#bookporn

Rainbow reads I purchased in October. Some steamy, some contemporary. Can’t wait to start ‘Not Your Sidekick’ – think I’ll start with that one first.

Diversity! Gay male protagonist. Bisexual protagonist. Lesbian Protagonist.

#bookporn

Absolutely loved ‘Zeroes’ and can’t get into the sequel ‘Swarm.’  Think edgy, dysfunctional X-men teens… Yay!

Wrap up – Flat-Out Trilogy by Jessica Park

From tear-jerking angst to cute romance.

This series was spread over two and a half years, mainly because the first novel dragged out all the feels and left me with a book hangover; the second did little to add to the story and left me with disappointment; and the third, though a great read, did not live up to the heights of the debut.

I jumped into ‘Flat-Out Love’ when it had just been released and there was plenty of hype. At that time I had not read a novel dealing with grief and loss or mental disorders. The romance was unique for me as well. My reading habits were steeped in Adventure, Science Fiction and Horror; so this contemporary felt like something amazing and new, opening up a world in a new genre. As you can imagine I gave it a rave review, grabbed by the witty facebook status updates and Julie’s angst over Finn and Matt.

I immediately jumped online and ordered a copy of ‘Flat-Out Matt’ hoping for more Park goodness… it was in the era where ‘Midnight Sun’ from ‘Twilight’ Author Stephanie Meyer got leaked, and many authors were starting to release books of the same plotline, but from a different character’s perspective. After such a great high, I got a big dip. There wasn’t a lot of new content, no new insights, it was basically a recap of ‘Flat-Out Love.’

It took me another two years before I picked up the last title in this series from Park, the middle book had scared me off. But ‘Flat-Out Celeste’ managed to redeem the author somewhat in my eyes, although it was missing the wit and irony I had loved so much in the debut – and it took a little while to start liking the main character. There was also a watering down of angst and issues dealt with in ‘Flat-Out Love.’ It was in a word: charming. The great thing about it is that you get a jump six years into the future and get a snapshot of how things turned out from the first book.

Overall Park’s writing is great. It has a lyrical sophistication that will engross you. It suffers somewhat with long inner monologues, and sometimes, repetition of particular phrases. But all are engaging and she can really set a great pace, building to a climax that is emotionally messy and satisfying at the same time. ‘Flat-Out Love’ is clearly the best by a mile, and I would only recommend the other books in the series to hardcore fans. They all have elements of Christmas, the loss of a loved one, and learning to live with mental blocks/disorders.

I want to say the characters are kind of quirky – but not in a cute way – in a damaged way. Jessica Park has lost her shine for me as nothing has lived up to the first novel, which I highly recommend (you can skip the rest). I might be tempted to try some of her newer releases ‘Clear’ and the ‘Left Drowning’ series, but they aren’t anything I’m rushing out to purchase. With a great writing style, complex characters Park has a lot going for her writing, so maybe I’ll cave and read some more next year. Watch this space.

For individual reviews click on the links below:

‘Flat-Out Love’ – https://strokingfire.wordpress.com/2014/08/23/book-review-flat-out-love/

‘Flat-Out Matt’ – https://strokingfire.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/book-review-flat-out-matt/

‘Flat-Out Celeste’ – https://strokingfire.wordpress.com/2016/10/05/book-review-flat-out-celeste-by-jessica-park/

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Cursed’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Another great addition to the JLA collection…

Genre: Y/A, Contemporary, Mystery

No. of pages: 384

From Goodreads:

Dying sucks.

…and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. 

After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things–including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden’s adopted father, a man she’s sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister’s hand again. And hell, she’d also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn’t?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not’ve been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life.

For real this time.

‘Cursed’ hooked me from the first page. A great premise, well-paced, and a fast read. I could see this as a start of a series, though currently it is sold as a standalone. There were plenty of elements introduced that weren’t tied up which could lead to many story arcs over a series. But having said that, it rounds up well enough to leave you with some satisfaction of a fun paranormal read.

I liked the supernatural aspect with abilities, but was wishing for more of the mythology and exploration of this aspect, maybe some origin stories.

Our protagonist, Ember, came off like a big emo/goth chick at first, and I thought I’d have some difficulty relating to her, but overall, I became invested in her story quite early on. She had her girly over-acting moments, which got me a little worried over the direction of her character, though, I found her to be level headed and intelligent.

I still would have liked to have found out about how Ember and the rest of the youngsters at the Cromwell place made up a unit of some kind. It was mentioned, but never fully explored. An X-men style gang sounds like a fun direction for the novel/series.

On the romantic side of things, it had a beautiful build to love, and a cute ending for Ember. Felt like a warm hug.

Her little sister was adorable, but infuriating. It bothered me how she always got her way and was oblivious of the cost… maybe a bit more realism would have rounded her out as a loveable character, other than someone I wanted to strangle.

I was disappointed about Adam – I really liked him and wanted more… We saw so much in the beginning chapters and then… *poof* gone in a cloud of smoke.

The love interest, Hayden, is a character I had a love/hate relationship with. The “misunderstood guy” storyline was dragged out a bit too much for my liking. But fun to have such a swoon-worthy man to drool over. Some of his over-protective qualities and stalkiness were a bit creepy and set of my alarm bells *Warning Will Robinson. Warning* I was really hoping Armentrout was going to deconstruct the trope that we see a lot in in YA, but alas, it remained true to the stereotype.

I definitely didn’t like Mr Cromwell (who ran the Cromwell place,) and I don’t think that will change – the way he operates is a little nefarious and does not match what he says he is trying to achieve. We never do understand why he behaves the way he does, even though his motives are explained.

The plot was mostly predictable, felt a little contrived, where some events seemed steered by the author for dramatic flair rather than unfold organically. It was a little light in tone, and could have gotten darker, angstier with the subject matter; but a lot of those opportunities were passed up – I guess if this was a debut of a new series Armentrout would have gone there, instead choosing a fun, exciting stand-alone. It’s a pity, because with what was set up in ‘Cursed’ it could lead to a great new collection – I say this because as a standalone many things weren’t resolved to my liking, and it would take another two to three novels to explore them fully in an action packed story arc.

Shame about the cover art – it didn’t appeal to me that much – and doesn’t match the Ember described in the pages… more effort could have gone into reflecting the main character and tone of the book succinctly.

Recommend to lovers of the paranormal, Jennifer L. Armentrout. This story is in the same vein of ‘Shatter Me,’ ‘Zeroes’ and ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.’

Overall feeling: Yeah. Pretty good.

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Naked Man Covers

Shirtless men, hot men barely dressed flexing muscles… when I see them on book covers I get a small amount of titillation – but also get turned off…

Romance, erotica, and contemporary novels have become inundated with pictures of buff young guys in various states of undress (or completely starkers.) And while I appreciate the male form and get some A-grade eye-candy, or some fun from an occasional oggle. It puts an ironic smile on my face to see them adorn my favourite things.

While sometimes the attractiveness of the cover model will entice me to peek between the covers. (What am I looking for – a naughty look under his clothes? Saucy firsthand knowledge of his lovemaking skills?) Most of the time it’s when I’m browsing online. I’d never pick it up in a book store! That’s way too embarrassing. It might label me as the needy girl who only reads erotica… how dumb is that?

Another aspect to the scantily clad musculature of the male figure decorating literature is the fact that it practically yells “BUY ME!” Like a desperate attempt to get you to reach into your purse and fork over the money. Like you bought the guy all for yourself. There’s a word for that…

So now, after such over-exposed collection of title after title, I get turned off pretty man covers. Maybe I’ve been desensitized?

It’s a little embarrassing, and a lot insulting being barraged by so much skin as a selling point. This objectification is mostly romance, erotica, contemporary and some YA. Ultimately, if the cover art has become the most unimaginative way to market a book. And this girl ain’t buying.

Can’t we find some more artistic photography? Or symbolism? Or Typography? I don’t want to sound like a snob, but this types of cover art feels a bit low-brow and does little to convey the concept of the plot within its pages, other than one of the protagonists (or the love interest) is a hunky guy. I want more than that from my reading material.

I’m not having a rant, rather just observing trends in the market. I’ve seen other covers that are stunning which do not have a parts of the male form, airbrushed, adorning the dustjacket. Usually they depict something intrinsic to the plot, something that makes me pick up the book for a closer look. Books that are character driven and not a collection of scenes of intimate encounters. I like a ‘hot-damn’ moment as much as the next girl, but I want a build up of ambience, some tension, angst, wooing. As well as an interesting storyline.

Naked man covers, while sexy and alluring, don’t scream “intelligent plot and interesting characters” to me. Oh my gosh – am I becoming an elitist! Shoot me now!

What’s your take on overt sexuality on book covers – is it getting too much or can’t you get enough?

It might be great with the objectification of men rather than women for once, and I do enjoy a hottie now and then, but shouldn’t we mix it up?

