NetGalley Archives - Page 46 of 48

Yzabel / December 25, 2013

Review: Dead Beautiful

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

After Renee Winters discovers her parents lying dead in California’s Redwood Forest in what appears to be a strange double murder, her grandfather sends her off to Gottfried Academy in Maine, a remote and mysterious high school dedicated to philosophy, “crude sciences,” and Latin: the Language of the Dead. It’s here she meets Dante, a dark and elusive student to whom she feels inexplicably drawn.

As they get to know each other better, Dante can’t seem to control his attraction either, and their desires gradually deepen into a complex and dangerous romance. Dangerous because Dante is hiding a frightening secret. A secret so terrible, it has him fearing for Renee’s life.

Dante’s not the only one with secrets, though. Turns out Gottfried Academy has a few of its own… Like, how come students keep disappearing? Why are the prefect-like Monitors creeping around campus during the night? And what exactly are the Headmistress and Professors really up to? Renee is determined to find out why.
Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking read, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul.

Review:

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

I don’t know whether to give it 2 or 3 stars. Some parts I liked, some I found OK, some were a little dumb in my opinion.

I must say I really liked the atmosphere in this novel: the boarding school and its odd rules, the Gothic feeling, beautiful buildings… All of this surrounded with a veil of mystery, strange behaviours from some of the characters, and bits of foreshadowing that clicked pretty well once the story reached the moments when they made sense. I also liked the “mythology” behind it all: what happened to the children, the role of the Monitors, and why the school was built. It was a somewhat different take on death than what I’ve read up until now.

The pacing lacked in the first half of the book: I think a few chapters could’ve been condensed without the mystery being lessened. Things picked up by chapter 10, which was too far in the story to my liking (and they happened a little too fast in the end, with the explanation dropped on me rather too suddenly). Descriptions helped set the atmosphere, indeed, but after a while, I was starting to wonder when the main character would finally get it—or, rather, when she would actually take useful steps and ask the right questions to the right people.

My main problem with this novel were the characters. The insta-love between Renée and Dante was explained (and easy to foresee, come to think of it), so it bothered me less here than it usually does. However, I found their relationship too basic, too superficial, and I would’ve appreciated seeing more development here. As it was, it didn’t really feel right with the ending. And, as mentioned above, I expected more action from Renée, more investigating; she looked like she could’ve been so much more, yet wasn’t exploited to her full potential. Instead, she remained too vain.

I guess I’m going to file this novel in my list of “OK books”. I cared enough to keep on reading, but I’ll probably forget about it fast.

Yzabel / December 21, 2013

Review: Daughter of Camelot

Daughter of Camelot by Glynis Cooney

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

Filled with terrific suspense and budding romance, Daughter of Camelot is a fast paced adventure set against the turmoil at the end of the Arthurian era.

Raised in the shadow of a fort dedicated to training Knights of the Round Table, Deirdre thirsts for adventure.

Instead, at 14, she is sent to court to learn the etiquette and talents of a young woman.

Court life, however, is more fraught with danger than she expected, and Deirdre finds herself entangled in a deadly conspiracy that stretches deep into the very heart of Camelot.

All Deirdre thought she knew and believed in—loyalty, love, bravery—is challenged when she embarks on a quest to defy Fate and save the King.

Review:

(I got this ebook through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I usually like stories revolving around Arthurian legends, and there were good elements in this book, but I had a hard time getting into this one. I think it was a combination of weird happening and incoherences regarding the main character, with some editing problems in the middle. (NB: I’m not sure if the copy I got was an ARC or the finished product, considering when I got it and the officiel publishing date. If it wasn’t an ARC, then there are definitely quite a few time shifts to get rid of—the narrative is mostly in the past tense, so whenever present tense pops up, it’s jarring. It also seemed to me that the story was first written in 3rd person, then turned to 1st person, and that a couple of sentences from the previous version remained.)

