I hadn't been reading much recently so I decided to quickly pick something available on the library's audiobook page and I ended up getting Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. It might be rare, but I had pretty much avoided the show for its entire run, and only briefly thought of reading the books when I saw a boxset on sale at a secondhand store that I didn't end up purchasing. I think I only ever "watched" one episode while hanging out at a friend's house after school, double quotes because I don't remember anything except everything was blue and there was an ogre(?). Actually I think I was in the room for one other episode at a different friend's house, I just remember her saying "I don't care about those fucking priests" or something. Both these friends insisted I watch the show, but my ick-o-meter for live action nudity always detered me. All I ever heard about the show was that it had gratuitious sex scenes, which I tend to dislike in television and movies. However, I'm not bothered overmuch by sex scenes in books, so it was fine to read/listen to.

So, Game of Thrones is good. Martin is a skilled writer and I can see why the series is so popular. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook read by Roy Dotrice, his character voices were ofun, but some lines really made me laugh, like the way he said some words killed me. My favorite characters were Jon, Arya, and Catelyn. But I'm satisfied enough having read just the first book in the series and doing a little internet searching to satisfy my curiosity about their fates that I don't see myself continuing to read through the series.

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake is the second book in the The Atlas series. You can check out my full review of book one here: The Atlas Six. I didn't think the first book was the best, but I had to read this one because there was something entertaining about The Atlas Six that I never quite put my finger on. I also thought this series was gonna be a duology, unfortunately not....

Oh my god, I thought this was a duology I'm fucking SICK.
— Me

In this book we follow the five candidates who passed the trial to join the Alexandrian Society as they start their second year in the house and are tasked with writing a thesis. Riveting. They have to balance their growing paranoia, the mind games they play with each other and that the school plays with them all while secretly working toward uncovering just what happened to Libby Rhodes.
Through the process of reading this book I came to believe that "Dark Academia" is a kind of power fantasy. Being special because you're good at school and knowledge being a tangible sort of power over society. Then not only having these qualities, but being able to explore them deeply, in isolation, without worrying about money, food, or lodging. When Libby finds herself out on the street with nothing, but the clothes on her back where does she go? The closest university where she is able to get off of the streets and made comfortable because she has knowledge the university wants. The supernatural elements in this series highlights the core of the trend rather than just regurgitating the aesthetics, which is let's face it 99% of it's raison d'etre.

( Cut for length )

I guess I have to chalk this one down as a guilty pleasure, even though I still don't think it's that great. I wanted to write a small fic for it though, but I got bored and gave up lol. It's just so vexxing because there is something about Blake's writing that I like, but I can't figure out what it is. Maybe just the potential I sense from her plots and characters that unfortunately don't go anywhere. I'd definitely like to see her write something else. I'll have to wait and see what she does after she concludes this series. I haven't heard about her getting any new deals though.

A Far Wilder Magic is the second book I've read from Allison Saft. Someone recommended it to me and told me it handled the topic of prejudice better than Ava Reid’s Juniper & Thorn. I was mostly surprised to see Saft’s book recommend because I didn’t remember her debut novel, Down Comes the Night, being particularly well received.

In A Far Wilder Magic Margaret Welty lives in isolation in her small town, taking care of her home all alone while she waits for her mother, a renowned alchemist, to return from her travels. When she spots a mystical and elusive fox in the forest near her home the town’s traditional Hala hunt is announced. Believing that winning the hunt and slaying the fox will bring her mother home she decides to sign up, but there’s a problem: she needs an alchemist partner to compete. Luckily, Weston Winters, a down-on-his-luck alchemist shows up at her door looking for mentorship from her absent mother. They sign up for the hunt and throw themselves into a rocky partnership where they clash with each other and the rest of the town.

Ultimately, the writing sucked, the pacing sucked, most of the characters were completely boring including the female lead despite how badass she was supposed to be with her hunting rifle. It read like a first draft and was extremely derivative of Full Metal Alchemist and a little derivative of Shadow & Bone

I picked up Master of One by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett just to have something to read while I waited for my hold on another book. A blurb somewhere called it a cross between The Cruel Prince and Six of Crows, two books that I hated. Why did I pick this up then? To see how bad it was.
Spoiler: It was GOOD.

I was so pleasantly surprised with this one. I went in with little expectation and fully planning to roast it, but that didn't last very long. While I wish the end was more substantial it didn't detract from the rest of the book for me (it's a very open ending. Enough so that I wish this had been bought as a trilogy instead of a stand-alone). The writing reads well, every scene matters, the characters have rich inner lives, the foreshadowing is well-done and doesn't treat the reader as if they can't puzzle it out on their own and, boy, the pay-offs for paying attention are exciting. It was a joy to read. I hope more of this world gets to be published by the authors. I am looking forward to it.

Juniper & Thorn another Ava Reid book that I both like and dislike simultaneously! It's hard to pin down a star rating again, I'm waffling on it, but this is at least a solid 3 for me for sure. (Also did not know there was controversy around this book until after I read it. Why are authors constantly shit-talking Goodreads reviewers on Twitter? smh. They really shouldn't specify a specific reviewer!)

