Review: The Warehouse

The Warehouse by Rob Hart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An extremely well thought out dystopian novel. Cloud has taken over America. It's the online store of your dreams, stocking everything, products sent to you by drone so they're with you almost before they're needed. Cloud now employs most of America, and its CEO controls the government as well. Although he thinks of it as 'advising'. He only wants the best for everyone, after all.

My favourite thing about this fantastic novel is the watch that buzzes on different side to direct the workers. It's such a tiny detail, but it fits and it really shows the work that Rob put into imagining this increasingly possible future. A fantastic read, one that everyone should try.


Dakota didn’t speak. Didn’t look interested in speaking. She walked, and Paxton followed. A few people threw glances their way. He understood this dance. Dobbs called the polo shirt an equalizer. It wasn’t. Didn’t matter if the badge was tin, it still shone if it caught the light at the right angle. 


A tram car pulled in and they climbed aboard. The crowd seemed to part for them. Still Dakota didn’t talk. This, Paxton understood too. For them to talk, to engage in conversation like normal people, would humanize them too much. 


Paxton hated how easy it was to slip back into that mind-set. Like walking the stacks all over again.

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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: Darkwood

Darkwood by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This title has been compared to Terry Pratchett a lot. It's not quite accurate; this is rather more manic and less subtle than Terry's work. But that's not a diss on Darkwood, which is a clever, funny story about prejudice and magic. The characters are mostly well drawn - poor Buttercup doesn't get much personality, being motherly and turning things into cake are her only two characteristics. But the others are well written, and with a clear sequel hook at the end Buttercup might gain some personality in the next one. I'll happily be there to read it, to see what happens next.


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

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Review: The Curious Dreamer’s Dream Essentials

The Curious Dreamer’s Dream Essentials by Nancy Wagaman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating read. It's not exactly a dictionary, although it does include some of the most common symbols; it's more about the act of interpreting your dreams, giving tips and hints about your state of mind, rituals to help you remember and much more. I think once you've read it through once you'll probably be dipping in and out of it, but that's no harm and it's a very handy one to reference. I've started using it on my dreams! (No, I'm not telling you the meanings.) It includes suggested further reading if you're interested in the topic at all.

A great book for beginners or for dream aficionados.


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

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Review: The Passengers

The Passengers by John Marrs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Self driving cars are now the rule, not the exception. Britain's roads are full of them. Traffic jams are a thing of the past, pollution is down, people are calmer...it's all good, right?

Apart from the eight people who have found themselves trapped in their car, unable to control the course, unable to communicate with anyone. They are unwilling victims of Hackers determined to prove that cars are not as safe as they're claimed to be. And the public will have to choose; which one will survive, and which ones will die? They're on a collision course, quite literally...


I've read one other John Marrs book, The OneThe One, which is referenced a couple of times in this one. They're both very effective thrillers with multiple POVs. John is very skilled at projecting technology a couple of decades into the future and imagining what it will be like - this one is set sometime after the 2020s, but if there's a more specific time than that I missed it. I wouldn't be surprised, I was reading very quickly trying to find out what would happen. He's very good at making you feel one way about a character, then revealing something that makes you feel another.

I'll be watching out for more John Marrs books in the future, I'd definitely enjoy visiting this world again.



Panic rose inside Shabana in the same way it did when she heard Vihaan slamming the front door after a night out. If he was drunk, he was angry. And if he was angry, he was going to release his aggression upon his wife by doing what he wanted to her while she laid still, eyes closed and fists balled, dreaming of a better life.
Other voices began to fill her car, more words and languages that she didn’t understand, along with haunting cries, shouting and people in distress. ‘What is happening ?’ she pleaded aloud. ‘I don’t like this, please, can you make the car stop? I would like to get out.’ She pushed a button on the door hoping it would open, but nothing happened.
She looked at the phone Reyansh had given her and pressed the green button, holding it to her ear. ‘Reyansh ?’ she asked. ‘Reyansh, son, can you hear me? Are you there? Please?’
But there was no reply. Shabana had a feeling the new life she dared to dream of was already slipping from her grasp.

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Review: The Dreamers

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Shades of Stephen King, in both the lyrical descriptions and many interweaving characters, in this novel about a strange plague hitting a small town. I was riveted, following along as they try ... and many ultimately fail ... to keep themselves and their loved ones healthy. It's always fascinating seeing how different people react to situations like this and I didn't see anything that rang false to me; all the reactions seemed very probable. I'll be watching out for more novels by this author as I think there are many successful novels to come for her.


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


The first cemetery, long since closed to new arrivals, is packed with the dead of the Spanish flu. Some say their ghosts still roam the mansions on Catalina Street, now shabby and subdivided for students. The people of Santa Lora had known it was coming, that flu. They'd heard word of it traveling west from town to town. They tried to block the one road into town, but the sickness got in anyway, and then it spread through the town like news. Twice as many people died of that flu here as in the next town over, leading some to suspect, back then, that Santa Lora was cursed.
The idea still sometimes surfaces in certain superstitious minds. Whenever a teenager drowns in the lake or a hiker goes missing in the woods, some in Santa Lora wonder if this is a land destined for catastrophe. What if misfortune can be drawn to a place, like lightning to a rod?

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Review: Help Me: One Woman’s Quest to Find Out if Self-Help Really Can Change Your Life

Help Me: One Woman’s Quest to Find Out if Self-Help Really Can Change Your Life by Marianne Power
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun, slightly cringey in spots read. A lot of reviewers are saying that they were inspired to change their lives after reading it, but I wasn't. It's a good read and I like some of the insights, but the rest of it's not for me. I guess I'm not really a self-help kind of person. I'm in awe of Marianne's honesty and openness, though; it must have been a very tough book to write.

