ARC Review | Medusa

4 stars

This was a great retelling of the story of Medusa. While we have all heard her story from other character’s perspectives, this is told from her own. Instead of being portrayed as a monster, she is portrayed as a human who has had a lot of unfortunate circumstances happen to her.

The story begins with Medusa and her sisters exiled on a remote island. She spends most of her time alone while her sisters are away hunting for food. After Perseus crashes onto the island, she slowly begins to talk to and trust him, and finally tells her story of how she ended up isolated on the island and how she got snakes for hair. It is a sad story that makes you sympathize with her. You come to realize she isn’t a monster at all; just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and who ended up gaining the gods wrath instead of their help. Though her story is a sad one, you also see her grow into a more confident person who learns to live again after everything that has happened and accept herself the way she is now instead of seeing herself as a monster.

I wish the book had been a bit longer in order to give more time to the development of Perseus and Medusa’s relationship, but overall this was a well-written story.

ARC Review | The Porcelain Maker

3.5 stars

This was a pretty solid debut dealing with a lesser known part of the war, the Porzellan Manufaktur Allach. While the characters and storyline were fictional, the Allach Porcelain Manufacture was a real part of the war. After finishing the novel I read up on the history of the manufacturing of Allach porcelain and its importance to the Reich. Himmler had a great appreciation for the figurines produced, and helped fund the acquisition of PMA in 1936. I do wish the novel had given a little more info on all of this, as it was a bigger focus of the story.

While I normally enjoy dual timelines, I was a little frustrated with this one. I enjoyed Max and Bettina’s parts, but I felt Clara’s was lacking. She is on a search to find her father, and it seems to go from no leads and information to everything just falling into her lap. Everything came together way too easily and quickly to be believable, and at the same time there was a lot of missing information. The same can be said for Max and Bettina’s parts, such as how she ended up in London and how she left Italy. There are a lot of loose threads that could have been tied up better.

I did enjoy the discussion of art, and how Bettina went from being a “degenerate” artist to one highly prized by the Nazis. The portions dealing with Max and the porcelain were also interesting, as he was a Jew crafting something that was very popular with the Nazis as well. I do think Clara could have been fleshed out a little better; her character and story were lacking and dragged a bit in places. Max and Bettina had better characterizations and storylines, just with the loose threads mentioned earlier.

I think this novel would have worked better as a single timeline, with Clara’s parts being cut, or at least her parts being reworked to give the novel better flow throughout. It is still an enjoyable novel overall; it could just use a bit of polishing up.

ARC Review | Flower and Thorn

3.5 stars

This has one of the most interesting and unique magic systems I’ve come across in a book. Using flowers and giving them each their own magical ability was really interesting, and I wanted to learn more about each one. I do wish the book had gone more in depth about this, though I can see why the author probably chose not to. Adding more info on the flower magic probably would have required a second book and may have ruined a bit of the myth associated with the flowers, though I think this being a duology also could have worked well with a little reworking of the story.

I really enjoyed the setting and story for the most part. This takes place in 16th century India, which is not a common period for novels. I liked exploring something new, with the different locations in India, the descriptions of clothes and food and life in that time. The characters were mostly well written, though I did struggle with Irinya for the first half of the book. She is extremely gullible, and the whole reason her village is in the trouble it’s in. She at first places all the blame on Deven, and while he definitely shoulders some of it, she is not blameless either. However, she eventually realizes this more and tries to fix it, though some of her choices are still frustrating. I liked many of the side characters and wish a few of them had been more present. The story itself can be rather predictable at times and drags in others, but all in all it is a decent standalone fantasy.

ARC Review | Epic of Helinthia

4 stars

Though this book is marketed as mythology, this is a completely original story. And while a couple of well-known gods and goddesses show up, they are present only for a small amount of the book. This mainly focuses on the human characters and their story.

This started off pretty slow, but picked up the pace as the story moved along. I think the strongest point of this was the characterization. There was a lot put into each of the main characters. I enjoyed seeing Gadnor and Gonivein grow as characters, though I wanted to punch Gonivein for some of the dumb decisions she made. I really couldn’t stand Kelric until the end. I’m hoping with everything that happened that he’ll have grown as a person by the next book. Dargon was okay; I could see why he made the decisions he did and that he was doing what he thought best for his people. He just didn’t stand out to me. The story also didn’t go where I thought it would. While I figured out a couple of things, there were plenty of surprises, which I enjoyed. It’s nice having a book surprise you. The one downside for me was the world building. I would have liked a little more description on some of the towns and buildings – really the island in general – to help me picture it better. Other than that the writing was really quite amazing. I think this will be an excellent series and I’m looking forward to the next one.

