Big Little Lies - by Liane Moriarty

Title: Big Little Lies

Author: Liane Moriarty

Published: 1 Apr 2015

Series: -

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

The internationally bestselling author turns her unique gaze on the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves every day and what really goes on behind closed suburban doors.
'I guess it started with the mothers.'
'It was all just a terrible misunderstanding.'
'I'll tell you exactly why it happened.'
Pirriwee Public's annual school Trivia Night has ended in a shocking riot. A parent is dead. Was it murder, a tragic accident... or something else entirely?
"Big Little Lies" is a funny, heartbreaking, challenging story of ex-husbands and second wives, new friendships, old betrayals and and schoolyard politics.

Trigger Warning: domestic abuse, bullying, sexual assault

This book was the Bookish Bean Co. book club pick for Nov 2020.

I know that this book has been turned into a TV series featuring actors like Reese Witherspoon and our  own Nicole Kidman (I know she wasn't born in Australia, but we've pretty much adopted her as our own), however I haven't seen it so I went into this book without being biased.

Overall, I didn't mind the book, however it did feel like it dragged on a little bit and I was usually more interested in Jane's back story and what was happening with __________. I was a little irritated that by page 100 out of 450+ I still didn't even know who had died, but I think that may just be a point to do with me in general and less about the book -- after all, isn't that the entire point of this plot?

'Let me be clear. This is not a circus. This is a murder investigation.'

Ed threatened to kill Nathan and frame Bonnie. Madeline threatened to kill Renata. Is Madeline dead? Or Celeste? Or maybe Jane? So many options!

At the start I was curious why Celeste wanted to 'put down her marriage', but the more that you read, the more the story unfolds and makes sense why she would say that.

I did like when Patricia Cromwell was mentioned and The Australian newspaper though as it brings a little of real life into the fictional story.

In regards to the bullying and the domestic violence warning at the start of this review: people need to remember that the victim is never at fault -- that's what makes them the victim. There are many reasons for people to stay in their situation, whatever that may be, but we all should do our best to notice the signs and help them out of trouble if we can!

I wouldn't have picked up this book on my own if it hadn't been one of the books that the book club picked, but I'm oddly glad that I did. It may not have quite been my pace, but it did deal with adult themes like domestic abuse and sexual assault in a way that impacted without sounding false.

Spoilers!

I did have a theory around page 160 where I wondered if maybe Ziggy had choked Jane before, or maybe an ex, and it turns out that I was right about the ex -- in a weird, twisted sort of way.

At one point I did also have a theory that maybe Juliette choked Amabella and that she blamed Ziggy as Juliette may have had a child with Saxon and seen the resemblance between her own child and Jane's -- but luckily that wasn't true.

I was surprised when we found out that Perry was Jane's Saxon Banks though -- that he'd used his cousin's name as his own when dealing with 'one night stands'.

End Spoilers!

Aurora Burning - by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Title: Aurora Burning

Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Published: 5 May 2020

Series: The Aurora Cycle #2

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

Our heroes are back… kind of. From the bestselling co-authors of the Illuminae Files comes the second book in the epic series about a squad of misfits, losers, and discipline cases who just might be the galaxy’s best hope for survival.
First, the bad news: an ancient evil—you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal—is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They’ve just got to take care of a few small distractions first.
Like the clan of gremps who’d like to rearrange their favorite faces.
And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.
Then there’s Kal’s long-lost sister, who’s not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.
When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it’s time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can’t learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.
Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion’s most unforgettable heroes—and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

So... I'm wiring this only minutes after I've finished the audiobook and my hand is currently hurting a little from where I banged my fist on the table in frustration. The book ends like that?! There were tears, there were cute moments and funny lines; comebacks and explosions and shocking news.

And I loved all of it.

I still loved that there were different narrators for the different character points of view. Having different narrators for the different characters helps when there's quite a few characters to keep track of (at least with me it does) as I was easily able to tell whose chapter was whose and it helped my mind keep track of where everyone was in space and what they were all up to.

My favourite moment was probably the moments just before the end of the book. I'm not sure whether it was because we got to hear from every character about how they were feeling or whether that's the last and most prominent moment to me right now, but I loved it.

When we found out about Saedii and who her family is, I was shocked. However, I'd also somehow called it before that about who her family was, so I think that took a little of my shock factor away and just made it more of an "Aha! I knew it!" kind of moment.

