REVIEW| The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarer #1)
Becky Chamber

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+

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Synopsis:

Somewhere within our crowded sky, a crew of wormhole builders hops from planet to planet, on their way to the job of a lifetime. To the galaxy at large, humanity is a minor species, and one patched-up construction vessel is a mere speck on the starchart. This is an everyday sort of ship, just trying to get from here to there. 

But all voyages leave their mark, and even the most ordinary of people have stories worth telling. A young Martian woman, hoping the vastness of space will put some distance between herself and the life she‘s left behind. An alien pilot, navigating life without her own kind. A pacifist captain, awaiting the return of a loved one at war. 

Set against a backdrop of curious cultures and distant worlds, this episodic tale weaves together the adventures of nine eclectic characters, each on a journey of their own.

Review:

The Cover:
I love this cover. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Purple-space-themed-gradient. Silhouette. And centred. Just speaks to my overall aesthetic. The lone girl says a lot in terms of being the one piece of a puzzle that we start on to start building a larger picture. The insignificance that we hold ourselves to but, within the much grander expanse of the universe we still have some importance.

I'm sorry if I just triggered an existential crisis. I almost went there.

The Content:

This book. This freaking book.

I have been holding off this review for about a month in order to gather actual thoughts and not focus on gushing like a maniac for the approximate of 500 words. Alas, it appears that it didn't work, and only made it worse. The more I sit on it, the more I love it. The more I think back on it, the more I feel fondness with the great desire and want to caress its cover.

If you don't like character driven Sci-fi, this really might not be the one for you. Or, it could be the book to turn you. You'll only find out if you read it. *hint hint*

I find sci-fi really hard to read. Never quite engaging with scientific and technical language.Yet, this is the book that has made me consider more about what the genre could offer, to me, as a reader. If I only took to finding more books that a just as driven by character.

It begins when Rosemary Harper arrives upon the Wayfarer to begin her new job- to work as the captain's clerk. At first, it is through the eyes of Rose that we learn how things are run and who her new co-workers are, we begin to follow this group as they live and work on the ship together.

And let me tell you.

EVERY single one of these character that Chambers has woven into her novel are just simply marvelous. Devine. Enchanting. DIVERSE!

I'm not a reader who will go out of their way to pick books that fit in support of diversity. But, when I do find a novel that incorporates this diversity, treats it with sensitivity and explores it. I will do everything in my power to scream about it from the rooftops.

THIS IS THAT BOOK.

For a book so diverse in species, ethnicity and sexuality, it's the richest story that best exhibits in full the best of humanity.

REVIEW| Gemina

Gemina (The Illuminae Files_02)
Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rock the Boat

October 18th, 2016

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Synopsis:

Hanna Donnelly is the station captain’s pampered daughter and Nik Malikov is the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. Together they struggle with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, blissfully unaware that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall with news of the Kerenza invasion.

My Review:

The Cover:

I feel like I don't have anything to add on the cover. It's very similar and follows a very similar formatting as used for Illuminae. Although, if I were to mention anything is I like how we have gone from an orange to what is essentially it's colour opposite.

The Content:

First thing first: DO NOT get confused with this as a direct sequel to Illuminae. Think it better as a companion that remains integral to move on to the third one. 

The thing about these characters is that they are EXTREMELY likable. I was rooting for them the whole way through this rollercoaster of a book. However, they were quite like your cliche characters types- Nik who is the typical "gang" member who is actually not what you think and then the captain's daughter. The only thing that kept me from rolling my eyes was that Kaufman and Kristoff managed to build these two characters as believable. 

That being said, it's the explosive plot that keeps me hooked from the start. We start with an obstacle which then gets built upon, layer by layer, until my nails begin breaking by how hard I'm gripping the pages. Eyes dragging along to find the resolution to each pile on conflict. 

To really understand why this is a case file you MUST read to the end of Gemina. I've just come to accept that those types of endings is what feeds the cruel minds of authors. Knowing they must be sustained allows me to move on. (Yes, this is the kind of bullshit I tell myself, on a nightly basis, in order to move on to the next book.) Gosh, darn it! 

Where is book three?

Anyone?

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Waiting on Wednesday| Carve the Mark

Waiting On Wednesday is a book meme set up Breaking the Spine where all those who participate share weekly those book releases we are dying to get our hand on as soon as they are released.

This week's WoW post is:

Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark #1)
Veronica Roth

HarperCollins
17th Jan, 2016

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Synopsis:

On a planet where violence and vengeance rule, in a galaxy where some are favored by fate, everyone develops a currentgift, a unique power meant to shape the future. While most benefit from their currentgifts, Akos and Cyra do not — their gifts make them vulnerable to others’ control. Can they reclaim their gifts, their fates, and their lives, and reset the balance of power in this world?

Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.

Akos is from the peace-loving nation of Thuve, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Though protected by his unusual currentgift, once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get his brother out alive — no matter what the cost. When Akos is thrust into Cyra’s world, the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. They must decide to help each other to survive — or to destroy one another.

Thoughts:

Slowly I am falling into the pit of putting Veronica Roth on Auto-buy-ship. I really didn't like the ending of Allegiant and am hesitant to trust Roth with my heart again. BUT, I would really like to remove the two images of Divergent = V.Roth.

This book has been likened to Star Wars. And for that alone, that raises some expectations because STAR WARS?!

