JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

From the author of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender comes a haunting maelstrom of magic and murder in the lush, moody Pacific Northwest.

When Rona Blackburn landed on Anathema Island more than a century ago, her otherworldly skills might have benefited friendlier neighbours. Guilt and fear instead led the island’s original eight settlers to burn “the witch” out of her home. So Rona cursed them. Fast-forward one hundred–some years: All Nor Blackburn wants is to live an unremarkable teenage life.

She has reason to hope: First, her supernatural powers, if they can be called that, are unexceptional. Second, her love life is nonexistent, which means she might escape the other perverse side effect of the matriarch’s backfiring curse, too. But then a mysterious book comes out, promising to cast any spell for the right price. Nor senses a storm coming and is pretty sure she’ll be smack in the eye of it.

The Price Guide to the Occult is a young adult fantasy novel from Leslye Walton, about a young girl and her journey towards facing up to her villainous mother.

Nor is the youngest of the Blackburn women, cursed for generations. She just wants to lead a normal teenage life, until she stumbles upon a book — written by her mother — that can cast any spell. She’s thrust into a world she doesn’t fully understand, and her evil mother — who once tried to kill her — returns into her life to wreak havoc.

Truthfully, I don’t see this novel holding the attention of a child or teenager. It struggled to hold my attention, and I’m in my late twenties. The prose is very descriptive, which at first made me admire the book, but after a while, I realised the book is actually just very overwritten and the pace very slow. The book sits at 278 pages, and if it were any longer I think I would’ve given up before the end.

“Nor watched her mother’s blood inch its way across the roof, then stop. Weakened and defeated, Fern slumped to the ground as Nor breathed a shaky sigh of relief. Perhaps the madness was finally over.”

Despite the ominous setting and the murderous plot, the stakes never felt high enough in the book. The characters never felt realistic or complex enough for me to sympathise for them, and the villain never scary enough for me to fear her. Additionally, I never really warmed to the love story or the romance of the book.

My favourite part of the book was the prologue, however it’s about Nor’s ancestor Rona and so the rest of the novel isn’t about her.

“Nor was dreaming again. In her dream, she was standing in a cold and unfamiliar room. The walls and floor were made of stone. The room had a foul door to it, a mix of rot and decay, and the metallic scent of blood. The only way out was a winding stone staircase.”

The pacing is one of the major reasons this book didn’t work for me. It takes a long time before the conflict between Fern and Nor arises, and the book weaves between past and present so often that it’s easy to get confused by events.

This book has an amazing backstory. A truly wonderful prologue. But unfortunately the rest of this book wasn’t for me.

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

The Price Guide to the Occult
Leslye Walton
April 2019
Walker Books Australia

The Secret Runners of New York by Matthew Reilly

‘The windows on all the skyscrapers are smashed…
No power, no lights, no people…
It’s a parallel New York of some kind.’

THE COMING END
When Skye Rogers and her twin brother Red move to Manhattan, rumours of a coming global apocalypse are building. But this does not stop the young elite of New York from partying without a care.

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?
And then suddenly Skye is invited to join an exclusive gang known as the Secret Runners of New York.
But this is no ordinary clique – they have access to an underground portal that can transport them into the future.
And what Skye discovers in the future is horrifying.

RUN! AS FAST AS YOU CAN!
As society crumbles, Skye and Red race to figure out how to use their knowledge to survive the impending annihilation, they soon discover that the chaotic end of the world is perfect time for revenge…

The Secret Runners of New York is a new standalone YA novel by well-known Australian author Matthew Reilly.

When Skye Rogers moves to Manhattan to attend an expensive private school, she befriends a group of popular girls. One of the girls — Misty — has an amulet that allows them to be transported approximately 20 years in the future, where they can run beneath Central Park.

Skye is shocked to find that 20 years in the future, the world is a wasteland. After some time, the group work out that on St Patrick’s Day in the present year, a doomsday, apocalyptic-style event had occurred that destroyed the earth.

“It was like I had been knighted or damed or whatever the hell the female equivalent of being knighted it. Both at school and outside it, Misty ushered me into her inner circle. I was in.”

Reilly’s world building is really strong, and the premise of the story is intriguing and interesting to the reader. However, this book wasn’t for me. There’s so much potential for this to be an amazing book but it fell flat.

