Category: Review

The Blind – A.F. Brady

The Blind is the first novel of a Mental Health Counsellor/Psychotherapist so you know going in that there’s going to be plenty of introspection by the main character, and there was.

Sam has worked hard to maintain her reputation for being the most reliable and competent psychologist at Typhlos Psychiatric Centre. She’s praised by her manager, Rachel, and is given all of the tough cases that no one else can handle.

Richard comes to Typhlos with practically no background information and won’t talk. After becoming involved in his case, Sam finds herself in a situation she’s unfamiliar with. Richard is not giving anything away and all of Sam’s usual techniques don’t work on him. As they spend more time together, the mind games begin.

Usually I’m so engrossed with characters and what’s happening that the big reveal comes and I’m just as surprised as the character. When I figure it out early it indicates to me that I’m not emotionally involved in the book and/or the big reveal is super obvious. I found myself in both categories during this book. I didn’t emotionally connect to any of the characters and worked out the big reveal plus the psychological diagnosis of a character by 20%.

Had I not already committed to reviewing this book I would have stopped reading at 20%. I was so irritated by one of the characters and their behaviour that I was over it. I knew as I was reading that the author was setting the scene for later in the book but by 20% I no longer cared. I’m a firm believer in there being so many books on offer out there that you shouldn’t have to fight to get into one.

If you’re feeling like I was, hold on. It does get better from just before the end of Part 1 but it never really took off for me. It does give the reader insight into what it’s like to live with mental illness and to work in the field. I feel like this is a 2.5 star book but am rounding up in recognition of this being a debut novel.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

With the intensity and rawness of Girl, Interrupted and Luckiest Girl Alive comes this razor-sharp debut, which reveals how one woman can go so far off the deep end, she might never make it back up.

Sam James has spent years carefully crafting her reputation as the best psychologist at Typhlos, Manhattan’s most challenging psychiatric institution. She boasts the highest success rates with the most disturbed patients, believing if she can’t save herself, she’ll save someone else. It’s this saviour complex that serves her well in helping patients battle their inner demons, though it leads Sam down some dark paths and opens her eyes to her own mental turmoil.

When Richard, a mysterious patient no other therapist wants to treat, is admitted to Typhlos, Sam is determined to unlock his secrets and his psyche. What she can’t figure out is why does Richard appear to be so completely normal in a hospital filled with madness? And what, really, is he doing at the institution? As Sam gets pulled into Richard’s twisted past, she can’t help but analyse her own life, and what she discovers terrifies her. And so the mind games begin. But who is the saviour and who is the saved?

In this unexpected and addictive psychological debut, A.F. Brady takes readers into the psyche of a deeply disturbed woman desperately trying to keep her head above water, showing that sometimes what’s most terrifying is what exists in your mind.

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The Visitors – Catherine Burns

CLIENT REPORT – CONFIDENTIAL

Client Name: Marion Zetland

Age: 54, but looks 60

Personal Appearance: Frizzy brown hair that looks like she stuck her finger in a powerpoint, in desperate need of surgery to implant a sense of fashion

Relevant Family History: Rich in money (business: Zetland’s Fine Fabrics) but not affection. Emotionally unavailable mother. Weirdo father. Psycho brother

Education: Attended three schools yet appears to have learned little at any of them

Lives: In her own little world

Home Life: Resides with her older brother, John, and various ‘visitors’ in her childhood six-bedroom home. Sleeps in her childhood attic bedroom

Home’s hoarder level: Expert

Cleanliness of home: Sorry, but I can’t see under the dust to assess this

Social Life: Does being friends with stuffed animals count?

Culinary Prowess: Toast, reheating tinned or packet food

Maladaptive Coping Mechanisms: Denial, binge-eating, denial, daydreaming, denial, living through TV shows, denial

Special Abilities: Invisibility, ability to transfigure into a doormat

Mantra: If I don’t pay attention to it then it’s not really happening

Favourite Books: Include The Secret Garden and the Harry Potter series (OK, so she has some redeeming qualities after all)

Relationship and Employment History: Did you just hear a pin drop?

