Tag Archives: Easy Reading

Tortured by Caragh M. O’Brien

Book Review, , ,

Overview

TorturedTitle: Tortured
Author: Caragh M. O’Brien
Series: Birthmarked #1.5
In: Kisses & Curses (Lauren Burniac)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Dystopia, Easy reading
Format: Short story
Publisher: Square Fish
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: “They’ve tracked down her old neighbors and her friends but she isn’t with any of them.”

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Synopsis

“But what about Leon?” Now, in this new story that bridges the gap between Birthmarked and Prized, Caragh M. O’Brien answers her readers’ most common question with a tale of suffering and determination from Leon’s perspective. Be warned. The story is a spoiler for the first book in the award-winning trilogy. This promotional e-book includes this exclusive bridge story, as well as a teaser chapter for Prized, book two in the Birthmarked trilogy, available wherever e-books are sold November 2011.

Thoughts

This was kind of hard to read. But not because it was a bad story, rather, it made me cringe. The title, Tortured kind of tells you exactly why. The setting is a gorgeously apocalyptic world and hints towards a greater them about castes and social status. Also the superficialness of many societies. All things which I absolutely love to read about. And make me want to delve into the wider world of Birthmarked.

Tortured contains some spoilers for what happens in Birthmarked. And it was almost disappointing – just because now I have a rough idea of how the first novel may end. Having said that, by the time I actually get my hands on a copy of Birthmarked, I’ll probably have forgotten some of the aspects of this story. And then the first tale will be just as exciting as it was originally intended to be.

 <- Deleted Scenes Review Blue Moon Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Blue Moon by Nikki Kelly

Book Review, , , , ,

Overview

Kisses and CursesTitle: Blue Moon
Author: Nikki Kelly
Series: The Styclar Saga #0.5
In: Kisses & Curses (Lauren Burniac)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Easy reading, Vampires
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Square Fish
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: As I rounded the corner, I stopped briefly to rub away the chill that nipped at my ears.

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Synopsis

A young bartender with a hidden past wants out, but is the young, posh man potentially her way out?

Thoughts

This short story had one of my favourite settings in the entire Kisses and Curses collection. It’s a small pub in Wales, with a couple that are kind of the worst owners / bosses. Although completely expected for this setting.

The dark history of the main character, and the somewhat pensive scene helped to create an amazing mood. One that I hope is going to be even more captivating in Lailah.

The final moments of the full moon as the future was contemplated were really potent and, as someone who loves a darkness in stories, it’s a great way to end a short tale and begin a new series.

 <- Tortured Review The Cypress Project Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend Deleted Scenes by Katie Finn

Book Review, , ,

Overview

Kisses and CursesTitle: Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend Deleted Scenes
Author: Katie Finn
Series: Broken Hearts & Revenge #1.1
In: Kisses & Curses (Lauren Burniac)
Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Square Fish
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: He looked even more tan and golden than he had when I’d last video chatted with him.

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Synopsis

Three of the scenes that didn’t quite make it into Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend have found their way into this short collection. It’s a great insight into some of the thought processes that went into creating the novel.

Thoughts

I haven’t read this series yet, or the book from which these deleted scenes come from. There are three excerpts that didn’t quite make it into the book, but they give you an idea about what kind of story you are going to get when reading Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend.

I like that although this kind of gives away what is going to happen in the first book of this trilogy. It is a fun little glimpse into a whole new world that I look forward to reading. The fact that each piece has a introduction to explain why it was removed just makes it all the more entertaining.

I always enjoy reading deleted scenes and it’s kind of fun to not only see what didn’t go into the book. But it’s also a great way to see the writing process and thought process of some people who really inspire me.

 <- Krisis Review Tortured Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Series: Sherlock Holmes #3, Word Cloud Classics
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Classics, Crime, Easy reading
Pace: Medium
Format: Collection
Publisher: Word Cloud Classics
Year: 1892
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘Does it not strike you as a little singular that this McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of marrying his son to Turner’s daughter, who is, presumably, heiress to the estate, and that in such a cocksure manner, as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would follow?

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Synopsis

Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing… It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different.

