Even though I am pleased with the 21 books I read in May I am aiming to read more big books in June as I have a lot of series to catch up on like The Stormlight Archives, The First Law, The Wheel of Time and many more.
Sherlock Holmes & The Ripper of Whitechapel by M.K. Wiseman **** - I haven’t read much Sherlock Holmes fiction before, in fact, the only Arthur Cohen Doyle book I’ve read is Hound of the Baskervilles but when I read the synopsis of this book I had to request it. From what I got from the synopsis Sherlock Holmes is investigating the Whitechapel Murder alone after Doctor John Watson got married and Watson quickly becomes the prime suspect in the case. I did have some reservations about this book as I find shorter mysteries and thrillers don’t have the level of resolution or depth that I expect from those kind of novels but I was eager to get into this book as I love anything based around the Whitechapel Murders and Jack the Ripper. Sherlock gets on to the case around the fourth victims and from a quick examination of the scene, Watson becomes a suspect for him but he doesn’t voice this. Watson becomes a suspect because he has repeatedly warned Sherlock away from the Ripper case and his brand of cigarettes are found at the scene. They also find a note at the scene from the killer promising fifteen more victims before he turns himself him.
Miles from Motown by Lisa Sukenic *** - I have read a few novels in verse but I am have had mixed reactions with them but Miles from Motown seemed interesting. We are introduced to Georgia who is entering a poetry contest but only Detroit residents only but her parents are making her move so she lies about the address and uses her aunt Birdie’s address instead, we also learn early on that her older brother, Ty has deployed to Vietnam and for the first time in her life the following year she won’t be in a class with her friend Ceci. Georgia isn’t happy about the move and this is made worse when her parents refuses to tell her the reason for the move but I have a feeling it isn’t a good one. We know from history that the war in Vietnam cost a lot of lives and I have this sinking feeling that Ty might be one of them.
The Lodge by Chris Coppel ***** - I haven’t read anything by Chris Coppel before but I love mystery and thriller novels and the synopsis really got my attention. We are introduced to Constable Andrew Whiting who is a police officer working in the Scottish Highlands which is a boring and cold posting until one night he gets a call about someone being found dead at the Waylight B & B. On the drive there, Andrew has a strange encounter with a stag as when he touches it to move it out the way of his car, he gets a vision of a car crash and a strange sensation which quickly passes. This might be hinting at something to come but we know once Andrew arrives at the Waylight he isn’t going to be leaving for a while due to the horrendous weather conditions. Here he learns that a guest called Alan chocked during dinner which was ironically the quail he shot that same day and while the others tried to help remove the bone from his throat and performed CPR they were unsuccessful. Andrew, however, has bigger problems as the weather is getting worse and they are in for a real snowstorm but in order for everyone to stay at the Lodge, the scene needs to be documented and the body removed but Andrew’s car won’t make it in the snow and his only chance is the owner’s 4 by 4 but he has been having trouble with it as well as the phones but Andrew decides to give it a shot.
Come Home, Indio by Jim Terry *** - I recently read Diary of a Part-Time Indian and loved the graphic novel element of that so I had to request Come Home, Indio which follows similar themes as the author as a Native American shares his journey from childhood, through struggles with alcoholism, to a spiritual awakening at Standing Rock. As this novel is told in graphic format my review isn’t going to be that long. The first half of Come Home, Indio follows Jim’s childhood and the beginning of his teen years. From the moment he was born he had a rough childhood as his mother had another child before him with another man who his father refused to take care so he lived with their grandparents and saw him only when they visited. However, he was diagnosed with leukaemia and died young which gave Jim many fears. Jim’s parents didn’t have the best relationship and that often showed during Jim’s formative year and his parents eventually separated with shared custody as neither child wanted to be with either parent. Jim’s father had a temper that Jim shared and his mother liked the drink especially after the death of their brother. His mother enters a new relationship and it quickly comes to light that Jim isn’t performing well in school despite his love of comics but that eventually changes when he is introduced to some classic fantasy novels but he does love fantasy and sci-fi movies like Star Wars. Jim also faces racism growing up and struggles to accept his Native heritage despite working on a tourist reservation. It is here Jim begins drinking for the first time and he believes he understands how his mother feels when she drinks but he also quickly learns the downside to drinking heavily.
