Review: The Hole in the Middle, by Kate Hilton

A free book I picked up from Amazon, I’m not sure what enticed me to read it, but I’m glad I did. The basic story was not that profound but the characters and their decisions throughout really hit home for me. It’s about Sophie, who is about to turn 40. She is married, has kids, has a stressful job, and of course has a past that involves another man. Throughout the book she is constantly questioning herself and her decisions. She wonders if she has made the right choices, if she would be any happier had she travelled down another path and this is something I think we all end up asking ourselves at one time or another (or maybe it’s just me).

Her coping mechanisms are those of any person under stress. At first she tries to ignore it, tries to feign that everything is fine to anyone in her world, but eventually that falls apart and she is left upset and vulnerable. I thought that the book was headed down a particular path around mid way through it, but the writer surprised me and went another direction that I think worked out really well, and reminded me that some times that we just think the grass is greener on the other side but it doesn’t always have to be true.

All in all, a nice easy read with memorable characters and a surprising ending.

4/5 stars

Review: The Novice, by Trudi Canavan

This is book two in The Black Magician Trilogy, and I was incredibly disappointed. Sure, I didn’t rate the first book that high (3/5 stars) but I was hoping that by the second book things would have picked up a bit and the author would have found her groove. Instead things seemed to fall apart.

I had high hopes for Sonea as she progressed into the Magicians Guild and attended her classes, but instead she turned into an incredibly weak, meek, shy girl who refused to stand up for herself. The entire novel she let people push her around and did nothing about it. She didn’t retaliate, didn’t ask anyone for help, just sucked it up and dealt with it. I found this incredibly obnoxious and it spoiled what I thought of the entire story. I can overlook plot holes, I can get by with weak descriptions so long as there are outstanding characters and this book simply fell short. Of course by now I have read too much and I will have to continue on with the third book, but I really hope Sonea has grown up a bit.

Yes, the story line did move along, and parts of it were interesting, but they were ALL overshadowed by the weak woman that Sonea turned into and it just simply did not resonate with me at all.

2/5 Stars

Review: The MacKinnon’s Bride, by Tanya Anne Crosby

I’ve said this before and I’m sure I’ll say it again. Sometimes, I just don’t feel like thinking. I picked up this book back in April when I was doing a lot of travelling and I completely forgot to write a review when I finished reading, so it’s a bit late. It helped that I also got the book free on Amazon during a promotion. You can never go wrong with free books.

This highland romance novel was about Iain MacKinnon and his son (who is kidnapped at the beginning by the English). In retaliation for the kidnapping, Iain captures the daughter of his enemy, expecting to use her as a bargaining tool. Things don’t work out in his favour though as the English laird doesn’t want her back. She is of course, furious at being kidnapped, and in a typical romance story sort of way, they fall for each other while the rest of the MacKinnon clan look on with disapproval.

I didn’t start getting into the story until the last 25% or so. It felt like there was a lot of “filler” material throughout, as though the author was trying to meet some sort of page deadline. I enjoyed the basic story, but the characters (for me) fell short. I grew frustrated with Page as soon as I met her. One minute she seems hell bent on getting her way and is a ferocious lion and the next second she’s as brainless as a scarecrow without any real reason.

Still, it was exactly the type of book I was looking to read, and I suppose I got what I was looking for.

3/5 Stars

Review: The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grisson

I love books that are historical fiction, and was surprised to hear that this was Grisson’s first novel. It’s about a white woman who grows up as a servant girl on a plantation, experiencing life from that perspective. Yes, the book does have stereotypes and they can come across strong at times – but – the writing was really well done, and I loved the story. It was one of those books I couldn’t put down.

The life of the servant girl is one of a lot of pain and heartache. Lavinia loses her parents while on a ship from Ireland, and is taken in by the servants of the plantation. She witnesses all of the horrible things that happen at “the big house” and eventually as she gets older, she moves from the servants quarters to the big house because of the colour of her skin. She’s shown that she is not like the servants, even though she has no desire to treat them ill or begrudge them in any way for her upbringing.

