Quarantaine - Book Review

Quarantaine
by Erik Betten

What is it about:
Quarantaine is the thrilling debut of Erik Betten. A thriller with current themes about a deadly bacteria - and a government taking unthinkable measures.

Groningen, October. A deadly bacteria surfaces through a gas extraction point. In just a few days halfdead, infected victims swarm mindlessly across the North-Netherlands. Afraid it will spread further the government decides to lock down the affected provinces.

Gonings-Friese politician Homme Olivier, who has been campaigning for the locals for years when it came to the gas extraction in the area, gets pushed to the front as spokesperson. It's his job to try to keep people calm during the search for a solution.

But when the government uses the army to contain the refugees in the affected provinces Homme might turn into a scapegoat.

When he receives a message from his wife that she is staying in the infected area, Homme decides to abandon his job in Den Haag to search for her. Risking his life he braves the bacteria invested North, searching for something that might have already been lost...

What did I think of it:
I don't often read in Dutch anymore, but when I saw this book it drew my attention. When I read it is set in the north of the Netherlands - where I live - and it had some sort of zombies I knew I had to get my trotters on it.

And this is a cool read!

Homme is not your typical hero. He is a politician who started out trying to do good, but along the way he lost his way and let himself get dragged into backroom deals and made concessions that might have gone to far. When he is asked to help keep people calm and support drastic measures he complies. Finally he has had enough and goes in search of his wife who is somewhere in the stricken north.

Meanwhile in the north it's chaos. The infected people turn into a sort of zombies (dodelingen they're called in this book) and people who aren't sick yet are trying to flee to unaffected areas only to be stopped by the army to prevent the bacteria from spreading further. This makes for some pretty grim and gruesome scenes.

And when Homme reaches the north he is thrown into chaos and danger as well. I can tell that the dodelingen are the least of his problems. There is lots of action and difficult decisions in his search for his wife.

Apart from Homme there are a few other viewpoint characters. I loved getting to read about the things they are involved in as well. AS the story unfolds I can say I was eager to see how everything would end.

There were only a few grumbles I had about this book. As the infection starts in Groningen I had hoped that more of the story would be set in Groningen as well. One storyline is set in Groningen, but most of the action is in Friesland.

My second grumble is that there seem to be a lot of blonde people in this book. Now there are indeed blonde people in the Netherlands and in the north of the Netherlands, but lots of people with other hair colors as well. Still almost every time a hair color was mentioned it was blonde. I think I counted only four mentions of other hair colors.

Those minor grumbles aside this is a very cool read. I loved how Betten included some current issues in this book without them interfering with the story. Both the gas extraction in the north and the divide between the north of the Netherlands and the west were used to their full advantage to make a thrilling zombie story.

All in all I had a great time with this book and I hope it gets translated to English so all my zombie loving friends who don't read Dutch can read it as well.

Why should you read it:
It's a cool zombie read.


Buy the book at van der Velde
Warning: it's only available in Dutch at the moment.

Ash Princess - Book Review

Ash Princess (Ash Princess Trilogy #1)
by Laura Sebastian

What is it about:
Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Queen of Flame and Fury, was murdered before her eyes. Ten years later, Theo has learned to survive under the relentless abuse of the Kaiser and his court as the ridiculed Ash Princess.

When the Kaiser forces her to execute her last hope of rescue, Theo can't ignore her feelings and memories any longer. She vows revenge, throwing herself into a plot to seduce and murder the Kaiser's warrior son with the help of a group of magically gifted and volatile rebels. But Theo doesn't expect to develop feelings for the Prinz.

Forced to make impossible choices and unable to trust even those who are on her side, Theo will have to decide how far she's willing to go to save her people and how much of herself she's willing to sacrifice to become Queen.

What did I think of it:
The plot of this book sounded cool enough to give it a try, although I will confess I expected it to be just another fluffy YA Fantasy that only hints at horrors and is actually all about the romance.

And I was pleasantly surprised.

Theodosia has been humiliated, whipped, and almost broken. She learned to keep her head down to survive. Then she is forced to execute a rebel and she has had enough. She starts to plot how to escape, and how to get revenge of what is done to her and her country.

I loved how Sebastian doesn't pull any punches: people die, Theo has to make truly difficult choices, and has to decide where she draws the line. How far will she go for herself and her people? And when she starts to get feelings for the Prinz that adds to her growing burden.

The story is suspenseful and I could really understand Theo and why she makes certain decisions. She is well aware what might happen to her when the Kaiser discovers she is plotting a rebellion, so when she at times wants to take the easy route instead of sticking to the plan she and her allies made I couldn't fault her for it. She has a great sense of self-preservation, and when she goes against that instinct it makes her all the more brave in my opinion. As the story develops she grows into her new found courage and I rooted for her to succeed in her plans.

It almost wouldn't be a YA without a love triangle, so of course there's another boy Theo falls for as well. I will admit that although I could understand this love interest in his feelings towards the empire, I didn't like him and Theo together. Where I could understand the attraction between Theo and the Prinz, the attraction between the other love interest and Theo felt... unequal. It felt like Thea had to conform to what he thought she was, instead of him liking her for who she really is. She might not be herself when with the Prinz either, but because of the game she is playing she is in control, where with her other beau she has to submit. Maybe it's just me, and I'm rooting for the wrong guy once again.

