Review: Succumb

★★★★☆

One word: Intense. Not one word can describe this book accurately even remotely, but intense comes close. 

The blurb from Goodreads:

For years Seraphina Gaelach has resisted being part of the Alvöru she was born into. After an abusive childhood, Phin thought she left the days of being a helpless victim behind and taken control of her life. All that changed the night Sebastian Maviper, High Lord of the Alvöru, decided to claim her.
Three years later, by reuniting with an old friend who is like a brother to her, Phin’s life is put in peril and she is dragged back into Sebastian's world. Can she forgive what he did to her?
Old enemies are stirring and uniting in an effort to control the Alvöru, and everyone in it. When they kidnap Granger and Phin as bait to lure Sebastian to their trap, Phin must make decisions and alliances that will potentially destroy all those she cares about.

Review: The Furies' Bog

★★☆☆☆

This was everything I expected and on the other hand nothing like I expected. The blurb promises a lot, it's maybe a bit too ambitious. 

The story is told in two different settings: The first one on Earth, where a group of scientists try to unearth bodies from a bog in the middle of nowhere, and the other on Mars, where three astronauts who just mostly hate each other decide to land unauthorized on Mars. And how do these two settings connect? The synopsis says the bog is the answer but in the end, it didn't really seem like it. The two settings felt too separate, and sometimes I couldn't help but wonder that why there were the two different groups? Why not just build the story around one of the groups?

Review: The Chronicles of Henry Harper

'' My name is Henry Harper and I am nobody important. ''

 ★★★★☆

We all know those main characters who state in the beginning of their story that they are not important. That no matter how many princes and princesses they have rescued and worlds saved, they still think so little of themselves. Henry Harper is exactly the epitome of those. Despite travelling through space to the unknown and achieving the impossible again and again.

The book contains exactly what it says on the cover, The Chronicles of Henry Harper. He accounts his own life story in a series of short stories told in third-person narrative. There is his own commentary before and after each story in first-person.

Review: Holding on to Hurt

'' But we cannot give up hope. We've got to hold on to even the tiniest sliver of hope. We have to. ''

★★★★★

To what you compare the grief and sorrow of losing someone close to you? Most people can't find any comparisons but would talk about the memories of the past and the missed opportunities of the future. There isn't a thing you can compare it to. And that is what Holding on to Hurt is all about. Experiencing grief, trying to cope with the reality of the situation, and fear of losing hope.

The story is told through Irene Hurt's eyes. She is the wife of Bruce Hurt and a loving mother to Scott. Then one day her worst fears come through: Scott is in the hospital because of a school shooting. And after his surgery, he is not waking up.

The book explores the question what if and why a lot. It won't give answers to any of them, but it really, really makes you think. I haven't experienced this kind of sorrow in my life yet, but all of us will face it sometime in our lives. This story really brings out the hard side of the situation. No making things pretty and that is one of the most beautiful aspects of this book. There is no holding back with the narration, every emotion is displayed in its rawness.

News and Currently Reading

Hi everyone,
Long time no see. Okay, not that long time. Anyway. It's been a while since I've written anything but reviews here, so I thought to pop in and say hi.

I'm living exciting times now with a huge change coming into my life in just a couple of weeks. I'll tell more about that later when I know more about my schedules and all. I give you a hint, my future includes many hours away from home and up in the air.

So, I have been busy because of the change and haven't had time to read so much so I have fallen way behind on my reading and reviewing schedule. This is not a good thing since I have so many books waiting in line for their turn and missing one review delays all those coming after. Now that I am whole three books behind, one could say I am treading on thin ice. Worry not. I will be doing all the reviews as fast as possible.

Review: Two Hundred Very Short Stories

★★★★☆

 This collection of short stories is very true to its name. All the stories, with the exception of a very few, can be read in a just couple of minutes or less. 

Though the book is a combination of different stories the subject tend all to lean towards the miracles of life: birth, love, tragedies, and death. How one person's decision to stop and help the one in need may be a life-changing turn for both of them. How a tragedy can lead to happiness and happiness plummet to tragedy. Life changes quickly without us noticing it immediately and that's what this collection made me very aware of.

Although many of the stories were not happy or ended well, reading wasn't too hard. Sometimes a very emotional book is hard and slow to read and thus can't be read at your normal speed. This wasn't the case. The things that will slow you down are the gaps. You don't get to know everything, so you have to make your own deductions, and sometimes, read the entire story again to realise the answers hidden between the lines.

This was a great read. Normally I am not a fan of short stories, never have been, but this did not disappoint me at all. And just look at the cover. Such a pretty thing. 😍

Review: A Strange Affair

★★★☆☆

This novella is around eighty pages so it's really, really quick to read. Those eighty pages just flew past.

Ellie is not the girl to pick up a guy from the bar and have a one night stand. She is the one to go to a bar, though. There she meets Aaron, the new guy from another company in the building she works. Neither of them can deny the attraction in the air. 

You follow the story from two different view points: Ellie's and Aaron's. Though the novella circles more around Ellie's thoughts. both the characters are rounded and thought out well. They are portrayed from the beginning till the end as the same. Not too big dramatic changes with either of them.

The thing that I needed more was details. I understand that this is a novella and not a full three-hundred-page novel, but still, there was something more I missed. Anyway, this was fun to read and I might pick up something else from this author in the future too!

Review: Hatching Charlie: A Psychotherapist's Tale

''Each of us lives a life of illusion as the protagonist in his or her own often too polished and too edited personal play. I have no qualms with this. We can each have our truth. The important thing is to leave room for the truths of others.''

 

★★☆☆☆

 Originally, picked this book up because of my interest in the human brain and psychology. When looking into that aspect of the 'why' I really liked what the book had to offer. Theories and deductions based on those. The author goes through his life systematically from his early years to the present date reflecting everything he has learned in school and during his career. He makes connections and between different phases of his life completing what to a armchair psychologist appears to be a full detailed analysis of his life.

The entire book is gripping and easy to read, so you don't have to have a masters degree in psychology to understand it.

Then to the reason why the book dropped from my original four-star rating to a two. Some books have a great narrating. The narrator takes the reader to a journey and let's the reader be a part of the book in some way. Hatching Charlie felt more like a 450-page-monologue. The style of narrating fits better to a bit shorter works because the author's own voice dominates the story too much. The reader, in most cases, just sits on the sidelines. And that is why in the end got only two stars.

I would recommend this to those who find psychology interesting and is not too much bothered by the style of it's written.

While writing the last sentence, a thought popped into my mind: Since the author's voice is so strong and recognisable throughout the book, this would make an amazing audio book. Just sayin'.

Review: Alpha Landon

★★★★☆

Procrastinating seems to be the one thing I'm best at. But with the not so gentle push from my friend, and here I am, writing the reviews that have piled up in the past few weeks.

Alpha Landon was the first book I read from Midika Crane (long ago on Wattpad). This wasn't her best book, but great nonetheless.

The story follows Althea and the Alpha of Power Pack, Landon. Landon hasn't morphed into an Alpha wolf yet in the beginning of the story. When he does, his outer appearance changes drastically. Gone is his geeky outlook and lanky frame instead pure muscle and power reveals itself. 

Althea has had a crush on Landon for years now. She hasn't told about her feelings to Landon and wasn't even planning to. After Landon's transformation, he starts to act differently towards Althea, implying that he might have some feelings towards her. At the same time, Althea is courted by other eligible wolves from her pack.