In a world where time travel was discovered, a select group of men (The Eternals) control humanity's fate Originally published as The End of Eternity.
In a world where time travel was discovered, a select group of men (The Eternals) control humanity's fate from "out of time", set on enhancing its overall happiness.
Andrew Harlan is an outstanding Eternal technician, whose job is to implement the reality changes that higher-ranked analysts have come up with to tweak historical events. Rather low on Eternity's totem pole, Harlan is nevertheless content with his role as the best technician of all, happy to uphold their monk-like lifestyle in the interest of the greater good. An unexpected encounter with a woman upsets him so much, that he resorts to several rash actions, endangering the Eternity's very cornerstones.
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The idea itself is of course very interesting, and it definitely made me ponder the pros and cons of a controlled evolution of the human race. It is, after all, said that hindsight is 20/20. So who better than people with unfettered access to hundreds of thousands of millennia to analyse and fix all of humanity's mishaps? At least until someone points out the flip side of things...
So much for the theory, but when it came to executing acting everything out with characters, things spiraled out of control. On the one hand, it felt like Asimov put so much effort into building the scientific basis for the Eternity, that he didn't have enough energy left for character development.
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Harlan is often at his most palatable when holding lengthy lectures on various in universe-specific scientific terms. Even his interest in Primitive Timeline, discouraged among Eternals, doesn't show a more likeable part of him, as he's always grumbling about being criticized for it. As a matter of fact, he's always suspecting people of either looking down on him, wanting to trick him, or needing to be reported.
I'm guessing that somewhere along the line we were meant to empathize with him as he desperately tries to hide his romance from his superiors, yet I kept rooting for the Eternals to discover everything. His initial misogyny didn't help either, as it was hard for me to understand why he actually fell in love. I mean, he was clearly in lust with No每s from the get go, but his change of tune was apparently caused by getting roofied...? I knew Asimov's romantic subplots were cringe-worthy at best, but this is just incomprehensible. Then again, perhaps it's a problem with the translation...
Score: 2.4/5 stars
If you're like me and only want to know why there are no aliens in the Foundation Universe save yourself some time and skip to the last two chapters. Great concept, terrible character development and storytelling....more
Francesca has always been the quiet, unassuming, and forgotten Bridgerton, the one people tended to recall only as an afterthought. That doesn't stop Francesca has always been the quiet, unassuming, and forgotten Bridgerton, the one people tended to recall only as an afterthought. That doesn't stop her from snagging the young earl of Kilmartin as husband. Michael Stirling owes his cousin John a lot, so the last thing he'd want to do was lust after his wife, Francesca. Instead, he decides to keep close as the rakish comic relief, always ready to provide the young couple with tales of his wicked endeavours.
When John dies after barely 2 years of marriage, both Francesca and Michael find themselves utterly unmoored. The former forced to go through the abortion of an unexpected pregnancy, and Michael dreading the prospect of assuming his duty among the nobility. ... so he flees half-way across the globe, leaving his cousin's widow to manage the earldom.
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Francesca is supposed to be this quiet, constantly overlooked heroine, whose charms we are only now noticing. I'm sure that Julia Quinn feels bad about neglecting her, but then she had a plan for the woman's future. I, as the reader, knew basically nothing about Franny, so I didn't really feel the need for a story that made her justice... unlike the prequels.
To be fair, the book does a good job endearing Michael to me, but Francesca's indecision made her seem much too cruel. I get her constant guilt, but her lack of accountability in having sex with Michael pissed me off big time. The whole "innocent maiden seduced by the worldly rake" trope stands on veeeeeeery shaky ground when you replace the maiden with a widow whose previous marriage was a happy and fulfilled one. Not to mention how painful getting through her cringeworthy pestering for stories of Michael's wicked episodes was.
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Her family's "well intentioned" meddling didn't help either. Hyacinth especially deserved a good throttling. I'm already dreading the prospect of reading her story... because, yes, I bought the remaining two books on an impulse, as well.
Score: 2.4/5 stars
I do generally prefer the male MCs in romance novels, but a sufficiently convincing chemistry can still have me root for the couple's HEA (e.g. Devil in Winter). That saaaaaid, when I have serious doubts about one MC's commitment, things get raaaather iffy. Realistically, I know that people don't necessarily love each other with equal intensity, but Francesca's behaviour came way too close to martyrdom, as opposed to genuine affection.
Everyone knows that Gordo Livingstone's a grumpy mofo. There's barely a resident in Green Creek who remembers him otherwise. Yes, he's more often thanEveryone knows that Gordo Livingstone's a grumpy mofo. There's barely a resident in Green Creek who remembers him otherwise. Yes, he's more often than not a generous and a loyal mofo... but a mofo nonetheless.
His three childhood friends still hold out some hope, so they're willing to suffer in silence while their buddy/boss throws Mark Bennett constant lovesick looks. Well, mostly in silence...
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I've been looking forward to Gordo and Mark's romance, even before I finished Wolfsong. As cute as Ox and Joe's 10-year pussyfooting was, it still had way too many YA vibes. Gordo and Mark however, had so much more potential. They were mature men, secure in their mystic moon magic crap... and all that jazz.
Unfortunately, with all that maturity came a hefty dose of pain. In Gordo's case, this meant a constant supply of red hot anger, hurt feelings and pride. Logically, I know that it was warranted and all, and that I should've sympathized with him. But Mark's guilty puppy dog eyes just about had me melt into a big pile of... goo?
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Other than that, Gordo's backstory was interesting enough, final show-down with the bad guys included. Oh and the epilog left me sufficiently pumped for the remaining books. Carter's idiotic one-liners weren't misplaced either, for all that they were intended to show his questionable sense of humor. And last but not least, once Gordo stopped actively antagonizing Mark, I could finally witness their excellent chemistry go through the metaphorical roof.
Score: 2.7/5 stars
I was really looking forward to the romance between Mark and Gordo, but instead was forced to suffer through a whole lot of pining. While this worked in Wolfsong, in here it just felt reused and unnecessary.
Gordo was very much enmeshed in the whole pack business by the time he was 12, so really the only reason not to give him the "mate talk" was for dramatic plot twisting purposes. Not cool, T.J. Klune!
The prequel, Yasemin's Kiosk - Two Coffees and a Corpse, was this upbeat, contemporary tale featuring the unlikely friendship of three women. Very difThe prequel, Yasemin's Kiosk - Two Coffees and a Corpse, was this upbeat, contemporary tale featuring the unlikely friendship of three women. Very different in age, disposition and overall interest, they nevertheless end up forming an amateur sleuthing team, that manages to get involved in every single scary and stupid shit possible.
Yasemin's Kiosk - A Colourful Bag Full of Lies is pretty much the same, with the added bonus of a baby (highly suitable for use in blackmail), Nina's new graveyard job, and of course a new sleuthing assignment (finding a cyber bully).
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The main driving force of the current installment was clearly the three women's developing friendship, that is meant to endure all sorts of hardships. I guess it's supposed to be very heartwarming with the group tackling everything from Yasemin's helicopter mom tendencies, to Nina's fear of attachment, and Doro's agoraphobia. But I just couldn't get into the mood, and things ended up feeling closer to preachy, rather than sweet in my head.
The sleuthing was once again incredibly... clumsy is the kindest way I can put it. With one or two exceptions, their investigating kept triggering everyone's alarm bells. It felt like the women hadn't bothered to fully plan out their "undercover" assignments. Not in a "this would've worked in the movies" way, but rather the "we forgot to make a plan" kind.
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So where did that extra star come from, you may ask? Well, Nina's graveyard shift cleaning job was interesting. I guess I've always seen the weird appeal in watching rows upon rows of gravestones, and guessing the circumstances of people's demise. So having Nina get all sentimental seeing her birth year on a grave, was kind of relatable.
Score: 2/5 stars
On the one hand, the writing was OK, and Nina's community service episodes were interesting. On the other hand, the friendship of the three women felt forced, the romance preachy, and the criminal not so much ingenious, as lucky to have had to contend with inexperienced amateur sleuths.
The epilogue felt like a cheap twist, yet also vaguely intriguing, just not nearly enough to make me want to pay for any other books.
Police Chief Robert Garret and journalist James Jameson have a history. First as childhood friends, and second as members of the secretly-pining-afterPolice Chief Robert Garret and journalist James Jameson have a history. First as childhood friends, and second as members of the secretly-pining-after-you club. Rob for his part is firmly in denial, while Jamie just mopes and feels guilty for not being more in denial himself.
When they're not busy secretly ogling each other, they also run around chasing murderous chicken thieves. All in the line of duty. Yes, for both of them...
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I understand that novellas are, by definition, forced to cut corners in both story and character development, but this is just ridiculous. Not only does the high point of the chasing sequence happen off screen, but even the romance gets mostly cut in favor of mopey inner monologues.
This was just an exercise in boring storytelling and lots of teasing hints. A pity because the chase should've made for otherwise decent action-packed moments.
Score: 2/5 stars
As accidental shopping sprees go, insofar as buying one novella counts, this was quite a flop. I commend the stomach-butterflies for their well-timed entry, but I cannot in good conscience consider this book money well-spent....more
All the excitement of Armed & Dangerous left me so fired up, that I wasn't quite ready to relinquish Julian and Cameron. I wanted to know what all theAll the excitement of Armed & Dangerous left me so fired up, that I wasn't quite ready to relinquish Julian and Cameron. I wanted to know what all the heavy hints were all about, not to mention finally see one of their physical encounters to the end, instead of just the teasing glimpses. You don't just make those characters all lovey-dovey and hot-n-bothered, only to have the scene play out off screen! I don't care that they weren't the main couple, that was just mean!
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Unfortunately, all I ended up getting here were a lot of longing stares, cryptic statements, playful puppies, and way too many fade-out sex scenes. Was there a hard-limit for on-screen intercourse, that the authors had to follow? Because all I got from it was frustration, on top of my overall boredom.
Speaking of boredom, why was the story only told from Cameron's point of view?! I mean, the guy was a waiter with basically no life outside his work?? Sure, some pining can go a long way to achieve those yummy stomach-butterflies, but too much of it is just painful(ly dull) to go through.
