Rat Queens, volumes 1 & 2 (Reviews)

Rat Queens: Sass & Sorcery | Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch

Published by: Image Comics, April 8th 2014

Genre: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Magic

Pages: 128

Format: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Who are the Rat Queens? 

A pack of booze-guzzling, death-dealing battle maidens-for-hire, and they're in the business of killing all god's creatures for profit. 

It's also a darkly comedic sass-and-sorcery series starring Hannah the Rockabilly Elven Mage, Violet the Hipster Dwarven Fighter, Dee the Atheist Human Cleric and Betty the Hippy Smidgen Thief. This modern spin on an old school genre is a violent monster-killing epic that is like Buffy meets Tank Girl in a Lord of the Rings world on crack! 

Collecting Rat Queens #1-5!

Fast and fun and fierce and FEMINIST? These ladies are my absolute faves ever, and Violet is LITERALLY ME. This comic is so empowering and honest and everything I ever wanted from a fantasy girl gang. Need vol 2 right the damn now.

Side note: POC, queer ladies, and girls with average and plus size bodies. Also no boob-displaying armour - REAL armour. Heeeeeell. Give this thing all the awards.

Characters ★★★★★

Art ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Rat Queens: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'rygoth | Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch

Published by: Image Comics, May 19th 2015

Genre: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Magic

Pages: 128

Format: Ebook

Source: Image Comics, via Netgalley

This booze-soaked second volume of RAT QUEENS reveals a growing menace within the very walls of Palisade. And while Dee may have run from her past, the bloated, blood-feasting sky god N’rygoth never really lets his children stray too far.

Collects RAT QUEENS #6-10

Just as clever and fun as the first volume, although I think this is my favourite because cute relationships are my weakness (and Hannah/Sawyer are pretty cute and hot, and Violet/OrcDave are just ADORABLE.) This series continues to be original and relatable (even if it does involve fighting giant squid monsters) and I really enjoyed the character back stories we got. The art is faultless (and I love that the ladies have differing body types), the characters are wholly genuine and witty and endearing, and the story itself is packed full of fun and action. I can't get enough of this series! 

If you haven't started Rat Queens yet, what in the heck are you waiting for?

Characters ★★★★★

Art ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Sleep No More (Review)

Charlotte Westing Chronicles: Sleep No More | Aprilnne Pike

Published by: HarperTeen, April 19th 2014

Genre: YA, Thriller, Paranormal, Mythology

Pages: 340

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

The blockbuster film Inception meets Lisa McMann's Wake trilogy in this dark paranormal thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Aprilynne Pike. This novel is also perfect for fans of Kelley Armstrong, Alyson Noel, and Kimberly Derting.

Charlotte Westing has a gift. She is an Oracle and has the ability to tell the future. But it doesn't do her much good. Instead of using their miraculous power, modern-day Oracles are told to fight their visions—to refrain from interfering. And Charlotte knows the price of breaking the rules. She sees it every day in her wheelchair-bound mother and the absence of her father. But when a premonition of a classmate's death is too strong for her to ignore, Charlotte is forced to make an impossible decision: continue following the rules or risk everything—even her sanity—to stop the serial killer who is stalking her town.

Reading this book was an exercise in patience, and if you know me at all, you'll know I have none. 0% patience. I wanted to slap every single character in their annoying face with every chapter I read.

First off I wanna say I liked the thriller aspects of the book, and the Oracle stuff was cool at first, though got really repetitive and I got a little tired with it. But THE CHARACTERS. First we have Charlotte, who meets a super creepy guy a good ten years older than her who says, basically, 'sup, I've been stalking you since you were a kid, and now I'm here to help with this super ominious piece of jewellery you should 100% wear when you sleep.' And she goes, essentially 'k, seems legit.' ????????? That's where I started losing interest. After that she goes on a supernatural quest to save every waif and stray in her town from being murdered (now this may just be me, but I just could not understand why she was so desperate to save a kid she'd spoken to in music class one time.) So my patience with her was at -100.

And then we have the creepy older dude, who I summed up best on Goodreads:

click to enlarge!

And the dishwater-dull love interest. Who, in any other book, might have been sweet. I'd just lost so much faith in this book by the time he came around.

But with all that said, I did really enjoy certain parts. The serial killer mystery was as thrilling as it promised, even if the killer was a flashing neon sign instead of a plot twist, and 'Shelby' wasn't a glaring shock either. And I did enjoy some Oracle parts. I just got so disillusioned with the characters that I started picking apart the rest of the book.

To sum: A good thriller with an interesting supernatural touch but the characters drove me mad.

Characters ★★☆☆☆

Setting/world building ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★☆☆

To be fair to Sleep No More, my rating would be more like 2.75 but 3 seems too high.

A School For Unusual Girls (ARC Review)

Stranje House: A School For Unusual Girls | Kathleen Baldwin

Published by: Tor Teen, May 19th 2015

Genre: YA, Historical

Pages: 352

Format: Ebook

Source: Tor Teen

It’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don't fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle the girls in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.

After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts...

A School For Unusual Girls was one of my most anticipated reads this year, and I am thrilled to report it is SO GOOD. You don't want to miss this one.

