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REVIEW: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

The Ghost Bride was a beautifully written and thought provoking novel that oozed wonderful prose and exciting plot. As a debut novel, I’m really looking forward to seeing what Choo has in store for future novels because this was absolutely excellent.

Set in Malaya, The Ghost Bride follows our main character, Li Lan, as she gets wrapped up in the spirit world. When Li Lan’s father tells her of a proposition made to her as a ghost bride to a wealthy family, Li Lan’s life spirals into something that’s deeper than she can control. Accepting could mean the end of the family debts collected since her mother died, but it could also mean something sinister and that will change Li Lan’s life forever.

The culture and mythology behind The Ghost Bride was an element that I really loved. I’ve always enjoyed reading about the ways other people live and so this was something that I instantly clicked with. It’s written in such a way that it is easy to understand, especially if you aren’t familiar with any of the terms or customs. I’d happily read more books about the traditions, and I know from talking to other people that they’ll love the ethnicity and cultural values that are spoken about and explored.

This is a book that I refused to read before bed. Not that it frightened me, but it did send a chill down my spine because everything felt realistic. Choo has drawn from modern fears and worked them so that they fit in to the world that is created in The Ghost Bride. For example, Li Lan and her family have debt issues and the constant worry about money which is something that many people can relate to today. Mixed with the supernatural features, readers will find it hard not to find something that they love.

The array of characters that are introduced in the novel all hard their parts to play and I liked the fact that the secondary characters had so much background and were easy to understand. This was a huge factor that sealed my love of this book because I loved the attention to detail.

Although I little erratic and having a tendency to act on a whim, Li Lan was a likable and rounded character who I felt it was easy to connect with.  I felt so sorry for her on occasion because she was thrust into so many difficult situations that she didn’t deserve at all. Poor Li Lan!

The Ghost Bride was a compelling and thought-provoking read that kept me on the edge of my seat. Choo has created an imaginative and plausible world that makes me feel very pleased to be reading this book, and not experiencing it for myself!

Book Review

DNF REVIEW: The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

It really does pain me to write this review because I was so hopeful that this book would be something special and sweet. Sadly, I was very disappointed and I couldn’t finish the book. For that reason, my review will only reflect the 33% of the book that I did read.

The Infinite Moment of Us is about a girl called Wren whose life is commanded by her parents. Tell her to jump off a cliff, and she’ll go do it. Wren was so infuriating and I just wanted to shake her so much and tell her to grow a pair. She did everything to please her parents and it was like her life revolved around theirs and vice versa. To be fair, I can see why she was so scared by them because when one thing happens in the book they end up saying they’re disappointed in her and tell her she’s throwing her life away. For people who are supposedly looking out for their daughter’s welfare, they sure are pushing her away.

Charlie is the male protagonist and was even more pathetic than Wren. He declared his love for her when they’d only had a few encounters and weren’t even going out. Yes, there were parts of his life that made me feel sorry for him, but compared to a lot of other people in similar situations, he was extremely lucky. He had a loving home and people who cared about him.

The romance in this book was hinted at from the first chapter which led on to something that felt like insta-love. The note at the start of the book hints at a slow romance that carefully builds up but we have Wren and Charlie practically agreeing to marry each other not even halfway through the book. None of it felt real and this is one of the things that disappointed me the most because a great romance was promised.

The plot felt unrealistic, the dialogue felt forced and I was left pulling my hair out on numerous occasions. I felt like huge chunks of writing were put in just for the sake of it and I must have annotated five billion times that things weren’t even necessary.

The cover is so gorgeous and I’d definitely buy this if I saw this in a bookshop. Sadly, this is one of the only things that I liked about the book and I wish the book reflected the cover more.

The Infinite Moment of Us was such a cringy and frustrating novel. I doubt I’ll be reading anything else by this author in the future. It’s really saddened me that I didn’t like it.

Book Review

REVIEW: The Soterion Mission by Stewart Ross

I think that The Soterion Mission is a book that teens and pre-teens will gobble up.  Ross has created a vivid and imaginative world that I know people will find believable and realistic.

A hundred or so years in the future, no one over the age of nineteen survives. Caused by a worldwide epidemic, by the time someone reaches the age of nineteen, they rapidly age in the space of a few weeks. This means that all knowledge before 2019 has disappeared and life has turned back to what it would have been like in medieval times.

When Roxanne turns up at Della Tallis, the home of a group of tribal people, Cyrus, Navid and Taja’s lives are thrust into danger, for they are about to embark on a journey that could help the fate of millions of people. They are looking for their peoples past, and the cure.

The Soterion Mission was told in a much unbiased viewpoint. Getting both the Constants- those tribes who follow the values of the people before them- and the Zeds- the brutal tribes who revel in other people’s pain- perspectives across really added something to the story line, and made it a lot easier to follow.

There were a lot of very humorous parts in The Soterion Mission, including a hilarious use of the IKEA catalogue. Mixed with the many sober moments, this created a nice contrast. The ability to swap between the two was something that greatly impressed me, as this is very hard to do.

The one thing that let me down with this book was the characterisation. Although I grew to like the characters, I didn’t become invested enough in them and felt that because of this their subsequent deaths had no impact on me. Yes, I liked Cyrus, Roxanne and the rest of them, but did I really care what happened to them? Not as much as I would have liked.

The opening chapter will instantly grip the reader and really sets the scene for the rest of the book. The Soterion Mission is an action-packed and convincing novel, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the sequel takes us.

Book Review

REVIEW: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock was the perfect concoction of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Before I Die, with a male protagonist, of course.Although I haven’t read The Silver Linings Playbook, I expected great things from the same author, and I was not let down at all.

It’s Leonard Peacock’s eighteenth birthday and the day he is going to say goodbye, for he has decided that today will be his last day on Earth. After killing his former best friend, he will take his own life. His mother, who he calls Linda to annoy her, who spends most of her time in New York with her French boyfriend, won’t care. His father, who has moved to somewhere in Venezuela and practically dropped off the face of the planet, won’t care.

Leonard has four packages: one for his Bogart- obsessed neighbour; another for his Holocaust teacher; one for a violin virtuoso; and one for a pastor’s daughter.

Leonard, for all of his odd characteristics, was a very likable character and one that I just wanted to send big hugs to. He’d never received any love from his parental figures and so was searching for something that he had never had. I loved his relationship with Walt. It was so natural and I relished the scenes when they were interacting. Walt really cared about him, and it was really sweet to see.

Written with footnotes at the bottom was a really good idea and fitted in really well with the narration and themes of the book. It’s something that really makes the book stand out and a really strong reason to pick up this book. If you like something a bit different, then Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is the book for you.

I loved the future scenes. I’d happily read a whole book that featured this world, because it was so carefully thought out and crafted. It really added a nice touch to the book, and this is the sort of thing that bumps up my rating.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is the kind of book that I devour. I love hard hitting and raw novels and this really was one of them. It’s impossible to say that this book was a light read, but if it was it wouldn’t be the same. I loved this novel because of its nature and I think this is something that other people will love, too.

I didn’t think I’d like Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock as much as I did and I’ll definitely be reading something else by Quick now.