books, Horror, Reviews

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5.

The blurb for this book is what drew me in, and for the first 50% of the book I was a happy camper joyfully following the story and getting creeped out by the excellent descriptions… Then the book started to drag. The descriptions were still excellent, but there was no “meat” to them. There are episodes that didn’t bring anything to the story but took up extra pages, like when Vera drives several towns over to go to a bar… only to leave because the bartender is too chatty. That added nothing to the overall story or Vera’s character that we didn’t’ already know. And of course the ending was a total miss for me. I expected a twist, but what the author choose for a twist simply didn’t work and made no sense, at least for me.

So this leaves me with a sense of frustration and disappointment. I was ready to love this book to pieces and give it my first 5 stars of 2024… then I was so mad I almost 1-stared it. But upon reflection and some cooling down, I will give it 2.5 stars for the excellent first half.

I think the biggest problem is that there are no good people in this story. Vera is an awful person. The more you read about her, the less you want to spend time with her. I mean it’s one thing to have mixed feelings about how you should feel about your father. On one hand, he is a serial killer that literally tortured and murdered people in the basement of his house. On the other hand, he is still your dad, and he loved you when your mother really didn’t. So I understand why Vera still loves him and clings to her memories of him, and why she feels guilty about it.

But as the book progresses and you discover more and more of Vera’s past, things turn very creepy and plain wrong. Just reading about her childhood and her reactions to what her father did made me feel dirty on the inside. Not a feeling I particularly enjoy, thank you very much. Also, not a character I want to root for. And I cared less and less for Vera the more the book progressed, so I quickly lost interest.

All the other characters are just as awful and honestly got everything they deserved, but also, not interesting to follow along with. So this left me with a protagonist I ended up hating and a story I grew more and more disinterested in. So this was a miss for me.

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

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Redspace Rising by Brian Trent

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Stars: 3 out of 5.

I have a hard time reviewing this book. On one hand, I loved the worldbuilding. It’s complex and interesting, and brutal, to be honest. In a way, it reminded me of Altered Carbon. On the other hand, I honestly couldn’t care less about the protagonist or the other characters. Hence my dilemma, so I will just rate it middle of the road, I think.

This book illustrates perfectly that the value of a human life goes down significantly when technology is advanced enough to achieve near immortality. Why care about the body if your consciousness is backed up on a regular basis, and you can be decanted into a new clone in a matter of days? It opens the door to great deeds of selflessness, but also to horrible abuse. Just thinking about the torture row on Phobos makes my blood boil. Imagine torture that can last forever, because every time you die, they just decant you into a different clone and start all over again. 

On this one, I wish we would have had a chance to explore the theme of identity a bit more in this book. What happens if there are several versions of you running around at the same time? Who is the real one or the “prime”? What rights do the clones have? How do you decide whose memories and experiences merit a backup and whose don’t? Unfortunately, even though we have a character living in two bodies, that particular concern is never explored.

As I had mentioned, by biggest problem was that I couldn’t empathize with the protagonist. In many ways, Harris Alexander Pope is a blank slate. I understand that this was done on purpose, since even the character himself doesn’t know who he really is or what he wants, but it makes it hard for the reader to form an emotional connection. Since Harris doesn’t his own mind or even his motivation in most cases, it’s hard to decide if we should root for him or not. What does he want in life apart from meet up with his brother? Unknown. Why is he pursuing the Patriots so relentlessly? Unknown. Why does he always repeat the same speech word for word before he kill them? Un… no, wait, that is known, but that would be a big spoiler.

It doesn’t help that the supporting characters are rather unlikeable, apart maybe from Umera. And the bad people are so villainous they come across as caricatures. I mean what’s with the supposedly great general and strategist who finishes all his sentences with an exclamation point and loves to drone on and on and on… like he is giving a lecture? I couldn’t take him seriously even if I wanted to!

I also wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I mean, yes, it’s a win for humanity – they get a chance to expand beyond the solar system, but is it a win for Harris? I wouldn’t be so sure. He is still stuck in his hunt and destroy loop, and he honestly doesn’t have any dreams or desires aside from that. 

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

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy, YA

Cast in Fury (Chronicles of Elantra 4) by Michelle Sagara

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Stars: 3.5 out of 5.

