Catching Teller Crow is a very powerful book with lots of important comments on grief and moving on; the stolen generations in Australia; the treatmenCatching Teller Crow is a very powerful book with lots of important comments on grief and moving on; the stolen generations in Australia; the treatment of women; and the racism and prejudices that those descended from white settlers can often direct at those or aboriginal descent, whether in an actively damaging role or as bystanders who don’t do anything to speak up against the injustice.
And all that in under 200 pages.
The story alternates between chapters from Beth Teller’s point of view, and Isobel Catching’s point of view.
Beth’s chapters are a little naive and do lots of telling and little showing, unfortunately, but there is a kind of logic to be found in this. Beth is the ghost of a detective’s daughter, sticking around to make sure he’s okay and help him with his latest case.
Just the Tip is a quick, light read, with a lot of common-sense suggestions, but also a few suggestions that people might find it hard to ask about orJust the Tip is a quick, light read, with a lot of common-sense suggestions, but also a few suggestions that people might find it hard to ask about or just not realise is something they should be asking about in the first place.
With one tip to every page or two of this book, this book is exactly what it says on the label; it’s just the basics, just the beginning, and also light and humorous.
#34: Do Not Try to Suck or Lick Someone’s Face. This is Not Hot.
The blurb sounds interesting and enticing, curious even, but I warn you, dear reader, that it does not accurately represent the events witLINK UPDATED
The blurb sounds interesting and enticing, curious even, but I warn you, dear reader, that it does not accurately represent the events within the novel.Â
Even the title doesn't really fit with the story.
There are so many things wrong with this book, rendering it one of the worst books I can remember reading. But it's getting lots of rave reviews, so what do I know?
The writing itself is horribly clunky and awkward, telling the reader what is going on rather than showing them, and often spelling things out several times, while keeping other things hush, hush and obscure when they're not particularly juicy in the first place.
The rest of this review can be found
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Oooooooookay. Proper review to come.
This is going to be fun... or painful... or cathartic... or all of the above?
Honestly, probably one of the most poorly-written books I've read in at least a couple of years (Killing Monica springs to mind and the next-most-recent, next-most-painful read).
So much didn't make sense, through lack of conviction.
Characters were dull, flat, and hard to believe, the plot was hard to believe, it would possibly best be looked at as a parody/social commentary on the "Me Too" and "Time's Up" movements, on the different ways people react to it, and the ways that women from one camp treat women from another. But the writing here is too poor to make it worth reading for the social commentary alone.
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Okay... at 50%, I am no longer going to quote typos and grammatical errors in statuses, because it's all too much.
I'm still going to point out where the character does or says or thinks stupid things, but again, maybe not every instance.
Ugh. Can this book be over, now? I need to finish this today....more
It's so preeeety! And Dumbledore's wand is a pen; and the memory vials have stoppers, so you can roll memories You GUYS! Lookit!
It's so preeeety! And Dumbledore's wand is a pen; and the memory vials have stoppers, so you can roll memories up to stick inside them; and the journal is awesome!...more
There are things that take place in this book that are a little predictable, cliched, and specific to these kinds of creepy stories of supLINK UPDATED
There are things that take place in this book that are a little predictable, cliched, and specific to these kinds of creepy stories of supernatural otherness. The voice also feels as though it has been tempered for modern readers in that the language used in the 1635 pieces differs little from the language used in the 1865 sections. Of course it would be hard for modern readers to get into the story if written in language that was true to the time, but it would have been nice if these two were more easily distinguishable.
But there are definitely some moments of decent creep-factor, and though it can be a little hard to get into, once the events begin unfolding it can be hard to put down.
The rest of this review can be found
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Review to come.
There were, of course, some expected/typical twists and turns, but I became completely caught up in the story and genuinely creeped-out at times... And that's saying something, given all the horror movies and books I consume and find underwhelming......more
Back when The Fault in Our Stars was coming out at the movies and the book was flying off the shelves, I worked in a bookstore. As a Actual rating 3.5
Back when The Fault in Our Stars was coming out at the movies and the book was flying off the shelves, I worked in a bookstore. As a result of seeing the book in two out of three purchases, I found myself unable to contemplate reading it because the hype had well and truly run it into the ground for me.
So this was my first time reading John Green.
Way back when, The Fault in Our Stars was the John Green book that would potentially have been my best chance at liking his work, given the premise, but with the release of Turtles All the Way Down, this has definitely changed.
