Review: The Year of the Witching

 

Title: The Year of the Witching      

Author:  Alexis Henderson

Synopsis: “A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.

     “In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy.  Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.

     “But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches.  Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanualle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.

     “Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches.  But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness.  And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.”

Review:  I both loved and hated this book.  What I loved:  The Year of the Witching is extremely well written.  It’s like I was right there, with Immanuelle, whom I really started to care about.  What I hated: The Year of the Witching is extremely well written.  It’s like I was right there, with Immanuelle, whom I really started to care about.  Remember, this is a horror novel, set in a dystopian, puritanical, secluded society… I spent most of the time battling feelings of anger and terror.  At one point I had to put down the book for over a week to work out my emotions. 

     I love the idea of a secluded, low tech, mostly agricultural society.  The Village is one of my favorite movies, please don’t judge me. The idea of a simpler life is very appealing to me.  However, you add in a crazy, blood thirsty Prophet who is also a sexual predator, evil witches who live in the dark ominous woods, and a bloody curse, and it’s no longer the idyllic place I would imagine.  I loved it.  I hated it.  I wanted to throw it against the wall.  I had to put it in time out.  And that is how you know it’s a fabulous book.  I highly recommend The Year of the Witching for any fans of horror, and I just cannot wait for the next book in the Bethel series.

 

Publisher:  Ace

If you like this book you may want to read:

The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

Review: Junkyard Cats

 

Title:  Junkyard Cats   

Author: Faith Hunter

Series:  Junkyard Cats #1

Synopsis: “After the Final War, after the appearance of the Bug aliens and their enforced peace, Shining Smith is still alive, still doing business from the old scrapyard bequeathed to her by her father.  But Shining is now something more than human.  And the scrapyard is no longer just a scrapyard, but a place full of secrets that she has guarded for years.

    “This life she has built, while empty, is predictable and safe.  Until the only friend left from her previous life shows up, dead, in the back of a scrapped Tesla warplane, a note to her clutched in his fingers – a note warning her of a coming attack.

    “Someone knows who she is.  Someone knows what she is guarding.  Will she be able to protect the scrapyard?  Will she even survive?  Or will she have to destroy everything she loves to keep her secrets out of the wrong hands?”

Review:  I love Faith Hunter’s books.  Most people know her through her Jane Yellowrock series, but I found her through her Rogue Mage Trilogy which is still one of my favorite series of all time.  One of the main reasons I love Faith Hunter’s books is her superb character AND world building.  With most authors you get one or the other, but with Hunter you get both!  I truly feel for the characters; and can almost see, smell, and taste the world they live in. 

    While reading Junkyard Cats I kept getting pulled away to do other things, which was torturous.  I was so into the characters and the story that I just HAD to know what was going to happen next.  Finally, when I got to the final 25% I put on my noise cancelling headphones, turned off my phone, and told everyone to leave me alone until I was done!  No one will be surprised that my favorite character was Tuffs, the alpha female cat.  I loved the development of the bond between Shining and Tuffs.  My only complaint is that Junkyard Cats is short, 106 pages on Kindle, and I wanted more. 

Publisher: Lore Seekers Press

If you like this book you may want to read:

Blood of the Earth (Soulwood #1) by Faith Hunter

Rogue Mage Trilogy by Faith Hunter

The Voodoo Killings (Kincaid Strange #1) by Kristi Charish (See BookGirlR's review here)

Review: The Return

 

Title:  The Return        

Author:  Rachel Harrison

Synopsis: “An edgy and haunting debut novel about a group of friends who reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance.

     “Julie is missing, and the missing don’t often return.  But Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she feels in her bones that her best friend is out there, and that one day she’ll come back.  She’s right.  Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her.”

Review:  I made the mistake of starting The Return at bedtime one night.  I like to read before bed to help me relax and push aside any worries of the day.  So, at 10pm (Ok, it was probably 9:30; I love bedtime.) I moisturized, grabbed a cat and my book, and climbed under the covers.  Next thing I knew it was 2am and I had read the whole book.  I was so frightened after I finished that I had to sleep with the lights on.  

Reading The Return was like driving by an accident.  Even though you kind of know what happened, and you know it’s going to be bad, you can’t help looking.  I had sort of figured out basically what was going on, but the main characters had no idea, and I couldn’t help speeding through the pages to find out what they were going to do.   I highly recommend The Return to fans of horror and the supernatural.

Publisher:  Berkley

If you like this book you may want to read:

Wonderland by Zoje Stage

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

What Has BookGirlR Been Up To?

 Hello!

