This was one of the lessons his mother wanted him to learn on his journey. This was his coming-of-age.
About This Book
Length: 312 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQIA+
Release Date: April 20, 2022
Book Description
Prince Tal has long awaited his coming-of-age tour. After spending most of his life cloistered behind palace walls as he learns to keep his forbidden magic secret, he can finally see his family’s kingdom for the first time. His first taste of adventure comes just two days into the journey, when their crew discovers a mysterious prisoner on a burning derelict vessel.
Tasked with watching over the prisoner, Tal is surprised to feel an intense connection with the roguish Athlen. So when Athlen leaps overboard and disappears, Tal feels responsible and heartbroken, knowing Athlen could not have survived in the open ocean.
That is, until Tal runs into Athlen days later on dry land, very much alive, and as charming—and secretive—as ever. But before they can pursue anything further, Tal is kidnapped by pirates and held ransom in a plot to reveal his rumored powers and instigate a war. Tal must escape if he hopes to save his family and the kingdom. And Athlen might just be his only hope…
My Review
★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars
He wouldn’t give in. His magic surged and ebbed like the waves that rocked the vessel, but he didn’t release it. Though he burned from the inside with hot embers, he wouldn’t give Zeph the satisfaction or the leverage. That piece of himself would remain his own.
This was a fun book. Fast-paced, fairytale-like, and full of good character development.
I enjoyed the two main characters, Tal and Athlen, as well as their dynamic with one another. I liked Tal’s character arc, in they he started as a bit of a naive and spoiled prince, but really grows responsible an courageous as the story goes on.
I liked how mysterious Athlen felt to Tal and the others he interacted with (at first), even though it was obvious from even the book’s synopsis that he’s clearly a merman. His banter and his dynamic personality were also pretty engaging.
“I’m glad it’s you because you are a good person. You can be a little shit sometimes, but out of the five of us, you have the softest heart. It’s a good attribute to have when wielding so much power.”
The biggest highlight of In Deeper Waters, for me, was all the family bonding going on. It doesn’t happen as much until the second half (spoiler?), but it was super heartwarming whenever it happened in the novel. I loved how funny Tal’s oldest brother Garrett was, and how kind his other brother Kest was. Kest was also an adorable bird shifter.
Isa, Tal’s older sister and future queen, was smart and supportive to him, and his younger sister, Corrie, was, as the book describes it: “a spitfire.” But all of the siblings had their own amount of sass, including Tal himself, and I adored it whenever it appeared on the page. I love sarcasm.
“I’ve got you.”
“I know.” His breath was cool on Tal’s neck. “For how long?”
“Until you tell me to let go.”
I felt that the romance between Tal and Athlen wasn’t too rushed (like insta-love) but that it wasn’t a slow-burn either. Which was something I found to be refreshing, as for most books it’s either one or the other. It got a bit rushed towards the ending, but so did a few things.
“The world isn’t kind,” Tal said […] “But that doesn’t mean I can’t be.”
Yeah… The villains and the climax weren’t great. The villains were pretty bland, which isn’t always too bad, but I usually like antagonists to have at least either an interesting backstory or personality. And no, it doesn’t have to be tragic or make the villain more sympathetic. I just want them to be slightly interesting. And these antagonists weren’t too interesting.
Zeph was a bit of a boring minor villain, but we didn’t really get to know much about her, and, she failed to be more dynamic in my eyes. And the true antagonist was even worse. Clearly, this was more of a protagonist driven story, even the plot was slightly secondary to this.
And the climax! UGH! It kinda sucked, if I’m being honest. It moved far too fast, one thing constantly happening after another, and it was a little annoying. I’m not gonna spoil anything for anyone though. And hey, the epilogue chapter was really sweet, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I’ll give it that.
Anyways, this book was pretty decent, and I definitely recommend it to those who enjoy fantasy, romance, fairytales, and rep. (And man was the rep good!)
Have you read In Deeper Waters? What did you think of it? Thanks for tuning in!
I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don’t know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.
Book #1: All Systems Red
About This Series
It’s finally time. For the long-promised The Murderbot Diaries review! So, this is normally the part where I give all the info about the book, it’s series if it has one, the page length, the publication date, and the synopsis. But since I’m reviewing an entire series for once, I thought it would probably be best to do something a little different this time. Just cuz (it might get a little repetitive, is all).
Anyway, The Murderbot Diaries is about a rogue construct (a human-robot hybrid, though not quite a cyborg, if I’m understanding some of the reviews correctly) known as a SecUnit (Security Unit). As the quote above alludes, this SecUnit – who secretly refers to itself as Murderbot, and considers this to be its true name – is quite self aware, is irritated by humanity, and just wants to be left alone to watch its favorite media. (Sanctuary Moon, if you were curious.)
Murderbot isn’t entirely “done” with humans as it were, though. It does end up making friends throughout the series, over the course of its character development. And it does enjoy doing its job – acting as security – a fair amount.
I liked protecting people and things. I liked figuring out smart ways to protect people and things. I liked being right.
Book #2: Artificial Condition
But it is a bit of an a-hole, much to the annoyance and chagrin of some of those that spend time with it. Though some of those individuals fling the sass right on back. For example:
Gurathin turned to me. “So you don’t have a governor module, but we could punish you by looking at you.”
I looked at him. “Probably, right up until I remember I have guns built into my arms.”
Book #1: All Systems Red
and
Pin-Lee had promised, “Don’t worry, I’ll preserve your right to wander off like an asshole anytime you like.” (I said, “It takes one to know one.”)
Book #6: Fugitive Telemetry
Pin-Lee is so sassy and smart and I love her. She’s also got some great interactions with MB, as seen above. Gurathin is also sassy, and he may be an even bigger a-hole than MB itself, but his heart is in the right place and he helps out his friends when they need it. And yes, this even includes Murderbot. MB has a lot of sassy and meaningful interactions with most of the supporting characters. But the most important one of these, is Dr. Mensah.
Dr. Ayda Mensah is, in many ways, Murderbot’s adoptive mother, or perhaps an older sister or mentor figure. (But she’s definitely its mom.) She cares so much for this snarky, emotionally repressed construct, as goes so far to help it and make sure it’s okay. In fact, as far as MB goes to save and protect her, she matches. She goes above and beyond to try to save and protect MB, even as it protests over and over again, that it is not her job. There’s another important individual to our favorite SecUnit, however.
ART said, “I want an apology.”
I made an obscene gesture at the ceiling with both hands. (I know ART isn’t the ceiling but the humans kept looking up there like it was.)
ART said, “That was unnecessary.”
In a low voice, Ratthi commented to Overse, “Anyone who thinks machine intelligences don’t have emotions needs to be in this very uncomfortable room right now.
