Series Thoughts: D.C. Detectives

D.C. Detectives

by Nora Roberts
Book 1: Sacred Sins | Goodreads | Rating: 3.0 Stars
Book 2: Brazen Virtue | Goodreads | Rating: 2.0 Stars

Average Series Rating:  2.5 Stars

I read these two books back in 2019, wrote up a brief draft of a review, and then it sat here in my unpublished blog dashboard for two years.  I don't know why I never went back to publish this, but it was probably just one of those things that drifts away from you in light of all the chaos that started ensuing during that time.

So here it is...

I enjoyed Sacred Sins in a rather, rainy-day-read kind of way.  Brazen Virtue, on the other had, actually made me a bit uncomfortable, and I'm not sure if it was because of the subject matter or the identity of the killer.  Truth be told, both books actually had instances that had made me uncomfortable, as well as bringing up conflicts that I was a bit surprised to find in a pair of books written in 1987 and 1988, both involving a child.

Don't get me wrong--if I were honest, these books both showcased Nora Roberts' penchant for the gritty and the realistic, as well as a darkness in human nature that can't be ignored.

It was really my own personal preference that I couldn't get past, and so these two books, while written well, didn't quite work for me.

Meanwhile, the romances in both books really showed their age.  In both instances, I couldn't quite make myself like either of the romances.

In the lazy days of summer, a merciless heat wave is the biggest story in Washington, D.C.  But the weather is knocked off the front pages when a young woman is found strangled to death.  A note left behind reads: Her sins are forgiven her.

Two more victims soon follow, and suddenly every headline is devoted to the killer the press has dubbed "the Priest."  When the police ask top-notch psychiatrist Dr. Tess Court to help with their investigation, she comes up with a disturbing portrait of a twisted soul.

Detective Ben Paris doesn't give a damn about the killer's psyche.  What he can't easily dismiss is Tess.  Tall, dark, and good-looking, Ben has a legendary reputation with women, but the coolly elegant Tess doesn't react to him like other women he's known and he finds the challenge enticing.

Tess and Ben in Sacred Sins had clever dialogue and some of their interactions were done well.  But I could never get past Ben's rude, neanderthal-ish, asshole attitude towards Tess throughout the book, simply based on her profession.  It didn't matter that he was attracted to her or that he was friendly enough outside of work, but his continued hostility towards the psychiatric field, as well as towards Tess whenever she slipped into shrink-mode was deplorable.  He never even tried to get along with Tess, the psychiatrist, even while he wanted to get into her pants.

I'm not entirely certain that I, personally, could have been able to stand being in a relationship with someone who not only couldn't take my profession seriously, but who was constantly making insulting, snide, and degrading remarks about what I did for a living.  It's disrespectful and unfair.  But I guess what really bugged me was how easily Tess let Ben get away with being a jackass for 90% of the book.

Nonetheless, the rest of the book was dark, gritty, and entertaining enough to keep me hooked.

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After a demanding book tour, superstar mystery novelist Grace McCabe decides to visit her sister, Kathleen, who’s embroiled in a custody battle after a bitter divorce.  Arriving in D.C., Grace is shocked to find Kathleen living in a run-down neighborhood and, hoping to afford a hotshot lawyer, supplementing her meager teacher’s salary by moonlighting as a phone sex operator.

According to Kathleen, Fantasy, Inc., guarantees its employees ironclad anonymity.  But Grace has her doubts—which are confirmed one horrifying cherry-blossom-scented night when one of Fantasy, Inc.’s operators is murdered.  As Grace is drawn to help solve the crime, her life turns into a scene from one of her own books.  Yet as one of her biggest fans, investigator Ed Jackson, warns her: This isn’t fiction.  Real people die—and Grace could be next.  For she’s hoping to trap a killer more twisted than anything she could imagine.  And not even Ed may be able to protect her from a rendezvous with lust and death.

On the other hand, the romance in Brazen Virtue was just plain boring with no chemistry.  The insta-love was so obvious between Grace and Ed that I didn't even really bother to care.  I liked Ed in the first book as the nice guy, understanding and respectful of Tess enough not to treat her like the enemy.  His easy banter with Ben was welcome.

But his behavior around Grace bordered on caveman, treating her like she was a fragile child at every turn, whether it was something as little as making coffee in the morning, or something as big as details of her sister's murder.  He wouldn't let her do anything for herself or by herself, and insisted on taking care of everything for her as if she weren't capable of doing things by herself.

While this might seem sweet and caring to a lot of people, there's a fine line between the sweetness of wanting to take care of someone you love, and treating said person like an ignorant, incompetent, fragile doll whom you don't trust to survive without your existence.

Anyway, as I'd stated earlier, the entire investigation, and premise of Brazen Virtue sort of made me uncomfortable, which made it hard to really enjoy it.  Add onto it Grace's bad decisions that were leading into TSTL as well as obstruction of justice territory and I just started having more issues.

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Brief Thoughts: The Visitor

The Visitor

by Amanda Stevens
Book 4 of Graveyard Queen

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

My name is Amelia Gray.  I'm the Graveyard Queen.

Restoring lost and abandoned cemeteries is my profession, but I'm starting to believe that my true calling is deciphering the riddles of the dead.  Legend has it that Kroll Cemetery is a puzzle no one has ever been able to solve.  For over half a century, the answer has remained hidden within the strange headstone inscriptions and intricate engravings.  Because uncovering the mystery of that tiny, remote graveyard may come at a terrible price.

Years after their mass death, Ezra Kroll's disciples lie unquiet, their tormented souls trapped within the walls of Kroll Cemetery, waiting to be released by someone strong and clever enough to solve the puzzle.  For whatever reason, I'm being summoned to that graveyard by both the living and the dead.  Every lead I follow, every clue I unravel brings me closer to an unlikely killer and to a destiny that will threaten my sanity, and a future with my love, John Devlin.

If I wanted to be honest, it was truly the writing and the mystery of Kroll Cemetary that drew me into this book.  Amelia's destiny and her hauntings as well as Devlin's mysterious secrets were really second string.

While I've liked Amelia in the past, I'm not entirely sure that I'm feeling a whole lot of character development in her, despite the new twists that her character is taking on in this book.  At the same time, I'm still not really all that enamored of John Devlin either.

The romance between them is even harder for me to relate with, if only because Amelia's obsession with Devlin, as well as their mutual attraction to each other seems to be the only thing linking them together.  They don't talk to each other, they keep secrets, they don't even trust each other.  Their relationship has always felt one-sided.

I enjoyed the moments that Amelia spent at Kroll cemetary with Dr. Shaw, or even discovering little clues left her by the blind ghost who looks like her.  In contrast, I didn't care much for the scenes whenever Devlin was around with her, save for a few moments when they seemed to be able to talk freely with each other.  I feel like the two of them could make a great team if they would just stop keeping secrets or learn to listen to each other.

