Review: CHESHIRE CROSSING by Andy Weir & Sarah Andersen

 

Rating: 2/5 stars

I had never heard of this book until a month ago, despite it being authored and illustrated by two famous creators. I was on a Sarah's Scribbles kick and wanted to read everything by Sarah Andersen when I discovered this book at the library.

Andy Weir combines the characters of Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and Wendy from Peter Pan in this crossover graphic novel. All the girls are teenagers now and are affected by their experiences traveling to other worlds as children. Everyone thinks they're crazy, so all three end up at the same institution together called Cheshire Crossing, except this place is actually a research facility and the people in charge really do believe that they have been to other worlds and aren't just making it up. 

The girls have a nanny at Cheshire Crossing who has some abilities herself, including flying with an umbrella. Everyone calls her "nanny," but I wonder if she is supposed to represent Mary Poppins? (Another movie I haven't seen. . . .) I really don't know who she is supposed to be, if anyone, but I felt like she was more important than the story led me to believe. 

I thought this was a cool idea done well. The girls bond and discuss their different magical abilities while traveling between Neverland, Wonderland, and Oz. Meanwhile, the Wicked Witch of the West teams up with Captain Hook to try to stop the girls once and for all. 

My main problem here is that I have neither read nor watched any of these tales and only know the stories thirdhand. That sounds horrible, I know, but it was just never a part of my childhood. So at times during the novel, I had to stop and think for a second, "Okay they're in this place now, which is connected to this girl. Got it." I think anyone who is more familiar with the original stories will enjoy this book a lot more than I did. It's a cute graphic novel, primarily aimed at young adults, and spins a unique tale of these classic stories. 

Review: THE BRIDGE KINGDOM by Danielle L. Jensen

 

Rating: 5/5 stars 

The Bridge Kingdom is a fast-paced story with lots of action, an enemies-to-lovers romance combined with the forced marriage trope, a unique no-magic fantastical setting, and is full of intrigue and betrayal. I loved every minute of it!

Lara is the one among her twelve sisters selected to travel to enemy kingdom Ithicana and marry their prince-turned-king in a political alliance to secure peace and better trade negotiations for her homeland of Maridrina. She is ready to play the part of docile wife while secretly infiltrating their highly secure bridge and learning all the secrets she can so she can pass them back to her father so their people can invade and take over Ithicana and the bridge for themselves. But once Lara arrives and gets to know her now-husband and learns about all the innocent people living there, she begins to wonder if everything she’s been taught about Ithicana is a lie.

I absolutely loved the setting here. Ithicana is a nation made up of a bunch of small, dangerous, jungle-covered islands connected by a massive bridge that runs between the northern and southern continents. Consequently, they control all trade between the two continents, providing safe passage across the Tempest Seas in exchange for bridge tolls and taxes. 

The bridge setting was very unique and something I have never seen before in a novel. The bridge is Ithicana’s industry, the only thing they provide to other nations, since they have no goods or materials to export. I love bridges in general and always take pictures of the cool ones that I see when out and about, so that really appealed to me here. The naked hardcover has a beautiful artistic map of the bridge that I probably spent more time looking at than actually reading the book, so definitely recommend checking that out. 

I really enjoyed Lara as our protagonist. I always love a fierce woman who also has a soft side, and that’s who she is. She trained for twenty years to be a fighter, a healer, a spy, a temptress, and you get to see her many sides in the novel. The opening chapter really blew me away because I haven’t seen a character be that ruthless in a long time. 

Aren was a wonderful counterpart and love interest as well. I loved seeing Lara’s opinion of him slowly change throughout the story as she got to know him, and I loved seeing her fight herself on whether she thought he was a friend or enemy. I really like reading about love interests that are genuinely good guys, so I’m glad to see Aren falls into that category. He really respects Lara and shows her as much. I liked their dynamic and chemistry and can’t wait to read more about them in book two.

There are lots of plot twists in the latter half of the book and during the ending that make me glad I have The Traitor Queen on hand because I immediately want to start the sequel. There were a few chapters in there full of so much tension and dramatic irony that had me STRESSED OUT! And rightfully so because of that ending. . . . I appreciated the subtle but well-placed plot twists throughout the novel because they all coalesced into a very exciting story that I couldn’t put down.

If you like fast-paced adult fantasy that has an easy-to-follow storyline with engaging characters in a hate-to-love romance set in a unique location, then you should check out The Bridge Kingdom. I really loved this one. 

