.review – Page 13 – The Constellation of Moon

Little Red Reading Hood Review

Posted on February 28, 2019

Little Red Reading Hood by Lucy Rowland and Ben Mantle

“Whilst leaving footpaths should NEVER be done,
Straying from stories is all sorts of fun!

Little Red Reading Hood LOVES reading books and making up stories of her own. When she meets a cunning wolf while on her way to the library, he convinces her to stray from the path and read for a little while. But hasn’t she read this in a story before? Perhaps it’s time she came up with a new ending . . .

A contemporary and fun take on the classic fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood. Created by incredible new picture book partnership, Lucy Rowland and Ben Mantle, Little Red Reading Hood will inspire children, and adults, about the magic of books and reading.”

Rating:

Sometimes I really fancy reading a short illustrated book. And most of those times I want a satisfying easy story with gorgeous artwork. This little book has that.

It is a retelling of Red Riding Hood but this time it includes books, and a visit to the library! (Overdue books are bad!) It rhymes (I find that I enjoy easy rhymes where it isn’t “fancy poetry” but just a simple rhyme that tells a story well. Also, rhyming in English is painful! This requires a lot of skill). The interactions and rhymes made me laugh and smile and as I caught on that it rhymed, I kept trying to guess what the next line would say and what word it’d end with. (Wow, that’s a lot of variations on a single word, I’ll run with it!)

The colour palette of the artwork is quite magical and is good at providing “context”. Library, stories, woods, all have different tones but it all matches and works well together. Very pleasant story and the end made me smile and go “yeah, I like that, it is a good ending”.

(Sometimes it is hard to rave about picture books when you try to not include spoilers and also admire the artwork. I choose either for story or artwork, sometimes I get lucky and get both, like this time.)

Book Review

A Polar Bear in Love Vol. 1 Review

Posted on February 26, 2019

A Polar Bear in Love Vol. 1 by Koromo

A polar bear falls in love with a seal, but the seal thinks the polar bear is trying to eat it!

Rating:

This was a random purchase where I stumbled upon it, thought it was very cute and bought it alongside the other 3 volumes that I found in English.

I regret nothing! It is utterly cute, with this polar bear finding a “baby” (not that young but still in “baby” fur) seal and falling in love at first sight. The poor seal cannot comprehend this and so it is hilarious to read, but also extremely cute. I kept laughing so hard my boyfriend actually came to check in on me to figure out what I was reading.

Mostly, there are a lot of puns, a lot of insight into love, and what it means to be prey and predator (it also touches on privilege). It is impressive how much it touches about social commentary yet it is so simple, cute and lovely.

The artwork is great at simplifying things but also adds a lot of detail (and considering this is all in the North Pole, well, what props do you have except ice, snow, some ocean, and mostly white animals?)

Book Review, Books

Four Three Two One Review

Posted on February 18, 2019

Four Three Two One by Courtney C. Stevens

In this contemporary YA novel, a girl reunites with the three other survivors of a bus bombing that killed nineteen people, and together they face the secrets, struggles, and emotional warfare that each has been enduring.

Golden “Go” Jennings wasn’t supposed to be on Bus 21 the day it blew up in New York City. Neither was her boyfriend, Chandler. But they were. And so was Rudy, a cute stranger whom Go shared a connection with the night before. And Caroline, a girl whose silence ended up costing nineteen people their lives.

Though it’s been a year since the bombing, Go isn’t any closer to getting over what happened. Since Chan shuts down every time Go brings that day up, she decides to reach out to Rudy. Just like that, the two fall right back into their easy, deep connection. Facing the past head-on with Rudy has opened up a small window of healing Go never thought was possible. So she makes an impulsive decision: Round up the rest of the survivors and head to New York City. There they will board an art installation made of the charred remnants of Bus 21.

But things are never easy when it comes to rehashing the past. Uniting the four stirs up conflicting feelings of anger and forgiveness and shows them that, although they all survived, they may still need saving.

Rating:

This was a free proof provided by the publisher but the review is all my own, not paid or whatever.

