All posts by skyebjenner

Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for alien sex book cover

Title: Her Furry Face
Author: Leigh Kennedy
In: Alien Sex (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Lust, Twisted romance
Dates read: 27th August 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: ROC
Year: 1990
5th sentence, 74th page: Annie clung to Douglas’s legs, whimpering.

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Synopsis

Douglas isn’t sure how he feels, but he knows that Annie is special. How special is yet to be seen. This is a short story that will make you incredibly uncomfortable.

Thoughts

There is a warning at the beginning of this story that says it will make you uncomfortable. An acknowledgement that it’s not quite what it should be. And it’s a warning worth listening to. The only reason that I gave this a good star rating was because the writing was so brilliant and enjoyable that I really didn’t realise how disturbed I felt until I had turned the final pages of this story. Actually, it took about half an hour to sink in how uncomfortable this story made me. And then I just sat there in stunned silence…

Some people truly don’t understand how to love what they have. In most circumstances this always comes across as refusing to settle and accept that there is love in their lives. In the circumstances under which this story was produced – it’s not such a trifling inability to accept the world. It is something far more disturbed and insidious. Which kind of highlights the horribleness of never accepting and embracing the love that you do have.

I recommend this story to almost anyone. Okay, it’s seriously disturbing and I really don’t know how I felt after I finished it. But the strength of the message and the talent in the writing is intense. It is beautiful and kind of makes you feel less horrible about what you’re reading. It’s definitely a story that you should pick up. Just one that you need to read with a warning…

 <- Alien Sex ReviewWar Bride Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Nigsu Ga Tesgu by Jeff Somers

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for urban enemies book cover

Title: Nigsu Ga Tesgu
Author: Jeff Somers
Series: The Ustari Cycle #4.5
In: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Horror, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 26th August 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: His spell, his curse, it should have consumed me long ago.

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Synopsis

She is the most powerful of her kind. Her apprentice thinks that he’s finally found a way to usurp her. But there’s a reason that she’s survived for so long… a reason why she understands the words better than anyone else.

Thoughts

I absolutely adored the creepiness and spine-tingling evilness of this story. This might be in a collection of Urban Fantasy Villains stories, but there was something extra creepy about a girl chewing her own tongue to kill her father. A whole other level of darkness that hasn’t so far been portrayed in this collection – most villains use the sacrifice and blood of others. This woman starts off sacrificing parts of herself willingly.

I love that the woman in this is the most powerful in the world, but she is also incredibly feeble. This fantastic juxtaposition between physical and mental strength is incredibly fascinating and drives home the point that sometimes the most powerful aren’t the most physically able. The entire looks can be deceiving, and don’t judge a book by its cover ideal is heavy handedly highlighted in this story. But in a way that doesn’t feel clunky and irritating, just slightly humorous.

Nigsu ga Tesgu introduced me to a world that is entirely shades of grey. There is nothing black and white, good and evil in the world. There are just choices that aren’t good and aren’t necessarily evil. They’re just about survival and finding a way to move forwards further in your life. Normally the stories I read have a clear villain and hero (even if the hero is more than a little damaged), but this didn’t feel like that kind of story. I know that the woman was supposed to be the big Cahoona in the villains’ world, but it just felt like an old woman struggling to survive in a horrible world… in a incredibly horrible manner.

 <- Hounded ReviewSixty-Six Seconds Review ->
Image source: Simon & Schuster

Cave Canem by Susan Sizemore

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
First Blood

Title: Cave Canem
Author: Susan Sizemore
Series: Laws of the Blood #5.5
In: First Blood (Susan Sizemore, Erin McCarthy, Chris Marie Green & Meljean Brook)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy, Vampires
Dates read: 26th August 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Of course, she hadn’t been aware of him since the companion connection had been severed between them several years before.

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Synopsis

When hellhound pups are stolen from under Dan Conover’s nose, an unlikely alliance is made. Vampire enforcer Dan is bound by a promise to guard the hellhounds. Werewolf Tess Sirella is charged with making sure no hellhound is trained to tap into its evil, murderous potential. Vampires and werewolves aren’t supposed to be attracted to one another… but for every rule, there’s an exception.

