ARC Review | Dead Money

3.5 stars

This started off super strong. There was a good mystery that was relevant to the times. A good cast of characters. Technology that was pertinent. A setting that made sense. I was pretty engrossed in it until about 3/4 of the way through, and then it started to fall off. All the things that seemed so good in the beginning started wearing on me, and finally got to the point where I didn’t care as much.

The story follows Mackenzie, an investigator for a large and important venture capital company. She’s sent to help investigate the murder of the CEO of one of the biggest companies on the planet. She teams up with an FBI agent to help him navigate the tech world, while also updating her boss on the progress of the investigation. At first, everything was interesting and relevant. The victim was the CEO of Journy, a ride share company that could easily be swapped out for Uber or Lyft. It has its differences, but it’s more or less the same thing. The suspect list is small, the motivation seemingly obvious. There are some twists to all this of course, but it kept going at a good pace. However, it started grating on me as it got closer to the end, Petty people fighting over billions because they think they’re owed something in life? Eh. It didn’t help that some of them had to let you know just how special they were, because they worked in tech and had a minimalist house and treated everyone as if they were beneath them. I get it; it’s San Francisco and technology. Most people involved in that are insufferable. It also helped show how tech bros have ruined so many things. The Burning Man sections really hammered that home. And speaking of hammers, Hammer Angel is the dumbest name on the planet. Technology has advanced so much and brought so many good things to peoples lives, but at the same time it definitely has its downfalls, which I think more people are beginning to realize.

The ending absolutely was not for me. It made sense for how the rest of the story went, but I didn’t enjoy it. I feel as if I’ll be the outlier on that, but I could be wrong.

This will appeal to people who enjoy mysteries with a tech flair. It is well-written, and I think I would have rated it higher had it not been for the end.

Late ARC Review | The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

3 stars

I generally enjoy dual timelines, as long as both timelines are interesting and move the story along well. That was not the case here. The 1920’s timeline was way more enjoyable that the 1980’s timeline; so much so that I would occasionally skim the contemporary timeline to get back to the past. That isn’t how a story should go.

The story in the 1920’s was more gripping. The characters had more personality and the story was more interesting. The only problem I had with it was it didn’t always feel like the 1920’s. There would be times that I would be reading and forget that it was supposed to take place in the past, as there wasn’t always a very good description of the time. However, it was a much more enjoyable read in general as that was the only issue. The characters were a lot more mature in this timeline versus the 1980’s, which was surprising, as it should have been the other way around. I also enjoyed the setting more – 1920’s New York versus 1980’s Florida. It didn’t help that the parts in Florida almost all took place in a retirement community, so there was very little of Florida actually described.

When the story goes to the 1980’s, it immediately loses all its warmth and character. The people in that timeline are all supposed to be in their 80’s, but act as though they’re teenagers. Either the retirement community only lets in the absolute most fit 80 year olds on the planet, or the author wasn’t sure how to write 80 year olds. There were times when it almost felt like reading a YA novel. We deal with characters who can’t communicate, are jealous and catty, and even have a small love triangle at one point. Yes, really. I hate love triangles, so when that showed up I was less than thrilled. Luckily it resolves itself pretty quickly, though it really took me out of the story when I got to it. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for mentions of the retirement community and such, I would have thought I was actually reading about teenagers. None of the characters seemed to have had any growth in the 60 plus years between the timelines. In fact, it almost feels like they regressed. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what happened between Augusta and Irving either once the story introduced other people.

I think I would have enjoyed this much more if the story had taken place entirely in the 1920’s, or if the 1980’s timeline had been reworked. The past sections I would rate 4 stars while the contemporary timeline I’d give 2, therefore I went with the middle ground at 3.

Late ARC Review | Red in Tooth and Claw

3 stars

This is not what I was expecting at all. The synopsis made it sound like it would contain a lot of horror/terror, but there really wasn’t. I wouldn’t classify this as horror; paranormal yes, but there is not enough here that I feel it qualifies as horror. There is an uneasy feeling throughout the book, and unsettling moments, but not as much as I expected.

