All Is Fair - Book Review

All Is Fair
by Emma Newman


WARNING – while there are no spoilers for this book, there are some spoilers for previous books in the series. I’d advise reading books and 1 and 2 before looking at this review.

William Iris struggles to keep the throne of Londinium whilst hated by his own court and beset by outsiders, while Cathy discovers the legacy of her former governess. But those who dare to speak out about Society are always silenced. Sometimes for good.

While trying to avoid further torments from the mercurial fae, Sam finds himself getting tangled in the affairs of the Elemental Court. But an unexpected offer from the powerful and enigmatic Lord Iron turns out to be far more than Sam bargained for.

Max and the gargoyle are getting closer to uncovering who is behind the murder of the Bath Chapter and the corruption in London and Max finds the gargoyle’s controversial ideas harder to ignore. Can he stay true to his sworn duty without being destroyed by his own master, whose insanity threatens to unravel them all? (Synopsis from Goodreads)

---

I love this series! This is the third installment in the novels about the Split Worlds and its characters, and I enjoyed it just as much as the previous two.

As usual there’s plenty of intrigue as Max and the gargoyle continue their investigation, and Sam is pulled deeper into the mystery surrounding his wife and Lord Iron. We get to spend more time with Max and the gargoyle, which I loved, and there are some truly moving moments between them as they seem to grow closer together. It felt a little as if the soul was beginning to rub off on Max, and I thought he came across as more human in this book. There’s also a scene at the end that brought a lump to my throat.

I loved the way Sam’s storyline evolved in this book – I really wasn’t expecting this, and I’m curious to see how it will affect the power dynamics in the Split Worlds. Cathy is pushing ahead with her plans to help the women of the Nether, and this soon extends to anyone oppressed by the conventions and rules of her society. When she finds out the manipulative and disturbing actions of the Agency, she is determined to stop it. She’s taking on some powerful enemies now, and it’s fun and satisfying to see Cathy steadily gaining confidence and respect, and stepping up as a leader. I was a little disappointed with the way she treated her sister at one point, but it did make sense, and I think the problems from their past is something that will take a while to resolve.

And Will... when did I decide to forgive Will? It's been coming on so gradually, I hardly know. But I believe I must date it from his buying Cathy a library full of every science fiction book ever written. *nods*

Oh Will, just as he takes two steps forward, he takes one back again. I think Will’s journey has been a very believable one. He’s been hurt by the patriarchy of his society too, but has never dared to question it before. He cares a lot about what others think about him, and about his perceived responsibilities. But he also cares about people, and about Cathy, and the difference between him and his brutish brother, for example, is huge. He’s not as brave as Cathy, but in this book we can see him beginning to really admire her. When these two start working together properly, they’re going to be a formidable team!

This is a fun book, adding more characters and different perspectives on the Nether and the Split Worlds, plenty of humour and excitement, and a few revelations. It answers a lot of questions and wraps up all the main storylines nicely, leaving the book without a cliffhanger but with plenty of hints of things to come.This felt a little like the end of a season in a TV series, which has been wrapped up so that it could be the end if it needed to be. I'm not sure if this is the case here, but I do hope that the series continues. I want to know more about the world Emma Newman has created, and I'm not ready to say goodbye to these characters yet!


Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Supernatural Fog - Cover Reveal!

Not long ago I reviewed a fun book called Supernatural Freak, by Louisa Klein. I hoped there would be a sequel, and there is! It's coming out later this year, and today I'm part of the cover reveal:

Supernatural Fog, book 2 of the Supernatural Freak series, is another humorous, action-packed urban fantasy, this time with more romance and a little bit of horror...

Supernatural Fog, by Louisa Klein

1) Learn how to use your new powers;
2) Find the other spirits;
3) Keep up with the training;
4) Defeat the Dark Cloud;
5) Don’t you ever, EVER fall in love with your best friend.

Yeah, easier said than done. Supernatural Freak Robyn Wise is, well, freaking out.

She’s trying to adjust to her new life as the Spirit of the Cat’s incarnation. But with little success. She cannot find the other animal spirits who are supposed to help her, nor can she master the tricky art of telekinesis.

