Book Review – Page 20 – M J Mallon YA Author and Poet

My Kyrosmagica Review of Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling

Amber Wake

Goodreads synopsis:

Where do I begin?
That’s a difficult question in and of itself but when your life is transformed into something else, do you start when you’re born or when your life truly began?
I was born in London as Gabriel Wallace. The child of high society; although I was raised to appreciate everything that softly landed in my hand. I followed all the rules. I worked hard, studied hard and ended up a captain in the Royal Navy before my twenty fifth birthday. Unfortunately, I saw the world through my own eyes, not the eyes of my superiors and my vision was clear.
I knew my duty. I knew my job. I also knew deep down, regardless of the loyalty my commission required, my stance was in opposition and it was but a matter of time before they’d force me to stand alone.
Fortunately for me, my crew was loyal too and I had the full support of my closest friend and confidant as well. I didn’t know where I’d end up but I knew one thing for sure; I needed to get the hell out of England and thanks to them, I was taking my ship with me.
The time had come to hunt.

Thank you to Ronovan Hester for a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

My Review:

I really enjoyed Amber Wake – Gabriel Falling by P.S. Bartlett and Ronovan Hester. This pirate tale oozes excitement, the fight scenes are first class, and the touches of humour had me chuckling like a pirate!! I’d recommend it for readers who enjoy a fast paced adventure on the high seas, lots of camaraderie, and splashes and splashes of thrills. It’s a very entertaining read, a well written and plotted book. Its strength lies in its thrilling passages, excellent characterisation, and sense of place. You really do feel that you are one of the crew, going off on an adventure, to an uncertain future, and perhaps sticky end. These elements make the book truly shine.

Towards the end of the middle section the momentum of the narrative slows down a little to explore the once honourable Royal Navy Captain’s motivations: Gabriel Wallace’s sense of justice, his fear that his character is changing, developing into something that perhaps he fears to become. This is an interesting aspect of the novel, suggesting his internal struggle to cast off his pirate persona, to overturn the wrongs done by Admiral Chambers. He longs to be a better man, and all the while he is changing into a man he does not recognise – a pirate! This goes more than skin deep, but is evident in his change of name: Rasmus, the changing names of the ships he captures, his pirate lingo, and his growing goatee beard, etc. This part of the novel reminded me of a kind of Robin Hood pirate of the high seas, this once respectable, gallant Captain, desires to protect those deemed to be at risk from the Admiral’s greed. I enjoyed this but I did feel that this reflective section could have perhaps been a bit shorter. I must be a bit of a devil because I preferred the fast paced excitement of the fight scenes! Ha Ha!! I confess I’m a bit of a rogue…

Also there are strong similarities to Robin Hood/Maid Marian in Gabriel’s desire to protect and preserve the innocence of women – those who may fall prey to the lasciviousness and wantonness of pirates of folklore. Though having said that he isn’t an angel either!

My recommendation: Definitely read Amber Wake – Gabriel Falling, especially if you enjoy the sea…. Go on a pirate adventure, sail the high seas, taste that salty water…. but whatever you do don’t rile pirate Captain Rasmus aka Gabriel or you might end up walking the plank!

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Above Cartoon Vector by Free pik

My rating: 4.5 stars.

DISCLAIMER: “As of 13th September 2017 we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.

Authors links:

Ronovan Hester

Ronovan Writes

PS Bartlett

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica

My fun (totally not serious but nevertheless 90% true,) author bio on Wattpad – Link below.

Marjorie Mallon was born in Lion City: Singapore. She grew up in a mountainous court in Hong Kong. Her crazy parents dragged her spotty soul away from her exotic childhood and her much loved dog Topsy to the frozen wastelands of Scotland. There she mastered Scottish country dancing, haggis bashing, bagpipe playing and a whole new Och Aye lingo.
As a teenager she travelled to many far flung destinations to visit her abacus wielding wayfarer dad. On one such occasion a barracuda swam by. It stopped to view her bikini clad body, longing to take a big bite. With dogs' fangs replacing barracudas' teeth, she returned to her mother's birthplace: Kuching, Cat City. There, Blackie, a black-hearted dog sniffed her frightened butt, whimpered and ran away! Shortly after this extraordinary event an angry female Orang-Utan chased her unfit ass out of the Malaysian jungle believing that she was a threat to her babies! She still monkeys about, would love to own a cat, or a replacement Topsy but refuses to entertain murderous dogs, or over-protective monkeys.
It's rumoured that she lives in the Venice of Cambridge, with her six foot hunk of a Rock God husband, and her two enchanted daughters.
After such an upbringing her author's mind has taken total leave of its senses. When she's not writing, she eats exotic delicacies while belly dancing, or surfs to the far reaches of the moon. To chill out she practises Tai Chi and Yoga on the crest of a wave. If the mood takes her she goes snorkelling with mermaids, or signs up for idyllic holidays with the Chinese Unicorn, whose magnificent voice sings like a thousand wind chimes.

