Best of 2016

Because I've read so many books this year, I figured I'd do a post of the best ones.

The Winner's Kiss, The Winner's Trilogy #3
by Marie Rutkoski

This was such a hard one to choose, because YA fantasy makes up a large part of what I read. I was torn between this and a few others, but this won out in the end because it was a wonderful ending to a wonderful trilogy.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
☆ The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh
☆ Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
☆ The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
☆ The Graces by Laure Eve
☆ The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
☆ Shadowshaper Daniel José Older
☆ Iron Cast by Destiny Soria

The Long Game, The Fixer #2
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Realistically, it was always going to be a Jennifer Lynn Barnes book. There's honestly no other YA author writing mysteries who comes close. And she was the only author I actually considered for this one. That should tell you something.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Illuminae, Illuminae Files #1
by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Illuminae pulled pretty much the single biggest and most effective plot twist I read this year (I mean, alongside The Thief and The Long Game) and actually had me in tears by the end. And then Kaufman and Kristoff went and did it all over again in Gemina.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
☆ Nowhere Near You by Leah Thomas
☆ Valley of Fires by J. Barton Mitchell

Whatever
by S. J. Goslee

This was also a hard one because I've read so many good YA contemporaries, but this one has to win it. It's cute and funny and actually sounds like a realistic teenager.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
☆ Orangeboy by Patrice Lawrence
☆ The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
☆ Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
☆ You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
☆ The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
☆ The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis

The Dark Days Club, Lady Helen #1
by Alison Goodman

This is a perfect historical fantasy novel. Complete with the excruciating slow burn couple. I can't wait for book 2 to be out!

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin
☆ Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

The Hanging Tree, Peter Grant #6
by Ben Aaronovitch

My favourite Peter Grant book so far! Stakes are raised and finally, finally we know the identity of the Faceless Man.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson
☆ Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell

Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil
by Melina Marchetta

Melina Marchetta never disappoints. This book is the first new one by her in a number of years and it's just as good as the rest. With all the themes that usually appear and a wholly wonderful new cast.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
☆ The Little Death by Michael Nava

Invisible Planets
edited by Ken Liu

This is quite possibly the best anthology I've ever read. There is not a single weak story in this, though there were some I liked more than others.

Barracuda
by Christos Tsiolkas

I don't read a lot of adult contemporary books. A lot of the time nothing happens in them and I get bored. That was not the case for this one and, while I did have issues with it, I loved it.

The Last Kingdom
by Bernard Cornwell

I love historical fiction done right, and this was definitely that. Everything was well-researched and the writing was evocative. Definitely need to read the rest of this series.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ Dark Serpent by Paul Doherty

Iron Cast
by Destiny Soria

This was one of my hugely anticipated reads for the last year and it really did not disappoint. It was a slow burn but when it kicked into gear, it really got going. And it was really original too.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh
☆ Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
☆ The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
☆ Into the Blue by Pene Henson
☆ Whatever by S. J. Goslee
☆ Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
☆ The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

Into the Blue
by Pene Henson

This book has one of my favourite tropes ever, best friends to lovers. And Pene Henson wrote it so beautifully, it had me almost crying so many times.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ Timekeeper by Tara Sim
☆ The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
☆ Iron Cast by Destiny Soria

The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne

Aka one of the best tropes ever, enemies to lovers. And there was so much tension in this, it was almost unbearable.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ Into the Blue by Pene Henson
☆ The Right of First Refusal by Dahlia Adler
☆ Adrien English by Josh Lanyon
☆ Plumber's Mate by J. L. Merrow
☆ The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

Breaking Away
by Patrick O'Sullivan

This is a very important book, and I'm glad I read it, as hard a read as it was.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt
☆ A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss
☆ The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard

Spiderman: Miles Morales
by Brian Michael Bendis

I didn't read all that many comics this year, but this one stood out as the best easily. Miles Morales is my favourite spider-person. Alongside Silk, that is.

HONORARY MENTIONS
☆ Silk by Robbie Thompson
☆ The Pack by Paul-Louise Julie
☆ Monstress by Marjorie Liu
☆ Body Work by Ben Aaronovitch

Review - "How to Make a Wish"

How to Make a Wish
by Ashley Henning Blake
rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
published: 2nd May 2017
spoilers? a little

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

This book is a good example of how to write a book about LGBT+ characters that isn't about coming out. The fact that the main character is bisexual and falls in love with a girl is incidental to the story (that is, there are no Oh my God I'm in love with a girl moments, no "gay panic" and no coming out).

It took a little while for me to get into this book, but then I met Eva, the love interest, and suddenly I couldn't stop reading. Eva, although this may be a bit of a harsh assessment, carried the book along for me. Before she showed up, I was getting a little bored by it all. So I guess it's good that she turned up early.

The one, kind of big, problem I had was with the dickhead ex-boyfriend. Who the main character is having to live with, on account of her mother getting together with his father. When Grace, the main character, broke up with Jay, the dickhead ex, he posted all of her sexts online - which, besides, was it really a necessary plot point?. Because he's an arsehole. So, understandably, Grace isn't too happy with this arrangement.

And then there's the fact that he genuinely doesn't see what's the problem with his actions. And sure, it's there in the narrative, because we get everything from Grace's point of view, but she never tells him (though she shouldn't have to, but as I said before, he's an arsehole).

He also has this scene where he tries to force himself on Grace, pulling her towards him by the belt. In the bathroom of the house. Which makes what happened next all the more annoying for me, and is the reason I'm reluctant to round up for this rating.

