This Month in Reality: It’s Just a F*cking Date

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Kate

I picked this up in a bogo audible sale. It’s not my usual fare but Greg and Amiira seem to be doing well together and other people seem to enjoy their books so I figured, why not?

My feelings about this book are ambivalent but not because I didn’t enjoy it. Greg and Amiira are funny, smart and endearing. I think they gave me some great advice. But, some of their advice was off-putting because it meant accepting things about the world that I think need to be changed. So, my ambivalence is less about my feelings toward the book and more about my feelings towards society as a whole.

But, let’s talk about what I liked first. One of the premises of this book was that you set the bar for how people treat you. So, you have to be conscious of what you put out into the world. Potential partners not giving you a second look? Then you need to think about what you’re giving them to look at. They really hit the whole “get a life to have a life” idea hard. And, I really like that (and do that anyway). It makes sense to me to have a life I love and to invest time in making a life a love. And, if it means that I seem cool and mysterious because I’m a complete person who is not willing to drop everything to be with someone then, great. Total win. I liked the advice sections that focused on building you up. And, I liked the advice sections about how to date multiple people and to be explicit about your commitments when you are wanting to make them (and not expecting them in return).

But, all of the advice about deferring to men and letting them chase you and letting them take the lead in a conversation, blech. It’s probably something I need to hear and I probably should listen to it. (Although, that being said, ladles and jelly spoons, “So, that thing you do seems cool, tell me about it” is an imperative, not a interrogative. It’s easier to answer a question than give a speech about cool shit I do. So maybe instead of saying, “tell me about it” or “what’s that about?” say, “How did you get into that?” Just a suggestion.) I’m fine with waiting after a first date and letting the dude take the next move. (I mean, I do have a life and I expect you to have one, too. So, if you text me immediately or call the next day I might wonder about you.) I didn’t take good notes on this one so I feel like I should have better examples but suffice to say that most of my problems weren’t with the book but are with society.

So, that’s it for this one. It was pretty cool, even if society still has weird gender relations.

Review: Dark Guardian by Christine Feehan

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Kate

The Carpathians are an immortal race that live off blood, like vampires. Except, they’re not the undead. They have souls. The males lose all emotion and the ability to see color until they find their life mates who restore these to them. They’re bonded forever.
I should have stopped reading this book at the prologue and when I heard this explanation and thought, “NOPE!”
I get that I might not be the audience for mainstream romance. And, I get that media lets us explore situations and relationships that my interest us, intrigue us, turn us on, or whatever but that we don’t and shouldn’t do in real life. I get that novels, not just romance novels, are an escape. I get all of that.
But, I can’t even think of an appropriate list of swear words to describe how terrible this novel was. Seriously. It was so bad that I can’t even swear at it.
But, I can tell you what I didn’t like about it and why.

Massive Spoilers Ahead!

First, of course, was this idea that men (well, Carpathian men) are emotionless monsters that women have to save. Nope. Feelings are a human thing. We all have amygdalas and emotional centers in our brains and anything that continues to perpetuate the stereotype that women are the ones that feel and men aren’t harms women, harms men, harms us all. Second, after introducing our immortal badass vampire hunting Carpathian dudebro we’re introduced to Jaxon the heroine by looking into her life at ages 5, 10, 15, adulthood. Jax was raised on a military base by her Mother (who wasn’t super maternal) and her father, a Navy Seal, and his Seal buddies were very involved in her life. Until her Dad died and her Mom married his Seal buddy who then turned into an abusive pyscho and the descriptions were awful. Psycho Step Dad then stalks our fair Jax and torments her by hurting people she loves. Oh, but before we get there we are treated to these flashbacks where young Jax tells adults that her Step Dad is abusive and no one believes her. I thought there was mandatory reporting of these sorts of things? Like, if a kid tells her teacher that her Dad hits her Mom that the teacher had to tell the school and get Child Welfare involved? Anyway, Jax grows up into an emotionally stunted police officer who has to keep everyone at arms length because Psycho Step Dad might be watching. (At least that was a fun twist: for once the psycho step parent wasn’t the mother.) Then, her Carpathian dudebro inserts himself into her life, removes her from her friends and chosen family, disregards her concerns, commands her to stay in the house in the name of her safety (and gets violently upset when she disregards his commands and asserts her own autonomy), and initiates the life mate binding process without her consent and then completes it without ever explaining anything to her. Being stalked by a Navy Seal is terrible. Being swept up by an immortal who needs you to maintain his emotional life for him is also terrible.
And, folks, I didn’t even get to the end. I got the completion of the binding ritual and she started freaking out and Carpathian dudebro started mansplaining how they were meant for each other and she just needs to roll with the (irreversible) changes and I was like:

