Weirdest things that happen to you..

Here's my weirdest thing:

A bloke in only his underwear once climbed from the balcony into my bedroom in inner Sydney when I was asleep on my own (at least he had a good body and was we were both in early 20's). So as not to make him panic and smother me with my own pillow, I said 'can I help you?'... After sitting on my bed, he had a little chat, then climbed back out. Turns out he lived next door and never looked me in the eye again. I understand he was tripping...  True story.

Weirdest thing to happen to a friend.

He was standing waiting for a train on an outdoor platform. It was a hot day so he decided to have a drink from a tap.  Turns out that there was a sizable huntsman spider in there.  It ran into his mouth and attached itself utilizing those little hairy barby things on its legs’ onto the inside of his cheek. The train comes along, people blatantly staring,  whilst he’s jumping around with his hand in his mouth trying to extract the beast. He did get it out, although the train had gone, and it didn’t even bite him…!

Here's an example of a huntsman spider, although it's not the actual perpetrator.

Bookathonic: Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani

Sunbolt Book One of the Sunbolt Chronicles by Intisar Khanani

Blurb:

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

Review: 

This is a well written and erudite YA novel set against a backdrop of mages, predators, and political wrangling.  The world is nicely rounded out and isn’t limited to one fixed culture and position, but rather branches out throughout the novel continuing to broaden its style and introduce fresh and diverse characters.

The principal character written, is a young girl of 15 years who has been subjected to many changes spanning out through both her education and experiences.  Hitomi, is left alone struggling to survive in a time of harsh changes amongst those driven toward ultimate power and position.  Hitomi, due to her wild ways, becomes an even greater victim than just her homeless position suggests.  Cloaked in secrecy she is bound by her own stringent code of honour to help those in jeopardy, thus putting herself in constant danger.

Hitomi is continually forced into battle having to rely entirely on her own resources as she attempts to extract herself from the clutches of the opposition.  As her situation spirals out of control, circumstance leaves Hitomi colluding with a natural enemy, ultimately leading her to discover new things about herself as she embarks upon a journey that takes her far away from anything she has ever known.

This tale ends beautifully as we await the sequel to Sunbolt, clinging to the knowledge that Hitomi will reveal things that will make her more the sum of her parts. I’m definitely holding out for the next novel which comes out this year.

Book Courtesy of NetGALLEY

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Bookathonic: The Painted Maidens Trilogy by Terra Harmony

The Painted Maidens by Terra Harmony

Blurb:

A Complete set of The Rising, The Betrayed, and The Taking, plus bonus short story 'How I Met Your Mother'.

Seventeen-year-old Serena is the youngest member of a dying race. The increasing acidity of the ocean is destroying her home, slowly eating away at the once thriving underwater landscape. But since the night of Serena’s birth, it is an outside force that most threatens their dwindling population. Werewolves, who once served as protectors for mermaids in the Kingdom of the Undine, now seek to eliminate all who dwell in the ocean—and Serena is about to find herself right in the middle of the deadly conflict.

Given the title of Werewolf Liaison, Serena is determined to make things right for her people. When she ventures to The Dry, she meets Liam, the werewolf with hazel eyes, and her whole world gets turned upside down. As Serena discovers the real history between werewolves and mermaids, she is left wondering who her true enemies are. 

Review:

 

3.5/5 stars

I had very mixed feelings regarding this novel. The manner in which it is written is unusual; the sentences are very formal with few contractions, leaning towards a third person narrative.

This story is set in a wonderful underwater world of a dying paradise. The stilted formal society of mermaids and mermen is slowing losing it’s population through adversity, tragedy and prejudice. Our main character, Serena, is an intelligent mermaid full of a need to learn and a dangerous sense of curiosity which constantly leads her through a maze of peril and treachery.  Through no choosing of her own, Serena becomes a liaison to their natural earth enemy, the werewolves.

This tale leads us through convoluted path of discovery and betrayal in a never ending history of war and politics.

The novel is a slow read, spun into an intricate web of ever widening concentric circles, and is definitely focused very much towards a ‘tweens market

If you are a young teenage reader, love mermaids and their underwater world that leads you through times of fun and more times of trouble, then this read is certainly for you.

Book Courtesy of NetGALLEY

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Bookathonic: City of Fae by Pippa Da Costa

Pippa Da Costa - City of Fae  

Expected Publication 7 May 2015

Blurb:

From the moment Alina touches London's hottest fae superstar, breaking one of the laws founded to protect all of her kind, her fate – and the fae – close in.

Below ground, the fae High Queen plots to claim the city as her own and places her pawns, ready for the battle to come. A battle she cannot lose, but for one small problem – Alina. There are four ancient keepers powerful enough to keep the queen in her prison. Three are dead. One remains … And to fight back, Alina risks sacrificing everything she has come to love.

