K.N. Salustro's Blog, page 2

Review – Lotus Blue

3 stars on Goodreads, 2.5 in my mind

This was a book that I struggled to connect with almost all the way through. I enjoyed the beginning a lot, but then it felt like the narrative got bogged down by extraneous characters, who started in with their own POVs and then disappeared for long stretches of time. Then the further into the book I got, the less and less I felt connected to Star as a main character, and the more it began to feel like things were just sort of happening around her.

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Review – A Bad Deal for the Whole Galaxy

I absolutely LOVED this sequel to A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe. It amped up all the things I really enjoyed about the first one, and then handled the rest of the plot and character development with even more smoothness and finesse. It’s a step up in every way, and a really engaging read. I HIGHLY recommend this for science fiction and fantasy fans alike!

This is, unfortunately, not a standalone book, so if you haven’t read the first one, you’ll be lost on a lot of things. But as...

Review – A Torch Against the Night

4 stars on goodreads, 3.5 in my mind

I didn’t love this book in the beginning. I really enjoyed the first one in the series, and was looking forward to getting into this one, but it started so slow that I almost put it down.

It’s not that there isn’t action. There’s plenty in the beginning, but the pacing of the plot gets bogged down by this will-they-won’t-they romantic kindling between Laia and Elias. I find myself without a lot of patience for things like that. Helene’s chapters kep...

Review – Pooka in My Pantry

This is such a fun series.

I actually liked this book better than the first one, since I got to know a few characters a bit better, and actions seemed to have more solid consequences. Zoey remains a really sweet but formidable protagonist, drawing on her own strengths as she figures them out and learning to trust others when she’s in the dark. It’s really enjoyable going along for the ride with her as supernatural chaos explodes throughout her life. Especially when you get things like gre...

Review – The Pirate World

This is one of my research books for an upcoming novel. It provides a great history of piracy and examines the motives for it, from ancient to modern times. It is very Euro-focused for a good chunk, and can feel a little dismissive of some famed pirates from other parts of the world while giving you a deep dive into the pretty mediocre or even flat-out unsuccessful careers of male European pirates, but it does a really good job of separating fact from fiction, and offering a look at differen...

Review – Ancillary Justice

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads, but oddly enough, didn’t actually enjoy it as much as I have others. And honestly, I think I just read it at the wrong time. Too much was going on in my personal life that made it hard to concentrate, and I will say that this is a thinking book with a slow burning plot, so it’s not something to try to knock out when you really need something on the lighter side.

That said, it’s a good book. There are a ton of cool concepts, including the story being ...

Review – The Book of Three

I didn’t read this so much as I experienced it. I suppose I mean that literally, since it was performed aloud to me by my partner, chapter by chapter, over the past few months. I don’t normally like having things read aloud to me because I find it difficult to absorb and process information that way (which is one reason why I always go for digital and print books over audio books), but as we discovered, reading a book like this together, as adults, with the perfect accents for each character...

Review – A Monster Calls

Wow was this one good. I mean really, REALLY good.

I have not seen the movie that is based on this book, and I find myself glad for that. Not because I’m not interested, but because this was such a wonderful, heartbreaking read, and I’m glad I got to experience it as a book first and foremost.

It’s not a long or complicated book, and I easily finished it in two hours. But it packs a hell of a punch. The prose is beautiful without dipping into flowery language, and Conor’s fight against...

Review – Shine in Pearl

4 stars on Goodreads, 3.5 in my mind

This is a very sweet story that provides additional precursor context for the relationship that emerges at the end of A Killing Frost. In a way, it didn’t really add much, since we know how these characters end up several years later, even if the main story isn’t finished. That said, it was nice to actually read something (even a piece of something) from Simon’s perspective, as that helped me understand and connect with him a bit more.

Eventually, when ...

Review – A Killing Frost

I was a bit worried when I started this book that it would mark the end of my love for Toby Daye. I was a bit disappointed by The Unkindest Tide, and worried that this one would leave me with a similar feeling. And while the beginning is fairly slow, I can say that this is a return to the things that make the October Daye series so enthralling.

A few loose ends are tied up here, including a few really big ones that have been drifting in and out of the story since book 1. But with those ri...