Book Review – Page 40 – The Constellation of Moon

Spectacle Review

Posted on April 11, 2019

Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok

A YA murder mystery in which a young reporter must use her supernatural visions to help track down a killer targeting the young women of Paris.

Paris, 1887.

Sixteen-year-old Nathalie Baudin writes the daily morgue column for Le Petit Journal. Her job is to summarize each day’s new arrivals, a task she finds both fascinating and routine. That is, until the day she has a vision of the newest body, a young woman, being murdered–from the perspective of the murderer himself.

When the body of another woman is retrieved from the Seine days later, Paris begins to buzz with rumors that this victim may not be the last. Nathalie’s search for answers sends her down a long, twisty road involving her mentally ill aunt, a brilliant but deluded scientist, and eventually into the Parisian Catacombs. As the killer continues to haunt the streets of Paris, it becomes clear that Nathalie’s strange new ability may make her the only one who can discover the killer’s identity–and she’ll have to do it before she becomes a target herself.

Rating:

Paris, a young journalist woman with an interesting “gift”, a morgue, a mystery… all sound good to me!

The very first thing I have to say is that the Paris we are led to is very “period” accurate and I liked that. It was fun to read about references to things yet to come, and things that are already there. All of it made it more immersive.

The second thing is that for a mystery, this one definitely was. It kept me guessing over and over and over and I was never ahead of our heroine’s own discoveries. This is a little unusual, and I have to say it was a good thing. It didn’t leave me frustrated but more like “oh wow, I genuinely have no clue, but I need to know, please, let’s find out more”.

It also made me hungry and I want pain au chocolat in a quaint cafe while I write notes.

Natalie is a heroine with depth, and I don’t know if I would be okay with visiting the morgue to go looking at the corpses to “report” on them. That was interesting, because it gave a view on what could pass as entertainment. (I admit I find cemeteries interesting with the headstones and mausoleums, but I am not so sure about seeing the actual dead bodies).

It starts with one body and an accident that makes Natalie find out she can see what happened before the victim died, but she wonders if she hallucinated it or not. This gift she has, costs something, and it was something I liked. She can’t just plunge headlong and use it willy nilly, but instead has to consider the fact that it costs her something (won’t spoil what) and she can’t control that cost. Makes for a more complex conundrum, help solve this and sacrifice something or stay as I am but let this murderer get away with it? Tricky right?

It was a good book, and I just have to say that the last two pages completely confused me, but other than that, it was superb.

Book Review, Books

There is No Dragon in this Story Review

Posted on April 7, 2019

There Is No Dragon In This Story by Lou Carter and Deborah Allwright

Poor old dragon. Nobody wants him in their story. Not Goldilocks, not Hansel and Gretel – no one. But Dragon will not give up! He shall continue on his course of finding someone who wants him in their story. ANYONE. His boundless enthusiasm surely won’t get him into any trouble. Surely …

A glorious story about dragons, heroes and ice cream with sprinkles. From author Lou Carter, a phenomenal new talent, and Deborah Allwright, illustrator of the bestselling The Night Pirates.

Rating:

Another one of those books I randomly found and chose to buy. You can clearly see a dragon in the cover, but the title is that there is no dragon in this story. My curiosity got the best of me. Of course we had to have a dragon, right?

The book starts saying that this was supposed to be a traditional dragon story. The dragon steals a princess, the prince/knight saves her and slays the dragon. But that’s not the story because the dragon refuses to be the villain and wants to be a hero.

So Mr Dragon goes out to all the other stories in this world and kindly asks if he can help and be the hero. Maybe he can stop the wolf for the three pigs? Or do something for Goldilocks? But every story he goes to, they tell him the same thing, he can’t be the hero because “there is no dragon in this story”. Poor dragon.

He has to try one more time, and well, let’s just say this doesn’t go very well and everything goes wrong, so now every story needs a hero. Will the dragon be the hero? Or will this be another “no dragon” kind of story?

I laughed a lot and felt so much for the dragon while reading this. Throughly enjoyed this one so will recommend that you get it for a rainy day when you need an easy book or to get you out of a slump.

Book Review, Books

Penguin Problems Review

Posted on April 3, 2019

Penguin Problems by Jory John and Lane Smith

A penguin levels with human readers about what penguin life is really like—and it isn’t all fun and games.