A good read, not life changing but certainly enjoyable.

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Review: The Compleat Ankh-Morpork

The Compleat Ankh-Morpork by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A hilarious guide to Ankh-Morpork and its' many wonders and delights. This is not a book for a PTerry newbie, but established fans will adore reading through the ads and articles and poring over the map to find all their favourite spots. Just remember to pay your Guild fees and don't go into the Shades alone!

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Review: Of Blood and Bone

Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The middle book of a trilogy is always a bit strange. This one skims over most of the ten years since the end of the previous book, reintroducing us to a few main players from last time and the new characters of this one. I did find it a challenge to remember who a few of the characters were, although that's probably more about me than about Roberts' skill.

A few moments jarred me, such as Fallon being on the end of three angry kisses from two different guys, and her calling her uncle's woman a whore. On the whole, though, this was an enjoyable read, tense in spots, and I'm very much looking forward to reading the final title in a year's time.


I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


She learned of a world that had existed before her birth. A world crowded with people, a world of huge cities with towing buildings where people had lived and worked. In that world people had traveled routinely by air and sea and road and track. Some had even traveled into space, and to the moon that hung in the sky.

Her mother had lived in a great city, in the City of New York. Fallon knew from the stories told, from the books she devoured, it had been a place full of people and noise and light.

A wonder of a place to get, one she viewed to see someday.

She imagined it often at night when she lay awake watching the fairies dance outside her window.

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Review: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a fantastic read. An alien invasion, maybe, designed to make all of humanity work together. (With a horrible cliffhanger, it has to be said.) The plot was fabulous, keeping just the right level of tension, and April May was the perfect combination of insightful and thick as a brick, depending on the subject. I'm desperate for the next book, I want to know what happened to everyone and where they all are now.

This book also plays really well with current levels of social media. In ten years it'll probably be quaint, but right now it's just right. Really good insight.

A brilliant book over all. And don't worry, sci fi phobes, it's not really about the alien at all.


Of course, I immediately had the Dream again. And again, I didn't think much of it at the time.
You might think it's weird that Andy and I hadn't figured out the Dream yet, but it was a pretty boring dream and, in general, talking about even interesting dreams to other people is dull as hell. I try not to do it under any circumstances because of how much I hate it when other people do it to me. And besides, Andy and I probably had said a total of four words to each other that day.
I did talk a bit more with Robin, but Robin had not slept yet. And so, though he almost definitely had the Dream in his head by this point, he had no way of knowing that. He'd know soon enough, as would at least half of the people on that airplane and a number of others I interacted with at the airport.
You can go ahead and add that to my list of accomplishments;
April May, former pet detective, dairy supply heiress, initiator of First Contact with space aliens, video blogger, and patient zero for the world's first and only know infectious dream.

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Review: Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart

Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A unique look at First Contact. I've never seen a book, movie or TV show handle it in quite this way. I liked seeing all the different points of view, although like other reviews I thought there were a lot of people to keep track of.

I enjoyed this book and I'll happily read more in the series, because like many books nowadays it ended on an awful cliffhanger!


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


"Imagination is like a muscle. It requires exercise. Stay trapped in this world with all its mundane necessities, and it won't be long before your imagination - the gift you were given in your childhood - atrophies, and when that happens, why, you've lost something precious that even nostalgia won't bring back to you, no matter how much you long for what was. With the death of your imagination, you lose wonder. But you need wonder. You need it to stay sane, and you need it to keep your heart from turning into stone."

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Review: Vox

Vox by Christina Dalcher
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

A difficult one to review. I like the idea, and it was handled well, but I wish the enemy hadn't been regular Christians. A new sect would have been much easier to take.

I didn't follow a lot of the science...I really hope it's not that easy to create aphasia in someone...and there seemed to be a lot of lucky coincidences along the way. Sometimes life is like that, of course. I liked this, and I'll read more books by the author, but it's not one of my top books for the year.


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


The clock on the lab wall says five. I have less than forty eight hours to make what I know will be an irreversible decision.

My parents, this baby the size of an orange inside me, and Lorenzo balance on one side of the scale. Patrick and the kids, on the other. Two seemingly inevitable but different fates hang over each choice like a storm cloud. Stay and wait for Reverend Carl to rachet up his terrible game, or go and watch Europe crumble to its knees, close up, front row, best seats in the house.

Next to me, Lorenzo inches closer, enough so that our hands touch. It's a solid feeling, those fingers of his brushing mine.

But it's not enough.

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Review: The Last

The Last by Hanna Jameson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good, but not fantastic, entry into the post-apocalyptic genre. I liked the characters, at least the ones that didn't meld into a faceless blob of 'others', but nothing much seemed to happen. They stayed at the hotel for a while, there were fights, they met some other people, they met some other other people, then it ended. It wasn't bad at all; the POV character is a history professor and his musings and asides are really interesting. However, the ending doesn't answer most of the questions, and even though I saw it coming I still didn't like it much.

Worth reading, but not amazingly fantastic.


The end of the world is a fairly comforting concept, because - in theory - we wouldn't have to survive it. Maybe what's been f***ing us up, more than anything, hasn't been finding a way to cope with the world ending but finding a way to cope with the fact that it didn't.

An ending is easy. This terminal waking up, morning after morning, isn't easy. Repairing and rebuilding isn't easy either. I think that's why I've been so angry, so desperate to believe Arran's paranoid theory about purgatory, why I wanted to believe that the girl in the water tank had died for a more important reason than men's continued violence.

Instead of a conclusion, we've been offered nothing but more life.

I don't know how to come to terms with that.

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