And then there’s James, her wizard best friend. They kissed in a moment of passion, right after she had slayed a powerful infernal monster.

After that, being around James awakens a range of emotions she’s really not eager to analyse. She just wants to be back to normal, to be friends again. Trouble is, it’s not that easy.

Especially when a mysterious Fog attacks London and the city’s survival depends on her teaming up with James. But it’s not a big deal, right? They can totally keep things friendly and professional, right? RIGHT?

www.lostinfiction.co.uk

Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane - Book Review

Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane
edited by Jonathan Oliver

Amazon (UK) (USA)

They gather in darkness, sharing ancient and arcane knowledge as they manipulate the very matter of reality itself. Spells and conjuration; legerdemain and prestidigitation – these are the mistresses and masters of the esoteric arts. Magic comes alive in their hands. British Fantasy Award nominee, Jonathan Oliver, gathers together sixteen stories of magic, featuring some of today’s finest practitioners, including Audrey Niffenegger, Christopher Fowler, Gemma Files, Thana Niveau, Robert Shearman, Will Hill, Sarah Lotz, Storm Constantine, Dan Abnett, Sophia McDougall, Alison Littlewood, Lou Morgan, Gail Z. Martin and others. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

---

Magic is my absolute favourite subject matter in fiction, and so a whole anthology of stories based on this theme definitely grabbed my attention. Most of the stories in the collection lean towards the darker side of the subject, exploring more sinister uses and sources of magic. There are stories about demons, magic used to kill and hurt others, dark energy, obsession, curses and more. The cover really does a great job of capturing the mood of the collection; it’s definitely dark fantasy, and many of the images and atmosphere of the stories will linger with you.

As with all short story collections, there are going to be some stories that are a hit and some that are a miss, and this is likely to be very subjective. Personally, I found this quite a strong anthology, with plenty of stories that kept me interested, and I think there will certainly be something here for everyone. The majority of stories were enjoyable, many very gripping or moving, a few forgettable ones (and one I would really like to forget), and some that I would happily read if they were to be turned into longer novels or series. In general the stories are quite short and well paced. I found myself reading through the whole collection very quickly.

Although I really enjoyed the collection, I did feel like it might have been nicer to have a bit more variety in the settings and type of magic used. The majority were set in modern day or more recent past, and the magic tied to the supernatural, giving the collection an urban fantasy feel. I would have liked to see a little more mysterious, unfamiliar, traditional fantasy, and fairytale magic explored as well, and it would have been interesting to see how the authors might have given that a dark twist and their own original spin.

My favourites in the collection were The Wrong Fairy, by Audrey Niffenegger, a wonderfully atmospheric story involving fairies, addiction and madness; Do As Thou Wilt, by Storm Constantine, a unique and clever look at modern witches and the power people have, with some very subtle magic; MailerDaemon, by Sophia McDougall, a very creepy, and at the same time surprisingly beautiful story; Buttons, by Gail Z. Martin, a great little urban fantasy; The Art of Escapology, by Alison Littlewood, another creepy story in a very different way, well told; and Shuffle, by Will Hill, which managed to tell a lot of story with so little revealed, as if the story itself is a magic trick.

I enjoyed this collection, and I think those who like stories about magic, urban fantasy, or dark fantasy involving the supernatural, will easily find something to like here.

Supernatural Freak - Book Review

Supernatural Freak

by Louisa Klein

When paranormal expert Robyn Wise is offered an outrageous sum of money to cure a boy who is turning into a dead tree, she's very sceptical. A politician ready to pay that much to make his son stop growing branches instead of hair? Come on! She's more likely to be abducted by aliens. This is a trap. Or much worse. And, of course, it's much worse.

The child is turning into a dark portal, created by a powerful entity determined to absorb Fairyland's power. This means that not only queen Titania and her court are in danger, but the very balance of the magic fluxes.