She is a child of the light and the dark. Her motto is simply this: Do what you love, stay true to your heart's desires, remain young at heart, and inspire others to do so, even if it appears that the odds are stacked like black hearted shadows against you...

My Links:

My Kyrosmagica Review of Oak and Mist by Helen Jones

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Goodreads Synopsis:

“The end of everything? Great, no pressure then.”

Pushed between two trees at her local park, Alma never expected to find another world. But Ambeth, where a palace gleams in green gardens by a wild sea, has been expecting her.

Now she has to find a lost sword or the consequences for humanity will be dire. With no idea where to look, despite help from her new friend Caleb, things get even more complicated when a handsome prince of the Dark seems to be interested in her. Add in some time-twisting, concerned parents and a battle between Light and Dark for control of a lost sword, and it’s enough to make any fifteen-year-old want to give up. But then she wouldn’t see Caleb any more. Or Deryck..

My review:

Oak and Mist by Helen Jones is the first book in a YA Fantasy novel series. In my opinion this novel would appeal to younger YA readers who enjoy a well described beautifully detailed fantasy realm, coupled with sizzling romance and a hint of darkness. The main protagonist is a fifteen year old girl called Alma who is pushed by a bully into an alternate world. In this strange land she finds that she is the one prophesied to find the lost Regalia of the land of Ambeth. This startling revelation frightens and intrigues her in equal measure. A huge weight is put on her young shoulders – if she doesn’t succeed Ambeth and the human world will be lost to the mercy of the beautiful but potentially menacing Dark Lords. An ominous threat hangs in the air…. What will life be like if the Dark lords get hold of the regalia? Will they continue to create foul creatures such as the Galardin?

The Taliath bracelet allows her to do short stint time travel hops so she can return from her own land to Ambeth safely, and burns if a dark lord comes near her.. This could be a bit of a problem if she hooks up with Deryck, (the Dark Lord’s son,) the burn marks might be a bit of a downer!

On the whole the characters are well rounded, this is particularly true of Alma, Caleb, and Alma’s love interest, – Deryck. There is a fair amount of romance in the story which will appeal to YA readers. There is also a sense of Caleb’s frustration at Alma’s obvious attraction to Deryck. Caleb would be a wiser choice for Alma but Alma (being a red headed lass,) goes for the ‘bad boy!’ This adds an interesting element to the story – a love triangle between the opposing forces of light represented by sweet Caleb and dark in the form of the more experienced (one supposes,) Deryck.

Some of the subsidiary characters could have perhaps been developed a bit more – I didn’t get much sense of Alma’s mother and at times I found her reaction to Alma’s popping out at all hours to go to the park (to make her way to Ambeth,) a little underplayed. The interaction between Alma and her best friend Sara could perhaps have been been developed a bit more too. But I do see that this would have to be carefully done so as not to distract from the quest aspects of the story.

At one point in the novel Deryck refers to Alma as a dolt. I have to say that I’m not sure if many YA readers will know what this word means… but I suppose it doesn’t take much to find out! There are a few typos, and minor phrasing issues, but these do not distract much from the story.

I felt that the cliff hanger and revelation at the end of the book provided an interesting twist but perhaps the ending could have been curtailed at an earlier junction – at the point of the revelation to draw the reader into reading more. I was left with a bit of a …. is that it moment at the end…. having said that I do think this series will develop and I’m interested to see where Book 2 will take the reader. Particularly as there are many similarities between my writing and Helen’s – we both write about light/darkness. I hope that the darkness aspects are developed more in the second book…..ha ha !! Hopefully we’ll see Deryck being a real dark lord… given the title of the book – No Quarter – I reckon it sounds likely! How exciting!

My overall recommendation – Definitely read Oak And Mist, it is an entertaining fantasy story. Its strength lies in its beautifully descriptive writing, and believable dialogue set in an intriguingly magical realm. The plot is simply written but manages to keep the reader entertained and interested throughout.

I have a guilty confession: I tend to be a bit lazy about reading sequels to books – I really have to like them a lot to do so – but I am really looking forward to reading No Quarter, Book 2 in the Ambeth Chronicles: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26101561-no-quarter

Author Bio:

Helen Jones was born in the UK, then lived in both Canada and Australia before returning to England several years ago. The thought of finding magic in ordinary places is one that inspires her; when she was a child she did find a strange valley and hear a scream – the incident stayed with her and was the starting point of the Ambeth Chronicles.

