From a High Tower (The Elemental Masters, #11)

From a High Tower
by Mercedes Lackey

Pages: 320 pages, paperback

Publication: June 22, 2015/Titan Books

Source: eARC

Premise:

When a man is caught stealing from a walled garden owned by a strange woman, he bargains away his youngest daughter in return for food for his family. The woman, rumored to be a witch, takes the golden-haired child and locks her away in a high tower. Sixteen years later, Giselle has lived an isolated life, but her adoptive mother has trained her in Air magic, and Giselle must use her new skills on a quest to avenge her broken heart...

I was expecting great things from this. Mercedes Lackey is a goddess in fantasy fiction, so I stumbled in expecting to be awed. How wrong I was. I thought that with so many books under her belt that she'd have flawless writing and pacing, and no flat characters, but there you go.
I'm writing this weeks after I'd read it, and I honestly couldn't read her name, until I looked the information on Goodreads.

Basically, Giselle, being the best shot in all the land (of course..... *eye roll*) gets taken in by a circus troop. Among the troop are a bunch of Native Americans touring with the hopes of getting enough money to buy back their land back in America. I'm not sure I want to comment on the way that these Native Americans are treated, since I'm not one myself. I'lll leave it up to the Native Americans to decide for themselves.

Three quarters of the book was detailed description of Giselle's life in the circus, from the travelling, to the cleaning of her guns, to every single conversation, and every single circus performance. It was tedious and so so boring. I was expecting a retelling of Rapunzel, yet those features only show up in the first dozen or so pages of the book, and during the very rushed ending.

All in all, I was severely disappointed. And due to this book being her, like, 20th or even 30th book, I don't think I'm interested in reading anything else by her.

 two sad clouds

Review: Finding Audrey

Finding Audrey
by Sophie Kinsella

Pages: 288, paperback

Publisher: Doubleday Children's

Publication Date: 9th June, 2015

Source: library

Premise:

Audrey can't leave the house. she can't even take off her dark glasses inside the house.
Then her brother's friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again - well, Starbucks is a start.And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she'd thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.
Be prepared to laugh, dream and hope with Audrey as she learns that even when you feel like you have lost yourself, love can still find you . . .

I have severe anxiety. Leaving the house is sometimes a dreaded chore. Talking to people makes me want to cry. Everything feels too much in my brain.
This is how Finding Audrey feels, as well. And it's amazing to finally find a character who is like me in so many ways. To be honest, my anxiety isn't near as bad as Audrey's, but anxiety is anxiety, no matter how bad.

I kept tearing up at how real her struggle is, because I know what it's like to have a panic attack. I know what it's like to avoid eye contact. I placed myself in Audrey's shoes and it was a brilliant experience.

Audrey's anxiety makes her unable to look people in the eyes, so she wear big, dark glasses everywhere, even inside the house. Her struggle is real and poignant, and it hurts so much because I know where she's coming from.
I can't look people in the eyes properly, I get shaky when someone talks to me, even if it's a loved one, and I stutter when I speak to people because the words just don't want to come out. I understand her pain, and it makes the novel all the more realistic. It's obvious that Kinsella has researched for this book.
There is one segment in the book where Audrey decides to stop taking her pills, just out of the blue. It takes a careful eye--one that perhaps only someone who takes pills would notice--but her behaviour becomes more erratic and unpredictable. This is the first time in a novel I've seen someone praise the use of medication for mentally unwell people. Most of the time, they stop taking their pills and are all better, but here, Audrey learns that she needs her pills to keep her stable. This was a big selling point for the book.

Other stellar mentions were the writing: it was fun, lighthearted, and I could barely put it down. This is such a brilliant book, and I love love love it. It's made me want to read more of Sophie Kinsella's books.

Cover: 4

Plot: 4

Writing: 5

Characters: 5

Investment: 5 

4 stars!

Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

A Darker Shade of Magic

by V. E. Schwab

Pages: 484, paperback

Publisher: Titan Books

Date Released: 24th February, 2015

Source: own

Premise:

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit. 
Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London - but no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.
But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.

This book is made of magic. That's all I can say to describe it. Pure, unfiltered magic.
Kell is one of the last of his kind, an Antari, who can travel between the doors of the four dimensions of London. There is Red London, where magic thrives; Grey London, which is our London, where magic is non-existant; White London where the magic is slowly being sapped, and slowly sapping the people in it; and finally, Black London, which was destroyed by the corruption of magic.
This world-building alone makes it a brilliant, fascinating read.

