Tag: read

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray (ARC Review)

Kat ImpossibleLeave a comment

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 496
Release Date: September 28, 2021

*I was provided with an eARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!*

CW: death, verbal/physical abuse, indentured servitude/slavery, kidnapping, drug use, sexism, spiders, snakes

Beasts of Prey is the debut novel and first installment in a magical Pan-African-inspired series by Ayana Gray. From the get go, it is clear that there was a lot of thought put into the magic system and I loved uncovering the different layers to it, despite being quite confused in the beginning. Told from multiple POVs, namely those of Ekon, a boy who wants nothing more than to follow into his father’s and brother’s footsteps as a warrior, Koffi, an indentured beastkeeper at the Night Zoo, who wants to see her family free, and a third person, who I’d like to keep nameless in this review, it was interesting to see these different characters introduced and oppose each other.

It was easy to take a liking to sweet Ekon, who is better with books and has a compulsion for counting in order to quell his anxiety, as well as Koffi, who is bold, impulsive and very caring. However, the third POV was the one that felt out of place to me for the most part. It often seemed contradictory to what we learned from the others, but at the same time, I have to admit that it made sense in the end. Still, I wasn’t entirely sure it was necessary to include and more than once felt taken out of the story because of it.

The set up takes a while, but is entirely necessary to really make the characters come to life and give us the full spectrum of their motivations, however, it makes for a slow start. I much preferred reaching the halfway point and the faster pacing that came with it. Once I, the reader, entered the jungle with the characters, it was just so thrilling. There was danger around every corner, gruesome creatures to haunt your dreams and I really rooted for everyone to make it out alive at the various crossroads they faced.

jungle danger snake

The setting is absolutely fantastic, offering almost a mix of spirituality and magic. The story keeps you on your toes, especially once you think you know where it is going, and even leaves you on a cliffhanger that will have you waiting for the sequel for sure. Maybe, because I liked the characters and their dynamic so much, I would have preferred a singular focus on Ekon and Koffi, but I would completely understand why that won’t necessarily change in a sequel. I’m intrigued either way!

Finally, I’d like to point out that I found the author’s note at the end of the novel very enlightening. She explained some of her choices and I really appreciated getting that insight from her, which truly isn’t always a given and neither should it be, but I always enjoy it a lot.

Fazit: 3.5/5 stars! I would definitely pick up a sequel, although I’d hope for a more consistent pacing.

Do you intend to pick up Beasts of Prey once it is released? Do you enjoy magical jungle settings? Let’s talk!

Take Me with You When You Go by David Levithan/Jennifer Niven (ARC Review)

Kat ImpossibleLeave a comment

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 336
Release Date: August 31, 2021

*I was provided with an eARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!*

CW: parental neglect, parental abandonment, physical abuse, domestic violence

I have always been an ardent fan of David Levithan’s writing, with his books appearing on this blog plenty a time. However, I do believe that he does some of his best writing whenever he embarks on a journey with a fellow author, which had my curiosity piqued for this one. Although I know a few titles that Jennifer Niven has written, I hadn’t read any of her work before this book, but I still wasn’t about to pass up on the chance to see these two create a story together. I’m happy to report that I was not disappointed!

Take Me with You When You Go is entirely told in emails. It’s a style of narration I absolutely adore, but also something that’s not always easy to pull off. The tricky part is to tell a story, without making it seem too constructed. The language has to evoke feelings and reflect a way people would actually write personal emails instead of how you would write dialogue in a book. I think Take Me with You When You Go handled it well for the most part, although I sometimes wasn’t as immersed in the longer messages as I would have liked to be.

It’s easy to get invested in the fate of Bea and Ezra. Their bond is quickly established and you more or less fly through the pages, hoping they make it out alright on the other end. The situation they had to grow up in is never easy to come to terms with and you shouldn’t have to, because there was nothing okay about it. And still, while reading, it never felt like it got too heavy or weighed me down too much, possibly because of the style of writing that was so easy to follow. Also, I really enjoyed all the Avengers references, because yes, please, talk Marvel to me! That’s my language!

