Thorn by Intisar Khanani

I admit to some hesitation when deciding whether or not to read this book, since it's a retelling of The Goose Girl and this has never been one of favourite fairy tales, what with the main character being a passive, somewhat stupid character because the brothers Grimm were women hating pos.

Plus there was that whole issue with Falada, the talking horse, and I, as anyone who has watched The Neverending Story, can't really deal with stuff AT ALL.

Whomever is familiar with The Goose Girl already knows the plot to this retelling - except the main villain in this story is a female David Bowie in Labyrinth, owl, glitter, and "You have no power over me!" included, much to my delight.

Admittedly Alyrra made me want to shake some sense into her, especially when she offered to help Valka, (the lady who stole her identity) along.
That was really the character doing something to fit the plot... But it's one of the few failing in this book.

Alyrra is less passive than the Goose Girl in the fairy tale. Or perhaps equally so, but we're given the reasoning behind her passivity.
She just doesn't want to be a princess, to her being a princess and physical abuse go hand-in-hand.
And she's quite happy being a goose girl, though I can't fathom why:

                                                  pictured: Hitchcock's inspiration, probably

Still this book was a very pleasant surprise, a great fairy tale retelling!

Author's Official Site 

Buy "Thorn" (With Free Worldwide Delivery!)

@Bookdepository.com 

Then Came You ( Gamblers #1 ) by Lisa Kleypas

Addictive for certain, but did it have to had so much drama?

If this had been cut to half its size, it would get a solid four star rating!
As it was, it was just too much: I am an emotional wreck by now, and it's six o'clock in the morning! o_O

The positives:
The banter between the main characters.
The fact that they pretty much hate each other guts on sight, and for quite some time (yes, I choose to place this amongst the positives, lol)

The fact that neither of them is your typical a hundred per cent leading character stereotype.

The negatives
We have a character whose family has placed her aside, and suddenly there she is..and there they are...in another person's house all together, and "fiddle dee dee" everything is fine.

The way Lily addresses a friend of her, a male friend of her, in the presence of her parents and everyone else who would like to hear her: Zach this, Zach that...
I am not usually a snob of this type of thing, but the thing just felt too modern and irritating.

The predominance of accents in this story: I pretty much hate this type of thing. This is a pet peeve of mine, I confess.
I understand if we are given a little to demonstrate the character's talking patterns, but too much of it?
It blocks the fluidity of the writing.

The fact that the main character Alex entertains the idea of invading a woman's bedroom and forcing herself to her...it's only an idea, but the cavalier way he reasons with himself that they shall be married in a couple of weeks, and okay, she'll cry but they're engaged...left me less than pleased with him.

The way Alex deals with Lily's fears of intimacy, which is pretty much doing as it pleases him, and of course she ends up enjoying it _of course _ so, who cares?

The way friendship is dealt in this book: Derek is the most pathetic excuse of a friend I've ever read about. o_O

The scene in which Lily loses a wager to Alex, in Derek's club and the way everyone deals with it, was extremely cringe-worthy and less than romantic.

The fact that the characters insist on not making use of their tongs, for things known as, speaking to one another!

Hey, apparently I disliked it more than I had realized!

Author's Official Site

 

Buy ( or not...but apparently the second one is better!):

Bookdepository.com 

(as you can see the covers don't match, however the ISBN's are the same. My advice would be to contact BD so they can guarantee _or not _ that the new cover is indeed this one.)

Avon Books 

The Huntress by Barbara Karmazin

"Please check my emails for me. My email addy is lounge-lizard@lunanet.com. My password is Shrennanlive.
Yours, now and forever, Rulagh." He'd only met her two days ago and already he trusted her enough to give her his password and let her read his email.
She'd dated Daniel for three years and she still didn't know his password, let alone have complete access to his private email account.

I can't believe that, in the future, people go around fucking space lizards but we haven't progressed further than email...
This is that Back to the Future II lack of hoverboard sadness all over again.

Death Sworn (Death Sworn #1) by Leah Cypess

This was a very compelling fast paced read, with characters that actually behave according to logic, despite their age. Imagine that.

The only negative point of this story, its the world-building that is actually extremely vague to say the least.

I was left with no idea of the time period in which the story takes place: Yes, I know it is a fantasy tale in which certain people possess magic. But besides that...

There's three factions _lets call them that _ in this world. We have the Empire who are the bad guys although I am not sure why, the Renegai, which are the people with magical abilities, and the Assassin's which *surprise, surprise* act according to their name.

Nothing far fetching and difficult to follow as you can see.

