sci fi – Page 3 – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Kataya De Becerra

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 365

Categories: Mystery, Psychology, Physics, Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mythology

Book Blurb:

On her eighteenth birthday, Hayden inherits her childhood home—on the condition that she uncover its dark secrets.

Hayden tried to put the past behind her, and it worked. She’s getting ready for college, living in a Brooklyn apartment, and hanging out with her best friend and roommate Del. But now it’s all catching up with her: her mother’s mysterious disappearance a decade before, her father’s outlandish theories about a lost supernatural race, and Hayden’s own dark dreams of strange symbols and rituals in the Colorado woods where she grew up.

As soon as Hayden arrives at her hometown, her friend Del in tow, it begins: Neighbors whisper secrets about Hayden’s mother; the boy next door is now all grown-up in a very distracting way; and Hayden feels the trees calling to her. And among them, deep in the woods, Hayden will discover something incredible—something that threatens reality itself.

MY REVIEW

This is one of those books where I borrowed it because of it’s lovely cover. The book blurb sounded interesting but I didn’t quite know what to expect.

What The Woods Keep, follows Hayden, who just turned eighteen and inherits her mother’s home in Promise, Colorado. Hayden has a quite a past: a childhood in Promise with memories of these dark woods, her mother disappearing, her dad who is a physicist but obsessed with Nibelungs. And yes I had to google Nibelungs to see if they were a real thing and they definitely are a thing, a thing of legend and lore.

This story is different and I was drawn into Hayden’s psychosis. She has dreams that haunt her, she’s a warrior on a horse. Hayden’s past also revolves on an incident of unexplained violence at her school – her counseling sessions are presented to us in the book like evidence.

When she goes to Promise with her best friend Del, more strange things start to happen. The people in town have eyes like her, one color different than the other. The woods around them are creepy and a white raven is constantly watching her. Plus there is a facility called Blue Haven Research Institute in Promise with security guards. What is going on? I kept reading to find out, so this book definitely kept me engaged.

This book is hard to categorize. It’s a mashup of sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery. I really loved how most chapters started off with some scientific tidbit on physics or psychology. And some parts were creepy too whenever it was about the woods. What is in these woods? What did Hayden’s mom do there? How did she die or disappear? Are the Nibelungs real? The story moved along quickly for me. I loved all the extra things in this book like Hayden’s case files, newspaper clippings and her mother’s hand written notes.

The only thing that didn’t grab me was the romance between Hayden and her old childhood friend Shannon. It happens a bit quick after they reunite but I guess I can surmise the feelings were always there because they grew up so close together.

Overall, this was a pleasantly surprising fun book to read! It is a really good debut from this author. I look forward to seeing what she writes in the future.

Get it here: Amazon

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My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Authors: Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre

Format: Hard cover

Pages: 467

Categories: Space, Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Cliffhanger

Book Blurb

Zara Cole was a thief back on Earth, but she’s been recently upgraded to intergalactic fugitive. On the run after a bloody battle in a covert war that she never expected to be fighting, Zara, her co-pilot Beatriz, and their Leviathan ship Nadim barely escaped the carnage with their lives. Now Zara and her crew of Honors need a safe haven, far from the creatures who want to annihilate them. But with two wounded Leviathan to treat, plus human and non-human refugees to help, they’ll have to settle for the nearest outpost, called the Sliver: a wild, dangerous warren of alien criminals. Zara’s skills from the Zone may be invaluable. However, Zara discovers that the secrets of the Sliver may have the power to turn the tide of the war they left behind—but in the wrong direction. Soon Zara will have to make a choice: stand against the ultimate evil or run from it. But she’s never walked away from a fight.

MY REVIEW:

The exciting space adventure continues with this second installment of The Honors series, Honor Bound.

I usually read books with romance in it but this book is different. I can’t describe it as a romance because the relationship is between Zara and her ship, a Leviathan named Nadim. I would call it a deep friendship bond – like soulmates and it’s a beautiful thing. I imagine these leviathans to be like whale space ships, who are intelligent and communicate with their Honor (their human). Are they in love? Sometimes I think they are but maybe it’s my own human limitations of my own experiences I’m applying to their relationship. I should know by now after reading two books in this series, anything can happen. And that goes for what happens when Beatriz is included in the bonding moments too. 👀😬

The world building is fantastic. I’ve only started getting into space operas, I’m not that big into the Sci-Fi genre but this series has kept me interested so far. I can imagine this world of multi-gender, slimy, blobby, tentacled, reptilian-like, God-like aliens. The writing is descriptive and the action scenes are so exciting, it kept me on the edge of my seat.

I thought the beginning of the book was slow but it does pick up when they have to dock somewhere for repairs. Of course they stop at the Sliver, a place with shady deals going on, where anything goes if you want to earn currency and is run by Bacia Annont. Zara Cole, shines in this book. She kicks ass, literally! Whether it’s in the Pits, on a mission for Bacia Anont, or fighting the Phage and the Lifekiller, this girl has the heart of a fighter and the smarts too. She’s saving her friends, making friends, and trying to keep everyone alive.

Now the ending is a major cliffhanger! I was like, NO, you can’t end there! One thing that threw me off a little and had to dig in my memory bank for was the issue back on earth with a part of Zara’s past. It emerges in the last part of the book and I was trying to remember who this person was to Zara from the first book. I think it will just make for more action and fighting in the third book, but I wasn’t sure if it was even needed? Zara is dealing with so much already in space. What’s one more thing to mess up her mission, right?

All I know is Zara Cole can handle anything that comes her way with the bonds she has solidified with her friends, new crew members and leviathans. Let’s hope she can make it out alive in book three!