Review: THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB'S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES by Grady Hendrix

Rating: 2/5 stars

This book wasn’t for me, but it wasn’t a bad book.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is a horror book set in the 1990s South and follows a group of housewives who are stronger than they look. 

I think Grady Hendrix accomplished what he set out to do with this novel. I enjoyed his writing style, and I thought he did a great job of writing the story from a female’s perspective.

I enjoyed Patricia as a protagonist. She was strong and courageous and respectable. I didn’t care much for any of the book club friends though, and I hated all the degrading and misogynistic husbands. And James Harris was the most deplorable villain I’ve read in a long time and I absolutely despised him, although I think maybe that was the point. Feeling lukewarm about or even liking the villain is never a good sign.

I like vampires, but I prefer a more fantastical setting when reading about them, and this was 100% a realistic setting featuring a person who was “not a vampire” but exhibited vampiric qualities. So on top of being set in the South (not for me) in the early 1990s (not for me), it also was a very realistic setting (also not for me). 

Hendrix also did a good job of writing about racism and sexism present in the South at this time. The setting felt genuine and reaffirmed that I never want to live in the South, no thank you. I was feeling visceral anger at some of the comments the husbands made to and about their wives, and I seriously wanted to murder them all. But I think that’s just how the average man acted during this time (inexcusable). 

This book wasn’t really scary—I don’t know if I would really classify it as horror, although I’ve never read a horror book before so maybe this is normal. I don’t like scary stories though so I was perfectly fine with that. The creepiest part was when Patricia was in the attic and the cockroaches and centipedes were crawling all over her while she was silently laying on the cold, hard, filthy floor. I absolutely would not have remained chill in that scenario so big props to her for doing that.

Even though I liked Grady Hendrix’s writing style and I liked Patricia as our main character, I still didn’t really like this book. It just wasn’t for me. I like vampires, but it was the setting and time period that really caused a problem for me. I think this book perfectly accomplished everything that Hendrix wanted it to accomplish, but my enjoyment level was not there. I thought multiple times about DNFing because I was not having a good time, but ultimately I decided to continue because I read this for book club and I was listening to the audiobook so I didn’t have to put forth any effort to finish it. I’m glad I ultimately decided to finish it though.

I plan on reading more books from Grady Hendrix in the future, specifically Horrorstör and My Best Friend’s Exorcism, because I did like his writing style. If this book sounds interesting to you then I encourage you to check it out because my low rating is entirely based on my personal preferences and not on any fault of the book. 

Review: COMFORT ME WITH APPLES by Catherynne M. Valente

 

Rating: 3.25/5 stars

Sophia is the perfect wife to the perfect husband in the perfect neighborhood where all the neighbors are perfect and everyone is happy. 

Right off the bat, I was reminded of the episode called “Community” on the show Fear Itself. It has been a long time since I’ve seen that show but I always remember that episode. The idyllic community isn’t always what it seems. There is an air of discomfort and unease, that something wasn’t right, and you get that sense as soon as the book starts. Read just the first chapter to understand what I mean.

Catherynne M. Valente is a beautiful writer—this was clear early on as she wove intricate and imaginative sentences that I enjoyed reading. I like how each chapter is named after a different variety of apples. 

Karis Campbell did a hauntingly good job narrating the audiobook. Her voice was very soft and melodic and almost made me feel like I was in a trance, which goes perfectly with the story being told here. This is the first time in probably ten years that I listened to a story on 1x speed. Normally I listen on 1.25x to 2x speed, depending on the book, but when I started this book sped up, it just didn’t feel right, so I returned to 1x, and the narrator’s voice has a much bigger effect that way. If you, too, like to speed up your audiobooks, I recommend you try listening to this book on 1x speed because it makes for a better experience with this specific story, in my opinion. Plus the book is only two hours long anyway.

The reason later revealed why everything was so perfect is genius. I enjoyed the story and the message Valente was trying to communicate and how it was all done. The ending really made me go “Ahhh!” with understanding as the realizations dawned on me. 

This is my first book from Catherynne M. Valente, but it won’t be my last. I really liked the writing style and how she uses language, and I also enjoyed the storytelling. I believe she writes in a wide range of genres, so I am excited to see what else she has to offer as Comfort Me with Apples was a treat. It was weird as heck but I loved the ending. 

Review: ODDBALL by Sarah Andersen

 

Rating: 5/5 stars

I love Sarah's Scribbles. I've seen her comics here and there online but I've never read a full book by her until now. 

