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Book Review: Gaysia – Adventures in the Queer East by Benjamin Law

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Gay, ReviewsNo Comments
gaysia-benjamin-law-book-cover Journalist Benjamin Law is an Australian with Asian roots. In Gaysia, he takes us on a tour of Asia showing us all things gay across the continent.

Benjamin with his warm and engaging writers voice takes us to: Bali to meet the money boys and explore the cheap tourist destination; Thailand to see the world of trans Lady Boys in Miss Tiffany’s Beauty Pageant; China to interview gay men and lesbian women who often marry one another; Japan to explore the explosion of non-sexual Drag Queens on TV and the underground lesbian subculture; Malaysia to meet Christian and Muslim fundamentalists who claim they can cure homosexuality; Myanmar were HIV positive people are so poor that only one in five can get life saving treatment; India to interview people in the LGBT rights movement and to meet a man that claims he can cure homosexuality with yoga.

Benjamin’s description is perfect, covering the sights, smells, sounds, tastes and sensations of each place and experience. This makes the reader feel that they are sharing his adventure from start to finish. Benjamin documents his observations and interviews well; but for the majority of the book he holds back from experiencing first-hand what it is like to be gay in the countries that he visits. Whereas it wouldn’t have been practical or appropriate in some countries, it would have been great to see Benjamin dressed as a Drag Queen in an attempt to get on Japanese TV. Benjamin does make up for this, by attending his first Pride in India in the final chapter of the book. It would have been pleasing if he had included some glossy photos in the book of places he’d visited and possibly people he’d met.

Gaysia starts with relatively light-hearted subject matter but quickly moves on to more heavy subject matter. Emotive subjects such as: the lack of civil rights, the lack of access to HIV medications and gay cures all gave a negative impression of being gay in Asia. But this is a real and honest account of what being gay in Asia means, and was usually told to him by the gay people of Asia he interviewed.

Gaysia is travel writing, but not a holiday guidebook. Instead it is a captivating in depth look at Asian societies, cultures and subcultures of the gay sexual minority group. Gaysia is educational, enlightening and a must read for anyone whose interested in travelling to the Asian continent to experience gay Asia or anyone who loves Asian culture, food or places.

Gaysia is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Monday 22 September 2014

Book Review: Eve & Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
eve-&-adam-book-cover After being hit by the car, Eve goes flying through the air. The next thing she’s vaguely aware of what’s happening – her mother arguing with the doctor and then being transferred to her rich mother’s pharmaceutical headquarters.

It’s like a private hospital where Eve is the only patient. As she recovers, she’s got sexy Solo pushing her around in a wheelchair. Then she comes to an agreement with her mother to trial software to create the perfect man for herself, who she names Adam.

But there are secrets everywhere. Eve is about to uncover these secrets and then will have to make some difficult choices about what to do with the truth.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. Especially after loving Michael Grant’s Gone Series and knowing that Katherine Applegate is his wife. I hate to give a bad review, but I was disappointed with Eve & Adam.

I just didn’t care about any of the characters. At the beginning of the book as Eve is flying through the air thinking that her life is about to end. Rather than thinking of loved ones, she thinks about an Apple. I felt that the authors had done this conceitedly to make links to Adam & Eve for the purpose of marketing the book. It felt unnatural and therefore Eve felt unreal.

Solo marginally more real, but was a great source of conflict for me. He’s this techno whizz-kid who is described as looking like a surfer, yet doesn’t know some of the fundamental details of his own history. Details that would have been in the computer systems that he so expertly knows after living at the pharmaceutical headquarters for so long.

Aislin, Eve’s best friend did have some believability and depth but was a minor character. It’s always worrying when authors make a minor character more interesting than a main character.

A problem I had with all of the characters is that they conveniently had all of the knowledge, skills, equipment and resources as they needed them. The authors did this by slotting a sentence of backstory in that the reader didn’t know up until the point the characters needed something. It felt like very convenient and lazy storytelling.

The plot was tediously predictable at times verged on being boring. The only reason I carried on reading when I felt bored was because I was half way through the book. I hoped it would get better, have some interesting plot twists, but it didn’t.

