Thornhedge by T Kingfisher
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Sleeping Beauty, the alternate version
I didn’t realise how much I needed this story in my life. This is so, so good. I loved it. It’s literally short and sweet and ultimately downright satisfying.
At the heart of this little nugget is Sleeping Beauty, but, as the description points out, this is not her story. This is the story of Toadling. A character stolen at birth, who finds a loving family in the most unexpected of places, whose life becomes entangled and locked into that of the princess in the tower when a magical gift goes quite wrong. Of course, a knight comes along, as they often do in these tales, in search of something, he knows not what, and from there grows a charming and compelling story.
This is only a short story (appox 120 ish pages) but it totally worked it’s magic on me – which is a surprise as short stories usually fail to win me over (confession time, I hadn’t realised this was a novella when I requested it but I’m so glad that my oversight worked out so well).
I don’t want to say too much more. The beauty of this tale is finding it fresh for yourself and it’s such a compact story it’s possible to gobble it up in one sitting.
What I will say is that I was totally absorbed. I adored the central character and the charming knight. The story itself is intriguing, the writing delicious and I concluded the story with that happy glow that finishing a really good book elicits. Do you self a favour and read this book.
I received a copy through the publisher, courtesy of Netgalley, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Mr rating 5 of 5 stars
Can’t Wait Wednesday : A Haunting in the Arctic by CJ Cooke
16 August 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Haunting in the Arctic, Can't Wait Wedesday, CJ Cooke, Wishful Endings
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : A Haunting in the Arctic by CJ Cooke. Below is the cover and description:
Something has walked the floors of the Ormen for almost a century.
Something that craves revenge…
1901. Dundee, Scotland. Nicky wakes on board The Ormen, a whaling ship, attacked and dragged there, held against her will. With land still weeks away, it’s just her, the freezing ocean, and the crew – and they’re all owed something only she can give them.
Now. Skúmaskot, Iceland. The Ormen has been drifting across the oceans for decades, its crew inexplicably vanished, it’s stories still unknown.
But urban explorer Dominique has battled to reach Skúmaskot, an old shark fishing village on the northern tip of Iceland, just twenty miles from the Arctic Circle. A place where no one has lived for over forty years. And the resting place of The Ormen.
She thought it was deserted. But something is there with her. And it’s seeking revenge…
Expected publication : October 2023
Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
My Five Word TL:DR Review : OMG – how I love this
Good Bad Girl is a perfectly puzzling story of domestic drama written with an almost ethereal quality that adds a distinct sort of charm that was quite unexpected. A mother/daughter story with an unexpected twist.
Deliciously convoluted the story begins with a child abduction after which we are introduced to an eclectic bunch of characters, which bring an extra level of fun as you try and work out how they’ll all come together. I would start by saying, pay attention to everything here, take nothing for granted and don’t be too disappointed when you fail to figure things out.
The story has four main characters. A teenager called Patience who works at an expensive care home. Edith, one of the residents who has designs of escaping, Frankie, a prison librarian who seems to be on a strange mission, and Clio, the estranged daughter of Edith who now works as a therapist.
I think as far as the plot goes I’m going to avoid writing anything, there are plenty of other reviews out there and on top of that I really don’t want to give anything away, but, I would mention that there is a murder which becomes the catalyst for a strange series of events.
The setting is London, the story is contemporary and we move between the care home, the Thames waterways, the prison, a beautiful pink house and a tiny attic above a gallery. You see what I mean about this ‘unreal’ quality. It’s almost fairytale(ish) – but at the same time it isn’t anything like a fairytale. Although, there are good people being bad at being good and bad people being good at being bad.
In terms of characters. Well, Edith and her perky little dog stole the show a little. I mean, okay, she’s not perfect, especially in the eyes of her children, but maybe old age has given her a level of sass and speak-your-mind that make her a very amusing character to listen to. I must also give a little shout out for the detective investigating the murder. But, yes, Edith seems to be truly the only character who seems to have the first notion of what’s actually going on, all the other characters were fumbling around in the dark much the same as I was.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. The writing is perfect, the pacing is quick. There are thankfully a few moments where you can catch your breath – or your thoughts – and there’s a wonderful conclusion.
In terms of criticisms. Nothing at all comes to me at the moment. This was a slippery sucker and vastly entertaining, in fact I finished reading and had that satisfying glow that made me smile – and made me actually want to go back to the beginning to read it again. Oh, for some extra time in the day.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4.5 of 5 stars.
#SPFBO #SPFBO9 Introduction and Catch up
14 August 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO, #SPFBO9, Introduction and Catch up
What is SPFBO 9? This is a competition where authors of self-published fantasy can enter their work. The objective to find a winner out of the 300 entries submitted. Ten judges (or judging teams) each receive 30 entrants. Each judge/team will eventually submit one finalist to the second round where a winner will eventually be decided upon. Check out Mark Lawrence’s post here to look at this year’s entrants, judges and allocations list.
This year I am teaming up again with the ladies from The Critiquing Chemist . I realise that so far this year I have been rather quiet in terms of posting – be it either information regarding my approach this year or updates. My apologies to the authors. I realise you’re probably all biting your nails waiting for any news so let me shine a little more light on what I’m up to so far (at this point of the competition our team approach is to post when and how we feel we have something to share – rather than co-ordinating a joint approach – that comes later when we need to discuss our finalist).
Our team have been allocated 30 books. We split them half and half between The Critiquing Chemist and Lynn’s Books. In previous years I have randomly selected a number of books and read a set upon amount each month before choosing Semi Finalists. This year I have taken a slightly different approach. I decided that rather than split the group into mini batches I’d just go with the flow and read whichever book I felt like. The aim is to read at least 30% (more if the book really grabs me) of every book and I’d like to complete the total group before making any cuts.
In previous years I have made cuts along the way but with this approach I feel like I can take a look at the batch as a whole. Also, to be fair, this means that all the books are still, at this point, in the competition – win:win!
My progress to date so far. Out of the 15 books from my selection:
I have picked up 13 books at this point – so even my rudimentary maths can deduce only two titles remain.
Of those 13 I have fully read 6 of the titles. I have read 30% or more of the remaining titles. At this point, and sorry if this is a little bit of a teaser, I would say I have at least 3 contenders to carry forward, possibly 4 depending on my next reads. #somedifficultchoiceslieahead!
I will say I’ve had a very good time reading the entrants so far. There’s always a measure (large usually) of guilt when the cuts need to be made. It’s mine (and I suspect all of the other judges) most dreaded part of the competition but we can’t move forward until we make these difficult decisions and for me it’s not always that I didn’t like a book – more that I perhaps liked another book a little bit more.
After I have picked up the final two titles I shall start to post updates and cuts. The CC and I will then read each others selected titles and then decide upon our Finalist.
The books I have completed fully I will review. The books I didn’t complete I will provide a short synopsis of my thoughts and feelings.
I expect to start posting my cuts and reviews by the end of August onwards.
Good luck to all the authors. Thank you for taking this step and entering your books. There wouldn’t be a competition without you.
Harsh but true : There can be only 1.
Booking Ahead/Weekly Wrap Up
I’m trying to get back into the habit of doing a round-up of the week just completed and also take a look at my plans for the forthcoming week. I rather got out of the habit of doing so but I would like to reinstate this type of post as I feel it keeps me on track. So, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s Caffeinated Reviewer. Without further ado:
Books read this week:
This week has been a good reading week. Possibly because the books I picked up worked so well for me. I completed Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney which I loved. I then read Thornhedge by T Kingfisher which was a lovely fairytale which gives an alternative view to the story of Sleeping Beauty – again, it was very good, I love her style and she has a fantastic imagination. Finally, I picked up a book by a favourite author, Alice Hoffman’s The Invisible Hour. What a beautiful and emotional read. Very unusual with her trademark inclusion of magic and family dynamics. I have also picked up another of my SPFBO books. I’m getting close to finishing my batch and I just want to press on but at the same time feel I should perhaps give an update at least. Perhaps Monday I’ll do a ‘what’s what’ type of post just to keep everyone in the loop. Of course, with all this reading, the blogging and reviewing has dipped a little but I was so keen to push on with my review books.
Next Week’s Reads:
I’m hoping to press on with my SPFBO reads, it would be good if I could complete them by the end of August, then I have plenty of time to think about posts, cuts, reviews and potential semi finalists. In review books I’m really looking forward to picking up Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine – for which I’ve seen glowing reviews so far – and Herc by Phoenicia Rogerson.
Reviews Posted:
- Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno Garcia
- The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence
- The Twenty by Sam Holland
- My Murder by Kate Williams
- The People Watcher by Sam Lloyd
- All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
- Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
- Thornhedge by T Kingfisher
- The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
Books and travelling with Lynn 