Book #5: Network Effect
ART, otherwise known as Asshole Research Transport, is a sassy research ship that eventually becomes Murderbot’s best friend. (Though both of them are loathe to admit it, at first.) Their dialogue and banter, is the absolute best. Nothing beats sassy sort-of-a-robot versus sassy sort-of-a-ship-computer. Most of everything they have to say to each other is gold. But the best part about their friendship is how much they care about one another. Like MB and Mensah’s relationship, these two will go above what is legal, and sometimes what is moral, in order to help each other, as well as those they care about. It’s so sweet and wholesome, and I love it.
These aren’t the only characters and interactions that are fantastic. Like I mentioned above, most of the interactions are funny and meaningful. But the ones I’ve already listed, namely ART and Mensah, are the most important, as well as the best ones. My honorable mentions are as follows, though: Ameba, Ratthi, Miki, and Thiago. I love, loved these characters so much, too. And these were also very important people for Murderbot, and its continuing self-development.
This review is beginning to get really long – which, fair this is a series of five novellas and a full novel – but in the interest of keeping this a somewhat manageable length, and to keep it generally spoiler free, I’m just gonna put mini reviews for each book, and then finish it off with a few of my favorite quotes.
All Systems Red [The Murderbot Diaries, Book #1]
★★★★★ • 5 / 5 stars
I loved basically everything about it honestly. It’s actually hard for me to choose what I liked best about it, between the fast-paced plot, great world building and side characters, and the superb narration by the titular character.
Since I have to choose, my favorite thing about this novella was Murderbot itself. It was such a funny, interesting, and highly relatable character. I loved how its favorite hobby was watching soap operas in its spare time and how socially awkward it was. It was adorable.
I highly recommend this to everyone. And, it’s also not that long, so you won’t be devoting too much of your time reading it.
Artificial Condition [The Murderbot Diaries, Book #2]
★★★★★ • 5 / 5 stars
This series continues to be absolutely fantastic. Murderbot is out on its own trying to find out what really happened in the incident it named itself for. Along the way it meets some new characters, including ART (aka Asshole Research Transport) who I’m positive will return.
I loved watching MB start to slowly change and further develop as a person. It, like many humans, has started to learn that sometimes in order to get things that you want, you have to compensate by doing things that make you uncomfortable, and it makes MB even more relatable as a character. MB — through admittedly mostly external forces — is slowly beginning to realize that it is in fact a person, though it’s still in extreme denial about this and dies not even come close to acknowledging this yet. It just gives the excuse of doing the things that it’s doing for survival, which is valid, but is not completely true.
I loved seeing Murderbot’s interactions with humans, and especially its interactions with ART. Those were particularly amusing as well as important, as ART is the one to pressure MB to grow and evolve the most. And as I said above, I’m sure that ART will return. Its interactions with ‘Bot were too fantastic for it not to be so.
If you liked the first book, all I can say is that you have to continue reading because book two was just as awesome.
Rogue Protocol [The Murderbot Diaries, Book #3]
★★★★★ • 5 / 5 stars
That’s three perfectly rated books (by me) in a row! Yay!!
I loved this book, just like I loved the first two. Murderbot continues to be just as endearing and hilarious as it’s been in the past, and it’s my favorite part about its character.
Rogue Protocol was very important for finishing an emotional arc that MB’s been having, as it comes to a certain realization at the end of the book.
This book was also important because it finally showed a wholly positive relationship between a bot and a human in the characters of Don Abene and Miki, her “pet bot” (according to MB). These two characters genuinely love each other like family (and no that’s not a spoiler because it’s obvious to literally everyone except Murderbot from the onset) which is very different from how we’ve seen a lot of bot-human relationships so far.
(And yes, I remember ART going on and on about how great its human crew was in the last book, but those humans are never actually in that book, so we don’t get to read how they interact with each other.)
I definitely recommend this if you liked the first two, even just a little. I personally can’t wait to jump into book four.
Exit Strategy [The Murderbot Diaries, Book #4]
★★★★★ • 5 / 5 stars
Four for four, bay-bee!! This series really is the gift that keeps on giving if the gift you’re looking for is a great story, with great writing, and great characters. (Particularly a certain shy, antisocial, cyborg/biomechanical construct/AI who wants to be left alone so it can just watch its favorite TV shows and not talk about its feelings or interact with any humans in general, please and thank you.) It was nice to see a lot of the characters from the first book again, as I actually really liked them and their interactions with Murderbot.
Exit Strategy was a wonderful conclusion to the first arc of The Murderbot Diaries. I’m so happy that I discovered a series this late for once, as reading all four of the first novellas together really showed that they had a nice and tight story — despite some of MB’s meandering around the universe — and wrapped up the plot with very few loose ends. The ending was left open-ended with lots of room to expand the MD universe.
The ending was also really, really good. I was honestly kind of hoping for a resolution like what was written, and it did not disappoint. I can’t wait to see this series goes next!
Network Effect [The Murderbot Diaries, Book #5]
★★★★✬ • 4.5 / 5 stars
Another sci-fi, space adventure with everyone’s favorite sassy cyborg, but this time as a full novel!
It was an interesting go around this time, as this novel is twice as long as one of the four novellas that came before it. But it was a good interesting, and I think it displayed that the Murderbot Diaries can work as average length novels as well.
Regarding the stuff inside Network Effect that I liked… well, obviously MB’s snarky narrative voice is always a pleasure to read. It was top-notch as usual, too. I also liked seeing MB interact with new characters and watch them all grow and change as they had more interactions with one another. MB and Amena’s friendship was a highlight of the new character relationships for me, and I hope we see more of it in future novel(la)s.
And ART! ART how I’ve missed you, it was great to see you again! Not to mention, the banter between our favorite SecUnit and research transport was just as good as the last time we saw the two together. I also loved seeing how much these two cared about each other and how far each was willing to go for one another. Nevermind, this was (again) my favorite relationship of the book.
I also liked the plot as well. Though the characters and personalities are always the strongest parts of this series, the story was decent and relatively interesting too. It was nice to move away from the series’ usual villains for a bit and I liked seeing that they weren’t the only thing that sucked about the universe (besides the Corporation Rim of course).
As I said, fantastic as usual with this series, but I might’ve liked this ever so slightly less than all the others, so it gets a half star docked. Still amazing, though.
Fugitive Telemetry [The Murderbot Diaries, Book #6]
★★★★✬ • 4.5 / 5 stars
Martha Wells knocks it out of the park with Fugitive Telemetry, as well. But that’s per usual with The Murderbot Diaries. I’ve honestly yet to read a subpar installment of this series – it’s utterly fantastic!
This time our sassy SecUnit is playing detective with Preservation Aux’s security team, in order to solve the cause of death of a body found on the station. And we all know how much fun it is (for us readers) whenever MB has to interact with annoying humans.