Just like in books 2 and 3, we discover the origin and secrets behind yet another race populating Elantra. This time, it’s the Leontines. Marcus is in trouble, and as usual, Kaylin is in the middle of it all. Oh, and did I mention that there are repercussions from what happened in the end of the previous book? Big tidal wave, anyone? Well, humans are wont to misunderstand everything, so they now think that the race of telepaths summoned the wave to try and murder them, instead of being there to try and stop it. Since they already fear them, hatred isn’t that big of a step. The whole city is a powder keg waiting for a spark to explode into civil war and bloodshed.

I love how little things mentioned in previous books come to play in the consequent books in the series. That one scene in the previous book where Kaylin came to help a lone Leontine to give birth in book 3 is front and center in this book. And we finally get an explanation why that mother was completely alone with noone to watch over her and her new baby (something unheard of for this race).

I already mentioned in reviews for previous books that the world of Elantra is fascinating, so I really enjoy uncovering a new aspect of it with each book. It’s also wonderful to see how all the pieces tie together into one complex story. For example, the Outcaste dragon from book 1 plays a major role in this book as well. We we are probably not done with him yet.

I also enjoy seeing Kaylin gather a little found family around her. It’s wonderful to see a protagonist who isn’t a lone wolf. She has friends, surrogate parents (Marcus and his pridelea), even siblings (the foundlings hall), and now an adopted son. She’s come a long way from the almost feral child from the fiefs, terrified of her own powers and traumatized by her past. Now she has something to fight for, and people she cares deeply about, and who care about her.

My complaint about this book is Kaylin herself. While she grows and mature in some ways, she remains just as ignorant and pigheaded in others, and that’s starting to get on my nerves. For example, she is told repeatedly by her teacher and other very powerful people that she needs to master her magic. Her life literally depends on it. Yet she is less then diligent in her studies. Or just general knowledge of the city around her? Kaylin sees times and times again that she is severely lacking some basic knowledge of history, racial differences and etiquette, and that ignorance landed her in hot water more than once… yet she doesn’t seem to want to do anything to remedy this. Why? She is a smart and resourceful woman. She should jump on the opportunity to broaden her horizons, but instead she grumbles and moans about it, and never really pays attention to what everyone is teaching her. This is becoming rather annoying.

My other complaint is with Severn, or rather the lack of any evolution for him as a character. He is a wonderful character, and I would like to know more about him, but as it stands. He has no agency of his own, he is just an extension of Kaylin. The silent friend and protector who seems to not have a life of his own. That’s a great disservice to a wonderful character. I hope he gets to act more independently in consecutive books. 

I also would like to know what happened to Kaylin in the six month between when she fled Nightshade and when she joined the Hawks.

All in all though, I’m still very invested with this series and I want to see more of that world.

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

The Myth Manifestation (SPI Files 5) by Lisa Shearin

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Stars: 4.5 out of 5.

This is another excellent installment into the series. I swear this keeps getting better and better with each book.

In this book, we have a variation of a closed room (or in this case a closed hotel) mystery. Our characters, along with a bunch of other magical races, find themselves trapped in a hotel that has been transported into a pocket dimension. They can’t get out, but monsters sure can get in, and they have big appetites and nefarious intentions. What follows is a tense couple days during which our characters fight for their lives and try to determine exactly what happened, how to stop it, and who is responsible. Non-stop action and thrills, and the book flies by.

Mac continues to progress and develop as a character without losing her spunk and humor. I am not ashamed to say that she is quickly becoming one of my favorite urban fantasy heroines, there along with Kate Daniels (which is high praise). She is really becoming a badass, even though she isn’t portrayed as this killing machine that needs no man to help her. On the contrary, Mac is a seer, so her powers are non-offensive. She can’t conjure fire and incinerate her enemies. She doesn’t have super strength or super speed or fast regeneration. All she can do is see through glamor and veils. Oh, and detect portals. But she makes the most of her ability, which makes her an invaluable asset to her team.

I loved that she has a pain gun instead of a normal gun. Because SPI has plenty of sharpshooters, but they can’t hit what they can’t see. So Mac’s job is to hit the target well enough to make it visible to the snipers who can punch it full of holes afterwards. She has to be a good shot to hit a moving target in a frantic situation, but she doesn’t have to worry about delivering a kill shot. 

And I love that her team knows how to utilize her abilities best and that they have a backup plan for her if things hit the fan. And Mac sticks to that plan instead of trying to go GI Jane on people (and probably get herself killed). Like during the methodical sweep of the hotel floors. The plan was that if they are overwhelmed and she can’t help, she runs for the hotel lobby to regroup with the rest of the SPI commandoes. And Mac does just that.

My only complaint about this book is that there wasn’t enough Ian in it. Oh, he was present, but there wasn’t much Mac and Ian interaction. I love how those two bounce off each other. And since their relationship turned firmly into the adopted siblings category, their banter is just so fun to read about. I hope we get more of them together in the next book.

I also think that the tie in to the author’s other series set up in the same universe was well made. Now I want to read about Raine Benares as well to see if the main villain of this book gets his just desserts. 

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

Killing Pretty (Sandman Slim 7) by Richard Kadrey

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Stars: 4.5 out of 5.

This books marks a turning point in James Stark’s life, and a sort of reboot of the series as a whole. After all, Stark saved the world from the Old Ones in the previous book and got rid of his arch-nemesis Mason once and for all (hopefully). So he should be able to live happily ever after, right?

That’s precisely what this book covers – how do you live after you fulfilled your purpose. Stark saved the world, but lost the Room of Thirteen doors in the process, so he can’t travel through the shadows anymore. So for the first time since he came back from Hell, he is stuck on Earth. No more popping to see Lucifer for a drink, heck no more zipping through LA from shadow to shadow. He has to brave the horrible traffic like any other shmuck. But more importantly, they had to fake Candy’s death at the end of the previous book, so she has a new face, new name, and is trying to build a new life for herself. Which means their relationship is basically starting over. Oh, and did I mention that Stark never got paid for his efforts to save the world? So he is broke as well. So no money, no girlfriend, no easy means to travel… and no purpose in life. Stark is not a very happy boy.

It was interesting to see our protagonist struggle with what to do with his life now that he doesn’t have a big bad to defeat or even a little bad in the face of Mason. Stark is questioning his own choices and actions in this book. This is especially visible in his relationship with Candy/Shihiro. Yes, it’s the same person underneath the glamor, but he still feels like he is cheating on the old Candy when he is with her new persona. And the things she told him in the previous book keep haunting him as well. Is he using her? Is he trying to mold her to be a monster like he is because he wants somebody like that by his side? Does he really love her or the image he created of her in his head?

I also had a lot of fun watching him function like a normal(ish) human being in LA – battling traffic, workplace rules, and having a boss he had to report to. As you can imagine, it failed horribly. Stark is not cut out to be an investigator – he is not the meticulous type who can sit in a stakeout for hours or go through surveillance footage. He gets bored and then his destructive tendencies kick in. And I think he finally came to terms with the fact that kicking doors and busting heads is what he does best. Now, he will have to figure out how to put this talent to use and earn some  money in the process. Maybe working with the new Augur would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. 

All in all, I really love where this series is going. This is a more subdued book, compared to the previous one, but that’s exactly what we all needed. Time for retrospective and reassessment. 

books, Ghost Story, Reviews, Urban fantasy, YA

City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake 1) by Victoria Schwab

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Stars: 4 out of 5.

This was a refreshingly good YA ghost story. And no romance of any kind in sight, so thank god. 

Can you imagine being a kid and being able to see ghosts? Not only see ghosts, but be able to cross the Veil into that strange in-between world where they reside? And also to be compelled to do that even when you don’t really want to? And not being able to talk about it to anyone, because even though your parents are famous ghost researchers, they don’t actually believe that ghosts exist. Kinda ironic, when their daughter knows for a fact that they do, and her best friend is one. 

I really loved our protagonist Cassidy. She is smart and capable, but also flawed and a typical teenager in some ways. But when she is faced with hard choices and horrible things, she does everything she can to make things right and to fight for her own freedom and her life. I also liked her relationship with Jacob and how they always have each other’s back. I’m glad that she has at least one friend that she can confide in, even though nobody else can see him. 