Score: 2.3/5 stars
Nowhere near the excitement of the sequel, just cute, fluffy, and towards the end, rather heavy-handed with the soap-opera tropes....more
Gordon Frost is a small time drug dealer, who's had years and years of practice in evading the law. Orphaned as a small kid, fallen in with a truly duGordon Frost is a small time drug dealer, who's had years and years of practice in evading the law. Orphaned as a small kid, fallen in with a truly dubious crowd, with only a single friend to speak of, he had long since resigned himself to dying young. Nevertheless, stumbling into Adam Blake's criminal arms doesn't make Gordon all that eager to meet his maker.
Adam an agent for a super secret anti-terrorist organization, has botched up his current mission, and needs a place to lay low for a while. Gordon's apartment just so happens to be a good choice for a temporary haven. Although used to cleaning up after nosy civilians, Adam finds himself reluctant to dispose of Gordon. Instead, he decides to creepily stalk him... and very predictably ends up falling head over heels in lust with the guy. Not that you'd suspect, with the way he treats poor Gordon.
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I may keep telling myself that I'm finally over my "In the Company of Shadows" (a.k.a. iCoS) obsession, especially given the amount of Captive Prince fanfiction I've consumed lately... yet I still find myself rereading my favorite chapters from the books every so often. In other words: was anyone actually expecting me to pass on a book set in the same universe?
Even so, I tried to resist buying the book, due to the controversy surrounding Santino Hassel. I even went the extra mile and watched this about his(their?) misdeeds, in order to try and put my mind off this novel... and I almost succeeded. But then someone had to try and shame me for *gasp* DARING to recommend the series to someone asking for m/m recs, which pissed me off enough to actually pay for this book.
I'm not quite sure what point I was trying to prove, but clicking the buy button on Amazon totally made me feel vindicated.
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Ahem... so about After Midnight: as a side story set in the ICoS universe, I would definitely recommend it to fans. It shows a different side of agent life, that of people outside the elite, unlike Sin or Boyd. And of course there's also the interesting aspect of how a civilian views the mysterious comings and goings of The Agency.
My personal favorite bit was this little quote:
"I hope you're not intending to shower with me," [Adam] said, not making a move to cover himself. "Ha. Not on your life asshole. I don't care how cut your abs are, there's only three men I'd fuck in this shithole and they are Agents Beaulieu, Vega or Trovosky, hopefully at the same time."
Don't get me wrong, Wanda is a real bitch otherwise, but that assessment there is made of so much win. *squeals*
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Are you tired of my fangirling yet? If so, I'm sorry to say that there's not much left for you in here. Except for a lot of sex, gore, and some arguably needless cruelty, peppered with a slim dose of backstory.
Score: 3/5 stars
Do I regret buying this? Hell no!
Would I recommend this for fans of ICoS? Sure.
Would I recommend it for fans of the genre? Only if they're into lots of gratuitous sex and violence....more
It's been eight months since Eddie and Zombie officially got together, and things couldn't be happier. Well sort of. Eddie's still trying to get divorIt's been eight months since Eddie and Zombie officially got together, and things couldn't be happier. Well sort of. Eddie's still trying to get divorced, and while she's completely head over heels with the creepy boxer, she's also very much afraid of becoming dependent on another person again. Zombie for his part, is still convinced that his guardian angel will suddenly realize just how much of a monster he actually is, and so he keeps waiting for the right moment to finally propose to Eddie.
And then our heroine yet again gets dragged into a suspicious murder case at work, where (as per usual) her intuition trumps everyone else's experience. Too bad that tangible proof takes its sweet little time to make itself available.
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As much as I like to make sarcastic jabs at various aspects of the story, the crime solving aspect of it was quite interesting. You know the drill: hugely dislikable murder victim, nobody knowing anything, creepy friendships that date back to ancient times... and so much more, that would only bury you all in spoilers.
Execution-wise: I wish there had been fewer acronyms and general procedure knowledge assumed. I mean... it took me over 80% of the book to figure out that the SWBG that kept popping up left, right, and center was referring to social housing. Then again, what do I know? Maybe Germans stumble on this on a daily basis. Still, all in all, I appreciated all the creative evidence cover up.
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When it came to character, or rather, relationship development: things stood differently. I get that this whole series is meant to have Eddie learning to stand on her own two feet, despite getting thrown out of her home with a kid in tow, but come on! Throw a romance fan a bone here, will ya?! Just like you did with all the cock blocking heartwarming scenes in the prequel, I wanted some more of Zombie cuteness, while still getting the message across. And no, the fuzzy rat taming scenes don't count, damn you!
Score: 2.9/5 stars
There's lots of exciting detective work to be had, with bonus points for Zombie as the soft father-figure, or as an adorable teenager stuck in the body of a 40-year-old, and not to forget as the super cool knight in shining armor. Yes, it's all wrapped up in a neat feminist package, that could hardly be more obvious if it hit you with the full force of a 10-tonne anvil, but I was expecting that.
So just to be clear: there's no way I can justify a rating lower than 3 stars, but that doesn't mean I'm not still very much disappointed!
10-year-old Harry Vane has been fervently hoping for a serious stroke of luck, in the form of a sizable inheritance. Forget changing the world, he'd r10-year-old Harry Vane has been fervently hoping for a serious stroke of luck, in the form of a sizable inheritance. Forget changing the world, he'd rather be a lazy good-for-nothing noble, if he could stop having to run from the authorities. Wonder of wonders, our hero gets his wish 14 years later. Of course, this sudden windfall comes with plenty of strings attached, but Harry's been through enough poverty to care.
... until he gets hopelessly enamoured with his aloof dandy of a teacher, and realises that some of his new obligations aren't all that appealing after all. At the end of the day, Harry finds that he's not quite ready to sever every single link to his old life.
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Taken separately, I greatly enjoy both historical, and M/M romance novels. Combining the two however, had always felt like it would make any real attempt at a happily-ever-after quite a challenge. Reading the author's Charm of Magpies series though, has given me hope.
Sure enough, Harry and Julius' chemistry was just perfect, even with all the angst thrown in, to make for some seriously thrilling moments. And yes, there's plenty of fun banter to be had, mostly in the form of fashion commentary.
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... which is where things start to spiral down, for me. I know next to nothing about contemporary fashion beyond "this shirt DOES makes me look like a beach ball" vs "this shirt DOES NOT make me look like a beach ball". So discussing the pros and cons of men's clothes from 200 years ago didn't really spark much joy in me. Unlike the characters who were happy to spend an entire afternoon debating fashion related stuff.
And then came the discussion about Harry's feelings on fighting for the right of the poor. I have no problem with people not wanting to fight for certain/some/any ideals. I am also one of those passive types, who'd rather do the angry muttering from a safe distance, preferably behind closed doors. However when it comes to publicly explaining your choice... somehow it's not so easy to fight for your right to be selfish...or maybe that's just me? Suffice to say, that the subject made me uncomfortably aware that this book was not that much of a mindless entertainment.
Score: 3/5 stars
I started out wishing for mindless entertainment, got plenty of it early on, only to then get stuck pondering several serious issues. By all accounts that's a rather commendable aspect in a book. At the same time, while my mind can appreciate the pros of making me uncomfortable, my heart would have much rather settled for a less thought-provoking read. Sorry... I guess?
You know those people who sign up for interesting challenges, and don't stop till they've completed them? The lads and lasses who only break out the cYou know those people who sign up for interesting challenges, and don't stop till they've completed them? The lads and lasses who only break out the celebratory champagne once their goal is done and signed off? Yeah... I'm not one of them. When it comes to maintaining my persistence, I'm much more likely to reach my goal with only a single sip of champagne left over.
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Sometimes, this is the necessary approach to survive my self-inflicted flagellation sessions. Other times, the universe gets pissed and sends me a not-so-subtle message about endurance. As with this book, penned by one of my favorite authors.
Maybe it was something in the air, perhaps some left over confusion from my previous read, or lack of chemistry, suffice to say that we just didn't click. Not in a this-is-much-too-convoluted way, but rather in a more subtle manner. Kind of like watching someone constantly wobble while walking in heels.
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So what went wrong, you may ask? Well, a lot of small, seemingly innocuous, things, which added up:
1) The connection between the introduction and the actual "meat" of the story . In place of a simple "fade out", and later attempt at filling in the blanks, I would've chosen to summarize the lives of the two main characters during the three "missing" months.
2) The constantly changing perspective. Far be it from me to ask Josh Lanyon to just keep to his tried and true first person narrative point of view, but this constantly switching subjective point of view didn't seem particularly well thought out. Personally, I'm not a big fan of it, but it can be done reasonably well, when the two characters receive ample "screen time", so to say. This was not the case here, which made me perceive the atmosphere of the story in an unnecessarily choppy manner.
3) The names, dear GOD those names! An FBI agent called Darling, who is supposedly constantly poised for the next bad pun, whenever someone calls him by his last name. The crime scene takes place in the fictional town of NEARBY, Oregon. ...and for bonus points, let's just casually throw in an Eden, for the local mortuary director.
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Score: 2.5/5 stars
I don't know how to rate this story. On the one hand, I've read much worse, even from this particular author. On the other, I was so looking forward to this special spark that most of Lanyon's books have. Lacking that, I felt rather cheated, and just unwilling to give it as much slack as I normally would have.
If you're new to the author, or even MM romance in general, this novel would not be a bad introduction to the genre. But just because you wouldn't be running away screaming, it doesn't mean it's a particularly good one either. So let's go with a rounded up 3-star rating... for now....more
Pippa's latest house sitting/sleuthing assignment sends her to the picture-perfect village of Lieblich, a name that (I kid you not!) translates to dulPippa's latest house sitting/sleuthing assignment sends her to the picture-perfect village of Lieblich, a name that (I kid you not!) translates to dulcet in German.
A former health resort, and , the village is now in dire need of financial help. Enter the Upper Crust Food Company (a.k.a. UCFC) ready to invest in some genetic plant experimenting in order to deliver luxury cuisine for those with means.
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As expected, the endeavor splits the village in two: - the "Liga for Lieblich's development", ready to restore the place to its former glory - and the "Pro-Nature faction", suspicious of the UCFC's scientific methods Pippa's job? Stealthily protect the unofficial head of the "Pro-Nature faction" from the evil machinations of the UCFC afficionados.
I've been eyeing this last installment of the Pippa Bolle series for aaaaaages. First getting rejected for it on Netgalley, then hemming and haw-ing about buying the e-book, I finally caved in and shelled out some serious cash for the paperback edition. Big mistake, I tell you!
