Review of Showtym Viking – Kelly Wilson & Amanda Wilson

Seventeen-year-old Amanda Wilson is in her final year of high school, and has reached a crossroads. Her secret ambition is to make horses her future, but she isn’t sure she has what it takes. She’s not as forthright and fearless as her eldest sister, Vicki, a champion showjumper and professional horsewoman, and she has no desire to move to the city and study for a career like her arty and glamorous sister Kelly.

Then Vicki throws down an irresistible challenge in the form of a young pinto gelding. Viking’s potential is huge, if Amanda is prepared to step up and invest in him. As Amanda and Viking learn what they are capable of together and ride their way up the leaderboard towards the Pony of the Year competition, Amanda begins to realise that the one real obstacle to achieving all her dreams is her ability to believe in herself.

But will she master her mental game in time for the test of her life?

Showtym Viking

Kelly Wilson & Amanda Wilson

Puffin

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Amanda Wilson is facing her last year of competing with her ponies before she ages out of the pony category.  Helping her sister out by schooling some of Vicki’s horses, Amanda is reluctant when Vicki suggests she try a 6 yr old pony that just learned to jump.  She’s impressed with him but when Vicki suggests buying him Amanda refuses.  So Vicki finds another buyer and when Amanda changes her mind, informs her it’s too late and he has a new owner.

Amanda is devastated at being too late, when a smug Vicki informs her she was teasing, that she knew she’d change her mind and the pinto was hers.  Renaming him Showtym Viking – with the paddock name Strider – Amanda has had him less than a week when she spots an ad on Trademe for a strawberry roan with a lot of promise.  Planning to train and resell him, she’s surprised to learn he was on his way to the meatworks after bucking off his owner once.  As he shows a lot of natural talent, she buys him and calls him Baggins.

At their very first show, Amanda’s nerves got the better of her and she only jumped Baggins round 80 cm and 90 cm courses, with Vicki jumping Strider.  Both ponies did very well competing, with Strider showing so much talent that Vicki tried him round a 1 metre course.  Seeing how well he did, Amanda started dreaming of entering him in Grand Prix classes at 1.25 m, which would qualify him for entry into Pony of the Year.  Can she do it???

An exciting story with lots of dramatic moments and plenty of humour – I laughed so hard when Amanda accidentally dyed Baggin’s mane and tail hot pink at a show – and, of course lots and lots of ponies.  It details Amanda’s self doubt and how the ,lack of confidence in herself affects her bid to win the top national Pony of the Year competition.

I was dreading the ending, knowing it was Amanda’s last year in the pony category and Strider would be sold, but was happy with how events turned out. This book was inspired by true events and at the back of the book features a bio and update of the real life Strider.

A perfect read for fans of Showtym Adventures and any pony-mad girl or boy.

Review of Landmarks – Grahame Sydney, Brian Turner, Owen Marshall

A handsome, landmark book celebrating the work of three of our literary and artistic heavyweights.

The complementary work of artist Grahame Sydney, fiction writer Owen Marshall and poet Brian Turner was first brought together in the hugely successful Timeless Land in 1995. Its pages showed their shared, deep connection to Central Otago, to its vast skies, its wide plains punctuated by jagged ranges, its unique colours and its dwarfing effect on the people who pass through it.

Twenty-five years later, this lavish new volume from these three long-time friends showcases a rich selection of their subsequent work, including recently written, previously unpublished pieces. Through their own marks about the land and its people, be it in ink or paint, they offer a love song to the South Island, in particular Central Otago.

Landmarks

Grahame Sydney, Brian Turner, Owen Marshall

RHNZ Godwit

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Stephen Litten

Otago attracts a lot of attention from writers and artist for its apparently inspirational landscape. Certainly the Maniototo is frequently cited as a region of special character. It may be, as Central Otago has an almost continental climate, four distinct seasons, a plethora of small towns, with that “edge of nowhere” feel that rural New Zealand had during the latter half of the twentieth century.

Landmarks is a coffee table book in praise of Otago. It’s hard to say whether it is an illustrated collection of short writings and poetry, or a collection of art illustrated with poetry and other musings – there is a 50/50 split between pictures and words. Grahame supplies the art, and Brian and Owen the words.

I don’t feel I’m qualified to comment on poetry, but the poems seemed intelligible but safe. The prose was perfectly acceptable, and being of an age close to the three authors, I found I could relate on many levels to these word pictures. Grahame’s art is beautiful, but there is a sameness of style. I
wanted to see impressionist, modernist, minimalist, et cetera renditions of Otago. Equally, there was no screams of love-hate from Brian or Owen. But these are minor quibbles of taste.

I liked Landmarks, and you could easily find worse books to adorn your coffee table. I thank Godwit/Penguin Random House for the review copy. And for the record, Grahame and Brian are Otago natives, and Owen is a displaced North Islander.

