I've loved all of the books in this series. I can't wait to get my hands on this one soon.

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to the aging ruler of a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. The bride's party is welcomed with elaborate courtesies and extravagant banquets, but between the frightened servants and the cryptic warnings of the lord's mad son, they quickly realize that something is haunting the shadowed halls.

As Chih and the bride-to-be explore empty rooms and desolate courtyards, they are drawn into the mystery of what became of Lord Guo's previous wives and the dark history of Do Cao itself. But as the wedding night draws to its close, Chih will learn at their peril that not all monsters are to be found in the shadows; some monsters hide in plain sight.

The Lost World

Author: Michael Crichton

Series: Jurassic Park (#2)

My rating: 5/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 3.85/5

Date Read: October 2023

"Too much change is as destructive as too little. Only at the edge of chaos can complex systems flourish." -----------------------------

Plot Summary: Strange misshapen corpses are washing up on the shore of Costa Rica leaving local governments in total confusion. After recovering from his grevious injuries incurred during his adventure in Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm is recruited by rich archaeologist Richard Levine to visit Isla Sorna where Richard believes there are surviving specimens of the Jurassic Park dinosaurs. Ian, Richard, supporting crew members, and two stow away children travel to the island only to discover that they are not the only ones interested in studying the dinosaurs. Using their combined expertise and wit they must survive not only the dinosaurs of the island, but their human rivals as well.

TL:DR: Crichton's follow up to his incredibly successful hit Jurassic Park leaves a lot to be desired. The publication of this book follows the box office success of the Jurassic Park movie, and it attempts, unsuccessfully to merge the book and movie version of events together in this continuation. The science is not as intriguing, the characters are not as charismatic, and the story wanders and get's lost half way through. If your a completionist feel free to pick this book up, but if you're happy with the conclusion of Jurassic Park you can leave this book on the shelf.

Thoughts and Feelings: As a huge fan of the Jurassic Park novel, experiencing the unbalanced mixture of Malcolm's chaos theory rants, choppy action sequences, major plot holes, and slow pace is a major disappointment. It feels like everything that Jurassic Park did well falls slightly short in this novel. The reappearance of Ian Malcolm is a point of contention for many people especially because the explanation given for his 'revival' is extremely weak and underdeveloped. But beyond that the entire first half of this book suffers from a very slow development. It takes the characters forever to actually get out to the island and once they're there it feels a bit meandering. The pace is not helped at all by Ian's frequent diatribes and side bars about the philosophical side of science and chaos theory. What was verging on too much in Jurassic Park has become completely overboard in this book.

The science presented throughout the book was not as engaging as it could have been and I found it much less thorough. The characters were not as likeable as those in the first book and I was really sad that Ian was the character that was chosen to continue the story rather than Alan Grant of Ellie Sattler.

There are some MAJOR plot holes that pop up throughout this book which mainly revolved around certain details being heavily emphasized in the exposition of the book that never get resolved by the end of the book which is strange considering the in depth nature of the vast majority of the book.

Also an aside: The Lost World the movie is almost completely different from the book. And I wouldn't say it's in a good or a bad way since I didn't particularly like either of them all that much.

I'm starting a summer reading challenge! This was actually something that my university handed out to increase leisure reading in the graduate and veterinary students. The challenge ends in August so let's see if we can get a couple of Bingo's or maybe even the entire board!

Shattered Ice

Author: Rebekka Strand

Series: The Origins of Kaia #1

My Rating: 7/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Plot Summary: Kaia has lived her entire life in the ice caves deep underground of the glacial planet Eirlys. Her future seems set in stone: continue to work in the mines and try not to die of an unfortunate accident. But when the mysteriously advanced Solon medical team arrives to her town a web of secrets starts to unravel around her. Kaia is forced to run from everything she has ever known, fighting for her life, and battling with unending guilt and shame. She must learn the uncomfortable truths about herself and the people she loves the most to survive.

TL:DR: Shattered Ice is full of action packed chase scenes, fights and the ever popular deadly sports competition, but it really shines in it's realistic portrayal of a young girl suddenly confronted with the knowledge that secrets have been hidden from her for her entire life. Kaia's is a realistic character with flaws and hang-ups and it is heart wrenching to watch her battle herself and the world around her.

Thoughts and Feelings: This was a fun and inventive young adult science fiction novel that really shined in Kaia's characterization and internal conflict. One of my favorite tropes in young adult novels is when the protagonist starts the story realistically useless and they have to grow throughout the book to actually become a hero. I think it's way more realistic and interesting than when the main character begins the story as a hero. And Shattered Ice accepts that challenge and really runs with it. Kaia struggles with intense feelings of self-doubt/self-hatred, cowardice, and ugly rage. She bounces back and forth between relentlessly blaming herself for everyone's suffering and then blaming everyone else around her when it is convenient. (The self blame does become repetitive at points, but I appreciate what was being done). Throughout the story we see her struggle with these things, but they aren't treated like issues that can be resolve easily. I think that this character struggle is going to be a central conflict throughout the future books in the series.

I really enjoyed the world created in this book, but I would have loved to get more background on the history of the people and more information about the culture/societal structure present. Because there wasn't as much of this information present there were certain plot points or transitions between one location and another that didn't feel as smooth as they could have been and it left the book feeling like it there were several separate stories present in a single book. All of the stories were good stories! Just separate.

