Book Review: Red Glove; Holly Black.

It's been such a long time since I read a book by Holly Black that I knew I had to get round to another one. Despite not always getting along with her writing style, I'm pretty addicted to them! I enjoyed this one a lot, even more so than the first book in the series: 'White Cat'. I'm entering this one into the 'Monthly Motif' Challenge too.

SOURCE: Borrowed
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: Red Glove
AUTHOR: Holly Black
SERIES: Curse Workers (#2)
PUBLISHER: Orion
PAGES: 272
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:
After rescuing his brothers from Zacharov’s retribution, Cassel is trying to re-establish some kind of normalcy in his life. 

That was never going to be easy for someone from a worker family that’s tied to one of the big crime families—and whose mother’s cons get more reckless by the day. But Cassel is coming to terms with what it means to be a worker, and he’s figuring out how to have friends.

Except normal doesn’t last very long. Soon Cassel is being courted by both sides of the law and is forced to confront his past—a past he remembers only in scattered fragments, and one that could destroy his family and his future. Cassel will have to decide whose side he wants to be on, because neutrality is not an option. And then he will have to pull off his biggest con ever to survive…

What I Liked:

• Holly Black, I have always said, has a wonderful imagination. Her work and it's ideas always feels very original. She's good at taking a well-known trope or paranormal element and turning it completely on it's head. The 'Curse Workers' series is no exception! People with powers is something we see a lot in YA Fantasy, but Black gives us consequences in the form of blowback, and it's this that makes things so much more interesting. Sure, being able to kill people with one touch makes things sound easy, but if it rots off a part of your body? No thanks!
• There were a lot of twists and turns in this book that kept the ball rolling for me. It's another element of Black's writing that I enjoy: the ability to keep the plot progressing. Reading her work always feels fast-paced and especially so in this series (probably due to the crime/thriller aspect of the story). That coupled with a ton of mini cliffhangers at the end of each chapter and I'm hooked!
• One of the main reasons I enjoyed this book even more than 'White Cat' was that I felt more connected to the characters. I've always liked Cassel and that didn't really change here. Daneca and Sam felt like more than just convenient sidekicks and actually had their very own sub-plot going, which I liked. Lila was the big one for me. In the last book I really didn't get her at all. She suffered from Manic Pixie Dream Girl fever I'm afraid to say. But in this book, I felt more of a connection to her. 

What I Disliked:

• I've mentioned before Black's notorious 'blink and you miss it' moments, and I'm afraid to say they were here in this book. For example: did you know that everyone wears gloves in Cassel's world? Neither did I until the Worker's Rights march he goes on and though I've no doubt that Black probably mentioned it before, it's definitely a fact worth more than casual comment. Holly Black's ideas are fantastic but in some cases, I find them lacking real detail and finesse.
• The end of this book didn't really impress me a whole lot and I'll explain why. Black had a large number of plots and sub-plots going on but didn't develop all of them completely. The whole Feds/Zacharov/Barron situation should have been something that Cassel spent the whole book planning to get out of. Instead he doesn't put a whole lot of thought into them until the very end when, as more of an after thought, he explains 'oh by the way, I had this great plan the whole time'. He was supposedly in terrible danger but I never really felt like he was due to his pretty laid-back attitude on the whole thing. It made for a very anti-climactic ending.

Overall Conclusion:

I did really enjoy this read and think it did a better job than 'White Cat' in terms of characterisation and development. There is still a real lack of detail that I think could be easily fixed if Black just wrote longer books and dedicated that page space to adding finesse and really building the worlds she's creating. Multiple plot-lines simply don't work out well in short books. Either stick to a couple or make more room for them. I'm truly looking forward to reading the final book in the series however: 'Black Heart'.

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'New To Me Authors I Read For The First Time In 2015'.

I read so many different Authors this week and a fair few of them I completely fell in love with. I can't wait to tell you all about ten of my favourites that I read for the first time!

1) Nathan Filer.

