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sparrowliz's reviews
89 reviews
A Catalogue of Catastrophe by Jodi Taylor
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
The Good, the Bad and the History by Jodi Taylor
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Naked Feminism: Breaking the Cult of Female Modesty by Victoria Bateman
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Here by Denise Grover Swank
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
On The Other Side is a two book series by Denise Grover Swank, called Here and There.
Julia is a 16yo school kid who hates her life. Six months ago she was in a car crash with her late best friend, and now she just wants to be left alone. School is doing nothing for her, she's failing all her classes because she cannot see the point anymore, so she is given an ultimatum - have a tutor and catch up or leave for remedial school.
Evan is the most popular boy at school, and he volunteers to tutor Julia. As they become close, it appears that they were destined to be together after some unexplained coincidences. However, all is not as it seems. As the police start to chase Evan, he wants to know if Julia will trust him and come home with him.
I read both these books in a couple of days, so it makes sense for me to review them together.
As always, these are really well written by Swank. I've read a fair few of her books now, and I always look forward to reading them as I get totally immersed into the new worlds. This book isn't as hard hitting as some YA that I've read - there's no sex, no swearing and mild violence - but that doesn't make it less enjoyable. As I was reading through, I kept wanting to discover what was next for our heroes.
The ending of the second book allows for scope for future books, though I think the author has done well to leave it there. If you enjoy sci fi, and enjoy these books, you may also enjoy the classic 90s TV series, Sliders.
Julia is a 16yo school kid who hates her life. Six months ago she was in a car crash with her late best friend, and now she just wants to be left alone. School is doing nothing for her, she's failing all her classes because she cannot see the point anymore, so she is given an ultimatum - have a tutor and catch up or leave for remedial school.
Evan is the most popular boy at school, and he volunteers to tutor Julia. As they become close, it appears that they were destined to be together after some unexplained coincidences. However, all is not as it seems. As the police start to chase Evan, he wants to know if Julia will trust him and come home with him.
I read both these books in a couple of days, so it makes sense for me to review them together.
As always, these are really well written by Swank. I've read a fair few of her books now, and I always look forward to reading them as I get totally immersed into the new worlds. This book isn't as hard hitting as some YA that I've read - there's no sex, no swearing and mild violence - but that doesn't make it less enjoyable. As I was reading through, I kept wanting to discover what was next for our heroes.
The ending of the second book allows for scope for future books, though I think the author has done well to leave it there. If you enjoy sci fi, and enjoy these books, you may also enjoy the classic 90s TV series, Sliders.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Car accident
The Cat Who Saved Books by SÅsuke Natsukawa
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.5
The Cat who Saved Books was chosen by my Book Club, and it is a really sweet read.
Rintaro is a boy who lived with his grandfather and spent many hours in the bookshop, reading and helping the loyal customers. After the death of the grandfather, Rintaro turns inwards even more and even stops going to school, thinking nobody would miss him. A relative comes to help sort things out and prepares Rintaro for leaving the bookshop and going to live with her. Before Rintaro can close the shop and leave, he meets a talking cat who needs help with rescuing books from their current sad fates.
This is not the type of book I would have chosen myself, but it was really engaging. Even though I read it after translation to English, the translator kept some of the Japanese words, which helped the book remain in the setting it should. I liked the development of the character of Rintaro as the book progresses, and seeing how he deals with his grief. There are only a few characters in this book, and they all add something to the story. The ending, too, was fitting to the story and I came away very glad that I had read it.
I'd say this book is suitable for any age. I can imagine a child from 7upwards enjoying being read this book, and from 10+ enjoying reading it themselves. As a 40yo woman I enjoyed it too. A short, sweet story.
Rintaro is a boy who lived with his grandfather and spent many hours in the bookshop, reading and helping the loyal customers. After the death of the grandfather, Rintaro turns inwards even more and even stops going to school, thinking nobody would miss him. A relative comes to help sort things out and prepares Rintaro for leaving the bookshop and going to live with her. Before Rintaro can close the shop and leave, he meets a talking cat who needs help with rescuing books from their current sad fates.
This is not the type of book I would have chosen myself, but it was really engaging. Even though I read it after translation to English, the translator kept some of the Japanese words, which helped the book remain in the setting it should. I liked the development of the character of Rintaro as the book progresses, and seeing how he deals with his grief. There are only a few characters in this book, and they all add something to the story. The ending, too, was fitting to the story and I came away very glad that I had read it.
I'd say this book is suitable for any age. I can imagine a child from 7upwards enjoying being read this book, and from 10+ enjoying reading it themselves. As a 40yo woman I enjoyed it too. A short, sweet story.
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A friend lent this book to me last year. As it's a paperbook, I had it on pause for a long while. I tend to read kindle books, as I find it more comfortable reading the kindle when lying down, than lying with a book. Not only that, I can carry multiple electronic books around with me, without needing a ginormous rucksack! I do read paper books when I'm in the car, however. Assuming it's light enough to read, that is, I always have a paper book with me in case, God forbid, my kindle runs out of charge and I have nothing to read! A different friend lends me various (paper book) biographies to read, so I had to wait until I finished that book, before slipping this fiction inbetween Joe Lycett (read) and Jo Brand (to read).
I started reading this book in the car, whilst picking up my girls from school, and I was hooked from almost the first page. As such, when I got home, rather than leaving it in the car as I normally would, I took it out and read it all evening until it was finished. I couldn't put it down.
