Review - "Black Wolves"

Black Wolves, Black Wolves #1
by Kate Elliott
rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
published: 3rd November 2015
spoilers? no

Goodreads

But whatever Jehosh might be, he did not have his grandfather's brutal possessive streak, the will to prevent anyone else from tasting a nectar he wanted to keep for himself.

Jehosh loved the pursuit.

His grandfather desired control.

Atani had carved a different path for himself, cut short far too soon.

Kate Elliott is the supreme ruler of fantasy (yes, even better than Melina Marchetta, blasphemous though that may be). George R. R. Martin has nothing on this. Nothing.

Elliott has this way of creating a complex story, but with few enough characters that you can keep track of them all, and half way through you'll think you'll know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are and then something will happen that flips everything on its head, which makes you question everything you thought up until that point.

The characters always feel so real and so human, and you want to punch the arsehole bad guys (*cough cough* Tavahosh) and cry when something bad happens to the good guys (my poor Tyras) and still you don't know whether you should in fact be supporting those people or not. Because Kate Elliott is so good at manipulating you into liking someone then they'll do something and you're left like, should I really have been supporting them?

And then you're left finishing the book at 1am and questioning your life choices.

The only problem I did have, was that this book is long. It's a commitment, frankly, even if you can read it pretty quickly once you've got into it. It's not like it's lacking plot for half of it, like some books do, but I found that, once I'd put it down, for whatever reason I was generally a bit reluctant to pick it back up (probably because the length of it was daunting).

And also, there's no news yet on book 2, which is just cruel.

Review - "Death Descends On Saturn Villa"

Death Descends on Saturn Villa Gower Street Detectives #3
by M. R. C. Kasasian
rating:☆☆☆☆
published: 4th June 2015
spoilers? no

Goodreads

"You are hiding something from me," I say and Sidney Grice shakes his head. "No," he tells me quietly. "I am hiding a great many things."

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this series. On the one hand, it's mysteries set in Victorian times, and I love March and Pound. On the other hand, there's Sidney bloody Grice, who is singularly the most unlikeable "good guy" character I have had the misfortune to read about.

That being said, this was definitely the best yet of the series. Although the plot was slightly convoluted at times, it held my attention better than the previous two and, with March a suspect for the case, the stakes were higher than before.

There was a big part in this that was told from Grice's point of view, which I hated, given that I hate him. It was so tedious, and because he's one of those genius detectives, pretty up himself. I just hope that's not something I have to suffer through in book 4.

Review - "Him" and "Us"

Him and Us, Him #1 and #2
by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
rating:☆☆☆☆
published: 28th July 2015, 8th March 2016
spoilers? yes (minor ones)

Goodreads: Him, Us

But here’s the thing about family, Ryan… blood doesn’t mean shit. You just need to surround yourself with people who do love you, and they become your family.

This is going to be my review for both Him and Us.

I initially rated this book 4.5 stars, rounding up to 5 stars, because despite the few issues I had, it was an enjoyable and quick read.

The issues I had (briefly) were: the use of the word "bi-curious" and the idea that by dating a bisexual person, you're "competing with two genders" (which is frankly ridiculous). Despite those problems, I enjoyed the book enough to overlook them. And they used the word bisexual, which is always good.

And then I was rereading parts when I came across this gem:

Jamie releases a slow, even breath, as if he’s trying to calm himself. “I want to punch you right now, Wesley. Like, for real.” I set my jaw. “What, for daring to call you out on the fact that you’re still into women?”

And then I got sad, and rated this book down a star because of the stifling biphobia in this quote. Sometimes, part of me thinks that I shouldn't rage on about things characters do or say in books, because they're just characters, but there's an author behind the characters, and so there must be a basis for that though coming from the author. And it's not the first time Sarina Bowen has written something like this into one of her books. Understatement of the Year has this scene where one of the characters says that not wanting to label yourself something implies that you believe people who label themselves as such are second class. So from now on, I'm going to be incredibly wary of any Sarina Bowen books.

Luckily, Us didn't have such blatant biphobia in it. It wasn't entirely free of the issue, with at one point, Wes thinking that Jamie might yet still break up with him to get together with a woman so he could have kids and a family (haven't you heard of adoption or surrogacy, Wes?).

Overall, both books were cute and good reads, and obviously I'm going to reread them over and over some time. I just wish they didn't contain such biphobia.

Review - "Winging It"

Winging It
by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James
rating:☆☆ 1/2
published: 20th February 2015
spoilers? yes (minor ones only)

Goodreads

Gabe rolled his eyes. “You are the most ridiculous human being I’ve ever met.” He put his hand over Dante’s face and gently shoved him away.

You know those times where you just gotta admit you've fallen into the deep dark pit of hockey and you're not getting out any time soon? This is one of those times.

Probably more like 2.5.

That's not to say I didn't like this, because I did (probably because of the hockey more than anything though). It's definitely not so good as Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy's hockey lit (based on the hockey lit I've read so far, they are the standard people should be aiming for), but it's enjoyable and pretty amusing and somehow I managed to stay up until 1am reading this the other night. Not to mention it has a bisexual character (using the word bisexual, too!).

There were (obviously) some issues I had. First off, will authors please please stop writing in Eastern European and Russian "accents" (you know the ones. Based off old Hollywood representations around the Cold War and later when the Eastern Europeans and Russians were all bad guys and missed out auxiliaries and definite articles and that shit). Literally, how does it aid the story? Just don't.

And then, of course, the Russian character turns out to be the homophobe on the team who doesn't pass to the gay player. Amazing. Do you wanna put any more stereotypes in this while we're at it? (He does later apologise, thankfully, but in doing that he mentions something about "Mother Russia". Because apparently that's how Russians refer to their homeland [insert exaggerated eye roll].)

The next point is less to do with the book itself and more to do with me getting pissed off. The team that has the guy who makes the first homophobic comment (because you knew it was coming) is the Philadelphia Flyers. Aka my team. I'm gonna fight someone I swear. (OK, so later on, there's a Preds player who's a lot more of a homophobe but I'm still not happy that it was the Flyers chosen as the first.) (Also, minor side point: the "Dekes" - aka team made-up for the purposes of this book - beat the Flyers in the playoffs but then lost to the Pens. Like hell that would happen, I'm sorry.)

One of the characters, Dante, has a nickname of "Baller", right? (It's never explained what is meant by it though.) So I'll be reading the book and he'll be referred to as Baller for a while, and then I'll turn the page and be reading about Dante. It's not bad writing, per se, but I just found it a little strange, that's all.

At one point, their coach (female - because they're a "revolutionary" NHL team, with a female coach and a female owner) goes into labour in the first period of a game, and manages to stick out the whole of the rest of the game (ie about 2 hours) in labour. Now, I don't know whether that's something that is possible, but I gotta say it sounds a bit... fake? Like, is she not in pain? Having contractions?

Confession time: when Kitty got traded, I cried. If this is how I deal with it for fictional hockey players, how am I supposed to deal when it happens in real life? (@ Flyers, please, never trade anyone ever.)

One last point: this book was so bloody long. I can't believe how much it was dragged out, like my ebook copy had 357 pages. Yikes.

Review - "The Book of Phoenix"

The Book of Phoenix
by Nnedi Okorafor
rating:☆☆☆
published: 5th May 2015
spoilers? no

Goodreads

"To know someone's pain is to share in it. And to share in it is to relieve some of it.

Who Fears Death has been on my to-read list for a while, and I picked this one up in the bookshop, not realising it was the prequel to that. Overall, I enjoyed this one, although I found it hard to get into and the writing seemed a little choppy at times.

The Book of Phoenix tells the story of Phoenix, a genetic experiment created in the mysterious Tower 7, following her as she realises that the Big Eye (the people in charge of Tower 7) are not as good as she originally believes and works to destroy them.

It reminds me a lot of X-Men, for one, and I think that's mostly because Phoenix had wings and made me think of a combination of Storm and Angel. For the most part though, it wasn't that interesting. Not a lot seemed to happen for most of the book (or at least, it seemed to happen at not a particularly frenetic pace, which seemed kind of unrealistic given what was going on) and I found it kind of hard to get through (I was also snowed under with work and exam revision, so that may have contributed, but I still managed to read some other books in that time).

Also, at times, the writing seemed choppy and didn't flow very well. This mostly happened with speech - a lot of the time it didn't feel like how someone might actually speak, and that made it a little difficult to read easily.

Anyway, I did like this book, and I'm definitely going to be reading Who Fears Death when I can get my hands on it.

Review - "Willful Machines"

Willful Machines
by Tim Floreen
rating:☆☆
published: 20th October 2015
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

I don’t think I chose to be gay, if that’s what you mean. In fact, I didn’t choose a lot of things. Like being the son of the president. Or coming to Inverness. Or even being in the closet, really. All in all, I’d say I have about as much free will as an espresso maker.

As far as I can tell, I'm in a minority for disliking this one. I was really looking forward to it, too, not least because the evil robot was called Charlotte and I have a weakness for books where characters share my name.

I think part of my issue was that I kept comparing it, unintentionally, to Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson, which, despite the slightly iffy title, is an amazing book about a robot apocalypse (which not enough people have read, therefore I will always recommend. Please go read it). Willful Machines is, obviously, a completely different book, but I always have trouble with comparing books that sound similar (see, The Wrath and the Dawn vs A Thousand Nights).

It wasn't that this book was badly written or anything. I mean, once everything got going, I enjoyed it well enough. But it took a while for everything to get going, and I don't really have patience for books like that most of the time (there are, of course, exceptions, but this was not one of them).

Also, the relationship was very very much instalove. I'm pretty sure they had like, 3 conversations before they decided to come out with the "I love you"s. Sorry, but I just can't believe it. That Nico was in fact a robot was pretty obvious too, which was annoying.

I liked that it was a story about a gay main character without it being a story about coming out though. Even if there was a slightly awkward bit at the end with Lee confessing he loved Nico. Calm down, boyo. You've known this guy for what? A month, maximum?

Basically, I was pretty disappointed, especially after hearing so many rave reviews (it has an average rating among my Goodreads friends of ~4.3, so I had high hopes), but that's life I guess.

Review - "Signs Point to Yes"

Signs Point to Yes
by Sandy Hall
rating:☆☆☆
published: 20th October 2015
spoilers? no

Goodreads

She knew she needed to get home before anyone noticed her absence, but each of her limbs felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, and her brain was clouded with worry. She sat on the bench a little longer.

I've seen pretty mixed reviews of this book, and I can see why. The writing isn't great and the characters are maybe bordering on one-sided, but the book is cute and the relationships are pretty good.

I had a few issues with this book though. For one, Ravi was a gross sexist pig and he didn't develop at all in the book. He just stayed in his gross sexist piggishness. And also he hated Jane for no reason whatsoever. The first reason that is given for his dislike is because he thought she was stupid. And then it turns out it's because one time they worked together on a group project and only got a B. I can't believe this, it is ridiculous. If Ravi had developed so that he liked Jane I could forgive that, but he doesn't. He remains a gross sexist pig and I hate it.

Jane and Teo were cute though, and I loved how they dealt with Teo's little sisters together. Margo and Kara were so cute too and I wish there had been more of them. Like, so much more. There was one scene where they were caught kissing, and another where it was mentioned they had been kissing, but nothing more and it makes me sad. Margo referred to herself as bisexual too which was great because that hardly ever happens (and in YA lit too!!).

Overall, it was a pretty cute read but it wasn't particularly special.

Review - "Kulti"

Kulti
by Mariana Zapata
rating:☆☆☆☆☆
published: 20th March 2015
spoilers? no

Goodreads

When something is broken into too many pieces, you can’t stare at them and try to glue them back together; sometimes you just have to sweep up the pieces and buy something else.

All hail Mariana Zapata, queen of slow burn romances.

Of all the New Adult lit I've read so far, I think Mariana Zapata is my favourite author. Having read this and The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, I can safely say she's definitely the best author of NA slow burns that I have read. Kulti was one of those books that I had to keep putting down so I could clench and/or bite my fists in sheer frustration that they weren't getting together yet. The tension was just too much sometimes.

Kulti tells the story of Sal Casillas, a professional footballer, whose team decides to employ her childhood hero, Reiner Kulti, as a coach. But Kulti doesn't turn out to be everything she expects, and before long, they're both antagonising the other.

Over the course of the book, they become friends though, and this is one of the many things I think that Mariana Zapata does so well. She has this knack of creating really believable friendships on the way to having the characters fall in love, unlike many other books I've read where it seems that the friendship comes after the falling in love. Sal and Kulti have such a great rapport as well, from Sal having Kulti saved in her contacts as "German Chocolate Cake" to the nicknames - I laughed so much when he called her "Taco" for the first time. (As a side note, my favourite part is the point where Sal attack-hugs Kulti and he's so surprised he just hugs her back.)

The minor characters are also amazing. Sal's dad is probably definitely my favourite of them all, and Sal's family in general has such brilliant relationships and they're so supportive of each other I'm crying. Honestly I love them so much.

I did have a couple of issues with this book (which is why it's a 4.5 rather than a 5). For one, the slutshaming was annoying. I can't remember exactly what happened but it kind of ruined my enjoyment of the book. Also, the fact that Kulti kept getting referred to as "the German" was a little offputting (especially during the sex scenes, even if I did skim read them. I'm glad Mariana Zapata changed her approach for The Wall of Winnipeg and Me). Actually, I couldn't read the sex scenes without laughing, but that's not to say they were bad. I can never read sex scenes without laughing, it's an issue.

This is one of the best books I read in 2015 despite that, and I'm putting Mariana Zapata on my list of authors for whom I'll read whatever they write.

Review - "Wolf By Wolf"

Wolf By Wolf, Wolf By Wolf #1
by Ryan Graudin
rating: ☆☆☆☆
published: 20th October 2015
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Yael did know. And it amazed her that, even though there was a sorceress's boil of anger and hurt in her chest, the boy with the brown jacket could still find a heartstring. Tug it. Make her feel something else...

If I'm completely honest, I wasn't going to read this book as my first Ryan Graudin book. I bought The Walled City first, and then forgot to bring it to uni, and ended up buying this one too. I do not regret it a bit, though, and if this is how this one made me feel, then I am so so excited for the other (and a little apprehensive too, I gotta admit).

Wolf By Wolf is set in an alternative post-WWII history, where the Axis Powers (Japan and Germany) won, and proceeded to take over the whole of Europe and Asia, and parts of Africa. Hitler is still in power, and every year there is a motorcycle race called the Axis Tour from Berlin to Tokyo, which boys under seventeen years from both countries race in, in an effort to win the Iron Cross.

The story follows Yael, a girl who has the ability to change her appearance at will, on account of experiments carried out when she was very young, in a concentration camp. Yael is a member of the Resistance, who are planning on assassinating Hitler and sparking a revolution across the Axis-occupied world. In order to do this, Yael takes the place of Adele, the sole female winner of the Axis Tour. Her task is to win the race, after which she will get invited to the Victor's Ball, and will have a chance to assassinate Hitler.

However, her mission is not as simple as expected. Adele's brother, Felix, is a wildcard entrance into the race, and Luka Löwe, another past Victor, appears to have shared a much more complicated relationship with Adele than the video cameras suggested.

The story flicks back and forth between the present, and the race, and Yael's past, explaining the origins of the five wolf tattoos she has on her arm. The narrative is well-balanced between being plot-driven and character-driven. While there is less action than you might expect - possibly because the bulk of it will likely come in book two, once the stage has been set - the whole plot builds up to the question of will Yael be able to complete her mission and kill Hitler? Equally, as the story goes on, information is incrementally revealed about the characters, Yael in particular, although Luka and Felix both show signs of being more than they first appear (and hopefully, this will be further explored in Blood For Blood).

Sticking with the characters, I actually adored all of them (the main ones that is, so, Yael, Luka, and Felix) and that hardly ever happens. There were, obviously, some points where I was rolling my eyes at Felix and Luka (because boys, y'know), but not in a way that made me dislike them. Yael was my favourite (there was never going to be any question about that) because she was such an interesting character and so complex, but not complex like in her morality, more in her motivation for doing things. Luka Löwe also deserves a mention, because he is an equally interesting character. He comes off to begin with as this Hitler Youth twat, and that's definitely how Yael views him to begin with, but there is more to him and his motivations, and him and Yael teaming up was my favourite part.

Yael and Luka's relationship as a whole was probably the best part of the book, character-wise. And it left me with so many damn questions. Book two doesn't come out for at least another six months and I need to know if Luka will accept Yael after he realises a) what she did, and b) what she can do, and also if he loves her as herself or her as Adele, and also if he'll realise she told him she didn't love him so he would be protected from her and also the aftermath of her shooting Hitler. OK, I'm chill.

I have to say also, that the writing was so gorgeous, like in a simple way where the author can phrase something in the simplest terms and you'll be like oh and URGH. That is my favourite kind of writing.

Anyway, I'm now so impatient for book two. I'm gonna go lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling for a bit.

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 - "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.