But the writing is beautiful as usual, and the series' overall conflict continues to be intriguing, and you get drawn into Amelia's world readily.  Just for the writing style and the atmosphere of the book alone, I gave a higher rating.

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Quick Thoughts: Dreamer's Pool

Dreamer's Pool

by Juliet Marillier
Book 1 of Blackthorn & Grim

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear.  Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada.  There she’ll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help.

Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais.  He knows her only from a portrait and sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his destined true love.  But Oran discovers letters can lie.  For although his intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters.

With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his dilemma.  Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help.  To save Oran from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a little magic.

Dreamer's Pool, to be honest, while written well with Juliet Marillier's style of magic and lore, also sort of tended towards the predictable.  It's a usual plot device of Marillier's to give away the plot twist from one of the tales or stories told throughout the book.  And so it wasn't hard to figure out how everything would turn out in the end.

As has been quite typical of Marillier as well, this first book in the Blackthorn & Grim trilogy involved a lot of world building and set-up.  A lot of traveling happened, and I'm not entirely sure that things started picking up until about halfway through the book.  At least, for me, I didn't start getting really interested until halfway through the book.

So while I enjoyed the book, I still had a hard time with it, not only because of the slowness of the plotting, but also because of how hard it was to really relate with any of the characters.  Blackthorn tended towards more bitter than I felt like she needed to be, and I found I liked her more when she wasn't constantly thinking about how she could betray the new chance at life that Conmael gave her by going back to her need for revenge.  I didn't mind her being a cranky old wise woman (who was hardly old by biological age standards), and I liked her role as the local wise woman.

I'm much like Blackthorn in that I hate being crowded and I like my privacy.  But I think that, as much as Blackthorn and Grim seem to understand the way that the fey work their magic, they don't seem to understand that there might be a reason for the seven year restriction that Conmael has given her.  If Blackthorn went back for her revenge at this stage in her new chance at life, she'd probably just end up back in prison again.

Anyway, the only reason I even gave this book a higher rating anyway was because of the last half of the book.  It certainly did end up drawing me in all the way, and if only we could have stuck with Blackthorn's and Grim's POVs, I think I would have enjoyed the book in it's entirety a lot more.  I sincerely was more interested in their journey, and instead found Prince Oran kind of frustrating to follow.

I also found our "villian" more overpowered than was believable.  Lady Flidais's behavior was never acceptable nor was it normal, so I'm surprised that no one ever called her out on it, save for Oran in private.

Of course, without Oran's POV, there probably wouldn't be a whole lot of story.  Maybe if this book were written in third person, things might have been a bit different?

Nonetheless, the end of the book left me wanting more, and so I will definitely be jumping into the next book when I get the chance.

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Quick Thoughts: Pocket Apocalypse

Pocket Apocalypse

by Seanan McGuire
Book 4 of InCryptid

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

Endangered, adjective:  Threatened with extinction or immediate harm.

Australia, noun: A good place to become endangered.

Alexander Price has survived gorgons, basilisks, and his own family—no small feat, considering that his family includes two telepaths, a reanimated corpse, and a colony of talking, pantheistic mice.  Still, he’s starting to feel like he’s got the hang of things…at least until his girlfriend, Shelby Tanner, shows up asking pointed questions about werewolves and the state of his passport.  From there, it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to Australia, a continent filled with new challenges, new dangers, and yes, rival cryptozoologists who don’t like their “visiting expert” very much.

Australia is a cryptozoologist’s dream, filled with unique species and unique challenges.  Unfortunately, it’s also filled with Shelby’s family, who aren’t delighted by the length of her stay in America. And then there are the werewolves to consider: infected killing machines who would like nothing more than to claim the continent as their own.  The continent which currently includes Alex.

Survival is hard enough when you’re on familiar ground.  Alex Price is very far from home, but there’s one thing he knows for sure: he’s not going down without a fight.

Ah...

I surprisingly found this book more enjoyable than the previous one, and I'm not sure if it's just because I've warmed to Alex and Shelby.  For certain, it had nothing to do with the Australian cryptozoologists, the Thirty-Six Society--I didn't like them at all and felt like they all either needed a reality check or a good whack in their heads as a collective.

Neither Alex's nor Shelby's characters are any more fleshed out than they were in the previous book, but I think what really did it for me was all the lore about lycanthropy in the InCryptid world.  I liked learning about how the lyncanthropy-w virus worked, all the new twists to werewolf transformation that Alex talked about, as well as learned about as new surprises were revealed throughout the book.  What I DIDN'T like was how the Thirty-Sixers had a problem and refused to take the expert advice of someone who knew how to handle werewolves.

And even as Alex proved again and again that he was right about what he was telling them, they still continued to treat him like he was some sort of delusional crazy, disbelieving him and even being overly suspicious despite the fact that his own life had been in danger so many times, trying to save others.  I'm in agreement with Shelby--if I'd have come to Australia with an intent to help and ended up being treated like some sort of crazed criminal, unwelcome and unwanted, I would have gotten on the first plane back out of Australia, and screw the survival of a bunch of jackasses who think they know better.

Outside of all of the above, I DO wish that we could have seen more of the cryptids in Australia.  As the series suggests, Australia is an isolated ecological cesspit for all sorts of fun and new types of living creatures, both cryptid and non-cryptid.  I loved meeting the yowie, and I loved watching the Tanner girls get schooled about how they treat their local sapient cryptids.

Now if only Alex could help school the rest of the Thirty-Sixers about how to cooperate with the rest of the sapient cryptids, maybe life on Australia for the cryptozoologists will be easier.  Of course, on the other hand, I have my misgivings about the fact that an outsider had to teach the Thirty-Sixers this lesson, especially since, by all rights, I'd assumed that at least one person or another would have figured out how NOT to treat the sapient cryptids as monsters.

If a huge organization like the Covenant of St. George was able to produce a few dissenters, I'm surprised that a less restrictive organization such as the Thirty-Six Society hasn't yet.

Anyway, I know the next book goes back to following Verity, but further along the line, I wouldn't mind returning to Australia and visiting with one or another of the Tanner sisters, especially Raina, whom, while I did have issues with at first, ended up warming up to her.

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Some Thoughts: Firelight

Firelight

by Kristen Callihan
Book 1 of Darkest London

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

Once the flames are ignited . . .

Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented.  Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities.  Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .

Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man.  Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride.  Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime.  When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied.  Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue.  For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

Hmm... so going by what I recall of the prologue novella of this series, detailing some of the scattered tangents between Miranda and Archer before Firelight's story line...  I'm not certain this book really came off the way I'd been expecting it to.  I guess I'd been expecting something maybe a bit darker, maybe a bit more paranormal... maybe some more explosive fiery goodness...

Firelight is most definitely more romance than it is anything else.  There was an appropriate look into Archer's dark thoughts and Miranda's own misgivings.  There was a murder mystery.  There was even the typical society happenings.