Kaia's semi-romantic interest, Biorki, was another strong character and as someone who doesn't love the focus on romance in science fiction and fantasy books I appreciated that the romantic aspect of their relationship didn't overtake everything else. And yet I am invested in seeing their relationship development in the future! The ending was also heart breaking in a special kind of way which was impressive.

Shattered Ice definitely falls within the young adult genre based on the characters, the writing style, and the overarching plot, however there are a handful of very graphic and realistic depictions of violence that people should consider before digging into it. They don't happen often and don't become a major part of the story but they do exist.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Victory Editing Co-Op for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

An Official Introduction

My name is Jillian and I love reading and sharing my thoughts about what I am reading! I've been on tumblr for over 10 years. I started out as a fanfiction writer so literature and writing has been a huge part of my life.

I gravitate towards Science Fiction and Fantasy books the most, but I've recently gotten into Horror as well. I'm notoriously bad at reading between the lines of books so I often miss the deeper nuanced aspects of some stories. Oops. I come by it honestly. That's why this place is called Uncomplicated Book Reviews. I like strong and interesting characters and action packed plots.

My favorite books (some of them) are Six of Crows, The Martian, The Murderbot Diaries, The Inkheart Trilogy, and Cannery Row

My favorite authors are Andy Weir, Martha Wells, John Steinbeck.

My favorite musicians are AURORA, Kesha, Hans Zimmer, and many others.

My favorite movies are Baby Driver, Bullet Train, and Dunkirk.

My current reading goal is 75 books. I'm at 30!

Join me on my journey to have just one person read my reviews! I'm happy to chat about books, what I should post next, reviews I have written. Whatever!

Author: Martha Wells

Series: Murderbot Diaries (#4)

My rating: 10/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 4.39/5

Date Read: December 2023

"I don’t want to be human." "That’s not an attitude a lot of humans are going to understand." ----------------------------

Plot Summary: Murderbot travels back to Preservation Station after discovering that her old owner, and possibly friend, Dr. Mensah is in danger and it might be partially Murderbot's fault. Murderbot must navigate it's biggest security challenge to protect Dr. Mensah and the rest of the Preservation expedition team long enough for the evidence against GrayCris to stop their murderous plans.

TL:DR: A high octane conclusion to the first story arc of the Murderbot series. This book delivers on both the action sequences seen in the previous installations as well as the emotional inner monologue of a robot figuring out what it means to be a 'person'.

Characters:

Murderbot, Dr. Mensah, The Expedition Team - They're all back baby and better than ever! All of our favorite characters from the first book in the series return in this one to provide support to Murderbot's final stand against GrayCris (and maybe some emotional support too, but we don't talk about that.)

Thoughts and Feelings: These books just never stop hitting and I love every second of it. One of my favorite things about the first four novellas that make up the original Murderbot Diaries is the fact that they manage to span a wide range of book archetypes. The first one was a pure action adventure where Murderbot is fighting forces of evil to save it's humans, the second and third book spend some time delving into the murder mystery/thriller type of events while Murderbot investigates the shady dealings of GrayCris and ultimately help save human lives, and this fourth one comes across as part political thriller because it revolves around protecting Dr. Mensah and ensuring that GrayCris is punished for their actions. With A LOT of action of course.

This book brings Murderbot's experiences as a free agent back to it's beginning with the Preservation team and it resolves a lot of the questions that have appeared throughout the previous books. Most impactful for me is the fact that Murderbot is forced to reckon with the fact that it legitimately cares for Dr. Mensah and the Expedition team beyond a contract obligation to keep them safe. Murderbot cares for these people, that is uncomfortable for Murderbot, but it has to learn to allow that discomfort to persist because it's not able to completely turn away from them. Murderbot self identifies as this cold and calculating machine that is dangerous and it fights against the reality that it has feelings just as intensely (and maybe more intensely) as the humans it is surrounded by. Reading about Murderbot's inner thoughts and processing, or lack of processing of these new emotions is fascinating. I find Murderbot highly relatable at times. The inability or unwillingness to face interpersonal relationship struggles and inconvenient emotions is something I think people can identify with.

The action of these books is wild, fast paced, and it hits the mark every time. Ultimately I am happy that there are more books in this series because there is so much more that I want to see explored.

Wings of Sorrow

Author: Yolanda Sfetsos

Rating: 4/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 3.6/5

Date Read: April 2024

"These walls had a way of manipulating their surroundings and thoughts, making impossible things appear real. It had a way of making dreams and nightmares feel as real as being awake." --------------------------------

Plot Summary: Newly wed couple, Thera and Hector become entangled in an ancient mystery the second they set foot in the abandoned house left behind by Thera's deceased aunt. Thera's past in the house is shrouded by lost memories and a general unease that settles in her mind while walking through the hallways. Being back in the forbidding setting stirs unfamiliar and unwelcome thoughts about her history and her possible future. Hector thinks the gothic architecture of the house will inspire him to write the masterpiece of a story that he's been dying to create. What he doesn't know is that the dark walls hold secrets that he could never imagine himself. The two of them together will be dragged to their destiny's. Whether they want it or not.

TL:DR: While the premise of the story is intriguing the writing itself struggles with fluidity and pacing. At times the dialogue does not flow well and the characters insist on overexplaining everything that is happening internally and externally. A lack of focused description of the environment and setting leaves a lackluster atmosphere that this story really needed. At the end of the day it's a fine short horror story with an interesting premise and it's a quick read.

Thoughts and Feelings: I really liked the description of this book, the premise of the story and the cover. All of which described a very atmospheric story of a woman turning into a monster. Unfortunately the story itself did not deliver on the creepy setting and there were some major issues with the characterization and pacing that threw the entire book off. There is very minimal description of the house and the surroundings, besides the instances where it is directly mentioned to be 'creepy' or 'dreary' or 'dark'. I also did not connect with the characters as much as I wanted because both of them were serving their own independent desires and didn't do very well communicating with each other despite the fact that they are supposed to be wildly in love. The dialogue in general throughout the book was stilted and didn't flow well which contributed to what felt like a lack of connection between the characters. My biggest gripe is that both Thera and Hector are written to be completely oblivious. There are very strange events going on with both of them going to sleep and waking up in random locations, but neither of them are willing to address things and they literally have to be handed information about what is going on in order to accept that something strange is going on until the very end of the book. And once they did start to figure things out the resolution of the drama happens very quickly. I think it would have been more impactful if the characters themselves found their own way to information starting much earlier in the story. Ultimately, I had some major problems with the writing and the characters, but the underlying story was interesting. It's a short book that doesn't overstay it's welcome so if you're interested in a unique horror story exploring family history in gothic settings it's worth giving it a try.

Thank you to Netgalley and DarkLit Books publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to read this author's creepy tale in exchange for an honest review.

Rogue Protocol

Author: Martha Wells

Series: Murderbot Diaries (#3)

Rating: 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 4.26/5

Date Read: 2022, December 2023

"Somewhere there had to be a happy medium between being treated as a terrifying murder machine and being infantilized." -----------------------------

Plot Summary: Murderbot can't ignore the elephant in the room any longer. While it has been investigating it's history, Dr. Mensah the woman responsible for it's safety is under scrutiny for the disaster of the planetary expedition that started this journey and the subsequent disappearance of Murderbot. Feeling strangely... sentimental for the scientist Murderbot decides to do some reconnaissance on the company that attacked the peaceful scientists to gain evidence to help Dr. Mensah. The SecUnit finds itself once again embroiled in an adventure way more complicated and dangerous than it ever wanted! Seriously! How hard is it for a SecUnit to find some peace and quiet to watch all this new media!

TL:DR: Seeing Murderbot struggle between it's internal desire to hide away and watch media forever and help humans with a death wish is just as fun the third time as it was the first time. This time around we get a clear glimpse into Murderbot's internal moral compass even though it claims to have none. The space adventures continue and the battle between corporate greed and individual humans good intentions is front and center.

Characters:

Murderbot/Consultant Rin - Once again stepping into the made up identity of security Consultant Rin, Murderbot spends this story wrestling with a mess of 'emotions' regarding Dr. Mensah, the new humans trying to expose the crimes of GrayCris and this annoyingly innocent human-form bot Miki that won't take a hint that Murderbot does not want to be friends!

Miki - a human-form bot who serves as the assistant to Don Abene in their investigation into the terraforming platform abandoned by GrayCris. Miki has never been mistreated like most other androids and because of that is extremely naive and innocent to the reality of the world. It is very curious of the world around it especially the amount of distrust Murderbot displays. Extremely dedicated to Don Abene and her safety.

Don Abene - part of a contracted team looking into the abandoned terraforming platform, she investigates shady activity with her trusty human-form bot Miki. From her treatment of Miki it is clear Don Abene respects robotic and android life forms and she is determined to pursue truth and expose crime.

Thoughts and Feelings: I feel like a broken record sometimes going on about how good these stories are, but they honestly are just high quality fun stories the entire way through. One of the most enjoyable aspects of these books is the slow progress of Murderbot facing and accepting humanity and what it means to be regarded as a person. Despite it's initial insistence on not being a person, Murderbot slowly starts to behave more and more person like. Most obviously through it's thoughts and considerations of the humans around it and the Preservation team that it left behind. Murderbot will never get rid of the silent (or not so silent sometimes) disdane for humans propensity for making stupid and violent decisions, but it finds itself drawn to protect them again and again. Particularly in this book Murderbot is introduced to Miki, a human-form bot that Murderbot massively pities when they first meet. Miki is sweetly innocent, believing the best of Murderbot and all of the other humans on the investigation team. Miki's owner and caretaker, Don Abene truly loves Miki and treats it like part of the family. This is a foreign concept to Murderbot who finds it impossible that a human being could actually truly care for an android. Murderbot leaves its interactions with Miki massively changed.

The continuous character growth of Murderbot is the strongest aspect of these stories.

Artificial Condition

Author: Martha Wells

Series: Murderbot Diaries (#2)

My rating: 9.5/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 4.27/5

Date Read: Early 2022, 2024

Mild spoilers for the previous book in the Murderbot Diaries Series

"Fear was an artificial condition. It's imposed from the outside. So it's possible to fight it. You should do the things you're afraid of." ------------------------------

Plot Summary: The first thing Murderbot does with it's new found freedom is....continue working as security. Murderbot is haunted by the faint memories of murdering a bunch of humans. Uncertain if the murders were the cause of an outside force or an internal bloodlust, Murderbot hitches a ride with a sentient research transport, ART, who helps the SecUnit blend into human society, find passage down to the mining community where the tragic murders took place, and ultimately save some innocent human lives along the way.

