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Ahoy there me mateys! I received an eArc of this thriller through NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings. This be the seventh book of a series and seemingly the series finale. While I try to post no spoilers, if ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .
I love Kelley Armstrong! I discovered her through her young adult book, sea of shadows, and she became me most read author of 2016. I have really been enjoying this series and I didn't even read the blurb before I requested this one. While ye can read books 1 - 3 and get the gist, books 4 - 7 build on each other. I do recommend starting at the beginning.
This novel continues the adventures of Rockton's detective, Casey Duncan. For those who be adventurous and are readin' this post having not read the previous books, Rockton is an off-the-grid town in the Yukon. People pay a council to spend time in this town to hide from their pasts. Some flee domestic abuse. Some flee other more unsavory problems. Suffice to say, the town is not an idyllic wonderland.
Casey is always getting pulled into trouble. This time, residents' secrets are getting exposed. How is this information getting out? And who is willing to kill because of these secrets?
Rockton books are always a little over the top and this one was no exception. I actually really loved the first half of the book and thought it was very humorous. The second half of the book felt a little rushed. Sadly the ending was kinda horrible. The mastermind was obvious and how that plotline resolved was ridiculous. Even for this series. I rather wish that we could have had better resolutions for me favorite side characters. No regrets about reading this series though. It was fun!
So lastly . . .
Thank ye kindly St. Martin's Press!
I love Kelley Armstrong! I discovered her through her young adult book, sea of shadows, and she became me most read author of 2016. I have really been enjoying this series and I didn't even read the blurb before I requested this one. While ye can read books 1 - 3 and get the gist, books 4 - 7 build on each other. I do recommend starting at the beginning.
This novel continues the adventures of Rockton's detective, Casey Duncan. For those who be adventurous and are readin' this post having not read the previous books, Rockton is an off-the-grid town in the Yukon. People pay a council to spend time in this town to hide from their pasts. Some flee domestic abuse. Some flee other more unsavory problems. Suffice to say, the town is not an idyllic wonderland.
Casey is always getting pulled into trouble. This time, residents' secrets are getting exposed. How is this information getting out? And who is willing to kill because of these secrets?
Rockton books are always a little over the top and this one was no exception. I actually really loved the first half of the book and thought it was very humorous. The second half of the book felt a little rushed. Sadly the ending was kinda horrible. The mastermind was obvious and how that plotline resolved was ridiculous. Even for this series. I rather wish that we could have had better resolutions for me favorite side characters. No regrets about reading this series though. It was fun!
So lastly . . .
Thank ye kindly St. Martin's Press!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received an eArc of this sci-fi novel through NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings . . .
I really, really enjoyed three days in april by this author so was excited to read this one. This novel follows Mickey who works as an expendable on a human colony. Have a job on the colony where the end result is likely death? Mickey is the solution. If he dies, no problem. A new body is made and a backup of his brain is installed. Only Mickey isn't so thrilled because those memories include how he previously died and the emotions that went with it.
There is also the rule of only one expendable per colony as making new bodies uses precious resources in limited supply. Mickey7 has experienced death 7 times. Circumstances occur where he is supposed to die but doesn't. Only Mickey8 is already baked. Problems ensue.
I really loved the set up of the book and learning about both the colony and how Mickey found himself in his weird job. I also loved how flashbacks were used in this novel to slowly give details of the prior versions of Mickey to enhance the story. I did enjoy Mickey7.
The plot did end up being a bit of a let down in the end. The middle of the book was kinda slow. The sections of the two Mickeys in the same colony were unbelievable and poorly done. Both 7 and 8 should have been caught immediately. There was relationship angst that could have been interesting but felt more like a red herring. Also the native creatures aspects of the colony planet were glossed over and simplified. The resolution of all conflict and the ending of the book left much to be desired.
Most of this book didn't work for me but I don't regret reading it for the parts I did like and the concepts of the expendables' usage in establishing a new colony. I would read more of the author's work in the future. Arrrr!
So lastly . . .
Thank ye kindly St. Martin's Press!
I really, really enjoyed three days in april by this author so was excited to read this one. This novel follows Mickey who works as an expendable on a human colony. Have a job on the colony where the end result is likely death? Mickey is the solution. If he dies, no problem. A new body is made and a backup of his brain is installed. Only Mickey isn't so thrilled because those memories include how he previously died and the emotions that went with it.
There is also the rule of only one expendable per colony as making new bodies uses precious resources in limited supply. Mickey7 has experienced death 7 times. Circumstances occur where he is supposed to die but doesn't. Only Mickey8 is already baked. Problems ensue.
I really loved the set up of the book and learning about both the colony and how Mickey found himself in his weird job. I also loved how flashbacks were used in this novel to slowly give details of the prior versions of Mickey to enhance the story. I did enjoy Mickey7.
The plot did end up being a bit of a let down in the end. The middle of the book was kinda slow. The sections of the two Mickeys in the same colony were unbelievable and poorly done. Both 7 and 8 should have been caught immediately. There was relationship angst that could have been interesting but felt more like a red herring. Also the native creatures aspects of the colony planet were glossed over and simplified. The resolution of all conflict and the ending of the book left much to be desired.
Most of this book didn't work for me but I don't regret reading it for the parts I did like and the concepts of the expendables' usage in establishing a new colony. I would read more of the author's work in the future. Arrrr!
So lastly . . .
Thank ye kindly St. Martin's Press!
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Ahoy there mateys! Though the First Mate and I have very different reading tastes, occasionally we do recommend books to each other. He and I both read the following:
We read and talked about the book and I enjoyed his viewpoint so Iordered asked him to write a review. So you get one from me and a bonus additional review from me crew. Please note that I write like I talk and the First Mate writes like he thinks. Hope you enjoy!
From the Captain:
If anyone asked me to provide a timeline of events or even a light plot summary of how the Libertarian movement worked in this book, I would be hard pressed to oblige. This book was so scattered in the telling that I honestly ended up being confused about the book's overall message or even the consequences of the Free Town Project. Well besides the "taxes are evil" theme and that the Project failed. This is not to say I didn't enjoy the book. I did. I just enjoyed it for reasons that I don't believe were the stated purpose of the book. And I don't think listening to it in audiobook form was the problem.
The book's premise as indicated to me from the blurb is that a small New Hampshire town is inadvertently taken over by Libertarians whose policies lead to too many bears (and other things) and thus chaos ensues. But Grafton, said taken over town, seemed to be just fine having bear and tax problems on its own even before the Libertarians show up. In fact, the author does a nice job providing small snippets of Grafton's history of hatred of both bears and taxes from the town's inception in 1778.
Like in many small towns (well, everywhere really) there are some truly colorful people. Donut Lady, who purposely fed the bears, was one such person. The attack llama was awesome. The story of the woman who helped run the Moonies and later gets attacked by a bear was heart breaking and she had the only semi-happy ending in the whole book. However, because of the crazy disorganization of the chapters, many of the white, gun-toting, government-hating men were rather interchangeable and I had trouble telling them apart.
The book does resonate in how not paying for public services ended up being problematic for Grafton. The chapter about the lack of a paid fire department, a dearth of fire equipment, and the statics of Grafton fires was horrifying. Ditto for discussions about roads or schools. The comparisons to other nearby towns with basically similar tax rates but lots of public services was illuminating. As a reader, the library statistics and stories were fascinating.
But I felt like what I got out of this book were interesting fragments about random historical events of New Hampshire in general, Grafton specifically, and bears during the history of the U.S. Throw in some Libertarian politics and people. But if the premise was to show how Libertarians almost ruined a town, the book spectacularly fails. The residents of Grafton may not call themselves Libertarians but from a practical standpoint, I really don't see the difference. Arrrr!
From the First Mate:
Like a lot of people, I heard about Hongoltz-Hetling’s book during the pre-publication media tour. My exposure was reading an excerpt that focused on the “Donut Lady” and her propensity to feed doughnuts to the bears outside of her New Hampshire home and the way in which the lax regulations of the town prevented anyone from stopping her. The implication of the excerpt and the book the excerpt was promoting appeared to be that the libertarians who’d moved into town had spearheaded a wave of deregulation that was destroying the town and threatening the lives of its citizens. To say that implication was misleading would be quite an understatement.
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is kind of a mess of a book. A mix of colonial history, small town politics, fringe political philosophy, profiles of odd people, and baffled finger pointing, the book seems to struggle in attempting to make a point. Focusing mostly on Grafton, New Hampshire, we learn that the town has a long history of opposing taxes and regulations. There’s the story of the town briefly becoming part of Vermont in an effort to avoid paying taxes. There’s the story about not having a fire department well into the twentieth century (and then continually underfunding it). There’s the various schemes historical residents of the town used to avoid paying taxes. And all of that before the libertarians came to town.
Don’t get me wrong, the libertarians and their Free Town Project didn’t make Grafton any better, but Hongoltz-Hetling doesn’t really present any good arguments for their attempts to take over the town making it significantly worse, either. The libertarians appeared to choose Grafton because it was already somewhat amenable to libertarian ideals. The aforementioned Donut Lady is a local. As are many of the other Grafton residents who were profiled and who favored smaller government, deregulation, and not paying taxes.
Which brings us to the bears. We learn that it’s not just Grafton that has a bear problem. The entire state of New Hampshire is rife with bears. Some of that problem stems from the fact that New Hampshire is kind of libertarian in its general political outlook and doesn’t provide adequet resources to its bear problems. But mostly there’s a lot of bears in New Hampshire because there’s a lot of bears in all of New England. Some of the New England states put more resources towards dealing with the bears and those states tend to have less bear problems. But many of the fascinating historical accounts that we get in the book focus on the fact that bears have always been a problem in the area. I was particularly fond of the story of “Old Slippery Skin.”
