Masters of Death by Olivie Blake REVIEW

Summary:

Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the mansion has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on.

Fox D'Mora is a medium, and though he is also most definitely a shameless fraud, he isn't entirely without his uses - seeing as he's actually the godson of Death.

When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with the ghost infestation, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few mindfulness practicing creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover that the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn't nearly as distinct as they thought.

My Thoughts:

After getting the hang of the consistently-switching narrative chapters, this book was a lot of fun. Viola is trying to do her job and sell a house, but Tom, the ghost haunting it, is sabotaging possible owners because he doesn't want anyone else owning his house. She turns to Fox for help, but when he reluctantly visits the house, he runs into an old flame. Piecing together the events of his past, they learn of a dangerous game immortals play once they find out Death has disappeared. To get him back, Fox will have to play to win - even though he is mortal - and find a deep connection between events of their pasts.

While I did enjoy the book, the chapter-jumping is still weird to me. It's probably the only issue I had, but it's so prevalent and off-putting. Though some of the chapters (namely the ones that time-jumped) had labels of who they were centered on, a large chunk did not, which kept throwing me off at the beginning. I did get used to it, but it's extremely frustrating to read a chapter and not know who is narrating or where/when the part is taking place. That being said, I really loved the characters and their interconnected stories. I just wish the organization was done better.

My Rating: 3 stars 

An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson REVIEW

Summary:

 Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua's College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold.

On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla.

But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and dark magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.

My Thoughts:

In contrast to the previous book I read from this author, I absolutely enjoyed this one. Laura is starting her freshman year in college, and she's even talked a professor into being able to take her senior-level course on poetry. Carmilla is enraged when Laura not only got into the class - but seemingly upstaged her on the poetry she wrote. This starts a rivalry between them. Laura notices that Carmilla seems a little too close to the professor, which ends up with her finding out that their teacher is a vampire who is using Carmilla to feed. When the professor brings back her deadly vampire ex-lover back to the land of the living, things take a dangerous turn, as the lover starts drinking students dry. Their teacher has to choose between her students or the person she's loved for over a century.

As stated above, I loved this book. I'm starting to realize that I really like dark academia. It's so interesting that the author chose dual narratives by Laura and Carmilla. The rivals-to-lovers trope is done really well, as they don't fall in love right away - it takes a while for them to get over their issues with each other. The professor is an equally intriguing character that is just as developed as our main characters. Her story is heartbreaking and really well done. I enjoyed the small glimpse into the world of other vampires, and I do wish that we got more of that in the novel. 

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes vampire stories.

My Rating: 4 stars

A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson REVIEW

Summary:

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel her husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can be broken only by death.

My Thoughts:

This book is written as a confession by Constanta for what she ends up doing to Dracula. She starts off by telling about her mortal life as a peasant, and how he saved her from dying on the streets. Constanta then details certain places they went, things they did, and when she started to see him for who he truly is.

I think the format is the novel's biggest flaw. Some of the chapters are too short, and even the longer ones struggle from not having much in them. This makes it impossible for the character development of Constanta to be seen. She tells us how she started to see the lies and terrible things Dracula has done, but we the readers do not really see it happen through the storytelling. I understand the time skips from the perspective that the book is trying to cover several hundred years of her life, but they feel choppy, and we don't spend enough time developing the characters and story in each time period. I really wanted to like this book, but these issues made that impossible for me. I did like certain parts, but they didn't make up for the flaws of the rest.

My Rating: 2 stars

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami REVIEW

Summary:

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.

My Thoughts:

I am still processing this book. Aomame is a sort of assassin for hire, targeting those who have committed sexual crimes. She is approached to assassinate a cult leader, and agrees, even though she knows that she might not survive after. Tengo is a writer who gets the opportunity to revise a novel written by a teenage girl. He is hesitant at first, thinking of the moral and legal problems it may cause, but after talking to the author and being pressured by his boss, Tengo agrees. Slowly, the world starts to mirror the world of the novel, which very few people see, and these characters are drawn back together after not seeing each other since childhood. 

I really like how character-driven this story is. Murakami takes his time to flesh them out to seem like real people, and you can visualize them easily. He also points out the subtle differences between 1984 and 1Q84 very well. On the flip side, we know very little about the Little People, even at the end. It may have been intentional, but it made them seem like a smaller part of the story than they actually were. It is also very obvious that this was written by a man, due to the way the female characters are described. The book is slow-paced and hard to get into until about a third of the way in. I did like the characters and the story though.

My Rating: 3 stars

Home is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose REVIEW

Summary:

 After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before.

While going through their parent’s belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.

Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.

My Thoughts:

I really like the premise of this book. Beth is the only sibling that stayed home after growing up and their father leaving. She witnesses their mother's passing, and lets them know. They come out, all not having seen each other in years. Nicole has been struggling with addiction for years, and still is. Michael is married and rich. When they come across a video that unknowingly recorded their parents' cover-up of a neighbor who died, they aren't sure what to do, and more secrets come out.

I found it very intriguing that none of them seemingly know where their father ended up, and when it is revealed, it's very underwhelming. There was so much build-up to it, and it didn't seem like what happened was actually planned before the author wrote the book. The reveal of what actually happened also was not great. It happened so fast with no foreshadowing that it felt underdeveloped. While we see each character's POV throughout the book, the only one that felt fleshed out was Beth. It seemed like Michael and Nicole were assigned one trait for almost the entire novel. That being said, I did enjoy the story, I just wish it was better executed.

My Rating: 2 stars