Robyn'd rather stick a pencil in her own eye but, to learn how to destroy the portal, she has to sneak into the Wizardry Council, a place full of wizards who are hiding something—though it’s certainly not their dislike of her. There, she discovers a terrible secret that could help to overthrow Fairyland's enemies for good, but puts her in the midst of an ancient and deadly war, and not as a bystander, but as the main target. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 ---

I’m not quite sure where to begin with this review; I had such mixed reactions to the book. So, I’m going to begin by saying that, despite the issues I had with it, I really enjoyed reading it and laughed out loud at several points. The story was packed full of supernatural stuff, a little crazy, and a lot of fun.

The book is written in the voice of the main character, Robyn, who has a sarcastic and wry sense of humour, and who never seems to view the world or the dangerous situations she is in entirely seriously. This gives the book a lovely light-hearted feel, perhaps something akin to Buffy or Charmed, and there always seems to be a faintly teasing undertone, as if the author knows the story (and the whole genre) is a bit silly, and is going with it enthusiastically. There were points where the humour even seemed to take on a slightly camp or bizarre quality, and sections where I wasn’t entirely sure if I was supposed to be taking the characters/situation seriously or not. For instance, there is a wizard named Gock Wang. At first I thought this was Robyn’s nickname for him, but no, it does actually seem to be his real name. Strange... but kinda works. It’s that sort of book.

The characters themselves are mainly well written and interesting. I have a soft spot for supernatural fiction in which the heroine has a gang of helpers (again, that Buffy/Charmed feeling). I loved the idea of the stuffy but sweet ghost in Robyn’s attic, the geeks, the fun-loving uncle, and the magical friends. I also liked the brief glimpse of Robyn’s parents. One character, who looks set to become a love interest, was a little more irritating at points, and I found that some of Robyn’s uncle’s jokes fell very flat (but maybe they were supposed to!). Robyn herself is an oddball. She’s so flippant about the supernatural aspects of her life, but didn’t seem too impressed with the idea of saving the world. She seems a little wrapped up in her own world, and her little quirks (her collection of action figures based on a beloved cartoon, for instance) were wonderful. She does seem to stereotype people very easily, however, which became annoying. Overall, I thought all the different personality types of Robyn and her friends made a nice, fun mix.

Unfortunately, the characters’ speech was often jarring. Many of them sounded exactly like each other, or used colloquialisms that seemed out of place. Everyone called each other ‘mate’, from the modern characters to the wizards who have been alive for centuries, and even a faerie! At other points, slightly weird words and phrases called attention to themselves. ‘Cut a caper’ and ‘British aplomb’ are two that popped up a lot, and were very noticeable every time they did. I liked that the main character had such a mixed European background, and that she could speak several languages, but her obsession with ‘typical’ traits of each was a little weird. This was especially the case with British people, and so we are reminded constantly that the British should be unflappable and in control at all times.

The story itself was fun and incredibly fast-paced, which meant that the book was a very quick read. At points it did become almost a little jumbled, with perhaps just a bit too much going on. Having said that, the author does handle it well, and though it’s a bit of a whirlwind, she never lets it get out of control. Some bits felt a little unresolved – the abomination and the exact fate of the dark elf, for one – and everything was rounded off very suddenly at the end. However, this could have been to leave things open for a sequel, which I very much hope there will be! I would like to read more about these characters and their adventures.

The book has some issues, mainly with some out-of-place words and phrases and slightly awkward dialogue. There were also some bits that bemused me a little. But the story and characters are so much fun, and the quirky, wry, and sometimes bizarre humour really lifts the book. I enjoyed reading it. I think this has promise, and could become a great series. I’m definitely intrigued to read more!


Thank you to the author for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Any Other Name - Book Review

Any Other Name
by Emma Newman

Cathy has been forced into an arranged marriage with William - a situation that comes with far more strings than even she could have anticipated, especially when she learns of his family's intentions for them both.

Meanwhile, Max and the gargoyle investigate The Agency - a mysterious organisation that appears to play by its own rules - and none of them favourable to Society.

Over in Mundanus, Sam has discovered something very peculiar about his wife's employer - something that could herald a change for everyone in both sides of the Split Worlds. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

---

Warning: slight spoilers if you haven't read the first book. 

