Lover Unbound by J R Ward ***** - After reading the first four books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series in February, I was excited to re-join this crew of vampires. Lover Unbound is Vishous’ story and we have already learned a fair bit about him including his unusual sexual habits, but I was excited to see his story play out. The experience I have had with this series has been a little hit or miss as some books are far better than others but we are getting into the main core of the series now as it was revealed in the previous book that the combined powers of Butch and Vishous have the power to destroy and track the Lessers. We are initially introduced to Dr. Jane Whitcomb when she is a child growing up in a rich yet lonely household with her younger sister Hannah, one night after her birthday sleepover is cancelled, Jane uses a Ouija board with Hannah and it tells her she will marry someone called Vishous and that Hannah won’t have any Christmas presents. Jane dismisses this but wakes the next morning to find her sister death due to an undiagnosed heart condition. We switch back to Vishous who is struggling with the feeling of losing Butch to Marissa because he can’t spend all of his time with Butch now and it is getting to him. In order to keep himself in check, Vishous arranges a meeting with a submissive and while we don’t see it the aftermath is messy, in a good way but Vishous fear of sleep comes back to haunt him.
An Absolutely Foolish Endeavour by Hank Green ***** - After finishing An Absolutely Remarkable Endeavour I couldn’t wait to get into the sequel especially after the ending of the first book. The opening to A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor was amazing and really captured the essence of the first book. April begins by telling us the reader that she isn’t going to lie to us anymore and tells us that we aren’t as safe as she first thought. However, we begin changing perspectives here between Maya, Andy, and Miranda although I am sure there will be more as the story progresses. Maya firmly believes that April isn’t dead and is using the Som and the weird things happening in certain parts of the US to begin looking for her. These strange things range from dolphin pods finding their way to Trenton and dying rather than returning downstream and strange internet outages that aren’t really happening anywhere else as well as suspicious lab and hospital break-ins. Andy has been sent a sentient book which seems to both be able to communicate with him and tell him the future, I am sure this book was sent by April and the Carl as it confirms that April is still alive and being treated for what happened to her body and mind but it warns Andy not to mention the existence of the book and he doesn’t. Meanwhile, Miranda has been trying to return to her PhD but is distracted by Peter Petrawicki’s new “service” and she believes that she knows what it is. The book informs Andy that he needs to buy stock in a company then sell it four days later and when Miranda calls him he needs to tell her “to do it”, whatever that is.
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel *** - I read last year The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel and absolutely loved it and I couldn’t wait to get into Station Eleven which I have heard amazing things about. We are introduced to Arthur Leander, an actor playing King Lear when he suddenly collapsed in the fourth act. A man in the audience, Jeevan, a training paramedic, obviously rushes to help but there is nothing that can be done for Arthur and he dies fairly quickly after that but Jeevan is distracted by a young girl who was also in the play, Kirsten. After leaving the theatre, Jeevan gets a call from his friend, Hua, who tells him that the Georgian Flu they have been hearing about has spread further than they thought and now it is in the city and spreading like wildfire. Hua explains that 30+ people including two nurses have died since patients came in with symptoms that morning and Jeevan needs to get out of the city or hide somewhere to wait it out. Jeevan decides to stock up on supplies at stay with his brother, Frank, who is in a wheelchair rather than returning to his girlfriend but I have a feeling Jeevan has also been exposed to the flu. The opening of Station Eleven certainly didn’t waste any time in introducing us to some characters and the epidemic that is going to wipe out most of the population as we know that some characters last a few weeks but never more before the infection catches up with them and given the times we are living in right now it hit close to home for me.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia **** - I haven’t read anything by this author before but I have heard great things about this book and decided to pick it up as I love a good horror. The opening to Mexican Gothic was interesting as we are introduced to Noemi Taboada, girl who comes from a high standing family when she is called home from a party one night. Noemi’s father explains that he received a disturbing letter from her cousin, Catalina who recently married Virgil Doyle and he wants Noemi to go to their home, High Place and make sure Catalina is ok. Noemi agrees because her father agrees to allow her to take a Master’s Degree if she does and immediately prepares to leave. When Noemi arrives in the town that houses High Place she immediately feels like she has stepped into another world complete with an intensely creepy atmosphere and is introduced to Virgil’s cousin, Francis and his mother, Florence. She does get to see Catalina briefly who tells Noemi that she has been sick with TB and plagued by fevers but I can instantly tell by Catalina’s reserved and blank demeanour that there is definitely something else going on here and I hope that Noemi gets to the bottom of it.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells ***** - I have heard tons about the Murderbot series and I finally decided to read it because each of the books are really short. As most of the books in this series are under 200 pages, my review will be a lot shorter than it normally is. We are introduced to the protagonist, Murderbot, who is on an assignment but we quickly learn that it has hacked its command system, so it is basically free to do whatever it wants but as it knows it will be disassembled for parts if it is found out, it tries to act as “normal” as possible. During this assignment, Murderbot ends up saving a scientist from a monster trying to eat it although both the human and Murderbot where badly injured in the process. I did like the way Murderbot was introduced and I am looking forward dot following it through this series.
Compulsory by Martha Wells *** - Compulsory was a very short story about Murderbot’s life before the events of All Systems Red when it is a SecUnit for a mining operation which it hates. It knows that there is a 53% chance of a human-on-human massacre before the end of the contract and it doesn’t really care choosing to spend most of its time silent, watching its favourite serials instead of interacting with the humans. However, one day a woman falls down one of the shafts by accident and it decides to rescue her although Murderbot doesn’t know why it came to this conclusion.
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells ***** - The opening to Artificial Condition was interesting as we re-join Murderbot after leaving Mensah and the PreservationAux team. It has moved to a different location but is wary about being found although it has never been stopped and there is nothing in the news about it. However, it does want to put more distance between itself and the crowed human places and decides to jump on a research vessel for the next 21 cycles until it reaches its destination as it is bot driven meaning there are no humans on board. I am coming to really loved the Murderbot series and I can’t wait to see what happens to Murderbot in this novel and whether or not it will ever reunite with Mensah and the others who it did develop a genuine attachment to during the first book.
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells ***** - After reading the first two books in this series and the first short story I am coming to absolutely adore Murderbot and I couldn’t wait to jump into book 3. Murderbot quickly left RaviHyral on another bot driven transport but this one has passengers but it has no choice as it is the only transport going in the right direction and spends the duration of the trip playing security which Murderbot hates. However, it learns that the investigation into GrayCris is picking up as people want to investigate the abandoned terraform facility at Milu which is the exact place that Murderbot is heading and I know Murderbot is going to get wrapped up in this again as it already has experience with what GrayCris is capable of but Murderbot also seems to miss Mensah and the others and I want them to be reunited soon.
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells ***** - After finishing Rogue Protocol, I couldn’t wait to jump into Exit Strategy and see Murderbot return to PreservationAux and Doctor Mensah. Before Murderbot even gets back from Milu, Ship is diverted and Murderbot wisely exits Ship and makes his way through the station thinking of how best to get the information it has back to Doctor Mensah, possibly without having to see her again. We can definitely see that Murderbot is becoming more human like both in appearance and in the way it is acting but it falls back to its SecUnit way of interacting when it is uncomfortable or overly anxious which seems to be all the time right now.
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells *** - This is the second short story in the series but I was looking forward to it as it is the events of Exit Strategy told from the perspective of Doctor Mensah and I was eager to see what she truly thought about Murderbot. We follow Doctor Mensah in the aftermath of the events of Exit Strategy as she contemplates what happened to her and what could have happened if Murderbot had not have saved her. She is also dealing with a lot of reservation from others about Murderbot being allowed to stay on Preservation despite its actions proving that it doesn’t intend to hurt them in any way. To combat this reservation, they decide to film a documentary with Murderbot about its experiences from the beginning up until now as many people believe that the SecUnits are aware of what is being done to them but Murderbot prove they are and that they aren’t happy with it but there is nothing they can do unless they go rogue where they are treated as even more dangerous.
