Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are okay. Usual. Went with Dad to a follow up doctor appointment yesterday (today as I’m writing this), so this will be a short post. I know I’ve done posts on favorite chocolates and all that, but I can’t find anything about hard candies. Granted, I didn’t look very hard. So, since Halloween is next week, I thought I’d do a top 3 list.
Here we go!
1. Werther’s Original. I don’t care if it’s an old people candy. I’ve loved them since I was a kid. I will love them until I die. But I don’t get them often because Dad loves them too and I won’t tempt him like that. But yes, random grandma on the street. I will gladly take one. I’ll even take one of those mysterious strawberry candies that just randomly spawn in your purse once you hit a certain age.
2. Jolly Ranchers. I like fruity hard candy. I’m not a fan of chewy candies like StarBurst or whatever, but stick a Jolly Rancher in my cheek and I’m happy. I like grape. Watermelon is good too. I haven’t found a flavor I actively dislike, actually. But I don’t eat them much because I’m satisfied for months after just one, so there’s no point in buying a bag.
3. Dum Dums. I completely forget these exist until I see them somewhere. Usually the doctor’s office. I’ll steal one and be good for the year, so I never even think about buying them.
What are your favorite non-chocolate candies? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts, questions, or comments here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I can’t think of anything to blog about, so I decided to show you Sophia and her favorite game. Just look at the cuteness. She literally begs for this whenever Dad’s near a hose. And the water has to be on the jet setting or else it’s not worth her time. Meanwhile, if Bonnie and Mardi are outside when this is going on, they run for cover. They’re not cool like Sophia. Anyway, there’s your dose of random cuteness for the week. Maybe I’ll have something to ramble about next week.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. Still stressing over stupid stuff. I have no book review today, so I’ve been trying to think of something fall or Halloween related to ramble about, but we’re boring people. We don’t decorate the house. At best we put up a winter wreath in December. Nothing for autumn or Halloween. I don’t watch scary movies. I’ve already done scary story recommendations. I’ve done favorite candy and gross candy. I thought about doing fall outfits, but it’s Texas. It’s still 90 degrees outside. My fall outfits are the same as they’ve been for the last 6 months… shorts and t-shirts. I could pretend to be one of those girls who coordinates outfits with every season, but I’m not. So, I guess I’ll just ramble about fall in Texas.
How can you tell it’s fall in Texas? People get excited over “cold fronts” that take us from 95 degrees down to 91. Or 89 if we’re really lucky. If it hits 85 degrees, people start pulling out the jeans and hoodies. People walk down the street holding their steaming pumpkin spice lattes, despite the fact that the asphalt is hotter than that coffee. Fall in Texas is weird.
It’s also State Fair season. I haven’t been in about 10 years. It’s crowded and overpriced, but it’s one of those things Texans get super excited about. Like, what non-fried food item are they going to batter and shove in oil this year? Last time I went, it was butter. Not great. But the deep fried Nutter Butter was divine. So, when people start talking about Big Tex, you know it’s fall.
Football. The Cowboys, sure. But when people start talking about high school football like it’s life or death, that’s when you know fall has truly begun in Texas. The rivalries. Pitting children against each other for adult amusement. There’s nothing better. Even college football pales in comparison. It gets creepy and it gets super intense. And don’t you dare ever remind people it’s just a game or you’ll get run out of the state (and probably most states that abut us). Seriously. It’s weird down here.
Oh, and don’t be fooled by the 3 days of nice weather at the end of September or beginning of October. That’s just Mother Nature screwing with us. We won’t get real fall until around Halloween, but that’s only for a week at best, then it’s winter. So, happy fall from Texas!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Dad and I got our Covid and flu shots on Tuesday (today as I’m writing this), so I’m either fine or feeling blah and vegging. Only time will tell. But it doesn’t matter. Today is another book review! Don’t worry. It’s back to our regularly scheduled reviews for a while after this. Anyway, Simone Jung from Books Forward (a marketing firm I’ve reviewed for before) contacted me to see if I was interested in reviewing a dark fantasy YA with demons and Philippine mythology. Sounded right up my alley, so I agreed. The Demon by Victory Witherkeigh is actually the second book in a duology, but I was told it could be read as a standalone. It was self-published and released yesterday (October 1st). My reviews are honest and unbiased. Let’s get to it.