TL:DR: If you liked the first book of the series you'll like this one. Wells adds to her cast of loveable robot characters with ART, the sentient and super intelligent Asshole Research Transport who ingratiates itself into Murderbot's small inner circle by sharing a love of human media. Murderbot's adventures continue with as much action as the previous books and it's great to see Murderbot's slow and steady understanding and appreciation for humanity and it's own personhood.

Characters:

Murderbot - the rogue SecUnit continues to be as bitingly sarcastic and cruelly honest as it was in the previous book. It finds itself constantly exasperated by the naïve actions of the humans it runs into, but can't help but help them earnestly. Murderbot grows to learn more about what it means to be a person and that it might not be a completely bad thing after all.

ART - lovingly called the Asshole Research Transport by Murderbot, ART is a highly intelligent and sentient research vessel who operates in secret as a standard transport vessel. ART enjoys watching media through the filter of Murderbot's eyes because it helps it understand emotional context and human culture. ART is overbearing, controlling, and mean at times but ultimately shows a deep concern for humans, especially the ones who usually occupy its corridors.

Thoughts and Feelings: This book introduces the character of ART who is one of my favorite characters in this series and alongside Murderbot makes up the most iconic duo in science fiction in my opinion. I absolutely love that because ART is nearly all powerful compared to other pilotbots, it has no concept of boundaries and does not know how to interact with other artificial intelligences. Because of that we get this wonderful back and forth between Murderbot and ART as they struggle to feel each other out and figure out where their relationship begins and ends. Add to this the fact that ART has a clear attachment to it's currenlty absent crew because it can't stand to watch any media that depicts the danger of ship crews makes ART an incredibly compelling character.

With the addition of ART it has become pretty clear to me that the bot characters in these books are way more fun and interesting than any human characters that get introduced. In fact a lot of the humans that Murderbot encounters are kinda just...idiots. Despite living in what is an aggressively capitalist and corrupt society, so many of the characters that Murderbot helps are incredibly naïve and prone to stupid and intentionally dangerous decisions. In one hand this just serves to deepen Murderbot's exasperated thoughts of 'oh my gosh these humans are naive idiots who are trying to kill themselves', but on the other hand it starts feeling a little silly. It's ok though because I love seeing Murderbot go from "I'm definitely not going to help them. They're on their own." to "Well fuck I guess I have to help them but it's definitely not because I feel a moral obligation to help the innocent or anything like that!"

I do also wish that there was a little more explanation or exploration of Murderbot's reaction to learning that the massacre it played a part in was likely due to corporate tampering with its code. I have a feeling we will continue to hear about the emotional turmoil that this revelation has caused in future books but I would have liked to see more of it here. I love these books obviously. I look forward to future installments and I look forward to seeing ART and Murderbot teaming up again.

All Systems Red

Author: Martha Wells

Series: Murderbot Diaries (#1)

My rating: 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 4.15/5

Date Read: Early 2022 and 2024

"I don't know what I want. I said that at some point, I think. But it isn't that, it's that I don't want anyone to tell me what I want or to make decisions for me." ---------------------------------

Plot Summary: On the surface, Muderbot is a SecUnit, a security android with no volition of it's own, sent to protect the humans that have bought a contract with the Company for a planetary expedition. Unbeknownst to its human client Murderbot has broken its governor module, giving it free will. Luckily for them all Murderbot wants to do is be left alone and watch trashy media shows. But when a mysterious force appears to threaten the safety of it's human charges, Murderbot must break its own rules to solve the mystery and save them all. Unfortunately, at the same time it must wrestle with the fact that it does in fact....have feelings. Yuck.

TL:DR: An incredibly fun, high energy science fiction novella. This book and the remaining in the series are the definition of comfort reads for me. The characters shine and Wells manages to create an in-depth scientific future in a short amount of time. If you're a fan of sarcastic, running internal dialogue of cynicism books with a lot of action this is definitely a book that you will want to check out.

Characters:

Murderbot - a SecUnit built for the sole purpose of protecting it's human clients. At. All. Costs. Including at times the cost of it's own life. This one however has broken from it's governor module giving it free will. It spends most of it's time hiding the fact that it's free by pretending to be a normal SecUnit while sneaking away to watch the human media show it is obsessed with and contemplating the ridiculousness of the humans it has to protect....and maybe care for a little bit.

Dr. Mensah - the leader of the Preservation Alliance and galactic entity that exists outside of the large Corporation Ring, Dr. Mensah is incredibly smart and is a trained scientist despite her current political position. She displays immense bravery in the face of danger and a strong moral compass that include human and bot life alike.

The Expedition Team - there are a ton of fantastic characters that accompany Dr. Mensah and Murderbot on this planet expedition. They're all scientists that have naive expectation of humanity thanks to the relative peace of their home system. They're all wonderful, but there's a lot of them so I won't list them here.

Thoughts and Feelings: This managed to become one of my favorite science fiction series in a single book. I fell in love with the sarcastic and cynical protagonist and the not too unbelievable future of a space community dictated almost entirely by captilistic companies that control everything. The writing style is very informal and defined almost entirely by Murderbot's internal dialogue which lends the book with a very unique tone and voice. Some people might not vibe with the method of storytelling or the constant running dialogue. I would say give this first book a try since it's a short read and if you don't enjoy it, the series as a whole is probably a pass because that is the style of all subsequent books.

