Chrystal
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Audible Audiobook
Length: 15 hours, 27 minutes
Series & Book#: The Broken Earth, book #1
Days to Read: 2
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jesimin is stories within stories. In the story we start with, the world is ending for Essun, primarily on a deeply personal level as she comes home to find her son, Uche, dead and her husband and daughter missing. We find out that Essun is an old hand at navigating world-ending circumstances because she has been here before.
The land Essun lives in, The Stillness, suffers from what are called Fifth Seasons where the land turns on itself and the people who live there, creating unhospitable living conditions. This has caused the people of The Stillness to live in constant fear of the next Fifth Season where they are continuously prepping for what could happen next. Not every iteration of a Fifth Season is the same, there has been a Choking Season where volcanic eruptions blanketed the world in ash, an Acid Season where the volcanic eruptions were so strong that the waters became acidic, and a Fungus Season where the eruptions happened during monsoon season and caused fungal spreading that wiped out food supplies.
Just as Essun is discovering her broken family, something is happening. Something that could lead to another Fifth Season. In her gut, Essun knows this season will be incredibly devastating and last much longer than previous seasons. Now, she has to set off looking for her daughter amidst the terror and struggles of a world-ending apocalypse.
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Incredible world-building and character presentation. Absolutely reading the next book!
Jemisin has given us a beautifully heart-breaking world and the people who inhabit it. This is a world where people can't grow too much because of the constant threat of the next Fifth Season. They are stuck in a continuous cycle of preparation, living through a Fifth Season, and recovery, and Jemisin outlines what that does to a world on the level of the people collectively and individually. She also shows us the oppression of the Orogenes and what that has led to.
I can't imagine having to live in a world like this, but Jemisin brings it to life beautifully. This was a book that could not be put down and I will be adding it to my list of books I love to reread.
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How my rating system works:To start with, the rating system I use isn't strictly /my/ system. I use the CAWPILE system created by Gintare Zuromskaite over at Book Roast. I took the system she has and tweaked it just a smidge so that the questions work for my brain a bit better. You can watch G talk about the CAWPILE system here: https://youtu.be/iZhinxtTMFQ?si=hKgxQkjB3HEQO-1Y
What is CAWPILE?
CAWPILE is a system where each letter in the acronym is a section that covers different aspects of your reading. The sections (for a fiction reading) are C(haracters), A(tmosphere), W(riting), P(lot), I(ntrigue), L(ogic), and E(njoyment). Each section has 3 questions for you to think about while you're reading/reviewing. Based on how you answer the questions, you assign each section a rating from 0-10 then find the average of the sections. This gives you a 0-10 rating for the whole reading which is then converted into a 0-5 star rating.
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Length: 10 hours and 48 minutes
Series & Book#: Detective Kat Ballantyne, Book 1
Days to Read: 4
Written by Andy Maslen, The Seventh Girl is the opening book in the Detective Kat Ballantyne series. It's summertime in 2008 and The Origami Killer is murdering young women in Middlehampton. Having just been dumped, Kat Morton decides to abandon a girl's night out with her best friend, Liv. Liv doesn't make it back home, becoming The Origami Killer's seventh, and last, victim. The killings stop just as suddenly as they started and Middlehampton does its best to return to the quiet town it was before.
15 years later, Kat has married, had a kid, and is now a Detective Sergeant in the Major Crime Unit at Jubilee Place. On duty one night, Kat is called out to investigate a body that was found and is shocked to find that several pieces of evidence are exact matches to The Origami Killer's murders - even the ones that were kept out of the public reports. Now, Kat races the clock to find the killer before he starts another spree.
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Definitely picking up the next book!
The Seventh Girl was a great introduction to DS Ballantyne and I can't wait to read more of what happens in the MCU at Jubilee Place. Andy did a great job of setting the stage with his descriptive and well-rounded worldbuilding, so much so that I felt like I was out walking my pup right along with Kat, Barrie, Smokey, and Lois. The characters felt real and nicely fleshed out - he hit a good spot where there was enough information for you to know and understand what drives the characters but there wasn't a bunch of random info dumping. The good guys have flaws and some issues they will need to evolve around as the series progresses and the bad guys were set up without making them too smarmy or over-the-top bad.
The only things keeping this book from being a 5-star read for me were that the pacing was a little slow at times and the level of intrigue wasn't edge-of-your-seat. I found the frequent flashbacks to Kat and Liv's childhood more distracting than plot-driving and while I kept coming back to the book and missed reading it when I was away, it didn't pull me under or consume me. Overall, The Seventh Girl was a thoroughly good read and I'm excited to have found an author who has a few different series that I can get into.
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How my rating system works:
To start with, the rating system I use isn't strictly /my/ system. I use the CAWPILE system created by Gintare Zuromskaite over at Book Roast. I took the system she has and tweaked it just a smidge so that the questions work for my brain a bit better. You can watch G talk about the CAWPILE system here: https://youtu.be/iZhinxtTMFQ?si=hKgxQkjB3HEQO-1Y
What is CAWPILE?
CAWPILE is a system where each letter in the acronym is a section that covers different aspects of your reading. The sections (for a fiction reading) are C(haracters), A(tmosphere), W(riting), P(lot), I(ntrigue), L(ogic), and E(njoyment). Each section has 3 questions for you to think about while you're reading/reviewing. Based on how you answer the questions, you assign each section a rating from 0-10 then find the average of the sections. This gives you a 0-10 rating for the whole reading which is then converted into a 0-5 star rating.
