Review: SHADOW AND BONE

Shadow And Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Book 1 of The Grisha series
Genre: high fantasy

About Shadow And Bone:

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance.

Source: Info in the About Shadow And Bone was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17658751-shadow-and-bone on 23/06/2013.

My Thoughts:

I understand that this book managed to butcher the Russian culture into an ugly mess such that anyone with a smidgen of knowledge of the Russian culture hated this book. Or, gave it a low rating at GoodReads. Now, I am not Russian nor know the Russian culture, so I was fine and totally oblivious about how bad the Russian culture got mangled in this book. Sometimes ignorance is a bliss! However having said that, this book gets a demerit for mangling someone else's culture. Poking fun at yourself and your own culture is one thing. But doing so to other people or other people's culture is just plain old rude. But on the other hand, if the "culture mangling demerit" is taken out of the equation entirely, I have to admit that Leigh Bardugo weaves a fantastic plot of struggle for survival and coming of age story set in an extraordinary world of monsters and men. Gotta give the author kudos for the beautiful world building! What I didn't like about it though is the heroine going too stupid to live to create a dilemma in the story and so the heroes/heroines can show off and save the world. This shows me that the author might have a great imagination but plot building is not her forte. At the end of it though, I enjoyed this book and if not for the "culture mangling demerit", this book would have garnered a whole lot higher rating with me.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3
Story itself = 4
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art: US = 2 / UK = 4
Pace = 3
Plot = 2.5
Culture mangling demerit = -1

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Grisha Series:


Shadow And Bone Book Trailer:

FTC Disclosure:
No money recieved for this review.

Review: IMITATION IN DEATH

Imitation In Death by JD Robb
Book 17 of the In Death series
Narrated by Susan Ericksen
Genre: SciFi murder mystery, police investigation, crime fiction
Format: hardback & (unabridged) audiobook

About Imitation In Death:

Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas encounters one of her most difficult cases in this latest offering from J. D. Robb, alter ego of bestselling author Nora Roberts. With the very first victim, Eve realizes that the killer stalking the streets of New York City isn't a run-of-the-mill serial murderer. The copycat executions are imitating the methods and victim choices of an ominous list of notorious serial killers, beginning with Jack the Ripper. And when the killer leaves a distinctive note at the crime scene, it's clear that he's targeting Eve personally--a fact that worries Roarke, Eve's shrewd husband.

Assisted by her aide, Peabody, Eve compiles a list of suspects that includes several high-profile possibilities. Their very prominence, however, complicates the investigation, for they have the power and influence to make the search difficult. All of the suspects are reluctant to cooperate but one of them is playing with Eve like a cat with a mouse by tempting her with crime scene notes and challenging her to find him. Can Eve stop him before he slaughters again? Or will his next victim be Eve herself?

Author Robb, a.k.a. Roberts, doesn't miss a beat in this police procedural thriller. The futuristic setting is rich with imaginative details; the cast of supporting characters offers an intriguing variety, while Eve and Roarke's relationship is layered with emotional intimacy and spiced with sex. Whether you're a faithful follower or new to the series, you won't be disappointed in the edge-of-the-seat suspense in Imitation In Death. Don't miss this one. --Lois Faye Dyer

Source: Info in the About Imitation In Death was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238139.Imitation_in_Death on 04/07/2012.

Review:

In this book, Susan Ericksen has reverted back to making Peabody sound pinched-nosed and McNab groovy. I wonder if she would continue to do so or revert back to normal voice as she had done in the last couple of books. Or whether Susan Ericksen would vacillate between the two styles in subsequent books. In which case it would really irritate me since I do not like change. I sincerely hope that she would pick a style and stick with it. I tend to avoid narrators who annoys me, never mind buy the audiobook.

As with the previous audiobook in this series, the manuscript that Susan Ericksen has been reading is different from the hardback copy. That manuscript she read was a whole lot longer than the hardback as there were sentences not in the hardback all through out the book. I'd say, the hardback edition is the abridged version compared to the the audiobook! Only this series have I found that publishing phenomenon!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 2
Pace = N/A (12 hrs and 44 mins audiobook)
Plot = 4.5
Narrator = 4

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Thank you to the RCT Library for letting me borrow this book!!

FTC Disclosure:
The hardback edition of this book was borrowed from the library. The audiobook was bought with personal funds. No money received for this review.

Guest Post: AMANDA SUN

by Amanda Sun, author of Ink (The Paper Gods book 1)

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to live in Japan on exchange. I grew up in a very small town surrounded by forests on the banks of a river, so living in Osaka, with a population of 3 million, was a huge change. I couldn’t read the signs, I could barely speak Japanese, and I had trouble recognizing the food on my plate.

I loved every minute of it.