Now that that is out of the way… When I saw this as a book blurb before it was even published I was intrigued. Four people survive a bombing, each has secrets they keep and they are all building up to going back into a remade Bus that exploded, that is now an exhibition.

I don’t usually read books about terrorism (domestic or otherwise), but I found the clashing of lives something I wanted to read. And Four Three Two One was very powerful. At the beginnign we get the “bus explodes” chapter, then we meet our characters months after the explosion and days before the exhibition opens.

There a lot of concepts happening here. There is the whole “what is love” question in there, and if the things that happen to us make us, defines us, or how they affect us. But there is also the survivors guilt being explored and how that redefines us, and how much it can affect not the survivor’s life but the lives of those around that person.

As all five main characters come closer and closer to getting to Accelerant Orange and to facing Bus 21, things get more and more tense. The first question that should probably be answered is, can they step inside the bus? It is known that people that had an aircrash may never fly again, or in this case never get on a bus again. So can they? (I won’t say if they can or can’t, that’d be a spoiler, but it is a question that sticks around). But it isn’t the only question to answer. There is a why are you (each survivor) going to the exhibition? What are you holding back? What is that “secret” you’re trying to protect everyone else from?

We know the “secret” one of them holds from early on, but that doesn’t prepare you for the other secrets that come up to the surface as they share a ride towards New York, and towards the exhibition of Bus 21.

No, this isn’t a popular book, sadly it is overlooked. But it is interesting and powerful and worth reading (it is also a relatively light read, in that it is easy to read, the writing flows easily but the topic is intense, there is talk about suicide, and well, terrorism). However, I enjoyed the execution of it, and how much feeling there was in it (and I’m not always fond of adding too much feeling to stories).

Go read it, give it a chance.

Book Review, Books

Fierce Fragile Hearts Review

Posted on February 16, 2019

Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard

‘This time around, I’m going to be so much better. I’m going to prove to them that it was worth waiting on me.’

Two years after a downward spiral took her as low as you can possibly go, Suzanne is starting again. Again. She’s back in Brighton, the only place she felt she belonged, back with her best friends Caddy and Rosie. But they’re about to leave for university. When your friends have been your light in the darkness, what happens when you’re the one left behind?

Rating:

I know I am late to the party and that finished copies are already out, but Sara’s books are very intense and I had to be in the right mindspace for it. (And I am glad I waited or I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much).

We find Suzanne ready to rebuild and start “over” again in Bristol. She’s an adult now, at 18 and wants to be independent. And gosh, just this part of the story was heartbreaking, because ebing an adult is really difficult, and becoming independent completely and trying to make ends meet is also hard. I loved the fact that she doesn’t just magically afford every single thing and have it perfectly fine without any issues.

The rawness of the book is one of the best things, seriously. But it also means that this book should come with the warning of saying that it deals with mental health, drugs, alcohol, relationships and abuse. This is done in a tasteful (to my palate at least) way without being too preachy but also not just like “it’s drugs and rock n roll”.

There is a lovely old lady as part of this book, and I just loved this so much. Everything about it made me smile and cry and just it is beautiful (don’t really want to spoil a lot). There’s a cute dog. And friends, and how friendships change.

Sue also has to learn that she’s not the only one having issues, and hey, she can actually try to help her friends. And discovering how to help others and how to be a friend are part of what this book touches on.

Gosh, it even made me want to go visit Bristol and find the places it mentions. And now I am not making a lot of sense. But basically, this book will give you a lot of feelings and make you emotional, different emotions at a time like sadness, happiness and anger (there are others and at times I just laughed in the middle of the bus while I was reading, weird looks were given, I didn’t care).

Book Review, Books

Shadowscent Review

Posted on February 6, 2019

Shadowscent high-res book cover

Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom by P. M. Freestone

In the empire of Aramtesh, scent has power.

When disaster strikes and the crown prince lies poisoned, long suppressed rivalries threaten to blow the empire apart. It’s up to a poor village girl with a talent for fragrances and the prince’s loyal bodyguard to find an antidote.