I Read: 'The Shock Of The Fall'

I read this book at the beginning of the year and really enjoyed it. I was really impressed by Filer's extensive knowledge on Mental Health and the current UK system of care. Not only was the storyline interesting and well developed, but I learnt a lot while reading. This book has received a fair few awards and I completely understand why after reading. It's an emotionally compelling novel.

2) E.K. Johnston.

I Read: 'A Thousand Nights'

This is my most recent exciting read and it's by an Author that I had never heard of until now. Johnston did such a gorgeous job with this well-known tale and I loved the way she completely re-imagined the plot. This was a clever book with a gorgeous use of language and imagery and a subtle message. I want to read more of Johnston's work!

3) Tom Rob Smith.

I Read: 'Child 44'

I'd been wanting to read 'Child 44' for a while, thanks to the recommendation of one of my Flat Mates. Despite the fact that Crime/Thriller novels are not normally my thing, I adored this book! Smith did a wonderful job of building suspense and there were so many great twists and turns, most of which I didn't expect. I want to read the rest of the series and I'm also in possession of his other recent release 'The Farm'.

4) Graeme Simsion.

I Read: 'The Rosie Project'

This was my favourite holiday read and I think it will be pretty tough to beat it. Once again this is another genre that I don't generally enjoy: Romance. But Simsion made this book absolutely hilarious and not only was it light-hearted and fun, but it felt like a really original story. I can't wait to read 'The Rosie Effect'!

5) Marie Brennan.

I Read: 'A Natural History Of Dragons'

This is the first book in what looks to be a fantastic series. I'd had my eye on it for a while but I had no idea just how much I would enjoy it! I loved the heroine best of all because she had so much spirit and determination despite facing a society that degraded her gender. I loved reading about her adventures too, and especially meeting the Dragons. It was interesting to actually study them and not just watch them kill people.

6) Gabrielle Zevin.

I Read: 'The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry'

This was such an emotional story that had me totally gripped from start to finish. Zevin's masterful story-telling made sure that I got through this book in a record amount of time. I loved the constant references to other books too and the quotes at the beginning of each chapter were really good ones. I've noticed that Zevin has written a lot of other books and I really want to get hold of them to read!

7) Intisar Khanani.

I Read: 'Sunbolt'

I actually heard of this Author when she released 'Thorns', but it was 'Sunbolt' that I managed to get hold of and read. Despite it's short length, it was one of the best fantasies I had read in a while! In fact, Khanani did a great job considering the fact that there are so few pages. The sequel promises to be longer and I'm really excited about it. I want to read 'Thorn' too when I get a chance.

8) Shari Arnold.

I Read: 'Neverland'

This is certainly up there as one of my favourite reads this year and it's by an Author whom I had never heard of until reading this book! I'm going to keep promoting this novel because such a gorgeous, thoughtful retelling of Peter Pan deserves to be read by a large audience. This was so much more than a Fairy Tale: it was about accepting the loss of a loved one and learning to deal with grief. If you're thinking of giving it a read, bring tissues. 

9) Emily St. John Mandel.

I Read: 'Station Eleven'

This book is probably the first book that sprung to mind when I read the topic. Emily St. John Mandel has written a fair few books but it was 'Station Eleven' that I saw absolutely everywhere and wanted so desperately to get into. Now that I have been totally bowled over by it, my eyes are drifting greedily towards it's predecessors. Such a mastery of language, characterisation and plot development really impressed me and I hope she is consistently good at this!

10) Erin Bowman.

I Read: 'Vengeance Road'

Yet another book that blew me away this year, and a pretty recent read of mine. I'm so glad to have a beautiful hard cover copy of this in my possession because it means I can read it over and over! YA Western was not a genre I had considered until now and I loved it! Bowman has written another series that, without reading this book, would probably not have really grabbed my attention. Now I really want to give it a try!

Last Week's Shenanigans (30th November - 6th December)...

