All posts by skyebjenner

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for pride ibi zoboi book cover

Title: Pride
Author: Ibi Zoboi
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Retellings, Young adult
Dates read: 25th – 26th July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Year: 2018
5th sentence, 74th page: She grabs her ball from beneath the bench and starts passing it between her hands.

Synopsis

Zuri Benitez has pride.

Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.

When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and artogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.

But with four wild sistsers pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon – Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape or lose it all.

In this timely update of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, critically acclimaed author Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic.

Thoughts

Pride and Prejudice is one of my absolute favourite classics. It’s the classic that I go to again anda gain when I want to reread something soothing. Actually, it’s the book I probably pick up about once a year when I need my fix. So when I found out that there’s a contemporary retelling of this story which features a Dominican-Haitian girl on the cusp of adulthood, applying for colleges… well, I bought it immediately.

It was completely impossible to put this story down. Even though I knew pretty much what was going to happen, I looked forward to finding out how Zoboi was going to adjust the storyline to suit her needs. Particularly when the greater issues of race, identity and the identity of the neighbourhood are all explored alongside a well-loved classic. It meant that I was sucked in as if this was an entirely new storyline – because, for me, an Australian with very few experiences of these issues, it was an entirely new world and story that I was being whisked away to.

 I was honestly expecting a story that explored some of the issues of racism. And, although this did in a slight way, it was more about pride in identity. Alright, Zuri’s pride almost gets her in a lot of trouble, but there is also an intense pride in who she is and where she comes from. Actually, this pride in identity and awareness of her cultural history inspired a little jealousy. I’ve never really had any awareness of my own family’s cultural history. Yet, this pride also bought up issues of first perceptions and stereotypes. The ways in which some people see a certain cultural way of being and decide that it is “wrong”. And this worked in both ways – not only towards Zuri, but also in her attitudes towards the Darcys.

This is the second book I’ve read in under a week that deals with the very cusp of adulthood. That moment when you are just about to leave high school and step out on your own for the first time. I loved the open ended-ness of this. Yes, Zuri and Darius look like they’ll get a happily ever after, but they are also only teenagers. And there is no moment of everything being set in stone – rather it is about the hope for the future and an acceptance of each other in a way that makes you think they might just make it when not many others do…

 <- Nigeria JonesPunching the Air ->

Image source: HarperCollins Publishers

What I Like About Me by Jenna Guillaume

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for what i like about me book cover

Title: What I Like About Me
Author: Jenna Guillaume
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Contemporary, Young adult
Dates read: 22nd – 25th July 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Pan
Year: 2019
5th sentence, 74th page: We couldn’t wait until we were both old enough.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
Synopsis

HERE LIES MAISIE MARTIN, DEAD FROM EMBARRASSMENT, AGED SIXTEEN.

The last thing Maisie Martin thought she’d be doing this summer is entering a beauty pageant.

Not when she’s spent most of her life hiding her body from everyone.

Not when her dad is AWOL for Christmas and her best friend starts going out with the boy she’s always loved.

But Maisie’s got something to prove. And she’s not going to let anything or anyone – including herself – hold her back.

Thoughts

I got this book in a book box from YA Chronicles. I had no idea what to expect. I’d never read anything from Jenna Guillaume. And I’m only just getting into contemporary young adult stories. But I absolutely loved it! This story is a bit like the movie Dumplin’ (I haven’t read the book yet), but with a more Australian and satirical spin. Which of course is why I loved it so much…. A sassy Australian novel about coming of age and loving yourself for who you are. Or at least finding a way to like yourself…

As a child, I was lucky to be slender, I won some good genetics. So I honestly don’t understand what it’s like to be a bigger girl. But. I do understand what it’s like not to like my own body. Not to feel 100% comfortable in it and not sure that I like what I see. This novel touches on that issue beautifully. I think it’s something that every woman goes through at some point. A desire to be more “something” something that our friends, family, celebrities are and we’re just not. And although everyone purports self-love, it really does start with self-care – learning to like oneself, before you decide to love yourself.

Being a teenager is incredibly awkward. There is nothing about it that is easy and simple. And, as an adult, I look back on some moments with humour and a bit of wistfulness. But, as a teenager? I thought that everything embarrassing or silly was just the end of the world. That I was always going to be an ungainly, awkward girl-child with no sense of identity and self. Which meant that reading this story of someone going through the exact same thing made me laugh quite a bit. Alright, there were some moments that were way more embarrassing than anything I’d been through, but there were others that I could relate to FAR too well.