Have you ever considered running away to Antarctica? Of course you have! Because it’s a land free of worries and responsibilities! All of your problems will surely be blown away by the icy winds of that lawless paradise! . . . Won’t they?

Think again, my friend. This penguin has come to tell you that his life down there is no more a picnic than yours is here. For starters, it is FREEZING. Also, penguins have a ton of natural predators. Plus, can you imagine trying to find your mom in a big ol’ crowd of identical penguins? No, thank you.

Yes, it seems there is no escaping the drudgery of your daily grind, whatever it might be. Or perhaps we’ve just learned that grumps are everywhere. . . .

Rating:

The cover caught my eye while I was looking for something to read, and I bought it. It is a cute easy read, about how things can go wrong and how penguins have so many problems, but it is also about how wonderful life and the world are too.

The illustrations are “simple” but at the same quite detailed and extremely cute. I kept feeling my heart melt with each new problem the penguin talked about. One of my favourite’s is that penguin can’t fly. Each page made me think a little about penguins and life.

It was also a good balm for my aching head (big headache) as it was easy to read, and relatively short. I think it’d be a fun one to read out loud with a little one. But it is also a nice gift to try to cheer an adult up. I already have someone in mind to receive this lovely book.

There’s not a lot more to say except that a penguin has a lot of problems, but also a lot of good things around. Life is interesting and full of good things if we look for them.

Overall, it is super cute and it is both for a child, or a grumpy, or sad adult.

Book Review, Books

The Place Between Breaths Review

Posted on April 1, 2019

The Place Between Breaths by An Na

From master storyteller and Printz Award–winning author An Na comes a dark, intensely moving story of a girl desperately determined to find a cure for the illness that swept her mother away, and could possibly destroy her own life as well.

Sixteen-year-old Grace is in a race against time—and in a race for her life—even if she doesn’t realize it yet…

She is smart, responsible, and contending with more than what most teens ever should. Her mother struggled with schizophrenia for years until, one day, she simply disappeared—fleeing in fear that she was going to hurt those she cared about most. Ever since, Grace’s father has worked as a recruiter at one of the leading labs dedicated to studying the disease, trying to lure the world’s top scientists to the faculty to find a cure, hoping against hope it can happen in time to help his wife if she is ever found. But this makes him distant. Consumed.

Grace, in turn, does her part, interning at the lab in the gene sequencing department daring to believe that one day they might make a breakthrough…and one day they do. Grace stumbles upon a string of code that could be the key. But something inside of Grace has started to unravel. Could her discovery just be a cruel side effect of the disease that might be taking hold of her? And can she even tell the difference?

Unflinchingly brave, An Na has created a mesmerizing story with twists and turns that reveal jaw-dropping insights into the mind of someone struggling with schizophrenia.

Rating:

This little book packs a punch. However, there’s a few things to consider before you read it. It is a book about mental health and schizophrenia. It is not a fluffy cuddly book. This one bites, and confuses.

The second thing is that the author has South Korean origins. Meaning that the Eastern (because “not Western sounds meh”) influences are heavy in the writing style of the book. Think Murakami, Yoshimoto, etc, who have a particular style of wiriting that isn’t what most Western authors do.

And why do I say both things before I even review the book? Because if you’re expecting a perfectly “coherent” fluffy book, this book is not it and it definitely isn’t a Western view of the world even if it is set in the US.

The author writes this book in seasons, in cycles. The book does its best to show you how schizophrenia entangles you and all the “ripples” it has. Your main character is Grace King who believes in logic and is fighting against her genes, while trying to work and help find a cure or something for schizophrenia. The story shifts between “season” chapters, that show slightly different things but they do make a cohesive whole. (I don’t want to spoil the book too much).

There are a lot of twists and intriguing bits in the story where at first you aren’t sure but as the story progresses you begin to realise how much Grace is fighting and what “enemy” she’s fighting.

In my opinion it was a very clever book with the way it sets thing and how it leaves you guessing. You need to be in the right midnset for it though, and it is worth (only after reading it) to go check Goodreads reviews, the author explains her purpose in writing it the way she did and a little better what is and isn’t in a reply to a reviewer.