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Let's face it: with the last two books having been flops, what was I even hoping to get?! Not only did one of the co-authors move on from the series, but the storyline took a heavy turn towards boredom. If there was ever a dictionary definition for "painfully boring", this book illustrates it perfectly.
And do you know what's worse? It really had tonnes of research and potential poured into it. All the fun facts relating to the Free State Bottleneck, complete with thieves, and hidden treasures, and descendants still looking for said treasure. The villagers with their quirky personalities, and the famous "Bee Sting" cake that constantly made me salivate...
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It was all there, but when it came to the presentation, it just fell flat on its face. I mean, 150 pages just to have Pippa finally meet all the important people?! Yeah no, you lost me there for months on end. I eventually had to literally force myself to finish it. Yes, I'm a masochist.
Score: 2/5 stars
For the view alone. As per usual, the setting of Pippa's adventures is truly magical, and a total travel wishlist candidate. Given the fictional status of Lieblich, I'm not sure how easy it would actually be to get there, but who knows? Maybe someday...
I love bookstores and their employees. For all that I generally abhor Romanian customer service as a whole, bookstores seem to have somehow managed toI love bookstores and their employees. For all that I generally abhor Romanian customer service as a whole, bookstores seem to have somehow managed to escape this hell, with their overall polite and knowledgeable employees. Or perhaps I'm just the luckiest bookworm in existence...
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Ms. Anca Zaharia however, decides to show a markedly less impressive side of the profession. As Romanian booksellers are some of the most underpaid, cranky, perpetually angry employees, the author somehow decides that this entitles them to judge any aspect of a customer's manner of speech, desired reading material and/or inability to correctly remember certain authors' names. They even decide to give several (misguided) customers a crash course in basic manners.
Every time you're asking for Loving her, all I hear is: I'm lonely, and sad, and too stupid to think about my own unhappiness, and way too idiotic to keep my mind off my problems with a real book. So I choose this thingy with semi-complex words, just so I can feel superior about lesser women needing a dictionary for it. But not me, because I know what "coveted" means, so yeaaaah, I want this minute's best seller.
Is there a rule that says that every frump who's looking for a book on yoga/zen/illumination/inner peace must be extremely rude, and peevish, and sort of... unloved? Or maybe they're like that, precisely because they've yet to read the book I need to provide them with, should I want them to become a creature closer to a human than an animal?
This book should not have been published. Or at the very least, the original Facebook statuses it's based on, should've been heavily edited. Right now, all I want to do is close a door in her face, preferably cutting her off mid rant.
From a purely intellectual point of view, I can understand Ms. Zaharia's annoyance at people who come into her bookstore just to: - rant about unrelated things - are rude to employees just because they can be - won't believe that a book hasn't been published yet. Heck, this was the precise reason I even wanted to read this book. Unfortunately, after spending a "mere" 3 hours of reading her rants, I feel considerably more sympathy for those customers-from-hell than the bookseller.
Score: 2/5 stars This book is clearly meant as a wake-up call to the entitled book store owners who constantly overwork their employees and refuse to give them sick leave. And possibly to the needlessly rude/clueless customers who wander into a book store by mistake.
Unfortunately, as is more often the case, the book is not going to be read by these people, but rather by genuine book lovers, who're only interested in finding their next great escape... but end up getting heavily criticised for not addressing the sales assistants the correct way.
I would've personally stuck to episodes like these:
The bookstore closes at 10:00pm. The customer reaches the bookstore at 10:01pm. The roll up security door is about 30cm from the floor. Just like in the movies, the customer first drops to her knees, slips beneath the security door, throwing her pack of toilet paper in front of her. Only, she can't get into the bookstore completely due to her backpack getting stuck on the security door. On her knees, with the hand previously holding the toilet paper pack still clutching the carpet, she huffs and puffs and moans: "Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
18-year-old Marie is really lucky. Her life in 1930s Vienna seems almost like a dream: a pretty townhouse to live in, daily walks in the lovely Cottag18-year-old Marie is really lucky. Her life in 1930s Vienna seems almost like a dream: a pretty townhouse to live in, daily walks in the lovely Cottage neighbourhood, playing with children, and getting paid for it all.
Yes she is constantly stressing about being let go, because her bosses forgot to give an update on her probation status. And she frequently gets lost in depressing childhood memories. Plus recalling her near suicide attempt doesn't particularly help Marie's mindset. But other than that, she is a truly stellar nanny.
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I never thought I'd say this, but: please, just stick to non-fiction, Ms. Hartlieb. Three years ago, you made me fall in love with a little private bookstore on the outskirts of Vienna. Just like you, I would eagerly await the locals' daily visits, look forward to the occasional trip to the nearby French girls' school, and gleefully take up a wet paintbrush to attack my bedroom walls...
...I'm referring to my imaginary self here. My actual self would rather put up with a weird yellow shade for 10 years. Then she'd pay other people to paint her walls white, because there's just no way she's EVER going to VOLUNTARILY agree to colored walls in this life.
