Book Review

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Last Hour Between Worlds

Posted on

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

Just to add to the disclaimer above, I did get a free copy from Orbit, but I also had a purchased copy and one from Illumicrate, so apparently this was a book I just needed to read. The copy in the picture is the one from the publisher because it is the one I actually took everywhere (you can see it, woops) and read.

The review before today’s was for Diary of a Void, which is about faking a pregnancy, and well, this book is not about pregnancy in itself, but rather about a main character who has given birth recently and is just trying to enjoy herself rather than work on an end of year party. It felt to me like these two books had to be next to each other because they approach a part of life that isn’t always included in books beyond a side note, and in both, it is an important part of it.

I also want to highlight that our main character is not a young adult, which was refreshing as was seeing that she is trying to balance motherhood and her return to work post birth. I need more books that just include it in the plot and where it is relevant in how it colours the decisions and thoughts of the character but not as a “plot” point exclusively. It was done masterfully here.

Now, to the actual proper plot, which is a crazy multidimensional mystery and trying to stop people from dying and close to the end of the world for the people involved, but in reality is more of a power game between higher entities.

Kembral is trying to enjoy herself at the end of the year party but the party just won’t let her as people start dying and then time seems to “rewind” and it starts all over, but moving between dimensions. As to why she seems to be one of the only ones to notice this, part fo the overall mystery.

Thankfully, she ends up joining forces (reluctantly) with her personal and professional nemesis, Rika. As they try to work on their own personal/professional tangle and at the same time, survive and save the world(s), chaos ensues.

There is a lot going on in the book, which is normally overwhelming, but the various threads of plot and pieces do tie each other nicely as it progresses. We learn more about why Rika and Kembral have such a relationship and what each side thinks, plus what they are seeing or kept hidden from each other. We also get, as mentioned the impact of her motherhood into the story, and her own professional relationships and morals as she tries to resolve what is happening. Then we have the various dimensions and worlds, which is chaotic and wonderful worldbuilding. Then we have the rituals/murders that keep happening each time and in each dimension. And the question is how to make it stop and save everyone, how do you solve a game and ritual that is at the level of higher beings and not you?

I had to stay up reading this book and really wanted to keep going, it was incredibly well written, kept me hooked and I wanted to know more on all points. I can’t wait for the next book.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Diary of a Void

Posted on

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

I bought this book on a whim while I was in Oxford in Blackwell’s because it looked good. See, when I was barely in my twenties, translated fiction was ridiculously cheap because it wasn’t selling, and so I bought it and read it and loved a good book, but then it exploded and I was slightly put off by the price. So this was a call from my mind to remember my roots and my love for it.

Now, this specific review will be a bit more personal than you would normally get, because I read Diary of a Void in the early weeks of pregnancy, before I knew I was pregnant and the story hit me in a specific way at the time. Then I found out I was pregnant, and had a miscarriage and now that I am sitting down to write a review I can’t help but be hit by it in a completely different way (and it doesn’t detract from it, but rather, it makes ever so more interesting).

The premise for Diary of a Void is a slight pun at a guide book through pregnancy in Japan (there is a fancy explanation in the book about this), and it follows Miss Shibata as she suddenly has enough and says she’s pregnant. And she decides to continue the ruse with the help of reading about pregnancy, and some different ideas, but then how far is too far into having a make believe pregnancy?

Culturally, I can see this working in Japan, but not so much here in the UK or other western countries, so it is important to come to this story considering the setting, since it is important. And heck, the book is a quick read as we go through the different stages and the updates of how baby should be impacting our protagonist and what is recommended she do.

As she tells us the story, we start seeing when it becomes too real and she is deep in the lie, and it just gets interesting to see how she navigates each stage of the pregnancy and how to let work know updates and keep faking it. One of my favourite parts was the changes she decides to make due to the “pregnancy” and what is recommended, and how that makes her health and life better. This is still my favourite part after my own experience and the fact that I took habits from what I was doing for the pregnancy that was lost, and still do them. The routine, and the changes are still good. It is interesting what we can do and change for another life, even if in the case of Miss Shibata is purely for a void.

It was a good choice to get back into translated fiction and it is a weirdly interesting book, pregnant or not, to read, with some interesting reflections on how we react to pregnancy in us and in others and how society works around it.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Leina and the Lord of the Toadstools

Posted on

Leina and the Lord of the Toadstools

Written by Myriam Dahman & Nicolas Digard. Illustrated by Júlia Sardà

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

I have p[previously reviewed The Wolf’s Secret, which had stunning art and a wonderful story that was the reason as soon as I saw this book was coming out, I had to order it. I have no regrets.

Júlia has a perfectly fitting art style that makes the book flow beautifully to the story. It perfectly matches authors and artists, and I loved it.