I do think that the characters really helped this along. Faolan is a great main character, and all the side characters helped bring more to the story. I wish there had been more world building though. I knew this was supposed to take place in some sort of Western era, but it was hard to picture at times. There wasn’t a lot of description on the town Faolan came from, or much about her land. The Settlement did have a little more description to it, but not enough to really feel satisfying. And we knew the Rovers were a wandering tribe, but not much else. Having even a little more in the descriptions and world-building would have helped a lot, especially when it came to HisBen and the Shining God. I’m guessing it was a cult? Or some dark religion? I don’t really know. There wasn’t enough information.

This isn’t a bad book. It had a lot of potential, but fell short in the execution.

ARC Review | Gentlest of Wild Things

3.5

I enjoyed this retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche with the story of Lamia blended in for the most part. While it’s not a story I’m super familiar with, I liked the author’s take on it.

The story revolves around sisters Eirene and Phoebe. Phoebe catches the eye of Leandros, a sinister man who produces a potion called Desire, which basically helps enslave women. Eirene, in a bid to save her sister, goes to Leandros and demands that he marry her instead. Instead of outright agreeing, he sets four tasks before Eirene and tells her if she completes them, he will leave her sister alone. It is during these tasks that she meets Lamia, the daughter of Leandros. The story continues to follow Eirene’s struggles to complete the tasks, and Lamia’s struggles of being the daughter of Leandros and what he is doing to the town.

The characters are all well-written, though it would have been nice to have a little more depth to Leandros. The story can be a tad slow at times, as there isn’t a whole lot that goes on in between Eirene’s tasks. My biggest problem with the book though is the speech. There are times when the speech feels very modern, as Eirene likes to drop the occasional ‘fuck” into her sentences, which feels very out of place. There are times when the speech of others feels out of place, though for the most part Eirene is the issue.

Because I am not super familiar with the Eros and Psyche myth, I can’t say how well this book represents that story. But I do think people who enjoy Greek myth retellings will enjoy this.

ARC Review | Some Like it Cold

3.5 stars

I felt rather torn by this book. The romance in it is pretty cute, and the two characters involved and relatable and likable. However, almost every other character in this book is forgettable, annoying, or downright horrendous. It makes for hard reading at times.

Jasper and Arthur have this great “enemies to lovers” story, full of misunderstandings and wrong perceptions. However, I struggled with Jasper at times and her defensiveness over her sister Christine. It could be part of her autistic nature, but Christine did not deserve to be stood up for. She is an absolute monster to everyone, including Jasper. And even when Arthur just tried to bring up how Christine treats Jasper and how it’s not okay, Jasper was immediately defensive of Christine and rude to Arthur. Like, your sister terrorizes you and everyone in town, including little kids. It’s not okay. She may be your family, but that doesn’t excuse her behavior.

Jasper’s parents are almost as bad as her sister. Her mother is just as much of a terror, and her father cowers under her and goes with whatever she says. Her best friend Odette doesn’t treat her as a best friend, which is supposedly explained as Jasper having been at college. This was understandable until you learn that the college Jasper went to was 30 minutes away from her hometown. Maybe this is a little more understandable in other places, but a 30 minute drive in the US is basically going down the street. I can’t understand not seeing someone for 18 months when they only live 30 minutes away, but again this must be a geographical thing. The book never states exactly where the book takes places, but the writing and grammar feel like the UK. Grace and Henry, Arthur’s siblings, are about the only other likable characters in the book. They feel genuine, and I enjoyed their family dynamic way more than Jasper’s.

I’m also not a fan of this new trend where authors, especially female YA authors, try and tell women how we’re oppressed and victims all the time. Yes, we have our struggles, but I don’t need to be told I’m a victim in every little thing in life, and how I’m constantly oppressed when I live in a first world country, especially when there are women in this world who actually face real oppression. Women who can’t drive or get a job or have a full education or even get auctioned as a child bride and can’t leave their house without a male escort. So please, authors, quit comparing the two.

All in all, it’s a pretty cute and basic YA romance that I think will appeal to the majority of people who enjoy that genre.

ARC Review | Pick the Lock

4 stars

Pick the Lock is another unique book by A.S. King. The writing is surreal, with lots of hidden meanings and metaphors and things you have to look beyond. It deals with domestic abuse and violence, but it is written in a way to make you really think about it.