I was really excited about this book as I loved the first one and was anxious to see what would happen next. It didn’t disappoint at all! The characters continue to be interesting, the stakes are even higher, and there is plenty of intrigue all round.

Cathy is now being forced into a marriage she does not want, and the author does a good job of making us feel the tension and desperation that Cathy is going through. This is really her worst nightmare coming true, and it soon gets even worse. It seems that Lord Poppy, insane and temperamental as he is, is nothing compared to Lord Iris, the Fae lord in charge of William’s (and now Cathy’s) family. Escape becomes even more unlikely, and Cathy’s situation even more dangerous.

Cathy now has to deal with the expectations of two powerful and manipulative Fae lords, as Lord Poppy has certainly not forgotten the painting and the Iris secret he’s demanded from her, and now Lord Iris has his own expectations too. I found the sinister interactions with the Fae even better than in the first book (have I mentioned how much I love evil Fae?), and, perhaps a bit worryingly, or perhaps in contrast to Lord Iris, I’m becoming really fond of Lord Poppy! He’s such a wonderful character, and has some fantastic lines.

In the first book I liked that Cathy didn’t give in on what she wanted. She argued, she fought, and she plotted, and she continues to do so in this book. Again, she doesn’t give Will an easy pass; he might be trying, but he’s really doing so for the wrong reasons. Cathy also faces up to her father a little more, and the two actually come slightly closer to understanding each other. It’s tragic that her father seems so intent on maintaining the status quo of their society, given his own history. The characters and their reactions all felt very believable to me, and the book doesn’t really pull punches or offer easy solutions. The patriarchy of the Nether society hurts everyone caught up in it, including Will, and yet so many seem determined to simply accept it.

However, there are also plenty who are unhappy, and who would perhaps fight for change if they felt they had allies. One of the best moments in the book is a scene in which Lucy makes Cathy realise that she is not as alone as she thinks. She is not the special, different girl who wants more independence; she is only one of many. This is where Cathy finally manages to stop looking down on the other women of Nether society, and begins to think about how she can try to change things. I liked how Cathy was able to see and admit her mistake in this, and that she immediately began to think about helping others.

Will, on the other hand, gave me some trouble in this book. I really want to like Will, but he seems far too eager to see himself as the victim simply because Cathy is ‘being awkward’. I think he’s learning, painfully slowly, but then... well, I don’t want to give away any spoilers but, let’s just say he really pushes into sinister territory here. And then it becomes clear that Will actually is a victim too, in a similar way, and despite the slightly disturbing poetic justice of this, I do feel sorry for him. And now he’s dealing with some heavy duty Nether society politics, and he really is a little too naive for all this. There are plots weaving around him, and he’s just as much the pawn of the Fae as Cathy. I’m definitely curious to see where the third book will take him after the dramatic events at the end of this book.

The storyline with the arbiter and the gargoyle, the wizards, and the mystery surrounding the destruction of the chapter continues in this book, though it is really Cathy and Will who are centre stage. This was a bit of a shame, as I really love the arbiter and the gargoyle, and am dying to know what’s going on behind the scenes here and how it all connects to the Fae and the Rosas. I love Sam and enjoyed seeing him become a bigger character, and am really intrigued by the introduction of Lord Iron. Just as with Cathy and Will, things are becoming more sinister on this front too; in fact, the second book is darker all round. The ending wraps up some things but leaves some pretty big cliffhangers, and I can’t wait for the next book!

Any Other Name is as exciting and entertaining as the first book, exploring the characters more deeply and plunging them into even more danger and scheming. I love this world and these characters, and can’t wait to return to it to find out what happens next!


Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Eternity Cure - Book Review

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.

Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

---

(Note - this review contains slight spoilers for things that are revealed in the first chapters of the book. As such, they are not really spoilery spoilers, but if you don't want any information about the plot before reading this, then perhaps stay away. I will sum up for you instead - this is a fantastic book and certainly a must-read if you enjoyed the first!)

I was a little worried about this book, though I’m not entirely sure why. I loved The Immortal Rules, but I suppose I thought this one would surely have trouble living up to it, or that it might start moving into predictable patterns. I really shouldn’t have worried, because Julie Kagawa knows exactly what she’s doing. This is a fantastic, well-paced and exciting story, with wonderful characters and just the right amounts of romance, horror, action, and slightly black humour. It’s even better than The Immortal Rules, and I couldn’t put it down!

The book begins with Allie trying to track down Kanin, and spends quite a lot of time recapping events from the first book. I actually find this kind of recapping a bit frustrating when it’s mixed in with new events, as it means that you can’t skip it if you still remember the first book clearly. Still, I know a lot of people prefer to have this, and it doesn’t take long to push through. Then we are straight in on the action, as Allie creeps into Washington DC and breaks into a vampire base in the Capitol building (I think... if I have my DC layout right in my head!). Then it’s to the subway tunnels which are seething with rabids, and I am absolutely convinced that Julie Kagawa is a Fallout 3 fan. After this, we go back to New Covington, for more sewer-crawling and a new kind of zombie menace.

Julie Kagawa is very good at writing action, and she doesn’t hold back on the scares and gore as far as vampires and zombies and zombie-vampires (and vampire-zombies?) are concerned. The first book had quite a unique genre-mixing feel to it, and this one continues that while adding even more to the mix. The story is fast-paced, only pausing now and again for a quick breath before diving into more chases and fights. It’s an intense book, the stakes (no pun intended) are ramped up from the first book, and I was really caught up in everything that was happening. This is definite edge-of-your-seat stuff.

The book has a fun story and great action, but it’s really the characters that make it so fantastic. Allie is as awesome as ever (though it’s a shame she appears to be in ‘lone girl position’ this book), Zeke continues to surprise me, Kanin was actually better than I remembered him, and the addition of Jackal back into the mix is unexpectedly perfect. Jackal adds a lovely note of black humour into the story, and it’s almost enough to make me forget that he killed some people Allie cared about in the first book. Almost. The dynamic between Jackal, Allie and Zeke is great, and I really liked how the various relationships between them developed. I’m curious to see what will happen with Jackal in the next book, as the ties between them all have become very complicated now. Sarren is also a wonderful villain; a little cheesy and larger than life, perhaps, but ideal for this kind of story. Plus, another video game reference? Or do I just see these everywhere now?

One thing that continued to delight me about the book was the way in which the author didn’t stick to clichéd or expected patterns in the romance. For instance, there is a moment where I was convinced that Allie was going to tell Zeke she doesn’t love him, in order to protect him. That’s something I find particularly annoying in stories, as it feels like a cheap and unrealistic way to create drama, another example being ‘inexplicable secret-keeping’. Refreshingly, this book never does either of those things, and the romance is both believable and touching. Characters always act honestly, and their relationships with each other, romantic and otherwise, feel completely real. The romance itself also doesn’t dominate the story but progresses naturally within it, which works very well.

The Eternity Cure is an exciting story with fantastic characters, elements of horror, fantasy and black humour, and a touching romance. It also has a particularly good end and one heck of a cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the third book!


Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


 

Location, Location, Location - A Guest Post from Emma Newman

For the past week I've been doing some posts about things I love, and now it's the turn of one of my new favourite authors (read my review of the first Split Worlds novel here). Emma Newman is here to do a guest post about the setting for her Split Worlds fantasy series. So Emma, why Bath? :-)

---

  

Bath (picture: Michael Maggs)

The first novel of the Split Worlds series Between Two Thorns is set in modern-day Bath and its secret magical reflection Aquae Sulis. The reflected city is in the 'Nether' – a place between the mundane world (like ours) and Exilium, where the Fae are imprisoned.


Why Bath?

I've always been fascinated by the city's history. I've been there more times than I remember; my family have lived nearby for many years and for the last five I've been close enough for day trips. The city is dominated architecturally by the Georgian era and as a result, I couldn't help but wonder what it was like in the eighteenth century at the peak of its popularity.