This was a fun read, just like the rest of the series. Highly recommend.
And Now, Some of My Favorite Lines…
I was having an emotion, and I hate that.
Book #4: Exit Strategy
and
So the plan wasn’t a clusterfuck, it was just circling the clusterfuck target zone, getting ready to come in for a landing.
Book #4: Exit Strategy
and
There was a big huge deal about it, and Security was all “but what if it takes over the station’s systems and kills everybody” and Pin-Lee told them “if it wanted to do that it would have done it by now,” which in hindsight was probably not the best response.
Book #6: Fugitive Telemetry
and
Unidentified One sounded even more amused. “You had better have the weapon we were told of, or I’ll take your ribs out one by one and break them in front of your little face.”
I saved that for future reference. Unidentified One seemed to have gone to some trouble with the wording of that threat, it would be a shame if they never experienced it firsthand.
Book #5: Network Effect
and, finally
I hate caring about stuff. But apparently once you start, you can’t just stop.
Book #3: Rogue Protocol
So, so many good lines! Too many, honestly, to share with everyone. If you enjoyed any of these quotes at all, definitely check out this series, if you haven’t already. To further motivate those who have not yet given The Murderbot Diaries a shot, here’s the book description for the first book in the series, All Systems Red:
Winner: 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella Winner: 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novella Winner: 2018 Alex Award Winner: 2018 Locus Award One of the Verge’s Best Books of 2017 A New York Times and USA Today Bestseller
A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.
“As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure.”
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
Doesn’t this book sound amazing? It does, doesn’t it?!? See, the sass even makes it into the plot summary! That’s definitely the sign of a great book!
In all seriousness, I really do recommend this book. Books. Highly recommend. It’s one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had reading, and I pretty much adore everything about it. So, do check it out.
And hey, if science fiction isn’t your thing, and you’re not super interested in the premise, at least check out one of Martha Wells’ other works. This lady has written a ton of stuff, and a lot of people agree that it’s all pretty great. So maybe you’ll find something to your tastes in one of her many stories.
It’s been a bit, but it’s time for a Reading Retrospective.
Reading Retrospectives are when I go back and reflect on books that I’ve read. Books that I gave strong opinions on, but never reviewed because I read them before I even had a Goodreads (let alone a blog). And books from my childhood to my college days. Everything is fair game, honestly.
Today I’m discussing Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin.
About Serpent & Dove
Series: Serpent & Dove [Book #1]
Length: 528 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Book Description
Bound as one, to love, honor, or burn. Book one of a stunning fantasy trilogy, this tale of witchcraft and forbidden love is perfect for fans of Kendare Blake and Sara Holland.
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.
Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.
My Retrospective Review
When I Originally Read This: November 2020
Then: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars
Now: ★★★✯☆ • 3.5 / 5 stars
When I first read this back in 2020, I gotta be honest, I enjoyed this. Quite a bit. It wasn’t a five star book by any means, but I thought it was still pretty good. In a guilty pleasure sort of way, at least.
But after going for a second round with Serpent & Dove more recently, it was honestly kind of hard to get through on a reread. I actually had a strong urge to drop it, which I felt kinda bad about, because I hate DNF-ing stuff.
What I Still Like About It
The characters. Well… some of the characters, at least. The leads, Lou and Reid, left something to be desired, as I didn’t find either of them to be very likeable (though I enjoyed Reid’s POVs more than Lou’s).
The characters I’m talking about were the supporting cast. Coco was a blast to follow when she was actually hanging around the protagonists, and thus actually in the plot. I also thought that her sacrificial blood magic was more interesting than Lou’s “pattern based” magic. Ansel was also a delight – he was an absolute cinnamon roll and deserves to be protected at all cost. Madame Labelle also seemed interesting, initially, however, she grew far less so the farther I got in the novel.
I did like the interactions and the banter between the characters, even the two protagonists, despite how subpar I thought they were as main characters. Lou and Reid had some good interactions, I’ll admit it. I liked how they challenged each other – they were much better together than they were alone.
I also really liked the setting; I’m good with most historical fantasies or historical fantasy based settings. Even though I couldn’t tell whether or not it was a fantasy world or magic historical France; it was a little unclear, although I’m pretty sure that it was a fantasy world.
I also loved that it was around not-Christmas. I love Christmastime, and I never see it in a book that’s not a holiday romance or Harry Potter, so that was kinda nice.
Though the dialogue and prose weren’t my favorite, there were a few lines that I kinda liked. (That, and I’m gonna quite some lines that I thought were stupid in the “Stuff I Hated” section, so I decided to be nice.)
Un malheur ne vient jamais seul. Misfortune never arrived alone. {French proverb}
I really liked this one, though the author didn’t come up with it herself, so…? 🤷♂️
I also liked this one.
Lou glared at him. “I like you, Ansel, but this had better be something good. Emilie and Alexandre just had a moment.”
and
“Why the feck is everyone in this kingdom trying to murder my wife?”
What I Don’t Like About It
Well, first off, as I mentioned above, I don’t much care for Lou and Reid. Lou was far too sassy and erratic, and she made a lot of dumb decisions. And I just found her generally annoying. Reid was less insufferable, but he too, made stupid decisions. And he was almost comically naive at times. For instance, he’s a witch hunter, but he pretty much believes everything Lou says. Nearly unquestioningly. It’s actually that ridiculous.
Another thing that I really hated was the McGuffin: The One Ring. *cough* Sorry, “Angelica’s Ring.” Whatever. It pretty much functions the same way, minus having a consciousness. (They both can turn people invisible.)
The inciting incident that forced Lou and Reid into marriage felt excruciatingly convoluted, and filled me with hatred. Like, there really weren’t any other options? Seriously?!? It just felt so contrived when I read it, that it made me want to bang my head against the wall.
I also hate a lot of decisions that happen during the climax. I’m not gonna spoil anything, but they just didn’t make sense to me at all. Just saying.
And, before we go, it’s time for the lines that I hated. Just like I promised.
Coco and I shared a black look. If Babette wasn’t careful, she’d soon learn just how wretched and violent we could be.
Just. Ugh. They’re so annoying.
And such a tight little ass.
I really like this line, actually. It’s so direct. Just not in this book. It feels too out of place.
“Do not urge me to leave you and turn back from you.” He trailed his fingers down my arm in slow, torturous strikes.
Ew. Waaayy too sappy.
Final Thoughts
As much as I I’ve ragged on Serpent & Dove in some parts of this review, it’s really not bad at all. That’s its sequel, Blood & Honey. (I’m not joking – that one’s terrible. There’ll be a roast on that one coming up, you can be sure of that.) S & D just feels like guilty pleasure fantasy-romance. A little like the ACOTAR series, but somehow, not as good. (I know, I didn’t think it was possible either.)