Helen has worked as a freelance writer for the past ten years, runs her own blog at http://www.journeytoambeth.com and has contributed guest posts to others, including the Bloomsbury Writers & Artists site. Ambeth is not the only world she plans to visit in her books, but it’s where she is now.

When she’s not writing, she likes to walk, paint and study karate. She’s now working on several other novels unrelated to Ambeth, enjoying the chance to explore other fantasy worlds.

city-book_23-2147514462 — **MY RATING 4 STARS**

Book Vector Designed by Freepik

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.

AMAZON VERIFIED PURCHASE.

UK Kindle Edition: http://amzn.to/2y3d50R

UK Paperback Edition: http://amzn.to/2jtI0B3

Have you read Oak and Mist or No Quarter? Do let me know in the comments below I’d love to hear your opinion..

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Kyrosmagica Review of Emmy & Oliver

My Book Review of Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Goodreads Synopis:

Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story.

My review:

Emmy & Oliver is a YA Contemporary romance with believable, lovable characters that draw you into the story making you want to read more. Emmy & Oliver are the two central pins of the story. Everything revolves around Oliver and his old friends. He returns home following a lengthy disappearance after having been kidnapped by his father, and is reunited with old friends, and family members. Things have moved on a lot in the meantime. His mother has remarried and he has two twin half-sisters. His old friend Drew now has a boyfriend. Oliver expresses his emotions at all these changes in an utterly convincing way. As the novel progresses we begin to understand how he felt towards his father, (whom he still loves,) and his mother, and how he feels now.

I really loved this. It wasn’t trying to be over the top, gushing romance, or poor me I’ve been kidnapped feel sorry for me story. Instead it went for the gentleness of feels. That’s how I’d describe it. It had the perfect mix: believable storyline, cute romance (s), – between Emmy & Oliver as well as tidbits of Drew’s gay romance, wonderfully engaging characters, and fantastic dialogue. The dialogue really held it together in a very cohesive way. It made me happy – while I was reading Emmy & Oliver I was editing my own YA dialogue in my current WIP, so this gave me bags of ideas and inspiration. So a big Thank you to the author Robin Benway for his awesome dialogue!

Moreover, Emmy and Oliver’s friends, Caro and Drew are so likeable and engaging too.

I loved the interaction between Emmy, Oliver and their parents, this was first class. Their parents’ overblown anxiety and protectiveness following Oliver’s kidnapping is so understandable, but Emmy isn’t one to be held in check. She goes surfing on the sly, and has other plans that she hasn’t told her parents about…. So this is also a story about growing up, new opportunities, new paths, discovering who you are, and cutting those parental apron strings.

My only criticism was this:

Towards the end of the book Oliver’s dad gets justice for his crime and Oliver doesn’t seem to react much, which seems odd given that he still loves his father.. the story loses a bit of its believability at that point. I think this could have been remedied and explored by adding a chapter in the POV of Oliver at that precise point… Consequently this dropped a star in my rating otherwise Emmy & Oliver would have been a solid 5 stars.

Nevertheless, if you like a slow burning YA Contemporary romance, with masses of tender feels, and family centred issues this is the one for you.

Highly recommended. It is sad, heart-warming, and insightful, a witty exploration of family life.

I marked it a favourite – just saying!

My rating 4 stars.

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.

Amazon UK Kindle Edition: http://amzn.to/2xfgHh8

Amazon UK Paperback Edition: http://amzn.to/2jGwHFL

Amazon UK Hardcover Edition: http://amzn.to/2jEH9gU

Amazon UK Audiobook: http://amzn.to/2jFYYfE

I hope you enjoyed my review.

Author’s Website: Robin Benway

Have you read Emmy & Oliver? Do leave a comment I’d love to hear your opinion.

Note: Photo of book edited with InstaSquarer program developed and designed by Thomas Tsopanakis.

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Links:

My Kyrosmagica Review of Ravens Gathering

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Goodreads Synopsis:

As she let her gaze drift around her, she saw that there were more birds. Perhaps a dozen or so, perched among the trees that stood on the edge of the clearing. And yet more were arriving, swooping down through the gap overhead and landing on branches that overlooked them. The birds weren’t threatening, yet the sight of them all coming together in this dark and isolated spot was unnerving. Tanya reached a hand out towards Martin, and was relieved to feel him take it. She felt him move in behind her. After the uncertainty she’d experienced with him in a similar position only a few moments ago, she recognised the irony of her reaction. His closeness offered security.

“You know what they are, don’t you?”

A stranger’s arrival in a small village coincides with a tragic accident. For the Gates family in particular it’s more than a coincidence, but their unease increases following a brutal attack. As tensions rise, a dark past returns to haunt them and others, while newcomers to the village are drawn into a mystery with terrifying consequences. And no one can explain why the ravens are gathering.

Ravens Gathering twists and turns as the truth is gradually exposed in a gripping thriller with a supernatural edge to it.

My review:

This is a very ambitious first novel, and on the whole Graeme Cumming does a fantastic job, creating a novel which is both highly imaginative, and unusual in many respects. The dialogue is believable, as is the detail in the various innocuous, homely settings: the pub, the farms, and this close knit English village.

Ravens Gathering does a shape shift through several different genres, embracing fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, police procedural, thriller, and horror.

The main character Martin Gates returns to this community, his home after a long time abroad. Martin’s reappearance is not welcomed with open arms by his family, in fact they appear to view his reappearance as something to avoid rather than embrace. To begin with Martin is a difficult character to engage with. His character is somewhat obtuse, but there are reasons for this, which become apparent as we read the book and realise why he is the way he is. We do get a sense of his outrage about being so unloved and uncared for by his family, and yet to begin with we have no idea why this the case. We can only speculate, but there’s no way that our speculations will be correct.

Equally, Tanya, and Ian aren’t particularly appealing either, and neither are Martin’s family. The further we get into the book it seems more and more likely that everyone in Ravens Gathering are flawed in some unique and individual way. The key words that initially come to mind are: selfish, shady, desperate for sexual diversions, or damaged in some way.

The story unfolds slowly with a considerable amount of detail, making events more real. Shocking and disturbing revelations in the latter part of the novel don’t come as a complete surprise given the underlying sense of a community where something is terribly amiss. Nevertheless I had no idea of what was coming, and the shock factor of what did surprised, and appalled me in equal measure. This is a novel where you can’t help but go WTF!!!!!

The characters for the most part are not particularly lovable which initially distances the reader from them but that’s not meant as a criticism, in fact under the circumstances having read the story one realises why this is the case.

The bad guy is about as horrible, wicked, and debauched a villain as you can get.

This is a very complicated story that remains in your psyche for some time afterwards. It winds its way stretching the believability of the fantastical elements to the max, edging the story to its conclusion.

My recommendation: Definitely an author to watch out for, a well written, confident debut. Read if you like mysterious thrillers with a fantastical, but deeply shocking element.

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in in exchange for a review.

Verified Purchase – I own a copy.

Buying Link:

Do connect with Graeme via his link below:

Graeme Cumming’s website

Have you read Ravens Gathering? Do comment below.

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Kyrosmagica Review of The Yearbook Committee

Goodreads Synopsis:

The school captain: Ryan has it all … or at least he did, until an accident snatched his dreams away. How will he rebuild his life and what does the future hold for him now?

The newcomer: Charlie’s just moved interstate and she’s determined not to fit in. She’s just biding her time until Year 12 is over and she can head back to her real life and her real friends …

The loner: At school, nobody really notices Matty. But at home, Matty is everything. He’s been single-handedly holding things together since his mum’s breakdown, and he’s never felt so alone.

The popular girl: Well, the popular girl’s best friend … cool by association. Tammi’s always bowed to peer pressure, but when the expectations become too much to handle, will she finally stand up for herself?

The politician’s daughter: Gillian’s dad is one of the most recognisable people in the state and she’s learning the hard way that life in the spotlight comes at a very heavy price.

Five unlikely teammates thrust together against their will. Can they find a way to make their final year a memorable one or will their differences tear their world apart?

First of all before I begin my review I’d like to say a big thank you to Jade at Scatterbooker for sending me my giveaway prize all the way from Australia! Miraculously it arrived the very morning that I was going to Brighton for a family get together for my mum’s birthday! Quite extraordinary… Anyway it was lovely to bring it along with me for a weekend away. In fact I took a photo of it for Instagram along with a beautifully folded towel and some toiletries.

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My Review:

The main characters in Sarah Ayoub’s The Yearbook Committee are Matty, Charlie, Ryan, Tammi, and Gillian. The story revolves around the five teammates who are drawn together to create a Yearbook of their final year at school. All of them are reluctant, (expect Gillian,) to get involved in this activity. In fact the five would most probably never have been friends if it wasn’t for their involvement in the Committee. As the Yearbook develops so do their friendships. In fact these new relationships make the Yearbookers’ question some of their existing friendships, and an unlikely but strong bond is formed.