The Demon follows Hukloban, a demon who has possessed a girl. The problem is, she doesn’t remember why. When Death (her boss and lover) appears, she discovers that her actions went against his wishes. Why would she do such a thing? Why would she disobey Death? As punishment, she’s forced to live out the college years of the girl she’s possessed. How is she supposed to navigate the human world? Can she balance her demon urges and human needs? But most of all, can she figure out why she did what she did and regain her place by Death’s side? Does she want to?
It definitely sounds like something I would love, but I couldn’t get into it. Instead of being a cohesive novel, it turned out to be a bunch of disjointed vignettes. That could work. It’s been done successfully before. But here it’s just messy and confusing. random people come and go with no warning and it’s like we’re expected to know who they are. I would say they might’ve been in the first book, but there are way too many and it’s obvious at least half of them are new characters. The style also makes the plot feel broken and completely random.
Speaking of the plot… it’s disappointing. You could strip away all of the mythology and still have this book. It’s just an angsty college student slice of life story. It’s half porn, but not even good porn. It’s a horrible representation of the BDSM community. There’s a random gang rape scene that’s somehow okay. Like… what the actual fuck? Then all of that is randomly left behind in favor of chasing after random bros. There’s absolutely no growth throughout the story. Oh, and there’s a separate plot about how horrible the girl’s family is. Everything was super cliché and annoying.
None of the characters were remotely likeable. Sure, demons. But even the main character was just whiny and annoying. Any sense of growth feels forced and unearned. I’m not entirely sure if that’s because of the style or because the characters are asshats. By the end, I didn’t care what Hukloban chose to do. I was just happy to be done with her drama.
The writing was not great. That’s all I can say without feeling too harsh. This book is another example of a great idea, but a poor execution.
Ultimately, I wasn’t a fan of The Demon. I really wanted to like it, but it didn’t hold up.
Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. One and a half, really. One because it was written and a half of one because someone will probably like it. But I don’t recommend it.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Anyone want to go scream into the void with me? No? Fine. It’s the last Wednesday of September, so it’s time for our regularly scheduled book review! I don’t know why, but September seems to be when a crap ton of Christmas themed books come out, so I gave in and decided to go festive. It’s still a cozy mystery, though. The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter came out yesterday (the 24th) from Avon Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do it!
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year follows Maggie and Ethan, mystery writers at the same publishing house who can’t seem to get along. Maggie despises Ethan and Ethan is seemingly too cool to care. When they both end up invited on a mystery Christmas trip to an estate in England, they’re thrust together to solve a locked door mystery. Is it a murder? A test? A little of both? No one seems to know. But the situation forces both of them to face feelings and inner truths they’d rather avoid.
The plot. The mystery part of the plot was pretty straightforward. Locked room mystery turns into someone actively trying to murder people. The red herrings are other popular murder mystery tropes (someone embezzling from a little old lady, fake relative trying to get in the will, the butler who turns out to be much more, etc.). This book is basically every expected mystery storyline jammed into one story, but somehow it still works. It’s weird, but I liked it. I do see how some people could miss the clues to the actual baddie, though. A lot is happening, so if you’re a skimmer or a speed reader, you’re going to miss things. This is a book you really need to read word-for-word. The same can be said for the romance subplot. A lot is happening there too. It’s adorable, but also super creepy (I’ll get into that after I talk about the characters). Just plan to pay attention if you read this book.
The characters. I liked Maggie. Her growth and how she reconnects to herself is actually the best part of this book. She comes from a screwed up past and emotionally abusive relationship that has recently ended. She’s meek and unsure of herself, but by the end she is learning what kind of person she really is and she’s taking control of her life. Or trying to. The book doesn’t portray the process as easy and done within a few days. But it shows her working on it. Ethan has his own revelations, but he doesn’t really grow much from them. The other characters are fairly stereotypical with a few quirks thrown in. Some of them change, but they don’t get enough time on the page to become proper characters. They’re entertaining enough though, so that’s fine.
The creepiness. This was my only issue with the book. Ethan is fecking creepy. I know his intense love is supposed to be sweet and charming and endearing, but it’s really possessive and stalker-ish and covered in red flags. Especially when we start seeing things from his point of view. He’d die for her. He’d kill for her. Like, calm yourself, bro. You haven’t even kissed her yet. This poor woman has finally escaped a gaslighting, cheating, thieving narcissist and now she’s ending up with a possessive stalker? It doesn’t help that he gives off those vibes of “if I can’t have her, no one can,” so when she leaves him, there’s a 99% chance of a murder-suicide happening. So, yeah. I would say I’m just jaded, but I read enough creepy stuff to know the signs. I really enjoy the creepy stuff. But I prefer my creepy stuff to acknowledge that it’s gross, not to wrap it up in a thin veneer of “hey, this is what healthy relationships look like!” It’s really not. Remember kids… we want a Morticia and Gomez romance, not a Harley and Joker one.
