Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody (The Shadow Game #1) Review

Book Synopsis

Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets…

and secrets hide in every shadow.

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems. 

Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city…

And she’ll need to play.

My Thoughts

Ace of Shades was advertised as the new ‘Six of Crows’. I’m sure there are many of us invest their time to read it because of that, including me. 

Shame, this book is far different than SoC. Levi is not the new Kaz Brekker. The story was quite confusing to me maybe because I had very high expectation before. It’s all about the highly educated student who just arrived at the city of sin looking for her missing mother. Her only clue was her mother’s letter saying if she couldn’t be found, please ask this Levi guy to guide her. Turns out Levi is one of the gang-lord members. I’m sure you can guess what happens with the good girl and bad guy plot. And it was the most irritable plot for me because there’s no single explanation why her mother recommends Levi to Enne. Like there’s no connection ever.

I have some complaints about this book 

First, I don’t feel any ‘dangerous’ vibe coming from Levi. As the gang-lord, he didn’t have any significant power over the city, his gang member challenge and leave him, he’s got problem with another mafia, etc. I saw him like a puppy wandering on the wrong side of the city, just like his nickname ‘Pup’. He is a puppy, not a wolf.

Second, Enne. The nice, innocent missy who got her hands dirty for searching her missing mother in the strange city. I feel disappointed over her character, especially on the beginning. She’s frustrated character to follow. Though she finds her backbones throughout the story, it’s not that believable plot. 

The city setting. If it’s explained properly, New Reynes should be one of the most interesting places in the fictional world, it should be like the dark place of New Vegas. But yeah, I don’t understand much of it. 

I feel terrible if I don’t mention the good part of this book. Thus, let’s talk about the good portion 

The magic/ability setting was interesting. You can’t choose for your own ability, it’s coming down from your parents and family. So you will have two abilities each inherited from your father and mother, one your dominant and one other ability. 

The story is much more interesting toward the ending, but already too late to make up with its mess beginning. 

Conclusion 

Ace of Shades had many potentials to be a powerful story on its own. The marketing team shouldn’t be called the new Six of Crows because there's no similar thing between those two (except the gang, I believe). 

My rating is 2.5 out of 5 stars and I round it down to 2 stars (on Goodreads) because I feel being cheated on.

Absolute Justice by Rikako Akiyoshi Review

Book Synopsis

Seharusnya monster itu sudah mati ….

My Thoughts

Pertama-tama, buku ini cocok banget bagi yang ingin melepas kangen dan merasakan aroma thriller sejenis Girls in the Dark (karya Akiyoshi Rikako yang terdahulu) sekali lagi. Menurut saya, ini buku yang paling mirip dengan Girls in the Dark.

Alur penceritaannya mirip, diceritakan dari sudut pandang empat wanita yang merupakan sahabat karib dari Noriko Takaki, sang Absolute Justice. 

Satu per satu kisah pertemanan pribadi mereka dengan Noriko dikupas. Apa yang mereka sukai dari Noriko dan apa yang membuat mereka benci.

Misteri telah diungkap dari bab-bab awal, tetapi tidak mengurangi rasa penasaran saya untuk mengetahui bagaimana kisah mereka selama bertahun-tahun. Semua memiliki masalahnya masing-masing. 

Buku ini lebih menekankan ke sisi thriller dibandingkan dengan misteri. Tidak ada plot yang spesial seperti pada Holy Mother tetapi plot twist-nya cukup membuat saya merinding disko waktu membaca di jam satu pagi. 

Seperti biasanya, gaya penulisan Akiyoshi yang misterius mampu membius saya untuk terus membaca chapter demi chapter. 

Satu lagi, judul Absolute Justice ini sangat "mencerminkan" cerita dari novel ini, seperti judul Holy Mother yang benar-benar menceritakan tentang "ibu yang suci". Saya suka dengan judul yang sangat bermakna dibalik Absolute Justice. 

Dan tentunya, ini menjadi buku Akiyoshi favorit kedua setelah Holy Mother. 

Good job, sensei! Thank you Penerbit Haru, ditunggu selalu terjemahan buku Akiyoshi Rikako berikutnya. :)

My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.

Originally posted on my Goodreads page, May 17, 2018

Unwritten by Tara Gilboy Review

Book Summary

Twelve-year-old Gracie Freeman is living a normal life, but she is haunted by the fact that she is actually a character from a story, an unpublished fairy tale she’s never read. When she was a baby, her parents learned that she was supposed to die in the story, and with the help of a magic book, took her out of the story, and into the outside world, where she could be safe.

But Gracie longs to know what the story says about her. Despite her mother’s warnings, Gracie seeks out the story’s author, setting in motion a chain of events that draws herself, her mother, and other former storybook characters back into the forgotten tale. Inside the story, Gracie struggles to navigate the blurred boundary between who she really is and the surprising things the author wrote about her. As the story moves toward its deadly climax, Gracie realizes she’ll have to face a dark truth and figure out her own fairy tale ending.

My Thoughts

What if every story ever is written is a world in another dimension, waiting for us to find it? 

Have you ever imagine that all of the characters in your favorite book might be alive in another dimension? That they are not just some two-dimensional characters but also speak and breath like us?

Gracie, a twelve-year-old girl, is coming literally out-of-the-book to our real world with her mom. Her original world, Bondoff was from the unpublished story. 

Her mom told her that her fate in the book didn’t end well, she died when she was just a baby in the story. So in order to save her, her mom took her out of their fiction village to the real world. 

When the author of Gracie’s story come to her town for fan signing, she couldn’t resist to meet her even though her mother bans her. She had to know her story from the author herself. Why did she intend to kill Gracie in her book? 

Before reading this book, I thought this was only like another middle-grade children book with a princessy story and cotton candy and cherry on top, I expect some light cute read just like the cover itself. Wow, I didn’t expect the story would be this kind of deep thinking. 

Regarding the word choice, this book is easy to finish. This is a middle-grade children book so the way the author telling us her story is simple and clear yet it holds true powerful meaning. 

Another good point I would like to say is I like the ending very much. I won’t spoil you how Gracie’s story ends, you need to read it yourself. ;)

A copy was provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa Review (The Four Horsemen #1)

Book Summary

They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all. 

When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.

Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed. 

Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her … and hers towards him. 

And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

My Thoughts

Pestilence is the story of the apocalypse plot filled with repetition, ignorant heroine, and cheap romance that undid me. The first book of this series told us about how the earth is on the brink of doomsday. The almighty God has sent His Horsemen to clean His human creature. One of them who actively killing people is Pestilence. His killing method by spreading infection among the people.

Meanwhile, there's Sara, a firefighter woman who lost bet and she had a task to kill Pestilence while all of the people in her town evacuated. Unfortunately, she didn't know that The Horsemen couldn't be killed. The angry Horsemen decided to keep Sara alive under his watch as his prisoner. And so the predictable situation began. 

Have you ever thought that within several years, your reading preference would be changed? 

Well, I just did, especially when I'm in the middle of reading this book. 

I feel if I read it like three years ago, I would easily give Pestilence four stars rating. That was when I'm all about reading all of those NA Paranormal Romance. 

Now I feel old, I got cringe over the whole plot. No, not that the author writes badly. I enjoy Laura Thalassa writing, her writing style made bearable for me to finish it and I will read her books more in the future. This series is just not my cup of tea.

My rating is 2 out of 5 stars

Originally posted on my Goodreads page, May 21, 2018

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Review

Book Summary

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.
Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

My Thoughts

I was fine, perfectly fine on my own, but I needed to keep Mummy happy, keep her calm so she would leave me in peace. A boyfriend - a husband? - might just do the trick. It wasn't that I needed anyone. I was, as previously stated, perfectly fine. 

We were introduced to this book with Eleanor doing her usual day. Her boring simple life as back-office employee who spends her Monday to Friday, eight-thirty to five-thirty doing her usual work. On weekend, she will spend alone with the company of one or two bottles of vodka waiting Monday to arrive. She has regular fifteen minutes phone-call with her mommy on Wednesday night. She doesn't know her father and doesn't have friend to share her life or just chit-chat through phone. She just completely alone in this world.

