I read 15 books this month which is great but one under my goal of 16 books or more per month but I think May, June and July will be better now the nice weather has arrived although I will have to take a little time out for work training early on in the month.
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert 5 Stars – After reading Dune last month and loving it I couldn’t wait to get into Dune Messiah especially since it is quite a bit shorter than the first book. The opening to Dune Messiah was interesting as there is a 12 year gap between the end of the first book and the start of this one. Paul Atreides also known as Maud’Dib by the Fremens has been Emperor for twelve years but we are introduced to a plot to overthrow him which consists of the space Guild, the Bene Gesserit along with a Tleilaxu Face Dancer called Scytale and the Princess Irulan. This plot has come about because Paul controls Arrakis and the spice which most people are dependent on for the gifts it gives them but he hasn’t made Irulan his Empress despite marrying her because he swore to be loyal to Chani even after the death of their son, Leto. In their possession they have a ghola made from the corpse of Duncan Idaho called Hayt which they want to poison Paul’s psyche with, however, Chani implants the idea of Paul having a child with Irulan in order to strengthen his position and weaken hers but Paul isn’t keen on this but he doesn’t know Irulan has been giving Chani a contraceptive which is why she hasn’t conceived again since Paul becoming Emperor. Already there are plots within plots and I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski 3.75 Stars – It has been a while since I read The Last Wish but that and Sword of Destiny are short story collections in the Witcher universe so I was looking forward to getting back into this before diving into the main series. We are continuing to follow Geralt on his witcher adventures before the events of the main series and in the first story The Bounds of Reason Geralt ends up meeting Borch and his two women, Tea and Vea after completing a job. They agree to travel together because Borch unlike a lot of others doesn’t dislike the witchers. They eventually end up on a bridge barred to them where Dandelion is also waiting to pass into the town but it has been set upon by a dragon. A true dragon is one of the only creatures that Geralt won’t touch but he wants to enter because Yennefer is there. They succeed in getting in but Yennefer wants nothing to do with Geralt and this could be because their relationship in The Last Wish ended on a very sour note but I am excited to see what goes down in the rest of this story. When they encounter the dragon it isn’t the one they were expecting as it is golden practically a legend and it won’t let them go any further. After thrashing the majority of the men with Yennefer’s help the dragon doesn’t want to harm them as it was only protecting the other dragon and its baby. We learn that the dragon is Borch as he can shapeshifts at will before he lets Geralt, Yennefer and Dandelion go it tells Yennefer and Geralt that they were made for each other but no children will ever come of their union but Yennefer refuses to give up hope of becoming a mother.
Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller 4 Stars – So Blackfish City was a book I picked up knowing nothing about it other than the cover was awesome and the synopsis sounded cool. The opening to Blackfish City was interesting as climate change has drastically changed the world and one of the few inhabitable places on Earth is a city called Qaanaaq. Qaanaaq is based in the Artic Circle and one of the first characters we are introduced to is Fill, he has recently learned that he has contracted a disease known as the Breaks which is primarily sexually transmitted although it can appear in other ways and these people are being shipped of Qaanaaq but there is currently a six month delay and he finds some comfort in listening to the City Without a Map podcast which is considered by some to be run by radicals. We are also introduced to Ankit who used to be a scaler but now works for Qaanaaq in the housing department. However, we learn that she was taken in at ten and her birth mother is confined to the Cabinet, Qaanaaq’s psych ward. Ankit also has a brother, Kaev who is a beam fighter but it seems that there is something wrong with him whether this is the breaks or another disease isn’t yet known but I am looking forward to where the novel is going to go.
Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton 4.5 Stars – After being a little disappointed by The Laughing Corpse I had high hope for Circus of the Damned. The synopsis sounded interesting and seem to promise a lot more of Jean-Claude than we saw in the first two novels and I’m down for it. We re-join Anita as she is in a meeting with Jeremy Reubens and Karl Inger from Humans First who want her help in killing all the vampires in the city and they also want the daytime location of the Master Vampire of the City which is Jean-Claude. Obviously, Anita refuses and this might come back and bite her later on but she doesn’t have time to wonder since she is called to a crime scene involving a vampire death. When she arrives she assesses that 3-5 vampires killed the man potentially a Master and his pack but she doesn’t know of anyone in the city at the moment that stupid or reckless but she knows she has to speak to Jean-Claude and figure out if there is anyone new in the city. Anita isn’t happy about this as she has spent the last two months avoiding Jean-Claude which after the last book I thought might have eased off but it clearly hasn’t and that frustrates me as a reader.
Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson 5 Stars – After reading A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder last month I couldn’t wait to get into the sequel because I absolutely loved the first book especially the relationship between Pip and Ravi and I hope to see more of them as a potential couple. The opening to Good Girl, Bad Blood was a great wrap up of the previous novel as Pip publishes her podcast about the investigation in Andie’s disappearance and Sal’s death which really takes off but she insists that her investigating days are over now. We also see her following the trial of Max Hastings who is faced various rape and sexual assault charges and the vigil for the anniversary of Sal and Andie’s deaths. This was hard for all the characters now the truth has come out but it was so nice to see Ravi and Pip as a proper couple and supporting each other through these difficult times and I can’t wait to see how this develops over the course of this novel.
John Dies at the End by David Wong DNF – So I didn’t really know anything about this book before getting into it but I prefer going into horror books blind. The first thing I noticed about John Dies at the End is that it is told in a strange way that makes it a little difficult to follow at first but I soon got the hang of it. We are introduced to friend John and Dave initially in the present where they have been contact by Shelly to deal with her ghost boyfriend. At the house they realise that she is supernatural herself and finds them stuck in the house with her and potentially another demon but it is quickly dealt with. Then it jumps forward where Dave is doing an interview about his life before jumping way back into the past. These supernatural things seem to be happening because of something called Dante’s syndrome but we don’t know what this is yet. John and Dave are working together in a video store and after John takes a mysterious drug known only as soy sauce or sauce he ends up seeing some really strange things. John even experiences really odd things like Dave receiving phone calls from him or a version of him while he is sat with John which really freaks Dave out and John seems almost possessed in these moments. Dave accidentally stabs himself with the needle John used and sees that the substance inside almost looks alive and disposes of it but the police come and take him and John in for questioning for unknown reasons. During this time Dave has also come into ownership of a strange dog called Molly who seems to be able to sense the supernatural things.
The Lunatic Café by Laurell K. Hamilton 4.5 Stars – After Circus of the Damned I was super hyped to see where Anita’s relationship with both Richard and Jean Claude were going to go after the insanely action packed ending. The novel opens with Richard and Anita going on a date around Christmas time just after Anita turns over a missing persons case to Ronnie. They pair are going to watch Guys and Dolls and this was just a romantic little moment between the pair but it doesn’t last as Jean Claude is there and he isn’t happy about Anita and Richard dating. To spite Richard he lets slip that the current Alpha wants him dead and is planning to challenge and maybe kill Richard which Anita wants to know the reasoning behind but she gets called by the police and has to go to work. Outside she is confronted by a vampire named Gretchen who is in love with Jean Claude and warns Anita to stay out of her way which Anita is happy to do since right now she wants nothing to do with the Master Vampire which Gretchen can’t believe. Jean Claude ends the discussion by telling Gretchen that he never loved her and that he only wants Anita which really upsets Gretchen and it was a very cruel delivery on Jean Claude’s part. I can’t wait to see how this love triangle plays out since I adore both Richard and Jean Claude. I came to really like Richard after Circus of the Damned and seeing how far he was willing to go for Anita without compromise and expectations like Jean Claude.
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan 5 Stars – The opening to A Natural History of Dragons was really interesting I would recommend the audiobook from the outset as it makes for a completely difference experience. We are introduced to Isabella who lives in Scirland, she is only daughter of six children to a wealthy family but from the tender age of 8 she proved she wasn’t going to be a traditional lady as she has hobbies and dreams that are only fitting for a man at this time. This definitely reads a lot like a period drama but I was eager to follow her on her childhood adventures even going on a hunt for a wolf-drake as a young girl. By the time she turns 14 she is pressured to act according to her role and she doesn’t this successfully for two years but her father knows how unhappy it is making her and decides when she turns 16 to help her. At 16 she begins looking for a husband and her father gives her six names of men who would entertain a bookish wife unlike so many other. We know Isabella is going to become the world’s preeminent dragon naturalist as the story is told in the past tense but I loved her relationship with her brother, Andrew and her friendship with Jacob Camherst who eventually proposes to Isabella because she doesn’t want him for his money and the pair genuinely get along well and she agrees.