I want to see how she pushed herself as a writing who has become rather successful as a woman writer.

So, for that Carve the Mark has earned its place on this week's Waiting on Wednesday post.

Waiting on Wednesday| Gemina

Waiting On Wednesday is a book meme set up Breaking the Spine where all those who participate share weekly those book releases we are dying to get our hand on as soon as they are released.

This week's WoW post is:

Gemina (The Illuminae Files 0_2)
Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

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Synopsis:

Hanna Donnelly is the station captain’s pampered daughter and Nik Malikov is the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. Together they struggle with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, blissfully unaware that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall with news of the Kerenza invasion.


My thoughts: 

So... I did request a copy of Gemina from the UK publicists Rock the Boat but, got turned down due to obvious limited supply. 

If did end up receiving a copy I would love to review this for everyone before the 18th Oct, 2016 (**Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge**). Illuminae if you haven't read it (where have you been?) is a YA Sci-fi told with a twist. Expect fast paced action told in the most bizarre way, yet, in the best way possible. 

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REVIEW| This Savage Song

This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1)
V.E.Schwab

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Synopsis:

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

My thoughts:


The Cover:

I am not one for Schwab's UK book covers. If I were to compare them to the US covers, ours just looks as if they were just your a-typical vengence thriller novel. The kind where the protagonist is doing that weird staring down the lens whilst doing some sort of swagger walk or that distant character pulling that moody-thinker-stares-off-to-the-distance-and-we-can't-help-but-fall-for-them look.
AND BREATHE...
That was a long one.
That was until Titan Books commissioned Julia Lloyd, again, to design a book cover for This Savage Song; presenting and showcasing Vee's ever-continuing exploration of various dichotomies. Still keeping with the same colours scheme as seen of Schwab's other UK covers, the drastic change in style is in it's simplicity-- stunning. It is the subtle transformation of the liquid substance into the budding rose that hints at Vee's own interest into the blurring and questionability between 'right' and 'wrong'--- the 'moral grey'.

The Content:

This Savage Song is Schwab's response to violence and mass shootings that were on the rise and are still going on in America; Schwab thought about how often it is violence will usually breed more violence. Through her supernatural lense on the world, she came up with Verity. A post-violent America where this violence has ultimatly breed monsters. 

"Monsters, monsters, big and small,
They're gonna come and eat you all."

The opening of This Savage Song is something for admiration. Schwab sure doesn't hold back on that poor school church. Poor Nuns. But, it had me cackling and screaming "YES!" just at the sheer joy of another of Vee's strong female protagonists. Kate Harker is willing to do anything she can in order to prove herself to her father (Callum Harker). Like many teens, as much as we all don't want to admit it is rather selfish, she would rather do something in the short fall of her own gain. -- AND I LOVER HER FOR IT!

"Corsai, Corsai, tooth and claw,
Shadow and bone will eat you raw."

The only issue I have about Schwab's world building is like always she only really opens up a tempory window into her various universes that as per, leaves a reader craving for more. I hold one question-- Can we please have some more of other cities mentioned in TSS?

"Malchai, Malchai, sharp and sly,
Smile and bite and drink you dry."

I did rather enjoy how Vee altered her perspectives in narration, switching from first person in August's POV to the distant third person in retrospec of Kate. Creating that other layer of understanding for both of their emotional distance. Schwab managed to keep the changes flawless using page breaks and chapters to diffrentiate the two voices

"Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal,
Sing you a song and eat your soul."

In all honesty, this is just a sentence to appreciate Allegro: the cat that August brings home after a little eating session. 

More cats in fiction, please?

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REVIEW| Illuminae

Illuminae (The Illuminae Files 0_1)
Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis: 

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Review:

You know--this must be the first orange cover that I own. Literally. I don't even think I own a yellow book. They just never appeal to me, cover and content wise. Books that usually have the bright yellow and orange covers tend to be in the contempory of the YA section at Waterstones. But, after reading Nevernight something told me that I should give this one ago. So I bought it, the only copy left in my local Waterstones.

However, my lack of love for the colour of orange doesn't compare nor come into how much I love this cover. It's simple but effective, summerizing the content of Illuminae. Three simple layers. Articles from the "hacked" documents build the foundation, layered ontop is the bold orange space theme and then the scratched and block of white and black to paste on the authors and the name of the book. I think this is just a great example of a budget book cover done right, with still the same level of thought gone into it as one that requires three different artist for a decent outcome.

*applauds*

Now. The book.

You know when you read a book written by two different authors and you can just tell who wrote what. My biggest fear going into a co-authored novel. Not at any point did I question what was what even when voice changed into these unknown voices documenting surveillance footage. I think the choice of format worked in favour of not having to mask writing style for 600 pages of prose.

I think the hacked documents helped to speed the plot onwards because although there was descriptions they were stripped back to the minimum and so well ingrained so that they didn't become clumsy and awkward to read, slowing down the action.

My biggest difficulty when reading was drawing emotional connections to the characters that we are introduced to. My reading of Kady was under a sympathetic nature-- I felt sorry for her and the loss that she battles as the novel progresses. But at the time progressed she became real, she became someone that I admired. She kept me on my toes-- well, edge of my reading chair-- out of unpredicabilty of her actions. For once, I was left guessing. 

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