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Unhinge the Universe – Aleksandr Voinov & L.A. Witt
SS Lieutenant Hagen Friedrichs is the sole survivor of a party sent to retrieve his brother—and the highly sensitive information he’s carrying—from behind enemy lines. But his daring rescue attempt fails, and Hagen becomes the prisoner.
Allied command has ordered Captain John Nicholls to extract critical intelligence from their new Nazi POW. His secrets could turn the tide of the war, but are they real? John is determined to find out … and to shatter the prisoner who killed his lover during the attack on their tiny base. The deeper he digs, though, the more he realizes that the soldier under the SS uniform is just like him: a scared, exhausted young man who’s lost loved ones and just wants to go home.
As captor and captive form an unexpected bond, the lines quickly blur between enemy, friend, and lover. And as horrifying rumors spread from the front lines and American soldiers turn their sights on the SS for vengeance, John may be Hagen’s only hope for survival.
I’m a science major but for me, the most important thing I learned from my university is not quantum mechanics or any major science stuff but perspective. From whose perspective is a piece written? For whom it it written? This is what particularly attracts me to Aleksandr Voinov’s works set in WWII. Germans were the bad guys at that time as everybody knows so to have the point of view of Nazi soldiers from a German writer is definitely something. It is also an added bonus that Voinov is a great writer. I totally loved Witches of London – Eagles Shadow and Skybound was beautiful so I was excited to read Unhinge the Universe.
This is an enemies-to-lovers story revolving around Hagen an SS officer and John an American military captain who interrogates him. And the story is really just the two of them with barely any memorable secondary characters (Siegfried and Michael don’t count because they were just there to make these people feel something).
I was disappointed with Hagen. After what John was saying about the SS being the worst type of prisoner, I expected Hagen to be all subtle menace and mind games (ala Hans Landa) but heck, he squealed at the slightest provocation. Even after John felt the predator/prey relationship seemed reversed, I didn’t feel any danger. Ok, maybe I should give the guy a break, he had a rough day and also maybe that was the point, that he was not a monster but I couldn’t help feeling let down after all that build up. I was also looking forward to John being a terror of an interrogator but meh, he was too nice. He was stroking the prisoner’s head tenderly for crying out loud. Ok, this is my fault for approaching a book the wrong way and watching too many Tarantino movies.
There were some pretty tight, intense scenes in the book especially those involving razors. The hospital scene was pure fluff <3 But sometimes I wondered if they became attracted to each other only because they discovered they were both men who notice men. If they met at a different time and place, would they be together?
Overall, points for the history and backdrop but story-wise, the book didn’t really unhinge anything.
Rating:
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked it
Soundtrack: Superhumans
Artist: The Flaming Lips
Album: Transmissions from a Satellite Heart(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31133156-unhinge-the-universe)
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When all you have to look at is white, given time you will see a symphony in shades of pale.
Mark Lawrence -
[spotify id=”spotify%3Atrack%3A4NIVH91yWJBxxDkct2zKSP&view=coverart” width=”540″ height=”620″ /]Soundtrack to Unhinge the Universe by Aleksandr Voinov & L.A. Witt
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Nakanai Hotaru – Ichikawa Kokoro
“I’ve hurt many people and ran back here.” Taishi who has been living in the countryside once again meets his childhood friend Ayase. Moving away when he was an elementary school student, Ayase returned back during the summer in order to look after his grandmother’s home. His childhood friend who was a crybaby when they were younger, has grown into a mature adult. However, once in while a troubled and pained expression appears on his face. With Ayase like this Taishi can’t leave him alone…
I have no idea why the title is such. Not really outstanding in anyway but if you like childhood friends to lovers stories, this could be for you.
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Nakanai Hotaru – Ichikawa Kokoro
“I’ve hurt many people and ran back here.” Taishi who has been living in the countryside once again meets his childhood friend Ayase. Moving away when he was an elementary school student, Ayase returned back during the summer in order to look after his grandmother’s home. His childhood friend who was a crybaby when they were younger, has grown into a mature adult. However, once in while a troubled and pained expression appears on his face. With Ayase like this Taishi can’t leave him alone…
I have no idea why the title is such. Not really outstanding in anyway but if you like childhood friends to lovers stories, this could be for you.
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0N8GE4sggw?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]
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REVIEW: Spectred Isle by K.J. Charles
Green Men: Spectred Isle – K.J. Charles
Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense…except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.
Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there’s something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.
Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.
First, isn’t the cover art gorgeous! <3<3<3
This book gave me happy goosebumps. This book also spooked me although I am rarely spooked. This book gave me a pleasant case of book hangover. Therefore I declare this as K.J. Charles’ best book to date.
The story is told in dual POV of Saul Lazenby, a disgraced archeologist and Randolph Glyde, an aristocratic arcanist. Both lonely men, both war veterans dealing with the pain and trauma of war. The two kept meeting at certain places and their mutual attraction was undeniable. I enjoyed their banter and Charles’ brilliance at creating dialogue and prose had me mumbling some lines and chuckling at the clever turn of phrase. Randolph is what is usually described as sardonic and tends to evade questions. But when he does say what he really thinks, usually when talking to and about Saul, I can’t help but internally squeal because it’s clear that he loves/adores/worship Saul. Saul is what is described as a tender but scarred soul. I greatly admire him and his resilience. He was just suddenly thrust into another war he had no idea existed but he didn’t back down. Sometimes in a love story, I tend to love one of the pair more than the other but here, I love them both so much.
The rest of the Green Men deserved books of their own. Sam is getting one (hooray!) but I am conflicted because it’s m/f. Yeah, OK, they can’t be all gay as much as I want them to be. Barney and Max definitely should have their own HEA (love ‘em!).
The world building and the magic system are awesome! Rooted in myths and folklore, seamlessly integrated into post-world war 1920s and very convincingly delivered. The time and place was very palpable and imagining the War Beneath and the Great Summonings scared the hell out of me at 3 a.m.
Please do read this book even if you are not into MM.
Rating:
5 Stars – absolutely perfectSoundtrack: Time for Heroes
Artist: The Libertines
Album: Up the Bracket(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35118935-spectred-isle)
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You can’t reason yourself back into cheerfulness any more than you can reason yourself into an extra six inches in height.
Stephen Fry -
[spotify id=”spotify%3Atrack%3A79hW2iblmoT71PtfEj40Rn&view=coverart” width=”540″ height=”620″ /]Soundtrack to Green Men: Spectred Isle by K.J. Charles