To succeed, the pair must uncover secrets – cryptic, ancient tales as well as buried truths from their own pasts – in an adventure that will ignite your senses.

Rating:

When I first heard of this book, I longed to read it and requested a review copy. Lo and behold this proof copy was provided to me in exchange for a review. And it came with the added bonus of a vial of perfume which was a delightful boon that I hadn’t expected (but that made me feel extremely happy, and the perfume is lovely indeed).

I have delayed this review to have it as close to the publishing date as I could and here it is! The finished copy is even lovelier but I am still waiting for that one to arrive. Enough about me, now to the book.

Shadowscent tells us the story of Rakel, who has honed her scent and her perfume making skills so she has a chance at becoming a perfumer to the rich (and she wants this because she loves scent and to give her father a longer chance of survival, a better life as short or long as it may be). From the beginning I enjoyed Rakel’s chapters enormously and just all of her view of the world was something I wanted to read a bit more every time. I was rooting for her at the perfumer trial, and just kept rooting for her throughout the story.

Plus, Rakel is good with horses, and she has a lot of street smarts, but not in an aggressive way but rather an “I learnt this and I know it and I am going to use it, even if I am not rich and can’t compete on fair grounds, but let’s give it a go, I won’t give up”.

We also get Ash chapters, and his point of view. He is a Shield, the bodyguard, defender, “loyal puppy” of the Prince that is chosen to become the next leader. (The politics here were a bit confusing, as there are a lot of concubines/wives that have children and they form the Council and it didn’t really spark my interest except that it was made up of females mostly). I have to admit I didn’t enjoy Ash’s chapters as much and read them as quick as possible. I wasn’t keen on the whole “I am so special but have to hide it and won’t hint but actually I will”. It was a bit overdone for my liking and considering the big “reveal” in the end, I think it could’ve been done better (don’t really want to spoil it, as it was interesting but even though it was a big reveal I was just like “yeah whatever, he’s special, move on”). It makes me sad to have to say this, because I enjoyed Rakel so much.

I liked the whole mystery, loved the concept of the Library, and enjoyed Rakel’s spunk and how she’s trying so hard but life just doesn’t seem to love her that much, or rather, not the way she thinks things should be. And I am quite curious for the next book.

More scentlore please, as it was quite interesting. And more Rakel, a lot more. There was a particular scene when they return to save the Prince and she talks to Barden and it was like “yes, I need to quote that because it is a great thing, so good” (it’s a bit spoilery, so I am holding on it, sorry!).

All in all, I think there was a lot more work in developing Rakel than Ash and it shows in the way it is written. But it is still an enjoyable read, the lore is interesting and I do wish for more of it.

Moon recommends

Preordering this lovely book, or going to your nearest book shop or library and getting it to have a read (preferably get a few candles, or some incense, or put something in the oven because this will make you want to be sniffing around).

Book Review, Books

Give the Dark My Love Review

Posted on January 13, 2019

Give The Dark My Love by Beth Revis

When seventeen-year-old Nedra Brysstain leaves her home in the rural, northern territories of Lunar Island to attend the prestigious Yugen Academy, she has only one goal in mind: learn the trade of medicinal alchemy. A scholarship student matriculating with the children of Lunar Island’s wealthiest and most powerful families, Nedra doesn’t quite fit in with the other kids at Yugen, who all look down on her.

All, except for Greggori “Grey” Astor. Grey is immediately taken by the brilliant and stubborn Nedra, who he notices is especially invested in her studies. And that’s for a good reason: a deadly plague has been sweeping through the North, and it’s making its way toward the cities. With her family’s life–and the lives of all of Lunar Island’s citizens–on the line, Nedra is determined to find a cure for the plague.

Grey and Nedra continue to grow closer, but as the sickness spreads and the body count rises, Nedra becomes desperate to find a cure. Soon, she finds herself diving into alchemy’s most dangerous corners–and when she turns to the most forbidden practice of all, necromancy, even Grey might not be able to pull her from the darkness.

