The Dreamer by May Nicole Abbey

I was going to begin this review by stating how the book begins on such an elegantly written note, but I just want to cut straight through to the heart of what I want to write about, and that is the main character of this story, Rachel. Rachel, I must say, has to be my favourite character throughout this whole thing, the captain being second, of course, mainly because of the fact that she is just too intelligent for her own good. From the moment she lands on Captain Mallory Tucker's ship, right after time travelling by jumping off a cliff, she is so fascinated by the time she has landed in. She is so fascinated, in fact, that she decides to make a project out of the captain almost immediately, taking notes on his ship, his life, his men...EVERYTHING!!

I also love that she seems to analyze everything even when she is being dressed in proper attire for the time. She just cannot help herself, and every observation she makes seems to come out of her mouth. It is the most hilarious thing. It is also kind of funny how she seems to confuse the captain at every turn. Her non-typical behaviour as a woman seems to scare him a little. He knows what to expect from usual woman, normal woman, and for that reason, he understands them even though he doesn't. Does that make sense? But with her, he doesn't really know what she'll do next.

And believe me, she can be very unpredictable.

This was a really sweet story full of pirates and an obnoxious duke and loads of treasure. It even includes an Egyptian pharoah. WHAT??? I relished every moment spent with all the characters of this book, not just Rachel and the captain. It was loads of fun just reading this story, and I cannot wait to get started on the others in this series.

The Antpod Faction by Alex James

Okay, so I absolutely loved the world that was created with this book. It definitely had a science fiction feel to it, maybe not the clean and streamlined science fiction that some write about, but the grungy, kind of back alley science fiction that I adore wholeheartedly. That kind of science fiction is just so much more interesting to me because there is so much more contrast. There is so much more of a chance for characters to grow.

With that said, while the beginning did its job and definitely introduced us to the characters that would be important throughout the rest of the story, I felt like some events were a bit jumbled. I kind of wanted Mase's specialness to be introduced, but not explained. And after the massacre occurs, I kind of wanted things to escalate. Maybe have a nice chase scene, or have Mase be forced to hide out while she figures out what is going on, and then have her specialness finally explained and connect it with her role and overall destiny in the story. I mean, up until events start to kind of fall into place with Ethbert's eventual capture, I felt like the story was flat-lining. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It was okay.

I truly did want to love this book, but I guess I can settle for liking it. It was still worth the read to me, because I really did love the main character, and I can say that this is a book that I might possibly read again in the future.

Also, I must add that I was quite surprised with the spy/political aspect of this entire thing. It's obviously not a new concept for science fiction, but one that probably is not used as often as it could be in this genre. So a round of applause to the author.

Cole Dust by Micheal Maxwell

 

Out of all the computers in all the world, this book had to download onto mine...

No I have not watched Casablanca recently, but I did watch the second movie in The Librarian series and I thought that the quote above kind of fit how I feel about this book.

I have read all the Cole Sage books so far and if I had to compare each one, I would say that this one has to be my favourite so far, mainly because it allows us as the readers to delve more into Cole Sage's family history. It also allows Cole to be able to grow more as a writer.

Throughout the book we learn about Cole's grandfather. A man who Cole does not know much about. His is a tragic story, one of a lost dream and love, one of heartache and prejudice, and Cole is going to be a better man for learning about him. He'll also find solace in family he never knew he had, and there will also be a chance for him and a certain someone to grow relationship-wise.

This is actually quite a beautiful story in this series. It allows us to take a breather from the cases Cole normally covers and lets us see a little bit more into his soul.

Cole is going to learn a lot about himself in this one. Because it is the past the truly influences our future.

Roc Isle: The Descent by Alex James

I absolutely adore novels of fantasy. Stories of kings and queens, lords and ladies, knights and the honor that so defines them. And to me, any great fantasy novel has a certain feeling to it. It is an elegant feeling, a regal feeling. One that makes me sit straighter and hold my head high. One that makes me feel as if I have awakened in the land itself and have become one of its very characters. It is a feeling that is indescribable at best and which, when experienced, is never forgotten for the rest of one's life. And this book definitely brought that feeling out in me...in bits and pieces...but nonetheless I did feel something, and that is a start.

Roc Isle: The Descent focuses mainly on the lives of two characters. The first one introduced to readers is a boy named Ankah, who lives in Clenly Village with his father. When an honorable decision on Ankah's part turns into a ploy to steal money from a champion Knight, opportunity will arise for Ankah to leave his village and possibly become a Knight himself. But he will realize in his learnings that he wants something more...

