#deathbycurrentlyreading

[feywildfancypants]

[feywildfancypants]

The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers by Samuel Burr

Rating: 5 - Wanted to like, never did

Clayton was raised by an unusual family. He grew up surrounded by eccentric enigmatologists, aka The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers. Now in his twenties and grieving the loss of his mother figure, Pip, he sets off on a quest to find out about his birth mother by following the puzzle clues Pip left behind. The POV switches between Pip as she creates the Fellowhsip and Clayton as he unravels her final puzzle, slowly unraveling the history of how Clayton came to live with the Fellowship. It examines different types of love, family, and finding yourself.

This book was well crafted, and the story was fine. It just never quite latched on like I wanted it to. I left wishing there had been more to the story, more depth to the characters past pains, and a more robust resolution. What I did like about it was the premise, which was very cute, the little bit of romance in it, and the fact that it doesn’t value romantic love above all other types.

If you’re looking for a popcorn read that doesn’t make you think too terribly hard, I think this is a great book and I think many people will find it perfectly enjoyable.

[feywildfancypants]

As soon as I decided to whittle my currently reading pile down from 40 books, I got a delivery of books that were too shiny to pass up. And so you know I absolutely started a new book! But good news, I read it quickly so it hardly even counts as cheating. I’ll say this is book 1.5, so I can still keep my count at 40.

Death by Currently Reading Book 1.5 of 40: Monsters Within Men by TJ Rose

Rating: 8 - Regularly Enjoyable

So the world has fallen to zombie creatures, called Types, and a few strongholds of humans are barely holding out. These borders are defended by the army, which often conscripts people. Zeke, one such conscript, is not fit for battle. He tries his best, but with a history in research he’s struggling. His CO, a man who barely escaped before his previous home fell to the zombie Types, is kind and protects the unit and is attached to their canine, Wolf… And oh shit is Zeke falling for his CO? You bet he is.

These two navigate their less than approved relationship while the stress of military life and the possible end of the world presses in around them. They both have issues, but they find ways to connect and help each other through them.

I’m generally not into military romances, but this one got me. I found the characters lovable, and their little military family was cute. There are a few tragic parts, some close calls, some very twisted parts and it definitely falls into dark romance for me.