Lovestruck

Book Review: Lovestruck by Bronwyn Sell

The blurb likens this book to [the tv series] Offspring and I think that’s probably an accurate description (but maybe with less babies involved).

Lovestruck centres upon the family who own and run a resort on Curiosity Island, an island which is fictional itself but supposedly part of the Whitsundays, a real island group in Queensland. Everyone comes together on the island for a wedding which gives Nan, the matriarch of the family, time to search for potential partners for her [currently all single] daughters, granddaughters and grandsons amongst the resort staff and guests, as well as the wedding party’s friends and relatives.

The book is a true romantic comedy and I really appreciated that. It’s pretty rare that writers are able to manage this style without things becoming either corny or coarse. There are two main romantic couples featured and they each share some great chemistry and I was really cheering them on throughout.

I also appreciated that the main two love stories had really good believable conflicts. I cannot tell you how many times I read romances and the conflict is so weak it could be sorted out with a five minute conversation. And, often, in the end the conflict is resolved just as quickly. Instead, Lovestruck had conflicts that I could imagine someone having (hell, I’ve had one myself in my younger years) and needing some time to sort out.

Sell also manages to keep everything contemporary with ease. Mentions of social media and slang used by today’s 20-somethings were included with a nice balance to please both younger and older readers.

As I only live up the coast a little from the Whitsundays, I loved the setting. All the wildlife, post cyclone money woes and island activities were pretty spot on. Nothing really stuck out as over the top or inaccurate. Sell even managed to include a lot of environmental messages without becoming preachy or patronising. My only real whinge was that I think Sell could have been a little more eloquent with her descriptive passages. This is only a minor gripe – there was still enough to ensure it had a uniquely Australian feel about it.

This is a long book and yet I still read it rather fast. I guess it could have been edited a bit towards the end though. To be contrary, I’m on board with Sell continuing to write more of these characters and make this into a series. (I live in hope that the older characters’ romances aren’t glossed over to make way for the younger ones in the sequels. It was rather annoying that all the older characters’ romances happened ‘off screen’. As I said, this was a long book and yet *this* is what they decide to gloss over? Grrr.)

Overall though, this was a funny sweet read with likeable characters that I would readily recommend.

4 out of 5

PS I’ve got to also give a special shout out to the ‘reviews’ of the island between chapters. They were hilarious.

The Lantern Men

Book Review: The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway #12)

I love this series but I must admit I felt at the start of this, the twelfth book, as if Griffiths had added in some unnecessary drama. I was a little frustrated, considering what a great place the series had seemed to finish on after The Chalk Pit (#11) until… A little way in, I became as absorbed in the book and its characters as ever. Griffiths and Ruth and Nelson basically just hypnotised me until I bended to their will and I fell in love with them all over again.

The book starts with Ruth having left the salt marsh and living in Cambridge, working at the university there and (ack!) newly living with a man -the American host with the most from the previous books, Frank. The mystery surrounds the murders of two women and two more missing. Nelson has already arrested a man, Ivor March, for the murders and Ruth gets involved when March agrees to tell them where the bodies of the other two women are buried if Ruth agrees to come back and exhume them. Soon after however, another woman is murdered and Nelson and Ruth have to work out whether or not it’s a copycat killing, March is pulling some strings from the inside, or if March has been innocent all along.

As usual, the murder mystery plotline is only there to bolster the soap opera that goes on in the background. Griffiths doesn’t disappoint in this arena. All the usual gang are back. Like Nelson, I could have gone without Frank but I did enjoy all the scenes featuring the other regular supporting characters. Although I must say, surprisingly given this is book number 12, Nelson and Ruth really are the focus of this installment. (Griffiths has, in the most recent books, given more scenes to the supporting characters such as Michelle, Judy and Cathbad.)

Nelson is his fantastic best. His humour and heart and overall Gene Hunt-like mannerisms always win me over. Ruth continues to walk that fine line between independence and giving in to her feelings for Nelson.

I say this each time I review one of the Ruth books but I’ll say it again — do not read this until you’ve read the other eleven. I don’t believe the books in this series can be read as standalones. So much of it would go over your head and I truly can’t rate The Lantern Man as a standalone. I will say, however, that I think Griffiths’s writing itself has improved. Perhaps it’s that she is more confident than she was in Ruth’s early days. I flew through this book, eager to learn what would happen but, perversely, I didn’t want it to end. I think I might almost get my wish as I’m sure there will be a book 14.

5 out of 5

The Vor Game

Book Review: The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan Saga)

This is my fav Miles so far. (I think I might be saying this after every book!) I thought there was a good mix between action and political intrigue, humour and poignancy, and a standalone plot if you wanted to read this out of order and the forward momentum of the overarching series plot and formation of the characters.

