L.E. DeLano's Blog, page 4

A To Z Book Review: The Upside Down Christmas by Kate Forster

My letter “U” pick for the A to Z Challenge was THE UPSIDE DOWN CHRISTMAS by Kate Forster. This was a very quick and easy read with no real surprises. Marlo is a British girl living in Sydney with a gorgeous, funny, caring, and supportive flatmate named Alex. It’s December, and she’s being ghosted by her current boyfriend, so Alex (who coincidentally has a girlfriend that’s just not working out for him) tries to distract her by showing her all the fun to be had celebrating Christmas down under. Along the way, they – surprise! – discover they’re both better off ditching their current romances and acknowledging what they have with each other.

The story was simple, and the only thing really “Christmas” about it was the fact that it was December, otherwise, the holiday wasn’t much of a focus in the book. Marlo was a bland sort of girl, and the author made very sure that within the first chapter of the story we knew she liked Alex more than her jerk boyfriend – a boyfriend who strangely never liked her handsome, charming, empathetic male roommate. Go figure.

There was a bit of a subplot with Marlo helping a sick friend that pulled at the heartstrings, but this was an otherwise very predictable, slow-paced, closed door romance. The story was pleasant enough but I would have loved more development on the characters and plot. Three stars.

A To Z Book Review: The Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

My letter “T” pick for the A to Z Challenge was THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER by Lucy Score. I had the privilege to meet Lucy face-to-face at a local bookstore event earlier this year, plus a book show or two afterward, and she was one of the nicest, most genuine people you will ever meet. She’s a local celebrity in my area and breathing the same air with her was a serious pinch-me-I’m-dreaming kinda thing.

That being said – I shamefully admit this was my first Lucy Score book (it’s been on my TBR for ages) and holy cow what a book it was. I adored Naomi, the runaway bride with the evil identical twin who decided to wreck her life and leave her stranded in the awesome little town of Knockemout, Virginia with the eleven year old daughter her twin never told her about.

When she battles the gorgeous town grump, Knox, over mistaken identity with her terrible twin, the sparks fly and set fire to everything around them. The chemistry between these two is riveting, and the banter is second to none. Every one of their interactions was *chef’s kiss* delicious.

Add to that her growing love for her newly found niece, Knox’s family who swoops in to adopt and enfold her, and a small town full of memorable, quirky characters that embrace her, and you have a formula for a book full of heart, humor, and loads of heat. Lucy doesn’t hold back on the spice – which I loooove.

Throw in the main love interest’s handsome, heroic brother and his gorgeous and mysterious rich friend, and you’ve got yourself a trilogy – and Lucy Score has herself a new avid fan. I’m giving this 4 1/2 stars only because the three sexy dangerous hunks took out the bad guy and somehow let him get away despite their often alluded to skilled deadly dangerous-ness and one of them being armed. It set up book two I’m sure, but it strained credulity. The ending also wound up a little to quick and neat for me. I would have loved more buildup to the danger and a solid heart-to-heart between the sisters. Other than that, a perfect, romance.

A To Z Book Review: Sword Catcher By Cassandra Clare

My letter “S” pick for the A To Z Challenge was SWORD CATCHER by Cassandra Clare, one of my all-time favorite authors. I have not only enjoyed but downright loved every single book in her Shadowhunters world, and there are a lot of them, so when she decided to step out of that world and create a new one, I was more than happy to take that trip with her.

While she did indeed create a magnificent world in the city state of Castellane, I found it to be a bit too long-windedly magnificent. I am blown away how this woman creates such rich and detailed worlds, cultures, and customs – the fact that she’s done it twice is worth applauding, but she overdid it on this one. The book was an extremely slow read for at least the first half due to pages upon pages of excessive descriptions of castles, hovels, clothing, ceremonial banners, dinners, etc. It was like reading George R.R. Martin on amphetamines. I love me some good world building but when it slows your plot to a crawl and doesn’t let your main characters get to what needs to happen at a good pace, a red pen should be used, and frequently, by an editor.

