Review: The Starlight Watchmaker

The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An abandoned android scrapes a living as a watchmaker on an intergalactic campus. He's lonely but content until the day a fast paced duke comes to his door, demanding help. Everything will change if they succeed in their mission.


I've read several Lauren James novels, but I think I'm most impressed by this one. The others were all amazing reads, but this is so imaginative; butterflies riding bicycles, living (but mini) planets and underwater species living on algae are just a few of the delights here. Lauren has been on my instabuy list since The Loneliest Girl in the Universe but she is now firmly ensconced there. The characters are fantastic and the whole story rattles along at a wonderful speed; not so fast we're lost, not so slow we're bored. This is going to be a great one to add to her portfolio.



I received a proof copy and chose to write an honest review.

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The Kingdom blog tour

Welcome to the blog tour for The Kingdom! This futuristic fantasy/Disney mashup has people talking about it everywhere and hopefully the excerpt below will catch your attention, too.

The Kingdom is a futuristic amusement park, covering thousands of acres. The main draws are the hybrids; animals rescued from extinction by a combination of genetic engineering and mechanics, and the Fantasists, seven beautiful princesses who stroll through the park interacting with the visitors. They're kept safe inside The Kingdom at all times. Safe, confined, and controlled.

Ana was the perfect character to explore this world with. She's not the oldest or the youngest of the Fantasists, she knows that life has always been this way for them. And at first it seems like a pretty good life; Mother and Father look after them, they have people to help them get dressed and made up and people following them around The Kingdom to make sure they're safe. Mother tucks them in and tells them stories, Father makes sure they're healthy.

And then little details creep out, and the tone of the book changes. Mother doesn't tuck them in - she ties them down. Her stories include the time an older Fantasist was stolen and beaten to death outside The Kingdom. Father ignores their complaints unless their performance is suffering, then he adjusts them.

For Ana, things really start to go wrong when one of her sisters vanishes. She's different when she comes back, and Ana slowly starts to notice things. Many of the animals hybrids are sickening, for one. And her sister Kaia, who only speaks in gentle cliches; a sign of her older operating systems, or something more sinister? And there's Owen, the park worker who turns up everywhere she is.

Interspersed with the story are trial transcripts, newspaper cuttings and other artifacts from a trial taking place about a year and a half after the main story. At that time, Ana is on trial for murder. There's a lot to think about in the defence's arguments that Ana is incapable of murder. It's just not in her programming.

I went into this novel expecting a mystery/fantasy and came out thinking about everything from cultural appropriation to what makes a person a person - admittedly, a question a lot of sci fi asks, but not one that's been answered yet. I hope Jess is planning to return to the world of The Kingdom, but if this shining piece is all we get, it's enough.


Pick up the blog tour at Pythia Reads on the 15th July and enjoy the excerpt below! The book is on sale now.

1

THE DECEMBER OF THE LESSER CHAMELEON 

ONE HOUR AFTER THE MURDER 

The room where they at last found him was so cold, they wondered at first if he had frozen to death. Face as white as snow, skin as cold as frost, lips as blue as ice. His expression seemed, to the police, perfectly peaceful. As if he had passed away in the middle of a very lovely dream.

Except for the blood. Blood always tells its own story.

2

POST-TRIAL INTERVIEW [00:01:03–00:02:54] 

DR. FOSTER: Are you comfortable? 

ANA: My wrist hurts. 

DR. FOSTER: Security felt the cuff was necessary. I hope you can understand. 

ANA: [Silence.] 

DR. FOSTER: Do you need anything before we begin? 

ANA: Can I have some water? 

DR. FOSTER: Certainly. [Into microphone.] Can I get a glass of H,O in here, please? Six ounces, no more. Thank you. [To Ana.] That'll just be a minute. 

ANA: Thank you. 

DR. FOSTER: Of course. It's the least we can do. 

ANA: That's true. 

DR. FOSTER: It's been a long time since our last interview. 

ANA: Four hundred and eighty-one days. 

DR. FOSTER: How are you feeling? 

ANA: Like this interview should be over. 

DR. FOSTER: One last time, Ana. Then I promise, we'll let you rest. 

ANA: I thought I was done answering questions. 

DR. FOSTER: We still need your help. 

ANA: Why should I help you? After everything you've done? 

DR. FOSTER: Because it's the right thing to do. 

ANA: Don't you mean, because I don't have a choice? 

DR. FOSTER: How would you like to see your sisters? They've missed you. Maybe after we finish here I could arrange a visit. Kaia. Zara. Or maybe Zel? Would you like that? 