The book’s beginning sequences were fantastic. Miles’s first posting after graduating from military academy is at an isolated outpost at Barrayar’s arctic circle. He is sent there as a meteorology tech and soon butts heads with the station’s commander. He also manages to come across a dead body.

This section felt like an opening sequence in a movie – like a James Bond beginning or the Empire Strikes Back Hoth scene. It had heaps of action and mystery and, although it might not have been completely necessary to the main plot, it did offer a lot of additional characterisation. (I just read it was originally a separate novella, so that explains its feel to some degree.)

The action then moves to space when a new series of events has Miles meeting up with the fleet of mercenaries he created in Warrior’s Apprentice.

Of course, in amongst the action is a plethora of important themes. LMB always seems to tackle difficult subjects effortlessly; weaving topics into the plot organically without coming across as preachy. She also always seems to be way ahead of her time. This was published in 1990 and yet she covers a lot of current topical issues – men’s health and wellbeing being the most notable.

In this universe many characters are members of minority groups but, for the most, they aren’t treated differently. I guess the great irony is that Miles is the only one who is treated differently and labelled [incorrectly] as a mutant.

The other thing I really liked about this book was the Miles/Gregor dynamic. (Gregor being the emperor of Barrayar who, up until this book, has been discussed quite a bit but rarely featured.)

There are sooooo many books out there who have men in this type of relationship (quasi brother relationship) depicted in a negative way. I mean, how many times do we have the male characters who grew up in the same house/shared a parent etc become enemies? One is quite often the villain and one the hero. So many… Even Harry Potter for goodness sake! I just really appreciated that Miles and Gregor acted like they were normal brothers. Even though a fair amount of characters suspected Miles would betray Gregor and attempt to usurp him, Gregor himself never did. (It’s also a lovely little reminder that, despite the constant rumours otherwise, Gregor also knows Aral is forever loyal to his position as emperor.) I liked all their scenes together and thought it was a great example of male friendship.

My favourites from previous books, Aral and Illyan, are featured for a fair amount of time but unfortunately Cordelia continues to take a backseat.

Looking forward to the next in this series though.

5 out of 5

Verity

Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover is ridiculously popular so I was expecting quite a lot from this book. But…

It had a good premise at the beginning. Our leading lady, Lowen, is approached by the good looking and wealthy Jeremy Crawford to complete the series of bestselling books written by his wife Verity. Lowen’s told Verity has been involved in a car accident and is, at the moment, too injured to write.

The book slips into Jane Eyre ripoff territory here. Lowen moves in with the Crawfords so she can wade through Verity’s computer and paper files for notes on the unwritten books and is soon charmed by Jeremy downstairs whilst Verity is being tended to by a nurse upstairs. (Jeremy’s ‘charm’ includes him choosing Lowen’s pen name which, in a book that is chock full of uncomfortable and inappropriate scenes, I found super controlling and creepy.)

Then, we move to the ridiculous when, instead of Lowen finding any notes on the last three books Verity was set to write, she [conveniently] finds a manuscript of Verity’s autobiography. The manuscript describes how Verity has deceived her family for years with murderous intent towards them all — except for Jeremy. Verity’s thoughts on Jeremy pretty much just revolve around sex. As Lowen reads chapter after chapter of Verity’s manic behaviour, she becomes sure that Verity is faking her post accident injuries and she (and Jeremy) are in danger.

I think the most surprising thing about this book was how badly the prose was written. As I said, Colleen Hoover is hugely popular (she even has a nickname of CoHo) and yet I would describe her writing as basic. I don’t constantly need flowery descriptive passages but a couple wouldn’t go astray. The romance lacked heart and the characters lacked chemistry. The plot was okay but pretty implausible most of the time. The characters’ inner thoughts were immature and unintelligent. The entire style *might* be more suited to new adult readers.

However, if you are too young be warned this is definitely not a clean romance. It’s full of how many times Verity has sex with Jeremy in endlessly boring graphic detail with the added bonus of endless profanity. I can’t even begin to explain how tedious these scenes became. Yes, yes, I know, it was supposed to show us that Verity was *evil* but… I could have gotten that point without having to read a blow by blow (hee) account of them performing oral sex during every chapter.

Really, for a renowned romance author, the romance is terrible. As I said, I wouldn’t call any of the Verity/Jeremy scenes romantic and the romance between Lowen/Jeremy was not much better. Their meet-cute alone was probably the grossest, most unromantic meet-cute I’ve ever read.

The thriller part was… predictable. I was waiting for the obligatory twist at the end and I guess, on a whole, it wasn’t a bad twist. The way it was presented, however? … One great big info dump. A convenient info dump at that. This ending was so badly written that it pretty much took any enjoyment of the twist away and made me just blink and think about the million better ways Hoover could have done the big reveal.

