Friday Finds 5/6

 

 

Hey everyone and Happy Friday! I've decided to partake in something new this week. I'm trying to get back into blogging on a normal basis now that life seems to have calmed down and I'm thinking this will be a weekly staple here, along with Teaser Tuesdays.

 

So what is Friday Finds? It's a weekly post hosted by Jenn (great name btw) over at Books and a Beat and here is what she says about it: Friday Finds showcases the books you 'found' and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list...whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library - wherever! (they aren't necessarily books you purchased).

So here are the books I found this week:

Ahh..so many book, so little time! So what did you guys find this week?



ARC Review: The Ecliptic by Benjamin Wood

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Publisher: Penguin Press
480 Pages

From the award-winning author of The Bellwether Revivals comes a "gorgeous and harrowing work" (Emily St. John Mandel) set on a mysterious island, where artists strive to recover their lost gifts -- and where nothing is quite as it seems.

Situated on a Turkish island, Portmantle might be the strangest, most exclusive artists' colony around. Its brilliant residents linger for years, all expenses paid and living under assumed names. Relieved of the burdens of time and ego, they are free to create their next masterpieces.

Elspeth Conroy (aka "Knell") is a Scottish painter who has been at Portmantle for a decade, a refugee from the hectic London art scene. Her fellow longtimers include Quickman, whose sole book became a classic and paralyzed his muse; MacKinney, a playwright who left behind her family; and Pettifer, an architect obsessing over an unfinished cathedral. In his astonishing second novel, Benjamin Wood gives us “an intensely intimate portrait of an artist as a young woman, with truths on every page” (Independent).

The hermetic world at Portmantle shatters when the 17-year-old Fullerton arrives at the gates, his provenance and talents unknown. As Knell searches for answers, she reveals the path that led her to this place: Her intimate bond with her gruff drunk of a mentor; her early successes and crushing failures; a journey across the Atlantic and into the psychiatrist's office; and a grand commission of astronomical significance.

What is "The Ecliptic," and how does it relate to the life Elspeth left behind? This gorgeous puzzle of a novel touches the head and the heart, and the effect is nothing short of electrifying.

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When you’re an artist and you lose your mojo, just how much does it affect you? How much of your daily life is affected? When your art is your life, how do you separate the two? In The Ecliptic, Wood takes us deep into the psyche of an artist and the intricate way in which they view the world.

The story starts at Portsmantle, an elusive artist retreat hidden on a Turkish island. Portsmantle is a melting pot of people from all over with their talents lying in all different fields of the arts. Here we meet, Elspeth Conroy, a painter who has lost her way. She’s been at Portsmantle for about a decade and has almost nothing to show for it. She keeps close to her friends, sharing their lack of progress with each other and commenting on the flow of ‘short-timers’ who parade in and out of their home. When their newest resident arrives, a young boy with an erratic personality, Elspeth develops a strange connection with him – one that awakens her artistic desire.

This book isn’t one that I normally gravitate to. And honestly, had it not been offered up as an ARC I might never had read it. I didn’t connect with any of the characters, mostly because I know relatively nothing about painting and I felt, even though as descriptive as they were, it just didn’t make sense to me. All of the talk of pigmentation and color melding just went over my head and found myself skimming the parts regarding the actual act of painting. I was more interested in the story of the boy at Portsmantle then I was over anything else.

What I did like was watching Elspeth’s dissent into her own mind. I predicted the ending about halfway through, I’m not sure if that was a good thing as I’m sure the writer wanted it to be a shocking ending. But at the same time, I liked that that was where Wood took the story. It made it more realistic and have more substance, more weight. Would I recommend this book? I would to people who view art in words and also those who love studying the human mind and all the ways it can perceive realities. And bravo to the author for the work put into this.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

 



Book Review: Dare Me by Megan Abbott

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
335 Pages

Addy Hanlon has always been Beth Cassidy's best friend and trusted lieutenant. Beth calls the shots and Addy carries them out, a long-established order of things that has brought them to the pinnacle of their high-school careers. Now they're seniors who rule the intensely competitive cheer squad, feared and followed by the other girls -- until the young new coach arrives.

Cool and commanding, an emissary from the adult world just beyond their reach, Coach Colette French draws Addy and the other cheerleaders into her life. Only Beth, unsettled by the new regime, remains outside Coach's golden circle, waging a subtle but vicious campaign to regain her position as "top girl" -- both with the team and with Addy herself.

Then a suicide focuses a police investigation on Coach and her squad. After the first wave of shock and grief, Addy tries to uncover the truth behind the death -- and learns that the boundary between loyalty and love can be dangerous terrain.

The raw passions of girlhood are brought to life in this taut, unflinching exploration of friendship, ambition, and power. Award-winning novelist Megan Abbott, writing with what Tom Perrotta has hailed as "total authority and an almost desperate intensity," provides a harrowing glimpse into the dark heart of the all-American girl.

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I dare you to not feel something when reading this book. Whether it’s disgust, anger, camaraderie, kinship – I guarantee something will strike you. And that’s why it’s so hard for me to rate this book. If you’re looking for your average YA love story, then Dare Me is not for you. If you’re looking for something a little dark, then you just may like this.

Dare Me is a story about a cheerleader. A very popular cheerleader. Basically, your stereotypical mean girl cheerleader. The story starts with their coach leaving and the girls getting a new one in her place. They soon find out that the new one isn’t so easy to bend to their will as the previous. However, one girl, Addy, goes against the will of the Queen Bee (captain) and falls into a very unhealthy relationship with the new coach. As the book goes on, more and more girls follow Addy’s lead until the lines are blurred on the student/teacher relationship.This is where things take a dark turn. The Queen Bee, angry that her followers have left her, decides to take down the new coach.

Addy idolizes her new coach. And why shouldn’t she? Coach has a loving husband, a beautiful child, and she used to be the Queen Bee of her day. But as the story goes on, we learn more about Coach and turns out, she never really grew out of the Queen Bee faze. Her actions are downright despicable for a person in a teaching role – giving alcohol to the girls, inviting them for sleepovers at her house, involving them in her infidelity. The lack of any sort of parental guidance makes this story even more unsettling. These girls, and their coach, basically go unchecked throughout the entire story with almost no repercussions for their actions.

Abbott is a great story teller. Her words and descriptions really drag you into this dark world of high school. However, I'm not sure you really want to connect with any of these characters. Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? No. But I'm still really not sure how I felt about it. I guess, I just really didn't get it. This is definitely one to judge for yourself and not go in with expectations. 

 

Book Review: Too Late by Colleen Hoover

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: March 30, 2016
Publisher: Self-Published

Sloan will go through hell and back for her little brother. And she does, every single night.

Forced to remain in a relationship with the dangerous and corrupt Asa Jackson, Sloan will do whatever it takes to make sure her brother has what he needs.

Nothing will get in her way.

Nothing except Carter.

Sloan is the only good thing to ever happen to Asa. He knows this and he never plans on letting her go; even if she doesn't approve of his lifestyle. But despite Sloan's disapproval, Asa knows what it takes to get what he wants. He knows what he needs to do to remain on top.

Nothing will get in his way.

Nothing except Carter.

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Oh Colleen Hoover does love her drama so.

Not going to lie, happy that this was a freebie as it seemed to lack any emotional connection that I've had with her prior works. Not sure why, but something was really off about this one. Maybe it was the absurd nature of the overall plot line. This just didn't read like a CoHo book to me.

Let's start with the characters. Carter was your classic hero of the story, literally Prince Charming. But he was very one dimensional. It seemed like Hoover just wrote him to be the glaring opposite of Asa in every way. If Asa liked up, the Carter liked down. If Asa liked black, then Carter liked white. It was a little hard to fall in love with him unless you were Sloan.

As for Sloan, we were told often how strong she was but you need to do more than tell us. You need to show this in the story. Don't get me wrong, there were aspects of her character that showed strength, but overall she was very naive and not very smart about life considering all that she had gone through in her past.

Then there was Asa. I don't even know. Were we supposed to like him? Hate him? Feel sorry for him? Obviously he was a very despicable person and was screwed up in the head. My main feeling for him was pity and disgust. So if that's what you were going for, nailed it.

The insta love was another factor that didn't sit well with me. Sloan basically fell for another version of Asa- or so she thought - but this one held her hand and told her pretty things. Wake up, sweetie. I know Carter ultimately turned out to be the good guy but you didn't know that in the beginning and were basically just repeating the cycle you had with Asa.

Also, anyone else feel like this was much more graphic and vulgar than anything else she's ever written?

I will never deny that Hoover can write, and I will probably read everything she writes. But I've noticed that it's starting to feel like drama for the sake of drama rather than natural progression.  

 

 

Book Review: Prince's Gambit (Captive Prince #2) by C.S. Pacat

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Berkeley
404 Pages

The second novel in the critically acclaimed trilogy from global phenomenon C. S. Pacat—with an all-new chapter exclusive to the print edition.

With their countries on the brink of war, Damen and his new master, Prince Laurent, must exchange the intrigues of the palace for the sweeping might of the battlefield as they travel to the border to avert a lethal plot.

Forced to hide his identity, Damen finds himself increasingly drawn to the dangerous, charismatic Laurent. But as the fledgling trust between the two men deepens, the truth of secrets from both their pasts is poised to deal them the crowning death blow…

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The second in the Captive Prince series delves more into the relationship between Laurent and Damen. Set against the backdrop of war, two unlikely allies form a bond that goes above and beyond master and slave. 

 

While the first book introduced us to the characters, I felt that in the second we would get more story, more outcome, just basically more plot. And yes, there was progress in the relationship of the two main characters, there was little much else.  Honestly, this book reminded me mostly of the final Harry Potter book. You know, when they're walking through the woods forever and ever and ever and ever and...

So I"m saying basically not a lot happened. Which was surprising considering this book was over 400 pages. A little too long, honestly. A lot of descriptions that really didn't need to be there. Having not read the final book yet, I'm assuming it's just setting up the finale. We have the characters mapped out, the loyalties have been shown, deceptions uncovered, secrets unveiled, and now we get to look forward to the outcome of all of this.  

The character development was the best part of this book. Because it was an army marching across miles and miles of land, there was plenty of time to delve into the personalities of each person. The ice around Laurent faded, Damen stepped up his role as leader, minor characters came to the forefront. Development made up for lack of action and the final page left me excited for the last book because everything is finally coming together. And I believe the confrontation that's to come is going to be an explosion heard throughout the land. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

Book Review: Stars Above (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: MacMillian
369 Pages

he universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?

With nine stories—five of which have never before been published—and an exclusive never-before-seen excerpt from Marissa Meyer’s upcoming novel, Heartless, about the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Stars Above is essential for fans of the bestselling and beloved Lunar Chronicles.

--
The Little Android: A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles.
Glitches: In this prequel to Cinder, we see the results of the plague play out, and the emotional toll it takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch….
The Queen’s Army: In this prequel to Scarlet, we’re introduced to the army Queen Levana is building, and one soldier in particular who will do anything to keep from becoming the monster they want him to be.
Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky: Thirteen-year-old Carswell Thorne has big plans involving a Rampion spaceship and a no-return trip out of Los Angeles.
The Keeper: A prequel to the Lunar Chronicles, showing a young Scarlet and how Princess Selene came into the care of Michelle Benoit.
After Sunshine Passes By: In this prequel to Cress, we see how a nine-year-old Cress ended up alone on a satellite, spying on Earth for Luna.
The Princess and the Guard: In this prequel to Winter, we see a game called The Princess
The Mechanic: In this prequel to Cinder, we see Kai and Cinder’s first meeting from Kai’s perspective.
Something Old, Something New: In this epilogue to Winter, friends gather for the wedding of the century...

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I feel like my love for Marissa Meyer just knows no bounds. She is one author where I could say that I would read literally anything that she writes. I mean, The Lunar Chronicles is on the top of my list of favorite series. And I, like most people, were sad to see it come to an end. Then Stars Above happened.

While most of the stories in Stars Above aren't new, that didn't tame my excitement for the book. In fact, I was super happy to have all of the short stories that take place in the Lunar world all in one book. Plus there were bonus stories that I hadn't read yet, especially one with the hint of a wedding! I could barely contain my excitement (in case you couldn't tell).

In this collection of short stories we see all of our old friends again, and we meet some new ones. Most short stories are just fun scenes that the author thought of and didn't fit in the original story, hence why they release them separately. What Meyer has put together here, with the exception of one of the stories, is tie up lose ends and answer questions that were lingering in everyone's mind after the conclusion of Winter. How did Cress end up in that satellite? How did Wolfe become, well, Wolfe? Who all was in on the hiding of Princess Selene? And what happens after the last book?

As I mentioned, there is one story that doesn't really have any base except that it takes place in the same world. That's The Little Android. While I liked it, it just didn't fit in with the rest of the book. It was the only story that didn't have any of the characters we previously knew and it was hard to get a sense of where it fit in the time table of events. Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, cause I did, it just didn't really fit for me. 

All in all, super happy to get more of these characters and also get the closure they deserved. I cannot wait to see what Meyer thinks of next. 

 

Book Review: Captive Prince (Captive Prince #1) by C.S. Pacat

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Berkeley
270 Pages

From global phenomenon C. S. Pacat comes the first in her critically acclaimed trilogy—with a bonus story.

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos. But when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

Beautiful, manipulative, and deadly, his new master, Prince Laurent, epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.

For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else…

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I have a tendency to just dive into books without knowing anything about them other than what the cover looks like. The Captive Prince was one of them. Sometimes it's just nice to go into a book with no expectations. Not going to lie, in the beginning I wasn't quite sure if I was going to like it, but I carried on and what I found was an interesting story of deception, rivalries, and survival.

Let's start with why I was hesitant in the beginning. Mostly it had to do with the presentation of information. For a story that takes place in a different world, there needs to be world building and it needs to be done in a way that your readers can grasp. Pacat just kind of threw it all out there. World, people, plot...all of this came within the first chapter without any buildup. Yes, there was a prologue which drew me in. And yes, there was a character log at the beginning, but having to turn to the front and then back to where I was in the book was time consuming and I still couldn't remember who everyone was.

What I liked was the how this wasn't a love story. This is a story about a Prince who wants his kingdom back and the way he has to side with one enemy in order to get it. These were strong, interesting characters and I could never guess where they were going to go next. While I'm not a huge fan of sex slave story lines and public humiliations, the story wasn't weighed down with them and I was able to stay in the story.

This isn't normally the style of book that I read but I liked the complexity of it and how different it was for me. Basically, how do you know you don't like it if you don't try it? And this, I ended up liking. I am invested in Damen and want to know how his story plays out. On to the next one...

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.