Review: Grave Visions (Alex Craft #4) by Kalayna Price

4 stars for Grave Visions (Alex Craft book 4) by Kalayna Price.

An enjoyable, entertaining read that is worth the long wait of 3.5 years.

Grave Visions is a good story with snippets of interesting tidbits that help readers refresh their memories about the fae and faerie, that is, after discounting the one annoying character, the Winter Queen whose power and greatness I certainly do not see eye-to-eye on.

On the topic of Death.. ah... I never know Death, also known as the Grim Reaper or soul collector or what have you, can be one such mystical yet charming character until the Alex Craft series. Yes, I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of him in the next instalment.

Review: Still Alice by Lisa Genova

5 stars for Still Alice by Lisa Genova.

Still Alice is not your run-of-the-mill story that you read and then forget about. It is a poignant portrayal of Alzheimer's Disease, the most common cause of dementia, a disease irreversible and where no known cure exists, that may one day hit you or me.

As Alice's condition progressively deteriorates, readers are thrust into an increasingly fuzzy world where protagonist and readers all seems to amalgamate as audience of one looking inwards into Alice's world yet outwards into Alice's self.

A compelling read that has me crying so many times that I have lost count.

Review: The Ice Twins by S. K. Tremayne

2 stars for The Ice Twins by S. K. Tremayne.

I am Kirstie
I am Lydia

I am confident and loud
I am thoughtful and quiet

I lived
I died

Or did I?

Seriously, I do not like this story. The more I think about it, the lower I want to rate it.

I read The Ice Twins because the - above - blurb on the back of the hardcover is superbly written and deeply enticed me to read beyond that which is disclosed.

The tale starts off well with intriguing, captivating characters, especially the sad, troubled twin with a delusional case of identity. Equally creepy is the background setting of a place with no internet access and no cell phone coverage - the isolation is intense.

Unfortunately, I am disappointed at the end of it all. The first and third person narratives are all too disturbing and melancholy for my taste. To top it off, it is more the wife's story than the twins'. In my opinion, The Aloof Wife makes a better title.

Leap Year 2016

Leap year comes but once every four years.

Here's to wishing those whose birthday falls on this special 29th February with year divisible by the number 4.

*** Happy Birthday ***

Review: Kalahari (Corpus #3) by Jessica Khoury

4 stars for Kalahari (Corpus book 3) by Jessica Khoury.

In all its originality, this urban science fiction fantasy novel has a good beginning, a great plot and an ingenious wrap up.

Filled with rich, colourful imagery, the story not only transports me to the wildnerness of Botswana, into the arms of the Kalahari Desert, it also transforms me into Sarah, the first-person narrator of the thrill ride battle for survival.

With the roots of science fiction dipped generously in a theme of mystery and suspense complete with a wealth of factual information on the Kalahari Desert, this book is likely to appeal to a wide range of readers, young people and adults alike.

Review: The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel García Márquez

5 stars for The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel García Márquez.

The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor written by Colombian journalist/writer Gabriel García Márquez, is originally published in 1955 as a series of instalments that run for fourteen consecutive days in El Espectador newspaper. It is later published as a book in 1970 with the Spanish title Relato de un náufrago.

This book is a journalistic reconstruction of the events told in first person account from the viewpoint of 20-year old sailor, Luis Alejandro Velasco, who is lost at sea for 10 days on the Caribbean before being washed on a coast that he later discovers to be Colombia.

Though the story is relatively short and easy to read with 128 pages in print, the same cannot be said of its effect on my mind after reading.

The riveting account of the sailor's odyssey and ironclad will to survive, with nothing but boundless horizon, no one but sharks - that arrive punctually a little after 5pm each evening and vanish by nightfall - as companions, is so artfully narrated that the ten days of drifting in a life raft in the ocean is never for a moment monotonous but filled with the terrifying trepidation of what is to come.

Despite the author's claim that he did not want to publish this book, I am glad that it has been printed and even translated to English in 1986 and now, one of my favourite stories in the non-fiction genre.

Review: Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels #8) by Ilona Andrews

5 stars for Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels book 8) by Ilona Andrews.

It is always thrilling to see a writer - a husband-and-wife writing team in this case - gets better and better and Ilona Andrews is doing exactly that. Just when I thought I have the best Kate Daniels book to date, the author surprises me with yet another one that supersedes the previous.

Kate Daniels is Kate Daniels is Kate Daniels.

I experience a blissful sense of warmth spreading through my body simply by reading the Kate Daniels series. This warm feeling that comes and goes originates from the understanding that I have indeed come so far with this one-of-a-kind kick-ass heroine whose first person narrative and adventures are still going strong, if not better, despite the years.

Yea, I hope and wish, from the bottom of my heart, that this series will never ever go lights out.

Review: Letters to My Daughter's Killer by Cath Staincliffe

5 stars for Letters to My Daughter's Killer by Cath Staincliffe.

A simple yet complex story brilliantly woven and punctuated with heavy-duty words. Thoroughly engaging and emotionally exhausting, I read the book in one sitting and cannot get to sleep after I finish it.

Can we ever forgive those who have done us the greatest wrong? I do not think I can or ever will if the same happens to me.