When thinking about my rating, I conceded I did read to the end and I did find I was *almost* enjoying the book on occasions. I’m pretty confused by all the five star ratings though (each to their own, I guess) and it definitely makes me hesitant to read any other titles by Hoover.

2 out of 5

PS I did think about giving the book 2 1/2 out of 5 but then shaved the 1/2 star back off because of the ridiculous names Hoover used – Lowen and Verity and Chastin and Crew and I can’t even…

The Good Turn

Book Review: The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan (Cormac Reilly #3)

I enjoyed The Ruin and The Scholar but I think McTiernan stepped it up another notch with this, the third in the Cormac Reilly series.

Although the series is named after Garda Cormac Reilly, McTiernan wrote much of The Ruin and The Scholar from the point of view of other characters. In The Good Turn she does this again. It kind of annoyed me in the first two books (I like Reilly and I want to read more about him!) but this time I felt like I accepted it more graciously. This is probably a combination of becoming more accustomed to McTiernan’s style and the fact that I liked the other lead characters much more this time around.

One is Peter Fisher, Reilly’s protege and subordinate detective at their Gallway station. Due to a series of misunderstandings and mismanagement, Fisher is forced to chase down a child kidnapper alone and, in the process, things go awry. Until an investigation can take place, he is sent away to basically eat humble pie and pound the beat at the small coastal village where he grew up and his father is still the police officer in charge.

Riley, meanwhile, is suspended in the fallout of Peter’s actions. He believes there is much more to his and Peter’s disciplinary punishment than meets the eye, so he keeps busy, investigating secretly the [alleged] corruption within the force.

Anna is the other character featured in the book. With her young daughter, she also ends up living in the same village as Peter. It’s pretty obvious early on she’s running away from someone and it’s quite enjoyable when her plot weaves its way into Riley and Fisher’s.

I thought the crime/mystery plot was really well done. I had no idea just who Peter and Cormac should trust. Even when I thought I might guess some plot points, I still wondered if I might be incorrect with my assumptions. And, as I said, McTiernan really pulled all the plots together cleverly; it all made sense and was connected in the end with no unnecessary cliffhangers left to annoy the reader.

McTiernan’s real strength, however, is her characterisation. Cormac and co are all so easy to imagine. (This would be a great book series for someone to turn into a television series.)

McTiernan really makes Ireland another character too. From the talk of playing Camogie and rugby to the wild coastal views from the small village farms, I felt like I was in Ireland. (The only thing I do have trouble imagining is the snow and cold as I swelter in the 42 degree Celsius heat…)

I highly recommend The Good Turn. It would help if you’ve read the previous two books but I don’t think it’s completely as essential as some other series I’ve read. I definitely think McTiernan is getting better with each book and, given that she does use a plethora of characters, I look forward to reading and enjoying her titles for a long time.

A good 5 out of 5.

The Peripheral

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Book Review: The Peripheral by William Gibson

So, I received The Agency, the second book of this series, via Net Galley and noted that reviewers mentioned it would be best to read The Peripheral beforehand for things to make sense. Well… I’m afraid I might be in trouble because nothing made sense for me in The Peripheral.

I had no idea who was who, let alone what they were doing. (Or when or where really.) Okay, I’ll concede it might have been that I was listening via audible and maybe it would have been beneficial if I had been able to see the various character names written etc etc so I wouldn’t have been so lost. But…

There’s a gamer girl who lives in some country hick town in the middle of nowhere whose ex-military (and maybe criminal?) brother sets her up to play some game on her phone (swatting bugs from a building, I think, I don’t know, I was easily distracted around this time). And, despite the extraordinary amount of money she’s being paid, gamer!girl is shocked to think that maybe she’s stumbled into more than a game. There’s an acting agent (?) minder type guy who is trying to control some actress who has stuffed things up by getting tattoos when she shouldn’t have gotten tattoos (wtf). Suddenly he’s having drinks with a woman who has taken over someone else’s body (a’la Lock In) and there’s some conspiracy time travel thing going on. I think. IDEK.

The technobabble. OMG, the technobabble. Again, I’ll say maybe this would have been easier if I’d been able to see the jargon and get it straight in my head. Instead I drifted off and did the audible equivalent of skimming — concentrating on traffic.

So, about a quarter of the way in I figured there’s a million other books I could be reading, probably a million that fall into the scifi virtual reality category for starters, and took full advantage of my audible get-out-of-jail-free card and hit that return button.

I’m a bit worried about the sequel now… Mmm…

Can only give 1 out of 5 for anything that is a DNF.

The Mountains of Mourning

Book Review: The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan Saga)

This novella squeezes in between the main series proper books of Warrior’s Apprentice and Vor Game. As a standalone, you technically don’t need to read it in the suggested chronological order. However, I think a lot of this book’s contents would be lost without reading Barrayar at least beforehand.