The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost ***** - This book has been on my TBR for a long time and it was only recently when I re-read the synopsis that I finally decided to pick it up and I also got the audiobook to listen along to. Mark Frost was interesting to see as an author because I know him as the co-creator of Twin Peaks so I was intrigued to see how that style translated into his writing. We are introduced to Will West, who has always had to live by his parent’s seemingly ridiculous set of rules but he has never questioned them or the fact they month every 18 months like clockwork. However, on this morning, Will wakes from a disturbing dream that feels extremely real and finds himself being followed on his morning run by a black sedan. As he evades the car he notices that he is absolutely smashing his average running time and he has no idea how he is doing it. By the time he actually arrives at school Will is worried he has drawn too much attention to himself but the questions about the sedan and how he knew what the driver wanted without being anywhere near them plagues him until he is called to the office. There Will learns that he broke records on his standardized test and he is offer a scholarship to the Centre for Integrated Learning, a private school for the elite and Will know he is going to accept but he can’t shake the feeling that the woman accompanying him home isn’t his mother as something doesn’t feel right about her.
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie ***** - This is my first Joe Abercrombie books and his books come highly recommended by many trusted reviewers so I couldn’t wait to jump into this new dark fantasy world. The first character we are introduced is Logen Ninefingers, an infamous barbarian who seems to be running for his life from a race called the Shanka abandoning his travelling companions and heading into the mountains with only his pack as that is the only safe place for him right now. We then switch to the perspective of Inquisitor Glokta, a man crippled after being a prisoner of war for two years, who now works obtaining confessions for the Inquisition. However, Glokta isn’t the good books of his superiors after bringing a particular man in for questioning but when he is faced with the Arch Lector he is given the job of arresting and obtaining a confession from the Master of the Mint for high treason and Glokta doesn’t have a good feeling about this job but does it anyway. I immediately liked Glokta as he was funny, insightful and more than a little self-deprecating which really endures you to him despite his profession and merciless nature. Logen is being tracked down by a Magus whose apprentice has come looking for him but the purpose of this is unknown and they first have to survive the harsh condition, low good supplies and bandits before they can worry about that. We are also introduced to Captain Jezal dan Luthar, who sole purpose in life seems to be pissing off the higher up officers. It seems Jezal has been entered into a competition and there is a lot of money on his opponent but the winner wins the favour of the King which Jezal wants but he doesn’t want to put the effort in to get it. We learn through him that his commanding officer, West has a connection to Glokta as they served in the war together and I can tell there is some bad blood there but West’s sister, Ardee seems almost sweet on Glokta which makes me think that there might have been something between them before Glokta was crippled but right now I don’t know that much.
Your Dad Will Do by Katee Robert ***** - I have read most of the Wicked Villains series by Katee Robert and I’ve loved them and I can’t wait to finish the series but when I learnt she had this book out I had to read it. From what I gather this book follows Lily whose fiancé has cheated on her so as revenge she is going to sleep with his father, Shane who she has been crushing on for a long time. It turns out that Lily’s fiancé, Max is cheating on her with his secretary and she caught them in the act. When she confronts Shane with her desire for him, he wants to know the real reason she is there and she is honest with him and he agrees to be part of her revenge plot as he has wanted her from a long time as well. She agrees to spend the weekend with him before going their separate ways but this doesn’t work out as planned.
