Tag: bookreview

The Decagon House Murders Review

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The members of a university mystery club decide to visit an island which was the site of a grisly, unsolved multiple murder the year before. They’re looking forward to investigating the crime, putting their passion for solving mysteries to practical use, but before long there is a fresh murder, and soon the club-members realise they are being picked off one-by-one. The remaining amateur sleuths will have to use all of their murder-mystery expertise to find the killer before they end up dead too.

Breach of Peace Review

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When an imperial family is found butchered, Officers of God are called to investigate. Evidence points to a rebel group trying to stab fear into the very heart of the empire. Inspector Khlid begins a harrowing hunt for those responsible, but when a larger conspiracy comes to light, she struggles to trust even the officers around her.

Ariadne Review

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As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year. When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything. In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?

The Plague Letters Review

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London, 1665. Hidden within a growing pile of corpses, one victim of the pestilence stands out: a young woman with a shorn head and pieces of twine delicately tied around each ankle.

Symon Patrick, rector of St. Paul’s Covent Garden, cannot say exactly why this corpse amongst the many in his churchyard should give him pause. Longing to do good, he joins a group of medical men who have gathered to find a cure for the plague, each man more peculiar and splenetic than the next. But there is another – unknown to The Society for the Prevention and Cure of Plague – who is performing his own terrible experiments upon unwilling plague-ridden subjects.

It is Penelope – Symon’s unwanted yet unremovable addition to his household – who may yet shed light on the matter. Far more than what she appears, she is already on the hunt. But the dark presence that enters the houses of the sick will not stop, and has no mercy…

Shadow and Bone Review

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Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Red Seas Under Red Skies Review

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Thief and con-man extraordinaire, Locke Lamora, and the ever lethal Jean Tannen have fled their home city and the wreckage of their lives. But they can’t run forever and when they stop they decide to head for the richest, and most difficult, target on the horizon. The city state of Tal Verarr. And the Sinspire. The Sinspire is the ultimate gambling house. No-one has stolen so much as a single coin from it and lived. It’s the sort of challenge Locke simply can’t resist… but Locke’s perfect crime is going to have to wait. Someone else in Tal Verarr wants the Gentleman Bastards’ expertise and is quite prepared to kill them to get it. Before long, Locke and Jean find themselves engaged in piracy. Fine work for thieves who don’t know one end of a galley from another. 

PIGPEN Review

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A relaxing getaway in paradise, or a death trap? A young man wakes up on a breathtaking beac, but he has no idea who he is or how he got there. Try as he might to piece it all together, untangling this mind-bending mystery won’t be easy when every clue leads to more maddening questions… and the family that welcomes his into their home is not what they seem.

City of Secrets Review

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Ever Barnes is a shy orphan guarding a secret in an amazing puzzle box of a building. Most of the young women who work at the building’s Switchboard Operating Facility, which connects the whole city of Oskar, look the other way as Ever roams around in the shadows. But one of them, Lisa, keeps an eye on the boy. So does the head of the Switchboard, Madame Alexander . . . a rather sharp eye. Enter Hannah, the spunky daughter of the building’s owner. She thinks Ever needs a friend, even if he doesn’t know it yet. Good thing she does! Lisa and Madame Alexander are each clearly up to something. Ever is beset by a menacing band of rogues looking to unlock the secret he holds–at any cost. And whatever is hidden deep in the Switchboard building will determine all of their futures.

February 2021 Wrap Up

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Well, this was a very successful month for me. I didn’t read as many books as last month but I really enjoyed the ones I did read. I also read my first 5 star novel this month which was amazing.

  • I read 5 books this month.
  • I continued with all my challenges.
  • Genre: I read 2 classic murder mysteries, 1 sci-fi and 2 fantasy.
  • Gender of authors: 4 by women and 1 was by a variety of authors.
  • Race of authors: 2 white, 2 asian and 1 was by a variety of authors.
  • Age range: I read 4 adult and 1 I was not sure of the age range.
  • Format: I read 2 paperbacks, 1 ebooks and 1 manga.

Death Going Down – Maria Angelica Bosco (2.5 stars)

So, this was my first step into Argentinian Literature, I read this novel as part of the ONTD Reading Challenge. I found it to be a really easy read. The novel didn’t blow me away but I still enjoyed reading it and I would consider reading more of Bosco’s novels.

Lord Edgware Dies – Agatha Christie (4 stars)

This was a solid addition to her series. While it wasn’t as good as some of her other work I still had a great time reading it. I read this book as part of my sequels challenge and I do hope to read the next book in her series before the end of the year. I found that I enjoyed Hastings the most in this book out of all the others books he’s been in. He felt like a great sidekick to Poirot where in other books he’s been a liability to him.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Manga – Akira Himekawa (4 stars)

I have read some mangas before but they had all be apart of the same series. So, this was the first time I had tried a completely different author. I felt that this was a solid adaptation from a video game which had so much content and I really enjoyed the art style. I did wish that some of the dungeons are expanded upon in the manga and I found that some of the pages were too busy but it didn’t ruin my enjoyment.

Star Wars: From A Certain Point of View – Various Authors (3 stars)

I don’t read many short story anthologies but I was really interested in reading these stories set in the Star Wars universe. I decided to rate each story out of 5 and then average out the scores for my overall rating. Overall, I loved how creative and imaginative the authors were and how they could get me invested in this new characters in just a handful of pages!!!

The Poppy War – R.F. Kuang – (5 stars)

This was the book I was most anxious for! I had seen such great things from this trilogy and I desperately wanted to enjoy as much as everyone else did. Thankfully, I loved it! Such amazing world-building, I was super invested in the main character Rin and I was just so connected to the story. I believe this book to be a must read if you want to read more fantasy!

The Poppy War Review

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When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But surprises aren’t always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school. For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .