Review: A Study in Charlotte

Title: A Study in Charlotte
Author: Brittany Cavallaro
Publication Date:  March 1st, 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Bought it
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository

Summary: 

The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar.

From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.

"The prompt didn't help me much, since all poems were difficult for me to write. They were like mirrors you held up to a black hole, or surrealist paintings. I liked things that made sense. Stories. Cause and effect."

This was a great retelling of some of my favorite characters, Sherlock and Watson. I really enjoyed Brittany Cavallaro's take on these characters using their descendants as the main characters. This was a really well done debut novel that I basically read in one sitting. I've lately really gotten into Sherlock retellings reading Jackaby and Lock & Mori.

This book definitely kept me enthralled and invested in these characters and their quest. The writing in this book was really well done and there were a lot of great witty phrases. For me the best part of the writing was the dialogue. It was so well done and made the story.

The only real issue I had with this book was the pop culture references. I only mind them because it dates the book and makes it relevant now, but potentially not in the future. However, I cannot wait to read more from these characters and see what Jamie and Charlotte get up to next, I believe this is a trilogy and I'm already eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Completely, unrelated but the epilogue to this book is spot on. It really tied the entire story together and made it that much better.

Review: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

Title: The Grownup
Author: Gillian Flynn
Publication Date:  November 3rd, 2015
Publisher: Crown
Source: From BloggingForBooks
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository

Summary: 

A canny young woman is struggling to survive by perpetrating various levels of mostly harmless fraud. On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behavior, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life a drama injection. However, when the "psychic" visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan's terror and grief, she realizes she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore. Miles, Susan's teenage stepson, doesn't help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination. The three are soon locked in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it.

I have only ever read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and I loved it and how twisted it was. I had high expectations for this book. Especially in terms of twists and creepy factor. But I'm pretty disappointed in this short story. It started out great with this unnamed character, who I wanted to hate but could also sympathize with.

However, without giving to much away, as the story progressed I felt that there was so much missing in the story. And yes this is a short story so things are not fleshed out like they would be in a full length novel, but I feel like this was  all over the place in terms of where it was headed and what was happening.

This story left me very unfulfilled at the end. I know to some extent that was the point, but at the same time, it seemed worse than it was intended. Overall, I was not super impressed with this story. It had the creepy factor and the great writing but it left me too unsatisfied for it to be enjoyable.

*I received this book from BloggingForBooks in exchange for an honest review*

Update

I know I have been mostly nonexistent on this blog in the past few months and that is due to my school schedule. I started grad school in the fall and it takes up most of my time. I do not have the free time that I used to to truly dedicate to the blog. I really would like to be able to post once a week, but most weeks that is not plausible. I am still reading and I do write mini-reviews on Goodreads, but it is not the same as my true reviews here. I really hope I'm able to have more time to dedicate to the blog during the summer and my breaks from school, so for now, I would suggest following me on Goodreads if you want to see my thoughts on what I'm reading.

Teaser Tuesday #36- Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme where you post a quote from a book you are currently reading. It is hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

“Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.”

                                - Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The concept of this book is so great, I love the angels, the magic, the Chimaera, and the humans. Each group has so much to add the the story. Plus the writing is absolutely spectacular. I'm definitely planning on marathoning this trilogy this month.

Find the book here: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository 

Let me know in the comments what book you are currently reading!

Review: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Title: Steelheart
Author: Brandon Sanders
Publication Date:  September 24th, 2013
Publisher: Delecorte Press
Source: Bought it
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository

Summary: Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart - the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning - and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

“Sometimes, son," my father said, prying my fingers free, "you have to help the heroes along.”

So this was my second Brandon Sanderson book, and I would love to compare it to The Final Empire, but I find that I cannot. The Final Empire is a completely different beast. Truly the only similarities are the author and the nonstop action. It does not take long at all to get into this book, right from the start you are thrown into the battle against the Epics and the story of David and the Reckoners.

The cast of characters in this book is great. Each one had their own quirks and abilities that added to the team. Together, their created this epic group that I loved reading about. To me the characters are what really made this book so great to me. While I loved the plot and the premise, I really enjoyed the characters and their stories. David is a great main character. He is nerdy (but not really), impulsive, dedicated, and inventive. It really was the heart of the team and kept everyone hopeful that they would succeed.

This book had a lot of twists and turns that I was not expecting and that kept me glued to the pages. This book also was had a very nice conclusion to it. It still left me wanting to know what happens after, but there was a sense of resolution following the book's events.

Overall, this is a fantastic fantasy book about your anti-heroes and it was written extremely well. Brandon Sanderson has a way with words and crafting stories and characters that leaves you satisfied but still wanting more. I cannot wait to pick up Firefight and see what David and crew are up to next. Especially with that title and knowing what we know at the end of the book. 

Review: Dreamstrider by Linsday Smith

Title: Dreamstrider
Author: Lindsay Smith
Publication Date: October 6th, 2015
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Source: Bought It
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository

Summary: A high-concept, fantastical espionage novel set in a world where dreams are the ultimate form of political intelligence.

Livia is a dreamstrider. She can inhabit a subject's body while they are sleeping and, for a short time, move around in their skin. She uses her talent to work as a spy for the Barstadt Empire. But her partner, Brandt, has lately become distant, and when Marez comes to join their team from a neighborhing kingdom, he offers Livia the option of a life she had never dared to imagine. Livia knows of no other dreamstriders who have survived the pull of Nightmare. So only she understands the stakes when a plot against the Empire emerges that threatens to consume both the dreaming world and the waking one with misery and rage.

A richly conceived world full of political intrigue and fantastical dream sequences, at its heart Dreamstrider is about a girl who is struggling to live up to the potential before her.

I really enjoy Lindsay Smith's writing style and her vision when it comes to stories. This book had many parallels to Sekret in terms of spies and espionage, but this book was a political fantasy espionage book whereas Sekret was more paranormal/magical realism espionage. Dreamstrider was full of amazing imagery and fantastic characters. There was a slight lack of world-building, but for a standalone fantasy book, this is almost expected.

Our main character Livia was so refreshing compared to many other YA heroines. She was flawed in so many ways and not the best or brightest, but still did things herself and attempted to be independent. I also really enjoyed the other characters around Livia, including Vera, Brandt, and even Professor Hesse. They each added to the story and helped explained both what was currently happening and past events. I also appreciated that while there is romance in this book, that is not the focal point (and bonus points for no insta-love). This was more about Livia learning about herself and about protecting her home country.

Other than the deficits in world-building, I did not have any major issues with this book as a whole. The ending seemed a little rushed, but again that is somewhat expected in a standalone. And I know that is not a good excuse but there are so few standalones, especially in fantasy and paranormal genres, that I really do appreciate the books that are.

That being said, I would love another book in this world. It doesn't even have to follow the same characters. I'm just fascinated both by the idea of dreamstriding and the different cultures we are exposed to in this world. You have the Tunnelers and the Barstadt Empire, along with the two neighboring kingdoms.

Teaser Tuesday #35- Career of Evil

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme where you post a quote from a book you are currently reading. It is hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

“You could find beauty nearly anywhere if you stopped to look for it, but the battle to get through the days made it easy to forget that this totally cost-free luxury existed.”

                                                        - Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

So far I'm enjoying this third installment as much as I enjoyed the second (I found the first to be quite slow at times). I also love being back in Robin and Cormoran's world!

Find the book here: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository 

Let me know in the comments what book you are currently reading!