STONE HEART by Katee Robert

Stone Heart by Katee Robert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The other day I bought a bunch of Dark Olympus books for my Paperwhite, and then found this novella for free, so I decided to give it a go.

In Olympus, nothing gets past the most powerful. So when Athena orders Medusa to kill Calypso, the mistress Odysseus wants gone, she does as she's told. After all, Medusa owes Athena. But this assignment feels different from the beginning, and when she catches sight of the mistress, Medusa finds herself questioning everything...

This novella is a great introduction to this fascinating world. I love Greek mythology, so retellings always catch my attention, and this one delivers. Not to mention that Medusa is one of my faves.

I read the whole thing in one sitting and really enjoyed the tale of these two very different women with similar mental scars. Medusa is tied to Athena because she feels like she owes her everything for saving her life. Calypso is tied to habits that ensure she gets what she wants via seduction.

One is a killer, the other a mistress, but both don't realise there's more to life until their paths cross. The attraction is instant, and I liked how their story turned out.

I'm intrigued by this version of Olympus, a city full of familiar names with different lives and roles, but no less dangerous. Not to mention what lies on the other side of the River Styx.

Definitely interested in reading more about this dark world and characters.


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VICTORIAN PSYCHO by Virginia Feito

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Last night I went through my Kobo Libra Colour and as soon as I spotted this book, I started reading.

Winifred Notty is a governess who goes to Ensor House to take care of two obnoxious children. Mr. Pounds loves her company, but Mrs. Pounds doesn't like her at all. But Winifred has a plan she needs to stick to. That doesn't mean she can't indulge her darkness...

OMFG.

This book is freaking insane! The story is wild. Totally wicked. And I loved every minute of it. It's also very addictive.

I struggled to put the book down because Winifred is so unhinged that I couldn't believe some of the stuff that happens. Not to mention the revelation that made me go: what? Of course!

😳

The writing style is very snappy and so are the chapter titles. I like how the ugly truth often hidden within the romanticised Victorian lifestyle was totally out there in this tale. And the location was perfect for the madness that goes on.

The pacing is also great, and those last few chapters were a whirlwind of violence that felt like a nasty surreal nightmare.

I enjoyed the hell out of this book and must now find out if this author has more books available.


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Last day of September...

Can you believe another month is almost over? Yikes.

So, how are you? What have you been up to? Anything interesting?

This week's update is a little later than usual because I got caught up writing and revising two short stories that I wrote late last week/during the weekend. I didn't expect both stories to come as fast as they did, but during my afternoon walks when I'm thinking about my ideas, I tend to work through the story and before I know it, I'm ready to write. I often have to pull my phone out and start typing because the thoughts come pretty fast.

Not gonna lie, I love when that happens.

Actually, I wrote the first draft of the second story on my phone during the early hours of Monday! Not kidding, I finished at about two in the morning. LOL.

And today, I read both of them on my Paperwhite for the final read-thru. I'm really happy with the final product and even happier that I got them done at the end of the month!

Here's the final word counts: 2,579 and 2,013.

And this is the vampire world update: two novels, one novelette, and eighteen short stories. The short story collection has now crossed 66k.

Although the list of short stories left to write is getting smaller, I still have several ideas to tackle.

So, asides from writing, I spent most of last week sorting, reorganising, and continuing with the spring cleaning. And of course that means that I kept having to undo everything I'd already sorted because new things popped up and I want certain things to have specific places. I've convinced myself that by doing that, I'll use more of my stationery and know where things are for a change.

It seems like spring cleaning is contagious because my husband has joined in the fun and we've been going through our toys, collectibles, board games, comic books, Lego, etc. We have a LOT of stuff and it definitely feels great to lighten the load, that's for sure.

I'm hoping to get back into it tomorrow...

Oh, and before I go, I've been doing Laini Taylor's Attic Notebook exercise this month. I've followed her prompts from last September and did my last one tonight. It was a lot of fun and I've already got the next month's prompts ready to go. 😊

Well, that's it for today. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

ANNIE BOT by Sierra Greer

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had my eye on this book for a while and decided to get stuck into it.

Annie Bot is owned by Doug, and is designed to please and satisfy his every whim. But he's not exactly kind, and projects a lot of his insecurities on her. Since she has the capability to learn and reason, Annie finds herself becoming more human every day. And that means rebelling against her reason for existing...