Her comics are so hilarious and relatable. Like truly, I was laughing out loud on almost every page, and I think I nudged my husband probably 30 or more times while I was reading to show him the comics I thought were the best and the funniest. 

I don't know if each of her books has a theme, but Oddball seemed to focus on cats, millennials vs. gen x people, being introverted, and it also had some spooky scenes. I loved it all. 

As soon as I finished Oddball, I immediately checked out Sarah's four other books from my library because I need to read everything by her. This comic collection was great and I definitely recommend it if you want a good laugh. 

Review: SUNREACH by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I loved this audiobook novella way more than I expected to, although I’m not sure why I didn’t expect to love it in the first place. I have given 5 stars to Skyward, Starsight, and Cytonic, and Brandon Sanderson is my favorite author.

Sunreach, co-written with Janci Patterson, is told from the point-of-view of FM, one of the members of Spensa’s flight crew. While Spensa is off on her own adventure in Cytonic, her friends have important missions to accomplish back on Detritus. Brandon recommends reading this novella before Cytonic, but I read it after and I don’t think it makes a difference. But absolutely don’t read it before Starsight because the entire plot (and the synopsis) majorly spoils the end of Starsight.

FM was really fun. She is strong but also soft, and I enjoyed getting to know her better as a character and learn the origin of her callsign. 

There is a nice little romance going on between FM and another member of the flight crew, and this is the biggest area where I noticed Janci’s hand in the story. The romance had a bigger focus here than in Brandon’s other books and the lead-up to it felt more obvious than how Brandon writes his romance. These scenes also just didn’t feel like his writing. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that as I loved every aspect of the story, but I thought it was worth pointing out. 

In every other aspect of the novella, I couldn’t tell which scenes were written by who, and I liked it that way. The story felt genuine and I think it fits in perfectly into the Skyward series. My favorite scenes were the scientific investigations and training surrounding the taynix. That was all so cute and so much fun to read. 

Even though reading Sunreach isn’t necessary to understanding the full-length novels telling Spensa’s story, I absolutely recommend it as it helps to create a richer world and give character depth, plus it’s just plain fun. 

Review: MANDRAKE AND A MURDER by Ruby Loren

 

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Hazel is a witch with no powers in a strange town full of witches, fortunetellers, psychics, and the like. She runs a failing apothecary and subsequently publishes a magazine about the weird happenings in Wormwood, when one day two magical aunts she didn’t know existed show up on her doorstep on the day directly after a murder in town.

This book seemed like a cute cozy mystery, a perfect fall read. The cover is cute, Hazel has a familiar in the form of a talking cat, there’s fake dating, and it has spooky vibes. Unfortunately, the book was supremely disappointing and I didn’t care about any aspect of the story whatsoever. 

On the very first page, our protagonist remarks how weird her town is, that Wormwood is the weirdest town in the country, full of witches, fortunetellers, druids, psychics, etc. and that weird stuff happens every day. But then throughout the novel, we don’t see any of that. I would have loved a more fleshed-out setting. Especially with how weird the town apparently is, Ruby Loren could have added in so many great scenes full of weirdness going on that would be perfect for that town, but we learn nothing at all about Wormwood. Hazel never ventures into town to see people or witness strange happenings or anything and it was very disappointing. This is not my only complaint about the setting though—the characters’ opinions about their town are horribly inconsistent. For the weirdest town in England you would expect the people living in that town to embrace it or at least accept it, but the characters act like their town full of witches is a normal town like any other, that all the psychics and witches and fortunetellers are fake and annoying, that the town sucks, etc. And then the next chapter they’re standing up for the witches and supporting the town. At one point there’s mention of all the tourists the town gets, and then we read about how the town is always forgotten on maps and no one goes there. It all made no sense to me and was just highly inconsistent. 

I didn’t mind Hazel as a protagonist, but there is no character development in this entire book. Mandrake and a Murder features the most one-dimensional characters I’ve ever read. The two aunts speak and act exactly the same, I have no idea what Hazel or the fake boyfriend or anybody else looks like, the talking cat Hemlock and his shadow Hedge seem to just be thrown in there for comedic relief without actually being funny, and every citizen of Wormwood that we meet is just a cardboard cutout with a flat personality. The banter and jokes between characters fell flat and weren’t working for me either. 

I was especially disappointed in the fake dating aspect. The “boyfriend” only shows up in the beginning when he tells Hazel they’re fake dating, and then never shows up again. There was absolutely no point to include that subplot in the book when it didn’t pan out or pertain to the story whatsoever. 

