Review - "Encounter"

Encounter, Encounters #1
by Perie Wolford
rating: ☆
published: 23rd February 2014
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Encounter is written as a series of video clips (or, descriptions of video clips), documenting the process of a group of friends as they try to prove to people that crop circles are a wholly human phenomenon. From the synopsis, it sounded really promising and, since I marked it as to-read about 9 months ago, I've been trying to get hold of it. I mean, it's aliens plus LGBT+ characters. What can go wrong?

A lot, as it turns out.

First of all, the writing was bad. Like, honest-to-God bad. Maybe it's just me, because if you scroll through the first few reviews of this book, it's been given 4 and 5 star ratings. The average rating is more than 4 as well (though this isn't that surprising given that it's only got ~100 reviews, so it won't take much to change the average rating, but I'm rambling). Back to the point, I was not impressed. The plot was kind of everywhere. We're introduced to the characters apparently in the middle of their venture, and when Emily, a new member of their group, arrives. Now, I wouldn't mind the story starting in the middle if there was some background on what's been going on before, but as far as I can tell, the style of the book (as essentially descriptions of a bunch of video diaries) was chosen for the express purpose of being able to avoid having to go through all that. Again, that would be fine if it kept to that, but every now and then it would jump into what characters were feeling and that's where the line between video diaries and third person from the characters' points of view becomes a bit blurred. Choose one or the other, please.

So, no context, but what about the rest of the story? Well.

Ricky (aka the ringleader and the brains behind the operation) is the one designing these crop circles which the group then goes and cuts into a field, while Josh films everything. First off, they cut a small one into a field, but it doesn't even make the local news so Ricky decides they gotta go BIGGER AND BETTER!! and designs another one. This time it makes the national news (halle-fucking-lujah), but wait! That's not the field they cut the crop circle into? That's a completely different field in a completely different state! (Cue angry shouting and uncalled for accusations of leaking the design, all aimed at Josh, because apparently he wants to sabotage Ricky. God knows where that plot point came from.) So then they decide to take a road trip to the crop circle (having, of course, decided that Josh is in fact innocent of any crimes they were blaming him of).

At this point, they find out Emily is actually a secret government agent (because, why not?) and she had an ~alien encounter~ when she was a kid, and now she's slightly obsessed. Just a bit. (God knows how she found out about the group though. You'd have thought that, if you're doing illegal shit like trespassing and cutting crop circles, you wouldn't want to be found. Unless Josh decided to upload all the videos onto the internet. Damnit, Josh! We trusted you!) So obviously, Emily's (totally legit) first reaction is to arrest Ricky and Josh and drive them somewhere with a bunch of other agents. (This is where Josh and Ricky confess they love each other. Which, to be fair, was clearly coming. In this at least, the author made sure it had been mentioned beforehand.) Turns out, aliens are real and Ricky can (unknowingly) write in the alien language!! And Emily can read it!!

Then their prison van (what else am I supposed to call it? They got arrested) is overturned on the road and Josh and Ricky are free! But as they're running through the fields, there's this bright light and they have an ~alien encounter~ (and become Beliebers*). Then they hike back to the closest city, ignoring the fact that they left Emily and the other agents in a bloody wreckage. Way to go, boys.

The end is pretty confusing. I don't even remember what happened, but it was confusing. I think they got kidnapped by the aliens but God knows.

Also, there was this random plot point where Josh, thinking that Ricky was interested in Emily, had sex with her in an attempt to put Ricky off her because he liked Ricky. Yeah, me too.

Okay. Rant (90%) over.

Let's talk characters. There are five of them: Ricky, Josh, Emily, Het #1 and Het #2. (They're not really called Het #1 and Het #2, but I've forgotten their names and basically all I can remember of them is that they spend 80% of the time they were there being Heterosexual. The other 20% was when they were screaming at Josh for apparently leaking the designs.) I was going to try start of with something positive but I can't think of anything. They're boring characters, if I'm honest. Josh is an arsehole(TM) and is always irritating Ricky (God knows why Ricky likes him), and the only time I sympathised with him at all was when he was being accused of something he didn't do. Ricky had a stick up his arse (not Josh's though) and that didn't really change throughout the book. Emily seemed okay to begin with but then once her true identity was revealed, seemed a little obsessed with the aliens. Like, okaaaaaaaay. Het #1 and Het #2 were just that. Hets (yawn).