As someone who suffers from anxiety and OCD, and who had to be supervised around sinks at six-years-old for fear I would stand there washing my hands for fifteen minutes or more, I am always on the lookout for accurate representation in fiction. It’s so easy for writers who haven’t gone through these struggles to include mental health issues in their stories as a quirk and do it poorly.
But where John Green is concerned, he has first hand experience with struggles that are akin to Ava’s, and the portrayal serves as a kind of comfort to those of us who have felt misrepresented in the past.
The rest of this review can be found
- Full review to come. -
I love that mental health issues are portrayed realistically with no magical cure and with an ongoing battle, though in the end I think Aza's compulsions resonated with me less than Mikey's did in The Rest of Us Just Live Here, but that's quite possibly down to his being so like my own, while Aza's is a mostly different beast with which I am less familiar.
I did get teary at one point, though not over what most people would likely expect (something that hit home with a thing I went through quite recently), and I did devour and enjoy this one quite a bit, but I don't think it's a book that will change your life... but it did pull me out of the rut I was in!...more
This is a gorgeously put-together story, full of information but not too wordy of heavy for young readers, and a great way to introduce young scientisThis is a gorgeously put-together story, full of information but not too wordy of heavy for young readers, and a great way to introduce young scientists to a little bit of space travel history (complete with a two[page spread about Apollo 11, though the majority of the book is about rover-kind and their search for answers). The ideal age for this book would likely be around 8-10, though a precocious seven-year-old did make me read this to and with her three times in one night.
There are also different levels within the text, so one might skip some of the smaller, more technical text when reading to a younger child and stick to the narrative in the larger text, but older and more advanced children (and adults) do have the additional information at their disposal, and a handy timeline at the back of the book.
Highly recommended for any science-curious children and any rover-obsessed grown-ups (like myself)!
The rest of this review (complete with images and quotes) can be found
---------- Pre-review ---------- A great book for kids who are interested in space exploration, and full of simplistic images with lots of character!
Quite a bit of information, but not too wordy, though it would be better for kids on the older end of the picture book target group....more
Erdrich seems to be one of those authors who has a knack for creating a really interesting premise and then ruining it byLINK UPDATED
Actual rating 1.5
Erdrich seems to be one of those authors who has a knack for creating a really interesting premise and then ruining it by trying to be too “literary� and “artistic�. In one of her previous titles, La Rose, the lack of quotation marks did what this particular stylistic choice usually does, and made it difficult for readers to know who was speaking, and when.
In The Future Home of the Living God, the story has the potential to be incredibly intriguing, a kind of retelling of The Handmaid’s Tale set in modern times, with women losing the right to choose what they do with their own bodies� Only in this book pretty much nothing happens.
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is in turns terrifying, with the pitch black coldness of travelling alone in a twenty-year-old space ship that isn'The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is in turns terrifying, with the pitch black coldness of travelling alone in a twenty-year-old space ship that isn't what it used to be, has its ghosts, and is the only thing stopping you from freezing, suffocating, or both; and cutesy and upbeat with the most unconventional kind of blossoming puppy-love you could imagine.
These things might sound like they don't belong together, but Lauren James weaves them beautifully for a story unlike anything you've read before.
There were only minor qualms with this novel:
- It was difficult to picture the spaceship as described, especially with regards to the concept of connecting with the second ship when it had caught up.
- It would have been nice if the point at which Romy's responses first started reaching J had been more noticeable, as each started writing to the other years or months before the response would be received - though Romy got her first email from J early on in the book and was responding to his, it took a little under two years for his message to reach her, and another four months for her response to reach him. It's understandable that maybe they both decided to gloss over that because communicating with that much lag had to be difficult, but there wasn't even a nod to it by way of, "I got your first message today!" before continuing on with what they wanted to say, whether responding or not. It would also make sense that we're not seeing all of their emails because then it would just be a book of emails and little daily life, but again this would have been a nice thing to include so readers don't have to keep flicking back to the "Predicted date of receipt" on the first message to see if they're in contact yet.
- Romy's fanfiction was quite simplistic and short, but given the environment in which she writes it, this maybe isn't so much an issue with the writing or the setting as it is about the reader wanting to get a little more context. As she is on a spaceship, all alone, with limited contact from Earth (most of which is from her dedicated psychologist) it makes sense that she wouldn't have the feedback that would lead to her further developing her writing skills.
But for each one of these, there are undoubtedly countless other issues Lauren might have faced, but overcome with amazing flair. How do you make communication with that much lag natural enough that Romy and the readers find themselves falling for J? Ask Lauren James, because this book stole my heart.
Devoured this one in (pretty much) a single sitting.