The main idea, that of a twin sister deciding to fight Fate and help King Arthuer, was in itself interesting—especially considering her reputation as a “witch”, because twins are considered as bad omens in such a world, and she indeed displays a few features reminiscent of druidism rather than the “new” Christian religion. Besides, I like my girl characters strong and willing to live their lives on their own terms. Unfortunately, I’m not sure this is what really happened here.

I found several things to be too incoherent to my liking. The historical mish-mash, for starters. Arthurian literature being what it is, of course I don’t expect exact history, but I have a hard time seeing “Druidism vs. Christian beliefs” and “knights in shiny armour” put in the same time period. Most of the Arthurian retellings I read and liked settled on one or the other (Chrétien de Troyes’s French stories, for instance, place Arthurian chivalry against a backdrop of 13th century Middle Ages and Christian times; while other books place Arthur as a chief in older times, with people and customs also fitting such times). It’s probably a silly argument on my part, and I’ll file it as something being really specific to me here.

What I couldn’t wrap my mind around, though, was how Deirdre was portrayed. On the one hand, we have a fiery girl who’s learnt to fight with swords and bows, can ride like men do, doesn’t hesitate to wear breeches, wants to lead her own fights… and this is all very well. On the other hand, though, she regularly displays childsh attitudes and naive behaviours that clash with that image that I felt the author wanted to convey, and made her character inconsistent. For instance, the first time she’s at court, she falls way too easily for “the knight”. All right, she’s “only” 14, but in such a time of turmoil, and in such societies, this just wasn’t the equivalent of 14 in our world: girls would likely have been more savvy in many things at that age. I was surprised that nobody actually prepared Deirdre to life at court, except for a few pieces of advice from Nia (who basically had to get out of her way to apologise for her younger sister’s blunders… every day or so). I also couldn’t help but question some decisions Deirdre made, like accepting an invitation when she knew it would’ve reflected wrongly on her.

Now, it wasn’t a bad story. It still kept me interested enough to finish it, and I liked some of the other characters, like Dewey and Sioned, who each have their own story, their own views on the world, and try to do what they can to better their situations. But I’ll still leave it in my “just OK” rather than in the “I liked it” section.

Yzabel / December 18, 2013

Review: Words Wound

Words Wound: Delete Cyberbullying and Make Kindness Go Viral by Justin W. Patchin

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

Cyberbullying among teens happens every day. Harsh words and damaging photos exchanged through texts, email, or social media can result in humiliation, broken friendships, punishment at school, and even legal prosecution. In some cases, online harassment has contributed to suicide. Faced with this frightening problem, parents, educators, and teens are looking for information and advice. But few cyberbullying resources speak to teens themselves.

Written by experts in cyberbullying prevention and reviewed by teens, this book provides strategies for dealing with teenage bullying happening online—such as saving a screenshot of hostile Facebook posts as evidence—as well as for those who have taken part in bullying others. It also presents ways for teens to make their schools and their communities kinder places that are free from online cruelty. This book gives teens the tools they need to keep themselves and others safe.

Review:

(I was given a digital copy of this book through NetGalley, in axchange for an honest review.)

“Words Wound” was a fairly interesting read. As it delves into the topic of cyberbullying (with some forays into what bullying itself is), it offers a lot of insights about what might drive some people to cause such problems to others, and about what one can do to stop such behaviours. The authors clearly speak to a teenage audience, with words easy to understand, yet never taking this audience for idiots either. They encourage readers to take a stand, to show kindness to those who’re in trouble, and/or to voice out their issues to friends and adults if they’re the ones being bullied.

An excellent thing about this book is that it gives some really good advice on technology- and internet-related behaviours. For instance, it enforces the point that when bullied, one shouldn’t react out of anger, because then the bullies themselves could turn the blame on the victims. On the contrary, the authors hand out several tips and solutions: how to take screenshots and gather evidence, among other things, so that one can then feel more confident to bring the matter to an adult. (After all, one of the biggest fears in such cases is to be called a liar, told that you’re “overreacting”, just because the other person doesn’t really get what’s happening.) They also tell how to protect one’s data and privacy on the internet—something that is actually worth for everybody, not only for younger ones. While this latter part may seem evident to some of us, I bet a lot more people actually are at risk (letting access to their phones or computers to others, forgetting to sign out of an account, etc.).

