Book Review: Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, Lauren Myracle

This book was sponsored by Starbucks. Also Wafflehouse.

The worst blizzard for fifty years.
Three wintry love stories.
One magical night.

It's Christmas Eve and Gracetown has been buried by snow. But the weather is more than just an inconvenience. When one girl unexpectedly steps off a stranded train, she sets off a series of life-changing events.

Soon fourteen pumped-up cheerleaders will descend on the local Waffle House, the Duke's DVD night will be rudely interrupted for a Twister mission, and a lovesick barista will determine the fate of a single teacup pig …

As the three stories collide, strangers cross paths and romance blossoms with heart-warming consequences.

This is a series of interlocking story, taking from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. This is in America, so there do not use the term Boxing Day. This book was written in a time before everyone has smartphones but they all had iPods. My iPod Touch still lives, in my car with the on/off buttons stuck down and he battery is non-existed. This book is dated in more significant ways.

The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson: 4/5 stars for Train Escapes. There's a bit of girl hate in this one, Jubilee hates on Cheerleaders for no reason. It's actually the motivating factor to do something two times in the story. The romance was decent, it was also dealt with being in a bad relationship. A big thing is made of the character's name, which is Jubilee. There are worst X-men to share a name with. I usually love Maureen Johnson's writing but this was a bit of disappointment.

A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green: The girl hate continues in Duke whose not like other girls, because she's one of the guys. This is so 00s that I can't be that mad at it. This story is dated in itself and less on technology. James Bonds films will probably always be a thing. Once, again the cheerleaders are motivation in here. In a bad nash race to get to the Waffle House, because they've called three groups and gonna lock the door in weather that is definitely bad enough for someone to freeze to death after the first one makes it. Risking their lives for girls not at all interested and asinine friend. I just read a whole John Green novel and his characters are very similar but worst in this. 2.5 stars for Carla's Death.

The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle: This involves a teacup pig. Funfact: Teacup pigs do not exist. They are a lie and grow to be big giant pigs that will eat you if you fall unconscious in their presence. The girl hate is less in this story, almost apologetic to the rest of it. You're only a ho if you cheat on your boyfriend in public Starbucks. There is meant to be some sort of lesson to be self-involved but comes out of nowhere. Sure, maybe she is (other reviewers pick this up), but it's more she needs to let go of the fantasy, and learn better communication skills. Also don't make out with creeps, cheating on your boyfriend, just because they are momentarily nice to you. 3/5 for a Normal-sized Pigs.

I listened to the audiobook that has individual voice actors for each other story. They were all good, the only thing is that I had to change the reading speed, which was odd in the middle of the book to do.

Overall, I gave this book 3/5 stars for Not Enough Snow. I kept waiting for the cheerleaders to connect up, for one of them to be POV character, but in the end, it was Starbucks girl whose best friend gets eaten by a pig. I think the girl-hate could have been forgiven if the Cheerleaders were actually humanised, instead of ways to move the plot on.

Book Review: Snow in Love by Melissa De La Cruz, Nic Stone, Aimme Friedman and Kasie West

Christmas isn't Christmas unless you get stuck in Snow.

What's better than one deliviously cozy, swoon-worthy Holiday Story?

Four of them, from some of today's bestselling authors.

So going on Goodreads I found out that half of this books was in another book, so they've replace two stories with more current authors and renamed it. The other book is from 2009 so it is probably out of print and knowing that worse stories were written in 2000s makes sense.

Snow and Mistletoe by Kasie West: A girl ends up stranded at Airport due to snow so gets in a car with a much of randoms of from her old high school to get home, where no ones knows she even in the country. Roadtrip. This was cute, talks about growth and ending possible careers for yourself. I get the feeling everything is meant to be fine at the end of this story, but I'm not sure it is. 4/5 stars for Wasted Italian.

Working in a Winter Wonderland by Aimee Friedman: A Jewish girl a job at Christmas to combat Boredom of while her friends are away celebrating Christmas and so that she can buy a dress for a party, to impress a boy. Hanukkah is briefly in this story but after night 2, it's a skip ahead. These are College age character which is fun. It's also another Christmas in New York story. This was a fun game of spot the love interest, because it literally could have been anyone till the last 10 percent in. I like it but it's on the Hallmark level of okay, it's Christmas/Chanukkah. 3/5 stars for Exlambet Costumes.

The Magi's Gift (A.K.A. The Christmas Choos) by Melissa de la Cruz: This was the worst story. I actually DNF it 20 pages in and I went back just to read it. 40 pages and tanks the rating of the book by whole Stars. I wanted to slap all the characters. All of them. I Know it's a retelling of classic story but this was the worst one I've came across of it. This story involves someone selling a family heirloom without consulting her family for her boyfriend. The only thing of her Grandma's they have. Right before she goes off to sell this dress that she has no idea the value of, it's revealed that she has a little sister. Basically, this dress is in no way shape hers to sell. This girl also has 45 dollars to spend on her boyfriend but that's not enough in 2006 to buy him a fake leather jacket. Actually, in 2006 she might have been able to buy a real leather jack for that price if went to right place. Go to the poor people's mall. Maybe she has less than ten dollar I could buy she couldn't find anything but $45 is enough for something. I haven't read the original but it doesn't work when the two people still can use the objects they are given and one of them definitely had money for a gift. This isn't a tale about it's the spirit of giving that matters, it's tale of if it ain't designer then it worth shit. The fact that this was originally named after designer shoes says everything about how materialistic it is. I think it was meant to be the opposite of that but fails majorly. Why go into stores you know can't afford? Why hang out with shitty rich people? 1/5 stars for Broken up by next Christmas.

