Grave Dance

I love the books about the fae, and while I didn’t expect that of this series…we are in the world of faerie an awful lot here! It is wonderful. I don’t really know what it is, maybe seeing the same type of fae depicted in such different ways by different authors. The differences are fascinating to me.

Alex Craft raises shades of the recently deceased. She is a grave witch and helps out the police in homicide investigations. The world of faerie has “come out” to mankind years before, because they needed the belief of humans to keep them from fading away. It has been one month since the last book and Alex’s life is humming along, except that she hasn’t seen Falin (her love interest from Grave Witch and the Winter Queen’s knight) in all that time. Alex is called in to assist the police. Left feet keep turning up and she is hoping to help find the rest of the bodies. It goes nuts from there. In fact, there are so many seemingly disparate elements that Alex bumbles about unsure of what leads where. It was crazy and the action heats up because EVERYONE, faery courts, family, friends, magic users etc. wants a piece of what Alex can bring. (It is a tiny bit reminiscent of some of the Cassie Palmer books action style.) Magic constructs are attacking her and anyone near her. She finds she is linked to faerie in ways she never imagined, and then becomes linked in more ways. Her body and magic are changing since the last book and she has a whole bunch of secrets from her friends and family. It was entertainingly delicious. As a side note, this is the first book that has gotten me to appreciate the not saying Thank you or Please to the fae, implying a debt. Many stories have conveyed that information, but few have illustrated it so well.

Because there is so much action which goes in different ways, it is hard to know what is going on or to keep up. The nearly has as much difficulty as Alex does. However, it effectively masks, along with a little misdirection, what is really going on so we are all surprised when the culprit is revealed. There are many new issues and loose ends that make the next book very exciting to contemplate including castles, new relatives, faery courts, the nightmare realm and her planeweaving abilities, just to name a few. I really enjoyed the first book, Grave Witch and I very much enjoyed this one. There are many elements that are similar to other series I have read, but Price does a really good job of differentiating Alex’s world. The fae creatures we get introduced to are scary, yet at the same time the reader can empathize with their desire to remain independent and free. Her characters are great and the secondary characters are being fleshed out further with each book. Alex can see through most glamour now, so we find out some interesting tidbits here and there. Plus there are a bunch of new introductions. The new characters slow the action down a little bit and we are given a lot of information, but there are some very interesting new players in this world!

I really enjoyed this book and the series in general, they are a solid addition to the urban fantasy genre. I give Grave Dance 4 stars. I am definitely going to book push these on friends and family.

Divergent

I read about this book on goodreads.com. It was voted as the best book of 2011. I don’t know about all that, but this is one action-packed YA, dystopian future. I loved the Hunger Games trilogy so I asked for this book for Christmas. Divergent has many of the same elements but the reader has less of an understanding of a bad guy, in fact, there are a few throughout. The action is constant most of the book and is one long life or death trial for our heroine Tris. But she doesn’t understand what is really going on until very near the end, right before all hell breaks loose.

So what the heck is this perfect future mankind has created for itself? We don’t get too much world building but, after the last big war society decided to put everyone in Chicago into five factions who embody a specific virtue in order to avoid evil and war again. Every person belongs in one, and each faction is pretty fanatical about only allowing their members to elicit the supporting behavior traits of the specific virtue – honesty (no lying ever, they are loud and obnoxious), selflessness (government officials, no mirrors, bland food), peacefulness (not sure but they farm), bravery (patrol the border fences keeping something out or people in??, tattoos) and intelligence (they study all day and wear glasses to look smarter). When you turn 16 you choose your faction and don’t have anything to do with the other factions, including your family if you switch away from theirs. There is this idea that people within a faction will remain pure to that faction’s ideals and won’t have any leanings towards the virtues of the other factions. I keep thinking of Jurassic Park where the scientists think the dinosaurs can’t breed – Life finds a way. Meaning of course this perfectly controlled society will break down! I wonder if Roth is writing a mankind that has genetically changed from today to be so easily pigeon-holed or if it is a commentary on today’s society. The factions don’t get along with each other (surprise! Cliques don’t work?!) and have little trust for one another as well. Tris was raised selfless (Abnegation) but knows she has selfish tendencies and has many other traits that are not allowed within her faction, so her choice is a difficult one: to follow her own hopes and dreams and selfishly choose another faction, or stay with her family in Abnegation. She has no clue what she will choose until she makes the final decision.