Thoughts

This was a fun, engaging and enjoyable paranormal romance. The involvement of demons, hellhounds, vampires and werewolves drew me in from the very beginning. As did the jump in timeline from the prologue to the main story. The only thing I didn’t love was the fact that the man had been involved with her many times great-grandmother. It felt a little creepy that he’d been intimate with a woman, and then falls for her descendant. There’s even a moment when he notices the similarities between the two of them…

There’s not much I love more in this world than my dogs. So I understood the drive of the hellhounds owners. After all, once that bond is formed, it’s almost impossible to break. Or at least, that’s what I’ve found so far. I really enjoyed the search for the missing puppies, the need to ensure their safety and the drive to indicate their innocence. I can’t imagine a day without my dogs, and the two men in this story obviously feel the same.

I haven’t yet read any of the Laws of the Blood series so I don’t exactly understand how this fits into the bigger world. Yet, Sizemore manages to give you enough information that you don’t feel completely confused by her world. But not enough that you don’t want to read the rest of the series. It’s a great little tease to draw you in, or let you revisit a world you’ve already seen before.

 <- First Blood ReviewRussian Roulette Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Book Review, ,
Overview
Image result for eragon book cover

Title: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
Series: The Inheritance Cycle #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dragons, Medieval fantasy
Dates read: 20th – 26th August 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Knopf
Year: 2002
5th sentence, 74th page: He pulled his arms inside his coat and tied the empty sleeves around his neck.

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Synopsis

One boy…
One dragon…
A world of adventure.

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stones brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire himself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

Thoughts

It’s been a long time since I first picked up this book. So long, that at the time, only the first two books in this series were actually published. And I can’t believe that I hadn’t picked it up again… the fact that it was boxed away while I moved houses over a few years probably contributed quite strongly to the delay too. But, I digress… this is one of those amazing stories that you constantly remember and wish didn’t quite have to end. Whilst rushing towards the end, because you just have to find out how everything happens.

One of my favourite tropes in fantasy is the taking of an ordinary person and turning them into something amazing. The use of their strength and personal traits, their ability to overcome all bought into the limelight because one little, fantastical accident of fate. It’s probably one of the most repetitive tropes I’ve read, but it’s one that genuinely works. After all, we all feel like nobodies at times and wish that we could get swept away into an adventure. Eragon is the perfect example of this. A young, lonely, illiterate farm boy who stumbles upon an egg and is swept up in an adventure of mayhem and good vs evil.

This is one of those stories that is a little difficult to place within a fantasy shelf. It’s not quite epic, it’s not quite young adult. It’s this great version in between. It suits a range of tastes and reading levels. And, as I discovered with this reread years later, lets you grasp a different aspect of the storyline and pick up on different hints and tales whenever you sink your nose into the tale.

This is a story of dragons and swords. Mysteries and battles. A story in which you don’t really know if Eragon is making the right decisions. Whether or not he’s fallen into a political cesspool or actually found sanctuary. It’s this great tale that completely sweeps you up and makes you want to pick up Eldest from the very moment you close the final pages. After all, one battle has been one, but the war is just beginning…

<- Eragon’s Guide to AlagaesiaEldest ->

Image source: Amazon

James and Other Apes by James Mollison

Book Review,
Overview
Image result for james and other apes book cover

Title: James and Other Apes
Author: James Mollison
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Conservation, Photography
Dates read: 26th August 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Coffee Table Book
Publisher: Boot
Year: 2004
5th sentence, 74th page: Kudel

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Synopsis

Fifty great apes – chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos, our closest biological relatives – are featured in these portraits by James Mollison. Photographed over four years in ape sanctuaries in four continents, each ape is revealed as a unique character. With case note biographies, and introduced with a powerful and moving essay by Jane Goodall, this book celebrates the great apes – at a moment in time their survival is threatened.

Thoughts

This was such a beautiful book. Graphically speaking. The photographs were stunning. The intensity of the gazes as they starred out of the pages, unforgettable. It is one of those books that I won’t forget, and I’m so glad that I’ve now added this to my shelf. It was irreplaceably beautiful and spine tinglingly aware.

I knew from the blurb and Jane Goodall’s introduction that this was a book that was supposed to highlight our differences to apes and make us realise that our similarities are undeniable. To almost humanise the plight of the big apes so that people will be less callous about their treatment of the environment and their homes. What I didn’t expect was the spine-tingling feeling I got as I flipped through the pages. I found that I was just sitting, there, starring entranced into the eyes of each of the individuals. Learning their names as I picked up their different nuances and personalities…

This is the sort of coffee table book that I’m going to annoy my friends with. The simplicity and beauty of the pictures and the brief biographies about each ape in the back make it accessible to everyone. And it is a great way to highlight how important it is to conserve and nurture our environment. Instead of using it for our own means.

 <- Planet Elephant ReviewElephant Memories Review ->
Image source: Bookdepository

Breath of Magic by Cheyenne McCray

Book Review, , , , , ,
Overview
Image result for no rest for the witches book cover

Title: Breath of Magic
Author: Cheyenne McCray
Series: Magic #3.5
In: No Rest for the Witches (Mary Janice Davidson, Lori Handeland, Cheyenne McCray & Christine Warren)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Magic, Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy, Witches
Dates read: 25th August 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: The Underworld god’s muscles bunched and flexed as he strode toward them.

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Synopsis

San Francisco’s witches are in an epic battle. But even if Sydney can use her sultry ways and ancient Druid powers to save the world, can she risk losing her heart to handsome warrior Conlan?

Thoughts

This was a great partnering off, battle the evil, and, whilst not winning the war, winning the battle kind of story. I immediately fell in love with the characters, and wanted to find out more about this amazing world that Cheyenne McCray has created. You kind of knew that the two leads would end up together at the close of the book, but that didn’t make the journey any less exciting or intriguing. Rather, I couldn’t wait to see just how they would overcome their obstacles, and it was more than a little surprising when the conclusion was finally reached.

It was really nice to have a slightly different heroine in the lead of this story. Most of the tales I read feature a woman who is completely put together and beautiful, if not more than a little manic and insane. Instead, this features a woman who has glasses and makes some incredibly silly mistakes. Ones that are performed out of pure stubbornness, but still a good place. And more than a little stupid when she looks back at them in hindsight.

Breath of Magic is one of those fun novellas that I’ll read again and again. Not just because I love the simplicity of a good romance story, but also because there is so much more going on. There is a fantastic plot that actually takes centre stage over the romance and makes you hold your breath throughout – after all, you want the good guys to win, and it’s really not a certain thing. It is one of those tales that will make you want to dive right into McCray’s writing and sink into her worlds. Or at least, that’s how I felt… and now I have to go out and buy Forbidden Magic to get my next fix…

 <- Voodoo Moon ReviewAny Witch Way She Can Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

The Governess by Elizabeth Bear

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for queen victoria's book of spells ellen datlow book cover

Title: The Governess
Author: Elizabeth Bear
In: Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Family, Fantasy, Gaslamp
Dates read: 25th August 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: But she does, and there it is, and somehow she gets her mouth around it.

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Synopsis

Anabelle is the governess of three beautiful children. But not all is right in the manor, and it might take the strength of a woman to make it right again.

Thoughts

Not sure why, but at the beginning of this story, I was kind of expecting a much more cheerful and happier outlook in this story. Maybe a bit of a rags to riches story. I was so incredibly wrong. This is a little bit dark, a little bit uncomfortable and a really enjoyable read.

The Governess is a story that highlights the plight of women. Not only through Anabelle’s trials, but those of the mistress of the manor. Both are trapped by a man who is more than a little evil, and both are filled with their own hidden strength. The ending really drives home that although both women were brutalised and subject to horrors, they find a way to rise above and focus on a new future. The grasping of their own freedom and focus on what makes them strong, rather than what made them victims was the only really uplifting moment in an otherwise dark story.

This wasn’t a heavy fantasy story, it almost read a little like a historical fiction. But with just that hint of a fantastical element towards the very ending. Actually, it kind of made me want to watch Downton Abbey because it felt kind of like that era. Yet, the beauty of the fantastical hint at the end made me want to clutch this book to my chest, and find yet more stories written by Elizabeth Bear. A great introduction to a new author.

 <- For the Briar Rose ReviewSmithfield Review ->
Image source: Amazon

Taking Hold by Anya Bast

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of paranormal romance book cover

Title: Taking Hold
Author: Anya Bast
In: The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance (Trisha Telep)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Werewolves
Dates read: 25th August 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: “It’s uh-” She swallowed hard.

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Synopsis

Casey is out in the wilderness trying to find a lost young man. But the werewolf who is assisting her might just be more of a temptation than she can bear.