To some extent, I could totally understand her thoughts. Gail Honeyman is doing a great job bringing Eleanor as the main character. Eleanor is rarely thinking about her feeling. I feel sad and funny watching her struggle in the social life. For some time, I've been wondering how Eleanor's life will turn out throughout this book.

You don't miss what you've never had. 

This is a unique book. The story just flowing itself. It presented trough Eleanor's daily life, we only follow her day to day basis until I was realizing myself the story has brought us into the very deep level of Eleanor's life. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is kind of funny book, yet behind of those funny scenes, you understand there's a thick layer of sadness.


My personal favorite phrase that summarizes my own real-life struggle:

I would need to consider the risk/reward ratio carefully. Would the increase in salary compensate adequately for the increased amount of tedious administration work I'd be required to undertake, the augmented levels of responsibility for the successful functioning of the office and, worse still, for the significantly increased degree of interaction that I'd need to undertake with my colleagues? 

My rating for Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is 4 out of 5 stars. 

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins Review

Book Summary

Love hurts...

Makani Young thought she'd left her dark past behind her in Hawaii, settling in with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska. She's found new friends and has even started to fall for mysterious outsider Ollie Larsson. But her past isn't far behind.

Then, one by one, the students of Osborne Hugh begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasingly grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and her feelings for Ollie intensify, Makani is forced to confront her own dark secrets.

My Thoughts

When Stephanie Perkins writes thriller, I can't say this is a big success. I always adore her writing even though at some point now, I realize there's some element that I wouldn't like if it's in the real life (read: cheating on A&FK). But I could forgive her because of her capability to makes the execution perfect, like the plot, setting, her writing style, they made me forget about the mistake. I live for her fluffiness kind of story.

I couldn't say the same about this book. While I still like the romantic relationship aspect, the thriller element that supposed to be the center of this book was just weak. What I hope from her was I need some balance between the thriller and the romance, at least. What happened in this book is the thriller was just like a filter in the background, not the main story. 

Another thing that bugs me annoyingly is Makani's behavior. She's someone who got the second chance away with the new school environment and the new friendship. She knows there are some murders going on in her new school, yet it didn't make her be the more careful person. 

She just concerns about how to make out endlessly with her new boyfriend with lying to her grandma and her friends. GIRL! Could you put aside your selfish thoughts for a while?

Thankfully, we have wonderful characters around Makani. Her friends are cool and her grandmother is the coolest. I would prefer to be friend with her grandmother more than Makani. 

Sad to say this is the least okay book from Stephanie Perkins. I think it would be better for her if only she sticks with cotton candy romance. Trying to live out of your comfort zone? Yes, it's a huge okay of course, but sometimes you need to consider the plus and negative side of it.

My rating is 2/5 stars.

Originally posted on my Goodreads page, January 28, 2018

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (The Illuminae Files #2) Review

Book Summary

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.

My Thoughts

Continuing the event after the end of Illuminae, we follow Gemina through the daughter of station captain of Heimdall, Hanna Donnelly and the nephew of the crime family, Niklas Malikov. Like the previous book, we follow their journey via IM's, chat, video surveillance, letters, and Hanna's doodles. 

Mind me, I've forgotten the whole Illuminae's plot but I think I enjoy this one better. My favorite character is Ella Malikov the hacker. I like I could see Hanna's character development. She's just those normal annoying rich kid at the beginning but she picks up herself quite nicely when the terrorist invasion takes place in her ship station. Together, Hanna, Nik, and Ella make a pack to defy the terrorist. Another good point we also met Kady, Ezra, and most importantly AIDAN later in this book and AIDAN still has this sassy side like before.

One downside from this book is the slowest pace on the beginning of this book. They could take out most of the first 200 pages. It's nothing important. Instead of 200 pages, they could squeeze it into like 50 pages only and the story still would be the same. Because of that, I've been putting down Gemina for almost a year now. I just continue reading this book because I want to finish it before Obsidio comes out next month. 

Thankfully, the pace is getting better for the rest of next 400 pages and I quite enjoy the ride. Especially the plot twist. Wow, bravo, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Originally posted on my Goodreads page, February 6, 2018