Review: Eliza & Her Monsters

Eliza & Her Monsters | Francesca Zappia

Published by: Greenwillow Books, May 30th 2017

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Comics

Pages: 400

Format: Ebook

Source: Greenwillow, via Edelweiss

Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she’s worked for begins to crumble.

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, smart, and friendless. Online, Eliza is LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza’s persona is popular. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community. Then Wallace Warland transfers to her school, and Eliza begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart. With pages from Eliza’s webcomic, as well as screenshots from Eliza’s online forums, this uniquely formatted book will appeal to fans of Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona and Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl.

My favourite contemporary ever. And to think I never used to like the genre. This dumb book stole my heart.

I can't even begin to explain how hard I connected with this, with the characters and the story, as both a member of many fandoms and  as a creator. Everything, from the characterisation, to the online friendships, to the fandoms, to the romance, to the family life just meant SO MUCH. And the art was PERFECT, I badly want to read Monstrous Sea. I have nothing but emotions for this book - no comments or issues or whatever I usually say in reviews. I just honestly loved this so much, and it HURT me so much, but I love it more for it. That ending was unfair for a long while and, not gonna lie, I cried for the whole last 30% non-stop, at first because it broke my heart and then because it mended it. I want to read this all over again.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★★

Review: Graveyard Shift

Graveyard Shift | Michael F. Haspil

Published by: Tor Books, July 18th 2017

Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

Pages: 352

Format: Hardback

Source: Tor Books

Police procedurals go supernatural in this gritty urban fantasy debut 

Alex Menkaure, former pharaoh and mummy, and his vampire partner, Marcus, who was born in ancient Rome, once hunted evil vampires for UMBRA, a super-secret unit of the NSA. That was before the discovery of a blood substitute and a Supreme Court ruling allowed thousands of vampires to integrate into society.

Now, Alex and Marcus are vice cops in a special police unit. They fight to keep the streets safe from criminal vampires, shape-shifters, blood-dealers, and anti-vampire vigilantes.

When someone starts poisoning the artificial blood, race relations between vampires and humans deteriorate to the brink of anarchy. While the city threatens to tear itself apart, Alex and Marcus must form an unnatural alliance with a vigilante gang and a shape-shifter woman in a desperate battle against an ancient vampire conspiracy.

If they succeed, they'll be pariahs, hunted by everyone. If they fail, the result will be a race-war bloodierthan any the world has ever seen.

Gritty urban fantasy and hard-boiled noir packed into a hand grenade of awesome! Mario Acevedo, author of Werewolf Smackdown 

I wanted to like this book SO MUCH. A guy who used to be a mummy but who's now part of a special vampire branch of the police? Sign me the heck up. But I just could not get into the writing style. It's very detail-packed, down to the specific type of gun used, and I just could not connect with the voice. But that's a 100% personal thing, and I know a tonne of people will love this book.

Characters ★★★☆☆

Setting/world ★★★☆☆

Writing ★★☆☆☆

Review: Young Avengers, Volume Two

Young Avengers: Volume Two: Alternative Culture | Kieron Gillen, Kate Brown, Jamie McKelvie

Published by: Marvel, January 2nnd 2014

Genre: YA, Comics, Science Fiction, Superheroes

Pages: 112

Format: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Collects Young Avengers (2013) #6-10. Ever wonder what the super hero equivalent of a terrible soul-sucking, talent-wasting temp job is? Wonder what Tommy (aka Speed) has been up to? Wonder why mutant David Alleyne (aka Prodigy) hasn't been even in the background in any one of the eight thousand X-books? Discover answers herein! Then: existential horror turns cosmic horror as something emerges from the shadows of the past...and it seems that the Young Avengers have one more thing to worry about. The team races desperately across the multi verse in pursuit of their missing friend, but their road trip goes crazy as it reaches its desti nati on. Because its desti nati on is mainly excitement and heartbreak. Several Young Avengers decide what to do next. The question is, whether they stay Young Avengers! Plus: Are you ready for Mother's Day?

I swear I blinked and it was over. This is too good and too easy to read - I want more in each volume!!!! The characters, the storylines, the snark and bickering, EVERYTHING is perfect but these volumes are never anywhere near long enough. I love this whole gang and I want 1000x the amount of adventures we get.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Review: Fourth World

The Iamos Trilogy: Fourth World | Lyssa Chiavari

Published by: Snowy Wings Publishing, December 28th 2015

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Time Travel

Pages: 338

Format: Ebook

Source: Author, via Netgalley

Life on Mars isn't all it's cracked up to be when you're Isaak Contreras. Ever since his dad disappeared two years ago, Isaak's been struggling to keep up in school, and he never seems to be able to live up to his mom's high expectations. But everything changes when he finds an ancient coin among his missing father's possessions. The coin makes him a target of both the Martian colonial government and a crazed scientist with a vendetta--and it leads him to a girl from another time named Nadin, who believes that Isaak might just hold the key to saving both their worlds. That is, if they can survive long enough to use it...

