Book Review – Page 52 – The Constellation of Moon

When My Heart Joins The Thousand Review

Posted on February 19, 2018

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?

Book Review

The Ice Garden Review

Posted on February 17, 2018

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).

Book Review

The Princess and The Pony Review

Posted on February 13, 2018

I blame this review on Helen from Watching Sparks.

The Princess and The Pony by Kate Beaton

Princess Pinecone knows exactly what she wants for her birthday this year. A BIG horse. A STRONG horse. A horse fit for a WARRIOR PRINCESS! But when the day arrives, she doesn’t quite get the horse of her dreams…

Rating:

Absolutely adorable and cute! The pony is adorable and so round and lovely and it is a funny little illustrated book that just gives you a massive smile.

Mine arrived on a Monday where I was worrying a lot and it was a very Monday-Monday so it was the perfect thing to read, also it took like 5 minutes to read. Seriously, go read this. Make sure it arrives on a Monday to give it extra pow!

Moon recommends

Grab your copy of The Princess and the Pony, then maybe If you give a mouse a cookie.

Book Review

I Am Thunder Review

Posted on February 9, 2018

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

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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.

Book Review

Windfall Review

Posted on February 5, 2018

This was lent to me by Nikki and I grabbed it last weekend for a quick read. It did not disappoint on that front.

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes.

At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall.

As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined . . . and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

Rating:

On the quick read front, if definitely was a quick read, and easy to read. Nothing complicated, nothing too difficult. On the other hand, there wasn’t anything wow to leave me wanting more or really anything like it.

It is a brilliant filler and a good “I don’t want to think and just need a nice book to read, thank you very much”.

Teddy wins the loterry thanks to a ticket Alice gets him, and as much as the premise here says about an adventure, most of the book isn’t exactly that. It is more a “we are all trying to figure ourselves out because this whole money thing has changed things and also college and life”.

One of the things that frustrated me a little is that I didn’t really want Alice to end up with Teddy. As Swayer says, he doesn’t deserve her. And it was frustrating to see him hurt her then apologise and everything is fine and all good. No, that is not good, that can become toxic, please don’t do that.

However, one of the things I really liked is the relationships between all characters. Teddy and his mother, Teddy and his gambling father. Alice and her uncle and aunt. Alice and Leo. Leo and Max. It is interesting.

Moon recommends

This book felt a little along the lines of Here We Are Now or Everything, Everything, easy reads that are more about relationships between family and friends or boy/girl so any fo them will do nicely.

PS. I don’t have lottery tickets so YALC queue tickets is all I had…

Book Review

The Girl in the Tower Review

Posted on January 30, 2018

As you know I loved The Bear and the Nightingale, so here we go on the next book.

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

The magical adventure begun in The Bear and the Nightingale continues as brave Vasya, now a young woman, is forced to choose between marriage or life in a convent and instead flees her home—but soon finds herself called upon to help defend the city of Moscow when it comes under siege.

Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.

Rating:

There is so much I’d like to say about this book but a lot of it would be spoilers, so instead I can insert lots of squeals and excitement. Some of the things that were left as question marks (like that gem Vasya has hanging around her neck) get answers, but some new things show up.

We also get to see what happened to Sasha and Olga, and it was interesting to see how their personalities and them as characters developed once they moved to their new environment.

Konstantin is still being annoying and part of me wishes he’d just disappear but then again he does add a lot to the story in his own weird way, wreaking havoc wherever he goes. Poor man.

And of course Solovey is still there as are new characters, and Morozko, the sweetheart nis still there too.

Moon recommends

To read this book, if you haven’t read The Bear and the Nightingale, then read that one first then this one. Come back and despair with me that we have to wait until August to read the conclusion book.

Book Review

Nana Volumes 1-5 Review

Posted on January 26, 2018

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.

Book Review

The Bear and the Nightingale Review

Posted on January 22, 2018

This lovely book came as an extra book in December’s Book Box Club, the first in the Winternight Trilogy and we decided to buddy read it so I have enjoyed it doubly.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

‘Frost-demons have no interest in mortal girls wed to mortal men. In the stories, they only come for the wild maiden.’

In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church.

But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods…

Rating:

This is a fairytale full of fairytales in it’s own way and I absolutely loved it. The Russian folklore seeps into you and grasps you with it’s beauty as Vasya and her family grow and find that magic and religion seem to be playing havoc in their little estate.

The forest is full of secrets and “demons” and house spirits inhabit every corner until the priest finds he is faithful and it can’t be this way anymore.

I loved th scenes of the fir-grove and was fond of Sascha, Vasya, Irina and Alyosha. I could understand Anna’s insecurities and issues (not that it makes it right that she did what she did) and Konstantin is one of those despised but well made characters that you love to hate.

