July/August Reading Selections

This month's reading list is 2 months in one, because I am posting late in the month. The books included are the result of my finally getting a card at the local library and going wild with it. I now have access to Libby AND Hoopla! And Hoopla had Enchanted Ever After, a book that I had been struggling to get my hands on, so it's on the top of the list. After that there is a slew of other books I grabbed when I went to explore. A lot of them are graphic novels. No reason in particular - I just love graphic novels and they had a really good selection. ^.^

This is what my August reading list looks like:

Enchanted Ever After by Shanna Swendson
The Complete ElfQuest Volume 1 by Windy Pini
Star Trek: The Manga Volume 1: Shinsei/Shinsei by Chris Dows
Heartstopper Vol 1-4 by Alice Oseman
Check, Please! Book 1 & 2 by Ngozi Ukazu
Bloom by Kevin Panetta
Loving a Lost Lord by Mary Jo Putney
Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle
Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
The Bride was a Boy by Chii
Zodiac Starforce: By the Power of Astra by Kevin Panetta
Spinning by Tillie Walden

I actually got my library card at the very end of June, so there were two late June reads that will covered as well - both short stories in the Enchanted, Inc. series that I didn't even know existed until I found them whilst searching for EEA.

June Reads:
Paint the Town Red and Criminal Enchantment by Shanna Swendson

A Little Light Mischief

A Little Light Mischief (The Turners #3.5)
By  Cat Sebastian

ISBN: 9780062951045
144 Pages
Available in Paperback, Audiobook, and on Kindle

Synopsis:

A seductive thief

Lady’s maid Molly Wilkins is done with thieving—and cheating and stabbing and all the rest of it. She’s determined to keep her hands to herself, so she really shouldn’t be tempted to seduce her employer’s prim and proper companion, Alice. But how can she resist when Alice can’t seem to keep her eyes off Molly?

Finds her own heart

For the first time in her life, Alice Stapleton has absolutely nothing to do. The only thing that seems to occupy her thoughts is a lady’s maid with a sharp tongue and a beautiful mouth. Her determination to know Molly’s secrets has her behaving in ways she never imagined as she begins to fall for the impertinent woman.

Has been stolen

When an unwelcome specter from Alice’s past shows up unexpectedly at a house party, Molly volunteers to help the only way she knows how: with a little bit of mischief.

My Thoughts:

A Little Light Mischief is a much shorter addition to Cat Sebastian's The Turner's book series. Often referred to as book 3.5 in the series, this novella is the first to feature a F/F relationship, focusing on the previously introduced Molly Wilkins and her current mistress' young charge Alice Stapleton. This is the first F/F historical romance that I have read and it was interesting to see the differences in how these characters were handled.

The main character in A Little Light Mischief is Molly Wilkins, acquaintance of Jack and Georgie Turner from A Soldier's Scoundrel and The Lawrence Brown Affair. Like Georgie, Molly is a morally ambiguous, chaotic bi confidence artist. Or rather, a former confidence artist. Due to some life changing circumstances, Molly has secured legitimate work and is trying to live an honest life. Which most recently has brought her into the household of  Mrs. Wraxhall and into the life of Alice Stapleton, Wraxhall's ward.

Both Molly and Alice are depicted as feminine and innocent, each in their own way, and they are both likeable characters. Molly has had a rough life, has been taken advantage of, and came out of it more worldly, while Alice is more demure and naïve. Her naivete causes her to be slow to outwardly admit to her feelings for the ladies maid. Thus their relationship is very slow to develop. The couple only get physically intimate once in the entire book, and it does not go into the same illicit amount of detail as most of Sebastian's novels. This seems fitting given Alice's inexperience and upbringing, not to mention her trauma.

As typical with Sebastian's books, A Little Light Mischief offers a well thought out and developed non-romance side plot. For Molly, this revolves around a little secret that is kept in a house across town, and in the case of Alice, this involves family drama and betrayal. The story is surprisingly detailed for how short the book is overall. All in all, A Little Light Mischief was a good story and I found it to be a pleasant quick read, and a nice addition to the Turner-verse. 

Parent's Guide:

Probably not appropriate for any degree of youths. While being pretty vanilla when compared to the writer's other books, A Little Light Mischief is still adult in nature, with clear sexual situations. Definitely should be  18+

Persephone Plus

Persephone Plus
By  Stevie Rae Causey

ISBN: 9798742133803
67 Pages
Available in Paperback, on Audible, and on Kindle

Synopsis:

After a year of banishment in the modern world Persephone must convince Olympus that love comes in many forms.

Persephone and Aphrodite must settle an old rivalry regarding their shared lover, or forfeit them to the mortal realm forever in this LGBTQ+ romantic fantasy short story. As their time runs out and the Goddess of Love shows no sign of wavering, it is up to Persephone to find a way to save the mortal she loves, without hurting the immortal she married.

If you like old myths with modern twists and complicated romance, you'll love Persephone Plus.

My Thoughts:

Persephone Plus is a short story adaptation of the tale of the relationship dispute between Persephone, Adonis, and Aphrodite that is told in a modern high school setting. I listened to the audiobook version, which was just under 37 minutes long. It's definitely a quickie read, but I think it could have benefitted with a little more time to flesh out the story more.

The story is full of imagery and emotion, but lacking in exposition in some key areas. For starters, it felt like you jumped in mid-narrative. The way the characters are talking, you feel like you should know what is going on, but you don't. There is backstory about the characters being banished from Olympus that is never properly covered or elaborated on. As you listen, you start to figure out some of the intricacies of the existing relationships, but other parts remain unclear if you do not know the mythological history behind the characters.

Persephone Plus is marketed as a LGBTQ+ romantic fantasy, but I find that label to be slightly misleading. The main theme of the story is that of polyamorous relationships, which typically do not by default fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. The only LGBTQ+ aspect occurs in the form where, for whatever reason, the writer chose to have Adonis identify as they/them. Historically, there is no case for this. In fact, Adonis was very much male - so much that "adonis" has long been used as a term for extremely handsome men. It feels more like an attempt to emphasize the "wokeness" of the writer and shoehorn the book into a LGBTQ+ classification. If it was an original story with original characters, it would be less questionable, but to take well established characters and change something so drastic just makes little sense. 

If you are a mythology lover like me and are familiar with the lore behind the Adonis & Persephone story and maybe I am more critical because of this, then you will notice several other changes. Persephone Plus is clearly written to make Persephone out to be the champion, solver of problems, and a caring person, while painting Aphrodite as your typical vapid "mean girl". Whereas, in the mythos, Persephone was the one who stole Adonis. Aligning with this noticeable change in narrative is the fact that when the contract is settled Adonis chooses to split his year equally between Persephone and Aphrodite, whereas in the original story he chose Aphrodite and spent his remaining 4 months that were previously unallocated with her. 

It also seems like the story is written to lift up the concept of polyamorous relationships, when in truth it is a really bad example of polyamorous relationships because Persephone's decision is forced on Hades rather than being made with his consent. It also appears that Adonis has been trapped into making a decision and Aphrodite is being coerced to agree to something they clearly do not want. The reality is that Persephone Plus is trying to romanticize a toxic situation, but is not really succeeding. Overall, the substance is lacking, but the storytelling is creative. It makes for a okay short read if you want a fluff tale to waste some time. 

In regards to the narration: The audiobook is narrated by Brenda Scott Wlazlo. The narrator has a nice clear voice and she was capable at distinguishing between the characters and portraying believable emotion in the characters. The reading pace was decent and the storytelling was engaging enough to keep you interested in listening.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of Persephone Plus from StoryOrigin in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions stated are mine. The book is currently available available on Amazon.

Parent's Guide:

Persephone Plus is a tame tale and set in a relatable high school setting. There isn't a lot of exposition, so if the reader isn't familiar with Greek mythology they may get confused, but overall there isn't anything that is really inappropriate for pre-teen or teen readers. If your child likes mythology, they will probably enjoy this fresh and relatable perspective on an old tale.

Deep Space

  

Deep Space
By  Milo James Fowler

ASIN : B01N18E63I
83 Pages
Available on Audible and on Kindle

Synopsis:

Deep Space collects 7 short stories from the outer rim:

Live by the Ten, Die by the Gun
From Gaia to Proxima Centauri
Resurrection of the Hornet
Autonomic Zen and the Art of Destruction
From Scheol My Soulfire Burns
Dance by the Light of the Moon
Tomorrow’s Dawn

My Thoughts:

Deep Space is a collection of science fiction short stories that take place in space (obviously), exploring life on futuristic colonies and spacecrafts of all sorts. The seven stories range in length, with the first entry being the longest one, clocking in at just under an hour. Two other stories come close to thirty minutes each, and the remaining four are super short ~5 minute pieces. The entire book is only about two and a half hours long, so it is a good quick listen.

The stories in Deep Space are much more serious than those found in the Bartholomew Quasar title from Milo James Fowler, which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Those stories centered around more lighthearted events and the humorous actions of the crew, whereas the stories in Deep Space are more technical and the outcomes somewhat more severe. If you are a fan of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, or Defiance, then this is your kind of book.

As previously mentioned, the first selection in the book, Live by the Ten, Die by the Gun, is the feature of the collection. This hour long tale has a touch of space western and focuses on life on a post-apocalyptical style earth colony space station. Every colony has rule keepers, in the form of a judge and a sheriff, and a spiritual guardian in the form of a priest. This story has strong religious undertones -  their societal rules are formed by an adherence to "the ten", presumably a reference to the Christian concept of the ten commandments. The priest character had an air of mystery to him and possessed the potential to be very interesting and I would have loved to see his back story explored more, as well as the working/personal relationship between the Sherriff and the Judge. That is merely the failing of the short story format - sometimes there is more story to be told. This entry was my favorite in the set and I would happily read a more extended story in this universe.

The remaining stories were equally engaging. The second story, From Gaia to Proxima Centauri, is another long-ish one, clocking in at just over 26 minutes. Another tale of post-societal Earth, this story follows a robot whose sole mission is to direct a ship containing all the knowledge and history of Earth to a designated destination in space, and what happens along the way. The sixth entry (and the final lengthy one, at 34+ minutes), Dance by the Light of the Moon, caught me off guard with an elaborate tale of universe hopping and an ending that I did not expect at all.

In regards to the narration:  The audiobook is narrated by Don Wang. He has a good clear voice, but the reading occasionally seemed detached to me - at points flat and devoid of emotion, almost robotic. At other points it was perfectly fine, and even engaging, but to me it just lacked something sometimes. His reading pace was also a little slow, which added to the monotony. About half way into the first story I sped up the pace to 1.15 and it helped.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of Deep Space from the author, Milo James Fowler, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions stated are mine. The book is currently available available on Amazon.

Parent's Guide:

Deep Space doesn't have any bad language or adult themes. For younger readers, the primary shortcomings would be a lot of technical words and a touch of violence. Despite that, this book should be an acceptable read for advanced literacy teens who like things about space adventuring.

Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures

 

Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures (Captain's Log Book 2)
By  Milo James Fowler

ISBN: 9781541361386
167 Pages
Available in Paperback, Audiobook, and on Kindle

Synopsis:

Meet Captain Quasar, a cross between James T. Kirk and Dudley Do-Right - except in Quasar's case, things seldom ever go right....

Join Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude in this hilarious collection of short stories as they confront bands of nefarious space pirates, cantankerous bandits, exotic aliens, devious powers of persuasion, mysterious ghosts from the past, deep space identity crises, a runaway hyper-speed train, an insidious computer virus, and a villain with the fastest thumbs in the quadrant.

My Thoughts:

I'm just going to come out and say it - Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures  is a riot. When I started listening to this I did not know what to expect. Is it supposed to be comedy? I hope so. Because I found it hilarious. It's a little bit Star Trek and a little bit Star Wars, with some cheesy western thrown in for good measure. Are space westerns a thing? If not, they should be. Yeah, I know Firefly exists. But it's not quite a true space western.

When the book started playing (because I was listening to the audiobook), right away I noted that the writer has a thing for extremely long names. The captain is Bartholomew Quasar and his ship is the Effervescent Magnitude. Many of the planets have really long names too. It made me wonder if he was aiming for a target character count. I was worried that the book would become too wordy. But those concerns were alleviated really fast when the humor kicked in. The book is a collection of short stories, some of which are actually only a few lines long. And in the end, the name of the ship is quite fitting, and the story behind the captain's name is ridiculous, but not in a bad way. 

The synopsis for Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures describes Captain Quasar's character as a cross between James T. Kirk and Dudley Do-Right. While listening to these stories I definitely got the James Kirk vibe. But there was someone else, more prevalent, and I just could not place it. That is, until the first time I heard the description of his uniform jacket, and that's when it clicked in my mind. Quasar is about 40% Kirk and 60% Zap Brannigan. You know, from Futurama? He's got that obliviously arrogant womanizer persona nailed. Despite that, he is an extremely likable character.

The other characters are equally entertaining and likeable. Like Quasar, the first officer is another human - an Asian woman named Commander Won - who he likes to affectionately call "Number Won", much to her chagrin. She is the straight counterpoint to Quasar's insanity and it works so well. The third significant human crewman is Bill, the janitor turned bumbling Chief Engineer. While technically more of a background character, for some reason I thought he was hilarious. Maybe because my hubby is a comp tech named Bill... The final crewman of note is his helmsman, a large multiple armed sloth-like alien that is very much a throwback to the Wookie right hand man of Han Solo. 

The stories in Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures take place in a sector of space millions of miles from Earth and involve exploring, negotiating with sometimes hostile alien races, a touch of flirting, and a lot of goofy antics. Some stories may fall a bit flat, but most of them will make you laugh. If you are a fan of Firefly, Galaxy Quest, or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, then this book is right up your alley.

I do want to take a moment to address the narration - because as I said, I was listening to the audiobook. The audiobook is narrated by  E. M. Carberry, and his storytelling makes the book as much as the writing does. He has a unique voice that draws you in and makes you want to listen, which is key in audiobook narration. Oddly, at times it was a little reminiscent of George Takei. Maybe it was intentional because he was trying to give Won an accent, or maybe he didn't even realize it. I just noticed it because my brain was already in a Trek mindset. It just came out at the weirdest times and caught me off guard.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures from the author, Milo James Fowler, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions stated are mine. The book is currently available available on Amazon.

Parent's Guide:

Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures may have some minor adult themes, but really, most of it is written in a way that the worst stuff would go over the head of someone innocent - much like writing in modern sitcoms and family shows. I feel that this could be a safe and fun read for teens who like things about space adventuring.