In case you couldn't tell, I got pretty pissed off reading this (and quite sarcastic reviewing it. I'm sorry). But, on the bright side, I only wasted an hour of my time with it.

*Yes, I know. I'm being sarky.

Review - "On The Fence"

On The Fence
by Kasie West
rating: ✰✰
published: 1st July 2014
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Sometimes we expect more that people are capable of giving at the moment.

So the funny thing is, I normally like Kasie West. The other two books I've read of hers I rated both 4 stars. This one, I didn't like all that much. It was a quick and easy enough read but the characters didn't do it for me and there were some tropes included that I absolutely hate.

First of all, the "best friends to lovers" trope is easily one of my favourites, and on the face of it, that meant this book should be one that I love. The problem I had with this book, and also various other books that attempt this trope, is that it dissolved into the (male) best friend becoming jealous and getting pissed off at the girl because she gets a boyfriend that isn't him (it's like a rule of this trope that one of the main characters has to get a partner who isn't the best friend at some point, I don't know, I'm just here for the pining), and all this while not having told her that he likes her like that. How could she be expected to know that he likes her? And why is she putting up with his dickheadedness? Answers fail me.

The tropes that I hated were apparent after 4% of the book, which, let's be honest, wasn't a good start. I have no time whatsoever for the "overprotective older brothers who vet/threaten all the guys the girl might want to date" trope; it pisses me off no end. What baffled me about it in this book though was that Charlie didn't even get pissed off at them. Not even when it was revealed that they'd threatened all the members of the football team if they asked her out. I would have told them to mind their own fucking business at this point. It beats me why she didn't.

The second trope was the "no guy wants to date a tomboy" trope. And guess what? The main character was a tomboy. Halle-fucking-lujah. Can this trope die a death? I don't need this shit in my life.

Another thing that irritated me was Charlie's attitude to Amber (and other girls but mostly Amber), especially once she thought Amber was interested in Braden. I'm not here for this, Kasie West. I much preferred Skye and Caymen's relationship in The Distance Between Us. (On a related note, I did like the nod to Caymen and Xander in this book, and that Skye played a minor role too.)

For some reason, I feel like the plot of this book, and the characters, weren't as fully fleshed out as they were in West's other contemporaries. The plot appeared to be lacking much direction, and the reveal about Charlie's mum seemed to come out of nowhere. There was no precedent for it, besides a brief mention by Braden of her being upset.

Besides all the issues I had with the book, it wasn't written badly or anything, and I read it pretty quickly. For me, it's just not as good as her other contemporaries.

Review - "The Dark Days Club"

The Dark Days Club, Lady Helen #1
by Alison Goodman
rating: ✰✰✰✰✰
published: 21st January, 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

He gently took her arm, breaking her thrall. She looked up into his face, a blessedly still anchor in the pitch and roll of the room. She noted the small, sympathetic smile that curved his mouth, and the gold flecks in his dark eyes, and he was saying something, but it was all so far away.

The Dark Days Club was at the top of my anticipated releases for this year, and holy shit it did not disappoint. Think of a cross between Jane Austen and X-Files and you have something like this.

Hidden within all levels of society are tens of thousands of creatures called Deceivers. They look like humans, but leech off the energy that people provide, to form these things called 'whips' which are like tails of energy that they use to kill. The most whips a Deceiver can have is three, and this is when they're at their most powerful.

For the most part, the humans and Deceivers live in coexistence. The Dark Days Club is there to police this living. It is made up of normal human beings, and eight Reclaimers, who are humans with enhanced senses, reflexes, and strength, and who fight these Deceivers who step out of line.

Enter Lady Helen, who is the daughter of a traitor to the Crown, and who lives in the custody of her Uncle (by the way, there is a slight trigger warning that goes with this - her Uncle, while not overtly physically abusive with her, is verbally abusive and there is some suggestion of a previous physical aspect to the abuse) and her Aunt. Ten years before, her mother fled the country as a traitor with her father and both drowned in a shipwreck. All Helen has to remember them, is two miniatures - one of her mother and one of her father.

The other main character of the story is Lord Carlston, who is distantly related to Helen's Uncle. There are rumours that he killed his wife, and got into a fight with a Duke, Selburn. At the beginning of the story, he is returned to England following three years on the Continent.

The story starts with Helen preparing for her presentation to the Queen Charlotte. In a last minute decision, she decides to take the miniature of mother with her. While at the presentation, she meets Lord Carlston, who steals the miniature from her, apparently inexplicably. To make things even more interesting, the Queen also tells Helen not to believe everything people say about her mother.

