Today has been a great day for mail because not only did I get Raw Blue today on Holly’s Book Tour, but I ALSO got about 20 of these:
So adorable. These are from donating books to the Pencil Foundation. Yay! Happiness.
Best mail day
11
Category Archives: book review
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood
There are a lot of YA by Australian authors getting plenty of buzz in book blogging circles lately, and I’ve been eager to read them. Luckily, Holly at The Book Harbinger is hosting a book tour for Six Impossible Things and Raw Blue – two Aussie books that aren’t available in the U.S yet, but are getting rave reviews. I signed up pronto, and got the first slot for Six Impossible Things. 🙂 Thank you Holly for hosting this book tour and letting us read your personal copy of these books. That is what I call generous.
The Premise: I love the one already on the back blurb: “Fourteen year old nerd-boy Dan Ceriell is not quite coping with a reversal of family fortune, moving house, new school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and an impossible crush on the girl next door. His life is a mess, but for now he’s narrowed it down to just six impossible things… ”
My Thoughts: Poor Dan.Things do not begin well for him in this story. Just a few months ago, Dan lived with both his parents in a spacious house in a well-to-do neighborhood and went to a prestigious private school. They had the appearance of a happy, perfect family, but problems were surfacing. Dan’s parents had been fighting more and more, until finally, his father drops “the bombshell – the family business was in the hands of receivers, he had been declared bankrupt, he was gay, and he was moving out.”
Now, it’s just Dan and his mom in a stinky, freezing house left to them by an eccentric great aunt. All their possessions (owned by the business it turns out) have been taken away, and Dan has to go to public school. In the break before Year Nine of school starts, Dan is pretty miserable. He dreads being the new kid and hopes he can reinvent himself into something a little more normal and a little less nerdy than he actually is. And he falls head over heels for the lovely girl next door, Estelle, before he has actually ever officially met her.
When you look at the set up of this story, it has the bones for something quite dismal, but thankfully, it is not. In fact, I fell in love with Dan’s voice, which is of the long suffering teenage boy variety (reminds me of Adrian Mole without actual diary entries). When Dan puts his situation into words, somehow, the humor his take infuses into the story makes things seem less bad and a little more ridiculous. Take his mother’s idea to go into the wedding cake business, for instance. Dan notes, “She’s going to be making wedding cakes. It wouldn’t occur to everyone in the throes of a marriage breakdown, but we do irony in this house in addition to sarcasm.” He is further appalled whenever he walks into the house during his mom’s consults, and overhears his mother encouraging yet another bride-to-be to consider not getting married at all. When his mother plays Radiohead on repeat and extols the virtues of Thom Yorke, it is DEFCON 1 up in the Ceriell household.
So navigating his new life doesn’t start well, and it continues to have its share of disaster, like being zeroed in on by a bully on the first day of school and getting a job to help his mom, only to find out that he won’t be paid. Luckily, it has its triumphs as well, and these ultimately win out over Dan’s bad situation. Dan goes from trying to keep himself unobtrusive to actually making friends, and there are plenty of unique characters and impossible situations that provide fodder for his observations. Dan himself is revealed in his narrative – his nerdy list making (always 6 items long); his insightful musings; his soft spot for Howard (their dog); and his concern for his mother – all endearing traits.
Then there is of course his crush on Estelle. This begins a little uncomfortably for me, because Dan had yet to meet her and he’d already put her on a high pedestal. His thoughts are sweet but border on obsessive:
“It feels as though I’m thinking about Estelle most of the time. As though someone has changed my default setting to ‘Estelle’ without my permission, or she’s become my brain’s screen saver. Desire has merged with a (completely alien) noble feeling of wanting to be able to offer Estelle my absolutely best self. The power of this is undercut by not really knowing what my best self is. But it’s got to be more than the current sum of parts.
All this churning and I haven’t even met her. What’s she going to think about me? Uncool me? Trying-to-hide-the-nerd me?”
All this churning and I haven’t even met her. What’s she going to think about me? Uncool me? Trying-to-hide-the-nerd me?”
I think that part of Dan’s crush is the lonely place he’s in after his dad left, but thankfully as things get better for him, Estelle becomes more human. Dan gets to know her as a person and they form a proper friendship. It’s because of this, not his first crush on her that I ended up rooting for Dan to get the girl he likes so much. The relationship was a nice subplot to to Dan getting his bearings after life was upended.
This ends up being a pretty heartwarming story, with some bits where I felt that Dan got lucky with the help he and his mother got from people around them, but I feel like Dan earned his happiness after what he went through. Dan is very funny, but the story isn’t just funny. It has sweetness makes it hit that surprising place where you are in between laughter and a bit of tears. Laughter wins out.
Overall: I loved this one. I picked it up and could not stop reading because of Dan’s voice. I think I’m just a sucker for a narrator that has both a sense of humor and plenty of vulnerability. That perfect mix is hard to find, and while Six Impossible Things is something that’s aimed at the YA and younger audience and has a simple premise, it also has a complexity to it that makes it feel more substantial than it’s 240-ish pages, and more universally appealing. Pick it up if you are looking for a feel good read with comedic appeal.
Buy: FishpondWorld (free shipping!)
Other Reviews:
The Book Harbinger – positive
Chachic’s Book Nook Review – positve
Inkcrush Review – 5 stars
BBAW Interview Swap with My Ever Expanding Library
Today is the second day of Book Blogger Appreciation week, and I was lucky to be paired with Jackie of My Ever Expanding Library to do an interview swap. I hadn’t been to her blog before but when I headed over, I was impressed. Looks like we have some overlap in tastes and reading preferences, and I’d recommend you check out her blog.
1. Tell us about yourself and your blog.
Hi, I’m Jackie from My Ever Expanding Library. I’m a single mom of a wonderful 9 year old girl. We live in Bowmanville, Ontario which is about 40 minutes east of Toronto. I started blogging just over two years ago for a couple of reasons. First, I had won a book on Goodreads.com that mentioned a review of the book being greatly appreciated, so I needed a place to put said review. And, second, I had this to-do list of things I hadn’t tried, like MMORPG’s, and blogging. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and, well, here I am, still blogging 🙂 I’m also part of the team at Bookloversinc.com. I picked my blog name because I don’t really get rid of books. The growth is now exponential….to a scary degree.
For the day to day operations at my blog, I teeter between pro-meme and con, sometimes feeling like I’m selling my soul to get followers, sometimes striving to find my unique voice in the blogging world. I chose Blogger way back in the beginning because I had heard of it, plain and simple. In retrospect, in appears WordPress has the better reputation, but I’m unwilling to make the switch just yet. My weeks are up and down with my blog, depending on how much reading I’ve completed or if I’m working on an online course, etc. I’m inconsistent with posting and feel that’s an area I need to address in the future.
