CBR18 Book 40: "Daugther of Tides" by Kit Rocha

Page count: 320 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Defeat the Goblin TBR: has a dark/stormy vibe

Naia is a very young water nymph, born directly from the Dreaming, but she has the memories and experiences of so many who have lived before her who had any connection to the sea. Einar was once a mortal man before he became the immortal pirate lord known as the Kraken, tied to his magical ship and his equally immortal crew. Aleksi is the most charming and beloved of all the gods; he is literally The Lover. After the events in Queen of Dreams (a book I read and very much enjoyed, but apparently didn't have the energy to fully review, Aleksi is feeling strange and unsettled. He keeps having strange visions, he doesn't instantly heal when he is injured, and he's started to worry that he is dying.

These three individuals are sent on a diplomatic mission to an icy kingdom, trying to broker a peace with Gwynira, the Ice Queen, who was previously one of the now imprisoned Sorin the Betrayer's allies. Einar has secrets he's keeping from the other two about his connection to the icy island kingdom they find themselves in, Naia is welcomed as a reborn version of the old goddess of the natives there, while Aleksi just wants to enjoy himself for as long as possible by hiding his impending death from the other two. 

I loved both the books in the Bound to Fire and Steel duology. I loved the world-building, I loved the pantheon of interesting deities (of which Aleksi and Einar both belong), and I found the tension between Ash, Sachielle and Zanya both interesting and sexy. Since I knew this was going to be a duology, I held off on reading this until close to the release date of the sequel, Prince of Storms (I have an ARC and need to read and review it by the end of this week). Unfortunately, whatever magic made the first two books in this world so incredibly appealing and immersive to me seems to have faded. I found this book slow to start, I found it difficult to really care about the characters or the mission they have been sent on. In addition, I found myself rather exhausted by how horny the three protagonists constantly are for each other. Maybe it would have been more exciting if they actually acted on their feelings until pretty much the very end of the book. Instead, it just felt annoying. 

The book picks up in the second half, but I never got the feeling of not wanting to stop reading, which was frequently the case with the first two books in this world. Maybe it's just that it was hard for me to feel any worry about Aleksi, since it's incredibly obvious that he's not actually going to die. He's part of the triad at the centre of this duology, which is a romance first and foremost, and the next book won't end with him actually dying and leaving the other two to grieve. While the various stakes were really high in the previous two books, I find it hard to get particularly invested this time around. It made me very sad, because I really had been looking forward to revisiting this world. 

I'm crossing my fingers that the sequel, which I will be starting soon, is better and that the duology as a whole works better for me once it's been completed. 

Judging a book by its cover:

We've got the churning sea, we've got a whole lot of tentacles. They seem to belong to more than one creature, so maybe the cover designer thought Einar had a bunch of friends to help him when he goes all Kraken-y?

CBR18 Books 38-39 : "The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh" and "The Rushworth Family Plot" by Claudia Gray

The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Page count: 400 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Since Mr Jonathan Darcy, son of the esteemed Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Miss Juliet Tilney, daughter of Henry Tilney, have now solved not one, but two murders among their extended acquaintance, word has gotten around, and as a result, Lady Catherine DeBourgh has summoned the young Mr Darcy to come to Rosings Park to help her identify the person who is trying to kill her. He insists that Miss Tinley be invited as well. Both young persons are accompanied by their fathers, who, unfortunately, take an instant dislike of each other. Mr Tilney thinks Mr Darcy is a supercilious snob, while Mr Darcy thinks Mr Tilney takes things too lightly and jokes too much at inappropriate times, not at all a suitable manner of behaviour for a clergyman. 

Some of the people surrounding the dowager suspect she may be exaggerating the danger she is in. She claims her carriage was sabotaged, then someone tried to shoot her, and when this failed, they nearly pushed her down the stairs. As the two young people start investigating, it becomes obvious that someone is indeed trying to do away with Lady Catherine, and that their attempts are becoming more aggressive. Because Lady Catherine rarely leaves Rosings Park, it also means the culprit is someone very close to her, a family member or loyal retainer. Can our young detectives figure out the identity of the would-be murderer before they actually succeed in doing away with the old lady?

The Rushworth Family Plot

Page count: 336 pages

Rating: 4 stars

While Mr Jonathan Darcy and Miss Juliet Tilney have been very clear with each other about their mutual fondness and hopes for a future match, their fathers developed a mutual dislike during their stay at Rosings Park. General Tilney, Miss Tilney's tyrannical grandfather, who normally isn't known for his generosity, is incensed enough by the perceived snub of his grandchild by the Darcys, so he is determined she will make a grander match during the London season. Juliet and her authoress mother is ordered to London to purchase a new wardrobe of clothes for her, and find her an appropriate suitor.

Jonathan, meanwhile, is also in London, staying with the family of Edmund and Fanny Bertram, since his family had to return to Pemberley after his younger brother broke his arm. He knows his parents would like him to find some suitable young lady to court, but he has no intention of asking anyone but Juliet Tilney to marry him. However, the ambitious Mrs Allerdyce (who was Caroline Bingley before her marriage) is determined that if SHE couldn't be the mistress of Pemberley, then her daughter will instead. Jonathan may be a keen investigator of murders, but in social situations involving young ladies, he is far too clueless to realise he's being manipulated. 

Claudia Gray also reintroduces some of Austen's most scandalous characters (how can Mansfield Park be so painfully dull when it also has the dastardly Henry Crawford and the whole running off with Maria Rushworth, nee Bertram subplot). Maria Rushworth, now many years divorced, shows up in London with her aunt/companion in tow, along with a daughter who was clearly born out of wedlock. Maria swears that Rushworth is the father, but anyone with eyes can see the strong resemblance to Henry Crawford. Maria claims that she and Rushworth are going to reconcile and marry again soon, but lo and behold, it doesn't take long before Mr Rushworth is found brutally strangled in his townhouse. Jonathan and Juliet promise the Bertrams they will do their best to find the murderer before the scandal surrounding the whole thing further tarnishes the family.

I have long complained that Gray is being far too slow and dragging out the romance between Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney too much. I get that they are unlikely to surrender to the throes of passion while investigating murders (or attempted murder, in the case of Lady Catherine), but I would still have liked some stronger declarations from both parties. Gray keeps throwing obstacles in our young sleuths' way. In The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, both young people are accompanied to Rosings Park by their fathers, who are vastly different and dislike each other pretty much on sight. Their antipathy towards each other does not get better as the story goes on. 

In The Rushworth Family Plot both the elder Mr Darcy and Mr Tilney are safely away in their homes, and the only parental figure around is Juliet's mother, Catherine Tilney, now a famous author of Gothic novels.  She sees the warmth and attraction between the two and is very surprised by her husband's impression that Jonathan Darcy is cold and indifferent towards Juliet. She is very impressed with how he seems to genuinely listen and trade ideas with her daughter, never seeming dismissive or overbearing. She can see that they have a very good partnership while investigating and is convinced they would make a very good match. Unfortunately, because as soon as the parental disapproval may have been dealth with, there need to be other difficulties, Juliet is embroiled in a scandal of her own, through absolutely no fault of her own. Because of the careless and opportunistic acts of someone else, her reputation may be absolutely ruined. Jonathan Darcy, who is appalled by this turn of events, challenges the besmircher of Juliet's honour to a duel to prove her innocence. It all went a bit melodramatic, and I really hope Gray can let these two have a happy ending soon.

With Juliet falling victim to the Regency version of a manipulated photograph, which marks her as utterly unsuitable as a wife to anyone with taste, as well as Mrs. Caroline Allerdyce's scheming to get her daughter married to Jonathan, it just felt like too many things still muddying up the works.

One of the very fun things with these books is obviously how Gray takes the minor Austen characters from various novels and gives them more prominence. In The Perils of Lady Catherine DeBourgh, we see that Lady Catherine's sickly daughter in no way minded that Mr Darcy chose someone else. She has married his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam and seems mostly very happy with him. They are both very sad that their young son has been sent away to boarding school (because no heir of Lady Catherine is to be homeschooled), and there are certain communication difficulties leading to friction, but it all gets sorted out in the end. We also see how Charlotte and Mr. Collins are managing in their marriage. They now have two children, a son and a daughter, and there is something strange in the son's behaviour that neither Jonathan nor Juliet can figure out at first. 

In The Rushworth Family Plot, we meet Edmund and Fanny Bertram again (who were also supporting characters in The Murder of Mr Wickham), as well as Edmund's older brother, now the head of the family, his dog-obsessed mother, their vivacious non-scandalous sister, and, of course, Maria Rushworth and Henry Crawford. Fanny is deeply depressed after a failed pregnancy, and Edmund is unaware that she overheard the doctor say she is unlikely to ever bear children. Edmund's brother has been persuaded that selling their plantation in Barbados is the only humane thing to do because of the evils of slavery. He is also courting Caroline Allerdyce's eldest daughter. Gray does a good job of showing the readers that Caroline Bingley never really wanted Mr Darcy, only the wealth and prestige of being mistress of Pemberley. She has clearly been very happy in her marriage to Mr Allerdyce, but now that Jonathan Darcy is present and available in London, she can't help but scheme and manipulate to try to make her daughter mistress of Pemberley in the future instead. 

I have an ARC of the fifth book in the series that I need to read in the next couple of days (it's also why I finally needed to knuckle down and review these two books. I really hope that Gray is bringing the series to an end soon, I don't know how much longer I can wait for Jonathan and Juliet to get their happy ending. 

CBR17 Book 70: "In a Second" by Kate Canterbary

Page count: 505 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

This was an ARC from the author. I am very grateful, but my opinions are my own. 

Audrey Saunders has not seen her former boyfriend, Jude Bellessi, since he showed up at the church, only moments before she was due to get married, to ask her to run away with him instead. Because of a whole host of reasons, Audrey couldn't tell Jude why she was getting married, and why she broke up with him in the first place and moved across the country. About a decade later, she certainly didn't expect him to show up at their high school reunion, but there he is, larger than life and handsomer than ever.

While once he was the motorcycle-driving bad boy her parents disapproved of, now Jude is an aerospace engineer and single dad, trying to gain sole custody of his son (it's complicated). He is attending the reunion because he needs a pretty big favour from Audrey, and figures she owes him for the way their relationship crashed and burned all those years ago. Jude's mother was dying of cancer, and he may have lied a whole lot and claimed that he and Audrey were not only happily reunited, but were due to get married. Of course, now Jude's mum is fully recovered and delighted that she will get to plan her son's wedding to the woman he couldn't forget.

Matrimony did not work out for Audrey, and she has no intention of ever getting married again. She does feel like she has a debt to repay, however, so she agrees to play fake fiancée to Jude for a week. After that, she never needs to see Jude again, and she'll go celebrate one of her best friends' weddings. Jude plans to wait a couple of months, then he will tell his mother that they broke up, and that will be that. Neither of them had taken into account flight cancellations, a cross-country road trip, or being trapped in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, in the most depressing motel room you could possibly imagine - which obviously only has one bed. 

This is the third book in the Friendship, Rhode Island series, which all have heroes and heroines who have to go through a fake engagement for complicated reasons. Jamie, who is both one of Audrey's best friends and also a fellow teacher, just laughs hysterically at how optimistic Audrey is about this being a brief transaction, after which she and Jude will never see each other again. By now, it's quite clear that fake engagement equals an eventual happy ever after for all of these women (who all became friends because they worked at the same school). 

