Supernaturally, sexy romance or dabbling in something unusual for me

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

I love Kelley Armstrong, so I was pretty interested to read one of her earlier works. I liked it a lot. I will probably finish the series, although in that typical slow way that I read series. Having said that, I do think you can tell that it’s an early novel, because her later books are a bit more succinct and sharp, but the story carries itself along quickly, the characters are interesting and Elena is pretty likable.

I actually read this book ages ago, I’m having a hard time keeping up with my blog. I have one baby, and soon will have another and my reading and blogging time is pretty dear.

So I will say this – fun book. My favourite part is the relationship between Jeremy and Elena – I love non-sexual friendships that are central of stories. I also love the Pack dynamic. I find Elena and Clay to be quite troubling and abusive, so the sweetness of it makes me a little uncomfortable. We’ll see how it that unfolds.

Not for young readers though ’cause there’s lots and lots of sex.

Last movie I watched:

Thor. Not as good as I remembered it, but still very good.

Last TV show I watched:

Probably still Shadowhunters. Nothing new to report there.

You know what? Meh. That’s what.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Although I really did enjoy the first three books in what I think should have been stayed a trilogy, I’m not sure that I love the sequel series.

This book chronicles the story of Jace essentially turn to the dark side, thanks to a rune on his chest and Clary, Simon and the gang’s scramble to get him back, while protecting him from the Clave, who would try him for treason if they caught him. But mostly it’s relationship drama with a side of supernatural and demon fighting on the side.

That’s the problem with this book to me. Where the first one was a relatively generic Chosen One/Teen Love story, there was quite a bit of fun world building, interesting support characters and a story that added something to the book. But this trilogy I’m finding is a little thin on those elements. The world building is more of less done and not really being expanded on. The support characters are all just tangled up in their own somewhat manufactured relationship drama and the story is driven mostly by the manufactured relationship drama. And even that relationship drama feels a little disingenuous and under developed.

The Clary and Jace relationship, which realistically had never been exactly healthy and normal is further tortured by Jace being possessed by Sebastian, motivating Clary to risk her life and be generally crazy in her attempts to bring him back, ignore his reckless behavior and pursing their unstable relationship across Europe. Simon and Izzy continue to not quite admit their feelings and Maya and Jordan start a relationship despite the fact that during his transformation to a werewolf he was an abusive, controlling jerk who hurt her on purpose. So yup I’d describe this book as a collection of unhealthy relationships with an absurd amount of drama.

So, all in all, a real step down from the first book. I’ll finish up the series but I’m hoping the next book brings me a bit more plot and a little less drama.

Last movie I watched:

Incredible Hulk. I thought it was pretty good other than the way too long fight scenes.

Last TV show I watched:

Shadowhunters, as it turns out. I think the show really made some narrative improvements on the book, but was not particularly good at casting.

Super Scary Haunting Kids Book

Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

I really, really loved this book. It also scared the crap out of me which was kinda fun, although not my usual. I am also delighted to report that this is a series so within any luck, I’ll enjoy this exciting, frightening world again before too long.

This novel takes place in a future where ghosts have become so common that all life on earth has just adjusted to it, and humans get on with their lives by staying in after dark, lighting ghost lamps each night and development of Agencies, which can be hired to investigate and remove ghosts from private residences. Children often have more psychic abilities than adult supervisors, so they are used by these agencies to investigate ghosts. After Lucy’s supervisor makes a terrible error and all of her colleges die in a horrifying haunting, she runs away from home and ends to London looking for a job. And she finds one with Lockwood & Co, the only agency that doesn’t have adult supervisors.

There was so much to love about this book. The three members of Lockwood & Co, Lockwood, George and Lucy are each well fleshed out, have lovely banter and a genuine relationship. The world building is so careful and thorough that you can’t even pinpoint when you learned something about it because it’s worked in so subtly. The writing is terrifying, like I was worried I’d have nightmares (I am a wimp though) and the plot was twisting and interesting with quite a few twists that I didn’t see coming, or if I did, I couldn’t see how.

I would recommend this to older readers, mostly due to the horror content, nothing else there is inappropriate there, who liked Harry Potter and want a creepy twist. Definitely check it out!

Last movie I watched:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Never gets old.

Last TV show I watched:

Things Explained, or something like that on Netflix. It’s by Vox. I liked it a lot.

A little less Percy Jackson than I like in my Percy Jackson

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

I am obviously a huge fan of the original Percy Jackson series because I am a reasonable person and they are great (my opinion, stated as fact). Generally I enjoyed the next series, although I really missed the intimate storytelling of the first person narrative from Percy Jackson. It’s back for this next series, the Trials of Apollo and it’s not quite everything I  hoped for but pretty close.