Our story follows Leina who has the only boat in towna dn therefore helps ferry people to the forest so they can gather supplies like wood and hunt in the woods. But the forest is scary and therefore it is known that not everyone comes back from it.

So, when one of her friends doesn’t make it out, she decided to go looking for him, because why not? As she moves through he forest, she meets the Lord of the Toastools, who seems a bit magical and very strange, so Leina has an inkling that he might know where her friend is.

She is then invited for dinner in the palace fo the Lord of the Toadstools and because she wants to find her friend, she accepts, which then brings us to a few discoveries in the palace and why people disappear int he forest.

This one was less cosy than The Wolf’s Secret, but it was still in the same mysterious and cosy but slightly scary territory as the previous one and I don’t know, for me that combination is just perfect, like a modern type of fairy tale that one wants to keep reading more of.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Artic Fox

Posted on

The Artic Fox by Holly Webb Illustrated by David Dean

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

I have enjoyed a few of Holly Webb’s books before and one about an Artic Fox sounded perfect (and is the perfect review to post this Christmas week).

This story follows Ellie, who is going on a winter surprise holiday with her family (parents and little brother) to Lapland just before Christmas. This is exciting, so she tries to find out more about where they are going and that it has artic foxes, even if they are rare (due to being an endangered species).

Still there is a tiny bit of hope in Ellie, and there is enough to do during the trip too, visiting Santa, going on a sleigh ride and trying to catch the Northern Lights, so it is not like she’ll be having a bad time. However, one night during her trip she wakes up and hears a strange whining noise that leads her to a little artic fox caught in a trap.

As usual with this series of stories, our character is almost transported into living the life of someone else in the past, and so this time she’s trying to view how the fox hunting was in some ways necessary, and killing animals is, for survival, but not to overdo it. The story is cute even though it wasn’t my favourite out of the ones I’ve read (I think Star was the best).

But it is a lovely story for this winter to be cosy with and to share our love for animals.

Book Review

Moon Reads: You Only Spy Twice

Posted on

Agent Harrier: You Only Spy Twice by Ben Sanders

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

Agent Harrier is a super fun and funny series of a wonderfully chaotic spy dog (he thinks he is the absolute best). There is in general a lot of fourth wall breaking and just chaos.

This is the second book in the series, and if you haven’t read the first, please do, it is hilarious.

But You Only Spy Twice finds Harrier somehow feeling like there is deja vu happening and things are repeating themselves in his current spy mission, what a very funny feeling indeed, specially when there seem to be two of him!

The book makes good use of negative space int he illustrations and lots of dramatic elements and overall the page. it is one of the best uses of the space in the pages to narrate and to give the reader an immersive experience, even when the characters break the fourth wall, it still feels interactive.

The story is funny, very Spy Kids but much younger type of chaos, and a perfect story for young readers or to read to them given the setup of the pages. Quick read too, very quick.

Can’t wait for the next one!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Doughnuts and Doom

Posted on

Doughnuts and Doom by Balazs Lorinczi

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

I love a good little graphic novel and Doughnuts and Doom does not disappoint. For starters, what a title!

But our story follows Margot who has troubles being a witch in public or under stress, she just wants to get her license and be able to do her own life. But as she gets a craving for doughnuts to cheer herself up, she accidentally casts a curse on Elena who just wants to be a rock star and make it.

Their lives now accidentally entwined due to Margot’s chaos and her magic being a little out of control, we keep getting some interesting interactions and a cute story.

One of my favourite things is that there are a lot of raw feelings depicted here, the frustration, the anxiety, the fears, they are here and they’re not “positive” or made pretty, instead they cause chaos, they harm, and then our characters have to figure out a way to make things work, or to find a way to keep going.

A feel good lovely graphic novel that will have you craving doughnuts and maybe a good soundtrack in the background to listen too while reading.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands

Posted on

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px Grey

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

This is the sequel to Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies, which is a cosy fairy fantasy book and I found it to be a wonderfully autumn/winter read that I devoured. Map of the Otherlands was also a devour alongside some tea and cake type of book.

Emily is feeling more secure in her position at the university after publishing her encyclopaedia and her adventures in the previous book, and well, there is also the fact that she has some feelings for Wendell Bambleby who isn’t entirely human and more part of the Fair Folk.

What’s even more interesting is the fact that he has proposed they get married and well, she is unsure how to navigate that, does she want to marry him? There are a lot of implications and ramifications she doesn’t even want to think about. I don’t blame her, it is a big bold choice, even when you choose a human, so I assume one of the Fair Folk is an even more difficult and big decision.