About halfway through the book, he changes and becomes a not-a-dickhead ex, after Grace becomes nicer to him. Bearing in mind, he is still the arsehole who did what he did to her. They get friendlier with each other, but he never apologises for what he did. He's not sorry for it, we still don't even know if he recognises what's wrong with that. And that's what's frustrating to me. I wouldn't mind this whole "redemption" kind of thing, if he genuinely recognised what a dick he'd been and was sorry for it, but none of that happens. Granted, I don't think Grace forgives him, per se, but she's definitely less angry with him for it by the end.

So overall, it's a cute book. And I liked that Grace described herself as bisexual. There aren't enough books that do that. But the whole plotline with the ex-boyfriend made me like it a little less.

Review - "Georgia Peaches And Other Forbidden Fruit"

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit
by Jaye Robin Brown
rating: ☆☆☆
published: 30th August 2016
spoilers? a little

Goodreads

So I finished this, then I went and did some other stuff and while doing that other stuff, I realised I have some Thoughts about this book. Hence this mini-review.

1) It's way too long a contemporary book for me. Given that most contemporaries follow the same pattern - meet someone, fall in love, angst it out, make up - 430 pages drags it out for too long. Especially when the first 300 or so pages have not much going on. But maybe that's just me and my short attention span.

2) All the lesbians introduced besides the love interest and the best friend hate the main character. For no apparent reason. And they also turn out to be bitches/bad influences/manipulative/abusive. Holly's jealous because Jo is Dana's best friend, I'm not even sure why Deidre hates Jo (besides the fact that she [Deidre] is framed as manipulative and borderline abusive).

3) Deidre is an absolute bitch. And I just don't get why this has to be the case. Is it just to show that Jo is the person Mary Carlson should really be with? Deidre is nothing more than a bitch, too. Like, all Jo's friends describe her as is manipulative and good at twisting words. She's so 2D and she then goes and outs Jo. I just don't see the point of her at all.

4) The whole thing with her dad saying 'you gotta pretend to be straight' is iffy. I mean, if she herself had decided that, as a self preservation sort of thing, I would understand, but it's not. It's her straight dad telling her she has to act straight, because he, as a preacher, and with a homophobic mother-in-law, doesn't want any shit. B Y E.

Anyway, I think that's all. It was a cute book despite all this.

Review - "The Thief"

The Thief, The Queen's Thief #1
by Megan Whalen Turner
rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
published: 31st October 1996
spoilers? maybe

Goodreads

And the Earth had no name. The gods know themselves and have no need of names. It is man who names all things, even gods.

I can't believe I didn't get to this book before now. I knew the series was partly inspiration for Melina Marchetta's Lumatere Chronicles, but I just never really got the urge to read it. But I saw it in the library the other day, and I figured it was time to make a dent on my to-read shelf, so borrowed it. And, boy, am I glad that I did.

This book is amazing. I know that general consensus is that the later books are better, but if they're better than this HOLY SHIT I AM STOKED. The plot was maybe slow to begin with, and normally, I'm awful with that, but in this one, I loved the characters (actually, one character) from basically the first page so it didn't matter.

Quite honestly, this book is probably going straight onto my best books read this year list, it is that good. The whole plot is thought out so carefully and there is absolutely no way that you can see the plot twist coming (because Gen's telling the story, because he's purposefully an unreliable narrator!!! I love everything about this!!!). And even if you didn't like certain characters at the beginning (I know I didn't), they grow on you (will I ever stop crying over Pol?) and then Megan Whalen Turner rips your heart out and stomps on it in glee. I'm tearing up just thinking about it!!

Basically, everyone needs to read this book. EVERYONE.

Review - "The Blazing Star"

The Blazing Star, Nemesis #1
by Imani Josey
rating: ☆☆☆
published: 6th December 2016
spoilers? yup

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

If I'm honest, this book dragged a bit too much for me. It took a good two thirds of the whole thing to actually get to the part where there was any action, and I need to be hooked on pretty much the first page to fully like a book. So as it was I was a little disappointed.

Basically the slowness of the plot was the biggest issue I had with this book. It was also a pretty complex plot and I got lost on that a couple of times, which is also not going to help with my enjoyment.

Then there was the fact that Portia seemed to have more chemistry with Selene and Tuya than any of the male characters. But of course Tuya is then killed off to clear the way for Portia and Seti. The instalove with Seti is pretty stifling too. I know that loads more time passes in the book than appears, but even knowing that doesn't help that it seems they meet and he's immediately suggesting marriage. It's like their relationship hasn't developed at the same rate that time has passed, meaning it seems all the more like instalove.

There was also when the author kept referring to Selene as "the freshman" when she could easily have used her name. Or a pronoun. Because referring to someone by a noun, once they have a name, makes for awkward writing. Or at least it does for me.

Review - "Dreadnought"

Dreadnought, Nemesis #1
by April Daniels
rating: ☆☆☆
published: 24th January 2017
spoilers? little ones

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

Before I actually review this book, I gotta say I did actually like it, despite what my review may say. The characters were great, if kind of black and white in their good/badness despite the greycapes who were clearly an attempt at having some morally ambiguous characters thrown in there (spoiler alert: they aren't all that morally ambiguous). The world was interesting, even though the world building was poor to non-existent. Overall, it's good.

The biggest problem I had was with the worldbuilding. From early on, it's pretty clear the author hasn't put all that much thought into things like "hypertech". There's the whole nobody really knows what makes hypertech possible comment, which, I can't believe. If there have been superheroes, and presumably hypertech, around since World War 2, I find it hard to believe that there's been no advance whatsoever on what makes this hypertech possible. I mean, just consider the advancements physics in general made in approximately the same timespan. And if this is supposed to be a futuristic society (which I assume it is, based on some of the made up physics that comes up - yes, it's a bugbear), then they should have some idea of what's behind it.

