One Hundred and Four Horses by Amanda Retzlaff

Title: One Hundred and Four Horses
Author: Amanda Retzlaff
ISBN: 9780007498741
Publisher: Harper Collins Australia
Publish Date: September 2013

Synopsis:

“A letter is handed to you. In broken English, it tells you that you must now vacate your farm; that this is no longer your home, for it now belongs to the crowd on your doorstep. Then the drums begin to beat.”

On an early summer morning in 2000, Mandy Retzlaff, was awakened by the knock she’d been dreading. Her closest, most beloved neighbours had come to tell her that the escalating violence surrounding them in northern Zimbabwe had finally landed on her doorstep. Surveying the damage of her friends’ farm, where outbuildings and beloved pets had fallen victim to the angry hands of a mob of Robert Mugabe’s war veterans, Mandy knew at once that her friends were lucky to have survived where others hadn’t, but also that her life, and that of her family, had changed forever. Her friend had only one parting request as she fled Zimbabwe for the safety of New Zealand. “We need your help.” She stopped. “It’s our horses. Something has got to be done about our horses.”


It was in this moment, the one where she felt more vulnerable than she ever had, that Mandy, along with her husband Pat, made the decision not to shrink into fear, but to reach out and help. And so they rescued a group of 104 horses from the violence of the home invasions, and in one case, quite literally from the jaws of lions. Each horse has a different personality and story: Grey, the silver gelding: the leader; Brutus, the untamed colt; Princess, the temperamental mare. Over the following months, as they moved across the Zimbabwean countryside, seeking ever more remote enclaves of safety for a herd of horses, it became clear that it was not just the family who were rescuing the horses, but the horses who were rescuing the family.

My Thoughts:

One Hundred and Four Horses is an intimate and personal glimpse into a country at war.

I can not even begin to imagine the trials and heartbreak this family had to endure. We tend to take for granted the 'basics', a roof over our heads and food on our tables, and to have that taken from you, to be forced to leave everything you had worked so hard for would be shattering. But despite the anger and fear the Retzlaff family found the courage and hope to fight, not only to save themselves and their own horses but also many others despite all odds.

This book was not an 'easy' read. The horrors that Mandy, her family, friends, and horses were subject and witnesses to defy words. But the courage, hope, and unbreakable bond between the family, their horses and the land is wondrous and inspiring.

Thanks to Harper Collins Australia and Netgalley for the ARC.

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Title:                Alice in Zombieland
Author:            Gena Showalter
ISBN:              9781921796609
Publisher:        Harlequin Teen
Publish Date:  October 2012


Synopsis:


She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….


I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish




My Thoughts:

I was initially attracted to this book by the title, Alice in Zombieland, it filled me with visions of a magical world filled with wonder and excitement and creepy rotting corpses around every corner waiting  to devour even the wariest of travelers. But it turned out to be not quite what I was expecting. Instead of a magical world it was an everyday one, and the zombies were not the usual run of the mill, brain eating zombies (points for creativity though.) Was I disappointed? Perhaps a little to begin with, but the small amount of disappointment and doubt soon vanished as I became eager to know what fate would deal Alice next.

Alice is strong character but is not without her flaws, and lets face it who wouldn't have flaws after having their life turned upside down in a instant. It is interesting to see how she transforms throughout the course of book.
Then there is the love interest, Cole, after all what is a Gena Showalter book without a good love interest. A typical bad boy, or is he? There is more to this boy than first meets the eye. Alice and Cole's relationship is not by any means 'normal' it develops at a good pace despite the fact that at times I found their indecisive attitudes toward each other frustrating at times.
My overall favourite character was Alice's best friend Kat. She is wacky, confident, loyal and impossible to ignore. Definitely one character that has stuck in my mind long after the book has closed.

The plot moves along at a steady pace making it easy to lose track of time and left me not wanting to put it down as I eagerly devoured each chapter. There was a distinct lack of creepiness radiating from the zombies that left me a little sad, although this makes it a perfect read for a wider audience and makes this a perfect novel for those eager to 'test the waters' of a genre that may be out of their comfort zone.

Overall I found Alice in Zombieland to be a great read and I can't wait for the sequel Through the Zombie Glass.

Thanks to Harlequin Australia for the ARC.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Title:           Throne of Glass
Author:       Sarah j. Maas
ISBN:         9781408832332
Publisher:   Bloomsbury
Published:   August 2012

Synopsis:


Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?

My Thoughts:

I really wanted to love this book. The world building is fantastic, the plot was engaging and almost perfectly paced and most of the characters were beautifully crafted, but I was expecting a little bit more of...well, something.
My biggest issue with this book was that, Celaena was not the ice-hearted assassin that I was expecting. She may have been at one stage but she didn't seem to behave in the way that one would assume an assassin would. Perhaps she used these habits to her advantage in the past and this is what made her so good at her profession, or because of the target audience the author 'girled' it up a bit for more appeal. Despite of this, Celeana was still a likable character, strong willed and stubborn.
There was a bit of a love triangle happening and the male characters were likable and I was torn between which one I liked best. They were both charming in their own ways, although sometimes cheesy, but that just made them more believable.
My favourite character would have to be Nehemia. She was loyal, courageous and mysterious not to mention smart. I would have liked to have seen more of her in the book and hope that she will be appearing in future books.
I loved the action scenes, they were well written and flowed nicely throughout the course of the book, leaving me eagerly turning the pages to find out what happened next.
Overall, I enjoyed the book enough to keep the pages turning even though I was hoping for a little more assassin and a little less girly frivolity. A nicely paced, easy read for a young female fantasy lover or someone just getting into fantasy novels.

The Horses Didn't Come Home by Pamela Rushby

Title:                The Horses Didn't Come Home
Author:           Pamela Rushby
ISBN:              9780732293543
Publisher:       Harper Collins Australia
Published:      March 2012




Synopsis:

 The last great cavalry charge in history took place at Beersheba in the Sinai Desert in 1917. It was Australian soldiers and horses that took part in, and won, this amazing, unexpected, unorthodox victory. The men proudly claimed it was their great-hearted horses that won the day. But in the end, the horses didn't come home...

My Thoughts:

An inspiring story of courage and loyalty, The Horses Didn't Come Home, perfectly illustrates the remarkable bond between the Australian Light Horse soldiers and their mounts, while not forgetting the hope and heartbreak of the families that they left behind. 
Pamela Rushby has transformed the harsh reality of war into a heart moving tale that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. 
This is a fantastic story that should be on every schools reading list. 

ARC provided by Harper Collins Australia via NetGalley.