisions. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, I’m really glad everyone got a happily ever after, but this was a WAR, and having no one of importance die made the battles seem way easier than they should have been.

The message of Hope, Love and Light above all else continues through this book so beautifully, it’s just so uplifting, which doesn’t sound right for an end of the world style book, but it is, I often felt like I could feel the Light inside myself as I was reading which was just amazing. There may not be a lot of battle detail but there is so much heart and feeling in this book and the others.

My only real complaint was that the epilogue just wasn’t long enough for me. It was beautiful, really beautiful but I really wish I could have seen just a little more of our characters happily ever afters.

I will be holding onto these books; they will sit firmly on my favourites shelf, and I’ll absolutely be reading them again. I will also be looking into buying more of Nora’s books as I have a feeling she may be one of new favourite authors.

4 STARS

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26. Of Blood and Bones – Nora Roberts - Chronicles of The One (#2) - 4.5 Stars

“Love has no end, no borders, no limits. The more you give, the more there is.”

Of Blood and Bones was just as good as Year One!

I’m going to keep descriptions to a minimum to try and avoid spoilers. Of Blood and Bones starts 13 years after the events of Year one and spans about 3-4ish years. We get to see our heroine take shape and become the leader she is meant to be through training and study. We also get to see her create her army and prove her worth to those who doubt.

I really enjoyed the story, it wasn’t as action packed as the first book, the focus is definitely on growth not survival. I know this may annoy some readers as book one presented almost like a thriller so some may get bored with this one, but I found it really interesting and a beautiful depiction of growth through adversity. We learn more about the lore surrounding what’s going on and get some explanations for questions asked in the first book. The imagery was gorgeous and very easy to envision, plus, I really loved the use of Gaelic languages throughout the book. There is no pain just for pains sake in these books, every death, every heartbreak makes sense. Any deaths that do happen push the story forward, because of this, the book doesn’t feel as depressing as it could.

Our characters are just as strong as they were in book one. Everyone defined and well thought out. I also have some great news, my worries that we’d lose our original characters with the creation of our new heroine were completely off. We jump straight back into New Hope and get to see amazing growth for all our originals, it made me so happy.

Again, there was really great emphasis on hope and creating a better world. We get to see families being created, children being born, in spite of the dangers, because everyone believes that things will be better. There were also portrayals of healthy loving relationships throughout the book. Even amongst the bad guys, love is shown. Love sprouts between two of our characters and, instead of jumping straight into an all-consuming relationship like some teen fiction does, we get to see them both make mature choices about starting a relationship during a war. They decide to give each other the space they both need to grow into adults and get through the war without the distraction of a relationship.

My one concern with this book is that our main boy character often says things like “you didn’t say no” and other such sentences, which came across as gross/rapey. There are about three instances where he and our main character make out where she is unsure or isn’t in the right mindset, but he kisses her anyway, she does kiss him back but quickly pulls back when she realises this isn’t what she wants. He stops but responds with “you didn’t say no” when she becomes upset about the situation. He also goes through a chapter or two where he refers to women as having “very interesting breasts” which I found unnecessary. It’s okay to show confusion, especially in teen romances because its reality, but I did not like that line being used, just not the right choice at all and not the right message to send to younger readers. This is by no means a big part of the story, but it is there.

Overall, I really loved this book, it was such a good read and well worth the $20 I spent on it. If you enjoyed the first you will probably enjoy the second. If you want to jump to this one, you kind of can as there is almost like a recap style prologue at the start of the book which was a great little reminder, but I wouldn’t recommend it as you’ll miss out on a lot of the amazing back story. Now, on to The Rise of Magicks - Chronicles of The One (#3).

4.5 STARS

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

25. Apache - Tanya Landman - 2.5 Stars

I have mixed feelings about this book, on one hand, it is well written and, overall, a good story, but on the other, even the author admits to stretching history/facts to fit her narrative and this does not sit well with me.  

14-year-old Siki is filled with a desire for vengeance after watching helplessly as her brave little brother is brutally murdered by Mexican Raiders. Siki chooses to become a warrior and avenge her brother. But not everyone is happy with her choice, those envious of her success seek to thwart her, revealing dark secrets about her fathers past. As Siki earns her place among the warriors, these secrets throw into doubt everything she’s ever known.

