Tag: Novel

Book Review: Into the Black Nowhere

Morgan TonkinLeave a comment

Crime/Thriller

5 Stars

 

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Don’t know if I can put in words how good this book is. Forgive the pun, but this is a killer book. Holy crap. And I’m not usually a fan of this genre, simply because it’s not usually done well. This book certainly is.

How do I not know Meg Gardiner’s name? This is number 2 of the series, and I feel a desperate need to read the 1st and then the rest of them NOW. That rarely happens to me. If the books continue like this, I’ll buy the series.

Great writing. Great characters. And you can tell the author has done her research. Good guys I love. Bad guys I not only hate but abhor. Believable police work. Kick-ass cliffhanger ending. I really have nothing negative to say about it. This is how a crime/thriller should be told.

If you love crime and mystery and heinous bad guys, and not knowing who might live or die, you need to read this book.

Chilling, surprising, unpredictable. I actually gasped a few times.

Huge fan. Big thumbs up

Book Review: The Rook

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Urban Fantasy

3.5 Stars

 

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A pretty good book. My friend loved it and advised that I should read it. I went in warily because though my friend and I are so similar in so many ways, our taste in books couldn’t be more different. Often I don’t finish the books she raves over. This one I did with some reasonable enjoyment.

The plot was okay. Pulled me along. Kept me interested enough to keep reading. That being said, however, overall it just wasn’t to my taste. I like depth in my books. Something that’ll make me angry, devastated, horrified. Something that’ll make me think and feel. This is a plot-driven novel with shallow characters. Nothing wrong with that. Each to their own. But it means that I’m simply not emotionally invested enough to continue onto the next book. I’m also not a fan of the Marvel/Superhero/X-men/Heroes trope that’s on play here (it’s been done to death).

But a matter of taste is not the only issue. There are gaping plot holes I couldn’t ignore, character inconsistencies, enormous info-dumps, some truly cringe-worthy dialogue (between Myfanwy and Shantay—they sounded like teenaged girls), a general lack of believability and the humour began to get annoying, then tedious, then eye-rolling. By the end it became awkward and forced as the story became too dark to make it work. The ending was quite the slog too as the villain explained in eye-glazing detail his nefarious plot.

Nevertheless, a decent enough read if you like something light and fluffy that’s not meant to be taken seriously. For those who like something deeper and darker, however, you will need to read this with a different mindset.

Book Review: Pursued (Brides of the Kindred #6)

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Romance/Erotic

5 Stars

 

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I really liked this one! After being disappointed with the last book, this one surprised me! I think this one’s my favourite so far. Unlike the rest I’ve read, this book had some serious darkness to it which made it more difficult to put down.

These books are like chocolate cake. No. More like a plate of delicious sausages … hahaha. So bad for you but oh so good. As always, loved the sex scenes. Very detailed and explicit and the way the Kindred talk so openly about it always makes me giggle.

These stories aren’t meant to be perfect. The dialogue can be off. The female characters are far from the best. And the story can be pretty bad at times. But I don’t care! Surprisingly, none of that bothers me. Still, I can’t read all these books at once. I need to read them months apart to really enjoy them. They are, after all, mostly the same story.

2020: Bring on ‘Exiled’.

Book Review: Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs (Jane Jameson #1)

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Paranormal Romance

Four Stars

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I’ve been meaning to re-read this book for years in order to continue with the series because I had enjoyed it so much. I still enjoyed it! But it’s amazing what a few years reading some excellent romances can do to one’s tastes.

I thought the romance with Gabriel was perfect the first time round. This time, I found it lacking. There was no build-up. There was no real romance. Minimal tension. And the ‘protectiveness, possessiveness’ tropes get a bit old. The sex scene was still good. The plot was also lacking, particularly the ending. I didn’t understand the point of the fight.

Still, I enjoyed it. A lot of reviewers say this is the kind of story that’s been done a million times before. They’re probably right, but I generally steer away from stories about vampires and werewolves, so this feels somewhat fresh and new to me.

A quick fun read, just not as fun as the first time. I will be continuing with the series.

Kushiel’s Chosen (Phèdre’s Trilogy, #2)

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3.5 Stars

Fantasy

 

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I don’t know where to begin with this one. I loved the first book so much that I didn’t want it to end. This second book—I couldn’t wait for it to end. What happened? It took over 300 pages before anything interesting happened. Ordinarily I would have given up, except I trusted the book would get better. It did—for a time. The middle was good. Then the ending rolled on and on and on. It was a real slog.

I skim-read a lot of it, including the last 50 pages. Too much politics. Too many characters. It was confusing. What happened to the adventure? What happened to the erotic angle?

