22 October, 2019

[Review] The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

22733729
Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Wayfarer Series #1
Release Date: 29 July, 2014
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Genre: Science Fiction/Space Opera/Adventure
ASIN: B07DFNC9Z8
Edition: Audiobook (also available in Kindle, Hardback, and Paperback)
Rating: ★★★★
Review Written: 30 September, 2019
Warnings: Death, Mentions of War
Summary:  
Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain. Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.

See more by Becky Chambers at her Website.

08 October, 2019

[Review] House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

House of Salt and Sorrows
Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Release Date: 6 August, 2019
Publisher: Delacorte/Listening Library
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Dark Fantasy/Fairytale Retellings
ASIN: B07TLZCJHW
Edition: Audiobook (also available in Kindle, Hardback, and Paperback)
Rating: ★★★★
Review Written: 23 September, 2019
Warnings: Death, gore
Summary:  
In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last--the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge--and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods. Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who--or what--are they really dancing with? When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family--before it claims her next.


See more by Erin A. Craig at her Website. Spoilers below the cut.