ARC Review | Down Came the Rain

3.5

I really struggled with some parts of this and enjoyed others, so I ended up going with the middle ground on this. It’s rather surprising, as I’ve rated every other Jennifer Mathieu book highly, but this one didn’t sit quite right with me.

Javi’s character was very well-written. You could see him struggling with PTSD and not understanding why he had it, and wanting to help the environment but still seeing the other side with his brother Miguel working for an oil refinery. He understood that things needed to change, but that change is rarely so simple. Eliza on the other hand I struggled with a lot. She has more of a I’m-smarter-and-better-than-you attitude and belittles and yells at people who don’t agree with her. Her way of getting people to care about climate change is to make them feel like shit for their actions, even if their action is as simple as stating they like chicken. It’s a lot harder to sympathize with her when she treats people the way she does. Nowhere in the history of ever has yelling at or belittling someone convinced them to change their mind about something. It usually has the opposite effect. And while I get that she is passionate about climate change, it still doesn’t excuse the way she treats people, especially her own family and Javi. There is also the fact that while she enjoys spewing facts about climate change and fossil fuels, she rarely looks at the other side of things, such as how other families who are not as well off as hers can’t as easily change things about their situations, living conditions, or jobs, not to mention the fact that there are human rights violations when it comes to the people that have to mine for the minerals to make batteries for cars and what happens when rich countries ship their recyclable items to poor countries and let them deal with it. She does get a bit of enlightenment at the end, but we only able to see a tiny change as it comes so late in the story. And while she is dealing with her own form of PTSD or possibly OCD, it still isn’t an excuse for her to treat people the way she does.

I think climate change is important and there is a lot of work to be done. We do need to do something about our reliance on oil and plastic, but we need to realize that there are human lives on the other end of things too.

ARC Review | Starter Villain

4.5 stars

I feel like John Scalzi writes only 2 types of sci-fi – the kind that is thought-provoking and intriguing, where you can imagine the science being part of life in the future, and the kind that is completely off the walls, batshit insane. This book is of the latter and I am totally here for it.

This book consists of sentient cats, union demanding dolphins, a volcano lair in the Caribbean, a villainous organization, and a very fast paced story. After taking a bit to get through the first few chapters, I easily flew through the rest of it. There’s just so much crazy shit going on that it’s very easy and compelling to keep reading to find out what will happen next. The main character, Charlie, in thrown into the world of secret organizations and villains who try to run the world after his uncle dies, and does his best to keep up with it all. It’s easy to see how Scalzi took inspiration from our world now, and it’s easy to believe that many of the uber-rich could be sitting around doing and talking about these exact things (minus the sentient cats and dolphins). Speaking of the dolphins, their first interaction with Charlie was one of the funniest things I’ve read in a very long time. There’s also a lot of double-crossing, and even if you think you’ve got it figured out you probably don’t. Definitely recommended for anyone who loves Scalzi, humorous sci-fi, and books that’ll keep you guessing.

Also how can you not love that cover?

ARC Review | The Girl Who Never Came Back

3.5 stars

This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and it ended up being a bit of a letdown for me. While I generally enjoy books that go back and forth between time periods and perspectives, it just didn’t work for me this time. I was more invested in the chapters dealing with the past than with the present, though I was still hoping for more.

The past chapters deal with Sylvia and her time working with the SOE during the war, and the times after trying to find one of her operatives, the beautiful Phyllis (seriously; every time Sylvia talks about Phyllis, she has to mention how beautiful or lovely she was. It was a bit odd and got rather grating after a while). And while there were parts in between chapters that were directions out of an SOE manual, I was hoping for a bit more explanation on what they and the operatives did. It’s not an organization I’m super familiar with, so a bit more information would have been helpful.

The present chapters are told from Peg’s perspective, who is a long time friend of Sylvia’s. I didn’t find these chapters very engaging or interesting, and found my attention wandering more during these parts. Peg isn’t as good of a narrator, and I found a lot of what she discussed to be rather boring. It’s these chapters that made me feel less connected to the story and the main reason this didn’t get as high of a rating. The ending was also rather abrupt; I would have liked to know exactly what Sylvia’s letter to Humphrey said. I think it would have given the book a little better of a send off.

