Review – These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

I have read some many amazing books that I was lucky enough to receive through Netgalley over the past few months, and I’ve been devouring books so quickly that I haven’t given myself the chance to actually sit down and write review for them. Now, thankfully, I have found the motivation!

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong is a Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, and honestly that was all I needed to know to be excited about it. I love a retelling of a well known tale, especially if that retelling makes the story more diverse. In this version we follow Juliette Cai, who has returned to her home of Shanghai after living in America for several years to retake her role as heir to the Scarlet Gang. But returning means dealing with things she’s been trying to forget; including running into her first love Roma Montagov, heir to rival gang the White Flowers, and facing their fraught past. But when a mysterious illness means that people on both sides of the gang divide start ripping their own throats out, Juliette and Roma must work together to puzzle out the mystery at the heart of their city, or risk everything they know being torn apart.

I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting too much from this except for it to be a fun quick read, but I got some much more than that, the synopsis really doesn’t do this book justice! This book is a total mix of genres, young adult, historical, romance, with a dash of sci-fi, and moments that almost made me feel like we were teetering on the edge of fantasy, but thankfully Gong handles this is such a interesting and fun way. This book isn’t all about the relationship between Juliette and Roma, and even though it’s an interesting take of the aftermath of their love affair I think it benefits from having such an intriguing plot to propel you through the novel. I don’t want to give too much away because discovering the mystery for myself was one of the parts of this that I loved, but it was fast-paced, dark, and delicately left clues throughout the narrative without it being spoon-fed to the reader, nor made too hard that you couldn’t begin to guess yourself as the plot developed.

The aesthetics and diversity in this novel were really well-handled, clearly showing another example of how important it is to have own voice narratives in the book industry. Shanghai felt vivid and real to me as a reader who has never been, and the 1920s aspect gave it a fun interesting flare which heightened the affective imagery even more. Gong even managed to balance all this and dynamic interesting characters! Juliette is reimagined as a knife-wielding, scary, complex woman, who’s ability to lead a crime syndicate you never doubt. I liked the balance of her being confident in her femininity while also being what you may call a typical “badass” YA female lead. Quite often in novels like this female characters are made to abandon typically female things, and even most emotions, to be considered worthy of the title of “badass” but thankfully Juliette is a character who is unashamedly both. She also deals with being often treated like a foreigner in her own country while enduring the pressure to be this American woman with an American education to get people to respect her, which just adds another layer of depth to her story and development. She was the most memorable character throughout the entire book and has stuck with me the most. But Gong also managed to bring more development to the side characters from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, including a brewing m/m romance and a trans character. All of whom I hope play a bigger part in the sequel!

Roma was probably the only character that I felt a little lacklustre about, and in retrospect that is probably only because the others shined so much. He’s quiet and introspective, and a refreshing take on the usual Romeo figure I feel like retellings give us. I do hope he gets more development in the sequel as I definitely see the potential of this character but for now he wasn’t someone who stuck much in my mind. I also didn’t feel too much of his Russian culture, not in the way you felt the Chinese and American influences on Juliette and her struggle with both. It was an interesting element, but again I feel like it could’ve been explored in more detail to give an interesting contrast to the Shanghai setting and provide a little more character to Roma.

Overall I did enjoy the romance between Roma and Juliette. I liked the fact that they had a history and we were watching the aftermath; the tension between them was great and it really helped keep that when they were simultaneously drawn to each other and yet were pushing each other away the whole time. I do wish we got more of their back story, more of what they were like before Juliette left, I think it would’ve given just that extra bit of detail that their story needed. At first it did just feel like we were thrown into the middle and expected to know their history, even though we didn’t and we’re drip fed it quite slowly, so I was a little confused at first. I was routing for them and enjoyed their encounters, but I wasn’t as invested as I think I could’ve been. As I hope I am in Our Violent Ends.

Overall this book is an excellent example of a diverse YA novel that retells a familiar tale in a fun, unique way. I really enjoyed my time reading it and am excited for the sequel, but there are definitely things I’m hoping it improves upon in terms of the relationships between the characters.

Review – Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

I haven’t written a review for about 7 months. This year has been the weirdest one ever and I completely lost the motivation to write reviews. However, I still managed to read a lot of books! I read 79 in 2020, 79! I’ve never read that many, but I’m pretty sure it’s a fluke. I’ve spent a lot of my time on furlough not working and I filled this time with reading, and I read some pretty great books in the past year, some have become instant favourites so I want to try and catch up on reviewing them, especially the ARCs I was lucky enough to recieve from NetGalley. So without dwelling further on this crappy year, I’m going to dive straight into a review of one of my favourite books, which will come as no surprise to the people who know me becasue this is an author I never shut up about.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab. Thanks to Titan and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC.

In rural France in the 1700s, Addie makes a deal with the dark, her soul in exchange for a never ending life of freedom. But the darkness doesn’t play fair, and suddenly Addie finds that as soon as she leaves someone, even just for a second, they forget everything about her. Addie is cursed with being constantly forgotten, no matter how hard she tries. Until 300 years past and in modern day New York, she comes across someone who remembers her.

“Being forgotten, she thinks, is a bit like going mad. You begin to wonder what is real, if you are real. After all, how can a thing be real if it cannot be remembered?”

This book has been on my TBR since I first heard about it in 2017; or that’s the date my Goodreads tells me. It’s a premise that has disappointed me in the past with a completely different book, but I hoped that Schwab’s would be beautiful, heart-breaking, and hopeful. Thankfully, I was right because I find the premise of being forgotten by everyone you meet ridiculously complex and intriguing.

I usually love a more plot heavy book, something with lots of twists and turns and intrigue. This had such amazing characters and emotional journeys that it didn’t need a huge sprawling plot full of foreshadowing, and dark villains to battle, to keep me utterly enthralled. One of my favourite series is the Shades of Magic by Schwab, so I know that she can write those kinds of fantasy novels, and write them well. So Addie LaRue just proves how multitalented this author is.

This book is so impactful in my mind that I forget that there are only really 3 characters that are central to the story; Addie, Henry, and Luc. Although the other background characters are well balanced and feel just as real as the main cast, they don’t have the same memorability as the core set. Addie is an engaging and interesting protagonist who story is so compelling I didn’t want to put the book down because I cared about how her story progressed. As this book doesn’t run chronologically and jumps around the timeline, it was interesting to see the balance of the naïve Addie who made the deal, to the 300-year-old Addie who had figured out the loopholes she could exploit, and who could expertly undermined Luc (or the “devil”) with the ease of someone who had been doing so for centuries. Henry’s story hit me differently. While Addie’s is built around true loneliness, the loneliness of being forgotten, Henry’s seemed to hit me more emotionally, probably because it’s more real. He’s lost in a crowd of people who love him, thinking that they don’t care. It’s hard to explain why, but here’s a quote that has stuck with me:

“Other people would call him sensitive, but it’s more than that. The dial is broken, the volume turned all the way up. Moments of joy register as brief, but ecstatic. Moments of pain stretch long and unbearably loud.”

Henry and Addie’s story is beautiful to read, to watch them grow together and experience their soft love story feels life a gift. I’m trying to find another way to say it without sounding entirely soppy but this is exactly how I felt when reading this book back in August. Yet, you can’t talk about this book without mentioning Luc. He was such a complex, interesting part of the novel, and he’s not even in it that much. And yet, you constantly feel his presence. He hovers over Addie like a rain cloud. I won’t say too much because I hate to spoil, but watching him develop was unexpected and wonderful.

As you can probably tell, I gave this book five stars. I still sit and think about it. I could try and choose a favourite but I’m convinced for me it is impossible. Is it Addie’s growth? Henry’s emotionally journey? Their love? Luc and Addie’s centuries long battle? The beautiful writing that makes you savour every moment? Yes, it’s everything. This, to me, is a triumph for Schwab and it was everything I wanted it to be.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Netgalley Proof and Blog Tour!

“The world might indeed be a cursed circle; the snake swallowed its tail and there could be no end, only an eternal ruination and endless devouring.”

In 1950s Mexico, socialite Noemí Taboada is young, beautiful, and knows how to hold her own. As expectations from her family and prospective suitors start to pile up Noemí is determined to prove to her family that she isn’t as flighty as they think she is. When she receives a worrying letter from her newly-wed cousin begging to be saved, she sees this as a perfect opportunity to show people what she’s really capable of. Noemí heads to High Place planning to solve the mystery of her cousin’s sudden illness, navigate her odd new inlaws and save the day.
But this isn’t the heroic story she thinks it is; there is something darker going on at High Place and Noemí has just landed herself right in the middle of a centuries old mystery. She’ll find it’s harder to leave High Place than she ever thought possible.

First of all, I want to thank Jo Fletcher Books and Silvia Moreno-Garica for providing me with this proof, and a chance to take part in the blog tour.

Mexican Gothic is honestly like no other novel I have ever read; dark, haunting and gripping that weaves together elements of Mexican folklore with recognisable Gothic tropes. The atmosphere that Moreno-Garcia manages to create in this novel feels effortless. The effect is spine-tingling as the tension slowly builds until you can’t put the book down because you just have to know what happens (a.k.a the BEST kind of books). I rarely read books like this as I often find the pacing can be a tricky thing to get right. It needs to be expertly drawn out to create that growing feeling of inevitable terror, and if it fails I instantly lose interest, but in that sense Mexican Gothic was everything I wanted it to be. This is a testament to Moreno-Garcia’s skills as a storyteller that she has managed to write a novel that weaves such believable terror into Noemí’s narration. However, this should not be classed as simply a gothic novel. Although this book has clear well executed elements of the gothic genre, it is most certainly a horror story. It’s one I’m still thinking about with a shiver. 

Noemí, our heroine, is a well-built character whose motivations and heart are shown so clearly it is easy to picture her. She is feisty, brave, has a strong sense of self, and is often quite unlikable, but in a way that can be compelling. I was drawn in by her determination. She is not always the flighty damsel-in-distress that often occurs in traditional gothic narratives; she is proactive in helping her cousin, persuading people to help her, and finding out about the history of High Place. It is easy to root for her and care about how this story ends for her. The rest of the characters are also somewhat memorable, but not necessarily in the same way. Each seems to fall into the typical trope of their roles in the story; the dashing, charismatic man with a dark side, the strict mother, the lecherous racist old man, the quiet cousin on the outskirts of the family. This is something that I thought that would detract significantly from the quality of the story, but the roles they play work as they have always worked, and in the majority of the novel only make Noemí’s situation seem more helpless. Moreno-Garcia has managed to create a cast of characters that fit perfectly within the genre, but I do wish that there had been some subversion of these tropes; it would’ve definitely made it a stronger, more stand-out novel for me if I couldn’t predict who the villains were from the beginning. This story is definitely all about Noemí, and honestly, that is not a bad thing; aside from the plot, she is the reason I stuck with this novel. I needed to know what happened to her.

I feel that with this kind of book I can’t say too much about the plot, it is best to go into this novel with as little knowledge as possible. I found it the best way to experience the tension and horror and you won’t be waiting for that one thing to happen that you’ve read about in a review. To say too much would ruin the mystery that Moreno-Garcia manages to create. Although you half know the kind of story you are going into because of its genre, there was still a lot I didn’t expect and kept me reading. The imagination and originality in this novel is amazing, and terrifying, because I still think about what was going on in High Place with a shiver. Moreno-Garcia perfected a narrative that put me on edge, made me jump, squeal, and squirm, and has moments I still think about with disgust. I’ve never been a fan of horror movies, I don’t like being scared, but this is one of the books I’ve read recently that has persuaded me to give more gothic horror novels a chance in the future.

The only true criticism that I have is that it did take me awhile to settle into this book. I battled against the narrative style at first. I have no real reason why, and maybe it was because I’ve read a constant stream of books during this lockdown that I just simply struggled to pull myself out of one world and into another. I do wish we had been given a little more of Noemí’s home life before we were plunged into the mysteries of High Place, to truly highlight the contrast of her life against the one she had entered, but it didn’t lose too much by jumping straight into the plot. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as twisted, bizarre, and unique as it was.

Netgalley Proof – More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M Masood

Sometimes, all you want to read is a fun YA romance so thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Syed M. Masood for providing me with this proof at the perfect time in exchange for an honest review. 

It’s been a long time since I read a YA contemporary romance that I had forgotten how easy and quick they are to blast through. I picked up this novel because it sounded cute and I’m trying to be more proactive about reading more diversely. Danyal knows he’s not the best at school, but he is attractive, funny, likeable, and he wants to be a chef anyway. But when he gets chosen for his school’s high profile academic competition, everyone else sees it as a chance for him to prove himself, pull himself into a passing grade, and become a viable suitor for his long time crush. He’s supposed to present a paper on Churchill and everyone knows his teacher loves Churchill. But when Danyal looks more into the history of him, he decides to show Churchill and history in a light that would definitely make sure he fails the class, but he can’t let it go. So he enlists the help of Bisma, a nerdy girl with a past she’d rather forget, and learns that maybe what he wants in love, isn’t what he really needs. 

This novel was overall enjoyable, fun and surprisingly had some really deep points about Churchill, history, and the Bengal Famine. I really enjoyed the conversations the characters had about how whitewashed the history we are taught is, and how important it is to see the flaws and speak about them. This was one of the strongest points of the novel for me. 

The one aspect I thoroughly enjoyed without much issue was Danyal, he was an easy character to like, though a few of the things he said did have me cringing, he was overall compelling, funny, and endearing. I loved the way he treated Bisma and her past, their relationship actually felt like one built on mutual respect and trust. It was also nice to see their romance grow, and how much they enjoyed each other’s company. I thought it was very believable and organic. Bisma herself was also a character that was easy to like, strong but also when she was ‘weak’ it didn’t make her lesser, it was clearly stated that she was struggling but it didn’t diminish her. All the characters are interesting and honestly probably the strongest thing about this novel was how distinct and individual they all were.

While it was highly enjoyable, the writing was choppy and often jumped from scene to scene before I’d even noticed what was happening. There were some moments where Masood’s writing talents really shone, Danyal Speech at the Renaissance Man, whenever the topic of history came up, and the dialogue (especially between Bimsa and Danyal) were all really easy to read and enjoy. But I don’t think it was as consistent as it could have been, it was just too disjointed. If the novel had been much longer I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it as much as the style would’ve bugged me too much; I wanted longer scenes between the characters and often felt parts were unfinished because there were such sudden stops even when characters were mid-conversation. 

I would like to state that I am in no way knowledgeable enough to comment on the representation of the Muslim faith in this novel in detail. Although I could see certain inconsistencies within the novel. I was concerned that it was the devout religious friend that had to learn to have fun and stop being so morose, instead of everyone compromising and learning from each other to reach a mutual understanding: I feel like this could’ve been handled better so show that being deeply religious doesn’t take away from the rest of your personality. There is much that definitely went over my head because I’m still educating myself, I recommend looking at the own voices reviews of this novel on Goodreads, which is what I have been doing. They explore this factor in more detail, and discusses some things about that rep that I didn’t notice as easily.

Overall this book was fun, it was easy to read and went by fast. It definitely had it’s issues, but as a YA romance it certainly had a relationship I looked forward to reading more about.

Netgalley Proof – Goldilocks by Laura Lam

“Really, they were afraid of women. Or hated them. Wasn’t that much the same thing? The country saw those angry men as a fringe movement right up until one was elected president.”

The Earth is slowly dying and humanity along with it. Valerie Black has been campaigning for years for a mission to be sent to a Goldilocks planet, one perfectly aligned for habitable life and that might just be the saviour of humanity. However, the rights of women have been declining on Earth and suddenly her all female crew is no longer allowed to complete their mission and head to Cavendish. Until the crew steal the rocket and begin the journey themselves believing they are the right ones to create the new society on the new planet.
Naomi has always wanted to go to space and she’d done whatever she’d needed to to get there, even go along with Valerie’s plan of hijacking the mission to Cavendish. But when things start to go wrongb aboard the ship it’s clear that there will be even harder decisions to make, and terrible secrets to unfold.

Described as mixture of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Martian, Goldilocks balances the issues of women’s rights, the threat of climate change and space travel all in one novel. Although it tackles these heavy issues it was a fast paced thriller that had me gripped from page one. Lam manages to explore weighty themes without making me feel overwhelmed, or losing any of her plot to these bigger messages. The plights of the women on the crew were, unfortunately highly relatable and easy to imagine in a world stuck in a chaos of humanities own making. This was helped by the fact that, even though her cast of characters is small as we mainly focus on the five on the ship, each one has a well-built, flawed personality that was very believable. The narrative follows Naomi and her journey to Cavendish, yet I still got a sense of each of the characters motivations and personality through her limited perspective. I would however have enjoyed a little more of a look into the minds other crew members, but that is only because I found them so dynamic and intriguing.

With the issues that the novel present us, sexism and climate change, I do wish there was some more backstory into how the world dissolved into this. With climate change it is more self-explanatory, and if you already know the science you can fill in the gaps. However, with the issue of women’s rights I think that a little more information about how this happened would have not only driven home point more, but fleshed out this reality Lam is painting for us. I loved the feminist message in this novel and how the crew are all strong women with different talents but very real flaws, I just think that we needed to know more about the state of the world as a whole. We are supposed to believe everything at face-value and just accept that this is how the word evolved. Yet this is a very minor criticism, and the only one I really have.

My favourite part of the novel, aside from the characters, was the science. You can see how much research has gone into this novel as how Lam has tried to use as close to real science as possible, and it really pays off. The level of detail is just enough to know that everything being explained in the novel is most likely possible, even if in theory, but not enough to confuse me and throw me from the plot. It makes the fact they are supposed to be in space believable, and much easier to picture than I anticipated.

As for the plot, I don’t want to say too much because so much could end up being a spoiler. However, I think the flashbacks to Naomi’s journey to the ship was well plotted and added something to the world building this book needed. And I loved piecing together everything that was happening on the ship to figure out what was really going on. There is a hint of mystery throughout the whole book which definitely makes itself known, and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Overall, I flew through this book, and was completely immersed in Lam’s writing style, the mystery, characters, and the depiction of this almost apocalyptic future. One I would definitely recommend for fellow lovers of Sci-Fi. Haunting, thrilling, hopeful, and utterly human.

Finally, thanks to Headline and Laura Lam for providing me with this proof to review.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

“We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves.” 

*This was a title I received on Netgalley for review*

I didn’t have any expectations going into We Hunt the Flame, I didn’t know anything about it except it was YA fantasy. And that is what I’d been craving to read for a long time. Before this I was in a bit of a book slump, only reading books I only mildly enjoyed, and nothing that I couldn’t put down because I was so engrossed. In fact I took a while (or what is considered a while to me) to get through the books I’d been reading. We Hunt the Flame was exactly what I needed and maybe that was why I liked it so much.

The right book, at the right time.

This book was fast-paced, fun and engaging; considering that I had kind of fallen out of love with YA recently, this reminded me of everything I used to love about the genre. The world was interesting, and inspired by Ancient Arabia, drew on a lot of myths and legends I can’t wait to see more of in the next books. The magic system was intriguing and easy to follow without being too much like the YA I’ve read before. It didn’t have the intricacies a lot of fantasy that I have read more recently did, and definitely needs more exploration in the next one. However, it was a good world to be in, and I can’t wait to hear about all the different lands that this book only touches on.

I’m a sucker for a group of characters that don’t want to work together but eventually have to and grow to rely/like/love each other, which this novel had in abundance. It was the core of the novel for me. It’s just clearer to see the development of dynamics and relationships with a trope like this and I loved the group that Faizal bring together.

That being said, the novel relies upon these tropes to hook you in. Parts of it was too much like a cheesy YA fantasy, the ones we all love but know could be so much better for avoiding or even subverting these tropes. Another one it falls into is an enemies-to-lovers, insta-romance between our two narrators. I like their dynamic, it’s always fun to read about people who reluctantly start to like each other despite what they want. But it also could’ve benefited from the romance taking a back seat in this novel, maybe saving most of the real romantic development for the second one to leave us on the edge of our seats in a will-they-won’t-they kind of way. What these two characters needed was a heavy friendship development before anything happened, but of course that is one of the things that has always bothered me about YA.

Nevertheless, the plot was intriguing and lends itself to more books. The characters are fun and you do want to learn more about them (even though some seem to appear out of nowhere with a flimsy excuse to how they got there). The world is well-built and excitingly fresh, it was exactly the kind of novel I was hoping it would be. I’ll definitely be recommending it to lovers of fantasy and, most particularly, YA fantasy as one of the best I have read in a long time.

Proof Review – Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

“Some people are meant to be forever, like Lea and me. And other people come into your life for a reason— you help each other figure shit out and come to terms with complicated feelings that you can’t process on your own.” 

I was graciously sent this book for review by the publisher through Netgalley and was so pleased that I got a chance to read it. I had heard of Bowman’s other novel Starfish all throughout last year, however I never got round to picking it up. That’s what happened when your usual go to read is 700 page fantasy novels. However I’m so glad I had this to pick up as it proved to be just the break in pace I needed.

Summer Bird Blue follows Rumi as she deals with the death of her younger sister, Lea, who was also the person she was closest to in the world. Rumi suddenly finds herself abandoned by her mother in Hawaii while they both try to come to terms with their grief, learn how to live again, and how to carrying on the memory of Lea. I haven’t read a Young Adult novel in quite a while, especially not one that doesn’t include some kind of fantasy and I had forgotten how well written, heart-wrenching and compelling these novels can be. Bowden’s novel deals with grief in a way that I hadn’t read about before, it forms in Rumi like constant bubbling anger instead of sweeping sadness and though I found it frustrating at times. It was interesting to get a different point of view on grief, because we all react differently but novels that I have read don’t often show this angry side of loss.

For such a heavy topic – one that sweeps so often into emotionally dark places that I sometimes had to put the book down – it was a compelling read. Bowden’s skill at creating interesting and relatable characters is shown in this novel because even though Rumi can be difficult to get along with at times, I still wanted her to be okay. I was still rooting for her to work through her grief and begin to repair the relationships that are so damaged at the beginning of the book.

She also manages to include another complex topic in the book without it feeling like too much – Rumi sexuality. This is often tied in with the fact Lea was the only person she felt she could talk to about it and now she has to figure out what she wants alone. If this is what YA is doing at the moment I’m so pleased that the genre is beginning to talk about these topics which bring a much needed level of diversity to literature. It proves that YA can handle these topics, and handle it well.

The only things that stopped this book being a 5 star read was that the grief was sometimes overwhelming and painful to read, and Rumi didn’t seem to be growing. Also because it has been so long since I have read YA, never mind one that wasn’t fantasy, that the simpler plot line felt empty. However, this is a reflection on my reading tastes, rather than the book itself. Bowden’s narrative definitely made me feel a lot of emotions, and I’d definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.