This New Adult urban fantasy is packed with action and suspense and will have you yearning for more forbidden fae romance.

http://www.pippadacosta.com/

Review:

Pippa Da Costa has certainly lived up to our expectations with this new novel - let’s hope it morphs into a great new ongoing series.

Our world now includes a fae population which creates a whole new level to social and political agendas. The two principal characters have strong, well defined personalities which make for good dialogue and a potentially volatile romance.  Melding the two together in an ambivalent relationship gives the story an impression of emerging tiers. Warring personalities combined with warring agendas. The novel provides a fairly small group of supporting characters, put together as a whole, this gives the book the creation of a strong micro-niche of a fae and human London.

The plot brings in to play conflicts that surround their lives, both as individuals but also pressures that include their personal and workplace agendas. These include a reporter, a detective, a queen and a rock god.

To give the novel and incredibly good oomph is the sensational couple of twists that jump out a greet you.  Boo!  Sounds good? What more could we possibly want from an engrossing book?

Just for fun:

I have to say the spider factor is great. Just to put a smile on your face I'll mention a friend of mine was drinking from a tap, a huntsman actually crawled into his mouth and he had to get his hand in there to scoop it out. He had some fun with that - you know spiders have those little additional spurs/hairs on their legs for gripping? Yeh, it hung on to his cheek. He said he got some right funny looks from jumping around with his fist in his mouth. Irony - it was at a railway station... True story

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Bloomsbury Publishing

Bookathonic: Shadow Embraced (1. Haven) by Cheree Smith

Shadow Embrace by Cheree Smith

BLURB:

No escape.

Those words haunt Scar’s dreams. She thinks the creature that terrorises her while asleep isn’t real, but when she’s abducted and taken to a reform school meant to contain creatures too dangerous to function in society, she starts to wonder whether she isn’t some monster.

She turns to an underground fight club full of vampires, werewolves and witches established by the students to control her urges, and who is she kidding, she loves to fight.

When fighters begin to disappear, turning Scar into the prime suspect, she must race to prove her innocence before her true nature is exposed.

The only problem is that she’s not entirely sure she’s innocent.

REVIEW:

This was fabulous!

Although this is an 'academy' style book, it is definitely a bit different with a wild set of very creative monsters.

The characters are well defined and fill out their parts to their fullest extent. There is, of course, the cool girls, who are appropriately witchy and bitchy. The sexy to-die-for guy is as sexy as. There isn't a daggy, submissive bunch but the main character is certainly the full-on misfit.

As with many people who have survived a difficult time at school trying not to be noticed, it sometimes attracts those who find those differences intriguing because of their utter indifference to the sought after attracting rather than repelling. This brings attention from the privileged.

An absolutely great read with plenty of pace and kick-arse action.

If you like action paranormal, this is for you.

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Bookathonic: Sea of Stars (#2 Kricket) by Amy A Bartol

Amy A Bartol
From Goodreads:

Blurb: 

Eighteen-year-old Kricket Hollowell was looking for her place in the world when she discovered that the universe was bigger—and more dangerous—than she had ever dreamed. Now, whisked across space to the planet Ethar, Kricket learns that her genetic ability to see the future makes her a sought-after commodity…and the catalyst for war between her star-crossed parents’ clans. According to Alameedan prophecy, one house will rise to power and the other will be completely wiped out, and Kricket’s precognition is believed to be the weapon that will tip the scales.

A target of both the Rafe and the Alameeda houses, Kricket finds protection—and a home—in the arms of Trey, her Etharian bodyguard-turned-boyfriend. But her visions of what’s to come disturb her deeply, especially since she must discover whether the gift of foresight will allow her to rewrite the future, or if her fate is as immovable as the stars.
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Review: 

4/5 stars

I loved this! I loved the characters, I loved the concepts, and the writing was great with some really lovely prose. I stayed up way too late finishing this one. This second novel stands up in fine form continuing in the same vein as the first.

Kricket is a likable character, and has grown in both maturity and strength.  The support characters create a really great team and lots of fun – adding a nicely honed tone of humor.  And of course, the romantic interest is as sexy as he is noble. The relationship between Kricket and Trey has also matured to an enduring and dedicated love for each other, to the level of ‘my love, my life’. The intimate scenes are beautifully done with a tender quality and delicacy wrapped up with the encompassing love they hold for each other.