I must admit that I found The Yearbook Committee a little slow to get into at first, but maybe I’m showing my age! Ha ha!! The chapters are set out in alternating Pov’s of the five characters, so perhaps it takes a while for the reader, (particularly oldies like me!) to engage with each individual character. Nevertheless I enjoyed The Yearbook Committee. I’d say that its strongest characteristic by far is its exceptionally well written and believable dialogue. Though, I didn’t get much of a sense of place. Of course we know the novel is set in Australia but there’s very little descriptive language. So perhaps not a recommendation for readers who enjoy a lot of descriptive language…

The Yearbook Committee will definitely appeal to those who enjoy YA, teen books, character led stories with tons of engaging dialogue, an emphasis on the wide ranging difficulties and peer pressures of growing up. The novel highlights a wide range of diverse issues: cyber bullying, having a sibling with Downs, coping with a parent with severe depression, non-nuclear families, moving to a new school, distracted and disinterested parents, lost dreams, pressure to have sex, to do well, to be popular, to take drugs..

The characters are:

Charlie’s just moved from Melbourne with her mum and stepdad to Sydney. She didn’t want to move and is determined not to fit in. She’s the bright spark and feminist of the group.

Ryan is the clever, athletic, popular but nice guy whose dreams are smashed by an injury.

Matty is the scholarship kid who has a tough time of it working two jobs to try to help and support his depressed mother who can’t even get herself together to go to parent’s meetings.

Tammi is to some degree defined by others. She is best friends with the popular but meanest girl going. Tammi finds it hard to convince her parents that she’d like to be a police officer.

Gillian is the only one of the five who volunteered to be on the Yearbook Committee. She’s a politician’s daughter and the target of cyber bullies, and constantly in the media spotlight.

The key words: Revelations, Relationships, Frustrations, Explorations, Decisions, Unlikely Friendships, Unfortunate, Sad, Tragic, Thoughtful (Ryan’s final chapter,) Teen, YA, Social Media, Current, are the key words I would use to describe The Yearbook Committee.

If these appeal to you then I’d recommend that you pick up a copy!

The ending really smashed it for me, very moving and emotional, making up for the slow start.

My Star rating : 4 stars.

Recommendation: Read

Links: Sarah Ayoub Website

Have you read The Yearbook Committee? Would you recommend it? Or perhaps you might have read Sarah Ayoub’s previous book Hate is Such A Strong Word?

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Links:

My Kyrosmagica Review of The Game of Love and Death

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Antony and Cleopatra. Helen of Troy and Paris. Romeo and Juliet. And now… Henry and Flora.

For centuries Love and Death have chosen their players. They have set the rules, rolled the dice, and kept close, ready to influence, angling for supremacy. And Death has always won. Always.

Could there ever be one time, one place, one pair whose love would truly tip the balance?

Meet Flora Saudade, an African-American girl who dreams of becoming the next Amelia Earhart by day and sings in the smoky jazz clubs of Seattle by night. Meet Henry Bishop, born a few blocks and a million worlds away, a white boy with his future assured—a wealthy adoptive family in the midst of the Great Depression, a college scholarship, and all the opportunities in the world seemingly available to him.

The players have been chosen. The dice have been rolled. But when human beings make moves of their own, what happens next is anyone’s guess.

Achingly romantic and brilliantly imagined, The Game of Love and Death is a love story you will never forget.

My review:

Well with a title like that this novel was bound to capture my attention: The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough… huh!! To begin with I have to admit it took me a while to get into this novel but when I did it was a soaring in the air doing crazy flips kind of moment. If I was to use one word to describe this novel, it would be: imaginative. Loved those imaginative loop-the-loops!

The heroine Flora sings in a jazz club her parents once owned, but dreams of being a pilot, Amelia Earhart is her inspiration. But this is 1937, and Flora can’t get sponsorship to fly, due to horrible racist attitudes about her skin colour. The story is set in Hooverville, USA, at a time when racism and sexism were rife.

The characters of Love and Death have a certain fondness for each other, having spent much time locked together in an endless battle to overcome each other and win. Love chooses Henry as his player, whilst Death, picks Flora. Both end up being pretty ruthless in their desire to win, but Death has a soft side to him which is expressed in subtle and unexpected ways.

This is a tale of love between two ‘star crossed lovers,’ Flora and Henry. Henry is an orphan too but he has a wealthy family backing him, Flora only has her Grandmother. There is a particularly poignant point later in the story regarding the grandmother but rather than spoil it for you I’ll just say read it and weep. The ‘star crossed lovers’ are discouraged from being a couple purely on the basis of their differing skin colour. They are drawn into a game with deadly consequences with no realisation that they are players.

The Game Of Love And Death is also a reflection on attitudes to homosexuality at the time, played out beautifully with the character of Love taking the persona of James Booth and engaging in a relationship with Henry’s best friend Ethan.

The story is written against a fantasy backdrop – a game between two mighty game players, LOVE and DEATH. Who will win? Until now Death has always won but with the right players could Love win?

The characters of Love and Death shapeshift into people to try to influence the outcome of the game. Love is portrayed as a guy, and Death as a girl, this I liked as the girl gets to be the wicked one! Of the two game masters I enjoyed (if that is the right word to use!) Death’s persona more!

