Ilona Andrews: Magic Bites

 Hi everyone

I wasn’t sure I’d like the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews at first; I thought it might be too romantic for my taste. But after seeing so many great reviews, I finally decided to give the first book, Magic Bites, a try on my e-reader. 

"Kate Daniels is about to enter a world of gritty magic and dangerous mystery! Vampires, necromancers and mages abound on the city streets, with one kickass heroine in the middleFuture Atlanta is an interesting place to one moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters.Here skyscrapers topple under the onslaught of magic; the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst for knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. Kate Daniels likes her sword a little too much, and she has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she's spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing, and remain safe, or to risk her life by pursuing his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy .." 

Magic Bites is action-packed, fast-paced, and full of cutting humor; exactly the kind of fun, energetic read I didn’t know I needed. Kate Daniels is a fantastic protagonist: tough, sarcastic, and unapologetically herself. The worldbuilding is rich and immersive, with a post-magic-apocalyptic Atlanta that feels different and exciting. And the side characters added plenty of depth and fun to the story.

That said, the plot and writing style were a bit predictable. The "cutting remarks" and snappy dialogue started to feel repetitive after a few chapters; I could see the jokes coming before they happened. The story itself also felt a little thin at times, like it was more about setting up the world than delivering a tight, self-contained plot.
Still, those minor flaws didn’t ruin my enjoyment. The action, humor, and world were enough to keep me engaged, and I’m definitely curious to see where the series goes next.

Have you read Magic Bites or the Kate Daniels series? Did you love it or not? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Fonda Lee: Jade City

Hi everyone

Jade City is the first book in The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee. 
The original book has a gorgeous, simple cover but I read it on my e-reader. With a 4.08-star rating on Goodreads, I went in with high expectations. Unfortunately, this one just didn’t click for me. 

"The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It's the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.
The Green Bone clans of honorable jade-wearing warriors once protected the island from foreign invasion--but nowadays, in a bustling post-war metropolis full of fast cars and foreign money, Green Bone families like the Kauls are primarily involved in commerce, construction, and the everyday upkeep of the districts under their protection.
When the simmering tension between the Kauls and their greatest rivals erupts into open violence in the streets, the outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones and the future of Kekon itself."

I really wanted to love Jade City, but I found it quite boring. The plot felt slow and uninspired, and the characters lacked depth, which made it hard to connect with the story. What frustrated me most, though, was the jarring mix of modern and traditional elements. The world of Kekon is supposed to feel like a modern metropolis (there are televisions, guns, and fast cars) but the characters fight with knives, and the jade magic has a very old-world, almost mythical vibe. This clash of tones made the setting feel inconsistent and confusing.

It’s clear that Fonda Lee put a lot of thought into the world and its magic system, but the execution didn’t resonate with me. The clan politics and family drama had potential, but the slow pacing and flat characterization made it hard to stay engaged. I wanted to care about the Kaul family and their struggles, but I never felt invested in their story.
In the end, Jade City isn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t for me. 

Have you read Jade City or The Green Bone Saga? Did you love it, or did you struggle with it too? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Sarah Andersen: Adulthood Is a Myth

 Hi everyone

I saw this delightful book in the local library and I had to take it home with me.
It has a fantastic name 'Adulthood is a Myth' (that alone was enough to want to read it) and it's written by Sarah Andersen.

" These casually drawn, perfectly on-point comics by the hugely popular young Brooklyn-based artist Sarah Andersen are for the rest of us. They document the wasting of entire beautiful weekends on the internet, the unbearable agony of holding hands on the street with a gorgeous guy, and dreaming all day of getting home and back into pajamas. In other words, the horrors and awkwardnesses of young modern life. Oh and they are totally not autobiographical. At all."

While I enjoyed Adulthood Is a Myth, it wasn’t as special or funny as I’d hoped. The comics are definitely recognizable; Sarah Andersen nailed the struggles of adulthood, from procrastination to social anxiety to the eternal desire to just stay in pajamas. A lot of the comics made me smile as they were so recognizable. But here’s the thing: the book never made me laugh out loud. The humor is gentle and relatable, but it lacks that sharp, unexpected punch that would have taken it to the next level. It’s more of a chuckle than a belly laugh, which left me wanting a little more.

Have you read Adulthood Is a Myth? Did it make you laugh, or did you find it more cute than hilarious? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Sam Harris: The End of Faith

Hi everyone

I’ve been meaning to try Sam Harris’s work for a while, and I finally got around to reading The End of Faith. As an atheist, I was curious to see his take on religion, reason, and their role in the modern world. 

"In The End of Faith, Sam Harris delivers a startling analysis of the clash between reason and religion in the modern world. He offers a vivid, historical tour of our willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs—even when these beliefs inspire the worst human atrocities. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris draws on insights from neuroscience, philosophy, and Eastern mysticism to deliver a call for a truly modern foundation for ethics and spirituality that is both secular and humanistic."

Unfortunately, The End of Faith wasn’t what I hoped for.
Like Harris, I believe religion can and has done great harm to individuals, families, and societies. But where we diverge is in his approach. Harris picks and chooses whatever suits his arguments best, often ignoring nuance in favor of simplistic, black-and-white conclusions. 
The book is heavily focused on American politics, and his critique of Islam, in particular, feels unbalanced and overly harsh. It’s not that I disagree with his concerns about extremism, but his oversimplifications left me frustrated and his preachy tone just made me mad.

If you’re looking for a thoughtful critique of religion, you might find this frustrating rather than enlightening.
Have you read The End of Faith or any of Harris’s other works? Did you agree with his arguments, or did you feel the same frustrations? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Robin Hobb: Dragon Keeper

 Hi everyone

I felt it was time to start another Robin Hobb series, and since I’m reading her books chronologically, I started The Rain Wild Chronicles with the first book; Dragon Keeper.
I got my copy from Bol (with a gorgeous cover as always).
You can read my other Robin Hobb reviews here.

"Guided by the great blue dragon Tintaglia, they came from the sea: a Tangle of serpents fighting their way up the Rain Wilds River, the first to make the perilous journey to the cocooning grounds in generations. Many have died along the way. With its acid waters and impenetrable forest, it is a hard place for any to survive.
People are changed by the Rain Wilds, subtly or otherwise. One such is Thymara. Born with black claws and other aberrations, she should have been exposed at birth. But her father saved her and her mother has never forgiven him. Like everyone else, Thymara is fascinated by the return of dragons: it is as if they symbolise the return of hope to their war-torn world. Leftrin, captain of the liveship Tarman, also has an interest in the hatching; as does Bingtown newlywed, Alise Finbok, who has made it her life's work to study all there is to know of dragons.
But the creatures which emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the powerful, shining dragons of old. Stunted and deformed, they cannot fly; some seem witless and bestial. Soon, they become a danger and a burden to the Rain Wilders: something must be done. The dragons claim an ancestral memory of a fabled Elderling city far upriver: perhaps there the dragons will find their true home. But Kelsingra appears on no maps and they cannot get there on their own: a band of dragon keepers, hunters and chroniclers must attend them.
To be a dragon keeper is a dangerous job: their charges are vicious and unpredictable, and there are many unknown perils on the journey to a city which may not even exist…"

There’s always something in Robin Hobb’s writing that compels me to keep reading, and in this case, it’s the promise of Kelsingra and the hope of learning more about the Elderlings. The worldbuilding is rich and immersive, and the premise; dragons returning to a world that has forgotten them, is intriguing. I’m curious to see where this journey leads, even if the execution in this book left me frustrated.

Unfortunately, Dragon Keeper lacks complexity. There’s almost no suspense or tension, and the plot crawls along at a snail’s pace. Even when the journey finally gets underway, it drags on far too long. The entire book revolves around a single storyline (with multiple POVs, yes), but reading about just one thing (the dragons and their keepers) gets boring quickly.

The characterization was not great. Some characters I hated with a passion (Sintara’s arrogance was insufferable), while others felt shallow and underdeveloped. Thymara, one of the main characters, felt surprisingly flat, and Alise was a bore. The dragons’ POVs added little depth, and the writing felt oddly childish or YA-ish ; very different from Hobb’s usual complex, layered characters.

This book would have been so much better if it were shorter and had more plotlines to keep things dynamic and engaging. As it stands, Dragon Keeper feels like a slow, meandering setup for something potentially (hopefully) greater. I’m still curious enough to continue the series but I hope the next book picks up the pace and gives us more depth.

Have you read Dragon Keeper? Did you feel the same way, or did it grab you more than it did me? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Wrap Up: January 2025

 Hi everyone

January felt so long, cold, dark, and a little depressing. But you know what? It was also the perfect time for cozy evenings filled with books and endless cups of tea. There’s something so comforting about curling up with a good story when the world outside feels gray.

Here's what I read last month:

- Benedict Jacka: An Inheritance of Magic 

- Eowyn Ivey: To the Bright Edge of the World 

- Fredrik Backman: A Man Called Ove 

- Grant Snider: I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf 

- Rebecca Thorne: Can't Spell Treason Without Tea 

- Jonathan French: The Grey Bastards 

- N. K. Jemisin: Emergency Skin 

Did you discover any gems last month? Or maybe you revisited an old favorite? I’d love to hear about your January reads; let’s swap recommendations!

Happy reading!
Helena