I guess what I'd hoped to see was more of Miranda exploring her dark secret--her ability to summon and control fire.  And maybe I would have liked for Archer's dark secret to not have been dragged out for quite so long, only to be stuffed with a lot of sweet nothings spoken between Miranda and Archer about how much they love each other despite their secrets... BEFORE they even knew each other's secrets.

So yes, as a romance, this wasn't a terrible one if you can overlook some of the insta-lust, the insta-love, the over-intense possessiveness between our main characters, as well as their inability to think past their libidos for a good percentage of the book.  Also, even for the fact that, having read Ember, you KNOW that Miranda is not a young virgin, she certainly does act like one and I found myself wondering if the story was being rewritten or something.

Meanwhile, for that entire first half of the book, I'm not entirely sure I really understood what was actually going on in the romance between Miranda and Archer.  Their relationship came off kind of standard and boring, to be honest.  And it isn't until halfway into the book, when Miranda stops being meek, that their relationship starts feeling more sure-footed.

On that note, the excitement DOES start about halfway into the book at that same time that Miranda stops being meek, with more exploration of the murder mystery, the secrets pertaining to the West Moon Club and Archer's past, and then Miranda even starts taking charge of herself by hopping into the investigation.  This then eventually leads to Miranda's powers of fire manipulation making more of a show.  Because for the first half of the book, I'd wondered if we were going to capitalize on one of the biggest plot devices of this book at all when Miranda's powers are only ever mentioned in passing by her and her sisters.

But at that point in the story line, I think everything starts getting interesting.

There's a great premise in this book, as well as in this series, and by the end of the book, we've been introduced to the next book's main hero, who is obviously a werewolf, what with his references to the moon, and emphasis on his super strength and fast healing abilities.  I'm not entirely sure that our author was all that subtle about that, and I sort of wished she had been, because those mentions all seemed kind of forced.

Anyway, despite the slowness of the book's beginning, I rather enjoyed the book.  Save a fix for the pacing of the conflict, I think this could have been a great book, and I'm curious enough about the rest of the Darkest London world to continue on.

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Thoughts: Truly Devious

Truly Devious

by Maureen Johnson
Book 1 of Truly Devious

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists.  It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens.  "A place" he said, "where learning is a game."

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped.  The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym, Truly Devious.  It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case.  That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester.  But something strange is happening.  Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy.  The past has crawled out of its grave.  Someone has gotten away with murder.

If I wanted to be honest, it was hard not to compare stories and characters between Truly Devious and The Name of the Star.  Both books involve a young girl starting at a new boarding school.  And both books involve each respective girl's acclimation to this new school, making new friends, learning the culture of the new school, going through classes, and so on.  And of course, both books involve a murder mystery... both of which take a long time to build up to.

And if I really wanted to be honest, I think I found The Name of the Star a bit more enjoyable than Truly Devious.  Don't get me wrong, I liked Stevie enough, but there were times I had a hard time keeping up with her train of thought, as well as understanding her actions.  I took Stevie to be a rather intelligent kid, even if a little unique and different.  So the fact that she keeps getting taken in by Hayes seemed a bit out of character.  The fact that she makes a few questionable decisions during her time at Ellingham Academy seemed forced.

I DID like seeing that Stevie was a rather socially awkward type of person though.  It was a nice touch to her unique personality--her enjoyment of spending time studying crimes instead of going out and being the traditionally stereotyped teenage girl her parents want so badly for her to be.  The conflict between Stevie and her parents brought a rather enlightening addition to Stevie's depth as a character, even if it was also a bit difficult to follow for the purposes of this story.

I want to say that Truly Devious spends a lot of time setting up the world and the series and the story, and while it was also punctuated by tidbits of the Ellingham cold case mystery, it still felt like a whole lot of nothing but mundane happenings took place for the first half of the book.  This was rather a similar set up to The Name of the Star as the excitement didn't truly start until a good percentage into the book.

The difference was that I absolutely loved Rory's voice in The Name of the Star, where she was quirky, fun, and my kind of dry sarcasm, with a hint of normal, everyday girl.  In contrast, Stevie's character seemed to be trying too hard to stand out, and her quirkiness, while cute at times, seemed less endearing and more... well, boring, to say the least.  I didn't have as much fun following Stevie's POV, and I also wished there'd been more fun character interactions.

The only other character I actually liked in this book was Nate, if only because even though he was sullen for most of the book, it came off in a strangely endearing kind of sullen.  Which is strange, because there were moments where I wanted him to just get over himself and participate in life with everyone else.  And then when he DID have brief moments of interactions with Stevie, it was extremely enjoyable.  Too bad it seems like Stevie's love interest is someone else...

As far as mysteries go, the Ellingham cold case is an interesting premise to study, although little hints here and there are leading me to wonder just how many underlying secrets are involved in the entire affair.

As far as the present-day murder mystery, while I didn't really know who the culprit was, I also wasn't surprised at the end about the reveal.  Unfortunately, I also had a hard time following Stevie's logic or deductions, so it took me a while to figure out where she was going with all of her questions and her discoveries.

Finally, the book leaves a lot of loose tangents unresolved, and even the main conflicts remain somewhat open-ended.  But with the ongoing Ellingham mystery still unsolved, I'm absolutely going to continue reading the rest of the series.  I'm just also hoping for some more excitement, or maybe some more character interactions that don't seem steeped in tension, secrets, or evasions.

Otherwise, this book was entertaining enough.

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Thoughts: Walk on Earth a Stranger

Walk on Earth a Stranger

by Rae Carson
Book 1 of Gold Seer Trilogy

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars


I absolutely adored Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns series and so, unintentionally, I might have done a little bit of compare and contrast; and I might have over-hyped myself with the announcement and publishing of Walk on Earth a Stranger.

Officially "Historical" books aren't my typical genre and for whatever reason that is, I couldn't possibly say.  I've just never really been one to seek out historical fiction as part of my reading consumption, but every so often I run into a gem of one.  Unfortunately, I'm conflicted as to whether or not Walk on Earth a Stranger is that gem.


The Story in Brief
Walk on Earth a Stranger takes place during the gold rush to California in 1849.  Leah Westfall starts her journey from Georgia after the murder of her parents.  As she is able to divine gold like a dowsing rod is supposed to find water, she somehow figures out that her greedy, creepy Uncle Hiram was the man who murdered her parents and stole their stash of gold dust.  And since he has plans for her, she chooses to run, to catch up with her best friend, Jefferson, who has already left ahead of her, telling her that he'll meet her in Independence if she decides to go west with him.

And, of course, throughout Leah's adventure, as she travels, disguised as a boy for convenience and safety, using the name Lee McCauley, she meets many new people and makes friends and begins forming a kinship with many of them.

This little ragtag group of people, working together for a common cause is what I loved about the Fire and Thorns trilogy, as well as what I DO like about Walk on Earth a Stranger.  Especially since, in this particular book, the characters are all from such different backgrounds and would all be the last to try and make friends with the people they are traveling with.