In order to get her miniature back, Helen invites Lord Carlston over to her Uncle's house, much to the displeasure of her Aunt who doesn't wish to be associated with him after the rumours of what happened to his wife. However, instead of just handing back the miniature, Lord Carlston throws it as hard as he can at her head. And Helen catches it.

Anyway, there's a bit of an interlude while Helen processes this development and then Lord Carlston ends up explaining to her about the Reclaimers and the Dark Days Club. This book is essentially setting up Helen's introduction to this hidden world, and the idea that she, being a direct inheritor of her Reclaimer powers from her mother, is a prophesised harbinger of death. There's an interesting bit where it claims that Napoleon himself is a Deceiver.

This book is immediately going on my favourites list, for the uniqueness of the plot, and the characters. Helen is a sympathetic main character, and Lord Carlston has some great character development. Of course, it remains up in the air whether he did in fact kill his wife and what the true story is behind his fight with Selburn (I'm suspicious of Selburn myself. He seemed to want to get close to Helen, and although that may simply be the introduction of a love triangle, Lord Carlston seems to hate him very much, so I think there is more to it), but there were some hints that all is not as it seems.

So, while this book may have been slow to get started, it was never boring. Maybe that's just me and my love of books like this - fantasies set in regency England - but Alison Goodman is a great writer and honestly I wish the second book was out already because I need it.

Anticipated Releases, February 2016 (Part 3/3)

Part three of books I am looking forward to in February.

FEBRUARY 11TH

Beautiful Broken Things
by Sara Barnard

Goodreads

synopsis
Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

This is another one I'll be interested to read. Hopefully the author will portray the female friendships well. That's all I ask.


FEBRUARY 16TH

Take the Fall
by Emily Hainsworth

Goodreads

synopsis
Fear grips the residents of Hidden Falls the night Sonia Feldman and her best friend, Gretchen Meyer, are attacked in the woods. Sonia was lucky to escape with her life, but Gretchen’s body is discovered at the bottom of a waterfall. Beautiful, popular, and seemingly untouchable, Gretchen can’t be gone. Even as Sonia struggles with guilt and confusion over having survived, the whole town is looking to her for information…could she have seen something that will lead the police to the killer?

At the top of the list of suspects is Gretchen’s ex-boyfriend—and Sonia’s longtime enemy—Marcus Perez. So when Marcus comes to Sonia for help clearing his name, she agrees, hoping to find evidence the police need to prove he’s the killer. But as Gretchen’s many secrets emerge and the suspects add up, Sonia feels less sure of Marcus’s involvement, and more afraid for herself. Could Marcus, the artist, the screwup, the boy she might be falling for have attacked her? Killed her best friend? And if it wasn’t him in the woods that night…who could it have been?

Longtime enemy?? The boy she might be falling for?? Hate to love is one of my favourite tropes ever, and combined with a mystery? I'm really really excited for this one.

The Girl from Everywhere, The Girl from Everywhere #1
by Heidi Heilig

Goodreads

synopsis
Nix’s life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he’s uncovered the one map he’s always sought—1868 Honolulu, before Nix’s mother died in childbirth. Nix’s life—her entire existence—is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures... her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own.

To be honest, this is one of my most anticipated books for the whole year, let alone February. I can't wait to read it.


FEBRUARY 23RD

The Shadow Queen, Ravenspire #1
by C. J. Redwine

Goodreads

synopsis
Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.

A retelling of Snow White could be interesting, and I'm eager to see how it's done by this author. The falling in love with the hunter bit risks being a little cliche though. I hope it ends with her saving him from his indenture, to be honest.

After the Woods
by Kim Savage

Goodreads

synopsis
Would you risk your life to save your best friend?

Julia did. When a paroled predator attacked Liv in the woods, Julia fought back and got caught. Liv ran, leaving Julia in the woods for a terrifying 48 hours that she remembers only in flashbacks. One year later, Liv seems bent on self-destruction, starving herself, doing drugs, and hooking up with a violent new boyfriend. A dead girl turns up in those same woods, and Julia’s memories resurface alongside clues unearthed by an ambitious reporter that link the girl to Julia’s abductor. As the devastating truth becomes clear, Julia realizes that after the woods was just the beginning.

Honestly, mystery stories are my absolute favourite. Like, if there's a story that sounds like it's going to be a mystery one, you're almost guaranteed that I'll want to read it.

