Book Review

Thoughts on THE DEMON

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

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.

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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.

Thoughts on THE MOST WONDERFUL CRIME OF THE YEAR

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

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.

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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.

Thoughts on THE OTHERS

~ shawnaborman ~ 5 Comments

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.

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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.

Thoughts on THE HOUSE ON GRAVEYARD LANE

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

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.

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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.

Thoughts on OUR WICKED HISTORIES

~ shawnaborman ~ 3 Comments

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are usual. But I realized this is my 500th post. That’s a lot of rambling about nothing! So, before anything else, thanks for reading my randomness. Whether you’re new here or have been around since the beginning, I appreciate it. Now, onto the book review! That’s right. It’s the last Wednesday of July. Can you believe it? Anyway, this month, I decided to go with a YA horror mystery mishmash. Something I would’ve devoured as a kid. Nostalgia. You know the kind of stuff. Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith seemed to fill the requirements. It was released yesterday (July 30th) from Delacorte Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!

Our Wicked Histories follows Meg as she tries to salvage her friendships and reclaim her place at a prestigious art school after she’s suspended and on the verge of being kicked out permanently. Luckily for her, her bestie and one half of the Wren twins, Lottie, invites her to a party at the Wren’s ancestral estate with a plan to help Meg make amends. But the estate is dark and dank and creepy. And according to rumors, it may or may not be plagued by a certain spirit intent on revenge. What has Meg gotten herself into? When bodies start showing up, she begins to question whether the school and her so-called friends are worth all the drama and death. But she’s stuck in the middle of nowhere with no means of escape.

As far as the plot goes, young me probably would’ve loved it. It’s pretty standard horror mystery fare. If you’re familiar with this type of book, it’s not hard to guess the killer or the motivation behind the murders. Two storylines unfold at once, the present with the murders and all that, plus the event that put the present events into motion. It’s pretty easy to follow once you realize what’s going on. Personally, I preferred the past plotline. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what was going on there either, but it wasn’t as blatantly obvious. The horror part of the story is nice until the end. It ends up feeling like it was just something thrown in so Meg didn’t have to save herself. However, this wasn’t written for post-MFA brain, it was written for high school brain. High school brain me wouldn’t have cared that she guessed everything. She would have enjoyed it.

The characters were all pretty unlikable. It’s your basic poor scholarship student trying to fit in with the uber rich kids scenario. All the rich kids are douchenozzles (even the ones who aren’t supposed to be) and Meg is annoyingly clingy. Typical teenager stuff. The only one who has any potential redeemable qualities gets stuck in the gay bestie stereotype and isn’t fleshed out at all. For adult me, it was eye roll inducing. Teen me wouldn’t have really cared. She would have been annoyed that none of the characters were relatable, but she still would’ve enjoyed it for what it is.

As far as the writing goes, it was a smooth and pretty quick read. Teen me probably would’ve gotten through it in a couple of days. It takes adult me way longer because I can’t read a book without studying it anymore. Ugh. Thanks, English professors.

Ultimately, Our Wicked Histories was okay. I enjoyed it enough to satisfy my weird nostalgia mood. It wasn’t great and it wasn’t bad. I’ll check out other stuff by Amy Goldsmith if I run across anything.

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Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy this type of story, by all means try it out. If you have a teenager who’s into the genre, let them check it out. There are mentions of sex that happens off the page, but nothing explicit. In case you need a warning about that.

Thoughts on THE MASK OF MERRYVALE MANOR

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are still annoying, but I won’t complain. Yet. Maybe next week. Or maybe things will be better next week. Who knows? Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of June, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I decided to go with a standard mystery with historical and horror-adjacent (not quite horror, but close) elements. The Mask of Merryvale Manor by Pete Sherlock was released on some platforms on the 20th and others on the 25th (which isn’t confusing at all, ugh) by Fairlight Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!

The Mask of Merryvale Manor follows Ben, a 14-year-old boy who moves in with his rich aunt’s family after his mother dies. At first, he’s seduced by a life of opulence. He’d do anything to fit in. To be accepted. But a few years later, he returns home from university for his cousin’s wedding and finds remains in the lake that’s on the family property. That’s when he really starts to see the family for who they are. In the end, he must decide if fitting in is worth throwing his morals away.