I am already reading The Girl in the Tower and can’t wait to see what happens next and how Vasya copes with magic in her life .

Moon recommends

You read this book, don’t miss out. And if you like Russian stories, try The Crown’s Game, it is also a wonderful and magical story.

Book Review

The Art Of Horizon Zero Dawn Review

Posted on January 16, 2018

It is no secret I am a gamer. Not the sexy-lick-a-controller kind, but the “oh my gosh I will scream at the screen because Lara Croft just fell off a cliff after the 12th attempt to do that part”.

I am also a stupidly loyal one, I fell in love with Bethesda’s games (Dishonored and Fallout 3) so now I have all of the Dishonored games on my computer, XBox360 and PS4 (just so I can play them whenever, I’d probably have them on my mobile if it was possible).

Trust me, I can rave about any Bioshock game or one of the previously named ones (also Alice Madness Returns, Batman games, Lego games, etc). But I am also careful of trying new games from developers I have never played a game from before.

However, my love for Horizon Zero Dawn blossomed not because I saw adverts for it as a game, but rather because Loish (Lois Van Baarle) released some of the “concept art” she had done for the design of Aloy.

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I have been following Loish’s work for over 10 years, so I knew that if she had contributed to this game, I would have to play it, even if it was JUST for the artwork. I bought a PS4 just so I could play HZD, my birthday present was buying a bundle of console and game. That much I love her artwork (and gaming).

Needless to say, I LOVE this game. If you haven’t played, you have to. The story poses some very interesting technological questions (and about humanity), the gameplay is interesting and has an “Open World” feel. And of course, the artwork and design are stunning.

(I know this is the weirdest review of a book I have ever made, I promise there is a book review somewhere in here!)

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So much I love this game I preordered Funko’s (Aloy and a Watcher), bought licensed pins of Aloy and a Thunderjaw (they are awesome!), and bought the soundtrack CD for it.

The only thing missing was this book. And I couldn’t have that, so I got the book too.

The Art of Horizon Zero Dawn by Paul Davies

Rating:

I have several “Art Of” books and I have to say that the quality of this one is stunning. It does NOT lack artwork (sometimes some of the books say too much and have very little art or nothing new). This is full of artwork and details but also explanations about why they chose to do certain things.

It made me want to draw all the characters + creatures there and then as I was reading it. And it also made me want to play the game again. (And of course, it has some of the sketches/pieces Loish did, so win win).

I just have to say that is one of the best “Art Of” books I have ever had. Blown away by it.

Moon recommends

You play Horizon Zero Dawn, and maybe follow Loish. She has two artwork books (she started them on Kickstarter and the second one is just coming out in March). And of course, if you like books about the art of, buy this one.

Book Review

Here We Are Now Review

Posted on January 14, 2018

This lovely book was provided to me through bookbridgr. So here is my honest review.

Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga

Despite sending him letters ever since she was thirteen, Taliah Abdallat never thought she’d ever really meet Julian Oliver. But one day, while her mother is out of the country, the famed rock star from Staring Into the Abyss shows up on her doorstep. This makes sense – kinda – because Julian Oliver is Taliah’s father, even though her mother would never admit it to her.

Julian asks if Taliah if she will drop everything and go with him to his hometown of Oak Falls, Indiana, to meet his father – her grandfather – who is nearing the end of his life. Taliah, torn between betraying her mother’s trust and meeting the family she has never known, goes.

With her best friend Harlow by her side, Taliah embarks on a three-day journey to find out everything about her ‘father’ and her family. But Julian isn’t the father Taliah always hoped for, and revelations about her mother’s past are seriously shaking her foundation. Through all these new experiences, Taliah will have to find new ways to be true to herself, honoring her past and her future.

Rating:

The premise of this book is relationships. And in that aspect it excels. It touches on friendships (between Taliah and Harlow), f/f (Harlow and Quinn), what happens when your best and only friend has a girlfriend, mother/daughter (both for Taliah and for Lena, Taliah’s mother), father/son (Julian and Tom, and in a smaller way Toby), father/daughter (Julian/Taliah). It is all in all packed full of the complexity of family and friends, and it is fun to read but also emotional.

However, it starts full of questions, and ends full of questions (different ones to the ones at the beginning) which was not great. The reveals made the ending feel rushed and too open. It left you with more questions than you started with and it isn’t exactly like this is planned as a series.

It was a quick read and I loved the music aspect of it and the whole “dreams and who you are” exploration too.

Moon recommends

I am not a big reader of contemporary mostly because I’d rather escape to another world, but in a way this reminded me a tiny bit of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, so I’d suggest you read that one and if you have, why not read Here We Are Now?

PS. The props used are not sponsored, they just are the ones I had nearest to me when I took this picture.