All of the books in this series are long; it is very rare that a romance needs to be longer than 400 pages. I thought the plot dragged out for too long in In a Jam, and I thought the plot dragged out too long in this one, too. I understand that there is a whole lot of angst to get through on both Audrey and Jude's part. One of the reasons the book is clearly so long is that Canterbary seems to want the readers to not only get the main romance, but also time to reconnect with characters from previous books. Which is fine, but I'm not sure we needed as much of it as here, and I'm not sure I would care for it much if this was the first book in the series that I picked up. I also don't know if we needed as many complications and obstacles thrown in their way as Audrey and Jude have.

Going forward, I'm now very curious whether Canterbary intends to write a romance starring Jamie, who seems very attachment-averse and keeps taking part in polyamorous orgies. She doesn't seem like the sort of person who will want to settle down with one (or several) people, but I would love to be surprised. What I want most of all right now, and the author seems to be heavily setting up for, is a book about Ruth, one of the sisters of Ryan from In a Rush. She's a prominent supporting character in this one, and has clearly got up to some shenanigans which may lead to a HEA eventually. 

Judging a book by its cover: This is my favourite of the Friendship, Rhode Island covers so far. It doesn't hurt that it's pretty much all shades of purple. The violets are a lovely touch, once it becomes clear what the colour and flower mean to Audrey. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR17 Book 32: "Manic Pixie Dream Earl" by Jenny Holiday

Page count: 320 pages

Audio book length: 11 hrs 15 mins

Rating: 3.5 stars

Thanks to Jenny Holiday, Netgalley and Tantor Audio for this ARC. My opinion is my own.

Edward "Effie" Astley, Viscount Featherfinch, is a poet and a terrible disappointment to his father. Thankfully, he's about to set off on the annual "Earl's trip" with his two best friends, who support him come what may. So they don't ask any questions when Effie asks them to help him store a broken printing press, nor why he's so preoccupied with letters from a Miss Evans. Effie doesn't really want to confess to having become infatuated with a non-aristocratic lady, who coincidentally thinks he's a woman too, called Euphemia. 

Miss Julianna Evans loves the magazine she publishes, but hates that her odious brother insists on weekly editorial meetings and keeps questioning every decision she makes, constantly cutting her budget. Normally, she's far too busy to ever consider taking a brief holiday, but when there is a delay at her printers, and the alternative is waiting impatiently at her sister's house, generally just being in the way, she impulsively decides that she's going to spend some of her hard-earned savings to go to Brighton to meet her best friend Euphemia, who she knows will be staying there with her friends. 

Brighton isn't a big enough place for Effie and Julianna to avoid each other for very long (nor would this be a particularly effective romance novel if they did). Considering Effie has been lying about his identity to Julianna for the past five years, she gets over the deceit remarkably quickly. Effie's two best buds also take it in their stride that their slightly unorthodox bestie is in love with a magazine publisher who is quite a few years his elder.

The publisher claims that this book is Ted Lasso meets Bridgerton meets The Hangover. I have complained in the past that absolutely everything set in the Regency era is now marketed towards "fans of Bridgerton", and I can only surmise that the Ted Lasso comparison is made because this book features non-toxic male friendships and guys who support each other in wholesome ways, while The Hangover is thrown in there because it's the most famous dudes on a road trip story out there, even now, sixteen years later. I despair at these sales pitches. 

There is a lot to like here. Effie is bisexual and has no problem admitting this to his friends, although his friends seem to have suspected him to be gay and/or asexual before he reveals his feelings for Julianna. There's the aforementioned non-toxic male friendships. We have an age gap, where the heroine is about a decade older than the hero (Effie is in his late twenties, Julianna is in her late thirties). Most of the book takes place in Brighton rather than London, and the more unusual location made for a nice change. 