So, the only good choice with this book is to just not pick it up. 0/10. Do not recommend.

I checked this book out from the Buffalo and Erie County Public Libraries.

Review: Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Bethlylou

**May Contain Spoilers**

Okay, this isn’t really a review. More of an appreciation post. An appreciation for Rick Riordan and his books. There are many things I love about his writings. I love his characters, especially since many of them are quite sarcastic and sassy. I love how he writes characters with diverse backgrounds. I love the imagination of them. Taking stories that we are familiar with and some we are not and updating them or making them new but also staying true to the myths. I can tell that he has done his research on these myths and stories, whether they were well known or obscure. I think the most impressive thing is connecting these old stories with todays world and not making them seem outdated. He’s had some mix results. The Kane Chronicles is based on Egyptian mythology. I know next to nothing about Egyptian Mythology and if I were to guess most of his readers didn’t know much too. For that reason, this series was a little harder to get through. The first book, The Red Pyramid, spent almost more time trying to explain who the major Gods and Goddess of Egypt were and how they are relate to each other. That the story sorta came second but as the trilogy progressed it got better. The humor of his books. Again, I love the sassiness of his characters. He gets my humor.

But really, it’s his diverse characters are what I love the most of his books. With the exception of The Kane Chronicles, his other series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus and now Magnus Chase and Gods of Asgard take from Western Europe. I think we all have an idea what they would or should look like. White. Yes, Percy, Jason, Annabeth and Chase are all white. Piper is native American. Leo is latino. Hazel is Black. Frank is Chinese Canadian. Sadie and Carter are biracial. Sam is Muslim. It’s not just racial diversity either. In House of Hades, Nico is outed as gay. That tsurprised me. Not because I didn’t see it coming or that I was upset but because this is a children’s book after all and I was afraid of how it would be received. Even more surprisingly, it seems it was received pretty well or with little to no controversary. At least not that I read about. And that is awesome! We have mention before on this blog about the movement to have more diverse books and characters in Kids and Teens books and why this is important. Mr. Riordan could have played it save. He could have all his characters be white and say well they are demigods based on Greek and Roman and Norse myths who were also white but he didn’t. These Empires and traders may have started in Europe but they didn’t stay there. Rome stretched into African and Asia and the Vikings also traveled as far south as the Middle East and west as North America. And these books take place (mostly) in the US. The idea behind these books is the Gods follows power. So whatever country that is the Superpower in the world, that’s where they set up shop. (At least true for the Greek and Roman Gods) So it would make sense that the Gods and Goddess would interact and mate with people from all backgrounds as we in the US are from all different backgrounds. So the demigods needed to reflect that. The Gods didn’t really have a type. I mean, Posiden is also the father to Pegasus after all. Loki has a horse, a wolf and a snake as his children. So what would they care if their current human paramour is Black, White or Asian? All of his characters are strong and brave. For his readers, they can find at least one demigod or magician to relate to and say I can be as strong and brave as. That’s important and shouldn’t be overlooked. So for that I love his books.