This book was interesting, and it did draw me in, I liked the story arc of our main character and the imagery used but it also felt really lacking in some areas. This is a personal journey story where our main character goes through multiple conflicts and learns more about herself with each event. It is on the violent side, which from my understanding of the time period is accurate but may not be very enjoyable to younger readers. Something that annoyed me about the book was how the author pushes an impending doom sort of feeling onto the Apache people and their way of life; horrible things were done to Native Americans, and I will never understand the pain that that must cause them as a people, I just wish the author could have given a sort of hopeful ending instead of the “Apache people are doomed” ending. It also started to feel like the author was just piling on the sadness for no more reason than she could, especially towards the end, we lose a character we really did not need to and, had that character lived, Siki would have had a life to look forward to.

Our main characters weren’t cookie cutters per sae, which I definitely appreciated but I also felt them lacking in personality and individualisations. All the warriors came across as just that, warriors with only a few distinguishing features to identify them. There were a few standouts, but I never felt like I was able to get particularly close to them. All the women of the tribe almost sounded like the same person, which was disappointing. Siki comes across as the only with substance, but she often comes across as a bit condescending/indifferent to those around her.

The author also seemed to contradict herself, she states that the Apache do not really care if a woman follows a traditionally male path or if a man follows a traditionally female path, but she only shows one female warrior and only one man who is better at female tasks. Both Siki and the male character are either shamed by others or by their own internalised ideas of what men and women are meant to be. I found this very conflicting, and it also had me questioning the historical accuracy of her stance simply because I don’t feel like she backed it up enough.  

Being an Australian, I have very little real knowledge of Native American history and culture, so when I picked up this book I hoped I would be able to get a reasonable idea of what it could have been like for a young Apache woman of the time. I knew the novel was fiction, with inspiration taken from real events but I was unaware of how the author had stretched her historical accuracy and, to be honest, I still don’t really know. The historical note at the end of the book admits to “stretching” but the author doesn’t explain in what ways she did so. She did list a number of sources, showing that she did a decent amount of research, which I appreciated, but why did she need to “stretch” if she had done so much research? When I did some google sleuthing I wasn’t able to find much but I did find the below reviews that go into why there are issues with the books historical accuracy and themes.

American Indians in Children’s Literature  Reading in Colour: I Am Apache

Something else that worries me was that I felt the author fell to stereotypes with certain aspects of the novel, especially when referring to the Mexican raiders. They are only ever portrayed as violent, brutal people who not only rape & pillage the Apache people but also the land on which the Apache live. I’m again unsure of whether this is historically accurate or not, I just feel like the author could have done more to show that they were people too and not just monsters if that makes sense.

I would say this book was enjoyable but had some issues. It’s aimed at younger readers, but I fear they might take what they read as fact. I wouldn’t not recommend it but, especially if you are letting your children read it, do some research of your own and learn about Native American history and cultures, I know I will be doing just that.

2.5 STARS  

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

24. The One - Nora Roberts - 4.5 Stars

“Major, monumental crises bring out the best or the worst in us—sometimes both. And sometimes those major, monumental crises have no effect on certain types. Which means, no matter what the circumstances, assholes remain assholes.”

I am almost shocked at how much I enjoyed this book, from the minute I started it I was drawn in. I just couldn’t wait to keep reading it, I even considered calling in sick from work, so it only took me about 2 days to read! I have already purchased the other two books in the trilogy as I have to find out what happens next!

With one drop of blood, the world is plunged into chaos. The Doom, a deadly and unprecedented pandemic, spreads quickly through the world. Billions become sick and die, and those who are immune now have to navigate a terrifying new world. As the use of science and technology stops, Magick rises in its place. Some of it beautiful and good, used to help those in need, while some of it is unimaginably evil, lurking anywhere and in anyone. As the remaining authorities start trying to round up anybody who is immune or has started showing signs of Magick, those who are smart flee in search of a safe haven. The old world has come to an end, and Year One has begun.

The story follows the paths of a number of people, Lana Bingham and her partner, Max Fallon; journalist Arlys Reid and her delightful intern Fred; paramedic Jonah Vorhies, Dr. Rachel Hopman and Katie, a mother of twins, along with many others as they all try to make their way to some sort of safety. This is one of those beautiful stories where individual paths weave together until all the characters come together at their final destination. I was really happy with the way it all came about, none of it felt forced or convoluted. It really did feel like fate was slowly drawing our characters together. The story itself, the end of the known world via a pandemic and the consequences for the people left behind, was not exactly new but the twist of including Magick made it feel like it was new. In other reviews people have commented that some of the dialogue felt a bit clumsy and that they couldn’t always tell who was talking, and I can agree with that. There were a few passages that I had to read over again to make sure I understood what was going on but overall, I was very happy with the way it was written. I will say that this felt almost like a prequal as, from what I have read, the next book is set about 13ish years later and will be centred on a different character, that seems to be the real hero of the trilogy. Though I haven’t come across many series that start like this I really liked it, having the backstory without having to wait for a prequal or for flashbacks is really cool.