And there is also the fact she’s trying to map the fairie realms, but this plan of researching goes a bit sideways when Bambleby is almost assassinated by his mother’s underlings. This spurs a new adventure to the Austrian Alps, in search for a door that may help Bambleby figure a way to free himself from whatever it is his family is planning which so far does not bode well. It is never good news if your mother is trying to kill you, you know?

Once again we navigate a lot of chaos and interesting situations as our pair navigate new company in their adventures and even more interesting stakes.

I enjoyed this one, which still had the same feeling as the previous one, and as a sequel it stands good. It does not have as much punch as I felt the first book had, but it was still cosy and delightful. A good pastry of a read with a good feeling left behind and more curiosity about what is to come. It reminds me in a way, but more cosy of Lady Trent’s Memoirs (A Natural History of Dragons). It is also a lighter approach and it feels less dense (I love the other series but this one is a lot easier to read for tired minds and a lot smoother to go through).

So I can recommend this if you like fairy tales, you like stories about the Fair Folk, and similar books to Lady Trent’s Memoirs. Or if you simply want a cosy read with a nice feeling afterwards.

Book Review

Moon Reads: In Real Life

Posted on

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

Gamer girl graphic novel? Couldn’t pass it up!

Anda loves spending time online where she can do whatever she wants, and be whomever she wants. And she can meet people from all over the world and make friends, it is overall a good thing.

But then in the game, she meets a “gold farmer”, an avatar in game that illegally collects valuable objects and sells them to players that afford the expense, with the kid behind it being Chinese and trying his best to provide for his family.

As Anda interacts with the gold farmer, this brings into questions a lot about what is right and wrong, and what the rules mean, since they are not as straightforward when real lives are involved.

This may be a book that does not sit well with people, but as I come from a “third world” country (I hate this designation and calling it “underdeveloped” is also not good) this resonated with me in how life can be easy to live by the rules (or break them in ways that sound just daring) but that don’t have any real impact in livelihood and how life pans out for you.

There is usually some discourse on social media about “you shouldn’t do this, go do this privileged thing that to a developed rich country sounds like a low class thing or a right everyone has everywhere”, and usually it is done in ways to say “well, I am better than you, how dare you break the rules that were imposed by capitalism”. and well, this books brings some of the reality of life for those not as privileged and what the impact of it is, and why hard choices are made.

It is still a very idealised approach and I get it, the discussions for this type of nuance can’t be had in a single graphic novel, but at least it tries to touch on it and ask some of the questions we love ignoring because it is nicer to feel better and morally higher than others that have less options or possibilities.

The artwork is really fun and fits well with the ideas behind the story, so that’s a good win for me too.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Find Peace in a poem

Posted on

Find Peace in a poem

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.

This is a lovely little poetry book, with a good collection of poems about mindfulness and about various topics to do with peace, calm and introspection.

The collection comes with the poems by “topic” and each beautifully illustrated. Some of the poems were ones I had read before or knew quotes that had come from them, but other were new to me and I found them fascinating. As it is always the case with a poetry collection, some of the pieces resonated more with me than others and there was one in particular that just stuck.

The Ink Cure by Kate Wakleing just hit me deeply, because damn, I use at and sketches, the little distracted doodles to navigate sometimes complex feelings or situations. It is known that my art is heavy in emotion and expression and part of it is because to me drawing is both a mindful practice and a very emotionally driven one. And I felt like this poem captured a lot fo my feelings very well.

I recommend this book for getting a nice encouraging collection that guides you through various approaches and ideas with a good touch of art and illustration. Beautiful in so many ways!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Thunder Cake

Posted on

Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco

Rating: MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px MoonKestrel Logo2 20px

Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.

I remember someone saying they had fond memories of reading this book for thunder storms and rough times, and so I obviously had to get a copy and read it.

Thunder cake is a lovely little book about the power of grandma’s and good food.

As a thunder claps and booms, Grandma explains it is time to make a thunder cake and they need to get the ingredients immediately because a real Thunder Cake must be in the oven before the storm arrives.

However the list of ingredients is long and thunder signals the storm coming close faster and faster, looming over them.

Now, this is based on the author’s childhood memories of her grandmother and how she helped her overcome her fear of thunder, and well, I think this is a delightfully way to help a child get over fear of thunder and make it into something nice, an epic lovely quest to make a cake and have a delicious item ready.

Can definitely agree with whomever had mentioned this was great for rainy weather and rough times, it will make you smile, remember your time as a child and maybe also remember those adults who made an effort to help you conquer fear with a kind and fun adventure.

I haven’t yet baked a Thunder Cake, but one day I will when the thunder storms come and they are not in the middle of the night and I am actually able to have some of the ingredients. In the meantime, I recommend this book for another cosy autumn/winter read.