The Music of Unexpected Things takes place over a few weeks, where our characters are at an invite only summer school at a prestigious music academy. The Music of Unexpected Things takes place over a few weeks, where our characters are at an invite only summer school at a prestigious music academy. Over the weeks they're there to show their musical talent and eventually one will get a scholarship to return to the school after the holidays. But really, that's the backdrop. This book is very much about the characters and their relationships - platonic and romantic - with the musical aspect bringing them together.
The book is told from two perspectives, Georgie and Mina. Georgie is very much an introvert, she's shy and reserved because of past experiences as a blind girl with a guide dog. Peers and adults alike have treated her as a burden rather than a person. On the other side we have Mina, who is a lot more open and confident, but due to her religious upbringing, she's scared to be open about her feelings - as someone who wants to pursue music as a proper career, and as a girl who likes girls.
Both characters are great, and both have distinct voices. I never once got confused as to who's perspective I was in, and I enjoyed seeing the thoughts and feelings of each character, and how their pasts, family and friendships had shaped them up to this point. The wider cast were great too, with their own personalities and storylines going on. Gareth, Zephan and Art again, were all distinct and had their own things going on, away from the two main protagonists. Although he got the least page time and least background, I was very fond of Zephan, the moody cynic who spends his time reading and scoffing at the others drama, whilst also being a great friend and knowing when to talk or listen to the others.
One thing I do think should have been addressed though, in some sort of way, was the fact that guide dogs are working. They're doing a job, and shouldn't be distracted from that. Several times throughout the book - basically any time anyone met Georgie and Star (her dog) - they initially went to Star and started petting her and giving her attention. I can totally understand why Georgie as the shy, socially awkward person she is didn't say anything out loud, but I would have loved to see either an inner thought recognising that this isn't the thing to do to working dogs. Or at least some sort of conversation at a later date with a friend after they had got to know each other. I just thought that conversation was lacking in here. Even a simple throw away line while taking with friends like 'yeah, everyone who meets us fusses Star, but no one really realises that she's not a pet, she's working as an extension of me' and the friend to be like 'damn, yeah I didn't think of that, sorry if that's the way I approached you when we met'.
The romantic relationships in here were everything you'd expect from a YA book, both sweet and dramatic, pretty and petty. There were ups and downs but they felt pretty realistic.
The idea of this book sounded interesting, but the execution didn't work for me. I was hoping for more of a novel, with a satirical look on race and pThe idea of this book sounded interesting, but the execution didn't work for me. I was hoping for more of a novel, with a satirical look on race and politics, but what I got was two characters going from one person to another, getting monologued at by people in power about how ridiculous censorship is.
Which, yes, I do agree with to some extent. But even taking a step back from the 'hey cat A, what are your thoughts on this?' 'well guys, let me talk for a page, then you can go talk to cat B!' way that this was written, I didn't think the way 'pinnarism' (the belief that cats with small ears are inferior to cats with big ears) was talked about was very nuanced. Of course anyone reading is going to apply the ideas and thoughts of this book to humans, no matter the tongue in cheek opening sentence 'This is a story about cats. Readers who wish to extrapolate to any other species can do so at their leisure'. What we have in here is a lot of cats saying 'you can't say anything anymore!' - including the police, scholars, hospitals etc, and only one instance of a 'micropinnate' saying anything from their side. (I can't be pinnarist guys, I have a short eared cat friend!)
Actual ideas in here that were apparently well thought out and reasonable - short eared cats are not in power because they like sports more than positions of authority, short eared cats are more violent - hey maybe it's because of pinnarism but also maybe it's just their culture! Short eared cats shouldn't get offended by the word 'smear' which is a compound of 'short' and 'ear', used as a derogatory word. Factories with short eared cats as the boss were 30% less productive - but hey, maybe it's not because they're stupid, maybe it's because they're not fit for the job!
I will say that this book was a quick read, and if there weren't so many blatant jabs down it could have been an interesting satirical take (I was hoping more Animal Farm than 'bloody can't say anything anymore!' disgruntled facebook post) Towards the end, when it was showing the extremes of going too far to stamp out the inequalities, to the point where everything felt a bit totalitarian, it did get more interesting. But if felt like throughout the book, the anti-pinnarism was always seen as worse than the actual pinnarism.
