Category: awesomeness

Book Review: Unmarriageable, by Soniah Kamal

Title: Unmarriageable
Author: Soniah Kamal
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a girl can go from pauper to princess or princess to pauper in the mere seconds it takes for her to accept a proposal.”

This is the belief that Alys Binat, second of five daughters and a literature teacher, faces in her students, girls who will likely marry instead of finishing school. That’s just how things are in Pakistan in the early 2000s, but Alys hopes to influence some of her students, nonetheless. Then her family is invited to the society wedding of the year, and her mother sees it as the perfect opportunity to showcase her five daughters.

The eldest, sweet Jena, catches the eye of “Bungles” Bingla, a wealthy entrepreneur, and Mrs. Binat is convinced a proposal is imminent. Alys and her best friend, Sherry, who is determined to marry so she can escape her home life, watch in amusement—and horror—as Aly’s mom and other three sisters—uber-religious Mari, flighty Lady, and artistic Qitty—make a less than stellar impression on Bungles’ sisters and very rich Valentine Darsee, his best friend. Alys hears Darsee’s scathing remarks about her and writes him off as a jerk.

But fate—and Jena and Bungles’ romance—keep throwing Alys and Darsee back into proximity, and Alys discovers the haughty man might not be quite as horrible as she thought. When Lady’s antics destroy the Binat family’s chances of ever holding their heads up in public, no one can save them. Except, maybe, Mr. Darsee.

Fact: I love Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen had a phenomenal insight into people and portrayed them very well. Fact: I know basically nothing about Pakistani culture.

Unmarriageable is a close re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, but it’s still its own story. The characters’ names made me laugh—Bungles—but there’s enough of the original in them to make them feel like old friends. I found Mr. Binat much more ineffectual than Mr. Bennet, but everyone else I enjoyed. Even Lady, annoyingly oblivious as she was. Alys was much more of a feminist than Elizabeth Bennet, but I love how her mind worked, and how quick she was to grasp her own mistakes. I highly recommend this!

Soniah Kamal was born in Pakistan, but grew up in England and Saudi Arabia and now lives in the U.S. She is an award-winning author and a creative-writing teacher. Unmarriageable is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.)

What I Read in 2018

Yearly total: 192 out of a goal of 150 books.

January 2018. (15)

February 2018. (13)

March 2018. (13)

April 2018. (15)

May 2018. (16)

June 2018. (11)

July 2018. (17)

August 2018. (19)

September 2018. (14)

October 2018. (21)

November 2018. (22)

December 2018 (18).

Here’s a link to my Goodreads Challenge page.

Book Review: The Iron Flower, by Laurie Forest

the iron flower

Title: The Iron Flower
Author: Laurie Forest
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: 5 out of 5

High Priest Marcus Vogel and his influence—not to mention his army—is spreading quickly, along with his hate-filled, racist beliefs. The Gardnerian soldiers are tightening their hold everywhere, and the strict laws make life difficult, not to mention the fear their cruelty instills. Every non-Gardnerian is a target, and death is the sentence for many.

Elloren Gardner may be the granddaughter of a murderess, but she is a mage with almost no power. She’s determined to fight to save her friends and family. For Elloren, “family” is her brothers, her uncle, and her friends—of all races and species. Most of all, she wishes she weren’t Gardnerian and seen as the enemy by many she wants to help. As if that isn’t enough, she is the very image of her evil grandmother—and even the forest whispers dark things against her.

As the darkness around her grows worse, Elloren struggles to find a way out for her friends and family—any way out—and is willing to risk her life to save whoever she can. Then there’s Lukas Grey, commander of the military base and determined to win Elloren over, no matter what. The pull between them is strong, but Elloren has no way of knowing which side he’s truly on—or what he wants.

Let me say that I have not read The Black Witch, the first book in this series, but that did not detract from my enjoyment of The Iron Flower. (And, I’ll be buying and reading it immediately!) This was a fantastic read, and I was drawn in from the very first page. Elloren is fighting her heritage and what she’s always known as she realizes just how horrible those beliefs are. Diversity is something the Gardnerians hate, but Elloren sees its beauty—and will fight to protect it. This is a dark book, but completely compelling, and I read it in about 24 hours, staying up far too late to find out what happens!