Small, rural towns are weird. And they’re usually populated with weird people who have weird interests and get up to all sorts of weird behavior. A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the story of a weird town that had some weird people move in and try to take over. The town’s problems existed before the attempted takeover and exist to this day. Perhaps the most puzzling part, given the desire of both the locals and the libertarians to not pay taxes, is the fact that Grafton pays taxes at around the same level as all of the surrounding towns.
I guess ultimately I don’t know what the point of the book was. The title and the media push would suggest that it’s a takedown of the failure of the Free Town Project. Hongoltz-Hetling seems to view the libertarians as villains here; and, honestly, they’re a disagreeable sort whom I found easy to dislike. But the book doesn’t make a successful argument that Grafton would’ve been fine if not for those silly fools who invaded. Seems like Grafton has spent over two hundred years trying to chew off its own leg.
Recommended to people who enjoy profiles of interesting people and colonial history. Avoid if lack of truth in advertising offends.
a libertarian walks into a bear: the utopian plot to liberate an american town and some bears (Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling)
We read and talked about the book and I enjoyed his viewpoint so I
From the Captain:
If anyone asked me to provide a timeline of events or even a light plot summary of how the Libertarian movement worked in this book, I would be hard pressed to oblige. This book was so scattered in the telling that I honestly ended up being confused about the book's overall message or even the consequences of the Free Town Project. Well besides the "taxes are evil" theme and that the Project failed. This is not to say I didn't enjoy the book. I did. I just enjoyed it for reasons that I don't believe were the stated purpose of the book. And I don't think listening to it in audiobook form was the problem.
The book's premise as indicated to me from the blurb is that a small New Hampshire town is inadvertently taken over by Libertarians whose policies lead to too many bears (and other things) and thus chaos ensues. But Grafton, said taken over town, seemed to be just fine having bear and tax problems on its own even before the Libertarians show up. In fact, the author does a nice job providing small snippets of Grafton's history of hatred of both bears and taxes from the town's inception in 1778.
Like in many small towns (well, everywhere really) there are some truly colorful people. Donut Lady, who purposely fed the bears, was one such person. The attack llama was awesome. The story of the woman who helped run the Moonies and later gets attacked by a bear was heart breaking and she had the only semi-happy ending in the whole book. However, because of the crazy disorganization of the chapters, many of the white, gun-toting, government-hating men were rather interchangeable and I had trouble telling them apart.
The book does resonate in how not paying for public services ended up being problematic for Grafton. The chapter about the lack of a paid fire department, a dearth of fire equipment, and the statics of Grafton fires was horrifying. Ditto for discussions about roads or schools. The comparisons to other nearby towns with basically similar tax rates but lots of public services was illuminating. As a reader, the library statistics and stories were fascinating.
But I felt like what I got out of this book were interesting fragments about random historical events of New Hampshire in general, Grafton specifically, and bears during the history of the U.S. Throw in some Libertarian politics and people. But if the premise was to show how Libertarians almost ruined a town, the book spectacularly fails. The residents of Grafton may not call themselves Libertarians but from a practical standpoint, I really don't see the difference. Arrrr!
From the First Mate:
Like a lot of people, I heard about Hongoltz-Hetling’s book during the pre-publication media tour. My exposure was reading an excerpt that focused on the “Donut Lady” and her propensity to feed doughnuts to the bears outside of her New Hampshire home and the way in which the lax regulations of the town prevented anyone from stopping her. The implication of the excerpt and the book the excerpt was promoting appeared to be that the libertarians who’d moved into town had spearheaded a wave of deregulation that was destroying the town and threatening the lives of its citizens. To say that implication was misleading would be quite an understatement.
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is kind of a mess of a book. A mix of colonial history, small town politics, fringe political philosophy, profiles of odd people, and baffled finger pointing, the book seems to struggle in attempting to make a point. Focusing mostly on Grafton, New Hampshire, we learn that the town has a long history of opposing taxes and regulations. There’s the story of the town briefly becoming part of Vermont in an effort to avoid paying taxes. There’s the story about not having a fire department well into the twentieth century (and then continually underfunding it). There’s the various schemes historical residents of the town used to avoid paying taxes. And all of that before the libertarians came to town.
Don’t get me wrong, the libertarians and their Free Town Project didn’t make Grafton any better, but Hongoltz-Hetling doesn’t really present any good arguments for their attempts to take over the town making it significantly worse, either. The libertarians appeared to choose Grafton because it was already somewhat amenable to libertarian ideals. The aforementioned Donut Lady is a local. As are many of the other Grafton residents who were profiled and who favored smaller government, deregulation, and not paying taxes.
Which brings us to the bears. We learn that it’s not just Grafton that has a bear problem. The entire state of New Hampshire is rife with bears. Some of that problem stems from the fact that New Hampshire is kind of libertarian in its general political outlook and doesn’t provide adequet resources to its bear problems. But mostly there’s a lot of bears in New Hampshire because there’s a lot of bears in all of New England. Some of the New England states put more resources towards dealing with the bears and those states tend to have less bear problems. But many of the fascinating historical accounts that we get in the book focus on the fact that bears have always been a problem in the area. I was particularly fond of the story of “Old Slippery Skin.”
Small, rural towns are weird. And they’re usually populated with weird people who have weird interests and get up to all sorts of weird behavior. A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the story of a weird town that had some weird people move in and try to take over. The town’s problems existed before the attempted takeover and exist to this day. Perhaps the most puzzling part, given the desire of both the locals and the libertarians to not pay taxes, is the fact that Grafton pays taxes at around the same level as all of the surrounding towns.
I guess ultimately I don’t know what the point of the book was. The title and the media push would suggest that it’s a takedown of the failure of the Free Town Project. Hongoltz-Hetling seems to view the libertarians as villains here; and, honestly, they’re a disagreeable sort whom I found easy to dislike. But the book doesn’t make a successful argument that Grafton would’ve been fine if not for those silly fools who invaded. Seems like Grafton has spent over two hundred years trying to chew off its own leg.
Recommended to people who enjoy profiles of interesting people and colonial history. Avoid if lack of truth in advertising offends.
Ahoy there me mateys! This be a book three. While I try to post no spoilers, if ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .
Book one was a popcorn book of awesome but book two didn't completely work for me. However, I still wanted to read book three which ended up floating me boat. These books are crazy and over-the-top and fun. I don't normally find anything funny about meth use. Well not until Teagan gets involved anyway!
If I thought Teagan was crazy in the other two books, she ups her game in this one. The China Shop team is also fragmenting due to the stress and events of the previous books. Each book could be read as a standalone but I recommend starting from the beginning because watching the character relationships evolve is fascinating. This brings humanity into this otherwise unbelievable storyline. And I happen to love all the characters.
I can't tell ye too much about the plot other than it involves super powers dealing with electricity, the L.A. river, a biker gang, fried chicken, the aftermath of the big earthquake, sabotage, and Teagan going rogue. I can tell ye that I be excited for book four. Especially after that ending. Arrrr!
Book one was a popcorn book of awesome but book two didn't completely work for me. However, I still wanted to read book three which ended up floating me boat. These books are crazy and over-the-top and fun. I don't normally find anything funny about meth use. Well not until Teagan gets involved anyway!
If I thought Teagan was crazy in the other two books, she ups her game in this one. The China Shop team is also fragmenting due to the stress and events of the previous books. Each book could be read as a standalone but I recommend starting from the beginning because watching the character relationships evolve is fascinating. This brings humanity into this otherwise unbelievable storyline. And I happen to love all the characters.
I can't tell ye too much about the plot other than it involves super powers dealing with electricity, the L.A. river, a biker gang, fried chicken, the aftermath of the big earthquake, sabotage, and Teagan going rogue. I can tell ye that I be excited for book four. Especially after that ending. Arrrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! This series deals with dragons and chocolate so of course I had to read it. I binged this series and loved it. Who doesn't love the themes of embracing who ye are and finding yer own inner strengths. Here be me thoughts.
the dragon with the chocolate heart
This book made me salty heart sing with its awesomeness. This is the story of young dragon Aventurine who is determined to prove how fierce she is by sneaking out of the family cave. Only the first human she tries to catch turns her into a human girl! Using enchanted hot chocolate! Aventurine's inadvertently discovers that chocolate is her passion but then has to figure out how to survive the new world she finds herself in.
I adored Aventurine. I adored her dragon family. I adored her found family. I loved watching her navigate the human world and her very dragony thoughts about it. I loved the ending. Basically this was a perfect read for me. One of the best parts about it is a scene where an adult takes responsibility for problems that occur and apologizes. Children take responsibility for things outside of their control sometimes and this book deals with that in a lovely way. I just loved this moment of reality in a book where children still save the day. And I wanted to eat all the chocolate.
the girl with the dragon heart
The second book follows Silke who is Adventurine's best human friend. Silke is a natural born storyteller who likes to adopt other roles. She is brought in as a spy to the royal family when fairies come along. But she has a mission of her own when it comes to dealing with the fairies.
This was very enjoyable but me least favorite of the bunch. I just wasn't as thrilled with the fae aspects and Silke's bumbling around. Silke was just a little too focused on her own quest to the detriment of others. In the first book she seemed so capable and this book seemed to go against the character traits of the first book. Of course it all works out. I loved Adventurine in this book too.
the princess who flew with dragons
This was me second favorite of the series. Princess Sofia is coerced into a diplomatic mission in a neighboring kingdom. She doesn't want to go. Sofia has always had problems fulfilling her royal duties and relating to others and the events of book two have made her terrified to face the larger world. And of course, her mission goes wrong right from the start.
And how it goes wrong is so delightful that I was laughing out loud. The first carriage ride is stunningly horrible and funny. Of course with her mission in tatters, Sofia decides to use the time to do what she wants to do. And what she wants to do it be a student at university. It is there that Sofia is exposed to bigger ideas about the world and the people in it. And how her life of privilege has kept her blind despite all the books she has studied. Then ice giants attack and Sofia has to save the day. This book had lovely messages about friendship, forgiveness, and working together. I loved it.
the short stories
I was delighted to find that the author has three short stories set in the world available on her website. Of course I had to read these too. One is a prequel about Citrine, Aventurine’s disapproving older sister! Citrine gets revenge for her younger siblings trick. Short and fun. Another is a story about Marina and Horst, the chocolatiers, and how they met and started their future together. It was sweet. And then Silke's brother, Dieter, got his own mission. It was lovely to see what happened to Dieter after his world was turned upside down by the events of book two.
I loved this series and need to read more of Stephanie Burgis' work. Arrr!
the dragon with the chocolate heart
This book made me salty heart sing with its awesomeness. This is the story of young dragon Aventurine who is determined to prove how fierce she is by sneaking out of the family cave. Only the first human she tries to catch turns her into a human girl! Using enchanted hot chocolate! Aventurine's inadvertently discovers that chocolate is her passion but then has to figure out how to survive the new world she finds herself in.
I adored Aventurine. I adored her dragon family. I adored her found family. I loved watching her navigate the human world and her very dragony thoughts about it. I loved the ending. Basically this was a perfect read for me. One of the best parts about it is a scene where an adult takes responsibility for problems that occur and apologizes. Children take responsibility for things outside of their control sometimes and this book deals with that in a lovely way. I just loved this moment of reality in a book where children still save the day. And I wanted to eat all the chocolate.
the girl with the dragon heart
The second book follows Silke who is Adventurine's best human friend. Silke is a natural born storyteller who likes to adopt other roles. She is brought in as a spy to the royal family when fairies come along. But she has a mission of her own when it comes to dealing with the fairies.
This was very enjoyable but me least favorite of the bunch. I just wasn't as thrilled with the fae aspects and Silke's bumbling around. Silke was just a little too focused on her own quest to the detriment of others. In the first book she seemed so capable and this book seemed to go against the character traits of the first book. Of course it all works out. I loved Adventurine in this book too.
the princess who flew with dragons
This was me second favorite of the series. Princess Sofia is coerced into a diplomatic mission in a neighboring kingdom. She doesn't want to go. Sofia has always had problems fulfilling her royal duties and relating to others and the events of book two have made her terrified to face the larger world. And of course, her mission goes wrong right from the start.
And how it goes wrong is so delightful that I was laughing out loud. The first carriage ride is stunningly horrible and funny. Of course with her mission in tatters, Sofia decides to use the time to do what she wants to do. And what she wants to do it be a student at university. It is there that Sofia is exposed to bigger ideas about the world and the people in it. And how her life of privilege has kept her blind despite all the books she has studied. Then ice giants attack and Sofia has to save the day. This book had lovely messages about friendship, forgiveness, and working together. I loved it.
the short stories
I was delighted to find that the author has three short stories set in the world available on her website. Of course I had to read these too. One is a prequel about Citrine, Aventurine’s disapproving older sister! Citrine gets revenge for her younger siblings trick. Short and fun. Another is a story about Marina and Horst, the chocolatiers, and how they met and started their future together. It was sweet. And then Silke's brother, Dieter, got his own mission. It was lovely to see what happened to Dieter after his world was turned upside down by the events of book two.
I loved this series and need to read more of Stephanie Burgis' work. Arrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! This series deals with dragons and chocolate so of course I had to read it. I binged this series and loved it. Who doesn't love the themes of embracing who ye are and finding yer own inner strengths. Here be me thoughts.
the dragon with the chocolate heart
This book made me salty heart sing with its awesomeness. This is the story of young dragon Aventurine who is determined to prove how fierce she is by sneaking out of the family cave. Only the first human she tries to catch turns her into a human girl! Using enchanted hot chocolate! Aventurine's inadvertently discovers that chocolate is her passion but then has to figure out how to survive the new world she finds herself in.
I adored Aventurine. I adored her dragon family. I adored her found family. I loved watching her navigate the human world and her very dragony thoughts about it. I loved the ending. Basically this was a perfect read for me. One of the best parts about it is a scene where an adult takes responsibility for problems that occur and apologizes. Children take responsibility for things outside of their control sometimes and this book deals with that in a lovely way. I just loved this moment of reality in a book where children still save the day. And I wanted to eat all the chocolate.
the girl with the dragon heart
The second book follows Silke who is Adventurine's best human friend. Silke is a natural born storyteller who likes to adopt other roles. She is brought in as a spy to the royal family when fairies come along. But she has a mission of her own when it comes to dealing with the fairies.
This was very enjoyable but me least favorite of the bunch. I just wasn't as thrilled with the fae aspects and Silke's bumbling around. Silke was just a little too focused on her own quest to the detriment of others. In the first book she seemed so capable and this book seemed to go against the character traits of the first book. Of course it all works out. I loved Adventurine in this book too.
the princess who flew with dragons
This was me second favorite of the series. Princess Sofia is coerced into a diplomatic mission in a neighboring kingdom. She doesn't want to go. Sofia has always had problems fulfilling her royal duties and relating to others and the events of book two have made her terrified to face the larger world. And of course, her mission goes wrong right from the start.
And how it goes wrong is so delightful that I was laughing out loud. The first carriage ride is stunningly horrible and funny. Of course with her mission in tatters, Sofia decides to use the time to do what she wants to do. And what she wants to do it be a student at university. It is there that Sofia is exposed to bigger ideas about the world and the people in it. And how her life of privilege has kept her blind despite all the books she has studied. Then ice giants attack and Sofia has to save the day. This book had lovely messages about friendship, forgiveness, and working together. I loved it.
the short stories
I was delighted to find that the author has three short stories set in the world available on her website. Of course I had to read these too. One is a prequel about Citrine, Aventurine’s disapproving older sister! Citrine gets revenge for her younger siblings trick. Short and fun. Another is a story about Marina and Horst, the chocolatiers, and how they met and started their future together. It was sweet. And then Silke's brother, Dieter, got his own mission. It was lovely to see what happened to Dieter after his world was turned upside down by the events of book two.
I loved this series and need to read more of Stephanie Burgis' work. Arrr!
the dragon with the chocolate heart
This book made me salty heart sing with its awesomeness. This is the story of young dragon Aventurine who is determined to prove how fierce she is by sneaking out of the family cave. Only the first human she tries to catch turns her into a human girl! Using enchanted hot chocolate! Aventurine's inadvertently discovers that chocolate is her passion but then has to figure out how to survive the new world she finds herself in.
I adored Aventurine. I adored her dragon family. I adored her found family. I loved watching her navigate the human world and her very dragony thoughts about it. I loved the ending. Basically this was a perfect read for me. One of the best parts about it is a scene where an adult takes responsibility for problems that occur and apologizes. Children take responsibility for things outside of their control sometimes and this book deals with that in a lovely way. I just loved this moment of reality in a book where children still save the day. And I wanted to eat all the chocolate.
the girl with the dragon heart
The second book follows Silke who is Adventurine's best human friend. Silke is a natural born storyteller who likes to adopt other roles. She is brought in as a spy to the royal family when fairies come along. But she has a mission of her own when it comes to dealing with the fairies.
This was very enjoyable but me least favorite of the bunch. I just wasn't as thrilled with the fae aspects and Silke's bumbling around. Silke was just a little too focused on her own quest to the detriment of others. In the first book she seemed so capable and this book seemed to go against the character traits of the first book. Of course it all works out. I loved Adventurine in this book too.
the princess who flew with dragons
This was me second favorite of the series. Princess Sofia is coerced into a diplomatic mission in a neighboring kingdom. She doesn't want to go. Sofia has always had problems fulfilling her royal duties and relating to others and the events of book two have made her terrified to face the larger world. And of course, her mission goes wrong right from the start.
And how it goes wrong is so delightful that I was laughing out loud. The first carriage ride is stunningly horrible and funny. Of course with her mission in tatters, Sofia decides to use the time to do what she wants to do. And what she wants to do it be a student at university. It is there that Sofia is exposed to bigger ideas about the world and the people in it. And how her life of privilege has kept her blind despite all the books she has studied. Then ice giants attack and Sofia has to save the day. This book had lovely messages about friendship, forgiveness, and working together. I loved it.
the short stories
I was delighted to find that the author has three short stories set in the world available on her website. Of course I had to read these too. One is a prequel about Citrine, Aventurine’s disapproving older sister! Citrine gets revenge for her younger siblings trick. Short and fun. Another is a story about Marina and Horst, the chocolatiers, and how they met and started their future together. It was sweet. And then Silke's brother, Dieter, got his own mission. It was lovely to see what happened to Dieter after his world was turned upside down by the events of book two.
I loved this series and need to read more of Stephanie Burgis' work. Arrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! This series deals with dragons and chocolate so of course I had to read it. I binged this series and loved it. Who doesn't love the themes of embracing who ye are and finding yer own inner strengths. Here be me thoughts.
the dragon with the chocolate heart
This book made me salty heart sing with its awesomeness. This is the story of young dragon Aventurine who is determined to prove how fierce she is by sneaking out of the family cave. Only the first human she tries to catch turns her into a human girl! Using enchanted hot chocolate! Aventurine's inadvertently discovers that chocolate is her passion but then has to figure out how to survive the new world she finds herself in.
I adored Aventurine. I adored her dragon family. I adored her found family. I loved watching her navigate the human world and her very dragony thoughts about it. I loved the ending. Basically this was a perfect read for me. One of the best parts about it is a scene where an adult takes responsibility for problems that occur and apologizes. Children take responsibility for things outside of their control sometimes and this book deals with that in a lovely way. I just loved this moment of reality in a book where children still save the day. And I wanted to eat all the chocolate.
the girl with the dragon heart
The second book follows Silke who is Adventurine's best human friend. Silke is a natural born storyteller who likes to adopt other roles. She is brought in as a spy to the royal family when fairies come along. But she has a mission of her own when it comes to dealing with the fairies.
This was very enjoyable but me least favorite of the bunch. I just wasn't as thrilled with the fae aspects and Silke's bumbling around. Silke was just a little too focused on her own quest to the detriment of others. In the first book she seemed so capable and this book seemed to go against the character traits of the first book. Of course it all works out. I loved Adventurine in this book too.
the princess who flew with dragons
This was me second favorite of the series. Princess Sofia is coerced into a diplomatic mission in a neighboring kingdom. She doesn't want to go. Sofia has always had problems fulfilling her royal duties and relating to others and the events of book two have made her terrified to face the larger world. And of course, her mission goes wrong right from the start.
And how it goes wrong is so delightful that I was laughing out loud. The first carriage ride is stunningly horrible and funny. Of course with her mission in tatters, Sofia decides to use the time to do what she wants to do. And what she wants to do it be a student at university. It is there that Sofia is exposed to bigger ideas about the world and the people in it. And how her life of privilege has kept her blind despite all the books she has studied. Then ice giants attack and Sofia has to save the day. This book had lovely messages about friendship, forgiveness, and working together. I loved it.
the short stories
I was delighted to find that the author has three short stories set in the world available on her website. Of course I had to read these too. One is a prequel about Citrine, Aventurine’s disapproving older sister! Citrine gets revenge for her younger siblings trick. Short and fun. Another is a story about Marina and Horst, the chocolatiers, and how they met and started their future together. It was sweet. And then Silke's brother, Dieter, got his own mission. It was lovely to see what happened to Dieter after his world was turned upside down by the events of book two.
I loved this series and need to read more of Stephanie Burgis' work. Arrr!
the dragon with the chocolate heart
This book made me salty heart sing with its awesomeness. This is the story of young dragon Aventurine who is determined to prove how fierce she is by sneaking out of the family cave. Only the first human she tries to catch turns her into a human girl! Using enchanted hot chocolate! Aventurine's inadvertently discovers that chocolate is her passion but then has to figure out how to survive the new world she finds herself in.
I adored Aventurine. I adored her dragon family. I adored her found family. I loved watching her navigate the human world and her very dragony thoughts about it. I loved the ending. Basically this was a perfect read for me. One of the best parts about it is a scene where an adult takes responsibility for problems that occur and apologizes. Children take responsibility for things outside of their control sometimes and this book deals with that in a lovely way. I just loved this moment of reality in a book where children still save the day. And I wanted to eat all the chocolate.
the girl with the dragon heart
The second book follows Silke who is Adventurine's best human friend. Silke is a natural born storyteller who likes to adopt other roles. She is brought in as a spy to the royal family when fairies come along. But she has a mission of her own when it comes to dealing with the fairies.
This was very enjoyable but me least favorite of the bunch. I just wasn't as thrilled with the fae aspects and Silke's bumbling around. Silke was just a little too focused on her own quest to the detriment of others. In the first book she seemed so capable and this book seemed to go against the character traits of the first book. Of course it all works out. I loved Adventurine in this book too.
the princess who flew with dragons
This was me second favorite of the series. Princess Sofia is coerced into a diplomatic mission in a neighboring kingdom. She doesn't want to go. Sofia has always had problems fulfilling her royal duties and relating to others and the events of book two have made her terrified to face the larger world. And of course, her mission goes wrong right from the start.
And how it goes wrong is so delightful that I was laughing out loud. The first carriage ride is stunningly horrible and funny. Of course with her mission in tatters, Sofia decides to use the time to do what she wants to do. And what she wants to do it be a student at university. It is there that Sofia is exposed to bigger ideas about the world and the people in it. And how her life of privilege has kept her blind despite all the books she has studied. Then ice giants attack and Sofia has to save the day. This book had lovely messages about friendship, forgiveness, and working together. I loved it.
the short stories
I was delighted to find that the author has three short stories set in the world available on her website. Of course I had to read these too. One is a prequel about Citrine, Aventurine’s disapproving older sister! Citrine gets revenge for her younger siblings trick. Short and fun. Another is a story about Marina and Horst, the chocolatiers, and how they met and started their future together. It was sweet. And then Silke's brother, Dieter, got his own mission. It was lovely to see what happened to Dieter after his world was turned upside down by the events of book two.
I loved this series and need to read more of Stephanie Burgis' work. Arrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received an eArc of this sci-fi novel through NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings . . .
This book was frustrating for me. The first in a new series, there are some fun concepts involved but the structure, plot, and characters had problems.
The story follow Eryn whose sister is exploring a new planet and then goes missing. Eryn wants to rescue her but gets pulled into fighting a large alien menace that threatens humankind.