The only thing that I didn’t love about this book is the fact that I read it in winter. This is a fantastic beach read, summer story. But, I seem to have picked it up in some incredibly horrible weather. Weather that had me curling up inside on the couch, longing for the beach and beauty that Maisie is surrounding herself and her teenage dramas with.

<- More Australian authors reviewsMore Young adult reviews ->
Image source: Goodreads

Total Control by L.L. Foster

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for out of the light, into the shadows book cover

Title: Total Control
Author: Lori Foster
Series: Jardines #2
In: Out of the Light, Into the Shadows (Lori Foster & Erin McCarthy)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary romance, Family, Paranormal romance
Dates read: 29th July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: He was weak, very weak.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
Synopsis

Brax is cursed like all the other men in his family. Cameo might be the perfect woman to help him survive his curse. But, will she be willing to make the sacrifice?

Thoughts

I liked Brax in Have Mercy. I didn’t really like him in Total Control. At least not until I got about halfway through the story and he stopped being a controlling prick and started being a caring man. Then I felt a little less like reaching into the pages of the book and punching him in the throat. He suddenly became far more human and much less of an insane, sex-fiend control freak. More like what he was in Have Mercy.

I think that I would have loved this novella a lot more if it was part of a greater series. There are just two novellas one about each sibling, yet there is so much amazing world building happening behind the scenes. I want to sink my teeth into this world and not let go… not read about 160 pages all up and finish it off. It was kind of disappointing. Actually, after the fact that Brax was a douche for the first half of this novella, it was the only other disappointing aspect of it.

I seem to be picking up a lot of paranormal romances lately that involve alpha men who have to take control of their women. And Brax fit perfectly into this format. But, I’m kind of getting over it. Which meant that it was so much better when he got his butt kicked out of alpha-male, control everything mentality. Which is kind of why I liked Cameo so much – she knocked his head out of his arse and into reality. Leaving the couple with an actual happily ever after, not one full of lust.

 <- Have Mercy ReviewOut of the Light, Into the Shadows Review ->
Image source: Penguin Random House

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

Book Review, , , , , ,
Overview
Image result for always and forever, lara jean book cover

Title: Always and Forever, Lara Jean
Author: Jenny Han
Series: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #3
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Chic lit, Contemporary, Easy reading, Romance, Young adult
Dates read: 28th June – 24th July 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: We three probably won’t ever live in the same house together again.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
Synopsis

Life is good for Lara Jean.

She is head over heels in love, her dad’s finally getting remarried and her sister Margot is coming home for the summer.

But change is looming. And Lara Jean can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make – where she goes to college for one. Because that would mean leaving her family – and possibly the boy she loves – behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

Thoughts

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the last book in this trilogy. P.S. I Still Love You annoyed me in a number of places, so I thought that I probably needed to take a break from Jenny Han’s writing. But, recently I felt that stirring on interest again and I picked up this book. I’m really glad that I did. There was a nice sense of completion in this story that you didn’t get from P.S. I Still Love You. And it was a nice way to send Lara Jean off to adulthood and college…

As someone who had a high school sweetheart at the end of school, I understand how confusing it can be to decide whether or not to stay together when you’re both going your separate ways. I did a bit of a Margot in that I decided that I wasn’t going to University with a boyfriend. But, I also wasn’t in love with him like Lara Jean is with Peter. She’s very realistic about their immaturity and the likelihood of surviving a long-distance relationship. But she’s also unwilling to give up someone she loves so dearly and truly. It was something that was relatable I think to anyone who experienced the first gleanings of love when they’re a teenager.

I’m not used to softer heroines in the stories that I read. Mostly they’re women who are incredibly tough, unwilling to let others in and really not willing to give up anything for the men that they love. So it was a very different change of pace to read about a young woman who was actually willing to alter her plans in life to suit a man. Although, as a wonderful redemption, she doesn’t actually do this in the end, but finds a nice compromise for both of them. It’s a nice way to finish up a series that is all about finding yourself and first love – it doesn’t have to end, and it doesn’t have to be all about the boy, you can find a compromise in everything.

If you’re looking for a feel good, easy read, then this is definitely the book and the series to pick up. There are moments when you really want to see what silly decisions the characters make next, but nothing immensely drastic and uncomfortable. Just enough spice to keep you turning the pages, but not enough that you can’t sleep at night if you have left the book unfinished. It certainly left me with plenty of comfortable, happy feelings when I turned the final page. And now I’m looking forward to picking up another of Jenny Han’s books to give my something the same comfortable feelings of contentment.

