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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Apr 3, 2022
Merissa (12906 KP) rated Interstellar Angel (Astral Heat #1) in Books
Sep 16, 2021 (Updated Jul 14, 2023)
INTERSTELLAR ANGEL is the first book in the Astral Heat series and is a slow-start, slow-burn reverse harem science fiction story.
The prologue starts with a character called Zorin being held in a cell. He escapes (with help) and disappears until the last part of the book, but not before kissing one of our main males senseless. Kaia has run away from home to escape the chains of being a princess - and I mean that literally. Only now she has been caught and things are never going to be the same for her.
There was a lot to this that didn't make sense to me - the whole cyber aspect of it, if I'm honest. I use a computer but I don't know all about the innards, and that's what it felt like. Once I skimmed over those parts, it got better.
There are some very steamy moments in this but, as Kaia says, no penetration. There is also a lot of back and forth, life-mates, mating pheromones, protective instincts, you name it. Overall, it was a good read that I enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending.
Fair warning though - it does end on a cliffhanger so be prepared to wait to find out what happens next. The next book, Renegade Angel, is due for release in December.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Sep 16, 2021
The prologue starts with a character called Zorin being held in a cell. He escapes (with help) and disappears until the last part of the book, but not before kissing one of our main males senseless. Kaia has run away from home to escape the chains of being a princess - and I mean that literally. Only now she has been caught and things are never going to be the same for her.
There was a lot to this that didn't make sense to me - the whole cyber aspect of it, if I'm honest. I use a computer but I don't know all about the innards, and that's what it felt like. Once I skimmed over those parts, it got better.
There are some very steamy moments in this but, as Kaia says, no penetration. There is also a lot of back and forth, life-mates, mating pheromones, protective instincts, you name it. Overall, it was a good read that I enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending.
Fair warning though - it does end on a cliffhanger so be prepared to wait to find out what happens next. The next book, Renegade Angel, is due for release in December.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Sep 16, 2021
ClareR (5879 KP) rated Daughters of Sparta in Books
May 21, 2023
I had read The Shadow of Perseus first, so I knew what to expect from Daughters of Sparta, and I also knew that I was going to love it!
First of all, these books read as historical fiction, NOT as myths. There are no gods or goddesses intervening in the lives of mortals, messing it all up. The mortals are all perfectly capable of doing that themselves.
Secondly, the women are strong in the context of the time they live in, not by our modern standards. Women were completely reliant on their husbands and families; sold off to the men who would most benefit their fathers. As is the case with Klytemnestra (spelt with a ‘K’ here, but it can be a ‘C’ as well!) and Helen.
To be fair, both women have a lot about them. Klytemnestra commits the ultimate two fingered salute to her husband, and Helen removes herself from the possibility of dying in childbirth. There’s also the fact that Helen seems to be constantly searching for affection and love. Denied both by her mother, she doesn’t get those things from her husband either, probably because they never get to know one another. And Paris certainly doesn’t show her love or affection once they get to Troy. She must feel supremely uncomfortable around the other women in Troy once the Greeks turn up and start killing all of their husbands.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Greek myths where the gods are involved, but I really like this version too. Really very enjoyable, I raced through this book. I’m hoping that Claire Heywood has another retelling in the pipeline!
First of all, these books read as historical fiction, NOT as myths. There are no gods or goddesses intervening in the lives of mortals, messing it all up. The mortals are all perfectly capable of doing that themselves.
Secondly, the women are strong in the context of the time they live in, not by our modern standards. Women were completely reliant on their husbands and families; sold off to the men who would most benefit their fathers. As is the case with Klytemnestra (spelt with a ‘K’ here, but it can be a ‘C’ as well!) and Helen.
To be fair, both women have a lot about them. Klytemnestra commits the ultimate two fingered salute to her husband, and Helen removes herself from the possibility of dying in childbirth. There’s also the fact that Helen seems to be constantly searching for affection and love. Denied both by her mother, she doesn’t get those things from her husband either, probably because they never get to know one another. And Paris certainly doesn’t show her love or affection once they get to Troy. She must feel supremely uncomfortable around the other women in Troy once the Greeks turn up and start killing all of their husbands.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Greek myths where the gods are involved, but I really like this version too. Really very enjoyable, I raced through this book. I’m hoping that Claire Heywood has another retelling in the pipeline!
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Midwife's Child (WW2 Resistance Series #3) in Books
May 21, 2023
The Midwife's Child is an emotional rollercoaster that although is work of fiction, it's based on things that actually happened and real people with the love story element between Maggie and Jamie being based on the true story of a Scottish Commando who met a young woman in a displaced persons camp who had survived the death march.