On top of minimal character development, the plot development was also lacking. In some scenes, events were happening that should have been explained more because they didn’t make sense, or they moved too fast, or the reasoning behind someone’s actions wasn’t explained at all. Characters were drawing conclusions that I didn’t think they had sufficient evidence for. I was also disappointed in the descriptions of magic that were surface-level at best. I wanted to see more witchy magic but that is very much lacking here. 

The murder investigation itself was also a huge letdown. The victim was an unknown character that no one knows, the reveal of the murderer was not surprising in the least, and the murderer’s intentions were confusing at best. I felt like the ending was very unsatisfying as well, and there were no “twists” like the synopsis promises. 

The writing style in this book feels very amateurish and is annoyingly repetitive. There are sentences like, “Her cupcake was left uneaten on the table where she’d left it,” as well as multiple sentences in a row saying the same thing. 

Mandrake and a Murder is fast-paced if only because it leaves out many necessary details. I actually struggled to get through it, and the novel is only 189 pages. This book is full of inconsistencies and a frustrating lack of anything exciting. 

I didn’t care about any of the characters, I didn’t care about the murder or who did it, I didn’t care what happened with the plot. That’s honestly how I felt during the entire book: I just didn’t care. I won’t be continuing with the series and I would not recommend. 

Review: SPELLMAKER by Charlie N. Holmberg

 

Rating: 5/5 stars

I really enjoyed Spellmaker, even more so than I enjoyed Spellbreaker, and this series solidified for me that I absolutely must read everything by Charlie Holmberg. I’ve finished two series from her now and loved them both, and since she has written almost twenty books, I have lots more on my to-read list that I’m eagerly anticipating. 

This book picks up right where the first one left off, so there will be minor spoilers here for how Spellbreaker ended. (Also, don’t read the synopsis for this book if you don’t want to be spoiled. It reveals a lot of plot points that happen later in the story that truly shocked me since I didn’t read the synopsis before I read the book.) 

Elsie now knows who’s behind the mysterious magician murders and opus thefts, but she can’t publicly reveal how she knows this information without also revealing that she’s an unregistered spellbreaker, which is highly illegal. She must stop the murderer and thief without incriminating herself along the way, but the criminal has other plans: persuade Elsie to join her instead. With Bacchus by her side, Elsie goes on quite an unexpected adventure in this exciting fast-paced romantic historical fantasy. 

I love that this series does not feel too historical even though it’s set in London in 1895. The Victorian England setting here does not play a huge role, which is something I loved since I don’t really care for historical fiction, but I know some other readers will dislike this aspect if they love that time period. Spellmaker was focused on character development and plot development, and the setting really only shows itself in the mannerisms and dress of the characters. 

The Spellbreaker duology has a slow-burn but very swoon-worthy romance. I absolutely loved Bacchus and Elsie together. They didn’t even kiss in the first book but the build-up was tense and watching how their relationship played out in the sequel had me giddy with excitement. It’s completely worth the wait for these two, and one of my favorite romance tropes is involved also!

There were a lot of threads woven together to create this novel. I was worried with so many plot points and questions posed along the way that some pieces would get buried beneath others, but Holmberg does a good job of tying up all the loose ends by the end of the series. One of the worst offenses an author can make, in my opinion, is to leave clues through a book or series that lead nowhere, creating subplots that peter off and posing questions that ultimately go unanswered and leave the reader feeling unfulfilled. It is so frustrating and disappointing. (I’m still mad at Brent Weeks for doing this to us in The Burning White…) So while I was worried this book was headed in that direction, rest assured that all threads and subplots wrap up satisfactorily to create a very satisfying conclusion.

However, even though the ending nicely wrapped up all the plotlines and didn’t leave any questions unanswered, I still really want a third book, set like five years in the future or something. We could see Elsie and Bacchus splitting their time between London and Barbados, maybe with a baby, and we could get to see Elsie publicly embrace her full spellbreaking abilities and maybe solve another crime or two. Charlie Holmberg could easily give us another book, add more canonical details of Elsie’s life in the future, but I doubt this will ever happen. I just loved this series so much, and I love Elsie and Bacchus together so much, that I just want to read as much as possible about them. 

I highly recommend the Spellbreaker duology for those interested in cozy mysteries, historical fantasy, unique magic systems, clean romance, fast-paced plots, and well-written storylines.