I feel like at least at one point there should have been a conversation like 'the core of this is actually really bad guys, this isn't just cats getting pissy that you're calling them smears' - instead, the whole idea of institutionalised pinnarism in places like the police was practically laughed at, while the opposite -the force that was dealing with the anti pinnarist rhetoric - were all insanely anal about every slight word that could be taken as pinnarist and therefore illegal. Like Peter, my guy, both can be true. You can say totalitarian political agencies against freedom of speech are bad, but so is institutionalised discrimination.
All in all, I'm glad to have given this local indie author a go, but unfortunately the book wasn't for me....more
The idea sounded interesting the execution though? No.
Not even going into anything else - the main story was the first 15 pages then the last 15 pageThe idea sounded interesting the execution though? No.
Not even going into anything else - the main story was the first 15 pages then the last 15 pages, the middle barely even acknowledged that an abduction and torture even happened. Not spoilies - it says on the back that this had happened, yet not one person in the town mentioned that something like this had happened?!?!? Sorry, but I'm SURE that if something this horrific happened in your local small town, it would be the talk of it!
Moving past that, the romance was meh, both characters said mean things to each other than were suddenly loving each other, the ending was ridiculous (they'd only known each other for a hand full of months!) A bunch of drama was peppered through, yet none of it had any impact because I didn't care about anyone, and it wasn't particularly well written.
Where ACTUAL tension / interest / emotion could have been included - trauma from such a horrific thing as being kidnapped for several weeks and tortured, while tied up, naked. Except, there was none. This whole book was more of a romance, and the trauma or ptsd was never a thing! Not when the characters got intimate, not when the main guy was alone, not even something he thought about often, other than a few throw-away sentences. In fact, the first thought when he saw sir love-interest was how attractive he was. Is that really gonna be your first and only thought after experiencing the worst thing ever? Just straight up 'yeah, he's fine though *o*'
It just didn't work for me at all, this could have been a poignant book, but it didn't even slightly live up to that potential. ...more
The first 25% of this book was an absolute slog to get through, if it wasn't the only book I had on holiday / I hadn't agreed to buddy read the book IThe first 25% of this book was an absolute slog to get through, if it wasn't the only book I had on holiday / I hadn't agreed to buddy read the book I may well have just given up.
The writing is pretty in the sense that we get great descriptive language about the visual setting, but every character fell flat I just didn't care about anything that was happening to anyone. After the initial section, we follow our main character to a training ground for girls, there she has a friend group consisting of 5 of them. I couldn't tell you anything about any of these friends as individuals except the one she was closest to, the other three just blended together into a mush of nothingness. And our main character herself felt like she was just existing, rather than having any sort of presence on page.
Past the half way point, things started to pick up, so many different threads of story seemed to be picked up then moved on from, but we finally got a decent 'here is where the story finally starts' kick.
The last 30% was interesting, the characters that were introduced had more personality and page time so we could actually get to know them (for example, how do I get more from a random 7 and 5 year old than I did from three of Nessa's closest friends for nearly a decade?!) The story arc picks up and there are some great action scenes. I found myself actively enjoying the reading experience, rather than trying to force myself not to skim read.
It ends on a bit of a revelation, and I'm very much in two minds whether to carry on with the series. I did quite enjoy the last section, I'm just apprehensive because of how much I didn't vibe with a large section of the book. If it were a duology maybe I'd jump in and read the next, but I'm not sure how long the series will be so not sure it's worth the time...more
I loved this novella, sometimes novellas fall a little short for me because you don't always have the space and time to give the characters and the plI loved this novella, sometimes novellas fall a little short for me because you don't always have the space and time to give the characters and the plot enough room to breath, but this didn't fall into that trap!
I love the new characters, the storyline was great with genuinely humorous bits but also emotional scenes, the perfect mix.