The writing was good. It made for a quick and easy read despite the jam-packed plot. I didn’t have trouble putting the book down, but I also wanted to pick it back up again when I was supposed to be reading.
Ultimately, I enjoyed The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year. It’s one of the better books I’ve read this year. Maybe even in the last couple of years. I’ll keep an eye out for more books by Ally Carter.
Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. If it weren’t for the creepy relationship stuff, I probably would’ve gone for 5 stars because I had fun with it. I still definitely recommend checking it out if you’re looking for a cute, Christmas-y cozy.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? I’m not here to complain about life, so I won’t even get into it. Today, it’s time for a book review! No, it’s not the last Wednesday of the month, but Rachel Lachney from Books Forward (a marketing firm I’ve reviewed for before) contacted me to see if I was interested in reviewing a fantasy dystopian type book and I said sure. The Others by Evette Davis was released yesterday (the 17th) by SparkPress. My reviews are honest and unbiased. Let’s get to it!
The Others follows Olivia Shepherd who has strong empathic powers, but has spent most of her life ignoring and suppressing them. When a time walker appears in her room, Olivia is forced to acknowledge her abilities and the fact that the Others, magical beings like witches and demons and vampires and fairies, exist alongside humans. She’s drawn into a mysterious organization called The Council that manipulates the human world by dabbling in human politics. What will her role be in all of this? Is she capable of changing the world?
Sounds fun, right? It’s not. The blurb on the book is super misleading. It sounds like it’s going to be a fantasy driven book with an in depth look at the Council and how the Others live and work. But instead, it’s basically about a woman who ends up running a small political campaign in California and all the fantasy is secondary to that. The blurb also mentions a dystopian San Francisco. You can’t really call it dystopian if it’s just real life San Francisco. It’s just San Francisco in 2022 (yes, the book literally dates itself which is weird).
Aside from the misleading blurb, the plot and pacing were poorly done. The plot was super awkward. I think it wanted to be a political thriller, but it’s basically just a rant against MAGA America (which I totally get) and someone’s fantasy about fighting against it. Most of the book is a mundane political campaign. Everything cool and important happens off the page or is glanced over. Olivia has no idea how to use her powers, but two pages later she has everything mastered. It’s ridiculous. There are basic expectations when you pick up a fantasy book (like seeing the MC struggle with their power before they figure it out), but this book skips them all. Then, after a slog of two thirds of a book, a car explosion is thrown in and at the very end, a surprise parent reveal is made (if you were paying attention even just a little bit, it’s not a surprise). And there was a completely random almost-threesome thrown in for a laugh. I don’t know if I was supposed to read this book high for it to make sense or what, but it definitely doesn’t work when you’re sober.
The characters don’t do much to improve things. Olivia is an annoying and entitled person. She doesn’t seem to care about anyone else as long as she gets her way. William is supposed to be a southern gentleman, which is really just code for a douchenozzle. Everyone else are cookie cutter stereotypes and its sad. Elsa and Lily could have been great, but they just fade into the background. Everything good about this book gets pushed into the background.
The writing is another thing I have nothing nice to say about, since most of the problems stem from bad writing. I feel like I’m being harsh, but a quick scan of other reviews tells me I’m not alone in my thinking.
Ultimately, I almost gave up on finishing The Others and I probably should have. There’s nothing remotely satisfying about this book. I won’t be checking out the other two in the trilogy if they come out.
Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. One and a half, actually. One because it’s been written. A half because some people seem to like it. I don’t recommend it, though, unless it has undergone massive revisions since I received my ARC.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are fine. I’m just tired and lazy. I thought about reviewing the restaurant we went to last week, but I didn’t think to take pictures and we mostly ordered from the specials menu, so I can’t just borrow pictures off Google. Maybe next time we go. But the next three blog posts are book reviews, so I won’t be slacking again for at least a few weeks. I really should go read those books. Well, finish reading them. So, here’s your short post of excuses for why I’m not blogging this week. Come back next week for an actual post (I never skip book reviews).