A Gathering of Shadows, A Darker Shade of Magic #2
by V. E. Schwab

Goodreads

synopsis
Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games—an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries—a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again—meaning that another London must fall.

Real talk: I will read every book V. E. Schwab ever writes, and this one is no different. Especially given how good the first one was.

Anticipated Releases, February 2016 (Part 2/3)

Part two of books I am looking forward to in February.

FEBRUARY 8TH

The Abyss Surrounds Us, The Abyss Surrounds Us #1
by Emily Skrutskie

Goodreads

synopsis
For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the genetically-engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water.

There’s no time to mourn. Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it. She orders Cas to raise the pup, make sure he imprints on her ship, and, when the time comes, teach him to fight for the pirates. If Cas fails, her blood will be the next to paint the sea.

But Cas has fought pirates her entire life. And she's not about to stop.

Sci fi, futuristic pirates? Sign me up. I'm so excited for this book, and also the diversity in it.


FEBRUARY 9TH

Blackhearts
by Nicole Castroman

Goodreads

synopsis
Blackbeard the pirate was known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors. But once he was just a young man who dreamed of leaving his rigid life behind to chase adventure in faraway lands. Nothing could stop him—until he met the one girl who would change everything.

Edward "Teach" Drummond, son of one of Bristol's richest merchants, has just returned from a year-long journey on the high seas to find his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, Teach dreams only of returning to the vast ocean he’d begun to call home. There's just one problem: convincing his father to let him leave and never come back.

Following her parents' deaths, Anne Barrett is left penniless and soon to be homeless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne is forced to take a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks, and Anne longs for escape. How will she ever realize her dream of sailing to Curaçao—where her mother was born—when she's stuck in England?

From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn to each other, they’re trapped by society and their own circumstances. Faced with an impossible choice, they must decide to chase their dreams and go, or follow their hearts and stay.

I'm a little skeptical of this one, although I'm willing to see how it plays out, the idea seems a little... lacking, I guess.

These Vicious Masks, These Vicious Masks #1
by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas

Goodreads

synopsis
England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

This is being marketed as a cross between X-Men and Jane Eyre, and while I didn't like the latter, that time period plus the idea of mutants and people with powers is so exciting. Really, that was all I needed to mark this book as to read. I don't think I even read the synopsis.

Bleeding Earth
by Kaitlin Ward

Goodreads

synopsis
Lea was in a cemetery when the earth started bleeding. Within twenty-four hours, the blood made international news. All over the world, blood appeared out of the ground, even through concrete, even in water. Then the earth started growing hair and bones.

Lea wants to ignore the blood. She wants to spend time with her new girlfriend, Aracely, in public, if only Aracely wasn't so afraid of her father. Lea wants to be a regular teen again, but the blood has made her a prisoner in her own home. Fear for her social life turns into fear for her sanity, and Lea must save herself and Aracely whatever way she can.

The initial reviews for this one aren't great, but it sounds intriguing and also lesbians. I'm always good for reading those sorts of books.

A Song for No Man's Land, A Song for No Man's Land #1
by Andy Remic

Goodreads

synopsis
He signed up to fight with visions of honour and glory, of fighting for king and country, of making his family proud at long last.

But on a battlefield during the Great War, Robert Jones is shot, and wonders how it all went so very wrong, and how things could possibly get any worse.

He'll soon find out. When the attacking enemy starts to shapeshift into a nightmarish demonic force, Jones finds himself fighting an impossible war against an enemy that shouldn't exist.

Have I mentioned before how much I love stuff like this? Anyway, I do and this book sounds like it could be pretty good.

Where Futures End
by Parker Peevyhouse

Goodreads

synopsis
One year from now, Dylan develops a sixth sense that allows him to glimpse another world.

Ten years from now, Brixney must get more hits on her social media feed or risk being stuck in a debtors' colony.

Thirty years from now, Epony scrubs her entire online profile from the web and goes “High Concept.”

Sixty years from now, Reef struggles to survive in a city turned virtual gameboard.

And more than a hundred years from now, Quinn uncovers the alarming secret that links them all.

Five people, divided by time, will determine the fate of us all. These are stories of a world bent on destroying itself, and of the alternate world that might be its savior-unless it's too late.

I'm intrigued by this idea. It sounds a bit like Sense8 but spread across time, and I'm interested to see how the author will deal with it.