Despite the prediction of the Corporate Rim's bleak existence this series manages to maintain a positive attitude as a whole as Murderbot begins to explore humanity and how it might survive the world as an individual rather than a background character. In this book in particular we get to know the positive and sometimes naive attitudes of the planetary expedition team that Murderbot is protecting. The group comes from a society outside of the Corporate Rim who have more individual freedoms and because of that represent the good that still exists in a sometimes dreary world. Good overcomes evil, but the evil still lurks around the corner.

Sunbringer

There are potential spoilers for the first book in this series: Godkiller

Author: Hannah Kaner

Series: Fallen Gods (#2)

My Rating: 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 4.04/5

Date Read: April 2024

'People like me don't change the world. We just survive it.' ---------------------------

Plot Summary: Following the events of the first book our traveling group of four has been split up with Elo, Inara and Skediceth forced to return to Kissen's home of Lesscia. Elo struggles with the physical and mental reminders of the betrayal of his closest friend and begins to plan how he will stop Arren's plans of rising to the rank of the gods. At the same time Inara struggles with guilt over Kissen's apparent death and the feeling that no one, not even her friend Skediceth want her around anymore. While Elo plans a revolution against the King, Kissen travels through her old home of Talicia returning to her roots as a godkiller and stumbling across horrible premonitions of the future of Middren.

TL:DR: Another fantastic installment in the Fallen Gods series, this book does not disappoint with the introduction of even more diverse and likeable side characters. Our main characters undergo major character growth as they struggle to reconcile with the traumatic events they have all been through. They are beautiful disasters.

Main Characters:

Kissen - a fierce godkiller whose career puts her in constant contact with dangerous forces, Kissen is separate from her previous traveling companions in this book. She continues to be an independent force of nature but she will now be forced to face her beliefs and previously strong convictions to survive.

Inara - her bond with Skediceth has been irreparably changed after their travel to Blenraden. She is now facing the reality of her situation and struggling with the insecurities that no one truly wants her and the guilt that she contributed to Kissen's apparent death.

Skediceth - similar to Inara, Skediceth is coming to terms with the new reality of his relationship with the young girl. However, for the first time he begins to experience the power that comes with human offerings and being known by more than just Inara.

Elogast - the betrayal of Arren, and the willingness of his closest friend to sacrifice his life to gain power has shaken Elo to his soul. He focuses on building a revolution against the king to distract himself from the pain and uncertainties left in it's wake.

Arren - the king of Middren who originally outlawed gods. He now works to raise himself to the level of a god, securing his lands power by establishing himself as a subject of worship in place of the gods he believes are destroying his people. No matter the cost.

Thoughts and Feelings:

The first book of this series had some minor pacing issues that caused it to be a bit slow and I did not have that problem with this book. I continue to be absolutely enthralled by the world and the characters. I personally enjoyed that the story was happening in two different places at once and that Kaner committed to keeping the characters separate and that they grieved for each other for as long as possible. I think it added to the character development and the arcs that Inara and Elogast went through over the course of the narrative. I do agree with some others that not being able to travel with Kissen as much was sad, but I LOVED diving more into Elogast's character and how he struggles to come to terms with his betrayal and what his future looks like. Elo clearly struggles mentally and is using this promise of revolution and revenge as a way to cope with his loss. Inara similarly has become infatuated with this idea of revenge for her mother to her detriment. She becomes too focused on this idea of revenge that she disregards everyone else around her. And she is forced to pay dire consequences for that. Which is great. I love it when characters make mistakes, have to face the consequences, recognize that what they are doing is wrong, and then growing from that. And I think Inara's character growth was really well done. But she still has a long way to go! She is young and brash and she doesn't listen, but she faces the consequences of her actions and grows through her bad choices. The reveals that occur in the later half of the book are definitely not surprising. They are things that I was anticipating from the first one, but it didn't bother me that they were obvious. Mostly because it felt like the reveals were supposed to be surprising to the characters but not necessarily the readers and it achieved that. The representation is also fantastic in this book. Disabled characters, queer characters, mentally disabled characters all of them are represented by well rounded personalities and backgrounds. It is great.

Godkiller

Author: Hannah Kaner

Series: Fallen Gods (#1)

My Rating: 7/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads rating: 3.93/5

Date Read: March 2024

'Fate was a fairy story and a bullshit one at that; fate could get fucked and go bother someone else.' ------------------------------

Plot Summary: Kissen is a godkiller, a warrior who travels through the country killing gods who have started harming their followers. She's a no baggage traveler...that is until Inara, a young girl spiritually connected to Skediceth the god of white lies, seeks her out in an attempt to figure out exactly why the girl and god are bound together. Kissen reluctantly takes on the task of taking the girl to the old city of gods after witnessing the girl's entire household burn to the ground. Along the way they run into Elogast, the once captain of the kind's knights and King Arren's closest friend. Together the dysfunctional traveling group must fight mysterious forces trying to stop them from reaching their destination, bickering and butting heads the entire way.

TL:DR: This book really shines in it's characters and the amount of representation throughout. POC, queer, disabled characters are given the center stage and they are wonderfully written. There are some pacing issues, but the world that is built is fascinating and fully fleshed out.