Unfortunately, its slow pace made me notice things I didn’t in the first book. Phedre annoyed me. Everybody loves her. She’s perfect in every way. And the final confrontation with Melisandre! I just wanted to slap her! OY! Then there’s the writing style. It was so thick and wordy and cheesy. So many ‘mayhaps’. Quite frankly, I was tempted to throw the book across the room.

Then why the 3 stars? It’s not a bad book. The writing is decent enough (at least, when there’s a good plot), and the characters had great depth. I think, for me, my feelings are more of a taste issue, rather than anything wrong with the book.

They say the third book is better. I hope so. I think I’ll give it a go, but this time, I won’t be slogging through 300 pages to get to the meat of the story.

A disappointing follow-up to Kushiel’s Dart but not enough to turn me away from the finale. We’ll see what happens.

Book Review: Vendetta: Lucky’s Revenge (Lucky Santangelo #4

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Drama

4 Stars

 

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Quite a good read! This was my first time reading Jackie Collins. Mass-producing authors can be hit-and-miss sometimes, but from what I’ve read here, she’s one of the good ones.

There are numerous perspectives, but I had all the characters straight in my head despite this book being 4th in the series. All characters had surprisingly decent depth considering the ‘shallowness’ of many of their personalities. The story was good. There were no real slow bits, which is hard to do at 600 pages. Lots of ‘naughtiness’, which I enjoyed. The romances were believable and fun. The writing itself was very easy to read and well thought out.

I’ll admit, this is not my kind of story. I don’t particularly enjoy reading about the rich and famous and their sordid lives. However, I like to think that despite my tastes I know a good story when I read one.

A talented author and a fun lady who clearly cared for and worked hard at her stories, and yet managed not to take herself or her work too seriously.

May she rest in peace.

 

The Lady of the Lake (The Witcher #5)

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Fantasy/Adventure

4 Stars

 

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This book is hard to rate. Overall, I enjoyed it. The writing was good, the characters great. But the story itself … I felt a little dissatisfied with it. I loved the parts concerning Geralt and Ciri, the rest I could have done without. And the rest took up so much space.

The story felt disjointed in places. The author has a frustrating habit of putting in chapters that seem to serve no purpose ie. the first 100 pages, which I almost completely skimmed over. The characters also made choices that were sometimes incongruous and far-fetched.

After all their searching for each other, Ciri and Geralt came together in a very sudden and almost unbelievable way. Despite all the action and tragedy, it was a little anticlimactic. The ending was also a little unsatisfying. It took a sharp right turn that I thought was unnecessary. And although I do enjoy untidy endings, there are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered.

Still, I loved the parts I loved, and it was worth the read just for those. A solid 4 stars for this book. Probably 3.75 stars for the series as a whole. I do not regret reading it and I will watch the series when it comes on. Particularly if they make the necessary improvements on the plot and if Geralt proves to be as sexy on screen as he is in my mind. Hahaha.

Book Review: Revealed (Brides of the Kindred #5)

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3.5 stars

Romance/Erotic/Sci-Fi

 

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Hmm. This one’s not my favourite. There was a lot of corn. It was so corny it was hard to read. I’m not sure if it’s just this book or my tastes are changing again. The first four books were better. I wish Rast had more personality. I wish he was more of his own man. I wish all the Kindred were, instead of draping themselves over their women like great, big empty-headed teddy bears.

Still, the story wasn’t bad. Better than a lot of erotic fiction. And I will concede that it must be hard for the author to keep coming up with new relationships. And that’s the problem with these kind of books, I think. I would read more erotic fiction if they weren’t so similar and so darn corny. Give me a good story and a good romance along with the sex.

However, the story did pick up by the end—quite a bit. It gives me hope for the next book. I’m still a fan and still keen to read—which is rare for me in this genre. I will give it a little time, though, before I move onto Elise and Merrick.

Book Review: The City & the City

Morgan TonkinLeave a comment

Sci-Fi/Crime/Literary

5 Stars

 

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Wow, that was different. A murder mystery set in two cities that somehow exist partly on top of/within each other, where the people of both are not allowed to ‘see’ each other, lest they activate Breach—a ‘force’ which makes them disappear.

Kind of reminds me of some of the more fantastic sci-fi of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s (Planet of the Apes, Logan’s Run, Soylent Green, The Stepford Wives), but written far better and with a much more modern and almost ‘literature-like’ feel to it.

It is quite hard to understand at the beginning—understandably—and thus a little difficult to get into. But after about the 100th page, things start falling into place and you start to get interested. The mystery of what is Breach itself. The additional mystery of Orciny—what is rumoured to be a third city.

I do enjoy weirdness when it’s done well. Very creative. This surpassed my expectations.