Renounced (Sins of Our Ancestors Book 4) by Bridget E. Baker

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, dystopian
Content: Clean

 

When life makes you into the hero you never wanted to be. . .

Now that the cure has been found and distributed, Ruby’s ready to move ahead with the life she always wanted: small town, cute house, quiet job, with her boyfriend Sam by her side, of course. All she needs to do is foist the responsibility of ruling World Peace Now off onto her half-brother, Adam. Surely he’ll rise to the task of caring for the people with whom he grew up.

Sometimes that cape really starts to chafe.

But Ruby’s brother doesn’t want to rule any more than she does, and the people of World Peace Now aren’t too keen on being fobbed off. Ruby could just walk away, and a year ago, she would have. But now that she’s grown an iron backbone, how can she leave the problems of the world to run and hide? When dangers begin to multiply, and Sam’s clearly miserable dealing with them all, Ruby realizes she has a bigger decision to make.

How many times is she really obligated to save the world. . .and what price is she willing to pay in order to do it?  

This was a surprise addition to the series, and being very satisfied with the way the original trilogy ended, I didn't feel like another book was really needed, but I enjoy Bridget's writing so of course I was going to read this. I enjoyed this, but not as much as the others in the series. It felt like the story in this one moved slower than the others, and there was less action, but Bridget's writing pulled me in anyway.

This book deals with things that were just left to the imagination at the end of book three. It delves into a lot of politics and also Ruby's feelings about some things, and how she comes to terms with it all, including her relationship with Sam. There was a lot of inner turmoil going on for both Sam and Ruby. I have to say that I wasn't crazy about the other guy that gets thrown into the mix. In fact, he annoyed the heck out of me, and I'm not sure he was really needed in the story. But I was really happy to get more about Sam and Ruby, and I thought the things they were struggling with were realistic.

The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Magical Realism
Content: Strong Language, A mild sex scene

 

Lizzy Moon never wanted Moon Girl Farm. Eight years ago, she left the land that nine generations of gifted healers had tended, determined to distance herself from the whispers about her family’s strange legacy. But when her beloved grandmother Althea dies, Lizzy must return and face the tragedy still hanging over the farm’s withered lavender fields: the unsolved murders of two young girls, and the cruel accusations that followed Althea to her grave.

Lizzy wants nothing more than to sell the farm and return to her life in New York, until she discovers a journal Althea left for her—a Book of Remembrances meant to help Lizzy embrace her own special gifts. When she reconnects with Andrew Greyson, one of the few in town who believed in Althea’s innocence, she resolves to clear her grandmother’s name.

But to do so, she’ll have to decide if she can accept her legacy and whether to follow in the footsteps of all the Moon women who came before her.

 

I've said before that I'm drawn to mysteries that involve the main character revisiting the past in some way and so I was looking forward to trying this book. Plus, it had the added twist of magical realism, so that made it extra intriguing. I ended up liking this ok but not loving it. It was a little slow at times and I found myself getting bored. It was never a book that I couldn't wait to get back to, and that disappointed me a little. 

The mystery wasn't too hard to figure out, but it was enjoyable enough. I liked a couple of the supporting characters, but I got annoyed with Lizzy after a while for wanting to continue to run away from her heritage. In fact because she was trying to reject her heritage and everything that went with it, it didn't really make sense in the story when she said she could never get married and have a family because Moon girls didn't do that. Wouldn't she have been more than happy to do the opposite? Her reasoning is that she doesn't want to have a daughter to carry on the line, but she could have simply not had kids. Her love interest even said he didn't care if they never had children. It just felt like needless drama.

There is a supporting character that plays a big part in this book that I liked for the most part, but she was supposed to be from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I'm from Baton Rouge, so needless to say I was really paying attention to this character and everything she said and did, and let me tell you, the minute she called crawfish "crawdads" I no longer believed she was from there. It's a minor thing that most people aren't going to know the difference about or even care, but I did and I really think authors should do their research before they write characters from a place.

Overall this was an ok read. There were a few things I liked about it and a few things I didn't, and I'm not sure if I will ever try another book by this author.

Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries #6) by Martha Wells

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Mystery
Content: Strong language

 

No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!


As usual, I loved Murderbot. This book was a little confusing in the timeline though, since it apparently takes place before the novel, Network Effect, and I didn't realize that at first. My biggest complaint about the book is that it went by way too fast! After the novel I thought we would be getting longer books from now on, but any Murderbot is good, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one, and hopefully finding out what happens after Network Effect.

Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Email blog delivery being discontinued for Blogger.

On July 1st the email subscription service that Blogger uses to notify subscribers about my posts will be discontinued. If you are subscribed to my blog through email you will no longer get those notifications. This is rather frustrating, but apparently there is a way for me to send the emails out myself. I haven't had time to look into it yet, but I'll try and figure it out.

A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers #3) by Brigid Kemmerer

   

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language, A couple of mildly detailed sex scenes (more than I think should be in a YA book) 

 

Face your fears, fight the battle.

 
Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those who believe Rhen is the rightful prince and those who are eager to begin a new era under Grey, the true heir. Grey has agreed to wait two months before attacking Emberfall, and in that time, Rhen has turned away from everyone—even Harper, as she desperately tries to help him find a path to peace.

Fight the battle, save the kingdom.

 
Meanwhile, Lia Mara struggles to rule Syhl Shallow with a gentler hand than her mother. But after enjoying decades of peace once magic was driven out of their lands, some of her subjects are angry Lia Mara has an enchanted prince and magical scraver by her side. As Grey's deadline draws nearer, Lia Mara questions if she can be the queen her country needs.

As two kingdoms come closer to conflict, loyalties are tested, love is threatened, and an old enemy resurfaces who could destroy them all, in this stunning conclusion to bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker series.

 

I loved the first book in this trilogy and I liked the second one, even though some things happened that disappointed me. I was looking forward to reading this conclusion to the series, but after reading it, I have to say that it was a bit of a let down. It took me a long time to finish this book, and I never felt very compelled to read it. I wouldn't say it's because I didn't like it. I mostly liked the way things ended up for everyone, but I felt like some of the things that happened in book two could have been avoided if people would have just talked, and some of the filler in this book could have been left out. Not a lot happens in this book for a good long while, and it just dragged on and on for at least the first half. I think this series would have made a much better duology. 

In regards to book two, I never really understood why Grey didn't just talk to Rhen in the first place. This book tries to explain away Rhen's horrible actions in book two, and even justify them, but I didn't completely buy it. I appreciated getting to see under more of the layers of his character though, and I was able to like him as a character again—to an extent, but at this point, it just feels like the things that happened in book two were there just to add drama and shock us. Weirdly, I didn't feel that way until after reading this book. It's just the way this trilogy is written as a whole has completely changed my opinion of the middle book. 

Would I recommend this series? I can't say that it's a favorite any more, but I still think it's worth giving it a try if you like Beauty and the Beast re-tellings and enjoy YA fantasy.

April 2021 Book Club: Neuromancer (Sprawl #1) by William Gibson

 

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Cyberpunk
Content: Lots of strong language, Pretty descriptive sex, Drug use

The Matrix is a world within the world, a global consensus-hallucination, the representation of every byte of data in cyberspace...

Henry Dorsett Case was the sharpest data-thief in the business, until vengeful former employees crippled his nervous system. But now a new and very mysterious employer recruits him for a last-chance run. The target: an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence orbiting Earth in service of the sinister Tessier-Ashpool business clan. With a dead man riding shotgun and Molly, mirror-eyed street-samurai, to watch his back, Case embarks on an adventure that ups the ante on an entire genre of fiction.

 

This book won awards and was considered ground breaking when it was published, and maybe if I had read it then I would feel differently about it, but I doubt it. I can see how this book inspired many other books and movies that came after it. Namely the whole cyberpunk genre, and the movie The Matrix seemed very inspired by this as well. 

Confusing is the word that comes to mind most when I try to describe this book. There were times when it wasn't clear whether things were taking place in the real world or in the Matrix. I don't know, maybe that was part of the point? I'm not sure, but I do know that I didn't like a single character and that usually kills a book for me. I've got to have someone to like or at least sympathize with. The amount of drug use, which is I think is pretty standard for the cyberpunk genre bothered me too. In general I don't think the cyberpunk genre is for me and I'm going to avoid it at all costs from now on. 

On another note- I really dislike the way women were written in the 80s. It's like they were trying to write strong women but they went about it completely wrong.

 

 

 

Broken Blade (Fallen Blade #1) by Kelly McCullough

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language, A scene of torture, A pretty nondescript sex scene.

 

Once a fabled Blade of Namara, Aral Kingslayer fought for justice and his goddess alongside his familiar, a living shadow called Triss. Now with their goddess murdered and her temple destroyed, they are among the last of their kind. Surviving on the fringes of society, Aral becomes a drunken, broken, and wanted man, working whatever shadowy deal comes his way. Until a mysterious woman hires him to deliver a secret message-one that can either redeem him or doom him.

 

This book has been sitting on my Kindle for quite a while now and I finally decided to give it a try. I was intrigued by the assassin plot and the living shadow companion Overall this book delivered what I was hoping for. It's a pretty standard fantasy, but it had some elements that felt urban fantasy. I like the main character a lot and I liked the plot. 

There ends up being a romance between Aral and another character that I thought was a little bland. While I liked the love interest as a character, I would have preferred more chemistry between the two of them, and a slower build up of the romance over more than one book, but I don't think the author really wanted to focus too much on that aspect of the story anyway.

There are six books in this series and I'm planning on continuing.