The book isn’t sunshine and roses that’s for sure. There’s a LOT of heartache that goes on, a lot of angst and pain. Life was hard, and Grisson does a wonderful job of conveying that feeling. The characters are colourful and detailed, and you really get a sense of what the plantation would be like – something that almost always pulls me into a book.

Highly recommended, though keep in mind it does follow stereotypes and isn’t a very happy novel. I still feel that the writing style and the story itself is able to overcome these things.

4/5 stars

Review: Red Rising, by Pierce Brown

This book has been going around my feeds as ‘the next big thing’ as far as books-to-read go. A few of my friends read it and loved it which is always a good sign that I may also enjoy reading it.

While I DID enjoy the book, it reminded me far too much of movies like Ender’s Game, and so I didn’t find the story unique at all. Darrow lives on Mars, and works beneath the surface at a very dangerous job. Some things happen that cause him to question what he’s doing, and who he is doing it for. Eventually through a series of events he gets recruited into an organization hoping to overthrow the caste system, but in order to help he has to impersonate one of the ‘higher’ races. He has to move through their ranks, starting with University, which is an us vs. them tactical game of capture the flag. The game turns all too real as the students are pitted against each other, and the teachers get involve taking sides. There are political undertones to the whole thing, which just makes the twists and turns more enticing.

The writing was fantastic and like I already said, I did enjoy the book but it was pretty much (to me) Ender’s Game, with more fantasy than space in certain parts of it (the university capture the flag game happens on a planet). Still, I do recommend picking up the book and giving it a read. The writing more than makes up for a repeat story, and it’s not COMPLETELY like Ender’s Game, it just reminded me a lot of it.

4/5 Stars

Review: I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai

I knew even before I started this book that I was going to love it. The story is about Malala, a girl who was shot in the face by the Taliban because she wanted an education. She stood up for things that most of us take for granted. The whole book was incredibly powerful and served as a constant reminder to me about how life is so very different across this world. It reminded me that not everyone has what I have. It made me feel grateful for my life, for my education, for the things that I have.

When I was reading reviews a lot of people seemed to dislike the political and historical turns that the pages brought, but I actually enjoyed those parts the most. I loved learning about the Swat Valley and how it has changed over the years. I liked reading about the political history of Pakistan, and I found that it was woven into the story of Malala very well.

It was one of those books that made me think the entire time I read it, made me feel anger, happiness, sadness, fear, all of these emotions ran over me as I made my way through the pages. While the book is certainly a far cry from my ‘typical’ choices, I’m glad I branched out. I don’t want to spoil the actual book because I feel that it’s one of those books you really have to read for yourself. Keeping in mind that the novel was written by a young girl (a very well spoken one) may help overcome some barriers readers might face.

5 / 5 stars

Review: The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion

After reading a lot of books from one genre I like to relax with something completely different. The Rosie project was the perfect book.

Don Tillman is a scientist, and he’s every single stereotype in the book. Socially awkward, single, devoting all of his time to work. He attempts to look for a wife by creating the Wife Project, a complex questionnaire with the purpose of finding a lifetime partner. It’s supposed to eliminate candidates that don’t match and thus save him time, but that was before he met Rosie.

Rosie is the complete opposite of everything he is looking for, and she needs his help. She’s looking for her real father, and since he’s a scientist with access to a lab, he can help by running DNA tests. They team up and begin the Father Project, eventually concocting elaborate schemes to obtain DNA samples to test. Don starts diverting from his strict schedule as he and Rosie work together, and he spends a lot of time thinking about how enjoyable the entire process is.

Predictably the pair begin to fall for one another, and this process is filled with all of the social awkwardness that you would expect. I found Don’s interactions amusing, and you can’t take it too seriously. The book is lighthearted and a quick read with some twists and turns but nothing particularly astounding. Some nights, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.