In The Wife Before by Shanora Williams, we meet Samira “Mira” Wilder who seems brash and immature at first glance. Mira, constantly in and out of work due to issues with being on time and getting along with her employers, lives with her best friend, Shelia, in an apartment in Miami and is financially supported by her brother, Kell. Kell is engaged and has just found out that his fiancee, Ana, is pregnant. While Kell didn't mind supporting his sister, even when Ana didn't like the idea, he tells Mira that he can't continue to support her while juggling the new responsibilites his growning family will bring. Going home and hoping to find support from Shelia, instead she is told that Shelia won't support her the way she is used to Kell doing. Shelia's boyfriend, Ben, gives Mira a lead for a waitressing gig - one night's work at an exclusive event hosted by Lola Maxwell, a local, ultra-wealthy socialite.
Even though she hates waitressing, Mira takes the gig where she literally falls into the arms of a sexy and mysterious man, Roland Graham. The two share a quietly intimate moment and Mira leaves him, sure that he will find her again. Using his status as a wealthy pro-golfer, Roland manages to get Mira's phone number from the vendor who supplied the waitstaff and invites her out for an evening. Sparks between them fly, and even when Kell finds out about the relationship and reveals a shocking secret Roland was keeping, Mira can't stay away from him. Their romance continues at a breakneck pace, and soon she finds herself married to Roland and living in his mansion in Colorado.
Feeling a little alone and bored, Mira searches for something to do. Finding a shed full of his late wife, Melanie's, belongings, Mira offers to take on the project of emptying it. While sorting through the stuff inside, she stumbles across some journals that Melanie wrote and starts reading them. The journals reveal deeply intimate and shocking secrets and now Mira feels even more isolated and weary of the gaps in Roland's story surrounding Melanie's death.
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This book was an interesting read.
Shanora has a good base story here, but it didn't feel as fleshed out as it could have. There were times throughout the book where the writing was inconsistant and the characters felt a little flat. The world the characters lived in felt real and I could easily picture it in my mind but the characters lacked that same amount of depth. It felt like the information was there about the characters, but it wasn't connected back to them very well.
I enjoyed the level of intrigue and suspense - even when I found the writing style annoying, I wanted to find out what happens next. While this was not a book that couldn't be put down, I did look forward to picking it back up when I did need to step away. There were several twists that took me by surprise as well as several well loved thriller tropes to keep me happy and comfortable.
Overall, this book left a very ‘meh' taste - it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. This was the first book I've read by Shanora Williams and I would like to read another book or two by her to see if this is just her style or if her other books are more well rounded.
House of Earth and Blood is the first book in the Crescent City series. The story is set in a futuristic world that is beautifully built and home to paranormal beings with magic-like powers. The writing was perfectly paced for the story, leading you from point to point without spelling things out so much you feel talked down to. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Sarah J. Mass' other series, Throne of Glass or A Court of Thorns and Roses as well as anyone who likes contemporary fantasy or paranormal stories. Still, it is NOT for someone who doesn't like a bit of spice. The 2024 reading of this book was a repeat reading for me, my second time, and I will read it again when the 4th book in the series comes out.
Tenfold is the fourth book in The King's Watch series. The characters and world-building throughout the series are fun and engaging, if not overly memorable and Tenfold carries on that tradition. I would recommend this book to someone who enjoys contemporary sword and sorcery and characters who can poke fun at themselves. I am not actively planning to listen to this book again, but I wouldn't completely discount it either.
Butcher & Blackbird is the first book in The Ruinous Love Trilogy. The book is a short read and while dealing with dark themes such as serial killers and torture, it remains light-hearted and funny. The story was not deep, but it was entertaining and engaging and the characters were relatable. I would recommend this book to someone looking for something light between heavier reads, or someone who doesn't mind a bit of fluff. I am not planning to listen to this book again, but I am mildly interested to read the second book in the series.
The Atlas Six is the first book in the Atlas Series, written in a world of dark academia where The Alexandrian Society are caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity. The characters have depth and the world is rich, but the pacing and plot progression of the story is not constant. I would recommend this book to someone who doesn't mind a start-and-stop story progression and likes a world that feels highbrow. I am not likely to listen to this book again, but I am interested in the next book in the series.
The Call of the Sea is the first book in The Grail Cycle series, a romance-heavy reimagining of Arthurian legend, and was enjoyable. The lead character, Jenyfer, is headstrong and has a habit of blundering into things before thinking them through. I would recommend this book to someone looking for an immersive and well-told fantasy story. I would be willing to reread this book to reacquaint myself with the characters and their world when the second book comes out.
(Kindle Unlimited)
House of Roots and Ruin was a hard-to-put-down book. The storyline was a little juvenile, but that did not detract from the enjoyment of it. This book is #2 in the Sisters of the Salt series and I would happily reread it if a third book were to come out. I would recommend this book to someone looking for a YA fantasy that doesn't require existential thinking but wants vivid world-building and enjoyable characters.
I enjoyed The Bad Weather Friend. It was a fairly light read that I did not necessarily want to put down, but could if I needed to. I would recommend this book to someone who already enjoys Dean Koontz and is looking for a read that will not force them to contemplate the mysteries of the world too much.
Sword Catcher is the first book in the Chronicles of Castellane series. The world-building was grand and enchanting, the characters were well-fleshed out and believable, and the book was enjoyable overall but initially slow-paced. I would recommend this book to someone looking for an action & adventure-style epic fantasy that tells a coming-of-age story. I am not likely to listen to this book from beginning to end again, but I would like to purchase a digital version to skim before reading the second book in the series.
Could not keep my interest.