  It's been awhile.  I hope you are all well.  If you follow me on Facebook, and you really should if you want the most updates, you know that my pc stopped working this summer.  I finally have my new one and after a little break I'm ready to start reviewing again.  My reading goal for every year is usually 104 books, which is 2 books per week.  But I always meet it easily, so I decided to up it this year to 156, which is 3 books per week. 

So what's been happening?  2020 was a really rough year for me.  My emotional support cat Tempest passed away on my husband's 50th birthday, July 1st.  This was at the same time that my sister almost died, and was in the hospital and had to have emergency surgery.  SuperSteve and I made the 70 mile drive to her house several times in the span of a week to help with the kids and her household.  Then a week later our remaining cat Spooky started acting very strange and had a urinary blockage.  The vet said he was grieving the loss of Tempest, just like we were, and the stress of that was responsible for the urinary blockage.  So we adopted a kitten.  River Moon Fireball MeowMeow-Fischer joined our family on 7/14/2020 and she is the best thing to happen to me in 2020.  For my nerds, she is named River after River Tam from Firefly AND River Song from Dr Who because she is beautiful, crazy, and wicked smart.  She wasn't the kitten we originally applied to adopt, but she is from the same litter, and she was obviously meant to be mine.  Even as a kitten she stepped right into the roll of emotional support cat.  When I feel panicky she is right there, usually insisting I sit down and lean back so she can lay on my chest.  With her purring aggressively on my chest it's really hard to be panicky.  We share a love that is very obviously mutual and after a very short 7 months I can no longer imagine my life without her.  Spooky also loves her.  Where Tempest merely tolerated his presence, River adores him.  They play, snuggle and have joint grooming sessions that I find absolutely adorable.  A month after all of this we had another family emergency that was sort of ongoing over the Fall as well.  

I guess we can't talk about the last 7 months without mentioning the pandemic.  At first I thought quarantine was going to be a breeze for me.  I'm an introvert, who is borderline a hermit, and I was already working from home every other week.  Last March work called and said we were all working from home indefinitely.  Stay home!  For the first couple of months I was fine.  But then it started to get to me.  I'm fine working from home, but I want to go out with my friends.  I want to eat out in a restaurant, read in a coffee shop, and do my annual wine tour around the finger lakes.  I want to meet in person with my book club and DnD group. I want to hug my Mom and SuperSteve's Mom, and all of my nieces and nephews. Like many other people I have been struggling to concentrate on anything at all really, even reading.  My anxiety has been much worse than usual.  But I have River, and I have SuperSteve.  My book club has been meeting online on our regular monthly basis and we've recently started a DnD campaign that meets every other(ish) Saturday evening.  We will be ok.  

How have you been surviving the pandemic and quarantine.  Let me know in the comments!

Here are some pictures of River and Spooky:

One week after we brought her home.  Spooky was already in love with her.  Look how teeny she was!

River Moon knows she is beautiful.

Dinnertime shenanigans.  Looks how teeny she was!

They both must be touching me as often as possible.

I love to see them snuggle.

Post panic attack.  River says no panic, only purrs.

Spooky and his murder claws.

She loves to be with me (on me) all the time, even when it's not particularly helpful.

Valdemar: Spy, Spy Again - Review

Title: Spy, Spy Again

Author: Mercedes Lackey

Series:  Valdemar: Family Spies #3

Synopsis:  “In this third novel of the Family Spies series, set in the bestselling world of Valdemar, Herald Mags and Amily’s youngest child must follow in his parents’ footsteps to protect both his family and the realm.

     “Thirteen year old Prince Kyril and Mags and Amily’s fourteen-year-old son Tory “share” the Gift of Farsight – although neither of them are Chosen.  They are self-trained, though currently, their shared Gift only allows them to see what is happening with their immediate family members.

     “After much debate, the Herald’s Collegium has decided to test and train them anyway.  That’s when the surprises start.  They do not share a single Gift; they have two complementary Gifts working together in a way that the Heralds have never seen before.  Tory is the Farseer – Kee’s Gift is to extend his range beyond a few dozen feet.

     “Their Gifts become crucial when Mags gets a desperate message from his cousin Bey, the head of the enigmatic assassin-tribe, the Sleepgivers.  Bey’s eldest daughter has been kidnapped, but he doesn’t know why or by whom.  He’s calling in the debt Mags owes him to find his daughter before it’s too late.

     “Tory is certain that if anyone can find her, he can.  But that will mean traveling out of Valdemar into an unknown, dangerous country.

     “And it will mean taking a Royal Prince with him.”

Review:  I loved this novel.  This should come as no surprise to most of you.  In case you don’t already know Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors and her Valdemar series is my Favorite series.  You can read about my emotional attachment to Valdemar in a previous post here.  But just know that if I were told I could leave this world and go to Valdemar, but I would have to leave everyone and everything behind, I would go.  I know in my heart that I am a herald of Valdemar and that I belong there. 

     Mercedes Lackey does some of the best world building and character development out of all of the different authors that I read.  This novel is no exception.  We get to learn a lot more about the Sleepgivers and Rethwellan.  As always our main characters face some trials and have to make some hard choices.  There are some new elemental characters that we haven’t experienced before, and some startling revelations about our characters that may open up new possibilities for future novels. I am a little bit sad that this is the third book in the series, and Mags and Amily’s youngest child, so I am assuming it concludes the Family Spies series.  Valdemar novels are all about how hard work, choosing the right friends, and making the right choice instead of the easy choice, are always worth it in the end.  They are about doing the right thing, and that is how I live my life.  I hope that there are new Valdemar novels in the works, because I love having them to look forward to.

***I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Publisher:  DAW

If you like this book you may want to read:

If you haven’t read any Valdemar novel and want to start I recommend you start with one of these:

 

The Arrows Trilogy (Arrows of the Queen, Arrow’s Flight, Arrow’s Fall)

 

OR

The Collegium Chronicles (Foundation, Intrigues, Changes, Redoubt, Bastion)

 

If you’ve read the Valdemar novels and are looking for something similar:

 

The Quarters Quartet by Tanya Huff

The Green Rider Series by Kristen Britain

The Chronicles of the Necromancer by Gail Z. Martin

Star Wars: Queen's Peril - Review

Title: Star Wars: Queen’s Peril

Author: E.K. Johnston

Series: Star Wars

Synopsis:  “When fourteen-year-old Padmé Naberrie wins the election for Queen of Naboo, she adopts the name Amidala and leaves her family to rule from the royal palace.  To keep her safe and secure, she’ll need a group of skilled handmaidens who can be her assistants, confidantes, defenders, and decoys.  Each girl is selected for her particular talents, but it will be up to Padmé to unite them as a group. When Naboo is invaded by forces of the Trade Federation, Queen Amidala and her handmaidens will face the greatest test – of themselves, and of each other.”

Review:  I wanted to love this book.  The cover is absolutely beautiful, and I loved the idea of how Queen Amidala built her network of handmaidens.  The first two thirds of the novel are strong and interesting, however then we are caught up to the same time period as The Phantom Menace (TPM) and this is when the whole thing falls apart.

     The final third of the novel is very disjointed as it jumps around from character to character whose scenes do nothing to forward the actual plot of the novel.  It relies heavily on the reader already having a fresh, and vast, amount of knowledge regarding events from The Phantom Menace.  Anyone who hasn’t seen TPM within the last few weeks will be extremely confused as the story seems to be missing whole chunks of storytelling when it involves anything that happens in the movie.  Even if you have the fresh knowledge of what happens in the movie, the missing chunks of storytelling totally pull you out of the story as you have to then think about the movie, and what happened during the missing scenes.  I honestly feel that this must not be entirely the authors fault, because I loved Ahsoka and Queen’s Shadow.  But something here went terribly wrong. 

     I was so very disappointed by this novel.  I wanted a strong female lead Star Wars story, and while it started out that way, Queen’s Peril falls profoundly short.

     I also have to mention that the Kindle copy I was provided was full of typos and formatting errors that I hope are fixed before publication.

***I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm Press

I recommend passing on this one and reading one of these instead:

Star Wars: Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston

Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow by E.K. Johnston

Star Wars: A Crash of Fate (Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge #1) by Zoraida Córdova

Looking Forward - June 2020

     Ahhhh June, the start of summer.  Usually we are looking forward to hikes, picnics and trips to the beach.  This June however we are going to be social distancing and spending a lot of time at home.  Hopefully this will mean lots of extra time for reading because there are a lot of awesome books coming out this month!  Let me know if you will also be reading any of these, or if I missed any that you are looking forward to, in the comments.

June 2, 2020:

Star Wars Queen's Peril by E.K. Johnston:  You had me at Star Wars.  I'll read or watch anything Star Wars related.

***I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

June 9, 2020:

                              

Spy, Spy Again by Mercedes Lackey: This is book #3 in the Family Spies Series and it's the 45th book to be published in the world of Valdemar.  For those of you who aren't aware, Valdemar is my favorite fantasy world and I'm just sure I was supposed to be a Herald of Valdemar myself.  For more about this read my post "What's Your Favorite Series? or Where's My Companion?".  I am so excited to have received an advanced copy of this novel and can't wait to read it this weekend!  (Of course you know I already have my physical copy pre-ordered.)

