The book that made me scared of the dark again.... Anna Dressed in Blood

Cas Lowood is a real life Ghost Buster, who also happens to be dealing with high school and the legacy of a father who died at the hands of a cannabalistic ghost. We learn early on that he tends to be a loner but the story would be depressing if he didn't pick up some friends at some point, and that he does. On arrival in Thunder Bay, Cas is expecting to kill Anna Korlov and soon learns that things were going to be a lot more complicated than the average stab-n'-go.

For my second time reading the book, I expected a bit of boredom. Some time had passed since I first picked it up, but the main surprises would still be gone. I was wrong. This story doesn't even know who boredom is. I was at times completely terrified and had to use a flashlight to save myself from the dark. I was sure that ghosts were hiding in the walls of a house which no one could possibly have died in (or so I choose to believe). I am not particularly fond of being afraid of my house, but the great thing about this book is that the horror was always balanced out with the humour. While I probably won't drop a dedicated review on Girl of Nightmares, the second part of the duology, I can say that it didn't disappoint on the horror either. Anna Dressed in Blood never takes itself too seriously, and you shouldn't either.

This world has stuck with me for the past four years. Blake has managed to bring complexity and humour to being a teenage ghost buster. Anna's relationship with our main characters is utterly ridiculous, but also completely reasonable for a world in which each murderous ghost is given a story and pain. Somehow this book manages to turn murderous rampages into pity, and I love that it does. From the first ghost we met I was hooked. And if ghosts and ghost-busters weren't enough to sell you on giving this a read - there's also an entire paranormal network to learn about. The fantastic world-building was coupled with fabulous characters and a fast-paced plot. Anna, Thomas, Carmel and Cas had me absolutely flying through the book (which only took me a couple days to finish thanks to pretending impending deadlines didn't exist.)

However, my one sticking point for making this God-tier would have to be the romance aspect. While it was great to see a ghost buster fall in love with a ghost, I did find myself getting a bit sick of it by the end. Despite this, I'm going to have to give this a 4/5 for being so damn memorable (and because I recommend getting it stuck in your head too.)

Light Years by Kass Morgan

'Light Years' by Kass Morgan follows the story of four soon to-be space academy students from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds as they fight adversity, and some aliens too. I don't know why I thought that sounded interesting but it actually kind of was. The story, and the characters were all super interesting, but I found the novel lacking in other ways. Rating this was actually a real challenge for me since while I really enjoyed it I don't think it deserves 4+ stars given that the writing itself lacked a bit of finesse and complexity. 

Each of the characters had their own story to tell, and their backgrounds well reflected this. With one rich kid, two poor kids from the outer planets, and an alien? spy, we certainly got to see a few different perspectives. The politics of the world were therefore really interesting, but I felt that they could have been fleshed out more as while the characters often spoke about perceived prejudice, there could have been more examples of it in action, especially in regards to Deva and Chetire, where the prejudice was felt from afar, but not seen directly in action on the planets themselves. My favourite perspectives were those of Rex and Vesper, but Arran's naivety and Orelia's coolness weren't that enjoyable. I liked the role that romance played in the novel, but I don't think that it was very realistic. I mean, who seriously feels 'electricity coursing through their body' when they kiss someone?

There were some pacing issues with this book, and I think that the end was pretty rushed. The first few weeks were really well fleshed out and then the remainder of the year was wrapped up in the same amount of words. I did enjoy the cliffhanger at the end of the book, even if it was pretty obvious. Another issue I had was with the teacher-student thing going on, and that when the student was with this teacher it was the only time they truly felt safe. It's honestly kind of weird, even if they are of similar ages (which was reinforced way too often.)  

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley, and would like to thank Hachette Children's Books, and most of all Kass Morgan for giving me opportunity to read and review this book.

