Karabou Review

  Shiver  by Maggie Stiefvater was my attempted fourth read of the year. I've read The Raven Boys  and wanted to read something else from Stiefvater, so  Shiver  it was. This did not wind up being the right book for me.  This review was updated May 15th, 2023. Rating:    DNF Buy Shiver. Blurb from Amazon:  " For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever. " Review:  I had really hoped to enjoy this book, ...

A few days ago, I picked up a copy of  Night Sky with Exit Wounds  by Ocean Vuong. This time, rather than ordering a physical copy, I got an e-book copy because I was disinclined to wait for shipping and I thought I might get around to it faster. Given I started it the minute I put it on my e-reader and finished it within two days, I'd say that decision paid off. It was my third read of 2022 and arguably my favorite, thus far. (This review revision was completed April 15, 2023.) Rating:    4 /5 Buy Night Sky With Exit Wounds Here . Cover Blurb:  " In his haunting and fearless debut, Ocean Vuong walks a tightrope of historic and personal violences, creating an interrogation of the American body as a borderless space of both failure and triumph. At once vulnerable and redemptive, dreamlike and visceral, compassionate and unforgiving, these poems seek a myriad existence without forgetting the prerequisite of self-preservation in a world bent on extinguishing its ot...

  Several years ago, I spent a not-insignificant amount of time on a site called Wattpad . And that site, as you may have surmised, is where I found Seventh Born  by Monica Sanz. I had read only the first few chapters before this book was pulled down for publishing through Entangled Teen . Rather intrigued by what I'd already read, I bought a copy as soon as it became available. And then it sat on my shelf for the next few years, undisturbed and gathering dust as all TBR books are destined to do ... Rating: 2.5/5 Buy Seventh Born here . Blurb from Amazon: "Abomination. Curse. Murderer. All names hurled at eighteen-year-old Seraphina Dovetail. As the seventh-born daughter to a witch, she's the cause of her mother losing her powers and, in turn, her life. Abandoned as a child, Sera dreams of becoming an inspector and finding her family. To do that, she must be referred into the Advanced Studies Program at the Aetherium's Witchling Academy. Her birth order, quick temper, ...

  By the end of January, I was feeling really overwhelmed, exhausted, and out of sorts. So, I decided that I wanted a quicker, more lightweight read for my next book and I had hoped to find something a little more philosophical. Of course, I didn't have any such books in mind until one of my favorite vloggers recommended  Big Panda and Tiny Dragon by James Norbury. This became my fourth read of 2022*. Rating: 3.5/5 Buy Big Panda And Tiny Dragon . Amazon Blurb: "Big Panda and Tiny Dragon embark on a journey through the seasons of the year together. They get lost, as many of us do. But while lost, they discover many beautiful sights they'd never have found had they gone the right way. Told through a series of beautiful drawings and quiet, sometimes silly, conversations, the panda and the dragon explore the thoughts and emotions, hardships and happiness that connect us all. In nature, they learn how to live in the moment, how to be at peace with uncertainty, and how to find t...

  I received  The Darkest Part of the Forest  by Holly Black for my birthday in 2019. Since it’s been sitting on my shelf for some time and I’m generally a fan of Holly Black’s work, I decided it was going to be my weekend read a while back. Suffice to say, it didn’t wind up being that and I have very mixed feelings about this book. Rating: 3/5 Buy The Darkest Part of the Forest . Cover Blurb:  "Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin: that he is a prince and they are valiant knights. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake.  Until one day, he does .... Set in the same world as the bestselling Folk of the Air  series ( The Cruel Prince , The Wicked King , and The Queen of Nothing ), The Darkest Part of the Forest is Holly Black's triumphant ...

  Toward the end of February, I purchased an e-book copy of That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming because I was in a reading slump and many of the people in my reading network were touting it about as a really sweet, funny, cozy fantasy-romance book and that sounded like it might help me renew my interest in reading. Suffice to say, I probably should have done a bit more research before going into this one, because it definitely made my reading slump worse.  Per usual, I can't rate a book I didn't finish reading, but let's talk about the reasons I put it down.  Rating:   DNF The copy I have reviewed below is no longer available for purchase. Blurb from Amazon: " All I wanted to do was live my life in peace. Maybe get a cat, expand my spice farm. Really anything that doesn’t involve going on a quest where an orc might rip my face off.  But they say the Goddess has favorites. If so, I’m clearly not one of them. After saving the demon Fallon i...

  Before beginning this review in earnest, it should be noted that I have never read  Jane Eyre . I watched part of one of the film adaptions, which came recommended as a decent historical romance film. I ceased my viewing experience, however, upon the reveal of the woman in the attic. At that point my perception of the film shifted from adequate-period-romance film, to ' Oh, it's a horror movie; I somehow missed that. ' And that's precisely when my interest in this book bloomed. Rating: 3.75/5 Buy Wide Sargasso Sea Here . Cover Blurb:  " Wide Sargasso Sea , a masterpiece of modern fiction, was Jean Rhys' return to the literary center stage. She had a startling early career and was known for her extraordinary prose and haunting women characters. With  Wide Sargasso Sea ,   her last and best-selling novel, she ingeniously brings into light one of fiction's most fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre . This mes...

  Returning so many months later to review this book has been a strange experience. By the time I finished All the Light We Cannot See  by Anthony Doerr, I found that I needed to sit with it for a while—let it steep—before I could discuss it in any meaningful way. Anyway, I read  All the Light We Cannot See  in February, 2021, and my period of processing has finally reached an end (This review was written on December 12, 2021. This revision was completed on April 24, 2023.).  Rating:   4.5/5 Buy All the Light We Cannot See . Blurb from goodreads: "Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows ...