Fun romcom/murder mystery. I didn't love the romance which made plentiful use of a trope I don't care for but the detection was fun. Fun romcom/murder mystery. I didn't love the romance which made plentiful use of a trope I don't care for but the detection was fun. ...more
Another satisfying, twisty, slightly bonkers murder mystery from Benjamin Stevenson, this one half the length, with a Christmas theme. I enjoyed it asAnother satisfying, twisty, slightly bonkers murder mystery from Benjamin Stevenson, this one half the length, with a Christmas theme. I enjoyed it as much as ever, and Stevenson continues to be one of the few male authors I've found writing female characters well. This was exactly what I needed for a very tired and sleepy afternoon! ...more
EMPIRE OF SHADOWS has a lot going for it, even before you hit the spectacular resolution. Although it's a heftyI was blown away by how good this was.
EMPIRE OF SHADOWS has a lot going for it, even before you hit the spectacular resolution. Although it's a hefty size, the book feels like reading a fast-paced Hollywood summer blockbuster movie in the vein of INDIANA JONES or THE MUMMY. While it's a cinematic adventurer-archaeology romp, it still crams an impressive amount of cultural, geographical, and historical detail into the story without ever bogging down, and proves that you can tell this kind of story without resorting to tired stereotyping. It evokes the Lady-and-Scoundrel bickering romance trope forged in Golden Age Hollywood and any Harrison Ford movie amazingly well considering how much respect its male lead has for the female lead's boundaries - I adored finally reading a version of this dynamic that didn't make me want to slap the male lead, and I loved that the romance arc was also a really moving friendship arc at the same time.
But then the resolution hit! And I'm thrilled to report that this book has the kind of ending that lifts an already enjoyable book above itself. The final few chapters are TERRIFICALLY well-written, with an intense sense of catharsis and some absolutely delicious cosmic horror stylings. This is not one of those books that sacrifices artistic power for what GK Chesterton once called "a pot of message". Trying to avoid spoilers here, but I thought that I could predict where the story was going but it did a 180 on me in the best POSSIBLE way. I was particularly impressed with how Jackie dealt with one element of ancient MesoAmerican culture which has quite probably been inflated, but could not have been invented whole-cloth, by colonisers justifying their depredations. Speaking as a historical fantasy author myself, this must have been an incredibly tricky issue to deal with, and I salute the author!
I could go on about all the other things I loved about this book, but I should be getting up and going about my day. There aren't a lot of historical fantasy authors in the indie/self-pub community working at this level of sheer quality and class, so if you enjoy historical fantasy make sure to read this one!
I hoovered this up in two sittings and enjoyed it far more than the first one, which feels introductory by comparison. While I had a number of nigglesI hoovered this up in two sittings and enjoyed it far more than the first one, which feels introductory by comparison. While I had a number of niggles (something about the way the heroine's mental health issues are handled makes the book feel quite dark and heavy at the beginning; I am not sure a Russian ambassador's son would be like that at all; I expected to see a lot more of the secret society doing secret society stuff) mostly I really, really enjoyed being able to gallop through a silly, engaging book that required very little of my overtired brain.
My favourite thing in the series so far: the heroine's prickly but slowly-developing trust with her mother's childhood sweetheart which is a bunch of my favourite tropes in a trench coat. Least favourite thing: the absolutely bonkers plot twist at the end of this book, in which the heroine (view spoiler)[turns out to be the long lost princess of this fictional monarchy (hide spoiler)]. But that's just my personal taste....more
Alas! I presumed that the back cover of this book was promising me a thoroughly bad antiheroine getting a terrific redemption arc, but that is emphatiAlas! I presumed that the back cover of this book was promising me a thoroughly bad antiheroine getting a terrific redemption arc, but that is emphatically not what happened and I am crushed. ...more
Just silly glittery fun. This book is evidently intended to bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the spinoff, so I didn't go in expecting aJust silly glittery fun. This book is evidently intended to bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the spinoff, so I didn't go in expecting a lot of payoff. There are two parallel plots that don't connect much but I enjoyed both of them. I loved how much character development we get, especially for Grayson, with family rather than romance being the motivation. And I appreciated how much simpler and less convoluted the plot of this book was than the second and third books in the original trilogy. ...more
A darker, spikier BEAUTY AND THE BEAST retelling, mashed up with THE FIREBIRD and set in a light medieval Russian setting. Having loved Spooner's SHERA darker, spikier BEAUTY AND THE BEAST retelling, mashed up with THE FIREBIRD and set in a light medieval Russian setting. Having loved Spooner's SHERWOOD, I was eager to read this one.
