ARC Mini Reviews - The Art of Taxidermy, Crown of Coral and Pearl, The Cruel Stars, The Heart of the Circle, and The Warehouse

Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I'm sharing five ARC mini reviews with you: The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot (released August 13, 2019), Crown of Coral and Pearl (Crown of Coral and Pearl #1) by Mara Rutherford (to be released August 27, 2019), The Cruel Stars by John Birmingham (released August 20, 2019), The Heart of the Circle by Keren Landsman (released August 13, 2019), and The Warehouse by Rob Hart (released August 13, 2019).  I received these ARCs from NetGalley in exchange for honest reviews.  By the way, I read these as a part of Avid August to catch up on my ARCs.  Keep reading to see my thoughts on these titles:

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The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot is a novel in verse that explores death and grief as well as how we deal with it all.  Novels in verse aren't normally my go-to style, but this is absolutely worthy reading.  Due to the style, it can go very quickly if you don't slow down to savor it.  Kernot's writing is wonderfully lyrical and rhythmical, yet somewhat spare.  It can be a bit repetitive at times though.  I wouldn't say the book is exactly exciting, but overall the author handles the topic at hand very well and she writes beautifully.  I may need to explore more of Sharon Kernot's writing in the future.

I read this ARC from August 12 - 13, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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Crown of Coral and Pearl (Crown of Coral and Pearl #1) by Mara Rutherford is the first installment of a YA fantasy duology.  This novel is Mara Rutherford's debut novel as well and it's an incredibly promising start for her.  Her writing style is absolutely gorgeous and her world-building is lushly detailed.  I particularly enjoyed getting to know Nor and Zadie's village at sea.  It really pops off the pages, as do the two sisters.  Both Nor and Zadie are quite different from one another in personality and they have quite a strong relationship with one another which is so great to read.  In fact, the first half of the novel was my favorite part of the story.  Of course, I also enjoyed the political intrigue after Nor takes Zadie's place among the royal court.  However, that setting never quite grabbed me to the same degree as their lives in their small village.  Plus, fair warning there is a bit of instalove when it comes to the romance and the relationship at the heart of the romance never quite intrigued me as much as the relationship between the sisters at the center of this tale.  Overall, I highly recommend this YA fantasy if you're a fan of the lush world of Stephanie Garber's Caraval.  I can't wait to see what happens in book two, Kingdom of Sea and Stone.

I read this ARC from August 13 - 14, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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The Cruel Stars by John Birmingham is my first John Birmingham novel.  It's a space opera that I was really looking forward to, but unfortunately it never quite got into it as much as I was hoping to.  There are a lot of characters (there are five perspective characters) and quite a bit going on.  I liked the overall story and action once I got into it, but the characters weren't quite what I was hoping for.

I read this ARC from August 12 - 14, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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The Heart of the Circle by Keren Landsman is a timely Israel-set urban fantasy novel in translation.  I can't quite decide if I particularly enjoyed this one or not.  What I did like about it is the magic.  Otherwise though I wish we had a better sense of the world the story is set in and if I were more interested in the characters themselves.

I read this ARC from August 1 - 2, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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The Warehouse by Rob Hart is easily one of my favorite reads of 2019.  Think Big Brother meets The Circle and Amazon with a dash of corporate espionage and Soylent Green.  If that description doesn't make you want to pick it up I don't know what will!  Anyway, I loved all three perspective characters, but I will say that Zinnia is my favorite.  I following this corporate spy as she tries to infiltrate the Cloud.  We don't know a whole lot about the wider world, but I snapped up all of the hints we get about their near future world.  Overall, I highly recommend this novel especially if you're looking for a timely, thought-provoking dystopian horror.  I am going to have to read more from Rob Hart in the future.

I read this ARC from August 7 - 10, 2019 and my review is also on Goodreads.


What are you reading now and what have you just finished?  Do you plan on trying any of these stories?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!