Harry Frost does a good job with the narration of the book, but I find that about a month after finishing the story, I don't remember too much of the overall plot. While I've liked several of Jenny Holiday's contemporary romances, I'm not sure I liked her rather unusual take on the historical genre. Nevertheless, I already own Earl's Trip, the first book in the series, so I'll probably get round to reading it at some point. I also hope she gets round to writing about Effie's friend Olive in some future instalment, she was the most interesting supporting character here. 

Judging a book by its cover: This cover is rather busy, and features a number of people in various situations, not all of which take place in the actual story, unless my memory entirely fails me. I think there are too many things going on here. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR17 Book 29: "My Name is Emilia del Valle" by Isabel Allende

Page count: 289 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for this ARC. My opinions are my own. 

Emilia del Valle Claro grows up in San Francisco in the latter half of the 19th Century. Her mother, Molly, is of Irish descent and was a nun before she was seduced by an unscrupulous young Chilean aristocrat, who left her pregnant and entirely without support (she obviously had to leave the convent). She married Francisco Claro, the intelligent and kind-hearted teacher at the Aztec Pride School, and he's the only father Emilia knows growing up. 

Emilia is a sponge for learning, encouraged by her stepfather, and as she gets older, she helps support the family by writing and selling melodramatic and gory pulp novels. Her dream is to become a journalist, which is almost impossible for a young woman in the 1890s. She manages to persuade an editor to publish some of her work under the pseudonym she's been using for her pulpy novels. Once the Chilean Civil War breaks out in 1891, she is able to use her Chilean paternity to her advantage. The newspaper agrees to send her to Chile to report, along with her friend and co-worker, Eric Whelan, and now, they'll even let her publish under her own name.

In Chile, Emilia is able to eventually reconnect with her biological father, who by this point is destitute and near death's door. She and Eric are separated for the first part of the war, covering different aspects of the fight, and when they finally reunite, they realise that their friendship has developed into stronger feelings. They share a short interlude of passion before Eric goes off to follow one of the upcoming battles in closer detail. While they are separated, Emilia volunteers at one of the local hospitals until she is arrested, suspected of being a foreign spy. She suffers enough to give her serious emotional scars before Eric returns from the battlefield to get her out. He wants to take her back to her family in San Francisco, but Emilia isn't ready to go home until she's explored the mysterious plot of land her biological father left her in his will. 

Isabel Allende wrote on of my favourite novels of all time, The House of the Spirits, and I've enjoyed so many of her other novels as well. She tends to write engaging stories featuring interesting women, who live lives that often challenge the gender and societal norms of the day. Emilia is a very ambitious and confident woman, who even at a time when most women ended up housewives and homemakers insists on going out and making a career for herself. She doesn't allow anyone to fob her off with frivolous pieces of society gossip, she wants to write about things that matter, and isn't afraid to put herself in danger to get a good story.

This book was a nice read, but the only character who really seemed to be fully realised was Emilia herself. Everyone else, including her love interest, is just loosely sketched out, like stock characters who exist in the story to show up another facet and aspect of Emilia's character. As such, it didn't feel quite as rich and complex as some of the other Allende novels I've read. If you've enjoyed her books in the past, though, you're likely to like this one as well. 

Judging a book by its cover: This is a pretty cover, and I like the colour choices on it. I am, however, slightly confused about the scale of certain things. Is the sailing ship a toy behind Emilia? If not, why not have it in the background so it could look like it was closer to the horizon? Are the clouds metaphorical in some way? 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR17 Book 8: "Earl Crush" by Alexandra Vasti

Page count: 352 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Nowhere Books Bingo 25: Book about a road trip or travelling

Disclaimer! This was an ARC granted to me from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. My opinions are my own. 