Even Luna loved this book

The characters are compelling: Kell with his many sided coat, who smuggles in contraband between the worlds. Then there is Delilah Bard, aspiring pirate from the Grey world. She was an absolute favourite: she took no shit from anyone, and was willing to be killed if it meant the good of a world she doesn't even call home. She's one of the strongest characters (not just a strong female) I've come across in literature this year, and I aspire to be like her in so many ways.

The writing was absolutely gorgeous, and I was left rereading passages over and over again, sighing in adoration. Schwab has a poetic flare to her work, and it makes me yearn to read more of her work. So far I've only read her superhero novel, Vicious, and I also highly recommend it.

I loved every moment of this book, and as soon as I finished it, I wanted to go back to the beginning. I absolutely can't wait to read the next book in the series and see what shenanigans Kell and Lila get up to.

A Darker Shade of Magic managed to worm its way into my favourites shelf. It's a read I highly recommend.

Cover: 4

Plot: 5

Characters: 5

Writing: 5

Interest: 5

Review: Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything

by Nicola Yoon

Pages: 320, hardcover

Publisher: Delacorte books for Young Readers

Source: galley from the publisher

Date Released:  September 1st, 2015

Premise:

This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.
My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

I love the way this book is written, in diary entries and short vignettes and the like. It made it so easy to attach myself to Maddie, a POC African American and Japanese (though this is barely touched upon, which is a shame) girl who essentially lives in a bubble. It is a very intimate book, much in the way the Princess Diaries series were.

Reading it on my kindle feels like it doesn't give the book justice. There are illustrations, and charts, and lists, and handwritten diary entries, and such that I'm sure would have looked fantastic in physical form, without having to wait for the lag of my kindle to load the pages. At first I thought, You betcha sweet ass I'll be buying this book and rereading it over and over for the feels and the proper experience.
But as I read on, something didn't feel right. Maddie's condition was odd. And Ollie ended up helping her endangering her life, which made him the opposite of a sweet sexy love interest. That he would let her go through with her potentially life-threatening plan makes him an unreliable lover, bordering on abusive.

Speaking of abuse, let's discuss her mother, who knew that Maddie was never sick to begin with. Who kept Maddie in this bubble, isolated from the world so that they could be together forever. Who ruined Maddie's immune system as a result of keeping her hidden from the world. I detested that there wasn't more done to chastise her mother, no police involved, no nothing. It was just glossed over as a mother who cared too much. That made me mad, that abuse like that was seen as being overprotective.

This book was a huge disappointment. I wish I could say better things about it, but, morally, I just can't.

1 sad cloud

Comic Review: Pure Insanity - New Suicide Squad vol 1

Pure Insanity
New Suicide Squad, vol 1 (#1-8)
written by Sean Ryan
DC Comics

Setting the world’s most dangerous super-criminals against the most insidious threats to national security: that’s the idea behind the elite black-ops unit officially designated as Task Force X. It’s perfect…on paper. 

But the real world rarely goes according to plan. Threats evolve. Teammates turn on each other. Blood and betrayals flow like rivers. And that’s why Task Force X is better known as the Suicide Squad. 

Vic Sage aims to change the equation. Replacing Amanda Waller as the puppet-master of Suicide Squad’s motley crew, he’s introducing wild cards like Deathstroke and the Joker’s Daughter to whip the existing team-Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Black Manta-into shape. But the world’s deadliest assassin and the Clown Princess of Crime have ideas of their own…and no explosive implants to keep them in line. 

Can this new Suicide Squad survive-or will it implode before it even begins?

Well, for the most part this is all about a catfight between Harley Quinn and Joker's Daughter over the Joker's face. Hardly any attention is being focused on anyone else, and it's horribly annoying. And the way they're sexualising this cat fight is just plain awful. Give Harley a freaking bra, for god's sake. Her corset keeps slipping down, barely covering her nips, whereas Joker's Daughter--who was originally about 16 when she first showed up--is suddenly aged up and in a skimpy skirt and crop top. As for their characterisations, they might as well be the same person, the way they're written.

After 3 issues of this, it gets tedious

What is going on with that face?

