Book Review

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Wolf’s Secret

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The Wolf’s Secret by Myriam Dahmn and Nicolas Digard. Illustrated by Júlia Sardá

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.

There’s a cosy vibe going on and this book is full of that stay at home curled up with a good book feeling that I crave during the colder months.

Our story follows Wolf, who is a feared scary hunter, but he has a secret. There is a girl who lives in the forest that sings and makes him very curious.

But will his curiosity and his loneliness (no one tells you that being scary means it is hard to make friends) get the best of him and will he ever go beyond watching this girl and listening to her?

The artwork was absolutely breathtaking, in that beautiful way that is just so expressive and makes you feel everything. I kept wanting to keep that feeling. And the prose, the words, it is a masterpiece in sweetness, in ease of story-telling.

The story overall talks about trust, differences, obstacles, loneliness and friendship and it is one of my favourite books. I kept thinking of it even after finishing reading it, over and over.

I can recommend it for a beautiful short fairy and folk tale that will whisk you away and bring you back feeling like a little magic happened.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Garlic & the Witch

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Garlic & the Witch by Bree Paulsen

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 really enjoyed the first book, Garlic & the Vampire which was very cute, full of chaos and enjoyable. It was inevitable therefore that when seeing there was a second book, I would pre-order it.

I have no regrets.

Garlic is enjoying life with her vegetable friends, Carrot included, the Count (from the previous book) and the Witch Agnes. However, they are struggling to make a good substitute for the Count (he doesn’t want blood, but a vegetarian alternative).

Turns out to find the ingredients she has to go on a journey to the Magic Market for those ingredients to help Witch Agnes finally nail the substitute. But the other big thing looming for Garlic is that she is turning a little bit human and this feels a little too much and a big change even if it is gradual, what if Garlic doesn’t want to?

The story tackles many things and includes our cast in a more “mature” way having learnt and grown from the previous story. One of the big things is anxiety and how that can sometimes mix with fear of change and maybe hinder you a little.

It made me think a lot about how different and change aren’t bad words. It is important to work on that openness and that understanding that it will be different, it will change but that does not inherently mean it is good or bad, it could just be, or it could be good. And well, Garlic really has to work on this and on her anxiety, and trying to understand herself a little more, a bit more bravery and courage as she goes on a journey and as she looks inside herself and tries to define her own answers to who she is.

A very lovely sequel to the first book and left a warm fuzzy feeling, perfect as an autumn or winter read with a lovely cup of warm tea or hot chocolate.

Book Review

Moon Reads: How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying

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How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

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 like the sister book for Long Live Evil, in that we are having our heroine decide to become the villain and embrace the evilness to win. And it made me laugh a lot too.

But that’s as close as they get. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying follows Davi, who is basically relieving the same “life” over and over where she gets told she is the chosen one and the hero when she wakes up in this world, so she tries to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. But she’s so done with that. She just hasn’t managed to win yet and instead she has found so many ways to die, some come quick, some take much longer. But at least she gets to keep her memories of what she has done and how events transpired.

So, why not instead beat the whomever keeps becoming the Dark Lord, and od it herself, so this time she actually wins?

Honestly, this was really fun because Davi plays it lose and fast at first, he just wants to start winning and so dying a few times while “testing” things out and what works or doesn’t on her path to become the Dark Lord is fine, until things slowly start working out or maybe not always, but then the she would have to keep retrying and dying over and over to get to the newest point she has got.

Like being in a game with no respawn points once you go past certain check points, she keeps respawning always at the same point.

I enjoyed this way too much and it was such a good take at how things make you look evil, or rather how there are many faces to evil. The whole story including the way to become Dark Lord was full of surprises and lots of checkpoints to marvel at the chaos Davi is having and creating. But it is also incredibly fun and I look forward to the next one.

Chaotic evil groundhog day to become a villain, yes, sign me up for it!

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Night Marchers

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The Night Marchers

Rating: 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.

Another collection of stories, but this time in graphic novel form. This is a rich collection of “Cautionary Fables and Fairytales” from Oceania and around the area, so you get a lot of different stories than the usual fairytales we all know.

Forget Snow White or yet another greek mythology retelling, here you will get tales with a wide range of ideas, some from superstition (like consider what happens to the spirits and invisible beings, or they may be out to get you), to wider and more elaborate stories ranging Philippines, New Zealand, Hawaii, and beyond.

Some reminded me a little of the stories from Spirits Abroad but now in graphic novel form, and some felt new and interesting, and it was also an introduction to artists that may not be as well known or that you see less of their work on the Western side of the world, and boy the artwork was also stunning considering it was in black and white, there were many styles and stories.

I haven’t read the rest of the series of Cautionary Fables and Fairytales so I cannot compare it to the rest, but it was a decent number of stories and even though as usual some were not my style either in art, or story or both (I think only one didn’t hit both things for me) the overall feel of the book was good and interesting leaving me wanting to get some more books to read on fairy tales and fables from the regions.

Book Review

Moon Reads: The Anatomy of Fear

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The Anatomy of Fear

Rating: 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 found about this book because fo LL Macrae and decided to back it on Kickstarter. Now, I am not the biggest fan of horror, and so I was a bit nervous about it.

One of my favourite things is that it comes as an “anatomy” where each short story covers a body part, like liver or bone or eye, and therefore it goes into some horror for each part.

Overall, the stories are more the kind of horror that will creep under your skin and leave you feeling the chills rather than jump scares and film horror series. This is not a book of screams but rather of layers of horror that build a “body” of stories.

Some were easier to get into for me and despite the topics some were very enjoyable (obviously Bone by LL Macrae) and some were tragic, the tempo varies too and I will admit there were some that were just not for me, both by topic or just couldn’t get into the story as much as others (maybe I was spoilt by some really good ones that others that weren’t bad felt not as good).

So if you want horror short stories to layer a variety of authors and ideas, let the fear come and learn its anatomy with this book.

Book Review

Moon Reads: EchoStar

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EchoStar by Melinda Salisbury

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.

What would you do if you could get an app that helps you know the right answers all or most of the time?

When Ruby and her best friend Deva get told they cannot go to the Performing Arts camp they won places to for the summer unless they fix their grades, drastic measures come into place. Suddenly Deva is doing everything well and knows everything, getting high marks, but also being slightly cagey and different, which makes Ruby jealous and confused.

But finding that this is due to EchoStar, a new app in trial that is an “AI” to help you succeed, Ruby quickly tries to get in on the trial.

What she doesn’t know is the consequences and the dangers of having someone always watching and listening in.

This was a creepy thriller, with a root of truth, and pondering the consequences of relying too much on perfection, an AI to help you ut and what allowing access to this “app” to be able to listen and watch everything may involve. Because you never know who made the app and who is on the other side truly.

It was a quick read, I didn’t particularly like Ruby but it was fascinating to see her going through this, figuring out what her friendship meant, and who she really may be behind all the appearances and ideas she has made up of her own person. And having an AI, that can whisper to you solutions or befriend you, could be good, or maybe not so much when you can be influenced or coerced into making certain decisions.

An interesting exploration of technology for teenagers, on how much we share online and privacy and the meaning of this.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Meesh the Bad Demon

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Meesh the Bad Demon by Michelle Lam

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.

What makes a bad demon? Apparently Meesh is one, as she is better at seeing the good in everyone than the bad and doesn’t act like other demons. Therefore the other demons bully her because she dreams of being more like a fairy princess than the expectations of a demon.

But, as a big disaster strikes, Meesh ends up journeying to other worlds to try to find help. And why not start where she thinks she could get help, the fairy realm?

The artwork and the story were very cute and perfect for a middle grade graphic novel, the colour palette was also beautifully used to show the different worlds and the elements of what was happening so you could get an idea before you fully understood what was going in, which was done in a subtle interesting way and I liked that.

The story focuses on being brave, on being true to yourself and in some ways, challenging the expectations set on you from society and others and that what sometimes we are told is the way we ought to be, doesn’t make who we are less, and sometimes we have to do things for the better.

It is a very cute lovely story and I am looking forward to reading the second book.

And yes, I am trying to keep a relatively spooky/scary vibe or as close as can be for the posts of the month. Let’s see how well we can do.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Red River Seven

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Red River Seven by A. J. Ryan

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.

So, you like Resident Evil? It doesn’t matter if it is the games, or the films or both. This book fits right in with that type of story about a mystery, about experiments, and the feeling of the story makes you think that you may be in a similar world to it.

However, outside of the similar feeling of the story, everything else is different. When they wake up in a ship with no memories and a mission that is slowly revealed to them in parts as they achieve each new part, our characters have to try to figure out who they are, what is actually happening and why were they selected to join this unnerving mission.

The mist is out to get them, and they will have to fight it.

Our story focuses mostly on a man, who thinks he may be a type of detective. At least, it seems the people who make this odd group have their skillset intact, but their identity is a mystery. And they have to work together to achieve getting through what is coming for them, but also, puzzle out who is giving them their instructions, why they won’t tell them anything more but the bare minimum and sometimes in very cryptic ways. And why the mist is heavy and seems to carry screams and maybe hide something more beyond it.