Characters:

Kissen - a fierce warrior whose family was killed as a sacrifice to a god of fire. Kissen is stubborn, bitingly sarcastic, tough and uncaring. At least at first glance. She hunts and destroys gods that have begun to harm the humans who worship them on behalf of the king. She keeps everyone but her closest family at arms length and does not care for new friendships. She stumbles her way into a deeper mission that she never anticipated or wanted.

Inara - a young 12 year old girl who has been bound to the small god of white lies Skediceth from birth. She has lived much of her life in the solitary confinement of her mother's estate, hiding her connection to a god who is illegal. She has to tap into her suppressed bravery to seek out answers about her connection with Skediceth and the arson responsible for killing her family. She's brash and determined to start controlling her own fate and revenge.

Skediceth - the god of white lies who is connected to Inara by a bond that neither of them know anything about. He has no memories of his life before Inara and his powers are small. He dreams of one day being free of Inara, but he also cares for his friend deeply. He protects his existence by using his powers of white lies which is reflected in his timid and threat avoidant nature.

Elogast - the king's closest friend and the commander of his army. Elo is a noble knight who suffers from symptoms of PTSD related to his experiences in the war between humans and gods. All he wants to do is live a life of baking bread in his small village, but his sense of duty and love for the king forces him to pick his sword back up and go on one last mission. He's a good guy with a genuine nature. A true knight in shining armor

Thoughts and Feelings: Besides some minor pacing issues this book was really fantastic. The world that is created is amazing, well described, easy to understand, and vibrant with culture, unique mythology, and extensive history. I have never read about another world that is like the one created in Godkiller. The dynamics between humans and gods is fresh and unique. Human faith is the only reason that the gods exist so if the humans stop believing the gods fade away. But if the gods become too powerful they become greedy for more devotion and require sacrifices that harm their followers. Super cool. And the fact that the book begins with gods OUTLAWED is so cool.

THE CHARACTERS ARE AMAZING. There is not a character in this book that does not hit. Kissen is a badass with personal relationship issues and a fucked up past that makes her very cold. But she also can't help but care for Inara who reminds her so much of herself as a child. Inara is a typical kid in a lot of ways. She starts the book very timid and scared but gradually becomes more brave. She acts brashly at times and doesn't think through the consequences of her actions, but she is actually willing to grow because of her mistakes. Elogast is this seemingly perfect noble knight, but he is hiding a lot of PTSD and self worth issues. These characters are also just the tip of the iceberg for the beautiful diversity of this book. There are queer characters, there are disabled characters, there are mentally ill characters almost anything you can think of is present here and the kicker is that THEY. ARE. ALL. WELL. WRITTEN. Every one of these characters is well rounded. Their character traits are important parts of them, but they don't completely define them. it's incredible.

Now the only small issue is parts of the book are a little slow and it doesn't quite click, but it is not enough to detract from the rest of it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy settings, strong female characters, strong characters in general, and unique mythologies.

If I Disappear

Author: Eliza Jane Brazier

Rating: 1/10 ⭐

Goodreads: 3.13/5

Date Read: January 2024

'And I’m going to prove to him and everyone that I am somebody, that all the time when I seemed like nobody and I felt like nothing, it was just preparation for this' -------------------------------------

Plot Summary: Sera's life is in shambles and the only thing she derives joy from is listening obsessively to a crime podcast hosted by Rachel. However, one day Rachel stops posting updates and Sera believes that she has become a victim of the very crimes that she talks about. Sera travels to Rachel's home town, determined to become the hero of her own story and solve Rachel's mystery disappearance. Along the way she finds herself in the bizarre company of Rachel's family and the people of the nearby town. Piece by piece she begins to unravel the mystery of Rachel's family ranch and the expansive network of missing women who have spent time there.

TL:DR: The premise of this book held a lot of promise however, this is the author's first published novel and it shows in poorly written attempts at flowery prose, clumsy characterization, and a nonsensical plot full of twists that fall flat. It's an unfortunate failure at writing about the female experience and female empowerment

Main Characters:

Sera Fleece - a recently divorced women who is struggling with the fact that she is a complete loser by her own admission. She floats through her day only enjoying the many hours she spends listening to Rachel's crime podcast. She operates under the delusion that Rachel has been speaking to her directly through the podcasts and that Rachel has been teaching her everything she needs to know to solve her own disappearance. No romantic prospects, no family, no job, and no aspirations, this new mission of saving Rachel's life is the only thing she has.

Rachel Bard - a crime podcast host with a passion for cases involving women who disappeared without a trace. She lives in the rural areas of California on a ranch with her mother and father. It is her alleged disappearance from the internet that inspires Sera's actions.

Addy Bard - Rachel's mother and the overbearing head of Happy Ranch. She acts eratically and refuses to acknowledge the alleged disappearance of her only daughter. As the story progresses she begins to see Sera more and more as her stand in daughter

Jed - The only ranch hand that works at Happy Ranch. He's a hard worker and good with horses despite the apparent hatred of Rachel's parents towards him. He becomes Sera's company on the ranch and serves as a romantic interest briefly.

Thoughts and Feelings: This book had a really interesting premise and a unique narrative style but it is really badly written. The most interesting part of this story is that it is partial told in a second person perspective. Sera is speaking to Rachel who she refers to as "you" throughout the book. The unique perspective serves to highlight Sera's obsessive behavior and her delusions of being close to Rachel, unfortunately this gradually goes away throughout the book.

