Hi there! I’m Kay: an opinionated book blogger enamoured with the world of novels. Reader of Speculative Fiction (the posh word for Sci-Fi/Fantasy) and Young Adult novels. Believer in the many uses of the towel, the science of deduction and other fandom in-jokes.
This blog has been closed since early 2016. To the publishers and writers: thanks for all the support over the years. To my readers and fellow bloggers: keep in touch!
Recent Reviews
Feed My Reader (3) – Of Beasts, Beauties and Weres
Feed my Reader is my excuse to highlight the latest e-book additions (a-la Showcase Sunday/Stacking the Shelves/Mailbox Monday). Ever since I made the executive decision to expand my e-book collection (and save space) I’ve gone a bit e-book mad.
The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan – Goodreads
I’ve already read this one and… I was not a fan. It had a few good points but overall it wasn’t the best.
Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay – Goodreads
I adore the beauty and the beast tale, so I am loving the idea of this sci-fi retelling.
False Memory (False Memory #1) by Dan Krokos – Goodreads
I got the second book in this series at BEA so… yeah. Need to read the first first! I’ve seen very good reviews for this series on goodreads, so I am rather hopeful.
Full Blooded (Jessica McClain #1) by Amanda Carlson – Goodreads
I was reminded about this series when the second book came out and finally nabbed myself a copy. I’ve heard somewhat mixed reviews about this one: some people loved it and others were rather “meh”. Since I am a big werewolf fan, I really hope I enjoy it!
Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge and Readathon
I’ve decided to embrace the Christmas spirit this year, and have signed up for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge hosted by The True Book Addict. It sounds like quite a bit of fun, and gives me an excuse to buy some books that have been sitting on my wishlist for a couple of years!
Details:
- challenge will run from Friday, November 22, 2013 through Monday, January 6, 2014 (Twelfth Night or Epiphany).
- cross over with other challenges is totally permitted AND encouraged!
- These must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore, a book of Christmas short stories or poems, books about Christmas crafts, and for the first time…a children’s Christmas books level!
I am going for the Mistletoe level (2-4 books) and for Fa La La La Films (watching Christmas movies – which I usually do anyhow!). I am also taking part in the Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon this weekend (Friday, November 22 through Sunday, November 24).
My Christmas to-tackle list:
- Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
- Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
- Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas
Readathon Updates:
I started the Sherlock Holmes’ novel The Sign of the Four on Saturday. Perfect wintery novel… I always think Victorian-setting novels make for the best snowed-in reads. Just add candlelight et voila!
On Sunday, I mostly read Rick Yancy’s The 5th Wave. I said to myself, “As God is my witness, I am going to FINISH this BLOODY BOOK.” And behold, I succeeded. Yay!
Waiting on Wednesday: Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Out on January 21st 2014 by Orbit
The first in an all-new urban fantasy series by USA Today bestseller Jaye Wells.
The last thing patrol cop Kate Prospero expected to find on her nightly rounds was a werewolf covered in the blood of his latest victim. But then, she also didn’t expect that shooting him would land her in the crosshairs of a Magic Enforcement Agency task force, who wants to know why she killed their lead snitch.
The more Prospero learns about the dangerous new potion the MEA is investigating, the more she’s convinced that earning a spot on their task force is the career break she’s been wanting. But getting the assignment proves much easier than solving the case. Especially once the investigation reveals their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier—on the same day she swore she’d never use dirty magic again.
Kate Prospero’s about to learn the hard way that crossing a wizard will always get you burned, and that when it comes to magic, you should be never say never.
Jaye Wells is an auto-buy author for me. I loved her Sabina Kane series, and pretty much trust her with any genre of UF. If she can handle vampires, her take on witches and werewolves is going to be brilliant. Can’t wait to nab this one!
Review: The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George
The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth GeorgeSeries: Saratoga Woods #1
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, Viking Juvenile
Pages: 448
Genres: Young Adult
Source: Received for review from publishers
Add to Goodreads
Rating:
The first young adult book by a #1 New York Times bestselling author
Whidbey Island may be only a ferry ride from Seattle, but it's a world apart. When Becca King arrives there, she doesn't suspect the island will become her home for the next four years. Put at risk by her ability to hear "whispers"--the thoughts of others--Becca is on the run from her stepfather, whose criminal activities she has discovered. Stranded and alone, Becca is soon befriended by Derric, a Ugandon orphan adopted by a local family; Seth, a kindhearted musician and high school dropout; Debbie, a recovering alcoholic who takes her in; and Diana, with whom Becca shares a mysterious psychic connection.
This compelling coming-of-age story, the first of an ongoing sequence of books set on Whidbey Island, has elements of mystery, the paranormal, and romance. Elizabeth George, bestselling author of the Inspector Lynley crime novels, brings her elegant style, intricate plotting, incisive characterization, and top-notch storytelling to her first book for teens.
Thoughts: I’ve been putting off this review for months. Why? Because there really aren’t too many ways to say “boring as hell”.
Honest to God, I have no idea how I managed to finish this book. Maybe it was in the desperate hope that, in the end, the ”mystery” would have some sort of interesting conclusion? This was obviously delusional on my part, because there was barely a mystery.
Let me see if I can explain:
- girl with psychic powers arrives on an island.
- girl ignores the only real mystery in the book: the disappearance of her mother.
- girl falls in insta-love with The Perfect Guy™.
- The Perfect Guy™ is injured Tragically and Mysteriously™.
- girl kinda, sorta investigates!
- turns out The Perfect Guy™ just fell over.
- The Perfect Guy™ is fine!
- mother is still missing…. oh well.
That plot? Elizabeth George draws it out over 448 very long pages. Do you see what I mean about the lack of mystery? The lack of tension? Elizabeth George is not a bad writer, she’s just not writing about anything worth writing about.
I really, really, really have trouble understanding how a novelist as celebrated in the crime genre as Ms. George can have written this book. Although I have not read her other works, I can only assume that a seasoned crime fiction writers knows that a murder mystery needs a murder and a mystery in order to qualify.
*screams*
Bottom line? The Edge of Nowhere is dull, tedious and disappointing. Elizabeth George can write, but she can’t deliver a plot… or come up with one, for that matter. Maybe her adult books are better? I have no idea.
Waiting on Wednesday: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Out on May 13th 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete’s nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she’s falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up–and the troubled beauty trapped between them.
I wouldn’t typically go for this type of coming-of-age novel, but I really like the idea behind Second Star. I mean, a retelling of Peter Pan? Now that’s one I haven’t heard of!