Overall, the book carries a very positive message, also giving examples of teenagers and young adults who stood up for their friends or even for some pupils they didn’t know, by creating associations within schools, organising awareness campaigns, and using internet tools to spread the word, thus showing that such tools can be used for good, too. It tells you: “you’re not alone, you can do something, and there are actually more wonderful people than idiots out there.”

Yzabel / December 3, 2013

Review: Solomon the Peacemaker

Solomon the Peacemaker by Hunter Welles

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

Vincent Alan Chell is coy about answering the questions of his captor. He’d much rather talk about his dead wife, Yael, whose suicide somehow led him into captivity. Or Preacher, the bearded leader of a cult-like group that meets in the bowels of a church basement. Or the Peacemaker, the computer intelligence that has guaranteed peace between nations for half a century.

Chell describes a world where cultural norms have changed the way people interact with technology. Humanoid robots, though ubiquitous, are confined inside private homes, giving the impression that all is well with the world. Which may be the case. Yet Preacher and his group are convinced that humankind is already in the thrall of the Peacemaker. And they might be right.

Solomon the Peacemaker, Hunter Welles’s debut novel, explores the limits of technology, nonviolence, love, and memory in the twenty-second century as it races to its incredible conclusion.

Review:

(I got an e-copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I was first attracted by the cover, which matches both my love of red/white/black colour schemes and made me wonder what about the character on it (is she connected to something, or does she have a rope around her neck?). The novel also deals with a few themes that usually interest me: how technology can affect human life, people voluntarily putting on blindfolds, and a character who, being captive, may or may have not committed some kind of crime.

It’s worth saying that Solomon the Peacemaker is particular, and is probably of the make-it-or-break-it kind. First because it unfolds in a somewhat unusual manner, in that the captor’s questions are never printed, and you have to fill in the blanks yourself, resulting in either liking it or feeling that this “breaks” your reading. After the first few pages, time for me to get used to this method, Chell’s “dialogue” parts made it easy to imagine what the questions might have been, how the interrogator may have been trying to lead him to answer specifically, and so on. However, while it worked quite well for me, it may not work for someone else. Things may also be a little confusing, since a lot of background information isn’t known, and you have to piece everything together. Due to the question/answer format, too, the narrator relies on a bit of exposition bordering on information-dumping, and this tends to force the story into more telling than showing.

But this is in the beginning, and after a short while, diving into the story became actually quite easy, as it focuses on characters, their relationships, and concepts that already exist in our time: Preacher’s cult-like church, for instance, or the hardships that can befall a marriage. Vincent tells about his life with Yael, of how their common aspirations started to differ after a while, and all the while, the Peacemaker remains looming in the background, unaware of how involved it is, how many unspoken dissensions it creates. The idea of peace being maintained across the whole world by an artificial intelligence is both fascinating and repelling, in that it raises many questions: are human beings so unable to do that by themselves that they have to resort to a machine? Is there even any hope? Also, the matter of the Host is freaky, and makes one wonder about individual sacrifice for the greater good.

I found a few things to be missing, although I suppose that including them might have cluttered the narrative. I would’ve liked to know more about the Outside, and whether is was as dangerous as the people “inside” believed it to be. I managed to make my own idea about it, but somehow, it would have been nice to get just a little more information about it. On the other hand, the whole context—the interrogation room, Chell’s knowledge that he’ll never get out of there without his brain picked apart, and his calm acceptance of this, fits the dystopian side of a world that appears perfect, yet is built on a lot of hypocrisy and damage kept hidden from public view (again, the Host comes to mind).

In the end, in spite of the couple of faults I found with it (usually, telling vs. showing is a breaker for me, but here I didn’t mind so much), Solomon the Peacemaker kept me fascinated until its conclusion. An expected conclusion, perhaps, yet one that still held quite some impact.

Yzabel / November 7, 2013

Review: Redemption

Redemption by C.J. Barry

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Reya Sinclair is a Redeemer of Souls. Her mission is to give Earth’s most depraved sinners a shot at redemption just before they are slated to die. Her own redemption is on the line as she fulfills her duties, leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake. It’s all going perfectly well until one detective takes notice, possibly bringing her salvation to a halt.

Thane Driscoll is a good cop who’s seen too many bad guys get away, including the man who murdered his father. He exacts his own style of justice, even if it costs him his humanity. A string of mysterious deaths leads him to a woman who’s not quite human and might hold the key to finding his father’s killer.

When death and shadows descend, New York City becomes a battleground for the forces of light and dark. As the body count rises and sparks fly between them, Reya and Thane race to uncover a terrible truth. Can one man hell-bent on revenge and one woman determined to save her eternal soul be enough to keep the planet from spiraling into darkness?

Review:

(I got this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

Redemption was an interesting read in more than one way, dealing with themes that left fewer room to complete black and white thinking than what appeared at first.

The notion of free will permeates it, and from beginning to end, the characters remain able to make their own choices–no matter how wrong those might be. I appreciated how Reya, for instance, didn’t try to force her views on Thane, knowing that whatever he chose, he had to do so himself, or it wouldn’t be worth much in the eye of the universe. Thane’s desire for revenge plays right into this, and leads to questioning oneself: would we seek revenge, too? Are we so sure that our motives are “pure”, and not fueled despite, our best intentions, by less than stellar deeper feelings? Personnally, I found such questions interesting to delve into.

I also liked the system behind the reincarnations: souls are the ones who choose which next life to give a try to, along with a goal to fulfil, but as they’re sent into these lives without memory of what they themselves decided, they find themselves 1) ignorant of whether what they’re doing is the right thing or not, and 2) feeling like they don’t have free will, when in fact they had all along. This is a bit of a conundrum to wrap one’s mind around, but one that is definitely thought-provoking.

The writing was okay. Not particularly brilliant, efficient in some places, yet somewhat dull in others, with a little too much telling. On the other hand, it remains efficient throughout the story when it comes to bringing in new information, and avoids the pitfall of numerous exposition paragraphs.

The main problems I had with the book were the lull in the middle (it took me some time to pick it up again at some point), and the large scope that eventually made things difficult to follow. I got the bigger picture, but in several parts, the narrative seemed to jump too quickly from one event to the other, in contrast with slower moments that could’ve been scrapped to leave more room to explanations. I think I’d also have wanted to see more of Reya’s job as a Redeemer (so many imperfections hidden behind her perfect physical facade, and so many moments when she could just stumble and fail in this life), of Thane doing his job as a kind of vigilante instead of a regular cop. The overall plot could’ve easily spanned over two books without dragging, considering what kind of scale it unfolded on, so it wouldn’t have been impossible.

I’m not 100% sure I’ll pick the next book in the series, but I can’t tell either I wouldn’t. I’m right in the middle with this one.

Yzabel / October 27, 2013

Review: Shifting Selves

Shifting Selves by Mia Marshall

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Aidan Brook’s world was shattered when the actions of a brutal murderer revealed long-buried secrets about her past. A powerful elemental, Aidan discovered she possesses the wrong kind of magic. It’s a secret that could cost her sanity—or even her life.

What she needs is some peace and quiet. What she gets is a phone call from a division of the FBI so secret it doesn’t even have a name, asking for her help with a series of shifter disappearances.

Before Aidan can settle into a new routine of pancakes and evenings by the fire, the case develops claws. She quickly finds herself caught between uptight bears, deadly mountain lions, overprotective parents, and unhappy federal agents. Throw in a stalled romance with an enigmatic shifter and the slow dissolution of her chosen family, and it’s hard to say which will drive her mad first: her magic, or her chaotic life.

Review:

(I got this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I read the first installment to this series a few months ago, and enjoyed this second one just as much, although I think I’d have liked to see more development in some places.

This time, Aidan and Sera, as newly employed by the FBI, are caught into a series of kidnappings involving shifters, but whose consequences could affect elementals as well, in more than one way. Aidan is also faced with the gloomy prospect of suffering from her true nature, and the events happening throughout the story are constant reminders for her that she must absolutely keep herself in check; and the stakes are high, since she could very well end up causing harm to those she love, including the man she’s been falling for. Finally, she must also contend with the potential slow dissolution of the new family she believed she had found, as each of her friends have lives of their own they wish to resume.

“Shifting Selves” was an enjoyable read, but perhaps a little too slow in parts to my liking, notably when it came to Aidan’s relationship with Mac. I can’t exactly pinpoint what made me think that, because it was more a faint feeling than anything else, though it lasted throughout the book. I’d say that Mac and Aidan kept running in circles for a little too long, and that in the end, things evolved without really evolving between them. The hints leading to the truth behind the kidnappings felt a little weak, too; I guess I’d have liked to see more of them—more false leads, perhaps.

On the other hand, the group dynamics remained as strong as it was in the first book, and I liked how we got to see more of the politics going on in the world of shifters and elementals (and not to mention the shifter otters: utterly adorable AND badass at the same time).

Definitely a solid 3.5 stars for this one.

Yzabel / October 23, 2013

Review: Paradigm

Paradigm by Helen Stringer

My rating: [rating=3]

(I got this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

Summary:

“If I ask you to do something, will you do it?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”

“Well, I don’t know what it is yet. But I’m guessing that death is the alternative, so I’m prepared to be reasonable.”

Sam Cooper is seventeen. He drives a cherry red 1968 GTO that he won on a bet, and spends his days exploring the open roads of the great American West. He should be living the teenage dream, but post-collapse America is a hard place to survive.

The United States is long dead, basic resources are getting scarcer, and no one on Earth has seen the stars since before he was born. Vast tracts of the country are now empty as people huddle together for safety. In all this chaos, Sam has survived on his wits and occasional luck. But a visit to the walled and prosperous Century City results in a split-second decision that changes everything. Soon Sam is on the run from the ruthless Carolyn Bast, and by something much more dangerous: MUTHA-a powerful artificial entity that has been watching and waiting for Sam’s return from the barren outlands. Sam unknowingly carries the key to something MUTHA can’t live without, something so dangerous that others are willing to kill him, or worse, to ensure that the great plex never possesses it.

Sam can’t stay one step ahead of them forever. His only hope is to unravel the secrets of his peculiar past and awaken the incredible power that sleeps within-because even in his beloved GTO, without the truth, Sam will never succeed in outracing the nightmare to come.

Review:

This novel range from “okay” to “I like it”. It is interspersed with good ideas and easily recognisable characters, and although some of the latter are a little bit on the cliché side, they still manage to stand on their own. (And let’s be honest: at some point, I do want clichés. I do want to picture the badass poncho-wearing girl slashing at enemies with knives in her hands and razor-blades woven in her braids. In fact, the illustrator in me wants to draw that.)

The villains were a little over the top at times, but I liked that they were also chessmasters, laying plans within plans within plans. Too often in books, I find the antagonists too simple-minded, so when I find one that actually remembers to anticipate, I’m glad.

What I liked less in “Paradigm” was how it could easily become confusing. It relies a lot on the reader’s intrisic understanding of vocabulary and concepts that is, indeed, part of regular readers’ of sci-fi… but not so much of others. Even though I managed to follow most of the technological ideas conveyed throughout the story, there were still moments when I had to flip back a few pages, or wonder if this or that explanation held water scientifically, or was just resting on wibbly-wobbly scientific notions. (My own knowledge in that regard isn’t fail-safe, so I can never be sure.)

The plot, too, is a bit all over the place. On the one hand, it gives off nice vibes of a mad chase; on the other, it also made me feel like the characters were always running around right and left, conveniently finding each other again, too. Things go fast, and you may not notice such details on the moment, but for me, they had a nagging tendency to come back to mind later. (I guess the main character, Sam, was confusing as well: he’s supposed to be smart, yet some of his reactions seemed to run contrary to the Sam I had learned to know until now.)

