The Only Child

Title: The Only Child
Author: Andrew Pyper
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: June 6, 2017
Rating: ★★★

Lily Dominick is a forensic psychologist. She analyzes dangerous criminals locked up in New York’s Kirby facility. One day, a man comes in who ripped the ears off a stranger with his bare hands. But he tells Lily that he did it so he could be sent to see her. He tells Lily things about herself to prove that he knows who she is. She lived in a cabin with her mother in Alaska, but her mother was brutally murdered when Lily was six. She never knew her father. Now, this man claims to be her father. Once he escapes police custody and murders one of Lily’s colleagues, she is led on a chase to find out the truth behind the mysterious man, Michael, and her true lineage.

This story had a lot going on. Michael claims to have been the inspiration for Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dracula. Normally, I like contemporary stories that are based on classics. However, this one had too much going on with Michael claiming to be all three monsters.

I didn’t have a big enough emotional connection to root for Lily in the story. She made a lot of bad decisions and didn’t seem very stable so she wasn’t a very likeable character.

I enjoyed the end of the story. It was a thrilling chase leading to the conclusion. It was very intense. But the story still dealt with too many possible thriller plot lines for me: it had monsters, vampires, spies, murders, fake passports, abandoned cabins, and an orphaned girl. I think if it had less of these typical aspects of the contemporary thriller story, it would have been a better story.

A-Force Volume 0: Warzones!

Title: A-Force Volume 0: Warzones!
Author: Marguerite Bennett, G. Willow Wilson
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Marvel
Release Date: November 18, 2015
Rating: ★★★★

A-Force is an all female superhero group in Arcadia. The members are She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Sister Grimm, Dazzler, Ms. America, Loki (female), and Medusa, among others. In this opening graphic novel, they first battle a giant megalodon. Ms. America puts civilians in danger so Dr. Strange orders her to be banished to the Shield for the rest of her life. Sister Grimm is the most distraught over the loss of Ms. America. However, she finds a new creature that looks like the night sky. But this new girl also creates dangerous portals that bring enemies to Arcadia. They have to decide if she is a friend or foe.

I love this female driven comic! She-Hulk is my favourite superhero so I love that she is their leader. It’s important to see all of these powerful women, since there are so many male-dominated superhero groups, such as the Avengers. It’s amazing to see how many female superheroes there are in this comic, when they aren’t normally given the spotlight.

This graphic novel is just the introduction to the A-Force series. There are two more volumes that I hope to review soon!

Follow Me Back

Title: Follow Me Back
Author: A.V. Geiger
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: June 6, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

Tessa Hart has severe agoraphobia following an incident at a writing program she attended in early summer. She can’t leave her bedroom. Her therapist holds sessions for her in her room. Tessa is obsessed with the pop star Eric Thorn. She wrote a fanfiction story about him that went viral. She even started the hashtag EricThornObsessed that was trending at number one. Meanwhile, Eric Thorn’s manager and PR team are loving the attention he’s getting from this hashtag. But Eric isn’t as into the attention. He is still freaked out by the death of a fellow singer. Dorian Cromwell was stalked by a fangirl and then she slit his throat. Eric is worried about this happening to him too. He creates a fake account to try to give himself some negative attention, so his fans will move on to someone else. But his interactions with one fan leads to more than he ever expected.

I almost read this entire book in one sitting. I read until 2 AM and then continued as soon as I woke up in the morning! It was so thrilling!

The narrative of Tessa and Eric is interspersed with police transcripts about an incident that happened involving both of them. This hinted at them meeting one day and something serious happening!

The premise of all of these interactions happening on twitter is so realistic. You never know who you’re talking to online. This story really shows how dangerous it can be to blindly throw yourself into an online relationship.

The ending was amazing! There were so many twists and turns, until the very last page. It’s also amazing that this story was first published on Wattpad. A.V. Geiger is very talented. I can’t wait to see what she comes out with in the future!