As for Sword of Summer, fans of his other books are going to love it. I’m not as familiar with Norse Mythology as I am with Greek but I know enough to know the major players. Magnus is in the mold of Percy as he is definitely a smart ass and I love it. He is also the cousin to Annabeth. The poor Chase family. You have one brother who had a child with a Greek Goddess and one sister who had a child with a Norse God. Both of kids were runaways. The Chase family knows drama. One can only hope that after all this they Chases’ have an easier time. Anyway, Magnus is joined by Sam, a Valkiyre and daughter of Loki. Blitz the Dwarf and Hearth the Elf. Another thing that the Chase cousins have in common is they both have been to the afterlife, though Magnus actually died. Magnus and friends must find the Sword of Summer, aka Jack and delay Raganok from happening. No pressure. Like his other books, our Heroes have to go through many trials, have run in with other Gods and Goddesses and other demigods and deal with a short window to complete their mission. You would think that it would get predictable but it doesn’t. I think a new set of Gods helps. Riordan also is not afraid to kill off characters either so don’t get used to some of them. I’m liking this series and I can’t wait to read more.

Review: Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Kate

In Zoey Redbird’s world, humans are made into vampyres after they are chosen by the Goddess Nyx. They leave their families and go to live at the local House of Night which is a training ground/school for fledgling vampyres. But, that’s just background noise because she has to deal with whatever her best friend is babbling about, and her ex-almost boyfriend, and her mother’s new husband who is a elder in the People of Faith and who has taken over her mother’s life (and subsequently destroyed her relationship with her Mom.)

Did I say it was background noise? I meant it was exposition. Zoey Redbird is marked in the first chapter and has to go to vampyre school. She is visited in a dream by Nyx and she is asked to be the Goddess’s very own eyes and ears in the school. Talk about responsibility.

The rest of the book is taken up with typical school story narrative. People are terrible and fledgling vampyres don’t buck that trend. There are mean girls, there are the cool kids, there are the people you are lucky enough to have as friends. And, there is a mystery of dead or maybe not-so-dead fledglings. Zoey has to navigate the halls of the school and investigate the mystery.

This is the first book in the series, and as discussed in my Saturday Reads I liked Zoey Redbird very much. The second half of the book involved a lot of description of ritual, and while I liked that, it felt a lot using non-Christian cultural practices as a way to make the vampyre world seem exotic and interesting and special instead of pushing the plot forward by character development or by divulging more about the mystery. And, that’s lazy at best and appropriative at worst. Also, a lot of the references felt really dated or forced. Zoey and her friends make a lot of pop culture references.

Even with the low points, I liked the characters and I’ll probably read at least the next one in the series.

Quick Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Bethlylou

If you loved Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha series and you love crime capers then you are going to love Six of Crows. Set after the events of her last series but this time in Kerch, a country not far from Ravka, six criminals are tasked with a suicide mission that has little to no chance of being accomplished but the pay out is good. Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, Matthias and Wylan are all flawed and interesting characters with varying degrees of criminal presents or pasts. Each bring their own set of skills that are vital to the mission. Inej, aka the Wraith, is a trained trapeze artist who can scale walls and quietly gather information. Jesper is a sharpshooter with a gambling problem, Nina is a Heartrender, who can kill you without even touching you. Matthias is a convict who is part of a religious society that hunts down Grisha. Wylan is the son of a rich merchant who likes to blow things up and Kaz is their mysterious leader. He worked his way up in the Barrel to rule but it’s all to get revenge on the man he blames for the death of his brother.

A new drug called Jurda Panem has been developed and it strenghtens Grisha powers to impossible powers. This could change the whole balance of the world. How can people defend against the Grisha if they have unchecked powers? Kaz is hired by the Merchant Councils to rescue the man who created it from a Fjerdian prison that is inescapable. Kaz goes about to assemble his team who don’t exactly get along but must work together if they are going to succeed or just survive. This story has so many plot twists and misdirections it’s like Oceans 11. You have to question everything you read because what you think is happening is not all that is really happening. It’s not just all the action that makes this book a good read. It’s the characters. They are all compelling and interesting with full backstories. All with the exception of Wylan who is the only one not to have a chapter written from his point of view. Probably because out of all them he’s the outsider of the group. He’s not a criminal and he’s not from the barrel. Kaz says he’s only there as leverage against the council and he knows how to blow things up but I think it’s more than that. I look forward to knowing more about him.

