The Constellation of Moon

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).

Subscription Boxes

Dreams & Nightmares Litjoy Crate Unboxing

Posted on October 21, 2018

Look at this gorgeous box! I couldn’t resist getting Litjoy’s special edition crate for Muse of Nightmares. I already had the gorgeous Fairyloot edition of Strange the Dreamer, so I wanted a nice edition to match, and this one is definitely gorgeous.

The box was full of purple delightful things as you can see below.

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Starting on the book and going round clockwise:

Muse of Nightmares, it came with an auhtor letter and signed. And this is the American edition (I have UK edition for Strange, but somehow find this one matches beautifully the blue).
A gorgeous quilted booksleeve with a button (I liked that detail and the print of the fabric).
Lull Tea.
Shiny charm bracelet wiht a purple moth. <3
Logo pin which is also delightful and very detailed.
A hardbacked journal with a dreamy scene. It has a ribbon bookmark and elastic band.
Mug cake, old fashioned one (I have yet to try it, but looks intriguing).
Goddess of Dreams fabric/linen spray.
Trading cards.
MY favourite item, a gorgeous potion bottle with a candle inside.
And of course the theme and contents booklet.

It was a very purple edition and I was extremely pleased by it.

Subscription Boxes

Yume Twins Unboxing

Posted on October 19, 2018

Hi everyone, sorry, I know the picture is dark, but it’s a sign of autumn and the days are darker so I come home to less light and picture taking is affected a little by it.

This is October’s Yume Twins box. And one of my favourite ones surprisingly. Starting from the top right corner and going clockwise:

Cute fluffy bunny plushie.
Origami Ghibli sheets (mine are Spirited Away themed which of course is not a bad thing and the only thing better would’ve been Howl’s Moving Castle).
Cat fingerless gloves. They are super soft and fluffy and come with a string so you can attache them to each other and hang around your neck.
Nyan Vampire Cat stickers (I didn’t know of this cat but I am loving him!)
Pokemon mini towels. They seem the perfect travel face towel size and good quality and there’s three of them (I had fun trying to find a way to show all three without actually opening the pack).
Kiki’s Delivery Service mug. It is a plastic cup/mug and it was the first thing I unboxed and I loved it. It reminds me of my childhood (I didn’t have a mug Kiki themed, but I had Disney and Winnie the Pooh ones in similar shape and style).
Finally, the gorgeous file holder (I think it may also be called a file pocket?) with Nyan Cat on it. It has like an envelope thing inside to hold your files so they don’t just slide down and out of it.

I loved this box and it was very very cute (plus all the Ghibli stuff, yay!)

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.

Books, Subscription Boxes

Into the Wild Book Box Club Unboxing

Posted on October 11, 2018

This is their second anniversary box! And it was gorgeous and made me smile a lot. Starting with the theme postcard at the bottom and going clockwise:

A forest in a theme card.
The Other Side of Lost by Jessi Kirby which makes me think of “Wild”(the book) though I haven’t read yet Other Side of Lost. Will buddy read next week.
Clubhouse invite, personalised as always <3
The Lost Boys Notebook, by Georgine Makes. It is a bit dark so hard to appreciate all the details but the design is very much witchy and dark and full of nature.
Peeking from underneath is a multipurpose scarf (the bag it came in has all the different ways you can use) making us ready to survive anything in style!
Camper’s Picnic Bag by Sass and Belle. I love anything by them most of the time and this isn’t the exception.
Adventurer’s Remedy Massage Bar by Naked Sister. I recently got introduced to the magic of massage bars and they’re good! So ti was nice to see this in the box.
A sticky notepad from publisher’s promoting Dear Evan Hansen.
Damsel, a proof copy of it, which made me squeal because it was one fo those books I really wanted to read!
A nice postcard about being reading.
A Reader’s Pin
And a CabeswaterCandle by Bookworm Candles & Crafts.