Last but not least, the romance part was simply useless. I enjoyed Alma’s badass streak and no-nonsense attitude, but friendship would’ve done the job just as well.

I’d give it a 2.5 stars, but decided to round it up to 3 all the same, because all in all, “Paradigm” kept me entertained. Still, I feel it necessary to point out that younger readers might be confused now and then by how the world is presented.

Yzabel / October 7, 2013

Review: Dream of Time

Dream of Time by Nancy J. Price

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Each night, when Robin drifts off to sleep, she finds herself dreaming about the life of a woman in the Victorian age. She soon realizes it’s not a dream at all, but she is truly slipping into San Francisco’s past.

While living two lives — one as a mom in the modern day, the other as a proper young lady at the turn of the century — she discovers *how* she’s being sent back to a bygone era is only the first mystery. A much more important question is *why* she’s there.

With the help of a rookie police officer, Robin takes off on a spellbinding adventure, sifting through a century’s worth of clues to untangle the past — and to put love to the test. History, though, proves itself a worthy opponent, and she comes to experience firsthand how destiny can be kind and cruel in the same stroke.

Review:

(I got a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

A pleasant enough book, though it might be considered as lacking in certain aspects of time travel, and perhaps character development, too, depending on what you expect.

I really liked the details of 1900 San Franciso, how Robin had to get used to her “life in the Then”, without all the commodities we take for granted nowadays. Some things she gets used to it fairly quickly, yet she definitely needs help with others, and this made the story more believable: had she been able to adapt too easily, it wouldn’t have been interesting.

I also enjoyed the links to articles, pictures of items of clothing, and various other visual tidbits throughout the text. Since this was an ebook, and I was reading either on my computer or tablet, it was very easy to navigate to the aforementioned links (although I admit I only did it once I was done with a chapter, in order not to disrupt my reading). It may not seem like much, but it was a nice add-on, and one you can tell the author enjoyed putting in.

Last but not least, the manner in which some threads tied together at the end was interesting. Some may say it was the easy way out, but I think it fit well enough; I’m not sure there could’ve been a truly happily-ever-after ending, and the one we got here, though bittersweet, still felt appropriate to me.

What I’m less sure about is how Robin took in what was happening. In some ways, she reacted very sensibly, but in others, it felt as if she was too oblivious to what seemed to me like sheer evidence, especially since she had access to much information in the Now. I had the feeling that she should’ve been looking for specific clues more quickly, and instead “wasted” her time on others. Of course, keeping in mind that I was a reader comfortably installed in her chair, and not living through such events as described in the book, it’s easy to say! This is why I’m not totally sure if the heroine’s reactions were logical or not: with everything going on, her basically living two lives (and she did a good job not breaking out after the first few days), maybe it wasn’t so surprising at all.

Another element that may have been a little confusing was the matter of paradox, which is something very, very tricky to toy with in stories revolving around time travel. There were a couple of instances where Robin discovered some clues sent to her through Jennie, acted accordingly, yet didn’t ensure that said clues would be sent to her future self, which should thus have ended as a paradox loop.

I found a few typos/missing words here and there, but nothing too jarring nor distracting in the long run. Those few qualms notwithstanding, I can say I enjoyed this novel.

Yzabel / October 5, 2013

Review: One Great Year

One Great Year by Tamara Veitch

My rating: [rating=1]

Summary:

As the world descends from a Golden Age into darkness and brutality, Marcus has been reincarnated an exhausting number of times. Selected to become an Emissary, it is his duty to protect the ancient secrets. His adventure is heightened because he secretly consumes a serum that allows him to have memory from one lifetime to the next. In doing so, he sets himself up for thousands of years of torment, loneliness, and searching.

Desperate to never forget his soulmate, Theron, and never sure if he was truly meant to be an Emissary, Marcus struggles through lifetimes to overcome his cruel and powerful nemesis, Helghul.

Fusing the adventure of Indiana Jones with the introspection and wisdom of Eckhart Tolle, One Great Year takes readers on an epic journey through history, following characters who are born and reborn as they struggle to triumph over evil.