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But I digress... If the Vienna from this book were a holiday destination, I'd be first in line to book a plane ticket to see it. I'll be taking vaguely stalkerish pictures of every single house in the neighborhood. Possibly even try to sneak into the odd garden for best Instagram value. I'll definitely go ice skating in the park. Even if only to admire others' skating prowess... All this is not to say that present-day Vienna is not a lovely destination for a city break. It totally IS, but I'm a sucker for turn of the (previous) century winter wonderland snow globes.
I could definitely see the merit in the fragmented voyage through Marie's childhood. I'm fairly certain that I even shed a tear or two while reading about it. And the events following her first dismissal were just heart-breaking... But all this is just background noise. An extraordinarily well-crafted background noise: the perfect melody to provide the basis for our heroine's present.
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The meat of the story however, is just so boring and utterly predictable. There was no excitement in waiting for the outcome of individual adventure. Since most of Marie's stories are told in the form of flashback, the reader just knew that things would somehow work out. And then the one time when things happen live, I just couldn't drum up enough interest to get truly invested in the heroine's plight.
Score: 3/5 stars
If you're in the mood for a cute, feel-good Christmas fairy tale, then by all means give it a go. It's the perfect book to curl up with, on a cold winter's evening. I for one however, won't be continuing with the sequel....more
After years of being overlooked, 11-year-old Achim is finally adopted . Though this should by all means be a haPublished in English as The Secret Room
After years of being overlooked, 11-year-old Achim is finally adopted . Though this should by all means be a happy time for the boy, he is still very much afraid of getting sent back to the orphanage.
As he's busy moping around, Achim stumbles on a mysterious room, that by all appearances shouldn't exist, yet can be accessed from the house. In there, he meets Arnim, a boy who died a long time ago, yet is unable to move on due to the Nameless monster feeding on his yearning. Our intrepid hero immediately decides to help him escape, in spite of the many ominous trials looming ahead.
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As children's stories go, this one certainly began with the right idea. A young hero that finds an entrance to a fantasy land, where he meets all sorts of mythical creatures, takes part in many an exciting (and dangerous) adventure, yadda yadda yadda. In other words: a novel-length metaphor that stands for Achim's journey of self-acceptance.
I could even see myself rolling with the convenient fantasy rules, that would automatically pause Achim's adventure, whenever our little hero was needed back in the real world. Perhaps a bit on the nose for older readers, but as a kid, I would certainly accept the status quo readily enough. Besides, these pauses generally helped highlight the cute and occasionally bittersweet atmosphere in Achim's new life.
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"So where did it all go wrong?" you may ask. And this is where things get difficult. As a rule, I am not a big fan of children's books, though I used to positively devour them back in the day. Now, as an adult (yes, I can hear you snickering in the corner!), my mind inevitably gets stuck on so many little nitpicking details, that it doesn't get to immerse itself in the adventurous aspect of the story.
The child in me though, appreciated getting to explore this whole mix of fairy-tale and contemporary life. I would often feel compelled to give Achim a comforting hug when he'd stumble, or even cheer him on when he'd successfully overcome yet another difficult trial.
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The adult in me however, couldn't help but want to rein Achim in during his more reckless endeavors. The lack of character depth often led to several frustrating moments, and the large number of supposedly exciting and adventurous episodes happening in quick succession, ended up boring me rather than pumping me up.
Score: 2.4/5 stars
I am clearly way past the age group of this book's target audience, so it feels rather unfair to start harping on its short-comings. Especially with how a lot of it is not generally something a child notices, cares or even appreciates in his/her books.
The many little details of world building in the fantasy land, are definitely something that I can see myself appreciating as a child. And the accompanying illustrations are just darling. So, by all means, consider recommending this to any middle-grader, and you might just hit the mark....more
Though I'm generally not too keen on jumping into ongoing book series, there is also a silver lining to be had amidst all the waiting: the release datThough I'm generally not too keen on jumping into ongoing book series, there is also a silver lining to be had amidst all the waiting: the release date of a new book. For all that I regularly check for upcoming releases, somehow I'm still surprised by them. And when said release date gets shortened by a few months... well it's time to paaaaaartaaaaaaaaaaaay!
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So about Devil in Spring... With an auspicious title like "Devil in..." there was no way it was going to escape numerous comparisons to the author's other novel of a similar title: Devil in Winter.
Though not strictly necessary to read "Devil in Winter", there are plenty of references to it which make you appreciate the irony in some of the heroes' inner musings that much more:
But there was no way [Evangeline] would understand what it was like to face the prospect of marrying a virtual stranger.
Getting back to the story at hand: it started out just perfectly, with a lovely dose of Evie and Sebastian. It was so nice to get a glimpse into their married life, despite it taking place 30 years after we last saw them. But it was so well written that I could overlook them being in their 50s/60s. YES! I am age-ist as hell when it comes to the protagonists in historical romances. The genre is (one of) my guilty pleasures, so I get to stuff as much prejudice in it as I can fit.
Unfortunately, instead of the adorable tattle-tongue and the handsome rake, we get the story of a bewildering specimen of "forest nymph" and a rake-by-false-reputation-only. After all, a single mistress and a whole lot of assumptions don't really make Gabriel much of a devil, regardless how dramatically he may view himself...
