I'm going to be honest, guys. I'm really starting to get blog fatigue. I've been trying to write this particular review for ages and getting absolutely nowhere. :'-( I've also done the arithmetic and I'm fairly certain I'm still going to be reviewing books I read in 2018 into the start of 2019 which is something I was actively trying to avoid. Ugh, I sure hope this ends up making sense.

Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks is a middle grade graphic novel about two little girls living on a space station on the fringes of populated space. These two best friends are polar opposites. Sanity is a gifted scientist who is more often than not working diligently at her homework or brainstorming her newest lab project. Tallulah, on the other hand, is a mediocre student (at best) and a champion mischief maker (the best). After Sanity's latest science project (a three-headed creature) gets loose, the two girls are desperate to clear the animal's name as technical failures and disasters of all kinds begin happening at an alarming rate. There's a race against the clock to find the creature and save all life as they know it on the space station. This story is all about the bonds of friendship...and what happens if you don't properly follow safety protocols when docking your ship at a space station. My opinion: I don't know if it's because I read this one right after Space Dumplins but I found it very similar in tone and content and therefore not altogether that interesting. Additionally, the illustrations were good but weren't nearly as stunning as the aforementioned Space Dumplins. I couldn't give it more than a 4/10.

Lots of strong female characters. *applause* [Source: Mom Read It]

 

What's Up Next: The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs

What I'm Currently Reading: Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan

#Horror, #Medical

Another fantastic read from Jacob Appel!! The author, enlisting his vast knowledge of psychology, not only created a convincing character as the serial killer, but also took readers into the murderer’s authentic and methodical plotting and preparations of his ‘kill-plans’. I have not rooted for a killer this intensely since Dexter!
The title, borrowed from the book written by the psychologist, Hervey M. Cleckley, is definitely the best name that could have been given to this book! Many people have their true selves that are hidden and have their ‘masks’ which they show to the public. Often, it is more pleasant to deal with the ‘masks’! This was most certainly the case with this book’s antagonist!
While reading this book, I kept thinking how it was going to end. I kept hoping that it wouldn’t end a certain way, then the story would shift and I hoped it wouldn’t end a different way. I had this battle with myself for the last third of the book. True to his form, Appel did not disappoint; he supplied none of the endings of which I had imagined. The ending was absolutely not expected, and certainly was a perfect choice!

Being a bastard on Bassinor has been difficult enough, but Erinii Zakkata has always done her duty to family and that was what landed her in the facility to begin with. Gassed into a hallucinogenic state, she has spent four years trying to swim out of the fanciful creations of her mind, and with a little intervention from a familiar face she manages to find reality again. Or did she?

Until she can find a way to escape she has to appear to be a madwoman in a psych facility, and when the role comes far too easily, she has to wonder if she has made it out of her nightmares or is she still trapped in her own mind, living out an escape that seems far too good to be true?

A representative from the Citadel is now featuring heavily in her fantasies, but is he real or just another illusion to keep her from escaping her imprisonment?

Time and a heavy detox will tell.

Review

This is a dark world where people with psychic talents are imprisoned  in their own minds.

The heroines is admirable and the story of her freedom is worthwhile. The romance is pretty pale but enjoyable.  

**I received an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review**
Dr. Jason Randall believes in facts and science. When he was 12, he made a decision to stop dreaming of the girl on the hill as there was no place in his life for fantasies. Now at almost 30, he's stuck inside his head with something evil he thinks is another figment of his imagination. When the now full grown version of his 12yr old friend also appears, he thinks his brain is working overtime and refuses to believe her when she tells him she's real. Charma is one of 18 of a special race called Outsiders. When she was young, she dreamed of her other half, her perfect mate and couldn't wait to find him. When she was 12, he disappeared from her dreams. Thinking the evil demons found and killed him, she mourned the loss. When she and another Outsider find Jason in a coma, she can't believe he's still alive. When she uses her powers to try to get him out of his coma, she gets trapped in his head and infuriated when he refused to believe she's real. When they finally break free and Jason has to deal with this new reality, he must convince Charma to forgive him.
After seeing her "cousin" Kal find his destined mate, Charma is happy for them, but longs for the mate she believes is dead. During the book, she goes through a lot of emotional changes, including finding inner strength to fight the demons that she never knew she had. Jason's life and thought process does a complete 360 during the book. He goes from being a scientific doctor to a warrior with great powers.
I loved the continuation of the Outsiders series. I dove right into this book and didn't stop until it was done. The growth, change, and acceptance the characters go through in this book was very enjoyable to read. I highly recommend this series.