Review: Underwater

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

The premise of this novel was what caught my attention about it. It tells the story of Morgan Grant, a teen who survived a terrible incident which lead to a dramatic change in her life. As a result Morgan has become agoraphobic, completely unable to leave the apartment she lives in with her mom and younger brother. To make things worse, there's drama involving her absentee dad, a solider with really bad PTSD who has returned from Afghanistan and completely checked out from the family.

Morgan is struggling to move on and has pushed away everyone around her. Morgan knows she needs help and is actually getting help in the form of therapist Brenda who comes to the house and talks through Morgan's problems. Morgan accepts the help and even though she can get grouchy, she does listen to the advice she's given. New boy Evan moves in next door and starts talking to Morgan. At first she's kind of obnoxious, Evan has a normal life, he's nice, he's a surfer, he goes out doors. Morgan used to be on the swim team. and liked outdoors stuff too.

But due to her issues and as the novel progresses the problems with her dad, she just can't get her head around the idea of going outside again. Evan doesn't give up though, he become's Morgan's friend and helps her open her mind to the possibilities that not everyone will hate her because she shut herself off from a world that terrifies her. It's not all smooth sailing, they have their problems.

Morgan has a very supportive mom and an adorable little brother Ben, both of whom she is very close with. Morgan's mom is involved in Morgan's recovery and they both help Ben with school and activities. Even though Mom has her own problems with the Dad and his own falling apart. It's very moving how they all manage to come together.

It takes a lot of work for Morgan to realise that even though something bad happened to her, she's not the only one it happened to. Other people are suffering too. Her character growth is pretty damn incredible throughout the novel and she shows remarkable understanding by the end. Its beautifully written, and very deep and poignant.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for approving my request to view the title.

 

 

 

 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1308210/review-underwater

On Hold for Now

15.12.2015

I got so excited when I was approved for a Netgalley ARC I jumped right in. As much as I love the world building and the writing, I realised I barely remember anything about what happened in the first one. And the second picks up almost immediately after where the first one left off.

So putting the 2nd one on hold so I can read the first one again. Then will be reading this one.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1303993/on-hold-for-now

Story Sprites Round 2 Wrap Up

Story Sprites Round 2

 

Another round of Story Sprites completed. This was a tough one but I did manage to read a book to cover every square. I don’t think I reviewed hardly anything this time round, I just enjoyed reading and rating for the most part. You can see my Goodreads shelf with dates I finished (and a few reviews) here

 

Pink Path

Cross Dress/Gender Bender – Scarlett (Scarlett #1) AC Gaughen  - 2 Stars

Multiple Fantasy Creatures – Menagerie (Menagerie #1) – Rachel Vincent – 5 Stars

Flames on Cover – The Secret Fire (The Alchemist Chronicles #1) C.J. Daugherty – 5 Stars

Character Centred Novel – The Cost of All Things – Maggie Lehrman – 4 Stars

 

Yellow Path

Middle Grade Fantasy Novel- The Copper Gauntlet – (Magisterium #2) Cassandra Clare & Holly Black 3 Stars

Witches or Wizards – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Illustrated Edition) J.K. Rowling – 5 Stars

Bram Stoker Award Winner – American Gods – Neil Gaiman – 3 Stars

Set at a Boarding School – Shadow Kissed (Vampire Academy #3) Richelle Mead

 

Green Path

A Character Death – The Stand – Stephen King – 5 Stars

A Classic Novel – The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson – 3 Stars

A Book with a Mountain – The Shining – Stephen King – 5 Stars

Book with a Fictional Language – The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles #2) Mary E Pearson – 5 Stars

 

Blue Path

Male MC – Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) – Rachel Caine 5 Stars

Photograph on the Cover – The Moon and More – Sarah Dessen – 4 Stars

A Halloween Read- Daughters unto Devils – Amy Lukavics – 4 Stars

Supernatural Race in Modern Times – Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1) C.C. Hunter – 4 Stars

 

Purple Path

POC MC – Scarlett Undercover – Jennifer Latham – 1 Star

QUILTBAG Author – Fans of the Impossible Life – Kate Scelsa – 4 Stars

Set in Southern USA – Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2) Rachel Hawkins – 2 Stars

A Character who is a Musician – Wildflower (Wildflower #1) Alecia Whitaker – 3 Stars

 

 

Favourite Books Read

Ink and Bone – one of the best alternate history books I can remember reading. Brilliant world building, great characters and thoroughly absorbing plot.

Menagerie – possibly one of the most uncomfortable books I have ever read. Very dark but brilliantly written set in a world where all sorts of mythological and fantasy creatures are real but condemned to life as circus attractions.  