Overall Assessment: This woman, whose emotional and social development halted somewhere in early childhood, needs a big dose of ‘wake up to yourself!’ A victim of her upbringing but complicit in her failure to get a life, her only expertise appears to be in not having any accountability for how her life has turned out or the choices she’s made or refused to make (honey, refusing to do anything is also a choice).

And the winners of the You Should’ve Been Sterilised at Birth category … 🥁… Marion and John’s parents!

Is it possible to want to keep reading a book when you despise the two main characters and wish them slow, excruciating deaths? Apparently.

Is it also possible to wander aimlessly between empathy and wanting to knock some sense into one of the main characters for almost the entire book? You betcha.

The Visitors is a difficult book to review. There’s so much I want to say but don’t want to give anything away. It was well written and a scarily accurate fly on the wall look into the lives of one seriously dysfunctional family. I’ve heard some seriously dysfunctional people saying some of the things that come out of these characters’ mouths almost word for word.

I imagine this will be a polarising book as it delves into some disturbing themes and although evil is most certainly committed by multiple characters, you can also see enough of the gears working inside their heads that you get an understanding of why they may choose to behave that way. I’m definitely not giving them a free pass here. Their actions are reprehensible and yet, there was a part of me that still wanted to empathise with them, just a little bit. I guess my obsession fascination with why people do the evil they do had a morbidly enjoyable feast during this book.

My main annoyance with this book came at the ending. I was hoping it would turn out differently (that’s being nice – I actually wanted to punch someone) but perhaps I can borrow a smidgen Marion’s fantasy world ability and imagine my own end to the story. Love it or hate it, this is going to be a talked about book. I can see it working well as a book club read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for the opportunity to read this book. I’d also like to say a special thanks to Erin at Hachette Australia for her excellent customer service.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother, John in a decaying Georgian townhouse on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her fifties who still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to shut out the shocking secret that John keeps in the cellar.

Until, suddenly, John has a heart attack and Marion is forced to go down to the cellar herself and face the gruesome truth that her brother has kept hidden.

As questions are asked and secrets unravel, maybe John isn’t the only one with a dark side.

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The Bear Went Over the Mountain – Louis Shea

This book deserves 5 stars for the illustrations alone! It has some of the most detailed and beautiful pictures I’ve ever seen in a children’s book. All of the animals in each picture have their very own personality and they’re just so cute and quirky! Whether it’s a squirrel with a mohawk, crabs building sandcastles, sharks attending school, penguins swordfighting with swordfish, a fruit salad chameleon or mosh pit bats and rats, there’s so much to see and laugh at. The story is simple, repetitive and fun for kids, but the real stories are what’s happening within the pictures. I adore this book!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The bear went over the mountain
To see what he could see.
What do you think he saw?

You won’t believe what the bear sees over this mountain!

A forest of squirrels singing,
Setting ears a-ringing.
Golly gosh! Oh my! Oh me!
It was a sight to see.

Sing along with favourite children’s entertainer Jay Laga’aia’s bonus CD recording!

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Thelma the Unicorn – Aaron Blabey

Another book proudly brought to you by …

🦄 Unicorn Month! 🦄

Thelma the horse desperately wants to be a unicorn and doesn’t believe her best friend when he tells her she’s perfect just the way she is. Between a carrot tied to her nose and a fortuitous near miss with a truck loaded conveniently with pink paint and glitter, all of Thelma’s dreams come true. Or so she thinks. It’s not much fun keeping up the facade of being someone you’re not.

This is a sweet book about accepting and loving yourself for who you are. A recommendation from one of my favourite librarians, I love the message of this book. The illustrations are lovely and I particularly liked Thelma’s best friend, Otis. You can’t help but love someone who loves you just the way you are.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Thelma dreams of being a glamorous unicorn. Then in a rare pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma’s wish comes true.

She rises to instant international stardom, but at an unexpected cost. After a while, Thelma realizes that she was happier as her ordinary, sparkle-free self. So she ditches her horn, scrubs off her sparkles, and returns home, where her best friend is waiting for her with a hug.

