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Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian

The Kaiser murdered Theodosia’s mother, the Fire Queen, when Theo was only six. He took her country and kept her prisoner, crowning her Ash Princess – a pet to toy with and humiliate for ten long years. That era has ended. The Kaiser thought his prisoner weak and defenceless. He didn’t realise that a sharp mind is the deadliest weapon.

Theo no longer wears a crown of ashes. She has taken back her rightful title, and a hostage – Prinz Soren. But her people remain enslaved under the Kaiser’s rule, and now she is thousands of miles away from them and her throne.

To get them back, she will need an army. Only, securing an army means she must trust her aunt, the dreaded pirate Dragonsbane. And according to Dragonsbane, an army can only be produced if Theo takes a husband. Something an Astrean Queen has never done.

Theo knows that freedom comes at a price, but she is determined to find a way to save her country without losing herself.

Lady Smoke is the sequel to Ash Princess and the second book in this new fantasy series from US author Laura Sebastian. You can read my review of Ash Princess on the blog HERE.

Lady Smoke picks up immediately after the conclusion of Ash Princess — Queen Theodosia has escaped the Kaiser’s imprisonment in Astrea, seeking refuge and alliance with her aunt, the famed pirate Dragonsbane. Theo is accompanied by her Shadows — Blaise, Artemisia and Heron —aboard a ship captained by Dragonsbane. Soren, the Kalovaxian prince, is in their custody.

Theo knows she’ll need allies to retake her kingdom from the conquering Kalovaxians and free her people, who are still enslaved by the Kaiser and his new wife Cress. So Theo aligns with the manipulative Dragonsbane and along with her fleet, they seek refuge in Sta’Crivero with King Etristo. Eligible suitors from all other countries arrive at a grand invitational to meet Theo and offer her their hand in marriage. With a husband, Theo can acquire an army and take back her throne in Astrea.

“Sta’Crivero is a country of sand. As we approach the shore, I scan the horizon but there is little to see. Rolling dunes crest like waves all the way to the horizon, unbroken by trees or any kind of foliage. It doesn’t look like the sort of place where anything could survive.”

The series maintains the POV from Theo’s perspective, allowing readers a deeper dive into her mindset and her emotions. She immerses herself in political issues and takes it upon herself to learn more and more about the world she lives in, so she’ll know how best to rule her people when she reclaims her throne. This first person narration also helps give the story a stronger sense of urgency, propelling the story forward and keeping the reader engaged.

I would’ve loved a little more involvement with Cress. She was a major character in Ash Princess, and we don’t see her again until the end of Lady Smoke. And she’s really changed. She’s powerful, ballsy, confident and a really scary antagonist. I can’t wait to see more of her in the next book.

“I suppose Archduke Etmond is the most pleasant of the lot, though that title largely falls to him by default. Most of our time is spent in an uncomfortable silence that I’m actually grateful for — it gives me a moment of peace in what has been a very chaotic day — but there are moments when he surprises me, like when he very shyly asks how I escaped the Astrean palace and seems to actually care about the answer.”

The ending of the book is very satisfying. Alliances are broken and some are strengthened. Major characters are defeated or saved by unlikely circumstances, and the pacing is quickened to keep the reader engaged.

Lady Smoke delivers an amazing sequel, with heightened stakes and three-dimensional characters that help drive the story forward. This book exceeded all of my expectations and Laura Sebastian has delivered something really fantastic.

“Even as I say the words, though, I know they aren’t true. I might know Blaise better than anyone, but in this moment I am afraid of him. Not Blaise — not necessarily — but what he’s capable of. What he can do without even meaning to.”

I remember feeling that Ash Princess was generic and not too dissimilar to other fantasy books, but Lady Smoke took the series in a completely different direction and I really enjoyed the journey. I’m looking forward to the third and final instalment in 2020.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Smoke: Ash Princess 2
Laura Sebastian
February 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

The award-winning author of The Hate U Give returns with a powerful story about hip hop, freedom of speech and fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you.

Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.

But when her first song goes viral for all the wrong reasons, Bri finds herself at the centre of controversy and portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. And with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it – she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.

On the Come Up is the highly anticipated second novel from Angie Thomas, exploring racism, class, wealth and status, and also identity. Bri is a talented young rapper who wants to help lift her family out of poverty — her father was shot dead 12 years earlier by a rival gang and her mother Jay has recently lost her job. Jay used to be a drug addict and those years of unemployment mean that it’s really hard for her to find a new job. They’re struggling to pay the bills and Bri hopes that her rapping — and any money that comes from that — will help her family.