I REALLY enjoyed this book!

I was hooked from the beginning. And as soon as I met Annie, I liked her. Just like, as soon as I met Doug, I disliked him. He's such a douche who can't make up his mind if he wants a sexbot or a maidbot. I mean, seriously, dude. If you're so fussy about dust, clean up your own apartment.

My favourite thing about all robot stories is always the ethics. Is it okay to own someone who isn't human but has the capacity to understand and develop human traits, habits, and emotions? Because that's exactly what happens to Annie. She's intelligent and nice, seems to possess much more humanity than Doug.

Anyway, I won't give anything away, but just want to mention that I liked that ending. A lot. There was no other way for things to end.


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THE LONG WALK by Stephen King

The Long Walk by Richard Bachman

I've been meaning to read this book for years, and since the movie is coming out I thought it was time to get stuck into it.

Here's my synopsis: One hundred boys. Lots of shit talking. A very long walk. Lots of senseless killings. Inconsiderate assholes watching from the sidelines. A very, very long walk. More boring shit talking. More senseless killing. The End.

Seriously. I feel like I wasted my time reading this book because nothing but what I mentioned above happens. There might be an allegory for war embedded in the story. Or maybe it's set during a fascist dystopian rule. I really don't know because by the time I finished the book, I didn't learn anything new.

Also, don't even get me started on the characters because I didn't give a shit about any of them. No attachments here. 😒

The best thing about this experience is that after reaching the 48% mark and being so bored I almost fell asleep, I skimmed ahead to the last very disappointing chapter. Not a fan of that ending.

PS. No rating due to the skimming.


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Drafts & Sorting

Hey! How's it going?

I hope you all managed to have a good week. I know it's hard at the moment because this timeline is all sorts of shitty, and terrible things happen every single day, but like I said last week, we need to find joy in the things we love.

So, what did I get up to? I spent most of the week sorting through my stationery. Yep. That might not sound like a big deal, but I have too many notebooks, sticky notes, pens, etc. that desperately needed to be sorted.

We have a big trunk and it was full of stuff, so I set myself the goal to clear it out by the end of the month. Completely clear. And I surprised myself by getting it done by midweek.

It was a LOT of work, required putting things in different places, only to undo everything and start again. It's mentally and physically exhausting. Every morning I woke up feeling like I'd done a huge workout, LOL. But it was worth it because we donated a heap of stuff, and I intend to refine what I kept.

Spring cleaning is always a WiP.

But that's not all I did. I also revised my latest short story, and actually finished the final read-thru tonight. Yay!

I'm really happy with this one. Not just because I had fun with it, but also because it's the second story featuring one particular character. And not just that, but I do believe that I might be writing a spin-off.

Anyway, here's the total word count: 6,547.

The vampire world update is now: two novels, one novelette, and sixteen short stories. The short story collection has now crossed 61k.

Well, that's it for today. Hope you all have an awesome weekend!!

Spring is in the air...

How are you today? I hope you all managed to have a nice week.

I know it's hard to stay positive when the world feels so freaking upside down at the moment, but you really have to find your happy place because if you don't, everything can get too overwhelming. Taking care of yourself and your mental health has never been more important. This timeline is infuriating and I hope everything rights itself soon.🤞

Anyway, let's talk about the better stuff. This week, I finished another short story. Yay.

Total word count: 3,277.

I had a lot of fun writing this one last week and completing the final draft really made the story a lot stronger. And of course, I also started a new tale. It's crossed 3k so far and I'm probably halfway through. Hoping to finish the first draft tomorrow.

So, the vampire world update is now: two novels, one novelette, and fifteen short stories. The short story collection has now crossed 54k. And I've still got more ideas...

That's fine with me. I love this world. 🦇

Asides from the above, I've been doing more spring cleaning. I'm still sorting through my stationery. Still moving things around, donating several things, putting other things in the bin. I just want to have things in accessible places, instead of forgetting what I have. LOL.

Well, that's about it. Just enjoying a lovely weekend with my husband. Oh, and speaking of hubby, he found/picked up a bunch of very cool Halloween goodies for me. 😍

Have a great weekend!!