Hockey Karma


Title: Hockey Karma
Author: Howard Shapiro
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult
Publisher: Animal Media Group
Release Date: November 1, 2016
Rating: ★★★★★

Jeremiah Jacobson is a 32 year-old hockey player. He has back problems and his game is suffering from it. Everyone can see that he is close to retirement. He starts taking a lot of pain medication, so much that he forgets to spend quality time with his wife and children. His friend Tom Leonard wants him to look over a plan he has to improve their neighbouring city, Bump City, but Jeremiah keeps forgetting. Meanwhile, Tom is having his own romantic issues. He is dating his high school crush, Jaelithe, but she lives across the country in Pittsburgh. Tom goes back to a high school reunion and is reunited with his old bandmates. Jeremiah has to deal with his new drug problem, while Tom has to decide what to do with his new relationship.

I loved this graphic novel! It’s the third and final part in the Friends Forever series from Howard Shapiro. This one is definitely my favourite in the series. I love that it brings together the points from the first two books. I didn’t see as much of a connection between the first and second books, but this one brings back all of the characters from the series in a reunion.

The only part that was a little confusing was determining which character was which while they played hockey. Since they were all wearing helmets, I couldn’t tell which character was speaking at first glance.

I really enjoyed this series. This third book was a great conclusion to this heartfelt series.

The Ice Maiden’s Tale

Title: The Ice Maiden’s Tale
Author: Lisa Presoisi
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Xist Publishing
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Casper and Johanna have to go stay with their neighbour, Mrs. Kinder, while their mother visits their father in the hospital. They are a little scared of her because she reminds them of the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Mrs. Kinder reads them a story from a mysterious book. She tells the stories of two men: Gabriel and Sebastian. Gabriel is a sculptor who sculpts a woman out of ice. Then he leaves her but he wishes she was alive. He embarks on a quest to bring her to life. Sebastian is a magician who uses his powers to kill people in his way. When he finds Gabriel’s ice maiden sculpture he also wants to bring it to life. Sebastian then goes on a quest to bring life to the ice maiden too.

This story reminds me of a fairytale. Casper and Johanna are similar to Hansel and Gretel since they go to the old woman’s house. They even have German names like in the tale. It also reminds me of the story of Pygmalion, who made a sculpture of a woman. When the Greek goddess Aphrodite saw how much he loved the sculpture, she brings her to life. This is like Gabriel’s story, since he sculpted the ice maiden and then wanted to bring her to life.

The dueling stories between Gabriel and Sebastian were a little confusing at times because they were so similar. They both involve magic and going on quests to bring the ice maiden to life so they could get mixed up.

I like the way this story brought a fairytale/folk tale into the modern world. Casper and Johanna were told the story, but the reader also gets to experience the stories of Gabriel and Sebastian.

I also like that the two main characters are a boy and a girl, so the book isn’t specifically aimed at one gender. However, they did follow gender stereotypes with Casper wanting to hear about dragons and Johanna wanting to hear a love story.

This is a good story with a unique premise.

Crazy Rich Asians


Title: Crazy Rich Asians
Author: Kevin Kwan
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★

Rachel Chu goes to Singapore with her boyfriend, Nick Young, to attend his best friend’s wedding. However, she doesn’t realize what that will entail. When one girl overhears them discussing travelling to Singapore, the news spreads like wildfire back to Singapore and to Nick’s mother. She has to investigate everything she can about Rachel. Though her last name is Chu, she isn’t a Chu of the Taiwan Plastics company. She grew up in the U.S. with her single mother, which is unacceptable to the Singaporean elite. Rachel soon finds out that she doesn’t fit in with their lavish lifestyle. This story is filled with gossip, family drama, parties, and lots of shopping.

I loved this book! The elitist attitudes of the characters were quite funny. Nick’s mother reminded me of Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Instead of looking for her daughters to marry into a fortune like Mrs. Bennet, Eleanor wants Nick to marry someone with their high status.

