arc Archives - Page 30 of 31

Yzabel / May 5, 2014

Review: The Mark of the Tala

The Twelve Kingdoms: The Mark of the Tala by Jeffe Kennedy

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Queen Of The Unknown

The tales tell of three sisters, daughters of the high king. The eldest, a valiant warrior-woman, heir to the kingdom. The youngest, the sweet beauty with her Prince Charming. No one says much about the middle princess, Andromeda. Andi, the other one.

Andi doesn’t mind being invisible. She enjoys the company of her horse more than court, and she has a way of blending into the shadows. Until the day she meets a strange man riding, who keeps company with wolves and ravens, who rules a land of shapeshifters and demons. A country she’d thought was no more than legend–until he claims her as its queen.

In a moment everything changes: Her father, the wise king, becomes a warlord, suspicious and strategic. Whispers call her dead mother a traitor and a witch. Andi doesn’t know if her own instincts can be trusted, as visions appear to her and her body begins to rebel.

For Andi, the time to learn her true nature has come. . .

Review:

[ARC received through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

I enjoyed some parts of this novel, while others left me cold, so in the end, I rounded it up to 3 stars: I didn’t like the first half much, but found the second one better. (I guess this is one of those books I might have given up on in the beginning if I hadn’t requested it (with the implicit promise of a review); fortunately, after a while, it finally worked for me.)

Andromeda didn’t strike me as remarkable, indeed, though not because of her place as the “invisible” second daughter, the one always wedged between her two sisters, and of whom nobody seemed to expect much. The reason why I had my qualms with her at first was that she remained mostly passive, let things happen, let her family decide to whisk her away to Windroven, and so on. Once she decided to take matters into her own hands, the dynamics shifted, and the story went onto a more interesting road. Andi made plans, thought more in terms of alliance and politics, and turned out to be more savvy than her wallflower-princess role had led me to believe. Good thing, good thing.

Annfwn was quite a fascinating place, too, and I enjoyed learning more about it, and about the mysterious Tala, with their shapeshifting abilities and their “dark” magic that may or may not be the worst thing in the world. Boundaries were continuously tested and shifted: the actual boundary between Annfwn and the Kingdoms, as well as the characters’ loyalties. Andi’s come to mind first and foremost, yet her sisters’ mettle will no doubt be tested, too. (I admit I would’ve liked to see more of this in the present novel; on the other hand, there would be a lot to show here, so I can understand that the focus here was on Andromeda—book 2’s focus will be on Amelia, from what I saw in the preview, and we might assume that book 3 will be from Ursula’s point of view?)

Throughout the story, I got to see sympathetic, antipathic, and grey-area characters. In the beginning, the court of Uorsin is shown as a place of nobility, with its “brought peace to all the kingdoms” gleam and its shiny guests (such as Hugh, overall a positive man, but not so blandly goody-two-shoes as his Prince Charming side leads people to think). Rayfe provides a rather striking contrast: dark, rough, a demanding, ruthless alpha-male who only cares about what he wants. However, the story soon points at different interpretations. The King’s suspicious attitude towards his own daughter after her meeting with Rayfe, his way of immediately considering her a potential traitor (while her only “crime” was to be assaulted during a ride), clearly show that he’s not so kind nor benevolent. There’s a lot of talk about loyalty in here—Ursula’s toward the crown, the continuous questioning of Andi’s, Amelia’s love and devotion to her family—but in the end, the most loyal ones aren’t always the ones who’re most vocal about it. Other characters are also ambiguous: Zevondeth with her mysterious demand, Dafne who may or may not hide deeper motives…

Mostly my problems with this story, and why I didn’t give it a higher rating:

1) In the first half, Andi comes off as your average YA-novel narrator, which I found a bit juvenile. This seemed to coincide with her passiveness, though, and I felt it less and less as the story went on. Kind of like having her “grow up” at some point and make conscious decisions, become a stronger person who’s been coerced once, but won’t be again, not if she can help it. (So this “problem” was soon solved.)

2) Rayfe: I usually don’t abide by dominating males who speak and act as if the woman doesn’t have a say in the matter, and Rayfe was exactly that. After all, he was ready to besiege a whole castle, take prisoners, and perhaps worse to get Andi. On the other hand, he could’ve done those things much sooner, and somehow he also appeared as wishing to wait for Andi to come to him of her own free will. But it was free will thwarted by threat. But she—not Rayfe—was the one who decided on a plan that was definitely cunning and not so kind. So, yes, I had anticipated Rayfe as a much, much worse character, and was pleasantly surprised when he actually showed himself as still somewhat decent. Ruthless, yet not a complete boor either.
(Also, I had to remind myself that in such a setting, noble people so often got married for politics and alliances rather than love. While it seems pressuring to me as a woman, of course, it still fits the theme of this story. Andi acknowledges that such a marriage would be for politics only, just like Ursula’s would have been.)