Bri is a teenager who doesn’t know who she wants to be. Yes, she wants to be a rapper. But what does she want to say to the world? When she writers her songs, what does she want people to know about her world?

All she knows is she wants to be on stage, performing for crowds. And when she does that, people listen. They cheer for her. Her talent and her ambition mean that her debut single On the Come Up becomes an overnight sensation. Radio hosts want to talk to her and kids are singing her lyrics in their cars.

But most people misunderstand her lyrics. Her song is about challenging and deconstructing stereotypes and calling out the unfairness of authority, but when people hear it they take it as proof that she’s a dangerous person.

When she sings her lyrics — “Strapped like backpacks, I pull triggers. All the clips on my hips change my figure” — it sounds to others like she’s boasting about violence and guns and painting herself to be an angry, black girl capable of killing cops. People misunderstand what she’s trying to say.

“That look on his face says more than he’s saying. ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask.
‘It’s just…you talked about doing stuff you’ve never actually done, Bri.’

On the Come Up explores talent and ambition, and the road blocks that come with that, not only for someone so young but for a person of colour who comes from a poor family. Bri is expected to be a certain kind of person because of where she comes from. Because of who her father was. And with that comes the expectation that she’ll rap about topics or situations that she knows nothing about.

At first, Bri doesn’t care. She’s rapping about what she wants and people are loving it. And then she catches the eye of a music manager and he’s pressuring her to be the kind of artist she never wanted to be, and it’s hard for Bri to choose the right path.

“Thing is, sometimes I follow the rules and still deal with crap. Sonny, Malik, and I went into a comic shop a few months back, and the clerk followed us around until we left the store. Malik recorded the whole thing on his camera.”

On the Come Up explores racism in a number of settings, but more specifically within Bri’s high school. A security guard targets her and throws her to the ground because she’s been selling candy to other students. This isn’t code word for drugs, she’s really just selling candy to other students and using the money to help her family.

There are no repercussions for the two security guards who did this. They return to work, and members of the public flock to support them. Bri feels wronged, like no matter what she does she’ll always be seen as the troublesome, angry black teenager because of the colour of her skin and where she comes from.

“Suddenly, it’s as if that punch was the green light some students were waiting for. A cluster of boys charge Long and Tate, taking them to the ground. Curtis is one of them. Fists fly and feet kick.”

This book is very powerful, and important for readers who come from a place of privilege. There’s a lot happening between the pages of this book that many readers will never come to understand.

This is not just recommended for teenage readers or young eyes. All readers will enjoy this story — all readers will find something in this book that will help them better understand a world they probably don’t know anything about.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

On the Come Up
Angie Thomas
February 2019
Walker Books Australia

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.

When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatised by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.

While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog’s care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unravelling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.

Elegiac and searching, The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.

In The Friend by Sigrid Nunez, the unnamed female narrator inherits a Great Dane named Apollo after her friend, fellow writer, and former mentor commits suicide. She lives in a 500-square-foot Manhattan apartment, is not allowed to own a dog in the apartment, and it also a self-confessed cat person.

The book is written in second person, directed at the friend who committed suicide, and is the perfect example of when an author executes second person really well in literature.

“Mostly he ignores me. He might as well live here alone. He makes eye contact at times, but instantly looks away again. His large hazel eyes are strikingly human; they remind me of yours… Having your dog is like having a part of you here.”

Suicide is mentioned sporadically, in tune with a human’s tendency to think through issues at different times of the day and in spurts. The narrator will wonder about her friend’s death, and his decision, for a moment or two, and then her thought process will switch to something else. Sigrid has captioned the human experience very well, particularly through the narrator’s internal dialogue.

The tone of the book is mournful, soulful, and rich with remembrance. The narrator is trying to come to terms with her friend’s death, and at times, the reasons behind it. The book shows great friendship between the narrator and her mentor. The two had a long history together, at one point they were intimate but mostly it was just a long-lasting and strong friendship.

At first, Apollo is a burden to the narrator. She takes him reluctantly. The dog is going to cause the narrator to get evicted from her apartment and whenever she leaves the dog for too long, she comes back to find him anxious and depressed. But over time, and particularly in the final third of the book, their friendship and understanding develops and she sees Apollo as a companion.

