April 2016 Reads

Took me 11 days into May, but I managed to review every book bar one, of which I only wrote a paragraph (see below).

Francesca Haig: The Map of Bones: 4 stars: Review
Cyn Balog: Dead River: 3 stars
Kelley Armstrong: Forsaken: 3 stars: Review
Meg Cabot: Proposal: 3 stars: Review
Cassie Alexander: Bloodshifted: 4 stars: Review
Sara Zarr: Story of a Girl: 3 stars: Review
Lisa Tucker: The Promised World: 3 stars: Review
Sylvia Day: One with You: 2 stars: Review

DEAD RIVER
CONTENT WARNING: Suicide and suicidal attempts. Grief. Drowning. Murder. I’d forgot this was paranormal, and went in expecting a contemporary thriller. A teen girl hates camping and the outdoors, yet still agrees to on a white water rafting weekend with her boyfriend, her best friend, and a tag-along. It does not go well. She falls out, drowns, but is rescued by a guy who’s…a ghost or something. And there’s this other ghost, and it’s all very confusing and nonsensical. But the only way the girl can access the ghostworld – namely the ghost of her dead mother – is by drowning. Yes, it gets a bit suicidal. The rafting is interesting, and the grief regarding her mother is relatable, but the paranormal element is a fail, and that epilogue is ugh.

[REVIEW] The Map of Bones – Francesca Haig

Francesca Haig
The Map of Bones (The Fire Sermon, Book 2)
HarperCollins Voyager (AU: 1st April 2016; UK: 7th April 2016); Simon & Schuster Gallery (US & CA: 6th December 2016)
Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (CA Paperback) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

CONTENT WARNING: The world is very ableist: the whole concept of Alphas and Omegas, and how Omegas are treated. Also, if you’re pregnant, you may want to skip Chapter 17.

The problem with reading a sequel more than a year after its predecessor is that my memory sucks. OK, my memory sucks anyway – a month after reading a book, I may have already forgotten character names. (And reviewing The Map of Bones a month after I read it, my recall is failing.) But I digress.

For the first 100 pages of The Map of Bones, I didn’t know where the characters were going and why. And when they formed some kind of army and invaded a town, I didn’t understand that, either.

But the best part of the novel is when Cass and Piper find the Maze of Bones, and journey underground. It’s dangerous, creepy, and claustrophobic, and what they find in there – and how they struggle to exit – are jaw-dropping scenes of brilliance. These books so far are at their best when they fall on the science part of the spec-fic spectrum. (The epic/high fantasy journeying doesn’t work for me.)

Even when confused about the story, one thing is always certain: Zoe is awesome. Unfortunately, the novel’s from Cass’s point of view, but Zoe is still the best. We learn more about her backstory here. And she goes out on a mission that could change the lives of the Omegas forever…

April 2016 Releases

Done with March 2016 Releases? Here are April 2016 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

March 2016 Releases

Done with February 2016 Releases? Here are March 2016 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

4 New Covers (Braun, Etienne, Gaither, Haig)

4 New Covers (Haig, Roux, Thompson, Wasserman)