The more I learned about the city, the harder I found it to walk around without imagining the people who used to live there. I'd look at the terraced Georgian houses and imagine them lit with candlelight and full of beautifully dressed men and women in the social crush of the season. Instead of cars queuing to get into a car park, I'd imagine carriages with horses snorting and puffing plumes of steam into the air as they waited. I walked into lampposts a lot.

I visited the beautifully restored Assembly Rooms and walked around in a daze. I was caught between a longing for a time of such splendour and gratitude that I'm living in the 21st century and have freedom and rights denied the women of that time. Now I think about it, I think a lot of Cathy's struggle emerged from this.

I learned about 'Beau' Nash, who became the city's Master of Ceremonies in 1706 and was fascinated by how he transformed the social fabric of the city in only a decade. He laid down a famous 'code of behaviour' which encouraged socialising between the gentry and the aristocratic elite – something that had never been seen before. It was one of the critical factors in the success of the city.


The secret reflection of Bath

In Between Two Thorns the reflected city - Aquae Sulis - is very similar to eighteenth century Bath. There are a number of reasons for this, but the principle one is that Nether Society is stagnant in comparison to the mundane world, principally because people don't age there. It's been a long, long time since those in power last visited and understood the mundane world.

 
The Aquae Sulis of the Split Worlds series is still run by a Master of Ceremonies, a Richard Angustifolia-Lavandula, who runs the city and its social events just like Beau Nash. However, there is an additional role in the power structure; Censor of Aquae Sulis, which brings me to the Roman-inspired aspects of the reflected city.


The Roman element

Of course, Aquae Sulis was the Roman name for the city and they bathed in the same springs that were popular in Beau Nash's time and are still enjoyed today. I wanted to call the reflected city something different as people often use names and language to differentiate themselves. None of the Great Families would ever want to have the city they live in associated with mundane Bath, filled with the people they look down upon!

The Roman Baths

In Roman times, one of the powers a Censor held was the ability to judge an individual's assets, consider their behaviour (i.e. whether they'd acted with bravery or cowardice in a battle) and assign them to a particular social class as a result. Clearly this made them incredibly powerful and that's the same of the Censor in my novel. Claudia is Richard's sister and arguably the most powerful person in the city. She is the one who decides whether a resident of another Nether city may enter Aquae Sulis and participate in the Season, and also decides who may or may not become a permanent resident.

It's my hope that when people read Between Two Thorns they'll feel some of that magic of the eighteenth century social whirl. It's also my hope that they'll also see how far we've come in the mundane world…

---

Thanks so much for stopping by, Emma!

Between Two Thorns is the first book in the Split Worlds series, from Angry Robot Books. The second book, Any Other Name, is out in May!

The Shining Girls - Book Review

It’s the UK publication day for The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes (out June 4th in the USA). My longer review of the book can be found on Fantasy Faction, but just wanted to give a short review here and post the trailer.

The Time Traveler's Wife meets The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in this story of a time-travelling serial killer who is impossible to trace--until one of his victims survives.

In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back. Working with an ex-homicide reporter who is falling for her, Kirby has to unravel an impossible mystery.

THE SHINING GIRLS is a masterful twist on the classic serial killer tale: a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing girl in pursuit of a deadly criminal. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

---

The Shining Girls is one of those books that mixes genres and does so very successfully. It’s a crime/thriller/urban-fantasy focussing on a serial killer and the girl who wants to catch him, with the element of time travel thrown in. Mixing time travel with a serial killer is a genius idea – the murderer, Harper Curtis, leaves bodies in different times, hopping back and forth through Chicago from the 20s to the 90s leaving no trail that the police can follow. There’s only one clue – the objects that Harper takes from each victim and leaves on the body of another, objects that are out of time.

Harper doesn’t choose his victims; his time-travelling house does it for him. Yes, you heard that right – a time-travelling house. There’s an element of fatalism in this, as Harper targets his victims because he has already killed them. There is a display of mementos in a bedroom of the house; when he stumbles across it he feels the objects’ owners calling out to him, to murder them and resolve the time loop. This is why they shine. Time travel mixes well with the idea of the serial killer as someone who feels compelled to kill their targets. Time travel also allows the author to show Chicago through the years, providing a fascinating look at the city and how it changed through time, as well as some of the ways that history seems to repeat itself.

