The Exercise of Vital Powers by Ian Gregoire [REVIEW]

★★★★

The Exercise of Vital Powers introduces to us a hateful character by the name of Kayden Jayta. I'm not exaggerating, she's truly hateful. But don't you just love to hate her??

I love it when an author can create characters that are absolutely awful people, but make you want to keep reading about them.

Going into this I thought the plot of students in a magic school might feel a bit tired and overdone, but I was soon corrected as the premise actually felt creative and original.

The prose is both eloquent and concise, which I appreciate. The author has a way with words that make mundane sentences more beautiful.

I enjoyed the plot immensely, and particularly enjoyed the parallel of Master Fay's side quest. My only gripe would be that the story felt a bit longwinded towards the end. After things had wrapped up satisfactorily for me, I felt like the ending dragged.

Overall, this was a great book that is well worth your time. I hope to read more from Kayden in future.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own. 

What Happened That Night by Deanna Cameron (REVIEW)

★★★

"I knew why she'd done it. I knew that Emily hated Griffin Tomlin the moment I'd told her something I never should have".

Clara's sister Emily murdered the boy next door, and only Clara knows why she did it.

This is a multilayered and complex story that takes some time to come together. Too much time in fact. The story is very longwinded. It easily felt like double its 300 pages. I know I am a reader who likes slow pacing, but this was borderline frustrating, with a lot of telling and explaining instead of showing. The writing is quite juvenile in that sense.

However, despite my problems with the telling, the actual story was interesting and did keep me guessing. I thought I had it all figured out early on, but there was always more to know. To the point it was quite unbelievable at times.

For a book tackling such sensitive issues as rape and assault, I would expect to feel some strong emotions. I didn't cry once (and I'm a crier trust me), but I did feel quite uncomfortable with the vivid description of some of the most horrific scenes.

The main character is a normal, pleasant girl whom a lot of people will relate to. She has gone through trauma that has changed her entire being and turned her whole world upside down.

“I almost wanted to tell him why she'd taken Griffin away from him and his parents. But I knew none of them would believe me about what happened between Griffin and me".

Probably my biggest gripe through most of the book was Clara's lack of understanding and forgiveness for people around her, for not reacting to things exactly how she wanted them to in the first instance. Sometimes people need a minute. And you should offer them the same understanding you expect to receive. I suppose this is something she had to learn.

I liked the dual perspectives of the book, present and past. I generally love that way of storytelling in any book. The information from the past was fed to us in just the right dose.

However, another issue I had was with the formatting of the book (at least I think that was the issue and assume it will be fixed) which made the story hard to follow. There was sometimes no indication that the story had moved on to another time or place. Not even a line between paragraphs. I often had to reread bits to figure out that the narrative had jumped ahead to another place from one line to the next. Very confusing.

I did enjoy this book, I was gripped by the plot and needed to know how it ended. But my overall impression is that it needs some serious editing to make it a more concise and appealing novel.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dangerous Women by George R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois (REVIEW)

Average Overall Rating: 3.57 stars 

Some Desperado by Joe Abercrombie - 5 stars 🌟
I have missed Abercrombie! This story filled a hole. Shy reminded me of Ferro because she's capable and no nonsense but also pretty damaged. I can't wait to meet her properly in Red Country, but even in this short story I feel like I got a sense for her character and her struggles. Loved it!

My Heart is Either Broken by Megan Abbott - 3.5 stars 🌟
Well that was harrowing... Interesting story, but could have done with just a bit more detail/information for me.

Nora's Song by Cecelia Holland - 3 stars 🌟
Historical fiction isn't really my bag. The most interesting part of this story was the chosen perspective. A little girl looking up at the King and Queen, or mam and dad.

The Hands that are Not There by Melinda Snodgrass - 3 stars 🌟
Sci-fi setting, but really it was just a sad tale of a husband and wife cheating on each other... Nice little twist to the ending though.

Bombshells by Jim Butcher - 4 stars 🌟
I get the feeling I really shouldn't have read that story...! 🙈 oops. 
Oh well, I now know I would like to read the Dresden Files, even though I know how it ends!

Raisa Stepanova by Carrie Vaughn - 4.5 stars 🌟
A slice of life from World War 2 Russia. Great story about a determined female pilot and the challenges faced by her and her colleagues.

Wrestling Jesus by Joe R. Lansdale - 3.5 stars 🌟
I liked the friendship between the weak kid and the old man, and his crazy ex girlfriend was interesting. She didn't feel like the main focus of the story, but she was certainly a 'dangerous woman'.

Neighbours by Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb) - 4.5 stars 🌟
A really clever little story about an elderly woman struggling with alzhemiers. I really enjoyed the style and pace of this.