The fact that Apollo is the only character in the book who is named shows great significance.

“When you’re lying in bed full of night thoughts,” she thinks, “such as why did your friend have to die and how much longer will it be before you lose the roof over your head, having a huge warm body pressed along the length of your spine is an amazing comfort.”

The book is as much about Apollo as it is about writers and writing, since the unnamed narrator is a writer and a writing tutor. She is often disappointed in what her students produce, and addresses her friend when she talks about the quality of the work she’s reading.

At times, the book feels like a blend between fiction and memoir, since Sigrid Nunez is a very accomplished author who may have once grappled with questions surrounding the nature writing that our unnamed narrator does.

The narrator’s friend was a writer and a writing professor, and he was far from perfect. You learn about his multiple marriages and his womanising. He was charming, but he was also a sexist man. He often slept with his female students, of which our narrator was one. His ex-wives, and the narrator’s interactions with them, all give the reader insight into what the character was like and how he affected those around him.

Our narrator doesn’t forget these things. She knows he was flawed, and he made mistakes. But she was also his friend and she loved him. She doesn’t make excuses for him, and quite a few times throughout the book she expresses her anger at him for what he was like when he was alive.

“I am left thinking about the mastiffs. Besides their great bulk and a mane that makes them look part lion, they are known for being fiercely protective and loyal to their masters. So what does a doh bred for those traits feel when its master lets it be herded onto one of those transport trucks? Does a dog understand betrayal?”

The book explores despair, but also understanding and hope. The character doesn’t understand — and didn’t foresee — her friend committing suicide and must learn to accept that she can’t change what happened.

Recommended for literary fiction lovers. Despite being well-written, the book does read a little dry at times and I feel this is a book best discovered by seasoned readers. There isn’t much plot in the book, so it’s really read for the narrative voice and the writing and the relationship between the narrator and her dead friend, and now her relationship with his dog.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Friend
Sigrid Nunez
January 2019
Hachette Book Publishers

Louis and Louise by Julie Cohen

ONE LIFE. LIVED TWICE.

Louis and Louise are the same person born in two different lives. They are separated only by the sex announced by the doctor and a final ‘e’.

They have the same best friends, the same red hair, the same dream of being a writer, the same excellent whistle. They both suffer one catastrophic night, with life-changing consequences.

Thirteen years later, they are both coming home.

Louis and Louise by Julie Cohen is a novel about gender and identity, and how a child’s gender can — in some instances — predetermine a life and the path a person will take.

Stylistically, this book will remind you of Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow. In 1978 Casablanca, Maine, Peggy and Irving Alder are getting ready for the birth of their first and only child. In the first chapter, that baby is born a girl and they call her Louise. In the second chapter, that baby is born a boy and they call him Louis. The book then alternates between Louis and Louise and in 2010, they return home to care for their dying mother.

They’re both hiding something. Their lives turned out very different — Louise is a teacher and a single mum who has grown estranged from her mother, and Louis is a successful author whose getting a divorced from his wife. Both of them have unfinished business in Casablanca, and being home is forcing them to confront what they’ve both been running from.

“Lou, driving the rental car, shakes his head. He tries not to think about Benny. Tries not to think about the Casablanca he grew up in, except in dreams where he can’t wake up in time, but the scent of sulphur is enough to set it off again.”

The book is a little confusing at times because the author shortens both characters’ names to ‘Lou’ so when a new chapter starts, it can take a few paragraphs to work out which Lou we’re reading about.

There are lessons to be learnt here, about the expectations of men and career. About family owned businesses and sons taking over the business, even if they don’t want to. It’s about ‘boys will be boys’ and fathers passing on horrible behaviour to their sons.

But the book is also about fate and destiny, and whether we’re destined to make the same mistakes regardless of what gender we are or what job we have, or where we’ve ended up as an adult. Louis and Louise leaves a lot for the reader to ponder.

“Allie’s twin Benny had a grace to him — he was all tanned limbs and muscles — and he was crude, sometimes, but also funny and sharp and unexpectedly kind. He was good-looking, with dark hair and grey eyes like his sister’s. And Benny on the baseball field was something else. Lou went to the games just to watch him.”

This novel is sentimental and at times, and incredibly moving. It shows us how small decisions can have a consequential effect on our lives. The novel also explores forgiveness and mistakes, as Lou is forced to confront people who hurt her/him and never acknowledged their mistakes.