As expected in the supposed epic fantasy tales _ this one more fantasy, than actually epic _ there's conspiracy's and treachery's in the characters lives.

There will be a obstacle that the main character will have to overcome...or not:

"She was seventeen years old, and she felt as ancient as the rocks surrounding her.
And there was nowhere to go except forward, deeper into those rocks, where her death lay waiting."

But when it comes to the setting and the atmosphere of the story....it was just meh.

Caves. Caves. Caves. Bleak caves.

There's food...so chimneys maybe? And who cooks?

The worst killers of them all? Not the worst because those end up dead, but you see what I mean.

______

A cave full of young assassins who are always training...training equals sweat=stink= lots of water..so how does that work out?

Just basic things like this, that I wish would have been described so that the world would have felt more coherent.

We have someone who lived seventeen years out in the open air, and suddenly faces a lifetime _ however short it may turn out to be _ in confinement.

 It must have felt as if she was being buried alive. And although the subject is occasionally mentioned, I didn't felt as if it was properly developed.

I'll give you an example...here's how I look like after a day with no Sun:

Now imagine being stuck for weeks bellow the surface....

The romance..

Truth be told that I wouldn't have had the slightest problem if it had taken a little longer _lol _ to appear.

But, even as it is, it was not heavily handed, and most importantly the characters remained true to their actual self.

His laugh hurt more than his grip, which was growing tighter and tighter. “Until you came along, and changed everything? Is that what you believe?”

So, did I liked it?

Yes, despite its world-building "issues", I ended up liking it because I liked the characters.

Now of to read the second volume of this duology , Death Marked, because I have an Arc ;)

Hopefully it will compensate the world-building deficiencies of the first book.

Author's Official Site

Buy "Death Sworn"

@Bookdepository.com (pre-order the paperback edition March 3 rd)

Or if you're impatient:

@Bookdepository.com (Hardback edition)

Book Pictures, rejoice! ;)

Kevin Hearne's book is the first of a series that I've been meaning to start for awhile now.

As things are, maybe I'll be able to start it next year...no I am not kidding.

I bought Kelly Gay's first book in the series last year, and I still haven't been able to read it :/

And I want to!

Mercedes Lackey's book, Beauty And The Werewolf, is part of a series that I have been following _more or less, The Five Hundred Kingdoms _ some are favourites, like the first, "The Fairy Godmother" or the one about Sleeping Beauty _can't remember its name now _ others were okay like "One Good Knight", and others were a little, This Is Not Good (the third of the series).

What made me decide to  finally buy it?

Well, look at that cover: gorgeous, right?

The thing is, I have the previous ones in mass market, so it would be logic to buy this in that format as well...but I was having second thoughts, and I was considering buying the Hard-cover edition...until the day I found out that it was no longer available through BD o.O...that made me run to get this...despite the fact that it was about 2 euros more expensive than it used to be. Not happy!

Then because I requested the third of Sharon Lee's book I thought it probably made some sense, to, you know, read the first two o.O

On the positives, I think I may have found a favourite new series: because let's face it, I still don't have enough of them! lol

On the negatives: MORE SERIES TO FOLLOW!

Carla M. Soares book has been getting a lot of positive comments _ okay, mostly by Portuguese people, because its actually written in my own language and I don't think there's any translation to English _ so I have big expectations for it, mainly because with the exception of Portuguese classics, I normally don't read Portuguese contemporary books .since they tend to get on my nerves with their: "we are sad, and bleak, and deep...and literary, and you'll have no pleasure while reading us, because WE ARE THAT GOOD."

p.s. Yes, I am a book snob when it comes to Portuguese literature. :/

p.p.s.- Margarida Góis' YA series being the exception to the norm because they are Really Well Written!

And interesting to read about!

Arc approvals

Because I always want to read what I still haven't read...

Because I can't resist an enticing book synopsis..

Or the most recent book of an author who has written one of my all time favourite books...

Because the combination of all of the above plus a pretty cover _yes, I can't resist them _ makes it impossible for me to resist...

Because I am who I am, and books are my addiction.

These are my latest Netgalley approvals :D

                 

                                       

The Very Best of Kate Elliott

Arc provided by Tachyon Publications through Netgalley

Release Date: February 10th

Having never read anything by author Kate Elliott I thought this would be a good occasion to "sample" the author's writing style.

Unfortunately the lengthy and most of the times _what comes as _ dull prose, that accompanies the author's descriptions wasn't able to fuel my interest.

Maybe if I had already read a full novel, things would have been different.

But as it was, I felt lost within these worlds and characters stories.