Eve & Adam isn’t badly written. The description, dialogue, grammar, punctuation and spelling are all good. It was just the characters and plot that I didn’t enjoy.

Eve & Adam is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Wednesday 17 September 2014

Book Review: Spin by Catherine McKenzie

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
spin-catherine-mckenzie The night before her interview at The Line magazine for her dream job, struggling Writer Katie Sanford goes out and gets really drunk. She wakes up the next day late and attends the interview still drunk.

Katie doesn’t get the job, but instead is offered an assignment for sister magazine Gossip Central. The assignment seems simple. Katie is to go into rehab, get close to ‘It’ Girl Amber Sheppard – dubbed The Girl Next Door (TGND) and write a tell-all scoop. If Katie can pull this assignment off, they’ll reconsider her for the job at The Line.

So off Katie goes to rehab, her goal clear in her mind. But what will happen when she develops a friendship with TGND, meets Connor Parker TGND’s on-off boyfriend and his attractive manager?

Spin is chick-lit and has the perfect balance of lightheartedness versus depth. This is achieved through loveable, flawed characters, particularly the main character Katie. All of the characters felt real and were well developed.

The description is clear and concise. The storyline is paced well and was occasionally reminiscent of one of my all time favourite films 28 Days. The romantic sub-plots were interwoven into the main body of the story and felt natural.

Spin is written in Katie’s first person perspective and is an enjoyable read. It compels the reader to read on. I finished it in a few sittings.

Afterwards I logged on to Catherine McKenzie’s website and found that since she’s wrote Spun. Here’s what Amazon says it’s about:

In this funny and touching novella, bestselling author Catherine McKenzie returns to the story of Amber Sheppard, It Girl and celebrity train wreck from McKenzie’s reader-favourite novel, Spin. Life has been rough for starlet Amber since leaving rehab. She’s been two years sober, but no one seems to believe her — not the gossip media, not casting agents, and most certainly not her spotlight-loving parents. With her friendships ruined by betrayal and her career at a standstill, Amber’s just trying to get her life back on track. It doesn’t help that her former love, movie star Connor Parks, keeps trying to draw Amber back in, not just to their relationship but to his hard-partying ways. One fateful night, Amber breaks down and agrees to join him on board his private jet as it readies for take-off — a decision that will change her life forever and expose her to a whole new level of scrutiny and heartbreak.

(From Amazon, Last Accessed: Sunday 7th September 2014.)

I’d love to read Spun.

Catherine McKenzie is a talented writer that deserves to do well. Catherine needs to reach her audience through good marketing. There’s a vast number of readers out there that will love her books. And I should know, I am one.

Spin by Catherine McKenzie is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Sunday 7 September 2014

Book Review: World War Z – An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
world-war-z-book-cover I bought World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War after watching the World War Z film. I loved the film and was looking forward to the book. But it’s taken me over a year to read it.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is written in an interview style, interviewing people from across the world, their memories unfolding what happened in the fictional zombie war. I had a huge problem with this style for two reasons.

Firstly, the reviews were set post World War Z. This meant that the reader knows from the outset that the characters being interviewed would survive, even if they be damaged physically or emotionally (which was usually apparent at the outset of the interview).

Secondly, there were so many different characters interviewed that I simply didn’t care for any of them. When the reader finds it difficult to connect with an ever-changing cast of characters it makes it difficult for you to care about their loss of family members, friends, colleagues, etc.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is well researched. Brooks has considered the politics, culture, society and economic operations of each country his interviewer visits. He demonstrates his exceptional knowledge of traditional warfare. The plot starts with the initial actions countries would likely take to a Zombie War. When these inital reactions don’t work Brooks moves the plot on to more extreme actions.

Brooks explores the entire globe (and beyond) through the interviews showing how the human race overcome the threat of extinction by coming together and working together. Humanity working together differently and creatively. The ending of the book is satisfactory; filled with hope for humanity, but is a little over sentimental for the genre.

Some people will love World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks; others will hate it. I neither loved or hated it. If anything it was mediocre and unexceptional.

We’ve all imagined what we’d do in a zombie apocalypse and for this reason alone I still want to read The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Monday 11 August 2014
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