Book Review: The Deck of Omens

Thanks to Titan Books for sending me a copy of The Deck of Omens for free, in exchange for an honest review.

I will give you a sneak preview of what I thought of this book: after I’d finished it, I went back and reread The Devouring Gray, and I still wanted more about Four Paths and its residents. It’s like The Deck of Omens stuck its fingers into my brain and won’t let go!

The teenagers of Four Paths must save their home.

Though the Beast is seemingly subdued for now, a new threat looms in Four Paths: a corruption seeping from the Gray into the forest. And with the other Founders preoccupied by their tangled alliances and fraying relationships, only May Hawthorne seems to realize the danger. But saving the town she loves means seeking aid from the person her family despises most–her and Justin’s father.

May’s father isn’t the only newcomer in town–Isaac Sullivan’s older brother has also returned, seeking forgiveness for the role he played in Isaac’s troubled past. But Isaac isn’t ready to let go of his family’s history, especially when that history might hold the key that he and Violet Saunders need to destroy the Gray and the monster within it.

Harper Carlisle isn’t ready to forgive, either. Two devastating betrayals have left her isolated from her family and uncertain who to trust. As the corruption becomes impossible to ignore, Harper must learn to control her newfound powers in order to protect Four Paths. But the only people who can help her do that are the ones who have hurt her the most.

With the veil between the Gray and the town growing ever thinner, all of the Founder descendants must put their grievances with one another aside to stop the corruption and kill the Beast once and for all.

But maybe the monster they truly need to slay has never been the Beast.

It’s very hard to review a sequel without spoiling the first book, so this will, by necessity, be quite vague about plot points! I loved The Deck of Omens though. Maybe not quite as much as I’d loved The Devouring Gray, but I found myself whizzing through it as I was desperate to know what happened.

That’s mostly down to the brilliantly written characters. We have new focus points this time – the Hawthornes and Sullivans – along with Harper dealing both with what happened at the end of the last book and the new threat to Four Paths.  Violet is obviously still aroud, but we see much less of her and her family this time. I love all these characters – there’s been so much growth for all of them over the two books – although Harper and Isaac are my favourites. I really enjoyed their parts in the story, and I loved the reveals about Isaac and his family in particular.

One of the things I really liked about The Deck of Omens is how much the town feels like one of the characters. Christine Lynn Herman is fantastic at creating atmosphere, and I loved all the town’s history we learned during the course of the book. The thought that has gone in to making Four Paths seem like a real place, albeit one with a Beast and various bits of magic, is amazing.

I also liked that, although the kids are the focus, the adults aren’t just ciphers. They’re also fully characterised, with their own (often suspect) motivations and history. This also contributes to that feeling of Four Paths being a real place of course. As a whole, the worldbuilding is fantastic.

There were a few moments which I felt didn’t mesh with what had happened in The Devouring Gray, which is one of the reasons I ended up rereading that book. There were just points with the Beast which seemed to contradict the lore we’d already heard. However, I’m also happy to accept that unreliable narrators are at the core of both books, and it’s probably a case of me misunderstanding where the line is between what we know and what we’ve been told by others rather than a plot hole.

All told then, The Deck of Omens is a wonderful sequel to one of my favourite books of last year. It builds on what’s come before and produces a very satisfying conclusion to the duology. I very much want to know what happens to everyone after the book ends, but I guess that’s what fanfiction is for! If you haven’t read The Devouring Gray yet, I highly recommend you do so, but make sure you have a copy of The Deck of Omens to hand so you can carry straight on. You won’t be disappointed!

5/5

The Deck of Omens is out now from Titan Books

Easter Readathon Wrap Up

I’m a teeny bit later than I planned to be in writing this post, but this is such a strange time all round, I’m going to give myself a break on that one!

The Easter readathon is an annual readathon hosted by Kate at Reading Through Infinity, which takes place over the Easter bank holiday weekend. I posted my TBR here, so check that out if you haven’t seen it, or carry on reading to see how I got on.

There were five prompts, and I chose a book for each of them. I could have combined a few, but I knew I’d probably be able to read five books in four days, and I did!

Prompt completed: Read a book that’s under 250 pages

I absolutely 100% loved this book. I had no idea what to really expect when I went into it, but it felt like a properly traditional children’s book that was a bit daft, a bit silly, and very weird, but in the best way. It reminded me a lot of books like Enid Blyton’s The Enchanted Wood, or The Wishing Chair, but without all the racism and classism. Fidge is a fantastic main character. Wed Wabbit has been on my shelf for years, and I’m so glad I finally got round to reading it! 5/5

Prompt completed: Read a book that gives you spring vibes

I picked this book for this prompt because it look kind of spring-like on the cover. Ultimately, it was a bit disappointing for me. I adored Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged, and this sequel had been on my shelf for about as long as Wed Wabbit had. It was interesting in that it showed you what can happen if you marry someone on impulse without actually knowing that much about them, but I loved Sofia and Conall’s relationship in the first one, so to see what happens to them in this one just made me sad. It’s still well written though, and I can’t say it’s not realistic. Still disappointing though. 3.3/5

Prompt completed: Read a book involving family/friends

To be fair, I think every book I read for the readathon covered this prompt, but I’m glad I chose to read this one specifically (sent to me for free by Little Tiger). I’ll review this one in full closer to publication date, but Oh. My. God. I was so surprised by this book and how much I enjoyed it. You definitely need to be keeping an eye out come July! 4.5/5

Prompt completed: Read a bok with a yellow or green cover

Confession time: I was on the street team for this book and absolutely failed at doing anything to promote it. I’m so sorry Akemi! Having finally read it, I really enjoyed it – more than Starfish, less than Summer Bird Blue. Harley is a bit of a brat, but her character development is beautiful, and I loved the way Akemi showed Harley’s struggle with mental health and connecting to all the different aspects of her heritage. The love interest was also perfect! 4.5/5

Prompt completed: Read a book about new beginnings

I’m not a big sci-fi reader generally, but I love Emma Newman and her work with a fiery passion, so I will read anything she writes. I was a bit behind with the Planetfall series, but I’ve now caught up, and this book was as stunning as the two that came before it. The science mostly goes over my head to be honest, but I love how Emma can write it in detail, without the fact that I don’t get most of it affecting my enjoyment of the book. This is such a good series – I highly recommend it.

Prompt completed: None

So this wasn’t on my TBR, but I hadn’t finished it before the readathon started. It would have nicely fit the family and friends prompt, or the new beginnings one, as we meet Robin, just as he’s rejected from all the drama schools he’s applied to and he realises he doesn’t know what to do now. This was a netgalley copy provided by Pan Macmillan for free, and as the book isn’t out until August, I’m not going to spoil my review here. I enjoyed it a lot though, and it very much reminded me of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, one of my favourite musicals. 4.5/5

I also started Atlas Alone, the sequel to Before Mars, but I didn’t finish it and so I’m not including it officially. My review of it should hopefully be up soon though, if you want to know what I thought!

So I completed all the prompts, read all the books on my TBR, plus one, and rated all but one of them above 4 stars. I think that’s pretty good going! I also had things I needed to do on the Monday, so I only really participated until the Sunday evening, but it was lovely to spend most of three days just reading. Many thanks to Kate for hosting!

Let me know in the comments if you participated in Easter Readathon this year, or if you’ve read any of the books above!

Blog Tour: Rebel With A Cupcake

Today I’m excited to be opening the blog tour for Anna Mainwaring’s new novel, Rebel With A Cupcake. I really enjoyed Anna’s Tulip Taylor last year so I was looking forward to reading Rebel. It didn’t disappoint!

(I was gifted a copy of this book as part of the blog tour, but all opinions are my own.)

Jesobel Jones is bold and brash, the daughter of a hand model and a washed-up rock star. Jess sees no need to apologize for her rambling house, her imperfect family, her single status … or her weight. Jess is who she is. She makes her own cupcakes and she eats them, too. No regrets.

That is, until Own Clothes Day rolls around at school. Jess and her friends dedicate the requisite hours of planning to their outfits, their hair and their makeup for the one day they are free from school uniforms. But a wardrobe malfunction leaves Jess with a pair of leggings split open at the worst spot, and a mean girl calling her the one thing that’s never bothered her before: fat.

The encounter shakes Jess’s formerly iron-clad confidence, and she starts to wonder if she’s been just a little too comfortable in her own skin. When the boy of her dreams invites her to a party, she must decide whether to try to fit in for the first time in her life, or remain true to herself — whoever that really is.

I must admit that, at first, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Rebel With A Cupcake. I didn’t want to read a book where the fat protagonist loses weight and everybody suddenly realises how pretty she is, but fortunately, that’s not what this book is. Part of the storyline does involve Jess trying to lose weight, but she’s actually pretty confident in the way she looks until a perfect storm of events has her questioning her outlook on life. I actually really liked that even when she is trying to lose weight (to fit into a dress her mum deliberately bought in a size too small), she’s conflicted about it all the time. She knows she’s only doing it because it’s what people expect, and there’s a part of her that hates it. I also liked that even when she couldn’t be positive about her own body, Jess was still all about body positivity for others.

I liked Jess a lot. I liked her friends a lot too – always supportive, willing to call Jess out when necessary, and ready to listen. I did not like Jess’s mum and sister, who were obsessed with Jess’s weight. If my mum had bought me a dress that she knew was too small to try and make me lose weight, I would have been devastated. It’s such a passive aggressive thing to do! Cat, Jess’s sister, wasn’t much better, although it was clear her attitude sprang from her own issues, and when she was given the chance to support Jess, she took it. Jess’s Gran, on the other hand, was amazing and I loved her. I would talk about the staff at Jess’s school, but they made my blood boil, and I think it would end up a rant, so I won’t!

In terms of actual plot, the romance storyline did feel a bit obvious, and I got annoyed at Jess for being so oblivious to thngs that seemed so blatant to me, but I realise that Jess is only 16, and Matt is really the first boy she’s had a major crush on, so I guess I can forgive her. And I suppose we all know how it feels when that person, you know, the one that has always seemed so out of your league, pays you a bit of attention and you can’t believe your luck. I thought Mainwaring showed that really well and I was definitely getting flashbacks to my own teenage days.

I enjoyed Rebel With A Cupcake a lot. Jess is a great protagonist, with a great message for her YA audience. I did find it difficult to get into at first, as I was still getting to know the characters, but it’s worth sticking with because I grew to love both it and Jess. A very entertaining read!

Don’t forget to check out the other blogs on the tour!

4/5

Rebel With A Cupcake is out now. Thanks to Faye Rogers and Firefly Press for sending me a gifted copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Wonderland

Sometimes you read an anthology just because you like some of the authors involved. In the process you discover many new potentially favourite authors, and that’s what happened with Wonderland, an anthology of stories inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published by Titan Books in September. Titan were kind enough to send me a copy for free in exchange for an honest review and look, I’m only two months late reviewing it. Go me!

(I was only two months late reviewing it. Now I’m seven months late because I didn’t realise I hadn’t actually finished and posted this. Oops?)

Join Alice as she is thrown into the whirlwind of Wonderland, in an anthology that bends the traditional notions of Lewis Carroll’s classic novel. Contributors include the bestselling M.R. Carey, Genevieve Cogman, Catriona Ward, Rio Youers and L.L. McKinney.

Within these pages you’ll find myriad approaches to Alice, from horror to historical. There’s even a Wild West tale from Angela Slatter, poetry, and a story by Laura Mauro which presents us with a Japanese folklore-inspired Wonderland.

