Out of Skin by Emily Carroll

 

LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!!

Sublimely creepy and somehow reminiscent of Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber.

I can't say much more, since this is such a short story I'd just end up spoiling it, but I promise it's well worth the read!

You can read it here!

The Astronomer Who Met The North Wind by Kate Hall

Science fairy tale, YAY!!!

Unlike Minka, my parents and family friends showed nothing but support when it came to my science filled future. 

Of course, once I actually entered the STEM fields, I was in for a very rude awakening regarding the place of women in science - worse, regarding the place of women of colour in science. But that's a sad story, unlike this book.

Minka's father is a world renowned astronomer. And as such took his family on an expedition which his wife, Minka's mother, did not survive.

Minka's father was over protective but well intentioned, the other adults were the same but they really grated on my nerves (not to mention Minka's!) with their constant dismissal of Minka's scientific interests.

Enter the North Wind and his sister, who changed Minka's life. 

Do you even know how awesome it is to have something as precious and creativity building for little minds (and grown-up minds as well) as a fairy tale and then intertwine it with science?

As Einstein said: 

"If you want your children to be intelligent read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent read them more fairy tales."

Buy The Astronomer Who Met The North Wind

@ Kobo

The Suffragette Scandal (Brothers Sinister #4) by Courtney Milan

Arc provided by the author through Netgalley

Some things one knows for certain when reading a Courtney Milan story:

_There's attention to all the details when it comes to the time period in which the story takes place,

_ The character development is always taken into consideration,

_High quality writing,

_Low level of insanity,

_ A little too much drama...

I had a wonderful time reading this story.

The fact that it takes place in a period that only rarely is approached in this type of novel makes it all the more interesting. As such, Frederica or Free, our main character, is as far from the simpering miss stereotype as is the Sun from the Earth.

Free is a strong, intelligent character who fights for the right to give voice _and the right to vote _ to all women.

She's the woman all of us could be friends with.

As for Edward, our incorrigible liar slash rake, he proved to be complex with a side note of abused male hero in him.

His witty repartee with Free were always prone to give me some good laughs...

“Miss Marshall,” he said, “are you blackmailing me with my attempt to blackmail you? Can I now threaten to go to the authorities and turn this convoluted double blackmail plot into triple blackmail?”

It also helped that their chemistry was very much alive.

The plot _pretty much until half the book _ was well constructed and interesting to read about.

After that, I felt that there was a little too much unnecessary drama, one or two "too stupid to live" and "woe is on me, I don't deserve...thee" ;) actions and comments, but in the end a more than satisfactory novel.

Author's Official Site

Buy "The Suffragette Scandal"

@Bookdepository.com

Once and Always by Elizabeth Hoyt writing as Julia Harper

Arc provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) through Netgalley

Release Date: February 24th

This was basically an okay read...

The beginning was great in a "I don't ever want to stop reading it" that kind of great.

Great chemistry between the two leading characters, plus a great number of diverse characters led me to expect a different kind of story: one that I would have devoured in one sitting.

Unfortunately, after a strange and silly situation of exchanged luggages, Sam and May find themselves stuck in a somewhat stereotyped eighties romance: Sam ends up being a little too Neanderthal for my tastes.

He likes to boss around and especially favourites the word "Mine".

You see where this is going...

As to May or Maisa, I found her a little lacking in character development. In the end I wanted more from her that simply her bouts of bad humour.

The secondary characters were okay, but with the exception of Karl's with his man-bro thoughts, they really weren't that memorable.

The thriller parts weren't that engaging, and the hot and steamy ones _ I can't believe I am going to say this _ although extremely hot, ended up being tiresome in a plot that had little else to give, you know?

The thing is, when the story starts, Sam and May already have _or had _ a story, so we're not able to see those first moments in their relationship and, for me, their romance feels somewhat lacking because of that.

Maybe if the story had been cut shorter I wouldn't feel this way, but as it was, I was more than ready to be done with it.

In the end this ended up having one too many too stupid to live moments, more appropriate to a new adult story, than an adult romantic contemporary romance.

The writing however was flawless as is normal with Elizabeth Hoyt's novels.