There were some issues, like the layout of the ship never being made particularly clear to me, and the fics she wrote were incredibly simplistic (but then, without any kind of proper sounding board or critique, that makes sense), but I couldn't put it down. I laughed, I think I might have even got a little teary at one point.
Related to Romy more than I have to other recent protagonists....more
The Memory Book has many of the required elements for a book that will tug at your heartstrings and linger long after reading.
- Our m
Actual Rating 2.5
The Memory Book has many of the required elements for a book that will tug at your heartstrings and linger long after reading.
- Our main character has a condition which will result in the loss of her memory and eventually her life.
- Said main character with said devastating and ultimately fatal condition is a teenager who’s about to finish high school and has so many plans for her future. Plans which will never eventuate thanks to said condition.
- Recently after the diagnosis she develops a relationship with the boy she’s had a crush on for years.
- She also reconnects with the boy she used to be the best of friends with. The guy who has always thought she was awesome.
- She’s the oldest child in her family, and has some truly touching moments with her parents and siblings.
- It’s told in the form of a diary, so we get an unreliable narrator and prime seats all in one.
- She refuses to submit to her condition. She’s determined to beat it. Despite all the people telling her how bad her prognosis is. Despite signs of deterioration and lapses in memory.
For lovers of books like The Fault in Our Stars, this is bound to be a hit. Unfortunately there was something missing for this reader.
It should be said from the start that this book suffers from something of a misleading blurb.
The writing is engaging and tangible, and there were someIt should be said from the start that this book suffers from something of a misleading blurb.
The writing is engaging and tangible, and there were some moments that had this lover of ghost stories pulling the covers a little higher at night.
Rosie was sitting upright in bed, shaking and crying uncontrollably. Eleanor reached out to her and Rosie recoiled. She didn’t seem to recognize her. She had an unfathomable expression of pure terror; she looked straight past Eleanor, staring at something which seemed to horrify her. Eleanor looked round instinctively but the wall behind her was blank.
But for the most part, it felt as though the ghostly elements made up a grand total of about 20% of this book and a large majority of the questions readers might have about these ghostly elements are left without any real hint at an answer.
Zoe woke up to find she had a creature sitting on her chest. It was some kind of large bird, but it had human arms where its legs should have been, splayed-out palms instead of feet. The palms were pressing, increasingly hard, on her chest. She tried to scream and throw it off, but it was no good, she was trapped. She could see the girl sitting in the corner of the room, watching. The pressure intensified. She wondered if this time she wouldn’t survive and then suddenly she was crying out and her arms were thrashing and there was no bird-creature and no girl.
The rest of the book is about relationships and dreams, with recurring themes of unbalanced love, settling, and restrictions with regards to relationships, and with artistic folk popping up left, right, and center.
I think I've said it somewhere before, but I am incredibly impressed with all of Ryan's works, and with the first two bind-- 2nd or 3rd time through -
I think I've said it somewhere before, but I am incredibly impressed with all of Ryan's works, and with the first two bind-ups in the Burger Forces universe.
These really are a hidden gem, and I hope everyone gets around to discovering them one day, and they never stop coming!
- Bind-up Update -
Read originally in 2015 in individual issues.
NOW AVAILABLE IN A BIND-UP!
This includes the entire story arc of "Out of the Box" as well as some behind-the-scenes goodies, all presented in an awesome package. I can't wait for the other bind-ups to come out so I can have them ALL for my shelf! (And, you know, re-read and get more inside goodies, maybe?)
My review for the first story arc can be found ...more
If asked to sum this book up in four words, they would be: hilarious, gruesome, informative, and terrifying! It’s brilliant, and you should definitelyIf asked to sum this book up in four words, they would be: hilarious, gruesome, informative, and terrifying! It’s brilliant, and you should definitely read it.
It’s a brilliant resource for writers, those inquisitive about a variety of sciences, and those who want to laugh� It’s probably not the best for hypochondriacs, but then, you might be surprised at some of the things people could live through.
The only qualm this Aussie reader had with this book is that the units of measurement were in American terms. As a result, rather than being struck by the magnitude of certain heights, temperatures, or weights, Aussie readers will first need to google said measurements, and it does bring the reader out of the flow in order to understand exactly what is being discussed.
This could have been helped with the listing of both measurements, and would have made the whole book that little bit more accessible for a global audience. Of course, there are still instances American place names being listed in a way that only those who have lived in America would really understand, but as these are not listings of specific measurements, they manage to not become major roadblocks to the reader.
But beyond that, this book is a whole lot of deliciously gruesome fun, and is bound to teach you something you didn’t know before, but in an easy to access, colloquial manner.
