Tag Archives: book review

The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan 1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

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Stars: 5 out of 5.

I loved this book! There are several authors whose books are a must-read for me, and Robert Jackson Bennett is one of them. Like Brandon Sanderson, I consider him a master in creating complex and interesting worlds with engaging characters you grow to love and root for. I read the Divine Cities and the Founders trilogies before and absolutely loved them, even if both broke my heart with the deaths of certain characters. I can feel that this series will be a favorite as well, judging by the first book.

This story starts with what looks like a straightforward murder investigation but then evolves into something more complex and sinister – a conspiracy that threatens the very foundation of the Empire. However, I must argue that the threat is an unintended consequence of greed and thirst for power. It’s interesting how petty the motives are behind some of the most earth-shattering events.

Robert Jackson Bennett once again created a truly unique world where an entire civilization lives in the shadow of Leviathans – huge monstrous beings who come ashore every wet season, and the only thing preventing them from reaching the heart of the Empire and wreaking havoc and death along the way are giant walls and the Legion who man them. And to have even a minuscule fighting chance to defeat those leviathans, the members of the legion themselves are heavily modified by grafts and suffusions, which make them stronger, faster, smarter, but also less and less human. This is a harsh world where the whole economy of the empire and the ideology of its various peoples are targeted toward surviving another year. All kinds of atrocities can be committed and justified to fulfill that goal.

I loved the characters in this book, especially Din. He is a newly modified engraver, which means that he remembers everything he sees, hears, smells, or reads. And I mean absolutely everything. And can recall it in perfect detail, down to people’s tone of voice when recalling dialog. He is assigned as assistant to a disgraced investigator who ended up banished from the inner ring of the Empire to the backwater canton where he resides for… doing something. Din feels out of his depth, but he is resolved to do his best, and his best often exceeds all expectations. 

I loved just how down-to-earth and pragmatic Din is, and that he has a strong sense of justice and a very good moral compass. He might seem slow and emotionless, but he is anything but. He seems mild-mannered and unwilling to cause a scene, but when push comes to shove, a lot of suspects realize that his will is unbendable. He will get his answers with the single-mindedness of a pitbull, no matter the discomfort he must endure along the way.

Ana is another fascinating character and a good foil for Din’s perpetual seriousness. She is eccentric, irreverent, and plain weird. She enjoys subverting people’s expectations and taking them out of their comfort zone… then observing their reactions and making her conclusions. And a lot is going on in that genius brain of hers. I would love to know more about her backstory. She mentions at one point that she has no grafts of other modifications, that she was just born that way, and then was part of a unique experiment, but we don’t get more details. I want to know more!

All in all, I am sold on this new series. I devoured the first book, and I already requested the second one from NetGalley. I would highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys good characters, interesting worlds, and a good murder mystery to boot.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk

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Stars: 3 out of 5.

I have a love-hate relationship with anthologies. They can be a lot of fun if the stories held within are entertaining and written by authors who have the knack for writing compelling stories in the least amount of words possible. Trust me, it’s a hard art to master. On the other hand, they can be a slog if most of the stories are lackluster at best and uninspired at most. Then it turns into an exercise of frustration reading them, because I feel bad skipping a story I don’t like, especially since I’m not guaranteed that I would like the next story, or the one after that either… Yet, for some reason, I keep requesting anthologies every time I see them on NetGalley, and I read every single one of them.

In this case, the anthology is rather meh. Most of the stories felt rather uninspired. And a few only vaguely touched on the theme. I came expecting fun stories of mechanics with grease on their coveralls and under their fingernails, and a knack for fixing anything with the right size wrench and a few curse words. But a lot of stories concentrated more on their political messages than that particular theme. I felt like I was being preached to instead of entertained. And a short story is NOT the right medium to get your political, philosophical, or moral point across. There are simply not enough pages to establish the world, and the stakes, and make us care for the characters and the message you want to deliver. 