I Know How to Pick 'Em by Lawrence Block - 5 stars 🌟
A dark and disturbing little story about a man with bad mommy issues and a woman with evil intentions... Really well told!

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson - 4 stars ⭐
Such a cool story about a bounty hunter and some scary mistwraith like creatures! It had Sanderson written all over it!

A Queen in Exile by Sharon Kay Penman - 2 stars ⭐
Historical fiction, just not my thing. It moved too quickly through the years for any real investment on my part and was quite boring.

The Girl in the Mirror by Lev Grossman - 2 stars ⭐
That felt utterly pointless. I guess I just have no interest in this "adult" Harry Potter world...

Second Arabesque, Very Slowly by Nancy Kress - 5 stars 🌟
In 30 pages this post apocalyptic world was created beautifully and fully. The concept was unique to me and captivating!

City Lazarus by Diana Rowland - 3 stars 🌟
Dirty cops, strippers and something about a diverted river? Interesting I guess.

Virgins by Diana Gabaldon - 3.5 stars ⭐
Having never read the Outlander books, this was interesting to see what the author's writing is like. I liked the characters, even though they were a bit sex obsessed. But the 'short' story was too long and meandering, and I thought the plot got a bit lost.

Hell Hath No Fury by Sherrilyn Kenyon - 4 stars ⭐
A cute ghost story about an abandoned Native American town. Not sure if I was supposed to know who the characters were from other books, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Pronouncing Doom by S. M. Stirling - 2 stars ⭐
This was some sort of post apocalyptic court room drama. Very meh. Not sure why I was supposed to be interested at all really.

Name the Beast by Samuel Sykes - 4 stars ⭐
Two different species are terrified of the beast, but they are both each others beasts. Really cool concept, but very sad in a way. I liked this a lot!

Caretakers by Pat Cadigan - 3.5 stars ⭐
I liked this story, about two sisters' suspicions of a nurse doing harm in a care home. However, all the talk of iPads and 'mad skillz' was cringy in the extreme, felt like the author was your nanna trying to be down with the kids. Unnecessary!

Lies My Mother Told Me by Caroline Spector - 4 stars 🌟
I found the basis of this a bit confusing because I've never read the Wild Cards books and you kinda get dumped into the world. But I got to know the characters quickly and found this to be a quite clever and emotional story. Superheroes and villains seem to be popular at the moment, and this was a unique example.

The Princess and The Queen, Or, The Blacks and The Greens by George R. R. Martin - 2 stars 🌟
My God was this boring. Content was theoretically interesting, but it read like a stuffy, old history book. Not for me. And a really weak ending to this anthology! It went out with a fizzle instead of a bang.

The Extinction Trials by S. M. Wilson (REVIEW)

★★

This started out as a promising 4 star read and has gradually reduced in my mind, stupid decision after idiotic decision, to 2 stars. It was OK. And that's me being fair because it started out well. By the end I was over it. 

The premise was definitely better than the execution. There were moments when I was fully invested, and the next moment I was taken completely out of it by the sheer stupidity of the characters, and the slightly juvenile writing.

I would say the characters repeating themselves was annoying, but obviously it's not their fault, it's the author's! Could an editor not point out that you don't need to say the same thing twice in 10 pages?

Don't even get me started on the ending. I just fail to find the logic in any of the decisions.

Aside from these annoyances, the story was actually enjoyable! I felt like I was in Jurassic Park which is awesome! I just wished I was there with some people who had half a brain cell between them.

The Gods of Winter by Dale Harker (REVIEW)

★★★★★

The Hunter and his kin thought the Werekind were long gone from the world, but they're back, and they've got a plan to awaken the gods of winter and doom all mankind... 

Val is an ex cop and ex con whose family is being attacked, and he must figure out why. But the possibility of werewolves hadn't crossed his mind.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced, entertaining journey! The prose is eloquent and harshly brutal at the same time, which is in keeping with with grim events that unfold. The characters are fantastical yet also very real, and fit seamlessly into the urban and rural settings of Teesdale and County Durham. Each character has a depth that made me genuinely care about their ending. 

Reading about sword wielding warriors and werewolves occupying my homeland, puts me in the mind of a Neil Gaiman tale, as another author who flawlessly combines fantasy with reality. I think it is difficult to make a reader suspend their disbelief in a setting so well known, but this is easily achieved here. 

This book enthralled me from start to finish, and kept me turning pages until the very last.

I would recommend The Gods of Winter to any fan of fantasy and urban fantasy. Both original and imaginative, it creates an alternative Great Britain and a fresh tale of werewolves and old gods.