Though the book was very funny, it was quite serious at times too. There was lots of family drama. Many of the girls were also very mean to Rachel just because she isn’t as wealthy as them.

Though there were many characters, most of whom were related and in the same general age group, I was able to distinguish between them all. They all have distinct personalities. Sometimes I find ensemble casts in books confusing because they blend in with each other, but it worked in this book.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series soon!

New Release: The White Road


Title: The White Road
Author: Sarah Lotz
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Simon and his friend Thierry created a site called “Journey to the Dark Side.” Thierry wants to get more viewers, so he sends Simon to the cave Cwm Pot, where three boys died years ago. Simon goes in with a guide named Ed, who he found online. Ed is creepy and paranoid, so Simon gets really freaked out. When it starts raining, the cave starts to flood and they get trapped in the cave. Eventually Simon climbs his way through the water to the exit and gets rescued. Later, Thierry sends him to Mount Everest to get videos of the bodies of climbers that have been left on the mountain. He befriends another amateur climber, Marcus, who has gone to the mountain for personal reasons. Simon decides to help Marcus with his task, but he ends up becoming haunted with his own demons.

This book was fairly dense at the beginning. The description of Simon going through Cwm Pot was very descriptive. Since I’m not familiar with spelunking, this was all new information for me.

The second part of the book takes place in Mount Everest, which was very interesting. I didn’t know anything about the expeditions that go up the mountain, so I found it fascinating!

Though the story was quite dense, I really enjoyed it. In the end it turned into a psychological thriller that was very interesting. I also learned a lot from the story. This book is great for people who are familiar with climbing mountains and those who are not.

Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No Bullshit Guide to World Mythology


Title: Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No Bullshit Guide to World Mythology
Author: Cory O’Brien
Genre: Humour, Mythology
Publisher: TarcherPerigree
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★

My favourite courses in university were my Greek mythology classes. I find those stories fascinating. Cory O’Brien loves myths too, so he retells a variety of world myths in this collection. He covers everything from Greek to Hindu to Chinese to Native American myths. He even discusses “American” myths, which are the stories of the founding of the United States.

This book is hilarious. He tells each story in a blunt way, though the general story is correct. He draws attention to the promiscuous acts of Zeus in Greek mythology and the gold loving dwarves in Norse mythology.

Though O’Brien makes fun of the absurdity of these myths, in the conclusion he is more serious. The mythologies of different cultures have a lot in common. They all have a creation myth and a myth where the gods destroy the humans on earth. It’s amazing how these cultures that are so distant in geography and in beliefs can have the same plots in their mythologies.

I loved this book. It is quite explicit at times, but the myths are very funny. I really enjoyed it!

Book Haul: May Uppercase Box

This month’s Uppercase Box is so adorable! 

On top of the bag are super cute iron-on patches of a book and a cat!

The book is a YA story about how winning the lottery can change a teenager’s life. It sounds exciting!

My favourite item is the pair of earrings! Each earring is a different book shape. I’m going to save them for a special occasion!

Throne of Glass


Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★

Celaena Sardothien is an assassin who has been living in a prisoner camp for a year. One day the Crown Prince Dorian requests to visit her. He has selected her to be his champion in a battle to find a new champion for his father, the King. He promises her that if she wins, she can work for them as their champion for four years and then she will be free. The captain of the guards, Chaol, trains her and supervises her security. She has to be under lock and key at all times, since she is the most talented assassin in the world. Her identity is kept a secret throughout the competition for her protection and to help her win. The champions in the competition are eliminated through tests. However, some are murdered under mysterious circumstances. The murders don’t follow a pattern though, so Celaena is scared that she could be next. Her only wish is to make it to the end of the competition so she can win her freedom.

This was a very exciting book. It was fairly long, but the pace was consistent.

It has a third person narrative. It switches to give the perspective of different characters, though it usually follows Celaena. This gives some insight into what the other characters are doing or thinking. It also builds the mystery of who is behind the attacks, because it makes many people look suspiscious.

I really like this story and I’m excited to read the rest of the series!