From award-winning author Aaron Blabey comes this joyful book about learning to love who you are … even if you don’t have sparkles.

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That’s Not My Unicorn … – Fiona Watt

Illustrations – Rachel Wells

This is the latest in my That’s Not My … obsession. This time we take on UNICORNS!!!! This is my second unicorn read this month and I have another two planned for the weekend. As I missed (shame on me!) Unicorn Day on 9 April, but will most certainly be celebrating it annually from 2018, I officially declare this …
🦄 Unicorn Month! 🦄

This was another cute addition to the That’s Not My … series, but so much better because, duh, unicorns! I for one am stoked that our sweet little white mouse rejected so many unicorns on the way to finding theirs, because that leaves five unicorns looking for someone to love them – and I call dibs on all of them!

I want the one with the fluffy mane. I want the one with the rainbow coloured mane and super soft ears. I want the bumpy hooved one with the pink mane and purple stripey horn. I want the furry tailed one with the yellow mane and horn. Oh, and I certainly claim the smooth winged one with pink mane and yellow horn flying past the rainbow. If any of you want to borrow one at any time you’re more than welcome but as I already made pretty clear, I’ve got dibs on every single one of the rejects. So there, Mr Mouse! You don’t get to change your mind now!

Just between you and I, Mr Mouse had better be on the lookout because I may well be planning on unicorn-napping borrowing his unicorn with the rainbow coloured mane and sparkly horn in the near future.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The 50th title in the internationally best-selling That’s not my … series. This sparkly, touchy-feely book features a magical unicorn to talk about, and a little white mouse to spot on every page. Babies and toddlers will love turning the pages and touching the textured patches as they try to find their unicorn.

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Chirp – Dolores Costello

Chirp, the book and the sweet little chick, are so adorable. Chirp goes on an adventure through the red fence, past a cat and some turkeys. A gust of wind deposits him in a can of blue paint before he wanders back to his siblings.

Chirp and his siblings are the sweetest little balls of fluff on scrawny stick figure legs, and in only a few lines for their eyes and beak, their expressions are priceless. There’s a lot of white space surrounding the pictures but they’re brightly coloured and I feel extra detail would have detracted from the cute factor. The illustrations are so simple, not that I think for a minute I could replicate them. Art and I aren’t on the best of terms. I like it but it doesn’t like me so much. This book would be a helpful tool to teach your little ones primary colours.

Each of the five times I’ve read this book (so far), I’ve smiled from start to finish. It’s a lovely picture book that I’d happily read over and over. This would make a great bedtime story for your own adventurous little chicks.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Xist Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

When a little chick leaves the flock, he stumbles on to an adventure that will change him forever. This charming picture book from Dolores Costello is a cute read for little explorers.

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The Disappearance – Gillian Chan

I love this book! Ever since reading as many of Torey L. Hayden’s books as I could get my hands on just after finishing my psychology degree, I’ve had a great interest in elective mutism so I had to read The Disappearance. While elective mutism was one aspect, as it unfolded there was a twist that turned this story into so much more. I guess it doesn’t hurt that I have a soft spot for kids who have been through foster care and are stuck in a system that doesn’t always work the way it’s intended to.

Mike McCallum, otherwise known as Mutt, arrives at a group home called Medlar House after a series of unsuccessful foster care placements. Mutt is physically and emotionally scarred from the murder of his little brother, Jon. He uses his physical size and his disfigured face to play the role of thug, pushing away anyone who tries to get too close to him. He’s a smart kid who adored and looked out for his little brother, and blames himself for not being able to prevent Jon’s murder.

Mutt has a heart of gold buried underneath his bravado but don’t tell him that or he may beat you up. The fact that Mutt is manipulative when he wants or feels he needs to be and that he takes pleasure in messing with people scored him points with me as these characteristics gave depth to him that would’ve been lacking if he’d been all good or all bad.