It was interesting to try to puzzle together the mystery as we learn more about each character and what they slowly piece together of their past and identity, but the cost of finding out about themselves is high. There is always a feeling of urgency, like maybe if you stand still and try to keep digging at the many mysteries (the mist, why they specifically where chosen, why are their memories erased, what are the sounds and screams they hear, and the dreams?) the many secrets kept will come charging at you and destroy you or cause something worse to happen.

It was an intense read I did not want to stop reading and I ended up staying awake late to finish it because I needed to know all the whys and whats, and I also, I wanted them to get to their destination, to complete their mission, and to figure things out.

The ending is good even if maybe I wish for more, more story, but still, very worthwhile and it felt to me like a relatively quick read. I can see a videogame set for it, or a film and both would be pretty good.

Book Review

Moon Reads: Long Live Evil

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Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

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.

I tend to be very cautious with hyped books. Still, the concept of Long Live Evil sounded interesting, an “isekai” type of book where the main character is transported to another world, in this case to her favourite book series, for which she hasn’t read the first book. She comes in as the main villain of the story.

The easiest way to describe this is that it is an anti-trope trope book. It will grab as many tropes as possible and turn them on their head, with my favourite being the main spoiler and therefore one I cannot say. But all I can say is that it was such a wonderful twist and I cannot wait to read the next book!

The characters are amusing, starting with Rae who is tired of living a life of being sick and walked over. Well, she might as well make the most of being the evil villain in this story to her benefit because then she can make the most out of the dreamy king who will be the emperor. We also have her cast of minions, Key who is as evil as evil can be and in for the money and the promises made to him from Rae. But then there is also Emer the maid who does not care to be evil but somehow ends up being made to, Cobra (who has his interesting secrets and chaos to bring in). And finally Lia, who is the heroine, the perfect pearl who can do no wrong.

It kept me laughing a lot, but at the same time it holds a lot of moments of heavy thoughts, starting with the fact that Rae has cancer and this is partly why she ends up in the world of her favourite series. There is also a lot of chaos particularly because she is toying with the book, she doesn’t think there are any consequences since it’s “not real” and this approach makes for questionable decisions on her part that may bite her back later on, but at the same time, she is trying to save herself, and find a better life as she feels like there is little hope for herself and hates seeing her life the way it is.

Overall, the chaos is good and a refreshing change from many other books recently published. It turns things around and yes, it may not be for everyone, but if you like chaotic funny books that deal with heavy topics in a relatively “light handed” way (none of it felt badly done but rather more of the type of humour of someone who has seen hell and can only laugh now about it).

One final thought is that it made an interesting point on what exactly defines a strong female character, by the many female characters in it and how each shows their reasons and work.

I highly recommend you read this book because it is worth the journey!

Book Review

Moon Reads: Service Model

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Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Service Model. If you know nothing of me, I work in tech as an engineer, so this was right up my street.

I am sure by now you know a little about the plot. But if not, stay with me, we follow Charles as he accidentally (?) kills his master due to a fault, in a world that has made the most of robots and has them everywhere possible, even where you didn’t think it might be possible. What comes next is his journey as he tries to understand why he made that mistake and as he encounters different personalities and robots who start to show him a side of him that he didn’t expect to find.

Even before you start to read the story, the dedication and thanks had me ready for it. Including the fact it talks about the book “You look like a thing and I love you” by Janelle Shane which if you want to understand robotics and AI better, is a worthy read with an amusing way to learn.

But as soon as I saw that, I knew this was a book that would be a delight and obviously a mastery in worldbuilding and in philosophically trying to understand what makes us human (which is to me part of the core of what Adrian does through his writing by exploring everything that is NOT human). And the book did not disappoint.

I could tell you all about Charles adventures, but the thing that stuck to me from the beginning is that this is about about identity, about routine and classifying things into flows and boxes, and also about grief. It is an incredibly human book in topic even if it doesn’t seem to be as you read the story and encounter mostly non human characters. And yet… Charles is trying to understand why he is feeling the way he is feeling about his master, and about the world overall. But there is also the fact that there are things he is struggling to compute, and what do you do when you can’t easily “compute” something? When things don’t fit in a box or a neat process or flow? And how Charles approaches these challenges is utterly fascinating, including the fact that he talks about efficiency and resources, and again, shines a light on how we feel and make decisions as humans, but also about what we expect from robots and the limitations machine learning and AI have and how the unexpected can wreak havoc and chaos.

It is, as usual a masterpiece in thought, but it is also incredibly amusing and it made me laugh a few times. References to things we do or culture are there, and it pokes fun at things we may consider normal but that aren’t for a robot. And funnily enough it made me think of the books “A Psalm for the Wild Built” and it’s companion, because it hits on those questions of humanity and non humanity.

A must read for anyone who grapples with the idea of AI going too fast or taking over jobs, and also if you want a different sci-fi than the utopia of living in space and robots being perfect.