Reilly’s shift from adult protagonists in his other works to a teen protagonist in this book isn’t the main issue.

The main issue is the lack of backstory, character development and authentic voice. The pacing is really fast, making the reader feel like the story is skipping important information, and also making us feel like the book is really rushed.

The characters are adequate, but two-dimensional. The love story feels forced and there’s very little chemistry between the characters. It feels like the romance is there because it should be, rather than needs to be. Additionally, the plot was too easily signposted and the ending very predictable.

“Even though it was only my second time inside the tunnel, it felt like my third. I think I’d mentally appropriated Red’s initial run as my own. And this run was actually more of a walk. It was not the late-night scramble that my first one had been with the larger group.”

Fans of Matthew Reilly’s previous works will discover this book, but may not necessarily enjoy it. This strays too far from his other works and is not the strongest of his collection. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t think this book successfully captures the teenage female voice, or the teenage female experience.

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

The Secret Runners of New York
Matthew Reilly
April 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

Alison has it all. A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise – she’s just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems…

Just one more night. Then I’ll end it.

Alison drinks too much. She’s neglecting her family. And she’s having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle.

I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up.

Alison’s client doesn’t deny that she stabbed her husband – she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself.

I’m watching you. I know what you’re doing.

But someone knows Alison’s secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she’s done, and who won’t stop until she’s lost everything….

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce is a debut thriller novel about murder, sex and family, and one woman’s messy life — personally and professionally.

After working for 15 years, British barrister Alison Wood has just been assigned her first murder case. Madeleine Smith is accused of murdering her husband after she was found next to his body, covered in his blood. Madeleine is ready to confess, and is not interested in a defence. But Alison convinces her otherwise. She knows there’s more to the story, and she’s determined to work hard on the case.

Alison is harbouring a very severe alcohol problem, drinking heavily every night and often coming home very drunk. Her husband Carl is the main carer for their 6-year-old daughter Matilda and he spends most of his time being disappointed in his wife for her behaviour. She’s incredibly neglectful. At one point in the novel, Carl’s friends come over for dinner and Alison gets drunk and screeches out terrible karaoke, and the two guests leave early, embarrassed.

“I look at the dresses hanging up in my wardrobe and pull one out, a wrap dress I’ve always liked. Carl’s never been that keen on it — something about the length — but I think it suits me. I fold it and put it into the bad I’ve laid on the bed…I pull the wrap dress out of the bag and hang it back up again. Then I take out the dress he bought me a couple of Christmases ago, the time we screamed at each other for hours after we’d finished dinner.”

I think some blurb re-wording is needed. In the synopsis, it says Alison has a ‘doting husband’. That should actually read ‘a manipulative, controlling and angry husband’ because that’s no plot twist. It’s clear from the first page we meet him. Actually, at no point in the novel is he ‘doting’. Infuriating, yes. But not doting.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t think Alison is ever a likeable character. She’s too much of a mess to really sympathise for, and her career success is not redeeming enough to make the reader really care for her. She neglects her daughter a lot, and part of me is surprised she’s managed to hold down her job for as long as she has —and be good at it.

Her husband Carl is also not a likeable character, and neither is Alison’s boss Patrick. Alison and Patrick have been having an affair for some time, having rough sex after work and sometimes on weekends. Alison spends too much time wondering if Patrick is seeing anybody else, or sleeping with other women. She spends too much time hoping he’ll text her, or getting mad at him when he doesn’t return her texts or calls. At times, she acts like a teenager with a crush.

When someone finds out about her affair with Patrick and starts sending Alison anonymous, hateful messages as blackmail, she starts to worry for her safety.

“Carl doesn’t say if he’s talked to his mother about looking after Matilda for the night but I don’t want to push it — I know he’ll come around to the idea in his own time. He can see that I mean it, that I’m trying.”

What lets this book down is the obvious, not-at-all subtle hints about Alison’s psychotherapist husband, Carl. He’s clearly gas lighting her. And he’s *SPOILER ALERT* so clearly drugging her at night. She drinks alcohol, he serves her tea or water, and then she blacks out, and then she wakes up the next morning and he tells her she blacked out from the alcohol and makes her feel guilty. It was such an obvious move that I kept rolling my eyes when Alison didn’t realise. Here’s this incredibly talented, hot-shot attorney who completely owns the courtroom, and yet she can’t work out her husband is drugging her?

Additionally, the ‘twist’ in Madeleine Smith’s case was also obvious from when we first meet her and the details of the case are read out. There are just too many clues pasted throughout the novel for the reader not to see these twists coming.

Not a spoiler, but the ending — in relation to Carl — is so quick I had to reread it four times just to check I had understood correctly what had happened. In 2-3 pages, something major happens and it’s so random and personally, I felt that it didn’t fit the book at all. It’s not credible, and is so rushed. And it also means that all of Alison’s problems are solved without her having to doing anything or work that hard to fix things, and that feels like a cop out.

There are a lot of readers out there who will love this — who will love the disastrous, self-destructing marriage between Alison and Carl, and her affair with her boss. There’s a lot of people who have actually loved this book, as I can see from online reviews. But personally, this novel felt really underdeveloped and too chaotic.

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

Blood Orange
Harriet Tyce
March 2019
Hachette Books Australia

A Dog’s Way Home by W. Bruce Cameron

From W. Bruce Cameron, author of the beloved bestseller and major Hollywood movie A Dog’s Purpose, comes this beautifully told, charming tale that explores the unbreakable bond between us and our pets.

Lucas Ray is shocked when, while attempting to rescue stray cats from an abandoned building slated for demolition, an adorable puppy jumps out of a crawl space and into his arms. Even though the apartment he shares with his mother, a disabled veteran, doesn’t allow dogs, Lucas can’t resist taking Bella home.

Bella is inexplicably drawn to Lucas, even if she doesn’t understand the necessity of games like No Barks. As it becomes more difficult to hide her rapidly growing presence from neighbours, Lucas begins to sneak Bella into the veteran’s hospital where he works and his mother receives treatment. There, the happy-go-lucky dog naturally brings joy and comfort where it is needed most.

After Bella is picked up by Animal Control for being a pit bull, a breed banned in Denver, Lucas has no choice but to send her to a foster home until he can figure out what to do. But Bella, distraught at the separation, doesn’t plan to wait. With four hundred miles of dangerous Colorado wilderness between her and Lucas, Bella sets off on a seemingly impossible and completely unforgettable adventure home.

A classic story of unwavering loyalty and incredible devotion, A Dog’s Way Home is a fantastic and exhilarating journey of the heart.

A Dog’s Way Home by Bruce Cameron is a novel about a young pup’s journey home after he is separated from his owner in the United States.

The plot is not a unique one, and reminded me of many movies I watched as a child. A young dog is hundreds of miles away from its owner and sets out on foot to return to its family, meeting many interesting animals and humans along the way. This book reminded me of the Homeward Bound movies that I loved as a child, and also Napoleon.

“The little kitties were mewing in distress. Their appeals saddened me, because I was their big sister, but I could do nothing to help them. I expected that our mother would soon be joining them, and knew they would feel better then.”

I think this book has been incorrectly categorised as an adult fiction novel, when it actually reads like a children’s book. The young puppy’s voice is very similar to a child’s voice, so the book at times feels very juvenile and silly and just very ‘young’.

I can imagine any young child who adores dogs and puppies would devour this story, but adults may lose interest in the story and the writing style after some time. I imagine the major motion picture set to release in 2019 will appeal to adults more than the book that inspired it.

“The route I took roughly tracked the commingled scents of Big Kitten and the huge dead cat, retracing their steps. The going was not easy, but the trail when in a fairly straight line away from the angry men. I could smell them and the blood now, the breeze cooler under my tail than on my nose.”

Despite this, it’s a really sweet story. Bella and Lucas share a special bond that any dog owner will recognise. But they will also understand and recognise the struggles that Lucas faces as Bella’s owner. He’s not allowed dogs in his building, and Bella won’t stop barking. They try to sneak her in and out of the building, and they try to teach her not to bark, but she gets confused easily and sooner or later they’re found out.

Additionally, pit bulls are not allowed in Denver because the city council passed a ban on them after a young child was killed by a pit bull in the neighbourhood. As a result, animal control are allowed to seize and destroy pit bulls, and they have a personal gripe against Lucas and his pet Bella.

Lucas loves Bella, and does his best to train her. He also leaves Bella with a couple of friends while he finds a new place to live. But Bella doesn’t understand what’s happening, so she jumps the fence and over the course of two years, makes the trek home to Lucas.

“Bella’s up against the government. I’m afraid the law in Denver is irrational on this subject. Did you know there’s not even such a thing as a specific AKC breed called a pit bull? It’s a whole class of dog, like retriever.”

Recommended for younger readers who love dogs and puppies.

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

A Dog’s Way Home
W. Bruce Cameron
December 2018
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-Time Husband by Barbara Toner

It’s September 1919. The war is over, and everyone who was going to die from the flu has done so. But there’s a shortage of husbands and women in strife will flounder without a male to act on their behalf.

And in the southern NSW town of Prospect, four ladies bereft of men have problems that threaten to overwhelm them.

Beautiful Louisa Worthington, whose dashing husband died for King and Country, is being ruined by the debts he left behind. Young Maggie O’Connell, who lost her mother in childbirth and her father to a redhead, is raising her two wayward brothers and fighting for land she can’t prove is hers. Adelaide Nightingale has a husband, but he’s returned from the war in a rage and is refusing to tackle the thieving manager of their famous family store. Pearl McLeary, Adelaide’s new housekeeper, must find her missing fiancé before it’s too late and someone dies.

Thank God these desperate ladies have a solution- a part-time husband who will rescue them all. To find him, they’ll advertise. To afford him, they’ll share . . .

Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-Time Husband by Barbara Toner is a historical fiction novel set in the small country town of Prospect in 1919.

The war and the Spanish flu are over, but four women in town are struggling. They each face different dilemmas and they need help. Louise needs to clear the debt left behind by her deceased husband, Maggie needs help fighting for land, Adelaide’s family store is being pilfered by their manager, and Pearl’s fiancé is missing and she needs help tracking him down.

These troubles mount on the women each and every day, and they don’t have support from the town. They advertise for an external party — a part-time husband to help solve each of their problems. Enter Martin Duffy.

“Martin Duffy, so much more to Maggie’s taste than the Mayor, was having a very early lunch in the sunny corner of Mrs Quirk’s pub, writing his mother an amusing letter about the ladies’ hopes for him, which he had every intention of fulfilling.”

This is a novel about female friendship and identity. At a time where women were laughed at or cast aside, these women team up to take charge. They refuse to roll over and let others force them to give up what they want. These woman are confident, decisive and ballsy.

At first, they don’t like each other. They have preconceived notions about each other, and so there are a lot of arguments and disagreements over the course of the novel. But, over time, they bond and put aside their differences because they both want and need the same thing.

Four Respectable Ladies is charming and witty, filled with all sorts of characters. However, the novel fell flat for me. I think there were too many characters, contributing to an overly complicated and convoluted plot. At times, it was hard to follow the storyline, and we didn’t spend enough time with each of the four women to really warm to them.

At certain points in the novel, the women started to blur together. Additionally, Martin Duffy was quite an underwhelming character, not really dominating the book like I thought he would. Instead, I felt like he didn’t make enough of an impact in the town and he was quite disappointing.

I was initially drawn to this book because of its gorgeous cover. It captures the flirty, fun nature of some of the characters, whilst also making it clear that it’s historical fiction.

The setting has been captured well, highlighting that period in history where the war is over and yet life is not perfect. People are still recovering from the war, and they’re learning how to move on with their lives.

“Maggie smiled quietly to herself. Martin Duffy wasn’t a man who expected modesty, she was pretty sure of that. He was a man who liked a bit of spirit and she intended to show him that she had plenty.”

The biggest strength of this book was actually the secondary characters, not the four women. I particularly liked Florence Mayberry — the Mayor’s wife — who provides quite a bit of humour for the reader and whose relationship with her husband is entertaining to read.

Additionally, Barbara Toner has done a fantastic job of capturing dialogue. This book is really dialogue heavy, but Barbara illustrates all of the individual voices really well and so the conversations don’t get muddled. It was easy to follow who was speaking, even when there were multiple people in one scene.

I recommend this book to readers who love historical fiction, but know that this isn’t a typical historical fiction novel. Romance doesn’t drive the plot, and there are many many characters. It’s really a book about a town of people, not just four women and one part-time husband. This isn’t my favourite book, but I do think there is a market for this. Many readers will love the town of Prospect, and all the drama within it.

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

Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-Time Husband
Barbara Toner
February 2018
Penguin Random House Australia