Take a photo of a barcode or cover
maxines_obsessions's Reviews (701)
Set in country Australia we are given a birds eye view of our rugged, beautiful, harsh landscape. The book brings all the problems facing our country to the forefront through the eyes of our native animals. Drought, introduced species and entitled humans are causing chaos for many parts of Australia and the authors do a wonderful job of educating and encouraging conversations.
I loved that every place in this book is real, you could go and visit it, the animals aren't the usual kangaroo or koala, we meet a platypus, pelicans, seagulls are heroes. The animals have such wonderful and distinct personalities that it makes you care for them. You will look at seagulls different after reading this book. We are shown the family dynamics of the different animals; Seals for example, won't leave an area until their entire group is together and ready to go. We are shown how important water is, how strong and resilient animals are. Frogs that dig themselves a hole and wait for the rain, how the all of the aspects of the ecosystem rely on each other, and when one part is taken away everything is out of whack.
This book delivers so much in a humorous way. It's fast paced, it's quirky and clever. There are spy frogs (the term infrognito is used often), a bee eating bird who becomes best friends with a bee and a sweet girl who embarks on a massive mission and makes friends along the way.
This book is an absolute gem and I can't wait to see it in schools all over Australia. It's a book I finished and straight away wanted to pass on to kids everywhere. It's an important, well written book, that I hope people all over the world will discover.
I loved that every place in this book is real, you could go and visit it, the animals aren't the usual kangaroo or koala, we meet a platypus, pelicans, seagulls are heroes. The animals have such wonderful and distinct personalities that it makes you care for them. You will look at seagulls different after reading this book. We are shown the family dynamics of the different animals; Seals for example, won't leave an area until their entire group is together and ready to go. We are shown how important water is, how strong and resilient animals are. Frogs that dig themselves a hole and wait for the rain, how the all of the aspects of the ecosystem rely on each other, and when one part is taken away everything is out of whack.
This book delivers so much in a humorous way. It's fast paced, it's quirky and clever. There are spy frogs (the term infrognito is used often), a bee eating bird who becomes best friends with a bee and a sweet girl who embarks on a massive mission and makes friends along the way.
This book is an absolute gem and I can't wait to see it in schools all over Australia. It's a book I finished and straight away wanted to pass on to kids everywhere. It's an important, well written book, that I hope people all over the world will discover.
Once again middle grade stories of wonder and magic are getting me through. This was a wholesome, heart breaking read about a boy who lost his father and the lengths he will go to, to feel close to him again. It was a tale of friendship, grief and self discovery. It had it all.
The Secrets of Star Whales is a beautifully written story that brings our characters to life. Max and India are so well fleshed out and wonderfully written that I couldn't help but love them and feel for them. Max and India have both lost their dad, but the way in which they deal with this is very different. Max has spent the last two years trying to hide his grief and has become a bitter boy who is quite mean and a little selfish, which is wonderfully appropriate given his age. He was a hard character to read, I could completely understand his sorrow, anger and confusion, but damn he was frustrating. I wanted to yell at him and his mother. Max was so well written that I was often cringing at his bad choices.
Mr Hames is an outsider who has the ability to see everything occurring on Azura with fresh eyes and Max finds his insights and outlook threatening to his comfortable existence. He brings a new level of energy to the kids in his class, he brings excitement and wonder, which these kids, already being prepared for their roles as adults, are already losing. He reminds the kids of the wonder of imagination.¶я
"These whales... They're amazing. Wonderous. And by normal standards, they shouldn't exist. Maybe that's their defense mechanism. They hide from people who lack the hope and wonder you kids carry so easily. They hide from anyone who isn't imaginative enough to appreciate them."