3) The romance itself: I’m definitely shared on that one. I still have no idea whether Andi loves Rayfe, or simply lusts after him. Sometimes she seemed to consider things under the “it’ll only be political, so let’s try to be friendly at least” angle, sometimes it felt like she couldn’t live without him. I really didn’t understand her in that regard, and she seems rather confused herself on the matter. As for the sex scenes, they didn’t work for me, mostly because of the vocabulary, though: the story being told from the point of view of a princess, in first person, we can’t really have vulgar words thrown in… but phrases such as “my nether tissues” just made me roll my eyes and wish the story jumped back to the magic and politics faster.

4) In my opinion, while it was great that Andromeda understood and mastered her powers, I found it came to her just a tad bit too quickly. A matter of pacing, maybe? Too much time spent on her hesitation in the beginning (and on the sex scenes as well—they were eye-candy for me, nothing more)? All in all, I suppose I was more interested in the politics here, and in how Andi would “earn” her place in the second half of the book… so it may just be me.

What is and isn’t a problem: I wanted to learn even more about Annfwn and its magic. For instance, a lot of it revolves around blood. Blood purity taken too far and producing weak offspring. Having enough Tala blood to get back into their home country, or remaining stranded outside. The whole deal with the blood phials: Salena’s one, of course, but also that innocuous little phial Zevondeth asks from Andromeda… and I’m sure that one will get to bite our princess in the back at some point! The fact that Tala royalty seems to be linked to queens rather than kings, in spite of Rayfe’s position. And let’s not forget the dichotomy between the rumours about Annfwn, and the country Andi discovers: are the rumours totally wrong, or are there darker secrets yet to be revealed? Lots, lots of fascinating aspects, that I hope will be developed in the next book, because I wanted more.

Conclusion: enjoyable story, not more than a “Like” due to the reasons mentioned above, but still interesting enough that I’ll consider picking Amelia’s story once it comes out.

Yzabel / May 1, 2014

Review: A Creature of Moonlight

A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

A stunning debut novel about a girl who is half dragon, half human, and wholly herself.

As the only heir to the throne, Marni should have been surrounded by wealth and privilege, not living in exile-but now the time has come when she must choose between claiming her birthright as princess of a realm whose king wants her dead, and life with the father she has never known: a wild dragon who is sending his magical woods to capture her.

Review:

[ARC courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

This novel was a delightful read, with enchanting prose that kept me enthralled—not too little description, not too much, and lyrical enough without diving head-first into purple prose. It was permeated with an eerie atmosphere, and there was something definitely haunting to that world encroached upon by nature and strange creatures from the woods. The latter were appealing, intriguing, making me thinkg that I, too, would want to see what was hidden in them. And I enjoyed the depiction of “sorcery”, the concept of knitting spells and/or creatures sent to do one’s bidding. I don’t think I’ve seen that in a story yet, so it was quite new for me, and I found the idea interesting, even though it didn’t turn out as it was meant at first.

I appreciated how women in general were shown here as people with the power to choose. Even though at first, some may seem powerless, drawn into an unwanted existence, or used as pawns, in the end, they want to exert their own power of choosing, and don’t hesitate to state it. Marni doesn’t necessarily know where she’s going, but at least she knows she doesn’t want someone else to decide for her. She could’ve given in easily to pressure. She could’ve married the lord and placed herself under his protection, thus making her life easier; but I think this would also have been the easy way out, the expected romantic outcome; I dreaded it, and that it didn’t happen felt refreshing for a change.

Marni’s also a character who grows up and learns. She’d have had many opportunities and reasons to enact revenge on those who failed and/or hurt her, but she didn’t act with too much haste, she pondered her decisions, and she seemed to me like a level-headed enough person.

The one thing that prevented me from liking this book more was how it kept meandering after a while, as if Marni’s thoughts were somewhat running in circles. It left me feeling that there was little sense of urgency to the story, that things “happened” in a slow way, and not to the extent they should’ve been happening. Considering Marni’s circumstances, for instance, I found it strange that events at court weren’t more intense. She speaks of several attempts on her life, yet those didn’t look as threatening as they were likely meant to be. So the story was beautiful, but there were a few moments when I wished it would go a tad bit faster.

3.5 stars. In spite of my qualms, this is a book I’d recommend.

Yzabel / April 29, 2014

Review: The Oversight

The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

“The end always happens faster than you think.”

Once there were hundreds of members of the Oversight, the brave souls who guard the borders between the mundane and the magic. Now there are only five.

When a vagabond brings a screaming girl to the Oversight’s London headquarters, she could answer their hopes for new recruit, or she could be the instrument of their downfall.