Also, I 100% take credit for coming up with the title of this book. ...more
I thought this as a really interesting, twisty horror comic. There are separate storied in here following different characters at the motel, but all oI thought this as a really interesting, twisty horror comic. There are separate storied in here following different characters at the motel, but all of them are connected through various threads, so you'll see something happening in the background, not even necessarily notice it is odd, then two stories later you will find out what was happening and it all links together. A great set of individual stories, I thought they were all creepy and weird in their own way, each being different enough from each other that it felt fresh and you weren't sure where it would go next. There's an over arcing conversation between the owner of the motel and us, the viewer as if we're coming to stay at a room. It introduces each story, and really adds to this all encompassing story, which crescendos at the end, all timelines back together for the last hurrah....more
This comic is pretty sweet, the art is bright and bold and the characters all have great design. The baddies don't seem so bad, definitely a light reaThis comic is pretty sweet, the art is bright and bold and the characters all have great design. The baddies don't seem so bad, definitely a light read with big kaiju monsters as the backdrop without being gritty or dark. ...more
Fun, simple story. It's only short (comes to around 85 pages) so unfortunately you just don't get enough characterisation or storyline to really get iFun, simple story. It's only short (comes to around 85 pages) so unfortunately you just don't get enough characterisation or storyline to really get into this book. There are a few different things happening, but they don't feel fleshed out and the pacing doesn't hold up (for example there's a mysterious drug that could have been handled better - especially when it came to the 'reveal' - I didn't think it needed to be shocking or anything, we all know who was behind it, but they just went straight out and said it with no lead up so it just felt like the middle of this conflict was missing a bit)
That being said, the story was sweet, it's definitely a bit of fluff so if you're after some sapphic fluff between a princess and a pirate then maybe this is for you....more
3.75 Not sure if this Goodreads page is the correct one - I read 6 issues of Vicious Circus (1-4 is the arc 'Clown Town' and 5-6 is 'To Clown a Predato3.75 Not sure if this Goodreads page is the correct one - I read 6 issues of Vicious Circus (1-4 is the arc 'Clown Town' and 5-6 is 'To Clown a Predator') I also read prequel #0 'Menagerie'.
This is a horror graphic novel that takes place in a small town, a bunch of clowns are on the prowl murdering anyone who has done anything bad to a child (and then stealing the children to add to their creepy clown collective)
Lots of gore, lots of interesting ways to brutalise. The clowns all have their own personality and speciality - for example one has a top hat that's a monster mouth that chomps people to oblivion, another has a detachable hand that can grab things and a third primarily deals in toxic green gas. There's an interesting twist in the second arc, and I quite enjoyed the prequel. It was a bunch of different stories written and drawn in different ways ( a silent movie, a rhyming Christmas carol and a child's story are some of the themes featured)...more
This book started out really slow for me, I wasn't particularly interested in the relationships - either the friendships or the crush. The main pro3.5
This book started out really slow for me, I wasn't particularly interested in the relationships - either the friendships or the crush. The main problem I think was this supposed close nit friend group who had known each other for years and loved each other. I felt like the book didn't give us enough of that before adding the drama, so I didn't think the friends were likable in the slightest. You have to make us want to root for the group to be strong, but instead I was just annoyed when reading about this massive unnecessary feud that lasted months, it was fully Tom Petty (and the eventual make up - while making me emotional - didn't feel complete)
As for the romantic interest, I think the book did us a little bit of disservice by only showing the basic stuff (for example there's one point when our MC Alice is looking at photos taken on all these wonderful trips and days out and experiences the two had together, yet none of this was shown on page. Instead we got them in Takumi's apartment talking or watching movies over and over again) It made the interactions quite bland between the two of them for the majority of the book. Of course the conversing is important, but we need the other stuff too. There were a few sweet moments, I liked all the interactions between Alice, Takumi and his nieces.
I did enjoy other aspects, the normalising of therapy, the library environment at work and the process of Alice trying to decide whether her own happiness or her parents approval was more important when it came to what she was studying were fine things to include
The last third picked up for me (basically it made me cry...several times...and I'm a sucker for books that make me emotional, so bravo LTAL, for nabbing me in the final hurdle!) ...more
This was a fun, quite eccentric graphic novel. We follow Ben, who studied for years to get a job in copy editing, or some other English degree based pThis was a fun, quite eccentric graphic novel. We follow Ben, who studied for years to get a job in copy editing, or some other English degree based profession. He soon learns that without experience he can't get a job, ad without getting a job he can't get experience. Needing any job for the time being he applies for the position of Chef at a local restaurant, and random silliness ensues. The owner is extremely eccentric and has some seriously wacky ideas about what it takes to pass the training period. There's also a very slow burn thing between Ben and Liam - one of the chef's alredy working there.
It's cute, it's fluffy, it's silly, there's a touch of bullheadedness from Ben's parents, but all in all it's just a sweet cute meet cute...more
This was a cute enough read. The artwork is pretty, though all the characters do look very similar, white with brown wavy hair - also two of the charaThis was a cute enough read. The artwork is pretty, though all the characters do look very similar, white with brown wavy hair - also two of the characters have very similar names, so much so that I thought it was the same person for a while. The story was simple and enjoyable, the goodies are very good and the baddies are very obviously the baddies. All in all I liked the comic, it was sweet and simple, with pretty art and a queer romance at the centre....more
Carrie-Anne
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