This really has ACOTAR vibes though, so if you’re really into that series, this is probably for you. Not sure about B & H, though. (I’m honestly not sure who that one’s for, actually.) (Fine, I’ll stop.)
Anyway, have you read Serpent & Dove? Or the rest of the series? What did you think of it? Thanks for reading – as always!
“What difference does it make if he replaces them one by one, or if he replaces them all at once?”
About Mickey7
Series: Mickey7 (yes, it’s a series now) (as well as an upcoming movie, apparently)
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Released On: February 15, 2022
Book Description
The Martian meets Multiplicity in Edward Ashton’s high concept science fiction thriller, in which Mickey7, an “expendable,” refuses to let his replacement clone Mickey8 take his place.
Dying isn’t any fun…but at least it’s a living.
Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.
On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.
Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.
That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.
My Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
× 5 / 5 stars
So, like, I know that I said I’d read Children of Ragnarok next – and I am! But, this review has been languishing for a while – I read Mickey7 a few months ago (*cough* When-It-Came-Out-And-No-I-Don’t-Want-To-Talk-About–It* cough*), so I thought that it was finally time to release this.
Let’s get into how I felt about this book, because this book made me feel.
Pros
The Characters
The strongest aspect of this book was definitely the characters. Mickey Barnes, both 7 and 8, were both very compelling characters; though Mickey7 was our main protagonist, and the one whose POV we followed throughout the story.
I really liked Mickey, he was blunt and sassy, and he was a history major. A history major. Who doesn’t love that? Especially with how out of place it is in a sci-fi setting, wherein it’s just a tad useless. (Mickey realizes the irony, don’t worry.) In fact, his poorly chosen college major (sorry, all history majors. I sincerely promise I’m not dunking on you. I was very nearly a history major myself.) is the conduit to many of the events of the plot.
But the real highlight of Mickey’s character is definitely his personality. His sass is absolutely fantastic. Not only is it prevalent in his dialogue, but throughout his entire narration, as well. And it never gets old
I’m not the most sensitive person, but I’ve been alive long enough to figure out that telling a miserable person about how much worse things can be is usually a bad idea.
The banter and relationship between the two Mickeys is also extremely compelling and interesting. Are you still the same person if there’s suddenly two of you? If you’re missing some of the memories that another you has, how different are you really? Are you the same individual you were seven or eight clones ago? The existentialism focused on in Mickey7 is as fascinating as it is soul crushing.
Regarding the rest of the cast: I quite liked them. Berto was a fun best-friend-type character who plays off of Mickey’s wit pretty well, as well as his differing skills and interests. You also understood very clearly why these two were friends, which is something that some books don’t establish very well. So kudos to that.
Nasha is also amazing. She’s introduced as Mickey’s girlfriend, but immediately feels like so much more.She’s awesome, not just cuz she’s a badass, but because of how committed to her and Mickey’s relationship. As difficult as being an Expendable is for Mickey – with the whole dying horribly over and over again thing – Nasha has to deal with this externally. She continues an extremely intimate relationship with him, despite the fact that he might suddenly no longer be the same man that he was the day before (literally). But she just takes everything in stride and gives everything she has to their relationship, just like Mickey. It should be noted that their dialogue together is also amazing.
The other characters were also great, though I don’t find them nearly that notable. The human antagonist was decent, too, and I loved the verbal shiz he and Mickey constantly flung at each other. Also, the giant space worms were pretty cool too, I guess.
The Setting
Ashton manages to create a richly built world (worlds? universe?). The ship that is most of the setting feels so vivid, and the entire atmosphere of Niflheim – the land and the alien creatures – are so richly described.
I also like the emphasis on how it’s so far in the future, that history and our modern era (Mickey7’s past) are irrelevant. It almost feels like a fantastical space opera, in some ways.
Cons
The World Building
I know, I know. I just mentioned how much I loved the setting and all that, but I didn’t care as much for how it was actually built. The switching between “past” and “present” chapters kind of prevented me being as completely drawn in as I would’ve liked.
And there was also a lot of superfluous exposition, particularly in the “past” chapters, which really kept me from getting as into those as I would’ve liked. I found myself skimming several paragraphs at a time, and I still didn’t miss anything. Don’t get me wrong, some of the background was pretty cool. I just wish it hadn’t been so info dumpy at times.
The Plot
It wasn’t as strongly focused on as it could’ve been, but that’s the drawback of a mostly character focused narrative. I’m not disappointed about this at all, actually, but it could technically be considered a weak point of the book, so I put it here for that reason. That’s also why this part is so short and sweet – nothing really positive or negative about it, honestly.
Final Thoughts
Mickey7 was an enjoyable little read, perfect for a free afternoon or (preferably) late at night when the existentialism hits you harder. It balances snappy dialogue and humor masterfully with the more serious aspects of the narrative.
I definitely recommend to those who like sci-fi, but more soft sci-fi. Like I said, the world building is okay, but it’s not as grand as many hard sci-fi epics out there. This is a very character driven story, and the novel is very aware of this, and does this part very well. So if you like character focused stories, you’ll probably like Mickey7, too.
So… I’ve decided to start a little series here where I highlight books that I’ve read in the past, before starting The Blog That Nobody Knows.
Books that I’ve read and loved and hated, but have never reviewed at all. Books from my college days and childhood days alike. Books that I want to acknowledge and remember.
I present to everyone, the first Reading Retrospective.
This time, I’m going to be talking about The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.
New York Times-bestselling author Megan Whalen Turner’s entrancing and award-winning Queen’s Thief novels bring to life the world of the epics. This first book in series introduces one of the most charismatic and incorrigible characters of fiction, Eugenides the thief. The Queen’s Thief novels are rich with political machinations and intrigue, battles lost and won, dangerous journeys, divine intervention, power, passion, revenge, and deception. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Patrick Rothfuss, and George R. R. Martin.
Eugenides, the queen’s thief, can steal anything—or so he says. When his boasting lands him in prison and the king’s magus invites him on a quest to steal a legendary object, he’s in no position to refuse. The magus thinks he has the right tool for the job, but Gen has plans of his own. The Queen’s Thief novels have been praised by writers, critics, reviewers, and fans, and have been honored with glowing reviews, “best of” citations, and numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Newbery Honor, the Andre Norton Award shortlist, and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award.
Retrospective Review
★★★✩✩ • 3 / 5 stars
I am a master of foolhardy plans, I thought. I have so much practice I consider them professional risks.
So, listen, I know that this book is well-loved and nostalgic for quite a few people, but the highest rating that I could give this was “okay.” It was just a bit too slow-paced for my liking. And I’m not super big on political stuff in books, especially when it’s as prominent as it is in this one. I’m here for the adventure, not all that other stuff.
I will say that Eugenides was the absolute best part of the book, and the reason that I continued to power through it. I loved his sassy personality and how he constantly pissed everyone off around him. It’s a bit reminiscent of Murderbot/SecUnit from The Murderbot Diaries looking back on it.
I identified them as Useless the Older and Useless the Younger for the time being.
See, isn’t that such a Murderbot thing to say? Anyway, I never really connected with any of the other characters, and that also put a damper on my reading experience. And I found all the political and war stuff boring, so that also really affected what I thought of the book. Honestly, if this book wasn’t as short as it was, I probably would have ended up DNF-ing it.
But yeah, Gen (I don’t care how much he hates that name, I am not typing out the other thing again) was an absolute delight, and totally carried the book for me.
I should also probably mention that I don’t like it when info dumps happen; whether their plot or character-related, is irrelevant. And this book had a huge one near the end and it completely changes the way that you see the entire novel. And yeah, I sometimes think stuff like that is cool. But not when it involves an exposition dump to explain everything to the reader in great detail. (If you were curious, this one was actually both. So it was doubly annoying, in my opinion.)
I, unfortunately, don’t have a lot to say about this book. (I’ve found that this happens sometimes with “okay” books.) Anyway, if the synopsis intrigues you, then definitely check this one out. Like I said above, this one is kind of beloved, and probably for a good reason, even if it wasn’t my favorite.
Have you read this book? Did you enjoy it? Have you read the rest of the series? Thanks, as always, for tuning in and have a fantastic day/night!
Publication: Write My Wrongs LLC [December 8, 2021]
Book Description
In the thriving kingdom of Idaza, Mikalla is the adored Conjurer, the nation’s chief storyteller, using the shadows cast by the city’s glorious ceremonial flame.
But death awaits around every corner. Addiction rattles the king. Trauma haunts the nobility and their conflicting motives. Murder happens, but to find out who succumbs to it is a journey the reader must take alone through the halls and palaces of the glorious Inner Gardens.
With a beautiful family and his position as one of King Oro’s favorite courtiers, Mikalla’s life is perfect. That is, until the king commands him to deliver a deadly message—one that will inevitably end in bloodshed and a war-torn Idaza.
With King Oro’s minions—Secretary Kitan and General Jax—skulking in the wings, Mikalla doesn’t know who to trust. Worse, he isn’t sure who’s really pulling the strings behind this political charade.
Betrayal and murder lie in the shadows Mikalla has always used to captivate the masses.
Will the flames reveal the truth hidden within the twisted schemes, or will Mikalla rise to his government’s call? Mikalla, the Conjurer, must realize his choices alone hold the power to change Idaza—to change everything.
My Review
★✬✩✩✩ • 1.5 / 5 stars (I’m sorry… ☹️)
This book… Unfortunately, I have things to say about this book, and most of them aren’t good. I feel terrible about it, because I hate rating stuff one star – and I’ve never done it for a book before – but I just couldn’t justify rating it any higher.
I have things to say about all kinds of things, from the plot, to the characters, to the dialogue, to the prose itself. Because of this, I’ll be doing something I haven’t really done before here: I’m going to be breaking this review into different sections. It’ll all be one review, don’t worry, I’m just talking about the formatting. Cuz I want everything to be clear (unlike this book).
And I really don’t want to dunk on it too much, since it’s a debut novel and all – and I firmly believe that all writers can improve – but I will be presenting my points as criticisms. I’m not flaming or anything – I promise! I always aim to be my best self, even on the internet – and I am intending absolutely no offense whatsoever. Think of these as some critiques! 😁
The Pros
I thought I’d start off this review on a brighter light. To start with, I actually really like the cover. It’s pretty simple, and some might not find it to be eye-catching, but I honestly did. It’s actually what attracted me to The Conjurer in the first place. I love the way that the red looks on the white background, and how there’s only occasionally a bit of black used for the shadow puppets. It really makes them stand out all the more. I also like how the red fire underneath the puppets appears to be creeping upwards – it makes the threat juxtaposed against Mikalla’s morality seem dangerous.
The other thing that I really liked, were some of the lines. The opening line in particular is pretty good, and it’s the quote I used at the top of my review. It really boils the core of the story down to one line in a fantastic way. There were other good lines though:
He was the caster of narrative whimsy, the creator of the gods.
and
He entrenched his audience in the characters’ lives. He swept them up in the torrent of the plot. And then, awash in the rapids of the story, he spat the audience out of the cyclone and left them transformed.
I also quite liked the first chapter. It was the part of the novel where the writing was strongest. (The writing, unfortunately, went downhill from there.) In fact, it’s where I found most of my favorite lines, including all of the quotes above.
It’s a shame I didn’t have anything else that I liked, because I was pretty excited about reading this book, as the plot looked promising and it had good reviews. But I just didn’t gel with most of what this book had.
The Cons
Part I: The Writing (or Prose – Whichever You Prefer)
It’s not that great. I hate to say it, but it really isn’t. To me at least. Maybe I’m completely wrong and this book is actually amazing. I don’t know. The only thing I can say for sure is that the writing in this book definitely wasn’t for me.
First off, the POV is all over the place. Like, in the same chapter, the POV will suddenly shift from one character to another, without even a divider, or even extra space between paragraphs. It was very disjointed and felt as if the author was attempting 3rd Person Limited and 3rd Person Omniscient at the exact same time, which sorry, but it’s just not possible.
To elaborate, what I mean is it’ll stay on one character in 3rd Person Limited, and then abruptly transition to another character and be slightly more omniscient. And sometimes, in a character’s limited POV they’ll notice something about another character’s thoughts or expressions that this particular character shouldn’t know, and is clearly for the reader’s benefit.
A good example of this is when the King of Idaza, Oro, is having a discussion with his advisor, Kiten, and then they break off and Kiten walks away from the king. This is in Oro’s POV by the way. Anyway, Kiten walks away from the king, completely facing away from the king, by the way, and then he smirks to himself. There is no way that King Oro can possibly see this, so how is Kiten smirking in Oro’s POV? Or is it somehow Kiten’s POV now?
And don’t even get me started on some of the descriptions in this book. The way the author chooses to describe certain things boggles my mind. Also, the similes and metaphors don’t make sense.
I guess I’ll get into the grammar a little bit. There’s several run-on sentences, incorrect use of tenses, and missing punctuation, among other things. I really, really hate to say this, but it really felt like a first draft or something, not a book ready to go. But yeah, here’s a quote that’s kind of all over the place in terms of tense, and it also doubles as being a poor metaphor:
The next morning, Oro sat on his throne like fungi sitting atop the moss of a tree.