***I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

The Living Dead by George Romero & Daniel Kraus:  YES!  I love zombies!  Bring it!

***I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

June 16, 2020:

   

Hella by David Gerrold:  A human colony on an alien planet where there are dinosaurs and extreme weather.  Ummm... Yes please!

Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor:  The tag line for this novel on Amazon says: "Bram Stoker's extraordinary experiences at the Lyceum Theatre, his early morning walks on the streets of a London terrorized by a serial killer, his long, tempestuous relationship with Irving, and the closeness he finds with Ellen Terry, inspire him to write Dracula..."  This novel has Victorian London, Jack the Ripper and Bran Stoker in it... who wouldn't want to read this?!

***I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Devolution by Max Brooks: The subtitle of this novel is "A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre"... I think SuperSteve is almost as excited for this novel as I am, and he's not really much of a reader.  We loved World War Z, so anything by Max Brooks is on our "must-read" list.

June 23, 2020:

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho:  First of all, look at this cover!  I will openly admit that I judge a novel by it's cover and this one is absolutely beautiful.  I am definitely buying a physical copy for myself, and not just a kindle copy, because of that cover.  Secondly, I love this author.  you can read my review of her novel Sorcerer to the Crown here.  This is a found family wuxia (wuxia is a genre of Chinese fiction about the adventures of martial artists) fantasy and that seriously intrigues me.

June 30, 2020:

                                             

 Witch Hunt by Cate Conte: Let's see... Witches, cozy mystery... There is no situation in which I would not read this novel.  

***I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: I'm hoping that this is going to be a gothic horror set in the Mexican countryside.  I love a good chill inducing gothic horror, and a new setting for one would be wonderful! Plus, that cover!!!

The Deep - Review

Title: The Deep

Author:  Alma Katsu

Synopsis:  “Someone, or something, is haunting the Titanic.

     “This is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the passengers of the ship from the moment they set sail: mysterious disappearances, sudden deaths.  Now suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone during the four days of the liner’s illustrious maiden voyage, a number of the passengers – including millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, the maid Annie Hebbley and Mark Fletcher – are convinced that something sinister is going on… And then, as the world knows, disaster strikes.

     “Years later and the world is at war.  And a survivor of that fateful night, Annie, is working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic’s sister ship, the Britannic, now refitted as a hospital ship.  Plagued by the demons of her doomed first and near fatal journey across the Atlantic, Annie comes across an unconscious soldier she recognizes while doing her rounds.  It is the young man Mark.  And she is convinced that he did not – could not – have survived the sinking of the Titanic…”

Review:  This is the second book I’ve read by Alma Katsu.  The first one I read was The Hunger, and I loved this one just as much as that one.  This novel is marketed as horror, but it’s not so much scary as it is atmospheric.  Good historical speculative fiction involves a lot of research, and this author definitely does her research!  There are no weird moments where something is off and it pulls you out of the setting. 

     The Deep reads like a really good gothic horror.  Not a lot of blood, guts or violence, but plenty of uncomfortable creepiness.  There is a mystery that isn’t solved until the very end.  It’s a ghost story.  And we already know the ultimate end of the Titanic and the Britannic, so it adds a bit of a sense of urgency to the story.  We know this isn’t going to end well.  I highly recommend The Deep to anyone who enjoys reading. 

***I was provided a free copy of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***

Publisher:  Penguin Group / Putnam

If you like this book you may want to read:

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

The Toll by Cherie Priest

The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey

Sea Change -- Review

Title: Sea Change

Author: Nancy Kress

Synopsis:  “Renata Black is entertained by the traffic snarl caused by a rogue self-driving house – until she spots the Org’s Tiffany Teal paint marking the house’s windowsill.

     “In 2022, GMOs were banned after a biopharmed drug caused the Catastrophe: worldwide economic collapse, agricultural standstill, and personal tragedy for a lawyer and her son.  Ten years later, Renata, a.k.a. Caroline Denton, is an operative of the Org, an underground group that could save the world from itself.  Their illegal research is performed and protected by splinter cells, which are hunted by the feds.

     “Now a mole is in the Org.  Who would put the entire Org in jeopardy?  Renata is the only one who can find out – and she will need to go to her clients in the Quinault Nation for answers.”

