So today I’ve decided to do a few mini books for some shorter books I’ve read. I think writing full reviews for short stories can be kind of difficult, so I’m doing some little ones instead.
Today I’ll be reviewing: Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire, The Morning Star by M. Chandler, The Literature Book by D.K Publishing and A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
my rating: 5 stars
published by: Tor
genres: fantasy, lgbt+, young adult
diversity: asexual mc, trans moc character, sapphic character with OCD, east asian side character
content warnings: parental abuse, transphobia, bigotrylinks: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
Every Heart A Doorway is one of the most delightful books I’ve ever read. It’s short, and sweet, with great memorable characters. The diversity was a massive
stand out to me, because it’s well done but also effortless. For me, Every Heart a Doorway had so many elements I could really get behind. I think the friendships between the central characters were very cute and helped me to become invested in the characters individual storylines. I found the main character, Nancy, kind of bland, but side characters like Jack and Kade who were incredible unique and jumped off the page made up for that.
The murder side plot within this book is what kept me turning pages. I really enjoyed the process of the investigation and the reactions each characters had to the murders, however, I found the reveal of the killer both predictable and boring. To me, it was very obvious who was the killer, so this element was the main let down.
However, overall Every Heart a Doorway was such a cute book, with a really unique premise. I thought the execution WAS well done, and even if the murder plot got a little botched at the end, it was still interesting enough to keep me reading. I finished this book in one sitting which is testament to my enjoyment of it.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan Mcguire
my rating: 4 stars
published by: Tor
genres: fantasy, lgbt+, young adult
diversity: lesbian main character, lesbian side character
content warnings: parental abuselinks: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
The follow up to Every Heart a Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, had all the charm of the first book I liked, but with a darker aesthetic that made it feel more mature and sinister. Following just Jack and Jill, Down Among the Sticks and Bones explored parenting and the enforcement of gender roles upon children. What I loved about this was the stark difference between Jack and Jill, and how the two grew into the roles assigned to them, and then the roles they chose for themselves.
Jack is the star of this book. She is an awesome and unique main character, a literal made scientist. The f/f relationship was super cute and I loved that, as well as the relationship between Jack and Jill and how that shifted and changed.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones had a strong atmosphere and tangible setting that carried the book. The moors, the red moon and the gothic village definitely made for interesting reading. However, what this book was missing was a strong A to B point. I felt the plot meandered and because of this, I didn’t feel as compelled to read it like I did the first. Which is why to me it wasn’t a five star book.
Overall this series is great though, and Seanan McGuire writes such wonderful, unique characters. Very excited to read Beneath the Sugar Sky in 2018.
The Morning Star by M. Chandler
my rating: 3.5 stars
published by: Self Published
genres: lgbt+, adult, spy
diversity: gay main character and LI
content warnings: use of homophobic slurs, ableism
This book is an excellent example of great premise, unfortunate execution. The Morning Star is an enemies to lovers romance between an FBI agent, and the at thief he’s supposed to be arresting. Tt is without a doubt fun. The best thing about this book is that it’s short and fun and has some nice banter and you don’t have to think about it too much. But this book is missing the authenticity great #ownvoices m/m romances have, which made it kind of disappointing.
I also think the characters were .. not great. Simon and Jeremy are good, and they’re the leads so that’s most important, but I did not like the side characters. I got them all confused, for one, because their introductions were done poorly and regardless none of them had great characterisation. There is also only one woman in this whole book and she spends most of her time fending off unwanted advances from the (“professional”) men on her team. Disappointing, especially since the author is a woman.
This book does what it is well. It’s a fluffy, cat and muse type romance book with fun banter and fast action sequences and it does that bit well. But the finesse? The good rep across the board? The characters that make you invested? Just wasn’t there for me.
The Literature Book by D.K Publishing
my rating: 4 stars
published by: D.K Publishing
genres: non fiction, lit history
The Literature Book is a non fiction book in a series by D.K Publishing that explores the history of literature in a short, simplified manner. I love lit history and think it’s interesting the circumstances under which new styles and genres develop so I did enjoy reading this overall.
The prologue goes to great lengths to mention how this book wanted to explore the canon outside of “old dead white men” as the saying goes, and I was appreciative and excited about that. And while I think it does do this to some extent, I think more could have been done. Regardless of what their intentions were, there was a lot of old dead white men. But, this is a very short book, about 350 pages and it does what it aims to do quite well. It looks at history briefly, but covers the topics and texts in enough detail I felt that it was comprehensive. There is a history book in this series and I’d be interested in reading that one too.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
my rating: 5 stars
published by: Walker Books
genres: fantasy, young adult, horror
diversity:
content warnings: cancer/sickness, bullying, grief
A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness’ novel from Siobhan Dowd’s original idea is one of the most talked about books around here and since the movie came out I wanted to give it a go. I definitely understood why there is such a strong emotional reaction to this book from it’s readers. This book absolutely tugged at my heartstrings, both of of the “sick lit” aspect, but also because of the exploration of childhood and the use of the monster metaphor.
This book is incredibly visually stunning, I’d tell everyone right now to make sure you read the version WITH the illustrations. Without it it just isn’t the same. The monster is a metaphor and I liked how that aspect worked within this story. I think whats so great about A Monster Calls is it finds a perfect balance between exploring grief as a universal concept, but also as something that effects children in unique ways, and how grief fits into the context of childhood. And this book definitely did make me cry like a little baby, so people weren’t joking around about it being so so sad.
So that was five mini reviews for five mini books. What did you guys think of these books? My personal favourite of the lot is Every Heart a Doorway, though A Monster Calls is pretty good.
Until next time!
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