ANA: [Quietly.] What if I want to see Nia? What about Eve? 

DR. FOSTER: [Silence.] Ana, you know that's not possible. 

ANA: Why don't you just ask me whatever it is you want to ask me? I'm not in the mood for your games. 

DR. FOSTER: My games? 

ANA: You're smirking. What's so funny? 

DR. FOSTER: I'll tell you in a minute. But first, there's one thing I still haven't figured out. 

ANA: I'm listening. 

DR. FOSTER: What did you do with the body, Ana? 

Welcome to the Kingdom... where 'Happily Ever After' isn't just a promise, but a rule. 

Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species--formerly extinct--roam free.

Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful "princesses" engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time... love.

But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana's memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty--and what it truly means to be human.

Review: Arctic Zoo

Arctic Zoo by Robert Muchamore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Muchamore is an excellent writer. There's no denying that. This book has adventure, politics, lessons about drone racing and young offender's institutes. But it just wasn't riveting, at least for me. It took the two storylines far too long to come together, so it was more like reading two different books, and they didn't really affect each other much in the end.

There was nothing wrong with it. The prose is brilliant, the characters were good. As always in Muchamore's stories, the violence happens often and is well described, and he'd clearly put a lot of thought into the politics of his little slice of Nigeria. But it's a long way from the highs of the CHERUB series. I'll keep reading him, but I'm not sure we'll ever get that high again.

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Review: The Lost Tide Warriors

The Lost Tide Warriors by Catherine Doyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second in the series sees Fionn, along with friends and enemies old and new, battling against Soulseekers determined to revive Morrigan.


First of all, this isn't the book to start with. Although things are explained reasonably well as you go along, you'll still likely be confused for quite a portion of it.

However, if you've read the first one, this is a fantastic follow up, expanding the mythology and keeping the same wonderful tone. I cried - quite a bit - and read as fast as I can. I still love the magic system, I've still never seen anything like it, and I'm very excited to read the third one to find out what happens next.


I received an ARC and chose to write an honest review.

(This isn't the section I wanted to copy, but my favourite one made me cry and I couldn't see the words. This one shows the use of language very well.)

The  candle  in  Sam’s  fist  was  shaking  violently.  “I  regret  this  decision,” he  called  over  his  shoulder,  just  as  Hughie  released  a  triumphant  shout,  pulled  his  free  hand  into  his  chest  and  closed  it  into  a  fist.

The  sky  ignited.  

There  were  three  awful  seconds  of  nothingness  when  both  vessels  seemed  to  hang  by  an  invisible  thread,  then  the  wind  snapped  and  the  sky  roared  and  the  world  dropped. The  wave  surged  over  The Corpus,  taking  them  all  with  it,  screaming  at  the  top  of  their  lungs.  Hughie  Rua  threw  his  head back and laughed  as  they  flew  down,  down,   down,  following  his  billowing  sails  into  the  sea.  

The  wind  pulled  their  cheeks  from  their  mouths  and  stole  their  breath,  their  stomachs  flip  ping  upside  down  and  inside  out  as  they  cut  through  the  air. Their  screams  ran  their  voices  hoarse  before  they  hit  the  water.

Then  they  left  the  world  behind  them,  piercing  the  skin  of  the  ocean  in  two  identical points.

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Review: I Hold Your Heart

I Hold Your Heart by Karen Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gemma has just started her A levels when she meets Aaron. He understands her in a way no one else ever has, and soon she's spending all her time with him. Her friends don't understand what it's like. They're jealous. Right?

This book starts out fine; Gemma's studying, playing music, working and hanging out with friends. Even Aaron, at first, seems nice; kind and thoughtful, dedicated to Gemma's happiness. As things go on, though, they get increasingly creepy. Aaron's change in behaviour is slow and subtle and it's easy to understand why Gemma gets caught up with him. It's terrifying to watch; I just wanted to scream at her to get out of there immediately. This is a fantastic read on a very important topic; too many teenagers wouldn't recognise abuse of this kind and it needs to be talked about more. This book will definitely do it.

Between this title and Countless, Karen Gregory is on my must-read list.

Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.


When she doesn’t answer her messages, or her phone when I call her, that’s when I look. Not before. But I know how to get into her WhatsApp; it’s easy if you’ve got someone’s number.

The first thing I see are the messages from Cal. Way more of them than she said. The winky faces. Kisses. Little in-jokes from a time before I knew her.