The story follows Jane, as she tries to understand her family narrative and the history – picking the lock on her memories and what is really going on. Her and her brother are mainly being raised by their father, who paints their mother as a psycho, mentally ill, violent, and someone who has abandoned them in order to live her dream as a rock star. But as the story goes along, you learn along with Jane that things aren’t what they seem. There is a good narrative here about domestic abuse. Many people question why someone who is being abused doesn’t just leave. But they don’t realize it’s not as easy as it sounds. There are threats and manipulation and a feeling of never being able to escape. This novel examines all of this in King’s unique style of writing.

I wouldn’t recommend this as a first choice for someone to read if they’ve never read one of King’s books. Her writing style can definitely throw people off. However, I think it is another excellent entry into her catalogue, and recommend it for any King fans and for anyone who enjoys surreal, metaphorical, or abstract writing or books on major social topics.

ARC Review | When the World Tips Over

5 stars

I feel like Jandy Nelson shouldn’t wait ten years before writing her next book because she is an excellent writer and I want to continue reading her work. This was another great book from her, covering a lot of heavy topics with a touch of magical realism that reminded me a bit of Sarah Addison Allen, another favorite writer of mine.

This book deals with the Fall family, who have been missing their father for years after he left one day and never returned. Each of the three Fall siblings have their own feelings about why their father left and how it has affected them, but also how it has affected their relationships with each other. You can easily feel for each character, and anyone who has dealt with something similar will be able to relate. The characters are all very well-written, and each have distinct personalities. As the story progresses, a tragedy happens within the family that causes them to reflect on how they got to the point they’re at. And while there are lots of emotions and depressing moments, there are also a lot of laughs. There’s a couple of side characters that steal the show at times and bring the story together. The magical realism is done very well – there’s enough to help move the story and give it that magical sense, but not so much that it overwhelms the story or distracts from what’s trying to be said.

There are other types of losses dealt with as well – the Fall siblings mother losing her brother, their ancestor losing the love of his life, others losing their mother or abilities or themselves. All these losses are dealt with in their own way, but they also bring the characters together. Almost every reader will be able to connect with one of the characters in some way, as everyone has dealt with loss of some kind.

Highly recommended, along with her other books.

ARC Review | Lucy Undying

1.5 stars

Let’s talk about the best part of this book – the cover. It’s an amazing cover to what I thought would be an amazing book. A continuation of Lucy’s story from Dracula? It sounded right up my alley. I loved Dracula, and I expected to love this. But that’s not the case.

The book starts off pretty well, if a little slow. It’s told in 3 perspectives from the beginning – Lucy’s past before she’s turned, her transcripts to her therapist after, and Iris. I enjoyed the two perspectives of Lucy. She explains how she survived her murder in Dracula, and what happened to her after in the transcripts, and her life with Mina, her mother, and the other men from the original book. I hated Iris’s parts. She’s unbelievably whiny and bitchy without any explanation as to why, and by the time it’s explained, it’s too late to care.

And then we move on to the next part of the story. Had this solely been a book about Lucy, it probably would have been okay. But it turns into this Twilight-esque, “feminine empowerment”, teenage drama garbage story dealing with a vampire MLM cult. I never thought I’d be typing a review about a vampire MLM cult which is really a pathetically veiled attempt by White to show her hate for a state and group of people, but here we are.

Lucy is portrayed as a victim to everything in life. All the men secretly want her money, her mother is abusive, and Mina doesn’t love her the way she wants. After she’s turned, she becomes this beacon of feminine power who singlehandedly stops World War I by telling the men in charge to stop, becomes a spy during World War II and helps end many plots against the allies, and changes the minds of other female vampires to become good people because she’s a vampire with morals. Yes, really. She meets Iris, the sole heir to Goldaming Life (because White couldn’t be bothered to remember that Arthur’s lordly last name is actually Godalming, even though she professes to love the book SO MUCH), a whiny teenager who is ~special~. So a hundred plus year old vampire falls in insta love with a special teenager? Twilight, is that you? Also, the pet names. Butter chicken and my little cabbage? Right up there with spider monkey. Barf.