Review:

[I got an ARC of this book through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review. Physical copy liable to change upon actual publishing.]

At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of this novel, not knowing if I’d like it or if it was starting too slowly to my liking. However, I soon found myself engrossed in the story—I only read it in more than just a couple of days because I was busy, otherwise I’d probably have gone through it much more quickly.

First, though, one thing must be made clear: this is book 1 in a trilogy, and while it doesn’t end on a strong cliffhanger, readers should be aware that not every single plot line gets resolved in it. The world building is quite complex, and only some of its aspects are revealed in this first installment. When one threat gets neutralised, another one appears; when one character is saved, another one gets into a predicament. All those things are meant to tie into the next book(s). If a reader’s all right with that, then there should be no problem.

I found the 19th century London depicted here to my taste: dark alleys and street urchins; gentlemen dealing with creatures they don’t fully understand; a travelling circus with a battle of “wizards”; the mysterious Oversight, who may be seen as “the nice ones”, but whose members can be just as ruthless as their enemies, if not more. This world is painted in more shades of grey than I could count; the purest-looking ones aren’t so innocent, and the darkest may not be so evil as they seem (the Sluagh’s vindictive attitude, for instance, partly stems from how they feel cheated: they were allowed to keep the forests/wild lands if they stayed out of the cities… but human cities are encroaching more and more upon the wilderness, making the deal somewhat obsolete).

The writing was descriptive and captivating enough, without making me feel that it was delaying too much the setting of the various plots. There was something magic-like to it that made me come back on a regular basis.

What makes this novel’s strength might be its downfall for some readers, though, in that it’s very much plot-driven. The author wove his story in a way that kept me guessing as to who was truly evil and who wasn’t, who was the enemy and who might actually be even more dangerous; on the other hand, while this was very well-done in my opinion, one might also find the characters not so well-developed in comparison. An example would be the relationship between Sara and Jack[Sara and Jack (hide spoiler)]: I could feel it, sense it, but it was perhaps too subtle, so in the end her decision to go through the mirrors[through the mirrors (hide spoiler)] seemed somewhat rushed. The story and the promises it holds for next volume prevented me from resenting this too much, but it could still be a problem, depending on one’s expectations.

Overall, a very intriguing novel which really caught my attention and makes me want to read the next one right now, but with the hopes that we’ll get to know the characters better.

Yzabel / March 26, 2014

Review: Dark Metropolis

Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Thea Holder’s mother is cursed with a spell that’s driving her mad, and whenever they touch, Thea is chilled by the magic, too. With no one else to contribute, Thea must make a living for both of them in a sinister city, where danger lurks and greed rules.
Thea spends her nights waitressing at the decadent Telephone Club attending to the glitzy clientele. But when her best friend, Nan, vanishes, Thea is compelled to find her. She meets Freddy, a young, magnetic patron at the club, and he agrees to help her uncover the city’s secrets-even while he hides secrets of his own.

Together, they find a whole new side of the city. Unrest is brewing behind closed doors as whispers of a gruesome magic spread. And if they’re not careful, the heartless masterminds behind the growing disappearances will be after them, too.

Perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, this is a chilling thriller with a touch of magic where the dead don’t always seem to stay that way.

Review:

[I got an ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. The book not being released yet, some things might be liable to change by the time it hits the shelves.]

3.5 stars. I had my qualms with this novel, but overall it had just the right amount of tension and mystery going to keep me wanting to turn the pages. And, of course, it’s got necromancy. I am always biased towards necromancy. Nothing can go wrong with necro—wait, what am I saying?

Though inspired from Metropolis, I found it to be able to stand on its own, through its mix of 1930-ish atmosphere and magic, the latter not exactly of the nice kind (even the Binding magic has its nasty side-effects). Some scenes bordered on gory and/or disturbing, and could scare younger readers, but they’re also tempered with an overall glitzy darkness, if this makes sense. We’re not given a lot of world-building, only general facts, such as the war that happened a few years ago, food shortages, people having to work in some mysterious factory, the government hiding things; I think this may or may not be a problem depending on the reader. It still worked for me, because it was reminiscent of the historical period that inspired the novel (late 1920-early 1930s Germany), and the feeling I got from this was more important than the absolute need to know everything about that world. Although I would like to know more about what exactly has been happening behind the scenes in other places than the one shown here; maybe in the next volume?

The characters were likeable, but not exceptional. I had the feeling that they were glossed over in parts, and that some events occurred too fast for them to really develop bonds. Freddy and Thea, mainly, barely meet a couple of times before he tells her everything, and this wasn’t so believable. I also found myself rooting for Nan and Sigi more than anyone else, even though Nan is barely mentioned in the blurb and we’re somewhat mistakingly led to believe Thea’s the main heroine. On the other hand, they had touching back stories, and I was still glad to see some sort of closure for them. It made for a bittersweet ending, but I wouldn’t have seen a happy-ever-ending for such a novel.