This is the third in this series but I think it works successfully as a standalone because whilst there are recurring characters, each book is a separate story which focusses on one of those recurring characters.
The Midwife's Child centres around Maggie, a former SOE Special Operations Executive) but now incarcerated in Auschwitz following her capture. There she finds herself working in the camp hospital where the devil incarnate, Joseph Mengele, practised his infamous experiments and where Maggie is determined to save the life of her friend Eva and new born, Leah. The end of the war is fast approaching and the Russians are getting close, Eva is too unwell to go on the forced march so she begs Maggie to save her child and reunite her with her father. A seemingly impossible task but one which Maggie vows to complete.
Told from two timelines, from her time as a doctor working in the 'hospital' at Auschwitz towards the end of the war and the period afterwards, The Midwife's Child is a story of exceptional courage, duty, love, friendship and hope and a story that I highly recommended to those of you who enjoy this genre and I have to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Midwife's Child.
This is the third in this series but I think it works successfully as a standalone because whilst there are recurring characters, each book is a separate story which focusses on one of those recurring characters.
The Midwife's Child centres around Maggie, a former SOE Special Operations Executive) but now incarcerated in Auschwitz following her capture. There she finds herself working in the camp hospital where the devil incarnate, Joseph Mengele, practised his infamous experiments and where Maggie is determined to save the life of her friend Eva and new born, Leah. The end of the war is fast approaching and the Russians are getting close, Eva is too unwell to go on the forced march so she begs Maggie to save her child and reunite her with her father. A seemingly impossible task but one which Maggie vows to complete.
Told from two timelines, from her time as a doctor working in the 'hospital' at Auschwitz towards the end of the war and the period afterwards, The Midwife's Child is a story of exceptional courage, duty, love, friendship and hope and a story that I highly recommended to those of you who enjoy this genre and I have to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Midwife's Child.
ClareR (5879 KP) rated The Memory of Animals in Books
Jun 8, 2023
I’m completely braised. I love Claire Fullers writing, I’ve loved everything I’ve read by her and The Memory of Animals is no exception. And the fact that this could be described as a dystopian or even an apocalyptic novel made it even more fascinating. I love this genre - even though it usually enters my dreams and makes for an interesting nights sleep!
This is a pandemic novel - but not our pandemic, not Covid. This is a dropsy-type disease, where those infected swell up, their brains swell up too, they forget - and more often than not, they die.
Neffy (Nefeli) and a group of young people volunteer to be vaccinated against, and then infected by, the virus. Something goes wrong, and it looks as though Neffy and four other test volunteers are the only ones who are alive and well. But they can’t leave the building they’re in and the food is running out.
Neffy is a Marine Biologist, an Aquarist, and my favourite parts were her letters to ‘H’ as well as her flashbacks to childhood and pre-pandemic.
This isn’t *just* a speculative, science fiction book, it’s a story about the human condition, about the human drive to survive against the odds, regret, loss, grief, memory, love and above all, hope.
I could go on and on about this. I would never have expected a novel like this from Claire Fuller after reading her previous novels, but that’s what makes it even better. I actually read this twice (unheard of for me, actually). I finished it and immediately started reading again.
So yes, I would most definitely strongly recommend this book!
This is a pandemic novel - but not our pandemic, not Covid. This is a dropsy-type disease, where those infected swell up, their brains swell up too, they forget - and more often than not, they die.
Neffy (Nefeli) and a group of young people volunteer to be vaccinated against, and then infected by, the virus. Something goes wrong, and it looks as though Neffy and four other test volunteers are the only ones who are alive and well. But they can’t leave the building they’re in and the food is running out.
Neffy is a Marine Biologist, an Aquarist, and my favourite parts were her letters to ‘H’ as well as her flashbacks to childhood and pre-pandemic.
This isn’t *just* a speculative, science fiction book, it’s a story about the human condition, about the human drive to survive against the odds, regret, loss, grief, memory, love and above all, hope.
I could go on and on about this. I would never have expected a novel like this from Claire Fuller after reading her previous novels, but that’s what makes it even better. I actually read this twice (unheard of for me, actually). I finished it and immediately started reading again.
So yes, I would most definitely strongly recommend this book!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Under the Blue in Books
Jul 7, 2024
131 of 220
Book
Under the Blue
By Oana Aristide
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A road trip beneath clear blue skies and a blazing sun: a reclusive artist is forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. Is this the end of the world?
Meanwhile two computer scientists have been educating their baby in a remote location. Their baby is called Talos, and he is an advanced AI program. Every week they feed him data, starting from the beginning of written history, era by era, and ask him to predict what will happen next to the human race. At the same time they're involved in an increasingly fraught philosophical debate about why human life is sacred and why the purpose for which he was built - to predict threats to human life to help us avoid them - is a worthwhile and ethical pursuit.
These two strands come together in a way that is always suspenseful, surprising and intellectually provocative: this is an extraordinarily prescient and vital work of fiction - an apocalyptic road novel to frighten and thrill.
This was a case of don’t judge a book by its cover I wasn’t expecting much from it to be honest. But I actually liked it. We follow two different stories that some how come together in the end one of 3 people trying to escape the pandemic and nuclear fall out and then 2 scientists developing an AI. While I liked it the ending left me feeling a bit flat! But it is worth a read.
Book
Under the Blue
By Oana Aristide
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A road trip beneath clear blue skies and a blazing sun: a reclusive artist is forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. Is this the end of the world?
Meanwhile two computer scientists have been educating their baby in a remote location. Their baby is called Talos, and he is an advanced AI program. Every week they feed him data, starting from the beginning of written history, era by era, and ask him to predict what will happen next to the human race. At the same time they're involved in an increasingly fraught philosophical debate about why human life is sacred and why the purpose for which he was built - to predict threats to human life to help us avoid them - is a worthwhile and ethical pursuit.
These two strands come together in a way that is always suspenseful, surprising and intellectually provocative: this is an extraordinarily prescient and vital work of fiction - an apocalyptic road novel to frighten and thrill.
This was a case of don’t judge a book by its cover I wasn’t expecting much from it to be honest. But I actually liked it. We follow two different stories that some how come together in the end one of 3 people trying to escape the pandemic and nuclear fall out and then 2 scientists developing an AI. While I liked it the ending left me feeling a bit flat! But it is worth a read.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House in Books
Jan 10, 2018
Sensationalist yet frighteningly alluring
You're a moth to a flame reading this rather alarmingly captivating book by journalist Michael Wolff. At times you question which are facts and which are fiction thanks to a bombardment of fake news by the Trump administration. And while Fire and Fury does sound satirical due to the surreal nature of the entire book, much of it can be sadly backed up by what we have seen.
Wolff seeks to fill in the gaps between the various tweets and public appearances made by the U.S. president during the last 13 months, the rash decisions and the thinking behind the bizarre rants. But more than anything, this book seems to explain the Trump brand, and everyone who has become a prime role in marketing it, especially Trump's ex-right hand man Steve Bannon and his family Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner. Their position is explained to be the 'puppet masters', in which unlike any other U.S. government - policies are dictated and "trickled upwards".
In this, Trump is described as 'post-literate', unable to read or concentrate on anything that doesn't interest him, petulant like a child, and disturbingly vacuous. This is less shocking than expected. However, the claims made in the book range from covert connections with the Russians ahead of the elections in great detail, to 'allowing' former head of the FBI, James Comey, to stay in power so that would did not investigate internal affairs - allegedly confirmed by Bannon.
Other less explosive statements include Trump's inner circle reportedly saying how ridiculously stupid he is, which he has recently refuted by saying he is a "stable genius". Overall, an incredibly readable book mostly corroborating what liberals and non-Trump supporters believe.
Wolff seeks to fill in the gaps between the various tweets and public appearances made by the U.S. president during the last 13 months, the rash decisions and the thinking behind the bizarre rants. But more than anything, this book seems to explain the Trump brand, and everyone who has become a prime role in marketing it, especially Trump's ex-right hand man Steve Bannon and his family Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner. Their position is explained to be the 'puppet masters', in which unlike any other U.S. government - policies are dictated and "trickled upwards".
In this, Trump is described as 'post-literate', unable to read or concentrate on anything that doesn't interest him, petulant like a child, and disturbingly vacuous. This is less shocking than expected. However, the claims made in the book range from covert connections with the Russians ahead of the elections in great detail, to 'allowing' former head of the FBI, James Comey, to stay in power so that would did not investigate internal affairs - allegedly confirmed by Bannon.
Other less explosive statements include Trump's inner circle reportedly saying how ridiculously stupid he is, which he has recently refuted by saying he is a "stable genius". Overall, an incredibly readable book mostly corroborating what liberals and non-Trump supporters believe.
Infinity is the second book to Horizon. It times to return to Caeli home world. What is going on there and what is happening to her people? It is an adventure of it own. Will the Resistance win the war or will the Dictator of Augestmast win.
Caeli and her small group of friends want to help. They will assist Caeli and her people and their group of resistance mean. Is there a spy along the way for Marcus and his army. You will need to read to find out. Caeli comes back to help her group of resistance friends like Jon. What are they keeping them and what are they doing to the children.
