Tag: books

Book Review: The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, by P. Djèlí Clark   

Image belongs to Tor Publishing Group.

Title:  The Dead Cat Tail Assassins  
Author:  P. Djèlí Clark        
Genre:  Fantasy       
Rating:  4 out of 5

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.

Nor do they have tails.

But they are most assuredly dead.

Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins—resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories—have only three unbreakable vows.

First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.

Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.

The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.

I thought this was unique and a bit quirky, and I liked the world quite a bit. I enjoyed Eveen’s personality a lot and would be happy reading more about her. This was a solid, fun read. Honestly, my only problem with this was when the gods showed up at the end, their dialect was almost incomprehensible. I’ve seen patois done really well, and this was not it.  There was some almost-contemporary slang throughout the rest of the story, so having the gods’ conversation be unintelligible didn’t really make sense to me.

P. Djèlí Clark is an award-winning author. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is his newest novella.

(Galley courtesy of Tor Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #303

This was a very challenging week at work, so I didn’t get much reading done, and only one book review written, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, by P. Djèlí Clark (out tomorrow). I did manage to eke out five fiction sessions as well, but that was a close thing.

Happy writing!

Book Review: All’s Fair in Love and Treachery, by Celeste Connally  

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: All’s Fair in Love and Treachery
Author: Celeste Connally       
Genre: historical fiction
Rating:  4 out of 5

June, 1815. London may be cheering the news of Napoleon’s surrender at Waterloo, but Lady Petra Forsyth has little to celebrate after discovering that the death of her viscount fiancé three years earlier was no accident. Instead, it was murder, and the man responsible is her handsome, half-Scottish secret paramour Duncan Shawcross—yet the scoundrel has disappeared, leaving only a confusing riddle about long-forgotten memories in his wake.

So what’s a lady to do when she can’t hunt down her traitorous lover? She concentrates on a royal assignment instead. Queen Charlotte has tasked Petra with attending an event at the Asylum for Female Orphans and making inquiries surrounding the death of the orphanage’s matron. What’s more, there may be a link between the matron’s death and a group of radicals with ties to the aristocracy, as evidenced by an intercepted letter. Then, Petra overhears a nefarious conversation with two other men about a plot to topple the monarchy, set to take place during three days of celebrations currently gripping London. As the clock counts down and London’s streets teem with revelers, Petra’s nerves are fraying as her past and present collide. Yet while all’s fair in love and war, she can never surrender, especially when more orphaned girls may be in trouble. And to save their lives, the monarchy itself, and even her own heart, Lady Petra must face her fears with the strength of an army of soldiers and fight with the heart of a queen.

This blurb isn’t strictly accurate, as Petra and Duncan’s relationship isn’t exactly a secret. And…I had trouble believing that Petra found a random anonymous scribble that’s less than two sentences long and suddenly believes that Duncan, who she’s known her entire life, murdered her ex-fiancé/his best friend. Nope. Not believable. Apart from that,  this was a solid Regency mystery read, and I enjoyed it for the most part, although it felt very contemporary.

Celeste Connally is an Agatha Award nominee. All’s Fair in Love and Treachery is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Midnights With You, by Clare Osongco

Image belongs to Disney Hyperion.

Title:  Midnights With You  
Author: Clare Osongco        
Genre: YA         
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

“Where were you thinking of going?”

“Nowhere.”

“Great,” he says lightly, putting the car in gear. “Then we’ll go there.”

Seventeen-year-old Deedee’s life is full of family ghosts and questions she can’t ask. She longs for an escape, but guilt holds her back—that, and the fact that her strict Filipino single mom won’t let her learn to drive. But one sleepless night leads Deedee down a road she never thought possible: secret driving lessons with the new boy next door, Jay, whose turbulent family life also keeps him up until sunrise.