My week ran a little differently to usual due to a whole bunch of things happening in the store where I work. Instead of having Monday off, I had Thursday instead! Of course I still spent most of my week working but on my new day off Mat and I went Christmas shopping at Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford! It was a whole lot of fun and we were very productive in the process. I'm so proud because normally I'm a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to shopping! Most of the bits are got/ordered now and I feel really good about it! I get so excited about giving people presents and I'm really pleased with what I've chosen.

I am still a little in shock about how quickly December has come around. The decorations are up in our flat, and I'm terribly excited knowing that in a few short weeks I'll be back home with my parents celebrating Christmas again. After a stressful journey home Saturday night (the local Tube stations were closed and certain lines held due to the tragic stabbing at Leytonstone) I was glad to be able to have a lie in on Sunday. I spent most of the day doing very little other than the chores that needed doing and a ton of reading/blog stuff!

I Read:

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: 2016 Debut Novels I Am Looking Forward To

I Posted:

November Wrap-Up
Planned Reads For December
Bookish Bingo (December 2015 - February 2016)

Book Review: 'Stealing Phoenix'; Joss Stirling.

I got through this book pretty quickly...it is quite short. I'm a little disappointed in it, especially as I gave Book 1 such a high rating in comparison. Still, there were a few things I liked about it and I do want to find out what happens next. Also I'm entering this for the Monthly Motif Challenge!

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: Stealing Phoenix
AUTHOR: Joss Stirling
SERIES: Benedicts (#2)
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press
PAGES: 266
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Middle Grade, Paranormal Romance

RATING: 2/5 Stars

Blurb:
Phoenix belongs to the Community - a gang of thieves with paranormal powers. Yves Benedict - an American student visiting London - is her mark. But Yves turns out to be more than just a target. He is her destiny. Her soul mate. But the Community owns Phoenix's past and it wants her future too. Can Phoenix save the boy she loves... and herself?




What I Liked:

• I think the best thing about this book is probably it's plot progression. I remember thinking this in book one too, but Stirling did a great job at keeping a good pace from start to finish with this one. There were a couple of moments that I thought weren't really necessary to the plot, but as it's definitely aimed at a Middle Grade audience, I'll let them slide. The story itself was full of twists and turns and I liked the climax of the story best of all.
• While Phoenix got on my nerves a bit (I'll get to that) I adored Yves. In fact I liked him a lot more than I remember liking Zed in 'Finding Sky'. He's pretty much the exact opposite in terms of personality and I liked that he seemed to have his head screwed on, not to mention that he was super adorable!

What I Disliked:

• I'll start with Phoenix herself because although I didn't hate her, she did get on my nerves quite a bit. Her trust issues just really got in the way for me. I understand that she has had a tough life and that's going to have a damaging effect on a person, but couldn't she just stop stressing for one second? And the 'Wicked' incident just really got to me too because the similarities between Elphaba and Phoenix are really not there at all. Phoenix just got stupidly angry for no reason. Talking of bad characterisation, let's look at the villains of the story too. One minute they were super dangerous and I was actually pretty scared of what they could do...the next? They were about as frightening as Laurel & Hardy. The stupidity of some of their actions and it's slapstick styling made me cringe. Consistency please!
• I actually live in the area of London where a good portion of this book is set and I noticed because of this that Stirling really didn't do a good job with 'being British'. For example no one who lives in London would be calling Queen Mary University 'Queen Mary College'. So why did Phoenix? I'm aware that some of the characters are American but Phoenix is supposed to be British so I didn't understand why she spoke in a way found only in the US. I have since found out that Stirling herself is British? How on Earth did this happen? Throwing in the use of some British Words and calling people nitwits is simply not how these characters would be speaking with each other, I'm sorry. I had the whole 'people don't really talk like that' issue with 'Finding Sky' too.

Overall Conclusion:

I'm pretty disappointed actually. I've pushed the first book in this series, 'Finding Sky' on so many people as a better version of Twilight (stronger characters, less stereotypes at school, less sinister romance). Now? I'm not so sure. It looks like each and every story in this series is going to follow a very similar plot-line and while I'm half intrigued about which Benedict brother will find his Soul Mate next, just how long can this go on? The covers are so pretty though and I think that a younger audience than myself would appreciate these books greatly.