My Overall Thoughts
The book has a very monotonous feel to it, and while I self-proclaim my love for adventures, and this book actually spent the entire time traveling, I just couldn't quite get that adventurous feel of it.  There were ups and there were downs; and there were exciting times and there were draggy times. And then there were also the "what the heck is going on here?" times.  And while overall, Walk on Earth a Stranger was quite enjoyable, it stayed at a fairly flat progression throughout--it started off quite slowly, gave us a strong turn of events, and then just kind of maintained that same, flatness throughout the rest of the book.

Aside from the traveling and the few mishaps that happen during traveling and a few scattered events here and there (that felt like a textbook check-off list of "things that could happen when traveling west in 1849"), nothing else really happened.  Even the looming base plot of "Uncle Hiram murdered my parents and wants to use me for my gold divining magic" seemed insignificant for a duration in the book.

Rae Carson is a great writer with excellent attention-to-detail.  The book is still grounded in historical facts with detail to the correctness of prejudices and behaviors with a pretty good collection of culturally diverse characters gathered together on this journey to California.  And while there are exciting moments, the book really read very much like the Oregon Trail game wherein anything and everything that could possibly happen to a troupe of travelers during those harsh times DID happen to Leah and her group: from cholera to broken axle wheels to crossing a river and losing animals... and even several deaths to boot.

Again, it was like a travel book check list of possible disasters to look out for during historical times of America.  Historically accurate, great to know about, but uninspiring and lackluster in execution.


In summary: Yes, this book was enjoyable.  No, nothing overly exciting actually jumps out at you.  Yes, there was an adventure to be had.  No, it wasn't really all that exciting and didn't quite elicit much in the "oh this is so much fun" department for me--not that harsh travels, asshole troupe leaders, and sickness and death is fun, but you know what I'm talking about adventure-wise, right?  Yes, this book had a "friends-to-love" romance implanted... and no, there were no FEELS to be had.

In fact, I don't know whether to be disappointed about the romance or to be glad that maybe there's more development to look forward to in the next book--that the romance wasn't the foremost concern of the story plot, unlike many other YAs we encounter regularly.  Because while I really dig the whole "friends-to-lovers" romantic plot device, I was having trouble accepting Jefferson and Leah as a couple if only because they rarely show any inclination towards romantic notions aside from a few words and a marriage proposal of convenience.  Sure, Leah gets a little jealous when Jefferson seems to be spending so much time with another young girl in their traveling group.  And sure, Jefferson says a few things here and there that make you wonder.

The romance just didn't feel very well developed and I sincerely hope that there's more to build on it in future books--future books I still have intentions of reading.

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This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in December 2015.

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Thoughts: Half-Off Ragnarok

Half-Off Ragnarok

by Seanan McGuire
Book 3 of InCryptid

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

When Alex Price agreed to go to Ohio to oversee a basilisk breeding program and assist in the recovery of his psychic cousin, he didn't expect people to start dropping dead.  But bodies are cropping up at the zoo where he works, and his girlfriend—Shelby Tanner, an Australian zoologist with a fondness for big cats—is starting to get suspicious.

Worse yet, the bodies have all been turned partially to stone...

The third book in the InCryptid series takes us to a new location and a new member of the family, as Alex tries to balance life, work, and the strong desire not to become a piece of garden statuary.  Old friends and new are on the scene, and danger lurks around every corner.

Of course, so do the talking mice.

I went into this third book in the InCryptid series knowing that we were switching perspectives from Verity Price to her older brother, Alex Price.  I hadn't exactly decided on any kind of expectations, but I was still a bit wary about how much I'd like the book based on what little you get to know about Alex from Verity's POV in the first two books.  And while I didn't really squee or love Half-Off Ragnarok as much as I loved the first two books, I admittedly enjoyed following Alex's POV very much.

Alex Price is a science nerd and his sort of socially awkwardness only makes him so much more endearing.  Especially since this book didn't really focus on the quirks of his personality, even while displaying them in ways that I absolutely enjoyed.  I'm not sure how I felt about Shelby, although she seemed a bit one-dimensional and stereotyped--though this could have just been because of the first person POV wherein we only really get to see things from Alex's perspective.

The mystery of who was turning people to stone was actually a rather great premise to start the book off with, and made this an interesting page-turner... even as the rest of the book felt a bit lackluster.

Don't get me wrong--I absolutely enjoyed myself reading this book.  But somehow it just didn't bring about the giddy feels and the laugh-out-loud moments that I'd found so much fun from the first two books.  This could just be because of the little book time you get with Alex's splinter colony of Aeslin mice, or maybe the absence of a specific carnage-loving Gothic-lolita Waheela whom I ended up loving from the second book.  Even Alex's miniature griffin, Crow, didn't really help much, cute as the little snot was.

Nonetheless, this was definitely a great inclusion to the series, and I actually kind of appreciate seeing the cryptid world from more than just Verity's perspective.  And the nerdy scientist thing that Alex is sporting is quite endearing.

We still could have used more time with the Aeslin mice, though... just sayin'...

Halloween Bingo 2019

Long Rambling Thoughts: The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

by F. C. Yee
Book 1 of The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

Genie Lo is one among droves of Ivy-hopeful overachievers in her sleepy Bay Area suburb.  You know, the type who wins.  When she’s not crushing it at volleyball or hitting the books, Genie is typically working on how to crack the elusive Harvard entry code.

But when her hometown comes under siege from hellspawn straight out of Chinese folklore, her priorities are dramatically rearranged.  Enter Quentin Sun, a mysterious new kid in class who becomes Genie’s self-appointed guide to battling demons.  While Genie knows Quentin only as an attractive transfer student with an oddly formal command of the English language, in another reality he is Sun Wukong, the mythological Monkey King incarnate—right down to the furry tale and penchant for peaches.

Suddenly, acing the SATs is the least of Genie’s worries.  The fates of her friends, family, and the entire Bay Area all depend on her summoning an inner power that Quentin assures her is strong enough to level the very gates of Heaven.  But every second Genie spends tapping into the secret of her true nature is a second in which the lives of her loved ones hang in the balance.

I don't know what I was expecting when I went into this book, but it certainly was much more delightful and fun than I'd anticipated.  While the voice of Genie Lo's first person POV might have felt a bit immature, I sincerely appreciate all the humor and sarcasm--truth, there are some moments when the comical nonsense is overdone, but I'm not complaining, really.  As far as the story goes, at times I felt like I was watching/reading a cross between Inuyasha, Dogma, and various other modern adaptations of Journey to the West mashed together.  There might have even been a lot of American pop culture references, though I probably would have been MUCH more impressed had Yee included some Chinese pop culture references as well.

But seeing as we are looking through the eyes of uber millennial Chinese-American Genie Lo, I can kind of see the voice working.

