Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this young adult fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

Upon seeing the beautiful cover and reading the synopsis, I thought this novel would float me boat.  The highlight was the comparison to the handmaid's tale.  Sadly, I stopped reading at the 15% mark because I really wasn't feeling it.  But because this is supposed to be a woman driven story with a gangster escape and social commentary, I did an unusual thing and looked up other reviews and spoilers before deciding to fully abandon it.  Those tipped me over the edge and caused me to stop reading because I didn't like what I was seeing.

First let me explain me viewpoints on the section I actually read.  I did feel the beginning was nicely set-up.  I really liked the odd mix of Japanese courtesan-type setting, magic, and western.  I adored the idea of the how the tattoos worked.  I liked the idea of two sisters with different personalities being main characters.

That said, I also felt that both the world-building and the characterization was too surface level.  I felt like I was getting the shiny ideas with no real substance.  Neither people nor world felt real.  Both seemed like caricatures.  The older sister was led too much by her emotions and rage with no real thought.  The younger sister was too naive, didn't really think, and seemed to want her sister to do everything for her.  The other three girls seemed two-dimensional.  Then the plot broke down because how the girls escaped the whore, I mean welcome, house was just so unbelievable and silly.

I wasn't sure if pushing through would make the story better and I wanted the book to be as good as its premise.  So I read reviews.  I won't get into the major details because of spoilers but suffice to say that many people claimed that the two-dimensionality of the characters didn't improve and it remained hard to connect to them.  Insta-lust makes an appearance.  The ending was said to be problematic and thanks to someone who wrote the entire ending in their review, I can say that it would have made me angry to have read the whole story only to get to that (even if it is a book one in a series).

The reviews did seem split 50/50 on whether it was liked so if it does sound good, it still might work for ye.  But basically this book was very much not to me taste and I am glad I stopped when I did.  

So lastly . . .

Thank you Tor Teen!

Ahoy there mateys! I couldn’t remember if I had read this one or not. Turns out not. This book was published in 1910, two years after anne of green gables. What a silly romance this was! It was so melodramatic. There is a man, Eric, who goes to PEI to teach and meets a mute girl, Kilmeny, in a garden playing a violin. He immediately falls in love with her beauty and innocence and child-like nature. Sigh. So they meet in the garden in secret. He gets called out for his thoughtless behavior and tries to make it right. Then he kisses Kilmeny and awakens her womanhood. More melodrama occurs. This involves an evil Italian whose base nature emerges. Of course Kilmeny’s disability and circumstances of her birth make her a horrible match for Eric. But she be pretty. “Magic” occurs, her disability vanishes, and her gorgeous face stops all objections. Bah! I would have thought this was a debut book and was surprised it was written after Anne. Too silly for me. Arrr!

Ahoy there mateys! Once I started reading this, I realized that I had read it before but all I remembered at first was the atmosphere in the Toronto house. All other details were gone and didn’t really come back until midway through the book when I abruptly had the ending rush back into me noggin. This story follows Jane who lives in her grandmother’s house. Jane’s grandmother sucks and is overbearing. Jane loves her mother but the whole household is under grandma’s thumb. Jane believes her father is dead. Then she turns 11 and is told the truth from others. Her father is alive and living in PEI. She is invited to visit her father on the island for the summer and her whole life changes. I loved Jane even if she is a tiny bit of a Mary Sue who can do whatever she puts her mind to and whom everyone loves. The relationship Jane has with her dad is awesome and endearing. This book deals with not being able to get a divorce in Canada. This book flew by and showcased Montgomery’s writing talents. The only issue was the too nicely wrapped up ending but as I loved Jane that be okay. Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! Apparently, I had never read this one but I absolutely loved it. Valancy Stirling is celebrating her 29th birthday and is unmarried and miserable. Her only solace was an imaginary world of the blue castle but it be time she faces that facts about never being happy or loved and the long, miserable days ahead. Then Valancy is given a horrible medical diagnosis with a limited time to live. And well she basically decides to do what she wants with it. It was glorious. Valancy is sorta obnoxiously fun to her ridiculous relatives and begins to comes to terms with the new version of herself. Ye would think that death is a burden but Valancy is finally free to do as she pleases. But of course shenanigans ensue. I guessed three of the twists at the end and missed one but loved every moment. I do think that a tangled web is better but this was close. So glad to decided to read these standalones that I didn’t know I had missed! Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! Even after finishing this, I cannot be sure if I ever read it before or not. The beginning felt very familiar but the ending was certainly not remembered. I do think that some of it comes down to how reading four of these books in a row shows that Montgomery did in fact recycle ideas and sometimes seemingly direct quotes from her own works. Some non-spoilers include a blue jug, jam on a tablecloth, and a Klondike uncle’s stories. I did enjoy that Marigold is a child absolutely showered with love. That was different from the women in the other three books in many ways. I also thought the beginning was brilliant. I loved the mess about the name, the entire plot with Old Grandmother, and Marigold’s early years. It was once Marigold has to go to school that the book seemed to lose its magic. I still liked it but the plot kinda gave up and became a series of almost vignettes of Marigold visiting her various relations and how she dealt with the local children. Somewhat poorly to me mind. And the ending of this was awful and abrupt and kinda sad. I wanted more for Marigold. I did however love the cats and magical feel to a lot of the story. The cats actually talk in this one and I love them. I loved how cats and kittens were basically glorified in this book. I wish I could have so many excellent “balls of fluff” around. Based on the first half, it should have been a five star read but it didn’t work out that way in the end. Arrrr!

Ahoy there me mateys! Ever since I read the bear and the nightingale, I have been in love with this author’s writing. So of course I have been reading her middle-grade novels because I don’t put age limits on reading. And this was a fun second book. Aye, this is a review of a book two where I will try to post no spoilers but continue at yer own peril . . .

This story follows Ollie and her friends Brian and Coco on what is supposed to be a fun ski trip. Ollie’s dad has won a ski vacation for the week before the resort’s grand opening. Coco’s mom goes too. The trip seems to run into troubles from the beginning of the drive. A snow storm is brewing and the drive is trickier than expected. Coco thinks she spots a man in the road and is concerned though the others claim not to see him. When they get to the resort, the group finds they are the only people there besides the caretakers. They are snowed in and the power is not running. The night is long and the kids are not comfortable. The group is surprised at breakfast the next morning when a reporter shows up to discuss the ghosts of the resort. What is going on?

And ghosts there be mateys! I actually loved this ghost story and found it to be deliciously spine-tingling. It would have been even more creepy had I read it when I was younger. I loved how everything in the ski lodge kept failing. I adored how the story was set-up. I loved how the three kids have such strong friendships and look out for each other. It was nice to get both Ollie and Coco’s point of view in this story. I continue to love watching the characters grow and change.

There were only a couple of minor criticisms. Brian doesn’t play a major role in this book and I kinda missed him. The ending was a tad too rushed and I was surprised how quickly the book ended. I expected the climax and ending to be a little more complex. I do think that the first book was better in terms of complexity and that this ghost story was a little too simple and straight-forward. Seriously though, such tiny issues because I really did love this one.

This was an excellent book for the beginning of the Halloween season. I am so glad that there be two more planned books in the series. Book one deals with autumn and book two with winter. Can’t wait to hear what happens in the spring and summer. Arrrr!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there mateys! I very much enjoyed this author’s book furiously happy and loved the messages about dealing with mental illness and happiness. This novel was her debut. I have to admit that while I did find the situations to be funny, this book’s writing style was a little harder to read. This book did not flow as nicely and rambled a bit too much for me taste. Plus there was an overall sadness under the laughter. I don’t think it was bad. I just think furiously happy was so much better. That said, I do very much enjoy the author’s zany take on life and her upbringing. Taxidermy, being a goth in Western Texas, digging up a dead pet, and lots of other silliness abound. I will certainly read more of the author’s works. Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! This book is about liquids and is frickin’ fascinating. The First Mate and I both read his amazing book stuff matters and so we listened to this follow up book together. We would stop after each chapter and discuss. It was fun. Favourites in this book include learning about ink, liquid soap, oceans, and the effect of glaciers on tectonic plates. Seriously both books are must reads. I want another book asap. Arrrr!

Side note: Michael Page is seriously an awesome narrator.

Ahoy there mateys! By reading this, I have now read all of this author’s work. I loved both smoke gets in your eyes and will my cat eat my eyeballs?. I have to admit that personally for me the dead body is just a shell. Funerals and memorial services tend to not be useful to me in terms of the grieving process. I go to support other grieving loved ones but would skip them if I could (and do sometimes). I don’t want a funeral or a memorial or anything like that. I really want to have an open air burial or compost. Being dirt or vulture food sounds wonderful to me. That said, I do find other cultures death practices to be fascinating. I do wish to honor the dead person’s wishes in regards to how their own body is treated. What this book does is take a look at other cultures and how they deal with the dead. A lot of this wasn’t new to me given the articles and other books like stiff that I have read over the years. But it was an excellent book and one I think all people should read. Because death needs to be talked about and planned for. Because seriously it will happen to us all. Arrrr!