Starflight

Starflight was a lucky find. I was tired one night but unable to sleep so I picked up my nook. After browsing several pages of the library I was finding nothing so I went into my wish list and happened to see Starflight. I do not even recall putting it on my wish list.


Solara is an interesting character, while she carries the marks of a felon on her knuckles I in no way saw her as a felon. Though I was dying to find out her charges until it was finally revealed. Given up by her parents to an orphanage ran by nuns Solara has not known an easy or a kind life. Instead of letting it tear her down she decides to learn all she can about being a mechanic and thus improving her life through her skills and knowledge. While this is a beautiful picture in her head Solara has to face reality as she comes face to face with her tormentor from school.

Doran has the perfect life, money, fame, athletic, and a hot girlfriend. In a moment of judgement her decides to take Solara, a former classmate, on as his servant. Determined to get his money's worth out of her work Doran is ruthless in the chores he demands of Solara. Snooby, stuck up, and uncaring are the way Doran appears to anyone whom he deems beneath him and Solara is happy to throw anything she can in his face. Everything changes in an instant for Doran, with his DNA at a crime scene he is suddenly the most wanted person in the galaxy. With no where to go he stays with Solara on board a pirate vessel.

Solara and Doran were both interesting characters who clearly had growth while still showing parts of their character that needed to be worked on. Melissa Landers is a wonderful writer, the whole story was action packed with many different plots going on at once but nothing felt crammed in or rushed in any way. I could not wait to read the next chapter every time. I am already on the waiting list for Starfall.

Empty Promises

Empty Promises and other True Case Crimes is part of Ann Rule's Crime Files series. Each book is a stand alone though. I was getting burnt out on reading a bunch of historical novels so I switched to true crime for a while.

I really enjoyed the first half of Empty Promises since it was about one case but after that I lost interest in some of the cases. They were shorter stories and some were interesting while some were not. Ann Rule is a tight writer who clearly does her research and has an extraordinary team of editors. While I am not sure I would ever read another Crime Files book I will continue to read full length stories written by Ann Rule.

Of Blood and Bone

Of Blood and Bone is the second book in the The Chronicles of One. I did not care for it much and while I will read the next book I am only reading it to get closure over what happens to a few key characters.

Fallon is annoying, everything comes so easily for her. She never has to struggle with things or has moments where she gets to realize life is not fair. An average every day Mary Jane that everyone cannot wait to worship.

I would like to know more about some of the side characters, including the animals who befriend Fallon. Along with her teacher Mallick. His story seems promising along with some areas outside of New Hope or the farm where Fallon grew up. It is all well and good to be told over and over how much crime is outside the communities but show the reader that.

Sadly Of Blood and Bone became a chore to read which is why it took me so long to read. I am just glad it is over with so I can move onto a better book.

The City of Brass

I am not even sure where to being with a review for The City of Brass. I have read fantasy and high fantasy for years yet never have I struggled so much with names, religious sects, and nationalities. Half the time I was not sure who I was reading about and I constantly got characters confused, jumping between nick names for people and their full name did not help either. I really should read The City of Brass again to try to understand it more but it was a hard book for me to hold one handed and my right hand still shows no signs of recovery any time soon.

Nahri lives in the slums and makes her money swindling rich people. Happy to steal from the rich to feed herself and save for her dream of moving out of the slums Nahri takes pride in her abilities to get money from wealthy men without having to resort to prostitution. All is going well for Nahri until she gets in a con over her head, struggling to heal a young teen Nahri accidentally summons a djinn. This is where I started to get confused as to who was who.

Ali is the crown prince but knows he will never rule since he is the second son. Happy to be in his brothers shadow he lives his life by the sword. Mastering his skills he fights with a deadly grace and all is going his way until his father summons him back to court to keep a closer eye on him.

Even though I struggled with the world Chakraborty wrote I still liked the story. I do plan on reading City of Copper and hopefully it wont be as much a struggle. Books like this make me wish for a fold out glossary so it is easier to look up terms and names.

White Chrysanthemum

A friend gave me a large box full of books to read and return. White Chrysanthemum was the first one I pulled out of the box. I hesitated when I read the description since I do not tend to like stories that deal with two different people in two different time periods.

Hana loves her life as a haenyeo and the freedom it provides her. All that changes when a Japanese solider shows up on the beach. In order to protect her younger sister, Emi, Hana distracts the solider and is taken thus saving Emi. The journey of Hana as she is sent to be a "comfort woman" for the Japanese soldiers is powerful but sad.

Emi saved by her elder sister struggles with accepting that and blames herself for Hana's capture. Now an elderly lady she continues her quest of finding her sister even after all these years. 

I was surprised this was a debut novel since it was so well written, I see seasoned authors struggle to write with the flow and grace Bracht demonstrated. I was highly interested in the story and learning the history of these tormented women. I cannot wait to see what other treasures are in the box of books.

Baking is Murder

Baking is Murder was a free book I had downloaded at one time on my Nook. I randomly choose it because I was in the mood for cozy mystery. The story was short with no real filler which was nice.

Jessie is recently divorced and between jobs, not sure what to do she decides to head to her Aunt Bee hoping to work at her bakery for awhile. Quickly hired she is enjoying the small town when a murder suddenly occurs. Determined to help Jessie works at finding clues to help her figure out who the real murder is.

The story was corny but I expect that in a cozy mystery. Very little character development just a clear cut story line, short, and a fast read. I am still in the mood for a cozy but since I have a stack of library books that will have to wait for a bit.

Alice + Freda Forever

I have wanted to read Alice + Freda Forever ever since I read a sample several years ago. Sadly it was a huge let down.

The story of a young woman who is obsessed with another young woman so much that she kills to make sure her love does not end up with someone else. The making of a thrilling story that had a lot of potential sadly the writing was choppy and it read more like part of an essay hurriedly thrown together. Not much was done to develop a story line at all it was just facts written in a dry manner. The story was also super short, lots of the book was referencing sources which is good for making it historically accurate but not for reading for pleasure.