The characters in this book are extremely unnatural. They act like caricature puppets of real people. The 'tense atmosphere' that is supposed to permeate the whole book relies on the inherent strangeness of Rachel's, the missing girl's, parents who are overbearing and behave strangely. But they are written like cartoons so it doesn't really work. I found myself internally laughing at their dialogue rather than being afraid or put off by them. It's a lazy way to creating tension that doesn't work in this case. Everyone in this book acts beyond suspension of disbelief. Sera is an incredibly annoying main character. She's straight up stupid, self absorbed, obsessive, faces no consequences for her actions, and yet is the biggest loser who can't hold down a job, has a horrible ex-husband, and no other friends or family. There were several points in this book where I thought to myself "Yeah if I met you I would probably hate you too." As she complained about other characters hating her.

This book sells itself as being some commentary on women's experiences in the world, but it is so badly written that it is almost more a disservice to the message it is trying to get across. Sera talks at length about how have only two outcomes in the world 'disappear' or 'go crazy' but Sera just sounds like a cardboard cut out with a speaker attached to her, because her diatribes are so flat and unimpactful. There's a quote on the back of the book that says this book has 'sinewy prose and nuanced observations about the female experience' and there is not a single true statement in that sentence. There is no nuance in this book and the prose is not 'sinewy.' If anything the author's attempt at writing deep poetic descriptions of how women suffer horrible injustices comes across as deeply fake and disengenuous. This book needed to be edited. HARD

Some ridiculous quotes from this book:

“And I feel like I should tell him that I am here for you, I am looking for you, that I haven’t lost my mind and I haven’t lost my nerve; I am a hero of heroless stories. I am a champion of the forgotten. I am on the cutting edge of something at least.”

“I chose a selfish man to love, and I asked him to not be selfish. And even now I want him to help me, to think about me, to understand what being a woman is when he’s always and only ever been a man.”

“I want to say I knew you better. I knew your heart. I knew the real you, the secrets you confessed in the middle of the night in my bedroom. The words you whispered in my ear.”

AND MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE:

“The pause breeds many pauses. I can see them all lined up in a row.”

Some brief thoughts on the ending below

The ending was supposed to be some huge revelation that sweeps the reader off of their feet, but again it just made me laugh. The first 'twist' is that Rachel is in fact alive and that she has been hiding out on the ranch this whole time and her brother has been poisoning people with water that kills on contact (?!). But then there's an epilogue where it get's revealed in two pages that in fact RACHEL is the one who has been killing people and that she killed one of her closest friends a long time ago and became a serial killer. It makes NO SENSE and ruins any sense of resolution that the author managed to cobble together in the last couple of pages of the book. Just plain bad.

Jurassic Park

Author: Michael Crichton

Series: Jurassic Park (#1)

Rating: 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 4.1/5

Date Read: October 2023

'Because the history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.' ----------------------------------

Plot Summary: A large cast of characters including archeologists, mathematicians, lawyers, and a computer expert are invited to an island owned by an eccentric millionaire. Using preserved dinosaur DNA he has recreated magnificent extinct species of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life. the island is under strict security control and all of contingencies have been planned for. Nothing can go wrong. Until it does and hungry carnivorous T. Rexes and Velociraptors escape captivity and start hunting the human visitors. A mixture of bravery and cunning is the only thing that can save the visitor's lives and some are luckier than others.

TL:DR: A book perfectly at the intersection of hard science fiction and action-adventure thriller. The fame and success of the movie, has this book to thank for a solid plot full of action and characters that you love to love and love to hate. The occasional philosophical/scientific rambling can be intimidating, but is balanced by the constantly evolving story.

Characters

John Hammond - the eccentric elderly founder of InGen and Jurassic Park, Hammond is blinded by his ambition to create the biggest spectacle in history by bringing back dinosaurs. He is determined to open an elite amusement park that will attract wealthy patrons. He single mindedly believes that the systems on the island cannot possibly fail and that his experiments are completely safe.

Ian Malcolm - a cynical and biting sarcastic mathematician famous for his teachings on chaos theory a concept that claims that nature is essentially uncontrollable and unpredictable due to the complex systems underlying the natural world. He has made the trip to Jurassic Park to see if his theories are true and to watch John Hammonds 'perfect system' fall. He's surprisingly charismatic for a mathematician and he is an iconic character for a reason.

Alan Grant - famous archaelogist who is known for huge discoveries that uncovered some of the complex group behaviors of ancient dinosaur species. He doesn't see himself as a particularly brave or heroic man, but ends up proving himself to be one of the most reliable, intelligent, and brave visitors on the island.

Ellie Sattler - a paleo-botanist who studies the fossils and records of plant life, she works closely with Dr. Grant She is a woman of action and is always ready to make decisions. She is cool under pressure and willing to take risks

Tim and Lex Murphy - the grandchildren of John Hammond, invited to Jurassic Park as props for Hammond to prove that the park is perfectly safe. Unfortunately they suffer from annoying child character syndrome. Lex screams at the hint of danger. Tim does his best and is a very intelligent boy, but he's a kid and he's useless.