Anticipated Releases, February 2016 (Part 1/3)

Part one of books I am looking forward to in February. Links to Goodreads pages included. FEBRUARY 2ND

Kings Rising, Captive Prince #3
by C. S. Pacat

Goodreads

synopsis
Damianos of Akielos has returned.

His identity now revealed, Damen must face his master Prince Laurent as Damianos of Akielos, the man Laurent has sworn to kill.

On the brink of a momentous battle, the future of both their countries hangs in the balance. In the south, Kastor’s forces are massing. In the north, the Regent’s armies are mobilising for war. Damen’s only hope of reclaiming his throne is to fight together with Laurent against their usurpers.

Forced into an uneasy alliance the two princes journey deep into Akielos, where they face their most dangerous opposition yet. But even if the fragile trust they have built survives the revelation of Damen’s identity – can it stand against the Regent’s final, deadly play for the throne?

To be honest, it feels like I've been waiting a million years for this book, even if it is only just over a year. Book two was amazing, and ended on such a big cliffhanger, I have high hopes for this one.

Burning Midnight
by Will McIntosh

Goodreads

synopsis
Sully is a sphere dealer at a flea market. It doesn’t pay much—Alex Holliday’s stores have muscled out most of the independent sellers—but it helps him and his mom make the rent. No one knows where the brilliant-colored spheres came from. One day they were just there, hidden all over the earth like huge gemstones. Burn a pair and they make you a little better: an inch taller, skilled at math, better-looking. The rarer the sphere, the greater the improvement—and the more expensive the sphere.

When Sully meets Hunter, a girl with a natural talent for finding spheres, the two start searching together. One day they find a Gold—a color no one has ever seen. And when Alex Holliday learns what they have, he will go to any lengths, will use all of his wealth and power, to take it from them.

There’s no question the Gold is priceless, but what does it actually do? None of them is aware of it yet, but the fate of the world rests on this little golden orb. Because all the world fights over the spheres, but no one knows where they come from, what their powers are, or why they’re here.

I'm intrigued by this one to say the least. It's being marketed as for fans of The Maze Runner and The Fifth Wave, both of which I enjoyed, so I'll be interested to see how it turns out.

Revenge and the Wild
by Michelle Modesto

Goodreads

synopsis
The two-bit town of Rogue City is a lawless place, full of dark magic and saloon brawls, monsters and six-shooters. But it’s perfect for seventeen-year-old Westie, the notorious adopted daughter of local inventor Nigel Butler.

Westie was only a child when she lost her arm and her family to cannibals on the wagon trail. Nine years later, Westie may seem fearsome with her foul-mouthed tough exterior and the powerful mechanical arm built for her by Nigel, but the memory of her past still haunts her. She’s determined to make the killers pay for their crimes—and there’s nothing to stop her except her own reckless ways.

But Westie’s search ceases when a wealthy family comes to town looking to invest in Nigel’s latest invention, a machine that can harvest magic from gold—which Rogue City desperately needs as the magic wards that surround the city start to fail. There’s only one problem: the investors look exactly like the family who murdered Westie’s kin. With the help of Nigel’s handsome but scarred young assistant, Alistair, Westie sets out to prove their guilt. But if she’s not careful, her desire for revenge could cost her the family she has now.

This book is a mix of a Western, a mystery and a fantasy story, which is an interesting prospect. I'm really excited for this one to come out.

A Criminal Magic
by Lee Kelly

Goodreads

synopsis
Magic is powerful, dangerous and addictive - and after passage of the 18th Amendment, it is finally illegal.

It's 1926 in Washington, DC, and while Anti-Sorcery activists have achieved the Prohibition of sorcery, the city's magic underworld is booming. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters' crime sprees. Smugglers funnel magic contraband in from overseas. Gangs have established secret performance venues where patrons can lose themselves in magic, and take a mind-bending, intoxicating elixir known as the sorcerer's shine.

Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from Norfolk County, Virginia accepts an offer to work for DC's most notorious crime syndicate, the Shaw Gang, when her family's home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, a first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws.

Through different paths, Joan and Alex tread deep into the violent, dangerous world of criminal magic - and when their paths cross at the Shaws' performance venue, despite their orders, and despite themselves, Joan and Alex become enchanted with one another. But when gang alliances begin to shift, the two sorcerers are forced to question their ultimate allegiances and motivations. And soon, Joan and Alex find themselves pitted against each other in a treacherous, heady game of cat-and-mouse.