This is one of those early novels that authors work on for years, sprawling out and becoming richer with time. As such, it's a deeply thoughtful and heartfelt fairytale about longing and freedom. However, for me the story fell short: having evoked CS Lewis's problem of human desire for something beyond the walls of the world, it could not present its main characters with an equally transcendent satisfaction. In the end, the book's hunters must find what satisfaction they can in each other....more
This is a book for fans of cosy, cottagecore, hopeful fantasy like INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD or WORMWOOD ABBEY. It's setWELL THIS WAS UTTERLY DELIGHTFUL
This is a book for fans of cosy, cottagecore, hopeful fantasy like INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD or WORMWOOD ABBEY. It's set in an absolutely convincing fantasy version of medieval Wales, full of the best sort of anachronisms - the sort that makes the story world richer and more resonant, not less. And, it features bright adventures, a complicated but endearing cast of characters, and rich, unexpected themes. There's that rarest of all things, a love triangle that makes sense and isn't eyerolly. There's a coven of powerful witches who are just as capable as anyone else of exploiting the world and its people, whose shenanigans have applicability for everything from capitalism to religious hierarchies. There's our three central characters, a scrappy hedgewitch with a passionate sense of right and wrong and two princes, one of whom is hungry for power and the other of whom is anything but. There's a climactic moment as bright and bursting with life as the margins of a medieval manuscript. And it all adds up into a beautiful story with a passionate sense of justice, which never become preachy and maintains its wit and good humour throughout.
I'm back to my ONCE UPON A PRINCE retellings, and this loose retelling of Cinderella got my attention because it's a deliciously angsty, dark fae romaI'm back to my ONCE UPON A PRINCE retellings, and this loose retelling of Cinderella got my attention because it's a deliciously angsty, dark fae romance with season-inspired magic, which are all things I absolutely love! I prefer my spiciness to be in my food rather than my romantasy reads, yet I often find that sweet romance is just a bit too...well, sweet...for my tastes. As a result, I absolutely loved how this book was both sweet and dark.
I also loved the way that this book tackled the second-chance romance trope. I'll admit that I've always been a bit of a sucker for this trope. The trajectory from past hurt to future healing can be a dramatic one with lots of good potential for a redemption arc - IF it's done properly. I haven't seen a second-chance romance done in fantasy before, and it was super clever to see this one done with a magical explanation: our main characters didn't ACTUALLY horribly betray each other, but illusion magic has convinced each of them that the other person did. While our hero understandably has a lot of animosity about this perceived betrayal, I loved that it takes the characters a single mature conversation to figure out that someone has been tinkering with their memories, and I loved seeing them tentatively begin to work together to identify the culprits. And, I can't say how much I appreciated the fact that as the two of them begin to unravel the truth, including mistakes and hasty judgements made by both of them, the book allows both of them to mutually apologise and begin to rebuild. I feel like I've read too many books lately where the heroine gets blamed for not accepting her love interest's half-baked or flat-out nonexistent apologies, and I loved that that didn't happen here.
I will admit that while I did enjoy the darker elements to the story, I found the hero's point of view a bit difficult to inhabit while he was interacting with, specifically, female characters he viewed as hostile or deceptive. And some readers may want to know that the sexual tension is a little higher than normal for this series. Overall, however, there was so much to love about this novella and if I could order ten more like it I would!...more
Suzannah Rowntree
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