Plotwise, it’s your standard English murder mystery. If you’ve ever watched Midsomer Murders, you can pretty easily guess where this one is going. There’s only one person the remains could be, so the “figuring out who the victim is” part felt a bit drawn out. I also pegged the killer right off the bat, but it was still an interesting journey to uncover them. There was also a weird fixation on the Ooser mask (it has to do with the region’s folklore) that I enjoyed. Nothing super exciting, but a satisfying plot nonetheless.

According to Historic UK, this is the last remaining Dorset Ooser mask and shortly after this photograph was taken in the late 19th century the mask disappeared.

The characters were interesting, if mostly unlikable. But that’s really the point. As an outside observer, the reader can see how repugnant these people are which ups the pity we feel for Ben as he struggles to fit in with them. Not all of them are evil, some are just so self-absorbed that they fail to see what’s happening around them. I found the book more interesting as a study of human behavior than I did as an actual mystery.

Ben to his family throughout this book.

As far as the writing goes, I enjoyed it. There was an old timey feel to it that lent itself well to late ’50s/early ’60s setting. It created a nice atmosphere.

Ultimately, I appreciated The Mask of Merryvale Manor for what it is. It’s not wonderful or groundbreaking or anything, but it’s a perfectly adequate mystery.

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Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It didn’t wow me, but it didn’t disappoint me either. If you enjoy mysteries, especially ones like Midsomer Murders, you’ll probably enjoy this one. It’s worth picking up.

Thoughts on THE RIDE OF HER LIFE

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are fine. Some high winds knocked a couple of limbs off one of our trees, but otherwise things are okay. But enough of that. It’s the last Wednesday of May, so it’s book review time! Somehow, I ended up with a lesbian romance that promised a grumpy/sunshine trope. That’s probably how it lured me in. Anyway, The Ride of her Life by Jennifer Dugan was released yesterday (the 28th) from Avon Books (an imprint of HarperCollins). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing.

The Ride of her Life follows Molly whose life is stagnating. She works two jobs in an attempt to stave off crippling student loan debt, but neither of those jobs include event planning (what she actually went to school for), and she’s low-key miserable. When her estranged aunt leaves her a horse farm, Molly is all set to sell the place and start up her own business. Until she falls for the farrier who lives on the property. The farrier hates her, but when has that ever stopped love. Between non-stop misunderstandings and a mountain of debt, things seem impossible, but can everything work out?

It’s a romcom. The plot demands everything work out. That’s literally the only reason Molly and Shani get together. There are far too many forced misunderstandings that make them either the biggest idiots ever or prove they’re deliberately dense. It’s kind of like the author was told to never let the tension die and they took that advice to heart. But not all tension needs to be negative. Romantic tension is a thing that should be in this book, but it’s not really. The plot was very much a series of overused tropes with no twists. It all felt super forced and far too dramatic and ridiculously cookie-cutter. It doesn’t feel like something that would actually happen.

It doesn’t help that 99% of the characters are completely unlikable. Only Lochlin was remotely pleasant and he’s still a dipshit. Maybe I’m just bitter because I was promised grumpy/sunshine, but all I got was two whiny little children who could’ve sat down and had an honest conversation and been in a much better place. The mother came off as greedy and manipulative and all around gross. The bestie acted high and mighty, but she was unsupportive and also manipulative. Everyone in this book was basically a giant red flag. It was annoying. Also, it took them far too long to realize that a farm with barns and a couple of houses and riding trails and space for… I don’t know… events, would make a great event space for a new event planner! It was literally my first thought when she was left everything. Ugh.

As far as the writing goes, it was fine, but it felt like an ad for Taylor Swift. I’m not particularly into books that date themselves like that, but a lot of people are.

Ultimately, I was not a fan of The Ride of her Life. The false advertisement of grumpy/sunshine means I won’t grab another book by this author either.

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Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. Okay, one and a half. It was written and got published. That much work deserves that many stars. But, personally, I don’t recommend it. There are too many better romcoms to read out there.

Thoughts on THE STATES

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? It’s already May. How? I have no idea where the rest of this year went, but whatever. I’m starting off this month with an extra book review! I was contacted by Simone Jung from Books Forward again and she suggested I check out The States by Norah Woodsey on NetGalley. A little slice of life with a dash of speculative/sci-fi sounded fun, so I went ahead and read it. It’s self-published and was released yesterday (April 30th). I must thank Simone and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.