Food for thought – something to think about when you purchase your next novel – what part does the cover play in adding it to your shopping cart…

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

#bookporn

Royal reads I want to finish before the end of 2016!

Book Review – ‘The Countdown’ by Kimberly Derting

Alien abduction, hybrids, and government conspiracies… wrapped up in a teen romance.

Genre: Y/A, Science Fiction

No. of pages: 368

From Goodreads:

She may no longer be human…but she’s their only hope.

In the concluding book in the otherworldly Taking trilogy, Kyra struggles to understand who she is as she races to save the world from complete destruction.

Ever since Kyra was abducted by aliens and then returned to earth, she has known there was something different about her. Now she knows the truth: she is an alien too. Her alien captors replaced all her human DNA with their own—gifting her with supernatural powers like incredible healing, enhanced eyesight, and telekinesis. But when she’s captured by an unexpected enemy, Kyra begins to wonder if her abilities are also a curse. And is she, as her enemies believe, meant to play some key role in helping an impending alien invasion? Is it programmed into her, something inescapable? Or can she fight that destiny?

No matter what the truth is, Kyra is sure of one thing: She just rescued the love of her life, Tyler, and she is not going to stand by and let anyone hurt him or her friends. Whatever it takes, Kyra will do everything in her power to save the world…even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice. 

It’s the Final Countdoooowwn!  – sorry couldn’t resist. With this final instalment in The Taking trilogy, I was looking forward to a mammoth dramatic end to what has been a fun sci-fi read. But there was a lot going on. A lot of characters and points of view in the narrative. It was confusing and made me dizzy. It took me half the novel to catch up and work out what was going on.

I’ve said it so many times before: I’m not a fan of multiple perspectives.

However, after a disappointing and slow first half, the storyline began to pick up. I could barely put the novel down as I neared the finish line. We got some great pacing and tension. For the last book in a trilogy it should be this way throughout – there are so many ends to tie up, questions to answer. It should be explosive.

There’s still a tone of immaturity about Kyra and her friends, though I can see how she has grown as a character, I didn’t get all that invested in her or the story. Which is disappointing. The attention the first book of the series really captured my imagination, but things went awry here.

Tyler, our love interest and cute in the-boy-next-door way, only had that going for him. I kept wanting to get more substance. For him to pony up. I hate to say it, but Tyler was a little… forgettable.

Simon, another of the returned and member of their ‘Scooby Gang’ started to grow on me. He was showing some moxy and putting a spanner in the works. This boy had back bone, and then at the end of the novel, I was like – where did all that go. Feelings like that aren’t resolved in an instant…. The resolution felt like little bit of a cop out.

Adam (the alien), the only other character of note didn’t give me that desperation to survive and be reunited with his race I was hoping for. There wasn’t even thankfulness at Kyra and Tyler’s sacrifice to help him escape… It really felt like all the nuance of characters we got earlier on wasn’t carried through right to the end of the trilogy. Characters are the lifeblood of your story, and you need to pay them a lot of attention.

As far as plot goes, it was still light on the explanations; though we get all the relevant answers. Something about the explanation still doesn’t sit right with me. I liked the ending, and considering the romanticism of it all, was surprised there wasn’t an alternate conclusion – I think it would have been a much more impactful ending if it opened up this trilogy to a new world of possibilities. We love to dream about the what-if’s in sci-fi!

Maybe it was the attitudes of the scientists – oversimplified and some forced to fit into the role of a villain… or not. It had me wondering where the complexity was…

As much as I enjoyed the experience reading this, the characters were pretty interchangeable and bland. Their personalities could have shined in obtuse, quirky ways to add a larger dynamic to the narrative. All in all, it was “just nice.”

Great escapism for YA readers. I’d only recommend it to those who have been engrossed by the series, but don’t get your hopes up. A light, easy to read narrative, even though a little scattered. I wanted much more from this final book, but it was still a satisfying conclusion.

Overall feeling: well that didn’t go as planned…

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Bloggers Beware!

The shine got taken off posting to my blog recently when I found someone had stolen my identity…

I love blogging, sharing stories, recommending great books, but in the past weeks all of my enthusiasm for this activity was soured when I came across a new blog. It only had one book review, which was intelligent, cited, and made some really good points. But on closer inspection, total click bait, posting links to other websites. And to make it worse, listed my details as the author – including links to all of my personal social media.

I just about threw up in my mouth. It was like a large block of ice formed in my stomach. I could barely believe what I was looking at. I clicked around on everything, to make sure it wasn’t some type of computer error and ensure I could duplicate the results. But it was legit. Legit piracy. The author of the site had totally hijacked my identity.

It looked innocent enough, but where would it stop? It was endorsing other websites I certainly had no knowledge of, or interest in. It was reviewing a book I’d never read… and suddenly the prospect of my identity in the hands of a stranger had my nerves in knots.

As my best friend said ‘That’s just not cricket.’

I got the site taken down by the end of day, it took reporting it to WordPress admin, Gravatar Copyright Division, and the regulation board, and a firmly worded comment to the owner of the site explaining my actions and readiness to take legal action.

It turns out the site author took it down pretty quickly.

The whole experience left me a little gun-shy about posting for a while.

My social media is secure; they had never hacked any of my accounts. But someone had started a new blog, listed my information and linked it to my platform. That’s some audacious human being. So, just a polite warning to my fellow bloggers out there – be vigilant, check out the author of blogs and articles you’re liking to make sure they are legit. We need to keep our community ‘real’ and sift out fakers posting clickbait.

This is meant to be a fun safe place to share our thoughts and writing, and though it has been somewhat sullied by this experience, I still enjoy blogging and will continue.

I guess this was the best type of scare to give me a kick in the butt to overhaul my security (and privacy) online. Change passwords frequently, and use ones that are hard to guess. Use numbers and characters, change cases. Don’t list or broadcast too much personal information. Occasionally do a search on yourself, or your image. It’s not an ego thing – it’s protecting your identity/brand. Choose to have added steps in authentication for your sites. I know it sounds painful and unnecessarily drawn out, but it is definitely worth it. If someone does hack your account or steal your identity to ‘catfish’ and are particularly stubborn; the lengths you have to go to to protect your content or image may be stressful, lengthy, and in some cases if legal action is taken, expensive.

Familiarise yourself with the rules and regulations of the medium you post your content to – and the avenues you have for appeal and policing.

It’s simply the other side of having a presence on the internet we all have to be aware of.

So after you’ve done all of the boring stuff you can get back to being creative, sharing your thoughts and revel in writing again with the knowledge that you are protecting your stuff.

Happy writing and take care out there…

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘The New Hunger’ (# 1.5 Warm Bodies) by Isaac Marion

A great little teaser into the zombie romance blockbuster.

Genre: Y/A, Horror

No. of pages: 170

From Goodreads:

The end of the world didn’t happen overnight.

After years of societal breakdowns, wars and quakes and rising tides, humanity was already near the edge. Then came a final blow no one could have expected: all the world’s corpses rising up to make more.

Born into this bleak and bloody landscape, twelve-year-old Julie struggles to hold on to hope as she and her parents drive across the wastelands of America, a nightmarish road trip in search of a new home.

Hungry, lost, and scared, sixteen-year-old Nora finds herself her brother’s sole guardian after her parents abandon them in the not-quite-empty ruins of Seattle.

And in the darkness of a forest, a dead man opens his eyes. Who is he? What is he? With no clues beyond a red tie and the letter “R,” he must unravel the grim mystery of his existence—right after he learns how to think, how to walk, and how to satisfy the monster howling in his belly.  

A marvellous depiction of some of the main cast from ‘Warm Bodies’ before those events took place in Isaac Marion’s breakout novel. I really enjoyed figuring out the timeline and how the cast fit into the storyline introduced in ‘Warm Bodies.’  Told in different perspectives of a young Julie and Nora, with the addition of the Tall Man. Those who know me are aware I’m not a big fan of “head jumping” or flashbacks and ‘A New Hunger’ has both. But I have to admit, it works. Which is surprising given that it is a novella, and needs to pack a lot of information into a small number of pages.

Julie lacked the substance she has in ‘Warm Bodies’ for me, but she is only twelve years old, and you get a sense of her accepting the bleak new world as normal. It was interesting to see the type of person she started out as and left me hungering (pun intended) for what happened to shape her into the Julie we come to know in ‘Warm Bodies.’ I loved her determination, desensitivity to gore and death, as well as innocence all mixed together… not qualities that gel, but on her, it worked so well.

Nora was much more interesting; she comes across as a realistic teen attempting to survive in this dystopian world. Reminding me of Cassie from ‘The Fifth Wave.’ I really liked how she stumbles and not everything goes her way. It added credence to the world and a desperation‎ to the serious threats she faces. As with Julie, it was great to see the beginnings of her character, so different to the person we meet in ‘Warm Bodies.’ Out of all the cast, Julie has the greatest amount of development, and I was still wanting more.