The concepts are well done with plenty of innovation in the book which has a few parallels with Scarlett Dawn's Cold Mark series. Don't confuse the two, Cold Mark includes plenty of sexual situations and is a much more mature read, there are simply concepts in the comparison of the national identities of opposed races.  The sci-fi element is nicely blended with the starker values of the class system and aristocracy with parallels to a more medieval period.

The only complaint I could voice is that I found a number of the fight/escape scenes too long and somewhat repetitive.

A fabulous read and I can't wait to get stuck into the next novel is the series. And yes, this novel is a bit of a cliffhanger.

Baw da Baw!!!!!!!!!! 

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Book Courtesy of NetGALLEY

Bookathonic: Review for Decaying Empire (2 Vanishing Girl) by Laura Thalassa

Laura Thalassa - YA and NA Author

Blurb:
When eighteen-year-old teleporter Ember Pierce wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital, she remembers only the basics: she’s been trained by the government as a spy, she’s sent on dangerous missions, and her last assignment—the one that landed her in the hospital—was a setup.

Caden Hawthorne has spent the past ten months of his life grieving Ember’s death. So when she shows up in his room like an apparition, he can’t believe his eyes. But this Ember is different. Her hair is longer, her skin is paler, her gaze is haunted. She tells him what he’s already begun to suspect: someone he trusted betrayed her.

Now, uncertain who is friend and who is foe, Ember and Caden face the toughest mission of their lives—to stay together and survive, as they run from danger toward an unknown future.

Review 

 

This is a tightly put together novel full to the brim with a combination of intrigue, manipulation and betrayal.  The characters display an individuality, which gives them the strength to face their plight, and to work through it whilst trying to maintain a grasp on their sanity.

The plot is made up into a complex framework of personal, political and government conspiracy. Put that together with a mix of desperate circumstances, as the characters are thrown into events far beyond their control.  The principal characters are bound by unconditional love that enables them to face insurmountable odds. They are thrust up against the power of the military that has the ability to dominate, and ultimately destroy their lives.

The bottom line is: who can you trust? The person who you’re in love with, but think they know what’s best for you?  A government you pay your taxes to that are supposed to ensure your liberty and freedom of choice?  The corporation who controls the very essence of your livelihood and job?  Your boss who has control issues? Your peers?

This book is chock full of diverse characters with incredible fortitude, as they face plot upon plot. The reader is led on with trepidation for the characters, questioning the power of both political and personal agendas.

If you want a novel with depth and a plot that keeps you guessing, then this book provides it.

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Bookathonic: Review of Blood Oath by Felicity Pulman

1. Blood Oath (Janna Chronicles)

Blurb:
 
Love, revenge, secrets – and murder – in a medieval kingdom at war.

A young woman, left alone and destitute after the mysterious death of her mother, plants a sprig of rosemary on her grave and vows, somehow, to bring the murderer to justice. But who can Janna trust with the truth? Even the villein Godric, who wants to marry her, and Hugh, the dashing nobleman, have secrets that threaten her heart and her safety.

In a country torn apart by the vicious civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda, Janna needs all her wits and courage to stay alive as she comes closer to those who are determined to silence her forever.

Novel Courtesy of NetGALLEY.com

This novel is exceptionally well written and edited, and equally well researched and is definitely worth a 4.5 stars. The plot has plenty of turnarounds within the mystery and a fine cast of possible suspects. Add to this a dose of romance and we have a well rounded YA historical mystery.

This book is very much a who-dun-nit and together with the historical setting makes a fine read.

The writing style reflects the book’s medieval setting following the invasion of William the Conqueror. England during these times carried on with a constant power struggle of ruling families and this is tightly drawn into the tale. The consistency and depth of research is reflected by the writer's grasp of class distinction and speech patterns during that time. The work gives a good example of the hodgepodge of religious prejudice remaining from the Romans, Saxons and Normans.

The story is based around the YA character’s work as a healer based on herbal lore which leads into acrimonious dealings between the power of the church, the powers of the nobility and ruling classes, bringing forth the overwhelming attitudes of superstition and religion irrespective of class position. The word of the privileged is as good as the word the law.

The only thing I will note in this work that annoyed me is that the principle character from the lower class, is outrageously outspoken, particularly considering her youth. These facets are portrayed in the book as a result of her protected lifestyle and naivety, and I didn’t find any credibility to both her words and actions. No one of that period would be evenly remotely ignorant of their position, place and class – these things were something that was instantaneous with birth, and were endemic to a person’s very life in a time ruled by floggings, the gallows and the hangman.

A great read that I would recommend for fans of P.C. Doherty, Robin Paige, Diana Gabaldon, Robin LaFevers, and Anne Perry.

Goodreads.com

Further supporting reading on Medieval Material from the site of Felicity Pulman: Mediaval Muck & Mumbo Jumbo