Blog Archives - Alyce Caswell - Author

Alyce Caswell - Author

I Lost My Heart to a Zombie Trooper

30/3/2024

Death Troopers (Star Wars Legends)
by Joe Schreiber

The prisoners on board the prison barge Purge are at the mercy of the Empire and are unlikely to gain their freedom any time soon. Their fate can't possible get any worse, can it? Suddenly, the Purge is stranded in space. The only way to repair it is to hunt for parts on a strangely abandoned Star Destroyer nearby. Terrible idea. Let the screaming begin.

This is a ludicrously fun book that has its flaws, but gosh I'd love to have watched it on a screen - or something like it, anyhow. Schreiber clearly knows all the beats of a zombie flick and replicates them with ease. The best thing, though, is that it works. And it's believable inside the Star Wars universe, because the Empire would DEFINITELY be behind something this messed up. My only quibble is the appearance of major film characters. You know they survive past this point. It dampens the tension.

Look, this is not a fantastic book. But I love it. Judge me as you will!

The Hell-No

30/3/2024

The No-Show by Beth O'Leary

It's Valentine's Day for three women, who are all waiting on the arrival of of Joseph Carter. Except he doesn't show up. Where could he be? What secrets is he keeping? Siobhan only sees him at night, but maybe she wants to see him in daylight. Miranda is enamoured with him, but is he really right for her? And Jane knows they will never be more than friends...so why does she keep going back for more?

Most of this book reads like a series of excruciating third-person Reddit posts, written someone (perhaps the infamous Reddit Liz...) who won't take the advice of commenters to grow a shiny spine. I mean, I love Reddit drama - but not in my books. I hate-read this thing to the end, because I suspected there was a twist. I was right. But it didn't appease me. Joseph comes across as the worst man in existence and even the twist doesn't excuse his appalling behaviour. Honestly, sometimes he acted like a villain from a horror film. He creeped me out. Big time.

I would not shelve this as chick lit or romance (yes, I am side-eyeing the library for putting a heart sticker on the spine).

Content warning: self harm, mentions of pregnancy loss

Waiting for the Sequel (in the mail!)

29/3/2024

Waiting for Tom Hanks (Waiting for Tom Hanks #1)
by Kerry Winfrey

Annie Cassidy lives and breathes romcoms - she's even been writing the screenplay for one for years, but she can't bear to leave her Ohio town and try to make a career for herself. Drew Danforth is the star of a romcom filming nearby and he is definitely not what Annie is looking for. She's waiting for Tom Hanks (not the real one!). But maybe she'll always be waiting. Isn't love about taking risks?

I adore You've Got Mail (and practically every romcom I've ever watched), so of course I had to grab this book off the shelf at the library. And of course I was going to love it. Winfrey masterfully hit all the right notes and managed not to make any of it feel too contrived or cringey. Annie is at times slightly denser than she ought to be (lol), but she and Drew are fun characters and fun together.

Some Like It Wolf

28/3/2024

Hunted (Blood Moon, Texas Shifters #5)
by Kat Kinney

River will never forget the day he erased Ellie's memories and discovered that she was meant to be his mate - and nor will he ever forgive himself for what he did to her. Now she remembers everything. Ellie is doing research that will change the paranormal world forever - and this makes her a target. River wants to protect her, but his guilt and her desire to remain human might keep them apart forever.

Such is my love for this series that when I started this book, I actually slowcooked brisket which I happily ate once I'd hit the 50% mark in my Kindle. I am firmly Team Texan Werewolf Fam. I am also Team Delightfully Steamy Dream Sequences. Oh yes. You will find many of those inside these pages, along with a fiercely protective hero and a heroine who is much braver than she thinks (and I also appreciate her struggles with her anxiety). I'm probably going to my jinx myself again - as I always do when I write these particular words - but this is my favourite book in the series so far.

Fae-ngst

26/3/2024

Fae's Dream (Fated Mates of the Fae Royals #6)
by Helen Walton

Aislinn has been bitter for centuries, ever since a chance encounter with her fated mate on Earth ended with him abandoning her. Fallon has regretted the choice he had to make that night. When Aisling returns to Earth on a quest to save the Fae, Fallon is desperate to win her over and make her his. But bruised hearts can be as difficult to heal as the magical spring in the Fae Kingdom.

Mmm tasty angst. Bonus pointy objects. Fallon was such a dreamy hero and I liked how he was with Aislinn. His past was pretty interesting too. The overarching plot had some exciting developments, which I enjoyed, but they also had the side effect of making the book feel incomplete because the building momentum abruptly dead-ends in the last chapter.

Double Feature of Faves

25/3/2024

Fae's Heart (Fated Mates of the Fae Royals #4)
by Helen Walton

Rian is a Fee prince and belongs in the Summer Court. Sophia is Queen of the Jungle on Earth, in the human realm, and her duty is to protect her people. Fate has brought them together as mates and distance cannot dispel their longing for each other. But they inhabit different worlds. They cannot forsake their individual duties. Can they ever live together - or forever remain apart?