I really, really love the archaeology/geology bits of this book, and I wasn't expecting them at all. I thought it'd be a pretty typical space book (which, lets be fair, I love SO MUCH) so I was totally surprised to find all the excavation and the mystery (and the doorway/gate stuff, which made this book so much cooler!)

The first half of Fourth World is by far my favourite. I'm still not sure if I actually like the citidome parts - I was really wishing for more excavation, wanting to go back to that even though the sinister controlling forces of Iamos were really compelling and I liked Nadin's journey. I much prefer Isaak to Nadin, though (maybe why I prefer the first half...) and found it a bit hard to connect with her.

Overall, I really enjoyed this sci-fi thriller, and its inventive and creative colonisation of Mars!

Characters ★★★☆☆

Setting/world ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆

Review: Dreamfall

Dreamfall: Dreamfall | Amy Plum

Published by: HarperTeen, May 2nd 2017

Genre: YA, Horror, Science Fiction

Pages: 288

Format: Ebook

Source: HarperTeen, via Edelweiss

Cata Cordova suffers from such debilitating insomnia that she agreed to take part in an experimental new procedure. She thought things couldn’t get any worse...but she was terribly wrong.

Soon after the experiment begins, there’s a malfunction with the lab equipment, and Cata and six other teen patients are plunged into a shared dreamworld with no memory of how they got there. Even worse, they come to the chilling realization that they are trapped in a place where their worst nightmares have come to life. Hunted by creatures from their darkest imaginations and tormented by secrets they’d rather keep buried, Cata and the others will be forced to band together to face their biggest fears. And if they can’t find a way to defeat their dreams, they will never wake up.

This book is stand-out, gripping, utterly terrifying AWESOMENESS - but couldn't it have been a stand alone? For some reason I got it in my head that this wasn't the first of a series and that end left me disappointed; I wanted a solution. But I'm 100% gonna read the next book, no doubt about it.

I love how this is split into what's happening with the dreamers (i.e straight up horror) and the sci-fi experiment that put them in the nightmares in the first place. I had no expectations when it came to this book, so it was a total surprise when it blew me away. Eerie, creeping, dark fiction - I love this stuff. It reminded me in tone of A Drop of Night, which I ADORED, and I really want to read more sci-fi/fantasy horror - Dreamfall made me thirsty for more of the genre.

The other thing the book does amazingly, as well as the creepy, unsettlingness of the story, is the way the characters interact, keep secrets, and face their fears. There's inclusion of abuse survivors, a neuroatypical character, POC characters (one of whom is a pretty awesome scientist), and people suffering with insomnia, obviously, along with other sleep disorders. This all affects the way they keep secrets, and manifest their dreams in different ways. Plus, the monsters in their dreams are Messed Up which made reading them even better...

My only issue is Cata, a main character, sees another character without a hat (when they've always worn a hat before) and is suddenly like, oh she's a girl. This whole thing made me feel uncomfortable, especially the switch from the He pronoun (which the character in question raised no issue with, so was obviously okay with applying to them) to the She pronoun without any conversation, just a decision from Cata because a person suddenly appeared female. But other than that? Utterly dark, scary deliciousness. I want more!!!

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Review: Royal Enchantment

Camelot Reborn: Royal Enchantment | Sharon Ashwood

Published by: Harlequin Nocturne, July 1st 2017

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Mythology

Pages: 304

Format: Ebook

Source: Harlequin Nocturne, via Netgalley

She married the king. She wanted the man. 

Guinevere's marriage to Arthur was a political partnership, never a romance. Merlin knows that the king's court, newly restored at a medieval theme park, will only be complete if Arthur has his lady. Little did anyone suspect that once Guinevere gets a taste of twenty-first-century freedoms that this ancient queen would lose interest in belonging to any man—even a royal one. 

It takes a dragon, and some passionate nights spent in each other's arms, to lure her back to her husband's side. Arthur is willing to accept Gwen's help in protecting the new Camelot from a fae menace, but the bigger challenge will be wooing back Guinevere for a second chance at love…

Oh hey, this was awesome.

I had some reservations in the beginning, when Arthur was (accurate to his era's attitudes, to be fair) controlling, belittling of Gwen, and an all-around DICK. But the best thing about this book by far is the GROWTH. These characters grow so much, Gwen from a downtrodden woman who has no voice to a woman who talks up for herself and takes action despite the restrictions placed on her, and Arthur from a domineering, controlling prick to a man who listens, learns, and does better. Honestly, I love how flawed they are. Their relationship is a real one - messy, hurtful, and ultimately hard won and hopeful and fulfilling. The writing is exceptional, and made the love, the hurt, (and yeah, the awesome fantasy elements) so vivid and real.