2. Tell me something in a story that you’re sucker for. What do you just plain love and look for in a story?
I never really sought out this element, but the more I read satirical books, the more I do source them out now. I’m working on the complete collection of Christopher Moore’s books at the moment. I’ve also enjoyed Molly Harper’s Nice Girls series, Victor Gischler, and… that’s all I can think of right now. I am looking forward to finally reading Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker trilogy, Douglas Coupland, and hopefully more funny writers’ names will cross my path. I love the intellectual quality of these writers. It’s my theory that you have to know an awful lot of stuff to be able to make fun of it effectively.
3. We’ve taken a look at each other’s blogs, and I think there’s overlap in taste. And I love book recommendations! What are three books you’d recommend I read, and why?
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay – I am a huge fan of GGK and, as such feel, that everyone should read his books. They are nothing short of epic (I say that a lot)! Under Heaven tells a tale of a man in a time and place akin to 7th century China. He has taken on the task of trying to quiet the ghosts of a past war, then all hell breaks loose. Kay writes stories that have so many elements at play that you really get invested in the writing. It’s devastating when they end.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore – I tell everyone to read this book. I’m not the most religious person but I know enough to understand all the chaos that Biff creates for the Son of God in LAMB. Mr. Moore writes in his notes that even people more devote (than myself) have read and loved this story. For me, it made me laugh till I cried, from beginning to end.
First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones – This was a debut novel, full of humour and interesting characters. I listened to it on audio, and really liked the telling of it in that format. This novel has a different take on what a “grim reaper” actually does. There were a few mysteries going on, some human interest, as well as some potential romance.
4. Give us four random facts about yourself
- I am a diesel emission tester.
- I was once asked to fit a man for a bra (no judgement here, but I didn’t feel comfortable being the one to do it.)
- I’m a 2nd year university student trying to work off the academic warning I received 20 years ago :-p
- I live in an 840 sq. foot, 2 bedroom condo and have 6 bookshelves in my small space (and I need lots more…)
5. What are your go-to blogs that you visit most frequently to get inspiration for future reads?
The blogs I visit for inspiration vary depending on the type of book I’m looking for. My YA source is my best friend, Mel at He Followed Me Home; she tells me all the great YA reads, for sure. When I need romance, I ask Caroline at Book Lovers Inc. (and The Secret HEA Society.) For Urban Fantasy, I ask Melissa at My World…in words and pages. Audiobooks are a relatively new thing for me, but I find great recommendations from Caroline (again) and Sheila at Book Journey. Goodreads and my Google Reader have also added more titles to my TBR than I care to admit.
Blood Rights by Kristen Painter (w/ Giveaway)
I met the author and got a signed ARC copy of Blood Rights at BEA. Thanks to Orbit, I have a couple extra ARCs that I will also be giving away at the end of this post.
The Premise: Chrysabelle is a comarré, which is “the vampire equivalent of a geisha”, bred for their blood and social skills. When the vampire she serves is found murdered, she flees, hoping to make a break from her life in a gilded cage. Ambitious vampiress Tatiana searches for her, both because Chrysabelle is the prime suspect for the murder of her master, and because of a special ring Tatiana wants and suspects Chrysabelle has. Chrysabelle seeks her aunt ‘s help in the Americas, specifically, Paradise City, New Florida, and runs into Mal – an outcast vampire (anathema) suffering from two devastating curses.
My Thoughts: Blood Rights is an urban fantasy where its vampires have a decidedly Gothic Horror air about them. They are a combination of dark and angsty, aristocratic and arrogant, monstrous, and insane. Sometimes they are all of these. They can’t go out in the sun or touch crosses. Their vampire nobility prefer to stay in eastern Europe (Romania is home), and they are enemy to the shapeshifters (called the varcolai). These are common vampire traits but this story adds its own details to the standard vampire culture. There are rules (some enforced magically), and a caste system based on ‘parentage’.
While vampires and other supernatural creatures are hidden from most humans, there is a race of humans bred just for them: the commarré. For centuries they have served their masters and have been prized for their blood. The comar/comarré relationship with their vampire masters has evolved into a symbiotic one, where while the vampires feed, the bloodletting relieves the commaré of extra blood their bodies produce, and vampire saliva lengthens their lives.
The vampires consider the commaré nothing more than their subordinates (albeit expensive ones), but the comarré are so much more than pretty faces with big veins, and Chrysabelle is one of their best. The story begins with her escape after her master’s death, a move she makes to stay alive and to figure out what is going on. She has the ring, but isn’t the murderer. So she goes to her aunt the only other commaré she knows that is not living with the vampires. In the process of all this, she runs into Mal, who recognizes what she is, even with her pains to hide the golden tattoos that mark her for what she is. She stabs him and leaves him for dead.
So it’s not a great beginning, but Mal and Chrysabelle are thrown together again, and despite the animosity, both feel an uncomfortable attraction – she’s made to give blood, and her blood is more compelling than the average human’s to a vampire. It only gets more complicated from there. One of Mal’s curses is that once he starts drinking someone’s blood, he will not stop until he kills them. The other curse is that once he kills someone, they haunt him. He’s followed by the ghosts of the hundreds of people he has killed, both as a vampire, and as a human. The clearest ghost is Fi – a graduate student who was unlucky enough to discover Mal locked up in a dungeon, left to rot. She’s in love with a varcolai, suffering under his own curse. Fi and Mal and Doc (the varcolai) live together on a container ship, and while Fi and Doc consider Mal one of the good guys, they never forget that he killed Fi.
I found the world building well thought out, and I also liked the attention to detail that went into the characters’ histories. Every character has a past that informs on their present and on their relationship with other characters. Even the past of bad guy Tatiana sort of explains how she became as crazy as she is, so she isn’t entirely one-dimensional (although she does seem to have just one note: evil).
Amongst the backstories, history and world building that this book introduces, there are a lot of arcs that kept me curious about the direction of the series: what the ring means, what Mal and his past mean, the hidden agenda of the commaré, and what Tatiana’s allies are really working towards. These are enough to make me to want the second book, but what really whets my appetite is the attraction between Chysabelle and Mal. Their lust for one another is mixed up with their instincts to feed and be fed upon, and I’m not sure what is going to happen. With Urban Fantasy there’s never a guarantee for a HEA, but I’m hoping that what I’m seeing here is a slow burn romance (a bit more physical than your usual slow burn, but it works within the context). There are three books of this series out this year , but there is a contract for more. A lot could happen with that much room to work with, but I’m cautiously optimistic.