As for the plot, I found the idea to bring back dead people to life through necromancy brilliant; it’s so simple, it makes so much sense, and at the same time, it’s just so horribly fascinating that you don’t know in the end if you want to hug those people or put a bullet through their eyes, out of mercy, that is. I liked that there was a severe drawback to it, that they needed the serum to function; no magic should go without its price to pay, and Freddie himself was paying it without even knowing it. The other thing I liked about his magic was how it was in fact a good magic, one made to appease people, and not to create undead armies. Arabella’s sacrifice was moving, and helped show that Freddie could also do beautiful things using his powers.

I would however argue that things unfolded a little too quickly and easily in the last part of the book; I would’ve expected more spunk and deviousness from the villains, who went down too fast to my liking. I guess this ties with my comments about events when I mentioned the characters. I’m also rather puzzled about the whole “Guardian of Fate” business; it seemed a bit like a deus ex machina, and could’ve deserved a slightly different approach.

Dark Metropolis is, as said, not devoid of flaws; but its atmosphere and its take on necromancy definitely allowed me to enjoy it.

Yzabel / March 22, 2014

Review: The Midnight Witch

The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

“The dead are seldom silent. All that is required for them to be heard is that someone be willing to listen. I have been listening to the dead all my life.”

Lilith is the daughter of the sixth Duke of Radnor. She is one of the most beautiful young women in London and engaged to the city’s most eligible bachelor. She is also a witch.

When her father dies, her hapless brother Freddie takes the title. But it is Lilith, instructed in the art of necromancy, who inherits their father’s role as Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven. And it is Lilith who must face the threat of the Sentinels, a powerful group of sorcerers intent on reclaiming the Elixir from the coven’s guardianship for their own dark purposes. Lilith knows the Lazarus creed: secrecy and silence. To abandon either would put both the coven and all she holds dear in grave danger. She has spent her life honoring it, right down to her charming fiancé and fellow witch, Viscount Louis Harcourt.

Until the day she meets Bram, a talented artist who is neither a witch nor a member of her class. With him, she must not be secret and silent. Despite her loyalty to the coven and duty to her family, Lilith cannot keep her life as a witch hidden from the man she loves.

To tell him will risk everything.

Spanning the opulence of Edwardian London and the dark days of World War I, The Midnight Witch is the third novel from New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston.

Review:

[I received an ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. This not being a published copy, a few things may change in the final version of the novel.]

I had a bit of a hard time getting into the story at first, as the style felt a little too convoluted at times, and the whole present tense + 1st/3rd person POV shifts weren’t needed in my opinion.

Contrary to what usually happens with such stories, I ended up liking the romance part better than the witches one. It wasn’t particularly original—a young woman from a very conservative background, betrothed to a young man from an equally conventional background, falls in love with a a starving artist, and finds herself torn between what society dictates and what her heart truly wants. Though there’s chemistry between Lilith and Bram from the beginning, I thought their relationship progressed in a believable way, and that their fears and questioning about said relationship were understandable, considering the place and time period. Again, it wasn’t very original in itself, no surprises here, but it still worked, unlike too many romance plots I’ve seen in the past couple of years. Also, bubbly Charlotte wasn’t an important character, but I liked her way of being. Same with Gudrun; blunt, haughty, yet to-the-point Gudrun.

The witches-related plot, on the other hand, made me roll my eyes several times, because I couldn’t believe how the ninnies had managed to actually survive for so long. Here we have an ancient coven full of necromancers (nice ones, who only speak to the dead and don’t try to raise them every Saturday evening), but they didn’t do much, and didn’t seem very organised. That part (i.e. half the novel) seemed to rest on inconsistencies and deus ex machina, and it didn’t work for me at all. A few examples:
* When it’s time for Lilith to officially become Head Witch, someone in the coven challenges her to prove her worth. The challenge, as per the coven’s rules, is to summon then send back a demon, something that is considered as very hard and dangerous, and ended in the death of more than one witch in the past when the demon went on a rampage. For starters, why was this even a trial? Shouldn’t a coven leader realise that stooping down to this isn’t a very wise solution? Why was this rule still in effect, and not replaced by something difficult, but that may not end up with people dying?
* The challenger was a spy from the Sentinels, a group of enemy sorcerers. Everyone was wearing masks, and he had disguised his voice, so they didn’t know who it was. The senior witches decide to investigate and see who joined their coven in the past years, to try and find the spy. Then… Nothing.
* At some point, Lilith learns the name of her enemy. At least another member of the coven knows, too, because said enemy tries blackmail on that person. Were the other witches ever informed? If no, why? If yes, why didn’t they do anything?
* Very early in the story, Lilith finds herself haunted by a spirit. Why didn’t the coven band to destroy it? Lilith only enlisted the help of ONE witch. As if that would work.
* A first hard strike against Lilith. Someone dies. Then the war happens, and the enemy… does nothing to press his luck and gain some more ground.
* The Elixir, the one that can resurrect people and that the Sentinels so badly want, is on the verge of being stolen. It’s World War I: suddenly a bomb falls on the house. The thief and his acolytes die. Convenient.
* Lilith must keep the coven a secret from non-witches. But she reveals things easily enough to her lover. No wonder some deemed her unsuitable to be Head Witch.
There were other inconsistencies, and making a very detailed list would be tedious, so I’m going to stop here.

In general, I found the “nice witches” way too bland and passive. They had that whole coven, that power, they knew who their enemy was, they could’ve struck him, could’ve done, well, anything but they didn’t. They just seemed to wait in the background, wait for something to happen, not making moves of their own. I couldn’t understand why. (The matter of fragile balance or whatever else might have justified non-interference wasn’t raised, so I assumed it wasn’t an issue.)

I wish I had liked this novel more, but alas, it didn’t happen.

Yzabel / March 14, 2014

Review: Emilie and the Sky World

Emilie and the Sky World by Martha Wells

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

A Girl’s Own Adventure in the spirit of Jules Verne.

When Emilie and Daniel arrive in Silk Harbor, Professor Abindon, an old colleague of the Marlendes, warns them that she’s observed something strange and potentially deadly in the sky, a disruption in an upper air aether current. But as the Marlendes investigate further, they realize it’s a ship from another aetheric plane. It may be just a friendly explorer, or something far more sinister, but they will have to take an airship into the dangerous air currents to find out.

Emilie joins the expedition and finds herself deep in personal entanglements, with an angry uncle, an interfering brother, and an estranged mother to worry about as well as a lost family of explorers, the strange landscapes of the upper air, and the deadly menace that inhabits the sky world.

Review:

(I got an ARC copy from NetGalley. At the time, the book wasn’t published yet, but it took me some time to get to it. Some things may have changed between the version I have, and the actual, final version.)

One thing I have to get out of the way: I didn’t read Emilie and the Hollow World, the first installment in this series. Although each story seems to be self-contained, it was obvious that some elements from book #1 permeated book #2, partly through brief recapping here and there; and so I may or may have not missed a few things.

This story follows a classical adventure format, its world and themes reminiscent of classical works as well (the—lovely—cover, among other things, made me think of the old Jules Vernes books I had when I was a child). Airships, explorers, scientists with a dash of magic to their craft, and young people wanting part of the big adventure: these can and will certainly appeal to a younger audience. Bonus points, also, for the aether-ship creature, who truly was alien (not humanoid, as in too many novels), and for including the communication/language barrier. I tend to be highly skeptical of “aliens” with whom communicating is awfully easy in every aspect.

On the other hand, I found the story easily predictable (the missing expedition mentioned in the first chapters of the book was kind of a giveaway), and I think even younger readers would have the same feeling. The chapters leading to getting into the aether currents were too slow to my liking; I guess I wanted the Big Adventure to start faster—that’s why I pick adventure stories. (As I mentioned, I didn’t read book #1, but I suppose someone who has would want things to start faster?)

But those are smaller qualms: after all, sometimes we just want predictable, and in such genres, it’s not that much of a problem per se. The real issue for me were the characters, whom I just didn’t connect with: they felt brushed over, shown on the surface only, when clearly something deeper was going on for some of them, and I would’ve liked to see more in that regard. Emilie struck me as too mean and petulant regarding her brother; granted, they seemed to share history, but they’re still young (Efrain must be, what, 10?), and it was weird, because they somehow felt like they shared twenty years of resentment. As a result, Emilie wasn’t particularly likeable—at least, not like the adventurous, smart and resourceful girl I imagined her to be when I started reading. Same with the Professor and Miss Marlende: the tension between them was never really explained (though I could feel very early who they were), and it would’ve been interesting to know how exactly things became that way.

In itself, it was a fairly nice story, but one I’ll probably forget fast.

Yzabel / March 11, 2014

Review: Dear Killer

Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell

My rating:[usr 2]

Summary:

Rule One—Nothing is right, nothing is wrong.
Rule Two—Be careful.
Rule Three—Fight using your legs whenever possible, because they’re the strongest part of your body. Your arms are the weakest.
Rule Four—Hit to kill. The first blow should be the last, if at all possible.
Rule Five—The letters are the law.