Thoughts

I’ve been wanting to read Sherlock Holmes for ages. After all, there are a lot of TV shows and genres that I absolutely adore. And, I really wasn’t in the slightest bit disappointed. Actually, I found a more comprehensive collection of Sherlock Holmes tales which I bought after reading the first few pages of this book. There is a great lyrical flow of words, a great journey upon which to be bought and I just love how at the end of each tale, there is a grand reveal.

Each of the twelve cases in this collection have their completely unique spin and take on modern-day life in Victorian England. What I like about this is that it is far more accessible than many of the other stories that I have read of this time. The language is a lot simpler, and it deals with the courses of daily lives. The lyricism makes it incredibly difficult to put this book down and it makes me want to know what has happened to the vast array of clients which march through the pages.

I know that this is one of those stories that I will find more details as I reread it. The culprit and the villain (if there is one) is woven through each story. Yet, it isn’t until the very end that it becomes so blatantly obvious what happened – and only through Holmes’ amazingly concise reiterations of the storyline. I like that although everything isn’t necessarily tied up in a neat bundle, it is all explained completely.

<- Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassThe Count of Monte Cristo ->

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The Too-Clever Fox by Leigh Bardugo

Book Review, , ,
Overview
The Too-Clever Fox

Title: The Too-Clever Fox
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: Grishaverse Companion
In: The Language of Thorns (Leigh Bardugo) & Kisses & Curses (Lauren Burniac)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Square Fish
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: What would he want with me?

Synopsis

In Ravka, just because you avoid one trap, it doesn’t mean you’ll escape the next. This story is a companion folk tale to Leigh Bardugo’s novel, Siege and Storm, the second book in the Grisha Trilogy.

Thoughts

This short story had such a great, traditional fairy tale feel to it. I’ve been reading a bit of Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen lately, and it would sit right in amongst all of their tales. The twisting, convoluted tale. And the ways in which this teaches a lesson, of some kind at the very end. The final twist is also exactly what I would expect from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.

I like that the too-clever fox runs about outsmarting everyone. Until he meets his nemesis. Which isn’t quite what you expect, and shows you not to just trust the look of things. I love the twist, and if this is what a short story in this series is like, I can’t wait to find out what the greater novels within the series will be like…

<- Ayama and the Thorn WoodThe Witch of Duva ->

Image source: Goodreads

The Cypress Project by Gennifer Albin

Book Review, , , , ,

Overview

The Cypress ProjectTitle: The Cypress Project
Author: Gennifer Albin
Series: Crewel World #0.1
In: Kisses and Curses (Lauren Burniac)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Dystopia, Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Square Fish
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: It would stretch on until there was no one left, until it wiped out the entire world.

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Synopsis

Lucy Price spends her day much like other 16 year-old girls in wartime America: praying that her brother comes back from the front and hoping the war ends quickly. But as violence ravages the world, the end never seems in sight. All Lucy can do is wait and tend to her victory garden while her mother does her part at the ammunition factory in town. That is until the Department of Defense appears on her doorstep telling her she could end the fighting if she’ll join The Cypress Project.

When Joshua O’Donnell’s father packs him off to Yale, forbidding him to enlist, he hopes his son’s brains will keep him off the battlefield. But Joshua’s knack for quantum mechanics draws attentions from his professor, a genius in the field of experimental science, who is working on technology that could end World War Two. Promised a nonviolent end to the war effort, Joshua can hardly say no to helping The Cypress Project.

The war has made Howard Patton an even richer man. Son of railroad tycoon Randolph Patton, Howard was a millionaire before he was born, but with a war on, trains are more important than ever. It’s good business and Howard isn’t eager to see it end until the government approaches him with a proposal: fund the technology that could end the war and receive power beyond his imagination. But when Howard discovers the true nature of The Cypress Project, he realizes his real remuneration is the one thing that his money can’t buy.

Completing The Cypress Project will force them all to make choices between love, destiny and freedom, but as the secrets of the experiment are revealed, each must decide between the bloody war being waged on the world’s soil and a deception that could change the course of humanity.