So there's that, and then there's the aforementioned made up physics. I feel like I should point out at this stage that I have a serious problem with books which bullshit their physics (see Claudia Gray's Firebird trilogy). Because if you're going to create something that isn't physics as it is now, then you could at least make it believable. And to do that, you have to not half-arse the physics you're basing it on. I mean, at one point Doc Impossible tries to fix something with a voltmeter. A freaking voltmeter. All that can do is measure the potential difference in a circuit.

Then there's the point where a plane engine sucks in a goose. First off, what kind of mutant goose flies at the same altitude as a passenger jet/civil aircraft. If it was a mechanical aircraft of some sort, which flies a lot lower, I could believe it (Wikipedia does have a page on "bird strikes" after all). But a passenger jet? And it causes the engine to blow up. That's got to be a freak incident, because the majority of bird strikes don't actually cause any damage to anything besides the bird itself. If the engine had simply failed, that would have made more sense.

The worst part of all this make-believe physics was when someone asks Danny and Calamity to get him some non-Newtonian fluid. Now, a simple Google search will tell you what a non-Newtonian fluid is. It, surprise surprise, is a fluid which does not behave like a Newtonian fluid. (It's something to do with the relationship between shear rate and shear stress, and viscosity. Newtonian fluids show a linear relationship, while non-Newtonian fluids don't.) And Google will also helpfully tell you some non-Newtonian fluids which are common around the house, like toothpaste... and custard... and ketchup... So forgive me if I roll my eyes at this part. This "non-Newtonian fluid" they have to get hold of in order for this guy to help them, is apparently coveted enough that they have to steal it. Just no.

Then then then, there's the point where Doc Impossible describes the tower's reactor as a supercritical light water fission reactor. Which, at first, sounds like loads of words just thrown together. But supercritical water reactors and light water reactors do exist. In fact, a supercritical water reactor is just a type of light water reactor. And, currently, and presumably also in this world because it hasn't been said otherwise, fission is the only viable source of nuclear energy. So why throw all these words together when half of them are redundant? All I'm getting is that the author wants it to seem like they know what they're talking about when they actually don't.

Finally, there's the quantum instabilities triggered by observer effects. All observer effects are is the changes that will be seen in the phenomenon observed depending on how the observer is viewing it. Nothing more. Nothing that could cause any "quantum instabilities". Get your shoddy physics out of here.

In addition to the world building problems, there was the issue with the superheroes I had. For one, they are basically direct ripoffs of Marvel and DC superheroes some of them. I mean, I get there's a finite number of superpowers and combinations of superpowers but you could try to be more creative. There's a character who has the exact same backstory as Eli Bradley (Patriot) for crying out loud. Right down to the hereditariness of the power. It's also clear that Dreadnought is a Superman-substitute and Valkyrja is basically Thor (she's a mythical goddess and talks very similarly to him, though she doesn't have a hammer). There's a mention of a hero called Darkfist early on too, and he's basically the Batman/Iron Man character.

There's also a part where a guy walks into the bar Danny and Calamity are staking out, and Calamity immediately knows he's the guy who can lead them to the bad guy. By looking at him. But at that point, I gave up questioning it, because it was 70% through and very little was happening.

Review - "Ever The Hunted"

Ever The Hunted Clash of Kingdoms #1
by Erin Summerill
rating:☆
published: 27th December 2016
spoilers? not really

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

The main thing this book suffers from is that, quite honestly, it's all been done before. Everything about this book reminded me of other YA fantasies I'd read, and to top it all off, it was full of clichés.

I'm going to start with the main character, Britta, who, as YA fantasy MCs are wont, is pale and does not believe herself to be beautiful. So far, so yawn. She is also an Amazing tracker. But not really, because she seems to miss a helluva lot of trails throughout the book. Add onto that, she is so incredibly naïve. I mean, there's naivety, but then there's Naivety, which is what we see from Britta. She is also very, very bland. But, get this!, she has this amazing ability to be able to tell when people are lying. (She feels the warmth of truth. Spare me.) She's different from other girls. (OK, OK, I'm getting sarky now. I'll chill.) (She's also so bloody helpless! And then she goes and complains when people do what they do to protect her!)

Not to mention she seemed some kind of cross between a Sarah J Maas character, and Mare from Red Queen. And not in a good way.

She also has this ability to sense when Cohen is around. You could just hear my eyes roll into the back of my head at this point.

The book also had the slightly irritating habit of throwing in bits of information that it hadn't previously mentioned, like when Molly the innkeeper's wife showed up out of nowhere. To be fair though, that could easily have been me. I was skim reading a little at the time.

Moving on to Cohen and Britta. With this relationship, the author seems to be throwing all the possible tropes in. To list a few: her not believing he could ever like her, she does something stupid and he gets irrationally pissed off, she puts on a dress and he goes all goggle-eyed at her, her thinking that putting on a dress will make her immediately unrecognisable to the guards chasing her, and of course, the obligatory I shouldn't have kissed you. It's been a while since I read a book with these tropes, and I forgot how much they annoyed me.

There were also a few scenes which irritated me. One goes thus:

"I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you all right?" "I wasn't being serious. Don't start treating me like a weak girl now.

Because apparently that's the route we're going to go down. The one where someone asking if you're alright means they're treating you as a "weak girl". Thanks.

The second scene has Britta asking if two Channelers (basically sorceresses) could marry and have a stronger offspring. To which Enat laughs and says marry? no of course not, because Channelers are all women. And Britta laughs too, because apparently there are no lesbians in this world, ha ha ha.

I also wasn't a fan of the writing. It felt kind of forced at points, and somewhat overdramatic (there was a big reveal late on, and I just laughed, because the writing was so over the top).

So yeah. Suffice to say, I didn't enjoy this one.

