Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore (Empress Theodora #1)

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore
By: Stella Duffy
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Penguin Group
Series: Empress Theodora
Rating: 1 out 5
Summary: Roman historian Procopius publicly praised Theodora of Constantinople for her piety---while secretly detailing her salacious stage act and maligning her as ruthless and power hungry. So who was this woman who rose from humble beginnings as a dancer to become the empress of Rome and a saint in the Orthodox Church? Award-winning novelist Stella Duffy vividly recreates the life and times of a woman who left her mark on one of the ancient world's most powerful empires. Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore is a sexy, captivating novel that resurrects an extraordinary, little-known figure from the dusty pages of history.



Review: It tells the story of Theodora, before and after she became one of the most powerful women in the Byzantine Empire. In the novel, she explains how her mother offered her and two other sisters to the Blue faction at age five.

In those days, being an actress meant you could not marry, and you also could not own property. During her relationship with Hecebolus, she was his mistress, but nothing more. She did everything a typical wife would do, but she lacked the title. When Theodora sought a priest who could try to have her sins forgiven and the laws changed for her to marry, she searched for the right priest to represent her in court. As the story progresses, Theodora meets Justinian and begins the path to becoming the Empress.

I think I expected more from this book since it is not a biography or memoir, but a historical fiction novel. Though the narrative style summarized Theodora's life events, the author explained poorly what was going on. My knowledge of the early church and the end of the Roman Empire is very limited, so I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of these topics.

Rather than showing Theodora's life and what made her the powerful woman she was, the story reads like a biography and tells her story. This story disappointed me.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
(Hannah Swensen #1)
By: Joanne Fluke
Release Date: April 11th 2013 (first published April 1st 2000)
Publisher: Kensington Books
Rating: 3 out 5
Series:Hannah Swensen
Summary: Discover the delicious mystery that started it all!

No one cooks up a delectable, suspense-filled mystery quite like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke s dessert-baking, red-haired heroine whose gingersnaps are as tart as her comebacks, and whose penchant for solving crimes one delicious clue at a time has made her a bestselling favorite. And it all began on these pages, with a bakery, a murder, and some suddenly scandalous chocolate-chip crunchies. Featuring a bonus short story and brand new, mouthwatering recipes, this limited edition of the very first Hannah Swensen mystery is sure to have readers coming back for seconds.

Hannah Swenson already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden, Minnesota s most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can t get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer.

Who would have the sheer audacity and the motive to kill the most punctual delivery man Hannah ever had? Topping the list is the high school football coach. What exactly was his wife doing, making the rounds with the milkman? Could Max Turner, owner of Cozy Cow Dairy, have had a secret he didn t want to share with his top employee? The more Hannah snoops, the more suspects turn up. Why has Lake Eden s most prominent prodigal son, Benton Woodley, just resurfaced? And what about the mysterious Mr. Harris who seemed interested in buying the property next to the dairy, but then disappeared? This is one murder that s starting to leave a very bad taste in Hannah s mouth. And if she doesn t watch her back, Hannah s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.


Filled with a healthy sprinkling of humor and a delightful assortment of nuts, CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER serves up a great new mystery series and introduces a delicious, down-home sleuth that mystery readers will surely savor for years to come.


Review:Is it difficult reading? No. Are the characters the best characters I’ve ever read? No. But what Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder it is that the book is a fun, light read. You could probably start reading any of these books as your first, and you would have no trouble understanding the characters or the plots (some would find this a plus, while others would see it as a drawback, I’m sure).

This is the first of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen books. Hannah is the owner of the Cookie Jar, and she develops a propensity for finding dead bodies and investigating their murders. It’s actually a really fun series, and good for those times when you just want a light-hearted and relaxing read. Adding to the fun of the series is the fact that Hannah has two men vying for her attention — one a handsome police officer who never cannot make her heart beat faster, the other a sweet, reliable, though balding dentist. Hannah torn between the two, and it’s fun trying to figure out which one she might choose in the end.

The recipe tidbits were fun, but I would rather have them all collected at the end of the book instead of breaking up the story so many times.

Overall, the mystery was fun. The book was light and a quick read. I will continue with this one even if the ending love triangle creation was a bit of a stretch.

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1)

 

By: Jay Kristoff
Release Date: August 9th 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Rating: 1 out 5
Series:The Nevernight Chronicle
Summary: In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.

Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

Review: I did not finish this book.

Here is the reason:

The writing is atrocious (to me, who knows, you might like it), the plot convoluted and barely detectable between the clusterfuck of prose. With an inexplicably small (borderline unreadable) font size and tons of footnotes about various mundane details in made-up high-fantasy history felt condescending and pretentious and so monotonous, not to mention like a crime against sentences. The sex scenes made me cringe (and I’ve read Jay Kristoff described as a male author capable of writing full, realistic female characters, but after the way Mia sexualized, I must beg to differ).

It is what happens, a man writes a book with a female protagonist. She would have absolutely no healthy friendships with women. Nonstop description of how beautiful her body part is, and the terrible smut that goes with it.

Kristoff was trying too hard to make this book grand. I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately they did not meet.

Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush #1)

 

 

By: Becca Fitzpatrick
Release Date: October 13th 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
Rating: 1 out 5
Series:Hush, Hush
Summary: SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

Review: What a nostalgia read!

I have read Hush Hush only once, and I hate it. It has been more than a decade since I read this book. I want to see if this book held up.

When I finished reading Hush, Hush, I had to mull it over for a while. I really wasn’t sure what to say. I am absolutely love the cover (athletic looking, darkly mysterious fallen angel, contorted in midair in gray-scale? What’s not to like?).

It didn’t work.

Inside was the most confused piece of writing I’ve read in some time. Becca Fitzpatrick didn’t seem to know quite what she wanted, only that it had to be Ominous, Scary, sexy, and Dangerous. With that in mind, she threw a bunch of things and let her narrator, Nora, and sort them out. Nora, understandably, had some trouble with this, and the result is a thoroughly frustrating heroine who jumps to insane conclusions based on inane evidence one moment, and the next goes blithely along into obvious danger.

A rip-off of Twilight is the close similarities that I can think of. You have a regular average girl here, absent parents, a love affair with a dangerous supernatural boyfriend, a final showdown with a villain of his own kind. The mythology, while somewhat unusually paper thin. The characters are shallow and undeveloped.

The worst offense, Fitzpatrick, is how causal she wrote on sexual harassment scene between the main characters. Patch is seriously sexually harassing Nora in class, in front of the teacher and seemingly with the teacher’s encouragement.

That is just wrong.

And finally, why exactly Patch and Nora are in love? They know nothing about each other. Nora spends most of the book calling Patch creepy, fearing him, being roughly pinned by him to various walls in dark places or being at his knife’s point, and yet she is full of desire for him? It just makes no sense. As for Patch, I don’t know one thing about him or why he loves Nora.

My list can go on and on...

Hush Hush is a terrible book with lackluster annoying characters, ridiculous plot, and bad writing, but with an overabundance of creepiness. In a sad way, Twilight saga is a better book than this.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Vol. 2

 

 

By: Ukyo Kodachi (Story),Masashi Kishimoto (Creator),Mikio Ikemoto (Illustrations)
Release Date: April 4th 2017 (first published August 4th 2016)
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Series: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Rating: 2 out 5
Summary: The ninja adventures continue with Naruto’s son, Boruto!

Naruto was a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He achieved his dream to become the greatest ninja in his village, and now his face sits atop the Hokage monument. But this is not his story... A new generation of ninja is ready to take the stage, led by Naruto's own son, Boruto!

Boruto gets through round two of the Chunin Exam and receives praise from his father. But what Naruto doesn’t know is that his son is cheating by using prohibited ninja tools. What will happen to Boruto when the truth is revealed? Meanwhile, darker forces are advancing behind the scenes… 

Review: It’s a continuation of Boruto as he goes for the chunin exams. Boruto does rather well, only to be discovered for cheating. It’s quite poor character, and his reaction to being discovered only makes it worse. When Oototsuki attack, Naruto has to go to his tail beast form and for the first time Boruto sees how awesome his dad is.

Later Naruto kidnapped by the Oototsuki and it is one of the significant moment when Boruto self realizes and has to change himself. This development seems to make a step forward in his relationship with his father, and see how awesome his dad was and go to rescue his dad with the other kages.

Honestly, it happens rather quickly. There wasn’t really much improvement than the first volume, this was not a good sign. The pacing of events continues to be a problem.

From what I heard, this is a rehash from what happens in the anime. This discourages me from continuing the series.

Why I should continue to read if I was going to read a copy and paste story? Where is the original story?

At the end of the volume, we’re amidst another big fight scene, in the middle of yet another big reveal by the bad guys.

I guess I will have to read the next volume.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Vol. 1

 

 

 

By: Ukyo Kodachi (Story),Masashi Kishimoto (Creator),Mikio Ikemoto (Illustrations)
Release Date: April 4th 2017 (first published August 4th 2016)
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Series: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Rating: 2 out 5
Summary: The ninja adventures continue with Naruto’s son, Boruto!

Naruto was a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He achieved his dream to become the greatest ninja in his village, and now his face sits atop the Hokage monument. But this is not his story... A new generation of ninja is ready to take the stage, led by Naruto's own son, Boruto!

Years have passed since Naruto and Sasuke teamed up to defeat Kaguya, the progenitor of chakra and the greatest threat the ninja world has ever faced. Times are now peaceful and the new generation of shinobi has not experienced the same hardships as its parents. Perhaps that is why Boruto would rather play video games than train. However, one passion does burn deep in this ninja boy’s heart, and that is the desire to defeat his father!

Review: I have mixed feeling over this series. When Kishimoto release the one shot after Kaguya defeat, I was not happy with how he handle Naruto's future. I hate how Naruto is miserable despite how everything is peaceful. So I hesitate reading his son's side of his story.

Lord, give me strength.

We’re following Boruto here, and he’s clearly a brat. He believes his father is awful because he’s always working and never pays his kids any attention. Boruto thinks a few hours of working on a high level jutsu is too intense, so he goes and cheats with technology rather than innate his ability.

Naruto deserves a fucking family. I didn’t want to pick this up and see a middle-aged man who doesn’t go home every day to see his family, a family that seems too forced together.I’ll just say this: I dislike that Hinata’s character arcs stripped away, so she could be the perfect "wife" for the main character. Same with Sakura. I know from spoilers that Sakura and Sasuke’s relationship is a joke as well. Why did these writers take away all the female empowerment just to have kids with specific combination abilities?

Why Sasuke is training Baruto and not his own child? I don’t get Sarada is so happy that her dad is helping him. When one shot, she wants to have a relationship with her own father.

The pacing of this story is too fast. We barely get to know the characters, and we are off to the chunin exam. The original took the time. We get to know the dynamic team seven. Here, we barely know what dynamic Boruto has with his teammate Sarada Uchiha and Mitsuki.

The art style looks so degrading. It looks nothing like Kishimoto original art style. Which is such a shame because I did like Kishimoto art style.

In the end, Bouro is a safe start of a sequel to a series. I didn’t mind reading, but it wasn’t great. It’s not really my series, though.

A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone #1)

 

By: Sue Grafton
Release Date: April 15th 1982
Publisher: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
Series:Kinsey Millhone
Rating: 2 out 5
Summary:A IS FOR AVENGER
A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she's got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.

A IS FOR ACCUSED
That's why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ago, she was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she's out on parole and needs Kinsey's help to find the real killer. But after all this time, clearing Nikki's bad name won't be easy.

A IS FOR ALIBI
If there's one thing that makes Kinsey Millhone feel alive, it's playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer--and sharper--than she imagined.

Review:There are aspects of this book that I enjoyed very much, and there are also parts that I felt could have done better. It doesn't feel dated. The only thing that stood out was there was no cell phone or social media. The plot is your typical round-on-the-mill mystery thriller. A quick read for someone on the go.

So what went wrong?

The main character Kinsey Millhone did not feel like a real female to me. She is crass, which makes her seem uneducated and low-class. Attempts at presenting emotion from her were not believable; she simply came across as apathetic to the entire novel. And how she could solve any crime with the amount of alcohol she consumed in this book is beyond me.

The writing is bare-minimum stuff. It rehashed the plot from old pulp stories. I felt detached during the climactic finale, and the end of the book seemed overly abrupt. The ultimate explanation was plausible, but not particularly intriguing, and I would have been interested to read more about the repercussions of what ultimately went down.

In Summary

It alright novel filled with your typical round of the mill mystery thriller. An easy read for someone who just wants to waste some time.

• Current Mood: discontent