Thoughts

I’m fascinated by alternate histories. And although this is a fantasy spin on an alternate history, it’s still a really fun read. And fits that little niche that fascinates me nicely. This is based in World War II and provides a point at which the Crewel World splits off from our reality. As someone who hasn’t read Crewel yet, I don’t quite understand how yet. But the introduction to this divergence was brilliant.

I liked the innocence of Lucy and her desire to just do something to help the boys fighting in the war. Her unwillingness to care about men, until she finds one that is worth her time, is kind of cute. And I’m wondering if she shows up again in the greater series. Because the ending to that aspect of the story felt very open and incomplete.

 <- Blue Moon Review The Too-Clever Fox Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Shutter by Courtney Alameda

Book Review, , , ,

Overview

ShutterTitle: Shutter
Author: Courtney Alameda
Series: Shutter #1
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Easy reading, Paranormal fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Square Fish
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: I eyed my bedroom door hinges.

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Synopsis

LOCK, STOCK, AND LENS, SHE’S IN FOR ONE HELL OF A WEEK.

As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, Micheline Helsing has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual. The corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She’s aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz who developed the camera’s technology; Jude, who sees death before it occurs; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever. When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly sickness spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn’t exorcise their entities in seven days, she and her friends are dead. Can she track down and destory a nightmare more powerful than anything she’s ever faced before the week is up?

Thoughts

I really liked this story. I loved the incorporation of Van Helsing and Bram Stoker into a modern day horror tale. The fast pace and Micheline’s terrifying past all help to create a slightly terrifying world and a hunt where the stakes are as high as they can possibly be. Actually, this really inspired me to buy and read Dracula, since it features so heavily within the storyline and construction of Micheline’s world.

Although this story is heavily based on the premise of Dracula, I loved the originality and uniqueness of the tale. I’ve read a lot of paranormal and vampire stories, but the creatures in this are far more terrifying. Actually I had to stop myself from reading this before I went to bed… mostly because it gave me some amazingly vivid (and weird) dreams. I love when the descriptions and writing are so realistic that it seeps into my psyche. And, luckily this one did so.

There is always a bit of romantic entanglement in a good story. It helps to heighten the risks and stakes of the battle. Sometimes it’s a little too predictable and boring. Which, honestly, I was half expecting this story to have that kind of love story. It is about two teenagers, one who is effectively royalty, after all. But that certainly wasn’t the case. Although it might come as no surprise to see who ends up with who, but the angst and the journey is far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. And it’s a big part of what has made me hope that there might be another journey on the horizon for these four amazing characters.

 <- Fixer Review Trigger Review ->
Image source: Goodreads

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Wild

Title: Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Biographies, Easy reading, Memoirs, Strong women
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Atlantic Books London
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: He unscrewed the cap and handed it to me.

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Synopsis

At twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed thorught she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s rapid death from cancer, her family grew apart and her marriage soon crumbled. With seemingly nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk eleven hundred miles of the west coast of America and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise, a promise of piecing together a life that lay shattered at her feet…

Thoughts

This book was a really good journey. I had no idea what to expect from it, since I haven’t seen the movie. But it was a great tale, and I can see why it was made into a movie in the first place. It kind of had everything. Including a happy, hope for the future ending.

Cheryl’s journey to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) was just as much of the tale as her actual journey along it. Instead of breaking the two important aspects of her life apart, Strayed’s tale is filled with flashbacks along the way. Each chapter almost tells two stories – what is happening to her along the trail, and the journey that made her start such an epic (and admittedly insane) journey in the first place. Although there are many moments when I cringe at the choices that made her feel so lost, it’s such a great look into someone who really hit rock bottom. And the ways in which the self-reflection and independence provided by the trail helped her to “find” herself again.

I found Wild a little slow to start with. And as aforementioned, a little bit cringe worthy. But about halfway through, I fell deeply into the tale. There was something about Cheryl’s gumption and strength that made me unable to put her words down. And the epilogue at the end highlighted how far she had come and that even when we hit rock bottom, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Something to look forward to and hope for, even when we feel like we can’t fall down any further.

 <- Hidden FiguresThe Southern Education of a Jersey Girl ->
Image source: College Fashion

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Stardust

Title: Stardust
Author: Neil Gaiman
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fae, Fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Headline
Year: 1999
5th sentence, 74th page: Such a nice name.