Iris, our super special teenager, has few redeeming qualities. She’s paranoid because she believes her mother’s entire workforce is out to get her, but makes friends instantly with a cab driver and his husband and Elle, the antiques appraiser, because queer people can’t be evil, obviously (here’s looking at you Kevin Spacey). She treated everyone like absolute garbage, whether the deserve it or not, and has no problem saying how much she wishes certain people would die, get murdered, etc., because she believes they should and obviously she is totally right and justified in her thinking. She also calls someone a psychopath for texting with a semicolon when she “almost has a literature degree.” Like, what? I guess I’m a psychopath cause I text with correct punctuation all the time.

In the author’s note, White states that she believes that Lucy was queer, causes reasons, and also that all the men in her life just wanted to murder her and take her money, and that she was this helpless victim to everything in life and she just needed to be turned into a vampire so she could become this strong, empowered female and change the world. None of the characters from the original book that end up in Lucy Undying even closely resemble the originals. White simply took the names and changed them into what she thought they should be (except Arthur, cause she couldn’t even get the name right). I’m not sure how White could profess to love Dracula so much, and then eviscerate it so completely. Honey, I have some news for you. You don’t love Dracula; you don’t even like it.

Also, White has this personal vendetta against Utah, because reasons? I’m not really sure why. But you can’t claim to be this person who loves and accepts everyone and then goes on to hate millions of people because you feel justified in it. Do I think there are problems in Utah? Yes. Do I think there’s problems with the church and other religions? Yes. Do I think MLM’s are pyramid schemes? Yes. Do I hate millions of people I’ve never met because of it and try to convince other people that that hate is justified? No.

This is probably going to be the last book by White I read. I can’t take her self-righteous crusade anymore. 1.5 stars cause the cover really is lovely and there are a few parts of Lucy’s early story that were interesting.

ARC Review | Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book of Death

4 stars

I’m a big fan of the death positive movement, which basically helps people to understand and plan for death, and hopefully help with grief and being able to move forward in life. And one of the most basic ways of doing this is by talking about death. It’s been seen as such a taboo topic that people are afraid to talk about any aspects of it. The death positive movement hopes to help change that by helping people understand and plan for that big inevitability.

Obitchuary takes a more humorous look at death by providing stories of some truly outlandish obituaries, along with certain histories of death, including past death practices from around the world, traditions that and haven’t stuck around, famous last words, death bed confessions, etc. The writing style in engaging, but geared more toward a younger audience. Some of the humor may not land well with older readers.

The book is pretty short, making it an easy read and one that would be a good introduction to reading and talking about death. The authors wanted to engage their readers, while also making it easy to understand and be able to go to any section and start reading. Highly suggested for those that are first time readers of death and interested in learning and understanding something that we will all eventually go through.

ARC Review | The Queen’s Lies

3 stars

I don’t think this series was for me. While I generally enjoy historical fiction, and I enjoyed some parts of these books, overall I wasn’t a huge fan. It was hard to stay engaged throughout, and I found my attention wandering more than once.

This being the fourth book in the series, if you haven’t read the others you may find yourself lost with what is going on and who is who. There are the obvious characters, such as Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, but plenty of others that you won’t know unless you’ve read a lot on British history. This book starts with our main man, Doctor John Dee, and a new weapon that has been created which will help England with its battles, both present and future. This is only a minor plot point really, as most of the story revolves around Elizabeth Bathory and another plot to kill Queen Elizabeth and set Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne. While I am admittedly not the most knowledgable on this part of history, there are a few big liberties the author takes for the plot. He does describe his decisions at the end of the book, but I wasn’t really sure how I felt about the ending. While it would have been nice if that’s how things had really turned out, it wasn’t, and it’s hard to put aside.

I will say that I do enjoy Dr. Dee for the most part, as well as his wife and Queen Mary. Most of the other characters are pretty forgettable, and I sometimes had to go back and read a part again to remember what significance a character had.

I think this series needs the right reader – one who enjoys history but also enjoys the author taking liberties on that history. I have enjoyed that at times, but it didn’t quite work for me here.