Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

This book has left me conflicted because it was awesome but a different kind of awesome than I was expecting. The blurb sounds incredible and based off it, I was expecting a Stardust-esque series of attempted murders between the siblings. In actual fact the attempts to kill each other aren't even allowed to begin until almost the end of the book. Instead what you get is a beautifully-crafted fantasy world with fairly compelling characters and a grand sense of epicness.

Each of the three princesses is focused on in turn and the chapters rotate, which is a mixed blessing. As with any book that chooses this style, you inevitably find one storyline more interesting than the other. However, all three of the princesses are intriguing or likeable enough to keep you wanting to read about them and I liked how each of them developed. I found Arsinoe to be the one who suffers the most-unfortunately the side characters steal the spotlight in her story and she fails to have as distinct a personality as the others. This is something that is fixed near the end of the book/in the sequel though.

I think the strongest aspect of this book is indeed the world and the way the author tells the fantasy story. As I mentioned, there is a sense of an epic story building and this is maintained incredibly well. You are initially fascinated by the world itself, then become emotionally invested due to the characters which is the perfect blend. Without saying too much, the book ends exceptionally and it made me grab the sequel instantly to see what would happen next. It also manages to pull off a twist you don't see coming but makes perfect sense afterwards, and develops the story rather than being just for shock value. Until the ending, I was annoyed this book wasn't a standalone and felt that the plot should be wrapped up by the end of it. I still would have preferred a standalone but that ending alone made me happy there were more.

All in all, I did absolutely adore this book. Am I disappointed it wasn't what I thought? Yes, but only because I was so excited for that imaginary story. Thankfully Three Dark Crowns is a fantastic book in its own right and I am definitely going to read the rest of the series. If you want a well-built fantasy with some dark elements thrown in, this is definitely for you.

Overall Rating:

.5

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

Oh boy, this was a really tough book to get into. This is the perfect example of the kind of book which irritates me. At the start, every single character is so impossibly quirky that I genuinely almost stopped reading. If you manage to plough through then this is toned down a little bit but these characters are still very much more quirk than personality. Esther is particularly unbearable. She dresses up as a different character each day and I just couldn't find what little personality she had relatable at all. Jonah is better but unfortunately, he is the best it gets.

Once that awful beginning section is over, the book does improve a little. I still struggle to understand what it is trying to say though. So the blurb implies a little magical realism and the story makes it very unclear if this is the case or not for quite some time. This is definitely not a strength. I dislike the way it portrays mental illness and I especially don't like that everyone is Esther's life has their own unique quirky brand of mental illness either. Her mum is a compulsive gambler, her dad is agoraphobic, her brother is afraid of the dark-even her best friend is mute but only to Esther.

There is a distinct lack of people trying to deal with their problems in this book, even after Jonah comes into Esther's life to magically help her fix everything. The characters are extremely damaging to Esther because of their mental health (for example, her mother loses all of their money and her 'best friend' refuses to physically speak around only her but will talk to everyone else) and this is done particularly badly. There isn't really a sympathetic portrayal of those being so awful to Esther, and yet Esther doesn't try to convince them to seek help or anything and just kind of accepts the behaviour as it is. It's the worst of both worlds.

Overall, I did grow to enjoy reading this book but there are so many problems with it that I find it difficult to recommend. It is pretty unique in both story and style, and there is enough to keep you reading if you can get through the unbearable quirkiness being rammed down your throat. It's just a shame that it fails to deliver on so many levels.

Overall Rating:

.5

The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

I have reluctantly tagged this book as 'horror' due to Goodreads and several reviews on there insisting that this book is scary. It really isn't.

I don't get this book. I heard such rave reviews about it and the premise sounds so interesting and yet the execution is bland and weirdly distant. I get a vague Frankenstein vibe from it which I guess could be a good thing but something isn't quite right about the tone. For starters, the author manages to make a story about a girl constantly spawning murderous clones boring. That in itself is kind of impressive. They also manage to create a novella with very little plot and no real resolution. Combined with a lack of character depth, why is this so popular again?

Okay, so my main issue with this book is that it didn't make me feel anything. The main character is extremely flat and distant, and there's absolutely no emotional reaction from her to anything. Again, maybe this was meant to reflect how traumatic her life is and how it's ruined her? But we start with her as a child and she is just as lifeless then. At no point did I feel like I understood Molly's actions or was worried for her wellbeing. All the potentially interesting things that could stem from this idea remain unremarked upon. What happens if a clone murders her? We never find out. Why is this happening? We kind of find out in the most unsatisfactory way. What the heck does the opening/ending mean? The author decided to just stop so we're definitely not finding that out. It's all so disappointing.

The more I reflect on this book, the more I find to dislike about it. It's not particularly bad or enraging, it's just kind of hollow and ultimately pointless. Even for a novella, there's very little to it. The book equivalent of eating a rice cracker.

Overall Rating:

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

So I had a very good reason to hate this book. This year I attempted NaNoWriMo and my original idea was to write a horror version of Peter Pan. I got about 2,000 words in, decided to check my emails and there was an email from Goodreads about voting for the best books of the year. I see this cover and my heart drops.

There goes my idea.

Thankfully for me, this book is actually not a horror at all, despite Goodreads telling me it is. Also thankfully, it turns out to be one of my favourite books of the year against all odds. Lost Boy is indeed the story of Captain Hook, although that is more of an inevitable conclusion than the actual plot. What it actually is is the story of the very first Lost Boy and what the reality of that is. Jamie is our protagonist and (excluding the prologue which frankly, is pretty badly written) from the first chapter, I was just sucked in by his character. It's hard for me to describe why the writing style works so well because it's actually extraordinarily simple. That's part of the brilliance though-it is unclear how old Jamie is meant to be, but this is undoubtedly the voice of a child. However, it's not irritating or dumbed down in order to portray that.

The plot itself is again simple, but this is a book that is all about atmosphere. It is a lot less dark than I was led to believe but that doesn't mean there isn't a subtle sense of doom embedded in every page. I really enjoyed how the author handled Peter Pan and slowly revealed piece by piece just how messed up their world was. It reminded me a lot of Only Ever Yours in that sense, and it was similarly well done. Though you know Jamie is destined to become Hook, the plot is not obvious in how it will progress and I must admit I didn't see several things coming, though in hindsight they make perfect sense. My one minor niggle is that I didn't like the equation of romantic attraction and adulthood. I liked Sal as a character but it felt a little forced and ultimately, didn't add too much to the story in my eyes. I understand completely what the author was going for and I liked the twist of a lost girl, but the romance felt out of place and I don't think the book would have suffered without it.

It is so refreshing for me to pick up a book like this which I might have otherwise ignored, and find such enjoyment from it. I had never heard of this author but she has done a version of Alice in Wonderland which I will probably have to read now. As I said, this has quickly become one of my favourite books of the year and I would love for more people to read it.

Overall Rating:

.5