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are okay. It’s currently Monday (the 2nd) because Dad has a check up tomorrow, so we’ll be spending most of Tuesday in Rockwall and I won’t have a chance to ramble at you if I wait until then. Anyway, I have decaf choco-cherry coffee from Texas Coffee Traders and lots to read, so I’m probably going to keep this brief. Maybe. All I really want to do is get a list of things I’m planning to do this month down, so you can all be disappointed in me when I fail. Here it is…
1. Writing. I finished a short story last week, but actually writing felt nice, so I’m going to try to keep up with it. I have a novel that I want to finish (I’m only a chapter into it). It’s something I had barely started when I hit the “what’s the point?” funk I’ve been in. I’ll try starting it up again and see if I can get anywhere.
2. Reading. I’m a little behind in my review books because I somehow ended up with a book for September 18th, 25th, and October 2nd. So, I’m currently reading those three plus a book to listen to while I’m in bed. It doesn’t help that I’m not exactly enamored with two of them (wait for the reviews). But I’ll use the rest of this week to catch up on them and focus on writing starting next week. Hopefully.
3. Slushing. I’ve mostly been keeping up with my first reader responsibilities. I try to get through 20+ stories a week. I don’t think I’m behind. But there are still a lot to go. Everyone is working hard to get through the submissions in a timely manner. We’ll get it done.
4. Peopling. I haven’t been on top of answering my messages (from friends, anyway). I read everything, but sometimes I forget to answer for a few days. If I start writing again, that will probably just get worse. Sorry. But I’ll try to do better.
Those are the things I need to work on in September. What are your plans for the month? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are about the same as usual. But it’s the last Wednesday of August, so there’s no time to complain about life. It’s book review time! This month, I decided to go with an old fashioned cozy mystery. The House on Graveyard Lane by Martin Edwards was released yesterday (August 27th) from Poisoned Pen Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Before I get started, I also have to say that there was no indication on NetGalley that this was the fourth installment of an ongoing series, so just remember that I’m judging this book on its own merits. Things might have been different if I’d read the previous books. Let’s do the thing.
The House on Graveyard Lane primarily follows Rachel Savernake as she tries to figure out why surreal artist Damaris Gethin killed herself in front of a select group of people. Jacob Flint, a crime reporter, is also interested in the case, but he has his own case to follow involving the beautiful Kiki de Villiers until the story is mysteriously quashed by the powers that be. Set in 1930s London, it’s a mystery for fans of historical fiction as well as whodunits.
The plot is deceiving. The blurb on the back and the initial setup indicate that the main mystery will be solving Damaris Gethin’s suicide, but that really takes a backseat to everything else going on in the book. They wrap it up like two thirds of the way through in one or two paragraphs that are just offhand remarks in a conversation about the other stuff that’s going on. It’s really annoying. And even the main issues in the book are arbitrarily wrapped up. There’s a “clue finder” at the end with a bunch of stuff the reader was supposed to pick up on as proof of the outcomes, but it’s all vague stuff. Yes, I picked up on everything mentioned, but none of it was solid. Everything was guesswork that only came together because the villain was too stupid to keep their trap shut. Don’t confess and there’s literally a hundred other explanations for the so-called evidence. It’s just unsatisfying all around.
None of the characters are particularly likeable. Mostly because they all turn out to be some kind of bad guy. But even Rachel and her crew are not great. She’s a nosy rich person who thinks she should be allowed to do whatever she wants without consequences. Her “servants” aren’t really fleshed out in this book, but they have potential to be good characters. Maybe they are in the other books. I don’t know. And Jacob Flint turns into a whiny little bitch at the first sign of trouble despite acting like he’s tough. There’s no nice way of putting that. Maybe the other books give all the main characters more likeable qualities, but this one leaves everyone a bit thin. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have to actually like characters, but I do have to be able to see beyond the stereotype they’re filling to make them interesting. I can’t do it here.
I did enjoy the writing and the throwback to old timey English mysteries. For what it was, the pacing was fine. If the story had been what it promised to be and the ending had been stronger, I probably would have liked it a lot.
Ultimately though, I’m not a fan of The House on Graveyard Lane. There was just too much that was unsatisfying about it. I’m not even interested in trying the other books in the series.
Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. If you’ve read the other books in the series and enjoyed them, you might really like this book. I don’t know. But if you’re going in blind like I did, this is perfectly skippable.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? I’m tired and taking another day off. I suck. I know. I had a meeting and some people are coming over later and I haven’t eaten yet. The excuses could keep coming, but the truth is, I just don’t want to write anything right now. I’m going to slush, then be social, and fit food in there somewhere. I’ll be back next week with a book review.
Shawna's Blog of Doom 