I'm also glad that we finally got to hear about what happened to Zila when she was younger as I was dying to know thanks to the passing moment in Aurora Rising when she referenced the time when she was six.

I will definitely be purchasing the next book in the series when it comes out as I can't believe that Jay and Amie would leave the book on that note! Actually, knowing their writing styles I sort of can believe it... But still! How was I supposed to prepare my heart for that?!

Spoilers!

I'm guessing that Zila is on the autism spectrum somewhere based on her severely analytical thinking, her difficulty with social skills and how she doesn't seem to make eye contact with anyone. I may be wrong and that may just be how she is as a person, but it's just my guess.

I'm really hoping that Fin and Scarlett get together or at least kiss once because I'm pretty sure they'd make a cute couple and they way they interact with each other is funny when they're using sarcasm and wit, and also uplifting when they're making each other feel better and taking care of one another.

Oddly enough, I'm also hoping that Ty and Saedii get to know each other a little better (or maybe a lot better? Depends if they both still want to kill each other, I suppose).

Those final couple of times when Tyler spoke to "Kat" were the parts that made me cry though.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | Aurora Rising
    2 | Aurora Burning

Aurora Rising - by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff [Read 2]

Title: Aurora Rising

Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Published: 6 May 2019

Series: The Aurora Cycle #1

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering
And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.
Nobody panic.

While I may not have reviewed this book that long ago (almost a year and a half ago now), I also have a memory like a sieve. Having a memory like a sieve and also having the next book in my possession, I decided to re-read Aurora Rising. Plus it's always nice to see how your thoughts and views of books changes over the years.

So... On to the good stuff!

This time, I listened to this as an audiobook.

I loved that different characters were narrated by different people. I adore Kal's voice though - a voice like honey! The only, very minor, downside to the narration is that when the chapter is in Scarlett's point of view and Kal says something to her, it isn't said b the Kal narrator but the Scarlett narrator trying to do the different voice. It doesn't detract from the story too much, but it's just something that I noticed.

If your squad was hard to find, or you're still looking, then this one is for you.

Character-wise, I still love Scarlett's sass, humour and sarcasm plus Fin's sarcasm too! Maybe it's just me relating to them because of how sarcastic I can be sometimes though, but I'm not entirely sure.

I adore the word be'shmai and what it means... Makes my heart melt a little every time Kal says it. (Once again, if you want to find out what I'm on about with this part, then read the book. You won't regret it!)

I also like how there's info pages between every few chapters at the beginning of the book though as it breaks it up a little and gives you a touch more info, plus the different font that they use for the texting they did with one another. I still think it's Magellan giving us some information to help our brains keep up with the story and to add some fun into it too.

I sort of hope that we find out in Aurora Burning (the next book) what happened to Zila when she was 6 as I'm curious, but also worried about her. I just wish I could protect every one of my precious Squad members. I don't think I trust the with Jay and Amie after what they do to my heart during every book I read from them!

...but will I continue reading every single thing they publish? 100% yes.

Thoughts that I still have after re-reading this book:

- "Insulting their mothers. Just don't."  I still want to know the story behind that! Who insulted who's mother to make that a thing?! What happened afterwards?

- Why would you rub your hands against the moss to clean them?! (Another reason to read Aurora Rising if you haven't yet: to find out what the hells I'm talking about here.)

Hold onto your undies, kids.

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All books in this series:

    1 | Aurora Rising
    2 | Aurora Burning

2009 - by Aditya Koppula

Title: 2009

Author: Aditya Koppula

Published: 18 Jul 2020

Series: -

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

Just when everything is going normally, we all come across that "one year" that throws everything at us. "2009" is a poetic short story that explores the human reaction to opportunities, love, empathy and inner strength.

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

As I had previously read the author's other book, when I started reading this I thought that this would also be a poetry book for some reason. If I had looked a little closer at the front cover, I would have seen that it even told me it was a poetic short story. Whoops! Because of that I was a little confused when most of it turned out to be in short story format, but it was still a nice and quick read.

Many of us either have a relationship or a good career, and the lucky ones get both.

This story doesn't follow the story of the author, but an Australian character called Joanna. In the bio of the author on Goodreads, however, it does also state that the events in the book are inspired by true events.