I knew from the very beginning, with the tone and the depth of history (no light history for this series!), that this was going to be good, but I completely underestimated how attached I'd grow to the characters. I fell for Sebastian (Hot Lord #1) as soon as the main character went careening through a secret passage and flying into his open arms. I loved Georgie as soon as I learned she blew up a barn in a scientific experiment. And together, they were always bound to have me yearning and screaming and wanting to smush their frustrating faces together. So the romance was, of course, perfect. We even get a lovely set up for the relationship in the next book, with Tess (another unusual girl) and Lord Ravencross (Hot Lord #2) and their romance is entirely different, with a snarky dynamic that had me squealing.

However - this book would have been nothing without lavish attention to detail, faultless world-building, and one hell of a plot. This book has them all. Not only does our heroine have to make a super secret invisible ink, and have the fate of Europe resting on her shoulders, but there are even more urgent dangers to avoid (ones that almost killed me and I am trying very hard not to spoil) and wicked foes to run from. I'm really excited to see where this series goes. There's a lot of content packed in this book, romance and action and mystery and tension, but I get the feeling the next book will ramp it up a gear, and I cannot wait. Mostly I can't wait to see Daneska get what's coming to her!

If you like historical novels rife with intrigue, impeccable hot Lords, and agonising, tense action, A School For Unusual Girls is the book for you.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Illusionarium (ARC Review)

Illusionarium | Heather Dixon

Published by: Greenwillow, May 19th 2015

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Steampunk, Alternative History (London)

Pages: 368

Format: Ebook

Source: Greenwillow, via Edelweiss

From the author of the acclaimed Entwined, a wholly original fantasy starring a dashing young apprentice scientist drawn into a world of adventure, fame, rebellion, and illusion. A dazzling journey that combines the evocative atmosphere of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus with the sparkling wit of Gail Carriger’s Etiquette & Espionage.

Jonathan is perfectly ordinary. But then—those magic words at the beginning of every good adventure—the king swoops into port, and Jonathan and his father are enlisted to find the cure to a deadly plague. Jonathan discovers that he’s a prodigy at working with a new chemical called fantillium, which creates shared hallucinations—or illusions. And just like that, he’s knocked off his path. Through richly developed parallel worlds, vivid action, a healthy dose of humor, and gorgeous writing, Heather Dixon spins a story that is breathtaking and wholly original.

I LOVED this book, so much more than I ever expected to. The blurb on Goodreads doesn't give much away, the cover is lovely but could be about anything*, and I'd not read Heather Dixon's previous book. What Illusionarium delivered, to my utter surprise, was a complex, exquisitely original story of parallel universes, perilous time limits, and a desperate rush for one boy to save his family from certain death.

The characters in this book are brilliant and bright, and I loved them all in different ways. Jonathan, the main character, is a total dork - he's lovely, and lost, and utterly ordinary. I would have, admittedly, preferred the book to be from the POV of Lockwood because I absolutely adore him, but I did appreciate Jonathan. Lockwood though - he's kind of an asshole, brash, noble, driven, handsome, A KNIGHT; what's not to love? I was absolutely desperate for Jonathan/Lockwood to be canon, because they had such chemistry and a great relationship growth, but alas, no luck there. Still, a pretty perfect book.

Illusionarium is a wild, fun romp through an alternative, steam powered London with vivid characters and a dark, looming threat. (Also, a standalone that's actually a standalone, not a book tricking you into another series!!)

*speaking of the cover - it appears almost as a romance with the boy and girl, though the female must be the MC's sister, and if she's on the cover, Lockwood should be with them.

Characters ★★★★☆

Setting/world building ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★☆

Blitz: Out of Control by Sarah Alderson (w/ INTL Giveaway)

Out of Control by Sarah Alderson 

Released May 12th 2015 by Simon Pulse

Genres: Thriller, Young Adult

A girl looking to escape her past in New York City ends up on the run from a dangerous conspiracy in this sizzling, high-stakes novel.

When seventeen-year-old Liva came to New York City, all she wanted was to escape the painful memories of her past and finally find a fresh start. Her hopes for a new future were dashed the moment she became the sole witness to a brutal murder. When she’s taken into police custody—supposedly for her own protection—she realizes something isn’t right, but it’s too late. Soon, bullets start flying, and Liva realizes that she is not just a witness, but the target—and she needs to escape before it’s too late.

With the help of a sexy car thief that she met at the station, Liva manages to get away from the massacre unharmed, but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit the two killers who will stop at nothing to find them. Liva and Jay are living on the edge, but when you’re on the edge, there’s a long way to fall.

About the Author:

Having spent most of her life in London, Sarah quit her job in the non profit sector in 2009 and took off on a round the world trip with her husband and princess-obsessed daughter on a mission to find a new place to call home. After several months in India, Singapore, Australia and the US, they settled in Bali where Sarah now spends her days writing by the pool and trying to machete open coconuts without severing a limb.

She finished her first novel, Hunting Lila (winner of the Kingston Book Award), just before they left the UK, wrote the sequel on the beach in India and had signed a two book deal with Simon & Schuster by the time they had reached Bali.

A third book, Fated, about a teenage demon slayer, was published in January 2012.

The Sound, a thriller romance set in Nantucket, was published in August 2013 and this was followed by the critically acclaimed Out of Control in May 2014.

She also writes New Adult romance for Pan Macmillan (UK) / Simon & Schuster (US) under the pen name Mila Gray.

You can find Sarah on facebook and at www.sarahalderson.com or follow her blog at www.canwelivhere.com

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4573983.Sarah_Alderson

https://www.facebook.com/sarahjalderson

https://twitter.com/sarahalderson

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