Alison Littlewood, Cavan Scott and Catriona Ward make the more outlandish elements their own, while James Lovegrove instead draws on the supernatural. Cat Rambo takes us to a part of Wonderland we haven’t seen before and Lilith Saintcrow gives the legend a science-fiction spin. The nightmarish reaches of the imagination are the breeding ground for M.R. Carey’s visions, while Robert Shearman, George Mann, Rio Youers and Mark Chadbourn’s tales have a deep-seated emotional core which will shock, surprise and tug on the heart-strings.

So, it’s time now to go down the rabbit hole, or through the looking-glass or… But no, wait. By picking up this book and starting to read it you’re already there, can’t you see?

I wasn’t sure how much I’d actually enjoy Wonderland, as it seemed to have quite a horror bent, and that’s not my thing at all. Fortunately, although there is a fair bit of horror in this anthology, it’s not overwhelming, and I enjoyed almost every single story. That’s quite unusual for me with anthologies, but each author had such an interesting spin on Alice. My favourite was probably The White Queen’s Pawn by Genevieve Cogman, but each story was interesting in its own way. At least part of the fun is working out the spin the author is taking – some base their story on the real Alice, others concentrate on Lewis Carroll, or just give the original story a new setting, like a dreamscape on a spaceship to keep the crew sane while they’re in deep sleep for three thousand years. Some of them are a bit strange, I’m not going to lie, but I enjoyed them nevertheless.

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this anthology. I loved seeing how each writer interpreted the brief, and I highly recommend it, whether you’re a fan of the original or not!

4/5

Wonderland is out now! Thanks again to Titan Books for the gifted copy!

Easter Readathon TBR

Apparently it’s Easter this weekend? How did that happen? Anybody else completely confused by dates at the moment?

Anyway, you might have noticed (or not, that’s ok) that I’ve been missing for a while, apart from the occasional blog tour post (and I am so very, very grateful that publishers and publicists still let me take part in those, and send me books, even though I’m the worst). There have been reasons for this, but I thought it was about time I started blogging again properly. And what better way to kick this new start off, than with the Easter readathon?!

The Easter readathon is hosted by Kate over at Reading Through Infinity and it runs from 12.01am Friday 10th April (Good Friday) to 11.59pm Monday 13th April (Easter Monday). There are prompts that you can follow if you want to, but they’re entirely optional. I’m very excited to be able to join in this year as family stuff usually means I don’t have the time to commit, but that’s obviously not a problem at the moment. Check out Kate’s post above for more details and a giveaway opportunity (and check out her new youtube channel too!).

This is my TBR for the readathon:

My Easter Readathon TBR

Prompt 1

The Other Half of Happiness – the cover looks nice and bright and spring like, right? I’m not sure it’s a happy sort of story, but we’ll see. I loved Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged, and this sequel has been on my bookshelf for forever. It’s time.

Prompt 2

Before Mars – the lead character has packed up her life, left her family behind and shipped off to Mars. You don’t get much more new beginnings than that! Again, I loved the first two books in the Planetfall series and it is beyond time I should have read this.

Prompt 3

Wed Wabbit is 242 pages long. I’m a huge fan of Lissa’s adult work (if you haven’t already, you need to read Old Baggage), and this got good reviews when it came out, but I am a little worried it’s going to be aimed too young for me to properly enjoy. We’ll see.

Prompt 4

I’ve been dying to read Harley In The Sky for months, and it has a (very) yellow cover, so it will fit nicely with this prompt.

Prompt 5

The Rules is about the main character’s dad finding her after she’d managed to break away from him, so it definitely meets the family prompt, even if the family concerned isn’t very nice. This book was sent to me for free by Little Tiger in exchange for an honest review, so it’s on my tbr this month anyway.

I hope I’m not being too ambitious. I should finish them easily in the four days, but I have no doubt there will be interruptions. Also, I’m pretty certain that once I finish Before Mars, I’ll want to move on to the next in the series immediately, but that’s fine. It’s only one extra book. It’s fine.

Check back in next week to see how I get on, or I’m sure I’ll be tweeting about it over at @donnamk79 if you want to follow me there! Let me know if you’re participating too!