Laurie Forest lives and writes in the woods of Vermont. The Iron Flower is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Once a King, by Erin Summerill

Title: Once a King
Author: Erin Summerill
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: 5 out of 5

The kingdom of Malam has a dark history of persecuting Channelers, women with magical ability, but now the young king, Aodren is seeking to end the persecution and unite his kingdom. But decades of hatred cannot be undone with words, and rumors of a Channeler-made drug are causing fears to burst into flame, and violence to erupt.

Lirra was born in Malam, but her father fled when she was an infant, after her mother was murdered. She distrusts Malam and its new young king, and wants only to perform in the magic showcase, her chance to let her talents shine. But the deadly drug makes a kingdoms-wide summit even more dangerous, and soon Lirra is forced to work with Aodren as they try to find the source of the mysterious drug—and who’s behind it—before Malam’s future is destroyed forever.

This is a standalone, but it’s linked to the other books in the Clash of Kingdoms series, and I had no trouble picking this up without reading the first two (which sometimes does NOT work out). The worldbuilding was fantastic, and the sense of history gave so many compelling layers to this story! The characters are struggling to work together despite the many things that should make that impossible, as they do everything they can to overcome years and a culture of hatred. Highly recommended!

Erin Summerill is an award-winning author. Once a King is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by HMH Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Lying Woods, by Ashley Elston

Title: The Lying Woods
Author: Ashley Elston
Genre: YA
Rating: 5 out of 5

Owen Foster is in the middle of a prank war with his best friend Jack when his mom shows up at his fancy New Orleans boarding school. Owen knows it can’t be good news, and it’s not—his dad has disappeared with millions of dollars from the family business that supports most of their small town.

Owen and his mom are the most hated people in town. Most people think they knew what his dad was up to, or at least where he is now, and the threats soon turn to violence. To escape all the anger, Owen finds himself working for Gus on a practically-abandoned pecan farm outside of town.

Owen doesn’t want to believe his father stole the money, but all the evidence points towards him. Soon Owen realizes that someone must have helped his dad, and he’s determined to unravel the mystery and keep his mother safe.

The Lying Woods is told in alternate viewpoints between Owen now, and his father in the past, the year he first came to work for Gus. I’m not generally a fan of male POV characters in YA, but I loved this one. Owen is complex: everything he thinks he knows gets upended in this book, and he has to figure out the new world he inhabits now. He’s hurting from his dad’s betrayal, worried about his mom, and missing his friends, but he learns to see things from other people’s point-of-view as he struggles to right the wrongs he encounters. Definitely read this! I realized after reading this that I’d also read Elston’s The Rules for Disappearing, and it was a great read as well, so she just moved to my must-read list.

Ashley Elston lives and writes in Louisiana. The Lying Woods is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Disney-Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Ministry of Ordinary Places, by Shannan Martin

Title: The Ministry of Ordinary Places
Author: Shannan Martin
Genre: Nonfiction, Christian
Rating: 5 out of 5

Many people dream of big ministries in places they feel at home in, surrounded by people like them. Shannan Martin found that that sort of ministry wasn’t her destiny at all. Instead, she ended up in a working-class neighborhood in Goshen, Indiana—okay, a neighborhood where sometimes finding a job to work at is hard—an ordinary place, surrounded by ordinary people who might be wildly different on the surface, but who are alike at heart: struggling and in need of love.

Truly paying attention to both the big things and the small can open your eyes to the truth in the world around you, and Shannan built a home amidst people who were willing to do life together—no matter how hard that is at times. Sometimes, when God calls people to ministry, it’s not a Billy Graham-style of ministry. Instead, it’s smaller, quieter, and has a profound effect on the people around us, the people who make up our lives.

This book. This book. Usually when I read nonfiction, I can only read a few pages at a time, but I wanted to read large chunks of this at a time. Shannan’s writing is so powerful and evocative, full of truth that touches the heart and opens the mind to broader ideas of home—and what that can look like.

Shannan Martin is a writer and speaker. The Ministry of Ordinary Places is her newest book.

(Galley provided by Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Umbertouched, by Livia Blackburne

Title: Umbertouched
Author: Livia Blackburne
Genre: YA, fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5

Zivah and Dineas failed at their mission and barely escaped with their lives. They have information, but they have no proof of what they know. They desperately need to get home before Ampara attacks their people—who need to be warned of the looming danger.

