Scookie Reviews

HEART OF MIST by Helen Scheuerer 5 Stars Verdict:  One of the best fantasy book I've read this year! Bleak wants a cure for her illegal magic, if possible, but mostly, she wants wine every day. A summons from the king is a death sentence to her. Henri is the queen of Valia, a race of strong female fighters, but she isn't the queen of the realm. A choice she makes could send her people to war with the true king. Dash is a stable boy, but he's also best friends with the blind princess. He dreams of being a knight, or even just meeting one. They live in a land which is threatened by a growing mist, one only those with magic can survive. I loved this right from the start. Beautiful descriptions, dark humour, and a pace that doesn't let up. This is my ideal story. It had a good balance of action, character, and pace, the three entwined as the plot moved ever forwards, each detailed, but not too heavy to handle. I thought there could perhaps be more world bui...

THE MOONLIGHT PALACE by Liz Rosenberg 4 Stars Verdict: A light historical novel about a poor princess in Singapore. Note: I listened to the audio-book version. Agnes lives in the Kampong Glam Palace in Singapore, once grand but now in the 1920s it's falling apart. Without a male heir or enough income to support their family, Aggie worries they'll be forced to leave her childhood home. This is a nice story. It's low key, with the plot never being frighteningly exciting, but still interesting, especially as it's based in Asia. Agnes is a strong young woman of her time, but naive and young all the same. She meets a few suitors, experiences a few festivals, and wants a job to help her family's income situation. As I said, the story is quite low key. The characters are also all very nice or vaguely interesting. Aggie's family is endearing, from Nei Nei Up to Nei Nei Down. My favourite character was the curiously blind jewellery store owner. It sounded...

SECONDBORN by Amy Bartol 2 Stars Verdict: Hard to connect. Although Rosella is royalty, she is also secondborn in a society that only has room for firstborns. At eighteen, Rosella's rights are stripped, her last name is changed to 'Sword', and she is sent to the front line to serve her country. This one started strong and had a lot of creatives little ideas - the black and red disks for the medical bots, the fusion blades, the secondborns' surnames changed to 'Sword' - but it never really set itself apart from the dystopian mass in terms of plot, characters, and setting. At times it felt like the Capital in Hunger Games: blue lips, interviews with a girl sent off to die, special outfits designed for the occasion, face of the rebellion...Other times, it felt all over the place, and it never really came together to form a coherent story. Things kept happening that didn't fully make sense. For example, Rosella's mother orders her to die...