Year: 2019

Review: A Sparrow’s Roar

Title: A Sparrow’s Roar
Author: C.R. Chua, Paolo Chikiamco
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 22, 2019
Rating: ★★★

goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898

Goodreads Synopsis:

A Knight’s tale about duty, duels, driving your sister crazy…all while trying to save the country from a secret that threatens to tear it apart.

When a seemingly harmless prank goes wrong, knight-in-training Per of Esterpike watches her sister Elena, famed hero and leader of Lions, murdered by a barbarian horde set on wiping Esterpike off the map. Together with Elena’s second-in-command Amelia, Per must impersonate her sister and travel to Unity’s capital to convince the Generals of each city-state to provide aid against the oncoming horde. But as Per moves forward on her quest, she comes upon a conspiracy that might just threaten Unity itself!

Join writer and illustrator C.R. Chua (Adventure Time Comics) and writer Paolo Chikiamco on Per’s grand adventure all about strength, swords, and sisterhood. 

Review:

I liked the concept of this story, but it took a little too much work to figure out.

When Per’s sister, the general Elena, dies in front of her, she takes her place so their enemies don’t find out. She ends up discovering secrets in the capital.

One thing that was confusing was that Per and Elena looked almost exactly the same. They had different coloured eyes but the same hair style. This was especially confusing when Per was impersonating Elena, so she was wearing Elena’s clothes. I also found that a lot of characters were putting on an act in front of others, so they weren’t saying what they meant. They said one thing but did something else, which made it difficult to understand the story.

Unfortunately this story didn’t work for me.

Thank you BOOM! Studios for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Mythspace: Humanity by Paolo Chikiamco, C.R. Chua

Have you read A Sparrow’s Roar? What did you think of it?

‘Waiting on’ Wednesday – October 23

This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.

The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is Gravemaidens (Gravemaidens #1) by Kelly Coon. The expected publication date is October 29, 2019.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The start of a fierce fantasy duology about three maidens who are chosen for their land’s greatest honor…and one girl determined to save her sister from the grave. 

In the walled city-state of Alu, Kammani wants nothing more than to become the accomplished healer her father used to be before her family was cast out of their privileged life in shame. 

When Alu’s ruler falls deathly ill, Kammani’s beautiful little sister, Nanaea, is chosen as one of three sacred maidens to join him in the afterlife. It’s an honor. A tradition. And Nanaea believes it is her chance to live an even grander life than the one that was stolen from her. 

But Kammani sees the selection for what it really is—a death sentence.

Desperate to save her sister, Kammani schemes her way into the palace to heal the ruler. There she discovers more danger lurking in the sand-stone corridors than she could have ever imagined and that her own life—and heart—are at stake. But Kammani will stop at nothing to dig up the palace’s buried secrets even if it means sacrificing everything…including herself.

What books are you waiting on this week?

Review: Ninth House (Alex Stern #1)

Title: Ninth House (Alex Stern #1)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: October 8, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898

Goodreads Synopsis:

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

The mesmerizing adult debut from #1 New York Timesbestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

Review:

This was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2019. It was worth the wait!

I loved the way magic and ghosts were brought into the university life. It reminded me of my time at university, and all the colleges that it was divided up into, like the houses in this book. There were real locations at Yale used in this book. It’s great to see images of these locations, so that the story is brought to life.

There were a lot of thriller elements to this story as well as fantasy. Though there were ghosts, called Greys, and supernatural rituals, there were also murders and lots of drugs. The real gritty underworld of drugs and gruesome murders, mixed with the supernatural underworld of ghosts. These genres blended seamlessly.

I loved this book! I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

What to read next:

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

Have you read Ninth House? What did you think of it?

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I’d Give Different Titles To

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is a Books I’d Give Different Titles To. These are titles that I don’t think suited the books. Here’s my list:

1. Come Find Me by Megan Miranda

2. The Field Guide to the American Teenager by Ben Philippe

3. Very Rich by Polly Horvath

4. Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi

5. Mooncakes by Wendy Xu, Suzanne Walker

6. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

7. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

8. The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé

9. Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson

10. Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell

(All photos taken from Goodreads)

What’s your list of Books You’d Give Different Titles To?

Review: Frogcatchers

Title: Frogcatchers
Author: Jeff Lemire
Genre: Fiction, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: September 24, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898

Goodreads Synopsis:

Experience a surreal descent into one man’s psychosis in this haunting and chilling graphic novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Roughneck and Sweet Tooth, “the Stephen King of comics” (Maclean’s).

A man wakes up alone in a strange room with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. The padlocked doors and barren lobby reinforce the strangeness of this place. This is—as he reads from an old-fashioned keychain beside his bed—the Edgewater Hotel. Even worse, something ominous seems to be lurking in one of the rooms.

But when he meets a young companion—the only other soul in this vast, enveloping emptiness—his new friend begs him not to unlock the door. There must be something behind it…but what?

A haunted hotel on the edge of reality, an endless bridge spanning an infinite ocean, and a man and a boy looking for a way out. This is the setting for a boundary-pushing, genre-defying new work of fiction by one of comics’ master storytellers. 

Review:

This was a beautiful graphic novel. 

The story is about a man who is dying. He relives his youth that he spent catching frogs. He goes back to a hotel that he designed in his mind, all while he is lying in his hospital bed, in his final moments. 

I liked the way this old man was contrasted by a young boy. It wasn’t clear at the beginning that the boy was the younger version of him. It only became apparent through their shared memories. 

I loved the art in this graphic novel, too. It was mostly in black and white sketches, which are Jeff Lemire’s classic style. The images in colour represented the present time. This use of colour reminded me of the Wizard of Oz movie, where only Oz was shown in colour. In this case, it was the opposite, since their real life was in colour and the parts in the old man’s mind were in black and white. 

I really enjoyed this graphic novel!

Thank you Simon and Schuster for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

What to read next:

Essex County by Jeff Lemire

Sweet Tooth, Volume 1: Out of the Deep Woods by Jeff Lemire

Have you read Frogcatchers? What did you think of it?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – October 21

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

This weekend I finished Frogcatchers by Jeff Lemire.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – October 20

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

I did 9 weekly blogging memes:

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays in Bed With… Blue Lily, Lily Blue

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I’m reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The third installment in the all-new series from the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. 

The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.

Mothers can disappear.

Visions can mislead.

Certainties can unravel. 

What book are you in bed with today?

Six for Sunday – Autumn Coloured Books

This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.

This week’s prompt is Autumn Coloured Books. Here’s my list:

1. Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

2. Deposing Nathan by Zack Smedley

3. Furthermore (Furthermore #1) by Tahereh Mafi

4. Shadow Me (Shatter Me #4.5) by Tahereh Mafi

5. Giant Days by Non Pratt

6. Golden Hour (Pippa Greene #4) by Chantel Guertin

Did you write a #SixforSunday post? What was your list of Autumn Coloured Books?

(All book cover images from Goodreads)

Review: Mooncakes

Title: Mooncakes
Author: Wendy Xu, Suzanne Walker
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, LGBT
Publisher: Lion Forge
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 15, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898

Goodreads Synopsis:

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

Review:

This is a beautiful graphic novel.

There was great representation in this story. Nova wears hearing aids, which isn’t a common thing for characters in novels. She’s proud of wearing ones that are brightly colored so they stand out. Her friend Tam is gender neutral and uses the pronoun “they.” It takes a while to get used to reading that pronoun to refer to one person, but it was a great inclusive addition to the book.

I loved the magical elements of the story. Nova reminded me of Sabrina the Teenage Witch because she lived with her two grandmas, and Sabrina lived with her two aunts. There were also demons, werewolves, and an evil witch. This was an exciting magical story.

I really enjoyed this story!

Thank you Lion Forge for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill

Have you read Mooncakes? What did you think of it?