Review: I did not love Sea Change, and I felt incredibly guilty for that for several days.  Usually I love anything by Nancy Kress, so it took me awhile to come up with the courage to write this review.  But it’s one miss out of dozens of novels for this author.  The writing was quality work, exactly what I would expect from Nancy Kress.  It was the story, the actual plot, that I felt was lacking.  It’s as if a lot more thought went into the agenda behind the story (promoting GMO’s) than into creating the story itself.  The main character of Renata was extremely unlikable, which is not always a deal breaker.  You don’t have to care about the characters if the plot is good enough to hold your attention; unfortunately the plot wasn’t that good.  If you’ve never read anything by Nancy Kress, I recommend you read some of her work… just not this one. 

***I was provided a free copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***

Publisher: Tachyon Publications

Skip this book and try one of these instead:

Beggars in Spain (Sleepless #1) by Nancy Kress

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

Goldilocks by Laura Lam

The Immortal Prudence Blackwood - Review

Title: The Immortal Prudence Blackwood

Author: Stephanie Grey

Synopsis:  “Justice watches from the shadows in this unique and suspenseful twist on a serial killer manhunt…

     “Throughout history, the world has witnessed cruel, gruesome, and twisted murders at the hands of the most notorious serial killers.  For those who were never caught – Jack the Ripper, the Atlanta Ripper, and the Cleveland Torso Murderer – their crimes will live on in infamy as their identities are forever chased, but never revealed.

     “It’s 1947 in Washington, D.C. and a dangerous murderer has boldly discarded two headless bodies nearby the White House and the Jefferson Memorial.  With no leads, Detective Clive O’Reilly is feeling desperate.  When a stranger convinces O’Reilly to join him at a local pub, he is treated to a wild tale about Prudence Blackwood, an immortal who seeks vengeance for those murdered by history’s most notorious serial killers.

     “Initially in disbelief over her existence, O’Reilly is surprised to discover that she’s very real and she’ll be assisting in the investigation.

     “But Prudence has unorthodox methods.  With the body count rising, O’Reilly will have to find a way to work with her to stop the most brutal killer in D.C.’s history before more victims are added to the list.”

Review:  I found the premise of The Immortal Prudence Blackwood interesting, and the story did keep my attention.  However, I only rated this book 3/5 stars because I found the writing sadly lacking in detail.  The character of Prudence was not fully brought to life for me. I found myself wanting more detail about her, and why she is actually immortal.  The book was fairly short, at only 208 pages, so there was definitely space to add in these details that would have fully fleshed out the story for me and added the depth that I felt was lacking. 

**I was provided this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Publisher:  BHC Press

If you this book interests you try reading these:

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Stolen Things - Review

 Title:  Stolen Things

Author:  R. H. Herron

Synopsis:  “Laurie Ahmadi has worked as a 911 police dispatcher in her quiet Northern California town for nearly two decades.  She considers the department her family; her husband, Omid, is its first Arab American chief, and their teenaged daughter, Jojo, has grown up with the force.  So when Laurie catches a 911 call and, to her horror, it’s Jojo, the whole department springs into action.

     “Jojo, drugged, disoriented, an in pain, doesn’t remember how she ended up at the home of Kevin Leeds, a pro football player famous for his on-the-field activism and his work with the CapB- “Citizens Against Police Brutality” – movement.  She doesn’t know what happened to Kevin’s friend and trainer, whose beaten corpse is also discovered in the house.  And she has no idea where her best friend Harper, who was with her earlier in the evening, could be.

     “But when Jojo begins to dive into Harper’s social media to look for clues to her whereabouts, Jojo uncovers a shocking secret that turns everything she knew about Harper – and the police department – on its head.  With everything they thought they could rely on in question, Laurie and Jojo begin to realize that they can’t trust anyone to find Harper except themselves… and time is running out.”

Review:  You all know I’m about mostly spoiler free reviews, and since this novel started off with a bang and didn’t let up, this review will be short.  Stolen Things is supremely well written, and extremely hard to read.  I’ll give you the trigger warning that I didn’t get: this novel deals with the rape of teenage girl.  It’s disturbing, it’s creepy, and it ultimately made me very uncomfortable; which is why you know it’s very well written.  I read the novel in about 3 hours.  I was speed reading because I just had to know what happened next.  I could absolutely have read it in 2 hours, but I had to keep taking breaks because the subject matter made me so uncomfortable.  If you decide to read Stolen Things make sure you have a lot of uninterrupted reading time available to you, and things to do during your reading breaks the will help you decompress (I cleaned and cooked).  This all said, I do highly recommend Stolen Things.  If a book made me feel this uncomfortable you know it was good!

**I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Publisher:  Dutton

If you like this book you may want to read:

Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson

Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag