bones

The Bone Labyrinth: A Sigma Force Novel – James Rollin

Excavations, archeology, scientific world, voyages to the other world, special operations, military science, action, suspense, fiction.

Rating 8/10

Lena goes to Croatia, to an archeological site where she found the bones of a Neanderthal woman in a closed off chapel. Inside that site, there are artworks as well that depict society and the evolving brain that was humankind. The site is attacked and ransacked, leaving her and a few survivors straggling to get out of the cavern and questioning why the bones of a Neanderthal woman and to destroy the cavern. Commander Grey Peirce is on the case to go rescue and help. Whereas Monk and Kowalski are to talk with Lena’s twin, Maria, about their work. Maria explains that they wanted to know the mystery jump that happened that caused homo sapiens to be very smart and changed their ways of life. She and her sister think it’s a union between homo sapiens and Neanderthals. There’s so much danger that comes with this research because there are others hunting the same answers as Lena and Maria as well as wants them dead. This will take Sigma into the history and evidence of bones of human ancestors.

This was really intriguing and very adventurous. I enjoyed it so much, but it was a bit of a slow read for me personally. At the time of reading this novel I didn’t know that this was a series and I had read another book before this one and not know it was a part of a series. I plan to find out the first book of the Sigma Force series to read in order hopefully in the future. Overall, loved this indepth slow burn of a novel that kept me on my toes as well as kept me leaning towards reading rather than doing anything else. The author really panned out everything in the novel and made it very easy to read to understand the plot narrative.

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introvert romances?

The Girl He Used to Know – Tracey Garvis Graves

Romance, Fiction.

Rating 7/10

Annika is a peculiar woman who prefers books and animals for company rather than people, a classic introvert. She has a way with her own words and her own style of interpreting life. Jonathan has been coping with a divorce. Annika and Jonathan run into each other at a grocery store and their love for one another is reignited. Both realize their past and discuss what went wrong. It was tragedy that created them to break apart. Just as they are rekindling their love, another life changing incident occurs. Both are unready for what life had in stored for them.

This was a slow read and took me a while to get into. The novel is fine and left an impression. There were two narratives that helped the plot along and explained the timeline of Annika and Jonathan’s relationship. I personally think that there could’ve been more done, and a lot of topics expanded. I can relate a little to the protagonist, Annika, because I also prefer books and animals sometimes rather than humans. I don’t do so well in social settings with large gatherings. If they were small group gatherings I can cope and deal with. This novel does bring up the topic of autism as well as anxiety and quickly dismisses within a few pages. I feel that subject should’ve been discussed further. I think this novel is fine if one wanted to read a slow romance novel.

Blossoming Romance

I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up

Story and Art – Kodama Naoko

Manga, romance, contemporary, LGBTQ+, fiction.

Rating 9.5/10

Morimoto is being harassed by her parents to settle down with a husband, but Morimoto doesn’t want that life just yet. She’s enjoying being happily single and committed to her job. Her friend, Hana, offers to be fake married to her to help Morimoto not be harassed by her parents. Morimoto agrees to do this plan and the plan works. Only thing is that Hana must live with Morimoto for a while. Morimoto doesn’t mind until she finds herself craving Hana’s company. Morimoto starts to fall for Hana slowly and they decide to work on their relationship.

My boyfriend and I were looking for manga to read and he picked up this one to show me. At first, I thought that this manga was going to be some horrible romance comedy. Turns out, this one was very sweet, and very heart felt[KS1] . I enjoyed the sweet message that the manga left for the reader to find. I won’t say what the message is because that would spoil the ending. Overall, this manga surprised me in a lot of ways and opened my mind about reading manga. Not all manga is actiony and or science fiction, they can have contemporary storylines. I will continue to broaden my search for more variety of forms of literature.

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 [KS1]

Totally Not Dating!

Josh + Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating – Christina Lauren

Romance, drama, comedy, fiction.

Josh and Hazel defined each other as undatable ever since their brief interactions in college. Years later their paths cross and still think that they are undatable to each other. After Josh breaks things off with his ever-cheating girlfriend, Hazel fills the emptiness and cheers him up with horribly planned random hangouts as well as other fun activities. They plan each other’s dates, each going hilariously wrong that leads to them hanging out more. Hazel feels like she’s falling for Josh and vice versa. Each of them knew what was going to happen next. It’s the matter of time.

I extremely loved this novel, and this was a joy to reread. I laughed even harder after reading this again. I was rooting for them to immediately admit their feelings during their college years. Also, I feel like I am the main character, Hazel because we both get along with animals rather than humans as well as being weird. I have been told multiple times by my best friend that I am weird and was told to never be normal. This novel just screams that individuality is valued and should be valued. If one can’t be themselves then why bother hanging out with people who want one to tone down themselves? The author really knows how to make the main character relatable as well as the love interests. I’m holding out for a sequel of this novel.

Watch Out

Arkham Horror: To Fight the Black Wind – Jennifer Brozek

Mystery, horror, thriller, Arkham Horror, fiction.

Rating 7/10

Doctor Fern gets a new patient who has nightmares that leave symbols or glyph shaped wounds across her back and legs. Josephine begs Doctor Fern to help her since the previous doctor couldn’t help. Fern goes and tries to find ways to help Josephine and tests out a few therapies to help Josephine. It’s the Black Wind claiming power. Fern has never faced this before and is unprepared to go against this being.

I saw this shelf at a game store and its based from the Arkham Horror Game. However, this is a stand-alone novella that can be read without playing the game. This was a pleasure to read and it was so thrilling I finished the book in a day. Given that this book is small but has a punch of mystery, horror, and thrilling elements. I kind of wished that this novella was longer but it’s a novella for a reason. I enjoyed reading this book. I recommend this book for anyone who’s into this genre.

Sad and Depressing!

How to Stop Time – Matt Haig

Science fiction, fantasy, fiction.

Rating 4/10

Tom is a man with a rare condition where he ages slower than most. Since this condition exists only with a group of individuals, Tom has lived nowhere for too long and has lived through history, being a part of history. Tom recollects the times in which he has lived and the memories. Tom misses his mother and his daughter whom shares his condition and has yet disappeared, leaving Tom wanting to find her. Tom was relocated by the society back to his hometown in England to be a history teacher at a high school. When he sees the French professor, he instantly is falling for her, but he must remember the one rule he must obey, never fall in love at all. Love can be risky especially since Tom’s condition allows him to slowly age unlike other humans. Tom finds out he knows where his daughter is and must top reminiscing the past and finally live in the present.

I genuinely do not how to feel about this science fiction novel. It felt all over the place personally. Too much reflecting on the past rather than the now of the story. It may seem like a purpose to tell about the character’s long agonizing past, but it never fitted in with the plot of the story. This novel would be better if there were organized time skips. The other issue that I had with this novel is that this character’s life, Tom’s, was utterly depressing. One would think if a man lived so long, he would have had more exciting stories to tell. Anyways, overall this novel was mediocre for what this novel is, given that it is science fiction.