Author's Official Site

Pre-order it

@Bookdepository.com

The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith

 

TW: graphic descriptions of rape, sexual slavery, torture, murder, violence towards women, violence towards children, xenophilia, and I'm probably forgetting a thousand other things...

Don't let the trigger warnings discourage you (or really, really DO if they are trigger warnings to you), like many epic fantasy/sci-fi works most of these things are present. They didn't keep A Song of Ice and Fire from becoming a best-seller, and they don't keep The Last Hour of Gann from being an amazing book.

Amber, our female protagonist, crashed along her sister and a bunch of other humans (this seems so weird to write, but bear with me, I'm still on that human vs aliens mindset after 1277 pages of it) into an unknown planet.

What follows is a pretty good illustration of human character when faced by survival: horrid.

That's not to say that the power dynamics which arise aren't absolutely enthralling! 
Scott (he can't really be thought of as the main antagonist because so many villains pop up in this book and they are absolutely despicable, but he's certainly the one who lasts the longest) who by virtue of embodying insufferable and unflagging male entitlement, no matter how repeatedly he is proven wrong, becomes so hateful that I ended up longing for his appearance just so that I could hate some more.

They end up finding one of the indigenous species of the planet: a lizardman (for lack of a better descriptor). Meoraq is part of the elite of an oligarchic society, a warrior priest, who defines himself by his strict religion.

I was expecting the romance, since I read the book's Goodreads' page, but I was still a bit... iffy about it?

I mean, when you think of a dreamy hero your mind doesn't automatically go to a lizard. ...Hopefully. 

But here's the thing, their relationship is so sloooooooow moving, and so well developed that when they get together (way, way into the book) it just seems natural. 

One thing I absolutely loved! 

Amber doesn't find Meoraq attractive, and Meoraq doesn't find Amber attractive. They fall for each others' mind, spirit, character, strength, morals. 

I find that great! Too often books gloss over these things, but think about it: why would an alien find a human woman attractive? This is the Mars Needs Women trope at work, and I'm glad R. Lee Smith avoided it. 

The action never lags, I never found myself bored - in fact I wish I did! There never seemed to be a moment of peace! 

The plot is coherent and addictive, the pacing is phenomenal, the characters feel real... I have nothing but praises about this book!

Then why the 4 star rating instead of 5 stars?

It was too much for me. Bear in mind that this is a purely personal complaint, and does not reflect upon the quality of the book!

But, as I said, for me, it was too much. Too much violence, too much rape (it's never rape for the sake of rape, it's always there for a reason and adds to the realism of the story, considering the society in which the characters find themselves), but too much... too much!

Still, it was an amazing read, and I highly recommend it to fantasy/sci-fi/romance fans.

R. Lee Smith's blog 

Buy The Last Hour of Gann

@ amazon ($8)

@ Barnes and Noble ($6.50)

Trade Me ( Cyclone Series #1) by Courtney Milan

Arc provided by Victory Editing through Netgalley

TW's: Eating Disorder and Drug abuse

Full disclosure: New Adult is not my favourite literary genre. To put it mildly.

However, since this was written by author Courtney Milan, I decided to risk it, and request an arc.

Thankfully I was approved, because in a way this story almost restored my faith in the genre.

An the reason for that "almost" is that for almost eighty percent of the book, I was pretty much loving it.

In fact this was promising to be a solid  four star rating. However in the last part _and true to the New Adult genre _ things became a little too much. The drama start piling, and the "you've got to be kidding me" situations seemed to have taken permanent residence in the story.

The positives

They're many and they're varied.

There's a reason I normally don't read books that feature the word millionaires or billionaires (Okay I admit that I read "fifty" a long, long time ago, because everyone was talking about it, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about!What was the fuss about? O_O) and that is, because I HATE controlling, manipulative bastards that think that the world is theirs because they have money.

Blake is not one of those characters: He's actually a sweet, caring, non abusive guy.

I loved the way the author wrote him. His personality and the fact that he's not presented as perfect, makes of him a great leading character.

Then there's Xingjuan/Tina Cheng...

Tina is of Chinese Nationality, although we don't get a lot of psychical descriptions of her.

That "per se", _she being Chinese, not the lacking descriptions_ is great when most leading characters today are given to Caucasian girls.

Bonus points to the author for this.

Tina is a strong, non-bullshit kind of girl. She is not your average simpering Miss, and she doesn't apologize for that.

More Diversity In characters

Besides Tina, there's Maria, Tina's best friend, who is a transwoman, and who is going to be the leading character of the next book in the series. And yes, I definitely want to read it.

Once again the fact that Tina is not alone in this story, that she does have a girl friend to whom she can turn to, is a big yes on the "positives" side.

Blake has a problem..

And it's one that I had never read about concerning a guy.

I loved _not that he had the problem! _, but the fact that this was something different from what I am used to reading. It made him more human.

The secondary characters

Are all well developed and they never felt as they were only there to fill pages.

The writing

This is Courtney Milan we're talking about people, so of course it's more than good.

 ____________

The negatives

I read the whole book including the section in which the author explains why she didn't want to develop the problem with Blake's eating disorder, basically because that wasn't what the book was all about...however, as a reader, I can't help feeling that approaching such a sensible subject needed "more"...something.

After Tina helps Blake to admit that he needs specialized help, that subject feels a little resolved, and that felt wrong.

Okay I know that in reality his problem isn't resolved. He has the therapist and nutritionist to prove it, but after a moment, everything starts escalating in his life, and I didn't feel that his reaction the the upcoming stress was viable. Not with his problem.

It felt a little too...neat.

Besides this point, all I can say is that I honestly felt that with Blake's "issue", and him being who he is, and Tina being who she was, that the story didn't need more drama....something that ends up happening with a vengeance.

However I do have some serious prejudices against what I feel as an over-abuse of that...."activity"_drama drama drama_, so maybe other people _knowing that is is a New Adult book _ will have a different reaction to the story's last part.

The thing is, I have to remember _if I want to be fair _ that for most of this story I was really loving reading it, and wondering if this would be published in paperback....and I definitely want to follow the series, so I'll compromise with a three and half star rating.

What about you?

Have you already read it?

Author's Official Site

Buy It!

How (Not) To Fall In Love by Lisa Brown Roberts

 

Arc provided by Entangled Teen through Netgalley

Release Date: February 3rd 2015

I am not the most sentimental person in the planet.

In fact most people would probably just call me jaded... and that would be the nice ones.

I've almost stopped reading romances because instead of having a good time reading them, I mostly end up going into fits due to overboard cheesiness, insane silly plots, love affairs between characters that should be institutionalized, when they're not simply your average "goody too shoes" .

This story?

It doesn't have a contrived, moronic "bone in its body".

What it does have, is one of the most realistic approaches to the life of a young adult in all its variants: Family, growing up, and first love.

The writing style

I loved it. It was able to tell a complex story without falling into the usual YA contemporary clichés.

We don't have stupid love triangles in here. Let's face it, most time its hard enough to find one person that loves us, do we want to discuss the odds of finding two or three all at the same time and vying for our attention? Please.

No slut shaming despite the fact that the main characters is a senior in high-school_ unfortunately this is a recurrent in the genre, so I am always glad when it doesn't appear_ and what do you know, Darcy, manages to have a girl as her best friend.

She's a constant in Darcy's life, despite the fact that Darcy is more than apt at facing the world all by herself.

Darcy's family life feels realistic enough, from the change it goes through and everything that happens in the meantime... there are no perfect characters who come out with magical solutions for their problems.

Things get messy, and the characters just have to make the best of it, but it never becomes cheesy or turns into a pity feast!

Realistic is in fact my favourite word regarding this story, because as Darcy's life unravels, her actions and ideas just show how strong she is.

No one is going to come and save her, and you know what is the greatest thing about this?

She doesn't want anyone to do it, she is not expecting it, the only thing she needs is people that will stay by her side no matter what.

Darcy is probably the most courageous YA character featured in a contemporary novel that I've read about.

I would probably need a full month to write this review so I could give her all the compliments this girl deserves!

