Monthly Archives: April 2019

Book Review of Planet Grief, by Monique Polak

I won a paperback copy of Planet Grief, by Monique Polak, through LibraryThing.

Description from Goodreads:

What a crappy way to spend a weekend. The always-sarcastic Abby would rather be playing soccer, and the cagily quiet Christopher thinks a grief retreat is a waste of time. Neither of them wants to spend two days talking about their feelings. But despite their best efforts to stay aloof, Abby and Christopher are drawn into the lives of the other kids at the retreat. Maybe their stories will make them rethink how they are dealing with their own losses.

Review:

I can’t say I read a lot of middle grade fiction. (This says it’s intended for ages 9+.) But I won this, so I decided to give it a read before passing it on to my children. I imagine if you had a 9-15ish year old who had lost someone in their lives recently this would be a good book for them to read. The characters are at a grief retreat and the reader basically follows them through grief counseling. It could help a young reader understand what they’re feeling. Honestly however, I don’t see a young person truly enjoying it outside of having a reason to read it. The book doesn’t stray far enough away from the very real sense of didacticism to be read purely for enjoyment, IMO. But all in all, for what it is, it’s not bad.

Book Review of Lars (Witches of London #1), by Aleksandr Voinov

Leave a reply

I picked up a copy of Aleksandr Voinov‘s Lars: Witches of London at Amazon, in May of 2018.

Description from Goodreads:

After a homophobic pagan group rejected him, Lars Kendall is a solitary heathen on the Northern Path, loyal to the gods of the Norse pantheon. But being on his own sucks. So when he finally meets a mixed group of other queer witches and magick-users, it’s like finding family. If family involved exploring past lives and casting spells.

Rhys Turner quit a stressful job in the City after his high-strung boyfriend of six years walked out. He sold the expensive flat in central London and bought a run-down house out in the suburbs. Never mind that it needs walls knocked down, its garden landscaped, and what the hell is up with that carpet?

With his health failing, Rhys is desperate for a clean slate and a new start. He isn’t ready to fall in love with anybody, least of all the hunky builder who looks like he’s stepped out of a TV show about Vikings—tattoos, long hair, and all. But as strong and loyal as Lars is, he also has a very soft heart, which might be the hardest thing for Rhys to resist.

Review:

This is very sweet. The problem is that it’s just very sweet. Even with the secondary theme of Lars’ spiritual journey there is NO TENSION in the book. It ticks along in a nice, mild flow. But that’s about it. The writing is lovely, but I often got the sense that there is a little something off with the tenses. I’ve not read a lot of Voinov, but I get the feeling his writing will be very hit or miss for me. This wasn’t quite a miss, but it wasn’t a hit either.

Book Review of Wicked Appetite (Lizzy & Diesel #1), by Janet Evanovich

Leave a reply

I borrowed an audio copy of Janet Evanovich‘s Wicked Appetite from the library.

Description from Goodreads:

For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. The list is long — Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few. Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this rogues’ gallery of power seekers. He’s an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary. Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire.

That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones. She’s freshly transplanted from New York City to Boston’s North Shore. With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzle’s bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track …until it’s suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat.

Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat. She’s not sure about Diesel. He’s offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire. The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.

The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, lust, envy wrath, sloth and gluttony. That pretty much covers everything that is wicked. Diesel thinks it also pretty much covers everything that’s fun. And Lizzy thinks Diesel and the Seven Deadly Sins cover everything her mother warned her about.

Review:

I’ve wanted to try a Janet Evanovich book for a while. Everyone seemed to love them. But I was never certain where to start; there are so many of them. So, when I came across Wicked Appetite, clearly labeled book one in a series I jumped at it. (For the record, I think Diesel is a character from another of Evanovich’s series. But the book certainly stood alone.) After all the anticipation I was severely let down. I found the whole thing silly beyond belief. And not even endearingly silly, just stupid silly. I was irritated by all the onomatopoeia, the dialogue was ridiculous, the plot paper thin, and the characters shallow. I made it all these years without ever reading one of Evanovich’s books. It looks like I’ll go several more without them. I have no desire to read another one. Lorelei King did a fine job with the narration.