Overall: Compelling. This is an urban fantasy with a Gothic Horror vibe and a dash of Paranormal romance, and I felt like there’s this sense of dark drama that sets it apart from the genre. I like that the story is set on the cusp of potential chaos (the world discovering that vampires and others do exist), and that the protagonists are a human and a vampire. Their relationship (attracted yet avoidant) intrigues me. I want to see where it goes.
Blood Rights is out October 1st. Flesh and Blood, it’s sequel, is out November, and book 3, Bad Blood is expected in December.
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository
Other reviews:
Karissa’s Reading Review – positive
Giveaway!
I have TWO extra ARC copies of this book that I can give away. To win one, just fill this form with your name and email.
—-> Enter here <—–
* One entry per person
* This giveaway is international
* Giveaway ends September 19th, 2011, midnight EST
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
There has been much love in the book blogosphere for Laini Taylor’s Lips Touch,Three Times and I’ve been chomping at the bit to read her writing. Because of this, I made sure I grabbed a copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bonewhen I saw it at BEA this summer. It was one of my Must Haves based on reputation alone. This is a review of an ARC copy.
The Premise: Karou seems like your typical art student. She’s a pretty girl with bright blue hair and a vivid imagination. Every day she shows the other students at the Art Lyceum of Bohemia her sketches of extraordinary characters – Brimstone with his ram’s horns and strange shop where he sells wishes for teeth, Issa, a snake goddess who mans the door, and others with similar part-human, part-animal shapes. To the other students it looks like Karou has a colorful inner world, full of fantastical stories, but the truth is that Karou draws from real life. She was raised by the creatures in her sketches, and when she’s not going to class or working on her art in a small studio apartment in Prague, Karou has a secondary life steeped in magic and a job fetching teeth for Brimstone’s shop. Karou doesn’t really know who she is and why she was raised by Brimstone, but she is content, if not a little lonely. Then one day, handprints are found, burned onto doors around the world. At the same time, sightings of angels begin. Karou’s life is changed forever when she meets one of these winged beings and discovers the truth.
Read an excerpt of Daughter of Smoke and Bone here
My Thoughts: The first thing to hit me about Daughter of Smoke and Bone was its setting. It is so refreshing to have a story that’s NOT set in the usual places, and Prague is described wonderfully. I’ve never been there, but I want to see its old streets that are “a fantasia scarcely touched by the twenty-first century […] it’s medieval cobbles once trod by golems, mystics, invading armies”. Adding to its character are Karou’s beautiful school, housed in a castle with a macabre history, her acquaintances with street performers that dress up as vampires, and her local hang out, a cafe on church grounds known for its goulash and roman statues. I hugely enjoyed reading about Karou’s charming day to day life as an art student and Prague local. There’s the drama of dealing with her weasel ex-boyfriend, Kaz, the busyness of art classes, and a friendship with the understanding Zuzana, who does not ask questions. Even if Karou wishes she could trust someone with her secrets, her life is pretty full, but her association with a place she calls Elsewhere takes it one step further.
One of the first indications that Karou is privy to a magical world beyond our own is her necklace of skuppies – tiny little wishes in physical form; they provide revenge when Karou needs it most. I loved this idea of tokens that may be used once to make a wish come true, and that there are denominations of them, from little scuppies, to shings, to lucknows, gavriels, and bruxes. The enigmatic Brimstone, a chimaera with the head of a ram makes them in his shop, but how he does so or why, or even why he needs teeth of all kinds is a mystery, as are a lot of things about Elsewhere. Karou may have been raised by Brimstone and the other chimaera of his strange shop, but she was kept in the dark about a lot of things. All Karou knows is that she grew up within the shops walls, that she is never allowed in the back room, and that its front door opens to doors all over the world (a possible homage to Howl’s Moving Castle).
And then the angels show up. I shouldn’t have been surprised, (the back blurb of my ARC talks about “winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky”), but I was. The details to go by from the cover and the summary were sparse enough that I didn’t really have expectations, so it was a surprise when the seraphim Akiva, a inhumanly gorgeous creature who is tormented by his past, discovers Karou. I’m not usually a fan of angels in fiction, particularly in YA. I don’t know why I have this prejudice against them, except maybe I start thinking I’m going to see a romance with the angel falling for a teen, and that is usually hard for me to swallow. I expect angels to have more important things to do. Thankfully, Akiva and the other angels of Daughter of Smoke and Bone are not angels we know. They are something very different, but the story cleverly makes what they are, and the demons that they fight against, just familiar enough to look like they are the genesis for what humans believe. I can’t tell you much more, but they are certainly not divine.
The strengths of this story are in its worldbuilding and the writing style. The writing is a unique mix of beautiful imagery and youthfulness. Maybe it’s the fresh dialogue between Karou and others that makes me think of this sense of the modern and young in the writing. There’s also something really romantic about it too. Unfortunately, the high level of romanticism in the story was a stumbling block for me in connecting to the actual romance. Karou’s love story felt rushed and melodramatic, and her youth and yearning for love did not help me feel better about it. On the other hand, there is a second romance that isn’t as rushed that I was able to connect to a lot better. This restored my faith, but I’m not sure it completely fixed the problems I had with the first romance.
Overall: This is a very well written, fantastical story about war and hope, and love and redemption, set in a beautiful European city and in a place that is Elsewhere. It centers around a teenage girl and her unique place in the world, and a seraphim who may or may not be her enemy. It is very romantic, but at times, the sheer romanticism of this story kept me from fully loving it. In the end I liked it, but not being able to initially connect to the romance kept me from really loving this one as much as I wanted to.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone comes out September 27th in the U.S.
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository
Other reviews:
Tempting Persephone – positive
Book Harbinger – positive
Fantasy Book Cafe – positive
Book trailer (two parter!):
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
I’ve come to the conclusion that Paranormal Romance doesn’t tend to work for me the way Urban Fantasy does, but I saw sooo many rave reviews for Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison, that I couldn’t resist giving it a try.
The Premise: Pia Giovanni has spent her whole life keeping a low profile and never letting anyone know what she is and what her special gifts are. Then one slip in front of a low-down loser of a boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend), and Pia is in trouble. Very big trouble. Her ex has blackmailed her to steal something from the hoard of Dragos Cuelebre, the most powerful wyr in the northeast, and now Pia’s days are numbered. If Dragos doesn’t find her and kill her, then the shadowy powers manipulating her ex-boyfriend will. Either way, she’s toast. In the meantime, Dragos, a wyr-dragon older than rocks, can’t believe that someone has breached his impregnable security, gotten to his Hoard and stolen… a penny.
Read excerpts of this book here (these are in chronological order): Excerpt 1 | Excerpt 2 | Excerpt 3
My Thoughts: Dragon Bound had a great beginning. Pia is scrambling after her recent theft – working out how to get herself out of town as soon as possible and how to stop her ex from giving up more of her secrets and from trying to blackmail her again. Despite the big mistake of falling for such a lowlife guy in the first place, her quick-witted actions in these first few pages endeared me to her. I soon found myself thinking that maybe she would get out of the fix she found herself in, but the man/dragon she’s stolen the penny from is extremely powerful. Dragos Cuelebre is actually the ruler of the northeastern demesne – one inhabited by wyrs (other demesnes include a southern one ruled by the light fae, a central U.S. one ruled by the dark fae, and another ruled over by a powerful vampiress). The intensity of the catch-me-if-you-can introduction to Pia’s world (one where the supernatural are out in the open) also had a gritty, urban fantasy feel to it. A very good beginning.
Another positive was the humor. Although Pia basically did a bad thing (stealing), it wasn’t something she wanted to do. So her solution was to leave a replacement penny and a hastily written apology in its place. Dragos’ reaction to this was priceless. This was a favorite part of the book for me, but there were a lot of funny moments peppered throughout the story that kept it light.
Once Dragos does track down Pia (which happened much sooner than I was hoping), the story begins to take on more characteristics of paranormal romance. Dragos is a creature so ancient that he remembers the birth of the world, and so he’s a pretty traditional alpha male. I am not really a fan of the chestbanging and “mines” involved with alpha males, but I think in Dragon Bound, it is at least explained by Dragos not being quite modern, and it is part of the humor that sometimes dealing with being with Pia baffles him. So his being alpha wasn’t a as much an issue for me as it has be in other books because it works well within the story. His being eons old was also surprisingly not an issue either. I think this was also how it was presented – his development into a rational being took a really long time, and I could believe that he’s at the same emotional age as Pia because it took him longer to get there. I also liked how his being a dragon, his hoard, and the idea of mating are seamlessly interwoven into the story. Dragon Bound has these tropes but thoughtfully introduces them to the story in a way that didn’t feel cliched.
But there was an aspect of Paranormal Romance that didn’t work for me as well in this book, and that’s the physical relationship. I am a slow burn girl and this was more of a firecracker book on the heat level scale. When Pia and he are together, the sexual tension is there in spades. I think it’s just a matter of preference here and for me, I had trouble whenever their physical attraction came at inopportune moments – like while Pia is still terrified that he is going to kill her or while the hero and heroine are being chased by the bad guys. The sex scenes themselves are also unreal (yes, they aren’t quite human, but the multiple orgasms and inhuman recovery time pushed it).
It looks like this is a series with different couples highlighted in each book, so of course the romance must fit into one book, but it pressed my buttons that relationship was on hyperdrive. There’s sex, living together and more within the span of what feels like a week. Similarly it felt like Pia won the hearts of Drago’s men within days. It was a case of a heroine’s moxie triumphing over distrust. Once Pia turned into the unique special creature that was her wyr side, and then she gets a very special vision, the story started to get a little too much. I think as pure entertainment, this is totally fine, but I think I wanted something more messy, less pat. The thing is, I have read some really rave reviews, and I can see what people love about this book, and I agree it’s one of the better PRs I’ve read, but I can’t seem to brush off what irks me about this story to love it as much as others do.
Dragos has a trusted company of alpha male wyrs and alliances with other powerful Elder Races (vampires, fae), which means there is plenty to explore in this world and plenty of characters who could have their own story. Book 2, Storm’s Heart came out August 2nd, and the third book, Serpent’s Kiss will be out October 4th (U.S. dates).
Overall: The story was well written, there’s a good dash of humor, and an interesting Supernatural Coexisting with the Mundane world, but on the other hand, there were things that didn’t work for me, including an emphasis on the physical relationship, too-fast-for-me timeline, and overly pat elements. In the end, the scales leveled out. I walked away not really wowed by it the way I was hoping to be, but I was entertained. It will probably work for those who love paranormal romance, love a great alpha male, and are happy with high levels of steam.
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository
Other reviews:
Tempting Persephone – positive
Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell – Ok
The Good, The Bad, and the Unread – A
The Book Pushers (joint review) – A and A
One Good Book Deserves Another – 5 stars (out of 5)
Mystifying Paranormal Reviews – 4 stars (out of 5)
Babbling About Books, And More – A-
Lurv a la Mode – 5 scoops (out of 5)
The Premise: Pia Giovanni has spent her whole life keeping a low profile and never letting anyone know what she is and what her special gifts are. Then one slip in front of a low-down loser of a boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend), and Pia is in trouble. Very big trouble. Her ex has blackmailed her to steal something from the hoard of Dragos Cuelebre, the most powerful wyr in the northeast, and now Pia’s days are numbered. If Dragos doesn’t find her and kill her, then the shadowy powers manipulating her ex-boyfriend will. Either way, she’s toast. In the meantime, Dragos, a wyr-dragon older than rocks, can’t believe that someone has breached his impregnable security, gotten to his Hoard and stolen… a penny.
Read excerpts of this book here (these are in chronological order): Excerpt 1 | Excerpt 2 | Excerpt 3
My Thoughts: Dragon Bound had a great beginning. Pia is scrambling after her recent theft – working out how to get herself out of town as soon as possible and how to stop her ex from giving up more of her secrets and from trying to blackmail her again. Despite the big mistake of falling for such a lowlife guy in the first place, her quick-witted actions in these first few pages endeared me to her. I soon found myself thinking that maybe she would get out of the fix she found herself in, but the man/dragon she’s stolen the penny from is extremely powerful. Dragos Cuelebre is actually the ruler of the northeastern demesne – one inhabited by wyrs (other demesnes include a southern one ruled by the light fae, a central U.S. one ruled by the dark fae, and another ruled over by a powerful vampiress). The intensity of the catch-me-if-you-can introduction to Pia’s world (one where the supernatural are out in the open) also had a gritty, urban fantasy feel to it. A very good beginning.
Another positive was the humor. Although Pia basically did a bad thing (stealing), it wasn’t something she wanted to do. So her solution was to leave a replacement penny and a hastily written apology in its place. Dragos’ reaction to this was priceless. This was a favorite part of the book for me, but there were a lot of funny moments peppered throughout the story that kept it light.
Once Dragos does track down Pia (which happened much sooner than I was hoping), the story begins to take on more characteristics of paranormal romance. Dragos is a creature so ancient that he remembers the birth of the world, and so he’s a pretty traditional alpha male. I am not really a fan of the chestbanging and “mines” involved with alpha males, but I think in Dragon Bound, it is at least explained by Dragos not being quite modern, and it is part of the humor that sometimes dealing with being with Pia baffles him. So his being alpha wasn’t a as much an issue for me as it has be in other books because it works well within the story. His being eons old was also surprisingly not an issue either. I think this was also how it was presented – his development into a rational being took a really long time, and I could believe that he’s at the same emotional age as Pia because it took him longer to get there. I also liked how his being a dragon, his hoard, and the idea of mating are seamlessly interwoven into the story. Dragon Bound has these tropes but thoughtfully introduces them to the story in a way that didn’t feel cliched.
But there was an aspect of Paranormal Romance that didn’t work for me as well in this book, and that’s the physical relationship. I am a slow burn girl and this was more of a firecracker book on the heat level scale. When Pia and he are together, the sexual tension is there in spades. I think it’s just a matter of preference here and for me, I had trouble whenever their physical attraction came at inopportune moments – like while Pia is still terrified that he is going to kill her or while the hero and heroine are being chased by the bad guys. The sex scenes themselves are also unreal (yes, they aren’t quite human, but the multiple orgasms and inhuman recovery time pushed it).
It looks like this is a series with different couples highlighted in each book, so of course the romance must fit into one book, but it pressed my buttons that relationship was on hyperdrive. There’s sex, living together and more within the span of what feels like a week. Similarly it felt like Pia won the hearts of Drago’s men within days. It was a case of a heroine’s moxie triumphing over distrust. Once Pia turned into the unique special creature that was her wyr side, and then she gets a very special vision, the story started to get a little too much. I think as pure entertainment, this is totally fine, but I think I wanted something more messy, less pat. The thing is, I have read some really rave reviews, and I can see what people love about this book, and I agree it’s one of the better PRs I’ve read, but I can’t seem to brush off what irks me about this story to love it as much as others do.
Dragos has a trusted company of alpha male wyrs and alliances with other powerful Elder Races (vampires, fae), which means there is plenty to explore in this world and plenty of characters who could have their own story. Book 2, Storm’s Heart came out August 2nd, and the third book, Serpent’s Kiss will be out October 4th (U.S. dates).
Overall: The story was well written, there’s a good dash of humor, and an interesting Supernatural Coexisting with the Mundane world, but on the other hand, there were things that didn’t work for me, including an emphasis on the physical relationship, too-fast-for-me timeline, and overly pat elements. In the end, the scales leveled out. I walked away not really wowed by it the way I was hoping to be, but I was entertained. It will probably work for those who love paranormal romance, love a great alpha male, and are happy with high levels of steam.
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository
Other reviews:
Tempting Persephone – positive
Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell – Ok
The Good, The Bad, and the Unread – A
The Book Pushers (joint review) – A and A
One Good Book Deserves Another – 5 stars (out of 5)
Mystifying Paranormal Reviews – 4 stars (out of 5)
Babbling About Books, And More – A-
Lurv a la Mode – 5 scoops (out of 5)
Wild & Steamy (anthology) by Meljean Brook, Jill Myles, and Carolyn Crane
There was about a week where this self-published anthology by a few well-known authors in romance and UF was 99 cents, and this week happened to coincide with my being on a plane for 6 hours as I traveled west across the U.S. So to my trusty nook it was downloaded. Wild & Steamy is now priced at the still reasonable $2.99. Currently it is only available as an ebook.
Meljean Brook has excerpts of all three short stories up on her website here.
Two of the three short stories/novellas were stories set in existing worlds. Carolyn Crane’s “Kitten-tiger and the Monk” is set in the same world as The Disillusionists Trilogy, and Meljean Brook’s story, “Blushing Bounder” is set in the world of The Iron Seas series. I couldn’t tell whether or not the third story, “Vixen”, by Jill Myles is similarly set in the same world as a series or not (the writing didn’t make me think it was), but research online reveals that it is part of the Midnight Liaisons world.
Blushing Bounder by Meljean Brook: Constable Edward Newton and his wife Temperance are recent newlyweds living in London. Theirs is a strained marriage, as Temperance once thought her husband was an honorable man, until he compromised her reputation and made a marriage to him and a move from New Manhattan to “bug”-infested London her only choice. Temperance is appalled at the amount of Horde devices she sees in this new city, and is terrified of the tiny machines that practically everyone has injected into their systems.
This was a mostly sweet story about two people who have to work through misunderstandings in order to be together, with a bit of police procedural thrown in. I haven’t read any of the books in The Iron Seas series yet, but I understand that Constable Newton is a secondary character, and his detective, Detective Inspector Wentworth, is probably a main character in The Iron Seas series. She has a cameo, and I was able to understand the steampunky industrial London setting and it’s concepts pretty easily. What I had trouble understanding was minor: I didn’t understand the inspector’s reputation in London (it is not a flattering one), and I had trouble pinpointing Temperance’s age (her sickness and heightened sense of propriety made her seem older to me, until I read about her backstory and revised my estimate).
Overall: Really liked the world, and found the hero/heroine likable and their story quite sweet. A nice little read.
****
Vixen by Jill Myles: Miko is a were-fox (or kitsune) living alone in the back woods. Because of her heritage, she is “prone to polygamous relationships” but Miko isn’t satisfied with being being outside of a steady relationship. She knows too well the loneliness that life can cause – her mother being a prime example. So when local hunters start a fox-hunting club, and Miko’s mom sends over two shapeshifter bodyguards to protect her, she isn’t happy at the disruption to her quiet existence at first, but her were-fox nature is interested in selecting a mate. Or two.
This was the most sex-y story in the anthology, where the the problem of the fox hunters felt like a vehicle to introduce the menage rather than the focus of the plot. If you like steamy stories, particularly ones with a menage, this one will work. Threesomes are not my thing so for that reason I found this the least enjoyable of the stories. This also had the greatest “paranormal romance” feel of the three, with the familiar concepts of a mating urge, protective males, and shapeshifters coming to play.
Overall: Didn’t really like this one, but I’m not a fan of threesomes, so it was a personal taste issue.
****
Kitten-tiger and the Monk by Carolyn Crane: Sophia Sidway, a woman with the power to revise memories, is tired of regretting the things she has done. She wants to start anew – “to be stopped – once and for all”, and the one person who can do that is the Monk, a shadowy disillusionist who can “reboot” criminals. Sophia has been told that only The Tanglemaster knows where the Monk lives, but when she visits The Tanglemaster, Sophia is confronted by her first love, a man she betrayed years ago and has regretted it ever since.
This story was probably my biggest reason for buying this ebook in the first place. I am a BIG fan of The Disillusionists Trilogy (cannot WAIT for the third book), and this story provides some back story on two secondary characters. Sophia is actually a character I’ve disliked in the series so far (the first two books), so it was a surprise to be shown a more vulnerable side. This story is very character driven, in a good way. I enjoyed learning about Sophia’s past and I think it was presented in a way that you don’t need to have read the series to understand what was going on. The only issue I had was that the sex in this story seemed extraneous, but that is a minor complaint.
I’m not sure how story fit in with the rest of the trilogy. It may or may not be required reading if it informs upon the general plot of the series.
Overall: This was my favorite of the three. The character development in the short space was very well done. A must-read for fans of The Disillusionists Trilogy.
My impression of the whole anthology would be that these stories were entertaining and the price was reasonable. Worth it if you are a fan of any of these authors.
Buy: Amazon | Nook | Smashwords | All Romance Ebooks
Other reviews:
Smexy Books – B
Fiction Vixen – B
Smart Bitches Trashy Books – A
Book Girl of Mur-y-castell – positive
Let’s Get Lost by Sarra Manning
I loved Sarra Manning’s adult offerings quite a bit, but I had not (until now) tried her young adult books, which I’ve also heard good things about. I bought many of her backlist in a glom-fest a couple months ago and grabbed Let’s Get Lost for a plane ride from NY to AZ.
The Premise: Isabel is a troubled kid. She’s the Queen of the Mean Girls at her all-girl school, and there seems to be no particular reason for her reign of terror. No one can reach her, even after her mother’s recent death. Girls expecting a softer Isabel at school at the start of her last year are disappointed by an Isabel that is just as cold as ever. That is how it looks on the outside. Internally, Isabel feels stuck. She decided to be mean in high school because she was bullied and insignificant in middle school, but now she can’t afford to relax her facade. Her crew aren’t really her friends and are constantly waiting for a slip. That’s when a chance encounter with college-aged Smith comes in. He doesn’t have expectations of what Isabel is like, and when she’s with him, she can be herself. That is, except for the fact that Smith doesn’t know Isabel is still just 17 and still in high school.
Read an excerpt of Let’s Get Lost here
My Thoughts: Of the three Manning books I’ve read so far (Unsticky, and You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me are the other two), Isabel is the most difficult character to like as a reader. The girl is no angel. We see Isabel at school, keeping her cohorts and other students in line with well placed verbal bombs, guaranteed to make the recipient squirm, and at home she bulldozes and back talks her frustrated father. Whenever she can, Isabel is out at clubs, stealing drinks off tables to get drunk, and pretends to be older than she actually is. Flanking her are three girls who she doesn’t like, who don’t like her, and who are just sticking around for the power and protection of their alpha girl group. I think that if you can’t forgive Isabel for her many mistakes and nastiness, this story will be a difficult one to enjoy, but with Isabel as the narrator, at least we get an explanation for her actions, and we know that she doesn’t particularly like herself or what she’s doing. For me, it was a case of understanding why she acted the way she did, but not condoning it.
Smith on the other hand, is a much more sociable character. An easy-going guy with lots of friends, he accepts people as they are, including Isabel. The pull of this story for me was seeing the effect that being with Smith had on Isabel. For Isabel, being with him is like being on vacation as a normal teenager, not a girl constantly on guard. That side of her made me hope that somehow she could find a way out of her rut as Let’s Get Lost progressed. It was clear that Smith was a catalyst on Isabel’s life, but I wasn’t sure if he’d be a source of strength, or a point of weakness. On one hand Smith is a relief from the constant scrutiny Isabel deals with from school and her dad, but on the other, I wondered at the consequences of her lies, both to Smith and to everyone else about Smith. I wanted Isabel escape the hole she’d dug for herself. Throughout her narrative, you can feel Isabel’s underlying sadness. It’s like she has a dreamworld where Smith belongs that she’d also like to be, but she doesn’t believe she can attain it.
“My whole life had split into two: Smith and not Smith. I liked the Smith parts of it so much better. Already I was calculating how much of the weekend we had left and greedily clutching every hour to me as if it was precious. Was this what it was meant to feel like when you were really into someone? Was this what it felt like if you were in love?
As soon as I thought it, I knew that it was true. I kinda loved him. Or, like, I was in love with him. Either state of being was just too freaky to contemplate. The dripping toothbrush stilled in midair as I tried to pull myself together. I was a heartless, ungrateful wench of a girl who promised everyone who came into contact with me a one-way ticket to pain and hurt. I didn’t know how to love and I didn’t deserve to be loved back.”
If you’re wondering where Isabel’s parents are in this picture, her mom died pretty recently, and her father, (coincidentally a professor at the university Smith attends), is still devastated by the loss. Unresolved issues about her mother’s death hang in the air between them, and Isabel’s father ping-pongs between not being quite there, and being positively draconian. I really liked the complexity and imperfections of their relationship, and I liked that they share a prickly outside and high intelligence, which only leads to their butting-heads even more. This was refreshingly true-to-life. Also refreshing: that this was a Young Adult story that deals with the consequences of someone’s actions in a realistic way. There is no convenient lack of parents or neat resolution that absolves the teenaged protagonist of their sins. Isabel has to bear the reactions of others for what she’s done. And her mother’s death is an event that has it’s own consequences which Isabel has to deal with too.
Overall: This was another good one but you have to work a little bit for it. The narrator does some unlikeable things, and that along with the high wall she’s built around herself makes her difficult to empathize with at the beginning, but as the book went on, it became easier to understand Isabel and what is beneath her mean girl veneer. It is well worth it to be patient and see where Isabel’s path leads, but if you can’t bring yourself to forgive her her misdeeds, this book will be more difficult to enjoy. I found an unhappy girl who wants a different life under there, and the story doesn’t let her off easy – her actions have consequences that she must face. If you want a great story that deals with redemption, loss, first love, and teenage rebellion, Let’s Get Lost has it all. After reading it I have this sense of having returned from being in someone else’s headspace with a little bit more insight than I had before.