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P Djeli Clark *** - I have read both Ring Shout and The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark in the past and liked them although they were both missing something for me. However, A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Haunting of Tram Car 015 are prequel short story to Clark’s upcoming novel, A Master of Djinn so I had to read them. These books are set in Egypt, 1912, in an alternate Cairo and we are following Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi who works for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities and supernatural elements are something that Clark writes brilliantly and I can’t wait to see what these stories have in store for me. Fatma is working with a local detective, Inspector Aasim Sharif to investigate the death of a Djinn and it seems that this one committed suicide which is very unusual but what is even more unusual is the fact that this Djinn is in possession of an angel’s feather which are extremely rare and hardly ever scene and to Fatma something about the Djinn’s death just doesn’t sit right.
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P Djeli Clark ** - I recently read A Dead Djinn in Cairo and enjoyed it so I decided to check out The Haunting of Tram Car 015 before A Master of Djinn comes out this year. I was intrigued to learn that we aren’t following the same characters from A Dead Djinn in Cairo as we are following Senior Agent Hamed al-Nasr and his new partner Agent Onsi. In the opening section to The Haunting of Tram Car 015 we are introduced to both Hamed and Onsi and it was nice to see Onsi as a rookie and making all the rookie mistakes, however, when they enter the tram car for the first time and Onsi tries to make contact with the spirit they are shoved out of the tram car as it is clear that the spirit doesn’t want them there. Onsi during these scenes was comical and his reaction after they are shoved out actually made me laugh, however, one issue I have with Clark’s short stories and novella is that there are a lot of words on the page but no much really happening and I was hoping for a change of pace here.
Low by Chrissy Williams ***** - I don’t normally read a lot of poetry and this collection is very short so my review is going to reflect that but Low and another collection on Edelweiss really caught my eye. Low caught my attention because it is a collection of poems about loss, specifically following the loss of a child which I haven’t really seen before. I find it quite difficult to review poetry because of how individual it is, obviously the poet had themes they wanted to convey in mind but it will be interpreted differently by everyone who reads it but Low was gut-wrenching in ways I didn’t expect and it really took me by surprise especially with how much I loved this.
Daughters of Bone by Jessica Temple ***** - I don’t normally read a lot of poetry and this collection is very short so my review is going to reflect that but Daughters of Bone really caught my eye although it was mainly the beautiful cover that drew me to it. From the beginning I could tell Daughters of Bone had a completely different tone and feel to Low as it focuses more on human relationships not just with other people but with locations and time itself. Some of the poems were quite light-hearted and fun which was delightful to read then some were darker in tone which was also quite delightful to read and I could not wait to continue reading.
The Only Card in a Deck of Knives by Lauren Turner ***** - I have heard quite a lot of poetry lately and really enjoyed it. The Only Card in a Deck of Knives caught my eye with its gorgeous cover and I couldn’t wait to get into it. The Only Card in a Deck of Knives was a really interesting poetry collection to read centred around sickness, which encompasses physical, emotional and mental sickness told from the perspective of a twenty something young woman and the struggles she has faces in all three areas of sickness. Some of these poems were really dark while others were heartbreakingly sad and really made me empathize with the woman telling these stories.
Path of the Witch by Lidia Pradas **** - I didn’t know anything about The Path of the Witch before jumping into it, but I was inspired to read it by WitchTok as I see tons of videos about real life witchcraft but I don’t understand them and I want to. The first chapter of The Path of the Witch introduces us to some of the key terms and information that will be referenced throughout the whole book and it was really needed for someone like myself that knows nothing about witch craft in any sense. The first type of witch we are introduced to are green witches, these are like the naturalist of the witch community as they are deeply connected to the Earth and Mother Nature and that is how they centre themselves and where they draw the majority of their energy from. It goes much deeper than this however, as Pradas introduces us to the tools that a green witch might employ including but not limited to trees, herbs, stone and crystals, their properties, uses and how they can be used safely by a green witch. So far, despite being a non-fiction book, I was very intrigued to learn more about the different types of witches and the artwork scattered throughout these chapters alone is absolutely divine. Pradas also provides different meditation methods and healing recipes that might appeal to a green witch and how to know if this is the right path for you.