The tone of ‘The New Hunger’ is different to ‘Warm Bodies.’ I was hoping for a little more insight to the start of the epidemic, or even the beginnings of the Boneys… but unfortunately they were left unanswered – I guess Isaac is leaving it for another book in this series. I’m really looking forward to see what unravels in the next release, ‘The Burning World’ next year. Even with the need for more explanation of the overarching plot from this novella, it was still very entertaining. Although I felt it lacked a bit of pacing and cohesion, mainly because it’s just short snippets in time and doesn’t cover the expanse of their lives or humanities downfall.

The sense of the zombies, the dark cloud with arms that was almost a sentient consciousness – we’ll I’m not sure how I feel about that. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m hoping it leads to something later in the series. It was only touched on in ‘Warm Bodies’ and lightly alluded to here, so I am desperate to learn about the mythology behind Isaac’s dystopian world and uncover more about the origins. I liked the realism and hinting at some paranormal force behind the zombie apocalypse, but left it as a mere suggestion.

It did miss the humour I was expecting. The witty banter and comedy from ‘Warm Bodies’ is not present in this novella – you could read it as a standalone, but it doesn’t go anywhere. I like the references to ‘Warm Bodies’ and the reveal at the end (though easy to guess.)

A cute addition to the collection and a strong novella. I’d recommend this to fans only, there’s not enough to grab a new reader to this series, or genre. And definitely read ‘Warm Bodies’ first, even though ‘The New Hunger’ is a prequel, you need the setup of the dystopian world and establish the main cast to fully understand what is going on.

On a side note: loving the cover – the metallic sheen and pop of red. Totally captures the mood of the narrative.

I’m eagerly awaiting ‘The Burning World.’  C’mon 2017!

Overall feeling: Middle-of-the-road-zombie

 

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Please stop! I want to get off!

Spinning, spinning, the world is shooting past at break-neck speed and all I can do is dig in, hold on tight and hope I don’t get flung off before I can get to the end of the ride.

I’m still staring at the calendar in disbelief that October is here already. I see how much time is left of 2016 and then gaze over the monstrous ‘To do’ list and have a mini freak out. Have I been sitting on my expanding posterior all year?

The truth is, no I haven’t. Upon review, I’ve been accomplishing quite a great deal, in writing, editing, reading, and other stuff called life of less importance. It’s the addition of death and funerals, major house renovations, health issues, and the state of being human which has heaped a large helping to my plate – I’ve been gorging myself!

So I’m having a slightly delayed mid-year freak out.

If you have read any of my previous blogs centred around my writing life, or life in general, you’ll know I’m a big list maker. I love setting massive goals, and am a little OCD about getting things done. What I wasn’t prepared for was the continual addition of other bits and pieces preventing me from reaching my rather lofty writing goals.

It’s now the third year in a row I’ve experienced mystical happenstance of “life” and it’s getting ridiculous. Is the universe playing some practical joke on me? Universe?

I’m not some big adventurer, or have a demanding, high-stress career; and I moved to the Sunshine Coast to simplify life and concentrate on writing full time. I have a time limit to reach a modest goal, because if I fail to meet said goal, I’ll be returning to full time employment. (That’s the deal I made with myself) I’m confident about breezing over the finish line, but I was expecting to have more done this far into the journey. I haven’t had so much happen to me with in a few years. Like, ever!

Did the Universe conspire – right, this girl looks like she could handle more, let’s shake it up a bit.

I wish I had the power to stop time, or travel back in time, or work fast like The Flash, maybe the ability to duplicate myself, and have clones working on other projects simultaneously. There is never enough hours in the day. Especially with the extra helping of other life stuff which have nothing to do with writing…

When I look back over the past five years, it’s been five deaths in the family, one each year, two relocations, one redundancy, and a number of road trips across Australia. I’m not whining or having a rant, I just think I’m taken a little aback at what’s been going on. Am I at that stage in my life where relatives start dropping like flies, the body starts to show it’s wear and tear, and just about everything you own needs to be replaced, renovated or restored? No wonder people have a mid-life crisis when the world starts to crumble around you. But I’m optimistic. It’s an instrument for change, for new exciting challenges… and ultimately inspiration for my writing. I’d never written about grief or loss, I’d never described some of the landscapes and experiences I’ve recently had.

It’s all good!

So while I’m loving life, embracing change, Universe, can we please hit pause on dropping those bombshells? While I’m enjoying the feast of wonder you are providing, I just want to finish a bit of writing before the next adventure.

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.