Mid-level black humor with an unlikable main character.
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Now, I know what you're thinking. Look, lady. The main character is a serial killer. Of cMid-level black humor with an unlikable main character.
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Now, I know what you're thinking. Look, lady. The main character is a serial killer. Of course, she's going to be unlikable. That's the whole point of her, right? Well. Yes and no. You have to walk a fine line when your main character is morally vacant. I don't have to want to be like them, but I have to be able to comfortably crawl in their skin for a while and understand their motivations. As in, I'm not advocating killing off people that piss me off, but I can still nod along with the urge to do them in. I wasn't nodding along with the vast majority of the people she killed.
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As far as dark humor went, I didn't find this funny. Not in a I'm insulted way, but it just didn't make me laugh. I also got a bit tired of her referencing ordinary people. You're not an alien, dear. You've just got a really bad temper, no empathy, and are narcissistic enough to think that gives you the right to skin annoying people alive. I guess it wasn't funny enough to be funny or touching enough to feel touching. For me, at least.
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But it also wasn't a chore to read (or listen to, in my case), so I think this could definitely have an audience. It was off-kilter and a bit crazy, and not always in a bad way. The concept of this was definitely solid and interesting. Like I said, this would be a hard character and hard subject matter to get perfect, so I'm not knocking it into the garbage. I would be up for trying another of this author's stories.
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The very skinny gist is that a serial killer loses her beloved father after a long battle with dementia and ends up in a support group for other people working through their grief. Hijinks ensue when one of the people in the group finds out what she does on the side and tries to blackmail her. The title comes from her thinking she can "see people as ghosts", which just translates into her wanting to kill someone who annoys her and then being able to "look through them" and think they are insubstantial.
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It's not a bad premise at all, but it just didn't quite work for me. But I don't think you should let that put you off trying this book out if it looks like something you would enjoy. Recommended. Ish....more
Ok, so I wasn't expecting the story to take this turn. I wasn't expecting the time jump into the crew's older years. I wasn'What just happened?!
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Ok, so I wasn't expecting the story to take this turn. I wasn't expecting the time jump into the crew's older years. I wasn't expecting to see the Belters and Martians and Earthers getting along. I wasn't expecting to see Earth rejuvenated, for that matter. I certainly wasn't expecting Holden and Naomi to decide to retire! Don't worry, this is all in the first few pages. What comes next? That might be a spoiler.
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But not really. Because this story is about what happens when those crazy Martians who had been fucking around with the protomolecule come back from the other side of the gate, and bring their hybrid technology with them to conquer the universe.
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I really enjoyed this one! So the last book felt like a proper ending to the series. This one? Complete cliffhanger. (view spoiler)[James is a captive on Laconia, kept alive only because he's the only person with firsthand knowledge of some wonky things the protomolecule is doing. Naomi and Alex are separated from Bobbie and Amos, all fugitives from the Laconian Empire after a massive jailbreakesque run they made from Medina Station. And the rest of the resistance is spread thin throughout the worlds, in the hopes of finding a way to hit back at some point. Clarissa went down fighting for Naomi, which was the only thing I sort of clocked happening at the beginning of this one. Everything else was a nice surprise story-wise. Also, it was good to see Chrisjen Avasarala still kicking around. (hide spoiler)]
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I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book. Recommended....more
A slow burn novel about forced introspection that went on a tad too long. Which seems like a weird thing to say since this is a relatively short book, A slow burn novel about forced introspection that went on a tad too long. Which seems like a weird thing to say since this is a relatively short book, but there was a dragging quality to it. There was a point where both the character and I realized where this was going, but the plot itself kept spinning its wheels while Joan spun out in the desert with her thoughts.
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This was the age of duty above all else - or for most people it was. Joan had just finished visiting her daughter in Iraq and was on her way back to England when she ran into an old acquaintance. This woman did what she wanted, much to her detriment, and damn the cost to others. She popped from one man to another, abandoned her children, and never worried about doing the right or honorable thing. Naturally, Joan is scandalized by her old schoolmate's blasé behavior toward her past, and the unrepentant way she lives her life now.