As with a lot of “end of the world” style books, the author heavily focuses on human nature and how twisted humans can become in awful situations. There are references/occurrences of murder, rape, torture, and gore. Plus, those with Magick are often referred to as demons etc., but not because they actually are but because those that fear them don’t know what else to call them.

I was really happy with our characters, none of them felt like cookie cutters and they were all very individual. What may frustrate some readers is that because there are so many characters, we don’t get to see too deeply within them, they can come across as bit surface level. I personally didn’t mind too much, I think I got enough out of each character to care about them, but I never felt too attached which, to me, is a good thing because this book is full of death and twists. Also, I have a feeling that the characters in this book may not all transfer to the next, so becoming to attached may not be a good idea anyway.

This book is absolutely about the end of the world as we know it and the darkness that can grow there but its also about what can be created from the ashes. It’s full of love and joy, grief and loss, community and hard work. It has beautiful depictions of family, both blood and found. It’s about fighting for what is right no matter what the odds are and no matter what is stacked against you. It is mostly about the light overcoming the dark and that can be a really uplifting thing to read, especially when the world is kind of dealing with similar problems right now.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone; it was just brilliant.

“Don’t let the fear and suspicion of the brutal and ignorant make you doubt yourself.”

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

23. The Forsaken - Lisa M. Stasse - 1 STAR

I really disliked this book; it took me over 2 weeks to read and I felt so bored that I really wish I had given up on it to be honest.

Alenna is an orphan of the U.N.A, the futuristic amalgamation of Mexico, America, and Canada. At 16 she is forced to take the Government Personality Profile Test (GPPT), a test that predicts whether a person has a tendency towards violence. Alenna quickly realises she failed her test after waking up on The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals are dumped. The life expectancy on The Wheel is just two years, due to violent civil wars and machines that snatch kids from their makeshift homes. Desperate to find a way off the island, she and her newly made friends come up with a pan to flee the island, but there will be more than a few surprises along the way.

While reading this book, I felt like I was reading chunks of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, and a host of other dystopian YA novels, almost verbatim. The idea was probably solid, (if I tad overdone) a tyrannical government, threatened by those they can’t control, ship children to an inhospitable island where they fight for survival. What I found, though, was that the author’s writing style was so underwhelming she just couldn’t create a cohesive story that actually made me feel engaged. It really did feel like she had just hodgepodged her story together. The only part I liked was her worldbuilding, I felt like I could accurately imagine The Wheel and the sectors within it but even then, I have definitely read better in the past.

Our characters were also awful and very cookie cutter. Alenna was a classic YA Self-Insertion character, with very little to actually give her any traits except she’s beautiful but doesn’t know it, until she gets to the island because all the guys are suddenly fawning for her, and she somehow has the ability to become a “fighter” in like less than a week when she was oh so boring and shy back at the U.N.A. I just could not get behind her as a protagonist. We also have Gadya who becomes Alenna’s first friend on the island, teaching her to fight and survive, but this quickly changes when Gadya notices her ex-boyfriend, Liam, making goo-goo eyes at Alenna. She then becomes this jealous stereotype of a jilted ex-girlfriend, with full-on ridiculous threats. Liam wasn’t awful, he actually seemed like the only real, nice person on this stupid island, he has none of the annoying abusive-but-romantic traits commonly found in YA which I greatly appreciated. None of the characters have any meaningful arcs to give them more life, I mean the author tries to but the characters just come across as if they have two personalities they switch between at will.

This book did not need a love-triangle at all, the relationships between Alenna, Gadya and Liam were all cheapened and over the top because of it. Also, can we please stop having young teens fall in love in like a week??? It makes me so uncomfortable, like whyyyy?? I also have to say, without giving anything away, the book was pretty predictable. The ending and the big surprise twists that are meant to shock just fall really flat and come across as really insipid.