Review of Breathless – Amy McCulloch

At the top of the world’s tallest mountains, there literally isn’t enough oxygen to breathe. In the space of hours your body will begin to shut down. Any longer, and death is inevitable.

What better place for a serial killer to find their next victim?

Struggling journalist Cecily Wong is delighted to be invited to interview famed mountaineer Charles McVeigh, conditional on joining his team on one of the Himalayas’ toughest peaks.

But on the mountain, it’s clear something is wrong. It begins small – a theft, an accidental fall. And then a note, pinned to her tent in the night: there’s a murderer on the mountain…..

Breathless

Amy McCulloch

Michael Joseph

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Cecily Wong has been invited on an expedition to climb Manasulu, one of the Himalayas’ toughest peaks, with the world’s most famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh, who has already submitted seven of the eight highest peaks in the world without assistance including supplemental oxygen. He promises Cecily an exclusive interview with him if she summits.  For a fledgling journalist and novice climber, the offer is too good to resist.

The rest of the expedition team includes an extreme sports influencer, a videographer, a rich technological communications CEO, a guide – all experienced mountain climbers – and the Sherpas.  The team is set to leave for base camp, where they will meet up with Charles, just before a French climber is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Then on the trek to base, another experienced climber is found with a rope around her neck.

At base camp Cecily finds an omnious note in front of her tent; There’s a Murderer on the Mountain. Run. Unsure if it’s a warning or a threat, she fears their expedition is in danger.   When she tells Charles of her fears, his response doesn’t exactly give her confidence – ‘Well, what better place for a killer to hide, than somewhere already known as the death zone?’  And then a second climber dies…..

When you’re this high up, no one can hear you scream – this is them line that caught my attention in the press release and made me want to read this book.  What a great ideal; a serial killer on the world’s highest peaks.  I was happy to discover the story was everything I expected and more.  It had a tightly woven plot, lots of fast paced action, unexpected twists, and an ending you don’t see coming.

I got slightly bored with the mountaineering descriptions and ended up skimming over most of them.  They were needed to explain things to non-mountaineers though and were set the scene well for a novice whose only experience is watching docos about Hilary and Tenzing.  It helped the author is actually a mountaineer herself and her passion for the mountains came through; with images so vivid you could taste the air and feel the cold.

t turns out I was right in half suspecting who the killer was but wow!  I did not expect that ending at all!

A really good book about pushing boundaries and how you never know what you’re capable of.  I recommend reading it inside under the heat pump though, not outside in the cold snow.

Review of Faraway Girl – Fleur Beale

Etta is worried about her brother, Jamie. The doctors can find nothing wrong with him, but he is getting weaker by the day. At breakfast one morning, he seems to have lost it completely:

In a voice as pale as his face, he said, ‘I think I can see a ghost.’

However, when they all turn to look, sure enough, materialising on the window seat is a girl about Etta’s age, wearing a beautiful Victorian wedding dress. Etta has to get off to school, she has no time for this, but she is about to discover that time has a whole new significance. She and her ghost companion have no choice but to work out what is going on before Jamie is lost for ever . . .

 Faraway Girl

Fleur Beale

Puffin

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but this book’s cover gives the impression that its designer didn’t even read the book. May just looked at the title? Because the book is far different from what I expected. And is in fact, a very pleasant, enjoyable read (as long as you don’t think too hard).

It begins when Etta, a teenager living in Wellington, gets an unexpected visitor, literally out of thin air. Constance is a girl of her own age, but from far away indeed, from near Manchester in 1869 (I have family from that part of the world so relatable). At the same time, her brother is fading away in hospital from and unknown cause. And Etta and Constance have to figure out what is going on as they slip back and forth between past and present.

What makes this book work is the care given to the contrast between the different worlds the girls live in; between Etta’s live of freedom, both figuratively and literally (let’s not mention corsets) and the constraints Constance lives with, that are forcing her into marriage with a truly despicable individual.

Where it fails is when you try too hard to analyse the mechanism of the magical curse that leads to the time travel. And the calm acceptance of it by the adults in both centuries, which seemed very unlikely. But that’s not really the point.

This book is more about the changing roles of women, and I think that it would intrigue and entertain the young adult readers it is aimed at. And it does all work out very well in the end.

Review of The League of Gentlewomen Witches – India Holton

The Princess Bride meets Jane Austen in this swoony second novel in The Dangerous Damsels series – an enemies-to-lovers historical romance with a magical twist . . .

Charlotte Pettifer belongs to a secret society skilled in witchcraft.

When rumours of The Black Beryl – a long-lost amulet with very special powers – start to circulate, Charlotte is determined to find the jewel before it falls into the wrong hands.

Which is what happens when the evil Lady Armitage reaches it first.

Begrudgingly accepting the help of rakish pirate, Alex O’Riley, Charlotte sets off to find the jewel before it’s too late.

But there’s one problem: pirates and witches are sworn enemies.

Which becomes a bit of a problem when sparks begin to fly . . .

The League of Gentlewomen Witches

India Holton

Michael Joseph

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

And so there shall be a sequel. With more pirates, more flying houses and there shall be witches! And not just houses; witches can make everything from teacups to people fly…

There is a matter of an amulet, the British Museum, a witchfinder, a pirate and a witch. A proper coven of witches, who don’t agree on much – other than the obvious fact that witches are superior to pirates (although their telekinetic magic derives from the same incantations). And there is romance. And much hijinks of various sorts.

I can only add it that was a fun and entertaining read, quite possibly even more than its predecessor.

Review of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels – India Holton

Bridgerton meets Peaky Blinders in the first book in The Dangerous Damsels series – an enemies-to-lovers romance with a fantastical twist . . .

Cecilia Bassingwaite belongs to the prestigious Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels.

Yet this is no ordinary society – as it’s full of pirates, thieves and ne’er-do-wells.

These women spend their days pickpocketing and blackmailing all before tea time.

But when Cecilia meets Ned Lightingbourne her world is set to change.

Because he’s an assassin and she’s his next hit.

Under the employment of Captain Movath Ned knows he has one job to do.

But when he lays eyes on the feisty, beautiful Cecilia he’s faced with a conundrum: does he kill her or fall in love with her?

Review of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels

India Holton

Michael Joseph

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

I thought it looked like it would be amusing, and so it was. This book turned out to be essentially a paranormal romance, though there are no werewolves or vampires involved. Just pirates.

Though not your usual run of pirates; these are (mostly) ladies. And they don’t sail ships, they fly houses by the power of a secret incantation (though what happens to those houses’ foundations is something of a mystery). As were the occasional jarring anachronisms (red velvet cake is very much a twentieth century invention). It is all a bit silly, but that seems to be the idea.

It’s set in the late nineteenth century in England, and there are frequent references to Regency romances that I am not that familiar with so I suspect I missed a lot of the jokes. I imagine that those who are into that kind of thing would be most entertained. There is many a clever turn of phrase and I found it enjoyable; a light and frivolous diversion for a winter’s day.

Best served with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Review of The Match – Harlan Coben

As a young child, Wilde was found living a feral existence in the Ramapo mountains of New Jersey. He has grown up knowing nothing of his family, and even less about his own identity.

He is known simply as Wilde, the boy from the woods.

But when a match at an online ancestry database puts him on the trail of a close relative – the first family member he has ever known – he thinks he might be about to solve the mystery of who he really is. Only this relation disappears as quickly as he’s resurfaced, having experienced an epic fall from grace that can only be described as a waking nightmare.

Undaunted, Wilde continues his research on DNA websites where he becomes caught up in a community of doxxers, a secret group committed to exposing anonymous online trolls.

Then one by one these doxxers start to die, and it soon becomes clear that a serial killer is targeting this secret community – and that his next victim might be Wilde himself …….

The Match

Harlan Coben

Century

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

Wilde was found living in the woods as a young child, with no memory of his past or how came to be there.  He’s fostered by a good family and joins the military when he grows up.  He gets curious about his past and submits his DNA to a genealogical website, hoping to find answers.

Work intervenes and when he checks his email months later he has a match from an account that has been hastily deleted after matching with him. Wilde tries to track down the deleted account and doesn’t like what he finds. 

It takes him several months to check his email again and when he does he finds a mysterious email from a relative that was sent a few months ago.  Worried by what the message said and hoping to find answers about his family, Wilde decides to look for him.  But he isn’t he only one looking.

As the body count grows, Wilde is sucked deep into the glitzy world of reality shows, celebrity influencers, and social media, while capturing the attention of a serial killer.

This book has two distinct stories and a third minor part that cleverly weave together.  The first chapter was a really interesting story that had me hooked.  The next chapter was a totally different story that was also an intriguing story.  I just could not see how they would come together.  As they were fleshed out I began to see it.

My fourth form science education and lack of interest in DNA meant I skimmed over some parts and missed information but it was spelled out later.

The look at the world of celebrity social media was both interesting and disturbing.  Its scary how quickly rumours or malicious lies become truth and there are actually people who get paid to harass others.  A sobering reminder to question everything and believe nothing.

A third of the way into the book it became obvious who the killer was. Too obvious. As this is a Harlan Coban book I knew it was too easy and I had to wait till the twist at the end to see who it was and WOW!  I did not suspect that person for an instant. And the final twist was awesome!  So many new questions raised.

Read this if you enjoy thrillers, killers, and mysteries.