Review: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Title: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Author: Hank Green

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 352 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Dutton

Publication date: September 25th, 2018

Synopsis from An Absolutely Remarkable Thing's Goodreads page

In his much-anticipated debut novel, Hank Green--cocreator of Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and SciShow--spins a sweeping, cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she's part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagined.

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship--like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor--April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world--everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires--and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. 

Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.

Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring from the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye.

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to the wonderful team at Penguin Random House for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!

I have been looking forward to this book coming out since Hank announced it however many months ago - and after months and months of (very impatiently) waiting, I FINALLY GOT MY HANDS ON IT!
After all that waiting, I had VERY high hopes for this book. And I can honestly say - it reached the bar, and then went WELL beyond it. (Sorry for all the caps guys, but I'M OBSESSED).
This book takes place in modern NYC, with the main character stumbling across 'Carl' on her early morning walk home from work. She calls her best friend, and he comes and the two of them make a video about Carl. What they didn't know, was that there were dozens of Carls placed around the world, and he doesn't seem...normal.
The entire premise of this book is absolutely fantastic. I loved how Carl started out as an art statement, but he turned into so much more over the course of the book. It shows how something that some people see as insignificant others can see as extremely important, and how that same thing can change the world.
I loved the characters in this book as well. They all had something about them that I adored, and something that drove me crazy, but that's what great characters are like. They have good things and bad things about them, and that's what makes them seem more realistic and relate-able, and that was done wonderfully in this book.
The setting was also awesome, and I loved how dynamic and changing it was over the course of the book, as well as the descriptions.
The entire book was absolutely wonderful, and I loved every second of it. The only reason that it doesn't get a solid 5/5 from me is because that ending murdered my soul and I cannot wait for another book to find out what in the world is going to happen!
If you take anything from me about this book, just know this - This book is ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE.
Overall - ★★★★☆.5

Review: The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson

Title: The Saturday Night Ghost Club

Author: Craig Davidson

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 272 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Knopf Canada

Publication date: August 14th, 2018

Synopsis from The Saturday Night Ghost Club's Goodreads page

When neurosurgeon Jake Breaker operates, he knows he's handling more than a patient's delicate brain tissue--he's altering their seat of consciousness, their golden vault of memory. And memory, Jake knows well, can be a tricky thing.

When growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls, a.k.a. Cataract City--a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place--one of Jake's closest confidantes was his uncle Calvin, a sweet but eccentric misfit enamored of occult artefacts and outlandish conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turned twelve, Calvin invited him to join the "Saturday Night Ghost Club"--a seemingly light-hearted project to investigate some of Cataract City's more macabre urban myths. Over the course of that life-altering summer, Jake not only fell in love and began to imagine his future, he slowly, painfully came to realize that his uncle's preoccupation with chilling legends sprang from something buried so deep in his past that Calvin himself was unaware of it.

THOUGHTS

Thank you so much to the wonderful team at Penguin Random House for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!

Getting into October and reading spooky Halloween reads is my cup of tea! I was especially looking forward to this one - it takes place in Niagara Falls Canada, which isn't TOO far from where I live, but it is a good distance. It's always super nice to be able to read a book that takes place somewhere where you've been to and absolutely loved.

With that being said - I really loved the setting of this book. Niagara Falls is an amazing place, and I love everything about it. The touristy parts and non touristy parts, and it was awesome to be able to see how it possibly looked in the past.

I also loved the spooky feel to this book - it is very much a fall, Halloween read. I really liked how the title is absolutely perfect for the book as well; very descriptive, and very accurate. I loved the ghost hunts, and the spookyness of the whole thing.

The characters were also interesting, but I found them to be just okay overall. I found that there was no true character development - they all just carried their flaws with them, and just grew up with them. I would have liked to have seen some more growth from all of them, and some more changes as they got older.

I also found that this book was much...sadder than I had anticipated. When I got to the end and read about Uncle Calvin's life and what he had gone through.....that was painful. It was so sad, and I personally felt that it wasn't sad in an enjoyable way, more of a sad as in a difficult to read, feeling so bad for the character and wanting to just give them a hug way.

However, I did find the ghost stories that Calvin came up with absolutely amazing. They were sad and creepy at the same time, and they were my favourite part of the book.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, and I feel like it is a perfect time of the year to give it a go.

Overall - ★★★☆☆.5

Review: An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

Title: An Unwanted Guest

Author: Shari Lapena

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Pages: 304 (Paperback)

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Publication date: August 7th, 2018

Synopsis from An Unwanted Guest's Goodreads page

A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting away.

It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing - maybe even romantic - weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery.

So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off all electricity - and all contact with the outside world - the guests settle in and try to make the best of it.

Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead - it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, everyone starts to panic.

Within the snowed-in paradise, something - or someone - is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm - and one another.

THOUGHTS

Thank you to the always wonderful Penguin Random House Team for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!

I. Loved. This. Book.

It's fall, it's cold and rainy and dark, so what better book to read than that huge pile of psychological thrillers sitting on my bedside table for these very days???

This book was amazing for so many reasons. I loved so much of it.

The characters are all amazing. We see the dark sides of every single one of them, even though they all started out as charming, lovey dovey couples, lonely lawmakers, and determined writers. They all seemed so innocent, so charming, and then, once the first murder occurs, we start to see that dark sides of all of them. The panicky sides, the worried sides. That is exactly when we see writing flourish, and writing at its best. I loved every single one of the characters - innocent and evil.

The setting was also absolutely perfect (very cliche though, but in all the best ways). A cute, quaint little hotel in the middle of nowhere, snowed in over a weekend. Very old fashioned, no wifi, and cell service is very limited. The perfect set for a group of murders.

The suspense was also amazing. I find sometimes with thrillers, they are suspenseful enough to finish reading the book, but they take a few days. In this case, I needed to know who the killer was, and why they were doing it right away (and it resulted in me reading the entire book in one sitting). I absolutely loved the suspense fullness, and it definitely kept me on my toes the whole time!

The characters were great, the setting was perfect, and the suspense was wonderful. My only qualm (and the only reason that it wasn't a five star read) was because I needed more!!

I've had some of Shari Lapena's books on my shelves for awhile and not read them, but after reading An Unwanted Guest, I will be digging them out and reading them ASAP. Her writing is amazing!!

Overall - ★★★★☆.5

Review: Game of Secrets by Kim Foster

Title: Game of Secrets

Author: Kim Foster

Genre: Historical Fiction/ Fantasy

Pages: 368 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Publication date: July 3rd, 2018

Synopsis from Game of Secrets' Goodreads page

Felicity Cole sells flowers in the streets of Victorian London to feed herself and her young brother. But she has a close-guarded secret--her brother is a Tainted, born with special abilities that society fears and a shadowy organization called the Hunstsman scours the country to eliminate. When Felicity becomes the target of one of these individuals, she discovers something horrible: she's Tainted, too.

Rescued by a mysterious gentleman on the eve of execution, she's whisked away to a school funded by Queen Victoria, established to train selected Tainted into assassins in service of the crown.

Struggling to harness her incredible strength, speed, and agility, and despised by her classmates, all she wants is to use her new position to find a cure so she can be normal and reunited with her brother.

But with the Golden Jubilee fast approaching and the discovery that there's a traitor in their midst, she has no choice but to embrace the one thing she's been fighting all along. 

THOUGHTS

Thank you to Thomas Allen & Sons for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!!

I really enjoyed this book - I read it in two sittings, so that definitely tells you how much I liked it!

The main character, Felicity, is just trying her best to eke out a life that is worthwhile for her and her little brother, who needs to remain hidden, because he is Tainted - one of a select few who has unparalleled powers. Felicity ends up discovering powers of her own, and is taken to an academy to teach her how to use and control her powers.
The idea of this book I really really enjoyed - I'm a sucker for characters with mystical powers! But this was a little different - they were discovered in a time of need, pain, and suffering. The idea that Felicity's powers came to her right when she needed them, and spent the rest of the book trying to figure out what they meant, and how to control them, was refreshing. I like seeing characters with weakness, with abilities/problems that they need to learn to control, because it makes them much more relatable.
The other characters in this book were also very well written, from the bad villains to the good people just trying to make a difference. I really enjoyed every single one of them!
I also really enjoyed the plot twist when it came to Felicity's brother - but no spoilers about that, you'll have to read the book to find out!!
The setting was also amazing, and the descriptions were perfect, from the crowded city streets to the academy's library, I loved all of it.
However, I found something to be...missing. I think it needed a few more heart-wrenching plot twists to keep me on my toes, then it would have been a perfect 5/5 stars from me!
Overall, I did really enjoy this book - it was a very quick, easy read, and it was a two-sitting read for me, so it really keeps your attention!!
Overall - ★★★★☆