To touch on the fantasy an action parts of this book (of which there were SO MANY MORE than I expected, which I loved), there's so much myth and legends and awesome creatures packed into this - it's exciting from page one. Arthurian legend, a theme park, dragons, fae, and knights, all packed into modern day times. One of the things I love about romance series is I can (like I did with this book) come into the series at any book, but I really want to read the first two of this series!!

Fantasy, mythology, and vividly real romance make this book stand out. I loved it!

Characters ★★★★☆

Setting/world ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆

Review: Iron Cast

Iron Cast | Destiny Soria

Published by: Amulet Books, October 11th 2016

Genre: YA, Historical, Fantasy

Pages: 384

Format: Ebook

Source: Amulet, via Edelweiss

In 1919, Ada Navarra—the intrepid daughter of immigrants—and Corinne Wells—a spunky, devil-may-care heiress—make an unlikely pair. But at the Cast Iron nightclub in Boston, anything and everything is possible. At night, on stage together, the two best friends, whose “afflicted” blood gives them the ability to create illusions through art, weave magic under the employ of Johnny Dervish, the club’s owner and a notorious gangster. By day, Ada and Corinne use these same skills to con the city’s elite in an attempt to keep the club afloat.

When a “job” goes awry and Ada is imprisoned, she realizes they’re on the precipice of danger. Only Corinne—her partner in crime—can break her out of Haversham Asylum. But once Ada is out, they face betrayal at every turn.

Why did I wait so long to read this??? It was AWESOME. Girls being besties, the most unique, fascinating magic, 1920s (ish) setting that ISN'T New York for a change, gang drama, and a side of romance. Not to mention it deals with racism and attitudes towards immigrants, is pretty darn feminist, has a black main character, and has gay side characters. Is there anything NOT to love?

Honestly, I can't find a single fault. It's action packed, full of mystery and wonder and friendships that make my heart so full, and it's written faultlessly. I want another book in this world! (Saint POV please??)

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Review: Now I Rise

Conquerors Saga: Now I Rise  | Kiersten White

Published by: Corgi Childrens, July 6th 2017

Genre: YA, Historical

Pages: 480

Format: Ebook

Source: Corgi, via Netgalley

Lada Dracul has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself. After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada is out to punish anyone who dares to cross her blood-strewn path. Filled with a white-hot rage, she storms the countryside with her men, accompanied by her childhood friend Bogdan, terrorizing the land. But brute force isn’t getting Lada what she wants. And thinking of Mehmed brings little comfort to her thorny heart. There’s no time to wonder whether he still thinks about her, even loves her. She left him before he could leave her.

What Lada needs is her younger brother Radu’s subtlety and skill. But Mehmed has sent him to Constantinople—and it’s no diplomatic mission. Mehmed wants control of the city, and Radu has earned an unwanted place as a double-crossing spy behind enemy lines. Radu longs for his sister’s fierce confidence—but for the first time in his life, he rejects her unexpected plea for help. Torn between loyalties to faith, to the Ottomans, and to Mehmed, he knows he owes Lada nothing. If she dies, he could never forgive himself—but if he fails in Constantinople, will Mehmed ever forgive him?

As nations fall around them, the Dracul siblings must decide: what will they sacrifice to fulfill their destinies? Empires will topple, thrones will be won . . . and souls will be lost. 

I did not think this book would ever surpass And I Darken, but boy was I wrong. I'm gonna lay out my thoughts:

-Lada is my fave ever. I love her viciousness, her drive to get what she wants, and how she fights for abused women. Hell yes.

- I freaking loved Radu???!!! So confused. I went into this not really fussed, but now I respect him so much and I love him. I think it's because we get to really see him as himself, away from Mehmed in this.

-Radu/Nazira are friendship goals and also marriage goals tbh

-I want to keep Cyprian forever and ever. He's (mostly) new to this book but I know everyone's gonna love him. Precious, kind, smol gay son.

-Daciana is my new fave (really hope I remembered her name right, because I almost called her Daniela) I love everything about her, and she and Stefan are super cute.

-Oh, and the brutality of the plot is awesome, this book is written INSANELY WELL and paced even better, and the war is so vivid and cunning and everything I wanted it to be. But mostly the characters! I love the characters, they're everything!

-My one complaint? I wish Hunyadi had lived!

-I finished Now I Rise and immediately missed it. I wish book 3 wasn't so far away!

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★