Louis and Louise is about what someone’s life would be like if they’d been born a different gender. It’s entertaining and evocative, perfect for fans of Julie Cohen’s writing. I’d recommend this to contemporary fiction readers, and anyone who is a fan of the dual POV narrative style.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Louis and Louise
Julie Cohen
February 2019
Hachette Book Publishers

Something to Tell You by Lucy Diamond

When Frankie stumbles upon an unopened letter from her late mother, she’s delighted to have one last message from her . . . until she reads the contents and discovers the truth about her birth. Brimming with questions, she travels to York to seek further answers from the Mortimer family, but her appearance sends shockwaves through them all.

Meanwhile, Robyn Mortimer has problems of her own. Her husband John has become distant, and a chance remark from a friend leads Robyn to wonder exactly what he’s not been saying. Dare she find out more?

As for Bunny, she fell head over heels in love with Dave Mortimer when she first arrived in town, but now it seems her past is catching up with her. She can’t help wondering if he’ll still feel the same way about her if he discovers who she really is – and what she did.

As secrets tumble out and loyalties are tested, the Mortimers have to face up to some difficult decisions. With love, betrayal and dramatic revelations in the mix, this is one summer they’ll never forget.

Something to Tell You by Lucy Diamond is a novel about the Mortimer family and the many problems and secrets they all need to confront. The novel begins with Harry Mortimer finding out that he has a daughter called Frankie, the result of an affair he had many decades earlier. It’s a shock for him and for his wife, as well as their children. But after this secret is unveiled, we delve further into the Mortimer family history and find out there are many more secrets being hidden from the family.

“Disappointment had coursed through her, weighting her feet to the floor. Wrong time, wrong place. This was what you got for being hot-headed, for making it all about you, she told herself despairingly…This was her moment. The one she’d been wondering about for so long.”

Something to Tell You is told from many different POVs, which is common in a lot of Lucy Diamond books.

At the beginning, the book is a little overwhelming. There are a lot of characters mentioned and it takes a moment — and a re-read, in my case — for the reader to fully understand who everyone is and how they relate to each other.

The POV switched between women rather quickly so I kept getting the characters mixed up and forgetting who was married to who, and which subplot belonged to which character. I think perhaps there were too many characters in the book and more time should’ve been given to fewer characters to really allow for the reader to relate.

The book explores many different plots and problems, so it’s not just about Frankie meeting her biological father. In fact, that part of the story is quite non-existent for most of the book and Frankie’s storyline in the book is actually more about her relationship with her boyfriend and his child from another woman.

“Fergus didn’t seem to like this idea, leaning against Frankie’s legs and sliding a thumb into his mouth. He stared at the floor and shook his head, no, and Frankie crouched down too, putting a protective arm around his small warm body.”

All of the characters have something they’re worried about, whether it’s a secretive husband or an affair, or a hidden incident from the past that’s threatening to be revealed. There’s plenty in the book to be unpacked — there’s so much for the reader to be intrigued by.

My favourite character was Bunny — she’s sweet and passionate but also anxious and nervous. She’s flawed, but relatable. She’s worried about her past and if the secret she’s keeping will affect her relationship, and I think a lot of women will relate to her insecurities and her self-doubt.

My favourite storyline was Robyn and John Mortimer. Robyn finds out from an acquaintance that John has actually been fired from his job at the university, and it appears to be quite the scandal. She probes him for information, and she even follows him to uncover his secret. What unfolds is shocking for everyone involved.

“Until Robyn met John she had never really held down a very long or enjoyable relationship. She was quite shy and awkward…and never felt as if she was getting the whole boyfriend thing right.”

The book explores female friendship, sisterhood, tragedy, bonding, reconnection, and it also explores the beginnings of relationships and the end of relationship.

I was intrigued in the story and the plot, although I think the book was let down by the pacing and some of the dialogue. The really tense scenes in the book — in particular the scene where Harry Mortimer explains to his family that he has an illegitimate daughter, and also the scene where Jeannie tells Harry that she’s going on their overseas holiday solo — are written too quickly and the conversations progress really fast. The reader experiences a wave of different emotions and the scenes don’t come across realistic or relatable. Additionally, the dialogue is at times forced and unnatural and it can be jolting for the reader.

Recommended for fans of family saga , chick lit, and romance novels.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Something to Tell You
Lucy Diamond
January 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

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