While there have been a numerous amount of movie and television adaptations of Journey to the West or a simple Monkey King retelling, I think this is the first time I've stumbled across a book retelling based on the legend.  So, needless to say, I was very, very intrigued.

For anyone not familiar with this tale, Journey to the West follows the adventures of a Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who is tasked by the heavens and his king to travel west in search of a set of holy scriptures, which is said to be crucial in helping to alleviate the world of suffering.  His disciples include the infamous Monkey King, Sun Wukong; the Piggy Demon, Zhu Bajie; the River Demon, Sha Wujing; and Xuanzang's white horse, previously an exiled dragon prince.  As the tale goes, each of Xuanzang's disciples has been selected for this journey by the Siddhartha Buddha because they each have terrible sins to atone for, and therefore must guard Xuanzang on his journey.  Along the way, the five monks go through a lot of trials and tribulations, testing their resolve and determination.

It's actually a really, really long tale, but one of the most well-known legends in China.

Getting back to this book, Epic Crush was written in a chaotic fashion, but it still managed to draw me in, especially since Genie, her friends, and her mother were portrayed in a way that I really could relate with.  Genie is a very American, Chinese-American teenager living in modern-day America, under the close scrutiny of her very traditional Chinese mother.  We get to see glimpses of the affect culture has on Genie and her mother amidst their behavior towards one another, from the high expectations and immense pressure that Genie's mother puts on her, and Genie's latent need to seek approval and acceptance from her strict mother even in spite of her more independent, gruff personality.

Of course, heart-rending, heart-warming, self-revelation journey about a teenage girl, this book is not.

Because this book is more about Genie's destined path in life based on who she was in a previous life.  Basically, as Genie herself finds out, the fate of of the Bay Area is in her hands alongside that of a strange kid claiming to be the great Monkey King of old Chinese mythological lore.  Demons have been loosed from the Eighteen Levels of Hell, and the gods have decided that it's up to Genie and her Monkey King partner, Quentin Sun, to take care of the problem.

So... in a way, this book is sort of a hero's journey, following Genie as she relearns her magical abilities from her previous life of fighting evil demons.  Truth... I was quite floored by just exactly who Genie was in her previous life and chuckled my ass off.  Sorry Genie--you're a wonderful character, but that plot twist was gold!

Meanwhile, this book touches upon so many tangents that I'm not entirely certain we get a clear focus on any of the significant conflicts at all.  And the ending, truth be told, might have been a little rushed, and very deux ex machina... if only because this is, after all, a book based on Chinese mythology, and the gods and goddesses tend to have a hand in everything, while they torture the poor characters who are stuck on Earth who have to do their bidding.  In other words, the gods and goddess want the Earthly beings to take care of themselves, but they aren't above interfering to get the job done if the need arises... and only when they feel inclined to do so, which is usually whenever a story plot backs itself into a corner and needs divine intervention that had been denied for the past forty-nine episodes of a series, or two and a half hours of movie, or three hundred pages of book.

Le sigh...

One thing that I already knew about Chinese mythology and their gods... a lot of times, they act even more human than we expect them to, seeing as there's equal opportunity corruption, shirking of duties, irrational expectations, and childish behaviors.  In Chinese mythology and religion, gods, goddesses, and even Buddha are not infallible after all, and, as this book shows, can all be kinda douche-y.

Anyway, a few quibbles stood out to me, but might just be my own personal bias or whatever.

For instance, I had a hard time believing that Genie had no idea who the Monkey King is.  Maybe it's a generational thing, or maybe it's a Westernized upbringing.  But Journey to the West and the Monkey King is such a widely told legend in China, and there have been adaptation after adaptation, both old school and modernized, that it's hard to believe that Genie had never even heard of him.  Even my youngest brother, who has the least Chinese knowledge in my family, understands references to the Monkey King, even if he doesn't know the story or the details.

I would have expected Genie to at least be familiar with the name even if not familiar with the legend.  As Quentin puts it, it would be like American teens NOT knowing who Batman is... although I probably wouldn't have used that kind of comparison--Batman and the Monkey King are both two very different kinds of characters.

But I suppose if she never took any interest in her own culture, that might be possible.

The other quibble I might nitpick is how all the Chinese gods, goddesses, and even the demons all speak colloquial English without fail.  I might overlook that, because maybe our author just didn't want to go through the whole "he said in Chinese" narration--I understand that sometimes that can get a bit tedious.  Or maybe it's an unofficial understanding that the gods and goddesses just know how to blend into whatever setting they land in, whether it be ancient historical China, or modern day Bay Area California.  And so they somehow know how to speak flawless English with all the right slang and using all the most up-to-date references and such.  Who knows?

But being that Genie spends a good chapter ruminating about Quentin's perfect handle of the English language, I guess I'd have thought that she'd make note of whether someone was speaking English or Chinese at the time.  Or the fact that all of the very Chinese gods, goddesses, and demons spoke modern-day American English.

On the other hand, I DID like the random thrown in Chinese phrases, denoted in italics.  And for those Asians out there who are interested, apparently the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin chooses to make her random exclamations in Cantonese instead of Mandarin, unlike the other Chinese characters in this book.  Just pay attention, if you understand Chinese or Cantonese, you'll note the pronunciations and romanizations are different.

My final quibble with this book is the extreme romanticizing of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong.  While I like the idea of a the Monkey King posing as a high school boy to implore Genie to help him with his demon hunting, I'm having a hard time reconciling the Monkey King I'm familiar with from the tales, the movies, the television series, with the immature teenage romantic depicted in this book.  In fact, I'm not even entire sure that romance was really necessary in this book (and I'm a hopeless romantic who reads romance like I breath air).

The Monkey King is a self-important, egotistical, arrogant being who loves himself, and loves his little monkey followers, loves his monk master and monk siblings, and loves his Goddess of Mercy... but not in a romantic sort of way.  Sun Wukong loves those he considers his or his family, but romance has always been beyond him, and as a monk in training, romance is even a strictly forbidden emotion.  In Buddhist teachings, human emotion oft times leads to suffering, and the only way to achieve Nirvana is to completely dispel all human emotion from one's being.

This means that the Monkey King, his monk siblings, and his master, aside from setting off to obtain the Holy Scriptures from the West, are also on a journey to obtain the highest level of monk-hood.

I'm not saying that the Monkey King would be completely immune to human emotion, and in fact, the whole point of the journey is to obtain that higher state of being.  So there will be trials and tribulations that test his ability to reach that higher level of Nirvana.

The impression I get from this story is that the Journey to the West adventure has already come and gone, and it's been centuries since.  I would have thought the Monkey King would be a little wiser than a teenage boy and show more maturity.  Yes.  The Monkey King was always a jokester and troublemaker, but his actions were always explained away by his lack of understanding about society's expectations, as well as the rules and regulations of the Earthly and Heavenly worlds, or even Hell.