Still, Kel, our orphan-turned-decoy-for-the-prince, and Conor, the prince who must be protected form a heartwarming and intriguing friendship despite the fact that one will spend and end his life dying for the other. Lin, our female main character, wants to be a doctor despite it being unheard of for someone like her, which of course, means she’s going to find a way to do it anyway. When a failed assassination attempt throws her together with Conor and Kel, the plot finally begins rolling slowly forward, and gains just enough momentum to keep you interested before it ends and you have to wait for book two. I can’t really get into too much more without spoilers, but the characters, as always with Cassandra Clare, are beautifully fleshed out and flawed and the interactions between them are often captivating and intense.

It’s a good book, but a long one when it didn’t need to be and would have been better in a more compact version. Three and a half stars on this one.

A To Z Book Review: RIVERWORLD by Philip Jose Farmer

My letter “R” pick for the A to Z Book Challenge was RIVERWORLD by Philip Jose Farmer. This book was a recommendation from a friend with the endorsement of this isn’t your usual sci-fi story. It most definitely is not.

The premise of Riverworld is this: Sir Richard Francis Burton, a prominent English explorer (look him up if you need to) dies and discovers the afterlife is not what he expected. He finds himself instead lying on the bank of an enormous river, bald, naked as the day he was born, and clutching a metal bowl attached to his wrist. Here is where it gets really fascinating. All humankind, even proto-humans, are reborn into Riverworld at about twenty-five years of age, regardless of how young or old they were at death. The metal bowl is known as a grail, and three times a day, objects known as grailstones dispense food, toiletries, and even things like cigarettes, alcohol, and hallucinogenic gum known as dream gum. Riverworld is a massive construction, and the river loops around the planet beginning and ending its loop at the north pole. There is no disease. no animals other than fish, a temperate climate everywhere, and a complete lack of metallic ore other than meteorites, which are incredibly rare.

In his travels along the river, Burton meets a wide variety of people, including several historical figures, the most entertaining and well fleshed-out being Mark Twain, who becomes an integral part of the story. There are hundreds of kingdoms and fiefdoms, power struggles, wars, and even slavery – forcing others to give their filled grails to their masters. The most expedient way to travel seems to be suicide, as it merely regurgitates you somewhere else along the river at random. There’s a limit, however, of 777 deaths before it happens for good.

The world building in this book was incredibly detailed and immersive, and the premise is so utterly unique it quickly drew me in. That being said, for every single human throughout recorded time inhabiting this world, Burton seems to run into more historical celebrities than seems credible. Also the mysterious “Ethicals” who created this mass experiment in humanity have very little presence in the book, and very few humans seem to have much curiosity about them. The story concentrated so much on the interactions of the human characters but I really wanted a good mix of that and reveals about the creation and purpose of this crazy, captivating world. There just wasn’t enough of that for me. This is book one of a series, so maybe the reveals come book-by-book, but the vagueness in this one left me wanting. I’m going three stars for a fantastic premise that meandered a bit too much.

A To Z Book Review: The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

This was a hard read. Not because it was poorly written, mind you, but because of the subject matter. Anytime you deal with child rape and murder, it’s a difficult thing that needs to be handled in a way that builds suspense and evokes emotion without overly sensationalizing the story. Add in the additional elements of multiple child rapes/murders, rampant cover-ups, unsolved cases, a town full of really awful people in charge, and the complication level ramps up exponentially.

This book is based on the true-life crimes known at the St. Cloud Quarry murders, which took place in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1977. Mary and Susanne Reker were sisters, ages 15 and 12 respectively. They went missing in early September of that year, and their bodies were found, nude and stabbed at the local quarry later that same month. Told in alternating points of view (though mostly from the view of their teenage friend, Heather), this story is a twisting, turning mass of subplots and heart-wrenching and horrific revelations. This town was a terrible place to live with multiple pedophiles and multiple serial killers both residing in town and passing through. This is a story that as a parent will eat you alive with dread and keep you up at night. Most especially because it’s true. Look up the news reports – all of this actually happened, even though you can’t (or don’t want to) believe it did.