There were a couple of times where I thought there was a little too much description of something, but it didn't detract from the storyline too much. There were also a couple of times when the problems in another country were put into perspective right in front of your eyes which is good though as it gives you a little bit of a wake up call to what's truly going on in the world.

What happened towards the end of the book between Joanna and Ethan is something I wouldn't have predicted if you'd asked me at the beginning of the book. The author does describe the feeling of this situation very well though, and I'm sure everyone has that one bad situation which reading this may bring back feelings of anger or resentment about.

Overall, this was a good book to read as it was nice to follow along with Joanna's story with the odd poem thrown in about how she was feeling and what she was going through too.

We all have that one year that changes our lives forever. Mine was 2009. What's yours?

Romanov - by Nadine Brandes

Title: Romanov

Author: Nadine Brandes

Published: 7 May 2019

Series: -

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

The history books say I died.
They don’t know the half of it. 
Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them, and he’s hunted Romanov before.
Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are to either release the spell and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya has only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction to Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her.
That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

I received this book as an ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I also then purchased the book and listened to it as an audiobook.

While reading this book I was enjoying reading about the, at least slightly fictitious, life of the Romanovs as I've never really learned about them in my life -- only what I know from watching the Disney movie Anastasia when I was younger. I also adore the cover on this book! the reds and golds look stunning against the solid black

However, I was hoping that there would be a little more magic than what was presented throughout the book. Most of the time we either see relief spells or are shown/told about the Romanov doll.

There were a handful of times where I felt as if one or more of the Romanov children were forgotten about or simply glossed over. I understand that this wasn't a story from their point of view, but it would have been nice to hear more than just something like "Olga stayed behind to read to mother".

One romance I didn't mind seeing in this was between Evan and Maria and my heart felt for Maria when they were caught together during the surprise inspection and the consequences that came afterwards for them.

My three favourite characters would probably have to be Nastya, Alexei and Nikolai (their father). The bond between Nastya and Nikolai, and also Nastya and Alexei would never be broken in this story, my guess is -- only death could seperate them and even then their love would never disappear.

I may have only given this book 3 stars, but I wouldn't mind reading it again at a later date.

My favourite quote from the book is below:

"We are Romanovs. The bond of our hearts spans miles, memory and time."

Spoilers!

The romantic-type moments between Zash and Nastya weren't too bad and they were just subtle enough to make them believable -- especially when trying to stay unseen while portraying a severe Bolshevik soldier. Towards the end the romantic moments heightened though and I didn't get as into them as I did when the entire family was in the house in confinement. I would have been happy to just see the pair as friends in the end though.

End Spoilers!

Enchantée - by Gita Trelease

Title: Enchantée

Author: Gita Trelease

Published: 21 Feb 2019

Series: Enchantée #1

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:

Paris in 1789 is a city filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionaries - and magicians...
Seventeen-year-old orphan Camille has to provide for her frail sister and her volatile brother. They survive by using the pretty magic she learnt from their mother - transforming scrap material into coins. But when things take a turn for the worse, Camille must pursue a more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's Versailles.
Using magic, Camille transforms herself into a glamorous Baroness. But as she is swept up into a dizzying world of riches and finery, suitors and revolutionaries, Camille soon discovers that she's not the only one leading a double life.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

I loved the way that the narrator, Justine Eyre, pronounced the French words that were mentioned as, at least to my untrained ears, it sounded like someone French was speaking the words.

This was the first book I have read by Gita Trelease and I really like the way that she explained the world building and what was going on around the character in France. I did get a little confused between characters sometimes though, possibly because of the French names, but I was able to keep pace with the story by what was happening to each character to keep them apart from one another.

This book reminded me a little bit of the story of Cinderella -- a young girl who simply wants to go to the ball to escape her life at home and the troubles that keep her there; a girl who is able to find love in another world and become a part of it, though she wasn't born into it; a girl who is able to find friendship and her happily ever after in either of the worlds she sees.

I did guess that Lazare may have also been putting on a disguise to deal with his day to day life and I was both right and wrong. Camille's brother, however, was the one character I hated from the very start because of the way that he treated his sisters and how no matter what they gave to him it was still never enough to satisfy him.

Another thing that I really liked about this book was that there was a gay couple in Camille's inner circle but it wasn't treated as a big scandal or anything like that -- it was treated as a normal thing! I know that wouldn't be historically accurate, but I also didn't really care as they made a cute pair and it worked within the story.