The Psychology of Notorious Serial Killers by Todd Grande ***** - As many of you will know I am absolutely fascinated with both fictional and non-fiction book about serial killers, Hannibal and Mindhunter are some of my favourites. So, I couldn’t wait to jump into this book as it centres on psychology which is another area I am deeply interested in. In the opening chapter Grande lays out the questions he wants to answer in relation to Personality Theory and serial killers and how he is going to go about doing this. It is also wise to keep in mind that the author states himself that he isn’t looking to diagnose the serial killers but to provide opinions only. The next chapter focuses on providing the fundamental information about the different disorders he is going to be looking into from a clinical perspective. Grande starts by going through the Five Factor Model and its many facets and what it means to score highly in certain areas and how they all correlate with each other. Grande goes on to explain how the Five Factor Model (FFM) links to two personality constructs found in serial killers; psychopathy and narcissism. Grande explains what psychopathy and narcissism are, how they are diagnosed and how these relate to serial killers with example of behaviour and known serial killers that exhibit these behaviours strongly. He also explains some common disorders that serial killers are diagnosed with and the correlation between them.
Disembodied Voices by Tim Marczenko * - I requested Disembodies Voices on Edelweiss because I was intrigued by the description despite the cover but I couldn’t work out whether it was non-fiction or fiction so I had to pick it up and find out. The opening chapter to Disembodied Voices was intriguing and confusing at the same time as the author is discussing an incident from when he was a child hearing a voice calling to him from the forest and how he felt that it wasn’t a good idea to follow it despite being tempted to. Tim then spent years trying to find out what the voice was and when he moved to the city he began encountering people with similar stories to his and documenting them but there doesn’t seem to be any “proof” of supernatural activity. I am not sure at this point whether it is going to be a collection of true stories from people encountering the supernatural or Tim narrating his journey to uncover what the voice was that spoke to him when he was a child.
Last Gate of the Emperor by Kwame Mbalia & Prince Joel Makonnen *** - I didn’t know anything about this book before getting into it but the mix of African and Ethiopian fantasy was something I haven’t read much of and was interested to see. We are introduced to Yared Heywat who lives on a planet called Addis Prime with his Uncle Moti and his bionic lioness Besa. Yared is an orphan and has lived with his uncle since the death of his parents, they often move around a lot which has left Yared quite isolated due the mysterious circumstances as they often find themselves living in fortified abandoned buildings and I immediately wondered why. Moti has taught Yared a lot of skills along with many tales about Addis Prime despite Yared finding the planet quite boring. Yared is your typical young boy often sneaking out to play a popular augmented reality game called The Hunt for Kaleb’s Obelisk and one night things go very, very wrong. During his latest time in the game Yared is ranked as one of the top players when the game mysteriously resets and all the players have to start from the beginning and this time he isn’t allowed to use an alias he has to use his real name which struck me as suspicious straight away and he has to have a partner which is a problem for Yared as his only real friend is Besa. Yared ends up getting paired with a girl calling herself the Ibis and he is frequently annoyed with her mostly due to the fact that she is better than him making Yared come across a cocky and overly confident which didn’t make me like him as a character at first.
Dustborn by Erin Bowman *** - I haven’t read much by this author before but science fiction mixed with dystopia and a touch of a western caught my attention and I managed to get an ARC for this blog tour. I have seen this particular mix of genres before and I am eager to find out whether it is something I enjoy. We are introduced to Delta of Dead River, her sister and their mother who live on the banks of the Dead River with the rest of their pack. It seems that this is a post-apocalyptic world where there seems to be a worldwide drought and the packs are the remaining pockets of humans trying to survive in this new world. Delta is under the impression that the pack should have moved in the winter but they can’t move now because of the heat and the numerous dust storms that happen in the summer months but more than this people are against moving with young children and Delta’s own sister is pregnant. We learn that these people read the stars in order to make decisions and there is something called the Verdant. The Verdant is a map that has been handed down through their pack for generations and when the physical map began to disintegrate they branded it onto a pair of children and the most recent pair were Delta and Asher. However, no one can read the map but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people looking for it as their previous home on Alkali lake was raided after the pack split in two, Asher stayed behind while Delta left and everyone on Alkali lake was killed by the raiders including Asher.
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