kniznypredator's reviews
660 reviews

 3.5*/5*
Failsafe is the scifi book debut of Jeff Sylvester. He creates a new world full of Matter Manipulation Devices, which were hacked and misused by criminals. In his futuristic cyberpunk story, he is showing the loneliness of a person falsely accused of treason. MMD agent, Anna, is on her own and needs to clean her name and protect all humanity from a criminal organization called “A Better Way” misusing this powerful tool.
The author was able to create interesting and likable characters. He focuses on love, family, friendship but is also able to show the dark side of vengeance and how someone takes control of individuals' lives.
The ending of "Failsafe" was tense and is keeping me interested in the next book in this series.
I received an ARC ebook for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 

 Maame Blue is a Ghanaian-Londoner and an internationally award-winning writer. Her newest book “The Rest of You” is a powerful story of a Ghanaian Londoner, Whitney Appiah, a masseuse with magical hands. She seems to be on the edge of her life. She has two friends, Chantelle and Jak, who seem not to speak to each other, but to Whitney. In this part we can see contemporary London. 

Whitney knows a part of her memory is missing. While being intimate with her boyfriend, he violates her boundaries, which leads to parts of her lost memories coming back. Whitney desperately wants to learn what happened during her early years in Kumasi, Ghana. These parts are written in the second person past tense. This technique feels like you should be present in the story, but the story itself is kind of distant.

The story is told through multiple viewpoints. Besides Whitney, there are also her aunts, Gloria and Aretha Sarpong, and their house help, Maame Serwaa. The past, mid-90s in Ghana, is told in the third person past tense and shows the cruel destiny of Whitney's relatives. We also encounter a little bit of magical realism, as there is a dark legend told about the Sarpong family.

This book inspects trauma at different levels. Living through something terrible keeps not only your memories and psyche hostage, it also takes a toll on your body. Here, we explore generational trauma, the life of women and what it means to be black and British.
The ending of "The Rest of You" is revealing and gives you hope for other broken families and lost friendships. Even if the themes were strong and heavy, the flow of the text itself was easy to follow.

I received an ARC ebook for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 

 Tato kniha ma prekvapila. Sadol mi styl, aj striedanie sa pritomnosti a minulosti. A pacil sa mi lyricky jazyk. Velmi ma prekvapilo, ze autor je Cech, nejako mi to uniklo. A prekvapili ma aj slabe hodnotenia na GR. Ale asi to bude jeho cielovkou, ktora predtym ficala na Muffin a Caj. Toto je temne, sedlacke, nevysvetlene. Citatel na vsetko musi prist sam, ale mne to nevadilo. Hned, ako som vratila prvy diel do kniznice, musela som si vziat pokracovanie. 

 Spočiatku som sa nevedela započúvať. Chlapík sa nevie dostať do bytu, ide pešo, stretne bezdomovcov. Stihla som zabudnúť, o čom to vlastne celé malo byť. Potom sa ale príbeh rozbehol a aj keď sa dostal do scifi roviny, stále si zachoval rozprávanie o vzťahoch. Interpreti dodali postavám osobnosť. Celkovo som spokojná. Nečakajte veľký scifi príbeh, dej je skôr komorný. 

 Zjavne som zvolila opačný postup, ako všetci ostatní. Chcela som niečo krátke a rýchle, tak som začala touto detskou verziou. Pripomínalo mi to knihu Podivný případ se psem od Marka Haddona. Snížek je psík, ktorého si dievča vydupalo. Nie je to však potešenie, lebo psík je hluchý a nedá sa vytrénovať. Na pozadí toho, čo riešia decká, máme tiež možnosť nahliadnuť aj na životy rôznych rodín. Musím povedať, že ma to bavilo aj bez znalosti dospeláckej knižnej dvojičky. 

Tato audiokniha skor pobavi fanusikov komixu. 

3.75

I received an ARC ebook for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is the fourth book in the Scottish Witches Mysteries series and, as I liked the previous books, as expected, I looked into the next one. You can definitely read this one as a standalone again, as there is enough detail provided by the author about what happened previously.

I usually don't like stories with past and future storylines, as the parts written in the present are usually dull compared to the old times. But here, I liked it a lot. 

This time, we follow the mysterious coven leader, Mrs. Maryanna MacDonald. The story is told by Kenna, someone who appears near the witches later and does not know them well. She's an inspector and investigates the death of a young woman found in Mrs. MacDonald’s kitchen.

I loved the interaction of the characters and also the twists and turns while trying to investigate the murder. Mrs. MacDonald’s past was well crafted, and I enjoyed the interactions with her family and also the dilemma about her future.

I think this series is getting better with every single book and I recommend it if you want to relax while reading something exciting.

 

3.5

I received an ARC ebook for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Cooking Up A Witch is the second book in the Scottish Witches Mysteries series and as I liked the first two books, I was again intrigued about reading the next one. As I learned, this series is not focused on a single person, but in every book, we get to know another witch from the Scottish coven. I also like that the author does not abandon previous characters, but we meet Dessie and Penny from the previous books again.

This time, it's seventeen-year-old Fionna. She was a very likable character. She's not very confident, although she can enchant numerous objects and also handle old books. One day, she is experimenting with some recipes from her grandma's old cookbooks and, as you can guess, the results are not what she'd expected. 

Felicity Green takes us on an entertaining, easy and mostly funny adventure. You can again read this book as a standalone because the author gives you a lot of details from the previous books. 

 

I received an ARC ebook for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is the second book in the Scottish Witches Mysteries series and as I liked the first book, I was intrigued to read the next one. You can definitely read this one as a standalone, as there is enough detail provided by the author about what happened previously.

I didn't like the main character Penny in the beginning. She seemed to care only about herself. On first impressions, she seemed a little bit full of herself and unlikeable. The more I was into the book, the more I learned about her and changed my mind. And there was Dessie again! Yay!

The story was crafted with such imagination! I was hooked by sectrecs, prophecies and mysterious magic rituals. The overall atmosphere was rather dark. But on the other hand, there were also funny and entertaining moments, while thinking about beauty and what it means to love. 

Penny - an herb witch - is suddenly taking care of a young pregnant foreigner. SHe names her Faye and hops on a weird adventure. 

Herb Witch for Hire is a well-written book and a great next installment of the series! The book is filled with action and magic rituals and if you enjoy paranormal stories and intriguing plots, give this book a chance. 

 Táto kniha je podobnejšia prvému dielu ako Spasitel Duny. Príbeh je viac zameraný na intrigy a potomkov Muad Diba. Myslím, že se by som sa k tejto knihe nedostala, ak by nebola nahovorená v češtine. Interpreti sú vynikajúci a k deju sa hodia aj zvukové vsuvky.