The States follows Tildy as she struggles to free herself from an overbearing and demanding family. The problem? She doesn’t know if she wants to keep up with her current life or revisit a past she has already run away from once. An old friend approaches her about a new study in lucid dreaming aimed at helping people make difficult choices. Tildy signs right up, but can she keep the dreams and reality separate?

This book is supposedly a reimagining of Austen’s Persuasion. I’ve never read that one, so I can’t tell you how well this book does on that front, but I can tell you how it is as just a book. Short version: not good. And that’s sad, because I really liked the premise and wanted to like the book. I tried to enjoy it. I read the whole thing. And while it has potential, it falls on the amateurish side of everything (plotting, pacing, character development, the writing in general, etc.). That’s not to say it’s bad and couldn’t be made better. With some rewriting, it could be a solid book. It’s just not there yet.

Plot and pacing. There’s a super slow build for the first half to two-thirds of the book and we get a lot of information, but what we get is filler while the actual story gets glanced over. Her past in Ireland plays a big part of Tildy’s dilemma, but instead of showing us what happened, we get blurry little snippets that never really come together to give us the information the reader needs. The present storyline is the same way. Lots of information, but the story itself is only viewed in the periphery. The last third of the book is beyond rushed. The stuff with Jude and the lawyer’s daughter comes out of left field like it was tacked on as an afterthought. The whole relationship with Aidan is just barebones plot points that haven’t been fleshed out and connected yet. It needs a ton of work.

Characters. First off, there are way too many to keep track of and most of them can be cut or meshed into other characters without losing anything. Secondly, none of the important characters are remotely likeable. I have zero sympathy for Tildy. She’s an heiress (granted, her family is hemorrhaging all their money away) who was smart enough to get her own job and be able to support herself, but she lets her father and sisters treat her like shit? Go no contact and get on with your life. She’s whiny and weak and just a super annoying protagonist. Jude’s a douche and not even a charming one. Aidan is supposed to be the main dude, but he isn’t even a character at this point. He’s just a placeholder for a character. I think the characters could be much better if the plot and pacing were ironed out and they were given room to grow in the actual story, but it’s not there yet.

It’s Aidan.

The writing. It’s not great either. In my earlier writing classes, I was told that my writing was stepping on itself and I needed to stop that. Basically, I would write a scene depicting a certain emotion and at the end, I would have a sentence or two telling what the emotion I just showed was. It was me not trusting myself to convey things clearly. I learned quickly to recognize it. This book is full of stuff like that. There’s also a ton of repetitive and mundane description that could be trimmed, especially early on. And a lot of the dialogue is stilted and/or used to give the reader information the characters would already know. People don’t talk like that.

Ultimately, The States felt unpolished and disappointing. It sounds like a great premise, but the execution was poor.

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Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. One and a half, actually. One for writing it and half of one for self-publishing it. But I don’t really recommend it. There have to be better reimaginings of Persuasion out there.

Thoughts on OCEAN’S GODORI

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things are about the same as always here. Just reading a lot and avoiding writing. Speaking of reading, it’s the last Wednesday of the month, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I decided to go with something sci-fi. I just wanted something a little outside my comfort zone. Comfort zone adjacent, if you will. So, I went for Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho. It was released yesterday (the 23rd) from Hillman Grad Books (a brand new imprint of Zando). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!

Ocean’s Godori follows a number of characters including Ocean, Haven, and Teo as they try to figure out where and how they fit into the Solar. Ocean, a disgraced pilot, does what needs to be done only to be constantly punished for it. Teo is the second son of a rich family, a screw up, and ends up being framed for murder. Haven, a Mortemian far away from home, is out to see what the rest of the Solar has to offer. They all get dragged into the murder mystery which leads them on a chase they aren’t exactly prepared for.

Pacing. There’s a prologue that drops us right into the action and let’s us see a trial run for the climax. Cool. It means this story’s going to be action packed and fun, right? Wrong. Nothing else happens for about two thirds of the book. Sure, we see how some characters come together and we get some background, but nothing important or exciting happens that couldn’t happen in a much more condensed section. And then, the adventure stuff happens way too fast and the ending basically cuts off right in the middle of the climax and leaves all the plot threads just dangling there. I don’t know if there’s supposed to be a book two, but if not, the ending is beyond unsatisfying. It’s like the writer didn’t know how to end it, so they’re foisting that responsibility onto the reader. No thank you. I will not do your job for you. Hopefully, there will be a book two. So yeah… the pacing is bad.

Plot. The story is interesting. It can’t seem to decide if it wants to be a romance with a thriller subplot or a thriller with a romance subplot, but I think that’s more of a pacing problem than anything. I’d be fine either way. If you’re into hard sci-fi, this is not the book for you. Even I know the science part of this is iffy at best, but it’s for fun, so even though I frequently asked myself “whaaaat?,” I ignored it and moved on. Anyway, there’s corruption and drama and insurmountable odds. And space pirates. It has everything a space novel needs.

Characters. I actually really liked most of the characters. Haven is my favorite, but I really don’t understand why Mortemians are so reviled. They’re funeral directors who train in various rites from childhood basically. I don’t get why that disgusts everyone and it’s not explained well in the book. Ocean and Teo are great. Love Phoenix and his crew. The only character I didn’t like was the captain. She’s all fun and games until someone points out that she’s putting everyone at risk and suddenly she becomes a whiny little bitch and demands everyone do the stupid stuff anyway. She’s annoying, then she just disappears after Phoenix shows up. It’s weird. She’s a throwaway character, I guess. Other than her, the characters are really the main reason I finished this book.

To the captain.

Setting and writing. I really enjoyed a futuristic South Korean dominated space program. It’s a fun setting that allowed the author to blend Korean language with English. I learned stuff. The writing itself flowed well too.

Ultimately, I kind of enjoyed Ocean’s Godori. Despite everything I didn’t like, if a second book comes out, I’ll probably pick it up.

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Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Actually, two and a half is probably closer. If there’s no sequel, I don’t recommend it. If the sequel appears and is good, then I’ll recommend it.

Thoughts on A DEADLY WALK IN DEVON

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I’m sure it’s lovely somewhere or to someone, anyway. It’s only Tuesday as I’m writing this, but the forecast says thunderstorms, so it may or may not be lovely here. And I’ve used the word lovely too much, so now it sounds awkward. Let’s get to what this post is about… a book review! That’s right. It’s the last Wednesday of the month. This time, I decided to nestle back into my comfort zone with a cozy mystery. A Deadly Walk in Devon by Nicholas George was released on the 26th from Kensington Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. So, let’s do the thing!

A Deadly Walk in Devon follows Rick “Chase” Chasen, a retired San Diego detective who is grieving the death of his significant other. He’s struggling with life in general, so he decides to go on a walking tour of Devon where he meets up with Billie, a woman he knows from previous trips, and a handful of other guests who booked the same trip. On particularly annoying guest confides in Chase that he’s been receiving death threats and enlists Chase’s help in staying safe. Chase is hesitant, but also tempted by the puzzle of it all. When the man falls to his death, Chase feels the need to figure out what really happened.

The plot. An old, rich jerk falls to his death in a strange place surrounded by strangers. Or are they strangers? Cue the suspenseful “dun dun dun.” Of course, everyone except Chase suspects the trophy wife. Even the British inspector. Throw in a second, seemingly unconnected, death to stir things up. There are plenty of red herrings and a disturbing number of “jokes” that are technically attempted murder. A bestie who encourages all of the shenanigans is included as well. And there’s a potential love interest. Also, if you’re at all familiar with cozies, it isn’t difficult to figure out whodunit. It’s standard cozy mystery fare, which is what I was hoping for.

My only complaint is that a lot of the characters were pretty flat. Chase and Billie were great. The inspector was an amalgamation of a number of great detectives (Holmes, Columbo, etc.), but only if they were completely inept. Which is fine. But there were at least eight suspects and not much room in the book for them to be fleshed out, so a lot of them felt like stereotypes. It’s not that big of a deal, but I do enjoy more meat on characters, especially when they all stick around for the whole book.

The writing is nice and the description of the scenery is great. The pacing is a little on the slow side, but they’re on a walking holiday, so it kind of fits the story.

Ultimately, A Deadly Walk in Devon is a perfectly adequate cozy mystery. I enjoyed it. The whole walking trip angle makes for a fun series set up with plenty of settings to explore. I will definitely check out the next book in the series when/if it comes out.

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Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. It wasn’t perfect. The characters need work. But if you enjoy cozies, I think it’s worth picking up.