Review:

(I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

I must unfortunately admit I had a very hard time finishing this book, and only did so because I was supposed to review it.

The ideas behind it are interesting, and could indeed have spanned for quite an epic over millenia. Besides, I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of reincarnation and those linked to it (such as that of the jati), and being able to also see the characters in some of their previous lives is something I tend to like in books. But I found the execution lacking here.

What turned me off almost from the beginning was how everything, or almost, was told instead of shown, which made up for a dull style, and one hard to stand for so many pages. As a result, connecting with the characters was difficult, both because this kept me distanciated from them and because of how one-dimensional they seemed. I never got why Helghul made such a choice in the cave, for instance, and mostly he appeared like a tantrum-throwing kid who only wanted Theron because Marcus wanted her. What were his initial motives, anyway? As for Theron, she was described as so perfect in every way in her first life that she was just unbearable; then her sole purpose in the following ones seemed to be the object of Marcus’s quest, as well as a kind of prize for Helghul. There was also quite a lot of head-jumping, with the point of view quickly shifting from one character to the other and, again, telling the reader about everything, including a bit of foreshadowing (to be fair: I like the latter when it’s done through events, only not when it’s through explanatory sentences).

Another big peeve of mine was how Marcus, basically, totally wasted his ‘gift’. I thought his having memories of his past lives would prompt him to *do* something in each new life, if only to further his chances of finding Theron, but he didn’t seem to do much, especially in his latest life, with so many means at one’s disposal. Somehow, I found myself rooting for the bad guys, because they, at least, had been planning ahead and showing signs of cleverness. With heroes like those, no need for enemies, I guess.

It’s too bad. I really wanted to like this story. But I just couldn’t.

Yzabel / September 30, 2013

Review: Quin’s Shanghai Circus

Quin’s Shanghai Circus by Edward Whittemore

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

Quin, born in China and raised in the Bronx, is orphaned in the closing days of the Second World War when his parents go missing and are presumed dead in Shanghai. Years later, in a Bronx bar, Quin encounters a stranger who hints that he can uncover the secrets of his past by accompanying Big Gobi, an adult orphan too simpleminded to travel alone, on a journey to meet his guardian in Tokyo. Quin arrives in Japan determined to uncover the truth about his parents’ past, but his search soon raises more questions than answers. What are the connections between a Russian anarchist, a one-eyed baron who is head of the Japanese secret service known as the Kempeitai, and the atrocities committed during the rape of Nanking? And what does any of it have to do with Quin’s parents?

Part espionage novel and part surreal fantasy, Quin’s Shanghai Circus, the first novel by Edward Whittemore, is a remarkable and audacious literary feat. Alive with a fascinating cast of characters and equally enthralling turns of events, former CIA officer Whittemore offers readers a mesmerizing glimpse at a secret history of the twentieth century.

Review:

(I got an ebook copy from the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

This book was a pretty weird one, in that I couldn’t honestly tell at first whether I was liking it or not, nor where it was going. At the same time, those very impressions (or lackthereof) may be what contributed to my appreciating it in the end, as paradoxical as it sounds. Reading it, seeing the story unfold, was like working on a jigsaw puzzle whose final picture I didn’t know, yet wanted to see no matter what. I always found myself coming back to my tablet to get to the next chapter.

It’s probably not a novel for just everyone. Some of the themes it deals with expose all the crass of human nature, through conflict between Japan and China and severe misdeeds from some characters(rape, murder, mutilation…), and such scenes are often depicted in a graphic enough way to be considered as disgusting. I admit those weren’t my favourite parts.

On the other hand, what I found fascinating were the relationships fitting within each other. This is basically what the novel is about: relationships above everything else, how they got shaped through events, what led to certain people to work together or become friends or lovers… The characters often had features that made them unforgettable, even bigger than life—something that may not have been convincing in another story, but felt somehow oddly logical and normal here.

“Quin’s Shanghai Circus” is definitely a strange book, sometimes disturbing, sometimes shedding light, on the contrary, on what’s still good in humans. “Read at your own risk”, I’d say.