I’m not going to say anything specific about this quote, you can make any and all judgements on your own. I also don’t want to start getting nitpicky about anything, as this review is already ludicrously long. (Sorry about that.)
Part II: The Plot
The plot was probably the least egregious part of the novel. Even though the synopsis embellishes it a little, it is accurate. Now, I didn’t end up enjoying the story as much as I’d hoped, but that part’s on me. Nothing against the storytelling itself. So good on the author for that! You did good there author!
There was an odd dream sequence about halfway through that I didn’t really get. I guess it was supposed to be Mikalla, the main character’s, subconscious realization that that something was very wrong in his personal life, even if he wouldn’t accept it outwardly. But it was a little confusing, and it really came out of nowhere, and I wasn’t really sure why it was there at all.
Part III: The Characters
I didn’t like any of them. Mikalla wasn’t a compelling protagonist. Characters in the book often describe him as a child in a thirty-eight year old man’s body (not in those exact words), and I can’t say that they’re wrong, unfortunately. I think that the author was trying to go for a free spirit who has a strong moral compass, and will do the right thing at the cost of everything. The moral compass aspect came across decently, but everything else didn’t really. He’s also incredibly indecisive and nervous most of the time, despite his very high station. Also, it should be noted that Mikalla is not like other guys: he was born on the lower end of nobility so he’s not as much of an ignoramus as the rest of them.
King Oro was probably the worst character in the book, though. I don’t understand how this man hasn’t passed away from alcohol poisoning already, because every scene he’s in – and not just the ones from his POV either – he’s constantly drinking. Constantly. And also, he’s incredibly lazy and idiotic, which I understand was probably the point, but it still stinks. Like, I get that he was supposed to be essentially a puppet king, with his advisor making the real decisions from behind his shoulder, but Oro was comically incompetent. He couldn’t do anything on his own. And yes, there was a bit of a backstory for this in the last third of the book, but it didn’t help me sympathize with him at all. At some point in your life, you just need to start adulting, and he never does. (It should be noted that characters often describe him as an overgrown child, just like Mikalla.)
Kiten and Jani, Mikalla’s wife, also suck. Kiten is a weak antagonist (that’s not a spoiler, it’s obvious from the second he’s introduced), and he was only able to function that way in any capacity, was because everyone else around him was obscenely stupid and obtuse. Jani was annoying and she was clearly out to get Mikalla (that’s not a spoiler, it’s obvious from the second she’s introduced), and was an even weaker antagonist. Near the end, the author attempts to show that she has empathy and perhaps make her seem as more of a grayer character, but it just doesn’t work – she’d been established as something else for the entire novel until that point, with the empathy thing coming out of nowhere. Also, and this applies to both Kiten and Jani, their motivations didn’t feel very strong. I didn’t get a sense that either of them loved Idaza as much as they claimed they did.
The other characters didn’t matter and were extremely bland.
Part IV: The Dialogue
Oh, the dialogue… 😮💨 It wasn’t consistent at all.And some of the language used just did not fit the character using it. Like, King Oro would say “guys” all the time when talking to a group and it doesn’t sound very… kingly.
Don’t get me wrong, it can definitely work to have a ruler or leader speak like this, especially to their close friends, but this book allegedly takes place in an ancient time, though whether in a fantasy world or otherwise is unclear. So it was kinda weird to read Millennial speak coming out of some ancient king’s mouth. As well as everyone else’s. It just felt extremely unprofessional to me, and it really took me out of the story.
Part V: The Setting
I wasn’t originally going to do a Part 5, but as I was writing this review, I remembered that there were a few problems with the setting. It’s labeled as ancient historical literary fiction, but the prose makes this unclear. It’s a mish-mash of ancient culture and indoor plumbing. No, I’m not kidding: some of the nobles have plumbing. Because of this, it reads more as a fantasy novel to me, but without any magic. There’s nothing wrong with the literary fiction part of its genre classification though – that works perfectly fine.
TW: graphic descriptions of regurgitation, extreme alcohol addiction, war and violence
And that’s all I’ve got to say about The Conjurer. I desperately wanted to like this book, guys. Like I say near the beginning of my review (way, way up there), I was genuinely looking forward to this book, and perhaps that’s why I was so disappointed by the end of it. I feel horrible about one and a half star-ing it, but I just don’t feel like I could put it higher. It wouldn’t be true to my feelings, and I don’t want to display any falsehoods on that front. Ever.
I still encourage anyone who thinks the synopsis looks interesting to give it a shot, as the problem could have just been me, and the book might not be as much as fault as I feel it is.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to start reading Children of Ragnarok by Cinda Williams Chima. Thanks everyone, as always, for tuning in, and have a fantastic day/night!
Twenty-five year old Lily Baines is used to waking up hungover, overweight, and underemployed. Waking up with fangs? Not so much. But when little light necking has more serious consequences than she ever imagined, Lily’s determined to get to the bottom of it, or die (again) trying.
Tristan hadn’t meant to harm Lily – it’s against vampire law – but now that she’s here, they need to team up to save both their hides. They strike an uneasy truce, fending off other vampires, Lily’s work-rival-turned-slayer, and her mother’s tone-deaf romance and fitness advice… all while Lily faces down her insecurities about the fact that she lives in a diet-obsessed world with a body that will never age, never die, and never change.
Falling for her maddeningly gorgeous sire? Easy. Surviving an ancient vampire Master determined to see her twice-dead? Piece of cake. But can Lily ever learn to love the woman she’ll be forever more?
My Review
Star Rating: 🦇🦇🦇 • 3 / 5 vampire bats
I swear, this whole vampire thing is just one giant kick in the tits after another. Every time I turn around, there’s a new layer of s*** getting piled onto the s*** cake.
This book was fun. That’s really the whole long and short of it, honestly. It was a funny, spicy, Halloween-y read, and relatively light-hearted. I don’t usually read contemporary romance, even when there’s magic stuff going on, and this book kind of reminded me why, unfortunately.(They’re just not my thing, is all.) But I didn’t not like it, so there’s that!
The best part of the book by far was the characters. Our protagonist – Lily Baines 🌺🖋️ – was, in particular, a narrating gem. For the most part. (We’ll get to that.) She’s sassy, funny, and she doesn’t take crap from anyone. But she’s also a nervous, self-conscious, and emotionally vulnerable young woman. A relatively well-rounded character overall, which is what I like to see.
Tristan Newberry 🖋️📖, the love interest, as well as the vampire that sired Lily, is also total eye candy. Or is it word candy, since it’s a book? Whatever, regardless, he was pretty hot, and he had a rather kind personality, if a bit old-fashioned. But don’t worry – Lily sets him straight. I also adored how he absolutely loved Lily, inside and out, though it took her a bit to accept that. Oh, and he also writes romance novels. Sexy!