Illustrated Harry Potter  – such pretty pretty illustrations, this is one of the best editions of this book  I have (I have 4 others)  The addition of the illustrations really bring another dimension of brilliance to this already brilliant book.

The Secret Fire – I actually reviewed this one – you can read the review here.

Born at Midnight – this tells the story of a girl who is sent to a summer camp she thinks is for wayward teens. It turns out to be full of supernatural creatures everything from vampires to werewolves to shapeshifters to fae. The bulk of the story is the MC discovering these species and dealing with the fact she is one of them but what? No one seems to know. Entertaining and creative.

The Heart of Betrayal – This book has some of the best fantasy world building. More political drama in this one. More great worldbuilding including landscape and language! And speaking the language as the MC negotiates her captivity in enemy territory.

 

Worst Books

Scarlett Undercover (I really wanted to like this one, a Muslin-America heroine with a Veronica Mars like plot. I gave it 1 star for diversity, but I just didn’t like the novel at all.) 

Scarlet (Ac Gaughen) A Robin Hood retelling. All talk and very little action and I found Scarlet in this one just way too brassy, she was trying so hard to be tough as she she had to be it, it was over the top for me. She was so full of attitude it got to be very grating. Plus written in dialect and got very annoying.

Miss Mayhem – Oh Rebel Belle what happened? First book was so so good but the second was all over the shop and a huge let down at the end. I am still interested in the last book, but the second instalment was such a disappointment.

 

Honourable Mentions

American Gods – Neil Gaiman – I had no clue what was going on in this book.  I read it from start to finish, and I couldn’t recap it or tell anyone what it was about for the life of me! Some of it was brilliant, some of it was awful, some of it was confusing as hell. I didn’t know if I loved it or hated it.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1302972/story-sprites-round-2-wrap-up

Story Sprites Round 2 Complete

 

Round two done. Full wrap up to come.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1302932/story-sprites-round-2-complete

Review: Need

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

After rather liking the author's previous books, The Testing Trilogy, I was quite excited to see a completely different type of book show up in one of those 'Feed your Reader' emails. So jumped at the change for the 'read it now' offer.

This book had a great hook. A mysterious new social media site, an invitation only site offering to fill the needs of the students of a certain high school. It makes a point of the difference between what's a wish and what a need might be. The requests start flying in from an A on a physics grade to concert tickets to a new iPhone. Seems fun enough. But of course, its never as simple as something awesome for apparently nothing. The site, NEED, requires certain things to be done in order for the Need wishes to be met.

And the tasks seem innocent enough, then the stakes start rising and things become pretty twisted pretty fast. It's supposed to raise a point about what people are willing to do for the right reward. The tasks get harder, and people start dying. There are a lot of characters in this book. Chapters from a lot of different view points. Which at first is kind of daunting, why are we seeing random chapters from random people getting involved in the NEED site and posting their requirements?

It does all tie into the plot eventually. The plot is very fast paced and once its started the book is hard to put down. In spite of this, I did found it got rather silly rather fast, particularly towards the end when the truth behind the NEED website is revealed.

I didn't really like any of the characters that much at all. The main character, Kaylee, a self proclaimed drama queen, has all sorts of problems and family drama. Her younger brother is sick with a failing kidney and can be saved by a transplant. No one in her immediate family is a match, and her father has walked out on the family some months before.

[spoiler]

 Kaylee is desperate to help her brother but goes to such extremes - she lies, it would appear she has been badgering the student body at her high school to get tested to see if any of them are potential matches. She posted fake ads on Craigslist promising a cash reward to find her father. She's faked sicknesses to get into the school nurse's office to access medical records.

[/spoiler]

Problem is she's pushed so hard to help and lied so much and been caught no one really feels any sympathy for her. The only friend she has left is her BFF Nate who sends her a NEED invite.

[spoiler]

So what does she ask for? A kidney for her brother.

[/spoiler]

As the plot progresses and things start getting scary, one rather gruesome incident happens at Kaylee's house she begins to realise that NEED is not as great as it seems at all. She thinks she has proof and at least is smart enough at first to try and contact the police. Problem is she has caused so much drama and stress for her mother in the past no one believes her. Which understandably is very frustrating for Kaylee.

She's supposed to come off as selfless and heroic, but she had very little personality other than the must get help for my brother side, and while you can understand why she does it, it doesn't make her appealing as a lead character because she goes so over the top about it. Then whines when people don't want to help her family.

The plot twists and turns and all the seemingly random characters come together as Kaylee tries to prove that NEED is dangerous. All tied into the need request granting and what people are willing to do to get what they want. While it was certainly an interesting premise, it got very convoluted and ridiculous towards the end. Almost all of the characters were shallow and flat. A few redeemed themselves (or tried to) towards the end.