Among the kids who live at Medlar House are Adam the shadow, Paddy the bully, Matt who acts like Paddy’s minion and silent Jacob Mueller. While there are many social workers at Medlar House the house parents, if you will, are Chaz and Lucy (Luce). Luce spends more time with the younger kids and Chaz cares for the older ones. I adored Chaz. He was gullible and eternally optimistic, doing whatever he could to reach out to the seemingly unreachable.

As Mutt settles in to the group home, he throws his weight around enough to ensure the other kids know he’s not a pushover. Silent Jacob, who ends up being his roommate, intrigues Mutt. There’s more to him than meets the eye. In the middle of the night Mutt hears Jacob say something about Mutt’s life before Medlar that he couldn’t possibly have known. Mutt is determined to find out what’s really behind Jacob’s strange behaviour and hopefully find some answers for himself at the same time.

This book grabbed me during the prologue, which tells us the end of the story before we go back to the beginning to find out how we got there. I enjoyed the paranormal aspects and felt they added an interesting layer to the story. While I did find the way it all panned out predictable and I worked things out before Mutt did, he was at a disadvantage because he was trying not to look too smart and fly as much as possible under the radar whereas I didn’t have those setbacks as the reader. The lack of surprises didn’t take anything away from my enjoyment of the book.

The underlying mystery throughout the book and the gradual revelation of the histories of Mutt, Jacob and Adam were rewarding and I found the writing style to flow well. It was a quick and easy read with a few words scattered here and there that had me consulting my dictionary. I would have liked to have been given more information from Jacob about the lost ones.

Main issue with this book: The blurb. I feel that it gives too much away that would be better off being uncovered by the reader as they make their way through the book.

Tissues used: 1, but they weren’t sad tears.

What I craved while reading: Chocolate donuts and hot chocolate. Yummy!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Annick Press Ltd. for the opportunity to read this book. While this book is marketed to young adults, I’d recommend it to adults as well.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

This novel centers on the unlikely friendship between two boys, Jacob Mueller and Mike McCallum. Jacob seems to be from a different world. After mystifying experts and doctors, who finally decide that he is an elective mute, Jacob ends up in a juvenile group home, isolated and withdrawn, the butt of teasing by the other kids. Mike exists in his own private hell. Scarred physically and emotionally after the murder of his younger brother, his one aim is to survive the system until he is legally old enough to get out. He uses his horrific appearance, imposing size, sharp intelligence, and a calculated brutality to keep everyone at bay–until he encounters Jacob. Almost despite himself, Mike is fascinated by Jacob, particularly the way in which he seems able to shut out the world around him. This fascination deepens and becomes tinged by a mixture of awe and horror when Jacob starts to talk, and appears to have knowledge of Mike’s past, and in particular of his dead brother. Mike takes it upon himself to solve the puzzle that is Jacob Mueller, and when he comes to what seems to him to be the impossible conclusion that Jacob is from another time, he makes it his mission to return him home. In order to do so, Mike has to make hard choices: choices which could offer the chance of redemption, but only at great cost. 

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Comics for a Strange World: A Book of Poorly Drawn Lines – Reza Farazmand

I read some of the comics twice to try and figure out what I was missing. I find most things funny including things that aren’t supposed to be, yet I didn’t even feel the beginning of a smile while reading this book. I tried really hard. Sorry, this one wasn’t for me.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Plume Books, Penguin Group for the opportunity to read this book.

Once Upon a Blurb

Absurd comics for our absurd times, from the artist behind the wildly popular webcomic Poorly Drawn Lines.

In his follow up to the New York Times bestselling Poorly Drawn Lines, beloved webcomic artist Reza Farazmand returns with a new collection of comics that hilariously skewers our modern age. Comics for a Strange World takes readers through time, space, and alternate realities, reuniting fans with favourite characters and presenting them with even more bizarre scenarios. A child is arrested for plagiarism. A squirrel adapts to human society by purchasing a cell phone – and a gun. And an old man shares memories of the Internet with his granddaughter (“A vast network of millions of idiots. Together, the idiots created endless shitty ideas. It was a true renaissance of shit.”). In the world of Poorly Drawn Lines, nothing is too weird or too outlandish for parody.