I have a weakness for magic and fantasy novels that are set to a background such as this one. Even if the idea is giving me vague Great Gatsby vibes (and I hate that book with a passion after reading it six times for GCSE English Lit), I'm very excited for this one.

Starflight, Starflight #1
by Melissa Landers

Goodreads

synopsis
Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She's so desperate to reach the realm that she's willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.

When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he's been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world-and each other-the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe...

Space adventure mysteries are actually my favourites (except probably not, because I say that about a lot of things. They number among my favourites for definite though), and this one has the added bonus of containing one of my favourite tropes of hate to... well, we'll see, but I'm putting bets on love.

Assassin's Heart, Assassin's Heart #1
by Sarah Ahiers

Goodreads

synopsis
In the kingdom of Lovero, nine rival Families of assassins lawfully kill people for a price. As a highly skilled member of one of these powerful clans, seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana has always trusted in the strength of her Family. Until she awakens to find them murdered and her home in flames. The Da Vias, the Saldanas’ biggest enemy, must be responsible—and Lea should have seen it coming. But her secret relationship with the Da Vias’ son, Val, has clouded her otherwise killer instinct—and given the Da Vias more reason than ever to take her Family down.

Racked with guilt and shattered over Val’s probable betrayal, Lea sets out to even the score, with her heart set on retaliation and only one thought clear in her mind: make the Da Vias pay.

This one sounds so good, though I am slightly dubious given the not-amazing ratings that are coming from friends. I guess we'll see.

Review - "Illuminae"

Illuminae, Illuminae Files #1
by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
rating: ✰✰✰✰✰
published: 20th October, 2015
spoilers? YES. Don't read this unless you've read the book.

Goodreads

You have me. Until every last star in the galaxy dies. You have me.

Illuminae follows the events after a mining corporation (BeiTech) attacks one of the mining planets (Kerenza) of another big corporation. It’s written as a series of documents collated by “Illuminae” and sent to a Director Frobisher (the head of BeiTech). It isn't written as you would expect a conventional novel to be, instead it is designed to look like the documents it is made up of, containing blue prints and even at one point, blood splatters.

Illuminae opens with the two main characters, Kady and Ezra, recounting the events of BeiTech’s attack on Kerenza and continues with their escape from the planet, pursued by one of the BeiTech dreadnoughts the Lincoln. The population of Kerenza is split into three ships: the Alexander - which is controlled by an AI called AIDAN, the Hypatia, and the Copernicus. Ezra and Kady are split onto the Alexander and Hypatia.

Further disaster strikes when it’s discovered that those aboard the Copernicus have been infected with a bioweapon called ‘Phobos’ causing them to become dangerously ill and start attacking one another. Also, the AI that controls the Alexander is revealed to have become severely damaged during the flight from Kerenza, resulting in its making decisions such as the destruction of the Copernicus when the outbreak of Phobos is discovered.

All the while, Kady is trying to find out what’s going on (with Ezra’s help) because the commanders of the Alexander are keeping the information from the civilians aboard their own ship and the Hypatia.

Illuminae has to be one of the most unique books I've ever read. Partly because of its design (which is gorgeous. If you're going to read this book, it has to be in physical form. An ebook won't give you the same feel), but also partly because of the story itself. This book would be the perfect film.

The characters are also amazing. Most of what you get from the characters comes through the emails and messages they send each other (which I guess is kind of like that saying "show, don't tell" but it really works) and these are interspersed with descriptions of camera feeds (which give you an outsider's view of the characters) and narration from the AI, AIDAN.

To begin with, Ezra irritated me a little, what with his constant calling everyone 'chum'. Like, I've never heard a 17-18 year old say that word at all. But he grew on me and when AIDAN said he was dead and that it'd been posing as him to lure Kady to the Alexander, I was an absolute mess. Kady was also amazing. I loved how she decided to take matters into her own hands and find out what was going on. And that she did it through hacking the systems. She is an absolute blessing.

So much of the second half of the book made me cry, to be honest. When Syra hit purge on those who'd fled the Alexander, including Chatter, I had to put the book down. Actually, I had to put the book down pretty regularly in that half. Especially when it was revealed that Ezra was in fact alive. I had to get up and walk around the room while screaming silently at that point.

Anyway, there's not much more I can say about this book without spoiling the whole thing, but: if you like having your heart ripped out and your soul destroyed, read Illuminae.