As midnights stretch into days, Jay helps Deedee begin to unravel her past, and as shared secrets blossom into love, Deedee starts to imagine a life where happiness is possible. But the deeper she digs into the trauma that has shaped her, the more that trauma threatens to tear Deedee and Jay apart. Together, these two must decide if the pain they’ve both inherited has the power to choose their fate, or if they have the power to choose for themselves.

Deedee’s mom was pretty horrible through most of this—and a liar, to boot. I didn’t care for that, but Deedee wasn’t entirely a sympathetic character either. She was self-absorbed and selfish and had moments of bitterness that were off-putting. I felt like this was very slow in some parts, and was never really fast paced, so my attention wandered a bit. I liked Deedee, but she was sometimes hard for me to read.

Clare Osongco lives in L.A. Midnights With You is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Disney Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.)

 

Book Review:  Rules for Camouflage, by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

Image belongs to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Title: Rules for Camouflage  
Author: Kirstin Cronn-Mills
Genre: YA        
Rating:  4 out of 5

Evvie Chambers is doing her best to skate through the last month of high school to graduation. The only thing standing in her way is a biology report on foxes—and her teacher, Mrs. Audrey Dearborn. The same Mrs. Dearborn who’s been a thorn in Evvie’s side for years, refusing to acknowledge or accommodate her neurodiversity. Evvie would much rather be doing her report on Aretha, the octopus she cares for when she volunteers at the Minnesota Zoo but deviating from the exact assignment isn’t allowed—and Mrs. Dearborn isn’t going to make following the rules easy.

Evvie’s only escape from high school hell is the Lair: a safe haven for kids whose brains need some time away. But when Mrs. Dearborn refuses Evvie’s pleas to finesse the final report assignment to her strengths, and persistent bully Vandal McDaniel directs his harassment toward Lair members, Evvie finds herself more desperate than ever for stability and support.

When a shocking act of violence pushes the whole mess over the edge, Evvie, with the help of her friends and the others who love her, will have to figure out how to find her place in the wide world, while remaining true to herself.

I enjoyed this read—especially the scenes with Aretha, who was absolutely magical. I liked seeing how Evvie’s mind worked, and to a certain extent, the other kids in the Lair, too. I didn’t really care for a couple of scenes where Evvie and some of the other kids thought their neurodivergent brains meant the rules didn’t apply to them. While I didn’t care for Mrs. Dearborn and her ugly personality, Evvie’s refusal to follow the rules of the assignment was glossed over and made to seem sympathetic, but, yea, it’s not. This was a solid, entertaining read.

Kirstin Cronn-Mills lives in Minnesota. Rules for Camouflage is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #302

This was a fantastic writing week! I got in five fiction sessions, and four book reviews, all forthcoming: Rules for Camouflage, by Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Midnights With You, by Clare Osongco, and All’s Fair in Love and Treachery, by Celeste Connally will all be live this week. The Keeper, by Charles Martin, won’t be live until mid-March, but it was a wonderful read!

Happy writing!

Book Review:  The Gardener’s Plot, by Deborah J. Benoit

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  The Gardener’s Plot  
Author:   Deborah J. Benoit 
Genre:  Mystery       
Rating:  3.8 out of 5

After life threw Maggie Walker a few curveballs, she’s happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her, and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so it’s only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden.

When opening day arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots… and there’s a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn’t believe her friend could do this, and she’s going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it.

This wasn’t a bad read, although Maggie veered over the line to nosiness as opposed to investigating at times. To me, it wasn’t believable that apparently so many people in this town had land lines instead of cell phones, and that no one ever carried their cell phones with them. Not realistic. The small town feel was well-done, and I enjoyed the gardening aspect, but I probably wouldn’t read any more books, if this were a series.