But by this time in his life, after centuries... I wouldn't have expected him to so readily develop feelings for a teenage girl, even if she were the reincarnation of one of his best demon fighting partners.  Even if, setting aside the age difference, I wouldn't have expected the legendary Monkey King to be acting like an immature teenager at all, especially after the journey he went through with his monk master and monk siblings to reach that higher level of monk-hood.

Epic Crush aside, this is actually one of the hardest concepts for me to get behind--a supernatural being who has lived for hundreds or thousands of years, who's seen and experienced so much, showing up in a YA novel, acting like an immature child, and romancing main teenage hero/heroine, who, by the way, could very well pass for a great-great-great-great, many times great, grandchild... at best.  I don't care that you still look like a sixteen year old boy or a sixteen year old girl... you're not, so don't act like one.  It's hard to get behind, which is one of the biggest quibbles I have with this book.

Of course, my familiarity and impression of the Monkey King is obviously a personal opinion.  And over the years, the entire Journey to the West and the Monkey King stories have been recreated in rather romanticized ways in different, more modern movies.  And, spoiler alert, in the end, there has always been a rather bittersweet ending to those romanticized notions.

Anyway, that's kind of my two-cents... or twenty, seeing as how I've rambled on.

Nonetheless, this was a rather fun read and I may or may not continue with the next book.  I DID enjoy Genie Lo as an individual, though she's a lot more prone to violence than I'd have expected.  And I also hoped to see more of her friendship with best friend, Yunie, just because we see so few positive female relationships emphasized on.

I would recommend this book for fun, or if you're interested in Chinese mythology.  But I wouldn't go by Genie's snarky retelling of the Monkey King's tale, if I want to be honest.  It's not a terrible one and touches upon all the most important events that happen to Sun Wukong before the events of Journey to the West, but her rendition might be a bit more comical than it needed to be.

Halloween Bingo 2019

Brief Thoughts: Death in the Stocks

Death in the Stocks

by Georgette Heyer
Book 1 of Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemmingway

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

A Moonlit Night, a Sleeping Village, and an Unaccountable Murder...

In the dead of the night, a man in an evening dress is found murdered, locked in the stocks on the village green.  Unfortunately for Superintendent Hannasyde, the deceased is Andrew Vereker, a man hated by nearly everyone, especially his odd and unhelpful family members.  The Verekers are as eccentric as they are corrupt, and it will take all Hannasyde's skill at detection to determine who's telling the truth, and who is pointing him in the wrong direction.  The question is: who in this family is clever enough to get away with murder?

I don't know what to say about this one.  I enjoyed it and found the mystery interesting.  The writing was excellent and gave the book a nice British mystery vibe... if that makes any sense.  But the characters were all terrible people and I had a really hard time relating to them.  And it wasn't like they were monstrous people or anything... they were just all very unlikable characters.

The suspects were all jokey and flippant about their own situations.  Witnesses were belligerent and rude.  The entire Vereker family were entitled, spoiled, and over dramatic.  The one character I ended up even liking ended up being the culprit.

And then there was a strange attempt at a romance, which... I'm not familiar with Georgette Heyer and this is the first book I've read of hers...  But are all of her romances as detached, instantaneous, and barely significant as this?

Anyway, I was considering the next book in this series for Halloween Bingo 2019, so it'll give me another look at Georgette Heyer's writing.  On the other hand, while I had a lot of things to complain about, the writing was rather fun to follow and the book was just so that I couldn't really look away and never really felt the need to stop reading.

So I was entertained even if I didn't like the characters.

Thoughts: Storm Front

Storm Front

by Jim Butcher
audio book narrated by James Marsters
Book 1 of The Dresden Files

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  2.5 Stars

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.  Consulting. Advice.  Reasonable Rates.  No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does.  Well, technically, he's the only at what he does.  So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers.  For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans.  That's where Harry comes in.  Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever.  There's just one problem.  Business, to put it mildly, stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs.  But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it.  And now that mage knows Harry's name.  And that's when things start to get interesting.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.

So well, apparently I'm one of few who wasn't immediately enamored of this book/series.  And strangely, I'm not sure if it was the book itself or my own personal habit of not getting along with urban fantasies.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book enough--it was easy to listen to on audio, and there were some parts that were interesting to an extent.  And it's not like I purposefully go into any book, ever, planning not to like it.  In fact, I was excited about listening to this book because I'd seen so many great reviews about the series.

Unfortunately, history has shown that I somehow just don't really get into urban fantasy very well.  I try, because I've always been interested in urban fantasy, and all of the series sound like something that I would love to follow... but so far, there's only really been one or two series I've found that I like.

Ultimately, there was more about this book that didn't really hook me in the way I'd been expecting to be hooked, based on all the squee and high star ratings I'd been seeing all over the place.  Of course, I know better by now that I don't always have to like what everyone else does, so no big deal.  It's entirely possible I'd over-hyped myself.  And maybe things get better as the series progresses.

As far as the story goes, the mystery itself was intriguing, and the entire concept of a wizard private investigator had loads of potential.  Harry Dresden had his appeal, but I think that he maybe sometimes went a bit overboard with the snark... and that maybe he's a bit of a doormat compared to pretty much EVERYONE in this whole book.

I had a hard time seeing the close friendship between Harry and his Chicago P.D. connection, Karrin Murphy.  In fact, the two of them seemed like master and slave, going by the way they interacted with one another.  I understand that Harry wanted to remain on good terms with Murphy so he could continue to consult with the police through her, but there comes a time in life when one can only let another harass, insult, and bully him so much before maybe drawing a line somewhere.

As friends, Murphy seems to readily beat and threaten Harry without a care for him when he tells her that he can't help her with the murder investigation they way she wants him to help.  I mean, would it kill her to just listen to Harry's reasons as to why he probably shouldn't go and research how to use magic to explode someone's heart?

As business associates, Murphy seems to have little respect for the help that she requests from Harry.  He'd give her a bit of information, and all she tells him is, "That's not good enough, Harry."  And when he requests some information that could potentially help him figure out what he's dealing with, she refuses to tell him anything.  Ya'know, cause that's reasonable somehow.

Of course, it probably also doesn't help that Harry keeps his secrets as well.  As much as I'd like to argue that Harry needs to be allowed to explain to Karrin why he can't do certain things... well, he doesn't exactly try very hard.  It's kind of martyr-ish, in a way.  And the annoying kind at that.

I keep listening to him get abused and insulted and bowled over by everyone in the book.  I keep seeing him get angry, outraged, even... and then he just moves on without setting people right about mistaken ideas or whatnot.  He mopes about how alone he feels and how no one understands the difficulties of his position... but doesn't bother telling anyone why.  And even dismisses all of their behaviors as just not really knowing or understanding.  Kind of a, "It's not their fault they didn't know this about me..." type of ordeal.

Well, Harry... TALK TO THEM!

The rest of the book was kind of a play on cliches, as Harry's life (and this book) is surrounded by sexy women who are attracted to him despite his social awkwardness, and self-proclaimed "terrible luck with women".  There is not ONE character in this whole book, except maybe Bob the magic skull, whom I actually really liked--everyone is either rude or just plain mean.  Even the EMTs who make a brief appearance are assholes.  Seems like Harry, flaws and all, is the only person in this book who acts rational... until he doesn't.

Are there no good, nice people in the "Harry Dresden" world?  Is it a given that all people in urban fantasies have to act like jackasses?  Because I seem to keep coming across this kind of thing.

Maybe I just don't read the right urban fantasies--though, as I'd stated earlier, there IS one particular series I'm hooked to.  But others seem to only appeal to me long enough to read just the first book.  This is probably my own problem.

Anyway...  I'm considering hopping into the next book anyway, just to see if the rest of the series will hook me enough to keep me going.  I'm not out to flambe a series I don't like.  I'm genuinely hoping I'll get hooked.  So... we'll see, I guess.

On a side note, the audio narrated by James Masters was quite good.  He's not the best narrator in the world--there was a LOT of huge breaths being taken and a LOT of sighing going on that kind got a bit irritating after awhile.  But Marsters seems to give Harry that snarky, dry sarcasm that's scattered all over the book.  He doesn't exactly manage the rest of the characters all that well, but the audio book made it easy to follow the story.

More Squee! and Somewhat of a Review: The Bitter Kingdom

The Bitter Kingdom

by Rae Carson
Book 3 (final) of Fire and Thorns

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.5 Stars

The champion must not waver.
The champion must not fear.
The gate of darkness closes.

Elisa is a fugitive.

Her enemies have stolen the man she loves, and they await her at the gate of darkness.  Her country is on the brink of civil war, with her own soldiers ordered to kill her on sight.

Her Royal Majesty, Queen Lucero-Elisa né Riqueza de Vega, bearer of the Godstone, will lead her three loyal companions deep into the enemy's kingdom, a land of ice and snow and brutal magic, to rescue Hector and win back her throne.  Her power grows with every step, and the shocking secrets she will uncover on this, her final journey, could change the course of history.

But that is not all.  She has a larger destiny. She must become the champion the world has been waiting for.

Even of those who hate her most.

I'm really stuck on what to say about this book (this entire series, novellas included).  I really would like to just throw a bunch of squeals out there, call it "AWESOME!!!" many times over and just leave it at that, but then I'll feel like I didn't do this series any justice.  Then again, that's the only thing I can convey properly right now.

The adventure continues in The Bitter Kingdom where we left off from The Crown of Embers.  Hector has been captured in order to force Elisa to willingly travel to Invierne and sacrifice herself to save him.  During this time, Elisa's growth is almost exponential from her growth since the previous two books and she pretty much becomes "super queen extreme".  And along the way, we get more court intrigue, historical secrets revealed, war, and adventures, adventures, adventures.

And I love me some adventure!

There was plenty of adventuring from the first two books as well:

In The Girl of Fire and Thorns we spend a lot of time traveling the desert, though a lot of time was also spent at the palace.

In The Crown of Embers we spend a lot of time on the vast open waters in the south.  But of course, a little too much time had been spent with court intrigue and assassination attempts in the palace.

This time, in The Bitter Kingdom we jump into the adventure almost immediately, traveling east to Invierne and back to Basajuan with constant movement (which was pretty exciting).  Elisa and her small crew leave her country of Joya d'Arena and travel through the dangerous Free Cities, enter the wintry mountain passes to arrive at Invierne.  And then they turn back around to face the harsh snowy weather of the mountains and end up in even more dangerous mines.

There was just so much more ground covered (literally) than I would have expected.  Just the same, the story itself covered so much material that sometimes it was a little hard to keep up with.  I'm almost thinking it would have been a good idea to split the book up into two in order to touch base with everything new introduced as well as everything old that needed a proper conclusion.

Nonetheless, I loved this book and this series like a whole new obsession.

It helps a lot that I loved and admired all the characters, even the sometimes annoying (yet also amusing) Red Sparkle Stone--though I must say, she was a fairly unbelievable character who DID act a bit older than her own age and was a pretty convenient problem solving plot device.  Otherwise, I liked all the characters, especially of Elisa's group: Belén, Mara, Storm, Hector.  Little adventures like these with little groups bring about the most heart-warming camaraderie scenarios, even if they tended to get on each other's nerves, and even if Elisa was still their queen and they always had to defer to her.  They were always, first and foremost, close friends who relied on each other to survive impossible missions.

Hector and Elisa were a pretty powerful couple and I'm glad there was never any indication of a love triangle between any other character to speak of.  It was Hector and Elisa the entire time, though I'm wondering if the kingdom of Joya d'Arena may not have been that ominous third wheel in their relationship.  No insta-love and no angsty love triangles to complicate an already complicated story line--there was enough going on in Fire and Thorns already to keep Elisa busy.

Of course, romance wasn't the most forefront priority for our heroine.  Despite the fact that she's in love with Hector and would probably do anything to save him, it shows that Elisa still kept her head about her and managed to have a bigger plan to save her kingdom while rescuing her man at the same time.  Who says she couldn't do both?  It's also telling that the two of them always had the same line of thought--worried for each other's safety, but at the same time seeing the bigger picture for Joya d'Arena.

With some flaws here and there, this book isn't entirely perfect, but it's close enough.  I'm at the point where I don't even care if there were a few things that bugged me because I was utterly charmed by the characters, the world, and the story itself!  You know that hollow feeling you get after finishing a really good series with the wish that there will be more to come, but knowing that it's all over?  Yeah.  That's how I'm still feeling, hours after finishing the last book.

I want more.  More Elisa, more Hector, more Rosario, more Belén and Mara, some more of Storm, Conde Tristán, Cosmé...  I just can't get enough of these characters.  And mostly, I kind of hope another series could take place in this same world as well.

Just a small hope, hopefully.

---

This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in August 2014.

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More of a Fangirl Squee! than a Review: The Crown of Embers

The Crown of Embers

by Rae Carson
Book 2 of Fire and Thorns

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.5 Stars

She does not know what awaits her at the enemy's gate.

Elisa is a hero.

She led her people to victory over a terrifying, sorcerous army.  Her place as the country's ruler should be secure.  But it isn't.

Her enemies come at her like ghosts in a dream, from foreign realms and even from within her own court.  And her destiny as the chosen one has not yet been fulfilled.

To conquer the power she bears, once and for all, Elisa must follow a trial of long-forgotten—and forbidden—clues, from the deep, hidden catacombs of her own city to the treacherous seas. With her go a one-eyed spy, a traitor, and the man whom—despite everything—she is falling in love with.

If she's lucky, she will return from this journey.  But there will be a cost.

I haven't been this excited in a long time!