Synopsis

THE SLEEPY ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE…

At the dawn of the Victorian era, life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall. Young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the beautiful Victoria Forester, but Victoria is as cold and distant as the star she and Tristran see fall from the sky one evening. For the prize of Victoria’s hand, Tristran vows to retrieve the star for his beloved. It is an oath that sends the lovelorn swain over the town’s ancient wall and into a world that is dangerous and strange beyond imagining…

Thoughts

I had to buy this because I have loved the movie Stardust since I was a kid. Actually, I didn’t even realise that this was a book until it showed up in my suggested buys list. And, honestly, I was not disappointed for one single moment. This story was phenomenal, and fun, and took me on a wild adventure that I really couldn’t put down. Which was a problem, because I am an adult with other responsibilities…

Having watched the movie before reading the book, I knew roughly what was going to happen. And the main storyline really didn’t differ much between the two. Normally this annoys me in a movie adaptation, but it worked so brilliantly well. Gaiman’s lyrical writing and vivid descriptions sweep you away all on their own. The beauty of his words and the joy of the storyline just take you away as your toes curl up with the joy (and slight absurdity) of the story.

One of the things that I like about this story is that it leaves the world so open. Gaiman is a master of showing without telling, and there is so much that is left open to the readers’ imagination without getting bogged down in all of the details. I loved that even after I closed the final page of this book, I still continued to visit Faerie in my mind’s eye, imagining the many places that Tristan Thorn was able to visit throughout his life.

 <- Snow, Glass, ApplesStories: All New Tales ->

Image source: Amazon

Kisses and Curses edited by Lauren Burniac

Book Review, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Overview

Kisses and CursesTitle: Kisses and Curses
Author: Lauren Burniac, Marissa Meyer, Marie Rutkoski, Jennifer Mathieu, Anna Banks, Emmy Laybourne, Courtney Alameda, Jessica Brody, Ann Aguirre, Lish McBride, Lindsay Smith, Katie Finn, Caragh M. O’Brien, Nikki Kelly, Gennifer Albin & Leigh Bardugo
In: Kisses and Curses (Lauren Burniac)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fantasy, Short story collections
Pace: Fast
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Square Fish
Year: 2015
5th sentence, 74th page: “And I don’t know any other girls who skate, but it could still be kind of cool.”

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Synopsis

EVERY PAGE MORE FIERCE THAN THE LAST.

Enjoy a good monster love story? Or a dark, Russian-style folktale? How about a flashback to the secrets of a cyborg’s past, a post-apocalyptic romance, or a conversation between a boy and Death’s dead assistant, while both sit in a diner and eat waffles?

Whether you’re already a Fierce Reads fan or you’re a fan-to-be, this short story collection will satisfy your every bookish craving! Featuring multi-genre tales from some of the hottest YA authors around, including Ann Aguirre, Courtney Alameda, Gennifer Albin, Anna Banks, Leigh Bardugo, Jessica Brody, Katie Finn, Nikki Kelly, Emmy Laybourne, Jennifer Mathieu, Lish McBride, Marissa Meyer, Caragh M. O’Brien, Marie Rutkoski, and Lindsay Smith.

By turns uplifting and sad, light-hearted and powerful, startling and laugh-out-loud, these bite-sized gems have one thing in common: You won’t be able to put them down!

Thoughts

I loved, loved, loved, loved, loved this collection. It is everything that a short story collection should be – a common thread throughout the tales, but such a diverse array of tales that constantly draw you in. I had no idea about any of the authors in this collection, except for Marissa Meyer, and now I have a new set of 12 authors to dive into.

The fact that each of these tales is part of a greater series worked beautifully. Although, there were a few spoilers throughout. Which was a little disappointing. And makes me not only want to read all of these series, but also gives a hint as to what is going to happen in each of them. The wide array of styles and tales throughout made me thoroughly entrapped.

If you like fantasy tales, this is definitely a collection worth reading. It is also a great way to find new authors if you need to add to your library… maybe make sure you have a little bit of surplus cash before you crack the spine of this though.

 <- The Too-Clever Fox Review Glitches Review ->
Image source: Goodreads