I read through each one, feeling the nausea rising.There’s a rational part of me that’s aware her messages indicate nothing more than friendship, though his are screaming he wants more. But a larger part of me feels like a vortex, as though my lungs are collapsing in on themselves and I’m struggling for breath, fighting to pull up and out. Fighting to remember who I am. Before I know it, I’m dressed and driving, taking the corners on the wrong side of the road, not bothering to brake at red lights, the night a blur of looming hedgerows and cat’s eyes flaring at me from the middle of the road.

I kill the engine at the bottom of her track and sit there, holding on to the steering wheel. Go home, a voice is whispering in my head. I try her number again but there’s still no answer. And the need to just see her, to touch her hair, is overwhelming. Too big for me to fight.

I step out of the car and jog up the track.

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Review: The Beholder

The Beholder by Anna Bright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 rounded up.

Selah only wants to help keep her people fed and happy. Their little colony is only scraping by, and she knows her duty is to marry a good, hard working man who will help her take her father's place and led her people. When the man she expects to marry her turns her down, though, she's plunged into a humiliating journey across the sea in search of a husband, in a game between her stepmother and the dreaded Baba Yaga she knows nothing about.



This should have been an amazing read. It's so confused, though, it turned me off a little. As near as I can tell, this is set in a world where England abandoned the Colonies before they could declare Independence. In fact England doesn't seem to have much of an empire at all any more. But also a lot of folklore is happening all at once; Arthur, surrounded by several of the Knights, is in England, and in what's probably Norway she visits Asgard and meets various members of the pantheon, except they don't actually seem to be gods, just people with the gods' names. The overarching villain is known as Baba Yaga and it's never clear (at least to me) whether she is called that because of the mythological figure, or whether the myth doesn't exist there. All the European countries have different names, and while I could puzzle most of them out by context I'm still lost on a few. A map would have been amazingly helpful; maybe the print version will have one.

But it's not all bad. Selah grows into an amazing character, and her determination to return home is never less than endearing. A couple of her suitors are good as well, obvious twist with one aside. Sadly I didn't really follow the political subplot, possibly because, again, I couldn't place the countries involved.

I did enjoy it overall, and I'll watch out for the sequel, because naturally there's a cliffhanger. Not a horrible one, though, so there's that going for it.

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Review: Queen of Ruin

Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Viridia, women are objects, not people. Beautiful, demure, obedient objects. Those who disobey are killed or sent to the island prison of Mount Ruin, forced to fight and kill for the guards' amusement. Serina has successfully led an uprising against them, but they are now trapped on the island, pinning all their hopes on the next supply ship. Serina's thoughts are with Nomi, though, left behind in the palace at the mercy of the cruel Superior. Together, these girls can destroy a country. If they can find their power.

This was a brilliant follow up to Grace and Fury. There was enough recapping for me to remember what happened in the last book, but not so much that it seemed out of place. Serina and Nomi continued to grow as characters, facing awful situations head on. The rest of the characters are distinct enough for it to really matter when they start fighting. The ending was clever and about the only way things could really have worked out. I'm glad the story wasn't dragged out longer; this felt like the right length.

I received an ARC of this title and chose to review it honestly.


Serina couldn’t mistake the naked misery in her sister’s voice. “He . . . he must care for you, to let you go.” Nomi’s face crumpled. Understanding dawned. “But you cared for Asa.”

Nomi’s voice hardened. “I thought I did. I trusted him, and he used me. He used my affection for him, my love for you, for his own ends. He killed his father and tried to kill his brother, and he shipped me off to prison . . . but before all of that he kissed me and told me he wanted me to be queen, and I believed him.”

Serina put her arms around Nomi, aching for her sister. She sat in silence, holding Nomi as she cried, just as she’d done when they were children. The moment was bittersweet; Serina hated that Nomi was hurting, but she was also grateful to be able to comfort her. Not long ago, she’d been certain she’d never get this chance again.

After a while, she murmured, “Asa will pay for what he’s done. I am certain.”

Nomi cleaned her face on the edge of her shirt. “I hope so.”

They curled into each other’s arms and listened to the surf and let the wind whip through their hair, and soon enough, dawn found them.

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Review: The Chain

The Chain by Adrian McKinty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A teenage girl is kidnapped. A terrified mother receives a call. Her kidnappers don't want a ransom - or, not only a ransom. She must also kidnap another child and pass the conditions on to those parents, thus ensuring her own complicity and keeping the Chain going. The Chain is important. The Chain must never be broken. Or the Chain will come for you...