鈥淭he problem is that I require particular聽.聽.聽. that is聽.聽.聽. she lets me聽.聽.聽.鈥 [Gabriel] broke off with a guttural curse. 鈥淓very man has his tastes,鈥 Sebastian said sensibly. 鈥淚 doubt yours are all that shocking.鈥 鈥淲hat your generation considered shocking is probably different from mine.鈥 There was a short, offended silence. When Sebastian replied, his voice was as dry as tinder. 鈥淎ncient and decrepit fossil that I am, I believe the ruins of my senile brain can somehow manage to grasp what you鈥檙e trying to convey. You鈥檝e indulged in wanton carnal excess for so long that you鈥檙e disillusioned. The trifles that excite other men leave you indifferent. No virgin鈥檚 pallid charms could ever hope to compete with the subversive talents of your mistress.鈥
On the whole, the reading experience was quite pleasant up until the 64% mark. I was alternating between hysterical laughter and manic grinning, which is a significant point in its favor. But after that... I just lost interest in both the story and the two main characters.
Score: 2.4 / 5 stars
Stories that don't set the "happily-ever-after" directly following the marriage vows are always welcome, however Gabriel and Pandora's relationship just took a rather forced turn. The number of dangers befalling poor naive Pandora, the minute she returns from her honeymoon was just ridiculous!
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I considered rounding up the score to 3 stars, but as I gave the same to Devil in Winter, a book I enjoyed so much more, it'll have to settle for less.
One of these days, I will finally realize that I am in fact an adult, and will stop wanting to recapture an alternate childhood. Even if Hollywood insOne of these days, I will finally realize that I am in fact an adult, and will stop wanting to recapture an alternate childhood. Even if Hollywood insists on flashy (re)adaptions of every children's book in existence. Damn you!
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The easiest and most natural thing to do when faced with failure, is to pinpoint a culprit. Preferably someone other than one's own self, so I choose my country's school system. If you go by its compulsory reading list, it's clear that a heavily depressed child/teenager is what it takes to ace Literature class.
So trust me when I tell you that I'm positively green with envy, when others get a frigging space-fairy-tale to analyze. Not only does it boast of an interesting title (A Wrinkle in Time), but its author also parades around with an absolutely fabulous (pen?)name (Madeleine L'Engle). Add to that a story that manages to coast by with minimal religious references. Meaning... if noone explicitly mentions God or Jesus, I can convince myself that things have nothing to do with them.
What I'm saying is that I should've positively ADORED this book! So feeling nothing but boredom and irritation, understandably put me in quite a foul mood.
It started out well enough with the heroine being bullied for being different, but before I could even grasp the entirety of Meg's woes, she gets a huge pile of insta-love thrown her way, space-travel, a villain whose endgame never gets explained... all wrapped in a slew of utterly confusing events, peppered with as many weird characters as 200 pages can hold.
Score: 1/5 stars
I was initially holding out some hope that some pretty visuals would at least endear the movie to me, but I lasted less than 10 minutes. In its defense, I was on a plane, where my attention span is even lower than usual....more
About a year after the events from The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks, Nick and Perry are living happily in L.A. Their quarters are rather cramped, the moneyAbout a year after the events from The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks, Nick and Perry are living happily in L.A. Their quarters are rather cramped, the money is sparse, and Nick's job has drastically limited their quality time. But you know, in general, they're happy... ish. That said, the promise of a better future is in the air, so our protagonists are making the most of things.
Of course, Perry just has to stumble on a disturbing bullying scene, at a derelict and supposedly haunted mansion. What a way to spend Halloween!
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I first "discovered" Josh Lanyon at a time when I had just about enough of the overly flowery language of the M/F romances. I was so excited to discover a different (much healthier) kind of relationship dynamic in "his" books, with an added bonus of a good who-dunnit mystery. The books from the Adrien English series employed these two tropes just perfectly.
So I jumped in expecting at least a few steamy sex scenes, which would be skillfully tucked into an otherwise exciting murder mystery. What I got instead, where a few lukewarm intimate moments that lasted way to little, a lot of guilt on both sides, and very disappointing murder mystery that gets solved entirely by accident.
Score: 2/5 stars
Maybe I was wrong to look for too much romance in a murder mystery, but the sleuthing aspects didn't impress me either. I'd only recommend this book for the location: an artfully rundown Gothic mansion.
In brief: Good for Josh Lanyon for trying a new genre and writing style, even if it failed miserably.
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I really like Josh Lanyon's writing style, and I'm also quite fond of mysteries featuring the curse of ancient Egyptian mummies. So in theory combining these two, should've made for an awesome experience.
Alas, a change in genre also brought with it a change in writing style... and that kind of sealed the fate of this book. In place of a story with few metaphors, blunt language and extremely likable characters, you'd get some haughty Englishmen, flowery language, pages upon pages of dialogue where nothing of particular interest was discussed... you know, an overly extended weather talk.
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The narration style being first person narrative, should've helped things, seeing as it's something Lanyon does exceedingly well. Unfortunately, coupled with the change of style, character's age, and social conventions, actually alienated the main character even more.
Dr. Armiston is a 55-year-old doctor, proud bachelor, exceedingly vain, set in his ways, and ready to mock anyone at a minute's notice. Starting with his man-servant Bird (for his war stories), continuing with the stressed out Captain Maxwell, and the rest of cast as they get introduced to him.