The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino 5 Stars – The opening to The Devil Makes Three was interesting as we are introduced to Tess Matheson who worked at the Jessop English library of her new school, Falk. Falk is a school for very off children and Tess and her sister, Nat are only there because her aunt’s connection to the school. Tess dreams of playing her cello but has to work in order to support her and Nat because it seems that their father’s business has gone under which is the reason for the move. Tess has the job this day of collecting over 100 books from the stacks for someone named Eliot Birch who she believes is the headmaster of Falk, Dr. Birch and leaves horrible notes over them intending to remove them later. However, Eliot is the headmaster’s son and the other assistant, Regina gives him the books without removing the notes and asks why Tess hates him so much even when it is clear that they don’t know each other. The misunderstanding of the name was funny and gave a unique way for Tess and Eliot to meet each other. Eliot was also interesting because his mother is sick which is why he stays with his father but he has an interest in witchcraft from his mother which might be real magic that he is trying to train himself in.
Sovereignty by Anjenique Hughes 3 Stars – The opening to Sovereignty was actually pretty interesting and I don’t know why I didn’t pick it up sooner since it has been on my shelves for years at this point. We are introduced to the world in the 23rd century after several wars so the population is greatly decreased before being essentially taken over by the Sovereignty Regime. The SR as it is known implants chips into the right wrist of every baby at three days old and this chip controls everything from your bank account to searching for information meaning things like laptops, phones and bank card have become obsolete but it also acts as a training device. We are introduced to Goro and his friends, Alex and Cory as well as his siblings Josiah who is 5 and Stephanie. Goro and his friends plans to blow up some fireworks and see if they can hide themselves from the SR using one of Alex’s creations but while they get away from the site and split up Goro is targeted by the SR and almost taken away if it wasn’t for something more important coming up. At Stephanie’s graduation the next day he has to watch his sister be humiliated when she is given an award only to be told there is a mistake and for it to be given to the Headmaster’s daughter when she clearly hasn’t worked for it like Stephanie has and this is the final straw for Goro as he wants to take down the SR. He has the crazy idea of getting recruited by the SR and attempting to destroy it from the inside since there has to be a weakness and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus 5 Stars – After reading and loving A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder I was recommended One of Us is Lying and McManus’ books have been on my radar for a while but this is the first one I am picking up. The opening to One of Us is Lying was interesting as we are introduced to five students at Bayview High that all have detention. The students are Bronwyn – the nerd, Addy – the Princess, Nate – the criminal, Copper – the jock and Simon. Simon is the most interesting of the five as he runs an app called About That which exposes the latest gossip about the students and everyone knows that everything Simon posts is true and all of the other students have something to hide. Around 15 minutes into the detention Simon collapses due to an allergic reaction, he has a peanut allergy but he hasn’t eaten anything just drunk a cup of water. While help arrives it isn’t in time for Simon and he dies just after reaching the hospital but there are some interesting things to remember. Each of the students had a phone planted on them that wasn’t theirs which is why they are in detention in the first place and Simon alludes to some juicy gossip he will be posting soon and it’s going to centre around these four students and of that I am sure.
Spook’s: Alice by Joseph Delaney 4 Stars – It has been a long while since I read Slither’s tale, book 11 in this series but with only two books left in the series I decided to jump back in and finish it after recapping my reviews. So at this point, Alice is in the dark looking for the last of the hero blades which needs to be used to stop the Fiend once and for all and she is also prepared for the horrific ritual that needs to take place. Meanwhile, Grimalkin in on the run with the head of the Fiend and she encounter Slither in the previous book so I am hoping both make an appearance to cap off the series. Tom Ward is also torn about what he is going to have to do to Alice to stop the Fiend but he is also dealing with the responsibility of being a full time Spook since he has taken over from John Gregory after the events of book 10. Things kick off with a bang as Alice enters the dark through Pan’s domain since he helped her escape before and after explaining why she is there he agrees for her to use his domain as an exit point but there will be a price to pay and Alice agrees. Shortly after entering the dark she realises that she is being hunted by the kretch. She is temporarily able to distract the kretch long enough to come across Thorne who helps Alice as she has been waiting for her. Thorne deals with the kretch but this sets Tanaki, the kretch’s father upon them and they find some refuge for the time being but they are going to be hunted relentlessly by their enemies while they dwell in the dark.
The Spook’s Revenge by Joseph Delaney 5 Stars – The Spook’s Revenge is the final book in the Wardstone Chronicles series and I was sad to finally finish it because I’ve come to love a lot of these characters and I was hoping it was a satisfying ending to the main series even though there are two spin off trilogies were we see Tom Ward again that I will be reading after this one. The Spook’s Revenge picks up right where Alice’s story left off but we are following Tom again who has been taking on more and more of Mr. Gregory’s responsibilities as a spook. Alice also pays Tom a visit to deliver the final hero blade and tells him that she and Grimalkin have found another way of defeating the Fiend although she doesn’t tell him what it is beyond that it uses dark magic and not to inform his master. Tom obviously doesn’t listen to her since he has been keeping a lot of secret from his master and come clean about the ritual and Gregory agrees that they can’t use it because it is barbaric. He also believes the appearance of Tom’s mother’s spirit might have been something else deceiving them and Tom has to reveal more secrets about his family including that his mother was the first lamia, the mother of them all and spent only a small portion of her long life in human form.
Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw 5 Stars – I didn’t know anything about Strange Practice before buying it as I will admit it was a cover buy but after reading the synopsis I was excited to get into it. The opening to Strange Practice was interesting as we are introduced Greta Helsing, a doctor for all things and persons supernatural. On this night she is making a house call to a vampire friend, Ruthven but not for himself. He had called because his lunar bound vampire friend, Sir Francis Varney was attacked and he isn’t recovering the way vampires normally would. Greta managed to get Varney to explain that several people dressed as monks broke into his home covering everything with garlic which vampires are allergic to and they attacked him with a strange instrument leading to his current predicament. Greta isn’t happy with the way Varney is responding and decides to take a closer look at the wound and finds something embedded in it. She removed it but the smell the piece of metal gives off is familiar but Greta can’t place it and takes it for analysis. We learn there have been a string of local murders and the killer had been named the Rosary Ripper and this seems too close to be a coincidence for Greta. While heading home waiting on lab results Greta runs into another one of her patients who had been without his medication for week and gets him some more before treating him to lunch. Greta unlike most modern doctors goes above and beyond not just treating her patients but helping them with other things when she can. We also get a brief glimpse at the potential killers and they seem strange, driven by religion but also performing some form of self-mutilation on themselves.
The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold 4 Stars – I picked this up at the recommendation of Holly from HollyHeartsBooks on YouTube, it has also been compared to Jim Butcher’s work which I do own but wasn’t ready to commit myself to a long series so if I like this trilogy then I will be picking those books in the future. The opening to The Last Smile in Sunder City was interesting to say the least as we are introduced to Fetch Phillips. Fetch is a drinker and private detective but he isn’t well liked for the simple fact he is human. In this world there are many non-human species living in harmony sustained the magic. However, six years before the humans attacked and tried to stop the flow of magic into the world and they actually succeeded. This event is known as the Coda and it was the beginning of the end for the paranormal species. Everyone lost access to their magic and the older races like the Fae and vampires began to die as time caught up with them but the echoes of these wonderful species remain in their children. Fetch was a soldier who worked for the Opus, a seemed to be involved the cessation of magic but the paranormal species needed human technologies to survive after the magic was gone so they live in a tense balance. Fetch is hired by the Principle of Ridgerock Academy to find the history teacher, Professor Rye, who is also a vampire and had been missing for over a week. With money in his pocket the first thing Fetch does is drink but some stumbles across the bodies of two vampires in an abandoned teahouse that Rye used to visit.
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