I know it may not seem like it but my pace has slowed down just a little bit. The rather large size of a few of these books also contributed to the slight slow down.
This week started with the second to last day of the semester which meant that I finished one last graphic novel for the time being.
Reading this one brought back the warm fuzzy feeling of returning to a beloved world and beloved characters. It also reminded me of just how much I love Keefe as a character and witnessing his journey over so many pages. I would love for all of the books in the series to get the graphic novel treatment but with Messenger’s past few years of delayed publication of the final book and the publishing of the filler novellas (even though
I really loved Unlocked) such an endeavor might stretch over decades.
If you go into this book expecting a cozy, sapphic romantasy, you sort of get it. Whatever the author targeted with narrative, she almost met, ending up in the disappointing near miss section. the main character becomes a honey witch, something every first born daughter in her family except her mother, becomes at the behest of her dying grandmother. The main character, having recently been spurned by a casual
love interest and verbally declaring that she really has no interest in traditional female roles, doesn’t even mind the curse placed on her family by an ash witch (supposedly honey witches and ash witches have magic at the opposite ends of the spectrum; I don’t get it) to never have their true love. Of course, the main character ends up finding her true love and dramatically breaking the curse so they could be together. Unfortunately, all the pieces fit together quite poorly. I never got an inkling that the love interests had any natural chemistry. The reveals I figured out long before the rather dim-witted main character. I also felt quite jarred by the distinct shift in tone in the ending where the main character and her love interest battle the ash witch to break the curse. There is absolutely nothing cozy about that section. Unfortunately, this means that I will be donating my gorgeous special edition.
Now we get into the beach week reads.
Richard Osman is quickly becoming a new favorite author. I love the way that he builds these uniquely quirky older characters as well as their relationships, especially their relationships with younger characters. Spy and espionage, the focus of this novel, is not my preference but the relationship between the father-in-law and daughter-in-law is perfection, more than compensation for whatever the plot lacked. Reading this made
me eager to get back to the rest of the Thursday Murder Club series.
I’m not sure why I kept reading this one. If I had not had the pick me up of We Solve Murders between this one and The Honey Witch, I might have DNF’d. I knew going into this read that not many have enjoyed it. I agree with the majority. These lower expectations starting out also contributed to my completion of the book. This narrative alternates between the perspectives of two sisters (who you later learn to be foster
sisters) who had gods (also called dragons) somehow inscribed into their bones. Although the reader knows that this is a painful process, the formerly natural occurrence (also painful for some reason) is not well described. The two main characters undergo the procedure at the hands of their mother, the leader of a failed revolt against the empire. Since May appears to set this narrative in a Russian inspired world, this failed revolt may be modeled after the one that killed Tsar Alexander III and brought the doomed Nicholas II to the throne. Many of the shifts in the narrative, character motivations, magic system, and world building were murky at best. I never became invested in the story and will not continue in the series. Although this means that I will unhaul yet another special edition, I do not like the design as much as The Honey Witch.
Thankfully, I got to go right into a delightful read. I knew, based on how similar I find my taste in fantasy to be with Merphy Napier and this being one of her all time favorite books, that I had a high chance of enjoying the read. Lynch hooked me from the beginning as he introduces the titular character as a young boy, six years old I think, who has gotten too good at thievery. The narrative alternates timelines with most of the story occurring in
the “present” with Locke and his fellow Gentlemen Bastards performing their usual cons and getting swept up into a much larger plot. The other timeline shows Locke’s development into his adult self and the relationships he builds. Lynch does too good of a job with these secondary characters and their relationships to Locke. If you know, you know. I cannot wait to return to the series and am so glad that I have a Broken Binding special edition.
This is a tricky one to review since it is the second in a series and I had some difficulty reacquainting myself with the narrative. After searching for plot synopses of The Sword Defiant, book one, I definitely felt like I was on firmer ground but still felt a little confused until the narrative exited what felt like an extended prologue and returned to narration from Alf’s point of view. It wasn’t until the plot really got going near the end
that I made the connections that helped me realize what had been happening. That’s more the fault of a long gap between reading books one and two because I would have remembered the role Bor played much sooner with fresher memory. That being said, this book lacked the solid drive and/or goal of book one and definitely felt like filler for for much of the middle. Hanrahan did a lot of character exploration in this one which I appreciated. However, in my opinion, it feels like he dropped the ball on plot progression and ended this one in a way that could have made this a duology except for a few pesky threads. I will read the sequel though.
Unfortunately, I have to end the week, and this post, on a bit of a downer. I read this one via ebook which made for a bit longer reading time due to prioritizing audiobook reads so I could finish my current cross stitch project. I don’t think that the audio would have changed my opinion though. Lam has an interesting concept. Dragons and humans once lived together in the same world but a few hundred years before something
happened that “forced” a magically powerful human to banish all the dragons to a separate realm where they’ve been slowly dying off. Because of a prophecy that’s never truly explained the last male dragon finds himself somehow able to slip through a tear in the veil and become partially bonded to a human, the other main point of view character. (Two others also appear but, in my opinion, serve to muddy the narrative and bring in a cheesy cliffhanger at the end of the book.) So much of this magic and world I do not understand nor do I have any hope of understanding because Lam did not explain it. She also contradicted herself multiple times, one that I remember happened within a couple pages. At the end of one chapter Lam has a character declare that the bond was complete only to have that same character backtrack and say two pages later that since the bond was not quite complete, he could still do something about it. The last minute cliffhanger did not save this book for me. I will unhaul yet another special edition.
As I close out this post, I want to mention my current reads which will start the next recent reads. Thankfully, both The Spellshop and Strangeworld’s Travel Agency, my physical read, are going significantly better than their predecessors.
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