booksare42's Reviews (608)

Thank you to Neem Tree Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book. Thank you to The Write Reads for organizing this blog tour and providing me with the material for it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Terra Electrica: The Guardians of the North is a unique middle-grade dystopian adventure. It takes place after climate change has melted all of the ice. There is a mysterious disease that is destroying human kind and an unlikely group of people who might be able to save the world.

I want to start out by saying that I didn’t love this book. While I’m a fan of middle-grade books, I am not a fan of dystopian stories. I think this book did a great job creating a dystopian, post-ice melt world. I appreciated the descriptions of the rising water and the washed out forests; I thought these descriptions did a great job painting a picture of what a post-ice melt world would look like. That being said, the dystopian aspect was not really my thing.

What I did really enjoy about Terra Electrica this book was the adventure aspect. Mani and Leo (who I’ll talk about more in a bit) are travelling to the Ark, which is the main science research centre. They’re also looking for Mani’s father. They have to travel through changing landscapes, struggle to find food, and face various dangers along the way. I loved how resourceful and quick thinking Mani was on this journey. I was definitely rooting for them along the way and I was curious to see what obstacle they’d run into next and how they’d overcome it.

Mani is a fantastic main character. She’s just a child, but she’s been through so much. She knows there’s a mysterious disease that killed everyone in her town, including her mother, and that the only survivors were her and her father. She also knows that her father has been gone for 29 days when he was supposed to be back in 8 days. Desperation brings her to the science lab where she meets Leo and an unlikely friendship is formed. Mani is scared to join Leo on his journey, but she knows she has to be brave to survive. Along the way they meet Tilde, who I’m hoping we get to learn more about later on in the series.

One interesting aspect of this book is the mask that Mani’s mother gave her. When she puts on the mask, she’s transported to another world where the ice and snow still exist and there’s a polar bear named Ooshaka and a crow. I liked how there were scenes where Mani would visit this alternate world and the bits of wisdom that Ooshaka and the crow would try to pass along to Mani. I liked that this added a bit of a folklore aspect to the book and I’m curious about what folklore the author was drawing upon.

One thing that I want to note is that there were a quite a few scenes in Terra Electrica that were fairly dark. While the scenes fit in a dystopian world, I think they push this book to the upper end of the middle-grade scale.

If you’re interested in dystopian world and are a fan of middle-grade books, Terra Electrica is definitely worth checking out

This review was originally posted on my blog: https://booksare42.com/
 

Have you ever picked up a book and after you finished it though, “ahh, this is exactly what I needed?” That’s how I felt about Death and Croissants by Ian Moore. After being on the verge of a reading slump, my library hold came through and this book was exactly what I needed. 

Death and Croissants takes place in the Loire Valley in France. Richard, a seemingly uninteresting person who runs a bed and breakfast, finds himself caught up in a mystery when a bloody hand print shows up on his wall and a guest goes missing. Valérie, one of the other guests at his B&B is on the case and Richard is tangled up in the mess, whether he likes it or not. To make matters worse, someone has murdered one of his hens, which makes the matter personal. 

I absolutely loved Richard. I have a soft spot for characters who find themselves caught up in chaos and mysteries even though it’s the last thing they want to be dealing with. On one hand, he just wants to live a quiet life making breakfast for guests and watching his films, but on the other he’s thrilled because the chaos is the most excitement he’s felt in years. He’s such a reluctant hero and I found myself rooting for him throughout the book. I also enjoyed his sense of humour, he had a few moments that made me laugh-out-loud.

Valérie, the other main character, was a whirlwind of mysterious energy. It’s clear that there’s more to her than meets the eye and that she’s a force to be reckoned with. I thought Valérie and Richard made the perfect team. I love a quality detective duo and Valérie and Richard did not disappoint in this department. 

I loved the setting of this book. All of the best cozy mysteries take place in quiet little towns or villages. The cast of characters and suspects was memorable and intriguing. I loved learning more about the people in town and trying to piece together how they might be connected with the crime. I hope that some of the characters make future appearances later on in the series. 

As far as the plot goes, this was exactly what I want to see in a cozy mystery. It wasn’t overly violent. There was a decent cast of suspects, but not so many that I couldn’t keep track of what was going on and who was who. There were twists and turns that kept me reading past my bedtime to figure out who the guilty party was. There was also the slightest inkling of a romantic subplot that in no way took away from the overall story. 

Overall, I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. It’s perfect for fans of Agatha Christie or Richard Osman or anyone looking for a cozy mystery. I’m looking forward to continuing on with this series and seeing what trouble finds Richard and Valérie next.