Review: Heartless Hunter – Kristen Ciccarelli

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It’s been a while since I’ve felt a spark of desire to review a YA book. But the truth is, YA books are so much fun to review, when you’re in the mood for fun, dramatic, unrealistic, and a super entertaining plot.

I say “unrealistic” with a lot of affection, because I sure as hell want to completely escape reality sometimes, and I want to be flabbergasted by the direction an author takes. Kristen Ciccarelli made me feel very engaged and satisfied when she took me to a world that combines a few of my favourite things: magic, witches, forbidden love, love triangle, and complex family dynamics.

I especially adore following a strong main character that has a purpose in life: something they want to achieve that pulls them forward in life; something they know they’ll regret if they don’t invest themselves into it fully.

I’m probably projecting a little, and certainly biased, since I’m currently looking for my own ride-or-die project, but who doesn’t love determination and courage? I’m not saying Rune is the best heroine the world of fantasy has seen (she clearly lies to herself a few times, particularly in the love department), but I sure as hell enjoyed seeing her walk into danger with her head clear of regrets and her heart full of fire.

As I said, the plot is quite entertaining. It did take me a few chapters to really get into, because I don’t enjoy info-dumping, and I do feel there was a little of that in the beginning concerning the world-building, but once the author got that “out of the way” so to speak, and I was acquainted with many of the elements in Rune’s reality, I could let myself be swept away by the past-paced romantic adventure that HEARTLESS HUNTER has to offer.

You might not learn too many lessons reading this, but who has time for lessons when they can have plot twists and sexy romance?

Recommended!

Review – Inside Out by Demi Moore

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5

The more celebrity memoirs I read, the more I realize just how bad some artists had it growing up. In various cases, it’s the lack of attention, love and respect in their childhoods that makes them crave love and admiration from an audience. Of course, not in all cases, and not for everyone, but there is a pattern I’m starting to see. As someone who is emotionally expressive herself, I can understand the need to unleash feelings of anger, sadness, disappointment, in creative ways, and the need to be seen and acknowledged.

Demi Moore’s upbringing was even worse than I expected. It’s still impressive to see, even after reading hundreds of personal stories, just how far some people can go, and how much they can overcome, with time. Demi’s coming-of-age was at once abrupt and quite tumultuous. She had to grow up quickly after witnessing her mother try to commit suicide, and she had to constantly adapt to new circumstances and environments as her emotionally unstable parents did what they knew best: sabotage themselves, and so their family.

It was quite heartbreaking, and at times triggering, to bear witness to so much suffering and selfishness. I’m happy Demi Moore realized, just as Minka Kelly did in her memoir TELL ME EVERYTHING, that her parents—especially her mom—did love her, even though neither could love her in the way she needed to be love. Neither could see her as she needed to be seen, or care for her the way every child is entitled—yes, entitled, to be taken care of.

Generational trauma is very sad, because you can tell someone, over and over, that they are worth of love; that they are good and beautiful; that they have nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about, but in most cases they won’t believe it. They might even think they managed to fool you into seeing them in a good light. It’s frustrating for the person who is trying to help, but just try to picture how heartbreaking it must be for someone to want to believe that they are good and deserving, and not be able to.

I liked this book, but it is quite an info-dump. This happened, and then I felt this way and this other thing happened and then that didn’t happen after all. It was interesting to read, but it would have read even better, and been even more impactful, if Demi had slowed down even more while telling her story, and focused on a few specific events rather than try to cover almost every hurtful/triggering situation she could remember. Still, worth a read.

Purchase this book through Amazon using this link so I can buy myself a cookie while I write more reviews 🙂

Review – Pretty Boys Are Poisonous by Megan Fox

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I hate to say it, but this was “surprisingly” good. I wish I could say I totally saw this book coming, and definitely expected to be delighted by it, but I just didn’t know Megan Fox enough to voice that. I only knew what most of you do: that she’s a sex symbol and a pretty good actor. But I just love it when someone can take you by surprise in the best way possible, and since I’m a reader, book blogger, and librarian, this book is basically my definition of a good surprise.

I definitely got to know Megan Fox better by reading this, so I understand why it’s categorized as memoir in addition to poetry book. I especially learned more about what Megan Fox feels on the inside, more so how she feels about herself and how she felt about the man who was supposed to be a source of safety, comfort and joy to her. Yet, he was anything but that.

It’s easy to assume that someone as beautiful and successful as Megan Fox would value herself highly and never put up with abusive behavior, with being strangled, insulted, stripped of her dignity and self-respect, but that just shows that everyone is fighting a battle that may be invisible to the rest of the world. I applaud Megan Fox for putting this gutsy and impactful collection of poems into the world, and for giving it life by pouring her lingering heartbreaking memoires and possibly post-traumatic stress as well.

I also adored the illustrations, which beautifully conveyed Megan’s soul, her sensuous and elegant nature, with an undertone of sadness, misery, and pain. She put it well when she said that, in the case of the partner she had, it was trauma meeting trauma, and trauma bonds are very powerful and emotional. But she did mention being happier with her new partner, that he treats her so much better, makes her feel more like the woman she is, so I know Megan Fox’s heart is more at peace, and I wish her a great healing journey ahead.

Purchase this book through Amazon using this link so I can buy myself a cookie while I write more reviews 🙂

Review – The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

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2

I was so excited to get my hands on this book when it came out. I remember going to Wal-Mart and seeing it in the book section for the first time, and seriously considering standing there and getting a head start on the book. But because I was already Wal-Mart-reading Kerry Washington’s memoir, I decided to be loyal to Kerry.

I can’t be the only one who sometimes store-reads books, can I? It’s a great motivation to walk thirty minutes to the store and back, and of course I’ll buy a little something to thank the store for giving me this beautiful opportunity. Haha.

Anyway. This book. This book felt like the kind of story that needed to be published. It needed to get out there and land itself into the hands, minds, and hearts of millions of people. Not just because this is America’s Sweetheart we’re talking about, but because what Britney Spears went through needed to be known, and I could tell reading it that this was very cathartic for the singer to get off her chest.

If you aren’t aware, for thirteen years, Britney Spears’ family – more specifically her father – had almost complete control over her professional life and, in some ways, her personal life as well. From keeping her hard-earned money from her, save for the little allowance she was allowed to have, to basically forcing her to perform shows and controlling her diet, Britney Spears’ family did not have her best interest at heart. On the contrary, her Conservatorship had a detrimental effect on her body, mental health and her emotional growth as a woman.

I was terrified to read about how small her world became after the Conservatorship was put in place, and how stuck she felt during that time. Part of me loved the hell out of Britney for being so courageous as to divulge some of the horrendous things that were done to her, but another part of me felt so anxious and claustrophobic reading about all of these personal details that I couldn’t wait to get to the last chapter.

There’s also a lot of mature introspection from the author, which made her much easier to understand and emphasize with. She’s not only telling, and showing, but also feeling and, at times, sharing her life and thoughts as though from a witness’ standpoint. I could tell she understood that what had happened to her was unacceptable, especially now that she finally got out of that toxic sphere she was in. It’s hard to realize sometimes that the way the people closest to us are treating us is not normal and it’s not okay.

Like all of us, Britney Spears still has a lot to learn, and a lot more power to grow into, but I’m so proud of her, and I’m so excited to see her thrive as a much freer woman. I follow her on Instagram, and it’s lovely to watch her dance again because it makes her happy, not because she has to.

Purchase this book through Amazon using this link so I can buy myself a cookie while I write more reviews 🙂

The Truth About White Lies – Olivia A. Cole

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3

The truth is that there’s not much to say about this book, just like its synopsis did not have much to say about its content, nothing concrete at least, just information meant to tease you without actually telling you anything solid about what the story is going to be about.

Reminds me of Gossip Girl. Every character is a stereotype—there’s the happy-go-lucky gorgeous girl, the rich bitch, the innocent girl, the playboy, the nerd, etc. But the ways in which these characters interact with one another make them pretty exciting and addictive to read about (and watch). The drama that their dynamics create propels you to turn page after page. And you know, on a conscious level, that everything is simply ridiculous, so you’re able to enjoy it as a guilty pleasure.

But this is no Gossip Girl. I wasn’t able to enjoy this story on that guilty pleasure level that was the only level it could be enjoyed on for me. It’s not particularly well-written or smart, so that intellectual pleasure never arises. The characters are not particularly likeable or easy to connect with, so that emotional dimension is usually pretty flat. There is a very fast death in the story, of a character quite important to our main one, and yet all I could think was, ‘‘oh well.’’

I’ll be frank, this story really does not have much going for itself. Already if I don’t particularly care for your characters, chances are I will lose interest in your book very quickly—and I did. But since the story also had a blurry storyline that had me go like, ‘‘well, where is this all going?’’, I didn’t particularly feel tempted to devour it too deeply.

So, yes, you guessed it. This is a DNF—did not finish. On to the next one!

Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for the copy in exchange for a review!