Also, there were fewer mechanical shenanigans than I wanted in a dieselpunk anthology. 

The two stories that stood out for me were “Nobody’s Hero” and “The Return of the Diesel Kid”. They were written by different authors, but seem to share the same world, where superheroes, called Capes, and their sidekicks are a common occurrence. Those stories didn’t take themselves seriously, but were really fun to read. I thoroughly enjoyed our non-powered mechanics saving the day in both of them.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Poison by Chris Wooding

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Stars: 4 out of 5.

I admit that this story turned out differently than I expected. Not that I complain, mind you. I was expecting a fairy tale retelling with a YA vibe with a usually annoying protagonist who knows everything better than the adults around her. Who never listens to anyone else, yet somehow is rewarded for it. Oh and yes, who is always right. 

What I got instead is a much darker and more subtile story, and a reflection about fate, predetermination, and freedom of choice. Are we really the masters of our destiny, or are we merely stories written by a superior being somewhere? Whether you call him or her God, creator, Hierophant, it doesn’t matter. That is a very deep issue to ponder, but don’t worry, the book isn’t heavy on existential angst. This is a fairy tale, after all. 

I was not particularly fond of Poison in the beginning, because she came across exactly like the YA protagonist I described in the first paragraph of this review – sullen, stubborn, thinking that she always knew everything better than the adults. I grew to appreciate her as the book progressed though. That deep sense of not belonging where you live, of being a stranger even to your family, that’s… sad, but also very human. There have been times when I felt that way as well. And that sullen stubborness is what pushed Poison to keep on going, to keep on fighting even when the odd seemed overwhelming, or the horrors to face were too much. 

I liked the side characters as well, even if they don’t get nearly as much attention as Poison does. But Fleet, Bram and Peppercorn are fun characters to follow. And there is a very intelligent cat in this story, which automatically adds an extra star from me because cats are awesome. 

And even though the story turned a bit meta for my taste at one point, I loved the (logical) ending of this. It made sense, and it was right, and I will not say another word about it not to spoil anything.

The Warded Gunslinger (Warded Gunslinger 1) by Filip Wiltgren

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Stars: 4 out of 5.

This was a pretty good novella, and honestly, for how short it was, it managed to accomplish the most important thing – make me interested in the characters and the world. The author doesn’t waste time or words. The action moves swiftly, and there are no superfluous scenes at all. 

Also, that book cover is pretty badass.

But he still manages to introduce the protagonist and clearly set the stakes. We know why Jake is at Jackson Depot, and we know why he is dead set on finding those who decided to break into his ship and steal his cargo. And it all makes sense, and I can root for him. I also liked a lot of the secondary characters, no matter how little pagetime they got. They were all memorable and relatable. Even the thieves, because they had done this out of desperation more than malice towards our protagonist.

The world itself is a fascinating mix of science fiction and fantasy – where magic infuses every day things, but humanity is flying on spaceships and has managed to colonize space. Oh, and there are dragons, or void wyrms, how cool is that?

My only complaint is that we don’t get enough information about this world. A syndicate is mentioned, and the Federation, and a Magical Academy of sorts, but I have no scope. How far did humanity spread from Earth? Are there any other alien races out there apart from the Void Wyrms? Many questions and not enough page time to get the answers. I will have to pick up the next books in the series to find out more. From what I have seen, there are at least three more already out, and I will definitely check them out.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Tempest of Tea (Blood and Tea 1) by Hafsah Faizal

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I was attracted to to this book because of the gorgeous cover and a description that promised a fun heist where a group of underdogs went against a tyranical government. What I really got was… not exactly that at all. Partly, this was my fault, because when I bought this book, I didn’t realize that it was young adult. Me and YA books rarely speak the same language, probably because I’m several decades past that particular stage of my life. 

Still, I can enjoy some modern YA books, and I’ve read a couple series that I absolutely loved this year (Like the City Between Series), so my failure to mesh with this book is not just because it was YA, but because of the things the author decided to put their emphasis on instead of what I expected them to concentrate on.

I was coming for an action-filled heist capper with engaging characters and high stakes, where I could root for the good guys and rage against the villains that oppress them. And definitely cheer when they finally managed to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat and save their home and their livelihoods. Overtrowning the current government was optional but would be a cherry on top.

What I got instead was chapters and chapters of characters catching feelings for each other, and being to naive/immature/emotionally repressed/stupid (circle the word that applies) to acknowledge those feelings. Seriously, nobody in this crew is mature enough to face what they are feeling and talk about it like normal adults. Be it Arthie and Laith, or Jin and Flick, they keep putting their heads in the sand and singing “La, la, la, can’t hear you!” every time. Yes, you are attracted to each other, get over it and move on with the darn heist! Flick was especially getting on my nerves with her unwillingness to face the facts about her adoptive mother. I mean, she is so naive, I can’t believe she managed to survive on the street long enough to have a forger business.

My other problem is that the worldbuilding is lackluster at best. The author throws in some description of the world, but they are vague and don’t paint a full picture. We have a masked King that is elected by a council, but exactly how does that work? Also, is this supposed to be steampunk, gaslight mystery or what? Is this world magical, or industrial or a mixture of both? How did the vampires come about? What is their standing in the society? At the beginning of the book the author says that they are treated like parriahs, yet there is an exclusive club for vampires that seems to hold sway over the highest reaches of the government. Everything is vague and half-baked, and honestly, I started loosing interest when I realized that it won’t be explained better.

Also, I never could connect with any of the characters. Jin was okay, apart from becoming a bumbling fool every time he was with Flick, but I couldn’t stand Arthie. For someone who was supposed to be one of the good guys, she is an extremely unpleasant person. Also, I still don’t quite understand her motivation and her backstory, and I couldn’t care less.

In summary, this is a giant miss for me. I finished the book, but I was tempted to quit around 60% in, and only the fact that I was stuck in a place with no internet and this was the only book actually downloaded to the Kindle on my phone made me keep reading.

Emerald Blaze (Hidden Legacy 5) by Ilona Andrews

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Stars: 5 out of 5.

This was a lot darker and more angsty than the other books in the series, but I can understand that. Catalina has a LOT of things to worry about, the biggest one being her horrible grandmother. She’d been literally killing herself trying to keep her family safe and solidifying the power of House Baylor. And she thought that she had to sacrifice parts of herself and her happiness to do that.

I’m glad that Catalina and Alessandro had a honest and serious talk as soon as they could and that he was very honest and upfront about what happened. I like that he acknowledged that running away and abandoning her at the end of the previous book was a horrible thing to do. I like that he didn’t try to excuse his actions, but owned them instead.

I love all the relationships Ilona Andrews writes about because they are healthy and mature, where people actually share their feelings and talk about their issues instead of just letting them fester.

I think this was a very cathartic book for Catalina. She finally mended things with Nevada, and she realized that she didn’t have to carry the burden of House Baylor on her own. And she finally found the one person that would stand by her no matter what and be her equal, ready to help or call on her bullshit if needed.

Also, the Abyss was really terrifying, though I can’t help but feel sorry for the nameless telepath that was killed to create this abomination. I’m sure that even if he was a volunteer for the serum experiment, he hadn’t chosen to die for it.

Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World 1) by Rebecca Roanhorse

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Stars: 3.5 out of 5

I loved that we get to explore a world based on something other than the standard european mythology. Don’t get me wrong, I like my elves, werwolves, and vampires, and pseudo-medieval world, but sometimes I want something different. Adn different this is.

This world is based on native american mythology, or at least the mythology of the Dine poeple, and it’s a world completely alien to a Russian-born immigrant like me. It was fascinating and I thouroughly enjoyed exploring it, even though I had one heck of a time with the pronounciation of the names of all the different creatures. This is where I really wished I was able to enjoy audiobooks without getting sidetracked very 5 mins, because hearing how they are pronounced would have helped a lot.

The plot is tight and moving along at a steady pace. I don’t think any part of the book lagged, and there is no dreaded slump in the middle. I would even argue that the plot moved a bit too fast at times, not leaving time for the characters to deal with the aftermath of some of their actions.

My issue with this book, and the reason it’s not a 5 star review, is that Maggie started irritating me by the end of it. I get it that she is a damaged and traumatized woman who has a lot of baggage to unload and process. Problem is, she behaves like an emotionally stilled teenager at time, which grows old pretty quickly. Though I must admit that I saw some character growth in her by the end of this book, so I have hopes for the sequel.

And the fact that she was completely oblivious about the discrepancies in Kai’s behavior when they were so explicitly telegraphed to the reader makes her seem stupider than she is. I mean seriously, every time she starts asking good questions, the conversation is interrupted because plot happens, aka the author wants to keep the mystery going to get the big emotional reveal in the end. I think that did a disservice to both Kai and Maggie as characters.

Despite this, I did enjoy this story and I wil definitely pick up the next book to learn more about this world.

Sapphire Flames (Hidden Legacy 4) by Ilona Andrews

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Stars: 5 out of 5

This is the first book about Catalina, and I loved it. I loved all of the Nevada books, so I was a bit apprehensive to switch to a different narrator, but I love Catalina too. The Baylor women are strong and badass in their own ways. And it’s a testiment to the authors’ gift with words that the protagonists don’t sound the same. Nevada has a completely different personality than Catalina, and it shows on the page. 

But when it comes to the Hidden Legacy books, I especially love the Baylor family. All of them are a hoot to read about, be it Granma Freda with her letal machines with hilarious names (seriously, who calls a tank Brick?), or  Bern and Leon. I always get this warm and fuzzy feeling when I read about that family, because they feel real, and you can see that they genuinely love and care for each other. In the world of Hidden Legacy, where alliances are made based on power, and children are made based on genetic markers they would have and powers they would inherit, seeing a family that doesnt’ care about any of that and just loves each other is a breath of fresh air.

And I think by being how they are, the Baylors attract the right sort of people to them. They help others because they feel they should, and they stick by those who hire them, so they tend to assemble friends who think and feel the same. I loved that we got to see Sergeant Teddy again. I wonder what kind of creature Shadow is… she has way too many teeth for a dog. I’m sure she will have a surprise or two for those who try to harm Catalina in the next books.

We also learned a lot more about the world of Hidden Legacy and the serum that created it by destroying the world as we know it. I can’t wait to see how Catalina’s new status plays out in the next books.

The Graveyard Watch by R. J. Eason

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

This book had potential, I love urban fantasy and new interesting takes that authors have on the old thrope of monsters living among us without the general public being aware of it and secret agencies in the government created to police them. So I was more than on board with this and ready to enjoy my read. Unfortunately, the execusion suffers from what I would call “the first book” syndrom. And while I am willing to forgive a lot if I like the story and the characters, the flaws outweighted the positives in this case.

My biggest issue with the book is head hopping. I HATE this. It gives me whiplash and immediately takes me out of the story, killing all enjoyment. I don’t mind having certain scenes narrated by different characters as long as there is a clear separation between them. In this case though, we have some scenes where the POV literaly changes from paragraph to paragraph in the same scene, which is really off-putting and confusing.

My second issue was the way the author chose to write the accents different characters have. Like Sebastian, the French werewolf. While that would be fantastic in an audio book, it sounds very forced and unnatural written on a page. It is honestly hard to read, because the words are writen wrong to immiate an accent, but since I am reading this, not listening to it, half the time I have to stop and re-read to even understand what the author ment. There are other ways of showing that English isn’t someone’s native language.

My other issues are related to the characters and the general worldbuilding. 