I loved it!! 

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg (REVIEW)

★★

The main faults of this book for me were pace, world building and the main character. So most of it unfortunately. :/

The pace was so fast that I had no clue how we got from one part to another. It was just like, oh, OK, we're doing that now. The story could have used another 100 pages easy to give us some actual background, and to build relationships! Things don't happen instantly in real life. Or good fantasy.

Speaking of background, I don't know anything about the world. There's different types of magic, but I know nothing about any of them except paper, and what I know about that is minimal. It's supposed to be Victorian England? Lots of historical inaccuracies that took me right out of it.

Ceony is vapid, shallow, self-obsessed and stupid! She jumps to the most ridiculous conclusions on little to no evidence, simply to move the plot along faster. She's completely unlikeable, but not even in a 'love to hate' way. She's really not for me.

The best part of this book was Fennel, the paper dog. Hands down.

I will say the concept was interesting, just so much more could be done with it. The writer's grammar was good at least. That's always a nice start. Maybe it was unfair to judge this when I read it alongside a Brandon Sanderson book... Standards are high!

I will probably give the series another chance as I own the rest of the books, and they're light, easy reads. I hope book two gives us more!

Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine (REVIEW)

★★★

Gwen Proctor just can't catch a break...

When a woman from a middle of nowhere town called Wolfhunter calls Gwen terrified for her life, she ends up being dragged into another precarious and dangerous situation.

This was definitely an entertaining read. I was on edge from start to finish. The action was non-stop and I had no idea who to trust at all throughout. It's always fun to be kept guessing.

However, I did feel like there was a lot of build up for not very much reward. The way the various storylines converged felt rushed, and the events of the ending happened in a very short amount of time.

Honestly I'm not sure this book was necessary to the Stillhouse Lake series, as the story had nothing really to do with Melvin or his crimes.

Overall I did enjoy it, and I'm happy I read it.

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson (REVIEW)

★★★★

"They hate me because I do in the daylight what their own kings are ashamed to do in the dark."

The Bird King was both a fascinating historical tale and a bizarre (in the best possible way) fantasy.

Fatima is concubine to the last Sultan of the Iberian peninsula, and Hassan is the palace cartographer and her best friend. His map making skills are magical and create new doors and places.

When the Spanish arrive at the palace to negotiate an end to the war, they see Hassan's magical abilities as sorcery and a threat to their religion. The two friends attempt to escape the Inquisition together in a dangerous adventure.

I really enjoyed this story from start to finish, and didn't find it slow at all. The relationships between characters felt real and layered. There was love, but also jealousy and anger. I loved the supporting cast of characters that we met along the way, especially Stupid!

The elements of magic and fantasy felt quite jarring at first in what seemed to be a very historical novel, but I quickly adjusted my mindset and appreciated the strange, fantastical parts of the tale.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fantasy.

A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa Sheinmel (REVIEW)

★★★★★

"Let this thing play out. Just until everything passes".

Hannah is remanded into custody at an institution for psychiatric evaluation after an accident occurs at the summer programme she's attending. She's sure it's all a formality and will all blow over, because she can't be to blame for what happened, can she? 

I loved this book. There's nothing I find more entertaining than an unreliable narrator. Contradicting herself from one line to the next, can we really trust her judgement on any of this story? 

"Luckily, I know how to become someone's best friend. It's a skill I've honed since kindergarten".

Hannah is so confident in her abilities and intelligence, she thinks she is a step above other people. As an only child, her parents have raised her to be mature from birth, and it's interesting to see what effect this has on her psyche. 

I would recommend this book to fans of Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and obviously Girl Interrupted. There are parallels to be drawn, but this stands apart as an excellent piece of fiction that explores the world of teenagers striving to meet expectations and living with mental illness.

Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou (REVIEW)

★★★★★

I feel privileged to have been allowed to read and review an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Crooked Lane Books. 

Simply put, I adored it.

"Why doesn't anyone ever stop these guys? How different would the school be if they were as afraid as I am, if there were actual consequences for their actions, if they were somehow kept in line?"

When Stevie's best friend turns on her and everyone in school follows, school becomes a nightmare for her. In her new found isolation and loneliness, she meets the confidently individual Dee, and together they decide to take revenge on the bullies who are making her life hell.  

For anyone who's ever been the victim of bullying, this book will resonate. It is an incredibly honest and insightful story, and at times uncomfortable to read. The book addresses so many issues that young people today face - bullying on social media, mental health, rape culture, gender identity etc. - and it does this with intelligence and respect. 

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of YA contemporary novels. It was genuinely fantastic and I can't wait to read more by Laurie Petrou.