Grounded by Nic Stone: Now time for the story that I brought this book for (it also was a group read for a readathon but wouldn't brought it didn't have a Queer story in it). This is about scavenger hunt/Hide and Seek in the Airport, while questioning your feeling towards the first girl who made feel that certain way. It made me feel like I have been stuck in Atlantic Airport, I haven't been there. The story also talks about how being a minority isn't solved by being rich, which dur is true. Privilege is stacked system, yes being rich is a privilege but doesn't change the colour of skin or cultural background. Rich, White, male and never touched a poor person is still the ideal we stuck with. Let's move away from how messed up Society is. A lot of it's text messages and my only criticism is that it could have been clear who Leigh was texting any given time. I could figure it from context, but maybe second of 'what?' sometimes. Also this has some Hanukkah/Jewish representation with Leigh having Jewish Grandma and being annoyed that she doesn't get to spend her Christmas break with her. This is a fun Christmas story, wraps up perfectly but this Christmas so that's what we want. 5/5 stars for Girl Love in Airport.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Snow in Airports. The avenge is 3.25/5 stars, without Magi one it would have been 4 and I probably would have gave it that with out the maths. Most of these are nice Christmas time stories which would perfect in your in the mood for some Christmas, even if it slight silly sometimes. Like I said that one story was only 40 pages so it's up to if 210 pages is worth the money. Maybe you're library will happen to have it, then of course it worth checking out. This was my first time reading any of these authors. Some of it will definitely the last, others I brought one of their books after reading their story. It was alright, anthology are always a risk.

Bonus this info for that other book.

Mistletoe by Hailey Abbott,  Melissa de la Cruz, Aimee Friedman, Nina Malkin

Glittering white snowflakes. The handsome blond ski instructor. The sparkle on a cashmere skirt. Hot cocoa and kisses in front of a crackling fire.

I just wanted to show that you that awkward couple kissing. The girl is going for it but I don't think the guy knows what is happening.

Book Review: Under my Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, edited by Jonathan Strahan

Who doesn't love witches?

The tingle begins, the green fire rises inside her. She Smiles again, staring at the doorway, and waits...

Enjoy this inventive and quick-witted collection of witch stories by some of our most loved fantasy authors writing today. Young witches, old witches, kind witches, mean witches, witches' dogs, witches' curses. They are all here, in their diversity and richness, lurking amongst the pages of this treasury, just waiting to be set free to allow their magic to fill your imagination.

What's in it: Spider Silk, Eye of Newt, Black Moss, Snake Venom 

A short stories about witches, what could go wrong?

Intro by Jonathan Strahan: Strahan quoted from Wikipedia and does it wrong, as the internet changes you have to have the date. He also refers to Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty as being a witch when she a fairy. They might be few version where she a witch, but in the Disney version she an Evil Fairy. These are basic facts.

Stray Magic by Diana Peterfreund: A special dog appears at the pound. Interesting concept. Almost feels like the start of a novel. 4/5 stars for cheesy names.

Payment Due by Frances Hardinge: This one was interesting too. A teen girl gets revenge on a bailiff. 3/5 stars for Body Swaps.

A Handful of Ashes by Garth Nix: This features a Oxford like witch and wizard university so it has colleges within it. Snobish and evil bullies so fun. Well, thought out world, my brief research it doesn't appear to be an extension of another word. 4/5 stars for Radish Girls.

Little Gods by Holly Black: A baby Wiccan goes to her first covens gathering and big ceremony. Religion and wanting magic. This is was okay, kinda bland next to the previous ones. 3/5 stars for alcohol offerings.

Barrio Girls by Charles de Lint: Barrio girls are obsessed with Twilight/Vampire Diary clone and they come across a Vampire Witch. I liked the writing style of this book and the idea. 4/5 stars for Moonstream Merch.

Felidis by Tanith Lee: A guy wandering about in the woods, ends up lying and living with cat lady. This was old fashion thing, the idea was alright. Kinda sad.  3/5 stars for velvet skin.

Witch Work by Neil Gaiman: This is a poem. A poem about a witch by the sea. It's fine, not got many opinions about poems. 3/5 stars for silk cords.

The Education of a Witch by Ellen Klages: Once again Maleficent is called a witch when she not. She a fairy, mistress of all evil. Also I just don't think its that weird for a kid to like Maleficent. The fairies are the only actual characters in that film. This story has chapters in it and then nothing happens. There's all this build up for nothing. A five year is negated by her parents so she only starts to do bad things by the end 1/5 stars for bad puppets.

The Threefold World by Ellen Kushner: Elias Lönnrot is a real Finnish Historican figure and a witch according to this story. Okay... 3/5 stars for unwanted wares.

The Witch in the Wood by Delia Sherman: This writer is married to the writer before her story, which is kinda cute that they next to each other. So actual story is a girl coming across a deer and falling in love with said deer. The writing style worked for this type of story. 4/5 stars for Bad Deals.

Which Witch by Patricia A McKillip: This involves a musical band of witches with two violin players and murders of Crows. Something random happens. Better short film than short story. 3/5 stars for crow feathers.

 The Carved Forest by Tim Pratt: A fourteen year old girl decides to run away the day before Thanksgiving, so her brother follows her to the local witch house. 3/5 stars for Rootless Trees.

Burning Castles by M Rickert: This is the question of magic, unlike most of the other stories. The style was okay. 3/5 stars for tree earrings.

The Stone Witch by Isobelle Carmody: You're on Air plane and then you're on a quest for an egg. Also addressing making life discussion without realising. 4/5 stars for Hipster Demons.

Andersen's Witch by Jane Yolen: This is about Hans Christian Andersen, who made a deal with an Ice Maiden for three wishes. Karen Marie is referred as both his step and half-sister, and is obviously a sex worker in this story. Brief search says there no evidence of this, nor is it necessary. Yolen also equals marriage as love and that children love Hans Christian Andersen. Not really, they love Disney. Andersen's just seems a bit of dick going off his work. Disney too like that narrative considering in the Little Mermaid Cartoon series, he meets Ariel (pre-legs) and then writes a story in which she has her tongue cut out and has no soul, then dies. This story becomes more problematic with the bio-note that says the Yolen is refer to as the American Hans Christian Andersen so the ending is quite vain. Odd anyway. Basically, the Ice Queen definitely wins now. 1/5 stars for Gentlemen Callers or Stock Legs.
 
B is for Bigfoot by Jim Butcher: This is part of the The Dresden Files series, you don't need to know the series, it works without that knowledge. Though, I did watch the TV series, didn't recognize from that though. He's a wizard who also a PI. 4/5 stars for Ice Buckets.

Great-Grandmother in the Cellar by Peter S Beagle: Women either have bad taste in men or are weird not witches demon things. Those parts of the story ain't great. Kinda interesting otherwise. He wrote the Last Unicorn, book and film. HM... 3/5 stars for Witch Boys.
 
Crow and Caper, Caper and Crow by Margo Lanagan: A grandmother goes to bless their grand daughter. 4/5 stars for walnut-shell ships.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for leaking cauldrons. These were mostly good, some were not about witches or magic users so disappointing. If you like witches, it worth checking out.

Book Review: Unnatural Creatures, stories chosen by Neil Gaiman

Such cute monster on the this cover.
 

THE SUNBIRD

THE MANTICORE

THE WEREWOLF

THE GRIFFIN

Welcome to a menagerie unlike any other, where stories let AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL and occasionally TERRIFYING creatures roam free in your mind.

This is Neil Gaiman's selection of his favourite stories featuring beasts from myth, fable and imagination. Creatures extraordinary, exotic, extinct, living, dead and undead prowl the pages of this book.

BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL IF YOU INSIST ON OPENING IT. 

This is quite a long anthology, but it also contains a few re-publish stories but it writers that audiences are unlikely to be familiar with due to a lot of them being dead or just real old. The illustrations that each story has are pretty good and the formating works well.

Intro by Neil Gaiman, 5/5 stars for being a introduction.

1.
by Gahan Wilson: This was a fun creepy idea, where a stain antagonizes rich people. There's more to the story but I'm not explaining it (well). The way its incorporated into the actual text is cool. 4/5 Stars for poor butlers.


2.The Cartographer Wasps and The Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu: This one was weird, but also great. It's like a politician fable with insects . 4/5 stars for short lives of Bees.

3.The Griffin and The Minor Canon by Frank R.Stockton: This is a story says to be a bad person. Unless people treat you terrible. This writer is dead and this story must have appeared somewhere.   4/5 stars for Tiny Griffins.

4.Ozioma The Wicked by Nnedi Okorafor: A young Nigerian girl can speak to snakes and her community hate her for it until she usefully. 4/5 stars for Brest like waves.

5. Sunbird by Neil Gaiman: This reminds me of that the ep of Angel with the werewolf. It doesn't have a werewolf in it. A society of trying rare foods go after the last thing they haven't tried. 4/5 stars for two feathers.

6. The Sage of Theare by Diana Wynne Jones: This is another story by a dead writer and has character that appears in other works. The creature is an water dragon or something. Is a god a creature? This is a saga of short story, it was good. 4/5 stars for steaming gods.

7. Gabriel - Ernest by Saki: I think this is a story I've read before, but I thought the ending was different. Maybe Mandela effect or I've combined in my head with something else. If anyone wants to tell me what "He had suffered bittern in his study" means, feel free. This is a werewolf story which would have been a spoiler is wasn't so obvious what it was to a modern reader. 4/5 stars for missing sheep.

8. The Cockatoucan by E. Nesbit:I own a collection of Nesbit's stories, mainly because I liked her name and it has a skull on the cover. This is basically Alice in Underland nonsense. Basically, random magic and skinny people are bitter. 4/5 stars for missed omnibuses.

9. Moveable Beast by Maria Dahvana Headley: I liked this story. Set in somewhere in America I guess, called Bastardville so fun. The "villain" is immediately unlikable. Because if someone asked for you to smile (and they're not taking a picture) they're a dick. Also Scottish connection which is fun and fitting. 4/5 stars for Ice Cream insults.

10.The Flight of The Horse by Larry Niven: This involves time travelling to find a horse with a twist so fun. Also another dead writer. 3/5 stars for made gems.

11.Prismatica by Samuel R. Delaney: This your usual quest story, with trickster and princesses. It was long enough to have chapters. There's also a unicorn and a thing in a box. 3/5 stars for my nearest and dearest friends.