Jess Lourey’s telling of the story is masterful, but the plot twists and subplots were overlayed and intertwined to the point of leaving me confused and re-reading here and there. This was one hell of a story – but God almighty, I wish I’d never read it. Four stars.

A To Z Book Review: Poison Study By Maria V. Snyder

My letter “P” pick for the A to Z book challenge was POISON STUDY (The Chronicles of Ixia, 1) by Maria V. Snyder. I had the pleasure of meeting Maria (and attending one of her workshops) at the Pennwriters conference this year, and grabbed one of her books from the bookstore. Of course, I grabbed book two. So I got ahold of book one and was promptly whisked away to an amazing world in an intricate plot.

Yelena (our protagonist) is currently emaciated, filthy, and rotting in a dungeon after murdering her rapist/abuser. She’s dragged out – she assumes – to finally head for the gallows only to be offered a reprieve: she will be given a room at the palace, clothing, and food, but she has to take the job of becoming the Commander’s personal food tester. She agrees and is now thrown into the care of Valek, the Commander’s head of security, who trains her thoroughly on all sorts of poisons so that she can properly recognize them. In addition, he secretly poisons her as well, forcing her to get the antidote from him daily if she wants to stay alive. This, of course, ends all hope of escape.

Meanwhile, the father of her former abuser (and a general) wants her dead, she has enemies at the palace, and despite their rocky beginning, she and Valek start gravitating toward each other. To add even more to the whirlwind, Yelena is involved in a conspiracy, and she begins developing frightening new magical powers. This story is a twisting, turning rollercoaster ride that will leave you breathless and waiting to see what’s lurking around every turn all the way to the not-quite-so-happily-ever-after. I’m so very glad I already have book two!

Yelena is a fierce and clever protagonist and Valek is a hard-ass with a heart of gold (I was getting serious Chaol and Celaena vibes from the early books in Sarah J. Maas’s THRONE OF GLASS series). The world building and culture were lush and intricate, but a bit too much of an info dump at times. I found myself having to go back in places, particularly early on, to review and refresh details. For that reason, I’m giving 4 1/2 stars (really it’s more like 4 3/4). An intriguing and immersive YA (that reads more like NA) story.

A to Z Book Review: One For The Money

My letter “O” pick for the A to Z Book challenge was ONE FOR THE MONEY by Janet Evanovich.

Janet Evanovich is a writing superstar, NY Times bestselling author over and over, and a total badass. Along with that, she’s goes above and beyond to help other authors – especially those that are new to the craft. I adore her. I don’t, however, read her. I confess I’m not a big mystery fan (I always skip to the end after a few chapters in), but the whole point of this challenge is to stretch and read outside my normal picks, and this first book of the wildly popular Stephanie Plum mystery/crime series seemed like an ideal pick.

Stephanie Plum is an instantly engaging down-on-her-luck protagonist who just got laid off, needs to pay rent, and is desperate enough to take work as a bail bondsperson working for her cousin. Her target is a cop who was accused of murder – a cop she grew up with, once had a fling with in high school with, and a jerk who never called her after.

She’s snarky, plucky, and generally good fun, but I had a really hard time with her being so smart at times, and then doing really stupid things (like hanging around the area near a gym where a prizefighter came precariously close to raping her). Along with that, when the prizefighter finds her home address and comes to find her (along with leaving some rather disgusting DNA on her door when he can’t seem to get her to let him in), she just shrugs it off and doesn’t bother filing a police report or anything. Along with that, she was sexually molested as a kid by none other than the cop she’s after – a man she still holds a torch for despite all he’s done to and with her. It should be noted he was also a child at the time of the assault (though a bit older), but still. I had such a case of ick over it it cast a pall over the story for me.

Other than that, the plot was masterfully executed, and Stephanie was nearly, nearly a hilarious, lovable character I wanted to see more of. This may be thousands of reader’s cup of tea, but I’m not one of them. Three stars.

