maxines_obsessions's Reviews (701)

A magical tale, filled with whimsy, friendship and adventure.

I tend to stay away from middle grade, but this gorgeous cover drew my eye and I decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did. It was the perfect fun read I was hoping for.

In this steampunk children's/middle grade book we are whisked away on an adventure with Lily, her trusty mechanimal Malkin and the clockmakers son Robert. After her fathers airship is attacked and he is reported dead, Lily is sent back home with the sneaky housekeeper to wait for more news, but all is not what it seems. Men with silver orbs for eyes are following her, the mechanicals in her house are nervous, the housekeeper is going through everything and has moved herself into the main bedroom. With no adults left to trust Lily and her friends must make the trip to London to her Godfather, in the hope of getting some answers. What do these odd men want and are they willing to kill for it?

The writing was beautiful and gave me a vivid picture of the setting and characters. The mechanicals were described so well, I had no trouble picturing them pottering around the house. Malkin the mechanimal fox was a great character. He was serious and grumpy but incredibly loyal. He is snarky and rude and often the unwilling comedy piece in serious situations.

Lily had the most distinctive voice, her phrasing and the way she presented herself was perfect for the setting. Lily was so full of life, with her red hair and adventurous nature. She read Penny Dreadfuls and wanted to fly in airships. She could pick a lock with a bobby pin and when that didn't work she would climb out the window and shimmy down the side of the house. She is loyal, she is brave and she is a character who I would love my kids to read about. She is an inspiring main character, both vulnerable and strong.

I often struggle with steampunk, but this was perfect for me. I was able to grasp all the concepts and I really enjoyed that some of the mechanicals showed emotion. It was another way of making me connect to the story. It had a Pippi Longstockings vibe which I loved.

This was a quick read, a tad predictable, but I wouldn't take stars away from it for that, I'm not the age range they are aiming for. I would most definitely buy this for my daughter and there are a few other kids around nine who I'm planning on giving this to for Christmas.
The easiest way to describe the book is fun.

I received an arc of Cogheart from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's a 3.5, rounded up.

Finally a Sci-fi that didn't leave me feeling stupid.

A war criminal, Aden, has spent the last 5 years imprisoned on Rhodia. One year longer than the war went for. The time has finally come, he is out, it's time to head home, to his planet Gretia. Deciding to take the long route, he buys passage on a cargo ship. All goes well until they are hit by pirates and left drifting in an escape pod.
Indina is on her second tour of Gretia. Keeping the peace and enforcing the treaty, she and her team are out on a regular patrol when after years with no hostile activity, they are hit by weapons unlike any they have seen before. The loss of her team hits her hard and she is recalled to the city to work with the local police.
Dunstan and his crew are almost ready to head back home for leave, when something comes up on their radar. Unsure of what it is, they assume the worst. But even following the rule book doesn't prepare them for what comes next.
Finally we have Solveig. Daughter of the man whose company built and supplied weapons for the war effort. He is no longer allowed to run the company, so it's fallen to her to meet her fathers high expectations and keep the company afloat.
Who are the terrorists blowing up protestors, police and medical personal? Who are stealing the ships? And why when the peace has lasted so long is everything looking like it might fall apart.

While there is plenty of action in Aftershocks, it's a character driven story. We delve straight into Aden's experiences, he gives us a sense of the universe. The planets, the technology, the way the war has affected the people. Through him we get a real sense of before and after. This is all done so naturally, that a large portion of the world building is completed before you are fifty pages in. I never once felt bogged down with information, it flowed. Every word that we got was required with no filler in between. As the rest of the characters are introduced the worlds are fully fleshed out. The temperament of the people on the street, the peacekeepers in the air and on the ground. The tension starts to build and it continues slowly for the rest of the book.

I said it at the start, the technology and the way it was discussed didn't leave me feeling stupid. The technological aspects weren't overly in-depth, which works for me as a lot of the time it goes over my head. I loved the different planets. They were all harsh and the people all had to adapt, meaning on one planet there is only one small continent split down the middle by a mountain range, another is so unbearable that the people have to live underground and then you have the planet that has perfect living conditions. And yes, it was the Government of one of those planets that started the war. It's easy enough to guess which one I'm sure.