Expect surprises, interesting characters, a romance which is not overplayed, and a well researched historical background.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel in countless ways. Highly recommended.

A few of my favourite quotes:

“Life is a temporary condition, Henry. And it’s uncertain. That’s why you have to seize chances when you find them. Pursue what you want. Take risks. Live, love…all of it. Every last one of us is going to die, but if we don’t live as we truly want, if we’re not with the one we want to be with, we’re dead already.”

“We have all the time in the world.’ Love found a record. He laid it on the player. The music started again, scratchy from age, but so sweet and beautiful and deep.
Someday.
And there, in the darkness, Love and Death and the ones inside of them danced until the song was done.
And then, when all around them was silent and still, they disappeared.”

“The kiss: It felt like light rising through them. It was a memory and it was a promise, an enigma and a wonder. It was music. A conversation. A flight. A true story. And it was theirs.”

Rating:

4.5 stars.

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.

Buying Links:

Amazon UK kindle: http://amzn.to/2xgUBuP

Amazon UK Paperback: http://amzn.to/2xSuJs4

Have you read The Game of Love and Death? If so what did you think of it? Do tell.

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Kyrosmagica Review of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

My Review:

If there is one thing that I really love it’s books that make me cry and books that make me reflect and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes made me do both in shed loads… On my Goodreads account I’ve marked this as a favourite read, but be prepared for lots of tears, remember that you’ll need a full box of man sized tissues at the ready …

This is a sad novel tackling a very difficult, controversial and sensitive issue so readers’ responses with differ greatly. It tackles the considerations of a severely disabled person, with extreme quadriplegic disability to end his young life. There is no hope of Will getting any better, he is prone to infections, needs constant care, and any outings anywhere need to be planned in advance and organised to the hilt. Perhaps at the crux of Will’s unhappiness is the freedom, the rigour, of his prior life before this horrendous accident. Will was a man who lived life to the ultimate max. Now he is unable to do anything for himself. In contrast Lou is happy to potter along to live life in her own sweet way without really pushing the boundaries of her small world, until she loses her steady job in a cafe and becomes Will’s carer. Then she discovers that perhaps her life isn’t quite as perfect as she thought, and her boyfriend Patrick isn’t either. Will may be confined to a wheelchair but he is so much more interesting and exciting than her sports obsessed boyfriend.

Of course it is a love story but it is much more than that, it is a sad tale of a multitude of responses to such a dreadful accident, with shifting POV’s to try to convey the feelings of family members and others touched by this dreadful tragedy: Will’s mother, father, and his nurse.. But, the main POV is Lou, as it should be. I did find the shifting POV’s didn’t quite work for me … I enjoyed the novel best when the novel remained in Lou’s thoughts but having said that I did see that the POV shift to her sister was needed towards the end of the novel.

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Major Spoilers below:

I couldn’t really review this properly without doing a Spoiler so if you haven’t read Me Before You yet, you might want to divert your eyes at this point.

It is one of those novels that stay in your thoughts for a long time after you’ve finished reading it. You think about it, and think about it and your response may change over minutes, hours and days. So I’ve spent a fair bit of time digesting my feelings about this particular novel before reviewing it in full on this blog. In the end my conclusion is that Will wanted to set Lou free, he loved her so much. He knew she could live the big, exciting life that he couldn’t anymore, whereas if she continued to care for him she would stay still, locked in a very small world, inhabited by endless visits to the hospital, illness, and suffering. Perhaps otherwise his final decision to die would have seemed a selfish, cruel, hurtful, act. Lou made the ultimate sacrifice too, even though it caused her great pain, she supported Will’s choice to die being with him in his final moments because she loved him that much.

Ultimately even though the ending was a dreadful tragedy it left the reader with a sense of hope, of promise.

A thoroughly thought provoking, emotional read, I would highly recommend that you pick up a copy. By the way there is the second book to look forward to in this series: After You.

My rating:

4.5 stars.

Have you read Me Before You or its sequel? If you have let me know I’d love to hear your opinion.

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Kyrosmagica Review of Living in The Shadows

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Goodreads Synopsis:

It’s 1969 and Mary Schormann is living quietly in Wales with her ex-POW husband, Peter, and her teenage twins, Richard and Victoria. Her niece, Linda Booth, is a nurse – following in Mary’s footsteps – and works in the maternity ward of her local hospital in Lancashire. At the end of a long night shift, a bullying new father visits the maternity ward and brings back Linda’s darkest nightmares, her terror of being locked in. Who is this man, and why does he scare her so? There are secrets dating back to the war that still haunt the family, and finding out what lies at their root might be the only way Linda can escape their murderous consequences.