“Well,” I say – and I can’t believe I’m about to ask this, but here goes: “What did the sparkly vampires do for blood?”
Lily’s friend Cat was also great; she and Lily played off of one another very well, and I loved how they attempted to use Twilight to help Lily figure out her new unlife. The side characters were also decent, though I found them to be pretty underdeveloped.
Annnd, now it’s time for some of the cons…
Okay, so… I didn’t really like some aspects of Lily’s narration. She’d say stuff like “Obvi” a lot, which I’ve never heard someone say aloud, only in like chat messages or shorthand. And the worst part is that she didn’t say it either – because she really didn’t. Oh no, this particularly sucked (no pun intended) because it was on her narration, and like, in her thoughts and stuff. All the time. And it wasn’t just this one non-word, no, she used a lot of Internet speech the same way. And it was pretty friggin annoying.
The other thing that I didn’t like, was that Lily would say that something would happen, and then say something (in the narration, not the dialogue) along the lines of: “Yeah we did this/talked about this, but it was kind of boring and you don’t care, so I’ll give you the Cliff Notes “Seriously? Show-don’t-tell is one of the cardinal rules of writing, and instead of showing how these characters are interacting and developing through dialogue – ya know, naturally? – you’re just gonna give the scene to us in bullet points?!? What the heck?!
Regarding everything else, it was pretty average. The plot was slightly meh, and the villains and minor characters were soggy pieces of toast. And very stereotypical. Oh, and this is actually another con, but I hate it when the two romantic leads don’t friggin communicate. It’s tasteless, easy, and unnecessary drama.
But yeah, even though I thought this book was mostly average, a lot of the lines of dialogue and the descriptions were really funny. And it was great seeing Lily grow as a character and finally learn to accept and love herself. (Spoilers…?) And Tristan was the (mostly) perfect man, which is always yummy to read about. (Also, he wasn’t abusive like 90% of the other vampires in books! Yay, I guess?) Also, there are a few trigger warnings regarding body image, fatphobia, mental health, and other stuff, so check out all of the TW’s to make sure it’s something okay for you to read.
Anyway, here’s my review for When Life Gives You Vampires. Like I said, it was a fun, easy little romp. If you like contemporary rom-coms with a splash of supernatural, this one’s for you.
Thank you to everyone for tuning in, and have a great day/night! Have you read this book? Did you enjoy it? What are your favorite contemporary romances? Vampire books?
Long ago, cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller’s daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.
Or so everyone believes.
When one of Serilda’s outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn’t meant to be part of the bargain.
Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.
My Review
Star Rating: 🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾 • 5 / 5 bundles of gilded straw (yes I know it’s the wheat emoji. shut up.)
“As I understand,” she said, “gold has caused as many problems as it has ever solved.”
I absolutely adored this book. Marissa Meyer has done it again – she’s written yet another amazing retelling of a classic fairytale.
I’ll admit it: I’ve never actually finished The Lunar Chronicles, though I have read the majority of the series. I loved the sci-fi twist on the magic and such. But I just never had the time to finish reading TLC when I was first reading it. Perhaps I’ll come back to it one day…
Anyway, back to Gilded. I definitely liked it just as much as the TLC books I read, probably ever more so. This time Meyer goes full fantasy with a novel packed full of dark-fairytale creatures, ghosts, curses, and even hellhounds. It’s amazing.
Now if you haven’t guessed by the book’s title, which alludes to gold, this is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. It’s very different from the original fairytale, though. Sure it’s got the bare-bones spinning straw into gold deal – along with a couple other things that are spoilers – but Meyer adds so many more subplots and characters that are entirely wonderful and original.
The characters are fantastic in Gilded, as per the usual with Meyer. Serilda 📖 is a great protagonist, and I loved her neverending mischievous streak. She does make a few pretty stupid decisions – that seem to only happen for the plot to continue which I hate – but this is only part one of two in a duology, so it can be forgiven (for now), and chalked up as arrogance.
“I know I’ve barely met you,” he said, his voice fighting not to tremble, “but I can tell that you are worth all the bad luck in the world.”
Gild 💛 , Serilda’s new friend (and possibly more?? 😉), is a total sweetheart. I’m so tired of the “bad boy” archetype that’s so often used in YA – wherein it’s especially popular – and Gild is the furthest thing from that. He’s kind, brave, supportive, and loves to joke around. And his relationship and banter with Serilda are absolutely fantastic. I look forward to more of him in the sequel.
The Erlking is a big ol’ a-hole. I’m sorry, there’s just no other way of putting that. But he’s the villain of the story, so it totally makes sense that he would be. He’s cruel, does whatever he wants, and goes on a magic hunt every full moon to kidnap and kill humans and beasts alike. That’s where all the ghosts in the book come from, see.
The Erlking and Serilda become acquainted during one of those hunts: she saves a couple of forest spirits that he considers his “prey.” She tricks him into sparing her life by convincing him that she can spin straw into gold. This comes back to bite her, however, when he returns on the next moon, expecting her to do just that for him.
Anyway, this book was absolutely fantastic, and a great fairytale retelling. It’s sooo good, and I can’t wait for the sequel that’s coming out.
Have any of you read Gilded? What did you think? Are you excited for the sequel, Cursed?
Anyway, thank you all so much for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!
Title & Author:A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
Series: Shades of Magic
Length: 512 pages
Publication: Tor Books [January 17, 2017]
Book Description
Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, and into Black London.
In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finishes preparations for the Element Games – an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries – a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.
But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrill of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again – and so to keep magic’s balance, another London must fall.
My Review
Star Rating: 🔴⚪⚫🔴 • 4 / 5 Londons
Note: This novel is a sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic. You can see my review of that here.
Honestly, because this book suffers from Middle Book Syndrome, I was very tempted to give it a 3.5 / 5, but eh, I’ll let it have that extra half-point because I liked the first book so much, and I’ve heard good things about the third one.
For this book… For this book, I’m a little divided. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the first 150 pages as well as the last 150 pages. I also really love most of the characters, both new and old, and the character development and interactions in this book are *chef’s kiss.*
On the other hand, the middle 200 pages are a total slog. Also, as much as I enjoyed her character in the first book, Lila Bard was quite annoying at several points in this novel.
Lila groaned and looked down at the course rope cinched tight around her hands, doubly grateful that the bastards had left her legs here, even if she was trapped in an abominable dress. A full-skirted, flimsy green contraption with too much gossamer and a waist so tight she could hardly breathe and why in God’s name must women do this to themselves?
Good. God. Please. Shut up. It’s just a dress. She talks about it like it physically pains her to wear one, or like she’s allergic to them, or something. Because girl, that is what we call an overreaction.