Rating:

I can’t remember why I preordered this book (and I preordered it twice somehow, so past me, must have really wanted to read it, thanks past me), but it wasn’t a super hyped one, or one I have seen many people reviewing and that is a huge shame.

Give the Dark My Love was a punch in the gut and the brain in a very good way. (Weird way to seel this right? give me a chance). We meet Nedra when she is about to leave, and we also meet Nessie. She is her twin and you can see that even though they aren’t rich, this is a family full of love, that cares, and it is a good family (plus the parents aren’t absent exactly, and they are in a way a huge part of the story, but explaining this would be adding a spoiler and I shall leave it at that). Actually, we technically meet her in the prologue which is actually something that happens afterwards in the main story, but never mind. It is a powerful prologue and worth the read.

Then she comes to the main Academy, because she has been granted a sponsorship to help her study there. Potentially from the Emperor. And we get the usual “school/academy” intro. We also get to meet Grey, who is the other point of view for the story, and will give us his side from someone that is rich and is trying to break away from politics (because that is what his father does, and his grandfather, you get the idea).

Oh, and there is a plague happening and it starts at first quietly but it becomes worse and worse drastically, and Nedra starts toeing the line for necromancy because she can’t seem to find any other way to solve this (nor can anyone else, and her Master/senior, Master Ostrum is also trying very hard, and they both agree things just don’t seem to work).

It is very well built as a world, the alchemy part is amazing and evne the necromancy sides are very interesting. So this book kept me hooked.

But one of the things I loved the most was that it shows grief raw, and in different forms. And it was interesting to ask the question of “what are you willing to do or not do when you’re grieving and have lost so much?”. Another wonderful thing is that not everything is blakc and white, plus there are some good twists there (I guessed some, not all, and I liked seeing the twists and the reasons behind them).

In summary, this is a dark fantasy that touches closely on death (and “zombies/necromancy) but also on the human side of grief and on what the response of people can be to plague and other issues.

Moon recommends

Dropping everything, and giving the dark some love with this book. I can’t wait for the sequel and I am very impressed with it. Other books recently reviewed dealing with grief would be: Only Love Can Break Your Heart and Letters to the Lost.

Book Review, Books

The Twisted Tree Review

Posted on January 9, 2019

The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

Part ghost story, part Nordic thriller – this is a twisty, tense and spooky YA debut, perfect for fans of CORALINE and Michelle Paver.

Martha can tell things about a person just by touching their clothes, as if their emotions and memories have been absorbed into the material. It started the day she fell from the tree at her grandma’s cabin and became blind in one eye.

Determined to understand her strange ability, Martha sets off to visit her grandmother, Mormor – only to discover Mormor is dead, a peculiar boy is in her cabin and a terrifying creature is on the loose.

Then the spinning wheel starts creaking, books move around and terror creeps in . . .

Set in the remote snows of contemporary Norway, THE TWISTED TREE is a ghost story that twists and turns – and never takes you quite where you’d expect.

Rating:

I got this lovely book as a proof thanks to the amazing people from Hot Key Books (they’re some of my favourite people, but don’t tell them!). When I first heard about it, I wanted to read it because it sounded creepy enough but not too mcuh (because I don’t really do horror, it gives me nightmares).

The Twisted Tree follows Martha, who lost her eye recently after falling from (pause) the twisted tree (in case you wondered). And since she has fallen, everytime she touches clothing, even if it is just a quick brush, she gets glimpses of feelings or memories from the person who owns the clothing.

So she decides to visit her grandmother, Mormor, who lives in the cabin next to the tree. But when she gets there, Mormor isn’t there. There’s someone else, a young man who likes waistcoats (immediately liked him, waistcoats are bonus points in my scale) and seems to know where everything is, better than Martha.

As Martha starts to get to know Stig (the waistcoat mystery man), the island where the cabin is (and therefore them) becomes more and more creepy, something is out there hunting and it won’t stop, until someone stops it!