The rest of this review can be found
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You guys... This book is hilarious and brilliant!
Don't even wait for me to finish reading and reviewing. You need this in your lives, NOW!
Even before the start of this story, readers are shown a glimpse of the world they’re about to enter, in the form of a copyright page as it might lookEven before the start of this story, readers are shown a glimpse of the world they’re about to enter, in the form of a copyright page as it might look in the State of Vermaine, the place where Speth lives some time in our future, where freedom of speech is no longer a thing and special permits need to be bought just to maintain ownership of a physical book.
The Owner assumes any and all Legal obligation for this physical copy of the book and indemnifies the author and publisher against liability, including but not limited to the following: i) Paper cuts ii) Eyestrain or eye fatigue iii) Cases where the physical existence of paper, printing or binding might present physical, emotional, or intellectual harm or distress. iv) Cases where the textual content might present physical, emotional, or intellectual harm or distress. v) Confusion, disorientation or irritation vi) Intestinal distress vii) Death
And to be sure, there is a lot to take in with regards to the dystopian world Katsoulis offers up, so this is a nice primer for readers who won’t dismiss this offhand as uninteresting copyright information.
For the most part it is evident that a lot of thought has gone into the building of this world, and fans of Black Mirror are bound to feel a little familiar with some of the technology holding people to ransom.
We were all familiar with Blocking. It was becoming increasingly common for companies to Block certain imagery in-eye using the overlays on your corneal membranes. An expensive perfume bottle, for example, might appear as a blocky mess of color if you fell too far out of the company’s target demographic. People who were too poor, or fell too far in debt, could end up with a full-blown case of The Blocks. Anything that wasn’t explicitly in the public domain was blurred to little more than colored squares. Shalk and Yundoro became two masses of moving blocks in the approximate shape and location of the human behind them. As far as the authorities were concerned, I had basically lost my right to see. In all likelihood, I would be like this for the rest of my life. My hands were the only thing I could see.
The rest of this review can be found
----------- Pre-Review ----------- An interesting idea, though it did require quite a lot of suspension or disbelief and at times the rules seemed to change on a whim to help the story, not hugely, but enough that it was hard to get a proper handle on all the ins and outs.
The other side of this coin is the fact that there was a lot to take in about the way their world was built, so maybe I just missed something in the huge scope of the story.
A bit of a Black Mirror feel, with technology holding people to ransom, including overlays on their eyes which enable people to watch the "stream" of information through the subject's eyes, shock the subject when they speak without a cuff or without the credit to do so, and allow the option of "Blocking" things in the real world from the view of the poor or unsavory....more
This book is science-lite, and it is important to make sure your suspension of disbelief is properly functional before embarking on tActual Rating 4.5
This book is science-lite, and it is important to make sure your suspension of disbelief is properly functional before embarking on this journey. But if you can manage that, you’re in for an incredibly fun and engrossing ride.
Thomas is a chemist working for BriSPA (the British Space Agency) who ends up being sent into space purely because he was the only one present when the guy who had actually been selected died of a heart attack right before the press conference announcing him. Thomas liked the sound of going into space and getting away from the entire human race, so he put on the dead man’s orange space-suit and went out to greet the press.
Through the fact that Bowie had died that day and this man’s name is Thomas Major, he becomes an immediate sensation.
Listened to the audio second-time round, while scrubbing every surface of the house for a rental inspection... I totally love this book, but I do regrListened to the audio second-time round, while scrubbing every surface of the house for a rental inspection... I totally love this book, but I do regret my inability to totally forget everything that I discovered in my first read and just go along for the ride...
Oh well, on to Muse of Nightmares! :P
Actual Rating 4.5
This book is something of a love letter to dreamers and those who love books and stories, and it offers a world so well-built that the idea it doesn’t exist seems ludicrous.
There is a kind of poetry in the fact that readers of Strange the Dreamer will long to discover that Weep is real, just as Lazlo himself has done for so many years.
‘I just want the truth, Adonis!� I call out. He turns back and flings it at me. ‘Loneliness, okay?� I flinch. His words are like shra
Actual rating 3.75
‘I just want the truth, Adonis!� I call out. He turns back and flings it at me. ‘Loneliness, okay?� I flinch. His words are like shrapnel. ‘I see goddamn loneliness!� ‘You can see that?� I’m completely dumb-struck. He blinks, doesn’t say a word. There is nothing to say. I’m a loner, a loser, a freak—and he can read it clear as sunshine in my eyes.�
Olive is undoubtedly abrasive, selfish, and a little unbalanced, but that’s not too surprising given the circumstances. Hers is a tale of a kind of instalove, but again, this cannot really be avoided, based on the set up and her “condition�.