Gifting Me To His Best Friend by Katee Robert ***** - After reading Your Dad Will Do I just had to binge read the rest of the series as soon as I could. All I knew about this book in the series is that it is a holiday romance featuring an M/M/F/ trio with some male on male action which had me really excited. We are introduced to Emma, her husband, Grayson and his best friend, Derek who are all on vacation together for Christmas. We can clearly see that despite being happily married both Grayson and Emma harbour an attraction to Derek and they even make jokes about it but they have never acted on these feelings and we can see that Derek finds both of them attractive too. One night while Emma and Grayson are getting it on in the bedroom they discuss the fantasy they have had where Grayson shares Emma which someone else but they have never done it because it wouldn’t be safe with a stranger but they both know Emma would be safe with Derek and they decide to present her as a Christmas present to him for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day only. However, Emma is worried it will affect their relationship as friends especially since Derek and Grayson are extremely close but they recognise that they are all adults at the end of the day and while deal with the aftermath as adults if there is any.
My Dad’s Best Friend by Katee Robert **** - After reading the first two books in this series and loving them I had to jump into book 3 straight away. All I knew about this book before picking it up was we are following Blake and Jonas. Blake was rejected by Jonas six years before as he is her father’s best friend and now there are stuck together during a storm. Given how quickly Robert jumps into the good stuff in this series I couldn’t wait to get stuck into a new romance. Jonas is an architect and Blake is running her father’s company but she has run into a problem since some clients want Jonas to design their homes but he no longer does that particular job. Blake has been trying to get him on board for a while but has always been met with the same response so she drives to his home hoping he won’t turn her away. While he lets her deliver the pitch and he turns he down she can’t leave because of the storm and she stays the night. She tries to get him to talk about the night six years before where he rejected her after she kissed him and he makes it very clear that she was too young back then at 22 as she was the daughter of his best friend and boss so it was never going to happen. Blake does drop some hints about them doing it now but Jonas once again rejects her although this very quickly changes when he finds her pleasuring herself in his bed.
Seducing My Guardian by Katee Robert ***** - This is the last but one book in the series with the final book to be published later this year and I couldn’t wait to get into it. In this book we are following Hazel whose parents died in a car crash when she was sixteen and for the past nine years she has been the ward of her father’s old army friend, Devan. One of the first thing Hazel noticed even through her grief was that she was attracted to Devan but he sent her to boarding school. Every year she has acted out in some way on her birthday in order to get his attention and he has always come to her rescue even when she believed that she didn’t need it. Now she is turning 25, Devon is freed on his responsibilities as Hazel in now in control of her own trust fund and all she wants for this birthday is Devan. Like clockwork he appears when she needs him most and makes it clear to him she doesn’t need him to save her any longer and makes him the offer which he refuses. This does hurt Hazel but she doesn’t let it show and they discuss an incident between them the previous year and again he refuses her. Hazel decided to use a different tactic and tells him if she doesn’t go to bed with him tonight she is going with someone else and the possessive side of Devan comes out.
Claire’s Apocalypse by K.T. Rose ***** - As most of my reader will know I have a love, hate relationship with short stories especially those in the horror genre but I was intrigued by Claire’s Apocalypse which centres around Dr. Claire Lyle working for the Bioweapons Division as she creates the most infectious microbe known to man. After years of working on the virus known as V7, created to be the next big bioweapon, Claire’s whole department is shut down but she refuses to let the virus be destroyed so she takes it and intends to sell it to the highest bidder.
Confessions of a Gentleman Killer by Johnny Payne ***** - All I knew about this novel was that it follows Kilcairn who led a double life as a gentleman in high society and a killer who was known as the Gentleman Killer and this book is his confessions. Kilcairn doesn’t seem like someone that dangerous when we first meet him but we quickly learn he is. Not only does he grow through a heinous divorce after being caught sleeping with his mother in law, it is around this time he begins killing but the feelings have always been there as he explains about his teenage years and how even then he felt the urge to kill women while he slept with them. After the divorce he continued wooing women in order to kill them and he does it in a gentle manner compared to someone like Jack the Ripper who is to follow Kilcairn who was vicious in his killings. Kilcairn is basically just talking us through his life and how he came to being killing and the first few women he murdered which was interesting and I am excited to see where this novel goes.
Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes by Silver Donald Cameron *** - I don’t often read non-fiction but true crime always managed to win me over. This book follows a murder that took place in June 2013, in Cape Breton, the victim is Phillip Boudreau who was killed on his boat, the Midnight Slider by two Landry cousins and skipper Dwayne Samson, all of whom were fishermen. Just from this brief synopsis I was hooked already and I couldn’t wait to get into the book. We get to know Philip as a person and there is a lot of duality about him. He seems to be the kind of person that is great to know if he is your friend but he can make your life a living hell if you are his enemy. There also seems to be a lot of speculation that other people often hired Philip to do things they didn’t want to do themselves like sabotaging lobster traps as that would cost rival fisherman hundreds of dollars to replace the traps and thousands of dollars in lost revenue for the lobsters they weren’t able to sell and considering this over time it doesn’t take much imagination to see a person snapping over these slights.
Black Box by Shiori Ito ***** - From the beginning Shiori Ito doesn’t mince her word in regard to the state of the Japanese legal system regarding rape and sexual assault but she doesn’t focus on this long as she begins to tell us about herself as a child. Shiori was one of a few children who was able to study abroad as a young teen and was determined to study journalism in the USA despite not having any financial aid. It was in New York that she met Noriyuki Yamaguchi, the man who would assault her for the first time. Noriyuki was a journalist and everything that Shiori aspired to be but after living in America and working herself to the bone to pay for her education she realised sooner or later she would have to return to Japan. It was nice reading about her childhood and getting to know her as a person before we learn about what actually happened to her and why the legal system cast her aside.
The Cipher by Kathe Koja *** - I didn’t know anything about the Cipher before I started it other than it was a dark science fiction, fantasy novel which I have been reading a lot more of in recent years. We are introduced to Natoka and Nicholas who are former lovers who drifted apart after Natoka became obsessed with something they call the Funhole. The Funhole is essentially a black hole of sorts that seems partially alive or at least sentient. Natoka encounters Funhole for the first time and shows it to Nicholas which is the beginning of her obsession. Natoka ends up bringing both a variety of bugs and a mouse to the Funhole to see how it affects them, all end up dying and sometimes in an explosive fashion but everything has been mutated and covered in runes. Both speculate what it would be like to go into the Funhole but neither risk doing it especially after beginning to see what it is capable of. Funhole actually brings Nicholas and Natoka together but he realises the next morning that in a way it was the Funhole he took to bed last night not Natoka showing us that it might have the ability to influence thought and project itself into the minds of others. It was a particularly unique or interesting opening to the novel but I was intrigued and can’t wait to see what happens with Funhole and these characters.
From the Caves by Thea Prieto ***** - This book was intriguing to me for several reasons, it features stories within a story and because it is less than 150 pages long. We are introduced to our cast of characters who are Sky, a child coming of age; Tie, pregnant and grieving; Mark, a young man poised to assume primacy; and Teller, an elder, holder of stories. This group used to have another member Green who dies in the opening pages, although whether this death is accidental or suicide is unknown. After Green’s death we can see fractures appearing within the group as only Mark is fit to work now. Tie is heavily pregnant and Teller is suffering from an infection in his foot which might claim his life. The youngest of the group Sky is only nine years old and is Mark’s younger brother but Mark hates Sky because he believes that Sky killed Mother and he doesn’t see Sky having a use within the group. However, Mark fails to realise Sky won’t learn until he is taught and that he is very afraid of Mark especially when he starts to get angry. Despite this Mark’s argument are valid as the summer is coming and in this dystopian world that means unbearable heat making water the top priority but Green prioritizes seemingly useless things over the things that mean the difference between life and death. The premise of this novel was very interesting and it is very quick moving as we are introduced to the group, their dynamics and the death of Green in only a couple of pages.