Dineas spent months thinking he was an Amparan soldier—and now his fellow Shidadi warriors question his loyalty—as does he. Zivah made choices during their mission that broke her healer’s vows, and she’s not sure she can ever regain what she lost—especially when the leaders ask the unthinkable of her. She and the Dineas from Sehmar City were in love, but that Dineas is gone now, leaving both stumbling over their feelings and their history. As Zivah’s plague symptoms return, she struggles to come to terms with her reality—and Dineas fights battles of his own.

I loved Rosemarked, and Umbertouched is just as good! These characters and this world are so vivid and so compelling, that I just can’t put the books down. Zivah is a strong person, but she struggles under so many burdens, afraid to hope as she suffers. And Dineas is torn between two truths: his whole life as a Shidadi warrior, and his brief time as an Amparan soldier.

Livia Blackburne has a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from MIT. Umbertouched is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Disney Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Traveling Cat Chronicles, by Hiro Arikawa

Title: The Traveling Cat Chronicles
Author: Hiro Arikawa
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Nana is a proud stray cat who doesn’t need an owner, but he doesn’t mind the crunchies nice Satoru puts out for him. When Nana is hit by a car, he knows Satoru is the only one who can help him. One visit to a vet and a healed broken leg later, and Nana decides staying with Satoru isn’t so bad.

Life is good until Satoru tries to give him away. But Nana is smart and thwarts the exchange. Satisfied, Nana thinks all is good—until Satoru tries to give him away again. Soon the two are traveling across the country in a silver van as Satoru visits scenes from his childhood—and soon Nana realizes there’s more going on that a cross-country vacation.

This is a charming, heartwarming book, and I ugly-cried at the end. True story. It’s hard to do a book written from an animal’s point-of-view well, and this one is so well done! Nana’s attitude—and his essential catness—is vividly drawn, and he’s one of the best narrators I’ve ever read.

Hiro Arikawa is an award-winning author. The Traveling Cat Chronicles is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.)

What I Read in October (2018)

Books Read in October: 21

Books Read for the Year: 153/150

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather (classic). I totally enjoyed this book, as well as the other two in the group.

A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park (cultural book). This novel, based on a true story about a survivor of the war in Sudan, was sad yet inspiring. Very quick read.

Year One, by Nora Roberts (TBR). Nora Roberts is one of the few “romance” authors I’ll read, mainly beause most of her books have a strong fantasy element. This isn’t a romance but a dystopian, and I enjoyed it.

Revelation, by Priscilla Shirer (spiritual). Wow. That’s all I can say.

For Review

trouble brewing

Trouble Brewing, by Suzanne Baltsar. I enjoyed this romance about a woman trying to break into the craft beer scene. Very colorful characters, and the secondary characters were great, too.

seasonofwonder

Season of Wonder, by RaeAnne Thayne. Sweet, simple romance about a woman with a troubled past who moves to a small town and finds herself attracted to a deputy sheriff.

words we don't say

Words We Don’t Say, by K.J. Reilly. Joel Higgins has almost a thousand unsent text messages on his phone. It’s just easier than actually communicating with people. His best friend is gone. He failed the SATs. And Eli has no idea he’s in love with her. But volunteering at the soup kitchen gives Joel something else to think about, and opens his eyes to the wider world around him. I enjoyed this a lot. Joel is conflicted and complex, and the author really lets the reader get into his head and see from his eyes.

theseventorments

The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig, by Don Zolidis. Nerdy Craig and popular Amy get together and break up, over and over again. This one was just kind of “meh” for me. I liked Craig and his nerdy friends, but Amy was kind of annoying the first half of the book.

my whole truth

My Whole Truth, by Mischa Thrace. This was a powerful book. 17-year-old Seelie has her three best friends, a mother who couldn’t care less about her, and is unpopular, at best, at school. When popular Shane attacks her and Seelie defends herself, killing Shane, she’s charged with murder, and the whole town turns against her. But Seelie can’t bear to talk about what really happened that day. Even if it will keep her from going to prison. You should definitely read this! (Warning: there are triggers here, so it’s not for everyone.)

TheDreamDaughter-cover

The Dream Daughter, by Diane Chamberlain. In 1970, Caroline receives news that her unborn baby has a serious heart defect and nothing can be done. Not then, anyway. I had a feeling this would be one of those books that don’t necessarily have a happy ending, but I read it anyway. A very well-written read, full of emotion and love.

thebonelessmercies

The Boneless Mercies, by April Genevieve Tucholke. “A dark standalone YA fantasy about a band of mercenary girls in search of female glory.” Mercenary girls, magic, and a Norse-esque setting? Wow. This was a heck of a read.

