Book Review – Page 45 – The Constellation of Moon

Nine Review

Posted on November 2, 2018

Nine by Zach Hines

In an alternate world startlingly close to our own, humans have nine lives—and they can’t wait to burn straight through them.

As you shed lives, you shed your awkward phases: one death is equal to one physical and mental upgrade. Julian’s friends are obsessed with the idea of burning lives, but Julian is determined to stay on his first for as long as he can. His mother, the ultimate cautionary tale, burned through her first eight in just a few years, and Julian has no intention of succumbing to the debilitating rebirth sickness that she inflicted on herself.

But the regime has death incentives aimed at controlling overpopulation, and Julian realizes that he’s going to have to burn at some point—especially when he becomes a target for Nicholas, the manipulative leader of the Burners, the school’s suicide club. And when Julian eventually succumbs, he uncovers suspicious gaps in the rebirth system that may explain exactly why his mother went so far down the rabbit hole years ago. Along with a group of student dissenters, Julian sets out to find answers and is soon on the verge of exposing the greatest conspiracy ever unleashed on the world.

He has just eight more lives to uncover the brutal truth.

Rating:

The concept of this book intrigued me very much, and I knew it may not be a “popular” book that everyone wanted to read, but it definitely had me at the premise.

What would I do with 9 lives, and also, how do you cope with rebirth? How do people come back to life? There were so many questions. So many of them. And some never got answered, however, one things this book did was a great world bulding (not that it shows itself like a word vomit, thankfully) and it gave you information as you needed (not exactly when you wanted it, but it was worth waiting to find out how they were reborn, what happened as you died.

There was also a lot of intersting characters, and it posed a question on suicide and death.

And population control, as the goverment gives economical incentives for families to reach a certain “lives expended” quotient so that they can earn more or get better jobs/promotions, or better homes/neighbourhoods. And it was interesting to see how it had been posed in this book and made me wonder if we had those lives how it would be controlled.

I think I would’ve been one of those that stayed at her first life for as long as possible as the panicky anxious part of me would think “but what if someone runs me over? or a fire happens? I may loose a life then and what if I was already on my 8th or something like that?”

All in all it was a much creepier read than I expected it to be, but it was also extremely interesting and it kept me hooked.

Moon recommends

Read Nine for a spooky creepy look at life that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A book that kept comign to mind as read this was Scythe which treats the whole “immortality” in a different way but also ponders what humanity does when death isn’t somethign that happens in the same way it used to.

Book Review

The Boneless Mercies Review

Posted on October 29, 2018

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke

A dark standalone YA fantasy about a band of mercenary girls in search of female glory.

Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are the Boneless Mercies—girls hired to kill quickly, quietly, and mercifully. But Frey is weary of the death trade and, having been raised on the heroic sagas of her people, dreams of a bigger life.

When she hears of an unstoppable monster ravaging a nearby town, Frey decides this is the Mercies’ one chance out. The fame and fortune of bringing down such a beast would ensure a new future for all the Mercies. In fact, her actions may change the story arc of women everywhere.

Rating:

It took me a little to get into this book. Mostly because it starts with a death and that is an interesting way of starting (it reminded me a little of palliative care). However, once I got more familiar with the world and what being a Mercy meant, then it became easier to follow.

It is like a lyrical epic quest story and there was beauty about that, as it was also intriguing to learn about all the ways of seeing the world that each “group” had. A witches war, the quicks, and so many others that made me want to know more about each of them.

Another interesting thing was the way relationships exist here and how things just flow and happen. There’s a lack of judgement that was strange and magical to read, and it was interesting to see that woven intot he tale. You never know for sure what is going on.

I also loved the actual monster fight, but not a lot to say since I do not want to spoil it, but it had a thing I liked and didn’t like and it was refreshing to see.

Moon recommends

Reading The Boneless Mercies. I haven’t read such a lyrical feminist adventure in a while (combined, I have read one or the other) and it was good to read. I am not entirely sure what kind of book fits with it so hard to suggest something else. Maybe Fallible Justice, even if it is a little different in style (it is urban fantasy rather than just fantasy).

Book Review

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage Review

Posted on October 27, 2018

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua

In The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage Sydney Padua transforms one of the most compelling scientific collaborations into a hilarious set of adventures

Meet two of Victorian London’s greatest geniuses… Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron: mathematician, gambler, and proto-programmer, whose writings contained the first ever appearance of general computing theory, a hundred years before an actual computer was built. And Charles Babbage, eccentric inventor of the Difference Engine, an enormous clockwork calculating machine that would have been the first computer, if he had ever finished it.

