Review: Everrealm

Review:

Not for me. Read about 10% and it was enough to know I don't want to read anymore. Flat characters, and a very tell and not show style of the writing. Nothing new in the idea that I haven't seen before. Points of view seemed to switch rapidly as well without much warning from one character's head to another. Not a book or a series I will be looking to continue. Thank you for the opportunity to try the title. 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1365954/review-everrealm

Review: When Everything Feels Like The Movies

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

The description on this book got my attention immediately. Though looking at some of the reviews I must admit I did wonder if I had made a mistake requesting this. I am always looking for new reads with transgender characters. I thought this was a high school aged YA coming of age novel. Not so much, if it had been high school aged kids, it would have most likely got a much higher rating from me.

 

Initially the coarseness of the writing, the language, the frank chatty talk about sex and drugs didn't bother me. Until I found out the characters in this book were middle school aged kids who hadn't even reached high school yet. I just can't get my head wrapped around kids who are (I'm not entirely sure of the age of middle school kids in their last years - 12/13/14?) so openly at such a young age so bluntly exploring sex and drugs. Smoking some weed, maybe but it's much more than just scoring some pot. If it was kids who were 16/17+ experimenting - wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest. The best friend character, Angela (I'm probably going to sound like I'm slut shaming here so forgive me for that as usually I wouldn't care) but this girl is openly described as very sexually active and she's not even a freshman in high school! I don't get it. If she was a high school junior - fair enough - it'd be a you go girl - do what you want don't care what anyone thinks. But again, kids who are 13/14? Struggling to understand that, really. (I'm sort of feeling really old right now!)

 

Putting all that a side, it's actually a pretty fantastic book. Jude was an amazing character. He liked make up, dresses, boys. He knew exactly who he was and simply did not give a fuck what anyone thought of him. He was blunt, crude and snarky and full of attitude. Again, sexually active, stole his mom's money when he needed it. He had a dream of running off to Hollywood and being a big star, imagining his life as told through the eyes of star telling his memoirs after he'd made it big. It was an interesting method of story telling.

 

The writing itself was dark and gritty, Jude suffers from a lot of bullying both physical and verbal but some people openly show their support. Like Bff Angela and one wonderful teacher who was very enthusiastic in encouraging Jude to explore his dreams and be exactly who he wanted to be. Fair bit of violence in the novel. Jude does come from a rather crappy home situation. His mom's a stripper, his had has left and mom is living with an asshole of a boyfriend who comes and goes. He does have a younger half brother who he cares about deeply. Mom understands Jude but the boyfriend doesn't, the younger brother is a sweet kid who's trying to understand but his father doesn't want him to.

 

A lot of party scenes, all involving sex drink and drugs and some fights. Plenty of drama as well. Jude has a crush on the school star, Luke, who keeps claiming he wants nothing to do with him, as well as a weird flingy thing with Angela's older brother Abel. Touching on some themes of bisexuality as well which was interesting to see included as well. A rather explosive very surprising ending.

 

The age of the kids is never actually mentioned, but I think it's implied somewhere. Like I said, if you can get past how young they are, it's a very gripping read if you like contemporaries with an edge.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for approving my request to view the title

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1365938/review-when-everything-feels-like-the-movies

Bookish Bingo Readathon Sign up and Updates

I haven't done very brilliantly with Bookish Bingo so far this month. Most likely because I had so many different books on the go when I started which I have been trying to finish off, and read a load of Netgalley stuff so I can focus mainly on Bookish Bingo books. 

 

 

My completed squares are looking a bit pathetic at the moment. Oh well. However, I did see this morning that Pretty Deadly Reviews are hosting a Bookish Bingo Readathon in early April. So this should be a great way to get some more squares covered.

 

In my currently reading list I've got a load of things on the go for different squares as well. So now I'm pretty much in Bookish Bingo reading mode. 