Book Review, Books

The Burning Review

Posted on March 28, 2019

The Burning by Laura Bates

A rumour is like a fire. You might think you’ve extinguished it but one creeping, red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back into life again. Especially if someone is watching, waiting to fan the flames …

New school.
Tick.
New town.
Tick.
New surname.
Tick.
Social media profiles?
Erased.

There’s nothing to trace Anna back to her old life. Nothing to link her to the ‘incident’.

At least that’s what she thinks … until the whispers start up again. As time begins to run out on her secrets, Anna finds herself irresistibly drawn to the tale of Maggie, a local girl accused of witchcraft centuries earlier. A girl whose story has terrifying parallels to Anna’s own…

Rating:

This book sounded like the kind of grippy gritty books I have recently been into, so I grabbed it. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting (not to say it really wasn’t at all).

I expected the thing that Anna is trying to forget to be something else, so when it finally surfaces I was more like “oh, it’s that? meh” rather than “oh wow!”. Won’t spoil what it is, but this book certainly touches on topics like abortion, torture, abuse, bullying and the kind.

The witchy part was my favourite of it all. When they move to the new house Anna notices some odd marks scratched into the beams of the house and things like that, and turns out they’re witches marks, to try to disuade the spirit of the witch to come back and haunt the people that bought the house.

All the story of the “witch” was quite interesting, and it was intense. I was so angry for her, and I really liked that Thomas had an opinion and the part he “played” in it (yes, I wish it was different, but hey, this was way far back in time).

Another thing I really enjoyed was the friendships developed here. Partly it touches on how friends can turn on you and fall to peer pressure, which is something I had happen a lot during high school when I used to be bullied. My “best friend” would bully me in public then outside of school treat me completely different. Go figure! Regardless, it is interesting to see how each of the old and new friendships Anna slowly biulds develop, and that they are unique, most of the characters involved didn’t feel bland which was lovely because they were part of Anna’s world and not just plot props. Kudos for that.

The topic and the thing Anna deals with is important, I just imagined something else and it then fell under my expectations, but it hooked me so I read it before dinner the other day.

I guess you’d say my overall rating comes from having different expectations (my fault a little, part the blurbs fault) but it was an interesting book that I enjoyed reading.

Book Review, Books

The Whisper Review

Posted on March 24, 2019

The Whisper by Pamela Zagarenski

When a little girl received a curious book filled only with pictures, a whisper urges her to create the words she cannot see. As the pages turn, her imagination takes flight and she discovers that the greatest storyteller of all might come from within.

A celebration of reading and the power of the imagination, Pamela Zagarenski’s debut as an author reminds us that we each bring something different to the same book.

Rating:

This was totally a cover buy (most of my illustrated children’s books usually are cover buys), a girl with a cute red eared hoodie and a fox and a huge book, of course, I don’t care what it is about I need it.

Good thing it is actually a nice sweet book. And it is mostly about letting your imagination run and have some fun, but also to enjoy books, and how books and words can be “not boring” because you can imagine, and you can create. All the stories, ideas, and you can even change stories in your head with a pinch of imagination.

The author is also the illustrator and you can see just how much love and care there was into making this book match in words and drawings (not saying other books don’t, just that you can see it very well in this one).

The amount of foxes and gorgeous ideas was quite good, and there is a lot to encourage reading.

I know, short review, but it is a short book however the illustrations do make you pause and make them match the words, and try to find what else you can see in it.

Book Review, Books

Echo Murder Review

Posted on March 22, 2019

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Echo Murder by Laura Laakso

Yannia Wilde returns to the Wild Folk conclave where she grew up, and to the deathbed of her father, the conclave’s Elderman. She is soon drawn back into the Wild Folk way of life and into a turbulent relationship with Dearon, to whom she is betrothed.

Back in London, unassuming office worker Tim Wedgebury is surprised when police appear on his doorstep with a story about how he was stabbed in the West End. His body disappeared before the paramedics’ eyes. Given that Tim is alive and well, the police chalk the first death up to a Mage prank. But when Tim “dies” a second time, Detective Inspector Jamie Manning calls Yannia and, torn between returning to the life she has built in Old London and remaining loyal to the conclave and to Dearon, she strikes a compromise with the Elderman that allows her to return temporarily to the city.

