Fiction Fantastic

I didn't enjoy this as much as the previous books. I found it very choppy and all over the place. Multiple times I was confused as to where the hell I was or what the hell was going on... which might be because I was listening to this in traffic and did get a bit distracted every now and then... but still. It was just okay.

I'm so enjoying this series! I can't believe there's not a bigger following... probably not enough sex or angst? I must admit even I was rooting for a bit more romance in this book, but alas... Lots of action and adventure to make up for it though!

What I really enjoy about this series is that, even though it's complete fantasy, it's totally believable in it's world! And oh my gosh what a world! Marie Brennan has built this amazingly intricate world with not only dragons, but also it's own politics and layout and cultures! Sure, there are a lot of similarities to our world, but only enough to be vaguely recognizable.

My favorite are the characters. While they're all well rounded and entertaining, or heroin is what makes these books so worth it. Isabella Camherst has grown up a bit since we meet her in the first book (or maybe matured is a better word?), but she's still this kickass woman who refuses to bow down to society's expectations. She's also not perfect, although she does tend to be the hero... but it's usually an accident!

Unfortunately, a lot of the adventures to be had in these books rely very heavily on politics (albeit imaginary)... I'm not a fan of politics in general, and a lot of the time I struggle to keep up with these imaginary ones... Which is the only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars.

This author has an amazing ability to tell a long story in a short paragraph. Each story was unique and insightful, while each character had their own personality and nuances. Everything came together in a sweeping tale of the history of a family... of a people.

The story follows the two branches of a family tree, starting with half sisters Effia (the beauty who married an English officer and stayed in Ghana) and Esi (captured as a slave and shipped to America). The narrative flows beautifully through the respective era's, following the slave movement in America as well as the rise and fall of power in Ghana, which is a completely new subject to me and something I would love to read more about.

One of the reasons I love Historical Fiction is because I always feel like I've been educated, as well as entertained by the story... who said fiction wasn't real knowledge!? In this case, I learned a lot about the history of Ghana and the origin of the slave trade. Even though the tale focuses more on the personal experience of each character at the time, it was still a heart wrenching look into how people were treated over the years and provided a lot of reality based facts.

I think there are a lot of underlying messages and ideas within this story, but I don't necessarily want to get into that. Suffice it to say that in my opinion the biggest message I took from this book is how important history is, and how important people and their actions are in shaping that history.

P.S. I read this during the American elections of 2016, and thought I'm not an American citizen myself, it leaves a horrible ache in my heart thinking about the loss of the slight progress that has been made over the years. Humanity has come a far way from how things used to be, but much too little progress has been made when it comes to judging other people; be it by the color of their skin or who they love, and now even that is in jeopardy. When I read a story like this, it's so blatantly clear where the mistakes were made in the past, yet history seems to be doomed to repeating itself.

Martin Freeman is certainly one of the wonders of the world! I absolutely loved listening to this on my daily work commute, and I didn't even notice traffic! The story itself is deceptively light and ridiculous, but he just made it so much better! Not only did he have a distinguishable "voice" for each character, he also held true to that voice for the entire duration of the book! His vocal abilities are amazing...

I also love the story, though. It touches on serious subjects, while making fun of how serious we always take ourselves when in the bigger picture, we are but a tiny molecule in a droplet of water in a never ending ocean. It definitely serves to help put things in perspective for me... although I don't have the ability right now to articulate how!

I'm really enjoying this now! I love how the characters are growing and I'm so glad there's no gratuitous romance just for the sake of it. I love that Isabella is independent and not your usual heroine. I'm really liking forward to reading more!

The chief complaint that I had from the first book as well is that I wish there were more dragons and less politics... although the politics do make for more interesting and action packed reading... I just really wanna know more about the dragons too!

A very informative and poignant memoir about adoption. I'm not a big fan of the writing style, but it was a really easy read and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a tear in my eye.

More like 3 1/2 stars, but I'll round it up coz it was really cute. It took me a while to read this, because I went to America for a week and was too busy to read the whole week! It's also written in a kind of memoir style, which I've always had trouble immersing myself in. But all in all I really liked this, and I'm looking forward to read the other books in the series.

The story is set in a completely different world, but it's also very similar to Victorian times London, with the same class systems and sexism. I really liked the way the author handled writing a headstrong woman in this time. It felt authentic, even though I don't obviously know how things really went in those times.

I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more dragons... For some reason I thought she would be taming and riding them like Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon... which I've watched countless times with my son. The whole studying them instead is also cool, but riding them would be so much cooler! I'm holding out hope that will still happen in the series...

Jacob's death was quite unexpected, although I should have known that she didn't get the title Lady Trent by staying married with him forever. He was really sweet though and I liked him a lot... I'll miss him.

This was really cute. Had a lot of laughing out loud moments. Completely ridiculous, which was nice because I didn't have to keep up with the bogus science...

I'm a bit disappointed in this book. It had so much potential, but at the end it just didn't work. I enjoyed it okay, but it felt disjointed and impersonal, and I couldn't lose myself in it... It took me ages to finish because I could always think of something else I'd rather do.

This book left me emotionally drained. I just can't even deal with it right now. I mean, it was amazing, but I need to take a break before talking about it...

This was written really well, but just left me frustrated with none of my questions answered... This was the first story I read by this author, so I'll have to read more to form a conclusion...

Ok, so I used to pretty much exclusively read romance, but I've broadened my scope a lot this past couple of years. I'm not sure what happened, but let's just say this kind of thing doesn't float my boat anymore.
Having said that, I tried to take off some of the filters that I've acquired and just enjoy the story, and it was pretty good. Hella unrealistic and drenched with instalove and ooey gooey feels, but it was a fun read. And hey, it was free on kindle, so really, who am I to complain?
Apparently this is a series, but I don't think I'll follow up... or who knows, maybe I'll get a craving for a lighthearted love story again and find out what happens at Blair the bitch's wedding (btw I'm pretty sure I know who she ends up marrying... It's really not a stretch).

Oh. My. God!!!



Seriously, this book was sooooo good! If I didn't actually have responsibilities like work and children, I'm pretty sure I would have finished this book in one setting! If was so damn engaging and the action was non-stop! Even the science was fascinating and compelling. It's dumbed down enough to actually be understandable, so you're not left feeling spoken down to while still not understanding WTF is going on.



I dropped science in school, but in the last couple of years I've become more and more fascinated by it. Probably once I started watching Doctor Who and started realizing how huge the universe is. But now, not only is the universe infinite, but thanks to this book (even though I've heard the theory before) it's even more infinite thanks to the multiverse theory. To think that there are other versions of me living different versions of my life... I mean that's insane... but it isn't, which is even more insane!



I honestly don't know how to review the story without giving away any spoilers, so I'm not even going to try. I also usually have a hard time writing a coherent review when I've loved a book this much, as it takes a while to process this amazement and awe I feel for an author who is able to create such a unique world and story. Suffice it to say that this is instantly my favorite book of 2016.

P.S. I came across this gem while googling "mind blown gifs"

Pretty well known and basic information, but delivered with Rowling's beloved style. I wish each person could have their own spin-of though! I don't think I'll ever get tired of this universe!

This was so adorable! It's super quick and not really a "book" book, but oh my gosh my heart is happy now!

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

In sum, I totally loved this book! It's definitely one of my favorite reads this year, and I would gladly recommend it to everyone I come across… which I actually have been doing.

I've never really read much about China or it's history, so most of the stories in here was completely new information for me. It did make me curious though, and I'll be keeping my eyes open for more books about Asia and it's history… though it sounds unbearably brutal :(

The themes of family and tradition and culture really touched my heart, and the sci-fi elements just brought everything together in such a way that this was such an amazing experience.

I've reviewed each story separately below:

1. The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species: I liked this. It was written like a "history" of bookmaking of different alien species. Very imaginative and interesting worldbuilding. As the first story in an anthology, it was a fun listen and a tantalizing taste to what's to come.

2. State Change: I really enjoyed this one! It imagines a world where your soul is manifested in a physical object, and your life is tied to this object, so if it's damaged or if you're too far away from it, you'll die. It definitely made me think about what we think we know about life and how people live their lives differently and take more risks. Even though it's a short story, Liu manages to create a world that I would love to read more about!

3. Perfect Match: This futuristic story imagines a world where sharing has been taken to the next level. What's so unnerving about it is that it's extremely possible... and that I actually thought "Hey, that sounds pretty neat...". I listened to it on my morning commute to work and I could not stop thinking about it the whole day! I even completely blanked on the previous two stories because I just felt so wowed by it. It's one of those that literally make you sit back and go "huh".

4. Good Hunting: A mix between magical fantasy and steampunk. The lives of a Demon hunter and a hulijing intertwine, and as the magic is sucked out of their world they need to learn to survive without it. Lot's of metal and fantastic ideas in this one. It kind of makes you nostalgic though, which I think is the point. Magic being replaced by technology... rings a bell?



5. The Literomancer: Well that was a bummer… I mean the story was great and coming from South Africa where racism is still an issue, it hit close to home. I felt so sorry for Lucy as an outsider both with the natives as well as with the other American girls because she didn't look down on the Chinese like they did. I was hoping for a happy ending to the story when she met Teddy and his grandpa, but damn, of course that wasn't going to happen. War is so stupid… politics is so stupid! All it results in is death and heartbreak! Great story though…

6. Simulacrum: This wasn't a great story imo... I didn't get why Anna was so angry at everything her dad did. She obviously didn't have her own kids, but even so it's like she expected him to be perfect. It's also such a stupid thing to hold a lifelong grudge for!

7. The Regular: Sci-Fi Noir = Awesome! This was a really good crime fiction with a dash of the bionic woman! The plot was riveting and believable and the characters were extremely well developed for a short story... although I think this might count more as a novella?

8. The Paper Menagerie: Holy crap this made me cry! I was listening to the audio while driving to work and had to pull over. I completely understand every single perspective of each character, and as a mother myself my biggest fear is that my son will abandon me one day. Seriously, this story hit me in the heart!

Side note: I WISH I had a paper menagerie when I was little! Screw barbies (and your stupid Star Wars Figure)!



9. An Advance Readers’ Picture Book of Comparative Cognition: Didn't feel this one… was meh.

10. The Waves: Initially I loved the idea here, but then it kinda just went too far? It kind of reminded me of Interstellar, which I also loved up until 3/4 of the way through, and then it went past the stopping point and got too big/went too far. I mean I get what the author was trying to relay, but I think this would have been much better as a novel… even a series!

11. Mono No Aware: Ok another favorite! Made me cry while listening in traffic! This had a similar idea to "The Waves", but I think this was much better in scope and follow through! At this point I'm pretty sure I'm not just in love with the stories, but also with the author…



12. All the Flavors: I enjoyed this story, but I couldn't quite keep up with the different names, and listening to the audio where I couldn't go back and refresh my memory meant I got confused a lot… also because it jumped between stories without warning… This would probably have been much better read on paper.
I really liked Logan and Lily, and I thought that her mother was just ignorant and hateful… which is true of most people back then I guess… even still now if you think about what's currently happening in politics (building a wall??? Really???). I think this was the only non sci-fi story, and it was also the longest. But definitely interesting and worth reading.

13. A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel: I'll be honest… I fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through this one. It had a really interesting premise, but I guess it's just not one of my favorite.

14. The Litigation Master and the Monkey King: Another huge bummer. I get that history is full of violence and small people on power trips, but damn…

15. The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary: I had no idea that there was even such a thing as Chinese concentration camps. I didn't even know that the Japanese hated the Chinese that much. This story was a huge learning experience for me. I loved the premise of time travel, and the element of human error and sentimentality brought into it. I hated the politics of why things like this are kept quiet and even denied that it ever happened…