 

The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters - Hamlet retelling - retelling square

An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet - End of the World Square

Court of Fives by Kate Elliot - number in title

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken - Metallic Lettering

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - set over 200 years ago

When Everything Feels Like The Movies by by Raziel Reid - under 200 pages

Awake at Dawn by C C Hunter - green cover

The Dark Days Club by Allison Goodman - MC Shares your first initial

Red Dwarf Omnibus - Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers + Better Than Life  by Grant Naylor - set in space

 

Plan being to finish these all before the readerthon then during the readerthon I can read stuff for the remaining squares. 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1361774/bookish-bingo-readathon-sign-up-and-updates

Review: The Serpent King

Review:

I really don't quite know what to make of this one. A lot of the bloggers and reviewers I follow, apart from a small handful, all seem to rave about how brilliant this book is. Apparently, I am in the black sheep brigade on this one. I just didn't get it. 

 

Which almost made me feel bad because there are some heavy subjects dealt with within the novel, but the whole thing was kind of...just okay to me. I didn't love it, I didn't flat out hate it. It tells the story of three teens, Lydia, Travis and Dill who live in a small town in Louisiana.

 

Lydia is snarky, has a very popular fashion blog and twitter followers in the millions, she's been invited to Fashion Week in New York before and can't wait to graduate and get out of their small town. Travis comes from a lower income family with a horribly abusive father (both physical and verbal) his mom doesn't do much to help, but it's clear she loves him. He loses himself in his favourite series of fantasy novels - rereads, chats on fan forums whilst waiting for the final volume to come out. And Dill, who's living under the stigma of having his snake handling preacher father arrested and sent to prison for child pornography.  Dill testified against him and both his mother and his father, both of whom are deeply religious appear to blame him for this. They are deeply in debt and Dill is working as hard as he can to help clear it down. Naturally, he's very resentful about this but doesn't quite know what else to do. 

 

The story starts off rather dull, and talks about the three friends very different situations and how each one is coping and find solace in each other's company. I didn't like Lydia much, she's from a well off family, has a lot of great parental advice and involvement, and a lot of privileges that other kids in the town don't. Her dad was a great character. Understanding and not afraid to call her out when she was being a brat. Lydia's main focus seems to be getting out of their small town and using the connections she's made from her fashion blog to get into NYU. Yet she doesn't seem to understand why her two friends aren't more pleased for her. College isn't exactly in the future for neither Travis or Dill.

 

Travis and Dill were much easier to be sympathetic with as they both have much harder family situations to deal with. There's also hints of a possible more than friends situation wanting to brew between Lydia and Dill. Dill turns out to have a brilliant singing voice, and is encouraged not to hide it, with some help not only from Lydia but from her dad as well, who is a great role model for both Dill and Travis. Lydia's dad is happy to spend time with the boys and help when he can.

 

Dill suffers from bullies a lot as everyone in town knows who his dad is. His mom constantly reminds him, he testified and it's all his fault and it doesn't help. She's constantly working and thinks Dill should be too. Lydia thinks Dill's talented enough and smart enough to apply to college. Dill doesn't see it. Lydia is pushy on this subject and it's really annoying. I get she wants to help her friend - but it feels like she's pushing her ideas on him and not actually listening to what her friend is actually trying to say. 

 

[spoiler]

There's actually a really sweet scene where Lydia uses her connections to bring Travis's favourite author to come to their town and visit him. It really brightens the mood for Travis and gives him hope and a possible future in putting the ideas in his head to maybe start writing himself. But of course, it's all spoiled by his miserable bullying asshole of a father.

[/spoiler]

 

Then about half way through there was a really surprising and sad plot twist. It seemed unnecessarily cruel. The rest of the novel tells how the survivors deal with the fallout from this tragedy. It deals with one of the characters falling into a deep depression and how the other helps them over come it. Though it kind of seems if the tragedy had never happened, certain things would never have changed for other characters. It's taken this big event to make them want something different out of life. I'm still not sure what to make of it, nearly a week after I finished it.  