I cannot recommend this book to anyone, just don’t bother with it. I wouldn’t even recommend it to teens as it just really has nothing to give them. There are no lessons, no uplifting character arcs, very little representation/diversity. This book was obviously just published as a cash grab after the Hunger Games wave.

1 Star

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

22. The Lost Ones - Anita Frank - 4.5 STARS

Some House are Never at Peace...

I don’t normally read thrilleresque books but this one I really loved.

The year is 1917 and Stella Marcham is mourning her fiancé who has tragically died in the war. When Stella is invited to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeline, at her imposing county mansion Greyswick, she jumps at the chance to support her sister. She arrives to find her sister gripped by anxiety and fear. Strange and terrifying incidents begin to occur, and Stella is soon drawn into the web of lies and secrets that are holding Greyswick together. With the help of wounded veteran, Stella is determined to get to the bottom of Greyswick’s horrible past and uncover its terrible secrets – secrets the dead are whispering from the other side.

This was definitely a page turner, once the story got going, I had goosebumps almost every chapter, I even sneakily read while at work I was so eager to finish it. The book was well written and definitely felt like it had a clear destination in mind the whole way through. The pacing, though a little slow in some places, worked well with the story line. It touched well on women’s rights in the early 1900’s, especially when talking about mental health and the way doctors would deal with female “hysteria” at the time, and, while it was definitely an important theme of the book, it never felt like the only theme which I really enjoyed as I didn’t feel as depressed and upset for my fellow women as other historical fiction has made me. From my, probably limited, perspective it seemed to be very accurate to the time period, the descriptions of war time England felt so extremely real, especially when we find out what happened to Stella’s fiancé (so many tears). My only real issue was that, too me, it was a little predictable. I think I was a little more than halfway through the book when I had pretty much figured out most of what had happened inside Greyswick mansion, but this absolutely did not lessen my enjoyment at all, if anything it made me more excited to know if I had guessed right. Though there were definitely still some surprises for me at the end which made up for it.

I loved every character in this book, they all had distinct personalities and were really well drawn. Even characters that only appear in a chapter or two where beautifully put together, you could really feel that the author had put in effort to make sure each character leapt from the page, even when she didn’t necessarily need to. Stella is wonderful, even though she is in mourning you can see her personality beneath her sadness from the start and can clearly see her get better through out the book. The way the author jumps back to Stella’s memories is perfect, I was extremely impressed by the clarity and the details she gives to Stella’s background. I also really enjoyed the character development of our injured war veteran, the way he and Stella work together is so exceptionally done, I was so scared it was going to turn into a forced romance which would have completely ruined Stella’s story, but this never happened, and it really made me appreciate the author. I could go on and on about the characters in this book, each and everyone had such a clear and defining narrative that just really amazed me, especially poor Annie, Stella’s maid, who I just adore.

This book had just the right amount of creepiness while not being overtly terrifying, I would call it gothic/suspense over thriller/horror. It would be great starter book for those wanting to get into the scarier novels.

I really loved this book, and, given that it is Anita Frank’s first, I am so impressed, and I cannot wait for more of her works to be published.

4.5 Stars

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

21. Scythe - Neal Shusterman - 3 STARS

“Thou shalt kill.”

Humanity has managed to conquer all; hunger, crime, disease, war, misery and even death... Now the only way to die is to be killed by a Scythe. To keep population levels balanced scythes are commanded to kill a certain number of people every year. Citra and Rowan are chosen to be apprentice scythes, to learn the different ways to take a life, a role neither of them wants. Corruption is everywhere and it doesn’t take long for Citra and Rowan to be thrown right into the eye of the storm, only sticking together will help them survive.

Scythe was an interesting read, but it left me feeling underwhelmed and not that excited to read the next book. Technically, it is well written and well thought out, the characters were all individuals, and they didn’t seem like cookie cutters at all. What frustrated me was how slow it felt, this took me almost 2 weeks to read because I just never felt that engaged in the book or the characters. The relationship between our two main characters is odd, they are never really shown becoming more than acquaintances or work colleagues but by the end of the book you’re meant to believe that they love each other, it was completely unbelievable and unnecessary. I would have much preferred them becoming friends and just being there for each other in that way. The authors style of writing also annoyed me, it felt very high and mighty, like he was standing on a pedestal preaching about how humans will always be corrupt and can’t learn from our mistakes. I understood where he was coming from and I do actually agree with him to a certain extent, but I just didn’t like the way he portrayed his point, it felt like a sermon.

