The Violinist - C.R.Tyra

Synopsis:

"All sailors bware, for only one will the Lioness spare."

In the 34th century, vicious creatures walk the earth, and a bloodthirsty witch rules over the sea. The captial city of Zargo has found that music may keep its monsters at bay, and Lucien Mooncaster, the lead violinist of the city orchestra, is the toast of the town. But even with the lifestyle of a celebrity knocking at his door, the only company he cares to keep is that of his endless supply of books.

Meanwhile, perfection proves to be fragile as Licien's picturesque life of comfort falls out rom under him when a storm strikes, and an unearthly beautiful woman washes ashore, shipwreckd outside his home.


Review:

There is no denying that within the first few pages I was hooked, completely and in no doubt. Throughout the book we see the world through 4/5ish points of view, James Tolston who is s rookie aboard a ship sailing the sea, Archer Solomon, a monster hunter armed to the teeth and for the majority of the book, Lucien Mooncaster, the lead violinist of the towns orchestra who loves the company of his endless collection of books. The other 1 maybe 2 POV's are up to you as a reader to see.

Lucien is such a relatable character which helps as a reader to keep me fully imersed in the book. He loves his books and prefers them over people ( I can totally relate to that but shhh dont tell anyone.) As a main character it's not only his preferences to books over people that makes him relatable for me, but also his emotions and reactions to the things he is thrown into and experiences.

The world in which this book is set is a beautiful mix of so many things like Victorian Steampunk, some sort of brilliant fairytale and my favourite, post apocalypse setting. This alone wins The Violinist and C.R.Tyra a hell load of points just for being one off and in no doubt, memorable.

In the grand scale of things, if you look at the book as a whole there are themes that really do touch you as a reader. What screams at me the most is how the main characters are struggling with their past relationships, would it be love or family and there inability to let go of the past which is the source of inner turmoil. The themes of love annd loss are touching and well portrayed. What i see which is minimal I guess, but how music is portrayed as a defence mechanism for the town againsts the bad things that may come. It feels quite relatable as sometimes music is an escape from feeling quite bad but can also be a source of happiness.

Without a doubt The Violinist gets a 5/5 from me and its impossible for me to score this read any lower it was just so enjoyable and gripping. The Violinist is a beautiful dark fantasy deffinetly worth checking out.

Open Road Summer - Emery Lord

Synopsis:

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts.

But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence.

This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

Review:

So I've seen Emery's books around quite a lot and actually wondered for so long if I should get a copy of all the books published but apparently I already own too many books. Thanks to my sisters boyfriend who loves to buy me money vouchers for book stores and after forgetting when he bought me my last one but carrying it with me all the time I finally decided to use the money on the card. I mean okay so the majority of the money was spent on the book whilst he rest of the voucher was spent on discounted chocolate by the till but hey man cant go blaming for either things. I remember being upstairs with the books for the longest 30 minutes I've ever had, I picked up so many books, wondered if they were for me, decided yes they were but then found another books that I wanted just a little bit more and instead what did I do? Put them down and picked up Open Road Summer which was lying on a table and the cover caught my attention and when I read the synopsis, I fell for it hook line and sinker. 

So the story follows Reagan as she tours with her best friend Lilah, a popular country singer as she tours the country. Its clear that when we meet Reagan that she has issues from her past she needs to face as she lets them effect her and somehow she is appealing to me as a MC, I mean I can kind of see why but also I'm confused as to why I love her so much. Lilah herself isn't problem free, and when the problems begin to appear Lilah's record company send someone to put the problems to rest. Matt Finch, another promising artist and with no doubt what so ever an absolute representation of what I'd want in a friend. Matt ends up opening Lilah's shows and Raegan can not help but feel a pull towards him that she simply can not resist.

I wont explain anything further because that's the point isn't it really? I mean the point of a review is to review it not spoil the whole thing. So Emery, if you ever see this, girl thank you. So this sounds openly bloody ridiculous right? Okay so I may be a bit of a sucker for teen romance and drama and all the things alike but Emery makes Open Road Summer such an enjoyable read, showing us that fame isn't always beautiful, our past experiences make us adapt, that we are not out past experiences as a whole. Most of all Emery portrays friendship exactly how it is, so real and testable.

Without a doubt Emery gets a 5/5 for Open Road Summer and I can not wait to get my hands on more of her work just to see if I can cry at some point in those too. 

BLOG TOUR: The Incendiaries - R.O.Kwon

Synopsis:

Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall meet during their first years at a prestigious university. Phoebe doesn't tell anyone that she blames herself for her mothers recent death. Will is a misfit scholarship boy transferring in from bible college, waiting table to make ends meet. What he knows for sure is that he loves Phoebe.

Haunted by her loss, Phoebe is increasingly drawn into a religious group - a secretive cult tied to North Korea - founded by a charismatic former student with an enigmatic past involving Phoebe's Korean American family. Will struggles to confront the obsession consuming the one her loves and the fundamentalism he's tried to escape. When the extremist group bombs several buildings in the name of faith, killing five people, Phoebe disappears. Will devotes himself to finding her, tilting into obsession himself, seeking answers to what happened to Phoebe and if she cold have been responsible for this violent act.



Review:

The opening to this book is uhm… quite explosive, literally. The book starting at the end before then jumping around in all directions as Will searches for any ounce of a clue that could possibly point to Phoebe being responsible for such an act. 

The chapters switch between Will, John and Phoebe but the majority of the story is told by Will. There is many times where he recalls moments and conversations with Phoebe whilst almost straight out admitting that sometime he isn't really sure he's remembering things correctly.

The Incendiaries is a short book lasting only 210 pages but I must admit it wasn't anything like i expected it to be, it was a very slow burner and it was hard for me to really read it for long periods of time. It is as though the peak of the action took place right at the very start, most of the story that was being given, which was Will and Phoebe's back stories served in a broken/fragmented way which for me moved towards a somewhat anti climatic ending.

Initially it was the synopsis which had me interested and encouraged me to say yes and take part in this blog tour which I can't say I regret doing even if I feel somewhat in the grey towards the book and I have no regrets because the book carries themes that stick with you after you've closed it and moved on. Phoebe reminded me how vulnerable people can be, showing how people can be easily guided towards bad things in bad times, how easily they can be open to radical ideas. There's no denying that we as people like to think that we are strong-minded and can’t be moved and easily influenced by others but from this book it seems that maybe we don’t really know what we are, as humans are capable of when we’re feeling lost, at what we see is the very bottom of us and someone offers a hand to pull you free.

By that alone, as much as I actually liked the themes of the book, I'm giving it a 3.8 out of 5, I just wished I could have been able to feel something relatable about the characters, even if it were just the small things.



Amazon link to purchase a copy of The Incendiaries.

Blog Tour: A Single Journey - Frankie McGowan

Book Synopsis:

Harriet has begun to despair of her life.

With a failed relationship behind her, a business on the rocks and a flat that’s falling apart around her ears, she could really use some luck.

Elena Banbury, née Guseva, an elderly but imposing Russian woman who is Harriet’s neighbour and landlady, frequently entertains the punters at Harriet’s jewellery stall with tales of the palaces of St. Petersburg and the treasures of Fabergé. But Harriet sometimes feels, guiltily, that she could do without the endless errands that seem to fall to her as Elena’s friend.

Then, unexpectedly, when Elena dies, she leaves all her worldly goods to a grateful Harriet. In time, however, it becomes clear that others are shocked by Harriet’s good luck, too. Shocked… and very, very unhappy.

Challenged in court by Elena’s family who live in Berlin, Harriet is forced to give up her inheritance and long-dreamed-of plans for a new business, and start her life again. But with her reputation in tatters and the memory of Elena tainted, Harriet knows a great injustice has been done.

Against the advice of her friends, family and lawyers, Harriet sets off on her own, very singular journey to Berlin.

In the weeks that follow she meets rich and poor, the glamorous and the criminal, the honest and the secretive, and begins to see that perhaps she has something to learn from them all. Something to learn about herself, and something to learn about her priorities.

She knows she has to fight for justice. But, when she meets the scholarly, perceptive Neil, who generously tries to help Harriet in her mission, but who is struggling with a complicated marriage, she must also decide if she’ll fight for love, too. 

Review:

So I'm absolutely honoured to be a part of the blog tour for A Single Journey, I begun reading my copy of the book a little while ago but thanks to some unknown glitch I encountered, I was unable to fully read the book. Thankfully Hannah came to my rescue and provided me with another copy n a different format that allowed me to continue my reading. I must let you all know that due to the glitch and date limit on this post, I feel as though I may have missed things here and there because I had to speed read but hopefully, with all things crossed, that this all still makes sense.

I don't really want to be giving away too much of the plot away so I wont explain it in all of the detail I know, but as the story goes, Harriet rents a flat from aging Elena Banbury who spends her time entertaining customers that visit Harriet's failing stall and the others around her with tales of her childhood in Russia. It is only when Elena passes away that Harriet find out how she was really seen by her. 

As far as our main character Harriet goes, she feels extremely real to me, beyond likable in my eyes and with her own flaws, it adds to the realistic feel of her. As the story progresses I begun to feel more attached to her, rooting for her at every moment she needed me to, wanting her to be successful when a challenge came to her, she was just so real for me.

The amazing thing about A Single Journey is that as our main character dives deeper into Elena's life we get to see how the tale passes by generation by generation, crossing numerous countries. It's a greatly pulled off intricate plot that must have been thought through superbly well and because of that as a reader, I was hooked throughout and I have no doubt other readers would be/have been too. The plot is jam packed but easy to follow throughout and as each chapter closes and the next begins, you are drawn more and more into the book being unable to stop yourself from at points beginning to take guesses at what is coming next (but as always I'm so far off) 

As I've seen on The Writing Greyhounds blog tour post, Lorna talks of things that are in the book that are maybe morals and important messages within the book which I wanted to share with you too.

"there are also several important points, or perhaps even morales, that are addressed in the book. A Single Journey reminds us about the importance of following our dreams and staying true to ourselves; all too often, we can find ourselves bogged down in the mundanities of day-to-day life and realise that we are living without really living. Harriet's journey to come to terms with the events of the story perfectly encapsulate this and represent the fact that sometimes, we must listen to our hearts rather than our heads.

Another important message to take away from the book is the way that older people are treated in our society. With the UK's over-worked care system, it's all too easy for vulnerable elderly people to fall through the cracks and end up with their struggles going unnoticed, as portrayed by Elena's situation at the beginning of the book. In real life, there may not always be a Harriet around to help, and A Single Journey helps to highlight the very real issue of the UK's elderly care crisis."

I think what she says makes perfect sense, they are also things I also picked up on, I also like the idea that the message about the UK's elderly care crisis is really a great message to me sharing and showing through such a book in the way it is. 

A Single Journey was a great read for me even though I may have missed things via speed reading but maybe I'll revisit the book and update this review sometime soon. From what I got from it, as Lorna says, It's a moving, heartfelt story about love, loss and staying true to yourself.

I cant give the book anything less than a 4 out of 5, I simply loved Harriet just that much and loved how the tale within spanned so far. Please don't forget to visit the other blogs taking part in this tour and it's also the time to mention that for the duration of the blog tour, A Single Journey is at the discounted price of only 0.99.

Purchase A Single Journey Here

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The City Of Lost Fortunes - Bryan Camp

Synopsis:

The fate of New Orleans rests in the hands of a wayward grifter in this novel of gods, games, and monsters.

The post–Katrina New Orleans of The City of Lost Fortunes is a place haunted by its history and by the hurricane’s destruction, a place that is hoping to survive the rebuilding of its present long enough to ensure that it has a future. Street magician Jude Dubuisson is likewise burdened by his past and by the consequences of the storm, because he has a secret: the magical ability to find lost things, a gift passed down to him by the father he has never known—a father who just happens to be more than human.

Jude has been lying low since the storm, which caused so many things to be lost that it played havoc with his magic, and he is hiding from his own power, his divine former employer, and a debt owed to the Fortune god of New Orleans. But his six-year retirement ends abruptly when the Fortune god is murdered and Jude is drawn back into the world he tried so desperately to leave behind. A world full of magic, monsters, and miracles. A world where he must find out who is responsible for the Fortune god’s death, uncover the plot that threatens the city’s soul, and discover what his talent for lost things has always been trying to show him: what it means to be his father’s son.

Review:

The City of Lost Fortunes is one of those books that takes magic, mythology, folklore and culture, throws it all into a blender and ends up being that smoothie that's a mix of mind blowing fantasy. It's unique and highly engaging, there's even a chance that The City of Lost Fortunes could be described as fantasy on steroids!

This novel was an absolute joy to read what with such a beautiful writing that guided me through time and dimensions as if it were a dream. The gods, monsters and mythological undertone blew my imagination.

The conflict at the centre of this book is not a simple one but rather a large cluster of events that through cause and effect guide Jude towards truths and a fate that he never considered.

There is a lot of magic in this book, suppressed magic, magic that has been taken away and magic that has been enhanced. And one way, or another, Jude experiences magic in all forms. But he is not a know-it-all; he learns and discovers and gambles… the game among gods and monsters isn’t over until the final card has been dealt.

Yeah, Jude is a bit of a wise-cracker! I loved his character- his intelligent, analytical mind, his particular view of men, gods, magic. Everything he goes through in this book, and it’s a LOT, he takes it in his stride, without complaint, even when he ends up experiencing an unexpected … ahem.. out of body experience of sorts! As he investigates the murder, and as his very essence hangs in the balance, Jude must remain alert to recognize friend from foe.

I liked all of the characters in the book- some of them we have all heard about through various tales, but it seemed to me that Bryan Camp is a special kind of puppeteer to bring them all together: angels, vampires, zombies, psychopomps, voodoo loas riding the human bodies, ghouls… I’m telling you, this book is a treasure and when you’re reading it, you’re the pirate taking a dive into a loot of pure gold.

The City of Lost Fortunes is an ode, a dedication, to New Orleans and its people. A fantastic, imaginative fairytale-like puzzle of gods and monsters, supernatural folklore and myths. It is an incredible venture into a world otherwise unseen to mere mortals, topped up with a generous dose of attitude, unexpected nuggets of wisdom and twists, underlined by an unwillingness to fold in a game with an open ending. Basically, do yourself a favour and read this book. Its a 5/5 from me and in a world where the number would be out of 10, it would still be a top scorer.

Henry's Departure - KD Rye

Synopsis:

KD Rye's short story 'Henry's Departure' tells the tragic tale of three sisters left to fend for themselves in the wilderness of their own home. Sue, Miley and Joyce find themselves abandoned by adults and left without food, they will need to rely on their wits to survive. But when hunger sets in, will the sisters be able to cling to their humanity?

Review:

So this story follows 3 sisters, Sue the oldest, Miley the child in the middle and Joyce, the youngest. Their mother never worked so money was non existent so after the tragic death of their mother, the girls are left to survive on what Henry can give them but it comes with a price. When Henry leaves for a while, the three children are left with no food, which he would always bring each week, they are left with absolutely nothing, their towels are unusable, their stockpile of food is non existent and they're hungry almost every second of the day.

Miley is the only child patient enough to go fishing each day and Joyce always goes with, pulling worms from the dirt to use at bait. It' hit and miss fishing. sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not. We do see the girls catch 2 fish, freezing one and gutting, cutting and cooking the other. The detail drawn out from that encounter makes the book feel even more real to the reader. 

I feel like this short story is all about the lengths people go to just to survive, about the level of dependence we have on others, really weirdly over thought deep things like that. It's a 5/5 from me without a doubt, it's deep and gnarly really. Not one for the kiddies really. I loved it from start to end, didn't see the end coming at all, pretty blindsided by it. I'll be keeping an eye out for more work by K D Rye, she's got something I cant quite describe when it comes to writing.

The Good Son - You - Jeong Jeong

Synopsis:

Yu-jin is a good son, a model student and a successful athlete. But one day he wakes up covered in blood. There's no sign of a break-in and there's a body downstairs. It's the body of someone who Yu-jin knows all too well.

Yu-jin struggles to piece together the fragments of what he can remember from the night before. He suffers from regular seizures and blackouts. He knows he will be accused if he reports the body, but what to do instead? Faced with an unthinkable choice, Yu-jin makes an unthinkable decision.

Through investigating the murder, reading diaries, and looking at his own past and childhood, Yu-jin discovers what has happened. The police descend on the suburban South Korean district in which he lives. The body of a young woman is discovered. Yu-jin has to go back, right back, to remember what happened, back to the night he lost his father and brother, and even further than that.

The Good Son deals with the ultimate taboo in family life, and asks the question: how far will you go to protect your children from themselves?

Review:

This book review is going to be one of those where I want to hide as much from you as I possibly can about the book itself to help it keep its intensity and helping it keep its mystery and thrill level.

The Good Son is a book follows Yu-jin who wakes up in his own bed, afraid that he has had a seizure as he can not fully remember the night before and there is a particular substance all over him that then opens up the story, allowing us to follow Yu-jin over a period of a few days to help him discover the truth taking us with him and I can assure you, all is not really as it seems.

Set in South Korea, it is interesting and kind of cool to be able to notice and see cultural and behavioural differences etc.. As Yu-jin explores the apartment which he shares with his mother and adopted brother, he quickly discovers one surprise after another. There are triggered memories that fill in the blanks of the partial memories that are bought on by hearing a few words spoken here and there, some triggered by repeating certain actions taken by him on the night he cannon remember. As the story goes on it all begins to knit together, creating such a vivid image, it's incredible.

We begin to learn even more as flashbacks to Yu-jin’s early life are merged in with the present day. The plot thickens as we discover more about the relationship he shared with his mother and auntie and then with his father and brother too.

A Good Son is a physiological thriller that grips, teases and saddens, as the story comes to an end I can see how it all fitted together so perfectly, how much it all made sense for the story to unfold in the way it, how truly amazing it had been constructed. It's easy to give this book a rating, a solid 5/5 from me. I was gripped from the start and I had even had to take a moment to collect myself once I was finished with the book. You-Jeong Jeong did and amazing job with this book, crafting something unique and amazing with a thrill factor that I'd happily go back and experience all over again. You-Jeong Jeong would probably be a little amused to find that the morning following when I completed reading the book, I awoke tasting blood...