The story is sporadic and hectic, with no real purpose. The first three issues were, as I mentioned earlier, mainly about the cat-fight between Harley and Joker's daughter. The rest of the story--their entire reason for being in Russia in the first place--is often pushed to the side to make room for those two characters.
Beyond the fourth issue, once they wrote Joker's Daughter out of the story, things start to make sense, but it's still a rushed and poorly written mess.
For the most part it's just regular espionage stuff, going to other countries and accidentally fucking things up and accidentally saving America from communist superheroes. Nothing really special about it.

The art is inconsistent, constantly changing artists and styles... and woof, there are some bad artists in the mix. Faces are badly drawn, anatomy is impossible, and the girls' outfits are as booby as possible.

It really feels like no effort was being put into this when they decided to slap this together after the failure of the last Suicide Squad. Fans of the movie are going to be very disappointed when they turn to the comics to get more of their Suicide Squad fix.

Art: 2

Plot: 1

Characters: 2

Writing: 1

Interest: 1

Total:

1 sad cloud

Comic Review: Batman Eternal vol 2

Batman Eternal, volume 2 (#22-34)
by Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV et. al
DC Comics

After Commissioner Gordon’s arrest, Batman’s world is turned upside down in these stories from issues #22-34 of the hit weekly series. New allies emerge, old allies fall and his rogues gallery of villains are not quite who they seem. With a new power structure being established in Gotham City amid rising tension and chaos, can Batman adapt to the changing status quo?

Last time on Batman Eternal: Hush has finally made an entrance, at the cost of Alfred Pennyworth.
It's up to Alfred's daughter to take his place before the bat-computer.
Now, as much as I like Hush, I prefer him in the Heart of Hush and Hush Money. Here, it feels forced. Once again, Tommy is the bad guy, looking to destroy Gotham for no real reason except to make Bruce's life a living hell (as usual). I'm still trying to figure out what Hush's motive is, beyond wanting to be like Bruce--which is overused and lacking the depth is once had.

All the other plot threads from the last volume have been pushed to the side, and we don't see the rest of the bat-family, which is disappointing. The last volume felt rich because of the celebration of family, whereas, the most this volume has in terms of family is the strained relationship between Alfred and his daughter, and even then it's barely touched upon.
The clear difference between this volume and the previous is the plot. Very little happened.

Selina has turned out to be the daughter of Leo Calebresi, ex crime lord of Gotham city. And she's been given the mantle of crime lord of Gotham, whether she likes it or not. This isn't expanded in the comic, but it's promised in her own comic series.  Which disappoints me. I was hoping to see more of her mob boss action, since the last volume was full of gang war politics. But I suppose we'd be seeing more of that in Catwoman's own series.

Waylon Jones, aka Killer Croc, plays another vital role in the comic. It's important to note that he isn't a villain, no matter how many crimes he may have committed. He is an anti-hero, the world pitted against him because of the way he was born and is constantly perceived.  His role as Selina's bodyguard makes him have reason, after having been demonised in the last volume by Commissioner Bard.

Look, I'm basically very disappointed in this volume. Most of it was filler, and after reading the last hundred pages twice, I still can't remember what happened apart from Arkham Asylum blowing up for some reason, making way for Arkham Manor (review of that to come soon). I'm hoping that this is just a low point in the series, because the first volume built up some heavy shit.
Eagerly awaiting the final volume.

Art:  4

Plot: 2

Characters: 3

Writing: 3

Interest: 2

2 sad clouds

Review: Pieces of Sky

Pieces of Sky

by Trinity Doyle

Pages: 287, paperback

Date Released:

Source: own

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Premise:

Lucy's life was going as smoothly as any teenager's could. She was in the local swimming club, and loved it; she lived with her parents and her brother, Cam, in the small coastal town she'd known all her life. She had friends, she had goals - she had a life. Now Cam is dead, her parents might as well be - and Lucy can't bear to get back in the pool. All she has to look forward to now is a big pile of going-nowhere. 

Drawn to Steffi, her wild ex-best-friend who reminds Lucy of her mysterious, unpredictable brother, and music-obsessed Evan, the new boy in town, Lucy starts asking questions. Why did Cam die? Was it an accident or suicide? But as Lucy hunts for answers she discovers much more than she expects. About Cam. About her family. About herself.

This feels like a precious gem, raw and unfiltered and sharp. It looks gorgeous on the outside, and it shines brightly from the inside.

Lucy has to deal with the death of her brother, and doesn't know how to  deal with it--as to be expected. She feels the pressure of life pressing down onto her: the stares from people at school; looking after her depressed mother; dealing with a father who just can't accept her way of grieving; swimming finals, when she can barely stand to be near water.
When texts start being sent to her brother's phone from an unknown number, things get weird, and it draws Lucy even closer to the brink of obsession over her brother's death. Who is the mysterious girl that he drew before he died? Who is the person sending intimate messages to his phone? Since when has her mum had a history of depression?
It makes her question her brothers death: was it merely a stupid accident, or was it suicide?
The very idea that he could have killed himself is a chilling thought.

My one issue with this book is that out of nowhere, we would be in a flashback, and it was difficult to discern whether I was stuck in the present or the past. Lucy would be doing or thinking something, then she would be having a conversation with Cam that had happened before he died. It doesn't even use past tenses to denote the flashbacks, which made things very confusing.

The romance was sweet. Evan is a cute guy, and the things that happen between them is so realistic, and so so so sexy at times. It made me yearn for that first-love feeling. It's been a while since I felt that way from a book.

I read it in one sitting, within 3 hours, devouring every single word and sighing constantly at how perfectly relatable it was. It felt so distinctively Australian, and as I write this, I'm surrounded by eucalyptus trees, and kookaburras are laughing their little heads off. There's the screech of cockatoos, and I saw a kangaroo yesterday from the train. It made me smile and embrace these things.

This book is so raw and emotional, I kept crying for most of the second half. Even now, just reminiscing about it is making me tear up. How does Doyle manage to get right into my heart with those amazing words of hers?

Doyle has captured the Australian voice so well, it made me feel right at home. This was a stunning debut, and I can't wait to read more from her.

Cover Art: 5

Plot: 4

Writing: 4

Characters: 4

Interest: 4

4 stars


*Don't forget there's still time to enter my international giveaway for The Nutcracker Bleeds

Review: A Thousand Pieces of You

A Thousand Pieces of You
by Claudia Gray

Pages: 357, paperback

Publisher: Harper

Date Released:

Premise: 

Marguerite Caine's physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their more astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite's father is murdered, the killer--her parent's handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul--escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite can't let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul's guilt--and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father's death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we can witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and as whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

I was hesitant about starting this book. The cover is so gorgeous, but I've learned enough times that sometimes the story isn't as lovely as the packaging.

It has such an interesting, promising premise: a murder mystery that spans not just our universe, but the multiverse--a universe for every single decision made. An infinite world of infinite possibilities. Marguerite Cain is on a mission to catch her father's killer, even if it means turning herself into "atomic soup".

Marguerite, I found, is a boring character. Even when she inhabits the bodies of the Marguerites from other worlds, she has no personality. She's just a blank slate hidden inside other blank slates.

All the plot is shoved aside to make room for a ridiculous romance that literally comes from out of nowhere. First Marguerite is so sure that this guy killed her father, and the next moment, she's pining away about his body heat and their almost touching. It made me want to gag, it was so sappy.
The discussion of fate--of things that happen in all universes, such as the love between two people--just makes the romance even more gag-worthy. It's just so forced.
It's such a shame about the lack of plot because it was such a unique concept that could have been fantastic under the right circumstances.

I found myself constantly bored by the story. Even when she's a grand duchess in Russia, the story manages to fall flat in lieu of the romance. All danger and consequences are thrown away for the sake of the romance. There was nothing at stake except for this true love.
In the end, I had to DNF this book. The contradictory nature of the multiuniverses verses fate just left me too frustrated to go on.
That's not to say it's bad. I was just expecting more sci-fi than romance. If you're in the mood for star-crossed lovers, then this is probably for you.

Total:

Cover Art: 4

Plot: 1 

Writing: 1

Characters: 1

Interest: 1

No stars, just one very sad cloud.

Guest Book Review: Blood of Elves

I've taken the day off from blogging to let a friend of mine review a book based off the highly popular  video game The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. James is a dear friend of mine and is my sometimes-co-blogger. So, onto the post!

I am not a real Witcher fan. I came to the series, like many English-reading fans, through the video games. Specifically the recent The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and it was upon completing the game that I thought, 'Bloody hell, how great must that have been for a Polish fan who's been reading Andrzej Sapkowski's work since the 90's?' Even though I had not read the books or really played the first two games, The Wild Hunt felt brilliantly like the epic conclusion of something special. And it was. I was hooked, totally along for the ride and absolutely in love with every character involved.

I say this because it meant I entered Blood of Elves with a very different perspective than someone just beginning a new series. Yes, it is the first book, but I had the unfair advantage of feeling like I already intimately knew these characters. Though, I've read some say that new readers should begin with The Last Wish as it's a collection of short stories set before the series and provides some background. I ignored that, obviously, but there is some merit in that idea.

The novel follows Ciri and Geralt, a child orphaned by war and the monster hunter whose destiny it was to find her. Ciri is prophesied to end the world, or to save it, or shape it, or elevate the power of whoever can manipulate, enslave or marry her. And there are so many people who'd like very much to find her for the own purposes. Enter Geralt, the famous and stoic witcher, who is known far and wide for both his deadly abilities as a hunter and torrid love affairs with beautiful enchantresses. In Ciri, Geralt does not find a valuable asset or source of power. He finds a daughter whom he would go to any lengths to protect. Ciri herself must come to terms with the violent miseries of her childhood in a world on the brink of war, where everyone else is making plans for her without a care to what she may want.

Ciri and Geralt by dragonlizzard

Blood of Elves is more of a character study than a novel. It is the first step in a grand adventure, but chooses to revel in its players first before doing much of anything. Sapkowski's world is already in full swing from page one and all of its principal players have lived long and/or eventful lives. To bring the audience up to speed, Sapkowski uses colourful conversations where people argue about the past in place of exposition. There are several scenes composed of only dialogue and it allows the author to establish every character's very distinct voice.

There are reasonable downsides to this, of course. The world of The Witcher is very dense with multiple plot lines to follow and so many characters who will all obviously have a part to play in later novels. Blood of Elves spends so much time jumping between one interesting conversation to the next that very little of the overall plot goes anywhere. After almost 400 pages, the story has not moved narratively or geographically very far. Yet it all feels like the first stones tumbling down the mountainside before an avalanche. It's a fun set up that lets the audience get invested in their toys before they can play with them.

I am jealous of all the people who've known them for 20 years now.

I know Geralt, Ciri, Yen and Triss. At least, I think I do. Even coming from The Wild Hunt to Blood of Elves I still feel like that's true. While many of the concepts espoused in the novel may be familiar to me from the games, it still felt like a solid way of kicking off the saga. If nothing else, it is just fun to spend more time with these characters.

Comic Review: Batman & Robin: The Hunt for Robin

The Hunt for Robin
Batman and Robin vol 6, (#29-34)
writer Peter J Tomasi
art by Patrick Gleason et al.
DC Comics

Premise:

After losing his son Damian - a.k.a. Robin - Batman has finally found peace with his death. Damian's grandfather, Ra's al Ghul, has not, however. In order to resurrect Robin, he's stolen the body - and now Batman will stop at nothing to reclaim him. (from Goodreads) 

Before I begin this review, I must add that I haven't read volume 5 of this series, mainly because I had a time limit on this copy of the comic. As such, I felt confused at the beginning, but I know the gist of it, being a continuation of vol 4, searching of Damian's body.

Here, it feels like R'as ahl Ghul is hinting at the fact that Talia didn't kill Damian, that someone else put the half a billion dollar bounty on his head. I hope this prediction is true, because I adore Talia, and refuse to acknowledge the versions where she rapes Bruce (in fact, in this volume alone, Bruce consents to sex with her, though doesn't exactly consent to his sperm being used to make a baby clone)

Bruce hunts R'as all across the globe, until they finally reach the Himalayas, and finds in his possession are the deformed bodies of unsuccessful Damian clones. The fatherly love he has for Damian makes it difficult for him to injure these malformed versions of his sons.

I'm not a fan that they recognise Clark and Diana as a couple--but that's a rant for another day. But once again, on their travels to Themyscira, they are attacked by Amazons who hate men with a bleeding passion, and paints them as murderous women who fuck and kill for procreation.I hated it when I read it in one of the early volumes of the N52 Wonder Woman, and I hate it now.

My biggest complaint came from the opening of the portal to Apokolips. I cannot begin to tell you how sick to death I am of Darkseid and Apokolips. And here, it made it feel cheap and convenient. I pretty much give up on any comic that mentions Darkseid/Apokolips, so I'm not sure I'll be reading the rest of this series, just keeping up with the story.

I found this to be the weakest of the Batman and Robin series, and I think it's because it's trying too hard to connect strings between all the JLA members and this narrative, when it's unnecessary. And the way he turns back everyone who offers to help him, while I understand it, it makes for a long and arduous journey to slog through.

Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

Sabriel
by Garth Nix

Pages:  395

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Date Released: September 2014 (originally published 1995)

Genre: fantasy

Premise:

For many years Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that treacherous world - and face the power of her own extraordinary destiny. (Source Goodreads)

This is a book I wish I'd read when I was a pre-teen. It seems to be everyone's childhood favourite story. So, here it is: adult-Jess's review of the first of the Old Kingdom Chronicles.

Sabriel is an interesting character. At first I thought she was going to be a Mary Sue because she's got almost perfect grades, but I loved her realisation that good grades don't mean anything when applied to the real world, and that's when I got really interested.
Sabriel is so sure that her father is in Balisaere--with no evidence, merely a hunch--so when she does find him there, it feels like an act of deus ex machina. She simply knows what to do, without any apparent training. So, it's hard to know exactly how I feel about her, because she changes so often.

I'm not a fan of the romance. It came out of nowhere and only had a small amount of pages to really develop. I'm sure pre-teen Jess would have lapped what little romance there was, but as an adult, I feel cheated and disappointed.

Despite that, the world is a truly magical place. The Wall separates Ancelstierre from The Old Kingdom, where the Old Magic thrives, but at a price. Here, zombie-like creatures of the dead walk about, controlled by a Dead Adept called Kerrigor. It's a wonderful blend of fantasy and horror, giving the book a chilling tone. It's a world I look forward to submerging myself into, over and over again.

The magic system is very original, based on music. It has a very intricate and other feeling to it, but the way the bells are described left me slightly confused. Despite this, I loved the Old Magic that pulsed through the book, giving life to a magical being in a cat's body called Mogget, and a bastard prince stuck as a figurehead on a lost and dilapidated ship. I'm always a fan of animal companions in books, and wish there were more. Taggle from Plain Kate comes to mind, as another magical novel with a cat as an ally.

Despite my grievances, I enjoyed the book. It was fun. It was magical. It was exactly what pre-teen Jess would have adored, and I'm truly downhearted that I didn't read this sooner. Thankfully, though, I have three more books in this series to bury myself in, and I can't wait.

Cover Art: 4 

Writing: 3 

Characters: 3

Plot: 4

Interest: 3

Total:

3 stars

Comic Review: Gotham Academy vol 1

Welcome to Gotham Academy
Gotham Academy vol 1 (issues #1-6)
written by Becky Cloonan & Brenden Fletcher
art by Karl Kerschl
DC Comics

Published: 17th June 2015

Source: galley from the publishers

Premise:

Gotham City's most prestigious prep school is a very weird place. It's got a spooky campus, oddball teachers, and rich benefactors always dropping by...like that weirdo Bruce Wayne. But nothing is as strange as the students! 

Like, what's up with Olive Silverlock? Is she crazy or what? Where did she go last summer? And what's the deal with her creepy mom? And how come that Freshman Maps is always following her around? And is she still going out with Kyle? P.S. Did you hear the rumor about the ghost in the North Hall?! (source Goodreads)

This was one of my most anticipated comics from DC. As much as I love DC, I'd been getting bored of them constantly catering to white middle class males, so it's nice that they branched out to their teen female audience.

Lady Thor, a review

Thor 4, vol 1 (#1-5)

written by Jason Aaron,
art by Russell Dauterman & Jorge Molina
Marvel Comics

After Nick Fury whispered the words that made Thor an unworthy wielder of Mjolnir, a new face has picked up the hammer, and all its responsibilities. Not everyone is pleased with this notion--Odin will fight to the death to find the thief--but it can't be helped for the hammer itself says

"Whoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of... Thor."

Wildlife by Fiona Wood

Wildlife by Fiona Wood

Pages: 365, paperback

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia

Genre: Young Adult; contemporary

Source: library

Premise: 

During a semester in the wilderness, sixteen-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and an unexpected romance with popular Ben Capaldi? That will take some navigating.

New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can't help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

Fans of Melina Marchetta, Rainbow Rowell, and E. Lockhart will adore this endearing and poignant story of first love, true friendship, and going a little bit wild. (Taken from Goodreads)

This is the kind of book pre-teen me would have read to learn about love, friendships, life, and sex. I find it to be just as important as Judy Blume's books, when it comes to the frightening world of growing up.