Reviews in Review 2018

Another year has gone past and another stack of books has been read. Every year I like to look back on the books I've read and the reviews I've written to see if feelings have changed, which books have staying power, and pick out my favourites and not-so-favourites. 2018 has not been my greatest reading year, but I fared better than previous years by getting to 17 books out of my goal of 25. I've had this goal for the past few years, which if you've been reading my blog you'll know I have yet to actually reach. I did better than in 2017 where I read 15 books, though just shy of 2016 where I read 19 books. And finally there was 2015, where I only got through 14 books. As always, I'm setting my goal for 25 again next year, and 2019 is going to be THE YEAR. YOU HEAR ME, UNIVERSE? I'M SERIOUSLY SERIOUS THIS TIME.

2018 saw a lot more contemporary novels about mental illness and gender identity. 10/17 of the books I read this year were review requests, either from publicists, publishers, or authors themselves. I tried to focus a little more on the books I picked out rather than requests, though obviously I was still leaning into the requests. My reading in 2019 will be more focused on fantasy and sci-fi, and I'm itching for books that feature diverse casts. But before we can focus on the future, let's take a look back at what really rocked or flopped this year.

Fabulously Freaky

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

I love, love, love this book! Though it was the first book I read in 2018, it has stuck out the hardest, mostly because of how creatively fantastical the story is. It's urban fantasy, so we're still set in the familiar, while being introduced to this wonderful world of magic that's based in Russian folklore and adapted to the modern age. The result feels original when held up against the usual werewolves, vampires, and demons of urban fantasy. I also love how surreal the story feels too; night is personified and has been kidnapped, and reality warps and changes in Babs Yagg's bedroom. It's a story of metaphors interwoven in metaphors like petals interlocking to form a rose. I love how this book pushed at the limits of the fantasy genre and brought fresh blood into a genre that tends to reheat the same story like never-ending leftovers. A lot of people seem to be put off by just how truly weird this book is, which makes me a little sad at times, but it's also understandable because this book is weird, the weirdest of weird, which is what makes it so good.

Biggest Let Down

Vengeful by VE Schwab

When I first started doing these Reviews in Review in 2015, I included Vicious on the list, the predecessor to this book, because I was blown away by it. It is still one of my all-time favourite books. I was so thrilled that there would be a sequel; I even got in on the pre-order campaign and swag contests. Then this book finally arrived in my mail and... it was not the book I asked for. I thought I was getting a sequel to Vicious, but in fact, Vengeful was more of a spin off, like hoping to get more seasons of "Friends" but instead ending up with "Joey," except 'Joey' is actually some rando character we've never met before who won't shut up about how amazing they are. I got to see some 'cameo' appearances of Victor (that's sure what it felt like) but it wasn't a sequel in the way I wanted it to be. I waited years for this book only to be given SOMEBODY ELSE'S STORY. I'm still angry about this and it's been a couple months since I've read it, so I have a feeling I'll be angry for a while. It's the ones you love that hurt you the most. And while I do love Schwab, this one hurt more than others.

Powerful Poignance

What I Leave Behind by Allison McGhee

What an incredibly beautiful book. I still find myself thinking about this book because of how much it nailed those emotional notes. The book is written in 100 chapters of 100 words long, and so every word has a very purposeful intent to it. The author gets across so much in so little time that it almost felt like the spaces between the words-- what wasn't being said instead of what was-- made the book feel so heavy. I think too I could really relate to Will's feelings of powerlessness in the face of tragedy, and the hope that comes when he starts to gain some control and autonomy over his life again. I just seriously want to hug this book all day long. It finds beauty and meaning in the details of living and uses it in impressive ways. 