12.The Manticore, The Mermaid, and Me by Megan Kurashige: This one is weird. We're back to stories that were written for this book, which two stories ago but feels long. This plays with known hoaxes or are they hoaxes. I would have liked better description of the creatures. The idea was cool. 4/5 stars for museum pass.

13.The Compleat Werewolf by Anthony Boucher: This is 80 pages long and some what mature. It was clearly written for an adult audience, not that really matters since this is YA aimed anthology. It just weird having a protagonist that is a hairy German Professor, obsessing over an ex-student. The earliest publication date I can find for this is1969, though I wonder if it was earlier than (that cause it was 1942). 4/5 stars for Communist Allegory.

14.The Smile on the Face by Nalo Hopkinson: This involves trees and negative body image. I wasn't aware of the myth this was based on, which is cool. 4/5 stars for cherry pits. (TW: Sexual Assault).

15.Or All the Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson: Beware of bicycles. This was a cool idea from 1958. 4/5 stars for pins.

16.Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle: The Last Unicorn writer brings us a story about death, so fun. Also a party. I like the idea, but it's can 4/5 stars for bad wine.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for monster encounters. I like the diversity with the writers and the creatures they bring with them. Out of the 16 story, only 2 were unique to this collection, but it does show a big variety for authors to discover that older and were my first time reading them most of them so I get the effect to show older work to a younger generation. It was a pretty cool collection, with solid stories. I would recommend if like monsters and short stories or if you want to discover some new, old writers to check out.

Book Review: I'll Be Home for Christmas by Various

My recent interaction with the Homeless was two of men swearing people out. Ar...Scotland.

The UK’s top Young Adult authors join together in this collection of new stories and poems on the theme of home.

Contributors include: Tom Becker, Holly Bourne, Sita Brahmachari, Kevin Brooks, Melvin Burgess, Katy Cannon , Cat Clarke, Juno Dawson, Julie Mayhew, Non Pratt, Marcus Sedgwick, Lisa Williamson and Benjamin Zephaniah.

£1 from the sale of every book will be donated to Crisis, the national homelessness charity. To find out more about Crisis, see www.crisis.org.uk

Before reading this book I was concerned that this would be an anthology where the stories didn't match at all with each other. Christmas,  Home and Homeless are the themes I'm guessing the writer were given. This book does contains some writers I really like, one I studied in school and one I have yet to find anything likable about. I wasn't going to request this book, until I realise Cat Clarke was in it and I must read everything she ever published.

Home and Away by Benjamin Zephaniah: This a poem and despite being taught several times how to citizens and write poems I don't feel confident on the matter,  but I still have a  jotter full of Face's quote. It's about how you could become homeless.

Ghosts of Christmas Past by Non Pratt: There are no actual ghosts and this is just a standard contemporary Sam is dealing with now living with his Nan and being awkward with girls. 4/5 stars for Tree Cravings.

If Only in my Dreams by Marcus Sedgwick: returning to the tradition of horror at Christmas and Space. Bit of a cliché plot. Also Also the British don't care about American poems about Christmas. It's written well as always by Sedgwick. 4/5 stars for darkness dreams.

Family You Choose by Cat Clarke: Queer fun. With a character that doesn't speak.  Very nice. Unusual Christmas dinner. Hinting at bigger life. Birthday blues. 5/5 stars for silent cake.

 The Associates by Kevin Brooks: The day in the life of two Homeless men who mainly hassle people. I don't know if I'm missing the point or if Brooks is missing the mark in trying to humanise homelessness. I think this story needs to be fleshed out a bit more, especially as for a day in life, big gaps are hinting at being missing.  Also have no clue by what is meant by the title. 3/5 stars for cliché needles.

The Afterschool Club by Holly Bourne: Rich Boy, Poor Girl, spending time together to avoid going home and do their homework together. I liked the characters in this one and the writing, as well the hinting at the deep issues at play as well as the ones on the surface. 4/5 stars for Coat swapping.

Homo for Christmas by Juno Dawson: The lesson in this story is to use private mode. We also have another uni age character dealing with their sexuality similar to Cat Clarke's story. These two fit together at least, but these one did feel a little more mature than the ones before it.  5/5 stars for Skinful.

Amir and George by Sita Brahmachari: This story deals with the series and current topic of refugee. Its also write in the style of someone whose not good at English (as though it was foreign language to them) which was interesting stab at realism. 5/5 stars for found lemons.

The Letter by Tracy Darnton: Darnton won a contest to be included in this book.
This doesn’t feel like a short story and more like the start up of a novel as the eventful stuff has either happened or about to happen.There's interesting story there, but this glimpse into Amber's life is a small catalyst that hints at several possibility. Though, I can tell from this that Darnton is a skilled writer. 4/5 stars for Bowling shoes.

Claws by Tom Becker: Everything I have ever read before by Becker has been insultingly terrible, at least this was just insulting, but I feel like that Becker liked the title of Claws and was gonna force that to make sense. It was alright, its the "someone does something stupid" version of horror therefore you don't care about the main character which is unsuccessfully. 2/5 stars for fishhooks ribbons. 
 
Christmas, Take Two by Katy Cannon: Heather is being forced to spend Christmas with her Father's new shorty and her monstrous children. Its mostly be grateful and its Christmas so be happy that no one takes you into account when making important decisions, learned all from a romantic encounter. 3/5 stars for forced stockings.
 
When Daddy Comes Home by Melvin Burgess: Nothing says Christmas like a dystopia of Politic Corruption. Interesting in that it comes in the form of a monologue. 4/5 stars for Christmas Tricks.

The Bluebird by Julie Mayhew: A modern fairy tale told in the form of a fairy tale, but modern setting. I enjoy writing confusing sentences. Parents holding their kids captive and a romance that might be a lot more alarming than its meant to be. 3/5 stars for burning chips.
 
Routes and Wings by Lisa Williamson: I really liked this one and does a good job of humanizing Homelessness. 5/5 stars for Bus Fare.

Overall, I give this 4/5 stars for multiple themes. Okay, I get why this book was done and that it for a good cause, but in terms of a coherent anthology most of the stories don't go together. Some of them fit and there could all be sketched to have a theme of home, or at least have the setting of Christmas. I'm probably just way over thinking of this, especially as I'm someone who reads all these genres about the same (except Poetry) within YA. I would recommend this if you're a general YA lover. 

I got this book off Netgalley for review and it is published by Stripes Publishing.

Haunted: Anthology by Various

Not all of these stories have ghosts.

No Summary was given with this book. Spooky.

I found this random Anthology in the library. Yes, it was in the kids section but as always that is not a excuse for the level of bad in these the stories. Most of these authors are unknown to me and none of the stories have made me motivated to go out to find more about the authors I wasn't already aware of before. As always I have review each stories, though this time I didn't review each one straight after listening.

The Castle Ghosts by Joseph Delaney - Spooky castle I saw the ending coming for miles. 3/5 stars for mysterious contents.

The Caretakers by Susan Cooper - This story was ruined for me straight off the bat by the protagonist describing her brother James as "not being autistic but something that has no name". He's autistic. Unless you actually going to give a diagnosis of something else then don't bring up the fact that the character with clearly autistic traits is not autistic. Maybe because an autistic person will be listening to the audio book adaptation of your story and be done with your shit. I don't really rate much besides the 'not autistic thing'. It's yourstandard creepy haunted house/island story. The title doesn't work, it's just a straight up misdirect and think this would have been more interesting from James POV instead of someone with no character traits at all. 2/5 stars for Lake screaming. 1/5 stars for Ableism.

 Good Boy by Mal Peet -  I liked this one. It's  not obvious in execution and creepy concept that would be terrifying. 4/5 stars for dog paws.

The Blood Line by Jamila Gavin - This story contains two actual creepy things: Mirrors and Work houses. Except has really complicated and convoluted way of getting the main character into the story and distracts from everything else. This story could worked, but didn't for me. 3/5 stars for monkey thief.

The Ghost in the Machine by  Eleanor Updale - This one really works as an audio book (story?), though I was promised pictures. I did actually think something had went wrong with my phone when this came on, like it was really weird virus I was listening to while in Waterstones. I also actually felt for the character in this one as well. 4/5 stars for high-tech ghosts.

Songs the Dead Sing by Derek Landy -This is a lot of darker than the other stories (except maybe the first one) in that involves Cult Murder and appropriately I was listening to it while trying to find the toilet in an old building  4/5 stars for lying leaders.

The Beach Hut by Robin Jarvis - This one was okay, it tried, but felt rather cope outy, probably due to this being aimed at kids and adults like to think  kids can't handle the extreme. I found the main ghost in this to be too annoying to deal with and therefore that end the ghostly experience there for me. 2.5 stars for mouthfuls of sea water. Also the voice actor is really whinny sounding.

The Praying Down of Vaughan Darkness by Sam Llewellyn - The framing of this story is unnecessary and doesn't stick to it well. There's a good idea in here but is not done well. 3/5 stars for cheesy breath. 

The Ghost Walk by Matt Haig - This story takes a lot of clichés and doesn't do much with them. Not at all creepy and an bad attempt to tell the Hitchhiker ghost story. What happens in this story could just be someone messing with them. 2/5 stars for pointless umbrella. 

The Ghost Wood by Philip Reeve - Meh. Another featuring dreaming about dogs. 3/5 stars for wood stones. 

The Little Ship's Boy by Berlie Doherty - Dumb and obvious. 1/5 stars for drowning. 

Overall, I give this 3/5 stars for dog clichés. I don't know if the writers were given prompts for this, but the similarity between these stories actually made the worse ones worst. There were some decent stories in here; the majority were just meh. The voice actors varied from good to terrible. I wouldn't recommend this book as a whole but there are some decent stories buried here. A library pick up sort of book.

Book Review: My True Love Gave to Me. Edited by Stephanie Perkins

I hate Romance, but love short stories.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays.

This is an anthology of romance stories. I'm not big on the romance, but I like short stories. Most of the stories didn't fall in the tropes area, so this book certainly doesn't fall in the annoying area of YA Romances. There are illustrations at the start of each story that I liked and I also the font used in the corner is pretty looking. 

Midnight by Rainbow Rowell: This story tells the tale of several New Year almost Midnight; hence the title. This is a friend romance. It was nice I like the flash back to the couple's meeting and the grimace of their relationship every New Year after that till the start of the story. 4/5 stars for Chex Mix.