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They soon part ways, but some of the things the woman said to her begin to fester in her mind, especially after problems with the train trap her in a small village with nothing to do but think. To the reader and to herself, Joan seems like a loving and much-loved wife and mother, at first. However, as she reflects back on different moments in her life, she starts to doubt not only the true feelings of those that she claims to love most, but her motivations, as well.
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Again, this was a different time, and Agatha Christie was a fairly traditional woman. So not all of Joan's ahah! moments are going to hit with a modern audience. Especially some of the conclusions Joan comes to about her duty as a Christian wife to acquiesce to all of her husband's wishes as to how they live their life.
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The ending was a bit of a wet blanket for me, but the more I think about it, the more realistic it seems. (view spoiler)[So, Joan realizes she's micromanaged her husband and children's lives to the point that they actively avoid her and keep her in the dark about pretty much everything in their lives, lest she interfere. She also realizes that her husband fell in love with another woman (who died), not because she was more beautiful or charming, but because she was an unconventional woman who followed her heart, and because they were genuine friends. They never had an affair, though, because they were both the kind of people who wouldn't have broken their marriage vows.
So, once she realizes all the mistakes and oversteps she's made in the past, she vows to make it right by asking forgiveness and starting things anew. However, once she gets home and gets back into her comfortable routine, she decides that everything she learned about herself and her family was just due to the heat and exhaustion. And she goes right back to doing things the same way as always. It's sad. And yet, how many of us have the courage to own up to our mistakes and try to change? (hide spoiler)]
Recommended for Agatha Christie completionists....more
Satanic Suicide Squad? I've seen it compared to DC's band of criminals-turned-operatives, and I'll admit that it has a certain likeness. And quite frankSatanic Suicide Squad? I've seen it compared to DC's band of criminals-turned-operatives, and I'll admit that it has a certain likeness. And quite frankly, I loved it.
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The skinny gist is that a group of misfits takes on the task of protecting the long-lost princess of a kingdom and seeing her safely home in order to be crowned queen. Except that most of the said misfits are being forced to do it because the Church has given them the option of using their evil powers for good...or death. And these guys decided that death didn't sound like much fun. Plus, who knows? Escape could be possible. Some little girl who they claim to be the next incarnation of the Savior, and who looks like a pouting baby Pope, can't be for real. They should be able to break that magic geas pretty easily. Right? Right?
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You've got a vampire, werewolf, elf, and magician, along with a knight that can't die and a cool pirate chick, all being led by an extremely green monk who has no idea what he's doing there. As you can imagine, the Church isn't always a force of good, and the monsters aren't always evil. And the newbie leader, Mr. Monk, will learn this lesson over the course of the plot.
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While I really enjoyed all the quirky characters, when asked (and yes I have been asked!) I have to say that I waffled back and forth between Baron Rickard (the recipe-repeating vampire) and Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi (magician & necromancer extraordinaire). These two were the goods.
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Now. If you're not a fan of the way Abercrombie writes, I doubt this will change your mind. If you've struggled with the character-driven storyline, the at best morally ambiguous characters, or just whatever it was about his writing style that you didn't care for? Yeah, this is more of that. And while this is set in a different world, I'm not going to push this on readers who weren't in love with his other books.
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But for fans, I think this one will be a treat. Also, not as grimdarkdarkdark as his First Law series. I mean, it's not a light and fluffy read, but this is more humor and less...I don't know. Don't expect a Happily Ever After, but it's more hopeful, I guess.
Good grief! What were they feeding the Irish to come up with such a sad story? Children of Lir sound so innocuous, like at worst, you're about to read aGood grief! What were they feeding the Irish to come up with such a sad story? Children of Lir sound so innocuous, like at worst, you're about to read a tale of mischievous kids smoking in the bathroom and drawing a sad-looking cock and balls on the side of the stall.
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But no! So the fairy king has these children that he loves, and OF COURSE his beloved wife has died. As we beloved wives and mothers tend to do in fairytales.
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The king then marries a witch, and when she realizes how much he loves his children, she curses them to be swans for hundreds of years, then adds in an amendment that they will finally have the curse broken by spoilery things happening. Or somesuch nonsense. Why must it always be swans? Those birds can fight back, in case you didn't know. If it were me, I'd turn them into chickens. Delicious, delicious chickens.
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Anyway, the dad finds out what she did and files for divorce. Or tries to kill her. Something. But the damage is done, and his kids have feathers.
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He's a fairy king, so he lasts a long time, and since he's a good dad, he spends a lot of that time with his children. Alas, finally, he dies. Sad, but not exactly surprising. After that, his swan-children fly off to the next part of their journey. It's not really interesting, to be honest, but it leads to the part where they turn back into humans. The lifting of the curse happens when a priest does his thing to help them. Again, this really isn't all that interesting. UNTIL. They crumble to dusty feathers because they're wayyyy past their expiration date. WHAT?! I guess the happy ending is that they are going to be reunited with their mother and father in death, but wow what a downer.
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Ok, so I read this one because it was part of the inspiration for what is generally considered to be one of the best fairytale/folklore retellings out there, Daughter of the Forest, and I wanted to see what the source material looked like. Let me just say, that while Juliet Marillier's rendition has been called misery porn, it does have a happier ending than The Children of Lir.
Read it for yourself. It's short.
For some reason, Goodreads does not have the short audiobook with ONLY Children of Lir listed. That's the audiobook I listened to, not the one with all 3 stories in it....more
Revenge is a dish best served cold. - Old Klingon Proverb
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So this was fun. Shivers (who wanted to kill Logan Nine fingers), Nicomo Cosca (mercenaRevenge is a dish best served cold. - Old Klingon Proverb
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So this was fun. Shivers (who wanted to kill Logan Nine fingers), Nicomo Cosca (mercenary extraordinaire), & Shylo Vitari (the Inquisitor who worked with Glokta) reprise their roles in the country of Styria. <---due to events at the end of Last Argument of Kings. If you've already read that trilogy, you'll recognize that these are minor (but important!) characters who all played roles in what happened with the Union and the Gurkish in Adua. And now we've fast-forwarded a bit. They aren't the only repeat faces you'll find, but they do make up some of the motley band hired by Monza Murcatto in her attempt to avenge herself and her brother on Grand Duke Orso of Talins and anyone else in the room who participated in the stabbing. And even the one guy who ran away.
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I feel like this was telegraphed very heavily in the first chapter, but I know how crazy people get about spoilers, so I'll go ahead and mark this just because I want to talk about it. (view spoiler)[I really wanted to understand more about Monza & Benna Murcatto's incestuous relationship. Like, you're a brother-fucker! How the hell did that happen? It wasn't like there weren't other guys around. But then again, part of me was impressed that this was such a big part of who Monza was, and Abercrombie just let that sit there like it was normal or something. (hide spoiler)]
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One of the fascinating things about the way Joe Abercrombie writes a story is the insane way the character arcs swing. The best of intentions go down the darkest paths, and the completely vile somehow find a glimmer of redemption. I'm here for that.
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The skinny gist is that this is a jaunty little murder brigade that has the feel of a heist story. Except bloody and gross, and you'll feel really dirty when it's all over with. Which is a bonus in my book, but that really depends on the reader.
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This is a standalone novel in this world, and you don't strictly have to have prior knowledge of the first 3 books. I think you'll miss a lot of the inside jokes and cameo pop-ups that make it fun, and I would suggest that it would behoove you to check them out first. Off subject a bit, but I feel we can pull behoove back into the everyday lexicon if we try.
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This was cool. I loved the way all of these characters were woven in and out of each other's lives, and I love the way he brought back some of the smaller players in the original cast and gave them starring roles. I really don't think I need to sell fans on this series. If you've loved the first three books, you'll love this one.
Paolo Cortazar and the other Protogen researchers, along with others on their team, who lived on Thoth staWhat happened to the evil scientists?
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Paolo Cortazar and the other Protogen researchers, along with others on their team, who lived on Thoth station and studied the protomolecule on Phoebe, are now in custody, living out their lives in prison and guarded by Belters.
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Life is lived in one big room with no privacy, which doesn't affect the research team as much as the other employees of Protogen. Why? Well, that's part of the story. Cortazar flashes back and forth, telling the story of his life and how he became the sort of man who could ruthlessly experiment on unsuspecting people and be 100% ok with that. And when I say experiment I don't mean like some kind of mind games, no, they let a whole-ass alien life form loose to see what happened when it grew brain spikes in folks and turned them into alien goo.
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I wasn't expecting (view spoiler)[ that the company dosed the scientists with something that blocked their ability to have empathy. It makes the company even more nefarious because they ruined even more lives than you initially thought. It also explains how the scientists could just sit there and watch all of these people die and record results. Though if history is anything to go by, there are enough people willing to do horrible things to others without the intervention of a medical cocktail. (hide spoiler)] At any rate, it will be up to the individual reader to decide whether it took something from the story or gave it a new twist.
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Overall, I liked this addition to the Expanse universe and was thoroughly entertained the entire time I was listening to Jefferson Mays narrate the audiobook.
I loved it. I absolutely loved it. And I know I said it was the end, but it didn't feel like an ending. ClosingPerfect ending for the trilogy.
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I loved it. I absolutely loved it. And I know I said it was the end, but it didn't feel like an ending. Closing the book felt kind of like when you move away from your hometown. You know everyone else is still puttering around back there - going to the grocery store, feeding their cats, getting their oil changed, vying for a promotion, cheating on their spouses, and looking for the best deal on eggs. Like, you're not passing them on the street anymore, but you know they are still out there living and dying without you being present for it. That's the vibe I got when I closed the book. <--listened to the end credits, actually, but it sounds so much more dramatic to close a book, don't you agree?
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My two favorites, Glokta & Logan, did not disappoint in this one. I can't think of anything more perfect for either of them than what happened here. (view spoiler)[Glokta and Ardee! I wanted that from the first time they ran into each other in book 1. Their back and forth, the snarky friendship they struck up, and the fact that they're both so utterly broken. If she had ended up with Luthar, I would have been sorely disappointed. Ardee was always too much for him in every way, and he allowed himself to be pulled away from her too easily. Glokta, on the other hand, found a way to save her life and ensure that she would never be overlooked again. I loved every moment of his proposal and her acceptance. Those two might be unconventional in every way, but they might also be my new favorite couple.
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Speaking of Luthar, that was maybe one of the most fun story arcs I've ever read. Here you have the spoiled, rich, playboy who has to make this hard journey to become a good man and then eventually a good king. Or so you assume. The end part where he gives up Ardee, because it's not only easier, but also because his new wife will be a gorgeous princess? And then she turns out to be a lesbian who hates his guts! The icing on the cake was when he tried to stand up to Bayaz, got slapped so hard with magic that he peed his pants, and ended up backing right on down and agreeing to just shut the fuck up and do what Glokta told him to do, was hilarious. Maybe I shouldn't have loved that as much as I did, but it was such a subversion to what we've grown to expect that I was, well, inappropriately gleeful listening to it.
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Logan's ending was incredible. Well, you know it's not the "end" of Logan Nine Fingers, but just that he started the series tumbling over a cliff into the waters and then ends tumbling from the castle window into the river below. What an amazing callback. Still alive.<-- In my head at least.
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Confirmation that Bayaz wasn't some kindly old wizard trying to make things right, but a scary as hell ancient magician that has been (and will continue) pulling the strings from behind the scenes? YES! That he wasn't defeated, that Glokta rolled over for him?! Again, YES! Though what else could Glokta do? And it wasn't like he was the sort of person to take up crusades, especially losing ones. Get out of here with that nonsense!
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Pike (West's assistant) was Salem Rews from the first book! WHAT?! Another amazing moment comes full circle and shocked the shit out of me!
The list goes on. This was everything I wanted and a bit more that I didn't think I would get. There aren't any shiny, selfless heroes here. These characters are rotten, flawed, selfish, semi-evil, and above all, put their own survival at the top of their wish list when push comes to shove. I'm so happy he decided to write more in this world, and I don't always say that. But I think I've grown addicted to the way Abercrombie keeps pulling the rug out from under my expectations, so I'm glad there's still more left for me to read.
Is Carl an unlikable cop because he got shot? Or was Carl already an unlikable cop before he was involved in a shooting that left one cop de3.5 stars
Is Carl an unlikable cop because he got shot? Or was Carl already an unlikable cop before he was involved in a shooting that left one cop dead and his partner a quadriplegic? A quadrupoligic who begs Carl to kill him, by the way. Well, maybe if he were trying to work his issues out in therapy, instead of going to therapy to hit on the psychologist, we might know. Carl, Carl, Carl. Tsk.
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The skinny gist is that no one can work with Carl, so his boss puts him in charge of this cold case division that just received a shitton of money due to political shenanigans. Now, Carl isn't going to see much (if any) of that money. The money is (probably rightly) going to fund the regular police work, and they're going to stick Carl in a supply closet to keep him out of everyone's hair.
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Ok, so while you're learning about this, you're also following the events of the first cold case he (reluctantly) takes on. A beautiful politician disappears off the face of the earth, and while the police first suspected her mentally disabled brother of having perhaps given her a shove off a boat, they soon realize that he had nothing to do with it. He was the last person to see her, but unfortunately, he's also non-verbal and can't tell anyone what happened to her. And...that's where the trail ended.
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At least, for the police. We, the reader, know what happened to her. And now the story is set up as a slow-moving thriller, while we wait for Carl and his assistant to (hopefully) find her before an elaborate death trap is finally sprung. And I do mean ELABORATE. We're talking James Bond villain-level here.
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For those of you who have seen the Netflix series, the show is a somewhat loose translation of this book. I haven't watched the whole thing, but this takes place in Denmark, not Scotland, and the characters are changed up quite a bit from what I saw. <--I was half-ass paying attention while my son was watching it. There's some very over-the-top kind of madness, and the pace isn't exactly breakneck. For those reasons, your mileage may vary with this one, but I enjoyed it well enough to download the next book. Recommended. Ish....more
And while I do love all of these guys. All of them! I absolutely love it when the story turns to himI really feel Glokta & I could be friends.
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And while I do love all of these guys. All of them! I absolutely love it when the story turns to him. He's my favorite character. So while I wish the rest of them all the best, at the end of this, I just need this one salty-ass Inquisitor to come out of it ok. Can I also just say that Steven Pacey's lisping sarcasm makes listening to Glokta and his inner thoughts absolute perfection. If you're an audiobook lover, I simply cannot recommend this one enough. Pacey is absolute FIRE voicing these characters.
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The skinny-skinny-skinny gist is that DOOM is around every corner, and some folks that I was expecting to hear more about went back to the mud with surprising speed. And for every bit of character growth we see in the right direction, something seems to come along to drag that person back into the dark. I loved it.
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I actually looked up what a Grimdark Fantasy is because I kept seeing that that's what this series is classified as, you know? And it wasn't until I Googled it that I realized I'd been reading the word wrong for whothefuckknowshowlong. I was looking at the word Grimdark, which, let's face it, is pretty self-explanatory for fantasy that is grim and dark. BUT! My brain was translating that into what I thought was the word Gridmark, which is not an obviously self-explanatory term for this kind of fantasy. I was like, what's with the grid? Is it some math-thing? What am I missing? I really don't know what's wrong with me sometimes. Or why I feel the compulsion to share my shame. Anyway. Learned something new and finished a great book.
Agatha's war with Christmas isn't over. Only this time around, she tries to avoid it instead of attempting to make it perfect. The results are the sameAgatha's war with Christmas isn't over. Only this time around, she tries to avoid it instead of attempting to make it perfect. The results are the same, and she ends up a disappointed vacationer.
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Back in the Cotswolds, she ends up entangled in a two-part mystery, as the murder of a much-hated officer on the Health and Safety board (maybe) leads to the murder of Agatha's new rival.
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As much as it doesn't deter me from reading more of these books, I have to admit that the mysteries get more and more convoluted as each book progresses. And Agatha's love life follows the same pattern as each book spirals into a will-they-won't-they triangle between James, Agatha, & Charles. The same tangled back-and-forth applies to her work relationships and friendships, as her self-centered personality wars with her unique ability to draw people in.
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And yet... I'll be coming back for more. Because I want the love match between these two narcissists to happen, dammit.
This is a side trip into the life of a little girl on a planet that is now cut off from Earth, Mars, and theStrange dogs is an understatement.
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This is a side trip into the life of a little girl on a planet that is now cut off from Earth, Mars, and the Belt. Her parents are scientists who thought they were going on the proverbial 3-hour tour, and ended up stuck on a planet for the foreseeable future.
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Cara doesn't remember Earth and loves Laconia, even if the planet is somewhat hostile to humans. To her, it's home. When she accidentally feeds a mother "bird" something that kills it, she tries to undo her mistake by taking some of her mother's completely irreplaceable equipment out into the field to save the babies. And promptly breaks it.
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And here's where the strange dogs come in. She's been seeing them around, and for whatever reason, she isn't afraid of these somewhat bizarre new creatures, but she also hasn't told anyone that she's seen them. It's almost like they seem to understand her. And then they help her. They fix her mother's equipment. In fact, they fix Momma Bird.
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And then, something horrible happens, and you've got the plot of Pet Sematary warring with the plot of The Expanse. It's kind of awesome.
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This was a different sort of Expanse novella from the ones I've read in the past in that it didn't follow a character I was already familiar with from the full-sized novels. I liked it!
Scooby vs. Cthulhu Cool concept, semi-annoying execution. Take the cast of Scooby-Doo, mix things up a bit to avoid copyright laws, and turn those charScooby vs. Cthulhu Cool concept, semi-annoying execution. Take the cast of Scooby-Doo, mix things up a bit to avoid copyright laws, and turn those characters into broken adults who were traumatized by their last adventure together. Oh, and throw in some elder god mythos. Hmm. I like the sound of that.
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I had a few problems with the book that cut into my enjoyment, and one was that it seemed to go on forever. Part of that was because of all the cutesy and nonsensical wordplay that described seemingly every. single. scene. in the book. Keri's hair was a whole other thing, but in that same vein. For some never-explained reason, it was alive-ish in that it was described as trembling with fear, looking around, and doing all manner of quasi-sentient things. Or at least that's how Andy saw it. Which was kind of cool the first time, but for me at least, it quickly became an odd joke that wasn't funny anymore. Partially, it was because Andy's love for Keri came off as obsessive and made me feel sad for her. (view spoiler)[I didn't know how to feel when they finally ended up together because it very much felt out of the blue that Keri suddenly decided to go for it. I kept hoping that there would be some indication that Keri had also harbored secret feelings for Andy over the years to make Andy's inner panting over her feel less cringy. Even so, I was glad those girls got their HEA because I'm a romantic at heart. (hide spoiler)]
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It also seemed that for no particular reason, the book was sometimes written in script format, including some references to stage directions, so it was like you were reading (or listening in my case) to a television show. Ok? I mean, that was one way to go.
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So. With these things being in play, I expected some sort of a payoff when I closed the book. You know, a reason for the weird writing style, like that at the end, we were going to find out one of the characters had been watching a movie the whole time, or the villain was having a dream about these kids catching them, or...something other than it was weirdly written because it was weirdly written. Spoiler alert: there was no payoff.
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I did like the cute little epilogue at the end with the dog, though it kind of came out of nowhere. (view spoiler)[It was nice to know that the OG dog was still bopping along, even if he had the spirit of a Native American shaman in him.<--really? ok. whatever. (hide spoiler)] And even with all my complaints, I still think the book is unique enough for me to recommend it to anyone who might be curious. It's certainly not bad and I've never read anything like this one before. So if the blurb catches your fancy, you might want to check it out. Recommended for an off-the-wall read....more
This second book in the Vera Wong series has a different tone to it than the first, as Vera herself has been chVera takes on human traffickers.
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This second book in the Vera Wong series has a different tone to it than the first, as Vera herself has been changed by the previous events. Sometimes, when authors soften a crotchety protagonist, it takes away from the fun of the story. But here it just feels like a natural progression of the character's personal journey. Vera is still Vera, but she's taken what she's learned about what it takes to have people in your life and is actively trying to soften her edges to make sure they stay in her life. It feels like an organic change, not like Sutanto has created a different character and stuck the Vera Wong label on it.
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Vera is the bossy grandmother that we all want on our side, making us food, giving us unwanted advice, and being our soft place to land. She's the pinnacle of Tough Love with an extra helping of some sort of delicious food that allows her no-nonsense brand of truth to go down a bit easier. Every young person should be so lucky to have someone like her on their side to navigate the bullshit.
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Old characters return, new characters worm their way into your heart, and all while Sutanto navigates a story of the humans caught up in the enormous global problem of human trafficking. Funny, touching, and well written. If you like the elderly detective genre, I think you'll like Vera.