Citra and Rowan were good characters, but I never felt like I fell in love with them or even liked them. They were both very determined and were chosen for their sense of right and wrong. I can see why so many people did like them; I just didn’t get enough real personality from them. I was much more intrigued by the Scythes they were apprenticed too, Faraday and Curie, they seemed to have a much more interesting story to tell, and I really hope that the next books delve into their relationship more.

Our bad guy wasn’t really given much of a motivating factor, other than being a sadistic psychopath, this made his character feel really flat. He was really over the top and kind of gaudy, he reminded me of an evil peacock. There was no moment where you got to see his reasoning, or if he had any underlying motives. Though I guess that could have been the authors point, sometimes evil people are just plain evil, and they don’t need a tragic backstory to justify their actions. I do also have to keep in mind that this is a trilogy so there’s a high chance of there being bigger and badder evils in future books.

Overall, I would say this was a mostly solid book and a lot of people will like it, I just didn’t get as much out of it as I thought I would. The ending wasn’t what I was expecting at all and was very clever but was sort of ruined by the thrown in use of “I love you” when it sooo not needed.

3 Stars

Let me introduce you to my very naughty yet very cute cat Kenji, he wanted to be included in todays review.

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

20. Kids of Appetite - David Arnold - 4.5 STARS

“We are all part of the same story, each of us different chapters. We may not have the power to choose setting or plot, but we can choose what kind of character we want to be.”

Kids of Appetite is one of the most heart-warming books I have ever read, I have fallen in love with its story and its characters so completely that it will be going into my collection of favourite books annnnd I have already started searching for where I can purchase David Arnold’s other works.

Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have an incredible story to tell. It begins with the death of Vic’s father and ends with a murder. The Hackensack Police need to know what happened, but in order to tell their story Vic and Mad must go all the way back and focus on the chapters in between. It started when Vic’s father died. Vic’s dad was his best friend, and even now, 2 years later, he can’t bring himself to touch the urn that sits in his front hall. Vic’s mother is trying to rebuild her life, but this makes Vic feel like he no longer knows where he fits in the world. One night, after a shocking revelation, Vic takes his father’s urn and runs. He attempts to scatter his father’s ashes but, in the process, he finds a letter written to his mother. The letter contains riddles written by his father which, once solved, will reveal where he would like his ashes scattered. While running he meets Madeline Falco, who has her own tragedies to overcome. She and her family of misfits offer to help Vic solve his father’s riddles and, in the process, change all of their lives for the better.

When I started this book, I had no idea how much it would move me. It is a story of friendship, identity, second chances, tragedy and first love. By the end of the book, I was crying both happy tears and sad tears, it was just so full of emotion. The story was beautiful and well-written, it switches between both Vic’s and Mad’s perspectives, and it jumps between the past and the present, but it never feels confusing. The author brilliantly weaves together all the little strings of the story to create a brilliant tapestry that you won’t be able to truly appreciate until the very end.

I am in love with each and every character, they all had distinct personalities and quirks that are slowly revealed to you as you read. Mad and Vic are perfect, each one equally strong within the book. I don’t want to give too much away but there are three other main characters who I believe you will fall in love with to. These five main characters become such a tightknit family unit that I don’t think I could imagine them ever being apart. One of these characters is an 11-year-old girl named Coco, some people have complained that she is unrealistic and to grown-up as she swears and is pretty confident but all I saw was a little girl who was forced to grow up to fast and, in the process, gave herself some much-needed armour. Also, I know for a fact that children of all ages will swear if given the chance sooo those people are wrong.

Kids of Appetite is classed as a young adult read but I think it could be read by any age group and enjoyed. I really loved this book; it has absolutely made its way into my heart where I will probably cherish it for a really long time.

“They lived and they laughed, and they saw that it was good.”

4.5 Stars

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

19. The Hunter - L.J. Smith - 1.5 STARS

“Entering the Shadow World can be deadly. Do so at your own risk.”

I have extremely mixed feelings about this book, mostly because everyone seems to looooovvvveee it and I just don’t know why!

Jenny Thornton has completely forgotten to set up for her boyfriend’s birthday party. She only has a few hours before hand to find something for her and her friends to do when she stumbles across a very strange game store. Inside she meets the mesmerising Julian, who sells her a mysterious game in a plain white box. What Jenny doesn’t know is that the game is very real and very dangerous. Soon her and her friends are trapped inside a world they don’t and are forced to face their worst nightmares to win the game and return home.