Tris and the reader get quite a few hints of what is to come, but she is 16, struggling to survive and therefore not too focused about figuring out the bigger picture so it doesn’t all come together until the bitter end. In fact there are a few times where things need to be spelled out for her after she freaks out and causes problems, but then she is young and was very sheltered as they don’t believe in telling kids much in Abnegation. She does blunder about a bit and there is a surprising lack of adults throughout, so you have to ignore some stuff.

So, I whipped through this book. There are some issues, but they didn’t really ruin the excitement for me. I was big time confused at her last initiation trial, I totally thought she was giving herself away and had to put the book down an walk away. You see, Tris finds out fairly early she is “Divergent”. No one tells her what that is for quite a while, but basically she thinks differently than most everyone else. In fact, all she knows is that if anyone finds out she is divergent, she will be killed, so “be careful”. Hmmm. This is a society with crumbling roads only a few cars and little food, but they have the capability to insert some sort of serum full of transmitters into their veins to run hallucinations and simulations to help live through their fears and conquer them. A trainer can see these hallucinations on a screen, so she can give herself away by doing something “no one should be able to do.” I eventually figured out why it the trial worked, but it took me a little while to reason it out.

This series is going to be a trilogy about the breakdown of this perfect society and, my guess is, end with the phoenix of hope that rises from its ashes. The story is non-stop but truly gets going near the very end of the book. People die, more choices are made, questions are answered and some big things go down. The end is a pause in the action and we are left with a gaping hole of unknown ahead, so I am excited for when I can get my hands on the next book, Insurgent. These types of books are fun and make you think. I like this particular world Roth created because the society, while horribly flawed, was not intended as a punishment for previous deeds, there is no tyrant in power and all of the current problems are from the issues with the flawed society and the manipulations by a select few. It makes one reflect and question our current society and government as well as our minds, would I be divergent or one of the easily controlled?! A fun read, though because of the thin world building and plot holes I give it 3 stars. We will see where Roth takes us next.

One of the nice things (usually) about reviewing is that you have the excuse to reread books. Sometimes that’s not such a good thing, if you’re committed to reviewing a book you absolutely hated. Other times, it’s bliss—to sink back into a world you loved.

     The world of Wicked Gentlemen, by Ginn Hale, is a dark and brooding one, made up of equal parts Charles Dickens and the Brothers Grimm, with a splash of H.G. Wells and a healthy dollop of Wilkie Collins. The Gothic towers of Crowncross, the London-like city at the heart of the story, loom over a place almost entirely controlled by the Church, to the point that the higher professions—doctors, lawyers, bankers—are called “Orders,” and wear robes, and the police department are called the “Inquisitors.” The Church’s ascendence is due to an event from centuries before, when the literal Lords of Hell—the fallen angels of the Old Testament—came up from the depths of the Earth along with their demon hordes, and did penance for their evil before the altars of God.

      These days, the descendants of these fallen angels and their demons live in the subterranean tunnels beneath the Holy City, in a place called by the Church “Hopetown,” but is more commonly called “Hells Below.” The Prodigals, the demon kind, can’t bear the light of day, but they have other talents, the legacy of their demonic past, talents the Church tries to control as they try to control the Prodigals themselves.

      Wicked Gentlemen opens with the arrival of Captain William Harper, an Inquisitor, with his brother-in-law, at the shabby rooms of Belimai Sykes, a Prodigal prostitute addicted to the drug ophorium, an addiction he developed under the torturous “prayer wheels” of the House of Inquisition. The two are looking for a guide into the darkness of Hells Below, in search of Captain Harper’s sister, who has gone missing. He is also looking into the serial murder of several Prodigals, and suspects that they might be connected.

     Harper, the fresh-faced dedicated Church officer, isn’t as blindly obedient nor as innocent as he seems, and Belimai, the seedy, cynical whore, hides a fierce loyalty and a longing for beauty that breaks your heart. They both have many secrets that they hide from the world and from each other, even as they fumble towards something resembling a relationship.

     “Mr. Sykes and the Firefly” is the first story, told by Belimai in the first person point of view, and gradually opens up the world of Crowncross, unfolding it like a great old map with “Here Abide Dragons” marked on it. The story here deals with the serial murders. The second, “Captain Harper and the Sixty Second Circle,” is from Captain Harper’s third person perspective, and intertwined with the story of murder and corruption at the highest levels of the Church is the slowly blossoming love between Harper and Belimai, as the latter deals with his addictions and the former deals with the betrayal of his beliefs and the exposure of his past.

     These stories are chillingly beautiful, and despite the Gothic setting and the haunting sadness that permeates such a dark place, still manage to maintain a sense of hope that Right will prevail. The characters of Harper and Belimai are as complex as the setting, light riddled with darkness and darkness longing for light, and despite their appearing to be polar opposites, are perfectly matched. There are touches of humor, mostly sarcastic, that lighten the tone, and the scenes of Belimai’s withdrawal at Harper’s home are full of hope and poignancy.

     Wicked Gentlemen is a fairy tale, as dark and frightening and beautiful as the best of Grimm, and as truthful. It made me wish for more stories about Belimai Sykes and William Harper, and that is something I rarely do.

Buy on Amazon

I know very little about America, other than in a general sense, so I was afraid I wasn’t going to get it; but I did. It’s not a confusing novel for someone unfamiliar with the setting, in fact, it’s the opposite – the setting is woven well into the story, almost in the way it would be in a fantasy novel.

The whole feel of the story, from the ghostly presences of the two men the main characters are affected by to the way they start out antagonising each other reminds me of a classic Gothic romance, though without the requisite greatly unfortunate ending. It’s nearly a modern re-imagining of a stereotypical Gothic novel, with a lighter centre (though no less gripping for it).

The characters were engaging, and the mystery that formed the basis of the plot was interesting to watch unfold, with satisfying glimpses into history dotted along the way that were a bit like uncovering buried treasure. All in all, it was an entertaining read with perhaps a little more substance to the plot than you might normally find, and strong enough characters, setting and writing to hold up to the increased complexity. I can honestly say I just enjoyed reading it, in a simple sort of way that makes me perfectly happy.

Final Verdict: 4.5 stars

Get it here.

     And I do mean savored. Amy Lane is brilliant at constructing characters that you actually care about, characters that are real and flawed and lovable. Every one of them has a distinct voice, and we get two in Tate Walker, nicknamed “Talker” because he never shuts up, and Brian, his quiet, shy foil. All three stories are told with multiple flashbacks between present day and the past.

     We ride along with Brian as he meets Talker in the first book; his quiet, shy, home-schooled self taken aback by the tattooed, Mohawked stranger who sits beside him on a bus headed for a track meet. Tate Walker is the “weird kid”—the one that doesn’t walk to a beat of a different drum, but is the different drummer. He’s twitchy, nervous, and talks constantly to drown out the noise in his head, when he’s not humming or singing snatches of music. He’s also horribly scarred, both inside and out. The tattoos hide the outward scars; the talking hides the inward. From everyone but Brian. “Talker” is from Brian’s POV, and the pivotal traumatic event in this book is something that happens to Tate, and it’s Lane’s genius that makes the trauma even more horrific experienced at one remove, so to speak. It’s not Tate’s emotions that drive the story, but Brian’s—shy Brian, who can’t express his feelings for his roommate until it’s too late, and who then has to deal with the crushing guilt his inability has triggered. He does it in a way that is completely in character, both in his response to Tate’s trauma and in his own coming out.

      “Talker’s Redemption,” on the other hand, is told from Tate’s point of view, and the pivotal part of that story is a trauma to Brian that is a direct result of Brian’s dealing with Tate’s attacker. An important secondary character is introduced in the persona of the boys’ therapist, and their sessions are interwoven with the linear narrative of the story, maintaining a stability that could easily go off track with Talker’s point of view. Talker’s head is a freaky place to be; his attention span is nonexistent, his train of thought easily derailed (in the third book, Lane gives him a metaphor that’s lovely—his thoughts are like fish in a school, easily scattered, and he has to concentrate to get them all back in the fishbowl). Tate needs to learn to accept what happened to him, accept what happened to Brian, and move on, and it isn’t easy.

      The final book in the series, “Talker’s Graduation,” deals with both of the boys’ rehabilitation—Brian’s physical, Talker’s emotional—and their growth as adults and as partners. There isn’t any great trauma in this story, but small ones, which can sometimes be more destructive to relationships. Tate is again the point of view in this one, and it’s probably necessary, because he is by far the more dramatic of the two characters, and the small things that drive the narrative here are things that affect him far more deeply than they would Brian, or that Brian would be able to effectively communicate.

      I enjoyed all three of these stories immensely. The only small, niggling thing that bothers me is that the constant, back and forth switching—particularly in the last book—sometimes gets confusing. The flashbacks are mostly in italics, which definitely set the flashback apart from the linear text, but are sometimes hard to read for extended periods. And within the flashbacks, it’s sometimes a little difficult to tell exactly where in the past the flashback is occurring. This is a risk that one takes when switching between time as much as is done here. But on the whole, the stories are compelling, beautifully angsty, and the characters will stick with you for a long time. 