Kit takes her role as London’s notorious “Perfect Killer” seriously. The letters and cash that come to her via a secret mailbox are not a game; choosing who to kill is not an impulse decision. Every letter she receives begins with “Dear Killer,” and every time Kit murders, she leaves a letter with the dead body. Her moral nihilism and thus her murders are a way of life—the only way of life she has ever known.

But when a letter appears in the mailbox that will have the power to topple Kit’s convictions as perfectly as she commits her murders, she must make a decision: follow the only rules she has ever known, or challenge Rule One, and go from there.

Katherine Ewell’s Dear Killer is a sinister psychological thriller that explores the thin line between good and evil, and the messiness of that inevitable moment when life contradicts everything you believe

Review:

(I got an ARC of this book courtesy of Edelweiss. The book being published by now, a few things may have changed, compared to the version I read.)

I can’t say I hated this novel, but it didn’t leave me with a strong impression either. I expected more darkness from Kit, more moral ambiguity; instead, I found a lot of little things that constantly challenged my suspension of disbelief.

I think the main issue for me was a pitfall a lot of stories about serial killers have to avoid: how to make the killer really dangerous, while also giving him/her flaws that would allow other people to catch him/her? Because, obviously, if the murderer’s so perfect nobody can ever uncover his/her true identity, there’s no challenge, no conflict, in terms of both plot and character development. This is where the story failed for me: Kit is “the Perfect Killer”, but the way she acts in the novel, it’s a wonder she wasn’t caught before. She befriends a Scotland Yard detective and almost immediately gives out information the police’s not supposed to know. She kills in her own school, and sets it up to make herself the only witness. She inserts herself into the investigation, goes back to the crime scenes, even lets one victim go free. She takes some care not to leave prints by using gloves all the time and not resorting to weapons that could be found… but she’s not too savvy when it comes to the more advanced forensic techniques.

Unbelievable, therefore, was the police’s incompetence. Everybody in London seems to know where the “Dear Killer”‘s mailbox is, but the police never found any lead. Kit’s signature are letters from the very people who asked her to kill, containing extremely valuable information about them and the victims; 50 murders later, how come none of those has ever led to a clue, how come the police hasn’t managed to get a confession allowing them to find the mailbox, if only by striking a bargain with a guilt-ridden “customer”? Also, Alex shouldn’t ever have allowed Kit on a crime scene, nor talked about the investigation. This works in Dexter because he’s already a member of the police force—but even Dexter’s presence on some scenes is questioned by his colleagues, when there aren’t any blood splatters to check, so if Dex can’t be there without rising suspicion, how can Kit, the teenager, whose only link with the police is the detective her mother once brought home for dinner?

Then, there’s the ambiguity of Kit’s position regarding her jobs. Is she really a serial killer, or a hired killer? Does she really off people because of some urges, or is she merely doing what her mother taught her, is she what she was brought up to be? Is her moral nihilism truly that, and does she even know where she stands? My qualms with those questions is that they were never really examined, and Kit’s actions and thoughts felt too random to really play a part in what could’ve been serious introspection. Once she says there’s no right nor wrong, and then she seems to believe she kills for justice, but the killing jobs she chooses to carry can’t be justified this way (one guy writes that he wants her to kill his fiancée, because he was involved in a hit-and-run, and now she wants him to confess to the police… so Kit kills the woman, no questions asked, when clearly “justice” would’ve been to get rid of the guy who had already taken a life). I would’ve find it more believable if she had questioned her choices on that level; she starts doing it with the one victim she lets go, but considering who her last victim is at the end, it might as well never have happened.

Kit’s relationship with her mother was probably what kept me reading: extremely unhealthy, riddled with her mom’s own madness. Mrs. Ward: a women who had married a certain man only so that she could be left alone, who had transferred her urges to kill onto her daughter, and basically shaped a kid into a monster. Maybe the idea of a teenage killer was a bit stretched, but it didn’t matter, because there was a reason behind it, and it was something I could go with (children find their first examples in their parents: what if the parents themselves are dysfunctional to the extreme?) Like a trainwreck, it was something I couldn’t help but watch, even though it was deeply unsettling, and just like with Kit’s moments of doubts about her killings, there was something interesting underneath it all, some deep questions to be asked; however, it wasn’t carried far enough in my opinion to shine through. In general, I found Kit’s thoughts and observations remained too much on the surface level, and what could’ve been character growth (acceptance, finding herself through her killings, different moral choices, whatever) only started happening, yet never went there.

Yzabel / March 8, 2014

Review: Alpha Goddess

Alpha Goddess by Amalie Howard

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

In Serjana Caelum’s world, gods exist. So do goddesses. Sera knows this because she is one of them.

A secret long concealed by her parents, Sera is Lakshmi reborn, the human avatar of an immortal Indian goddess rumored to control all the planes of existence. Marked by the sigils of both heaven and hell, Sera’s avatar is meant to bring balance to the mortal world, but all she creates is chaos.