The story itself was sufficiently creepy and atmospheric. I lived for a year in Edinburgh, so I can attest that the author managed to capture the essence of the old city perfectly. Made me nostalgic in fact. Well, for the sights and ambiance of Edinburgh, not for the weather.  

I would have loved to have a little more interaction between Cass and the other girl who has the same gift. Their time together was very short, and I feel like they never got a chance to really talk. 

I am looking forward to picking up the next book in the series and discovering more about Cass’ gift and what it means to her relationship with Jacob. Oh, and visiting another haunted city.

books, Fantasy, Reviews, YA

The Book that Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy 1) by Mark Lawrence

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Stars: 4 out of 5.

Mark Lawrence delivers an epic story once again. I loved his book of the Ancestors series, but wasn’t impressed with his Prince of Thorns series. One thing for sure though, he knows how to build fascinating worlds and create memorable characters. 

Here, we follow two protagonists whose stories, at first glance, have nothing to do with each other, but who prove to be intertwined at the most intimate level. Evar has been trapped in the Library his whole life. All he’s ever knows are stone walls, mountains of books, his four siblings, and the mysterious Mechanism that allows whoever enters it with a book to live inside that book. But Evar can’t help but feel like he is missing something, or someone very important to him that the Mechanism made him forget.  Livira is a child of the desert and desolation who was brought into the Library after a disaster befell her home. Her situation there is precarious, but she is smart and tenacious, like the weed she is named after.

It was interesting to try and puzzle out how the two stories are connected. Or why Evar is trapped inside the library with no way of getting out. It was also rewarding to follow Livira’s journey of self-discovery. Despite all the odds stacked against her, she managed not only to stay in the Library, but also discover more of its secrets than anyone ever had. I liked the fact that the Library exists not only across different worlds, but also across all timelines. 

The main themes in this book also hit rather close to home – the intolerance, humanity’s tendency to divide people into “my tribe” and “the enemy”. The subjugation and hatred of anybody that is different. It was interesting to see how the Library could be used to bridge a gap between cultures and species, if only someone made the effort to do that. 

While I really liked this story, I thought the book dragged a bit in the middle. The action slowed. Things were happening to our protagonists, but there wasn’t a clear purpose to it. I got a bit bored. The ending though more than compensated for that. 

My bigger issue is that even though we are told that Livira’s situation is precarious, and there are several attempts on her life throughout the book, I never had a feeling that she really was in danger. Probably because the author uses the convenient time skip when things are about to come to a head, or she is about to face the consequences of her actions, and we only learn of what happened when it’s already been 3-4 or five years down the road. The book would have had more impact if we had seen Livira get hurt, or punished, or actually BE in danger before the end of the book, instead of just told about it after the fact. 

I would also have loved to learn more about the city beyond the Library, and the wider world in general, but I understand that this is only book 1 of a trilogy, and the whole series concentrates around the Library, so it’s normal that we spend most of our time there. 

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

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

Dungeon Crawl (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress 8) by Annie Bellet

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Stars: 3 out of 5.

It wasn’t as good as the previous book, which I kind of expected. After all, last book was the culmination of a story arc that had started in book 1 – the final confrontation with Samir. It would be hard to beat that emotional punchline. 

But even with low expectations, this book felt more like a side-quest than an actual main instalment into the series. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was a fun and quick read, and we had zombies! And teamwork! And Nazi werewolves! And both Jade and Alek were awesome in their own ways as well. But it felt a little bit.. pointless, maybe? There were really no stakes in this for Jade and her crew. 

She could have walked away from that house as soon as she discovered that something was amiss. It wasn’t a matter of life and death. In fact, I would argue that the attack on Alek was more important than the house robbery, because it had deeper-running ramifications, so it should have been explored more. Instead, it was treated like a side quest in the main dungeon crawl. 

I still thoroughly enjoyed the book though, mostly because of the characters and their interactions. The bander is priceless. You can really see that these people know and love each other and trust each other implicitly as well. It was fun to see them play to their own strengths and tackle difficult situations together. It also shows big emotional growth from Jade, because she finally trusts her friends enough to stand up for themselves and not have to lie to them to protect them. 