There she sets about solving the mystery of Tim’s many deaths with the help of her apprentice, Karrion. They come to realise that with every death, more of the echo becomes reality, and Yannia and Karrion find themselves in increasing danger as they try to save Tim. Who is the echo murderer? What sinister game are they playing? And what do they truly want?

Rating:

The delightful wonderful human behind LWB sent me a copy of this book to review, because I have fallen so hard for Fallible Justice, and I couldn’t wait to read the next one. As the sticker says, I can do whatever about it. But even if I didn’t get this early copy, I am/was getting a copy anyway.

Now to the review. The book picks up just from where Fallible Justice ends. Yannia is making her way back to the Conclave and the Wild Folk with Dearon. Karion has stayed back to do his thing (whatever that is).

And we also meet Lizzie and Tim, who like to go on dates, and Tim really seems to be on the bad side of luck, because he keeps dying every time he goes out with Lizzie. Best/worst part? Tim doesn’t have a girlfriend, and he’s very much alive. So who gets called in?

Yannia does (no ghostbusters in this one!).And this lady isn’t stepping down from investigating things, so she starts trying to find out what type of magic and who could’ve done this.

The tricky thing the “illusions” of the murders are starting to bleed in with the real Tim, and it is becoming more and more dangerous as time goes by. What is making this particular magic so powerful? How can it be?

I loved the writing and the story. However, I have to say that this book has a lot of violence, and some of it is domestic, there is abuse, and well, it is an intense book. But it is also extremely good. I opted for reading it in the morning during a flight. One of those “read it in one sitting”.

It was quite good, and it keep me wondering. Alas, because of the particular topic, it was relatively easy for me to figure out who was behind the Echo murders, and part of the motive. But not everything I guessed and the reasons unspooling as Yannia understood them and raced to catch the one behind it all before Tim actually dies. High stakes indeed.

Karion, Wishearth, Lady Bergamot and a few others still make an appearance, so all good for me. So my take is, read Fallible Justice, read this, and cry until the next one comes out because it is so far away. (You can come cry with me, I’ll share my blanket fort, and give you access to the Moon library).

Book Review, Books

BLOG TOUR: Sapphire Smyth and The Shadow Five: Shadows Part One by R. J. Furness // Review

Posted on March 20, 2019

Sapphire Smyth & The Shadow Five: Shadows (Part One) by R.J. Furness

Have you ever seen something you can’t explain? Did it vanish as fast as it appeared?
Perhaps that thing you saw was lurking in the shadows, and you caught a glimpse of it before it went back into hiding.
There’s a good chance, of course, that the thing you saw simply emerged from your imagination.
Or maybe, just maybe, it didn’t…

Sapphire Smyth is no stranger to rejection. When she was only a baby, her father abandoned her after her mother died. Since then, Sapphire has never felt like she belonged anywhere, or with anyone. To make things worse, Sapphire’s foster carers have now turned their back on her – on her eighteenth birthday. After living with them throughout her childhood, Sapphire has to find a new home. Is it any wonder she finds it hard to trust people?

Abandoned by the people she called family, Sapphire is alone and searching for some meaning in her life. Except that meaning has already come looking for her. When Sapphire discovers mysterious creatures lurking in the shadows, she soon realises that her fate is unlike anything she had ever imagined.

“Sapphire Smyth & The Shadow Five” is a six-part, serialised young adult fantasy story!

Rating:

Well look at that, my orange rating foxes fit perfectly with this book’s cover. And before I get into the full review, as a disclaimer, I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. No one forced me to write what I have written here (no drakes, no shades).

R. J. Furness was already on my radar, thanks to the Orgo stories (and the Orgo Adventures). So when he mentioned this new idea I was happy to give it a go and see what it was all about.

This is a very fast paced book, despite being short. And I had to pause and make sure I knew what had just happened. There is also a lot of “secrets” and so much to find out, when I reached the last page I kinda thought !it isn’t fair, I need answers now!”

We meet Sapphire as she is running away from her foster parents home and panicking about what to do next. I know the purpose of this is to set the story, but I kept thinking that foster parents that have kept a child for 16-18 years (which is what is implied) won’t just suddenly kick the child out. If they were the kind that just do it for the money, then Sapphire would’ve been SO ready to leave and counting down to her 18th birthday (I say this as I know a couple of people who were in situations like that). The only way I can think that Sapphire couldn’t see it coming is that she is stupid, but that doesn’t really fit with the Sapphire we meet, so this is a bit of a plot issue (but I know most will see past it, and it isn’t huge, it was just a little dissonant for me).

Otherwise, the rest of the story just keeps you trying to figure out what is going on with the shadows, what Ben knows and why Sapphire is suddenly thrown into this. I actually really liked the chapter that sets things of with Michelle and Jason. I’d like to find out more about them too.

Basically, I now have SO many questions I don’t even know where to start, but the best start is probably to keep reading the book.

R.J. was super kind and surprised me with a box of goodies(see below). I have never had blackcurrant licorice sweets, so this was an intriguing surprise. I kinda like licorice but not always, so I was a bit unsure. Also, when I got the goodies I was so puzzled by what each item meant, but now I know they fit the story so well!

And of course, this cover wins because it is an orange fox, and there is a fox in the story and I want to know more about the shadow fox and what Sapphire is going to discover in the next “part”.

Book Review, Books

Everdark Review

Posted on March 18, 2019

Everdark by Abi Elphinstone

It is midnight in Crackledawn – a midnight full of magic. Sea dragons stir in the depths of the ocean, silver whales surface beneath the moon and sand goblins line the shores. Everyone is waiting for the phoenix, the guardian of the kingdom’s magic, to rise up from the forests of Everdark.

But there is no sign of the phoenix tonight. Something else surges up out of Everdark instead: a harpy bent on stealing Crackledawn’s magic.

It is up to an eleven-year-old girl called Smudge and an eccentric monkey called Bartholomew to set sail beyond the legendary Northswirl and stop the harpy before it’s too late.

So, grab your compass and roll down your sail – the first adventure in THE UNMAPPED CHRONICLES is about to begin…

Rating:

I enjoyed this little book so much and it made me want to read Rumblestar even more (I already wanted to).

We meet Smudge, who isn’t the very best at, well, anything. She struggles to be a good student, and isn’t sure she fits the potential careers she can have. We also meet her monkey companion, Bartholomew, and well, poor Smudge has no choice but to save the world because she is the only one that wasn’t cursed.

So she sets off to try to sort this out, with just her courage, and her unusual view of the world and ideas.

I enjoyed reading it very much. It is a good reminder of why I still love to read Middle Grade books even if I have no children myself and I am most definitely not a child myself.

The quest keeps moving forward, and the book does a good job at pointing out that being different and not fitting the status quo isn’t always bad, but rather, gives you an opportunity to be something else. Here it is an adventurer, but in our world we would potentially consider them to be the creatives, the innovators.

There’s a lot of magic, a lot of happy accidents that somehow help them out and a lot of courage from Smudge.

Book Review, Books

Moon Review

Posted on March 12, 2019

Moon by Britta Teekentrup

Over deserts and forests, Arctic tundra and tropical beaches, the moon shines down on creatures around the world. Children will love discovering how it changes from day to day as the lunar cycle is shown through clever peek-through holes, each revealing the moon in a different size and shape.

It’s the perfect light nonfiction book for young stargazers–and an ideal bedtime book, ending with a giant moon hovering over a sleepy town hunkered down for bed.

Rating:

This book had been in my radar for various reasons. Foxes on the cover and well, the title was already calling my name (look at that, I can make puns!). And I found it to be a great “bedtime” book.

For starters it has cutout phases of the moon throughout it, which I used to love as a child and still do (and they work really nicely, I was like “oh look, it keeps adding effect”). But it also has not a lot of lines to read out loud. Plus it talks about nightime and bedtime around the world, which is great for encouraging any kiddo to go sleep.

And of course, it is full of animals and nature through the pages getting ready for nightitme. The colour palette could’ve been a little more vibrant but it does work well for the purpose of “sleepy” time encouragement, so it isn’t a complaint but more of an “I just wish it was more vibrant because it is so gorgeous”.

As a proper adult, I of course, thoroughly enjoyed poking at the moon peek-through holes, and following the shape of the moon as the pages go past, plus trying to see every little detail of each page and the animals/climate/place in it.