A chaos that Azrath, the Asura Lord of Death, hopes to use to unleash hell on earth.

Torn between reconciling her past and present, Sera must figure out how to stop Azrath before the Mortal Realm is destroyed. But trust doesn’t come easy in a world fissured by lies and betrayal. Her best friend Kyle is hiding his own dark secrets, and her mysterious new neighbor, Devendra, seems to know a lot more than he’s telling.

Struggling between her opposing halves and her attraction to the boys tied to each of them, Sera must become the goddess she was meant to be, or risk failing … sacrificing the world she was born to protect.

Review:

(I got an ebook copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. This being an Advanced Reader Copy, some things in this novel are still liable to change before its publishing.)

I was mostly interested in this book because of Hindu mythology, something that I haven’t seen used in many stories so far. I only know the basics, so I can’t really tell if everything in Alpha Goddess is exact, or if the author changed a lot of things. I’m not sure I agree with the changes in spelling—why Asuras and Devas couldn’t stay the same, and why there’s a nekomata thrown in the lot, well, I don’t know. (Also, Xibalba is from Maya mythology; no idea either why it was included here.) However, the novel raised interesting questions about choice and redemption, about whether having Asura blood made you “evil” per se, or if you could still walk your own path, and I liked the kind of conundrums some of the characters (well, one of them, actually) had to go through, and what kind of answer he would find.

Another aspect that was a good change, in my opinion, was the love triangle. I’ll be open about that and admit I don’t like love triangles; most are badly written, unbelievable, and look more like the hype cliché to put in your book rather than something really relevant. There is a triangle here, but the nature of the people involved made it so that its outcome could be different: different avatars, different kinds of love, the ability to love one person with one part of one’s soul, yet also love another one with another part… This isn’t something I’ve seen so often—and it didn’t seem like an easy cop-out of “boy/girl gets both love interests”, because, well, it fits with the mythology (at least if I’ve grasped it properly).

The downside for me is that, in the end, the story didn’t click with me. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it just felt like too many YA stories I’ve read in the past. (Perhaps I’m becoming fed up, and this book had the misfortune of happening at the wrong moment for me, so don’t discard it just because I’m the jaded type.) It uses a lot of the usual YA tropes/clichés. Good boy/bad boy. Girl who finds herself ugly, but is actually a beautiful goddess. Whiny character (Sera). A big secret nobody will tell her about (at first), even though not knowing probably endangers her more. High school drama and rejection (unneeded here, I think, as it didn’t bring anything to the story). Sera gets better in the second half, maybe a little too fast: I’d have liked to see a smoother transition from “clueless girl who doesn’t know who she is” to “badass, demon-ass-kicking warrior”, because that part seemed to come out of the blue. But at least she stopped whining, and did something, even encouraging other characters to less discussion and more action, so bonus point here.

I noted a few inconsistencies, too. Sera’s mother being called Sophia was weird. Some physical descriptions seemed to have been changed at some point, with a few instances of the former descriptions remaining (ARC, though, so this might have been corrected in the meantime).

As I said, I might be just too jaded. If you’re not used to YA with paranormal/supernatural aspects as a genre, you might like it better than I did; it wouldn’t be such a bad introduction to it. If you feel you’ve already read too many similar stories, though, maybe this one isn’t for you either. It’s not “bad”. It just didn’t click for me.

(Grade: “It’s OK”, a.k.a. 2* on Goodreads, 3* on Amazon.)

Yzabel / February 27, 2014

Review: Soul Meaning

Soul Meaning by A.D. Starrling

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

‘My name is Lucas Soul.
Today, I died again.
This is my fifteenth death in the last four hundred and fifty years.’

The Crovirs and the Bastians. Two races of immortals who have lived side by side with humans for millennia and been engaged in a bloody war since the very dawn of their existence. With the capacity to survive up to sixteen deaths, it was not until the late fourteenth century that they reached an uneasy truce, following a deadly plague that wiped out more than half of their numbers and made the majority of survivors infertile.

Soul is an outcast of both immortal societies. Born of a Bastian mother and a Crovir father, a half breed whose very existence is abhorred by the two races, he spends the first three hundred and fifty years of his life being chased and killed by the Hunters.

One fall night in Boston, the Hunt starts again, resulting in Soul’s fifteenth death and triggering a chain of events that sends him on the run with Reid Hasley, a former US Marine and his human business partner of ten years. When a lead takes them to Washington DC and a biotechnology company with affiliations to the Crovirs, they cross the Atlantic to Europe, on the trail of a French scientist whose research seems intrinsically linked to the reason why the Hunters are after Soul again.