      Highly recommended.   Buy link

I must admit that I picked up this book fully expecting to make fun of it. The title totally threw me for a loop as I was expecting some model loopy-loo with a craving for brains or something equally as goofy. I don’t know. But, the malicious smile I had plastered to my face as I started reading the first few lines got wiped off pretty darn quickly as I got fully sucked into this book. I really enjoyed it. It was a sweet story about two men, Quinn and Hunter, who are colleagues. Quinn and Hunter are psychics with complementary abilities in sensing ghosts and traumatic events and consult with the police as well as do “those types” of tv shows. Quinn is gay and Hunter is not, except for one incident early on in their professional relationship when they weren’t so professional. Quinn harbors feelings for Hunter, unrequited love really, and is having a hard time just being friends and colleagues. If something doesn’t change, he is worried they will have to split up.

Enter Dustin deWind, a man who can see and talk to ghosts, and offers to help Quinn and Hunter in exchange for a favor. He also walks kinda funny, his skin doesn’t fit too well and the color is off, though he is dressed quite well. Hmmm. He doesn’t eat brains though, so that is good. Working with Dustin brings the guys closer together, so they can actually communicate with each other instead of the ghosts they normally hunt. It is sweet, it is sexy and it just shows how people who seem close can be so far away from the truth. It explores communication, or the lack of communication and how it can destroy as well as create, most specifically the thin line between love and hate.

There isn’t anything hard-hitting or controversial or much to discuss except that it was enjoyable and well written. The supernatural, ghost hunter aspect is acceptable as the way things are and really plays the secondary role to the developing relationship between our lead characters. The story itself seems like a novella spin-off from another world Snow has been writing in and I am interested in reading some of her other books. I would give this book 4 stars overall only because it didn’t break any new ground, but I would give it 5 stars for writing style and enjoyment.

The best part is that it did so. It’s written, as my mum would say, so you can see everything that’s happening. It’s richly descriptive and maybe treads the purple prose lines a little, but I’m not going to complain about that, because I like it. You’re welcome to keep your adjective-less minimalism to yourselves. I also think the style fits the era and the setting; it’s got a lot of stylish flourishes that match up nicely with Mordecai’s showmanship, and I love coming across a sentence and thinking, ‘that was an exceptionally well-constructed sentence’.

The characters, also, were wonderfully vibrant and likeable. Mordecai is fantastic and I love him, and Barrett is lovely as well. There’s a distinct lack of what some might feel is period-appropriate ‘oh no, we’re gay’, and I think that’s a good thing; neither of them are the kind of men who’re particularly self-conscious. They’re sensible, reasonable, realistic people, and you won’t want to do them physical harm. Even the side characters are rich and relevant and tend to react in sensible ways that aren’t just plot-convenient.

If I keep going on about the style and the characters and completely ignore the plot, that’d because the plot isn’t really much to write home about. By which I mean, I was never conscious of being taken through a plot, which I also think is a good thing; there’s a reason I watch murder mysteries, and it’s not because I enjoy the twists and turns. It’s because I like mocking the pretty people. I wasn’t being distracted by events in this story, I was focusing on what the characters were doing, and for a romance, that’s exactly what I want. So. Everyone who likes elaborately complex plots can go stand in the corner as well.

So, no complaints from me. Not a life-changing story, but a great deal of fun and a nice afternoon’s distraction. 4 stars from me.

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You know how when there’s a disaster or some kind of catastrophe, it’s human nature to find someone to take responsibility? And when there’s no one to pin it on, you kind of blame everyone?

This was a very difficult review to write. I kept wanting to blame someone for this disaster, and while one would expect that the author is the natural recipient, somehow I can’t help but spread the guilt around. In fact, I kind of feel sorry for the author. I mean, I assume that there was some beta reading somewhere along the line, and it had to be read to be accepted by the publisher, and then it must have gone through edits and proofreading. Didn’t anyone stop and say, “Wait a minute”? Didn’t anyone care enough to sit down with the author and say, “You have a good idea here, but your follow-through is a mite… lacking”?

The germ of the idea is a good one: Mafioso falls in love with the FBI agent who’s setting him up, and vice versa. There’s an enormous scope for an edgy, dark, passionate story with a peek into the grimy criminal underworld.

This story ain’t it.

Instead, what we get is a fairy tale, and not one particularly well handled. The characters are flat and one-dimensional. Chris, the FBI agent, was raised in an orphanage by a saintly priest. He is the Good Guy, with issues of abandonment.  We meet Jarod, the “godfather” of the title, at his mother’s funeral, where his abusive father socks him around for crying and being less than manly. He is… also the Good Guy.