The end of the book brought some revelations that promise lots of action, more difficult decisions, and more heartache in the next book, so you bet i'll be getting my trotters on it as soon as it releases.

Why should you read it:
It's a YA Fantasy full of intrigue.


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On McPig's Wishlist - Warrior of the Wild

Warrior of the Wild
by Tricia Levenseller

How do you kill a god?

As her father's chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: to win back her honour, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying.


Expected publication: February 26th 2019

Exile - Book Review

Exile (The Extinction Trials #2)
by S.M. Wilson

What is it about:
Betrayal. Sacrifice. Survival. Welcome to The Extinction Trials.

After surviving on Piloria once, Storm and Lincoln are the obvious candidates to return to the dinosaur continent to test the new virus that should clear the way for human settlement. But they have their own priorities – finding a cure for the plague that’s sweeping Earthasia, and keeping themselves alive.

What did I think of it:
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so when I saw this book in my local bookstore I grabbed it immediately.

Once again we start out on Earthasia and it takes half the book to finally get to the dinosaurs. Even though the story was good, the characters were being selfish jerks, so once they reached Piloria I was rooting for the dinosaurs to get some tasty snacks.

Sadly enough not enough people get eaten by dinosaurs in my opinion, and of the people who didn't make it I would have gladly substituted one for Lincoln. What an impossible jerk.

All this grumbling aside I did enjoy the book. There were some really cool scenes with dinosaurs, intrigue, new interesting characters, returning favorites. I didn't like Storm's character development though. I really liked her in the first book, but Lincoln's selfish behavior seems to be catching.

I will most certainly pick up the next book once it releases, but I'm starting to feel I'm totally rooting for the losing side and that the dinosaurs won't get as many snacks as I want them to get.

Why should you read it:
It has dinosaurs!


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Teaser Tuesdays - Ruby Red

"You do? Are you planning to climb a clock tower sometime soon - sit on the clock and dangle your legs?"


(page 70, Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier)


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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Walk on Earth a Stranger - Book Review

Walk on Earth a Stranger (The Gold Seer Trilogy #1)
by Rae Carson

What is it about:
Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

What did I think of it:
This is a really cool read.

The magical element - Lee being able to sense gold - is very small and understated in this book. I expect it to become a bigger part of the story in the next book, but to be honest I didn't mind that it was hardly present in this book at all.

Lee loses everything in just a few days and decides to go after her Best friend Jefferson who left for California. This book is all about the grueling journey across America to the goldfields in California. The first part is about Lee trying to catch up with Jefferson, and once she does the second part is about the hard and difficult journey to California.

I loved reading about this journey and the hardships Lee's party encounters. Carson sure did her research and manages to show the challenges people faced on the long journey across America. The people Lee travels with are divers and this adds even more tension to an already brutal trip. I had my favorites among the characters, but knew that not everyone might make it to California, so I rooted for them and hoped they'd make it.

The only thing that annoyed me in this book is how the romance storyline was handled. The feelings Lee and Jefferson have for each other are clear for me as reader, but the two keep dancing around each other, neither willing to speak up. Add another girl to to the mix who has feelings for Jefferson and vice versa and I was softly grumbling I can tell you. How this situation is finally resolved felt like a cop out to me I will confess.

That aside this is a beautiful read, and I'll definitely pick up the next book to see what's next for Lee.

Why should you read it:
It's a beautiful Historical YA read


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Quarantaine - A Book Presentation

Yesterday I went to a presentation for a book by a Dutch author.

Quarantaine by Erik Betten

I included a blurb of this book at the end of this post. you'll probably understand after reading the blurb why I wanted to get this book even though I usually only read books in English. If it's as good as I think it will be, I hope it gets translated, so I can get all my English speaking friends to read it as well.


I was early so I could grab a spot in front.


There were lots of copies of the book.
I was determined to get myself a copy after the presentation.


During the presentation they talked about the current issues that are woven into the story. The book is set in Groningen where I live so the current issues being used are familiar to me. I like how the author used those to write a gripping story about a deadly bacteria.


After the presentation there was a symbolic handing out of the first copy of the book.

Then it was time for me to get my greedy trotters on it!


Erik Betten kindly agreed to pose with me for a picture!


And he signed my copy for me as well!


I will confess it's this cool cover that drew my attention and made me investigate what the book was about.

Translated blurb:

Quarantaine is the thrilling debut of Erik Betten. A thriller with current themes about a deadly bacteria - and a government taking unthinkable measures.

Groningen, October. A deadly bacteria surfaces through a gas extraction point. In just a few days halfdead, infected victims swarm mindlessly across the North-Netherlands. Afraid it will spread further the government decides to lock down the affected provinces.

Gonings-Friese politician Homme Olivier, who has been campaigning for the locals for years when it came to the gas extraction in the area, gets pushed to the front as spokesperson. It's his job to try to keep people calm during the a search for a solution.

But when the government uses the army to contain the refugees in the affected provinces Homme might turn into a scapegoat.

When he receives a message from his wife that she is staying in the infected area, Homme decides to abandon his job in Den Haag to search for her. Risking his life he braves the bacteria invested North, searching for something that might have already been lost...


Buy the book at van der Velde
Warning: it's only available in Dutch at the moment.