Deborah J. Benoit is from Massachusetts. The Gardener’s Plot is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)











































Website:    https://penpaperplant.com/author/djbwriter/  Amazon:    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CQHLJP9T/ref=x_gr_bb_kindle?caller=Goodreads&tag=x_gr_bb_kindle-20 Title:  The Gardener’s Plot  Author:   Deborah
J. Benoit       Genre:  Mystery       Rating:  3.8 out of 5 After life threw Maggie
Walker a few curveballs, she’s happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town
where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her,
and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so
it’s only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden. When opening day
arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things
go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots… and
there’s a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer
and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn’t believe her friend
could do this, and she’s going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it. This wasn’t a bad read,
although Maggie veered over the line to nosiness as opposed to investigating at
times. To me, it wasn’t believable that apparently so many people in this town
had land lines instead of cell phones, and that no one ever carried their cell
phones with them. Not realistic. The small town feel was well-done, and I enjoyed
the gardening aspect, but I probably wouldn’t read any more books, if this were
a series. Deborah J. Benoit is
from Massachusetts. The Gardener’s Plot is her debut novel. (Galley courtesy of St.
Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.) Book Review:  The Gardener’s Plot, by Deborah J. Benoit  

Book Review: Streetlight People, by Charlene Thomas  

Image belongs to Penguin Group.

Title:  Streetlight People
Author:  Charlene Thomas  
Genre:  YA       
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

For most, Streetlight is a dot on the map you pass on your way to somewhere else. But if you live there, you’re either a Have-Not, like Kady, or a Have-Lot like her boyfriend, Nik, who also happens to be a member of the exclusive social club, The IV Boys.

Known for their powerful families and the coveted ball they host for a selective guest list, The IV Boys have always refused to accept Kady regardless of how much Nik loves her. All the Boys except for Aaron, who didn’t grow up in Streetlight and is one of the few who knows that life—real life—exists outside of it. But his stepmom has the kind of wealth and power even IV Boys can’t resist.

With Nik at college, Aaron stands by Kady’s side. But all Kady really wants is Nik, and when a chance encounter on Halloween hands her the power to twist and hold time, she doesn’t hesitate. Now she can keep Nik close for as long as she wants.

While Kady tries to relive her best moments with Nik, the IV Boys have her in their sights. A rumor’s spreading that Kady and Aaron are much more than friends—and not even twisting time is enough to defend against the power that the Boys were born with.

The more Kady changes the clock, the more dizzying reality becomes, until she stumbles upon a truth darker than anything she could have imagined. Streetlight is filled with monsters—and maybe she’s always been one, too.

This book. Part of me was like, “What is happening here?” All of me was completely engrossed in the story and finding out what the heck was going on! I loved Kady and her friends—they were so much fun, and their friendship felt authentic and was something I wanted to be a part of.

I actually liked Nik, too, for the most part. I enjoyed the parts of his and Kady’s relationship that we saw, and I understood her happiness—and her frustration. Streetlight itself gave me the creeps—that whole small-town, everybody-in-your-business thing is not for me—but it felt real. I highly recommend this read!

Charlene Thomas is from Maryland. Streetlight People is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin Group in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #301

This was an excellent writing week! I got in five fiction sessions, my October reading post, the best books I read in October, and four book reviews: The Debutantes, by Olivia Worley, Thieves’ Gambit, by Kayvion Lewis, Streetlight People, by Charlene Thomas (review forthcoming), and The Gardener’s Plot (review forthcoming), by Deborah J. Benoit.

Happy writing!

The Best Books I Read in October (2024)

In October, I read 24 books, bringing my total for the year to 191 books read. Most of those were solid reads, but a few were really excellent.

Betrayal at Blackthorn Park, by Julia Kelly I’ve loved most of Julia Kelly’s books, but I’m really liking the Evelyn Redfern series. Excellent writing, vibrant characters, and enough mystery to keep me hooked.

The Blonde Identity, by Ally Carter. I LOVED this. I was hooked from the opening sentences and could easily have binge-read it in one sitting. Lots of action, steamy flirting, and the banter was fantastic.

Streetlight People, by Charlene Thomas. I enjoyed this so much, but I’m still not quite sure what to make of it. The friendships were so well-done and believable I wanted to hang out with these people! I had no clue what was going on with the candies—or what was going to happen—but I was desperate to find out.