I kept a daily journal of my experiences there—the food, language, sights, and sounds. I had the chance to travel to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Tokyo, and even Miyajima where some of INK takes place. I climbed Mount Fuji, and I fed deer in Nara. I took the ropeway up the mountainside to look for monkeys. And even if I got homesick, or had a bout of culture shock, I just wrote it down and filed it away for later reminiscing.

As a voracious reader and aspiring writer since I was four, I knew that what had happened to me would find its way into my writing voice. I wrote short stories set in Japan, but they didn’t seem enough. I knew there was more to the story, that the experiences were flowering in my mind until it was time to uproot them to the page.

After university, I started hosting students from Japan. I wanted to give them the experiences I’d had, that life-changing moment when nothing looks the same again. I hosted a girl from Shizuoka and later had the chance to visit her. I was struck by how cinematic Shizuoka was, with its oasis of Sunpu Park and Castle surrounded by a moat in the middle of the city. I visited a few more times while writing INK, to make sure I really captured the spirit of that beautiful place.

INK is the story of Katie, an orphaned American teen who moves to Japan to live with her English-teaching aunt. There she crosses paths with the kendo star of her school, Tomohiro, whose drawings come to life in dangerous ways. Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being close to Katie is causing his power to spiral out of control. When the wrong people notice, Katie and Tomo find their own lives at stake.

You might be surprised to hear that INK started in my mind as a YA Contemporary. I pictured this boy drawing in a sketchbook in the forest, and the American girl who became intrigued by his drawings. And one day, while Katie and I were watching Tomohiro sketch, his drawing moved across the page.

I was stunned. Slowly, Tomohiro told me the truth about who he was, and I started to see how Katie fit into all of it, how they were linked, and how they needed each other. My early interest in Japanese mythology and history intertwined with the story, and a small detail I’d learned from my Archaeology degree fell into place as well—ancient Egyptian scribes used to chisel through the snake hieroglyphs in case they became alive and threatening on the tomb walls.

I knew, now, that Tomohiro’s drawings came to life, but in a sinister way that linked to ancient beings of power. Everything made sense, and I knew this was the book I’d been waiting for, the book of my heart.

I hope you enjoy INK, and that through Katie’s eyes, you can truly experience the country I fell in love with all those years ago.

Ink by Amanda Sun
Book 1 of the Paper Gods series
Genre: urban fantasy

About Ink:

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.

Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench.

A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.

And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.

Source: Info in the About Ink was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13423346-ink on 03/07/2013.
Buy Links:


Book Trailer:

About Amanda Sun:

Amanda Sun was born in Deep River, a small town where she could escape into the surrounding forest to read. Ink is her first novel and The Paper Gods series is inspired by her time living in Osaka and travelling throughout Japan.

Visit her at www.AmandaSunBooks.com and on Twitter at @Amanda_Sun.

Review: THE UNQUIET

The Unquiet by John Connolly

Read by George Guidall
Book 6 of Charlie Parker series
Genre: paranormal crime fiction
Format: hardback & unabridged audiobook

About The Unquiet:

"But that is the nature of revenge. It escalates. It cannot be controlled. One hurt invites another, on and on until the original injury is all but forgotten in the chaos of what follows."John Connolly's originality and talent for storytelling have quickly made him one of today's preeminent thriller writers. Now, in "The Unquiet, " private detective Charlie Parker returns to untangle a horrifying story of betrayal, unclean desires, and murder -- a story of never-ending evil whose conclusion is not yet written.

Daniel Clay, a once-respected psychiatrist, has gone missing. His daughter insists that he killed himself after allegations surfaced that he had betrayed his patients to foul and evil men -- but when a killer obsessed with uncovering the truth behind his own daughter's disappearance comes seeking revenge, long-forgotten secrets begin to emerge. Hired by Dr. Clay's daughter to protect her from the predator on the loose, tortured and ingenious private detective Charlie Parker finds himself trapped between those who want the truth to be revealed and those who will go to any length to keep it hidden.

John Connolly masterfully intertwines secret lives and secret sins with the violence that so often lies beneath the surface of the honeycomb world in this gripping page-turner. Fast-paced, hypnotic, and elegantly written, The Unquiet is John Connolly at his chilling best.

Source: Info in the About The Unquiet was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175247.The_Unquiet on 28/10/2012.

Review:

George Guidall has a slurring or "-ish" quality to his words. I find that this is not to my liking. Don't get me wrong, the words are clear and distinct, they just have that slurring or "-ish" added sound to it. It took a lot of getting used to which I think contributed to my diminished enjoyment of this book.