The miracle of it hits me again. If the curse is true, Tom is my true love. But is he? What other explanation could there be for him seeing me? Nobody has ever seen me before, not Ma, not Dad, not me. To everyone in the world, besides Tom, I’m invisible. But he doesn’t have to know that. Right?
It may take a little while to get into the story, as readers will likely find themselves viewing Olive’s behaviour through a more traditional lense, but as they read on they’ll start to understand just what this curse means for her, and will start to walk in her shoes.
Tom looks like he wants to punch him. He passes me his popcorn but I can’t take it. The guy will freak out if a box of popcorn is floating in mid-air. I let it land on my lap and it spills all over the floor. I don’t move to pick it up. ‘You’re not going to help me out here?� Tom says to me, incredulous. I keep my mouth shut. I can’t say anything. The guy moves away and whispers something to his friends, and they all turn to look at Tom. ‘He’s talking to his “girlfriend�.� They laugh.
But once you’re in, you’re bound to share some laughter and sadness with Olive, as she deals with things we never will, and other things we’re only too familiar with.
It is worth noting the genre of this book before diving in. It’s also worth noting that it’s incredibly twisted and disturbing and isActual rating 3.5
It is worth noting the genre of this book before diving in. It’s also worth noting that it’s incredibly twisted and disturbing and is likely to trigger some people.
I can’t tell you more than that, because it would give too much away. But if you like your thrillers nice and twisted, this is bound to keep you reading. This is definitely one of the more disturbing books I have read in the last six months or so.
One should not make the mistake of seeing the word Roanoke, and thinking this book has anything to do with the Lost Colony or the various theories about what happened, supernatural or otherwise. That is not the story Engel is here to tell, and the naming seems rather incidental.
If you’re looking for something that is going to push boundaries, and not hold back on much of the goriness of being a girl, this could well be the kiIf you’re looking for something that is going to push boundaries, and not hold back on much of the goriness of being a girl, this could well be the kind of book you’re after.
In What Girls Are Made Of, Nina Faye journeys from obtaining birth control through to the gory details of going through a medical abortion. Readers are shown her obsession with a boy named Seth, both before, during, and after dating him.
Is reciprocity a condition for love? I have always accepted that my mother is right � that no one will love me without conditions. But I reject the idea that I must set conditions for loving Seth. I want to love someone no matter what. I want to love someone even if it hurts me. Am I a saint? A broken dog in a cardboard box?
She talks about miscarriages, masturbation, and martyrs. About self-induced orgasms vs. unsatisfying sex with the object of her affection. She works in a high-kill animal shelter and talks openly about the dogs that are more likely to be adopted than others, and what happens to the animals who are put to sleep.
Then the bodies are boiled. Yes, boiled. To separate the fat, which is sold through a bidding process to whoever can pay the most for it. The fat is used to make lipstick. Household cleaners. Dog food. Cat food. The bones are ground up, and they end up in pet food, too. Like the Soylent Green of the animal kingdom. Only when everything useful has been stripped from the dog’s carcass is it burned to ash.
She talks about the way women have been and continue to be treated by society.
“It was used to punish women who had sex with Satan,� Mom said, her voice matter-of fact, “and to punish women who allowed themselves to miscarry.� “Allowed themselves to?� I didn’t know which sounded more insane � thinking that women were having sex with the devil or blaming women for their miscarriages. But then I remembered with a twinge how I had felt when my mother’s crystal tumbler reappeared after she had lost the baby I’d named Chloe. Part of me had been angry. Part of me did blame her, even though I had never spoken about it with her, with anyone. “As long as there have been women,� Mom told me, “there have been ways to punish them for being women.�
In between chapters, readers are given a taste of Nina’s own writing, in the form of short or flash fiction of a magical realism flavour, but with a revisited theme of the way women have been and continue to be treated and used by society.
So far I have written one story about a girl who grows vaginas all over he body, a couple of weird little things about chickens and eggs, and I have a growing collection of stories I’ve written about the deaths of virgin martyr saints, but I’m not ready to share any of it with him, or anyone.
For this reader, these in-between bits were the most enjoyable part of the book.
The rest, while confronting, while discussing things that are definitely important in this society which is still often squeamish about the bodily functions of women, just doesn’t seem to get where it’s trying to go.
The rest of this review can be found
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Review to come.
Rather unsure of what the point was, limited motivation to keep reading, and it all felt rather preachy and edgy for the sake of being edgy....more
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