The Edible Cookie Dough Cookbook by Olivia Hops

So this might be a bit random, but I feel like 'cookie dough' should be one word. It's a common enough phrase anyway, at least in my head. Cookiedough just looks like it belongs together. Anyway, when I saw The Edible Cookie Dough Cookbook pop up on Netgalley I knew I just had to give it a shot. Who doesn't like eating cookie dough? One of the reasons I usually bake vegan is because I don't want to have to remotely worry about salmonella when eating that stuff off my hands. Here, Hops has managed to compile a whopping 75 different totally edible cookie dough recipes, even coming with instructions on how to heat treat flour for safety (although I can't say I bothered with it.) 

This book comes with 3 major sections: 

The obligatory introductory basic how to stuff was about as interesting as it ever is. I did enjoy the author's writing style and personal notes about how she fell into the cookie dough business, but as usual my focus was on the glorious tasty treats themselves. 

Cookie dough recipes: There were SO many awesome sounding recipes in here, from your classic double choc to a lemon cardamom dough that looked amazing. Every recipe started pretty much the same way, beating a ton of butter and sugar into the fluffy goodness we all know and love. One thing I will say about these recipes is that they seem to rely on premade flavourings, such as cake or brownie mix. And while that does make for a short ingredient list, I think that it would have been nice to get some less artificial flavouring going. 

Recipes using the cookie dough: these were pretty cool, including cookie dough layer cake, cookie dough stuffed cupcakes, and cookie dough party dip. Am I going to make any of these? Probably not. But there are certainly plenty of ideas that I think would be great for kids birthday parties, or barbecues and picnics. 

The recipes are all formatted well, and easily understandable. Most people with basic baking experience should be able to make them once they work out how to cream butter and sugar. The problem, for me anyway, is that this book recommends a paddle beater, which I do not have, and resulted in some pretty sugar-grainy dough. Not every recipe in this book has a photo, which I personally like, because you can never be misled by how something looks, only how it sounds, but if you're a photo fiend, this probably isn't for you. There isn't anything incredibly exciting about the photography that is there, nor is there anything particularly exciting about the formatting, so if  you're looking for an average kind of cookbook with inventive recipes, go for it. 

I made two recipes with this book to varying degrees of success. The birthday cake cookie dough tasted  fine, but I did not beat the butter and sugar nearly long enough and it was a dry, crumbly mess. Thankfully I forgot to take pictures of that monstrosity. The taste was only ok, maybe because I used cheap cake mix, or maybe because the flavour was supposed to come entirely from cake mix. 

The second recipe I tried was the White Chocolate Chai Cookie Dough, minus the white chocolate, because I was too lazy to go to the shops. This turned out much better and is pictured beside (because I know you've missed my amazing food photography.) The taste was again kind of bland, and tasted basically just like chai tea powder, the basis of its flavouring. It just left me feeling like there was something missing (maybe the white chocolate.)  The texture was better, getting to a cookie dough consistency, and not being too dry, but I could still feel the individual sugar granules. 

Overall I gave this a 3.5/5 stars, because there was a huge variety of recipes, they just could have been better. 

The Beast of Kukuyo by Kevin Jared Hosein

***

For the second time in her life, 15-year-old Rune Mathura comes face-to-face with a brutal murder when her classmate Dumpling Heera goes missing and is eventually found dead. 

Dumpling’s murder drags the small, rural village of Kukuyo into the national spotlight, revealing a darkness curdling in the town. But Rune knows that the memories of the villagers and police are short. Inspired by her love of detective television shows, she launches her own investigation. 

Yet, Rune soon learns that real life is not the same as television and neither justice nor evil appear in black and white. Her journey takes her along a bloody trail of chicken feathers, down a muddy ravine and into a grimy den where she encounters dark secrets and a terror that is very, very real. 

In this gripping new novel, Kevin Jared Hosein topples the tropes about truth and justice created in television shows and childhood detective novels like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Along her journey Rune learns that the road to justice can be paved with ill-intentions, and that truth is always complicated.

***

First of all I have to say that I know practically nothing about Trinidad. All I knew before going into this book was that it used to be a British slave colony and that it is in the Caribbean. And this book isn't really about Trinidad, but it is set there, so you can say that I had to Google many many things in order to understand what was going on. But that was actually one of my favourite things, as the author used Trini slang and hindu words to authenticate Rune's perspective. 

One of my favourite aspects of this book is that it is just as much character driven as it is plot driven, so it's kind of perfect for me. I loved watching Rune grow and learn and really just become who she needed to be. The other characters are also really well written and each one has their own complexities. Nothing is black and white. Nick, for example, is irresponsible and an alcoholic but as we see him through Rune's eyes it's clear that he's not all bad. 

There is only technically a romance element to this book and that's really just an awesome friendship that could lead to more at some point in the future. And I liked that. It was realistic, not all fifteen year olds have ever been in a relationship, in fact most haven't.

SPOILER! My one gripe (except it isn't really) is that we never get to find out who kills Dumpling. Rune laments that people will forget about Dumpling but along the way she stops being fueled by that death as well (in her defense she does have some crazy other shit going on).

I absolutely loved this novel and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good YA thriller.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Blouse & Skirt Books and most of all Kevin Jared Hosein for giving me the opportunity to read this awesome book. 

Vegan Yack Attack On the Go! by Jackie Sobon

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Vegan Yack Attack on the Go! is an exciting new vegan cookbook with creative recipe ideas. Sobon created this book to give readers “a wide variety of meals that are fun, tasty, and quick to pull together”. Included are sections on pantry basics and appliances, which are pretty run of the mill, preceding the recipes. The recipes are split into seven chapters:

- Quick breakfasts, snacks, and treats: As with most cookbooks I find that the breakfast inclusions just take more time than I’m willing to take each morning to prepare. But that doesn’t mean the recipes don’t look awesome and that  I won’t try them at some other time.

- Prep-ahead recipes: This chapter includes thinks like granola, dip and veggie crisps (kale, squash etc.).  A lot of this you will have seen before in some form but the author always manages to put her own twist on it. A great example would be the White Bean Rosemary Hummus.

- Lunch box stuffers: I wanted to make pretty much everything in this section as I’m always looking for new lunchbox recipes. While some of the recipes take quite a while to make, they are also mostly usable in bulk so that I could meal prep for the week. How often am I going to eat 4 sandwiches or bagels anyway?

- Meals in 30 minutes or less: While most of these meals are true ‘30 minutes or less meals’, there are some which expect you to have pre-prepared sauces that would clearly make the meals take much longer. For example, the butternut squash mac and cheese wants you to already have the sauce on hand and takes its prep time out of the equation by putting the sauce in the ‘basics’ section. I don’t know about you but butternut cheese sauce is not something that my family actively has around. The other recipes which I have prepared from this section have come together in 30 minutes with prep time included so the preparation of this sauce may be included, however it is not made clear in the book itself.

- Bulk cooking:This section is filled with some great recipe ideas, which despite the title only make a small number of servings. The author says that the intention is to make multiple servings at once which is fine but I think that the only reason to have these recipes in a separate section to the others is because they don’t come together super quickly, and therefore fit into the title of the book.

- Food on the move:Some of these recipes are really unique, it is rare that I look through a cookbook seeing new types of foods (at least new to me). The grill packets especially look like something I should give a shot.

- Make your own staples: While I'm personally unlikely to use this section (as I'm a lazy f*ck), I think this could be useful for some people.

I tested two recipes for this book, both from the 30 minutes or less category. Both were well written and easy to follow. In fact the whole book was well-written and beautifully formatted, with amazing photos for most of the recipes. As a plus the food actually looked like pictures (sorry for the terrible ones of my versions which are below) .