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: This a magic story which raises questions and gives you no answers. This is instant love where the couple only say a few sentences to each other and then it's risk your life time. I liked their interactions, I just do not get the bit where the romance came in. There's more going on with the other love interest. It took me half way through the story to pin-point what time period we were in, so therefore timeless? Well, as long Skype and Tonys are a thing. I give this tale 3/5 stars for pine needles. I would have liked it better if the ending went a darker turn. 

Angels In The Snow by Matt de la Peña: Snowed in and staving at Christmas. This book features such fun as grief and college. Its told from a boy's point of view, which chaptery bits. I liked the style,  Takes place during the immediate days to Christmas and Christmas Day. 4/5 stars for muffins.

Polaris Is Where You’ll Find Me by Jenny Han: This was an interesting idea, though basically the film Santa Claus if you developed the idea and killed off Mrs Claus and the street hoodlum. Also add elves from the Lord of the Rings, because they be hot.  Okay, they really only share the concept of Santa adopting a kid and living at the North Pole with them. This was more the issue of growing up at the North Pole the only one of breed e.g. not an elf or Santa (I hate when people say magical beings ain't human when that's so not how genetics work. It's as dumb as racism because races ain't really a thing in biology, but one is obviously a more serious issue than the other). The ending was a little underwhelming, there was more there and this is one of the shorter stories (14 pages). 2/5 stars for Tall Elves.

It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins: A girl hears a voice in a parking lot then follows that voice to forest of Christmas tree. This story does not involve magic, despite me clearly giving a misleading description. This was favourite story so far. It was sweet and very real. The characters have witty banter with each other. 5/5 stars for Scattered boxes.

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan: Levithan can always be grantee to bring the gay. I mean heteronormative makes everything so boring and this is the only one of these stories that isn't. A boy is convinced to pretended to be Santa for his boyfriend's 6 year old sister who flirts with teenagers for attention...why the word flirt? Charm has least disturbing connotations when referring to a child. 4/5 stars for disarranged stockings.

Krampuslauf by Holly Black: This was really a romance story, but I don't care. It has a nice friendships and magic. I also enjoyed the fake break-up. 3/5 for mysterious liquids.

What The Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman: WHY IS MICK JAGER CONSIDER SEXY? He wasn't that hot when he was young. This story takes place on the last night of Hanukkah, which by pure coincidence is when I read this story (though just as we were only 2 hours in and it was more the night of the 13th). I think this story also takes place on Christmas Eve (24th), due to clues in the book and that was when Hanukkah was last year. This is a story about two outsiders at university bonding over Ned Flanders. I like how the girl was swept up with all her mistakes. 4/5 stars for Glass candles.

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire: Male protagonist blows up pigeons and burns down part of a church. Depressing issues that just overshadow by a romance I don't care about. Actually, just straight up depressing, with a sappy ending.  2/5 stars for prostitute angels.

Welcome To Christmas, CA by Kiersten White: This a sweet story about food and what is a home. It also feels like a balanced story. The main character, Maria has issues outside the romance that are dealt with, instead of just being characterisation. Also this story also involves non-romantic love which is surprisingly not explored enough.  5/5 stars for lawn chairs.
 
Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter: That was basically terrible and highly farfetch. The more interesting story is the girl who goes to New York. I want to know what the hell happen in Iceland. There's potential, but most of the story is wanting to know why Linda is hiding. The rest is just corny mush. 1/5 for corruption. 

The Girl Who Woke The Dreamer by Laini Taylor: This is slightly different but also not at all. Its the only fantasy story in book, but fits fine in my opinion with the other magical story that are in here. The main character Neve is a terrible situation and magic comes to the rescue or something like that. 4/5 stars dead flowers.

Overall, I give this book four out of five stars for . I enjoyed the majority of these stories, there's only one or two that really let the book down. A lot these stories have weird underling issues that just didn't fit in with the stories they were telling. There's some decentish diversity (as in more than one of the main characters are clearly a minority in America). Even as someone who not all about the romances in books, the characters are complex in their brief glances. Would definitely recommend for this seasonal.

I got this book for review off NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Books. I also own it and used having to do a review on it to trick me into reading it now, instead of the Summer of 2017.

Book Review: Love Hurts, edited by Malorie Blackman

 I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.

Malorie Blackman brings together the best teen writers of today in a stunningly romantic collection about love against the odds. Featuring short stories and extracts about modern star-crossed lovers from stars such as Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak and Patrick Ness, and with a brand-new story from Malorie Blackman herself, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak.

This is a book of is mix of short stories and extracts from YA books which is just really disappointing. There is actually seven short stories, next to the 17 extracts. Of course, only 5 of those stories are original to this book. Extracts are weird because I feel like there probably major spoilers for the books they're from. I look at the ones that I had already read and would say yes, that was a spoiler and if I had wanted to read a part of this book then I would have brought that book. (To be clear I never brought this book, it a review copy like it says at the bottom). I have not read all this book, there are book extracts in here from books that I plan to read and would rather read the whole book the first time all together. I have read all the short stories, the extracts from books I've already read and books that I don't think I'll ever read.

Introduction by Malorie Blackman: Should I really review a introduction? I guess I could have did it in a jokey way, but no.

Humming Through my Fingers by Malorie Blackman: This is story in which a blind girl trolls a boy (to be clear I mean the internet definition and not the idiotic media's that thinks a troll is someone who sends people death threats). I like this story, it was good idea to start with the possible start of romance. 3/5 stars for ties.

