So many books, so little time.

ARC review of Every Breath (Every #1) by Ellie Marney

For me this book was another case of good concept, bad execution. This is all my own personal opinion, of course, but I just really didn't like any of the artistic choices the author went with when it came to taking a pre-existing and well known fictional character and re-inventing them in a contemporary story.  I'm not an enormous Sherlock Holmes fan, so I can't really argue whether or not she truly did the character of Mycroft any sort of justice, but I think that's mostly irrelevant since the character of Mycroft in this book isn't actually supposed to be Mycroft from Sherlock Holmes at all, he's just a boy who happens to have a similar name and also be of a genius-level intellect. Kind of disappointing, if you ask me. I think it would have actually been more fun and interesting to have had a look at what a modern-Mycroft would be like, with his more famous brother in the background, and all.  The mystery plot was, in itself, engaging enough. Pretty straight forward and hit all the familiar marks a mystery plot often does (ie: this doesn't make any sense, wait we've got a lead, now a twist, we're lost again, now we've figured it out, wait new information, new twist + big dramatic reveal!). Like I said, it was alright and it was interesting enough to keep me reading just to see the entire mystery plot through, but it wasn't very groundbreaking, edge-of-your-seat type stuff either. 

Review of The Savages (The Savages #1) by Matt Whyman

Yeesh! They're creepy and they're kooky alright. I am ashamed to admit I almost punked out on this one! I'm not one to be easily squicked out by general gore in books, but this one was really getting to me in the beginning. However, I powered through my blech feels and I'm very glad I did. Though I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart or weak stomached, The Savages is a darkly entertaining, satirical, amoral thrill-ride that I thoroughly enjoyed. This would make such a fantastically gross/weird/hilarious movie! It could be this generation's Little Shop of Horrors. I don't want to say too much as I think this is one of those books that is more fun to experience knowing the least amount of information possible, but I will say that the most important/amazing/horrible thing is that it really makes you root for these ??awful?? characters and I can't wait to read the sequel to see what stomach-turning shenanigans the cannibalistic Addams Family has gotten themselves into next. 

And on a purely technical level, the writing itself was fantastic. It held that perfect air of omniscient 3rd party indifference that makes a book such as this all the more horrifying/satisfying. Of course it's all quite over the top and you have to be willing to suspend your disbelief quite a bit, but that's what makes this kind of campy horror genre so much fun.

Rating: ★★★★✰(3.5 stars)

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