From Paris to Prague, their search for answers will lead them deep into the immortal societies and bring them face to face with someone from Soul’s past. Shocking secrets are uncovered and fresh allies come to the fore as they attempt to put a stop to a new and terrifying threat to both immortals and humans.

Time is running out for Soul. Can he get to the truth before his seventeenth death, protect the ones he loves and prevent another immortal war?

Review:

(I got an ARC of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Since this was an ARC, please note that it might still undergo a few changes before publication.)

One thing I should say from the start is that Soul Meaning would probably make a terrific movie: packed with action, flying bullets, underground treads in secret passageways, a conspiracy that could have a horrible impact on the whole world… A real page-turner.

I especially liked the setting. From what I could see, and as far as I know, real-world locations were well-documented, and I could feel the author researched those, and didn’t only made up stuff on the spot. Bonus points for proper use of French language, which isn’t such a given considering how many novels come up with mangled sentences in that regard. I also liked the way the immortals’ society worked, with two factions technically at peace, yet always seeming like they were on the brink of reigniting the conflict. Last but not least, the stakes were exactly of the kind I like to read about, and here, too, it was obvious things were researched beforehand.

Make it a (solid) 3.5 stars and not a 5, though, because of two things that didn’t really work out for me (unfortunately):

1) The action itself: I liked a fast-paced read, but this one was so fast-paced it made me feel tired. As in, physically tired, just like the characters could only be after so many days living on the edge. On the one hand, it is a positive point: any author can be proud when his/her books elicit responses from the readers. On the other hand, well… there were moments when I wanted to keep on reading, yet had to take a break nonetheless. In the end, it detracted from my enjoyment, even though it wasn’t a breaker either.
(Minor sidenote about suppressors, too: if I’m not mistaken, you’d still hear the gun shot, and it might still attract attention in enclosed spaces, if only the way a strange muffled sound where there isn’t supposed to be any would. Granted, this is nitpicking on my part.)

2) Because the story unfolds so quickly, and the protagonists are so often on the run, I felt there wasn’t enough room for character development. We get to see them react, made plans, devise means of escape, fight, piece hints together… but I didn’t get a complete feeling for them as people. I think they are deeper than that; their depth just couldn’t shine through as much as it would have in different circumstances.

Still, I liked this book (as said, I would easily envision it as a movie or an episode in a TV series), and will keep an eye out for more from this authir. It’s mostly those two specific aspects that didn’t agree with me—and may not be such a problem for another reader.

Yzabel / August 30, 2013

Review: Under a Graveyard Sky

Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

A family of survivors who fight back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.

Zombies are real. And we made them. Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few marines.

When an airborne “zombie” plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.

For it is up to the Smiths and a small band of Marines to somehow create the refuge that survivors seek in a world of darkness and terror. Now with every continent a holocaust and every ship an abattoir, life is lived beneath a graveyard sky.

Review:

(I received an ebook ARC of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

This is an oddball to review, and I still don’t know what to think of it.

On the one hand, I liked the ideas developed in it. A family already having a plan in case of a zombie apocalypse? Well, why not. They have the right connections to be informed of such things first-hand, and it’s not harder to believe in that than in, say, a family during the early Cold War living in fear of, and preparing for, a potential nuclear war. I found it interesting to see them go from “save ourselves” to “let’s try to save as many people as they can”, with all the problems stemming from organising a whole flotilla: fuel, food, who’s going to give the orders, potential dissenters who could become real trouble… Fortunately, the main characters weren’t stupid, and I appreciated seeing them not giving weapons to just anyone, and remaining just the right shade of paranoid in that regard.

On the other hand, the pacing of the book really puzzled me. I was expecting it to be more about the survival part, but the first half went much more slowly compared to the second one (the one about gathering survivors and organising a new society at sea). Some of the decisions taken by highers up seemed too crazy to be believable (for instance, who they enlisted to help create a vaccine…), and there were moments when things went like a breeze, not giving much sense of urgency. The concert at the end of part one was another mind-boggling element: fun to read on the moment, but not making that much sense in hindsight. And then we switch to part two, without having actually seen the full unfolding of the apocalypse, going from some zombies in the streets to full already-wiped-out civilisation. I guess I’d have liked to see more of that, and earlier in the story. The transition was too abrupt.

Also, the pacing in that second part felt really weird. It was more a slice-of-life (well, slice-of-killing-zombies-spree) kind of story, with lots of switching between the various characters involved, and after a while, this made the book difficult to go on with, in that it lacked smoothness in its transitions. On top of this, Faith above all was a puzzling character. When and where exactly did she get the training that allowed her to kick ass the way she did? How come she didn’t get crazy (there are some bits about that towards the end, but not as well-exploited as they could have been)?

“Under a Graveyard Sky” has a lot of potential, but in the end, it didn’t cut it for me. Too bad, because I wish it had.