Tag Archives: book review

Book Review of Hot Flash, by Nicole Casey

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Author, Nicole Casey sent me a copy of their novel Hot Flash.

Description from Goodreads:
Give him your latest novel, Ariana says. It’ll be the best way to thank him, she says.

Yeah. If only it were that easy.

After all, Dylan is a firefighter who runs into burning buildings to save lives. It’s how I met him—and how, after a freak accident at my apartment complex, he saved my life.

What could he ever see in a guy like me, who’s little more than a writer who sits in front of his computer all day?

I guess Ariana is right.

There’s only one way to find out if he’s interested.

Review:
As I said, I received an ARC of Hot Flash from the author, some time ago, and then promptly lost it in my jungle of ebooks. I rediscovered and read it tonight. I liked it better when it was lost and just an idea to me. It has a sweet plot, but is rushed and unsupported. Nothing feels natural or believable. The parrot was cute though.

Book Review of The Sisters Mederos, by Patrice Sarath

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I received a copy of The Sisters Mederos, by Patrice Sarath, through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Two sisters fight with manners, magic, and mayhem to reclaim their family’s name, in this captivating historical fantasy adventure.

House Mederos was once the wealthiest merchant family in Port Saint Frey. Now the family is disgraced, impoverished, and humbled by the powerful Merchants Guild. Daughters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos are determined to uncover who was behind their family’s downfall and get revenge. But Tesara has a secret – could it have been her wild magic that caused the storm that destroyed the family’s merchant fleet? The sisters’ schemes quickly get out of hand – gambling is one thing, but robbing people is another…

Together the sisters must trust each another to keep their secrets and save their family.

Review:
This started out well and had a fine ending (though the epilogue seemed unneeded), but it felt like the middle dragged quite a lot. I appreciated the two strong female leads, one of which was disfigured and one brainy, and the writing was perfectly functional. But I felt like things came a little too conveniently for the girls and the ‘mystery’ was a bust. The villain was so obvious as to be painful. Lastly, I thought the cross-dressing ‘mistress’ was just queer-baiting. All in all, not bad, but not a true winner either.

Night Train to Rigel

Book Review: Night Train to Rigel (Quadrail #1), by Timothy Zahn

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I bought a paperback copy of Timothy Zahn‘s Night Train to Rigel. I promised myself I wouldn’t get to December and have books by author with names starting with I, Q, X and Z, this year. This took care of Z for my alphabet challenge.

Description from Goodreads:
It begins when a man delivers a message for former government agent Frank Compton–only to fall dead at his feet. The message is a summons from the Spiders, the exotic and mysterious creatures who run the Quadrail, an incredible transportation system connecting civilizations across the galaxy. The Spiders believe that someone or something is preparing to attack their entire network and the worlds it serves, by smuggling battleships through the Quadrail–something that should be impossible to do. Compton, with the aid of a beautiful but enigmatic agent of the Spiders, is their last hope.

Because nobody else has been able to find the elusive enemy who seeks to enslave the entire galaxy…and Earth is its next target.

Review:
I think it took me a lifetime to read this book. Ok, maybe it just felt that way because I was bored for so much of it. Honestly, it’s not a bad book. But I felt it went on longer than it needed to, considering the plot was just a guy riding a galactic train back and forwards, following handily laid out clues and reacting to things.

I might have just called a ‘meh’ read, except for one major oversight that I’m so tired of seeing. Zahn created a whole galaxy, full of several planets and a ton of different species. Do you know, there’s not a single woman among them? Not one. Not one rides the train. Not one works in any of the stations. Not one was in a restaurant or hotel. Not one passes the main character on the street.

With the exception of his sidekick, the “beautiful but enigmatic agent of the Spiders,” whose sole character trait is her lack of personality, there is not a single female of any sort in all 300+ pages of this book. AUTHORS, STOP DOING THIS.

This doesn’t happen by accident. This isn’t excusable because the book is about aliens. Not including females in your books is a choice you make and it infuriates me. I will most likely never read another Timothy Zahn book again. Because he’s not a new author, and if he hasn’t fixed this bad habit by this point in his career, he doesn’t intend to and I can’t be bothered with it.