There is so much I loved about this book. First of all, Percy Jackson cameo. I wish he was more of a leading character and less of a cameo, but I’ll take it. I always love Percy Jackson, no matter how small his part is. Apollo’s internal voice is hilarious and delightful most of the time – the Me Cabin is an example of a wonderful joke and his character development is a carefully crafted and carries the story forward almost as much as the plot. I love Meg McCaffrey and everything she is and I have nothing else to say about her.

On a deeper level I really appreciated to outright acceptance of both gay and bisexual characters – Apollo’s son Will and his boyfriend Nico are the only functioning couple in the book and that’s fantastic and also very sweet. Although it’s becoming more common, it’s still nice to see some representation in a genre that’s not a coming out novel. Apollo openly declaring that he has only had two true loves, one women and one man and that’s great too. Overall, most LGBT representation kind of boxes off characters into gay or lesbian, so that’s great.

And here there be spoilers. I can’t get over complexity of Meg’s traumatic and abuse filled past. Talking about the devastating effects of Nero’s relationship with Meg and the way he has crippled her emotionally through a monstrous use of fear and kindness is just heartbreaking. Depending on how it is handled in the rest of the books it could be a a great chance to have an abused child become a hero, which would be great.

However, I feel like this book overall could use a bit of tighter edit. I have a feeling that when an author is big enough and their book is sure to be a bestseller that no one takes the time and care they did with the first book to make sure the story is as sharp as it could be. It wasn’t anything make or break it for me, it just struck me that there were a few lines or details that more or less just padded the text and a little more streamlined narrative would maybe make the book a little better.

I would one hundred percent recommend this book and this series to any keen reader and I would totally finish the series, if I get around to it. Percy Jackson, I’m glad your back!

The last movie I watched:

Avatar. I had only seen it once, in theaters in 3D. Incidentally it was when I learned that 3D makes me very nauseous. I enjoyed it much more this time. You know, mostly for the visuals. The plot wasn’t very important.

Last TV show I watched:

A bit of Charmed. It’s always my staple rewatch show and I don’t care what anyone has to say about that.

Greek mythology is real weird

Circe by Madeline Miller

I begin by saying, Greek mythology is very odd and it’s not easy to take something that messed up and make in feel human. But that’s exactly what Miller has done.

Circe is a lesser goddess, featured in Homer’s Odyssey. In the original myth she is a witch who lives on an island and turns sailors into pigs. Odysseus tricks her, takes her as his lover and in the end she helps him complete his quests. In Circe, the character is a little more developed. Her childhood was sad and lonely, her heart not as capricious, cruel or indifferent to the suffering of morals as her immortal family. When she discovers her powers, she goes against the will of her god father, Helios, reveals her witchcraft to the Olympians and is punished with exile for all eternity on an island. There she waits, interacting with several heroes and villains throughout Greek mythology.

It’s a story of family, motherhood, anger and violence, wrapped up in ancient myths and held together with beautiful language and lovely storytelling.

Once again, the part that most resonated with me was Circe’s becoming a mother for the first time. I swear, I’m not looking for audiobooks about parenthood to listen to while I’m feeding my son but they just keep popping up.

Circe’s terror and fierce drive to protect her son, and her amazement and heartbreak as she watches her son age and change struck a cord with me for sure. It’s hard to articulate my feelings of constant terror for my son, particularly because as an adult you see how dark and scary the world is and how delicate life is and how easy it is for it to be hurt and lost. Circe, as an immortal goddess who has survived in a world where gods are a destructive force sees so clearly the futures her son might face. I understood her. The awe she feels as her baby ages and changes in what feels like the blink of her eternal eye, I also got that. My son’s coming up on three months and already I feel like my time with him is slipping away.

It was incredibly powerful to hear the descriptions of parenting Miller wrote through Circe.

This is not a kids book – it’s got quite a bit of kind of disturbing content, a lot of sex (although nothing graphic) and is pretty violent. It is an adult book, and above all, I’d say it’s a parent book.

Also, anyone who likes Greek myths. I would not recommend it to anyone who can’t handle all that nonsense.

Last movie I watched:

The first half of Into the Woods. Fun musical. Very grim.

Last TV show I watched:

Part of To Walk Invisible. I’m committed because I’m interested in the Bronte sisters, but really I’m not sure I’d recommend it. I’m finding it lacks any kind of narrative drive.

Learning to fly

Septimus Heap: Book 2: Flyte by Angie Sage

This series is just so much fun! It’s a kids series, good for readers who enjoyed Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Septimus Heap doesn’t grow and get darker the same way Harry Potter did). I would confidently recommend it to kids who are looking for a great fantasy series with quirky characters, lots of plot, fun language play and some solid world building.

The book follows Jenna (the long lost Princess), Septimus (no longer a nameless boy in the army, but the apprentice to the ExtraOrdinary wizard) and Simon, the oldest Heap as he pursues another apprenticeship, this time with DomDaniel.

I laughed out loud, was surprisingly moved by a few moments and really enjoyed how, at its core, despite its epic feel, dragons and jokes it is still a story about a family. A confused, struggling and not always reasonable family and if that isn’t relatable I don’t know what is.

Last movie I watched:

Probably still that piece of The Greatest Showman

Last TV show I watched:

Avatar: The Last Airbender. Still so, so, so good

Hilariously dark but very excellent

The Deadly 7 by Garth Jennings

Nelson isn’t lonely, he just didn’t need any friends when he had his big sister Celeste. But then one day, she gets kidnapped, his parents leave to help search for her and he gets shipped off to his crazy uncle Pogo where he can’t do anything to help. But in a weird twist of events, while trying to find a leak in St Paul’s Cathedral Nelson and Pogo find a secret room with a mysterious machine that accidentally pulled out his seven deadly sins and turned them into invisible monsters who simply have to help him find Celeste, no matter what.

The adventure that follows is hilarious, most full of potty humour, British humour and a few really dark moments.

But it makes a quick read, a good laugh and really good story. I would recommend it for reluctant readers about age 10, depending on their reading level and be prepared for a little bit of giggling.

Last movie I watched:

I’m really not sure

Last TV episode I watched:

The Crown. So, so, so good.

Meh

Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice Defenders of the Dead by Jude Watson

This novel takes place before the Phantom Menace and was really written to be a quick, popular read based around Obi Wan Kenobi’s Jedi training. Unfortunately, no one really bothered to work that hard on the writing or narrative because they had a captive audience (Star Wars fans looking to transition from picture books and easy readers to novels) and as a result the book was very much… meh.

The premise of the book is that Obi Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn travel to a planet that has been at war for so many generations no one really remembers who started it on a rescue mission. While they are there, they encounter a group of people called the Young who have decided that they will defy their families and force their people to talk peace, by any means necessary.

Honestly, it’s not a great book. The premise is pretty interesting, but of course because it’s a Star Wards book, they had to sideline the original elements of the story in favour of the Star Wars characters. The writing is bland, although its a good transitional book I guess, to move young readers along and while I wouldn’t recommend it to an adult, I would hand it to a young reader who loved Star Wars and was ready to move to novels.

Last movie I watched: Deadpool 2

Pretty funny

Last TV episode I watched:

The Crown. Still so good. SO GOOD.

Paranormal Love Triangles

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

This young adult novel follows a pretty familiar pattern – young girl who’s always felt a little, well different, starts public school for the first time, immediately forms a special connection with a cute boy and then starts to experience from pretty weird stuff  that will throw her into an epic battle between good and evil. Guiding her along the way? A cute fairy boy who she has a strong connection with and he tells her the truth – she was never a human at all but a fairy all along.

There’s a lot of good stuff here. Certainly the fairy lore is at least as well researched as most of the vampire/werewolf/angel/demon kind of mythology that constantly leaks into this genre. The story is pretty neat too, playing off the idea of changelings, which of course is part of fairy lore, but set in modern times when Laurel has to worry about science and doctors revealing her secret which is pretty interesting. The world ending premise (that the bad guys will take control of Laurel’s human parent’s family land) is also pretty neat.

But the characters lack the depth to really make them get up off the page and relate to. They’re good, fine, flat but for me, not looking for someone I need to project into, it was just a little disappointing.

I would still recommend it to younger teens who were looking for something to follow up the other paranormal love triangle books.

Last movie I watched:

Infinity Wars! I just can’t form words

Last TV I watched:

The Crown. So good.

Magical Science Fiction

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

I adore Kelley Armstrong. I think this was the first of her YA fiction that I’ve read and while I would say it was good, really good even, I guess there’s something about YA’s tropiness that makes it hard for even great writers to really shine. Having said that, I would very much recommend it and read the rest of the trilogy.

The story is about Maya, a pretty typical teenager who lives with her adopted parents in a community on an isolated park on Vancouver Island, founded entirely by a large medical company. The sudden death of her best friend, and a year later increasingly strange things happening to her sends her on a quest to understand who she really is and what this doctors who founded her town are really researching.

Like many YA titles it falls victim to a few standards – first loves, relationship drama, one ultimate mean girl, orphan with mysterious and unknown past, best friends confused with dating partners and a tension between the teens and the authority figures. Most of these are okay on their own, but as they stack up, it starts to feel a little stale.

But it’s also got some great points too. Maya is an indigenous character. Not being indigenous myself I can’t say if her close ties to the forest and the animals could be seen as reinforcing a stereotype or as a really cool, accessible magic power  or as a bit of a mix of both. It certainly adds a something to the story. Kelley Armstrong’s fast paced, narrative driven style makes it almost impossible to put down. It also deals with attempted date rape, which is also something I think we all benefit from talking about with teens. And it’s both written by a Canadian and set in Canada, so that’s just a great bonus.

I would recommend this  book for it’s intended audience – teens and do so happily! I will continue to love Kelley Armstrong.

Last movie I watched:

Infinity Wars! So good although kind of a kick in the teeth

Last TV show I watched:

The Crown. So good guys, so good!