Having just spent a week participating in the Bout of Books read-a-thon … I have books to review!
Surprise! Probably not much of a surprise, but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right? I only ended up reading four out of the seven books I had lined up, but that’s more than I expected to, so I’m still counting this one as a win!
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.
When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn…
– The book starts off really slow, and it didn’t pick up for me until probably halfway through. I actually considered adding it to the DNF, thinking it just wasn’t for me.
+ The premise is a sound one, and the world-building is mostly strong. I loved the idea that there was one singular turning point that changed the world as we know it. Despite being very different from the modern world, it’s easy to see the path this world took to become as it is, and it was both terrifying and enjoyable.
– I’m still not sure how alchemy works, though. It seems to be one of those “just because” sorts of things. Different people have different affinities for alchemy and can be pushed to different limits. I was never all that clear on what drove the alchemy, and since it was a big focus, that sort of annoyed me.
+ Diverse cast of characters, each endearing in their own right and with their own strengths. Even the most cutthroat among them have their perks. The characters felt like they complemented each other, even when they didn’t get along in the slightest.
+ I have a new OTP, and It. Is. Glorious. I can’t really say who it is, as it isn’t revealed until midway through (though, you can totally see it coming), but oh my gosh! I want more of them. And they deserve a happily ever after, okay?
+ It takes a long time for stuff to get going, but when it gets going, it really gets going. Meaning I will, of course, be reading book two. And probably three and four. Actually, I was very annoyed because I couldn’t start book two immediately because I had to go to the library and get it. Someone should start a service that’ll deliver books to your door when you decide you want them.
The Seasons of my Mother by Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden knew at a young age that her life would be anything but ordinary. One of five rambunctious children born to two Texas natives—Beverly, a prim housewife, and Thad, an officer in the US Navy—she always had a knack for storytelling, role-playing, and mischief-making. As a military family, the Hardens moved from state to state, even abroad, including Japan. It was here that Beverly, amid the many challenges of raising a gaggle of youngsters, found solace in ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement.
Using the imagery of flowers as her starting point, Marcia Gay Harden takes us through the different seasons of her mother’s life, all the while weaving in the story of her own journey from precocious young girl to budding artist to Academy Award-winning actress. With a razor-sharp wit, as well as the kind of emotional honesty that has made her performances resonate with audiences worldwide, Marcia describes the family’s travels overseas, her flourishing career in New York and Hollywood, and, most poignantly, Beverly’s struggles today to maintain her identity as she tackles her greatest challenge yet: Alzheimer’s disease.
Featuring gorgeous ikebana arrangements created specially for this book, this memoir illustrates the uniqueness and beauty of this parent-child friendship, as Marcia does what Beverly can no longer do: she remembers. Like a cross between Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club and Lisa Genova’s Still Alice, this memoir is a lyrical, loving homage to one mother’s strength as reflected in the tenacity and artistry of her daughter.
**A big thank you to Atria books for this ARC copy, won through a Goodreads giveaway.**
+ The sentiment behind this book is absolutely, undeniably gorgeous. Marcia Gay Harden’s mother has Alzheimer’s, and little by little, she’s forgetting who she is. Harden fights against this brutal disease by doing what her mother can’t: remembering for her.
– Unfortunately, at the same time, the book feels largely about the author more than her mother. Some of that is natural—memories of her mother told from her perspective, the ways she remembers her mother. Those moments felt fine. There are a lot of times, though, where her mother isn’t even mentioned, and the passages are just about Marcia Gay Harden herself and what she’s going through at that moment in time.
– The prose is very heavy and laden with purple prose, which makes it really hard to find the story under all the metaphors and similes. There were times I had to read things multiple times, because I missed the point with all the description. There was just so much of it. I’m not a big fan of heavy description in fiction books, and I certainly didn’t expect so much in nonfiction, and it made my eyes glass over a bit.
– The book has a heavy motif of flowers, especially ikebana, and I was expecting that to some degree but not to this extent. It got to the point where it felt repetitive. Ikebana principles were described multiple times, ad nauseum, and sometimes in depth about how to make the arrangements. If you’re a big flower buff, this would be a great book for you! I can tell you nothing more about flowers than their color … and maybe identify poison ivy. Sometimes. I mean, I’m not allergic to it, so it’s not like it hurts if I misidentify it, either.
– Ultimately, this book is 100% just not for me, and that’s what it boils down to. When I read nonfiction, especially any sort of biographical thing, I’m going in wanting to connect to the subject on some level. I could totally relate about the Alzheimer’s thing, but that seemed like maybe 10% of the story. I’m not sure if it’s a class difference, race difference, generational difference, or what, but I did not even remotely connect to Marcia Gay Haden. Her mother I could connect to more, but as I said, her mother’s bits felt overshadowed to be more about the author and her experience.
Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.
Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.
She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.
**A big thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for an eARC through NetGalley.**
+ I’m all for bad-ass female characters that don’t take any crap and can handle themselves. Eelyn is all that and then some. She’s been trained from a young age to be a warrior, to handle physical pain, to be able to tolerate a lot. Despite all that, it doesn’t stop her from having a more emotional side and being, well, human. And slightly teenager.
+ The world-building was fabulous! The Aska and Riki are so different, and yet extremely similar in their beliefs and cultures. Both were highlighted brilliantly, and I loved learning new things about the cultures and being able to compare the two. The lore behind their rivalry and the stories of their gods, I thought, was really well done, too, and I felt entirely immersed in this world.
+ I am 100% for hate-to-love tropes and forbidden love done right … and I was totally rooting for it here. I mean, mention of the romance is in the summary, so it shouldn’t really surprise anyone at all. These tropes are definitely my guilty pleasure, but I’m also insanely picky about them. I mean … me? Picky? Pshaw. The way the romance between Eelyn and Fiske unfolded was endearing, and I loved them both on their own, which just made their romance all the more enjoyable.
+ The plot was horribly predictable and there were pretty much no surprises at all in that regard … but I kind of didn’t even care? It feels so odd to say that, because I’m usually one crying foul because I get annoyed when I can call the entire plot ahead of time. But I was so caught up in the culture and the romance that I was like, meh, I know what’s going to happen, so BRING IT ON. There was just a split second when I was afraid I was wrong in the worst possible way, but it passed. Don’t worry, I’m still always right. 😉
– The ending was too easy. There, I said it. I mean, despite a bunch of wars and death and stuff, but I’m pretty sure everyone should expect that from the description because, well, they’re warriors. There was a bunch of struggle and turmoil and build-up, and then it was just kind of … over. Way too simply, with absolutely no reason that would be the case. Which leads me to my next point …
– There were plot points that I felt were just sort of left open and not tied in by the end. Which maybe that’s fine and those questions didn’t need to be answered and those points were irrelevant, but I’m nosy and I want to know these things.
The Three Hares: Bloodline by Geoffrey Simpson
Ethan Drake is a living legend.
If only his late father had mentioned it.
Ethan and his friends decode a series of cryptic riddles from an ancient treasure map. Their discovery entangles them in a centuries-old struggle between warring secret societies.
It soon becomes clear that Ethan is not just an adventurous teen who accidentally stumbles upon a shadowy world.
He is a catalyst…
a spark which ignites the resurgence.
The Three Hares is a smart, twisty adventure mystery, one that will keep you reading until the remarkable end.
**A big thank you to the author and NetGalley for this eARC.**
+ The book was really slow to get into at first, but it picked up pace pretty quickly and held it until the end. After the initial setting the stage scenes, it moved along at a nice quip, where I didn’t find myself getting particularly bored with it.
– This leaned too heavily on the “incompetent adults/kids fix everything” trope. To the point where I was rolling my eyes. I mean, in the end, the kids didn’t really do anything particularly spectacular. Nothing that even a semi-capable adult couldn’t have done. Yet, for some reason, all the adults were bumbling fools and these less-than-remarkable kids save the day. I’m not at all against the kids saving the day trope. Isn’t that sort of the point of a lot of midgrade? But this just felt so unrealistic that I didn’t buy any minute of it.
+ I like the assassin, and this should surprise absolutely no one. He’s got a code of ethics and sticks to it, darn it. He’s all brooding and mysterious and refuses to say anything about his backstory. Of course he’s my favorite. Not that we learn much about him in this book, but it was enough for me to like him.
– I didn’t connect with any of the characters at all. They all felt sort of shallow and the same? Even now, I can’t tell you anything particularly unique about any of the characters except Ethan, and that’s less about his character and more about the circumstances. All the rest sort of blend together, and they serve purposes, but they don’t exactly have personality.
– The resolution was ridiculously easy, and the main character had a sudden radical transformation in 14 days to complete his character arc. Most of which we don’t actually see. We’re just told repeatedly that he is different now. He’s somehow come upon this revelation that makes him more physically capable than is possible in that time, magically grants him this knowledge of master fighting I guess, and makes him older and wiser than he is. In 14 days. Just by being in isolation and doing a bit of reading and training. I was very disappointed, since it’s the main character and his arc is important, and it felt just glossed over and unsatisfying.
– I’m not in this book’s target audience, so it’s okay when I say that this book just wasn’t for me. Now, I read midgrade, don’t get me wrong. More than I care to admit, since that’s now the stage of reading my daughter’s in. There are quite a few midgrade books that I enjoy just as much as other books. However, this wasn’t one of them. Would a midgrader enjoy it, though? Possibly. And since it’s written for them and not me, that would make sense.
I feel the same way about the Great Library series! The books are so slow. I end up mostly liking them in the end but it takes forever to get there and it’s not like they’re mammoth books! lol
I’m so glad I’m not the only one! I did end up enjoying it, but it would’ve probably been five stars for me if it didn’t take so darn long for something to happen. I mean, I’m totally looking forward to the rest of the series, and you can probably guess my OTP, so I expect one of them to die. Because that always happens. xD
I’ve only read the first 2 and the second is just like the first in its slowness. Someday I’ll get to the rest, I’ll probably wait till the series is finished at this point! lol
That’s such a smart choice. Waiting for the next book to come out is the worst. xD
Ugh yes. The life of a serial reader! lol.
I would say you did pretty well in this readathon. 4 books are not at all..less. I have heard amazing things about Sky. I can’t wait to read it. And nice mini reviews 🙂
Well, four is less than seven! But yeah, I’m happy with how many I managed. 🙂 Thank you! Sky definitely was not disappointing, and I look forward to seeing what you think if you do read it!
Totally agree about Sky in the Deep! Loved it, even though some parts WERE a little easy. And wow, why did flowers need to have a place in a book about Marcia Gay Harden’s mom’s Alzheimer’s? Like… what now? And while I get that she was going to talk about her feelings, like you said… yeah, there needs to be some connection to her mom, otherwise isn’t she just kind of an anecdote, not the main part of the story? (Idk why this particular book irked me so much, it just did hah.) Super glad to see that Ink & Bone got better too. Awesome job with the read-a-thon, and great reviews!
I always get incredibly excited when people like the books I like. Is that weird? I’m glad you liked Sky in the Deep, though!
It really irked me, too, because dementia is soooo relatable in and of itself. The flowers were there because her mother was big into Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangements), so that was supposed to be this centering thing for her and it led to her making a TV show about it and such. I just don’t think it was a firm enough anchor and seemed sort of scattered and didn’t tie together coherently. Plus, no offense to Marcia Gay Harden, but her upbringing as she describes it in the book is pretty … unremarkable? I mean, hey, mine was, too, which is why I haven’t written books about it. xD So that made the book really hard for me to get into, as that was the first, like, quarter of the book.