I’d recommend reading Living in the Shadows by Judith Barrow. This particular novel is the third in the series, published by Honno Press: ‘Honno is an independent co-operative press run by women and committed to bringing you the best in Welsh women’s writing.’

The first two books are: Pattern of Shadows and Changing Patterns. I read Living in The Shadows as a standalone. Whilst it can be read as a standalone I’d recommend that you read it as part of the complete series.

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My review:

Without a doubt Living in The Shadows is a lovely family saga set in the 1960’s following the lives of three families, the Howarths, the Booths, and the Schorrmans. I really enjoyed this saga which reminded me of a TV soap (of the highest quality,) in so many respects.

To begin with I have to admit that I found it a bit daunting as there are a whole host of characters to get to grips with, and I made this worse for myself by not getting acquainted with them in the first two books! As well as this the novel is written in an unusual style with short chapters, telling the story from the viewpoint of individual characters. But, by the end of the book I felt as if knew all of the characters personally, and shared in their sad moments, worries and dreams. Judith has a talent for bringing the reader into the moment, employing the full use of all the sensory organs, creating a visual, and auditory delight. The dialogue flows well and all in all this is a very confidently written book. My favourite part of the story focusses on Victoria, a wilful young woman who runs away from her home in Wales to join a hippie commune. Sadly this decision ends up being far from a good one. The promises of freedom and happiness that she hopes for, turn out to be empty promises made by Seth, also known in the Commune as The Master.

As well as this there is a particularly villainous bad guy and the final few chapters are both sad, and riveting.

My rating:

4 stars.

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway of Living in The Shadows via Brook Cottage Books Here’s the link to their post, and their review:

http://brookcottagebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/review-giveaway-living-in-shadows-by.html

DISCLAIMER: “As of 13 September 2017 we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.

Amazon UK kindle buying link: http://amzn.to/2vXV9UT

Amazon UK Paperback buying link: http://amzn.to/2weUkuX

Further links:

http://www.honno.co.uk/

http://www.judithbarrow.co.uk/living-in-the-shadows/

http://judithbarrowblog.com/

Have you read Living in the Shadows, or the previous books in the series?

Do comment if you have.

Bye for now, come back soon….

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Kyrosmagica Review of Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

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Goodreads Synopsis:
A master storyteller at his best—the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story.

Since his first collection, Nightshift, published thirty-five years ago, Stephen King has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of short fiction. In this new collection he assembles, for the first time, recent stories that have never been published in a book. He introduces each with a passage about its origins or his motivations for writing it.

There are thrilling connections between stories; themes of morality, the afterlife, guilt, what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past. “Afterlife” is about a man who died of colon cancer and keeps reliving the same life, repeating his mistakes over and over again. Several stories feature characters at the end of life, revisiting their crimes and misdemeanors. Other stories address what happens when someone discovers that he has supernatural powers—the columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries in “Obits;” the old judge in “The Dune” who, as a boy, canoed to a deserted island and saw names written in the sand, the names of people who then died in freak accidents. In “Morality,” King looks at how a marriage and two lives fall apart after the wife and husband enter into what seems, at first, a devil’s pact they can win.

Magnificent, eerie, utterly compelling, these stories comprise one of King’s finest gifts to his constant reader—“I made them especially for you,” says King. “Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.”

My review:

This is an amazing collection of short stories. Go get a copy, don’t think twice, it really is worth it. Especially if like me you want to write short stories what better place to start than to read some from this master short story teller? This collection literally speaks to the reader, it is as if you can hear Stephen King’s voice reading you these magnificent stories. How wonderful is that? He manages to achieve this by beginning each story with a short anecdote making it doubly interesting and giving each story a personal touch. One of my favourites is his cup and handle analogy in which he explains that some stories come complete while others need a bit more work to fulfil their potential. He ends each story with a dedication to friends and to authors such as Raymond Carver, John Irving, W F Harvey, Russ Dorr, (researcher, advisor, and close friend,) Elmore Leonard, Jim Spruce, Surendra Patel, Owen King, (his son,) Herman Wouk, Joe Hill, Michael McDowell, Hesh Kestin, Marshall Dodge, (a Maine Humorist,) Kurt Sutter and Richard Chizmar.

As well as this he passes on little writerly gems like “The Hair of Harold Roux, which he says is “probably the best novel about writing ever published.”

In this compilation there is such a wide variety of stories to suit all tastes, there is poetry, The Bone Church, and one for baseball fans, Blockade Billy. As well as this, The Little Green God of Agony “is a search for closure,” after experiencing “two or three years of physical therapy and slow rehabilitation,” after he “was hit by a guy driving a van.”