Bookish Bingo (December 2015 - February 2016) Sign-Up Post.

December is here and it's time for a new round of Bookish Bingo, run by Bekka at Pretty Deadly Blog. I've been itching for a brand new card, mainly because Bekka designs them so beautifully. I was not disappointed with this one!

Awesome categories to look at for the next few months. They're pretty challenging too so I'm not sure how I'll do with this one...

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for '2016 Debut Novels I Am Looking Forward To'.

I always find this category a little tricky because the books I look forward to most in 2016 are normally series continuations, not Debuts! Still, there are so many exciting books that are coming out next year I have great confidence that I'm excited about enough of them to write a great list!

1) 'Beautiful Broken Things'; Sara Barnard.

Expected Publication: February 11th 2016

I actually already own a copy of this book thanks to Netgalley, and though I haven't got round to reading it yet, I would love to before the release date because it looks awesome! I've read a few advanced reviews and people are seriously raving about this book. It's received a heck of a lot of advanced praise so I'm very excited.

2) 'This Raging Light'; Estelle Laure.

Expected Publication: January 14th 2016

Yet another book that I received via Netgalley, very recently actually! I first heard about this book when I opened my lovely Illumicrate Box mid November-ish and found a cute little postcard for it inside. It certainly caught my attention! All I can say is thank goodness for auto-approval! I feel very lucky to have nabbed a copy of this one.


3) 'A Study In Charlotte'; Brittany Cavallaro.

Expected Publication: March 1st 2016

I do love me some Sherlock Holmes and I've been wanting to read some kind of fresh retelling of the story for a while. First off, this cover is beautiful! Secondly, I love the way the synopsis seems like it will pan out. These are of course distant relatives of the famous fictional detecting duo, and not the men themselves. Cavallaro caught my eye a little while back with this book and I can't wait until it's release!

4) 'Rebel Of The Sands'; Alwyn Hamilton.

Expected Publication: March 8th 2016

Since reading Erin Bowman's 'Vengeance Road' I've had a real taste for YA Westerns. This one seems to be the perfect combination of Fantasy and the gun-toting story I've been looking for! There are magical beasts and it certainly isn't set in your usual Cowboy location (more Middle-Eastern than Southern USA). But there are shoot-outs, desert wastelands and the town in which it's set is called Dustwalk for heavens sake! I'd be interested to see how such a mish-mash of genres pans out.

5) 'Ivory & Bone'; Julie Eshbaugh.

Expected Publication: June 14th 2016

Despite a pretty lengthy synopsis, this one's shrouded in quite a bit of mystery. Not many people seem to know a whole lot about it, and I haven't seen any advance reviews so far (though the release date is a while away so I'll forgive that). What I do know is it's some sort of YA Prehistoric Romance dashed with Fantasy, and that's enough to draw my attention. I've never read anything from the Prehistoric period before! If this turns out to be good, it could be huge!

6) 'Blackhearts'; Nicole Castroman.

Expected Publication: February 9th 2016

The origin story of the infamous pirate: Blackbeard? Who wouldn't want to read that? From what I can see there'll be very little actual Pirate-y action, but while that's disappointing, it's not mind-changing. Blackbeard pops in and out of so many stories and legends that it would be nice to have some kind of take on what made him the way he is. I'm anticipating a mesmerising Historical fiction with a large chunk of romance to enjoy. Also has anyone noticed that ships seem to be a thing on Book covers recently? Especially if they're also in glass bottles! Maybe I'm losing it...

7) 'The Girl From Everywhere'; Heidi Heilig.

Expected Publication: March 3rd 2016

Again with the ship?! Anyway for those of you who might be after a bit more Pirate-like action but want to see it with a different twist then perhaps this is a book to check out. It's the first in a series and has received some stunning reviews! I love the idea of time travelling for treasure, and possessing time period maps to do so. Such a cool concept! It looks like it will be a great series and one I certainly want to read!