The highlight of the book for me was the concept of the arks which are generational spaceships. Humanity was about to self-destruct when an alien swoops in to save the planet. Humans are allowed to live because of their potential but are forbidden to settle on any other planet. I enjoyed how the arks evolved and the personalities of the AIs. The aliens in charge were rather cool in how they were set up and their basic indifference towards humanity's concerns. Oh and there is a talking cat. I liked him too.
I did not really like Eryn. Her angsty backstory was lame and I thought she was rather shallow and flat as a character. And she was the most well rounded of the book. The other characters felt like stereotypes. And a very large segment of characters existed briefly only to be quickly killed later. Of course the one person that does survive is for the unnecessary and boring love story.
I also felt that the backstory, told in a series of flashbacks from other points of view, were rather lackluster. These sections felt tacked on into the plot and were a bit boring. Ultimately, I feel that the concepts of the book were very fun but there were so many ideas introduced and explored that the plot and characterization suffered. I am not sure if I will read more of this series. Arrr!
This book was frustrating for me. The first in a new series, there are some fun concepts involved but the structure, plot, and characters had problems.
The story follow Eryn whose sister is exploring a new planet and then goes missing. Eryn wants to rescue her but gets pulled into fighting a large alien menace that threatens humankind.
The highlight of the book for me was the concept of the arks which are generational spaceships. Humanity was about to self-destruct when an alien swoops in to save the planet. Humans are allowed to live because of their potential but are forbidden to settle on any other planet. I enjoyed how the arks evolved and the personalities of the AIs. The aliens in charge were rather cool in how they were set up and their basic indifference towards humanity's concerns. Oh and there is a talking cat. I liked him too.
I did not really like Eryn. Her angsty backstory was lame and I thought she was rather shallow and flat as a character. And she was the most well rounded of the book. The other characters felt like stereotypes. And a very large segment of characters existed briefly only to be quickly killed later. Of course the one person that does survive is for the unnecessary and boring love story.
I also felt that the backstory, told in a series of flashbacks from other points of view, were rather lackluster. These sections felt tacked on into the plot and were a bit boring. Ultimately, I feel that the concepts of the book were very fun but there were so many ideas introduced and explored that the plot and characterization suffered. I am not sure if I will read more of this series. Arrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received a copy of this historical fantasy novella eArc from NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings . . .
Horses were me first love before the sea stole me heart. And I loved Iceland when I visited there. So of course this novella was a must read. And I truly enjoyed it.
This story is set in the 9th century and follows Eyvind of Eyri as he travels from Helmgard to Mongolia with a trading caravan. Once there he finds sturdy horses and aims to bring them back to Iceland. This is a slow paced journey that has the feeling of the parts of the Icelandic sagas that I have read.
The horses are in the later portion of the story but the main takeaway is Eyvind's journey and the people and different cultures he meets along the way. I found Eyvind to be a thoughtful and lovely character. There are evocative magical elements dealing with ghosts and other beliefs. Overall the writing style was wonderful and loved it. I just wish it had been a little longer because it ended too quickly.
I will certainly be trying more of this author's work. Arrrr!
Horses were me first love before the sea stole me heart. And I loved Iceland when I visited there. So of course this novella was a must read. And I truly enjoyed it.
This story is set in the 9th century and follows Eyvind of Eyri as he travels from Helmgard to Mongolia with a trading caravan. Once there he finds sturdy horses and aims to bring them back to Iceland. This is a slow paced journey that has the feeling of the parts of the Icelandic sagas that I have read.
The horses are in the later portion of the story but the main takeaway is Eyvind's journey and the people and different cultures he meets along the way. I found Eyvind to be a thoughtful and lovely character. There are evocative magical elements dealing with ghosts and other beliefs. Overall the writing style was wonderful and loved it. I just wish it had been a little longer because it ended too quickly.
I will certainly be trying more of this author's work. Arrrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received an eArc of this sci-fi novella through NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings . . .
This novella reminds me of why I need to read more of Tchaikovsky's work. I might not have any idea where the story is going but I always enjoy the experience.
This is written in second person which took some getting used to. It follows Torquell, a headman's son, on his inadvertent hero's journey to fight the ogres i.e. Masters. There is a blend of dystopian, fairy tales (both ogres and Robin Hood), social commentary, and some humor.
I really enjoyed getting to read about Torquell's life and exploits. I also really enjoyed the ogress Isadora and her assistant Minith. The evolving plot kept me intrigued and I really loved the ending. Recommended for sure. Arrr!
This novella reminds me of why I need to read more of Tchaikovsky's work. I might not have any idea where the story is going but I always enjoy the experience.
This is written in second person which took some getting used to. It follows Torquell, a headman's son, on his inadvertent hero's journey to fight the ogres i.e. Masters. There is a blend of dystopian, fairy tales (both ogres and Robin Hood), social commentary, and some humor.
I really enjoyed getting to read about Torquell's life and exploits. I also really enjoyed the ogress Isadora and her assistant Minith. The evolving plot kept me intrigued and I really loved the ending. Recommended for sure. Arrr!