The second one is a boy no older than 14 at his introduction. His parents are slaughtered and his temple attacked, causing him to take his father's place as Lord of his people. He will be faced with disdain and mocking, and in his years as a man, traitors and enemies who want him gone.

Both will be united in a war that could either end in substantial good or disheartening peril. And both most certainly will find their true allies during the fight.

While the storyline was very good, quite exceptional really, I felt there were times in the beginning where things didn't mesh well. To me, good transitions are everything in making a story flow beautifully, and sometimes I felt that the writing was a bit choppy. I also felt that while many parts did have that regal, elegant feeling that I mentioned at the beginning of this review, there were parts that could have been reworded or maybe a sentence or two added to enhance that feeling in the rest of the story.

This book is wonderful and well worth the read.

An Unexpected Performance by Kim Smith

When I first read the blurb of this book, I was excited to read it. I mean come on, who doesn't love a theater or play aspect in a story. Especially one where the main characters are transported to another time where they actually have to bring their characters to life in a true setting and not just on the stage.

So initially I was quite intrigued as to what was going to happen to the main characters when they were transported. Who would they encounter, what would they do, how would they act? At first, both acted as I would expect. They were confused and a little in disbelief as to what happened. And of course once they met some people of that time they struggled just a bit to make themselves sound like they fit in. But after awhile I kind of expected them to acclimate at least somewhat to their surroundings. I mean, until they found out how to get back to their own time they would have to pretty much make the best of things. However, that took a little bit longer than I expected, well at least for CJ. Sometimes I felt she was a bit whiny, as if she was so used to our world that she really could not get used to theirs. Apart from her and Josh eventually being separated and her horror at being alone, but the people of that time treated her quite nicely. Well, those at the house she stayed at anyway. So I just felt she could have acted with a little more grateful of that fact and, again, made the best of things. However Josh, on the other hand, I kind of felt that he was right in his emotions. I mean the boy went through...well...you'll just have to read to find out.

But despite the excess emotions, the story was really good. I loved how detailed it was in regards to the Civil War Era portion. I also loved that there was kind of a story in a story. One that I believe connected both CJ and Josh's time with the time they are sent back to. I kind of want more now, because this story kind of left me hanging a little bit. I can just feel another story coming on, and I hope the author does too.

The Aquatic Labyrinth by Alastair Fontana

I love any book with a puzzle in it. Something that must be figured out in order to see the whole picture. So it was definitely a no-brainer when I saw this book that I must pick it up and read it. And all in all, I was quite happy with the read.

For some reason, to me the beginning kind of scrambled in my head, making it hard to follow. But as I kept reading things became clear and I actually enjoyed the story. In fact, it was quite exquisite. The pictures were breathtaking, and I loved the use of Italian in this. Even though I do not understand it, and the translations are put in the back of the book to let the reader know what he or she is reading, I felt that the use of English would have dimmed down the whole experience of the book. The parts in Italian are so much a part of the story as the rest of the book is. They add to the exquisiteness of the book, and they made me feel as if I was truly there in the story listening the lines being said.

The concept of the story in itself was phenomenal, and I loved the characters and their backstories and even their memories of other characters and influences of the past. I loved the individual character chapters, giving us parts of a whole to create the whole picture, because of the fact that they did just that. They gradually pieced together the whole story bit by bit and revealed how each character was connected to each other. Because they all influenced each other's personal stories.

I would definitely read more work by this author. I was so impressed by this book and its story and just everything that it was about. The world was created beautifully and the characters were each given a voice with which to speak.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Now I must say that after the riveting first novel in this series, I was just slightly bored and annoyed with this second installment. It was very good and was definitely full of amazing scenes and characters just like its counterpart, but while I was a supporter of Tris in the first book, she somewhat made me want to smack her upside the head in this one.

Let me explain.

Tris is a strong girl. There is no doubt about that and I am definitely not arguing this fact, but throughout Insurgent she was hiding behind her killing of one of her best friends. She was using this killing to justify so many stupid decisions she made. One of them being not telling her other friends about this so-called secret, which was not really a secret at all. I mean, she could have probably avoided some conflict if she had just come out with it. 

Now I know what you all are probably saying, "But that would not make for a good story," and you would be right, but I don't know. It seems to me that she calls others out for being untruthful to her, when she is doing the exact same thing. In a time where no one can be trusted, can we really trust Tris more than anybody? Just because the story focuses on her as a main character does not mean she is not capable of turning on a dime.

But, like I said, despite her actions and thoughts and supposed justification of both, this book was an overall really good read. It brought to light more information about some of the characters we got to know really well in Divergent, and it began to show other characters' true intentions and colors.

I have the third and last installment in this series on the back-burner but will get to it soon to find out what happens next.