Thoughts and Feelings: This is one of the most iconic science fiction thriller books for a reason and it is one of my favorite books of all time for the same reasons. Crichton's books can swing widely from amazing to terrible, but with Jurassic Park he found a perfect balance between realistic scientific detail and action packed sequences that leave you flipping pages late into the night. I have a special place in my heart for this book because I'm an animal geneticist and this book expounds at length about the genetics of creating dinosaurs and the kind of veterinary care and consideration that would go into making sure they stayed alive. I live with a veterinary student and several times she would ask me something along the lines of "But do they think about how they would vaccinate dinosaurs against modern diseases?" and I had the pleasure of turning to her and saying "In fact, they do." Is it all 100% right. No of course not. It's a book about using DNA found in mosquitoes, slapping some other random animal DNA in there and creating living breathing extinct animals. It's never going to be 100% right. But that's what makes it fun. It's about imagining a world that feels possible. Like the existence of dinosaurs is just around the corner of scientific discovery. If you have never read this book and you loved the movie or you like books that lean more towards hard science fiction than you should absolutely give this book a try.

The characters are enjoyable (for the most part. Children characters in these crisis books are always a bit of a disaster, but what can you do). The action is good. The science is good. There's corporate espionage, dinosaur hunting, dinosaur vet care, high stakes and no holding back when it comes to the vicious strength of top predators.

Ian Malcolm really likes to wax poetic and go on philosophical rants. IF that's your sort of thing than this book has plenty of it for you. If you find yourself zoning off while he talks about chaos theory and the state of humanity in the world, I encourage you to just skim a little bit and get back to it. Just let him ramble.

Andromeda Evolution

Series: The Andromeda Strain (#2)

Author: Daniel H. Wilson

My Rating: 2/10 ⭐⭐

Goodreads rating: 3.71/5

Date Read: Early 2022

Plot Summary: Following the events of the Andromeda Strain scientists believed the Andromeda Strain was no longer a threat and it faded from public attention. Many decades later, a government watch program finds signs that the Andromeda Strain is reemerging in the Amazon rainforest. An elite team of scientists is recruited to travel to the appearing anomaly, study it, and ultimately figure out how to stop it. They must travel through uncharted areas of the forest while fighting an unknown alien force that wants to stop their meddling at any cost. Tragedy and action go hand and hand in this story as the scientists make necessary sacrifices to save the world.

TL:DR: A poor attempt at recapturing the scientific wonder found in books like The Martian, this book suffers from dense, unnecessary scientific explanations, horrible characters, obnoxious foreshadowing and a bad antagonist.

Thoughts and Feelings: The original Andromeda Strain was a sci fi book written in 1969 by Michael Crichton who also wrote the Jurassic Park books. He was a great science fiction writer with really good ideas. It's a book I look back on very fondly. So when I found out there was a follow up book written by a different author I was extremely curious. Especially because the original story did not leave any room for sequels. So this story was already starting at a deficit and unfortunately it did not make up for it in any way. I had not read any books by Daniel Wilson before this book and I do not plan on reading anymore of his books after it.

The first half of this book is dragged down by a lot of unnecessary science that is not necessary to the story, the characters, or the understanding of the technology being presented. It feels like it was trying to mimic the type of science rambling and explanation that was so successful in Andy Weir's books, but in Andromeda Evolution the science lacks any character. In The Martian we have Mark Watney infusing his wit and sarcasm into the explanations, but in this book it reads like a text book with no personality.

Foreshadowing is a technique that should be subtle and used sparingly throughout a book. Andromeda Evolution ends every single chapter with a premonition of the future events of the book to the point where it stops being foreshadowing and becomes spoilers in their own rights. It resulted in me not being surprised by anything that was happening as well as keeping me from caring about the characters or the stakes being raised. Because I already knew what was going to happen.

The characters in this book are bad. All of the characters are introduced right at the beginning subsequently and the introductions throw the recommendation of 'show don't tell' straight out the window. You will have to suffer through boring descriptions of these scientists idiosyncracies and the struggles that they have fought through to get where they are. Of a special mention is the introduction of the female characters. Wilson makes sure to shove down the readers' throats that these women have struggled and they have been discriminated against there whole lives. And because of that they are super amazing, smart, and capable of taking care of themselves. Too bad they don't ever get to really display that.

There's just no nuance to this book and while there is action going on through out it ends up feeling boring.

Spoiler Thoughts and Feelings below

To continue on with my dislike of the characters in this book, the primary antagonist and secret villain behind the mutation and spread of the virus being the disabled woman who is apparently a psychopath whose only goal is to murder all of her teammates and 'force the human race' to evolve faster is just so not it.

Also the romance between Jeremy Stone and Nidhi Vedala was SO WEIRD and unnecessary and badly written. The book starts with Nidhi describing in detail how much she hates Jeremy and then through the course of the event of the books through no character growth or real interactions she ends up in love with him. The female characters in this book were written as if Daniel was really trying to write 'strong female characters' but he has not idea what that means and just made them 2D images of what a strong woman might be.

Welcome to Uncomplicated Book Reviews

Reviews is a strong word. This is really just my place to put my thoughts and feelings. I'm not an Literature expert. I like it when books are fun and entertaining. Good characters and strong plots can make or break a book for me.

If I don't like something that you love, good! If we all liked the same things the world would be pretty boring. That's why relying on a number rating system alone isn't good enough to decide if you want to read something or not.

I'm a graduate student studying equine genetics and most of my days are spent in front of computers writing code. The rest of my time is spent reading, playing video games, and hiking.

My favorite genres are Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I really like anything with action and adventure. I try to like romance, but so far unsuccessful.