But what if things had been different? The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage presents a delightful alternate reality in which Lovelace and Babbage do build the Difference Engine and use it to create runaway economic models, battle the scourge of spelling errors, explore the wider realms of mathematics and, of course, fight crime – for the sake of both London and science. Extremely funny and utterly unusual, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage comes complete with historical curiosities, extensive footnotes and never-before-seen diagrams of Babbage’s mechanical, steam-powered computer. And ray guns.

Rating:

For all those that don’t know, I started learning how to program when I was 7-8 years old. But the fall in love with coding and diagrams and everything else only happened when I was 12-15. (I would happily stay in coding than go out during recess, my nerd flag flies high).

So of course, this book caught my eye when I was grief shock browsing Waterstones after the news of my aunt’s death. It was as if the book called my name and I happily got it.

It is a comic, not a “this is totally legit and happened” kind of book. However it is full of footnotes of the research done for the comic and the footnotes are linked to real information about their lives.

The artwork is dynamic and fun, the footnotes fill you up with information about Lovelace, Babbage and their families/lives. And it has some alternative universes shenanigans that I adored, so all in all it is a delightful read if you aren’t expecting only a graphic novel and can cope with footnotes larger than the comic on the page that will make you laugh, and want to strangle someone and at times go “oh, I didn’t know that, crazy!”.

[Also, the book underneath the book, is the book I used to learn and then teach programming].

Moon recommends

Go read about Lovelace and Babbage, or go check out Rosie Revere kind of books, or any kind of book that floats your boat!

Book Review

Orgo Runners: Skull Cavern Review

Posted on October 25, 2018

This will be a slightly informal review as this is a short story. But I won’t skip the rating so no worries there.

Rating:

This is meant to be a spooky adventure and I think for children it would be (I can totally imagine this being read to them and having to do voices and it works for the creepy/scary factor quite well). And of course it is but a short story, placed between books.

One of the things it does very well is to make you want to read the next book, as it hints at things to come that they discover in this particular cavern. (I definitely want to know more, but to say what about would be to spoil this story).

The pacing is fast and it still covers a kind of recap included in the story, just in case you have read the books a while ago and don’t remember everything. Trey and Badger were very happy to see that Orgo and Gugubats are still part of the story, even in this short one, so they posed alongside the book, eager to please.

[In case you haven’t been following on twitter, Trey is the Orgo on the left of the picture, and Badger is the Gugubat on the right holding the book. A group of us post pictures of the adventures of our little Orgos (and gugubat) with the tag #iwantanorgo #orgoadventures which you can follow if you’re curious].

Book Review

Fruits Basket Another Vol 1 Review

Posted on October 23, 2018

Fruits Basket Another Volume 1 by Natsuki Takaya

Fruits Basket manga creator Natsuki Takaya will launch the Fruits Basket another sequel manga. The manga will take place after Tohru has graduated high school, and will feature a girl named Sawa who has just entered the high school.

Rating:

I saw this one at Waterstones while browsing and had to have it, as Fruits Basket is the only manga series I have complete, all the volumes. They were a parting gift (when I moved to the UK) from my best friend, who passed away two years later. So they have a lot of meaning to me.

Admitedly I wasn’t sure what to expect, and it was confusing to go into the story not being sure who was who. It does get explained as the story moves on, but I found it way more confusing than the original manga.

On the good side it still has the same story vibe and the artwork is gorgeous, but it is too close to the original in some ways, that I would rather not have it be that close.

Moon recommends

Skip this “continuation” or revival, and go read the original series. That is much better. If you like manga, CLAMP is always a good one to choose (they’re a group of artists, and they are the master minds behind Sakura Card Captor).

Book Review, Books

Vicious Review

Posted on October 17, 2018

Vicious by V. E. Schwab

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

Rating:

V. E. Schwab can write anything and I will read it. As I have said before somewhere, her books and writing remind me a lot of the writing of my favourite authors (who wrote in the 70-80’s). Vicious is not an exception.

The story has a brutality that you don’t see much of, it is too close to reality, yet it is also not real at all. Victor and Eli pose interesting questions as characters and how they approach the vents (and becoming EOs).