It was okay.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1301751/review-need

Review: This is Where it Ends

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

This was something I got from Netgalley with one of those read it now for the first 500 members for a limited time only things. I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. It was certainly very fast paced, once I got past the first 20% I finished the whole thing in pretty much a couple of hours. Couldn't put it down.

Given the subject, I can not even begin to fathom being trapped in such a terrifying situation, and by the end of the novel there was certainly an emotional impact. But something was missing and I can't quite put my fingers on what. I think for me, it was the characters. There were a LOT of characters, lots of different view points and even short interludes of characters on their social media - a blogger and someone's Twitter feed. But something was still missing.

There were only two or three characters that particularly had any impact - Tomas and Claire who were both outside the auditorium when the incident happened and Matt, Claire's brother one of the trapped students. My main concern was really for all the people trapped in the auditorium and how awful those who weren't trapped felt being able to do very little to help.

I was not that invested in the people who felt like the main focus, Autumn and Sylvia. Autumn came across as almost selfish through most of it, at least for this reader. Her main focus was dancing, she wanted out of her small town and focused on nothing but her dancing as her ticket of her situation. Understandable, given her sad family history, but I just didn't like her as a character.

Sylvia had a bit more to her, but it was all kind of vague and all over the place. Torn between her feelings for Autumn, her problems with Tyler, and her family drama there was a lot going on for her. Though in such a short space of time and the focus being on the shooting, and survival and with so many other character's POVs added, I can understand why there wasn't a lot of deep character background.

The villain of the piece, Tyler was so flat and eye roll inducing it was almost laughable in a horrible way it was so over dramatic.

One thing I will applaud - diverse characters, and Audrey and Sylvia were in a relationship which was a big part of the plot. Sylvia came from a large Spanish family though she kept breaking into random Spanish and it got very frustrating and jarring to the narrative. I get that its probably very realistic in terms of how you imagine someone in Sylvia's situation would act, but as a reader who speaks no Spanish, even if I can get the gist of what was being said, it was a little annoying especially since there was no translation.

The points of view kept changing to those trapped in the auditorium with the shooter and those outside and how terrified they were for their friends inside. Despite the somewhat flat characters, I did find a lot of the narrative to be very engaging and certainly by the end of the book there was a great deal of heart breaking emotional trauma. I didn't love the book, I think my main issue was too many characters and while I like multi POVs, it was all a bit overwhelming. Though it was certainly an engaging and emotional read.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1300694/review-this-is-where-it-ends

Review: Riot of Smoke and Storm

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

Will contain some mild spoilers for the first book. Spoilers will be hidden.

I remember very little about the plot of the first book, other than something to do with Elementals and a very similar plot to the Throne of Glass series but it held its own enough to keep my interest to want to continue this series and read the sequel. Thankfully there's enough information worked into the narrative that it's fairly easy to pick up on what happened in the first to continue with the second book. <spoiler>I have a vague memory of two big death scenes in the first that pushed MC Bree into finally using her powers and something to do with a reveal of a lost princess plot.</spoiler>

The second novel picks up immediately where the first one left off. Bree and her friends are escaping from the mad Egrian king and discover an Underground group of rebels who help them flee the city and start preparing for a war againt the evil Egrin king.

The beginning of this book was a struggle to get through for me. All I could think of again - how similar the plot was to Throne of Glass (mad king, lost princess with a special power) Even Bree's attitude is not dissimilar to that of the brassiness and arrogance of Celaena Sardothian.

Though once past the 30% mark, I pretty much finished it in a few hours yesterday. The second half of the book was much better. While the plot is not the most original, the story telling is enough to make it its own, and the characters did become much more engaging as the plot advanced through Bree's struggles of maintaining her powers, her big secret identity and dealing with bandits and being hunted by the king. The king is in possession of a dangerous magical weapon with potentially devastating consequences as Bree and co race to escape and find passage to the Nereid kingdom across the sea.

Cadan, the prince has fallen foul of his father's wrath and has his own storyline beside the romance with Bree. There was actually very little romance involved until almost right at the end of the novel but by then there was so much other important stuff going on it wasn't the most important thing.

One thing this book definitely has going for it is the extremely unique use of Elementals and how their magic works. Its a huge part of the plot and quite engaging. There's some good character development, and some good world building. A lot of plot advancement.

While I didn't find much of an emotional attachment to any of these characters really, and in spite of the TOG similarities, it is a well written and enjoyable fantasy in its own way. I am looking forward to the final instalment to see how it all wraps up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Patchwork Press for approving my request to view the title.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1300144/review-riot-of-smoke-and-storm