 

Not for me in the end, I guess. 

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Children's for approving my request to view the title. 

 

 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1360954/review-the-serpent-king

Review: In Real Life

Review:

The idea of this novel was quite an appealing one - two best friends who have talked to each other for years after meeting on line finally meet in real life. Exciting premise. The idea was a good one, can't fault the writing. I just didn't like this book. My biggest problem with it was that I simply just could not stand the main character, Hannah.

I found her to be a controlling, self centred, slut shaming pain in the ass. I liked all the other characters, but I didn't like Hannah one little bit. May be spoilery because there are some things I have to rant about. Other than that, don't have a whole lot to say about this one.

 

Hannah has been talking to Nick via the internet, text, phone for several years after her older sister Grace met his older brother Alex at a concert and they thought Nick and Hannah would be great friends. Turned out they were right. Nick and Hannah become very close on line friends. Hannah has friends and boyfriends in real life. She talks to Nick on a daily basis and they tell each other everything. They really seem to click and get each other. Hannah comes from a very controlling environment, she's the good girl who studies, follows the rules and does everything right. She dates, figuring she's saving her wild girl experience for college. Her older sister Grace is something of a wild child.

 The novel starts, it's spring break, Grace is home from college and Hannah's plans pretty much revolve around hanging out with real life BFF Lo and Grace, watching Netflix and hanging by their pool. Their parents are on vacation. So Grace and Lo convince her it's time she meets Nick in Person. Nick is in a band, he lives in Las Vegas, and he has a big show opening for someone at the House of Blues in Vegas. So after finding out Grace and Hannah come up with the idea of going off to Vegas for a few days to meet Nick and see his band play. Surprise him.

 

Not the smartest idea, but a fun one and after some humming and aahing Hannah finally agrees to go. She's a bundle of nerves. We learn a little more about her relationship with Nick and how things have developed between them. Is it actually turning into something more than just friendship. By the time they arrive in Vegas Hannah has realised yes, of course, she is madly in love with Nick after all. But once they get to Vegas and to the House of Blues (after getting fake IDS) everything goes downhill from there.

 

[spoiler]

Turns out Nick isn't in the band, he just sells the merchandise and has a girlfriend, Frankie. Hannah is devastated. This is where I really start disliking Hannah. On the one hand, I can totally understand her reactions. Nick has never told her once he had a girlfriend. Frankie is small and pretty - but the only thing Hannah seems to notice is she has big boobs. So the slut shaming starts. It's like -how dare this big boobed girl be Nick's girlfriend! And so on. Gets annoying very fast. The thing with Frankie - is - she's actually a great character. She's fun, she's nice and she's really excited to meet Hannah as Nick has told her everything about Hannah. Hannah can't get past the girlfriend thing. She's rude and wants to pretty much get the hell out of there and hide in their hotel room. Without getting an explanation from Nick or anything.

[/spoiler]

 

[spoiler]

Again, in a way, understandable, but Grace and Lo who have come along, have met some of Nick’s friends and his older brother Alex and the band members. So they’re excited to see the show and hang out with the guys.

[/spoiler]

 

And so the night progresses. Hannah does spent time with Nick, and much to her annoyance, Frankie. Frankie has a teen blog which is really popular in Las Vegas, about all the places to go and people she meets. Hannah does get to spent time with Nick and they talk but again, over and over it’s the fact that he has a girlfriend that comes up in Hannah’s mind, even though he’s tried apologising and explained why he lied about the band thing, and his explanation even makes sense.

 

Grace and Lo have both hooked up with guys from the band and disappeared to spend time with them. Hannah is not thrilled to be left alone with Nick and Frankie. She’s pissed at her sister and her friend, but they’ve only got one night in Vegas and don’t want to spend it sat moping in a motel room. Which in a way, even though I can understand Hannah’s frustration, I can see it from Grace and Lo’s point of view as well.