RoyalRunaway_4-4

The Royal Runaway, by Lindsay Emory. This fun read about a princess who was left at the altar and who teams up with a spy to find out what’s really going on was a quick, entertaining read.

Fromage a Trois, by Victoria Brownlee. I really enjoyed this light read about Ella, who moves to Paris in the aftermath of a breakup and ends up in a bet to try every type of French cheese as she discovers there’s more to love than she suspected.

returnofthesong

Return of the Song, by Phyllis Clark Nichols. This felt like a quiet book, but it was good! Caroline, still hurting from the death of her fiance 6 years ago, finds things are changing—even if she’s not sure she wants them to.

IRISH

An Irish Country Cottage, by Patrick Taylor (review forthcoming). Another “slow” read that was very enjoyable. Set in the 50’s in the Irish countryside.

salt

Salt, by Hannah Moskowitz. What if sea monsters were real? What if gypsy-like families sailed the oceans killing the monsters—without the world being any the wiser? Seventeen-year-old Indi has only known the life of hunting monsters, but with his parents gone, it’s only him and his siblings left to carry on. His older sister is intent on revenge. His younger brother seems destined to be a pirate. His younger sister is smart, and deserves a chance at whatever she wants to do. Indi just wants a normal life.

And isn’t the cover awesome?

the traveling cat chronicles

The Traveling Cat Chronicles, by Hiro Arikawa (review forthcoming). First of all, this is a bonus cultural book, since it’s set in Japan and translated from Japanese. This book. All the feels. It’s the story of Nana, a street cat who ends up with a human, and their travels together. So good. Fair warning: I was sobbing by the end.

chosen for christ

Chosen for Christ, by Heather Holleman (review forthcoming). And this book is a bonus spiritual read. Also a very good read.

umbertouched

Umbertouched, by Livia Blackburne (review forthcoming). I can’t tell you how excited I was to read this! I loved the first book, Rosemarked, and this one was just as good! This continues the story of Zivah and Dineas as they seek to save their people from war with the emperor–and the rose plague.

The Darkest Star, by Jennifer L. Armentrout (review forthcoming). I didn’t intend to read this in one sitting—but I did. Aliens, mystery, angst…this book had a few issues, but I enjoyed it as the entertaining read it was, and I intend to read the series.

Just Because

Smoke and Iron, by Rachel Caine. For some reason, I thought this was the final Great Library book. I’m glad it’s not. I flew through the pages, trying to find out what was going to happen to Jess and the gang. Not what I ever imagined of the Great Library of Alexandria.

Left Unfinished

The Last Sword Maker, by Brian Nelson. I made it about 15% of the way through this. It was supposed to be a technological thriller, but I never got to the thriller part, and the tech explanations just lost me.

Linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy for Quick Lit.

Book Review: The Boneless Mercies, by April Genevieve Tucholke

Title: The Boneless Mercies
Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Genre: Fantasy, young adult
Rating: 5 out of 5

Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are the Boneless Mercies. They have no homes, and no families but each other. They travel around dispensing death quickly, quietly, and mercifully when they are hired to. The sick wife with a lingering illness. The elderly man who feels he’s a burden on his children. The father with a child who is suffering and will never recover. The Mercies take care of them all and ease their way from this life.

But Frey and the others are tired of the death trade. When they hear of a ferocious monster rampaging a nearby region and killing everyone it meets, Frey decides it’s their one chance to make enough money to leave their old lives behind. The fame they will earn as well will give them a fresh start. But that monster isn’t the only obstacle they’ll face and ending up in the middle of a witches’ war might be the last thing they’ll do.

I loved this book! The concept was beyond unique, and the setting and mythology—reminiscent of the Norse—was compelling and detailed. There are layers in this story: layers of mythology, history, and culture that make it feel so vibrant and alive. l loved the characters as well. Their cohesiveness is wonderful, but their individuality really shines. Go read this!

April Genevieve Tucholke lives and writes in Oregon. The Boneless Mercies is her newest novel.

(Galley provided by Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/Farrar, Straus and Giroux in exchange for an honest review.)

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