Trying not to spoil any further, I have to say, I loved all the Norse/Norwegian mythology woven into this. It doesn’t feel like a stretch but rather as it it belongs perfectly and nothing was out of the ordinary (though everything is). Martha’s “power” is interesting too, and the way she reads clothing was intriguing. The fact that different fabrics/threads show memories slightly different or differnet kinds of memories was one of those little things that make it unique and special. There was SO much detail and care put into this book and it shows.

I had a hard time putting down, and I just wanted to see what happened next. And I loved it. It is a great book, plus it isn’t a huge book (bonus points because sometimes I just want a good read that is a quick read too, and this one ticks both things).

Moon recommends

Go buy this delightful frightful book that comes out tomorrow! (Can you believe it? So soon!) I have a creepy/dark read to recommend next week, so I’ll stick to that, since it is a very good one (promise!).

Book Review, Books

Wild Review

Posted on January 3, 2019

Wild by Emily Hughes

“You cannot tame something so happily wild.”

In this beautiful picture book by Hawaiian artist Emily Hughes, we meet a little girl who has known nothing but nature from birth—she was taught to talk by birds, to eat by bears, and to play by foxes. She is unashamedly, irrefutably, irrepressibly wild. That is, until she is snared by some very strange animals that look oddly like her, but they don’t talk right, eat right, or play correctly. She’s puzzled by their behavior and their insistence on living in these strange concrete structures: there’s no green here, no animals, no trees, no rivers. Now she lives in the comfort of civilization. But will civilization get comfortable with her?

In her debut picture book, Hughes brings an uncanny humor to her painterly illustrations. Her work is awash with color, atmosphere, and a stunning visual splendor that will enchant children while indulging their wilder tendencies. Wild is a twenty-first-century answer to Maurice Sendak’s children’s classic—it has the same inventiveness, groundbreaking art, and unmissable quirkiness.

Rating:

Let’s start the year easing into it with a picture book!

The illustrations of Wild are gorgeous. Just look at those huge eyes and the untamed hair with flowers tangled in it and bits of branches and leaves. (I’d have a major heart attack if my hair was as tangled and “wild” as that, it’d be so difficult to untangle and to sort out…) That caught my eye and was part of what made me choose this book.

The little girl makes me think of nature and defnitely of wilderness, but not a bad kind, but a natural, growing, budding kind. I guess the best way to describe it is “green”.

The animals that find her and take her in are endearing. They include her into their world and teach her how to live (the illustrations are funny and full of vibrancy and wildness). And our little girl is happy, she is wild, she just is.

But then, some strange “animals” (humans) find her and take her in. They try to teach her all the things she already knows, how to eat, how to talk, how to play, but it isn’t right and she doesn’t like it, nor does she understand it (one of the pages reminded me of a scene in My Fair Lady).

It was a joy to leaf through this book, look at the illustraions and feel wild alongside the little girl.

Moon recommends

Go read! Just go read, whatever tickles your fancy. Wild is a great choice and it is a small book, but there are other books to read and even just a few paragraphs may be good for you, who knows?

Book Review, Books

Only Love Can Break Your Heart Review

Posted on December 26, 2018

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Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber

Sometimes a broken heart is all you need to set you free… Reiko loves the endless sky and electric colours of the Californian desert. It is a refuge from an increasingly claustrophobic life of family pressures and her own secrets. Then she meets Seth, a boy who shares a love of the desert and her yearning for a different kind of life. But Reiko and Seth both want something the other can’t give them. As summer ends, things begin to fall apart. But the end of love can sometimes be the beginning of you…

Rating:

I struggled a little with this book. It has some really really good things, but it also has some pet peeves so it was hard to rate it highly due to them (and there were sadly a lot).

One of the topics of the book is what the concept of love is, and another is grief. Both give it really good points, and they are explored in an amazing way. Each character affected by the death of Mika grieves differently and you can see this (and as the story progresses, Rei becomes more aware of it too) which I found really good. This grief not only affects each of them and who they are, but their relationships and as I mentioned above, it is done very well. (I would even add, the grief you feel for different deaths/loses is different in itself. You think you know what grief is after one and then another one happens and it is not the same!)

However, Reiko was an extremely spoiled person and that meant low points. Life is so “easy” and she just can’t seem to think outside her circle, even when things aren’t going the way they are meant to (or that she thinks they should be going).

The homecoming party was odd, and I know that it is part of what spurred the whole book but it felt a bit empty. However, things start to get better from this point on in the book. For most of the first half, all I did was cringe a lot about almost everything going on. And there is a huge case of parents that are there when needed as plot devise but absent the rest of the time, conveniently. (I understand it is hard to make parents be part of the story, but in this particular one, they should’ve been less a plot devise and more part of it, they could’ve played a bigger better part).

Still, I liked some parts and even had to share a quote (last paragraph of page 286, UK paperback edition) with my friends, because it was just very perfect and I had to. And I found the exploration of “who do we fall in love”, and how people change (or our perception of them, or even ourselves change) a refreshing topic and it was a lot less romance than I expected it to be (which in this case is a plus).

Moon recommends

I’d say to give this lovely book a spin. If you’re more curious on explorations about grief try Letters to the Lost and for some reason this book reminded me of Floored, so why not check that one out too?

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that whatever the circumstances it was as good as it could be.

Book Review, Books

Shadows on the Moon Review

Posted on December 22, 2018

Shadows on the Moon by Zoë Marriott

On my fourteenth birthday when the sakura was in full bloom, the men came to kill us. We saw them come, Aimi and me. We were excited, because we did not know how to be frightened. We had never seen soldiers before.

Suzume is a shadow-weaver. She can create mantles of darkness and light, walk unseen in the middle of the day, change her face. She can be anyone she wants to be. Except herself.

Suzume died officially the day the Prince’s men accused her father of treason. Now even she is no longer sure of her true identity.

Is she the girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother’s new husband, Lord Terayama? A lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama’s kitchens? Or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands?

Everyone knows Yue is destined to capture the heart of a prince. Only she knows that she is determined to use his power to destroy Terayama.

And nothing will stop her. Not even love.

Rating:

I got this book and the companion (Barefoot in the Wind) at Walker’s YA Winter Wonderland Event (which was amazing!). I had eyed it before the event but my never ending TBR meant I hadn’t prioritised it (shame on me).

The book is set in the Moonlit Lands which is similar to Japan but not exactly. There is magic, and the Moon is the “god(ess)” of this world. Suzume has a happy life, and is celebrating her birthday, when men come and kill his father and her cousin. She manages to escape by wishing herself to not be there and for them not to see her.

This is a “retelling” of Cinderella, but not the usual kind. Suzume has lost her identity with the shock of everything, and part of her suspects what caused it but then another part of her is in survival mode, and as such she makes use of her shadow weaving inadvertedly.

It was interesting to read it but at times I felt there was a lot trying to happen in one single story that maybe wasn’t necessary. However, all in all, the shadow weaving was an interesting concept and I wish there had been more on that and less on other parts of the story.

The revenge plot line isn’t an immediate “you killed my father (and cousin) prepare to die”. It takes a while for Suzume to figure out who exactly did this and why, despite the fact that it is easy to see it as a reader.

There is also her learning on how to use shadow weaving, and I like Youta, though it felt like he was just there as a plot devise, which I wished he wasn’t, because he was one of my favourite characters (and the hunting falcon).

In general, it was a good twist to Cinderella, and the ending didn’t leave me annoyed or anything. It tied up nicely and made you feel satisfied. But it didn’t stick to me as mucha s I wish it had and I didn’t care much for Suzume, but rather I was curious how the story in general would pan out rather than because I cared about her. This is an odd thing for me, since I usually become either quite invested in the world, the side stories or characters, but for this book, the main thing was the story itself.

Moon recommends

There a lot of retellings of different fairytales, like Cinder for Cinderella (and Shadows on the Moon), or Hunted by Meagan Spooner (or any of Robin McKinley’s retellings, Beauty is one of many).