I'm not saying that this one is so much better than the first book, because they're both equally great.  And the first half of this book that had to do with politics and such got a bit tedious even if it was necessary.  And it took a while for the adventure and the story to progress.

But I loved this book so much more that I am officially so hooked it's not even funny!  The first book was good (excellent, even), but it just didn't seem to hit that "OMG! This is awesome stuff!" level.  Don't get me wrong.  I still loved it.  But after finishing this second book, just...  Let the excitement begin!

Of course, this second book wasn't all great.  The beginning was a little haphazard and I found myself wondering when the official story would finally start.  Just a bunch of attempted assassinations and greedy lords trying to get rid of the child queen for their own gain of power and greed.  A bunch of typical court conspiracies and issues--nothing to write home about.

The latter half of the book, however, made up for everything that seemed to drag from the beginning of the book!

With some political court intrigue going on, a blooming angsty romance, old friends and new friends coming around, people vying for her throne, and a war with Invierne on the brink, I love that Elisa doesn't lose her head too much.  Sure, she strikes out on a journey with only God and faith as her back-up, but Elisa comes out of this entire journey with ten-fold development and growth, and so much more kickass than she had been before (and she was pretty kickass to begin with)!  And at the risk of giving away too much about this book, I really just LOVE the new and improved kickass Elisa who comes out of this chaotic mess of a journey!

Did I also mention that I love how Elisa's first priority isn't romance or boys?  I think I mentioned that in my review of the first book.  And food is still mentioned in much detail because it is a VERY important part of life!

Also...  little Prince Rosario!  Hugs all around!

I'm already starting the next book. I want to know where the rest of the story leads.

And yes, this review is kind of short and rough, because, really, the first half of the book DID drag quite a bit, even if it was still enjoyable, so there isn't much to say about it.  While the build-up might have been necessary, I found that I didn't care for it and was hoping to see Elisa and her entourage off on a journey soon.  And when the journey started, I got excited and the rest just rolled on from there.

So yes, I do forgive this book's monotonous beginning because of the ending's appeal.

And now, onto the next book!

I... may or may not return and refine my review a little bit, but more than likely, I'll just put in all of my opinions at the end of the series.

---

This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in August 2014.

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Review: The Girl of Fire and Thorns

The Girl of Fire and Thorns

by Rae Carson
Book 1 of Fire and Thorns

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable.  She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil.  A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her.  Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her.  A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior.  And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before.  Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most.  If the prophecy is fulfilled.  If she finds the power deep within herself.  If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

This book turned out to be highly enjoyable, and a page-turner I hadn't been expecting, but had been hopeful for nonetheless.  Sometimes there's a lot going on that is hard to keep up with, but overall, the adventure, the conflicts, and Elisa's growth is excellent.

It's great to read a YA where romance is not the forefront conflict of our heroine when a war is on the brink--she certainly has her priorities in proper line.  And it was wonderful watching her grow from feeling like a useless, ignorant princess into a real hero who has suffered the consequences of war and death.


Princess Lucera-Elisa is the chosen bearer of the Godstone, something that only happens once a century.  Except, she starts off as a useless second princess who has no interest in politics, government, or war.  Her interest seems to lie in the devout, the library, and minor useless knowledge that has the potential to become useful.

The book starts with Elisa's marriage to King Alejandro of the neighboring kingdom, and the story begins to unfold quite quickly from there.  There is danger to the Godstone bearer, there is war on the horizon, and the chosen is the one everyone believes will save the world.  But how, Elisa has yet to even fathom.

The real adventure starts when Elisa is kidnapped by a group of desperate commoners who hope she is able to bring salvation to their lives against the invading enemy; especially when they are a hill folk living a great distance from their kingdom and the king seems to have chosen to abandon them.


This story incorporates a fairly well-built religious system and world that I'm excited to learn more about.  I'm not a religious person myself, but this book (though not quite a religious one as a story), makes good use of religion as part of the world-building and culture of Joya D'Arena, Orovalle, Invierne... etc.

I love the friendships and the characters Elisa meets and makes along her journey.  However, I also wish there had been some better character interactions between Elisa and her new friends and even her old friends.  Sure, the love and the respect is there, and sometimes you can feel it.  But other times, a lot of the character interaction is kind of bland.

Also, no insta-love, even if Elisa does spend a short amount of time pining after a king who doesn't love her.  Then again, she DID have to marry him, and it would only be reasonable for her to hope that the two of them would eventually learn to love each other.  But I'm still glad that she got over her initial dreamy ideals that Alejandro would care about her romantically--I honestly didn't really care about Alejandro as a person even though you see very little of him in the story.

I even thought that Hector would become the immediate love interest up until Humberto made his appearance.  In a way, I'm kind of glad that the main romance is being stalled for later on after Elisa and Hector have more time to spend in each other's company.  And I'm glad that romance wasn't even really Elisa's main concern.

I'm a little hesitant to accept how quickly she goes from "useless princess" to "leader of a mysterious fighting faction".  Of course, I DO appreciate that, despite the fact that she sees herself as a "useless princess", her knowledge and her thought processes are anything but that of an ignorant, spoiled girl.  She is quick to admit her lack of knowledge, and quick to strike out in obtaining the knowledge she requires to make decisions.  She doesn't presume to know everything, but she also doesn't act like an ignorant fool either.  She also doesn't dilly-dally in making decisions that need immediate action.

I'm not sure how I feel about her physical changes along with her growth and development.  I like that she DOES go through a lot of change during her time away from luxury and in the face of war devastated lands and poverty in harsh environments.  And I guess it would only make sense that she loses a lot of weight during her journey across the desert with nothing but heat and simple rations of broth and LOTS and LOTS of walking.

I was just hoping the physical beauty wouldn't play such a big role in her life, whether or not she's going to be a queen.  And whether or not she's going to be a significant hero.

But I'm going to overlook that as simply a transition in the story and not let it bother me.  After all, she at least didn't become dainty and fragile and anorexic looking.  I'm going to assume she just lost enough weight to be of an average, healthy size.  And I'm going to envy the fact that she managed to keep her big boobs and shapely butt, because I know those are usually the first things to go when women are dieting...

Not that it should be an issue in a YA.  Nuh-uh.

However, I love that she still remains a heroine who loves food A LOT and doesn't care to hide it.  And she is constantly eating and thinking about food.  And she's all:  "Parties and celebrations and fashions and silk gowns?  Don't you people know there's a war coming?  Now pass me that chicken dish and let's get this war council started!"

Surely, a woman after my own heart!

The politics are scarce (not really a complaint) and things seem to fall into place too easily.  There's a lot going on that relies extremely heavily on "destiny" and "God's Will" and such stuff of higher beings, uncontrollable by a mere human.  But I'm glad that there was mention of the fact that it took Elisa's own faith in herself and her willingness to act on her own will rather than sitting around and waiting for "God's Will" to intervene, in order to make things happen.

Overall, still a great read and I'm looking forward to the next book.

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This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in August 2014.

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