This book is simply amazing. You can tell the author is autistic as the protagonist's portrayal is spot on. I'm not one to get emotional at books (admittedly I don't often read "harrowing" books, unlike my sister who actively chooses them, but then can only read 1 chapter at a time as it's too emotionally intense), but this is the first book I have cried at. I don't want to give too much away, but there is a scene in the middle of the book where Stella meets Michael's family for dinner, and it is painful reading because it is so close to home.
The book itself is really sweet. It's not suitable for young teens, as it does describe sex in detail, but it is not tacky <cough>50 shades<cough> at all. It fits in with the story and the trusting, but logical, nature of Stella. It's a book about what sex should be (note, I'm not saying that it should be with a male escort, lol): consensual, sensual, erotic and enjoyed.
Highly recommend.
I started reading this book in the car, whilst picking up my girls from school, and I was hooked from almost the first page. As such, when I got home, rather than leaving it in the car as I normally would, I took it out and read it all evening until it was finished. I couldn't put it down.
This book is simply amazing. You can tell the author is autistic as the protagonist's portrayal is spot on. I'm not one to get emotional at books (admittedly I don't often read "harrowing" books, unlike my sister who actively chooses them, but then can only read 1 chapter at a time as it's too emotionally intense), but this is the first book I have cried at. I don't want to give too much away, but there is a scene in the middle of the book where Stella meets Michael's family for dinner, and it is painful reading because it is so close to home.
The book itself is really sweet. It's not suitable for young teens, as it does describe sex in detail, but it is not tacky <cough>50 shades<cough> at all. It fits in with the story and the trusting, but logical, nature of Stella. It's a book about what sex should be (note, I'm not saying that it should be with a male escort, lol): consensual, sensual, erotic and enjoyed.
Highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Conjure the Storm Boxset by Rachel Redding
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Conjure the Storm is one of the boxsets I bought to read whilst my eldest was in hospital for her heart surgery.
Catrin is a Welsh young adult who discovers that there is a secret organisation or Vanators after her due to her abilities. Whilst she is aware of witchcraft, her mother is a druid after all, up until now, it is not something she has been interested in. Catrin, however, gets thrown in the deepend and moves, with her best friend Roxy, to live with relatives in America who hope to teach her how to control her abilities and protect herself, with the ultimate aim of ending the feud with the Vanators.
This book is aimed at YA audience, and I think they'd find it more amazing than I did. That's not to say I didn't like it, on the contrary I liked the storyline, which was predictable in an easy-to-read way, and at the end of each 'book' within the boxset, I wanted to continue to find out what happened next.
What I disliked about it, and these are probably just petty things, so feel free to ignore:
- that is was separate books - this is totally unnecessary, imo, and had I just the first book, I probably wouldn't have bought the rest of the series, which would have been a shame since I did enjoy the story.
- the (im)maturity of the writing. I've tried (admittedly very briefly) to find information about the author, but couldn't find anything. If this were a first novel set, then I will take back this criticism, because I certainly couldn't do better! I, however, would have prefered the writing to be a bit richer and a bit deeper. It all seemed superficial, but again, that could be because it's targetted to the YA audience.
- I am also under the impression that she is American, because some of her "English" things are off. For example, not many people in the UK go to university in their home town and live at home; nor am I aware of any universties that hold their graduation ceremony on the football (soccer) field - English weather just isn't predictable enough for that!
Overall, I am glad I read the book. Whilst it being over 600 pages long (for the boxset of 5 books) it is very quick and easy to read, only taking me 3 days to get through it. The ending gives space for further books in the series (I haven't looked to see if they are already available) if you wanted more.
Catrin is a Welsh young adult who discovers that there is a secret organisation or Vanators after her due to her abilities. Whilst she is aware of witchcraft, her mother is a druid after all, up until now, it is not something she has been interested in. Catrin, however, gets thrown in the deepend and moves, with her best friend Roxy, to live with relatives in America who hope to teach her how to control her abilities and protect herself, with the ultimate aim of ending the feud with the Vanators.
This book is aimed at YA audience, and I think they'd find it more amazing than I did. That's not to say I didn't like it, on the contrary I liked the storyline, which was predictable in an easy-to-read way, and at the end of each 'book' within the boxset, I wanted to continue to find out what happened next.
What I disliked about it, and these are probably just petty things, so feel free to ignore:
- that is was separate books - this is totally unnecessary, imo, and had I just the first book, I probably wouldn't have bought the rest of the series, which would have been a shame since I did enjoy the story.
- the (im)maturity of the writing. I've tried (admittedly very briefly) to find information about the author, but couldn't find anything. If this were a first novel set, then I will take back this criticism, because I certainly couldn't do better! I, however, would have prefered the writing to be a bit richer and a bit deeper. It all seemed superficial, but again, that could be because it's targetted to the YA audience.
- I am also under the impression that she is American, because some of her "English" things are off. For example, not many people in the UK go to university in their home town and live at home; nor am I aware of any universties that hold their graduation ceremony on the football (soccer) field - English weather just isn't predictable enough for that!
Overall, I am glad I read the book. Whilst it being over 600 pages long (for the boxset of 5 books) it is very quick and easy to read, only taking me 3 days to get through it. The ending gives space for further books in the series (I haven't looked to see if they are already available) if you wanted more.