I picked this book up cause the storyline sounded interesting, sort of like a horror version of Jumanji, but what I got was so pathetic that I’m actually surprised I finished the book. The nightmares the teenagers face are mostly pretty generic and the ones that are interesting are done quite badly. The ending was good though and surprised me enough that I attempted to read book 2 but gave up after about 3 chapters as I just could not get into it.

Our bad guy, Julian, could have been really interesting buuuut I could not stand his purpose for putting the teenagers through these nightmares in the first place. He is literally an Immortal being of some kind and his excuse for doing this is that he has loved Jenny since she was seven, how creepy is that!? He doesn’t love Jenny; he wants to possess her. He constantly tricks her into giving up more and more of herself to him and is just generally awful while using the “I Love You” card to make it seem okay. It is an abusive relationship through and through and, honestly, a really bad example to any young girls reading the book. His only redeeming quality is that I was totally picturing David Bowie from labyrinth the entire time, he’s technically not that much like him but that’s all I could see.

I also couldn’t stand Jenny; she is such a boring character. She is a goody two-shoes who panders to her boyfriend in such a weird and obsessive way, like she doesn’t know who she is without him to tell her, which is also a terrible example to young girls. The author tries to make out she has this big growth arc while helping her friends through their nightmares, but I just didn’t see it, she came out just as bland as when she went in. The other characters in the book are very cookie-cutter and do not do much for the story at all.

There were a number of parts to this book that severely grossed me out, like the chapter where Julian tricks Jenny into kissing him by pretending to be her cousin, YUCK!! I was also very disturbed by the fact that after one of the character dies nobody seems upset, they all just keep going without any sort of real sadness, like what???

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone like at all, even if you like L.J. Smiths other works I wouldn’t recommend this. Maybe I’m too old for it or maybe it’s the fact that it was written in the early 90’s and I just can’t appreciate it for what it is but I still cannot get behind this book, sorry fans!

1.5 Stars

[reviewsbytomsatrekkie]

18. Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance - Jennieke Cohen - 4.5 STARS

“Just because sensational events happen in novels, that doesn't mean they cannot happen.”

I received this book inside the Lost in Austen Litjoy Crate (I have to recommend Litjoy Crate, they are pretty amazing) in December 2019 as a gift from my husband, and I have to say it was one of the best gifts I have ever received. I loved the crate and loved the book; it was the perfect gift for the Austen fan that I am.

Victoria Aston had everything she wanted, well aware that she lives a very charming life on her family’s estate of Oakbridge. Her older sister, Althea, has married well, and Vicky has plenty of time to while away her hours learning how to look after the estate and to be free in the fields surrounding her home. But her happy life is soon thrown upside down when awful circumstances force her to find a husband quickly, or risk finding herself and family destitute… Armed with only the wisdom she has gained from her much-loved books by Jane Austen, she must navigate London’s scheming society and a number of mysterious accidents that keep cropping up around her.  

I’m going to start with our characters this time round because they really were the making of this book. The author managed to very quickly endear Vicky to me, she’s an amazing main character that I feel many readers will bond with. She’s a fighter, she loves her family fiercely and is willing to do anything to keep them safe, and I lived for her sassy moments where we really got to see her inner strength. I also loved that we got to see her grow as a person, she starts off quite young and a bit naive but as the book goes along you can see her grow into a very strong independent woman. Without giving to much away, our other main characters were also really well drawn, you can tell that the author drew from classic Austen characters, but each had their own individuality and style, none of them felt like cookie cutters at all. I especially liked Althea, who through so many trials still manages to show that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The plot itself has definitely been done before, probably many times before, but I never felt bored. It felt more like a fresh new take on an old story. The references to Jane Austen’s work were seamlessly woven in, without it ever feeling like too much. The book progresses nicely with only a few parts feeling slow. My only real complaint is that I felt like the bad guy felt a bit too obvious, while the main characters run around trying to figure out who is causing all the accidents, I felt like screaming “its xxxx!!! You idiots!”.

What I really liked about this book was that I found it too be the perfect mix of drama and light-heartedness, it felt refreshing and light while still taking the important issues seriously. This made it a joy to read and hard to put down.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend it to all Austen fans, as they would get the most out of this book, but anyone could pick it up and enjoy it. (Also, quick side note, how cute is the cover!)

4.5 STARS