While reading, I feel like you might get frustrated with the siblings’ behavior at times, but simultaneously, it all makes so much sense. Bea, especially, makes it hard at first, because her decisions seem selfish, but become more understandable the more you learn about her. The trauma they both endured made them clam up and build walls, no well-being person could simply climb over them. However, it was beautiful to watch them take charge of the situation and accept help, letting people in who were on their side. 

Something I credit the book highly for is that they put resources for people seeking help at the end of the novel (at least my copy). When dealing with such a real life issue, I appreciate the effort of not just discussing it through fiction, but also including ways to aid people who are actually suffering through these bad circumstances.

While I think many readers will believe that they know where Bea and Ezra’s journey will take them, there are plenty of surprises along the way. This book comes without much fuss, but still manages to pack quite the message. I’d love to leave you with a quote (and also little lesson) that stayed with me after reading to end this review:

It’s wonderful, when someone sees you, the real you, but – and this may be the most profound thing I’ve ever thought or said – maybe the most important thing is seeing yourself.

Fazit: 3.5/5 stars! A quiet but impacting book!

Do you plan on reading Take Me with You When You Go? Have you read other books by Levithan and/or Niven? Let’s talk!

Don’t Tell a Soul by Kirsten Miller (eARC Review)

Kat Impossible4 Comments

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Page Count: 384
Release Date: January 26, 2021

*I was provided with an eARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!*

CW: parental death, sexual assault/rape, drug/substance abuse, mentions of suicide, mentions of non-descript mental illnesses, gaslighting, parental neglect

I’ve been slowly but surely drifting into a territory of picking up one book after another revolving around what sounded like haunted houses, but with a much more complex stories underneath. I am not quite sure what draws me to these kind of books, but Kirsten Miller managed to create a wonderfully creepy ambiance reminiscent of gothic classics. There’s an unease in the house and especially in the beginning, you have no idea what to expect from it. As often as the people of Louth keep saying that they don’t believe in ghosts, it still seems like something is off about the manor.

People say the house is cursed.
It preys on the weakest, and young women are its favorite victims.
In Louth, they’re called the Dead Girls.

When you first meet Bram, it becomes instantly apparent that something bad has happened to her. Even without knowing the details, you just know. That girl has built up a wall of defense a mile high and while that was completely understandable considering her history and upbringing, it still felt irritating during some earlier points in the story. The way she went from starting to like and warm up to people to completely distrusting them and looking for weapons to defend herself in case of an emergency could give you whiplash, although I again want to stress that it makes sense because of her past. But still, as long as you don’t know her, it makes it hard to warm up to her entirely sometimes. Her reasons for wanting to be in the manor so badly kind of eluded me at first, because I did not completely understand her obsession with what happened, but then this also gets explained and uncovered. I think one of the main objectives with the book is to just stick with it and things will eventually get resolved.

Aside from Bram, there was an assortment of interesting characters, all keeping you on your toes the entire time. I feel like we could have gotten to know a couple of them better, but with Lark’s wall up, you get most of your information through second-hand gossip and later confrontations. Trust is a scare commodity in Louth, especially with so many girls having vanished and/or died in the small community over the years. However, my initial feeling for most people was correct, which either made the novel predictable or my gut instinct is just rocking.

Overall, I enjoyed many of the twists and was far from guessing everything. I felt a certain distance to the characters and the story for a long time, but it did all come together in the end. Some might say it came together a bit too conveniently, but I didn’t mind that too much. Just be prepared for a story full of gaslighting and people blaming mental illness for all sorts of things, without anyone being diagnosed or actually having a mental illness in some cases. It can easily rub you the wrong way, but is a huge part of exposing who the good and bad guys are in this story.

Fazit: 3/5 stars! A whirlwind of a resolution!

Have you heard of Don’t Tell a Soul? Do you plan on picking it up? Let’s chat!