I read the first four stories, and all that I can say is that there's an obvious feminist perspective going on. Something that only "per se" should have left me more interested in it.

First story - River of Death, in which a character tries to be judged by what she can do, and not by her gender.

I honestly had a hard time with this story due to the long and detailed descriptions.

From the four stories I read, this was the one I enjoyed the least.

 Leaf and Branch, Focuses on the connection between nature and the Feminine.

The Queen's Garden, Describes what happens when a King starts getting too attached to his power ignoring the old ways..

3 Stars

 On The Dying Winds Of The Old Year, A story of politics and treachery

A obvious case of: It's not you book, it's mostly me.

If you like Epic Fantasy you should give this one a try. Hopefully you'll enjoy it more than I did.

Author's Official Site

Bookdepository.com

Rock Addiction ( Rock Kiss #1) by Nalini Singh

DNF at 21%

Okayyyy... how do I start this?

You may not believe this, but Nalini Singh is in fact one of my favourite writers. Her Psy-Changelling series is _or was _ one of my absolute favourites.

Today I may not be crazy about all her books _ in the sense that I am going to give all of them four and five star ratings _ but I don't think I ever rated one of her books below a three star rating.

This was a bloody catastrophe.

I blame it partly on me. I had completely forgotten this was New Adult *head-desk*.

Yesterday I finished a contemporary romance that I enjoyed, and I thought to myself: Why don't you start with Nalini Singh's contemporary series?

_______

I wish _OH, HOW I WISH _ that this were in fact a contemporary story with down to earth characters... okay, even with a Diva rock star it would have been preferable to this New Adult mishmash :/

Instead I got a supposedly "hot romance" with two idiots: One a doormat, the other an abusive jerk.

And what's with the stereotyped idea that all librarians are virgins?

And that they're waiting for their own special jackass to come and start bossing them around?

If this had been written in the eighties, it would have been somewhat... understandable... but this was written last _bloody _year!

The guy is an ass!

A sexist ass! I don't care if he's sexy!

Yes, I am sure he has hidden depths and that he has got the scars to prove it *sigh*

But, c'mon! The way they hook up? In that "insta" way?

And the girl having the issues she has?

This was thin and improbable at best, but when one adds this type of comments, I am sorry, but I just can't keep on reading this.

I’m not… hugely experienced.”
He shuddered. “Are you a virgin?” Fox didn’t do virgins; he didn’t have the patience for it… but he’d make an exception for Molly. Fuck, he’d make every exception for Molly.

Do I really have to point out all the level of WTF in this sentence?

____________

"I'm not the kind of man who likes to have the woman running the show. I made an exception for you, but it's not working."
(..) The sex between us is mind blowing, and I want to have a whole lot more, but I'm not letting you blow hot and cold."

This happens the second day the two of them spend together.

What's prepared for their third day together?

A dog tag?

Here, I am going to let Cary say it for me:

 

Author's Official Site 

And if you must :/

Bookdepository.com 

The Mussel Eater by Octavia Cade

 

First of all, that is one of the most beautiful covers I've ever seen and, shallow as I am, I had to read it.

Anyway, I happen to have an obsession with the monstrous feminine, so if this review is too involved in the subject, then I'm sorry. 

Every culture possesses this element to their mythology: a monstrous woman who is an object of lust. 

We are all familiar with how the story goes: serpent/demon/snake/dragon/goat/siren/mermaid/etc. woman is spotted by knight/prince/chief's son/random nobleman who instantly wishes to possess her, to attain her otherness for himself, to claim and tame her monstrous beauty.

Said monstrous lady falls in love, accepts to live with this man, but soon he grows disenchanted from how marvellous and magical she is. He betrays her/breaks a promise made to her/cheats on her/etc. and it all ends in tragedy.

It has always fascinated me how these strong women - for women they are, seen through the eyes of fear of femininity - would always fall for these wastes of sperm and egg. 

Western mythology tends to claim these women will be granted mortal souls when married to a man, but I like Queen Yseult's explanation in Ondine by Jean Giraudoux: 

ONDINE : Leave Hans? Why?
YSEULT : Because he is not made for you. Because his soul is small.
ONDINE : I do not have one. It's even worse!
YSEULT: The issue does not arise for you, nor for any non-human creature. The soul of the world breathes in and out through nostrils and gills. But man wanted his soul to himself. He stupidly divided the general soul. There is no soul of men. There are a series of small batches of soul, where flowers grow sour, and vegetables are shrivelled.
(...)
YSEULT: You don't know what this is like, ondines have very great souls.

