Lyrical, Mystical and Sensual Writing // ARC REVIEW: Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt

Title: Invitation to a Bonfire
Author: Adrienne Celt
Publication Date: July 12th 2018
Publisher: Raven Books (Bloomsbury)
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Books A Million || Google Books

Blurb Description: A seductive, sensual and sinister love triangle set in 1930s America and inspired by the infamous Nabokov marriage
Zoya Andropova, a young Russian refugee, finds herself in an elite New Jersey boarding school. Having lost her family, her home and her sense of purpose, Zoya struggles to belong, a task made more difficult by her new country's paranoia about Soviet spies. 
When she meets charismatic fellow Russian émigré Leo Orlov – whose books Zoya has obsessed over for years – everything seems to change. But she soon discovers that Leo is bound by the sinister orchestrations of his brilliant wife, Vera, and that their relationship is far more complex than Zoya could ever have imagined.

“I wanted you dead. You put flame to paper. We both had our reasons, didn’t we?”

It took me a WHILE to get into this book. In fact, I picked it up and dropped it a few times before I managed to get invested enough that I simply had to read till the ending.

Invitation to a Bonfire was a highly bizarre book, told through letters and journal entries from different points of view, in a non-linear style that it took me a while to enjoy, but I ultimately did. Let me break it down so I can explain it better:

PLOT:

Zoe Andropova is an orphan from Soviet Russia, brought to the United States on a ship filled with orphans and enrolled in a girl’s school. The story is told half from her point of view, and half from a celebrated author of Russian origin, Lev Orlov. Even though we don’t hear from Vera, Lev’s wife, I feel like we get to know her, both through Zoe and Lev’s descriptions of her. Invitation to a Bonfire is a story of the past, entwined with the present.

CHARACTERS:

I feel like I knew a LOT about Lev, Zoe and Vera, and still nothing at all. They were monotone characters, with singular purposes and yet, made all the sense in the world as well rounded people.

WRITING:

If there’s one thing I KNOW I loved, it was Adrienne Celt’s writing. It was deep, sensual, haunting, lyrical and gorgeous all at the same time, and without the mystical tinge to it all, I probably wouldn’t have liked this book at all.

CONCLUSION:

Truth be told, I’m CONFUSED as to what I feel about this book. I struggled to connect with it, and, then, as soon as I did, the story was over. I feel like we were left at the edge of a cliff, with so many unanswered questions about Lev, Zoe and Vera just left hanging in the air and yet, the story had come to an end.

In a nutshell, I got a piece of literature completely contradictory to both my expectations and predictions, and maybe that’s what the best mystery novels do, but it also all feels just incomplete and needless to a degree, especially the REASON behind the killing of one of the three in main characters.

DO I KNOW I’M BEING CONFUSING? YES. But ‘confused’ accurately describes what I feel about this book, even a week after I put it down.

Would I recommend this book? If you’re looking for something to completely defy what you think you expect from it, definitely. 

Adrienne Celt is a writer, cartoonist, and avid reader living in Tucson. Her debut novel THE DAUGHTERS won the 2015 PEN Southwest Book Award and was shortlisted for the 2016 Crawford Award. Her second novel, INVITATION TO A BONFIRE will be published in June 2018.

Winner of a 2016 O. Henry Prize, her short fiction and essays have appeared in Esquire, The Kenyon Review, Epoch, Zyzzyva, Ecotone, The Tin House Open Bar, Prairie Schooner, Electric Literature, The Lit Hub, and many other places. Also a cartoonist, her comics have been published by The Rumpus, The Toast, Bat City Review, Broad! Magazine, The Southeast Review, and other places, as well as appearing on her weekly webcomic: loveamongthelampreys.com. A collection of her comics, APOCALYPSE HOW? AN EXISTENTIAL BESTIARY was published in 2016.

What are some of your favourite mystery novels?
Have you read Invitation to a Bonfire? What did you think of it?

 

Witty, Sharp and Sassy - I NEED MORE // REVIEW: Swear You Won't Tell? by Vedashree Khambete Sharma

Title: Swear You Won't Tell?
Author: Vedashree Khambete Sharma
Publication Date: March 25th 2018
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Harper Collins India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Flipkart || Infibeam || Google Books

Blurb Description: When Mumbai Daily journalist Avantika Pandit is asked to interview her childhood nemesis Aisha Juneja, she knows it'll like an express bikini wax - painful, but quick. Then Laxmi, her former best friend, shows up dead. And suddenly Avantika finds herself turning into the reporter she used to be - a nosy little newshound with the self-preservation instincts of a dodo. Now, she has to meet old acquaintances she'd hoped never to run into again, try to unravel the puzzle of Laxmi's death, and ask the questions nobody seems to be asking: Who is the man Laxmi was in love with? Why hasn't anybody heard of him? What does he have to do with her death? The answers could get her killed. But if the choice is between churning out listicles on handbags and death, dying might not be that bad after all. 

Actual Rating: 4.5 Stars

THINGS Swear You Won’t Tell? Contained:

-          A SASSY PROTAGONIST (Yes for sassy people)

-          Who also tackled Indian Society and the Patriarchy on so many fronts

-          And was also fearlessly trying to solve a murder-mystery

-          Some ADORABLE chemistry (and awkward moments)

-          A GENUINE male and female friendship (how do we not see more of this in books?)

-          DID I ALSO MENTION THAT THIS LADY’S HUMOUR AND SASS WAS ON POINT?

If you can’t already tell, I kind of LOVED this book.

When I first read about this book on a Harper Collins press release, I knew I had to get my hands on it somehow. I LOVE the murder mystery genre, but for some reason don’t read nearly enough as much as I’d like. Combine the genre with that beautiful cover and the praise it’s been getting, I knew it was a must read. I waited a matter of DAYS before picking it up from my TBR and diving in (*looks apologetically at the books that have been there since 2014*)

Swear You Won’t Tell was, in a nutshell, SUCH a fun book to read. Each time I picked it up, I simply did NOT want to put it down – it was THAT good. There was always something happening, I was rooting for the protagonist from the very first chapter, I let out laugh after laugh at her snarky disposition and her misfortune and honestly, this book made me CARE. I cared about the whodunit and the why and I wished Avantika Pandit got her happy(ish) ending. I cared about the secondary characters, what happened to Swati, about Avantika’s boss and even Ganesh, the Gandhian. (You HAVE to read this book!)

The only thing that I didn’t like – and the thing that’s stopping me from giving this book a five star rating is the flashback scenes to Avantika’s childhood. I felt like the writing suddenly turned a little awkward, and I just didn’t enjoy the scenes as much as I did with the present day ones.

All in all, Swear You Won’t Tell? Is a rambunctious, snarky witty little book with a true whodunit element that will leave you craving more. 4.5 stars.

Vedashree Khambete-Sharma is an award-winning copywriter in her mid-thirties. For the past twelve years, she has peddled everything from moisturisers to magazines, like some kind of a one-woman corner shop. 

She has contributed to several websites and blogs and is the author of the widely unrenowned novel There May Be An Asterisk Involved.

She lives in Mumbai with her husband, daughter and the niggling feeling that she should be writing more.

amazon.com/author/vedashreekhambete

What are some of your favourite murder mystery novels?

Whar are som eof your favourite novels with INDIAN characters/ by Indian Authors?

Which sassy literature character is your favourite?

 

ARC Review: Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier

Title: Isle of Blood and Stone
Author: Makiia Lucier
Publication Date: April 10th 2018
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1 on 2 of a Duology
I Got A Copy Through: HMH Teen (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Ulises asked, "How can I look at these maps, see this riddle, and do nothing? They are my brothers."
Elias reached across the table and flicked aside two shells with a fingertip. The map curled into itself. "It's bound to be a goose chase. You know that?"
"Or a treasure hunt," Ulises countered, "and you've always been good at those."
Nineteen-year-old Elias is a royal explorer, a skilled mapmaker, and the new king of del Mar's oldest friend. Soon he will embark on the adventure of a lifetime, an expedition past the Strait of Cain and into uncharted waters. Nothing stands in his way...until a long-ago tragedy creeps back into the light, threatening all he holds dear.
The people of St. John del Mar have never recovered from the loss of their boy princes, kidnapped eighteen years ago, both presumed dead. But when two maps surface, each bearing the same hidden riddle, troubling questions arise. What really happened to the young heirs? And why do the maps appear to be drawn by Lord Antoni, Elias's father, who vanished on that same fateful day? With the king's beautiful cousin by his side-whether he wants her there or not-Elias will race to solve the riddle of the princes. He will have to use his wits and guard his back. Because some truths are better left buried...and an unknown enemy stalks his every turn.