Review - "Sucktown, Alaska"

Sucktown,Alaska
by Craig Dirkes
rating:☆
published: 1st May 2017
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

I was really looking forward to this one - the premise sounded like it could be good and I was hoping for some murder mystery type story. Did I get that? Not in the least.

The prologue had me hyped. Eddie was being shot at by some mysterious stranger, for some mysterious reason, so naturally I was intrigued.

The rest of the book? Was a bit of a disappointment, to be honest.

The plot, essentially, goes like this. Eddie Ashford flunks out of college. To get back in, or at least have a chance of getting back in, he heads out to the arse-end of nowhere, Alaska, to work in a newspaper. There, he meets this girl (we'll get to her in a moment). Said girl rejects him, at which point he decides he absolutely has to get out of the place. Because he's been rejected. (I don't get it either.) But he doesn't have the money. So what does he start to do? He starts smuggling weed. But, there is, in the arse-end of nowhere, Alaska, an, if not thriving, then extensive, bootlegging trade. And he manages to step on the toes of some of the major players, and wind up in trouble.

So. Not a murder mystery.

My major problem with this book was how the narrator talked about women (or rather, one woman, Taylor, the one who rejects him). To start with, he says (on first seeing her):

Ho. Lee. Shit.

Standing there might have been the hottest girl I'd seen. Ever. Anywhere. On TV, in person, in a magazine, in a movie, on a billboard. My ding dong went from zero to boner faster than a car's airbag can deply. I untucked my red flannel shirt to hide it.

The girl looked exotic. I couldn't pinpoint her lineage. Whatever she was, it amounted to a luscious mishmash of every female physical characteristic I held dear. Tall? Check. Long, straight blond hair? Check. Olive skin? Check. Pouty lips? Check. Hint of a buttchin? Check. Big bombs? Che - actually I couldn't tell. The light blue sweater she wore was too bulky. But with how perfect the rest of her was, it was fair to assume she was holding a nice rack of sleeper boobs under there.

Charming, right? But wait. It continues.

They get into emailing each other, as friends, or at least on her part. He on the other hand, is only in it for sex. He calls her emails boring, when they are telling him about her, because they aren't flirty. He "sees red" when she talks to another guy, even though they are just friends, even though he is nothing to her. Then she rejects him, and there comes the part where he wants to get out. Because she just wants to be friends with him.

Next comes this guy's "pussy complex". I am just as baffled as you are. He explains it like so,

I'd always had a major pussy complex. It all started when I was little, watching my dad and Max do guy stuff I wasn't mentally or physically capable of doing. They fixed cars, landscaped, finished basements - you name it. Growing up in Zimmerman never did my complex any favours, because every guy was a hard-ass. They knocked my dick in the dirt ever time a story of mine printed in the junior high school newspaper. Writing was art, and art was for pussies.

Lovely.

But I endured more. Even as every sexist quote made me want to tear my eyeballs out, and burn a copy of this book in effigy (which would have been quite hard given it's an ebook, but I would have found a way).

But wait now. A steam? With Taylor? And Bristy and Hope? With them naked? With me naked? Was this a joke? A mom suggesting that a horny and half-hard-already me strip down with her gorgeous daughter, inside a tiny, hot, steamy dark room?

This comes after he gets rejected, when he decides actually being friends could be OK. Because he's a sleazeball. Next is,

The girl of my dreams was sitting five feet in front of my face, naked. No bra. No panties. No nothing. Not even a bracelet around her wrist. Naked.

Insta-bone. I got the biggest one I'd ever had. It grew so tall, so fast, I thought it might smack my chin like an uppercut.

Boys are gross.

Thankfully, after this point there wasn't much more I objected to, and the last 50 pages actually saw the story pick up a bit. Too bad that couldn't make up for the previous 300.

Review - "Nowhere Near You"

Nowhere Near You
by Leah Thomas
rating:☆☆☆☆☆
published: 7th February 2017
spoilers? some slight ones

Goodreads

I breathed in through my nose. Thought of your video to the masses. Thought of the womble you sent me. Thought of you calling me good. Thought of you, just you-

Galley provided by publisher

Because You'll Never Meet Me is one of my favourite books, and I was all set for it to be a standalone, for Moritz and Ollie never to have contact beyond letters, for there to be a maybe less-than-satisfactory conclusion to their story. And then there came this.

If the first book was good, then this one was great. Everything steps up a notch, with Ollie out in the world for the first time, and Moritz also, in his own way. At the same time, almost every page I read made me want to cry. There's Ollie keeping secrets and how he feels from Moritz, trying to make his letters upbeat. There's Moritz having trouble with his boyfriend, and moving to a new school. Basically, I was a mess.

As per the first book, both Ollie and Moritz are amazing characters, but I loved seeing more of the "Blunderkids", as Ollie takes to calling them. As a supporting cast, they were amazing. Molly had to be my favourite (her and Klaus was so great, I loved them), but Bridget and Arthur followed close behind.

I read this while I should have instead been doing reading for an essay, and every time I finished a chapter I thought to myself, maybe I should start that instead. But the lure of the next chapter was too much and I inevitably continued reading. It's one of those books, one that you don't want to put down because each chapter solves one mystery but reveals another and you just want to know exactly what's going on. And also whether Moritz and Ollie will actually get to meet. (And whether Auburn-Stache will actually tell Ollie the truth and stop hurting him by not.)

Long(ish) story short, this is probably one of the best books I've read this year.

Review - "The Sun Is Also A Star"

The Sun Is Also A Star
by Nicola Yoon
rating:☆☆☆☆
published: 1st November 2016
spoilers? no

Goodreads

What I care about is you, and I'm sure that love is enough to overcome all the bullshit. And it is bullshit. All the handwringing. All the talk about cultures clashing or preserving cultures and what will happen to the kids. All of it is one hundred percent pure, unadulterated bullshit, and I just refuse to care.