Will the people stand up and fight or will they let some tell them what to do? Will Derek and Cali love survive? A world is torn between them too. Derek loves Caeli enough to stay with her? There are so many surprises and twist along the way, you will be to wanting turn the page to find out.
Tabitha Lord gives you the adventure of your life and a book you will not want to put down. The plot is well written and done. You get a love story along the way. You get to know the crew as well as Derek and Caeli.
I believe this book is good for though science fiction but also I would suggest teens to read it from the age of 14 and up. The parent has the right to decide. It being rated PG 13 so it would be okay for 13 years old if you the parent this your child or children are mature enough for the book. That is up to you.
Caeli and her small group of friends want to help. They will assist Caeli and her people and their group of resistance mean. Is there a spy along the way for Marcus and his army. You will need to read to find out. Caeli comes back to help her group of resistance friends like Jon. What are they keeping them and what are they doing to the children.
Will the people stand up and fight or will they let some tell them what to do? Will Derek and Cali love survive? A world is torn between them too. Derek loves Caeli enough to stay with her? There are so many surprises and twist along the way, you will be to wanting turn the page to find out.
Tabitha Lord gives you the adventure of your life and a book you will not want to put down. The plot is well written and done. You get a love story along the way. You get to know the crew as well as Derek and Caeli.
I believe this book is good for though science fiction but also I would suggest teens to read it from the age of 14 and up. The parent has the right to decide. It being rated PG 13 so it would be okay for 13 years old if you the parent this your child or children are mature enough for the book. That is up to you.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Never Let You Go in Books
Feb 11, 2019
I was originally drawn to this book because it was about a mother fighting for her daughter. As a mother of two young daughters who has already been through quite a bit of fighting for them, I can relate. Once I got into the book, I was a bit put off partly because I was introduced to too many characters so soon into the plot and a lack of unique characterization made it difficult for me to keep up with the plot (and this is coming from someone who has read Sara Douglass). A second reason was that it somewhat reminded me of another book I read recently with the meth theme. Drugs are just not something that I purposely want to read about in my fiction. The only thing that really kept me reading was Lexi's relationship with her daughter, Molly. Along the way, I discovered that there actually is a fantasy-like aspect to the book that is difficult to see for at least half the book. This is probably as close as you can get to the fantasy genre without actually qualifying for the classification. I so badly wanted the book to come "out with it" over the supernatural aspect that I flew through the rest of the book. The ending was mostly satisfying in that the bad guy gets his just desserts and all the lose ends are tied up appropriately, but my fantasy-loving side wanted a more fantastical intervention than what actually occurred. At times, the plot felt like a soap-opera, with Lexi's affair and two other characters being convicts, as well as Ward's constant harrassments and almost reality-defying omnipresence. I would describe the book as high-intensity suspense combined with overdramatic reality and a dash of supernatural.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Abby Finds Her Calling (Home at Cedar Creek, #1) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
This is only the second Amish book I have ever read, but I really like the setting for fiction literature. The romance is clean, the majority of the characters have conservative values and traditions, such as the importance of God and family, and the language is clean. I love the way that the Amish community supports one another in business endeavors, or is so willing to lend a hand when tragedy strikes. One of the characters, Zanna, actually makes a business out of rag rug making, which intrigued me enough to try my hand at the craft myself.
Zanna does something completely out of character for the typical Amish young woman, but manages to fight for what she wanted despite the consequences of her actions, finding support in her oldest sister, Abby. Abby is more of a side character to the main plot of what is happening to Zanna. Abby nurses unrequited love for another character throughout the entire book, which is never really answered to, though there were hints of this changing in the next book in the series. Many of the characters are memorable in their own unique way, such as James's skill with making carriages that earns him employment to make a princess carriage for Disneyland, of all things. One of the older married couples also struggles with dementia throughout the book, which makes for some interesting and poignant scenes.
I could not have predicted how Zanna's predicament would impact another family so much for the better, or even how the book would have gathered all the lose ends at its finality, but the book came together very well with a sweet ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Zanna does something completely out of character for the typical Amish young woman, but manages to fight for what she wanted despite the consequences of her actions, finding support in her oldest sister, Abby. Abby is more of a side character to the main plot of what is happening to Zanna. Abby nurses unrequited love for another character throughout the entire book, which is never really answered to, though there were hints of this changing in the next book in the series. Many of the characters are memorable in their own unique way, such as James's skill with making carriages that earns him employment to make a princess carriage for Disneyland, of all things. One of the older married couples also struggles with dementia throughout the book, which makes for some interesting and poignant scenes.
I could not have predicted how Zanna's predicament would impact another family so much for the better, or even how the book would have gathered all the lose ends at its finality, but the book came together very well with a sweet ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it.