It’s been a while since I read anything an adventure/ mystery type of book that didn’t focus so much on a rebellion but more on a quest and a riddle, which is also why I was so excited about this book going in!

In all honesty, it took me forever to connect with all of the characters. On top of the main characters and the plot, there were also so many secondary characters, and LOCATIONS and well, it took me a while to connect and care about this world.

As soon as I did, however, Isle of Blood and Stone suddenly became a whole lot better. There was one clue after another coming to light, a fearless girl and hints of romance, actual political problems and betrayals and murder and I really liked it.

Let’s break it down:

IDEA:

I’ve never actually read a book about a cartographer, especially one set in a fantasy world, and I was SO INTRIGUED by the idea behind it all. I’ve loved books about solving clues and cases since I first read Nancy Drew and I was really looking forward to this book.

PLOT:

Like I said, it was a little difficult to connect with the world, despite the fact that I was excited to read the book. I find this happening so much more often with fantasy novels these days (Am I reading too much? Is there such a thing?) but after sticking to the book, I did manage to come out on the other side.

I really liked the plot structure, and all the secondary characters. I loved how Elias uncovered the conspiracy that started a war eighteen years ago, the map-making elements and the personal growth every character went through. I especially loved mundane things that built up the world in the book – small, political things that made everything so much more real.

CHARACTERS:

While I liked the characters (specifically Lady Mercedes and Lady Reyna) I didn’t fall in love with them. I liked their stories, and felt happy at their ending and liked the way they were grown, that essential spark was just missing.

I definitely liked Elias’ curious mind and kind soul, and his relationship with Lady Mercedes was adorable.

WRITING:

I don’t know if it was the characters or the writing, but while I find no real fault with this book, it lacked something that kept me from falling head over heels in love with it.

I, in a nutshell, liked this book fine but I didn’t love it, and I don’t know why.

CONCLUSION:

It was a different book, with amazing world building and ended up being a great one time read. It’s just not the kind of thing I loved so much to pick up again.

Makiia is the author of historical fiction and historical fantasy for young adults. She grew up on the Pacific Island of Guam (not too far from the equator), and has degrees in journalism and library science from the University of Oregon and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Her debut novel, A Death-Struck Year, was called a "powerful and disturbing reading experience" by Publishers Weekly. It was a finalist for Germany's top book prize for children, the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, as well as Japan's Sakura Medal, and was named an ABC Best Books for Children Selection by the American Booksellers Association.

Her second novel, Isle of Blood and Stone, will be available in Spring 2018.

What are some of your favourite adventure novels?
I feel like we don't see NEARLY enough of the genre and I'd love to hear your recommendations!

 

Messed Up Morals // REVIEW: S.T.A.G.S. by M.A. Bennett

Title: S.T.A.G.S
Author: M.A. Bennett
Publication Date: August 10th 2017
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Google Books

Blurb Description: Nine students. Three bloodsports. One deadly weekend.
It is the autumn term and Greer MacDonald is struggling to settle into the sixth form at the exclusive St. Aidan the Great boarding school, known to its privileged pupils as S.T.A.G.S. Just when she despairs of making friends Greer receives a mysterious invitation with three words embossed upon on it: huntin' shootin' fishin'. When Greer learns that the invitation is to spend the half term weekend at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular and wealthy boy at S.T.A.G.S., she is as surprised as she is flattered.
But when Greer joins the other chosen few at the ancient and sprawling Longcross Hall, she realises that Henry's parents are not at home; the only adults present are a cohort of eerily compliant servants. The students are at the mercy of their capricious host, and, over the next three days, as the three bloodsports - hunting, shooting and fishing - become increasingly dark and twisted, Greer comes to the horrifying realisation that those being hunted are not wild game, but the very misfits Henry has brought with him from school...

I finished reading this book a few days ago, and I’M STILL UNSURE ABOUT WHETHER I EVEN LIKED IT OR NOT. It started off fairly slowly, and the got better and then this one particular aspect about the ending just isn’t (logically) comprehending in my mind and I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, or even how to review this book.

So, instead, I’d like to propose an alternate title to (try to) sum up what I feel: Rich White Kid Privilege: A Game of Murder and Messed Up Morals.

Let me explain further:

1.       This book is set in an ANCIENT boarding school called S.T.A.G.S, established in 1095 (or something of the sort. Ancient, basically. VERY ancient) that is ruled be a group of prefects who have termed themselves “The Medievals.”

2.       In this world, technology and diverse people of any kind are Savage (and not it a good way) and everything and everyone white, not older than the industrial revolution and come from Old Money are Medieval. Can you feel my hate against the Medievals? I hope so. They were a bunch of brats that need to be Hunted, Shot and fished themselves.

Art by CI Designs

3.       This book is told in second person from a S.T.A.G.S outcast, Greer MacDonald and is all about the one FATEFUL day she receives an anonymous invitation from the most popular kinds on campus to go away on winter break to the Head Boy’s house for some “Huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’”

4.       If you can’t already tell, the beginning of this book was MEDIOCRE, slow and cringe worthy because any seasoned reader would know that this book was leading to nowhere good. I didn’t feel anything for any of the characters and I was just reading it for the sake of it.

5.       It was somewhere in the middle of the book, when everyone was in the thick of the three day weekend to the Medieval Leader, Henry’s, house that the book got better. I suddenly cared about where the plot was going and about the characters and I fell for the friendship forming between Shafeen, Chanel and Greer. I was INVESTED until that SERIOUSLY QUESTIONABLE ending when it all just fell apart.

6.        Another thing I really liked about this book was that there was INDIAN REP! Shafeen, one of the major characters came from Jaipur. It gave this book some much needed diversity!

7.       Again, there was this ONE aspect of the ending that ruined things for me, and it was all about how one of the Medievals became another and I JUST DIDN’T UNDERSTAND IT. Also, how in the world did the three of them not go to the police? It made no sense to me.  

   

Honestly, I HAD REALLY HIGH HOPES FOR THIS BOOK and while I KNOW I HATED some aspects of it, and enjoyed others, I’m not sure where I stand on the book as a whole. 3 stars. 

M. A. Bennett is half Venetian and was born in Manchester, England, and raised in the Yorkshire Dales. She is a history graduate of Oxford University and the University of Venice, where she specialized in the study of Shakespeare’s plays as a historical source. After university she studied art and has since worked as an illustrator, an actress, and a film reviewer. She also designed tour visuals for rock bands, including U2 and the Rolling Stones. She was married on the Grand Canal in Venice and lives in north London with her husband, son, and daughter.

What are some of your favourite YA Thrillers/ Mysteries?
I don't read much of the sub-genre, but I'd love to start!

 

A Mind Twisting Book Told In REVERSE // REVIEW: Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

Title: Genuine Fraud
Author: E. Lockhart
Publication Date: September 7th 2017
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Snapdeal || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: 6 hours and 43 minutes
From the author of the unforgettable New York Times bestseller We Were Liars comes a masterful new psychological suspense novel--the story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge.
Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete. An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two. A bad romance, or maybe three.Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains. A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.

“She became the kind of woman it would be a great mistake to underestimate.”

I LOVED E. Lockart’s We Were Liars. It’s been FIVE YEARS since I read the book and I AM STILL SHOCKED about the ending because it was twenty different kinds of insane and I LOVED IT.

Which is why I was SO excited to see Genuine Fraud sitting in some surprise bookmail from Bloomsbury India – it sounded (from all the raving reviews I’d read) that this was another masterpiece and I dove in as soon as I could.

Let’s break it down:

WRITING:

E. Lockhart’s writing has only IMPROVED since when she wrote We Were Liars with every word and chapter dripping in suspense. The short, disjointed sentences give you a little information and make twenty other questions pop up in your head, which is exactly the intended effect. E. Lockhart and Genuine Fraud really manage to pull you in and leave you SO DESPERATE for answers that your only solution is to binge the whole thing. (P.S: I took all of a DAY to read this book.)

IDEA AND STRUCTURE:

Genuine Fraud IS TOLD IN REVERSE. It was a disorienting experience that somehow managed to work PERFECTLY for this book, keeping the mystery alive and keeping the reader guessing. It pieced things together in REVERSE, talking about a murder (or two) and a social chameleon. I loved seeing the unravelling of Jule and Imogen and the STRUCTURE WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THIS BOOK.

PLOT:

I loved the plot of this book. I probably wouldn’t have loved it as much if it wasn’t structured the way it was, but everything managed to work in the most unconventional way possible. I loved trying to understand Jule and predicting her next move (and failing.) I did spend most of this book ANTICIPATING a jaw dropping end like We Were Liars had, because this is one of the books that NEEDS one of those endings.

