Jessie Mihalik - Hunt the Stars (Starlight's Shadow #1)

Jessie Mihalik - Hunt the Stars (Starlight's Shadow #1) 

5 ⭐

Genre: Romance, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction 

Pages: 425

Format: Paperback Proof 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Date Published: 1st February 2022

Huge Thank You to Harper360YA & Harper360 for a copy. 

Book Blurb: 

Octavia Zarola would do anything to keep her tiny, close-knit bounty hunting crew together—even if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher, a ruthless former general and her sworn enemy. When Torran offers her enough credits to not only keep her crew afloat but also hire someone to fix her ship, Tavi knows that she can’t refuse—no matter how much she’d like to.

With so much money on the line, Torran and his crew insist on joining the hunt. Tavi reluctantly agrees because while the handsome, stoic leader pushes all of her buttons—for both anger and desire—she’s endured worse, and the massive bonus payment he’s promised for a completed job is reason enough to shut up and deal.

But when they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the delicate peace between humans and Valoffs, Tavi suspects that Torran has been using her as the impetus for a new war. With the fate of her crew balanced on a knife’s edge, Tavi must decide where her loyalties lie—with the quiet Valoff who’s been lying to her, or with the human leaders who left her squad to die on the battlefield. And this time, she’s put her heart on the line.

The critically acclaimed author of Polaris Rising takes readers on an exciting journey with the start of her brand-new series about a female bounty hunter and the man who is her sworn enemy.

My Review: 

So, I am not a huge fan of Sci-Fi books, but Hunt the Stars was amazing! Such an easy, entertaining and well-written read! I loved the writing, the characters were very well-developed, there was some mystery element to it and of course, it had tension and romance (with some mild spice). This a great recipe for an excellent book!

The book follows Octavia a former war veteran who is currently a bounty hunter across a galaxy with her team. Octavia loves her job and her team, as well as enjoys being as far away from politics and talking about war as possible. However, General Torran Fletcher from Valovia asks her to take a special mission to catch a thief who stole his family's heirloom. He also offers an amazing sum of money for this mission, which makes Octavia very conflicted about whether she wants to work for an enemy…Yet she needs money desperately to keep her crew and ship going, thus she agrees to work with Torran and his team to find the missing heirloom. However, soon it becomes apparent that for this mission to succeed, both crews have to put their differences aside and work together.

I liked the setting of this book, especially the explanations of Valovians and how humans got into a war with them. It also explained quite well how humans became excellent at travelling through the galaxies and fighting in trans-galactic wars with human-like creatures. In my opinion premise of this book was good and it is a very solid foundation for a series, as I know there are two more books in this universe.

I also really enjoyed the characters. All of them seemed very well developed and added something to the book and plot. There wasn’t a character that wasn’t needed in this story. The friendships and relationships, as well as the development of both between the characters, were also very well thought out.

There was some romance and smut but it wasn’t at the forefront of the book, which was interesting and made the premise of the book, the mission, more entertaining but also intense and suspenseful. I enjoyed the tension and passion between Octavia and Torran…as it made the main mission so much more entertaining, yet scary, as I was rooting for both of them to make it out alive and finally be together…

Overall: I was very sceptical about reading this book, mainly because I am super picky about Sci-Fi books, but this book was just amazing! It had all the right ingredients for me to not only enjoy it but also love it! Honestly, I wish I read it sooner, and it is going to be in my top 10 books of 2023! I am definitely picking up the rest of the series because I need to know what happens next with Octavia and her crew, as well as Torran and his Valovian counterparts.

 

About the Author: 

Jessie Mihalik has a degree in Computer Science and a love of all things geeky. A software engineer by trade, Jessie now writes full-time from her home in Texas. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing co-op video games with her husband, trying out new board games, or reading books pulled from her overflowing bookshelves.

The Consortium Rebellion trilogy: Polaris Rising, Aurora Blazing, Chaos Reigning.

The Rogue Queen novellas: The Queen's Gambit, The Queen's Advantage, The Queen's Triumph.

https://www.jessiemihalik.com/

Matt Haig - How To Stop Time

Matt Haig - How To Stop Time 

4⭐

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Time Travel, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Pages: 345

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Canongate 

Date Published: 6th July 2017 

Huge thank you to Canongate for sending me a copy of this book and for inviting me to be a part of #CanongateReadalong on Instagram

Book Blurb: 

A love story across the ages – and for the ages – about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live

"The first rule is that you don't fall in love,' he said... 'There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love. No staying in love. No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be okay.'"

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history – performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.

So Tom moves back to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher – the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city's history first-hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him. But the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behaviour of the Society's watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past or finally begin living in the present.

How to Stop Time is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.

My Review: 

How to Stop Time has a very interesting premise and explores the meaning of life through someone who ages but doesn’t age as quickly as an average person. Very enjoyable writing and narrative, especially the alternating chapters that explore the main characters' lives throughout the last 400 years and now. Very original and interesting book!

The story follows Tom, who has this very rare condition that makes him age at a much slower rate than a normal person would age. Although he only looks like a forty-year-old, in reality, he is over 400 years old. Being alive since the late 1500s means that he needs to be constantly on the move, changing his identity. This also means that he can’t fall in love, connect with people, stay long in one place, or have a home or a family. Even though over the years he met famous people, travelled all over the world, saw the world change, and had loads of amazing adventures, he just wants to stop running and wants to have a quiet life. However, the secret society, Albatross Society, which looks after people like Tom is not convinced that Tom should have a simple human life but allows him to have a go for eight years. That’s when Tom goes back to London and starts working as a history teacher in one of the secondary schools. There he meets a beautiful French teacher who reminds him of the love of his life, but also recaps his memory that somewhere out there is his daughter that needs to be found and who Tom hasn’t seen for more than 300 years…

I loved the writing of this book, especially the beautiful inner monologues Tom has about life and what it means to him. He also explores the pros and cons of living for so long, including loss, grief, adventures, chance to see the change and history playing out in front of him. I liked how Tom compared places and societies together from different historical periods, highlighting similarities and differences in personalities, beliefs, traditions and cultures. The book itself explores the best and worst of life and displays to us that we should live for this moment and enjoy ourselves as much as we can because the world and we are constantly changing and that the time never stops no matter what.

This book was quite a slow burner and although I enjoyed this story, I hoped for more action and romance. Especially I hoped for more romance as the first rule of Tom’s was not to fall in love and this premise would have made a great forbidden love story together with things that are already explored in this book. I also think some of the chapters were unnecessary, especially one where Tom meets F Scott Fitzgerald or goes on a boat to Tahiti…These chapters didn’t add much to the overall story of this book.

Overall: It was my first Matt Haig book and I really enjoyed reading it. It was a book with a very unique and interesting concept, exploring the purpose of life from a very different perspective. The writing also is very good. My only downside of this book was the fact that there was an amazing opportunity and premise for exploring a forbidden romance but it was not taken. However, it is a very unique book and I would be definitely interested in reading other Matt Haig books to see whether I would enjoy those, too. 

About the Author:

Matt Haig is an author for children and adults. His memoir Reasons to Stay Alive was a number one bestseller, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children’s book A Boy Called Christmas was a runaway hit and is translated in over 40 languages. It is being made into a film starring Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent and The Guardian called it an ‘instant classic’. His novels for adults include  the award-winning How To Stop Time, The Radleys, The Humans and the number one bestseller The Midnight Library.He has sold over three million books worldwide.

http://www.matthaig.com/

Christian Cantrell - Scorpion

Christian Cantrell - Scorpion

4 ⭐

Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction, Mystery, Fiction. 

Pages: 392

Format: Paperback Review Copy

Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph 

Date Published: 14th April 2022 

A big thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph for gifting me a copy of this book to review and for having me on the blog/social media tour for this intriguing and exciting thriller. 

Book Blurb: 

Around the world, twenty-two people have been murdered. The victims fit no profile, the circumstances vary wildly, but one thing links them all: in every case, the victim is branded with a number.

With police around the globe floundering and unable to identify any pattern, let alone find a killer, CIA Analyst Quinn Mitchell is called in to investigate.

Before long, Quinn is on the trail of an ice-hearted assassin with seemingly limitless resources - but she's prepared for that.

What she isn't prepared for is the person pulling the strings...

My Review: 

I am a big fan of good science fiction and a good thriller but honestly, by blending both together Cantrell made a beautiful and intriguing read that got me hooked from the very first page.

In this near-future science fiction thriller, a prodigy CIA analyst Quinn Mitchell is tasked with a unique and rather disturbing assignment that not only takes her out of her office but also her comfort zone. Across different countries, 22 people are brutally murdered, however, none of them had anything in common apart from the 4 digits left on their bodies after the murder. As an analyst, Quinn uses the advances in technology to try and crack the algorithm of these digits, but she suspects that the murderer might be much smarter than to lead her straight to the answer…

I loved how Quinn was portrayed. Although her character is supposed to be this bright and super intelligent CIA analyst who is brilliant at her job, the author also shows her human side, her emotions and how she is trying to deal with a tragic personal loss. I strongly believe that this added so much realness to the book as the main character was so relatable, especially since the book is set in the near- future where technology and AI dominate nearly every aspect of a person's life.

I also loved that some of the other main characters are also portrayed as complex, with very difficult pasts, giving them a reason and a  'green light' to do what they are doing. However, I would have loved to know more about the motives that some of the characters had for the things they did and the choices they made. Oh, and definitely there were some characters that I would love to learn more about, especially their pasts (fingers crossed for a book two).

The pace of the book is quite fast but that’s why it grips you in and keeps you so intrigued. All of this is also well balanced with some quite exciting and some quite unexpected plot twists to keep you at the edge of your seat (which are hard to explain without spoiling the plot). It definitely did that to me!

For me (who’s not very tech and gadget savvy) some of the explanations of technology and the jargon of metaphysics were a bit too complicated to understand at times but I think it’s because this book is written by someone who knows all of that very well. This is the only thing that didn’t make this a 5-star read, even if I adored the plot.

Overall: This book hooked me in from the very first page and got me sitting at the edge of my seat until the very end. I would love to read more about these characters and find out whether what was done by Quinn and Ranveer actually made the future world a better place. Definitely recommend this book if you a fan of science fiction and thrillers as this book has it all… 

About the Author: 

Christian Cantrell - a software engineer living outside of Washington, D.C. His self-published fiction has sold more than a quarter of a million copies, and three of his stories have been optioned for film or TV. Beyond his writing, he leads a team of designers and engineers who prototype the future of creativity at Adobe. 

https://twitter.com/cantrell