Sometimes I Trip On How Happy We Could Be – Nichole Perkins

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Women’s stories help guide me in my life. A good memoir writer will open up to us, will share their lives with us and will give us access to some of their rawest and most intimate thoughts. I have started gaining quite a bit of respect for memoirists, a lot of whom started to feel like friends after reading their books.

Nichole Perkins has reminded me why I read memoirs in the first place. Nichole’s audacity, fierceness and self-reflection spoke to me. She isn’t afraid to discuss topics that women have been thought to keep quiet about or let the man speak about them, namely sex, power, fantasies and more. She also talks about topics deemed more traditionally feminine, like love, relationships and gender. And she certainly isn’t keeping quiet about the abuse she and her family have experienced.

But as intense as those topics are, and as intense as the atmosphere of this memoir can get, Nichole Perkins knows how to balance things out, by throwing a funny story here and there and by writing on pop culture of the early 2000s and before. She’s the reason why I even got the first four seasons of Cheers, after reading her praise for the show, and particularly for its spin-off, Frasier, both of which I intend to watch diligently and commit to memory.

I don’t think there’s anything Nichole wouldn’t talk about today, especially in the context of raising awareness on different issues or teaching women to take less bullshit from men, less responsibility for their actions, less disrespect, less objectification and much, much less guilt. While I was reading about the men that sexually or emotionally assaulted Nichole, betrayed, stalked or otherwise pushed her boundaries, I inevitably thought back to my own experiences with men and how I really did not have to take as much as I did.  There is such great power in being able to walk away, say no and stick by our own values and boundaries. Reading this memoir simultaneously made me feel proud of Nichole’s awareness regarding her power as a woman, and made me want to dig deeper into my own.

You know what they say, surround yourself with the kinds of people you want to be. Well I’d go even as far as to say that we as readers should surround ourselves as much as possible with the kinds of characters whose qualities we want to embody. So go ahead, surround yourself with Nichole Perkins as much as you can, because she will help you dip into that strong, confident woman you may sometimes forget you are.

Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for the copy in exchange for a review!

The Book of Gothel – Mary McMyne

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I usually adore fairytale retellings. I think that there is so much that can be done in that department, a pool of endless creativity, if the author dares enough. And I definitely think Mary McMyne was quite bold to dare tell the story of one very villainous, greedy, selfish woman—Gothel, who kidnaps Rapunzel and keeps her isolates from life – true love, true family, true joy, true magic. The older I grew, the less I bought these one-dimensional characters; the less prone I was to believe that people could really be just one thing, without any redeemable qualities. It’s very, very rare I meet someone who is purely evil, so I was quite excited to see what Mary McMyne had in store regarding Mother Gothel’s past and how she came to become Rapunzel’s kidnapper.

I would say I connected to Haelewise (Mother Gothel) pretty fast. It could be that I was able to quickly relate to someone whose mother was so strong but whose father barely paid attention to her, and when he did, it was usually to demean, dismiss, insult, or otherwise attack Haelewise’s heart and spirit, when all she wanted was to be loved, valued and appreciated. She thought maybe she would find that comfort in her best friend, whom she was in love with and who felt the same way about her, but he couldn’t provide that comfort for very long or in a consistent manner. Haelewise’s story is a sad one, because she is different from other girls her age, not just because of her mother’s tragic death and unique skills, but because of her own rather peculiar abilities that others don’t understand and are afraid of. It’s also a sad tale because there are quite a few people who don’t want her to succeed, to grow into her powers, to be the strong and confident woman that the readers knows she is destined to become.

Though as much as I felt connected to Haelewise, I am not a fan of historical fiction, and there was more of that than magic in this book. There are certainly fantasy elements and some magical scenes, but they are drowned in the large amount of descriptions which are never my favourite parts. For me, the more straight-forward, the better. Or if you’re going to say a lot, at least say something meaningful that adds to the scene rather than something simply to fill up pages, which is how it felt sometimes or how it tends to feel with historical fiction for me most times. As much as I appreciated Haelewise’s openness and having such easy access to her thoughts, at times I felt as though she could have kept some thoughts to herself or focused on the “bigger picture’’ than daydreams, worries or little details.

This book will be worth it to you if, unlike me, you do enjoy historical fiction quite a bit, and you enjoy stories whose strongest element is by far the main character.

Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for the copy in exchange for a review! On sale July 26th!

Nura and the Immortal Palace – M.T. Khan

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This is a middle grade tale that is as smart as it is entertaining. It combines magic and the more grounded theme of education in a way that encourages us to take some of the content quite seriously and ponder its meaning, while also allowing us to be enchanted by the elements that belong more to the fantasy world than our everyday one.