 <- P.S. I Still Love You ReviewTo All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for unaccustomed earth book cover

Title: Unaccustomed Earth
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
In: Unaccustomed Earth (Jhumpa Lahiri)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Migration, Race
Dates read: 20th – 21st July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: He had found his wife’s interest surprising; throughout most of their marriage it had been an unquestioned fact that visiting family in Calcutta was the only thing worth boarding a plane for.

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Synopsis

Ruma lost her mother a year ago. Now her father is coming to visit. Is it time for the patterns of the past to be healed and a new reality to set in?

Thoughts

This is my first Lahiri story, and it’s making me wonder where her writing has been all my life. Her style of writing is incredibly accessible and open. And, although she’s dealing with a culture and people that I’ve had next to no experience with, the themes and issues are still prevalent in my life. Issues of growing and changing, seeing parents as their own grown entities.

There are many stories which talk about coming of age and reaching adulthood. There aren’t so many stories of almost the second coming of age. That point in our lives when we start to change our opinions of our parents because they are beginning to seem smaller and more elderly in our lives and start our own families with children of our own. This short story perfectly investigates this point. The added stressor of losing a parent and a readjustment of priorities created an amazing story which I found hard to put down. And one that I am probably relating a little more to than I would have expected.

This was quite an enjoyable and easy read. The open-endedness of the story meant that you could imagine Ruma and her family living long into the future. Constantly renegotiating and figuring out where they stand with each other. Her son growing to be an old man and experiencing the same reconfigurations of self and being.

 <- Unaccustomed Earth Collection ReviewHell-Heaven Review ->
Image source: Bloomsbury

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for adventures of huckleberry finn word cloud classics book cover

Title: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Author: Mark Twain
Series: Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Contemporary, Race
Dates read: 15th – 10th July 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1884
5th sentence, 74th page: That’s a Frenchman’s way of saying it.

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Synopsis

No home library is complete without the classics! Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a keepsake to be read and treasured.

One of the most popular books of all-time, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been both venerated and vilified since it was first published in 1885. The story of a young abused boy on the run and his friendship with a runaway slave is about loyalty, compassion, and doing what is right, and it remains one of Mark Twain’s greatest achievements. Now available as part of the Canterbury Classics series, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a must-have addition to the libraries of all classic literature lovers.

Thoughts

This is my first ever Mark Twain, and it certainly makes me glad that I have more of his books on my shelves. There was something fun and easy about his writing. Which I don’t often find in classics. For something which was published many, many, many years ago, this was kind of amazing. The meandering storyline was something that I would have loved as a child – living on a river free of every kind of responsibility, living on the land… that’s the kind of childhood that I would have loved.

One thing I tend to struggle with when reading is storylines that don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Tales that are a little more meandering and random I find a little harder to get hooked into. They don’t grab and keep my attention as well as stories which you need to keep reading to find out exactly what happens. Although this did follow that meandering trend, I didn’t find myself putting the book aside as frequently as I usually would. It still took me a little while to finish this considering how much I loved the writing style and language.

For a fantastic kids’ journey, the issues of racism and class are touched upon beautifully in this tale.  Huck’s original feelings towards Jim are those of someone who feels entitled and with power over someone who is almost four times his age. But, as the tale evolves, he begins to see Jim as a fellow person. One with his own desires, needs and wishes. Whilst there is no outright commentary on slavery, the underlying message felt strongly skewed towards this ideal. And it was one that I loved dearly.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the kind of story that drops you in a world any child would be happy in. Or at least, any child that was a bit of a ratbag like me. I would have loved travelling down the Mississippi on a raft, choosing my own life, dinner and making all of my own decisions. Alright, as an adult I’m well aware of how non-idyllic this would actually be. But as a child, this would have been wonderful.

<- Walden and Civil DisobedienceThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer ->

Image source: Amazon

Have Mercy by Lori Foster

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for out of the light, into the shadows book cover

Title: Have Mercy
Author: Lori Foster
Series: Jardines #1
In: Out of the Light, Into the Shadows (Lori Foster & Erin McCarthy)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary romance, Family, Paranormal romance
Dates read: 20th July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: Things from his past erupted into his future, hateful comments, murderous gestures that he’d long buried in an effort to forget them.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
Synopsis

Mercedes thinks that she’s found the man of her dreams. But an added complication could quickly derail her plans as she hunts for her happily ever after.

Thoughts

I don’t normally like stories that use pregnancies as a reason to commit to one another, get married and have your happily ever after. Normally. But I actually really enjoyed this novella. It did use pregnancy as the point of conflict, but it was also about establishing and altering the relationship between the two primaries, rather than just two people who happened to be forced together.