Matthias is a warrior who’s goal is eradicate the Grisha as he feels they are unnatural. It’s one thing to arrest and execute Grisha in one’s own country but it takes balls to go other countries, tracking down Grisha, capturing them and bringing them back to Fjerdia and then putting them on trial and executing them. He captured Nina but thanks to a storm she rescued him. In attempt to save his life again, she accuses him of slave trading but things go south when he is actually thrown in jail for it. Nina befriends some people (for lack of better term) to help get him out as she feels responsible. Inej was captured and sold to a pleasure house until Kaz came and made her apart of his gang. Now she’s his spy, the Wraith, but all she wants to do is go home and find her family. Jesper, a former farm boy who came to Kerch as a student and found gambling instead. He’s also hiding things, one being that he is also Grisha. I’m pretty sure I know another one of his secrets too. Let’s just say, I ship Jesper and Wylan, if you get my gist. Kaz is the most intriguing. Coming out of nowhere to being a major player in the Barrel. He’s smart and ruthless and more of a mystery than everyone. He’s hellbent on revenge against the man he believes is responsible to the death of his brother but he’s also a 17 year old boy so well, he has those annoying feelings to deal with.

So for fans of the Grisha series and Oceans 11 type movies this is the book for you. It’s fun, lots of action, lots of double dealings, backstabbing, mystery and potential romance.

Series You Should Check Out: The Goddess Wars by Kendare Blake

Posted on October 17, 2015 by Bethlylou

Ungodly is the final book in the Goddess War Trilogy. The Greek Gods may not be worshiped like they did in Ancient Greece but being Immortal, they are still around and living mostly normal lives. That is until they mysteriously start getting sick. Gods are not supposed to get sick but Athena is coughing up feathers, Hermes is wasting away, Aphrodite has gone mad. Artemis is perpetually being hunted, just name a few. Athena and Hermes set out to try to figure out what is going on. This leads them to find the mortal heroes from the Trojan wars, Achilles, Odysseus, Hector, Cassandra and Andromache. The thing is that they are now teenage kids who have no idea who they really are/were or are just waking up to it. Only thing they know is that they are in a world of trouble.

I like this series because it was fun to read but also an interesting take on Greek Myths. These Gods and Goddess are not Greek Gods of Rick Riordan. They are not all gathered in one place on Mount Olympus at the Empire State Building keeping tabs on the world below. They are scattered about the world with litter to no contact with each other. They have gone on living their own lives and well still holding the same grudges for thousands of years. Also the threat of dying has really humanize them in ways they never could be before. They learn what it feels to live with the uncertainty that they will live to see tomorrow. As for their human heroes, the Gods, particularly Athena and Hermes, find they are more sympathetic to them. They are not just weapons to be used when needed but actually people with actual lives.

Cassie is really Cassandra who was a oracle during the Trojan War that Apollo cursed that no one will believe her. Now in modern day she’s just Cassie who is in love with Aiden, oblivious to what’s going on until she meets Athena and Hermes. She finds out that not only she a character from the Ilaid but so is her brother Henry (Hector) and her best friend Andie (Andromache). Oh and Aiden is actually Apollo, who feels really bad about that whole curse thing. Considering the past run in the Gods didn’t go so well, you can probably bet that they aren’t going to get along all that well in the present either. I definitely love how all of them at one point or another stand up the the various Gods. They don’t just fall in line and do whatever they are told do. It takes some major gumption to stand up to Athena. They each are in various states of conscience of who they were and they each have to figure out who they are now. Do they just except that it is their fate to relieve the same drama all over again or do they choose their own path? Isn’t that what we all struggle with?

There is a lot of action throughout the series. Gods taking on each other. Of course, Hera is a villain, when isn’t she? You almost have to feel sorry for Hera. She is constantly playing the villain. To be fair, she did do some pretty terrible things but to be also fair she also endures some pretty terrible things too. Anyway, total side note. There are a lot of twists and turns and not afraid of killing off characters for the sake of the story. It’s fun read for all those who love Greek Mythology, kick ass heroes and heroines and action.