Nura is a determined young lady. While most kids at the mine are mining without really thinking they could ever find the great treasure desired by their master, the ‘‘mica,’’ Nura fully believes that she is capable of such a big endeavour. Unfortunately, her ambition caused quite an accident at the mine, and a few of the kids have gone missing. Though her ambition initially led her to cause damage, this time she is hoping it will help her find the missing kids—and her best friend.

Nura’s journey leads her to enter a treacherous world full of jinn, who do not have her best interest at heart. She quickly stumbles too deep into the world, so deep she might never get out of it again. But Nura has a fire in her that just won’t quit. It was really good to be acquainted with someone so goal-oriented and who tries to use her powerful energy for good actions. I feel like there are two types of fire—the one lit from anger (destructive) and the one lit from a desire to see change come about (productive). Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between the two or they intertwine, but though Nura makes some mistakes along the way, she learns to direct her energy towards the right things and the right people. It can be hard for her to know who to trust, especially after being betrayed badly, but sometimes you have to have faith.

I really enjoyed my experience reading this book. It is fast-paced, with quite a bit of action, as well as full of memorable characters whose personalities I could get a sense of. My only complaint is regarding the solution that Nura finds to her problem, which felt quite predictable. Otherwise, this is quite a smart tale with impactful scenes that I quite recommend!

Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for the copy in exchange for a review! On sale July 5th.

Nothing Personal – Nancy Jo Sales

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This book had the kind of effect on me that I was hoping for, meaning that it helped me stay away from dating apps. And like the author says, of course there are exceptions. Not every guy is a sexist player and liar and toxic and problematic – duhhhh – but those are the kinds of men that these apps either appeal to the most or help create. On the other hand, if you are a genuinely good catch, then there is an overwhelming amount of girls or guys who throw themselves at you, and it all feels so mechanical, so dissatisfying, so devoid of magic.

As revealing and valuable as this book is, it is also quite depressing. It’s depressing to read about a culture that focuses on short-term and self-satisfying interactions, rather than long-term, mutually-satisfying and above all meaningful interactions. A hook-up culture that confuses (‘‘so what are we really?’’) and makes it hard for people to really connect. I think the saddest part of all was the ‘‘who could care less’’ game that the author mentioned, in which neither people involved want to be the one to care the most and so, in the end, no one really does and things fizzle out pretty quickly.

But as sad as this book can get, it cannot and should not be ignored. And as often as it made me feel like maybe romance and love are both dead, it has thought me a lot about access control (who I should let get close to me and know me), not feeling so responsible for men’s emotions and reactions and knowing what I want and how I want to be treated and stating both of those things instead of letting the other person decide what they want with me and how they want to treat me.

Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for the copy in exchange for a review!

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet – Laekan Zea Kemp

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3

It is quite rare I read a story that features 1) a whole lot of food discussions that made me very hungry and 2) a soft and sensitive male main protagonist that was so loveable that he made me question why there aren’t more characters like him in the Young Adult Romance book world.

This author does romance pretty well, because she understands that it’s not realistic to make her lovey-dovey characters spend all of their energy either thinking about each other or being with each other. Both Penelope (Pen) and Xander have stuff going on in their lives: Pen is trying to make it on her own in the adult world, without the financial support of her family, and Xander is trying to find his father who left him when he was a kid without having his grandfather know about it.

But of course, the closer these sweethearts get, the more involved they are in each other’s lives, and the more they help each other with their respective goals and support one another. Props to the author for managing to make Penelope both soft and hard, lost and determined, loving and guarded. And props for normalizing having the girl make the first move, asking the guy out and encouraging him to get closer to her. It was quite empowering to read those scenes.

Where this story fell short for me was when it came to Pen’s father. He was far more one-dimensional than three-dimensional. Even though I kept hearing from so many characters that he’s an incredible man, with a big heart, and all, what I cared about was how he treated Pen and his treatment of her did not seem quite fair, so my feelings are rather mixed when it comes to him. The other thing is the neighbourhood’s ‘‘villain,’’ who just took advantage of a lot of people in the neighbourhood and was after Pen’s family’s restaurant itself. Here once again there is a one-dimensional character. It’s okay in the sense that not all villains need to be understood by the reader, but it did add a significant cliché aspect to the story.

Overall, though, it is a story with main characters worth getting to know and a lovely, evocative writing.

Thank you Hachette Book Group Canada for the book in exchange for a review.