One of my favourite parts of this book was the way music was used to tell a story and express feelings that had otherwise been locked up inside of Max. When he couldn't communicate clearly, he would strum away at his fathers instrument and release the grief and fear he is feeling.¶я
I enjoyed The Secrets of Star Whales, there was a lot of character growth, all of the characters, even the minor side characters and I really appreciated that. I liked that the story flowed well, it never gets bogged down and although the book deals with some heavy themes and at moments my heart was breaking for the characters, I never wanted to stop reading or needed to take a break. It's a book you can smash through in one sitting. I liked that the story didn't shy away from the hard parts, the angry, spiteful side of Max and the effect his Dad's death had on so many people. It was well balanced by the Star Whales.¶я
Over all a well written middle grade story. Definitely worth a look.
The Secrets of Star Whales is a beautifully written story that brings our characters to life. Max and India are so well fleshed out and wonderfully written that I couldn't help but love them and feel for them. Max and India have both lost their dad, but the way in which they deal with this is very different. Max has spent the last two years trying to hide his grief and has become a bitter boy who is quite mean and a little selfish, which is wonderfully appropriate given his age. He was a hard character to read, I could completely understand his sorrow, anger and confusion, but damn he was frustrating. I wanted to yell at him and his mother. Max was so well written that I was often cringing at his bad choices.
Mr Hames is an outsider who has the ability to see everything occurring on Azura with fresh eyes and Max finds his insights and outlook threatening to his comfortable existence. He brings a new level of energy to the kids in his class, he brings excitement and wonder, which these kids, already being prepared for their roles as adults, are already losing. He reminds the kids of the wonder of imagination.¶я
"These whales... They're amazing. Wonderous. And by normal standards, they shouldn't exist. Maybe that's their defense mechanism. They hide from people who lack the hope and wonder you kids carry so easily. They hide from anyone who isn't imaginative enough to appreciate them."
One of my favourite parts of this book was the way music was used to tell a story and express feelings that had otherwise been locked up inside of Max. When he couldn't communicate clearly, he would strum away at his fathers instrument and release the grief and fear he is feeling.¶я
I enjoyed The Secrets of Star Whales, there was a lot of character growth, all of the characters, even the minor side characters and I really appreciated that. I liked that the story flowed well, it never gets bogged down and although the book deals with some heavy themes and at moments my heart was breaking for the characters, I never wanted to stop reading or needed to take a break. It's a book you can smash through in one sitting. I liked that the story didn't shy away from the hard parts, the angry, spiteful side of Max and the effect his Dad's death had on so many people. It was well balanced by the Star Whales.¶я
Over all a well written middle grade story. Definitely worth a look.
Found family, adventures, battles, shitty governments, engineered soldiers, slow burn romance...
Fuck yes!!!!
Sci-fi full of adventure, found family and a nice little romance in the background. Hell yes. Can I just say LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and be done because otherwise my review will be flailing and fangirling over my most very favourite male friendship ever. I'm not sure if the author was aiming for a crying reader, but there were some pure, sweet, wonderful moments of friendship that brought me to tears and that these moments could happen while characters were covered in other peoples blood was even better.
Full Review To Come
Fuck yes!!!!
Sci-fi full of adventure, found family and a nice little romance in the background. Hell yes. Can I just say LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and be done because otherwise my review will be flailing and fangirling over my most very favourite male friendship ever. I'm not sure if the author was aiming for a crying reader, but there were some pure, sweet, wonderful moments of friendship that brought me to tears and that these moments could happen while characters were covered in other peoples blood was even better.
Full Review To Come
I loved everything about this one. It's the perfect comfort read. You know what's going to happen and that's ok, because it has all of the very best romance tropes. And because it's such a quick read, 55 pages, there is minimal angst.
Tabitha is the best, she speaks to my book nerd self, I wish I worked in a library too. I wish I had her wicked fashion style. I wish I was brave enough to get on the back of my husbands Harley more. And Brodie is the ultimate male lead. Bonus points for being a boxer.¶я
This book mainlines you all the good stuff, no waste, lots of sexy fun. Entertaining and endearing.
Tabitha is the best, she speaks to my book nerd self, I wish I worked in a library too. I wish I had her wicked fashion style. I wish I was brave enough to get on the back of my husbands Harley more. And Brodie is the ultimate male lead. Bonus points for being a boxer.¶я
This book mainlines you all the good stuff, no waste, lots of sexy fun. Entertaining and endearing.
A Ritual of bone is told from multiple pov, each in a different part of Arnar, each experiencing a different sort of horror and as the story progresses you can see how the characters are going to intertwine. I think Lee has done an awesome job of building the world through these characters. He is able to build the atmosphere and the lay of the land, all the while giving you an in depth look into who these people are as a society. He builds the story and world up, layer upon layer until you feel like you can see the story play out in your head. (Thatѓ??s rare for me.)
Lee manages to create this overwhelming feeling of impending doom. The atmosphere is oppressive and at times claustrophobic. Every time you think it couldnѓ??t get worse for the characters, it does. There are so many different types of horrors occurring throughout that you never get a break. I loved that he took my zombie expectations and turned it on itѓ??s head. He doesnѓ??t shy away from going full horror. Gore, chaos, psychological mayhem, this story has it all.
ѓ??She had murdered them. She watched as they fell lifeless to the floor. Her instincts torn asunder, her children, who looked to her for protection, for love, betrayed. Killed by her own hands. She had eaten them. Trapped watching, screaming in her mind, trapped in a living nightmare, watching it all unfold. Her love, replaced with a terrible rage as her spiralling descent into madness consumed all that she was.ѓ?ќ
Because we are following so many characters, we get to watch the onset of each catastrophe. We watch through the eyes of the Apprentice as obscene rituals are performed in the name of learning. We follow the soldiers as the undead make their way through the land. We see the plague set foot in Arnar for the first time, with people bleeding from every orifice and dying in the streets. While I did initially have an issue with the amount of povѓ??s, once I found my reading rhythm I was able to follow along easily. Not every pov is given the same amount of page time and I found a couple of those not introduced until later becoming my favourites, so I will definitely be picking up book 2 to see how everything is going to play out. This book has such a build up that you just know that the carnage in A Ritual of Flesh is going to be crazy.
The book seems to have heavy Norse influences, especially with the way the communities away from the cities live and the fighting styles and weapons. The battles were very well written. I liked the way the soldiers interacted with each other. The way the soldiers were developed was great.
I went into A Ritual of Bone expecting a zombie story, I got so much more.
Lee manages to create this overwhelming feeling of impending doom. The atmosphere is oppressive and at times claustrophobic. Every time you think it couldnѓ??t get worse for the characters, it does. There are so many different types of horrors occurring throughout that you never get a break. I loved that he took my zombie expectations and turned it on itѓ??s head. He doesnѓ??t shy away from going full horror. Gore, chaos, psychological mayhem, this story has it all.
ѓ??She had murdered them. She watched as they fell lifeless to the floor. Her instincts torn asunder, her children, who looked to her for protection, for love, betrayed. Killed by her own hands. She had eaten them. Trapped watching, screaming in her mind, trapped in a living nightmare, watching it all unfold. Her love, replaced with a terrible rage as her spiralling descent into madness consumed all that she was.ѓ?ќ
Because we are following so many characters, we get to watch the onset of each catastrophe. We watch through the eyes of the Apprentice as obscene rituals are performed in the name of learning. We follow the soldiers as the undead make their way through the land. We see the plague set foot in Arnar for the first time, with people bleeding from every orifice and dying in the streets. While I did initially have an issue with the amount of povѓ??s, once I found my reading rhythm I was able to follow along easily. Not every pov is given the same amount of page time and I found a couple of those not introduced until later becoming my favourites, so I will definitely be picking up book 2 to see how everything is going to play out. This book has such a build up that you just know that the carnage in A Ritual of Flesh is going to be crazy.
The book seems to have heavy Norse influences, especially with the way the communities away from the cities live and the fighting styles and weapons. The battles were very well written. I liked the way the soldiers interacted with each other. The way the soldiers were developed was great.
I went into A Ritual of Bone expecting a zombie story, I got so much more.