Whilst I don’t have a brother, I do have a little sister. And I am insanely protective of her. It will be very interesting when she finally brings home someone that she thinks is it. And, unlike the siblings in this story, I don’t have the added stressors on our relationship of lost parents. Have Mercy may have been primarily about this sibling relationship and how they adjust to the differences in their lives, but the secondary relationship of siblings was really nice and relatable too. It also made a nice break from the repetition of many other romances – they don’t always feature siblings as a bit of a painful obstacle.

Considering the kind of book that this novella is in, I was expecting a bit of a paranormal spin on this tale. That Warren was a shapeshifter, or vampire, or something along those lines is what jumped out at me the most. There was a hint of some kind of psychic ability in Mercy’s brother, but that was the extent of it. It was a nice balance to the Vegas Vampires novella that is coming next in this collection.

 <- Out of the Light, Into the Shadows ReviewTotal Control Review ->
Image source: Penguin Random House

Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for stealing snow book cover

Title: Stealing Snow
Author: Danielle Paige
Series: Stealing Snow #1
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Magic, Paranormal fantasy, Young adult
Dates read: 10th – 15th July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year: 2016
5th sentence, 74th page: The fever isn’t breaking.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
Synopsis

SHE WILL BRING DOWN THE WORLD

Snow barely remembers a time before she was locked in a psychiatric hospital. But when the love of her life disappears in the night, Snow must follow a mysterious stranger into a magical frozen world to find him.

Amidst witches, thieves and spells, secrets unravel as Snow discovers she is heir to this world’s corrupt and twisted king.

And she has great ice powers of her own.

Now Snow faces choices that will decide the fate of a kingdom – and if she can ever return to the life she knew before.

WORLDS COLLIDE AND HEARTS MELT IN THIS FIRST NOVEL IN AN ICILY GLAMOROUS AND EPIC NEW SERIES

Thoughts

I read the two prequel novellas to this story months and months ago. They were on my kobo and I figured why not. And then I had to wait to read this novel. And boy was it worth the wait. Not quite what I was expecting, and definitely able to twist me into knots far more than I expected, but this was nonetheless amazing. The kind of book that I would have quite happily read in one sitting… if I didn’t have a job and a PhD to take up the majority of my time…

From the blurb I knew that this story started with Snow in a mental asylum. What I really wasn’t expecting was how intense that aspect of the story was going to be. Not only did it rip my heart out in multiple places that this was all she had ever known, but it also made me begin to question where the story was going to go. I had just kind of assumed that this was going to be a nice fantasy story with a Snow White influence. And it was that… but it was also a lot darker and twistier than I had ever anticipated. Not only in these beginnings, but also in the betrayal at the end. That one left me with my mouth hanging open and a tear on my cheek.

In the original Snow White, I’m fairly certain that there aren’t any dwarves. But I do like the Disney version, and although the idea of the seven dwarves doesn’t necessarily come up strongly in this story, it is still there. In Snow’s pills. There were many little allusions to fairy tales throughout this story, some of which I actually went and googled or flicked through my many collections after I finished this story. They were just so well done.

Stealing Snow was a good, easy and fun read. But it was also much darker and heart rending than anything that I was expecting. Not only in reading about Snow’s upbringing, but also the betrayal after betrayal that she experiences. Her loss and her confusion. Every chapter seemed to drive a new wedge into my heart and make me fall more and more in love with her. I can’t wait to read the next book, I’m hoping that there will eventually be a happy ending!!!

 <- Queen Rising ReviewUntitled Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for life in outer space book cover

Title: Life in Outer Space
Author: Melissa Keil
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance, Easy reading, Young adult
Dates read: 14th – 15th July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: I unpack my bag and stack my books in order of size.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide
Synopsis

Sam Kinnison is a greek, and he’s totally fine with that. He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of Warcraft – and until Princess Leia truns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls.

Then Sam meets Camilla. She’s beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life. Sam is determined to ignore her, except that Camilla has a life of her own – and she’s decided that he’s going to be part of it.

Sam believes that everything he needs to know he can learn from the movies… but now it looks like he’s been watching the wrong ones.

Thoughts

I have been hanging out for this book to arrive in the post. And then it did. When I had about 1,000 things to do… so it took me an extra week to open it and sink my teeth into it. But then I did. And I was deliriously grateful for the awesomeness that I am beginning to associate with Melissa Keil. It kind of helped that I was down sick when I finally got to read this, so the feel good, sweet storyline made me feel a heck of a lot better. And actually made me smile… which I hadn’t really been doing on account of you know… sick.