The Summer Stew turned out great and used up some of the foods that had been sitting around the fridge for a while (like zucchini). I'd definitely make it again. The Kale Raspberry Grain Salad did not do so well, although I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I subbed agave for maple syrup and used defrosted raspberries rather than fresh since that’s what I had on hand and the whole thing ended up being a bit bitter. I probably wouldn't make this again. 

Overall I'd really recommend this book for those looking to explore vegan cooking and even for longtime plant-based eaters who are looking for fresh ideas.

***4.5/5 stars***

Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn (Pub June 9 2015) IBSN13:9781250063847

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review*

From the Morris-Award winning author of Charm & Strange, comes a twisted and haunting tale about three teens uncovering dark secrets and even darker truths about themselves.

When nearly killing a classmate gets seventeen-year-old Sadie Su kicked out of her third boarding school in four years, she returns to her family’s California vineyard estate. Here, she’s meant to stay out of trouble. Here, she’s meant to do a lot of things. But it’s hard. She’s bored. And when Sadie’s bored, the only thing she likes is trouble.

Emerson Tate’s a poor boy living in a rich town, with his widowed mother and strange, haunted little brother. All he wants his senior year is to play basketball and make something happen with the girl of his dreams. That’s why Emerson’s not happy Sadie’s back. An old childhood friend, she knows his worst secrets. The things he longs to forget. The things she won’t ever let him.

Haunted is a good word for fifteen-year-old Miles Tate. Miles can see the future, after all. And he knows his vision of tragic violence at his school will come true, because his visions always do. That’s what he tells the new girl in town. The one who listens to him. The one who recognizes the darkness in his past.

But can Miles stop the violence? Or has the future already been written? Maybe tragedy is his destiny. Maybe it’s all of theirs.

Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn is an incredibly disturbing yet fantastic psychological thriller. The characters in this novel are all incredibly disturbed and the story isn't one for the light-hearted. I would describe this book as very dark. The book was split into three different view points of Miles, Emerson and Sadie. Each of the characters faced different issues but were all troubled in some way. I really liked each of these characters but my favourite view point was definitely  Emerson's although my favourite character to learn about was Miles. Emerson's view point was definitely the most disturbing out of them all.

The ending to this book was not entirely satisfying and felt slightly rushed to me.If you don't like being left with unanswered questions you may finish this book leaving slightly frustrated. I was kind of frustrated but in a way there was something about the mystery of the ending that I liked. I don't believe that there was enough of a cliff-hanger to make a second book but if one was published I would definitely read it. From the reviews that I have read on Goodreads many found this book incredibly disturbing and for that they gave it less stars. This slightly concerns me because I found it disturbing but enjoyed the darkness in the storyline and the characters.

This is one of my favourite books of the year. It kept me up at night just thinking about it. The novel itself was only about 240 pages in print although it didn't particularly feel like a quick-read.I would really recommend this novel to certain people that I know although you should be careful about reading this if you are easily traumatized or are pretty innocent. I would like to thank NetGalley, Amazon Kindle, St. Martin's Griffin and most of all Stephanie Kuehn for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing book.

I rated this book a 4.5/5.

eBay/Amazon Aspesis Safe Disposable Ear Piercing Gun Review

Disclaimer: If you do not like body modifications such as piercings or believe that I am stupid for piercing my ears myself do not bother to leave a nasty comment. I heavily researched before doing the piercing. I am not telling anyone that this is the 'right' way to use the guns but this is the way that worked for me and the way that was recommended by the description of the item on eBay. I have not been sponsored to do this review.

 I have recently been very into piercings but only had my first lobe piercings done. I decided to look into doing my ear piercings D.I.Y. in order to save money because I knew that my parents would make me pay for it myself. In my research I discovered that using piercing guns such as the ones at Claire's Accessories are actually very bad for you especially when piercing cartilage as there is a risk of shattering it. I also came across $1 disposable piercing guns each with there own stud on eBay. I ordered six of these as I wanted to do my 2nd and 3rd lobe piercings with them and 2 extra just in case I needed them or they turned out really well.