Book Reviews Archives - Page 64 of 111

Book Review: My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russell

April 18, 2020 Celeste Comments 4 comments

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I was so disturbed by this book. My Dark Vanessa is incredibly thought-provoking and raises a ton of great questions. I’m glad that I read it. And I’ll never read it again. (Side note: Everything being explored in this review is pretty much referenced in the book’s synopsis, so I don’t think I’m spoiling anything. But if you want to go into this book truly blind, you might want to skip this review.)

“To be groomed is to be loved and handled like a precious, delicate thing.”

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Book Review: The Sisters of the Winter Wood

April 17, 2020 Celeste Comments 4 comments

The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Sisters of the Winter Wood was incredibly promising. It’s a heavily Jewish book with lovely fantasy overtones. There are shapeshifters and mysterious newcomers peddling forbidden fruit and a deeply atmospheric forest, as well as a central sibling relationship and deep religious questions to ponder. It sounded made for me. So made for me that I ignored the fact that it’s YA. I should’ve known better. While I enjoyed the plot and the structure, the usual YA all-consuming romances and the characters’ inner struggles with coming to know and accept themselves were cloyingly overabundant and negatively impacted my reading experience. However, I feel like this is on me, not the book. I should know by now that YA usually doesn’t work for me. I was almost as disappointed by this book as I was by Uprooted, which I think is comparable in setting and atmosphere.

“To love means to sacrifice everything that you are.”

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Book Review: Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

April 16, 2020 Emma Comments 0 Comment

Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the wrong hands a secret is a weapon.

Caroline Corsham’s life is forever altered the night she stumbles over the brutalised body of a woman she thought she knew…and hears her dying words. Caro can’t get the tortured whisper of ‘he knows’ out of her mind. Could it be about the secret she holds close? But then everything changes. It stuns her to discover that her ‘friend’ was not an Italian noblewoman, but a high-class prostitute. One with dangerous acquaintances in both high and low society. It’s clear that the police intend to brush the murder aside. After all, who cares about a dead whore? But Caro isn’t the type of lady to let things slide. Hiring the thief-taker Peregrine Child to assist her enquiries, she sets out to discover what happened in the bower of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens that evening. And it turns out that there are, in fact, a good number of people taking an interest in this murdered girl, because they all have something to hide. To bring the killer to justice, Caro is going to have to put everything she has on the line…

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Book Review: The Bonehunters (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #6)

April 16, 2020 TS Chan Comments 0 Comment

The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars.

Series: Malazan Book of the Fallen (Book 6 of 10)

Genre: Epic fantasy, grimdark fantasy

First published: 2006 by Bantam (UK) and 2007 by Tor (US)

Malazan Book of the Fallen really hit its stride coming into its sixth chapter of this massive tale. However, now that we have moved past the midway point of the series, it will get more and more difficult to compose a review without giving away too much. As such, you may see the length of these reviews getting shorter as I progress towards the finale.

Firstly, I have to say that in The Bonehunters, Erikson started to reveal a larger picture of the intricate tapestry that he has so masterfully woven. Almost every character that we have met from the beginning and their respective arcs or subplots were coming together to form a more cohesive narrative across all the volumes of the series so far. While the prose maintained its dense philosophical slant, the books were progressively getting easier to read. Easier being solely relative to its predecessors. …

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Book Review: The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1)

April 15, 2020 Celeste Comments 4 comments

The Gunslinger by Stephen King
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

So begins what Stephen King considers his magnum opus, The Dark Tower. The line above is among the most well known opening lines in modern literature, and it perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the short novel. This first installment, The Gunslinger, is the only book in the series I’ve read before, and I knew I needed a refresher before I dove any deeper into The Dark Tower. While The Gunslinger isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, with areas that drag and a last quarter that goes too hazily ephemeral to maintain an emotional connection, it’s a fun and very original introduction into what I’ve heard is an incredibly powerful and unique series. …

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Book Review: Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3) by Jim Butcher

April 15, 2020 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Dresden Files (Book #3 of 25)

Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Pages: 465 pages (US Kindle edition)

Published: 4^th March 2010 by Orbit (UK) & 1st September 2001 by Roc (US)

This book showed the first signs of The Dresden Files getting better in quality. …

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Book Review: Scarlet Tides (The Moontide Quartet, #2) by David Hair

April 13, 2020 Petrik Leo Comments 1 comment

Scarlet Tides by David Hair

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Moontide Quartet (Book #2 of 4)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 688 pages (UK paperback edition)

Published: 24th October 2013 by Jo Fletcher

Wow. Scarlet Tides is an awesome sequel. My gratitude goes to Kitty G for recommending this super underrated series. …

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Book Review: Mage’s Blood (The Moontide Quartet, #1) by David Hair

April 9, 2020 Petrik Leo Comments 4 comments

Mage’s Blood by David Hair

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Moontide Quartet (Book #1 of 4)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 704 pages (UK paperback edition)

Published: 27th September 2012 by Jo Fletcher

The first half of Mage’s Blood challenged my patience, but the pay-off—and hopefully the rest of the series—in the second half was bloody rewarding. …

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Book Review: The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

April 8, 2020 TS Chan Comments 0 Comment

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Cemetery of Forgotten Books (Book #1 of 4)

Genre: Historical fiction, Mystery

Translated Edition Published: 2004 by Weidenfield & Nicholson, Orion Books (UK) & 2004 by Penguin Books (US)

The Shadow of the Wind was something truly special. Incredibly moving and beautifully written, it is a story within a story that so wonderfully captures the essence of how books (and the stories within) could make an indelible mark in our lives.

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