I enjoyed the last book, The Black Angel, a lot but I've read neutral to negative reviews about this one so I was kinda dreading going into this book. Maybe it was my dread or maybe the expectation bar were set too high that this book is not a 5 out of 5 for me. Or it could also be due to a bit of confusion I encountered with this book. As in, in Book 1, I complained that the author has the tendency to go off tangent and confuse me. Then that feature sort of went away with subsequent books. However it came back with a vengeance in this book! John Connolly introduced a new character about three quarters into the book which left me wondering... "where did that one came from??!"....

The last book was all about the symbolism with human remains, i.e., bones. This book involved symbolism of dolls. Of course both books do involved the paranormal elements of the angels versus demons theme, or what other literary academics call as the "War In Heaven" theme. And it seems that things are moving along quicker now on that front (the paranormal element). Key players are being brought to the forefront and new developments seems to be happening. And me being a fantasy geek more than a crime fiction girl, is hooked and most likely would be reading this series quicker!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 4
Cover art = 4
Pace = N/A (14 hrs and 45 mins listening time)
Plot = 4
Narrator = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Thank you to RCT Library for letting me borrow the hardback edition of this book.

FTC Disclosure:
The audiobook edition was purchased with private funds. The hardback edition was borrowed from the library. No money received for this review.

Review: LAST SCENE ALIVE

Last Scene Alive by Charlaine Harris

Book 7 of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries
Read by Therese Plummer
Format: audiobook
Genre: murder mystery

About Last Scene Alive:

Aurora Teagarden has never forgotten her first case: a serial killer who terrorized suburban Lawrencetown. Now that story is about to hit the small screen. Even if she wanted to, Aurora can't help getting involved. Her ex, Robin, wrote the TV movie's screenplay and her stepson, Barrett, has a starring role. Then there's Celia--the catty actress portraying Roe--who, by the way, also happens to be Robin's latest squeeze. But when Celia is murdered and Barrett is accused, the real-life script takes a deadly turn. Between threatening letters, deranged fans and renewed feelings for Robin, Aurora has one goal: catch a killer and make it to the final scene alive.

Source: Info in the About Last Scene Alive was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140080.Last_Scene_Alive on 27/10/2012.

Review:

In this book Charlaine Harris took the "movie adaptation" angle which seems to be a favourite theme of some long-running serieses. Like for example, JD Robb also took this story line up in her In Death series. I'm not complaining, I'm just apprehensive that this theme is starting to recur more frequently and start to feel like "same old, same old". But it hasn't yet, just starting to, so let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that it doesn't become "too used up".

The story telling quality is still great, however, this book does not seem to stand out for me. It felt like just another chapter in Roe's life. Though admittedly her life now has seems to have, all of a sudden and quite coincidentally, acquired a rather busy upheavals lately which never occurred in the last 30 years of her life. I am kinda hoping that Charlaine Harris would give some sort of explanation about this sudden influx of events in Roe's life in future books. It would be nice to have a reason why. It would definitely be an added bonus!

And at the end of it, this book's biggest merit is that it is a part of the Aurora Teagarden series and if you are a fan, you would be wanting this book. But other than that, there isn't much more I could say about this book, thus the rating of three instead of four or higher.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Ending = 3
World building = 3
Cover art = 1
Pace = N/A (7hrs & 4mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narrator = 3

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

WW28: BLACK SWAN RISING

WW28 book offering: Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll

'So, how bad is it?' Roman asked as I poured his tea and handed him a cup.

Mundane... mmm.... the lull before the storm?

About Black Swan Rising:

When New York City jewelry designer Garet James stumbles into a strange antiques shop in her neighborhood, her life is about to be turned upside down. John Dee, the enigmatic shopkeeper, commissions her to open a vintage silver box for a generous sum of money. Oddly, the symbol of a swan on the box exactly matches the ring given to her by her deceased mother. Garet can’t believe her luck and this eerie coincidence until she opens the box and otherworldly things start happening. . . .

That evening, the precious silver box is stolen. When Garet begins to investigate, she learns that she has been pulled into a prophecy that is hundreds of years old, and opening the box has unleashed an evil force onto the streets of Manhattan and the world at large. Gradually, Garet pieces together her true identity—one that her deceased mother desperately tried to protect her from. Generations of women in Garet’s family, including her beloved mother, suffered and died at the hands of this prevailing evil. Does Garet possess the power to reclaim the box and defeat this devastating force?

On her journey, she will meet the fey folk who walk unnoticed among humans and a sexy vampire who also happens to be a hedge fund manager that she can’t stop thinking about. But the fairies reveal a desire to overpower mere humans and the seductive vampire has the power to steal the life from her body. Whom can Garet trust to guide her? Using her newfound powers and sharp wit, Garet will muster everything she’s got to shut down the evil taking over her friends, family, New York City, and the world.

Source: Info in the About Black Swan Rising was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7951552-black-swan-rising on 29/12/2012.

WW28
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• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
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