I just hope that there is a bigger story still to tell in the last two books of the series and that this instalment was just the calm before the storm that is about to descend on our unsuspecting crew of gamers. Either way, I will be there for the ride.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Soft Science Fiction

Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture 2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Stars: 4.5 out of 5

You would think that when different factions and races that make up intelligent life in the galaxy discover that the Architects are back, they would put aside their petty squabbles and unite in the face of an overwhelming enemy, right? Well, you would be wrong.

The Architects are back and this time they are destroying inhabited worlds regardless of the species who live on them, whereas before they only concentrated on human worlds. Heck, even the Hegemony isn’t protected by their Originator relics anymore. But instead of uniting and fighting together, humanity is shattering and descending into an inner conflicts. HUGH and the Partheni are at each other’s throats and the smallest spark can ignite a powder keg of mutual destruction…

It’s interesting to see that all the characters in this book struggled with their loyalties to their respective factions versus their own moral code and what they thought was the right thing to do. Idris defected to the Partheni at the end of the last book because he hoped that they could engineer Ints without subjecting people to the horrible programs that HUGH had put in place. Programs that have over 80% mortality. And the surviving Ints are broken beyond repair, and are no better than slaves. But when a war between HUGH and Partheni seems eminent, he struggles with this decision. Is he a traitor for abandoning the Colonies? Of course, soon that consideration becomes rather irrelevant, at least to him.

Solace and Olli have their own doubts and crisis of faith moments as well, but ultimately, I love that their first loyalty is to their found family on Vulture God as well as humanity as a whole instead of a particular faction their originated from. 

We also learn a lot more about the universe, the structure of Unspace and its relation to our real space, oh and a little bit about the foreboding presence that stalks whoever enters Unspace. 

I was also impressed with the few planets described in this book. The destruction of Arc Pallator by the Architects after they removed the Originator ruins was epic. Especially considering that our characters were smack in the middle of it, running in said ruins. That was an amazing and heartpouding sequence of events.  And Criccieth’s Hell is truly a hellish world. 

My only complaint about this book is that the characters seem a lot more passive than in the first book – things happen to them, and they just react to that instead of being a driving force behind the story. This is especially true of Idris, who spends the whole book being a magic McGuffin that everyone tries to kidnap.

This small complaint notwithstanding, I enjoyed this book, and I am looking forward to the last book in the series.

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

The Getaway God (Sandman Slim 6) by Richard Kadrey

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Stars: 4 out of 5.

I had been disappointed with the previous book in the series. I had found it meandering, and all character progression Stark had been through in the series had been pretty much negated. So I was rather apprehensive to continue with this series and I took a long break. Fortunately, my friends on Goodreads had only good things to say about book 6, so I decided to give it another go. I’m glad I did.

This is Sandman Slim at its best. The stakes are high for the world, but are also deeply personal to our characters and Stark in particular. And those personal stories are usually the ones that I like the most, because they have the most heart to them. Yes, the world may end if Stark doesn’t save the day, but what is more important to him is that Candy isn’t acting like herself, and there is nothing he can do about that. 

Stark is still his usual impulsive self, but it’s nice to see him try and temper his destructive tendencies and think with his brain, not his fists for a change. He understands that this is not a problem he can simply pound into the ground until it stops moving. He needs to think outside the box and cooperate with other people if he wants to save the world and those he cares about. Ironically, his solution is actually inside a box, well, inside a room, but I won’t spoil any more of that.

I was happy to follow along with Stark as he tackles this latest problem and finds an acceptable solution, even if it leaves him with rather diminished abilities and the necessity to find a job. Now that will be interesting to see in the next books.

I admit that I wasn’t a fan of Mason’s return. He seems like this jack in the box character that keeps popping up at the most inconvenient times no matter how many times you defeat him. By book 6 that grew kind of old. I think the author milked everything he could out of that character, because he was starting to look like a over the top villain by this book. All crazy and moustache twirling and no substance beyond evilness. Hopefully, this is the last we see of him, and even that is one time too many, in my opinion.

All in all though, I really enjoyed this installment in the series. It was a fast-moving romp with surprisingly a lot of heart, which you wouldn’t really expect from Sandman Slim. I am in love with this series again and looking forward to the next book in the series. I want to see how this private detective gig will work out for our Nephilim. 

My dreams and stories. The life of a writer.