For me it was interesting to read this, as I understood a little of each. I understood Victor’s stubborness and his drive to move forward, to do. And also I know how he felt by being invisible. I used to be the smart invisible friend, the shadow of someone better at people than I was (I have since found I am my own light, but that is a different story) so I got it all too well. And his EO power is something that at times I wish I had (specially having HMS/EDS).

On the other hand I also understood Eli’s faith, his drive to make things “good” and to be the hero. I was brought up in a very religious family (my parents champion the science in the Bible and how it matches science and give talks on it) and I do have faith but this I have developed on my own (asking so many questions of it and God, but again, another story).

I understood a little bit of Serena and Sydney, being a sister and all that sibling life.

There is also the whole NDE (Near Death Experience) part of it that triggers the EO, and I loved that. It ties in with City of Ghosts, and I wonder if they happen in a way in the same universe or in somewhat parallel ones (which reminds me a little of Steelheart).

All in all, this is a brutal book. It is about pain, about dying and what makes you want to stay in this world and how that shapes you. It is about morals and power. But it is mostly about broken people.

Moon recommends

I wholly recommend Vicious, however I also believe it is one of those books that not everyone will stomach and that is absolutely fine. If you find the concept of NDE intriguing, why not try City of Ghosts? And if you’re into superpowers and interesting “superheroes”, I highly recommend Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (who also tends to work with broken people a lot in his writing).

Book Review, Books

Fallible Justice Review

Posted on October 15, 2018

Fallible Justice by Laura Laakso

In Old London, where paranormal races co-exist with ordinary humans, criminal verdicts delivered by the all-seeing Heralds of Justice are infallible. After a man is declared guilty of murder and sentenced to death, his daughter turns to private investigator Yannia Wilde to do the impossible and prove the Heralds wrong.

Yannia has escaped a restrictive life in the Wild Folk conclave where she was raised, but her origins mark her as an outsider in the city. These origins lend her the sensory abilities of all of nature. Yet Yannia is lonely, and struggling to adapt to life in the city. The case could be the break she needs. She enlists the help of her only friend, a Bird Shaman named Karrion, and together they accept the challenge of proving a guilty man innocent.

So begins a breathless race against time and against all conceivable odds. Can Yannia and Karrion save a man who has been judged infallibly guilty?

Rating:

I discovered this gem of a book thanks to Louise Walter Books (who kindly provided me with a proof copy of the book and that gorgeous postcard) and Asha (who thought I’d love it because Yania, the main character has EDS, she was right, of course).

Now, if you don’t want to read the whole review, I can shorten it for you. It reminds me beautifully of the place I wish Dresden files had gone. It also evokes Patricia Briggs and Charles de Lint (making me want to read them again) and a bit of Anne Bishop.

If you are wondering who all the previous authors are, then you’ve missed out on a wonderful genre called Urban Fantasy (UF). Seriously, give it a go.

Now back to this book, and expanding on the “short version”. It is the story of a paranormal detective, and if you just go by that then it sounds a like a variety of UF books out there. However, I have to say that the writing itself is very good, the words flow and don’t get in the way of the story. There are descriptions but they aren’t shoved down your throat (thankfully) but rather you discover as you go.

The Old/New London concept was refreshing (she isn’t the first one to write communities of humans and others/magical beings coexisting) but for me, who lived in London for a bit and go there for work about once a month, it made it more “real”.

The lack of romance in the book also got bonus points for me(not that there isn’t any but rather it isn’t added as an afterthought or to attract you into it and be predictable)! And this makes the partnership between Yania and Karrion so much better.

Obviously I really appreciated the way Yania describes the pain of EDS, as someone with Hypermobility this was precious. I actually stopped after a paragraph and turned to my boyfriend and said “you should read this, it puts into words just how difficult living with this is” (he said he would if it was that important). So kudos for representation.

I could go on, which doesn’t happen a lot in my reviews because I dearly try not to spoil the story, and somehow, in this case I can skirt around the story and still praise this book a lot. I can’t wait for Echo Murder to come out (even though I haven’t even received my preorder of Fallible Justice yet, woops).

One last thing, I have a soft spot for Wishearth.

Moon recommends

Go buy Fallible Justice and read it of course. And maybe try the other authors I mentioned? Jim Butcher (Dresden Files), Patricia Briggs (my favourite is The Hob’s Bargain even if her closest work to Fallible Justice is Moon Called), Charles De Lint (The Riddle of the Wren) or Anne Bishop (Written in Red)

Book Review, Books

The Girl With The Dragon Heart Review

Posted on October 13, 2018

The Girl With The Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis

Once upon a time, in a beautiful city famous for chocolate and protected by dragons, there was a girl so fearless that she dared to try to tell the greatest story of all: the truth.

Silke has always been good at spinning the truth and storytelling. So good that just years after arriving as a penniless orphan, she has found her way up to working for the most splendid chocolate makers in the city (oh, and becoming best friends with a dragon). Now her gift for weaving words has caught the eye of the royal family, who want to use her as a spy when the mysterious and dangerous fairy royal family announce they will visit the city. But Silke has her own dark, secret reasons for not trusting fairies …

Can Silke find out the truth about the fairies while keeping her own secrets hidden? From the author of the magical The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart comes a second magical adventure perfect for fans of Cressida Cowell, Cornelia Funke and Peter Bunzl.

Rating:

I previously reviewed the first book in this series, The Dragon With The Chocolate Heart, and I had ordered both, so I dug into this one shortly after finishing the first one. Once again, there is a lot of chocolate, which is delightful.

Adventurine is still part of the story, but it gets more interesting as we see more of Silke and we’re more inside her head. We learn a little about her past (well, a lot but it starts with a little that makes her accept a mission she isn’t that suited to do).

She also uses her “smarts” to win the situation over and realises the power of friendships, of family and herself (and she finds out who she truly is and what her talents are rather than trying hard to be something she isn’t).

It is an adorable story that I would recommend to anyone and it has sent me into a spiral of buying books about dragons and witches, all middle grade… (I even have a MG dedicated shelf now, oh dear!).

Moon recommends

First, check out the prequel out and then dig into this one because it is worth it.

Book Review, Books

The Witch Boy Review

Posted on October 9, 2018

The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag

In thirteen-year-old Aster’s family, all the girls are raised to be witches, while boys grow up to be shapeshifters. Anyone who dares cross those lines is exiled. Unfortunately for Aster, he still hasn’t shifted . . . and he’s still fascinated by witchery, no matter how forbidden it might be.

When a mysterious danger threatens the other boys, Aster knows he can help — as a witch. It will take the encouragement of a new friend, the non-magical and non-conforming Charlie, to convince Aster to try practicing his skills. And it will require even more courage to save his family . . . and be truly himself.

Rating:

Yes, there’s more graphic novels being reviewed here and that’s just because I have been able to find more fo the kind I like to read for prices I can afford to pay recently, so I am loving it.

This story intrigued me, but it turned to be very relevant to the times, as it tackles sewgregation. The magical family of Aster has very defined roles in magic, women become witches. Men become shapeshipters that fight and “protect”.

Aster can’t seem to find a spirit to shapeshift into, and instead has a good knack at witchery. But he keeps getting chased away. He makes a friend from the non maical side of town and starts sharing some of his troubles, and she encourages to do what he thinks is best and not let the predefined roles limit him.

Then, his talents turn out to solve the issue of the disappearing boys. Mostly because Aster has been listening and paying attention to both sides of magic, so he gets a better panorama plus he can do witchery. But it was also a part of “children can still teach things to adults”.

I am really looking forward to the next one!

Moon recommends

Read The Witch Boy, or check out Nimona, or if you prefer non graphic novels, then try The Apprentice Witch.

Book Review

Monstress Volume 3 Review

Posted on October 5, 2018

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Monstress Volume 3 Haven by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda

Maika has spent most of her life learning how to fight, but how will she fare when the only way to save her life…is to make friends?

Collects issues 13-18 of the Hugo Award and British Fantasy Award series.

Rating:

I had been waiting eagerly for this and it hasn’t disappointed. The artwork keeps me in awe as the other two volumes have, and the dynamics of the different societies are quite intriguing.

In this volume you get to understand more about the “monster” that is joined to Maika. There is also more information on why the cat sticks to them (and it wasn’t for the reason I initially thought, which was good and also it didn’t leave me feeling cheated, rather more curious, a good thing).

We also learn more about the past of both Maika, the sleeping God/monster, the Beloved, and just the world in general and what appears to have brought it forward.

War, tends to also be a big topic here, but now i is about how to survive it and make allies rather than to destroy everyone. It feels almost like it is giving Maika time for a bigger thing to come, but I am still unsure of what it will be.

Moon recommends

Reading all the volumes of Monstress, however, if this is your first graphic novel definitely don’t do it. Why? Because it will confuse you. Give manga, or other graphic novels (like Fables, like Nimona, etc) a go before attempting Monstress.