Book Review

The author was kind enough to provide me with a copy of the book for a honest review (he even signed it, which made me SO happy!!!!)

The Fallen Kind Vol I: Ghosts Of Nunchi by M. Almelk

Following an apocalyptic near mass extinction, the lifeforms left behind on Casi – a planet of intriguing creatures and haunting landscapes – must find reason for their unexplained survival. 

In their bid to discover a mysterious place in which hope and desire still exist, Evan and Beveridge find they are not the only souls searching for the elusive Promised Land… 

Vol I of The Fallen Kind series.

Rating:

Let me start this by saying that the actual story was quite interesting and I kept wondering if they would be able to find the Promised Land or not and what would happen between them.

However, there was a lot of jumping of points of view and too many characters (I confused a couple every now and then, so yeah Law and Levi kept getting a bit jumbled for example). But I cared for them all and wanted to have them reach their goal.

Plus the book has some illustrations to help you visualise things and I also enjoyed that. Bonus for sure.

One thing that would’ve helped a lot would’ve been a glossary. But all in all if you like sci-fi and futuristic reads, give this a try.

I am not sure how I ended up deciding this was a book I wanted to read but I did and I am so glad for that.

When My Heart Joins The Thousand by A.J. Steiger

Rating:

I do not have any of the conditions any of the main characters feature so this is just my review from my point of view. However I have worked supporting people that present autism.

I was impressed by the way Alvie is presented and how you as a reader have to wonder if she is asking questions or not same as the characters interacting with her.

Admittedly, that first chapter was confusing as can be and it made me wonder if I actually wanted to read this, but then as I got into the story I was rooting for each and every one of them and wondering about both of their pasts.

The half fox is just lost because of some incogruencies that are minimal but that bugged me throughout the book. Otherwise it is amazing and I cannot recommend it enough.

Moon recommends

Definitely reading When My Heart Joins The Thousand, and if you don’t get the reference or need a refresher, why not read Watership Down too?

In case you didn’t know I am mild to medium photosensitive/photophobic (it does NOT mean I am scared of light or pictures). This basically means an allergy to light and it can be just the sun, any source of UV light, etc. It varies, it is not very common (it took 12 years to get diagnosed) and it makes life difficult (to me it is normal but it does mean I have to do certain things other people think are odd).

What has this got to do with the review? Well, I found out two books which have a main character that present photosensitivity. The first one is The Ice Garden.

The Ice Garden by Guy Jones

Rating:

The premise is lovely and I actually really enjoyed the representation in this book, and the whole ice garden part was beautiful. I do really wish there were more books around like this one.

It slightly made me think of The Secret Garden and Little Princess (but in a good way) and I rushed through it. I felt happy at the end, and was glad about it all.

As I meantioned above my levels are mild to medium so I do not get rashes/bruises as horrible as Jess did, but I do get rashes and it was intersting to see how it is difficult to have a normal life when it is not mild.

I think one of my favourite things was the whole representation of the illness/condition and how it affects you but also that there is hope and that you can have a life despite it. I am glad Guy Jones decided to write about it (even I do not know what made him choose to do so).

Moon Recommends

If you like fantasy, quick reads and would like to read about photosensitivty, I definitely recommend this little book. The only other book I know about that represent photosensitivity is Lovely, Dark and Deep by Justina Chen (which I will be reviewing as soon as I can get hold of it).

I received an ARC for this book which I passed on to #ownvoices reader. And then bought my own copy.

I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan

Fifteen-year-old Muzna Saleem, who dreams of being a writer, struggles with controlling parents who only care about her studying to be a doctor. Forced to move to a new school in South London after her best friend is shamed in a scandal, Muzna realizes that the bullies will follow her wherever she goes. But deciding to stand and face them instead of fighting her instinct to disappear is harder than it looks when there’s prejudice everywhere you turn. Until the gorgeous and confident Arif shows an interest in her, encouraging Muzna to explore her freedom. 

But Arif is hiding his own secrets and, along with his brother Jameel, he begins to influence Muzna with their extreme view of the world. As her new freedom starts to disappear, Muzna is forced to question everything around her and make a terrible choice – keep quiet and betray herself, or speak out and betray her heart?

A stunning new YA voice which questions how far you’ll go to protect what you believe in.

Rating:

It was quite interesting to step into Muzna’s shoes. I am not Muslim but I could still heavily relate to Muzna as a teen. The overbearing parents and the bullying and the shyness and wanting to do something different, all where parts I found interesting.

Moving school helps Muzna realise that she has a voice and I loved that, the way she starts to wonder why she has been doing exactly as she is told and questions things. She comes into herself and slowly figures out who she is.

To say much more would be to spoil the story but I found it interesting and powerful and think everyone should give this a go. However this is more definitely geared to teenagers/young adults in the writing and that is what I took away from it (it is at times a little too much for me).

Moon recommends

The only books in similar league to this are Dear Martin and THUG.

One of the things I love to read and haven’t actually reviewed much here is manga/graphic novels.

And for me Nana is a classic that I have slowly been buying to complete my collection. I am using the Wikipedia summary rather than the one from GoodReads just because this is a bundle of volumes being reviewed rather than just one.

Nana Volumes 1-5 by Ai Yazawa

Nana Komatsu has a habit of falling in love at first sight all the time, and depending on other people to help her. When her friends, and then her boyfriend, leave for Tokyo, she decides to join them a year later after having saved enough money at the age of twenty.

Nana Osaki, the other Nana, is the punk-styled lead vocalist of a band called Black Stones (BLAST for short). She had lived with her boyfriend, bassist Ren Honjo since she was 16, but when Ren is offered a chance to debut in Tokyo as a replacement member of a popular band called Trapnest, Nana chooses to continue on with BLAST and to cultivate her own career instead of following Ren, as she has too much ambition to be relegated to a rockstar’s girlfriend. She eventually leaves for Tokyo at the age of twenty to start her musical career.

The two Nanas meet on a train by chance, both on their way to Tokyo. After a string of coincidences, they come to share an apartment. Despite having contrasting personalities and ideals, the Nanas respect each other and become close friends. While BLAST begins to gain popularity at live gigs, the two Nanas face many other issues together, especially in the areas of friendship and romance. The story of Nana revolves heavily around the romance and relationships of the two characters as one seeks fame and recognition while the other seeks love and happiness.

Rating:

This is a manga that has been close to my heart since I first fell for it (as a teenager, quite a few years back when I had to wait until the next translated chapter came out to keep up with the story).

I hate to admit that I used to identify (and in some ways still do) with Nana Komatsu “Hachiko”. And I did use to have a lot of crushes but nothing serious. Yet, the way this manga explores not only the way relationships work and how one becomes an “adult”, it also ponders what success means.  The first five volumes introduce you to most of the main characters that will be seen all throughout the story and it is being narrated by Nana Komatsu, so it has some of her thoughts, and sometimes you can see she is looking back and thinking “why did I do that?”.

The artwork has always been inspiring for me. The fashion and details Ai Yazawa has on it are wonderful and I have loved the close relationship that happens between two strangers that want to rent the same flat and have the same name.

Moon recommends

Definitely reading Nana. Another good one is Paradise Kiss (also by Ai Yazawa) which focuses more in fashion than music, but it is still a wonderful story. Both the manga and anime. And also I recommend the anime for Nana.