And dialogue like this is only part of what annoyed me about her in this installment. Some of her character traits were very close to Mary Sue levels on a few occasions – being able to master a brand new language in just a few weeks, becoming a master at magic in just four months despite the fact that it took literally everyone else years to do this. And let’s not forget how often people tell her she’s “Not like other girls.”
She did have a couple of good lines though…
“I know where you sleep, Bard.”
She smirked. “Then you know I sleep with knives.”
Not to mention, I kind of feel like she stole the spotlight from my man Kell. Ya know, the main character?? And speaking of said main character, I really like where Schwab took his arc in this book.
Kell’s relationship and mysterious new connection with Rhy Maresh – his foster brother and heir to the throne of Arnes – was taken in the best direction. They had to deal with the fallout of the events of A Darker Shade of Magic, and I loved how they dealt with their shared pain, emotions, and PTSD, and how they eventually made themselves to be better and began letting their problems go, in order to make each other happy.
I also liked how Kell developed true goals and desires here. In A Darker Shade of Magic, despite his habit of collecting and trading contraband between the Londons, he was still Red London’s magic lapdog that was totally okay with being Red London’s magic lapdog. In A Gathering of Shadows – after experiencing a true adventure, as well as nearly dying for the first time – he wants to be free and go out and see the world whenever he wants. I loved seeing grow as a character like this.
I also enjoyed seeing Holland again and finding out what he’s been up to. AKA, how he moved the plot along while the other characters threw tournaments and parties. And – poor Holland – now that he’s free of Athos Dane’s curse, he just wants to save his world. And all he gets is done overpowered shadow-king who wants to “help.”
“What do you want?” asked Holland.
To live, said the shadow. I can save your life. I can save your world. It is a simple deal, Antari. My power for your body.
“And whose mind?” Holland challenged. “Whose will?”
Now talking about new characters, Alucard Emery was an absolute joy. He was the swashbuckling, handsome, and charming privateer and captain of the Night Spire. I also really liked his interactions with Lila, and how, similar to her interactions with Kell, he wouldn’t tolerate her crap if it went too far.
I also really liked that we finally, sort-of got to meet the main antagonist. We sort of got a glimpse of him in the first book, but he was never properly introduced. I won’t spoil anything more though!
I wish we got to see more of the other Londons, though. Most of the book was spent in Red London, and it felt like we hardly ever saw the other three, especially compared to the first book. I would have loved to see more of Grey London, since it’s basically our London from 1801. Kell only popped in like, twice, and one of those visits was super brief. I immensely enjoyed how Grey London was featured in A Darker Shade of Magic, and how it had characters based on real, historical figures.
It was also nice to pop in and see what was up with White London too, but, like Grey London, I really wanted to see more of it. It was awesome to see Black London for the first time, and that’s a location I understand wanting to save for the finale. It was fascinating to see its current state, and I hope the characters return and spend a good deal of time there in A Conjuring of Light.
But, for the majority of it, I did enjoy this book. And that ending got me excited for the last of the trilogy (and OMG THAT CLIFFHANGER!!). I recommend this book to anyone who liked the first one and is looking to continue the series, especially since it’s the kind of sequel where reading the first book is actually required to understand it.
Have any of you guys checked out this series? How did you feel about this book, if you’ve read it?
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!
Book Description: Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.
One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled through the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old, in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.
My Review
Star Rating: 🍰🍰🍰 • 3 / 5 cakes!
So. D’you wanna tell me what’s going on?
Okay, to start off this review, I want to immediately make clear that this graphic novel was absolutely adorable. Saccharinely sweet, one might say, and not just because of the gorgeous cover.
At its core, this book is just a chill, slice-of-life story, with some fantasy and romance elements added to the mix. (I know. I have to stop it with these baking puns.) And I enjoyed it for being what it was. Not to mention, the main characters were pretty likeable, which is exceedingly important in a novel. So, before I get into the stuff I didn’t like as much, let’s talk about the things this book did that were fantastic.
First of all: the characters. I liked Nova 🪄🧹 and Tam🐺🌳 – the protagonists. I liked how Nova was a witch and how she used the knowledge and magic she’d gained through her studies in her daily life. It seemed so casual and natural, and there was nothing forced about it. (I also enjoyed how Nova being hard of hearing was handled. I didn’t really know where to put this, but I wanted to mention it, so it’s here.)
I also liked Tam and their werewolf powers, and how the book emphasized that werewolves have magic, which is different from witch magic. I thought that was really cool, and it’s something I’ve never really seen before in a book. I also loved how the book handled Tam’s enby status. It was just a part of their character, and wasn’t their one and only defining character trail. Tam is also self-conscious, brave, and protective.
I missed you too.
Tatyana 🧪💡 was the absolute best character in the novel, though. I loved how she was a total science nerd, and the scepticism she showed towards what could be done with magic, despite knowing that it existed. I also loved how supportive Nova’s grandmas were, and how the relationship mostly focused on in Mooncakes wasn’t the romance (though there was romance) but the found family aspect.
Also, before we get into my cons for the book, I really want to highlight the artwork. It’s seriously good. The cover is merely a prelude to the amazing pictures inside. Wendy Xu is a very talented artist, and should definitely be recognized for it.
Now, it’s time for my grievances. First off, the antagonists sucked. I know, I know, it’s a slice-of-life. But I just kind of expected the villains to be better, is all.
Second off, I did not appreciate the insta-love between Tam and Nova. I should clarify that this point in particular is probably a me thing: I’m a slow-burn type of gal. But I also feel like getting together at the end of Chapter 2, after only meeting again for the first time in years at the end of Chapter 1, was a little too fast. Yeah, I get it – they’re teenagers. It still bothered me. I also would’ve liked to get to know Nova and Tam as individual characters more before we got to know them as a couple. I much preferred all of the found family stuff. (The lesbian grandmas were perfect, though. I loved reading them interact.)
Also, one last criticism. I hated how Nova tried to rub in one of the antagonist’s faces that she was gonna make out with Tam. Like, this individual obviously did not care whatsoever. Not to mention, it seemed kind of childish for a 17-year-old; it honestly sounds more like something a 12-year-old would do. And also, the antagonists were too stupid to use this information, freely given, as some sort of leverage. Like, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop for most of the novel. (Minor spoilers, I guess?)
Anyway, Mooncakes was, over all, pretty great. It was beautifully illustrated, with a likable setting and characters. (Who doesn’t love a witchy story set in New England?!?) This book is great for those of you who enjoy gorgeous graphic novels and some fantasy. It’s a wonderful, cozy read, perfect throughout any time during the fall, though near Halloween might be the best.
Have you read this book? What are your favorite things to read around Halloween? Thank you all for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!