Captain Hilary Maxwell has a weirdly feminine first name... that I couldn't get over. I have no idea how common a name this was during the Victorian-era, but it still sounded bizarre for me. Sure, he was handsome, and brave, and wounded in the line of duty, yadda yadda yadda: the perfect long-suffering hero. You know, kind of wasted on the main character.
Still, this being an M/M regency/victorian romance, I was hoping for some character development which would change my view. And it did... for the worse. Armiston got more and more involved in a plot that had absolutely nothing to do with him. As much as he claimed it was for the sake of his budding friendship, it felt more and more like his sole purpose was vanity: proving himself to be smarter than anyone around him. So of course, he gets in waaaay over his head, and has to be saved by the ailing Captain Maxwell.
Score: 2/5 stars
I tried to like it... I swear I really did, which may be EXACTLY why it didn't work? I was hoping that as soon as the romance reared its head I would get distracted enough, to stop minding the characters' detached nature. Not only didn't that happen, but 50-year-old shy virgins are just not my thing.
I suppose the intent was for reader to find it endearing, instead of aggravating... But every little quirk just annoyed me to no end. So I guess I'll stick to the author's contemporary stuff....more
Every time I try to explain the awesomeness of 84, Charing Cross Road, I end up concluding my speech with "you'll just have to read this for yourself,Every time I try to explain the awesomeness of 84, Charing Cross Road, I end up concluding my speech with "you'll just have to read this for yourself, to understand".
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I'm not a particularly emphatic person, when it comes to experiences I haven't personally gone through. But the fact that I found myself unable to sympathize with Ms. Hanff getting to see the Englad she'd dreamed about forever... was unexpected, to say the least. It's not like I don't recall going around London all googly-eyed, and swooning over everyone's amazing British accent. And yet, the author's attitude only served to make me all stressed about her ending up penniless somewhere in a ditch.
See, I have NEVER gone on a trip without making sure to have enough money and THEN some, for any emergency. Meaning I plan for the Armageddon taking place at the precise moment the president Queen decides to ask ME to save the world. It's up to the two of us to do something, and she's better at managing.
Seeing Ms. Hanff plan her stay by winging things as long as her money lasted, made me break out in cold sweat. She didn't even buy a return ticket, hoping to make things last indefinitely. Add to that the fact, that she started budgeting around getting invited to free dinners... I think I must've died of shame at least 5 times, in her place. Yes, I have a LOOOOOT of issues. And I'm also very jealous. Happy?!
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Of course, I did often stop to remind myself that all this happened over 40 years ago, where not every second person was an axe-murderer in disguise. And that during these times it was perfectly OK to instruct one's editor to pass through all dinner invitations. Or, erm... was it?
Things looked slightly better, when it came to the tourist sights, but even there Ms. Hanff was a much more cultured specimen than I could ever hope to be. My interest in Oxford lay solely in the awesome architecture, along with a hefty dose of fangirling in (insert witty Harry Potter movie reference). What did I care about some guy who had once taught religion in one of those buildings?
Score: 3/5 stars
For all that I've spent this entire review moaning and moping around, objectively speaking there was nothing to dislike here. The narration is brisk and funny, the pacing is alert, all London-aficionados can get a piece or two for reminiscing purposes...
The excitement from the prequel was gone, however. And without that, the book turned into just another memoir. And I prefer my novels to be fiction.
Failed wizard Rincewind finds himself the unwilling guide to Two Flower, the Discworld's first tourist.
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The idea behind this 2-book arc (The CoFailed wizard Rincewind finds himself the unwilling guide to Two Flower, the Discworld's first tourist.
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The idea behind this 2-book arc (The Colour of Magic and its sequel The Light Fantastic) is commendable enough: present the reader with a sufficiently enticing world building to then ensure their continued interest in future books. In practice though... things didn't quite work out that well.
There were way too many minor characters thrown in, all of whom came with considerable backstories, only to disappear a couple of pages later. The liberal mixing of science and fantasy elements got me all sorts of confused, rather than interested in the mechanics behind it all. Some of the more promising one-liners got ruined by rather wordy phrases. And the overall writing style just screamed info-dump through every one of its pores. Whoever decided to cut a significant number of side-quests and characters from the TV adaptation, made an excellent judgement call.
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The one unequivocally good thing I can say about the book, is the brilliant characterization. Every single character, be it main or secondary is wonderfully flawed, and thus endlessly amusing to watch.
Rincewind, the cowardly hero, chiefly out to save his own skin, was very relatable to me, moreso than any conventional Prince Charming type may ever be.
Two Flower, a tourist woefully unaware of his surroundings, is a veritable poster boy for all the horror stories one hears about tourist scams.
A number of side characters all with their extremely self-centered view of the universe, out to kill Rincewind for one reason or another.
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Last but not least, there's Death himself, who is unsuccessfully attempting to reap Rincewind. Reading about the Grim Reaper get more and more frustrated by his quarry's near death experiences, was definitely fun, although, I think I prefer movie-Death. The latter proved to be much more intriguing in his amusement.
Score: 2.7/5 stars
As much as it pains me to say this, just watch the . It has much better dialogue, screen play, and David Jason portrays Rincewind absolutely brilliantly.
Ms. Smartarse
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