The Vorkosigan Saga hero Miles is enjoying a short break at his family house before he begins his first official military assignment when a woman from one of the mountain villages arrives at the estate to report a murder. The Vorkosigans, as nobility of the region, are occasionally required to step in and resolve such cases. Aral sends Miles off to the remote village to play detective, judge and jury, and if necessary, executioner.

The book is light on when it comes to scifi, with only a couple of passing mentions of anything scifi in nature. (I once again preferred Barrayar as the setting to space though.) It also does not really have a twisting mystery plot either. Oh, the reader will likely be guessing as to who committed the crime, but I don’t think it is vitally important to the theme and forward momentum (hee) of the series and characters.

It’s more Miles’s birth (now some 20 years previous), his physical impairments, and the effect of both for the entire population of the Vorkosigan district, which underpins the main plot. As usual, LMB manages to add a lot of heart and sadness into the deceptively simple plot effortlessly.

Classism, prejudice and poverty are all covered, along with the obvious one (considering Miles’s appearance), ableism. The villagers (who I suppose you’d call Hillbillies) are written as complicated, judgmental at times, and ignorant due to their lack of opportunity, but never as stupid.

Count Piotr’s legacy is still pronounced in this outing and I love how LMB continues to make him an important character in the series. My beloved Aral proves he is still the master strategist and Miles lives up to expectations by pulling everything together in the end.

5 out of 5

The Warrior’s Apprentice

Book Review: The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan Saga)

The Warrior’s Apprentice introduces Miles Vorkosigan as the ongoing lead protagonist of this book series, following on from his parents who were the leads in the previous two books. A lot of people say you can start the saga with this book but I would definitely recommend reading Shards of Honour and Barrayar first. I think you’d definitely be confused by quite a few aspects of Warrior’s Apprentice if you hadn’t bothered.

The beginning of the book is fantastic. 17 year-old Miles desperately wants to live up to his Vor heritage and become part of the military. Unfortunately, his brittle bones and impairments (caused by an assassination attempt when he was in vitro), means he fails the physical tests required. I loved this part. My heart just broke at Miles’s [obviously mistaken] belief that his parents and grandfather think he’s a disappointment.

The middle part of the books has Miles travelling to his mother’s planet of Beta where his initial plan is to find the truth about his childhood friend (and unrequited love) Elena Bothari’s mother. The background of Elena’s parentage was explained in Shards of Honor and Barrayar and this is another reason why I think you need to read those two books first. I guess LMB explains things, in a manner, but there’s a lot of implying the reader already knows the devastating truth.

Along the way, Miles somehow finds himself the leader of a band of mercenaries and involved in an interplanetary war, weapons smuggling, and a payroll heist. Unfortunately, this part of the book dragged for me a bit. I know it was supposed to show how charismatic, intelligent and empathetic Miles is despite his handicaps but, at times, it became confusing and a little young adult for my liking. (Confusing as in, there seemed to be too many characters and political situations I needed to follow.) I much preferred the book once its setting returned to Barrayar.

Miles’s life as a mercenary of course, highlights that even though Miles thinks otherwise due to his physical issues, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and he’s perfectly suited as a military strategist.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Elena’s. She is so overtly feminist that, at times, it felt like it was just too much, if you know what I mean. I much preferred Cordelia’s more subtle feminism.

Unlike most other reviewers of this series, I can’t say I hated Ivan, Miles’s cousin. Okay, he’s dumb but he still was fiercely loyal to Aral and Miles which I appreciated.

Elena Bothari’s father redeemed himself to me in this installment. There was a lot about him in the previous two books that made me uncomfortable but his paternal protectiveness with both Miles and Elena made me realise he was at least trying to right wrongs from the past. The love Miles gives him in return definitely made me tear up.

Actually, the recurring theme of parental love was my favourite thing about this book. Miles’s complicated relationship with his father, and Aral and Cordelia’s equally complicated one with his grandfather, to me were the heart, and heartbreaking best moments, of the story. There are even pseudo paternal moments between Aral and Emperor Gregor that were heartbreakingly sad. (I love Aral so much and adored every scene he was featured in and every time Miles tried to emulate him. *sigh*)

Again, LMB wrote this in 1986 and you’d expect a lot of the scifi aspects to be dated but again, LMB does extremely well. Not that I think the scifi gadget/weapons/battles are the important part of these books. It’s all about the characters and LMB’s penchant for dialogue heavy scenes always supports this theory.

Anyway, I guess in the grand scheme of things, I didn’t love this book as much as its two predecessors but it is still a nice introduction to Miles. I definitely instantly loved him and can’t wait to read the journey LMB takes him on.

4 ½ out of 5