My favourite of the series so far. Walton has clearly become very comfortable with her world and that made it very easy to slip into it once again. Rian and Sophia were great characters - and so great together. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Fae's Heart, though I will note that my opinion of Fintan continues to drop drastically with each instalment in this series.

Fae's Witch (Fated Mates of the Fae Royals #5)
by Helen Walton

Lorcan can't abide witches, but he must rely on one to help protect his sisters in the human realm. Pepper is immediately flustered upon meeting Lorcan, a Fae prince, and she doesn't understand why she's so drawn to him. Lorcan knows it shouldn't be possible for a witch to be his mate. Worse still...she's a mortal. Marking her would kill her. But how can he bear the pain of not making her his?

I knew I jinxed myself when I said the last book was my favourite in the series, because now THIS ONE is my favourite. A statement which totally won't change when I read the next instalment. *eye twitch* Pepper is my kind of witch. Through her, an important piece of the overarching plot puzzle was delivered and also she's just awesome. Let's not forget those enjoyable steamy scenes. ;)

Books to the Rescue

19/3/2024

What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
(Translated by Alison Watts)

What You Are Looking for is in the Library is comprised of five connected stories that feature a library (of course!) and its librarian, Sayuri Komachi, who always seems to know exactly what books people need to read (perhaps there's a dash of magical realism here...). I really enjoyed the gentle pace of the stories and each of them made me appreciate the different challenges we experience in life. I particularly related to Natsumi's story and cringed in sympathy when she had to pick up her child from daycare.

I know I will continue to fall down the "healing fiction" rabbit hole if I keep encountering books as good as this one.

Defy the Plot

17/3/2024

Defy the Storm (Star Wars: The High Republic)
by Tessa Gratton & Justina Ireland

Vernestra Rwoh is a Jedi Knight who needs to find her Padawan. Avon Starros is the daughter of a senator who threw her lot in with the Nihil. Jordanna Sparkburn is a deputy who still feels the need to protect others. So perhaps it isn't surprising that together this cast of characters will enter the Occlusion Zone, each of them with their own mission. But who will return?

I picked up Defy the Storm, apprehensive but excited. I opened it. I waited for the plot to start. I waited. And waited. Then the book finished and I was left feeling deeply unsatisfied, having read about characters - who I really liked in their previous novels - simply doing things for 454 pages. It seems like Gratton and Ireland were told not to write anything that might contain any forward momentum. A couple of important things occur, but they do not justify this book's existence.

Such a shame... because Ireland and Gratton are usually such strong authors.

Welcome to the Healing Fiction Genre

16/3/2024

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Huang Bo-reum
(Translated by Shanna Tan)

Having cut herself off from her past, Yeongju fulfils a childhood dream by opening an independent bookshop, a venture that is famously difficult and often results in failure. As Yeongju experiments with ways of gaining customers, it is not the slowly increasing sales that mark her success. Instead, it is the connections she makes within the community and the many days she has spent well.

Sometimes the most unassuming novels can offer the greatest surprises. Part slice of life, part self-help, this is the perfect book to read over a pot of tea (or a cup of coffee!). Hwang's background as an essayist is obvious; each chapter reads like an individual essay and forces you to pause afterwards, to reflect on the pages you have just digested. Just as the characters begin to heal, you'll find that you've begun your own healing process.

Side note - I'm a little bemused to see the spelling error of "renumeration" in a translation published by Bloomsbury.

Thank God It's Over

9/3/2024

Friday by Robert A. Heinlein

Friday is an artificial person who works as a courier in a future where the US is divided into many countries and there's not much difference in the quality of life of someone living beneath fascism or in a democracy. Political upheaval complicates Friday's plans to have a holiday and she is forced to keep moving, seemingly doomed to never belong anywhere.

I was angry while reading this book, because it is one of the worst examples of a male author writing a female POV that I have ever come across. Many male authors have pissed me off in my lifetime, but Heinlein really takes the cake for having Friday suffer a gang rape in chapter 2. Better yet, have her marry one of her rapists later - you see, he's totally a good guy because he LET HER PEE.

Yes, it was the 1980s... but it's profoundly annoying when you know the author is famous for making social commentary and yet he completely misses the opportunity to do so (because he's misogynistic as hell!). Heinlein did address racism through Friday's identity as an artificial person, but this was done so clumsily that I felt secondhand embarrassment whenever he attempted it. I suppose the one thing I wasn't angry about was the number of queer characters who appeared throughout the novel (but framed in problematic ways, ofc).

Ahem. Heinlein's ability to infuriate me aside, Friday is not a good novel. Events that occur in sequence do not a plot make. I did like the idea of seeing the world's end stages through the eyes of someone who wasn't strategically significant, though. What intrigued me most about this book was how obviously it has influenced the more modern Murderbot Dairies, a series I really love - and a series that hits the same issues with precision AND has well-written plots.

Go read Martha Wells' work instead. You'll thank me later.