Now, this, is a role model!

This girl with her unwavering strength and the way she is able to face problems face to face.

This doesn't mean that she's a superwoman. She is only human in the face of a very difficult situation. But she never gives up.

Also this managed to avoid a tricky situation due to everything that happens: I am talking about the possibility of taking "the preachy lane". Thankfully it never does!

The romance...

I liked that it took its own sweet time... okay, there was a moment in which I felt that it took a second too long, lol, but you know, it just felt realistically done.

Lucas was such a sweet, responsible, and caring guy _basically the opposite of the brooding bad guy type that is now so famous in Ya books_, that I could forgive him for his White Knight Syndrome _lol _ especially because Darcy knows how to deal with him! :D

What else could I ask? 

Bottom line, a wonderful coming of age story filled with heartbreak, but also filled with hope and love.

What can I say?

It made bitter old me love it...

Now, go and request it _or pre-order it _ and tell me what you think about it!

@Author's official Site 

Pre-order it

bookdepository.com ( Well the book synopsis matches, lol, despite the different title ;)

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

As soon as I saw this book I knew I had to read it! 

I thought this would be a book of gruesome fairy tale retellings, but Emily Carroll corrected me (to my unending delight) with this gorgeous book:

1) Emily Carroll writes her own gruesome fairy tales.

2) Emily Carroll writes her own gruesome fairy tales which are so amazing you feel like you've known them your whole life. 

These fairy tales touch on our most primal fears: the dark, the uncanny not quite humans who prey on us and may replace our loved ones, the body horror, blood, dark enclosed spaces, pain, monsters, and death - all of them connected to the woods, the mythical place which the hand of civilization left untouched, where wild beasts roam, and nightmares dwell.

I read this on a cold winter night, and while it definitely improved the reading, I can't say I'd advise it to other readers...

Imagine reading this while the wind howls outside, and you're cold down to your bones:

 Haha... ha. Yeah... "Sweet, wet voice." Good... ...stuff. 

I think the beautiful artwork and the colour choices (not to mention the use of light and dark to create an atmosphere) speak for themselves. But Carroll is also a master when it comes to pacing, and she has that little something only a few possess: the ability to invoke true horror in the readers' hearts.

As Alfred Hitchcock said, "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." And Emily Carroll certainly knows how to make use of this...

Please, please!! go read her comics on her official site!

Not only are they free and amazing, but they also have some connections to the stories in this book.

My personal favourites were The Prince and the Sea and Anu-Anulan and Yir's Daughter, which are, admittedly, the least creepy and more romantic of the bunch, but I read them at about 3 a.m., so what could you expect of me?

Buy Through the Woods

- Hardback if you can't wait!

- Paperback to pre-order!

Arc Approvals

Let's face it, people: There's a reason we're called Bookworms.

We fine I, can't resist shiny new books...even if that means messing with my previous organized book schedule. lol

...I've started making a list of all the books I want to read this year. It's a pretty big list so far O_O

I'll share it with you guys one of these days once I've added another fifty/sixty books to it so we can compare reading goals.

So, directly from Netgalley here are my recent arc approvals :)

                         

Once and Always by Elizabeth Hoyt - Release Date February 24th by Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

How Not To Fall In Love by Lisa Brown Roberts- Release Date February 3rd by Entangled Publishing

The Devil's Interval (The Drollery Letters Number One) by Emily Butler - Release Date September 8th by Egmont Usa

I got so curious once I saw Elizabeth Hoyt's name on the cover of a contemporary novel, that I just couldn't resist it, and  had to start reading it asap. I've read 40% so far, and I have to say that it's being pretty good.

What I bought...

...and was given on Christmas time.

Book Pictures!

If you follow this Blog, you'll recognize most of these books as already read and reviewed. Namely, Princess of Thorns, the first volume of Queen Hearts whose arc I read last year, and No Life But This that I've recently reviewed.

Ysabeau Wilce's series and These Broken Stars (that I got thanks to Isa :) come strongly recommended (yes, you guessed correctly ;) ) and I'll be starting them as soon as possible.

Probably after I finish The Hollows series.