8) 'Fear The Drowning Deep'; Sarah Glenn Marsh.

Expected Publication: September 2016

This book is quite a while away and I originally thought I might chicken out of putting it on here because as some of you may know, reading about drowning makes me a bit nervous. That being said, one review from a critique partner twisted my arm by mentioning that this book is full to the brim of mythology, danger, romance, and magic. How can I turn away a book that sounds so up my street! I have to read it and blow the consequences.

9) 'Seven Ways We Lie'; Riley Redgate.

Expected Publication: March 8th 2016

I've not seen a huge amount of hype for this one on Goodreads but I stumbled across it on Netgalley and thought it sounded pretty cool! The seven deadly sins has always been a concept that fascinated me and set in a modern day world I think Redgate is onto an awesome idea! I can't wait to see how the lives of each different pupil who is battling and indulging in one of the sins intertwine and it's been a while since I read a high school set contemporary.

10) 'The Star-Touched Queen'; Roshani Chokshi.

Expected Publication: May 3rd 2016

Just give me a moment to drool over that cover and I'll be right with you...okay I'm back. So I love the synopsis of this book. I love the setting of it (after reading 'A Thousand Nights' by E.K. Johnston, the middle east is a sought after setting for me) and when I heard that there's a lot of Indian Mythology in there, I was in. There are no plans for a UK publication as of yet but I'm hopeful because I need this book in my life!

Planned Reads For December.

I can't believe how quickly this year has gone...it's already December?! The last month in the year! I'd better make it a good one reading-wise then, especially as I'm hoping to receive a ton more books for Christmas to bring me into the new year!

Crossover Reads:

1. 'Stealing Phoenix'; Joss Stirling. I've actually got a little way through this one and am liking it so far. I'm having to remember everything I learnt about some of the characters in the last book because it has been such a long time since I read 'Finding Sky'. Nevertheless, I'm excited because this one is set in the part of London that I live!

1. 'Red Glove'; Holly Black. It has been a little while since I read 'White Cat', but the book left me on such a massive cliffhanger that I really wanted to get round to the second book in the series! I have to say that the cover certainly looks intriguing enough, and I love the idea of people with power's who have to deal with consequences as a result of them. I'd be interested to see where Black takes this story! Also I never got round to it last month. I have high hopes for this month!
2. 'The Lovely Bones'; Alice Sebold. I actually saw the film before I read the book and it haunted me in a very unique way. I've been itching to read the book since but of course haven't got round to it yet. It's on my Kindle now though, so I'm looking forward to seeing if the book is as good as the film was. Most people say it's better!
3. 'The Picture Of Dorian Grey'; Oscar Wilde. Mat recently read this for his English Lit course and it reminded me how much I desperately wanted to read it myself. He's told me it's pretty good too so I'm looking forward to it! I've had a few encounters with the character through various films and he looks pretty intriguing. I'd be interested to see how the story itself actually pans out.
4. 'A Feast For Crows'; George R.R. Martin. None of these books seem very Christmassy so far I know but I guess I'm not in the mood for light-hearted. The 'A Song Of Ice & Fire' series is probably the least light-hearted thing I know in fact. I'm looking forward to reading the fourth book in the series and hopefully not running into too many Season 6 spoilers!
5. 'Dot'; Araminta Hall. This book at least has snow on the cover! It's something, right? It's been on my Edelweiss reading list for well over a year now and I've never found the right mood to read it. This can continue no longer, especially as it looks so good too! I'm excited for this one!
6. 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'; Ken Kesey. I've seen the film and  the play and loved it! I've never read the book though and I feel like that needs to change. For some reason a lot of my books this month seem to be pretty dark, dreary and depressing. Maybe it's to balance out the huge amount of festive fun I'm planning to have? Who knows...it's the mood I'm in anyway!