Beartown by Fredrik Backman (Book Review)

Kat Impossible7 Comments

Publisher: Washington Square Press
Page Count: 415

CW: rape, physical assault, racism, homophobia, substance abuse, suicidal ideation

I’ve wanted to read Beartown for the longest time. Many people I know have read and liked it, but I especially keep thinking of my good friend Lois @My Midnight Musing when I think about the book. She, too, encouraged me to pick it up and it’s not even like I didn’t want to. I really did! I was just also extremely scared. Somehow I just knew that once I would start reading it, this would become one of my all time favourite books and … I was not mistaken, but it was also so incredibly emotional.

“One of the plainest truths about both towns and individuals is that they usually don’t turn into what we tell them to be, but what they are told they are.”

Backman talks about Beartown and makes it seem like it could be in pretty much any country (although it’s set in Sweden). He has a talent in taking this small community in the middle of nowhere that has no other topic than hockey to talk about and make it seem like the most relatable town there is. They are tight-knit yet judgmental, they are proud but also so very hopeful for a better future, they are hard-working to the point of breaking … they are full of shame and guilt.

“Difficult questions, simple answers. What is a community?
It is the sum total of our choices.”

For a town that likes difficult questions and simple answers, I feel like the book gives the reader the exact opposite experience. It asks seemingingly simple questions about sports, community, parenthood, culpability, friendship, family and love. You, for yourself, might even have very clear answers on what those things mean to you, but Backman makes sure you see all the angles. You might not always agree, but it sure will make you think.

There is a relief in finding a character at the beginning of a story, latching on to them and finding out that they truly are the shining light you hoped them to be. In the grand scheme of things, the adults are definitely far worse than the kids/teens, but there were still some incomprehensible choices made all around. With so many disappointments and resentment building towards certain people in this story, I was so appreciative of the ones that did the right thing over and over again, no matter how hard or impossible it seemed. I even developed a certain pride for people as if they were my own children/siblings/loved ones.

“If you are honest, people may deceive you. Be honest anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfishness. Be kind anyway. All the good you do today will be forgotten by others tomorrow. Do good anyway.”

I don’t want to go into detail about what happens in the novel. The foreshadowing, and I am not sure you can really call it that, since it’s so very blatant and in your face, is cruel. Your heart picks up pace every time you turn the page wondering when the inevitable destructive act will take place. Not one moment goes by where you don’t know that happiness is fleeting and soon these lives will crumble to pieces. You are just not certain if they will be able to rebuild it all.
At the end, you might ask yourself if justice was dealt, but things will never be the same for the characters either way. I think our actual real life justice system fails people over and over all the time. People make victims out of predators and treat others less humane depending on their value to the community. It’s heartbreaking in a way you want to do nothing but sob for days, but it’s also realistic. You cannot always sugarcoat reality. We, as humanity, still have so much farther to go and I enjoyed how Backman lit the situations from so many different angles. Although my answer is clear. No, there was no real justice.

Fazit: 5/5 stars! I think this one will stick with me for a long while.

Have you read Beartown? Would you like to? Have you read any of the other novels Fredrik Backman has written? Let’s chat!

Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour (Book Review)

Kat Impossible6 Comments

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 272

CW: parental neglect, emotional and physical abuse, grief, ghosts

Nina LaCour is one of my auto-buy authors and I don’t even need to read the blurb to buy her books. However, when I first heard about this one, I was immediately drawn to it. I knew that once again, Nina LaCour would create an impeccable atmosphere that would eventually emotionally wreck me – and that’s exactly what happened, but more about that later!

I see this book being classified as Young Adult and I’m not sure I would necessarily agree with that. Mila, the protagonist, is 18 at the beginning of the novel and turns 19 during the course of it. She goes to live on a remote farm, where she works as a teacher and helps with the harvest as well as Sunday markets. Her life and her struggles very much came from the past, and thus her younger self, but it still felt like it could have just as easily been classified as an adult novel. That’s not to say that I minded the more grown up approach, but I just think it’s something to be mindful of when you pick up this book.