And the magical time-travelling house? Never fully explained, but linked to Harper’s psychotic, cruel character – the house is just as malevolent as he, and a really creepy presence throughout the story. I also loved the combination of magic with time travel. This kind of genre blending is something that I really enjoy.

The story is pretty violent in places, and there are many disturbing elements. The serial killer targets women exclusively, and sometimes the murders are described graphically. For me, this was countered by Lauren Beukes’ extraordinary ability to make the reader care about each victim in so few words, giving each a strong voice, as well as the fact that the murders are never glamorised and Harper is not at all sympathetic, even in his point of view chapters. And then there is Kirby, the girl who got away, who refuses to be a victim, and who is determined to catch Harper. Her interactions with Dan, a reporter who she hopes will help her with the case, bring the book to life, ensuring that it is not simply a stream of killings. However, if you think graphic descriptions of violence might make you too uncomfortable, or if you don’t enjoy serial killer thrillers, perhaps give this one a miss.

I really enjoyed this book. I was completely gripped the whole way through, staying up late to see how it would end (a very good ending, I thought). It’s exciting, well-paced, sometimes disturbing, sometimes uplifting, with some good characters and a fantastic setting.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

And here is the book trailer:

Warm Bodies - Book Review

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight... (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 ---

If you’ve seen the trailers for the film version of this without really knowing much about the book, like I had before reading it, then you’re in for a surprise. The film looks like it takes a more comedic approach, and the world looks much less dystopian (though of course, it’s hard to tell from a short trailer), which could fool people into thinking this is a lighter, fluffier book than it really is. It’s deep, sometimes disturbing, weirdly romantic even in the most bizarre circumstances, clever, full of black humour, often violent, and told in an interesting style that’s somehow both poetic and very matter of fact. And, while I do think the movie looks fun, this book is really something special: a unique and moving twist on the zombie apocalypse that I can’t recommend enough.

Make no mistake; this book is dark. The zombies eat people with gusto, post-apocalyptic human civilisation is pretty bleak, and there are plenty of people – both dead and alive – who are trying to kill each other. There’s also a particularly monstrous kind of zombie that moves more quickly than the others, scuttles up buildings, and forms a kind of skeleton zombie-cult, that I found very scary. In the story, R, the main character, is a zombie who’s changing for some mysterious reason that neither he nor the others understand. He becomes obsessed with a human girl who helps him to think about life again... but this isn’t exactly a fuzzy love story. R and Julie’s fates become entwined when R eats the brain of a boy called Perry. R literally consumes Perry’s memories, including thoughts of Perry’s girlfriend, Julie. Then, while still covered in Perry’s blood, R helps Julie to escape his ravenous zombie friends.

It doesn’t sound like the best start to a romance, but R and Julie’s odd relationship is actually surprisingly sweet. That’s because this is also a book with a lot of heart; it has deep messages about human nature, and while it does not necessarily gloss over the more disturbing elements of its subject, it is a very hopeful story. The latter is a little ironic, given that the story is so strongly based on Romeo and Juliet, even referencing the names of characters and specific scenes (such as the balcony). Where Romeo and Juliet is about tragic fate, however, Warm Bodies shows that there is life and love even in the most desperate and dangerous times.

There were some elements of the book that were perhaps a little cliché, which was disappointing given the otherwise original spin on the zombie idea. In particular, the obvious ‘military leader who is too set in his ways to accept differences of opinion and just wants to shoot stuff instead’ character irritated me slightly. I also thought Julie’s extreme importance to the other zombies later in the story was a little bizarre and unconvincing. However, using zombies as a metaphor for despair and apathy, and the boneys as a symbol of rigidity and intolerance was very interesting, and I thought a lot of the messages the book carried were cleverly conveyed.