Where it comes to the worldbuilding, there isn’t enough of it. It leaves more questions than answers. Like how does the Graveyard Watch fit into the rest of Brittish law enforcement or even government? Who does the Commander answer to? Who pays the bills? What is the chain of command here? What is the scop of their powers? What is their ultimate mission? Are they judge, jury, and executionner? Are they enforcers or also councelors whom the supernatural community can turn to for help? Are there other divisions of the Graveyard Watch in other countries? A centralized authority that overseas them? Who watches the watchers? No clue, because that’s never explained. 

My other issue is with the characters. We don’t know anything about them apart from their funny accents. The only one we get a bit of a backstory about is Domingo, but even then it’s not much. The characters are just kind of there… I don’t know their motivations, I don’t know what they do in their personal lives, I don’t know what their aspirations are. They move the story forward, talk in funny accents, and (in the case of Jocasta) swoon over every hot-looking guy that happens to cross her path. 

Speaking of Jocasta, I really hated her inner monologs that were written more like dialogs. I mean does she have split personality or what? Why does it sound like another voice is answering her in her head when she is having a moment? Also, for someone who is described as an intelligent and capable medical examiner, why is she suddenly turning into a detective? Her job is not to track suspects and apprehend them. Her job is to examine a scene and a body, if there is one. The whole plot of them following Victor to his secret lair was absolutely stupid. Why would she run after a known suspect, jump into his boat, follow him into a warehouse… all that while wearing an evening dress and high heels? What is she, Super Woman?

In the end, the negatives outweighted the positives for me, hence the rather low rating I’m giving this book. I will not be continuing with this series.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Red Team Blues (Martin Hench 1) by Cory Doctorow

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Stars: 2 out of 5.

This was my first encounter with cory Doctorow, and the result is rather underwhelming. The blurb sounded very promissing – a forensic accountant, cybercrimes, cryptocurrencies, and all that jaz. I was fully onboard and ready to enjoy a good story. Unfortunately, the book itself was a big disappointment.

My biggest issue with this book, and why me and this story didn’t mesh at all, is the writing style. The prose is extremely dry and impersonal, even though it’s not third person omniscient. We are watching the events unfold from Marin’s perspective. But the book reads more like an instruction manual than a heart-poinding crime story. I mean, the author describes a horrifying scene of death and torture in the same dry language as a romantic encounter our protagonist has with one of his lady friends. Both scenes are supposed to evoke emotions, instead, they just induce boredom.

Part of the problem is also that the author doesn’t particularly do a good job with showing things. We are told that Martin is profoundly shocked by what he saw when he found those slain kids, but we are not shown that. Show us hims having nightmares about it, or a panic attack once he gets out of the crime scene, or something. Don’t just tell me that he didn’t sleep well, then continue with the story like nothing happened. I can’t be emotionally invested in a situation, if the protagonist doesn’t seem to care one way or another either.

My second problem is Marty himself. Boy, does he have plot armor or what? Also, he reads more like the author’s wish fulfilment than a real person. So he is 67, doesn’t exercise or try to keep himself in shape (at least the author doesn’t mention him going to the gym even once or for a hike, or something). He drinks like an Irishman, easts whatever he wants… yet he doesn’t seem to have any health issues (at 67), or have to take medication for anything, and he can spend weeks homeless in the streets of SF and still be a functional human being after that? Oh, and all hot, intelligent, younger women he encounters fall head over heels for him instantly. No seriously, this guy has more intimate encounters in this book than James Bond. Either this dude won the gene pool jackpot, or the author really doesn’t know what being in upper sixties feels like for most of the population.

On top of that, the story got bogged down in useless descriptions of dinners the protagonist cooked and consumed, alcohol he drank, or other rather useless trivia that didn’t advance the plot in any way. I mean, you could easily have trimmed off at least 100 pages. It would have made the book a lot tighter and faster to read. As it stood, I got bored a few times while reading and had to skim along until the plot would pick up again.

All in all, this was a disappointing book for me. I don’t think I will be continuing with this series, and honestly, I don’t know if I will check out other books by this author.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.