Month: November 2019

The House of Night and Chain Review

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In a bleak corner of the city of Valgaast, the House of Malveil awaits. A place of darkness, its halls throb with a sinister history. Its rooms are filled with malice. Its walls echo with pain. Now it stirs eagerly with the approach of an old heir. Colonel Maeson Strock of the Astra Militarum has returned home to his ancestral mansion. He is a man broken, both by the horrors of war and by personal loss, and has come home to take up the mantle of Planetary Governor. He hopes he can purge his home world of political corruption and reforge connections with his estranged children. He hopes he can rebuild his life. Malveil will feast on these dreams. Strock believes he has seen the worst of the galaxy’s horrors. Malveil will show him how wrong he is.

A brillaint horror story set in the world of Warhammer 40,000. Click the title to read more.

Death Beside the Seaside Review

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July 1910. Lady Hardcastle and her tireless sidekick Flo have finally embarked on a long-overdue seaside break. But just as they’re wavering between ice creams and donkey rides, their fellow guests start to go missing—and the duo find themselves with a hysterical hotel manager and a case to solve. The first to disappear is Dr Goddard, a scientist doing something terribly top-secret for the government. Gone too are his strongbox and its mysterious contents. By the time Lady Hardcastle has questioned the horde of international guests, her number-one suspect has been dispatched in grisly circumstances—and then the others start vanishing too. As the case begins to look like a matter of national security, Lady Hardcastle takes advice from her brother in the secret service. But could there be an even more personal connection at play?

To read my thoughts… click the title!

Doing Time Review

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At some time in the future, the secret of time-travel became available to all. Chaos ensued as people sought to take advantage. Because there will always be nutters who want to change history… And so the Time Police were formed. Internationally sanctioned thugs whose task it was to keep the timeline straight by any and all means possible. And they succeeded. The Time Wars are over. The Time Police won. But who will win the peace? Doing Time follows three hapless new Time Police recruits – Jane, Luke and Matthew – as they try to navigate their first year on the beat. It’s all going to be fine. Obviously.

A pretty average book with a lot of series potential. See what I have to say by clicking the title.

Requiem Infernal Review

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On a distant world, an obscure order of the Adepta Sororitas study their founder’s visions. They live in solitude… which is about to be broken as danger approaches. The Adepta Sororitas of the Last Candle have stood vigil over their sanctuary world for centuries, striving to decipher their founder’s tormented visions. Outsiders are unwelcome… yet still they come. Decimated by an encounter with a lethal xenos entity, the survivors of an elite Astra Militarum company have journeyed to the Candleworld in search of healing, escorted by a woman who is no stranger there – Sister Hospitaller Asenath Hyades, who turned her back on the order decades ago. As the seekers near the sect’s bastion, malign forces begin to stir among the planet’s storm-wracked spires, but the most insidious shadows lie in their own souls.

My very first Warhammer 40k novel, this is making me wnat to read more!

October Wrap Up 2019

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I went into October really wanting to get into the spooky vibe. I am not the biggest celebrator of Halloween as it just wasn’t something my family really celebrated but I wanted to get into the spooky spirit and I felt that the best way to do that was by reading some good spooky books. I read books with ghosts, with witches, books that had murder occur. Overall, a very successful month in terms of theme. Not so successful when it came to ratings.

A Spell for Murder by Kennedy Kerr (2.5 stars)

A fun and unique murder mystery set in Scotland where our sleuth is a witch with the power to be able to see the history of whatever object she touches. This book was average to me. The writing was not for me, it was the main reason I struggled with the book as certain things written down pulled me out of the story. A lot of potential with this series though.

A House of Ghosts by W.C. Ryan (5 stars)

A WW1 murder mystery set in an isolated manor during a stormy night. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The atmosphere was really chilling, the POV’s were really engaging and it had me questioning until the very end.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (3 stars)

A very cute graphic novel. I loved the art style and the abundance of representation and diversity but sadly I wasn’t the biggest fan of the structuring of this story. Certain things felt rushed or underdeveloped so I didn’t connect to the characters as much as I had hoped.

The Allingham Minibus by Margery Allingham (2.5 stars)

Another disappointing read for me. I don’t read many short story collections so going into it I was super excited. While there were some really good stories sadly, they were few and far between.