(the translation from french is mine, so sorry for any mistakes)

I was expecting something along these lines, especially considering the original legend of Pania of the Reef who falls in love with the son of a Māori chief named Karitoki. 
He wishes to have her for himself, even though the Pania must always return to sea at dawn under penalty of death. 

Karitoki tries to trick her and, while she is asleep, tries to feed her cooked food, knowing a Pania who eats anything but raw food cannot return to sea. 

It's the usual betrayal of men who promise love to monstrous women, who somehow accept them despite their mortality, despite their little souls.

This retelling, however, was absolutely subversive with a strong feminist core. 

The feminine monstrosity of the Pania, in all its fish scented oils and scales, dried seaweed hair, sharp nails, and deadly shark teeth, is explored in depth.

Karitoki's fascination is lustful, even if he is disgusted by the Pania herself, even if he fears her. Especially because he fears her.

And the way it ended... I wouldn't spoil it for the world, but it has the most satisfying ending possible!

This short story has about 30 pages and managed to become one of my all time favourites, if that's not recommendation enough, then I don't know what is!

Olivia Cade's website

Buy The Mussel Eater

Kindle US | Kindle UK | B&N | Google Play | Kobo | iBooks

Beauty And The Mustache (Knitting In The City # 4) by Penny Reid

First of all...

What's with this title?

Why "Mustache"? Why not : Beauty and The Bearded Guy... or Beauty with a Lot Of Bearded Guys In Her Life... or jut plain and basic: Talks of Nietzsche's Moustache!

(there is quite a lot of references to Nietzsche in this novel basically due to the fact that the male leading character, Drew, is somewhat of a emo poet.)

Back to the title..I honestly did not compute it, mainly because there was never a moment in this novel in which Ashley let her "mustache" (moustache) grow, lol

So...no bearded, I mean...moustached ladies for anyone in this book.

Readers, you're warned!;)

Now that I've made that perfectly clear, let me get back to what matters...

I liked this book. I liked most of its story, and most of its outspoken with a lot of facial hairs characters.

This was in fact the first book I've read by this author, but hopefully it won't be my last, because having just finished this fourth book in the series, I am now interested in reading the previous three volumes!

(Sometimes I ignore logic and do things like this...)

So, having read the book synopsis, and having seen the book cover, I was expecting something more on the light side, you know, a little comedy _hopefully with not that much of insanity thrown in _ than actually having to deal with a lot of drama.

Unfortunately _or maybe not _ this book has a hidden depth and a whole lot of drama.

It does in fact have a character that is on the final stages of a cancer, and for a couple of weeks, we have the lady's family trying to come to terms with what is happening.

To lighten things up a bit, there's the fact that there's seven siblings living on the same house, six of them guys who apparently do a lot of.....cough...lets say there's schedules involving the use of bathrooms...

GUYS :/

Then there's Ashley's friends who like to make bawdy comparisons with read meat ...

YOU GIRLS!

Some wise truths are revealed:

Yes, I was a creeper, but I didn’t care. Drew brought these compulsions out in me, so he could just suffer through my leering and take it like a man.
Or a girl. Because, if there’s one thing a girl grows up learning how to do, it’s suffering through leering.

YES!

The romance is not rushed, much on the contrary. Drew and Ashley maintain in fact during a great part of the story a less than amicable relationship.

 Later on, it is explained why the guy is the way he is, but that doesn't erase the fact that at the beginning of the story, Drew definitely comes out as an ass.

The cow Nietzsche comment? :/

Oh, Drew...   you ass!

Then there was the way in which the relationship between the siblings was dealt, that felt a little too neat, for me.

They behaved as absolute nightmares to the girl while growing up, but of course, eight years later, they're angels. All of them.

Also, with so many bearded guys walking around, most of the times I had no idea who was whom.

When it comes to Ashley's friends I have to say that I liked the way they were there for her, even when it was Sandra doing the talking o_O, wow that's one scary psychotherapist!

I can't wait to read her book!

What I didn't like:

I didn't like Drew's macho crap. The initial one, and then later on , when the guy decides to just keep quiet and decide things for Ashley.

I didn't like that once again, it was the woman who had to do a "one eighty" in her life, because there was no way Drew was ever changing his life and his routine..

And I honestly didn't like the last pages told from Drew's perspective, mainly because they sounded too obsessive in a new adult style, you know?

But as a whole, this was a pretty decent contemporary romance and yes, I am looking forward in reading more books from this series.

Author's Official Site

Buy " Beauty And The Mustache"

@Bookdepository.com