Quick Review: The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Bethlylou

I often forget about how dark children’s literature can be. Take for instance, Matilda or any Roald Dahl. Harry Potter, The Series of Unfortunate Events and Alice in Wonderland to name a few. Black’s and Clare’s Magisterium series is no exception. It started with the ending of the first book where *Spoiler Alert* one of heroes turns out to be the bad guy and just continues from there. Call, Aaron and Tamara are thrown into situations that are really well beyond their ages but do it anyway. They all young and just coming into their own, discovering who they are and learning to control their powers. They are trying to learn who they can trust because even the adults are a bit sketchy. After the big reveal at the end of the last book I had big expectations for this one and for the most part it lived up to it. I still felt that it started off slow, much like the first one did but once it got to the mission it was a fast read. If only the whole book was like that. I like the debate of nature vs. nurture that is being played out with both Callum and Aaron’s characters. I have a feeling that we are about to see a little role reversal with those too. It’s a solid second book and I look forward to see what happens next.

Review: Not A Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Bethlylou

Not a Drop to Drink is very good, I’ll say that. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting it to be but it’s not what I got. It was pretty straight forward and unapologetic. Lynn has lived with her Mother spending every day struggling to survive and protecting their pond. Water has become scarce all over the world and clean water even rarer. Lynn’s pond in many ways is keeping them alive and most be protected at all times. Lynn’s mother is hard. She has taught Lynn from a young age how to use a rifle and to shoot if anyone gets to close. After a tragic accident that kills her mother, Lynn is on her own. She decides to make an alliance with her neighbor, Stebbs. Together they work to protect her pond and check out possible threats to them. This leads them to Lucy, Eli and Neva. They have escaped the city but are unprepared for living in the wild. Lynn takes Lucy home as both Eli and Neva are unable to care for the five year old. Before this the only people that Lynn knew was her mother and Stebbs. She was taught that everyone else was their enemy out to get their pond. Over the course she learns that not everyone is as ruthless and that helping someone is not weakness but also can be a strength. When far more ruthless men build a camp not that far from them, Lynn will do whatever it takes to save her new “family”

I liked the minimalist of the writing style. It really sets the whole mood of the novel. Lynn’s life is a struggle but it’s also pretty simple and straight forward. She does what needs to be done. The writing matches that. It doesn’t over elaborate or go into much details. It tells you what happens and let you fill in the gap. Lynn is a smart, strong but also vulnerable. Living away from the world, there are many things she doesn’t know about and leads to funny but also sad realizations about the world. She has been taught not to trust anyone but learns that sometimes to survive you have to. She’s not a shrinking violet, waiting to be rescued but will do the rescuing. The story is not afraid to be violent and talk about the nastier part of life or is it afraid of killing off characters. This is a harsh world they live in and tragedies will happen but life moves on. You can either deal with it and be stronger or not. There is a sequel but l really liked the ending. I liked the sense of hope it brought with it. I’m not sure there is a need for a second one but I’ll probably read it.

Review: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Kate

Beth has already done a short review on this book so here I am to give a longer, spoilerier review. This is a dystopian novel set in a future post-nuclear-holocaust Sudan. It follows the life of Oyesonwu, a woman born of rape and blessed with magic powers that she will use to change the world. This novel did not shy away from presenting the horror of rape, weaponized rape, genocide and female genital mutilation. Okorafor has a powerful voice and I am really glad to have read this book. I am also looking forward to reading more by this author. After the cut, though, I am going to discuss some problematic things in this novel.

Continue reading →

Review: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Bethlylou

Queen of Shadows is the fourth book in Throne of Glass series. It has taken quite a few twists and turns in the four books. What I love about this series is that it keeps on surprising me. I think I’m a pretty savvy reader but I totally didn’t see the big reveal at the end. If you haven’t read, Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, or Heir of Fire, I highly recommend that you do. I also recommend you read them before you read this review because SPOILERS!

(Editor’s Note: Or lack of one. Like the other reviews of this series, I didn’t have Kate look over it because I very much like her to read them without being spoiled. Seriously, Kate you need to get on this! Anyway, please forgive any mistake I might have made) Continue reading →

2 Women, So Many Books

Our "to read" stacks way exceed our life expectancy

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