I loved the idea that zombies such as R might be intelligent and almost poetic inside their own minds, but that when they try to speak only groans emerge. R was a fantastic point-of-view character, who told the story with wit, charm, and a dry sense of humour that made it a joy to read. The book is written in a literary style with plenty of black humour and zombie pop-culture references thrown in. This really makes it stand out from typical zombie stories, being a more thoughtful read and focusing less on the horror. The character of R is what really makes this work, and holds the whole thing together. There was one small thing that niggled about R, however; there were points where he seemed to get off a little too lightly with things he had done. Julie and her friend are very quick to forgive his zombie behaviour, and though this makes logical sense, it didn’t ring true emotionally for me.

Warm Bodies is definitely a quirky book. It’s thoughtful, surprisingly romantic, funny, and takes quite a unique approach to the zombie story. It also has a sense of dark fun to it, and includes a few scares and some gore too. R is a wonderful narrator, who pulls the book together and adds a strong sense of heart and hope to the story. The author combines all these elements effortlessly into something moving, exciting, and very different from anything I’ve read before in this genre. I really loved this one!


Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bitten - Book Review

Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman. She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She's also a werewolf.

Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must recon with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

---

It took me a while to get into Bitten, but when I did I was completely hooked. The first few chapters of the book were quite exposition heavy, with a lot of information about the werewolves, the Pack, Elena’s extended werewolf family and her relationship with each member. This can be quite a lot to take in, and at first I was a little confused by all the new names and exactly who was related to who. It doesn’t take long for the story to get going, however, and when it does it’s very well paced, with a lot of exciting action and the moments of down-time coming right when needed. I loved this book!

At first I wasn't too sure how I felt about Clay, Elena’s love interest, and it took some time for him to grow on me. I thought his past with Elena would be very hard to forgive. In fact, I didn’t want her to forgive him, and was rooting for her each time she gave him a piece of her mind. However, I didn’t necessarily want her to stay with Philip either; it was pretty obvious that they weren’t right for each other, and that Elena could not be herself around him (and not just the werewolf bits – her human self too). These kinds of love triangle stories can often be frustrating, but this one was utterly compelling. I understood the reasons why Elena was in too deep with both men, and I also completely understood why she was pulling away from both of them.

In the end, her story wasn’t so much about choosing between two men as learning to accept herself. She tries to deny her werewolf side so much that she doesn’t see she’s denying who she is. It’s not the werewolf in her that makes her argumentative, opinionated and a little wild; that's just Elena. By trying to deny the wolf in her, she also pushes away the home that she loves. It’s only when Elena realises all this that she finally picks a guy, and even then he has a lot of proving to do before she’ll forgive him. And prove himself he does! He's completely dedicated to her, and he won me round in the end too. I do love it when a book can make me change my mind.

The action in the novel is exciting and the story is incredibly addictive. It’s quite gory and graphic at points, and very sexy at others, giving the whole book a sense of wild freedom that suited the werewolf theme. I really believed that it would be both fun and liberating to run as a wolf, and to live as part of the Pack.

Aspects of the story did bother me a little. Paranormal creatures have a tendency to be rich recluses and these ones were no exception. One successful werewolf I can believe, but a huge corporation owner and his playboy son, a man who makes enough from selling one painting to keep an entire private estate going for a year, a successful magazine journalist, and a respected academic... it just struck me as unlikely that all the werewolves would have such enviable lives. I also didn’t understand why every single mutt (non-Pack werewolf) was a sly or half-rabid human-killer, when every Pack werewolf has no interest in killing humans for pleasure. We’re supposed to believe the latter is simply wolf nature, and that it is the human in a werewolf that will make him a murderer, but because there were equal numbers of mutt werewolves to Pack werewolves, this explanation didn't seem convincing. Mutts seemed to be either wolves who did not want to be part of the pack, or ones who were never given the chance because they were not born in the right place. Why these should necessarily be evil killers was beyond me, and it seemed like a slightly convenient ploy to make sure they were not sympathetic characters (as they might have been otherwise).

Still, these were minor points in an otherwise very entertaining novel. This book is fun, sexy and exciting, with characters you’ll want to punch one minute but adore the next, who you will be completely invested in, and who you cannot stop reading about, chapter after chapter, until it’s way past bedtime. Definitely recommended!