Juniper & Thorn is a retelling of Grimms' The Juniper Tree. While it uses aspects of the fairy tale it doesn't follow the same plot events. Reid's Marlinchen is the youngest daughter of the last wizard in a town rapidly turning toward industrialization and away from magic. Marlinchen and her two older sisters are witches that their father keeps under his thumb in order to squeeze profit from their powers. As Marlinchen begins to discover herself and the world, she has to confront her abusive father and the atrocities in her life.
Oh there's also a boy she gets with.

Mind that this book is horror (readers online seemed perplexed by this fact), and while I don't discuss them in my review the content warnings can be found in the author's Goodreads post HERE

The Wolf and the Woodsman had worldbuilding (such as it is) and Juniper & Thorn has some of that, but it would have meant very little had I not already been familiar with the themes Reid likes (or general history because this stuff is pretty thinly veiled).
This book bleeds more emotion though. I was put-off, gloomy, and angry at times, even while not caring much for the characters. I liked the ending and I liked the idea of Marlinchen, if not the woman herself. Making a note to buy myself a copy of the paperback next year.

( The Time Machine )

( The Haunting of Hill House )

( We Have Always Lived in the Castle )

Finally finished Hell's Gate by David Weber & Linda Evans. 1208 pages with a cliffhanger ending. I already knew this book was put out as set-up for the rest of the series, but the premise was too good to pass up.

Two civilizations discovered portals that lead to uninhabited planets, all of them copies of Earth. They explore, and plunder, and move into these copies. Arcanum has been doing this for 200 years while Sharona has only had 80 years of exploration. Then one day portals on their respective sides lead them to the same Earth and they discover other humans for the first time.
Two soldiers standing on opposite sides meet in a forest—each shocked to see a stranger and wary of the weapons in each others hands—kill each other and no one will ever know who shot first. Despite having peaceful First Contact protocols an act of cowardice and fear leads to a massacre.
The Sharonian's guns are weapons never before seen by Arcanans and when they decimate an entire squad in the blink of an eye the Arcanans can't help, but to retaliate... with dragons. Yes, Sharona is a civilization built on science while Arcanum is built on magic.

This series debuted in 2006 and had some rough patches with it ending with 3 volumes, with the third and final volume published in 2016 with a differnt co-author. I only have the first two books in my possession. I flipped through the second one to get a feel for the plot and oof, it barely moves. Halfway through its 632 pages Jasak and co. are still on their way to the capital. I won't be reading the rest of the series, but it's not a bad book. I just don't forsee the rest of the series actually covering subjects I'm interested in. I enjoyed both sides being puzzled about what they each brought to the table and implications concerning Gifts and Talents being utlized in/against the other society (Arcanum politicians being read for filth by Sharonian Voices who relay bad vibes to their bosses via hand signals is awesome lol), but the plot is moving way too slow with way too many asides for me.

Pivoting harshly from V.E. Schwab's Gallant I read Gretchen Felker-Martin's Manhunt.

I found this book through R.S. Benedict's podcast Rite Gud. Perhaps you've heard mention of Benedict and her podcast because of the recent(ish) "Squeecore" conversations. I think I'll make a second post on Squeecore since it's interesting, but I don't want to derail this post.

This book is a horror novel and it's very gory and full of shock value, and also has something to say, but overall it feels more like a B-movie than something trying to be really poignant. Which is fine! 3 out of 5 stars.

It took me a week to get through the audiobook for Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings. I own this book in E-book format. I got the free copy from TOR. I tried to read it twice, but didn't make it past chapter 1 either time. Since I'm currently playtesting a Sims challenge for someone I thought that I might as well listen to audiobooks while I play instead of just listening to music. Browsing through the 'currently available' section of my library's audiobook selection I grabbed Way of Kings because what better time to listen to a 45 hour audiobook right?

( Read more... )

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant is an exciting survival horror story.

I borrowed it from the library because I kept seeing it on various "read these books" lists even thought it's a few years old already, and I've wanted to read more horror books lately.
Yet, I recall looking at the cover in my Kindle library and thinking "ugh okay let's get this one over with" since I have NOT been on a roll with picking books to read this year. Well, was I an absolute fool to put this one off because this book kicks ass.

Into the Drowning Deep reminds me so much of Crichton's Timeline in structure. (I adore Timeline too 💛) Both novels start out with a slow build-up—about 100 pages worth—before getting in to scenes packed with enough action to be movie worthy (don't watch the Timeline movie though, it's so botched) and peppered with iffy science throughout.
I WISH this book was a movie because I liked it so much I want to talk about it, but none of my friends and family read enough lmao. Ah, it could be so good as a movie because part of the story involves a mockumentary, imagine the sweet gimmicks you could pull off with that in a film. Anyway,

This novel is a fun thriller and I would love a sequel because I'm dying for more!