4 / 5 stars

Review: The High Druid’s Blade, by Terry Brooks

The High Druid’s Blade started out with a strong story, but the writing style (in my opinion) did not do it justice. The reader meets Paxon, a young boy doing what he can to help out his family. He has a sister who he is very protective of. She gets herself into some pretty serious trouble, and he goes to rescue her out of it. It felt like the first half of the book was missing a lot of descriptions. I likened it to an overview, it went along the lines of “John got up. John had breakfast. John got on his airship and flew for 5 hours, then John landed.” – I couldn’t relate to the characters or their world because I wasn’t given enough information.

Through an unusual series of events (ie: I couldn’t believe just how things “worked out”) Paxon goes to stay with the Druids who are training him for combat. They need a protector after all. While he is staying with them his sister is kidnapped by the evil Arcannan (or so he assumes) and he once more has to go to her rescue. About mid way through the book the story shifts to the sisters point of view. Things start getting a LOT more detailed but because it’s a torture scene with an underaged girl it felt very awkward. Not because of the scene itself but because this descriptive writing wasn’t in the first half of the book and I found it frustrating that the author had decided to inject it only for the torture scenes.

It felt like throughout the story things just naturally seemed to be ‘too good to be true’ making Paxon, his sister, the druids, and the small handful of other characters unbelieveable. Near the end things get more realistic, more descriptive and that is the portion I enjoyed. I started connecting to the characters just as the novel was ending. I’m not sure if I’ll continue with the series as this was only the first book, but it was enough to pique my interest.

The book releases March 11th, and while I did have issues with the writing style I really enjoyed the plot. I received this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars

Review: The Adversary by Erin M. Evans

Book three in The Sundering series was a welcome change from the incredible doom and gloom that I felt in the first two books. You’re introduced to two tiefling, Farideh and her sister Havilar. While the book is third in the series you’re more than welcome to read it out of order, the books (like the previous ones) only loosely tie together (they all take place in the same ‘world’). The world is still filled with doom and gloom but there are hints of romance and characters that I didn’t absolutely disdain which always helps.

Farideh makes a pact (or two, or three) with a devil in order to keep those she cares about safe from harm. Of course making pacts with devils never turns out the way you want it to, and she soon finds herself in over her head, serving a wizard who is rounding up the Chosen of the Gods for a purpose that she can’t figure out. Her sister is bent on rescuing her, along with her old patron, a group of harpers who think she is a traitor, and a red wizard. Each person has their own reason for finding Farideh, with their own outcome of the events.

I can honestly say this third book is my favorite so far. The characters were colourful and came alive in a way that I didn’t see in the previous books. It was nice to see characters that were not all good or all evil; they made mistakes, and paid for those mistakes. I found myself ‘rooting’ for each character as they neared their goal and while the ending may have been predictable, I was satisfied with how it carried out.

This book released in December, so it’s a great time to pick it up. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, and I thank NetGalley as well as the publishers for the opportunity.

4/5 stars

Review: Crow Lake, by Mary Lawson

In an attempt to branch out from my typical genres, I decided to join a book club hosted by Random House, and this was their current book selection, along with a chat with the author taking place on December 3rd. When I initially signed up I did not expect to finish the book in time because there was less than a week to go, but I found myself pulled into the story right away and finished it with lots of time to spare.

Crow Lake is beautifully written, and incredibly emotional. You follow the story of a family who lives in a small farming community, from the perspective of a middle child. They undergo incredible tragedy early on and must either learn to cope, or lose the closeness of their family.

I had a bit of an issue with the main character’s perspective but I think it was because I found her hard to relate to. She was incredibly aloof and I found her to be self centered masked behind a “this is what I think is best for the family” persona.

The book also (in my opinion) ends rather abruptly. You’re very slowly and cautiously lead through the happenings of this family, painstakingly falling into their world bit by bit and it all builds up to one moment where everything is unleashed – and ends, within the same last section. It left me wondering and wanting more, which I suppose is the purpose.

Still, I’m very glad I picked up Crow Lake and highly recommend it. A wonderful book by a fantastic Canadian author.