And yet, the unfinished, vague and NORMAL note on which this book ended was the ONE thing I didn’t like about it all. I guess I WAS hoping for a deeper motivation / reason for everything happening but after over 250 pages of sitting at the edge of my seat, unsure of what came next (or before, depending on how you look at it) the actual ending was SUCH A LET DOWN.

CHARACTERS:

The more I found out about the characters, as I went back in time with E. Lockhart piecing this book together in reverse, I STILL feel like I don’t know either of the two main characters. I didn’t fall in love with either of them, but I do like them. I admire them, but I don’t know them.

Thinking about Jule, Imogen (or even Forrest, Brooke and Patti) leave me very confused.

CONCLUSION:

This book is definitely one of the better mysteries I’ve read in a while and you should DEFINITELY pick it up. Genuine Fraud is about an heiress and a social chameleon told in REVERSE and there is murder and romance and WHAT MORE ARE YOU LOOKING FOR, REALLY? I only wished the ending was done better. 4 stars.

E. Lockhart is the author of nine novels including We Were Liars, a New York Times bestseller and Zoella Book Club pick; The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, a Michael l. Printz award honor book, a finalist for the national book award and winner of the Cybils award for best young adult novel; Fly on the Wall, Dramarama and the Ruby Oliver Quartet: The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, The Treasure Map of Boys and Real Live Boyfriends. She co-authored how to be bad with Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski.

Have you read any of E. Lockhart's books? What do you think of them?

Have you had the chance to dive into Genuine Fraud? What do you think of it?

 

A Dark, Dangerous and Original Tale // REVIEW: Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

Title: Daughter of the Burning City

Author: Amanda Foody
Publication Date: September 7th 2017 
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Harper Collins India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival’s Freak Show.
But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.
Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn’t actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca, and their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina’s illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all of her loved ones disappear

“Sin is our arsenal. It is through the very depravity of Gomorrah that we fight wars of righteousness.”

I heard NOTHING but great things before I dove into Amanda Foody’s debut novel for months before I actually picked it up and dove in. A book about actual illusions ACTUALLY being murdered – shall we give it about 800 points of originality?

I don’t know why it took me so long to start reading the book and then the better part of a week to actually get through it but Daughter of the Burning City wasn’t everything I thought it would be, and I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS:

1.       The first thing that threw me about this book was the pure INFORMATION DUMP that happened at the beginning. There were so many character names abilities and names being thrown my way, then the geographical structure and political machinations of a MOVING CITY/ FESTIVAL as well a continent always at war? SO MUCH INFORMATION THAT I WAS BASICALLY DROWNING.

2.       The opening scene of this book was about Sorina and her illusions and their Freak Show Circus and I didn’t get to know any of them AT ALL much less care for them before the first murder. This resulted in me being apathetic because I had about TWO scenes with this character (most of which I spent confused) and so this book didn’t shock me/ make me feel ANYTHING.

3.       Like I said in the beginning, this book deserves ALL THE POINTS for originality. It was like nothing I’d ever read before with not a single trope overlapping from another book and I REALLY LOVED THAT.

4.       While I spend most of the first half of the book CONFUSED and disconnected, I slowly began warming up to everyone and everything in the book as we went deeper into Amanda Foody’s dark world and more secrets about the Illusions, the politics and jynx-work was revealed. It was dark, twisted and dangerous and I loved every second of it.

5.       While I initially didn’t care for them, Sorina’s family and Luca grew on me that by the time I closed the book, I’D FALLEN IN LOVE WITH ALL OF THEM. I loved the last chapter with the Freak Show and it was such a dark and happy book.

6.       If you can’t already tell, I WAS A BUNDLE OF CONFLICTING EMOTIONS throughout the course of the book. I was confused and apathetic and then everything cleared up and I fell in love. I just wish the world building had been better and all of it wasn’t just dumped on me which made me contemplate not continuing on with this book.

A dark, dangerous, intriguing tale that deserves ALL THE POINTS for originality. 3 stars.

Amanda Foody has always considered imagination to be our best attempt at magic. After spending her childhood longing to attend Hogwarts, she now loves to write about immersive settings and characters grappling with insurmountable destinies. She holds a Masters in Accountancy from Villanova University, and a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature from the College of William and Mary. Currently, she works as a tax accountant in Philadelphia, PA, surrounded by her many siblings and many books.

DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY is her first novel. Her second, ACE OF SHADES, will follow in April 2018.

What have you read so far in 2018? Which book has been your favourite? 

Have you read Amanda Foody's debut novel? What did you think of it? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book!