Fast forward a number of years, and Jarod Greene, the Godfather of Los Angeles, is in an alley beating up a thug called Carlos (one of the few ethnic names in this story. I mean, come on. This is Los Angeles. A story set in Los Angeles without any significant Asian or African-American characters? And only one important Latino character, Jarod’s right hand man, Mike. But this, dear reader, is not the last of the disbelief-suspending we are asked to do). A drunk man staggers out the back door, and instead of offing a potential witness, Jarod… screws him through the wall. It turns out to be Chris, whom Jarod quickly gets obsessive about. He breaks up with his current boyfriend, the nephew of another crime lord, and sets Chris up in his stead. This falls in with Chris’s plan, because, of course, he’s not just an intern—that’s his cover. He’s a Special Agent.

Jarod is variously described as “the Godfather of Los Angeles” and the “underground boss who ruled over California,” and people are said to be afraid of him, but he never actually does anything bad. His organization doesn’t even sell drugs. I’m not quite sure what it does, exactly, except run a couple of nightclubs and have meetings with rival gangs (the Smith clan of Nevada, or the Giordano gang. Seriously. The gangsters are either WASPs or stereotypes). The incident with Carlos at the beginning is supposed to show how bad he is, but my first reaction was “Really? The Godfather of Los Angeles does his own dirty work?” And he doesn’t do much, just roughs him up a bit before he sees Chris and decides—with that short attention span, how did he ever get to be Godfather?—that Chris was much more interesting. (“You betrayed me, Carlos! You’re going to suff… oooh, shiny!!”)

The biggest problem I had with this book is that there are no real consequences for anything. The ex-boyfriend doesn’t set his uncle’s goons on them, the Mafia—notoriously homophobic—doesn’t seem to mind an openly gay man at the head of one of its organizations, and people don’t get killed. When Chris (SPOILER ALERT) quits the FBI because he’s fallen in love with Jarod, he gets a handshake and a “good luck” instead of getting his ass thrown in jail for compromising a federal criminal case.

But the thing that pisses me off the most is the fact that this book could have been good. Ryan is not a bad writer; she “tells” a little too much, and her characters need more development, but her writing has potential. Her pacing is good, her descriptions vivid. With a little research, a little effort, a little help, it could have been an entertaining story. But instead, we have a sad little mess. And it makes me sad, and mad, and I want someone to blame, damn it.

Buy it from Dreamspinner Press, here.

When one of Swift’s most promising students comes to him, asking him for help, he doesn’t hesitate, giving him the keys to his cabin to get away from it all.  It turns out that that may have been one of the biggest mistakes Swift has ever made, as the boy is wanted for murdering his own father.  At least, that’s what everyone else, including Max, seems to think and Swift is determined to prove the boy’s innocence.

Wow.  I haven’t read many of Josh’s books but if they’re all like this, I’m hooked.  This was a great book and I didn’t want to put it down.

Max and Swift’s relationship is complicated but totally believable.  They’re two lonely people with little to no chance for any other companionship, so they’ve found each other.  At least, that’s what you think at first but then it becomes evident that they really do care about each other, maybe even love each other.  The layers to their relationship is surprising and very much welcome.  I was rooting them on and when they had their big fight, I was like “Noooooo!”  I wanted them back together.  I was very glad that they managed to patch things up and get back together, even to the point of telling each other how they really felt.

Swift’s struggle with the case and with his sudden need for drugs resonated well with the story.  It meshed well with the story and actually enhanced it for me by showing me that Swift had his own demons that he was still struggling with and it made his sympathy for Tad, the student, even more realistic.  It also explained part of the reason why he did the things he did and why he never really understood why the people around him disliked him on the level they did.  It was sad when it finally dawned on him that he wasn’t as liked as he’d thought.

The mystery was great and I loved how it kept me guessing on who actually did do the killing.  Anytime that I can be wrong about a mystery just adds to my enjoyment, it means the story wasn’t cliché or predictable and that’s the best kind of mystery.  Josh’s inclusion of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” type paragraphs at the beginning of the chapters was awesome and really added to my overall enjoyment since I’d loved those books immensely as a kid also.  It also was a bit of humor during otherwise overly serious parts of the book and helped give you a break, so to speak, from all the drama.

This was a great book and I can’t say enough about it.  I’d encourage people to give this book a read and I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.  Definitely gets five stars from me.

Buy this book on Amazon.com here.