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository
Other reviews:
About Happy Books – positive
The Dating Detox by Gemma Burgess
The Dating Detox was an impulse buy on Bookcloseouts (OK self, get real, what’s not an impulse buy from you at that website?). I’ve really enjoyed the British chick lit/ contemporary romances I’ve read this year, and I want to read more. This looked like a good candidate, and a quick search said that my go-to-girl on this topic, (Sabrina of About Happy Books), liked it, so in the cart it went!
The Premise: Sass is a twenty-something girl, living in London and struggling with her love life. After getting dumped six times in a row, the latest the most humiliating (walking in on her boyfriend Rick and some other woman going at it at a Halloween party), she decides that she’s not going to date at all – why go through all the trouble, only to be severely disappointed in the end? The solution is to cut herself off dating for a little while. Go on a sabbatical, if you will. Sass and her friend draw up some rules to live by (“3. Obvious flirting is not allowed”) that Sass decides to follow for three months. Suddenly her life is looking up. Men are interested. Work is going great. Sass is more confident and happy than she has been in a long time. Three months begins to look too short. Maybe she should extend the Sabbatical to six months. Or indefinitely. The problem is, Sass keeps running into A New Guy, who seems like a great guy. Is he too good to be true and not worth breaking the sabbatical over, or is Sass cutting herself off from a good thing?
My Thoughts: This is a story narrated by Sass herself, and she has a very casual voice that is fun and full of the pop culture references you’d expect of someone who grew up in the eighties and nineties. Sass is also a girl who doesn’t lack for friends. She has a tightknit relationship with her girlfriends Bloomie and Kate (calling and emailing them to keep in touch throughout the work day), and then there’s a gaggle of other friends that she’s known since university, and satellite friends-of-friends that she sees at parties and nights on the town. For someone as social as Sass is, she is a girl surprisingly loathe to rock the boat. As a result, while she has a great relationship with her friends, when it comes to work and love, Sass has let others take the reins. This has led to disastrous relationships, a bully at work, and a salary that forces her to be extremely strict with her finances.
The premise of a dating sabbatical is very simple, but Sass’ active life provides plenty of meat. She’s someone who more social than anyone I personally know, but it’s fun to read about someone who goes out and sees her friends a lot. And there are plenty of amusing anecdotes, from the disasters that were her past six relationships, to the mental adjustment Sass has to go through to keep herself from going back to old habits. I found Sass to be a regular kind of girl – one who is a little creative (every morning she dresses in an outfit, which she names), a little dorky (she likes to get a little silly with her humor sometimes), and one who goes out A LOT (doesn’t she get tired?), but otherwise, she has a good head on her shoulders. I liked her. When the sabbatical gives her the excuse to say no and stay firm to her convictions, I cheered at the positive effect it had on her life, from learning how to be firm while still being polite, to getting to know the men she meets before becoming involved with them.
So when new men entered the story, knowing that Sass is on a dating sabbatical was kind of delicious. I knew that I would get a romance that was a slower moving one. The new contenders could make her laugh or seemed nice, but with Sass’s new rules, she actually gets to know the guys before moving forward. She meets a few of the same men over again on different occasions and It was nice that by the time Sass was ready, her choice was clear, not because the only man standing, but because he is the best fit for her. And because Sass had her rules and had to abide by them, the romance was about an emotional connection, and is pretty cute. I adored the banter involved in this story with the guy she ends up with. Particularly adorable was a shared sense of humor, to the point where they were the only two laughing at their own jokes, while everyone else stared at them.
The only thing I would warn readers about ( I personally liked it but I could see others finding it draggy), is that the narrative goes into a lot of detail about things like Sass’s clothes and blow-by-blow accounts of the parties and nights out Sass enjoys. There is one section where a weekend party probably takes about 100 pages of the book. I LOVED that through dialogue and significant looks, I learned a lot about Sass’s friends and their relationships with each other. I’d say there was something like 15 people to keep track of at this party, and the book manages to make their personalities and general reputation within the group very clear. There are secondary and tertiary (and quaternary, quinary, senary?) relationships as Sass’s friends fall in and out of love around her, and the weekend party is a turning point in a lot of these. It was refreshing that it wasn’t all about Sass. And I laughed a lot.
Overall: This was a British chick lit that falls on the fun side of things, but at the same time is a dense story with plenty of characters. Sass’s social lifestyle is pretty removed from mine, but I loved the glimpse I got. It was a nice change to laugh at (and with) Sass and her friends: a mostly single group unfettered by life’s responsibilities, who spend their free time out drinking and having fun, but are for the most part, very likable. Sass fits right in as a working girl with a string of bad relationships under her belt and trying to break the cycle of disappointment. Her trials and tribulations are fun to follow, but I cheered for her as she overcame her ‘pleaser’ tendencies. I liked that she became stronger and happier (and got the guy), because she stuck to her guns.
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository | Bookcloseouts
Other reviews:
About Happy Books – positive
Book Trailer:
This is one of the best book trailers I’ve seen in a while – it feels like I’m watching a RomCom movie clip:
Relic Master: The Dark City by Catherine Fisher
I was offered a copy of this book from the publisher at the same time they pitched a giveaway for the whole series on my blog. I’d never read Catherine Fisher before, but I had heard murmurings about Incarceron, and I remember a glowing review from the Book Smugglers. Intrigued by the premise and this praise for the author, I said yes. Although this book is out now, my review is of an ARC copy.
The Premise: Raffi is a teenager who lives on Anara, a world with seven moons. A long time ago, it is said, the Makers came from the sky, and made the seas, the salt and soil, the trees and the animals. They left a long time ago, but they left ancient relics with sublime powers behind on Anara. The Keepers are those who safeguard the relics, but twenty years ago, their Order was destroyed. Now those of them left are in hiding, while those in power, The Watch, continue to root them out. Raffi is an apprentice Keeper, learning magic under the tutelage of his gruff mentor, Galen. They have been careful for a long time, but recently Galen has been reckless and unhappy. Raffi is concerned when a man shows up at their secret hideout, asking for their help. Things don’t seem right, but Galen accepts the job anyway. This kicks off a journey that takes them far from home in search of a powerful relic that could save the world. If they get to it before anyone else does.
My Thoughts: This is the type of story that just begins and lets the world building occur organically. People spoke of Keepers and Watchers and Makers without qualifying what they were, and I gleaned their meaning from the words themselves and the context. Often clues about the world come as quotes from religious texts and scholars of Anara that serve as placeholders between chapters. In order to review the book I had to at least explain what the Keepers and Watchers were, but I did leave a lot out so that people can figure out things on their own. Part of the charm of the story is the puzzle that is Anara, although this technique also has its drawbacks (I’ll come back to that later).
The Dark City is told in the third person but the focus is mostly on the teenager Raffi, occasionally switching focus to a Watcher that is following the two of them across Anara. My ARC was 372 pages, but I easily read the story in a few hours. What made this such a fast read was that the language is very simple and readable. The writing and the story’s focus primarily on adventure puts the story on a middle grade to young adult level. I think I could easily recommend this to my ten year old nephew and be fine, but an older teen (not to mention me), could also read this without feeling bored.
I think the simplicity of the language brings to mind the writing of Megan Whalen Turner, particularly in comparison to her book, The Thief, which also a “journeying in search of a special item” story. In terms of characters, The Dark City doesn’t have the same complexity though. It may be because the story has been broken up into four installments, but in The Dark City, we only begin to go beyond the surface of the main characters. By far the most complex is Galen, Raffi’s tutor, who is very obviously scarred by something that happened to him. Raffi is his worrying, cautious apprentice who we get the story from, but he’s a simpler to understand character. The Watcher is the third member of their group, and their character is one that gives us a glimpse of the other side and what the Watchers believe. There is an interesting dynamic once the Watcher shows up because of the web of lies and suspicion that results, but it never becomes truly diabolical.
I think that the story is more plot centric than it was character centric. And the plot surrounds the mystery of Anara. Throughout the story I wondered why the Watchers originally attacked the Order and the original Anaran rulers, and who the original Makers were. The Order of the Keepers could do magic, and Raffi does show magical ability throughout the story, but the relics that he and Galen safeguard seem awfully familiar. I am certain the relics were technological in nature, but Raffi and Galen treated them as powerful sources of magic. I was very curious about that – are these relics really advanced technology or magic? If it’s not magic, how is the magic that the Keepers can do (not to mention the magic that the race of Cat people that also live on Anara can do) explained? Can they be both? This is where the drawback in the storytelling comes in. I think that it is the intent to hold back information from the reader and to give small pieces of the puzzle as the series goes on, but it can be frustrating. I am used to having my world building established within the first book of a series, but in this series, it is the draw for continuing. A great device for reluctant readers (I also noticed that each chapter ended in a mini-cliffhanger, another technique for keeping a reader reading), but it can feel a little manipulative.
Overall: This is an entertaining adventure story that should appeal to young readers. I love stories that straddle both magic and technology in their world building so that really appealed to me, but I did feel a little frustrated that some information is held back about Anara. This is a technique works for getting reluctant readers into a story, and this is a book whose audience is younger than I am (I’d put this in a high MG to YA range), but I didn’t expect it to work on me too. I feel compelled to keep reading the series just to figure out what’s going on.
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository
Other reviews:
Charlotte’s Library – positive
The Premise: Raffi is a teenager who lives on Anara, a world with seven moons. A long time ago, it is said, the Makers came from the sky, and made the seas, the salt and soil, the trees and the animals. They left a long time ago, but they left ancient relics with sublime powers behind on Anara. The Keepers are those who safeguard the relics, but twenty years ago, their Order was destroyed. Now those of them left are in hiding, while those in power, The Watch, continue to root them out. Raffi is an apprentice Keeper, learning magic under the tutelage of his gruff mentor, Galen. They have been careful for a long time, but recently Galen has been reckless and unhappy. Raffi is concerned when a man shows up at their secret hideout, asking for their help. Things don’t seem right, but Galen accepts the job anyway. This kicks off a journey that takes them far from home in search of a powerful relic that could save the world. If they get to it before anyone else does.
My Thoughts: This is the type of story that just begins and lets the world building occur organically. People spoke of Keepers and Watchers and Makers without qualifying what they were, and I gleaned their meaning from the words themselves and the context. Often clues about the world come as quotes from religious texts and scholars of Anara that serve as placeholders between chapters. In order to review the book I had to at least explain what the Keepers and Watchers were, but I did leave a lot out so that people can figure out things on their own. Part of the charm of the story is the puzzle that is Anara, although this technique also has its drawbacks (I’ll come back to that later).
The Dark City is told in the third person but the focus is mostly on the teenager Raffi, occasionally switching focus to a Watcher that is following the two of them across Anara. My ARC was 372 pages, but I easily read the story in a few hours. What made this such a fast read was that the language is very simple and readable. The writing and the story’s focus primarily on adventure puts the story on a middle grade to young adult level. I think I could easily recommend this to my ten year old nephew and be fine, but an older teen (not to mention me), could also read this without feeling bored.
I think the simplicity of the language brings to mind the writing of Megan Whalen Turner, particularly in comparison to her book, The Thief, which also a “journeying in search of a special item” story. In terms of characters, The Dark City doesn’t have the same complexity though. It may be because the story has been broken up into four installments, but in The Dark City, we only begin to go beyond the surface of the main characters. By far the most complex is Galen, Raffi’s tutor, who is very obviously scarred by something that happened to him. Raffi is his worrying, cautious apprentice who we get the story from, but he’s a simpler to understand character. The Watcher is the third member of their group, and their character is one that gives us a glimpse of the other side and what the Watchers believe. There is an interesting dynamic once the Watcher shows up because of the web of lies and suspicion that results, but it never becomes truly diabolical.
I think that the story is more plot centric than it was character centric. And the plot surrounds the mystery of Anara. Throughout the story I wondered why the Watchers originally attacked the Order and the original Anaran rulers, and who the original Makers were. The Order of the Keepers could do magic, and Raffi does show magical ability throughout the story, but the relics that he and Galen safeguard seem awfully familiar. I am certain the relics were technological in nature, but Raffi and Galen treated them as powerful sources of magic. I was very curious about that – are these relics really advanced technology or magic? If it’s not magic, how is the magic that the Keepers can do (not to mention the magic that the race of Cat people that also live on Anara can do) explained? Can they be both? This is where the drawback in the storytelling comes in. I think that it is the intent to hold back information from the reader and to give small pieces of the puzzle as the series goes on, but it can be frustrating. I am used to having my world building established within the first book of a series, but in this series, it is the draw for continuing. A great device for reluctant readers (I also noticed that each chapter ended in a mini-cliffhanger, another technique for keeping a reader reading), but it can feel a little manipulative.
Overall: This is an entertaining adventure story that should appeal to young readers. I love stories that straddle both magic and technology in their world building so that really appealed to me, but I did feel a little frustrated that some information is held back about Anara. This is a technique works for getting reluctant readers into a story, and this is a book whose audience is younger than I am (I’d put this in a high MG to YA range), but I didn’t expect it to work on me too. I feel compelled to keep reading the series just to figure out what’s going on.
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository
Other reviews:
Charlotte’s Library – positive
specficromantic 