I'm also not sure which cover I like more, the one pictured or the one with the face on the cover as I do like them both.

                                                  

All books in this series:

    1 | Enchantée
    2 | Liberté

Come Tumbling Down - by Seanan McGuire

Title: Come Tumbling Down

Author: Seanan McGuire

Published: 7 Jan 2020

Series: Wayward Children #5

Rating: 2 stars

Synopsis:

When Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister--whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice--back to their home on the Moors.
But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome.
Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken.
Again.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

While I still love how short and sweet the books in this series are and how slightly twisted they are too, I felt like this one didn't really need to be written -- or at least not added into the series, maybe?

It's good seeing the Moors in a bit of a new light and seeing how they need opposites to keep everything balanced in the world. But did we really need to come back to the Moors? How many other characters in the School for Wayward Children are there that we could have read about? I'd love to see a book about Kade or Cora and what they got up to in their own world's and if they ever get back to them.

This book was still pretty good, don't get me wrong, but I just don't feel like it had the same sort of zing that sucks you right in like some of the others in the series did.

I still don't quite see why Jack and Alexis went back to get some of the other children from the school to help Jack do what she needed to in the Moors as she seemed to do nearly all of the work by herself. The big battle at the end almost didn't need to happen as we didn't hear about it start and then suddenly it's over when we hear about what happened to Jill.

Hopefully in the next book it will be about a new character we haven't heard about before or at least not really seen to add some freshness back into the series.

One moment I did love was when Tsumi said this:

"The world doesn't stop spinning because you're sad, and that's good; if it did, people would go around breaking hearts like they were sheets of maple sugar, just to keep the world exactly where it is. They'd make it out like it was a good thing, a few crying children in exchange for a peace that never falters or fades. We can be sad and we can be hurt and we can even be killed, but the world keeps turning, and the things we're supposed to do keep needing to be done."

__________________________________________________

All books in this series:

    1 | Every Heart a Doorway
    2 | Down Among the Sticks and Bones
    3 | Beneath the Sugar Sky
    4 | In an Absent Dream

4.5 | Juice Like Wounds
    5 | Come Tumbling Down

    6 | Across the Green Grass Fields

    7 | Where the Drowned Girls Go

My Brother's Name is Jessica - by John Boyne

Title: My Brother's Name is Jessica

Author: John Boyne

Published: 18 April 2019

Series: -

Rating: 2 stars

Synopsis:

Sam Waver's life has always been pretty quiet. A bit of a loner, he struggles to make friends, and his busy parents often make him feel invisible.
Luckily for Sam, his older brother, Jason, has always been there for him. Sam idolises Jason, who seems to have life sorted - he's kind, popular, amazing at football, and girls are falling over themselves to date him.
But then one evening Jason calls his family together to tell them that he's been struggling with a secret for a long time. A secret which quickly threatens to tear them all apart. His parents don't want to know and Sam simply doesn't understand.
Because what do you do when your brother says he's not your brother at all? That he's actually your sister?

I listened to this as an audiobook.

Unfortunately, I hadn't read any of the reviews of this book before I bought myself a paperback copy -- the main reason I'd purchased it being that it sounded like I might like it and I liked the rainbow-type colours on the front.

I was wrong, however.

While I didn't hate this book, it also wasn't for me. After also having read some other reviews I've noticed that they're thinking along the same sort of lines that I am.

I didn't mind that the point of view was written by Jessica's younger brother, but it was definitely annoying when Same referred to his sibling as "my big brother, Jason" every single time he went to talk about Jason.

The story also isn't as much about Jessica, and more along the lines of Sam dealing with the information he's been given suddenly. Also really didn't like how their parents almost ignored them their entire lives up until the point where Jessica being hot news in the papers ruins their mother's chance at being P.M. -- that's when the parents finally wake up and realise that they've just handed their children off to a million other people besides themselves and now they're teenagers.

I do understand that Sam didn't necessarily understand what was going on as he had been brought up to essentially think that there was no such thing as transgender. However, whether you believe those that say they're transgender or think it's a bunch of bologna -- they exist and they are human beings just like you!

One part I really liked was when the coach of the school football team showed up and wanted to know whether Jason would be leaving the football team thanks to the rumours throughout the school about their family. The coach didn't see a male or a female on the team -- he saw a human being who was a damn good player who he didn't want to lose.