The characters were all well written, distinctive in their voice and natures. While I appreciated all of them and their role in the way the story winds together, I enjoyed reading Aden the most. Not all characters got the same amount of page time which worked well. Using the characters, Kloos was able to bring the planets and the story together in a cohesive way. As the book progressed, I did find that certain terms were repeated, which I didn't like but that was only in the last half. I found his style of writing easy to read, and while the story did feel slow, I liked it.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

My issue was the ending. Um... What The Fuck was that?
I still don't know how I feel about it, and while I enjoyed this book, I'm concerned about what book two will be like. Will the pacing pick up? Will there be more consistent action? Will there be answers? The book didn't feel complete.
I'm conflicted.

I received an arc from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Phineas Smith is the only human at a Mathers University, the power of the ley lines run through him. A place for a magical folk, the Seelie and Unseelie have an awkward truce on the grounds. Roark is Prince of the Unseelies, Phineas' roommate and a pain in his ass. He always turns up when Phineas is being attacked by a monster and saves his ass, but complains about it the entire time. Someone is trying to upset the balance though, the Unseelies are getting attacked and the power-hungry want Phineas' power.

I was excited for this, I wanted a romance and I love a paranormal romance. Let me just get it out-of-the-way; I liked this book, but damn did the first half drag. It was so slow, I put the book down and read another before I came back to it. But once the pace picked up and Phineas and Roark started interacting more, DAMN! I was in. So much cute angst.
As they began to get to know each other properly, as the walls were slowly lowered, they began to trust and learn from each other. It was to bloody pure, I loved it. Watching Phineas' grow and embrace who he is, watching him become more confident was so heart warming.

Told from both boys points of view, the direct line into their thoughts and feelings, means the thoughts and feelings are contagious. Whenever Phin was happy I would smile, when he was confused or hurt, I wanted to give him a hug. Same with Roark. They both have so much going on, they are both scared. Phin was tortured by Roark's mother, it makes for some issues for both of them. In the background of this budding romance, the Faerie world is beginning to fall apart. Pacts are broken and Roark is pulled in every direction.

Overall I give this book a big thumbs up, I just wish the first half didn't drag. The writing was good and I will pick up the next book, although (SPOILER) so bummed it's not all Phin and Roark. This book left me in a daydream happy state for a couple of days. Total swoon fest.

I received an arc from the publisher, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well I'm going to be honest and say I didn't expect that.
I think I need to go and compose myself and maybe shed a tear or five.

I've had a couple of days to compose myself.
I won this through Goodreads First Reads giveaways. This may be less of a review and more me fan girl rambling, with some SPOILERS.

Julian is cruising through school and life, just biding his time until he can leave and head for New York. He has wonderful friends and a loving family. His mum is remarrying and Julian is very much against it. He wants better for his mum. Julian is gay, he has always known who he is, he is comfortable and proud.
Then along comes Duncan, a jock, a popular kid, a young man finally beginning to understand who he is and trying to come to terms with it. Duncan isn't comfortable, Duncan is ashamed.
They literally bump into each other (insert eye roll) and things progress from there.

I've been looking forward to this book, I'm not sure why as its not a book I would normally pick up and I didn't expect much (my last goodreads win wasn't the best.)
But this OMG, if I knew how to put gifs into my reviews I would have fireworks, and fangirl dancing.
The writing is amazing, the characters are real and engaging and I was invested within a few pages. I thought Duncan and Julian were fucking adorable. Duncan's vulnerability and fear was spilling of the pages and I just wanted to hug him and tell him it was all going to be ok.

And holy cow, that ending!!!
"I turn and enter the church without looking back. The pain in my heart is gone. Inside, at the back of my mind, there are a thousand memories of Duncan: of looks, words, embraces, but they're locked up and it will be a long time before I can release them. I will release them, though. Someday. There will be a time when I want to think about this, know about him, wonder and remember. He's my story too."

This isn't a long story, its 158 pages. Normally I prefer longer books, but if this was any longer it would have just been filler. Although I was hoping for more about Echo, why she has an eating disorder and how she got to this point. *I went and checked out if Amanda had written any other books and what do you know there is one called Echo. I'll have to order it so I can get the answers I'm looking for.

All in all a great book, made even better by the fact it is signed and there were random sticker throughout. Winning all round. 4.5 stars

The art in this was superb, I found it a tad hectic. Iѓ??m very new to comics/graphic novels and Iѓ??m assuming thatѓ??s the reason I thought some pages were overloaded.
The story and characters were fantastic and I look forward to rereading it at some point and browsing through the art.

That's a hard pass from me.