Galley provided by publisher

This book made me tear up (and that's all I'm going to admit to!). The writing is so beautiful, and the characters were all amazing and nuanced and so real that I could even stand the instalove (which there is a lot of. I mean, it's the whole premise!).

There are a lot of different points of view in this one. The two main ones are Daniel and Natasha, but their sides of the story are interspersed with the points of view of several other side characters - Natasha's father, Daniel's father, Irene the security guard - all of which add to the story and make it that much better.

One of my favourite things about this book was that it subverts that "boys like science, girls like art" trope, which I really hate. Natasha was all into science and Daniel into poetry and this is honestly the kind of thing I love seeing. Every now and then there were interludes based on scientific concepts, and seriously, I am a sucker for science in books. Maybe one or two were a little simplified but that's understandable. And it didn't break up the flow of the book either; they slotted in easily.

On occasion, I found Daniel to be a little cringey (going on about all that meanttobe stuff, for example), and Natasha seemed, to begin with at least, a bit too invested in not being passionate and believing that doing art subjects was setting yourself up to fail, but then by the end she'd changed her tune (which was great character development, and I loved it, even if she did start heading down the Daniel cringeyness route).

Basically, it was great and I can't wait to read more of Nicola Yoon's books.

Review - "The Firebird's Tale"

The Firebird's Tale
by Anya Ow
rating:☆☆☆
published: 6th December 2016
spoilers? a few

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

The Firebird's Tale tells the story of a prince who has to marry whomsoever can make him smile. Unfortunately, the person who manages this is not only a thief, but not even human at all, and this is particularly problematic in a land where humans have all but eradicated magic.

The story mixes elements of Russian folklore with other Germanic fairytales, which I wouldn't say worked all too well. On the one hand, you have Koschei the Deathless making an appearance, then the next page there's Snow White (not literally making appearances, though). It's a little dissonant at times. Not to mention it appears to be set in some sort of alternative Russia, because it borders a country they call "the Orient", which seems to encompass the whole of Asia. Again, a problem.

If I'm honest, I was expecting this one to be more of a slow burn than it was. That's not to say I didn't like the direction it went, but I did feel that maybe in the context of the story, it was perhaps more necessary. Within about 40 pages Aleksei (the prince) and Nazar (the firebird) were kissing. But at this point, they didn't even seem to like each other. So you're then stuck with a strange relationship, where they don't really like one another but they're married and apparently that means they have to have a sexual relationship. All this somewhat obscures the way that they could possibly be gaining feelings for each other. Which was a disappointment.

In addition to this, the story didn't really pick up until about two thirds of the way through. Sure, it was easy reading up until that point but nothing really happened. Then when something does happen, you'd think that it'd drive some sort of division between Aleksei and Nazar (it is that Nazar is keeping secrets, and pretty important ones at that, from Aleksei) but Aleksei isn't even angry. Which is not really in keeping with his character in the rest of the book. He seems to spend the book switching back and forth between being this ice-prince kind of character, who gets annoyed at Nazar quite often, and someone friendlier. What I think would have worked better would have been to see him start of as the former and slowly become the latter.

But despite all that, I did enjoy the story to an extent. It left it on a bit of a cliffhanger too, so I'm hoping there's another book just to see how everything pans out.

Review - "The Whole Art of Detection"

The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
by Lyndsay Faye
rating:☆☆☆☆
published: 7th March 2017
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

I have never been Sherlock Holmes' biggest fan. Sure, I read them (or rather, my mum read them too me, and freaked me out a little), but I've not read any Holmes stories in at least 10 years. Lyndsay Faye's take on Holmes and Watson is wholly refreshing and, although some stories worked better than others, totally in the vein of the originals (or, what I can recall of the originals).

My first thought on starting the book, within the first paragraph, was how uncannily similar to Arthur Conan Doyle's writing the style is. Lyndsay Faye has managed to mimic his style so closely that it reads as if it would slot into his stories with ease. If I had any problem with the style it would be that, occasionally, the descriptiveness of the writing didn't suit the context it was in, like in the first few stories, where it's just Watson and Holmes recounting stories, the speech seemed somewhat stilted because it was very descriptive. But that problem disappears for the most part after the part one.

The best stories were, in fact, the ones that were written as entries into Holmes' diary. These were amusing, and managed not to seem condescending, as can happen when your detective is a Brilliant Detective who is a genius and therefore sees links mere mortals would not.

Part three was the saddest of the parts, as it follows Holmes' "death" (which, I'll admit, I never read), and this is where Lyndsay Faye's ability to make me emotional comes into play. It's very subtle; most of the time it's just a sentence thrown in almost carelessly, which is able to just force you to stop and think. It's a skill that most of my favourite authors appear to have, and she repeatedly does the same in her Timothy Wilde Mysteries.

Overall I think this is a great set of Sherlock Holmes stories which stay true to the characters and style (it's clear that she has done copious amounts of research, and is a huge fan of the original stories herself), and should satisfy both avid fans and those who are perhaps less so.

Review - "Timekeeper"

Timekeeper Timekeeper #1
by Tara Sim
rating:☆☆☆☆
published: 1st November 2016
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

Timekeeper was one of my most anticipated reads this year, and it definitely does not disappoint. It's an unusual mix of mythology and alternate universe history and fantasy, but it works together so well, and the whole thing goes off without a hitch.

Timekeeper tells the story of Danny, a clock mechanic in a world where specially trained mechanics who can see and manipulate the threads of time are the only ones trusted to protect and repair the clocks which allow the world to run smoothly, whose father has been stuck in a town for three years after the central cog of the clock disappeared and time Stopped. Just over two years later, Danny was repairing a clock when a bomb went off, leaving him injured, and the story picks up just as he's getting back into work.

Sent out to repair the clock tower at Enfield, Danny meets a mysterious boy who turns out to be the clock spirit. As the clock keeps breaking, Danny is sent there time and again to repair it and he and the clock spirit, Colton, form a bond. All the while, Danny is agitating to join the crew in charge of building a new clock tower in the town where his father is stuck, in the hopes that it will restart time. But someone is going round destroying other clock towers, and Danny comes under suspicion.

This book is a unique mix of genres, and that's what first captures your attention as the reader. It's perhaps a little hard to understand the world, because it's more than just an alternative Victorian era. It has thrown into it a whole different history and mythology behind the creation of time, and is also a bit more modern than you might it expect. To be honest, the more modern alternative universe kind of threw me for a while, but the author's note at the end clears it up. It's a very well constructed world and eminently believable, as are all the characters.

If there was one thing that made me not give this 5 stars, it's that it was actually kind of slow for the first 60% or so. It almost dawdles along, with Colton and Danny getting together (which is cute and all, don't get me wrong, if a little underdeveloped maybe?) before suddenly bursting into action for the last third.

But with world set up and the characters all well-established, I have high hopes for book two.

Review - "Something In Between"

Something In Between
by Melissa de la Cruz
rating:☆☆☆
published: 6th October 2016
spoilers? a bit

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

For me, this book suffered simply because I wasn't in the mood for it when I first started reading it. I'd come off the back of two really good murder mysteries and so that's what I wanted to read. And then I hit a reading slump which did not help this book's case. I thought maybe if I made myself read this book, it'd work some magic and get rid of the reluctance I felt about reading it. That was not the case.

My major issue, and probably the reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to, was that I didn't like the writing style. On occasion, it felt stilted and the speech sometimes felt a little unrealistic - there were a couple of points where a character felt like a mouthpiece for an information dump, but that I understand given the topic of the book, and its likely audience. It was the parts where it wasn't an info dump, where the speech appeared a bit contrived, though thankfully these numbered not that many.

Another problem I found was that the romance between Royce and Jasmine was just a little on the wrong side of instalove for my liking. They meet once, exchange numbers straightaway (if someone came up to you and said you're pretty, can I have your number - or something along those lines - would you say yes?), text for a bit, and the next time they meet they're kissing. That being said, they were cute, so I can mostly forgive the instalove. But then there was also the seemingly constant "get together followed by break up and Jasmine hurting Royce followed by a get together then they break up again and the cycle repeats" going on. (I exaggerate, it only happened twice.) And also the "knowing she's the One" thing. Hmm.

The book dragged a little too much for me to fully like it - the only part where I wasn't counting the pages go by was about 70 pages from the end where all of a sudden I got into it - which was frustrating. There were parts of it I would rate 3 or 4 stars, but these interspersed parts where it was too slow for me and I would rate it 2 or maybe even 1 stars. That being said, I would still rec it, because it's an important book and story.

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 - "Diverse Energies"

Diverse Energies
edited by Tobias S. Bucknell
rating:☆☆☆
published: 20th November 2012
spoilers? no

Goodreads

To act as though we have hope is to keep hope alive.

The problem I have with rating anthologies by various authors is that I never know how to rate the thing overall. Like, do I average the ratings? Do I give it an overall rating based on my enjoyment of it as a whole? Who knows.

In the end, I guess the three star rating is a bit of both. It's not the greatest anthology I've ever read unfortunately (although I don't think I've read any where I've loved all the stories - at least for this one the ratings never went below three stars), but it was refreshing in its diversity even if the writing wasn't always the best quality. Also, the stories were incredibly dark.

The Last Day - Ellen Oh (3 stars):

An alternate post-WWII story, that I can't remember all that much about. It was a good idea and I would have liked to have read more about the characters, but the writing was kind of lacking, and a little simplistic at times.

Freshee's Frogurt - Daniel H. Wilson (5 stars):

I am happy to admit I am entirely biased when it comes to Daniel H. Wilson. He writes the best "robots take over the world" fiction I've read ever. So obviously, I loved this story just as much, even if it was too short.

Uncertainty Principle - K. Tempest Bradford (3 stars):

Not gonna lie, I don't remember a lot of this one, so I'm having to look at other people's reviews. It was (again) a good idea, though it reminded me a lot of Time Riders with maybe less good writing.

Pattern Recognition - Ken Liu (3 stars):

This one could easily have been a full-length story, and perhaps would have worked better that way. It definitely feels a bit rushed when it was explained they found the phone and could immediately work out how to use it to contact the outside world, without having seen a phone before, and get in touch with reporters (who also believed them straightaway). For sure, could have benefited from being longer.

Gods of the Dimming Light - Greg Van Eekhout (3 stars):

This one was kind of trippy, I gotta say. I mean, valkyries and Norse Gods and a battle to reach Valhalla, all set within a dystopian city. Uh, OK?

Next Door - Rahul Kanakia (3 stars):

This was strange. And a definite downer. I mean, the two (gay) main characters at the end die. Or at least I assume they do, because they inhale some toxic gas but it's left on a bit of a question mark.

Good Girl - Malinda Lo (3 stars):

Girls!! Kissing!!! Thank you, Malinda Lo. It was cute, though the love was kind of rushed (again, short story problems), and it wasn't really clear why the government had decided to ban interracial marriage.

A Pocket Full of Dharma - Paolo Bacigalupi (4 stars):

I really liked Paolo Bacigalupi's full length book, so I might have been slightly biased towards this one. All the politics of who wanted the Dalai Lama in that USB-box-thing (don't ask, just read it) was kind of confusing but it was an interesting concept.