There’s something about Nina LaCour’s writing that just transports me into a whole different world. Usually, rooted in a lot of trauma but still very much in reality, Watch Over Me was a surprise with its literal instead of metaphorical ghosts.

Had we been telling the truth, he would have said, The place where I’m sending you – it looks beautiful, but it’s haunted.
Okay, I would have said.
It will bring everything back. All that you tried to bury.
I understand.
It’s going to make you want to do bad things.
I have experience with that.
And how did it turn out?
Terribly. But I promise to do better this time.

Mila yearns for something in her life. I would say for a family, a place to call home and someone or something to belong to. In her desperate need to hold on to these new people she is meeting on the farm, feelings of jealousy and self-doubt creep in. While I understood entirely where she came from, it was such an intense longing tied to strong emotions on her part that it sometimes felt off-putting. That’s not to say that she was unlikable, but she surely contained multitudes behind her quiet and pleasant demeanor.

When I read a LaCour book, I often associate it with very strong emotions of my own. While Everything Leads to You wasn’t all happy, I still associate a warmth and admiration for it due to its setting being in film. With You Know Me Well, I had found one of my favourite feel-good-books and We Are Okay drowned me in a world of sorrow. Watch Over Me is a bit harder to categorise. I could have easily read it in one sitting, it is poetic and beautiful and flows nicely. But something about it is also very eerie and strangely tied to a sense of dread, sorrow and grief. It made me sad to the core and sometimes I cried at passages that didn’t even seem so sad.

“Do you like it?” Julia asked. But I didn’t know what she meant. All I saw was the deep blue-green water, the white foam against dark rock. The wildflower-studded cliffs, and the tall grasses in the wind. “Because it’s magnificent,” she said. “But I don’t like it. It scares me.”

There is no explicit romantic storyline in this book! While there are hints that a character may be attracted to more than one gender, it is not discussed or a focal point of the story. Although, the relationships Mila forges and nourishes are definitely worth talking about. To me there are four worth talking about here (without giving away too much):

  • Her mother and Blake: the trauma she has to face on the farm mostly stems from them. There is guilt and relief, sadness and so much strength that was bred in that relationship. It’s what’s really haunting Mila.
  • Terry and Julia: they are basically the parents Mila never had and always wanted. They have taken in over 50 kids and fostered them, which put them on a pedestal in Mila’s mind.
  • Billy and Liz: as I said, there’s no romantic storyline, but I feel like there was definitely an air of possibility for a throuple here as Mila seems to be attracted to both of them and fantasizes about them.
  • Lee: Lee is Mila’s 9-year-old student and anchor during her first weeks. She feels like they are both outsiders in this family and she clings to him tightly. I often felt torn about their relationship, because I loved how close they grew, but I also hated the emotional baggage she put on that kid sometimes.

“I’ll never leave you,” I said to him. I closed my eyes. I felt his body relaxing, heard the slowing of his breath. “You’ll have to grow up and leave me first.”

Sometimes I didn’t realise just how much time had already passed on the farm. It went from days to weeks really fast and I think that’s why I sometimes struggled with the depth of attachment the characters already had to each other. When I turned that last page, I wouldn’t have been able to give you a timeline at all. However, I did feel like I had just been on a journey with Mila. I didn’t understand everything that had happened, but I doubted that she did either. The farm is a magical place that only becomes the bad kind of haunted if you let it.

Fazit: 3/5 stars! I feel like I just went on a whimsical journey of sadness and grief.

Do you plan on reading Watch Over Me? Have you read other books by Nina LaCour? Let’s talk!

Books That Inspire Wanderlust!

Kat Impossible12 Comments

At lot of us have been stuck inside for extended periods of times lately and it can get stifling for sure. So, I decided to compile a list of books that have taken me to places all over this earth as a means of distraction and escapism. Therefore, even if we may not be able to go there in real life right now, maybe this will be a nice way of planning for when this will eventually be over.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy & Roger's Epic DetourI wanted to start with something easy – a good, old-fashioned road trip through the USA. Morgan Matson is one of my favourite contemporary Young Adult authors and I really adore all her books. This one in particular is one of her earlier works though and just so much fun. While she always manages to have an emotional component and some depth to her characters, I definitely just wanted to get into a car with a potential love interest and drive around for a while after finishing the book …

Again, but Better by Christine Riccio

Again, but BetterThis is a read I finished only very recently. You’ll know that I had some points I didn’t absolutely love about this book, but if you want to imagine what it’s like to go explore Europe as an exchange student, this might just be something to look into regardless.

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais

The One-Hundred Foot JourneyIt might not sound like a conventional travel book, and it’s not. The Hundred-Foot Journey focuses heavily on the culinary journey of a young man originally from India, however, you follow him around as you explore his life in his home country and later on in the UK and France. This is also one of my picks that is available as a movie, just in case you want to get really hungry from all the delicious food they are cooking on-screen.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie SocietyI have talked about this book a plenty, but it was just such a lovely read. Who says that every vacation or travel experience has to be packed full of excitement and rushes around every corner? If you maybe are longing for some calmness on the beautiful island of Guernsey, I wouldn’t fault you! (The book is set shortly after WWII and does explore the topic, just to be clear)

Memories of the Eagle and the Jaguar Series by Isabel Allende

From what I heard, Isabel Allende is really more known for her adult fiction, however, I was obsessed by this series as a kid/young teen. It follows teenagers Alex and Nadia through their adventures from the Amazon to the Himalaya and lastly to Kenya. It didn’t feel like it was written for very young readers, but it definitely was marketed as Young Adult. There are some really heavy themes explored and the books get more adult as the characters age. Still, I have very fond memories of it and therefore picked it as my only fantasy-inspired read.

City of the Beasts (Eagle and Jaguar, #1) Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (Eagle and Jaguar, #2) Forest of the Pygmies (Eagle and Jaguar, #3)

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

Call Me By Your Name (Call Me By Your Name, #1)Do I even have to explain myself? I know this book has flaws, but to me the writing was magic and I felt like I had just spent a summer in the countryside of Italy myself. What more could you possible want? Maybe it’s time for me to check out the movie as well?

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest TrailWe are now entering memoir territory! This was not an easy read but since Cheryl Strayed had gone through all of it herself, it was very hard to rate. When you decide to go on the Pacific Crest Trail (from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State) all on your lonesome self, you have a lot of time to think and work on past trauma. This book deals with all of that!

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, LoveNow, we all know that this isn’t the most relatable journey for the majority of people. Very few of us can afford to just go travel all over the globe for a year, yet I found Elizabeth’s travels from Italy to India to Bali such a rewarding read. Depending on where you are in life, I think you might find yourself more interested in one specific part of Eat, Pray or Love in the book and that is totally valid. It will not connect with everyone, but I had some really enlightened moments during the whole affair.

These were all books I have read myself, but I am sure there are many I have missed. What are some books that have inspired wanderlust in you? I especially have taken care of mostly using real life settings, but are there some fantasy worlds you like to escape to? Let’s chat!

Top 18 Reads of 2018

Kat Impossible43 Comments

Happy New Year everyone! What better way to start 2019 by looking back at some of the best books/shows/movies of the previous year. This is also my 1000th post, so it’s somewhat of a double celebration. Anyway, today I want to talk about my top 18 reads of 2018. Since I “only” read 36 books, that list might include some reads I did not love to the moon and back, but that were still enjoyable. And so I hope you will now enjoy this list (All books were rated between 3.5-5 stars):

18. Final Fall (Lock & Mori #3) by Heather W. Petty

Final Fall (Lock & Mori, #3)The entire Lock and Mori trilogy is a really interesting villain origin story of Moriarty in a contemporary setting. I’ve heard complaints that the drama is too teenager-esque, but the characters are literally teens and it is a YA book, so I had no quarrels with that. It still goes quite dark at times and the end was satisfying to me. Definitely a recommendation for Sherlock fans!