Thoughts

This is one of those short stories that I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed in the moment. But kind of forgot about once I turned that final page. Even writing this review, I had to flick back to it just to remember what I’d actually read. Maybe I’ve just been reading a little too much werewolf / shapeshifter paranormal romance of late…

Something which this short story did was make me really, really want to pick up Lora Leigh’s Breeds series. The positioning of the werewolf as a totally separate species, and not human at all kind of reminded me of that. And also the stupidity that we kind of have in our own separations, if someone is not exactly like us, they are often considered as somehow less than human, even if there is a whole heap of evidence to the contrary. The fact that this was done through the vessel of a loner werewolf and outcast teacher made the point far more subtle, but it was still there.

The care for a child is something that I think ties everyone together. Or at least, it does in this story. Even though the child in question is sixteen, the cusp of innocence is still there are Casey and Mac race against time and hunters to rescue him. It helped to bring a more humanitarian element to the storyline and detract a little from the intense passion, which kind of felt needed at this point of the collection.

 <- John Doe ReviewHow to Date a Superhero Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

The Face of the Killer by Violet Addison and David N. Smith

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for the mammoth book of jack the ripper stories book cover

Title: The Face of the Killer
Author: Violet Addison & David N. Smith
In: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories (Maxim Jakubowski)
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Historical fiction, Race
Dates read: 25th August 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: On its back was a single wooden coffin, its sides stained with blood.

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Synopsis

He thinks he’s seen the face of the killer, and he’s determined to help find him. But could he have been mistaken? Did he really see the face of the killer?

Thoughts

This is the first story in the The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper Stories collection which deals with racism as an aspect of finding the killer. Although there was an obvious aggression towards Jews at the time, none of the tales in this collection have specifically addressed this topic. Which made this kind of amazing. After all, a tale of perceptions, understandings and inherent racism is always going to be a good kind of read.

This was a story that seemed to be about the “true” identity of the killer. About what he actually looked like, not about how easily misconceptions can occur. But I liked this angle much better. After all, we’ll never truly know who the Ripper was, and all we have to go on are reports based on others’ thoughts and perceptions.

My favourite part of this short story was the ending. The feeling of shame and guilt that the narrator felt when he realised that he let his prejudice destroy a good man’s life. And the moment when he realises that his actions had consequences, although he is not necessarily held responsible for them.

 <- His Last Victim ReviewA Head for Murder Review ->
Image source: Amazon

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for american gods book cover

Title: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Adventure, Mythology, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 7th – 12th August 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Headline
Year: 2001
5th sentence, 74th page: The men said, ‘We are far, far from our homes and our hearths, far from the seas we know and the lands we love.

Synopsis

IS NOTHING SACRED?

Days before his release from prison, Shadow’s wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plant, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You’ll be surprised by what – and who – it finds there…

Thoughts

I knew that reading a Neil Gaiman story would be an adventure. This is the third novel that I’ve read by him, and every single time they’re intense, fun and completely off-kilter. The fact that this is my first really adult book by him just made it all the more exciting. And that much easier to just completely devour it. Especially at a time when I was getting a little overwhelmed and upset by everything else going on around me. It was kind of a perfect, twisted, world to float away in.

This is one of those novels that you will pick up nuances again and again as you read it. I spent a lot of the time on this, my first read through, trying to figure out which pantheon many of the old gods were from. Trying to figure out just who Mr. Wednesday was and what his motivations for hiring Shadow were. I didn’t spend as much time intrigued by the new age gods… which I think I will notice more next time.

I had kind of expected a bit of a romantic spin to this story when Shadow focuses on his wife so much at the beginning. It really isn’t even remotely romantic, and the relationship between Shadow and his wife turns a bit… well, weird. And, well, deeply disturbing in parts. Which is of course what I loved about this story – it made me kind of uncomfortable for the majority, and deeply disturbed at other moments. Not just in the storyline – but also with the message and themes that Gaiman is imparting throughout the story. It’s not supposed to be a happily ever after, comfortable story – it’s one that should really make you sit back and think about the choices you make in life, and just what it is that you worship.

American Gods is one of those stories that will stand the test of time. It discusses the battle that everyone must face at some point in their lives – old versus new. Which is better? Which should we worship? Are either of them actually any better than the other? As someone who is fascinated by ancient mythologies, but tends to live solidly in the real world, this is the perfect theme to follow – after all, it’s an internal discussion I often have too.

 <- Adventures in the Dream TradeAnansi Boys ->

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