A To Z Book Review: Napoleon’s Hemorrhoids And Other Small Events That Changed History

My Letter “N” pick for this year’s A To Z Book Review was NAPOLEON’S HEMORRHOIDS AND OTHER SMALL EVENTS THAT CHANGED HISTORY by Phil Mason. This was a fun romp through various historical tidbits from all over time and all across the globe. The catchy title refers to the fact that the battle of Waterloo might have been a victory for poor Napoleon if he hadn’t been dealing with a vicious case of hemorrhoids. This, along with other little-known facts make for great, light reading.

Did you know that the world almost never heard of Marco Polo? It turns out that this now well-known Venetian explorer had been quietly traveling all over Asia and other parts of the world, and found himself in a jail in Genoa for a year after being captured during the war between Venice and Genoa. He regaled his cellmate, a man named Rustichello da Pisa, with tales of his travel. Rustichello wrote them all down and published them, leaving Marco Polo an historical legacy and a great, well-known name to shout in a swimming pool.

I’m dating myself with this observation, but back in the days before smartphones, this would have been considered great bathroom reading. People often had bookracks in the bathroom to hold just such light offerings – something you can pick up, put down and return to easily. It was entertaining and informative, but a good 1/5 of the book had some very dull facts that only led to a “so what?” reaction. Still a good read. Four stars on this one.

A To Z Book Review: Moon Soul By Nathaniel Luscombe

My letter “M” pick for the A to Z Book Challenge was MOON SOUL by Nathaniel Luscombe, a book that was utterly unexpected and wholly wonderful.

This book is described as “cozy sci-fi,” which it is. But that’s also selling this story short by a mile. The opening chapters paint a hopeless, helpless picture of August, a girl who is half human and half Spyren, the indigenous race inhabiting a desert moon. As a child of two worlds, August carries the ability of her people to read memories captured in the sand, a service she provides to the human residents of The Spire, a tall, glass-enclosed city where she has lived since both of her parents abandoned her. The work she provides is bleeding her dry both emotionally and literally to the point that she decides to quit her job.

What happens next is a wonderful journey of exploration as she becomes a gardener, rappelling off the sides of the Spire to tend the hanging gardens. In the open air, with her hands in the soil, she finds a sense of peace, and even better, friends (and more) for the first time in her life. All seems to be running smoothly until the day August’s Spyren mother arrives unexpectedly on her doorstep.

I won’t divulge every detail of this richly built world or the masterful, yet gently revealed layers of the plot, but I will say that this novella reads like a five-hundred page novel for all the subtext under the words. Nathaniel Luscombe takes those words and paints with them in a way that echoes inside you, and you hear certain phrases calling back to you even after you’ve closed the book. He reminds me very much of Ray Bradbury in style, and Bradbury is one of my favorite writers for just that reason. As a daughter with an often strained relationship with my late mother, I particularly relate to the feeling of living in a different world from someone you so desperately want to love without reservation. I was in tears through some of this. And the feeling of floating lost as life moves around you will certainly resonate with a lot of people.

This book was an easy five stars, and I know this will become a treasured re-read many times over.

A To Z Book Review: The Laws Of Human Nature By Robert Greene

My letter “L” pick for the A to Z Book Challenge was THE LAWS OF HUMAN NATURE By Robert Greene. This is only one of many books by the author on human behavior and the science of interpersonal relationships, and it was an educational – if rather lengthy – read.

Greene delves deeply into what it is that makes us human, and what specifically humans do while interacting that sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. This is done through a combination of history, anecdotes, scientific studies, and personal observation.

Greene teaches us how to unplug from our own emotional responses to gain better self-control, how to develop stronger empathy that leads to insight, how to look behind the masks that people wear, and how to develop your own singular sense of purpose. 

I found his observations to be spot on and enlightening and particularly got a lot out of his discussion of bias on relationships and personal growth. Like I said, this was a highly educational read, but I will admit the last half of the book dragged and I feel like he could have said it all in ten less chapters. I’m giving this four stars.