Two words to describe this book: Beautifully conflicting.

The Orchid Nursery contains within its pretty covers, a vicious and unflinching dystopian Australia. One where women have been bred to follow scriptures and beliefs that they should serve men, they should long to be 'Perfected'.

When girls (or girlies as they are called in the book) live under the supervision of an augmented dorm mother in dormitories that bare sexually charged titles and the girls are named after dirt, rocks and wood. Not to mention the horrendous scriptures the girls are led to believe and are brainwashed into not just following, but actively embracing.

For any woman in this day and age, the near-future world that Katz created will rankle and burn as your eyes grate over each word.

But, while the story is a bitter flavored pill to swallow, the writing, oh, my. The writing is superb.

One scene Mica, our pious little narrator, experiences is one of the most chillingly horrific scenes I've read (and I've read some whizz bang horror!) in all my born days. Yet, the way in which it was written drew me in, caressed my inner editor and led her merrily down the garden path. I was so conflicted. I loved it and hated it in the same breath.

Few authors have had this level of impact on me as a reader, and even fewer have been able to get me to check my hatred for open misogyny at the door and swallow my anger.

I should have hated this book for all the hateful crap it spouts (the world, not Katz - let me be clear here!) yet I was drawn in, wanting to understand how a world that decayed and broken could ever have come from anything resembling ours.

What I found, much to my dismay, is that Katz's vision and how they wound up that way, was not completely unbelievable. As much as I wanted to deny it, I can see us making similar mistakes. Taking similar steps into the fiery furnace.

Aside from inflicting extremely conflicting emotions in me, this book provides solid (albeit flawed) characters, it paints a picture of real people, ones filled with good intentions but are forced to make devastating decisions.

It highlights the way in which society can change in one moment, and how we deal with that change may make or break our world.

And it delivers such strong messages about what consequences our decisions have, not just to ourselves, but possibly, those around us too. And of course, it can't be all bleak and darkness, there's a tiny slice of hope and optimism that pokes it's head up too, which rounds out the novel delightfully.

I have never read anything remotely similar to this book, though others are likening it the Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. I am yet to read it, so I can't comment on that.

I don't know if I really love this book or I hate it, but it's a five star read from me because of how much it has made me think about the ideals and themes in this book, and also for the beautifully crafted writing and amazingly complex characters.

One warning, there's quite a lot of swearing, and frequent use for the c-bomb and other synonyms. Not recommended for younger audiences.

**Note: I won a paperback copy of this book through the GoodReads FirstReads competition**

Binds brings together magic, betrayal, the fae and mages in a rather strange mix.

I didn't enjoy the first person present tense POV.

I really didn't like any of the characters either, they all felt 2D, flat and cliche.

I liked the idea that was the world setting, but alas the characters just couldn't maintain the story.

There's some fairly brutal assault in this book, domestic, spousal, whatever you want to call it. It's in your face and constantly rehashed.

I hated Ophelia's mental state, she made me want to punch her in the face, slap her silly and shove my foot up her butt!

The 'love triangle' was rubbish and completely useless in terms of plot progression.

All in all, this read like a draft without the polish of a professional novel. Lots of ideas and potential, but failing to deliver.

A few things I noticed:

8% - ...by three huge me(n), grabbing me,
36% - NOW used instead of NWO
50% - Phee is written as Fee.
92% - if you change a characters name, stick with it, don't jump around with what you call them. It's really confusing.
93% - rapidly (-redundant) hurrying...

**Note: I won an electronic copy of this book as part of the Goodreads First Reads giveaways**

What hides within? 

Well, within the covers of this book, a rather dark story. I didn't find it too horrific, the gore was kept to a minimum too. In fact, in parts it was quite amusing and some of the banter even had me smirking as I read.

Chester was an interesting character. Quite multi-faceted, with loads of room to morph into what the story needed, yet (and I can't really believe I'm going to say this...) rather believable too. 

I would have liked the envelope to be pushed a little more, it could have been darker and more sinister with ease, yet it didn't go there.

The multiple storylines mixed well and were interwoven neatly. None of them seemed too obvious, were mostly plausible and quite intricately written to ensure reader enjoyment.

I don't have a fear if spiders, but I didn't feel that the story had a strong theme of them. I suppose that the story might creep out those with a phobia, but for me it was a neat little twist.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this one, despite not being entirely sure if I would. Try What Hides Within if you'd like a bit of dark humour and a bit of spider related horror mixed with a murder and crime mystery.

**Note: I won this book as part of the firstreads giveaways on Goodreads**