Most of the books I read feature a strong, independent woman. Which this one does. But they also tend to be written either from their point of view, or something very close to it. There are very few books that I have read in recent years which are written from the point of view of the boy. And now I’m kind of wondering why this is missing so much from my shelves and reading. I absolutely loved the change of pace and the different POV. Not only was it a nice change, but it worked brilliantly well, and I can’t imagine it being so engaging having been written from Camilla’s viewpoint.

Although I tend to watch a lot of TV, I’m not what I would consider a movie buff by any shape of the imagination. Yet, the movie quotes and references that were peppered throughout this story still worked really well. They were obscure enough that it wasn’t repetitive and frustrating, but also obvious enough that I picked up on many of the aspects and things that they were talking about. The fact that Sam is so obsessed with horror also made me pick up a horror book not long after finishing this, simply because I felt intrigued by the genre.

Boy meets girl and falls madly in love stories, especially in YA can feel incredibly contrived. As an adult, I know that there are very few people who met someone when they were fifteen and stayed with them forever. And the few who did had to work at it. It’s not that roses and rainbows feeling that a lot of books and TV shows like to emphasise. This story isn’t like that, it’s realistic. Yes, it’s still got a love at first sight feel. And the entire book you want to smack them both over the head because your pretty sure they’re meant to be together forever. BUT. Most of the story and relationship is about creating a friendship. About supporting one another through tough times and truly getting to know one another. To me, that is what makes this such a great romance. It’s a love built on friendship and trust, one that is so cute and supportive. ❤

 <- The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl ReviewThe Secret Science of Magic Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

An Apple for the Creature edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner

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Overview
Image result for an apple for the creature book cover

Title: An Apple for the Creature
Author: Charlaine Harris, Toni L. P. Kelner, Jonathan Maberry, Donald Harstad, Marjorie M. Liu, Rhys Bowen, Amber Benson, Mike Carey, Faith Hunter, Ilona Andrews, Steve Hockensmith, Nancy Holder & Thomas E. Sniegoski
In: An Apple for the Creature (Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Short story collections, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 23rd May – 13th July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Ace Books
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: He’d charged George, heading toward the cornfield behind the store, and George had shot him.

Synopsis

Includes a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story!

What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition? Your worst school nightmares—taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter—will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms.

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s story, “Playing Possum,” Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew’s entire class but finds she’s one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up.

When her guardian, Kate Daniels, sends her undercover to a school for exceptional children, teenaged Julie learns an all-new definition of “exceptional,” in New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews’s “Magic Tests.”

For those who like fangs with their forensics, New York Times bestselling author Nancy Holder offers “VSI,” in which FBI agent Claire is tested as never before in a school for Vampire Scene Investigation.

And in New York Times bestselling author Thomas Sniegoski’s “The Bad Hour,” Remy Chandler and his dog Marlowe find evil unleashed in an obedience school.

You’ll need more than an apple to stave off the creatures in these and nine other stories. Remember your first lesson: resistance is fruitless!

Includes stories by: ILONA ANDREWS, AMBER BENSON, RHYS BOWEN, MIKE CAREY, CHARLAINE HARRIS, DONALD HARSTAD, STEVE HOCKENSMITH, NANCY HOLDER, FAITH HUNTER, TONI L.P. KELNER, MARJORIE LIU, JONATHAN MABERRY, THOMAS SNIEGOSKI

Thoughts

This book has been on my wishlist for ages. But, it’s one that’s out of print, so I had to get a second-hand copy, and I always seem to be a bit slower at getting these. Now I’m not sure why I waited so damn long! I loved every single one of these short stories. They managed to reflect not only your worst nightmares relived in high school, but it was also filled with stories of training and cops, the paranormal and the supernatural.

Sometimes short story collections are full of tales which fit into series. Some are just full of tales that stand beautifully alone. An Apple for the Creature has a nice balance of the two. Some of these stories are ones which make me want to pick up the rest of the series. Some just a nice appreciation for a new author. It was a great balance, meant that I didn’t break the bank wanting to buy new books, but also found some great new series to sink my teeth into.

This collection contains everything I love about urban fantasy tales. There are vampires and werewolves, dragons and nymphs. Some of these characters are only just starting at their first high school, and others are in training for a greater purpose, such as crime fighting. Regardless of the reason why they’re in school though, every single character in these stories learns something from their adventures and made each and every story a complete, total and utter pleasure.

 <- Pirate Dave and the Captain’s GhostPlaying Possum ->

Image source: Goodreads