This is a tense, exciting thriller. It doesn't exactly have twists - most of the plot developments are signaled long before they come into play - but I definitely wanted to find out what was going to happen next. The characters are well written and the peril is nicely played, not too gratuitous, just the right amount. The style reminded me a little of Stephen King in spots.

A fantastic read all around.



“All right, this is the plan,” Rachel announces. “One, we drive to the Old Customs Hall. Two, we wait for the kids to come out. Three, we follow Toby home along Revenue and Standore Streets. Please, God, let Toby be by himself. Four, we pull the car up next to him. Five, we grab him and throw him inside. Six, we drive off.”

“Do you want me to grab him?”

She nods. “And I’ll drive.”

“OK, then.”

She looks at him. “There are so many things that can go wrong, Pete. I’m glad you’re with me.”

Pete thinks back to that night at Camp Bastion in September of 2012 when everything went wrong. He bites his lip. “Yeah, it’ll be fine, Rach,” he says.

“But even if it all goes right,” she replies wretchedly, “it’ll still be absolutely terrible.”

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Review: The Shamer's Daughter

The Shamer's Daughter by Lene Kaaberbøl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dina's mother has a special gift. Just by looking in someone's eyes, she can force them to feel all the shame of any crime they've committed, from not cleaning the kitchen table right up to murder. Dina has inherited this gift, and when her mother is caught up in a political struggle Dina means to do her very best to get her out of it again.

First things first. The translation on this is smooth as butter. There's no hint of the awkward phrases and strange sentences that often show up when something is translated. In fact, I wasn't even sure it was translated until I looked it up on Goodreads.

The story itself is relatively uncomplicated. The bad guy is obvious almost at once, there are various allies of varying levels of usefulness. There are dragons, here animals rather than intelligent, and they're sufficiently terrifying. Dina is convincingly ten years old, sometimes. At other times she seems far older, but we can attribute that to the gift of Shaming. It's an inventive gift, not one I'd read about before.

I'm interested to know what will happen next in this series, and I'll be watching out for it.


Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.



The black horse looked very big, but the stranger boosted me up as if I weighed nothing at all and settled me with my legs to one side like the grand ladies riding sidesaddle in their long gowns. Of course it looked better than hiking up my skirts and riding astride, the way I usually did, but it was also a lot more difficult. I felt as if I was about to slide off the whole time. The stranger mounted behind me, put his arm around my waist in a firm grip, and still managed to control the horse one-handedly and with total ease.

“I still don’t know your name,”I said nervously.

“Drakan,”he replied, not deigning to tell me whether that was a first or a last name. Then he prodded the horse into a canter, and I had my hands full just staying on.

But as the black stallion’s long strides brought us farther and farther down the road to Dunark, I could hear Beastie still, barking and barking as if he would never stop.

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Review: Heartstream

Heartstream by Tom Pollock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cat's dating a member of the hottest boyband around...maybe. And Amy's the hottest streamer on Heartstream, the app that lets other people literally feel your emotions. Both think they've experienced the dark side of fandom. But they haven't seen anything yet.


Where to start with this one? First of all, it does not have the tear your hair out ending that White Rabbit, Red Wolf had, so rest easy on that. Not everything is tied up by the end, but it's enough.

Second, I like this view of fandom; that it can be the best place ever, an amazingly supportive family who will bear you up and support you...so long as you follow the rules. I've been on the edge of some of those fandoms, and they can be hideous or wonderful. Often both at once. It's beautifully portrayed here.

Third, I kind of started to get an inkling about what was going on about halfway through, but I had to keep adjusting my thoughts and shifting things around. Tom is amazing at giving you enough information to keep you guessing but not enough to figure things out, but not so little you get bored. I've no idea how he does it.

Fourth, a small amount of violence and gore, be careful.

Fifth, read it. Get two copies and give one to someone else.



I received an ARC and chose to review it honestly.


Panic and despair welled up in me. I suddenly remembered being tony, maybe four or five, and losing Mum in the bustle of a supermarket, and running up and down the aisles of cereal and vegetables and frozen meat frantically searching for her and not finding her and battling against the growing conviction she was gone, gone, and I was never getting her back, and tears springing up hot in my throat because it was my fault, because she told me to keep hold of her hand.

This felt exactly like that, only edged in a leaden despair, because I knew it would never end, because there was no bored girl with a supermarket PA system who could call her to the customer information desk from where she'd gone now. And then I was back watching the burning house, and then...

And then I sort of lost touch with myself.

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Wally is lost again! He should really invest in a good map. Come and see if you can find him - and while you're at it, invest in a good map. Or a compass. They're useful for all sorts of things.