17. The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo (The Epic Crush of Genie Lo #1)While I laughed a lot during my read of Genie Lo, I also read it pretty early on in the year and have forgotten quite a bit by now, which is probably the reason it’s not higher up on the list. It was fun for sure! I am also really happy that a lot of people saw themselves and their culture represented in the book because that is always a beautiful thing!

16. Beastly Bones (Jackaby #2) by William Ritter

Beastly Bones (Jackaby, #2)This series is going to show up a couple times over the course of this list, because … well, I love it. I had so much fun getting to know the characters and I hope I will finish the fourth book before leaving for Berlin again. Anyway, this book was great, but in terms of the series my least favourite so far. Maybe it’s the second book syndrome or something?

15. Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

Restore Me (Shatter Me, #4)To be honest, there’s a lot I’ve forgotten about the Shatter Me series. I remember loving the style of writing and the characters that Tahereh created, but the details? Blurry at best. At lot of it came back to me while reading Restore Me, but a lot of it also felt very different to the original trilogy. I love Kenji though and am way too curious not to continue with the books, but I am not afire for it the same way I used to be.

14. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Song of AchillesEveryone loved this book when they read it and I totally understand why. Personally, it was a bit too slow for me at time and I struggled to really get involved, but by the end I was as emotionally distraught as the rest of TSOA’s readership. One day, when I am less confused about my TBR, I will read Circe too.

13. Save the Date by Morgan Matson

Save the DateSo far, there hasn’t been a Morgan Matson book I haven’t enjoyed! The family-focus of this one was especially endearing. I just like reading about siblings and parents and all of them together with only a tinsy bit of romance sprinkled in. Romantic love isn’t all, you know? And somehow Matson managed to balance the two perfectly in this one.

12. Jackaby by William Ritter

Jackaby (Jackaby, #1)As promised, here it is again! Jackaby is quirky and has a main character that feels a lot like the Doctor (from Doctor Who) paired with supernatural elements such as nixies and vampires and whatnot. Totally loved it! Also, who can resist those beautiful covers?

11. Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3) by William Ritter

Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby, #3)This was my favourite part of the Jackaby series so far! I already told you some about it, so I am going to spare you more rambling.

10. Heart of Gold (Act I) by Eli Baumgartner/Viv Tanner

Heart of Gold Act II am honestly a little surprised that there aren’t more graphic novels on the list, but at least the one that made it is absolutely worthy of it’s place in the ranking. Heart of Gold is one of the most beautiful art out there. It talks about crisis of faith, has LGBT+ representation and is just generally fascinating to divulge.

9. Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) by Amie Kaufman/Jay Kristoff

Obsidio (The Illuminae Files, #3)This series as a whole was really intense. I think they did great in how they tied all the loose ends together, made the books something special with the way they told it and kept the tension going throughout book #1 to #3. I was almost sad that it was over. (And to think I wasn’t even 100% on board when I first read Illuminae.)

8. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U GiveIf this book isn’t on everyone’s top list, then I don’t even know! I am sad that the movie wasn’t released yet where I live, because I really wanted to watch it (it’s the whole Love, Simon debacle again), but I will patiently wait anyway. THUG was some really powerful and necessary story telling. I am glad it got such a wide readership!

7. Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Dear MartinI have said it before and I will say it again, I am 100% in favour of books like Dear Martin being mandatory reading exercises in schools. Just like THUG, it’s tackling the hard topics in a great way. I am so here for more of Nic Stone’s writing!

6. Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga #4) by Pierce Brown

Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga, #4)You all know me, I was CRAZY into the Red Rising trilogy, which is now a saga. I am always fascinated by the world Pierce Brown has built, by the cruelty and darkness it inhabits, while it also creates some of the most amazing heroes I can imagine. I am worried where everything will go, because it will get worse before it all can get better again, but I still love every minute of it.

5. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1)I have absolutely no clue whatsoever why it took me so long to read this book! I will eventually also read the sequels (especially now that Netflix confirmed they will do another movie), but this is about To All the Boys. It was so much fun, I stayed up reading all night and I haven’t pulled an all-nighter for a book in a long time.

4. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

To Kill a KingdomSIRENS! Super badass sirens! And wannabe pirates that are really princes and a complex Fantasy world, but packed in a standalone book. This was such a refreshing change of pace, because I don’t know if I can invest in more series at the moment. (And again, sirens!!!)

3. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation (Southern Reach #1)If you would have told me that a horror-sci-fi book would end up in the top 3 of my favourite books of 2018, I would have laughed at you … loud! But, what can you do? Annihilation was beyond amazing and scientific and creepy. I want to watch the movie but I also want to read the other books. It’s a struggle.

2. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African ChildhoodLooking at this entire list, I am happy to see so many different genres and styles of books represented. Born a Crime, a non-fiction autobiography by Trevor Noah, was enlightening and funny and educational and intimate and so very smart. Trevor is an amazing guy and I am glad the world gets to find out more about him and his home through this book.

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer/Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie SocietySometimes love doesn’t have to make sense. It’s the same with me and this book! Guernsey was neither the perfect read nor the most complex one. I am sure there were books on this list with a much more eloquent style of writing even, but this book touched me and I had a blast reading it. I put a gazillion sticky notes in, because there were so many quotes I wanted to remember and I absolutely fell in love with some of the characters. That’s most important, right?

Did any of my favourites make it onto your Top 2018 Reads list as well? Were there some surprises with the books I mentioned? Let’s chat!

Mini Reviews: Heart of Gold, Venustransit and Ghostly Echoes

Kat Impossible5 Comments

Coming home for Christmas, I managed to not only catch up on my reading, but surpass my (adjusted) reading goal for 2018. I’ve definitely read a lot less this year than in the previous ones, but overall I am still not unhappy with the outcome. So, there’s that!

Click on the covers to get redirected to Goodreads!

Heart of Gold: Act I by Eli Baumgartner/Viv Tanner

Heart of Gold Act II supported this graphic novel via Kickstarter and I am beyond happy I did. The final product is BEAUTIFUL with golden edges and a gorgeous sketch of one of the characters on one of the first pages for me. I adore it!

All the better that the content inside fits the great exterior. It’s such an interesting take on religion, damnation, love, faith and healing. It shows two entirely different approaches to those topics and keeps a mystery and tension going throughout the entire first act. The imagery is so beautiful and I honestly cannot wait to read more.

Heart of Gold is also available as a web comic here!

Fazit: 5/5 stars! I am 100% intrigued and here for it!

Venustransit by Hamed Eshrat

VenustransitVenustransit is a German comic about a guy who hasn’t quite figured out his life, gets dumped bis his girlfriend and is stuck in a job he hates. It’s set in Berlin and I can almost see the street I am living in on the cover (so close!). I like diving into things I know the setting of and can try and figure out if I walked the same streets. Stuff like that never gets tired to me (except when it’s only historical fiction … like so often with Vienna).

While I wasn’t as in love with the drawing style as I was with other comics I own, the story had a clear line and still took a lot of creative liberties. It was interesting and I am sure relatable to a lot of people out there.

Fazit: 3/5 stars! Gets plus points for the setting.

Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter

Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby, #3)Ghostly Echoes is the third book in the Jackaby series. I only did a mini review for the second book, Beastly Bones, as well, so I feel like I should stick to that format of reviewing for now.

This series legit just keeps getting better and better. The story is becoming more complex, with more dots to connect and still so, so much to discover about the characters. The writing style isn’t really anything over the top and it all seems like light fun in the beginning, but by now there’s a lot more serious stuff happening and you are so emotionally invested in the fate of the characters. And there is a lot to worry about! This book even included a little detour to the underworld!

If you are into Sherlock-esque mysteries with a supernatural twist, have at it with this series. I can only recommend it!

Fazit: 4.5/5 stars! Here’s to hoping the last book will be equally as amazing, if not more so.

Have you read any of the books/comics I mentioned? Are you interested in some of them? Let’s talk!