This wasn’t terrible by any means, and I’m sure many people will enjoy it. It just wasn’t engaging enough for me.

ARC Review | Mister Magic

3 stars

I’ve really struggled with writing this review. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever struggled this much on writing a review before. It’s taken me a while to try and find the right words, but I still don’t think I’ve got it quite right. The story itself is a 4/4.5 star. It was very well done, with the creepy nature and not really knowing what’s going on. But my feelings for the layers underneath the surface of the story bring it down a bit.

This book is an allegory about the author’s life, which you don’t realize until you get to the author’s note at the end. There is a lot going on, and it can be a real struggle to figure it all out at times. It reminded me a lot of A.S. King’s books, with the speculative nature and illusions. And while on the surface I enjoyed this, underneath it all is what I struggled with. While I don’t doubt one bit that the author had some hard times and issues growing up, I hope people don’t take it as that is how the entire group of people the author is talking about acts. Has the LDS church done wrong things in the past? Yes. Are there people in the church who are not good people? Yes. Does that mean the entire church and everyone in it is a racist, homophobic, bigot? Absolutely not. However, it almost feels as if that is how the church and everyone in it is. I applaud the author for writing this book, as she said it helped her to heal, but I hope anyone who reads it also understands that while this was the authors experience, it does not cover everyone’s experience with this church. My feelings would still be the same had a different church or group been portrayed instead. We can talk about the wrongs people or groups or churches have done without claiming everyone in them is a terrible person and actively trying to get people to foster more hate. That’s the last thing this world needs.

I think this will appeal to fans of A.S. King, those who like speculative fiction or working hard to understand what’s going on, and those who can appreciate the story and still understand those experiences are not indicative of an entire group.

ARC Review | Alchemy of a Blackbird

4 stars

When I received a copy of this book, I was quite interested as I had read Leonora in the Morning Light 2 years ago and knew this book would be featuring her as well, though in a different capacity. And while that book went through a good portion of her life, I don’t remember any mention of Remedios Varo. Like with Leonora in the Morning Light, I read up on Remedios before starting and would pause throughout the book to look up her various paintings or read about some of the other people mentioned in the book.

This drew me in pretty quickly; the setting of Paris at the start of the war and her flight from there to Marseilles and eventually to Mexico was captivating, though there was plenty of information missing. I enjoyed reading about her and the other surrealists, most of which I didn’t know much about beforehand. The way the author incorporated the tarot cards was pretty unique, though I have read it has confused other readers. Each card represented a different person in the story who would talk from their perspective either about Remedios or other important parts of the story. Each card also gave a description of what that card was and you could see how each card related to the person who was currently speaking. I enjoyed this take on story telling, though I can see how it would confuse people.

My biggest issue with this book is the huge jumps in time with very little telling of there being an actual time jump. You’ll be reading one chapter and go on to the next thinking it takes place in the same timeframe, only to find out halfway through the chapter that 10 years have actually passed in between the two. Some dating on the chapters would help to know when things are taking place instead of trying to guess. The other issue is I wish there had been more backstory or more telling of certain events. I can understand why some was left out, but I think the story would have benefitted from telling of a few more things.

The book ends pretty abruptly, which is actually fitting in this case as Remedios Varo’s life ended rather abruptly as well. It’s a case of art imitating life; both end unexpectedly, though you wish they hadn’t. I recommend as this is being read to look through her various paintings, as they help give life and meaning to the story.

ARC Review | The Paris Agent

4.5 stars

I enjoyed this so much more than The Things We Cannot Say. I feel as if the characters were more fleshed out and the story more gripping. Though I struggled with it a bit at first, it quickly picked up speed and kept me wanting to find out more.

The story is told through multiple POV’s, which are a little hard to keep track of at first. The two female SOE operatives in the 1940’s go by their real names on the chapter headers, but during the story they use aliases which makes it hard to know who is who at first as it isn’t specified right away. Once I was able to get the hang of which female was using which alias, it made it easier. The story jumps between the 1940’s and 1970, in which the daughter of a former SOE operative is trying to help him find out who saved his life during the war and what happened in the aftermath of his injury. There is a lot of mystery at first, and the plot moves along at a good pace. Towards the end you start to feel the apprehension of what happened to the SOE operatives. While I think the end was wrapped up a little too neatly, I did enjoy the conclusion and was satisfied with how it all turned out.

Definitely one to check out if you enjoy historical fiction with a good deal of research put into it, WWII stories, or mysteries involving the war.