Cantarella by You Higuri

 Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

 

I remember quite clearly the day that I picked Cantarella off the bookstore's shelf. I was perusing the manga section to see if there were any new releases and I pulled Cantarella off the shelf to inspect the cover and summary. Immediately, I was mesmorized by Higuri You's artwork, which is just as good in the inside as the cover.

As I read Cantarella, I was not only amazed by the artwork, I became interested in the Borgias family and their real life history, which later sparked me into watching Showtime's The Borgias.

Now, there are subtle hints of shounen-ai in Cantarella, which is not that surprising from a manga-ka known for yaoi, but for me, it was more than welcome, and it does not take away from the story.

My Verdict: Five stars out of five

Slayer's Kiss by Cassi Carver

 Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

 

 I won this book in a First Reads Giveaway on Goodreads.

This book was okay, in my opinion. I personally wouldn't be interested in reading the sequel.

There is more emphasis on smut rather than plot or character development (which is not a bad thing if what you are looking for is smut - I admit sometimes that I read stuff just for the smut). However, the plot just seems kinda thrown together (if this wasn't the case and if there was a nice balance between smut and plot I would have rated this higher).

Kara is a kick-ass character and I enjoyed reading about her night job with Abbey but I just couldn't relate to Kara on any level. I really disliked Julian, particularly his attitude towards Kara. Also, I thought his possessiveness was too overbearing. Gavin was meh, I didn't have any opinion on him either way.

I did not feel the romantic feelings between Kara and Julian and I thought it was too soon for them to be throwing around the "love" word when they hardly knew each other and were just hooking up.

My Verdict: Three stars out of Five

Jago by Kim Newman

 Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

 

I won this book in a First Reads Giveaway on Goodreads.

 

This book took me a while to finish because it is so long (my edition spanned about 700 pages and included a set of short stories that featured some characters in Jago).

 

There were a lot of surprises along the way, it just seem like twist after twist. Also, there are also a lot of weird stuff that happens that I did not expect (let me just say "tree people" and I will leave it at that). The twist that shocked me the most was one of the people Jago gets to join his flock of followers.

 

There are a lot of characters and sometimes it can be hard to keep them all straight in my mind from the third person narrative constantly switching what character it is focusing on. Like, one chapter may focus on Paul and his girlfriend Hazel then the next will switch to let's say one of Jago's followers.

 

Anyways, Jago was an interesting, unique read that kept my mind guessing the entire time.

 

My Verdict: Four stars out of Five

Saving Fate by Billy Wong

Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

 

I won an ebook of this book from a giveaway on Library Things.

 

One of the things that drew me into this book big time was the presence of strong female characters. Too many times you see in fantasy novels that the princess needs to be rescued by a knight in shining armor and is completely helpless so I was glad to see quite the opposite here. Reading Saving Fate reminded me why I loved Xena: The Warrior Princess so much. Bold, strong, and determined women.

 

There are a couple of nice plot twists that happen towards the end of the book. Though, I feel bad that Mark spent all that time tracking down his mother and the interactions between them after that point are quite sparse, leaving me wishing there was just a little more.

 

My Verdict: Four stars out of Five

Scenters by Andrew Connan

**Nota Bene: Some spoilers are present in this review.

Read at your own risk**

Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

 

I won this book in a First Reads Giveaway on Goodreads.

 

The idea of Scenters was original and interesting. The book had such great potential but I felt that the plot points and characters could have been fleshed out more.

 

The book at 174 pages and very large font is fast paced (I think I read it in less than an hour). I normally don't see fast paced as a negative thing but I was left wishing this book to have more pages.

Mr. Thrapp, as the antagonist, was intriguing but was kinda flat.

 

Beyond just being "evil", I did not understand the purpose of his actions - ie. why was he taking the birds out of people? His letter to his mother was curious and I wish the content would have been addressed more later as I felt it had the potential to reveal more about his background.

 

Also, I have an idea what the "birds" represent but I wish it was explained at some point.

 

The book ended with many questions left unanswered for me: What does Uncle Tito know? What was Thrapp's motive? How many more Scenters are out there and how do they use their powers (for good or evil)?

My Verdict: Three stars out of Five

Plague City by Matthew Milson

 **Nota Bene: Some spoilers are present in this review.
Read at your own risk**

Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things
 

I won an ebook of this from a giveaway from Library Things.

 

Wow, this story surprised me in a good way.

 

Henry Coal, the mayor of an unnamed city, is responsible of bombings in the city to fight against the Plague but lies about his involvement and instead places the blame elsewhere. The only other person that knows is Mama Ruth, who runs a soup kitchen, as she assists in these "Purging"s.

 

The conversation between Ruth and Henry concerning the purgings was interesting and I wished there was more background provided on how they knew each other.

 

Reading the story was basically watching Henry descend into madness, as he loses all care for anyone else but his wife and later his Plague infested body chases after his wife in order to kill her. And I think my jaw literally dropped when Eve, his wife, decided to shot herself instead of Henry because she loved him that much. I was shocked. The ending was just as surprising as well.

My Verdict: Four stars out of Five

Assured Destruction by Michael Stewart

Links for Book Descriptions: Goodreads & Library Things

 

I won this ebook from a giveaway on Library Things.

Janus Rose is a high school girl that works at her mom's shop, Assured Destruction, that recycles and shreds used electronics. However, Janus doesn't always shred them and will sometimes dig through the hard drive looking for people's secrets. She will then use this information to create fake profiles of them on her secretive and private Shadownet network.

It starts off simple enough when Janus picks up a hard drive that a mother of one of her classmates drops off but then everything spirals into a much more complicated web of events, hence the mystery. And I must say, I was shocked by the so-called culprit. It was not who I was expecting at all, in fact I think it was the person I expected the least.

Janus is a likeable character and perhaps invested myself too much into her at times (becoming near the point that I was ready to shed tears over some of the terrible drama she had to endure) from relating to her too much (I was stuck in a web design class in high school and ended so far ahead of everyone else that I would just have days sitting at a regular desk doing whatever while my classmates caught up). And I was relieved that everything was set for Janus by the end of the book or I would have probably actually cried.

And if this is really book one of a series, I would jump into reading the sequel. No doubts about that.

 

My Verdict: Four stars out of Five