Category: Book Review
Black Crow White Lie by Candi Sary
(Cover picture courtesy of Luxury Reading.)
Carson Calley grew up living in Hollywood motels with his fortune-telling mother, who is full of stories about their former lives together and prophesies about his future.
We were Indians—Californian Indians. This pale skin was once native brown. And these legs of yours were once big and strong so that you could run after deer and shoot them with your arrows, and then bring the meat back to me. You were destined to be the great medicine man, the great healer who would take away all the pain and disease and suffering of our people.
Believing his mother’s yarns, Carson becomes a healer, with the people of Hollywood waiting in long lines to see him, but a purpose built on lies and exaggerations can’t last…or can it?
[Full disclosure: I received a free print copy from Candi Sary in exchange for an honest review.]
I wasn’t really sure what I expected from Black Crow White Lie. Maybe I expected your typical coming-of-age story or maybe I thought Candi Sary would go much deeper into Native American spirituality and explore it in the modern world. But her book is neither and it really turns some genre tropes on their heads.
Carson is a fascinating character. In the beginning he’s quite naive about his mother and her obvious drinking problem, but what makes him different from other protagonists in the same genre is that he slowly realizes his mother isn’t perfect. It’s not a sudden proverbial dropped ton of bricks, but rather a gradual realization as he’s exposed more to the world outside his mother’s fantasies. I don’t want to give too much away, but his friends like Casper and Faris eventually help him come to a startling conclusion. Part of why I enjoyed Candi Sary’s writing so much is that she really took the time to flesh out all of her characters, but really focused in on Carson as the protagonist. He’s imperfect, but I love him as a character anyway.
The plot is pretty fast-paced, all things considered. Black Crow White Lie packs quite a bit of story into 159 pages but it never does really feel rushed. No, instead there’s a perfect balance between characters and plot because of how the plot is moved forward by Carson’s actions and realizations. As he grows, the plot moves along and that’s what makes this one of my favourite coming-of-age novels: it’s most definitely character-based but not at the expense of the plot.
Really, what more is there to say? Carson, Faris, Casper and Juliette are all fascinating characters that are so well-developed you feel that you’re there in the story with them. Carson is an amazing protagonist for such an amazing coming-of-age novel and is definitely one of the most memorable characters I’ve read about in a long time. Not only that, there were some interesting plot twists that I didn’t see at the time but when I look back make sense. Candi Sary knows just how much information to give to her readers at certain points in the novel so there’s never really a huge info-dump but we still know what’s going on. Overall, Black Crow White Lie is an awesome novel that I’d recommend to readers of all ages.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Genesis by K. L. Kerr
(Cover picture courtesy of Love YA Books.)
An Uncontrollable Power. An Unstoppable Corporation. A Vampire God.
The vampires of Dayson city are preparing for war. Having lived in constant fear of the Archway Corporation for decades, desperation has forced them into action. Their solution is to bring the First vampire, Alistair, back from the dead, a warrior famed for eradicating entire armies in the name of his kind.
For fledgling vampire Catrina Malinka, the fabled return of some unknown deity falls low on her list of concerns. Between fending off strangers trying to kill her in her dreams and trying to rein in an uncontrollable power that no one else even understands let alone shares, Catrina is forced to fight her assumed role in the war against Archway, which threatens to send her down a path she doesn’t want to travel.
The first book in The Blood of Ages series, “The Genesis” is an urban fantasy about the inescapable nature of Fate and the corruption of power.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ARC ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
First off, you need to read this book right now. Yes, The Genesis by K. L. Kerr is so good that I’m starting my review with my recommendation. But I know what you’re thinking: “Vampires again? You’re kidding me, right?”
No, imaginary reader, I’m not. Why would I give such a blanket recommendation of a vampire book when vampires are so over-used in mainstream fiction? Because these are real vampires: they are bloodthirsty killing machines with very little or no remorse when they take human lives. They die in the sunlight rather than sparkle and romance certainly isn’t the main focus of The Genesis. The main focus is Catrina’s change into a vampire and her slow journey to find out why the Clan wants her to be the Vessel to return the mysterious Alistair.
Catrina is an awesome protagonist with an occasionally mysterious backstory that is one of the very few narrators that doesn’t go into complete and utter denial when she becomes a vampire. No, she learns a bit about being a vampire and actually believes Fox when he tells her he turned her into a vampire because of the clues she notices around her and the changes to her own body. A logical narrator? Heaven forbid! If her being extremely logical isn’t a satisfactory explanation, there’s more of an explanation later on but it’s a spoiler.
The lack of information given to Catrina by Fox is a little frustrating as a reader at times, but considering Fox’s personality it makes sense. The only thing I didn’t like was that we knew so little about Catrina’s own backstory and there’s really no excuse for this. However, with the fascinating vampire mythology and the slow, suspenseful reveal of the real conflict I guess I can forgive that. Coupled with the fact that there were quite a few unexpected plot twists, I really can’t complain about the lack of backstory. I’m sure K. L. Kerr will explore Catrina’s and Fox’s pasts in the next book in her Blood of Ages series.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
End Dayz by Kellie Sheridan
(Cover picture courtesy of Kobo Books.)
Prequel collection to Mortality.
It’s month after the dead first began to walk. The miracle vaccine that was supposed to save us all has failed.
Now, four teens fight to stay alive as a stronger, smarter breed of zombie begins to appear, threatening to end humanity for good.
Four short stories, 11,000 words total
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
After reading Kellie Sheridan’s first book in The Hitchhiker Strain and seeing that there was a prequel anthology to it, I just had to read it. After all, Mortality was pretty awesome and I was interested in learning about the characters lives during the apocalypse itself. But did End Dayz add to my overall enjoyment of Kellie Sheridan’s world?