The Naomi Letters by Rachel Mennies ** - All I knew about The Naomi Letters before getting into it was it is a collection of epistles containing a series of love letters between two women. We are introduced to Naomi and Rachel as she tells Naomi about the thoughts of suicide she has had as well as her hatred for her own body which makes me think that Rachel might be transgender or non-binary. We also know that Rachel is Jewish and often struggled with her desire for women and finds it hard to maintain a relationship but the one with Naomi seems different and holds a special place in Rachel’s heart. As we read through the letters I was confused a little by Rachel’s relationship to Naomi. Initially it seems like they are lovers separated by circumstances but it might also be that they have broken up as the unsent draft letters imply that they are no longer together and Rachel is at fault for that but it isn’t really clear.
Vulnerable AF by Tarriona Ball **** - Poetry is something I find personally difficult to review as there isn’t much you can say on the actual written work but rather what it made you feel and poetry surrounding romance tends to fall pretty flat for me but this one was intriguing. We are introduced to Tarriona “Tank” as she explains her relationship with Adam, a drummer. She explains that when she first meet him their relationship was doomed from the start as they could only communicate through a friend which is a huge red flag but she was overwhelmed by him. She goes on to explain how her infatuation and obsession with him equalled love in her mind.
Desperate Measures by Katee Robert ***** - I have read the first four books in this series previously but I have decided to re-read them before reading the final two books and the collection of short stories. Desperate Measures is an Aladdin retelling following the relationship between Jasmine and Jafar. We are introduced to Jasmine as she learns she has essentially been sold by her father to ensure his power and he strikes her for her comments. That night Jafar comes into her room and she begs him to save her only to learn that he has taken her father’s position and everything that belonged to her father now belongs to him including her. Jafar does give her a chance to escape and she fails but throughout all of this and their first sexual encounter we know that Jasmine has a safe word she can use to make Jafar stop and she doesn’t use it as she wants this just as much as Jafar does but she is also aware that she has traded one prison for another. Honestly coming back into the world of Carver City and all its politics and illegal doings was amazing as Desperate Measures is a great start to the series.
The Beast by Katee Robert ***** - As I mentioned in my Desperate Measures review I am skipping my re-read of Learn My Lesson and A Worthy Opponent because I didn’t really enjoy them the first time around but I am reading the short stories that go with these two books before jumping into my re-read of The Beast. We get to see in the short stories the public scene between Hercules, Hades and Meg which was interesting but I was disappointed yet again that Hades wasn’t a more active participant in the sex scenes. We also get to see a lot of Tink and Hook but I didn’t feel these stories added much to their story or characters apart from the one where they discuss their fears of becoming parents due to the way they were raised. We also get a brief story following Aurora who has issues with Malone which I am sure is featured in the last book but it focuses more on her relationship with Gaeton as they both try to cope with their respective issues. Obviously the next story is the one that follows Isabelle, Beast and Gaeton and I couldn’t wait to get back into their story. From what I remember I wasn’t keen on the first portion of The Beast but when you really get to know the characters and their history it really heats up especially since this is one of the only books that features a good m/m sex scene and relationship.
The Immortal Game by Talia Rothschild & A. C. Harvey **** - I initially requested The Immortal Game because the synopsis sounded similar to the Percy Jackson series which I have loved reading although I haven’t read the other series yet. One thing quickly established in this book is that all children of the Gods need to take part in something called the Immortality Trials to earn their place on Mount Olympus and gain their immortality, similar to how Hercules has to undergo his trials to secure his immortality in the Disney movie. This was an interesting perspective to start from as most books focused on Greek mythology tend to focus on demi-gods like Percy Jackson but these children are full-blooded Gods and just the idea of the powers they could have had me griped. We learn that the children of the Big Three Gods; Zeus, Poseidon and Hades have to take their trails before the other godly children and this is where we are introduced to Galene, daughter of Poseidon as she is taking her trial.
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