 

Of course Hannah finally gets Nick alone as she sorts out her feelings. And we get another moment where I want to punch Hannah.  

[spoiler]

Turns out Nick has told Hannah before he had feelings for her that went beyond friendship. She blew it off because she thought he was drunk and he claimed not to remember anything he said to her the following day. So she told him flat out she had no romantic feelings and that wasn’t likely to change. So obviously Nick has taken that to heart and started going out with Frankie some time afterwards. Up shows Hannah out of the blue now deciding she’s in love with Nick and is royally pissed when she finds he has a girlfriend. It makes me just want to throttle Hannah and tell her to get the fuck over herself. 

[/spoiler]

 

Problem for me as reader as I just hated Hannah so much by then I found it impossible to have any sympathy for her. Though at the same time, I can understand why she’s irritated. It’s just one of those things I don’t even know why I dislike this girl so much. To make things worse, she has several chances to tell Nick how she really feels. And every time she chickens out. Meanwhile Grace and Lo are having the time of their lives, and while they appear to be sympathetic with Hannah, neither want to be dragged down by her mood and bratty behaviour. Hannah’s cowardice is really annoying. Doesn’t help when Frankie seems to show so much respect for her as Nick’s friend, even asking Hannah’s advice when she has a few problems with Nick she doesn’t know how to deal with.

 

It all wraps up in a mad dramatic rush in the last 5% of the novel, more eye rolling than anything else.

 

Apparently, I had more to whine about on this one that I thought. It’s a fairly quick read and like I mentioned earlier, it was a really good idea, and the other characters were great. They had lots of depth and personality and it was completely easy to understand their motives and actions. I just didn’t like the main character and that really spoiled the book for me. Certainly an author I would read again, this book just wasn’t for me.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for approving my request to view the title.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1359614/review-in-real-life

Review: When We Collided

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

Emery Lord is one of my favourite authors and on my automatic buy list. So I jumped at the chance when I saw this one on Netgalley. And did a little happy dance when I got approved fairly rapidly (almost within the hour I think). When I started this one I must admit, I didn't like it much. I had a great deal of difficulty connecting at all with Vivi as a main character. Jonah's situation was much easier to be sympathetic with. I very nearly DNFed several times. I just was not getting this book at all. Until about the 70% mark or so when the emotional impact really hit.

 

I'm not even sure what it was as I have no personal experience with any of the themes in the novel other than the occasional mild stint of depression, but nothing near the levels described in this novel. I've never lost a parent. Yet when I finished this book I cried for nearly fifteen minutes. It must have been something to do with the serious side of mental health taken to heart and partly the information and the personal touch of the author’s note at the end.

 

For the most part of the novel, Vivi’s manic personality drove me up the wall. She was a firecracker, all over the place, all the time. Started off cute, but became tiring very quickly.  And frankly, I found her irritating as hell. I did like how she handled Jonah’s family and how she understood his situation with his mum’s depression.  She was much more sympathetic to the mum’s needs when Jonah and the rest of his siblings (the older ones, really) don’t seem to get the severity of the mum’s depression and seem to keep thinking she’ll get over it. Jonah’s struggling to keep it together after the death of his father and keep a lot of siblings together. Two older siblings are there for the summer, one’s home from college, one’s on their way to college. Jonah’s got senior year of high school to go. He works at their father’s restaurant with the family friend and business partner and his daughter. He pretends everything’s okay. But he’s barely keeping it together.

 

The family struggle side and the business struggle side were sad, with hope filtered in when Jonah takes his love of cooking and ideas to help turn things around with some help. However, in comes Vivi with her whirlwind personality who breezes into his life and charms both Jonah and his siblings. She gets on really well with the younger children.

 

The connection between the Jonah and Vivi is sweet as they learn to cope with each other and their feelings for each other. It moves pretty quickly but it's certainly not all smooth sailing and romantic fun which adds a much more authentic and realistic tone to the relationship.  

 

It’s hinted at several times that Vivi did something pretty horrible to her friends before she moved to Jonas’ town for the summer. But it’s hard to know if she feels bad about it. One minute she’s thinking about it – the next she’s off on something else. She’s got a somewhat stable relationship with her own mum, a single parent. Vivi knows nothing of her own father. Which becomes a pretty important plot twist about half way through.

 

The themes of depression and mental illness are incredibly well dealt with, at least it seems so to me. I have nothing to compare to, but it seems like so much care has gone into the information and the characters dealing with difficult issues that even though I didn’t like Vivi much, I felt for her by the end. The emotional impact is incredibly moving. So it was definitely worth sticking with the book even if the beginning was a struggle to get through.  

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for approving my request to view the title.

 

 

 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1358282/review-when-we-collided

Story Sprites Round 3 Complete

Another Round of Story Sprites Completed!

 

 

Books Read

 

Pink Path

Book with Gay/Lesbian Romance – River Walker by Cate Culpepper – 5 Stars

Clairvoyance/Sixth Sense – Sage’s Eyes by VC Andrews – 2 stars  - Review

Characters with Code Names – The Rose Society (Young Elites #2) by Marie Lu – 4.1/2 Stars

Scandinavian Born Character – The Circle (Engelsfors #1) Sara Bergmark Elfgren

 

Yellow Path

>500 Pages – Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3) Laini Taylor – 5 Stars

Book to Movie Adaption – The Devil’s Advocate by Andrew Neiderman – 1 Star - Review

Dragons! – The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire#1) by CJ Redwine – 3 Stars

Novel With a Map – Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes #2) – by Sara Raasch 3 Stars – Review

 

Green Path

Stand Alone Fantasy – The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull -5 Stars – In mini review post

Single Word Title – Fairest (Lunar Chronicles #3.5) by Marissa Meyer – 4 Stars

Enchanted Forest – The Raven Boys (Raven Boys Quartet #1) by Maggie Stiefvater – 5 Stars

Strong Female Friendship – Behind the Scenes (Daylight Falls #1) by Dahlia Adler – 4 stars

 

Purple Path

YA Sci Fi – Starflight (Starlfight #1) by Melissa Landers -  3.1/2 stas

Novel with a Rebellion – Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan – 5 Stars – in mini review post

Prince or Princess – A Wicked Thing (A Wicked Thing #1) by Rhiannon Thomas – 4 Stars

Last Book in a Series – Winter (Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer – 5 Stars

 

Blue Path

YA Fantasy – Truthwith (Witchlanders #1) by Susan Dennard – 2 Stars – Review

First Book in a Series – Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires #1) by Chloe Neill – 5 Stars – in mini review post

Purple Themed Cover – Happily Ever After (A companion to the Selection Series) by Kiera Cass – 5 Stars

Supernatural Feud – Winter Falls (Twin Willows Trilogy #1) by Nicole Maggi – 4 Stars – In mini Review Post

 

Save me linking every one - see the mini review post here

 

Best Books

Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Winter, The Circle, Happily Ever After, Sword and Verse, River Walker, Daylight Falls,  The Raven Boys, Some Girls Bite

 

Worst Books

The Devil’s Advocate, Sage’s Eyes, Truthwitch

 

Honourable Mentions

The Rose Society, Fairest, The Radiant Road, Ice like Fire.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1355601/story-sprites-round-3-complete

Review: The Passion of Dolssa

Review:

Beautiful, beautifully written historical novel.  Set in medieval France tells the story of Dolssa, a girl from a posh family and a sweet tone, and what she perceives to be a very special relationship with God/Jesus. Her passion is absolutely fascinating. I’m an atheist, no religious belief whatsoever, yet I found this novel absolutely addictive and compelling.

 

Brutal at parts, particularly with the snottiness of the Church and the inquisition. My knowledge of the time period itself is slim to nil. Dolssa was a lovely girl with a firm belief and a gentle personality and she shared her passions with her fellow citizens. Which instantly makes her a target for the Church.  The fanaticism of the inquisitors who think they are unquestionably right in the name of the Church and only their beliefs and laws laid down are the be all and end all of religion is frightening. Especially the fact that they will burn anyone who disagrees or has their own ideas of belief and faith.

 

 After a harrowing escape through the country side she’s finally rescued by three sisters returning from a trip who take her into their lives and offer her shelter. The novel tells of the lives of the three sisters, their friendships and the life of their small village by the sea. Also, how Dolssa and her secrets come to affect their lives.

 

Deeply passionate, and very moving, the slice of life into the everyday lives of these people so many years ago was absolutely fascinating. Also very interesting with the religious fervour and Dolssa’s own beliefs. And the seemingly impossible miracles that start occurring once Dolssa becomes well again and starts interacting more with the townsfolk. How they all interplay with each other is beautifully portrayed and very captivating.

 

The plot however, is slim to nill and very very slow. It’s the story telling and the characters that bring this book to life. The setting and the vividness of the writing that bring out the brilliantness of the novel. Of course, when things are smooth sailing and progressing nicely, it all goes hideously wrong for everyone and shock of certain characters’ true colours come to light. The end brought tears to my eyes a few times. Clearly carefully researched and the passion and care shine through in the story telling.  Also included are an extended reading list and a historical note from the author.

 

Fascinating, beautiful book.

 

Thank you to Penguin/Random House First to Read for providing the review copy.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1354738/review-the-passion-of-dolssa

Review: Tuesday Nights in 1980

Review:

 

This was something I requested from Netgalley on a whim. I don't read adult contemporary at all, really, but the title and the premise of the art critic with synaesthesia got my attention immediately. So I figured what the hell - I would give it a shot.

 

Definitely different from what I usually read but in a good way. The book was beautifully written, the sense of place New York at the dawn of the 80s was brilliantly described, plunging right into the grittiness of the scenery with an amazing sense of place and description, making the setting come alive with vividness. The first half of the book, though brilliantly written, was incredibly slow. An introduction to the lives and explorations of characters before anything particularly happened.

 

The novel focuses on James and his wife Marge, a small town girl Lucy with dreams of a life in the big city and Engales, a brilliantly talented artist from Buenos Aires. Of all the characters, James was the most fascinating. He has synaesthesia - he sees the world through colours which adds a whole amazing layer of depth to his character. He's a bit of a bumbling eccentric, nice and sweet if a bit dim, but a brilliant art critic as seeing things through colours help help get an angle on art that most people wouldn't notice. Marge meets James in college when he criticises her paintings and gets her in a way that no one else does.  They fall in love and get married. Part of the novel tells of their lives and struggles.

 

Lucy is a sweet girl from a small town with an art fascination who comes into the city with dreams of meeting an artist and falling in love. Engales lived with his sister Franca and her husband for a time, after always being close with his sister, when the boyfriend came along he didn’t like it at all, the boyfriend was an ass, Engales runs off to New York. He’s always been a brilliant artist and finds a place amongst an artist community full of performers and sculptors and squatters in the same area Lucy finds herself in. Through chance meetings they wind up all running into each other at some point.

 

A beautifully detailed account of three or four lives and the side people who come into shape their futures before things start looking up…then unravelling dramatically. Dealing with everything from gaining art shows, getting names known in the right social circles, to passionate affairs, hideous accidents and other dramatic factors. Marriage issues for James and Marge – money struggles, baby drama etc.

 

For the most part I enjoyed the read as the scenes and setting and the art community were pretty interesting. I didn’t like Engales much as a character at all. He was rude and condescending and a jackass. Talented, yes, but a deplorable personality. Lucy manages to get involved with both him and James. It was also somewhat open ended. Realistically concluded for some points, but others left too many questions and no answers for other characters.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books (UK) for approving my request to view the title.

 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1354246/review-tuesday-nights-in-1980