Absolutely! Learning more about Pierce, Belle, Alex and Zack was awesome. Not only did I get to learn more about the characters themselves, but also about the zombie apocalypse and what it was like to live in that chaos. Not only that, I learned a little about how Savannah was orphaned but I won’t go into detail about that because it’s a spoiler. Unlike so many anthology collections by the same author, each character in End Dayz had an unique voice in their writing. Some of them were chronicling the apocalypse through letters to their family, diary entries or mission reports. But in the end, everyone sounded different and that allowed me to get a real sense of their personality.
Belle is the bubbly young woman we meet in Mortality, Pierce is slightly stuck-up, Alex is the underdog and Zack is the serious team leader. That may sound like they’re all one dimensional characters, but they’re not. There are unique spins on each of the archetypal characters, which I was so thankful for. Kellie Sheridan is one of those writers that seems to stay away from clichés as much as possible and that’s what makes The Hitchhiker Strain one of my top series to follow into the future.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Ignite by Erica Crouch
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Penemuel (Pen) fell from grace over a millennium ago, yet there are still times she questions her decision to follow her twin brother, Azael, to Hell. Now that the archangel Michael has returned, threatening Lucifer’s vie for the throne, she begins questioning everything she has always believed.
As Hell prepares for war – spreading a demonic virus and pilfering innocent souls to build an army – the lines separating the worlds blur. Fates erase and the future is left unwritten. Azael is determined that he and his sister will continue to serve as demons together, but for the first time in her life, Pen is not ruled by destiny. She has the freedom of choice.
With choice comes sacrifice, and Pen must decide which side she’s willing to risk everything fighting for: the light, or the dark.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I had mixed feelings about Ignite. On one hand, Erica Crouch overturned many old YA tropes in the course of her novel, especially ones about Heaven and Hell. On the other hand, she used a trope that I’m really starting to get tired of: immortals behaving like awkward teenagers.
Okay, so Michael is the archangel who comes back to life after being killed and having his soul trapped in Hell for a long time. Pen is a demon who is tasked with keeping him busy while her brother Azael helps Lilith start the apocalypse on Earth. Naturally, this leads you to assume that Pen and Michael will fall in love with each other and I don’t think it’s that big of a spoiler to say that yes, they fall in love. And yes, I know it’s okay for Michael to be so awkward because he has no memories of his past life but there’s no excuse for Pen. Yes, it’s her first time in love, but she’s thousands of years old! You would think she’d be a little less naive.
So other than the whole unbelievable forbidden romance angle, Pen was a decent enough character. She’s flawed but her love for her brother makes her sympathetic, even if her naivete is frustrating at times. I would have liked to see her struggle more over her changing views of Heaven and Hell, but I think that’s more of a personal preference than anything. Her backstory and her actions make her reasonably believable, though.
What I really enjoyed about Ignite is how Erica Crouch dissected some of the old Heaven and Hell tropes, particularly about the nature of the battle between the two. She raises questions about what led to Lucifer’s rebellion without really taking one side or the other, which was a nice change. She also managed to write about the looming threat of the apocalypse without making it feel like one of the many terrible documentaries the History Channel airs regularly about the apocalypse. For that alone, I love her writing.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Harem by Colin Falconer
(Cover picture courtesy of History and Women.)
He had everything a man might dream of; wealth, power and the choice of hundreds of the most beautiful women in his Empire.
Why then did the King of Kings, Possessor of Mens Necks, forsake his harem for the love of just one woman, and marry her in defiance of the centuries-old code of the Osmanlis?
This is the astonishing story of Suleiman, the one they called the Magnificent, and the woman he loved. From medieval Venice to the slave markets of Algiers, from the mountains of Persia to the forbidden seraglio of the Ottoman’s greatest sultan, this is a story of passion and intrigue in a world where nothing is really as it seems.
This is more the tale of three very different women than the tale of Suleiman, but the thought is definitely there. We hear not only from him, but from the three women the story focuses on: Hürrem, Gülbehar and Julia.
First off we get the story of Hürrem’s rise to power within the harem. Since Suleiman truly loved Gülbehar, she used every trick in the book to steal him away from his favourite. Like so many stories that take place in the harem, the ladies in here are not necessarily sympathetic, but they are interesting. No one can deny Hürrem is a forceful person that will do anything, including kill, to gain power. Most of the book is from her perspective, although we do see things from Gülbehar’s perspective as she watches as she’s displaced as Suleiman’s favourite, knowing she can do nothing about it.
While Hürrem’s story was the main focus and it was fascinating, the story of Julia, the Italian who is captured and taken to the harem as a concubine is my favourite. We don’t see her until the last part of the story, but she is my absolute favourite character and couldn’t be a more stark contrast to the scheming, sometimes sadistic Hürrem. Her story and that of poor, poor Abbas are inexplicably entwined and how their story is resolved is both heartbreaking and happy.
I can’t and certainly won’t comment on the historical accuracy of Harem. In his author’s note, Colin Falconer admits that the three main women in the novel and their actions are pretty much pure speculation but that Suleiman was of course a very real person. Seeing as I know essentially nothing about Suleiman’s empire, I also won’t comment on the day-to-day minor historical details either. I will note that I don’t think Colin Falconer’s main objective with this novel was to be as historically accurate as possible, meaning he likely gave himself a little wiggle room when it came to details.
My only real complaint about the novel is that for such a good book, the proofreading was not so great. There were your vs. you’re mistakes sometimes and simple proofreading errors that looked like typos (lanbguage instead of language). There weren’t so many that it detracted from the story, but just keep in mind that they are there.
I give this book 4/5 stars.