Featuring 50% brand new content alongside some of the most popular comics of the past year, Comics for a Strange World is the perfect antidote to life’s absurdities.

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The Little Red Wolf – Amélie Fléchais

Illustrations – Jeremy Melloul

Spoilers Ahead!

Well, that was dark and depressing. The young wolf is on his way to his grandmother’s house to deliver a freshly slaughtered rabbit and is warned to stay away from a certain area of the forest because that’s where the horrible hunter and his daughter live. On the way he gets distracted, hungry and lost. He eats the rabbit intended for his grandmother and then worries about getting into trouble.

Along comes a nice young girl who offers to take him to her place for a replacement rabbit and he naïvely follows, unknowingly walking into a trap. We end up hearing two versions of the same story at the end of the book, both told as songs to the same tune. In one version the wolves killed the hunter’s wife. Therefore, wolves are evil and we must kill them all. In the other version the hunter’s wife was friends with the wolves and when the hunter couldn’t find his wife one night he got worried and searched for her. Seeing her with the wolves he was afraid and shot at the wolves, accidentally killing his wife.

While some of the illustrations are intricate and gorgeous, others are dark and would most likely give young children nightmares if this was their bedtime story. I know that generally the fairy tales we’ve known all our lives didn’t originate with the Disney version we’re used to but that doesn’t mean I want to read them to a young child. I can see this book being appreciated by some older children and adults but I personally wouldn’t want to buy it.

Thank you very much to NetGalley, Lion Forge and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

A young wolf, on a journey to bring his grandmother a rabbit, is charmed by the nice little girl who offers to help him … but nice is not the same as good.

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Hotel Transylvania Volume 1: Kakieland Katastrophe – Stefan Petrucha

Illustrations – Allen Gladfelter

Written by Stefan Petrucha and illustrated by Allen Gladfelter, Kakieland Katastrophe is the first in a new series of graphic novels that introduce new stories in the Hotel Transylvania world we already know and love.

With character profiles at the beginning, you are reminded of the monsters and human you already know or introduced to them if you’re new to Hotel Transylvania land. If you haven’t already seen the movies, please remedy that immediately as you are seriously missing out!

In this story, Stephen Cling, horror author and owner of Kakieland, a new Transylvanian theme park, is our baddie. Wanting to expand his empire, Cling decides he wants a hotel and he’s found the perfect one … Hotel Transylvania.

After tricking our helpful, loveable monsters into posing for some selfies that make them look scary and distributing them via the Internet to ruin the image of monsters everywhere, an angry mob arrives and turn up the heat on our monsters with flaming torches, pitchforks and protest signs. My personal favourite which is an absolute classic says ‘Sorry, I never know what to say on protest signs‘.

After all of the adults do their bit to attempt to fix the problem and fail, it’s up to the kids (Dennis and Winnie) to save the day, the Hotel and the reputation of monsters everywhere!

This is a really fun graphic novel. The characters stay true to the way they were depicted in the movies, the storyline is interesting and the artwork is excellent. There’s great attention to detail in the illustrations and enough humour and character traits from the movies shining through so it’s easy to hear the characters’ voices in your head as you read. It can be difficult to translate characters from movies onto the page but this is an impressive introduction and I’m interested to see where the story takes us in the next volume.

Colourists Laurie E. Smith and Matt Herms and letterer Wilson Ramos Jr. also deserve kudos for jobs well done in making the overall look come together in a way that stays true to the feel of the movies yet also creatively stands apart.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Papercutz for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The debut Hotel Transylvania graphic novel based on the movies! Horror author Stephen Cling visits Hotel Transylvania to try and prove monsters are still dangerous. Dracula, his daughter and her family, and the Drac pack are anything but! However, when a human child goes missing, it is up to Drac, Mavis, and the rest of the Hotel crew to locate the child before their monstrous reputation gets them chased out of town.

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