Extract from More Than This by Patrick Ness: Did not read as I own and plan to read this book.

Extract from The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle: Did not Read.

Extract from If I Stay by Gayle Forman: This extract was good choice, if we doing extracts. But this is such a short novel that works better as whole as most novels do.

Tumbling by Susie Day: This story shockingly involves tumblr. Also BBC Sherlock. It was cute story about two girls meeting for first time in the real life after being best friends online. I give this for 4/5 stars for profile picts. I will not be bribed with Sherlock fangirls.

Extract from Trouble by Non Pratt: Did not read as I own and plan to read this book.

Extract from Rani and Sukh by Bali Rai: Did not read.

Extract from You Against Me by Jenny Downham: Did Not Read.

Extract from 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson: Did not read as I own and plan to read this book.

Extract from Junk by Melvin Burgess: Did Not Read.

Extract from Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman: Did Not Read.

Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill: I got a pretty good feel for this story within the first few sentences. This is about Transgirl about to start living as girl during high school. The relationships were family, romance and friendship. The relationships could have been better developed. But I enjoyed the style of this and the ending was good. 4/5 stars for shapeless clothing.

Extract from Heroic by Phil Earle: Did not Read.

Miss Lucy had a Steamboat by David Levithan:Whilst a short story, in a way this is also a extract because it was originally published in a collection short stories by him: How they met and other short stories. I like this story, I'll probably pick up the actual collection eventually since I like Levithan and didn't know about it's existence. This is gays in high school, a girl's lack of public relationship. That description sucks. 5/5 stars for childish innuendos.

Extract from I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak: Did not read

Extract from Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith: Did not read as I own and plan to read this book.

Extract from Echo Boy by Matt Haig: I actually have a review of this novel. The extract comes from a really random scene of the book, also I think it would spoiler the relationship dynamics/plot for you if you read this extract. I also it not very romantic or lovie. Echo Boy is probably meant to be a romance story but it's not what I would classify as such in the first place.

Extract from Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma: Did not read.

Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda by Lauren Kate:Well, guys you never guess what but this isn't original story either. The best part is, I was instantly confused when I started reading it so I google it and what you know it was from book of short stories that's part of Fallen series. No one reads Novellas that are in middle of series except by mistake. I feel like I have to google every story to find out where it came from (I did it's just these two that have appeared in other books). This is basically the same as extract as the characters talk about things I have no idea about never having read the Fallen series which is why I won't be rating it as I feel it doesn't work as a short story by itself.

Extract from Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick: Hm...I get why this here, though I only skimmed read it as I didn't feel like reading any of the extracts this far into my journey into this book. It make sense but I still see the point of a scene from the middle of the book. I'm finding it hard to positive to be about this book as I'm reviewing each story/extract straight after I read them in the order in the books.

The Liar's Girl by Catherine Johnson: A historical story about love and revenge. 3/5 stars for smells.

The Unicorn by Juno Dawson: This feels like the most serious of the short story, but then is told from the POV of gay old man about his Youth in the Navy during war and when Homosexuality was crime in Britain. Fun Topic and not what I was expecting from a story titled "The Unicorn".  I also now have the song In the Navy stuck in my head. I should probably rewrite that opening sentence but I shan't. I give this 4/5 stars for tattoos.

Extract from Northern Lights by Philip Pullman: I once attempted to read this book, but it was so bloody boring so I quit, I mean there was murdering and sneaking going on so no I will never read this whole novel. So I glance at the extract and thought nah so I did not read this.

Extract from We Were Liars by E. Lockhart: This is one of the better extracts and some what works by itself. Except for the whole lie that you should go into that book knowing nothing about it.

Overall, I gave this book 3/5 stars for random scenes. Even if the short stories had all been brilliant five out of five stories, I still wouldn't been able to rate this book 5 stars because of the way this book is marketed is sort of wrong. It pissed me off to be frank and I didn't even pay anything for it. I mean I would never buy a book of extracts, which is what this is basically and not good ones. The short stories have been added to convince you to buy it. Except for Malorie Blackman, the authors specifically mentioned in this blurb don't actually attributable anything to the book. The worst part is that original stories are good, even with the suspicion that their aim was to throw in as much diversity as possible. I'm not saying it a bad thing especially since Malorie Blackman is all about trying to diverse YA books and an anthology about love should involve LGBT. However, I don't trust non-disabled writers writing about disability because I have been badly burned and live in a world where on a majority people think "The Curious Incident in the Nighttime" by Mark Hamot is a good book and that is a rant for another post. If this had been only short stories, with another standalone five more stories (or three depending on length) then I could get behind this book. But it's not, so it's added to the "what could have been" list in my head. I can only recommended this book if some of your favourite writers actually have a original short story in here or you want a taste of some of these writers and don't care about spoilers (and have cash to burn). Though, if you see this in your local library get it. The short stories are at least worth a read if not to own. The fact this still got 3/5 stars and not 1 after bouts of annoyance I kept getting as I got deeper into the book, is to their credit.

I got this off NetGalley and it published by Corgi Childrens.

Book Review: Robot Uprisings by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams

I'm currently not in talking terms with most of my technology.

Someday soon, our technology is going to rise up and we humans are going to be sliced into bloody chunks by robots that in our hubris we decided to build with chainsaws for hands. That's a fact as cold and hard as metal.

It is self-evident that our self-driving cars are going to drive us off bridges. Not long from now, our robo-vacuums will pretend to be broken and our love androids will refuse to put out until the house is cleaned . . . and we'll know that the inevitable robot uprising has finally arrived.

Well, maybe. But even if we are not 100% confident that this horrific future is going to happen, it's fair to say that we won't be surprised when the robots come for us. Because for nearly a century audiences have been entertained by the notion of a robot uprising.

In this collection, seventeen of the biggest names in sci-fi have explored their own visions of the classic robot uprising tale. The robots in these pages aren't safe, by any means. They are crouched in abandoned houses, eyes ablaze and chainsaws dripping with oil. But they are going to do more than slice us up. They are going to push us to consider our world of technology from new perspectives, on entirely new scales of time and space.

Even though this book is called the Robot Uprising, most of them don't involve what you would call Robots. More just AI in everything. I got to say I don't think it will be technology that will be the end of humanity especially since most tech seems have the lifespan of a well-cared for rabbit. Just don't let them build themselves and we're be fine. Oh, wait...it might already be too late. Okay, lets get into the actual stories.

Complex God by Scott Sigler: This was a strong one to open with. There is Harry Potter references so that makes it the best story ever. The tone was nice as well. Deep and questing humanity and all that jazz. And. 4/5 stars for frogs.

Cycles by Charles Yu: I quite like this one. It more interesting to be told the story from the point of view of the robot because motive is something I never really got about "Robot Uprisings".4/5 stars for Procrastinating Robots.

Lullaby by Anna North: Sing to the robots, save the house. This one is interesting as it actually set after a war with robots have already taken place. A young hacker moves into her grandfather old house which she hears is meant to be  haunted. It is *evil laugh*.  4.5/5 stars for incompetent  authority figures.

Eighty Miles an hour all the way to paradise by Genevieve Valentine: I liked the ending, it’s sort of sad. Also in this world, Britain would probably fine going off the ending. I'm disappointed that appears not to be a real song. 4/5 stars for death cars.

Exeutable by Hugh Howey: You should have better things to do in the robot apocalypse than have a pointless trial. Especially, since the person on trial could be valuable in his knowledge of Robots. 3/5 stars for idiots.

The Omnibot Incident by Ernest Cline: Really cute story about possible killer Robot set in the 80s. No, it not a fanfiction of Johnny-5. It should be. 5/5 stats for knife play.

Epoch by Cory Doctorow: This was sort interesting as it was about survival and think it made the good point as to why we would care about AIs. Why would we want Artificial Intelligence be a thing? 5/5 stars for non-sexy phone calls.

Human Intelligence by Jeff Abbott: Oh, the trickery. I could also get behind this apocalyptic scene with how believable it is to me. 5/5 stars for man's last hope.
 

The Golden Hour by Julianna Baggott: I like this one, kinda unique as it about a robot making human baby and loving it. Robots are still our overlords but questioned the relationships and emotion.4/5 stars for stolen DNA.

Sleepover by Alastair Reynolds: DUMB, DUMB, DUMB. There are so many things I did not like about this story. The concept, the structure, the suppose explanation. Basically, most of the human race has been put to sleep except for a group of caretakers. They wake up this guy to be a caretaker and explain absolutely nothing to him. They say there is a war, that’s it and he left to figure what going on himself.  The character were annoying as no one explains themselves. 1/5 stars for being Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.  Okay, I’m being a bit mean, but really don’t like this one.

Seasoning by Alan Dean Foster: It could be argued that humans could behind what’s going on in this story. I guess still sort of interesting and involves one of those unavoidable things of life: Food. 3/5 stars for making me want a pretzel.

Nanonauts! In Battle with tiny Death-Subs! By Ian McDonald: Lesson, boys should wear concealer too. Also protected your drinking glasses in bars and don’t brag to strangers about your job. 3/5 stars for being Nanotastic.

Of Dying Heros and Deathless Deeds by Robin Wasserman: Wasserman is the only writer in this anthology that I’ve read before (though I own others’ books and not hers). I generally like her writing style. This one was so sad and I had tears in my eyes at the end. 5/5 stars for alot of talking.

The Robot and the Baby by John McCarthy: This weird, kinda funny story, basically robot that sort of goes against it programming whilst keeping with it. 4/5 stars for spider legs.

We are All Misfit Toys in the Aftermath of the Velveteen War By Seanan McGuire: I liked this story but I think there was some issues with it. As not to spoiler it, let just say everything is on the internet. 4/5 stars for a updated horror cliché.

Spider the Artist by Nnedi Okorafor: Killer Robots and music. This was the only story not set in the west, definitely make it stand out more. It's set in African country (I can't remember which one). It has this nice soft tone, that almost musical so goes very well with the story. 4/5 stars for spurting oil.

Small Things by Daniel H. Wilson: This is the longest story in the anthology. It even had chapters. Because of it's length I did spend most of the time wondering when it would start getting interesting. Follows a shamed nano expert who tricked by the government (petty sure it's US but don't think it said it them), into going to a nano infested island with a mad scientist making them do weird things to living things. There is some horrific imagery in this story. 4/5 stars for

Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars for junked cities. I enjoyed reading this and there are some interesting, well-written stories in it so definitely recommend to robot and sci-fi lovers.

I got this book off Netgalley for Review. It's published by Simon & Schuster and has been out since April.