Blue Skies - Cindy Pon (3 stars):

It had a pretty abrupt ending, to be honest, and I didn't really get much of the guy's motivations for kidnapping the girl beyond getting the money.

What Arms to Hold - Rajan Khanna (3 stars):

Again, another one that could have benefited from being a full length novel. It had an interesting idea, but it felt rushed inevitably. I did like that it ended with the MC leaving on his own, without helping anyone else though, because that was different.

Solitude - Ursula K. LeGuin (3 stars):

In a book full of dystopia stories, this one, about aliens and sociologist aliens, is a little odd, to say the least. It was well written and intriguing, but it didn't fit the anthology as a whole. The idea of the alien society was pretty good though, even if it did read like an anthropologist's report (which I guess was the aim).

Review - "Falling From The Sky"

Falling From The Sky Bear Creek #1
by Nikki Godwin
rating:☆
published: 21st February 2014
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

“And what do you want, McCoy?” Terrence asks. “Really and truly?” “For this summer to never end.”

Hold on, folks, this could be a bumpy (and sarcastic and slightly angry because I wasted 2 1/2 hours on this book) ride.

First of all, it's always a bad sign when you get kind of leery about a book within the first chapter of that book. I mean, it doesn't help that one of the first comments made about the Native American character is

He nods. "I'm Micah. Youngblood." I was expecting something cooler. Like Blackfeather. Or Wolfcry. Something more Native American than Youngblood.

At which point, I was like, do I really want to be reading this book? But I continued, and came across this gem

"I'm guessing you're Ridge," he says to me. He tosses a gym bag onto the only empty bed. I seriously thought I lucked up just having Terrence as a roommate. I should've known better. "And I'd assume you're Terrence? I've never met a white guy named Terrence," he says.

I guess it's an effective way to mark out the arsehole, and make a point that Terrence is not white (which is pretty vague, but I'm being a little harsh. It does mention later that he is black). Anyway, having welcomed the douchecanoe, I figured I might as well get a bit further before deciding whether or not to continue the book.

Next up, Douchecanoe(TM) confesses that he can't possibly live without sex for the length of time the camp runs but, given that his girlfriend is back home, he's obviously going to have to find some girl nearby who will give him what he wants. And here I was thinking that they were at some elite, invitation-only, basketball camp and so would be serious about the sport. Clearly, I was mistaken.

Also at this point, I was getting increasingly doubtful of the portrayal of the Native American characters in this book. I don't know how much research the author did, but I felt like it was kind of leaning towards playing on stereotypes. I haven't been able to find any reviews which verify that though.

Then comes this (other) gem of a quote

"Okay. You asked for it," he warns. "The thing is, I hate labels. All labels. Race, gender, sexuality, all of it. I don't see color or gender or gay, straight, bi, whatever."

Which leads me to wonder, how much of this is the (white) author putting words into their Native American character's mouth in an attempt to be 'progressive'. I would hazard a guess that it's quite a bit. But then she has the white character say that he couldn't do the same, ie that he doesn't "not see colour". And once again I'm kind of leery. What's the author playing at? Is she wanting the white dude to seem more progressive than the Native American dude? Because, if so, that's gross.

Anyway. Moving on from that, there's then this lovely quote

Micah assumes the 'guy role' and says it's just one ticket. I should totally be the guy. Micah is such a girl. Of course I can't tell him that - ever - because he hates stereotypical gay relationships where one of the guys is 'the girl of the relationship'.

Because you can't go anywhere with a relationship of any sort without imposing some lovely het values on proceedings.

By this point, Micah and Ridge are 'together'. But wait!! Ridge has a girlfriend back home (who he keeps damn mentioning, only to complain about in the same sentence. Damnit, Ridge. Just break up already. I am not here for your teenage angst bullshit). And who he's currently cheating on, making him no better than Aaron, right?

But no! It's ok, because Micah's a boy. I'm not kidding, there was this semi-justification of it

But then I remember that I'm not into guys, and I have a girlfriend, and this technically makes me a cheater. I wonder if this is like prison, how a lot of inmates are "gay for the stay" because they need some form of affection.

Putting aside the fact that he repeatedly claims he's not into guys (sidenote; you'd think he hasn't heard of bisexuality the way he's going on... Hmm....), which simultaneously cheating on his girlfriend with a guy, this 'gay for the stay' idea is gross. Get this shit away from me.

There are also huge gaps in the development of their relationship. Like, one moment, they're kissing and Ridge is leaping away and having a gay/I-have-a-girlfriend freakout and then 5 pages (and an hour or so) later he's perfectly happy letting Micah kiss him. I don't understand.

And to top it off, would you believe it, Samantha's a bitch. She has no personality, all she likes to do is shop, and she's horrible to Ridge when he (finally) breaks up with her. But it turns out she was also cheating on him! So Ridge cheating on her with Micah is obviously now doubly ok. Because logic.

One last point, Micah is actually kind of manipulative. He puts Ridge in these coupley situations when he knows Ridge isn't entirely comfortable all the time with them, without checking whether Ridge wants to be in those situations and just lets him deal with it. It doesn't feel like particularly healthy relationship behaviour to me.

Actual last point: Terrence was easily the best character in this book, even if he did seem to be there just to have the role of relationship guru.

Review - "Fierce & Fabulous"

Fierce & Fabulous Sassy Boyz #1
by Elizabeth Varlet
rating:☆
published: 27th June 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Where do I start with this trainwreck of a book? Firstly, it's probably worrying that the series is called Sassy Boyz (with a Z). That doesn't bode well. Secondly, the title, Fierce & Fabulous. I'm going to hazard a guess that we're going for all the stereotypes of gay men here.

And, lo and behold, we did.

The book opened up with a straight man in a gay bar. And this straight man was pretty homophobic. Not a promising start to say the least. Then the dancers (who I assume are the sassy boyz or whatever) come out and start dancing, and they are so effeminate that he thinks they are women and subsequently gets turned on. Wonderful. (Not to mention the fact that he's also misogynistic... It just gets better and better.)

Anyway, he gets a lapdance from one of them etc, etc and then obviously can't stop thinking about this (effeminate, camp) gay man who is causing him to question his sexuality. Skip ahead a bit, and this guy's having to go back to the club to pick up a purse for his sister, and he walks in on their practice. At which point he rather randomly ends up kissing the one who'd given him a lapdance.

I actually can't remember a lot of the plot after this, but for the fact that they start going out and the lapdance guy has low self esteem and starts pushing the not-so-straight guy away, there's angst, they end up together. I wanted to slap someone a few times. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, really.

The writing however was terrible. Take these quotes, for example:

Their mouths fused together in a carnal liplock that could probably make the devil blush, it was so fucking vulgar.

He'd never imagined balls could be so delicious.

And then there's that hinky little thing that all M/M romance authors seem to do, is have someone say they don't like labels. In this case it was along the lines of we're all humans so why bother with labels? Great. Then later, there was the lovely comment along the lines of I can't possibly be bi, because I only like one man. Needless to say, that didn't endear this book to me any.

Review - "Hot Head"

Hot Head Head #1
by Damon Suede
rating:☆☆
published: 15th June 2011
spoilers? a bit

Goodreads

Where to start.

Firstly, this book was basically a game of spot the stereotype. It opens up in a bar, where a stereotyped Latino is itching for a fight, and yelling homophobic slurs, while his stereotyped Latina girlfriend is holding him back (or hiding behind him, I didn't quite get that). Exactly what you want to start with, isn't it?

I continued reading anyway, because why not, and got to this lovely quote:

Here, Tommy liked getting half-raped on his knees.

I'll just leave that there...

Also then there's a description of eyes like gypsies, which, disregarding the WTF-ness of it for a brief moment, doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

There were a multitude of... interesting, to say the least, descriptions of cocks in this book. It got referred to as,

- a spike

- a medium rare steak (multiple times)

- an apple (I don't get this one at all)

- a battering ram (lovely)

- a tusk

- (my personal favourite) a piglet with a wet nose (this was actually said by one of the characters too)

Moving on to the sex itself, it's never a good sign when a) I'm wanting to skim read the scenes more than usual and b) I burst into laughter more than I would normally. Both of these things happened in this one. Lemme give you a rundown,

- Dante at one point was chewing Griff's arsehole. Now, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't have thought that's a) particularly possible and b) that much of a turn-on (I mean, it sounds kind of painful). Each to their own I guess.

- Suddenly, Dante impaled himself on the stout invader. Sounds bloody painful if you ask me.

- ...roaring and nailing Dante to the sofa. O-k-a-y.

- You're so fucking responsive. Like a big horse. Because everyone wants to be compared to a horse by their significant other, really.

- ...hung like an ox. See above, but with an ox instead.

Another major gripe I had was this part,

"I could bang women, but I don't wanna." " Which makes us gay, Dante."

Actually, it doesn't. But y'know, let's just stick to the "traditional" narrative of heterosexual/homosexual and erase all other sexualities, why don't we.

There was also some stifling possessiveness, which at least was reciprocated this time. But it's still so boring. Like Dante didn't even like other men looking at Griff because he was "his". Chill, mate.

Finally, there's this really weird photoshoot scene at the end, like I don't even know what's going on at that point. Aren't they supposed to be firefighters, not nude models?

It also involves this lovely metaphor,

And so it went. Beth spent the last day like a happy spider, up on ladders, on her back under him, curled around light stands. It was as though she had spent two days learning his ingredients, and now she could cook with his entire huge, creamy body.

Basically, I quit.

Review - "Dark Serpent"

Dark Serpent Hugh Corbett #18
by Paul Doherty
rating:☆☆☆☆
published: 25th August 2016
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

If there's any author I trust to write a historical mystery, it's Paul Doherty. Like the other Hugh Corbett books I've read, this was a well-built, intriguing mystery, that had me gripped from the start to the finish.

Unlike the previous books, this one pits Hugh Corbett against a more powerful foe, the King of France. A French privateer vessel, ostensibly funded by a French duke, but in fact under the command of the King himself, preys on English merchantships attempting to cross over the Channel, knowing when the ships are due to sail before the fact. Simultaneously, the Templar Knights, who have been denounced and their order dissolved by King Philip, with the backing of the Pope, finding shelter in a leper colony are being murdered one by one by an unknown assassin. All this points to the French King, but there's little that can be done without evidence. Enter Hugh Corbett, returned to the position of Keeper of the Secret Seal and charged by King Edward II to figure out what is going on.

For a good half of the book, Corbett and Ranulf are in the dark as to the sinister goings-on plotted by the French king and his henchmen. Despite this, Doherty is well able to hold the reader's attention, by upping the ante at each turn. Corbett's point of view is interspersed with vignettes from his enemies, so the reader can see the plot against England evolving, serving to ratchet up the tension.

Once past the halfway mark, everything kicks into gear, and from that point on things seem to happen at a rapid pace quickly coming to a head when the killer is unmasked.

If there is one problem I had with the book, it was that it ended quite abruptly. It seemed almost like the story hadn't been wrapped up. One moment, it's the middle of the denouement, and Corbett is explaining to his audience the when, where, why, and how of the plot, the next, there's a blank page and the book is done.

The writing also felt a little stilted early on in the book, but that was when the stage was being set, and there is little that can be done about that with historical fiction, I guess.