After reading this wonderful compilation of short stories I felt drawn even more to Stephen King’s writing, he achieves this by sharing numerous personal anecdotes: ” Public appearances aren’t my favourite thing,” and follows this particular apologetic confessional by writing an amazingly imaginative short story That Bus Is Another World.

All of the stories are excellent but I do have my personal favourites which are:

Mile 81. A story about a car with a nasty bite! Loved it!

Premium Harmony. A ten year marriage can end in an unexpectedly tragic way but being Stephen King a touch of dark humour sneaks in there!

Batman and Robin Have An Altercation. What could happen when you are out and about with an aging parent, in a road rage situation.

The Dune. A fantasy story which has the most amazing ending.

The Bad Little Kid. With a title like that it was bound to be awesome. Loved this one!

Afterlife. Would we do it all differently if we could live our lives again?

Herman Wouk Is Still Alive. This story was triggered by a real life tragic accident which killed the drunken driver, “all but one of her passengers (her son survived), and the three men in the SUV.”

Under The Weather. When you just can’t bear to let a loved one go.

The Little Green God of Agony. This is a nasty piece of work, make no mistake.

That Bus Is Another World. Whilst peering into another world momentarily, what would you choose to ignore ?

Obits. Stephen King was thinking of a film called I Bury the Living when he wrote this one!

Drunken Fireworks. This made me chuckle a lot!

Summer Thunder. The final story in the collection is about the end of the world, and is inspired by his love of his 1986 Harley Softail.

Hope that convinced you to read Bazaar of Bad Dreams.

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Kyrosmagica Review of Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Goodreads Synopsis:

Last year, Annabel was “the girl who has everything” — at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf’s Department Store.

This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong.

Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen’s help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

My review:

Just Listen is enjoyable, a fairly light read given its underlying subject matter. The main character is Annabel, the youngest sister of three girls who are all encouraged by their mother to model. Annabel’s best friend Sophie is popular, and being around her seems to have elevated Annabel’s status, but Annabel feels uncomfortable around Will, Sophie’s boyfriend. In time we learn why this is. Just Listen roused my emotions but in my opinion it could have been a more thought provoking read if it explored the personal emotions, and trauma of Annabel being attacked, and her immediate response to that more realistically but instead Annabel chose to remain silent and I found this quite frustrating. Okay, the reader is meant to take from this that she couldn’t bear to tell anyone and I understand that but nevertheless it just seemed a little unrealistic given the circumstances. There are a wide variety of themes that are explored in this novel: anorexia, sibling relationships, families, secrets, boy/girl relationships, sexual assault, and friendship difficulties. The writing is marked by a fair amount of telling which at times slows down and overburdens the narrative.

Overall, I would rate this 4 stars, due to the points mentioned below:

Just Listen’s strengths lie in its:

Portrayal of family life, particularly sibling relationships, the dynamics of the three sisters is where the real emotion of the novel lies. I found myself really moved by certain chapters in the book which explored the relationships between the sisters.

Owen’s character is another high point of the novel he really brought the story to life for me, in fact I would say that he is perhaps a more engaging character than Annabel. Annabel by the very act of withholding her emotions, comes across as quite frustrating. I felt great sympathy when I discovered what had happened to her but I desperately wanted her to confide in Owen but instead, to begin with, she ran away. I do get why she did this but nevertheless I wanted her to do the right thing and tell him and stand up so that other girls wouldn’t go through the same thing.

I liked how Sarah Dessen explored this very human tendency to judge people by their looks, and by other peoples’ reactions to them, rather than looking deeper and discovering for ourselves that everyone can be different and more complex than we expect. Owen, is a perfect example, he sits apart from everyone, is immersed in his music, needs anger management to handle his emotions, but there is so much more to him than those simple facts alone. Even family members can have an unexpected side to them, a case in point is Annabel’s mother, who turns out to be tougher than we might imagine.

The multitude of secrets and hurts that lay buried waiting to be discovered, are fascinating, particularly set amongst the pressures to be the perfect skinny, flawless beauty in the much desired world of modelling.

Music really felt like a character in this novel, and played a pivotal point in the storyline which was such a nice unexpected touch.

This is the first Sarah Dessen novel that I have read, on the whole I enjoyed Just Listen, especially the detail regarding the sibling relationships in the latter part of the novel.

I’d recommend Just Listen to readers of YA, Contemporary, Romance, Chick lit.

Have you read any Sarah Dessen books, do let me know if you have.

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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My review:

Moreover, Emmy and Oliver’s friends, Caro and Drew are so likeable and engaging too.

My only criticism was this:

Nevertheless, if you like a slow burning YA Contemporary romance, with masses of tender feels, and family centred issues this is the one for you.

Highly recommended. It is sad, heart-warming, and insightful, a witty exploration of family life.

I marked it a favourite – just saying!

My rating 4 stars.

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