Circle of Fire (Damask Circle #1)

This is clearly a first book. I am a big fan of Keri Arthur, having burned through the Riley Jensen series and eagerly reading the Risa Jones series as well. This book isn't half as compelling as all of those others. For starters, this is the first in the series of The Damask Circle. Well. Having read this book, I don't have the faintest clue what the Damask Circle is, does or represents. There is exactly one sentence in the story referring to what they are, and we don't actually meet any of their members, other than Jon. So let's talk about Jon. We don't actually learn anything about him either, other than the fact that he's a hawk shifter and hunts evil magic users. And yet Maddie, a weak character herself, takes him back at the end, after an 18 month absence, with no reluctance at all. He's not so bad as a romantic lead, or at least he has potential but it isn't realized in the story. Maybe the comparison isn't fair, but he's no Quinn. As for Maddie, maybe I'm just used to kick-ass women like Riley and Risa, who are both more complicated and more interesting than Maddie. Maddie at least had the backstory that Jon was lacking, but one that didn't add much to the story, except as a vehicle for her constant terror. I also found Eleanor, the "bad guy", to be a cardboard cut-out when compared to characters like Madeline Hunter and quite a few others from Arthur's other stories. I felt almost as though these books were a framework, one that the author could have easily enhanced with some of the complicated plot points or ideas that she has previously. The one thing I did enjoy in this story was the lack of vampires that have become so ubiquitous in UF novels. I liked the fire starter angle, as well as a non-wolf shifter. For those reasons, I think it's possible this series might have some potential. I will try the next book in the series and hope for the best. ARC provided by NetGalley

The Cleansing by Sam Kates

The Cleansing is an interesting tale with a very of-the-moment theme: the Doomsday Virus. Throw in some thousands-of-years old aliens, a few cultural references, and you've got one heck of an action story. I found it fascinating that "the people" believe themselves to be above and better than humans, who they refer to as drones, but that their behavior is as human as you can get. Some, like both Milandra and Peter, are sympathetic to the human cause, even after spending thousands of years watching us commit all manner of violent acts on each other. Others, like Simone and Troy, are cruel, violent and epitomize the very worst of humanity while still feeling superior. I enjoyed how the author made us guess who was going to be a "good guy" (for lack of a better word), and who a "bad guy". There were some interesting surprises along the way, here, which added to the originality and excitement of the story. In all, I throughly enjoyed his book. ARC copy provided by Netgalley

Link for The Story of Beautiful Girl, Kindle edition

A Review of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

In reading Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, I was struck by several things. This book began clearly, as a whodunit, and ended as a descent into madness, for virtually all of the characters. It was uneven for this reason and didn't appear to ever get into a smooth rhythm. It was also a book of pure hate, not the least of which is a long series of characters (not all of them men) who are both obvious and subtle misogynists. The two main characters, Nick and Amy, married five years, are about to celebrate their fifth anniversary when Amy disappears. It seems, for this first part of the book, that Nick may have had something to do with it. However, at about 1/3 of the way through, we begin to see who Amy really is, and who Nick really is as well. These two are the most self-aggrandizing, vitriolic, hate-spewing people on the planet. Amy is ridiculous. Nobody, including her child-psychologist parents, seems to have any idea that she displays clear signs of sociopathy. People seem to "hurt themselves" around her all the time, but they just want to be her or be loved by her, or so Amy says, and her parents buy it every time. They are the few characters who aren't painted as hating women, but they certainly seem to care less for their child than the books they write about her life and make a living from. Aside from this, both Amy and Nick seem to think all women are either smart, but nasty bitches or just flat-out dumb. There was some clear indication that the author, a Midwesterner, seems to find the stereotype about New Yorkers thinking Midwesterners are dumb rubes to be true. I didn't care much for this story. It was too frustrating to read about innocent characters getting framed or hurt over and over, and the ending was absurd. I did think the concept was interesting, but the execution was unpleasant and not at all fun to read. I would not recommend this book.

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A Review of Sister by Rosamund Lupton

The novel Sister is a mystery with many twists and turns that keep the reader guessing what the truth actually is from page to page. The story takes place in London, where Beatrice, called Bee, is searching for her missing pregnant sister, Tess. Tess is a flighty, artist type, and at first everyone believes she is off somewhere, but eventually a more sinister and dark story emerges. The police find Tess's body in an abandoned lavatory and rule her death a suicide. Athough Bee insists that her sisteer would not commit suicide, that she must have been murdered, the police tell her there is nothing else they can do. The author has constructed a very interesting tale which is hard to pin downs from one moment to the next. What is most fascinating here is Bee, who completely transforms throughout the story. At the beginning, Bee is living in Manhattan with her fiancée, Todd. Right from the start, we feel that Bee is not in the relationship she should be in, that she is constrained mostly by her own doing, from love and passion and excitement. Bee admits that she is lousy at her relationships with her family back in England; her parents divorced when she was young, after the death of Tess and Bee's brother from Cystic Fibrosis. Bee has become closed off from emotion, but her relationship with Tess is a strong one. Bee comes to realize that she is a lousy sister, daughter, fiancée and friend, but she changes. While this story is a tale of suspense, it also a study of love and family relationships, how we relate to others and how grief and sadness shape who we become and how we interact with the world. Sister has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout the entire story which is what makes it such a good read. I would recommend this story to all readers.

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