Please Stop Writing For Children

Full Fusion by NJ Damschroder

Some books you read and wonder why the author ever decided to write for children. Full Fusion was definitely one of those books. At first, it appears to be like every other uncreative YA trope factory -- boring and flat characters, simple plots, ultimately a lack of tension outside of the romance, and filled with cliches-- but this book took it one step further by incorporating horrible messages throughout. There was a slew of anti-feminist and anti-woman messaging that seemed dangerous in a book aimed towards young girls. It also included the main character cheating on her boyfriend and then instantly being forgiven, and it was implied that cheating was okay since the MC and her love interest were "really in love" and "meant to be" etc, etc, cue barfing everywhere. If you're going to have a predictable piece of garbage, at least don't fill it full of toxic messages aimed at the vulnerable readers that make up your audience! This is one of those books that if I saw a kid reading it, I'd snatch it out of their hands and replace it with a GOOD angel romance story, like Unearthly. Ain't nobody got time for anti-feminist rhetoric. 

Set the Scene

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Historical novels can be difficult as there are so many facets of life that have changed over the years humans been around. It's easy to miss details or provide inaccurate ones, so historical fiction has always intimidated me. I'm impressed by the writers who can do it well and are able to transport readers across time. The Book of Negroes is one of those books that firmly plants you back into the 19th century and gives you a real sense for how people lived in worlds lost to us through time. Even a couple months later I'm really captivated by the settings and world-building that the author was able to get across. Little scenes like Aminata's wedding where they "jumped the broom" stood out as sweet and yet historically accurate, and allows the reader to see what living actually looked like in these environments. I wish I could bottle up this historical world-building, cause that shit is like fine wine. 

And there you have it! Another year of bad-ass books and overly long reviews to go with them. I hope you'll hang out for this year's round of reviews and discover which ones will be the stand outs for 2019. 

Here's to another year of good reads, y'all. 

Book Review: Full Fusion

Book Review: Full Fusion by NJ Damschroder 

Goodreads Description: Eighteen-year-old Roxie Sebastian lives a charmed life, and she knows it. Too bad she can't feel it.

All her life, she's felt disconnected from the world around her. Everything changes just before graduation, when she's drawn to an eerie, brilliant light-which narrowly misses her as it blows up her friend Lincoln's car. Clearly someone's after Roxie, and finally Lincoln tells her the truth: He and Roxie are angels, beings from another dimension, and that light is her soul, separated from her human body in a traumatic birth.

Once a skeptical Roxie rules out the other possibilities-like Lincoln created this delusion to escape his abusive father-she accepts her gut-deep knowledge of the truth. But someone has been screwing with her light, using it to commit crimes, and their actions are about to cause irreparable damage to two worlds: the one she lives in, and the one she can't remember.

Aided by her best friend Jordan, her boyfriend Tucker, and Lincoln, Roxie tracks down the criminal and uncovers many more secrets not only of her past, but of the history of their race on Earth. And then Roxie faces a horrible dilemma-the only way she can stop them from ripping apart both worlds is to fuse with her light...which could be tainted by the evil with which it was used.

My Review: I was given a review copy of Full Fusion by Rockstar Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Eighteen-year-old Roxie Sebastian has always felt lost in life, disconnected from her loving family, devoted friends, and even her own emotions, but she always considered herself normal. Until the night a brilliant white light destroys her friend, Linc's, car in a blaze of fire and Roxie discovers she's an angel who was separated from her soul during a traumatic birth. That angelic soul, rife with power, has fallen into the hands of a man named Phillip Porcini, who seems to know way more about the angels than he should. Roxie sets off to get her soul back with her best friend, boyfriend, and her friend Linc, who is actually a full fledged angel sent from another dimension to help Roxie regain her soul. But Phillip plans to use her soul to open a gateway between dimensions, which could end up destroying both worlds. The only real way to keep the soul out of his hands is for Roxie to fuse with it and become a full angel again. But have the crimes Phillip committed with the soul tainted it? If so, could fusing with it turn Roxie into something evil?

Where to start with this book. When I picked it up, it seemed like a fun, light-hearted ride through an urban fantasy setting. When I finished, I felt about as far from "fun" as you could get, but it had me questioning: is this simply a book not written for me? Most YA I connect with very easily, but there are a certain subset of books that are written for a young teen audience that have little appeal for adults. Does that make them bad? Not necessarily. After all, adults are not the target audience of YA. It wasn't written for them, it was written for teens. That's something I keep in mind while reading YA, and definitely applies somewhat to this book. Do I think a thirteen year old girl would enjoy this book a lot more than I did? Absolutely! Hell, if I was thirteen I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more, because I would've been in the maturity bracket for it.

The book itself was written well, with a simpler style lacking flowery prose. There were times where the description was a little thin, but not in a way that really took away from the story or made it confusing. The pacing moved nicely, and so the story itself was very easy to read. The fundamentals were there, but it was the story itself that made me falter. Starting with the characters, we have Roxie, who is a very obvious Mary-Sue. She has a perfect life, perfect family, doting mother, plenty of money (I'd die for a pool in my backyard), a gaggle of besties who do everything she wants, good grades, and is the "nice girl." The only thing missing from the Mary-Sue package would be the cheerleader checkbox. As for the rest of the main characters, they were all really flat with no motivation outside of Roxie. Even Linc, who was arguably one of the more developed characters, was still little more than a typical YA bad boy: dark hair, brooding, rough home life, aggressive under a guise of "protection," obsessed with the main character, etc, etc. Even the bad guys, who were driving the plot for most of the book, were about as developed as bumbling cartoon villains that resemble the Three Stooges.

The book itself was filled with classic YA tropes and cliches: the Unqualified Protagonist, a love triangle, the Gullible Martyr, Unambiguous Bad Guy, I Didn't Know I Had Powers, a bit of Chosen One, etc. I was hoping the author would play around with these tropes a bit, but they're about as predictable as can be. In fact, most parts of the book are highly predictable, and the actual actions taken by characters to move the plot forward are pretty sad at times. Roxie charges into an enemy lair with no plan after dumping her supplies and is surprised when she opens the door and finds bad guys, the villains are professional criminals but can't physically overpower a few teenagers (most without any powers), an explanation for how the bad guys found them was just "Science. The methodology isn't important." (I sh*t you not). The list could go on. It seemed like there was very little creative thought put into the actual actions or plot in the story, which made it kinda boring to read, and made the characters (all of them, good and bad) come across as incredibly stupid.

All the "meat" in this story, per se, was in the romantic tension. The love triangle between Roxie, her boyfriend, Tucker, and their friend, Linc, was what ultimately kept the book moving. And it's the very reason why I could see a lot of younger teens really enjoying this book. As much as it leans into heavy cliches, the romantic plotline fulfills that "dirty little secret" read that you know is bad, but you like it anyway. There were little parts of me getting caught up in that romantic subplot, and I found myself enjoying it most out of the book, probably because it seemed like there was more effort put into it. Up until this point, I could have recommended this book as a read for teens and say adult YA readers might not enjoy it, simply because it wasn't written for them. What made me change my mind from "this book isn't for me" to "this book is bad" came down to the messages it was sending.

The first message being very sexist, as about three or four times throughout the book, and in very minor ways, the main character refers to how girls are weaker than boys. It tried to play it off as "it's not sexism, it's just fact," and then as Roxie stating it's "one of the reasons she didn't like being a girl," and then finally by the last mention, the author gives up all pretense of trying to sugarcoat her opinion: "Bing went with Jordan, and I heard her hissing her displeasure at even more sexism. But I felt better, anyway. Call me an anti-feminist, I don't care." (Direct quote). I'd like to play it off as a character trait, but it has no other influence on the story, and is just an ideological piece that the author seems to be hammering into the reader, finalizing it by having Roxie (who sort of initially resisted the sexism, or called it out for what it was) settling in that she's happier this way (that her girl friend has a man to protect her during a fight) and that she's proudly anti-feminist. What kind of message does that send to young girls, who are devouring this book for the romantic plotline?

** SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH. SKIP PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WISH TO BE SPOILED**
The second message, which really broke the book for me, was that cheating was okay. Much of the romantic tension between Linc and Roxie was heightened by the fact that Roxie was dating Tucker, and so they couldn't be together. Of course, during the climax, both characters forget or don't care about this, and Linc kisses Roxie anyway. Nobody is mad at each other, nobody feels that guilty, and instead it becomes a thing that "Tucker must never know," until Tucker reveals he does know at the end, and forgives Roxie anyway. Which made me feel awful for Tucker, because even cardboard cutouts don't deserve to be treated like crap. The message comes across that it's okay to cheat, that things will work out okay because she loves both of them and so it can't be bad. There are literally no repercussions that Roxie faces from this and she manages to shrug off the problem, which comes across as pretty heartless.

The part that infuriates me the most about the above two messages is that the book is written specifically for young YA readers, and that's obvious by reading it. So these messages feel specifically targeted towards that young audience, and that's where I draw the line. Entertainment is one thing, but knowing your audience is much more important.

TL;DR: All in all, 2/5 stars. An uninteresting YA romance with decent writing and awful anti-woman messages.

Giveaway: Full Fusion

Hey all. Today I'm excited to bring you a giveaway of FULL FUSION, a YA fantasy full of angels and romance, in partnership with RockStar Book Tours. The bottom of the post includes a tour schedule full of reviews, excerpts, and interviews, so make sure to check them out when you enter the giveaway.

About The Book:

Title: FULL FUSION (The Fusion Series Volume 1)

Author: NJ Damschroder

Pub. Date: June 4, 2014

Publisher: Dragonsoul YA 

Pages: 322

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads

Eighteen-year-old Roxie Sebastian lives a charmed life, and she knows it. Too bad she can't feel it. 

All her life, she's felt disconnected from the world around her. Everything changes just before graduation, when she's drawn to an eerie, brilliant light-which narrowly misses her as it blows up her friend Lincoln's car. Clearly someone's after Roxie, and finally Lincoln tells her the truth: He and Roxie are angels, beings from another dimension, and that light is her soul, separated from her human body in a traumatic birth. 

Once a skeptical Roxie rules out the other possibilities-like Lincoln created this delusion to escape his abusive father-she accepts her gut-deep knowledge of the truth. But someone has been screwing with her light, using it to commit crimes, and their actions are about to cause irreparable damage to two worlds: the one she lives in, and the one she can't remember. 

Aided by her best friend Jordan, her boyfriend Tucker, and Lincoln, Roxie tracks down the criminal and uncovers many more secrets not only of her past, but of the history of their race on Earth. And then Roxie faces a horrible dilemma-the only way she can stop them from ripping apart both worlds is to fuse with her light...which could be tainted by the evil with which it was used. 

About NJ:

Natalie J. Damschroder is an award-winning author of contemporary and paranormal romance, with an emphasis on romantic adventure. She has had 24 novels, 7 novellas, and 16 short stories published by several publishers, most recently with Soul Mate Publishing, Entangled Publishing, and Carina Press. She recently debuted her Fusion Series, a young adult paranormal adventure series, with Full Fusion, as NJ Damschroder. Learn more about those books here.

Natalie grew up in Massachusetts, and loves the New England Patriots more than anything. (Except her family. And writing and reading. And popcorn.) When she’s not writing, she does freelance editing and proofreading. She and her husband have two grown daughters, one of whom is also a novelist. (The other one prefers math. Smart kid. Practical.)

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a Box Set of the FULL FUSION Series, US Only.

Rafflecopter Code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

3/19/2018- Caffeine And Composition- Interview

3/19/2018- A Gingerly Review- Review

3/20/2018- Twirling Book Princess- Excerpt

3/20/2018- The Underground- Review

3/21/2018- Elley the Book Otter- Guest Post

3/21/2018- Wonder Struck- Review

3/22/2018- Am Kinda Busy Reading- Review

3/22/2018- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post

3/23/2018- BookHounds YA- Interview

3/23/2018- two points of interest- Review

Week Two:

3/26/2018- Always Me- Excerpt

3/26/2018- RhythmicBooktrovert- Review

3/27/2018-Smada's Book Smack-Review

3/27/2018- Wonder Struck- Excerpt

3/28/2018- books are love- Excerpt

3/28/2018- Ginger Mom and the Kindle Quest- Review

3/29/2018- Reading for the Stars and Moon- Review

3/29/2018- A Dream Within A Dream- Excerpt

3/30/2018- Paulette's Papers- Excerpt

3/30/2018- Diary of an Avid Reader- Review