Lydia Hope-Wallace is a wallflower, and perfectly happy to remain so, because she has crippling social anxiety and tends to throw up if forced to interact too much with people outside her immediate family or friends. She's been secretly writing seditious pamphlets and publishing them anonymously for the past three years, and for almost as long, she has been corresponding with a man she believes to be the Earl of Strathrannnoch. When she discovers that Strathrannoch castle is pretty much falling down and the earldom has no funds to fix this with, she rather impulsively decides to go see her penpal and offer him a marriage of convenience. Lydia may be a wallflower, but she's also the second richest heiress on the marriage mart, and all those buckets of money that come with her hand in marriage should be enough to restore any mouldering old castle and struggling estate.

Unfortunately, when she arrives in Scotland, her pragmatic and sensible friend Georgiana in tow, she discovers that Arthur Baird, the Earl of Strathrannoch, has no idea who she is. It turns out that it's Arthur's younger brother who has been writing to Lydia for all these years, and he's currently gone missing, having stolen one of Arthur's inventions to boot. Arthur isn't entirely sure what to do with the beautiful flustered redhead on his doorstep, let alone why she might be proposing to marry him, but Lydia is his best chance at trying to track down his missing brother, who might be wanting to use Arthur's invention (a telescopic rifle sight) for nefarious means. So while she's initially mortified and tries to run away, he's able to persuade her to help him locate his brother. 

What follows is a road trip romp, involving zebras, awkward house parties, Arthur and Lydia having to pretend to be married, lying to family friends, and lying to Lydia's brother, who suddenly shows up in Scotland under an assumed name, possibly treasonous French people, spies, a possible plot against the Duke of Wellington and more. There is a whole lot of travelling from Scotland to London or from London to Scotland at speeds that seem implausible to me, and the rigours of travel mostly being ignored in service of the light-hearted plot. 

Arthur is convinced Lydia is in love with his brother (she's not, she really did want to offer him a platonic marriage of convenience so he could use her money). Lydia is cripplingly shy and struggles in any social situation, and doesn't think anyone could ever want her. Both are madly attracted to the other, but it takes some time for them to realise this and act on their feelings. Once they do, there's a fair amount of smexy times, including outside in what seems to be rather a cold forest grove. There's a lot of pining and angst from both characters, even after they've actually started acting on their pants feelings, culminating in Arthur doing something truly stupid towards the end of the book (it's OK, he grovels and makes it all better after a while). 

As well as the reappearance of characters the reader may have met in Ne'er Duke Well (Selina and her husband, as well as Georgiana), there is a rather large supporting cast, including the lovely retainers at Arthur's castle, who keep conspiring to make sure he and Lydia end up together, Lydia's four older brothers and even her rather meddlesome mother are all a lot of fun. This was an entertaining book, but there seemed to be too many shenanigans and a bit too much "he/she couldn't possibly love ME" for it to be one that I see myself revisiting for comfort rereads. I'm very excited for the third book in the series, though, where Georgiana finally meets her (sapphic) match. That's not out until September, sadly.

Judging a book by its cover: I like that while the cover for Ne'er Duke Well was mostly in blue and green, here there is a lot of violet and purple to complement the green. What I don't like is how tiny the guy in the carriage is. Arthur is described as a big hulking giant of a man so many times throughout the book, this guy looks perfectly normal-sized. Disappointing. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR16 Book 57: "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov

Page count: 448 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Nowhere Books Bingo: Banned books (Wasn't published until 27 years after Bulgakov's death, and only then in a censored version. )

CBR16 Bingo: Cult (cult classic, and there's the whole Devil and his entourage as a central plot point - that's pretty cultish, right?)

I can't remember exactly how long The Master and Margarita has been on my TBR list, but it's certainly more than twenty years. A quick glance on Goodreads shows me that 15 of my friends have rated it four or five stars, with several naming it one of their favourite books. So why has it taken it so long for me to read it? Some of my reticence comes from having tried to read translated Russian novels in the past, and in on one memorable occasion, nearly losing my will to read anything at all (Anna Karenina, I am absolutely looking at you). So the idea of tackling another Russian classic wasn't always that appealing. Knowing that so many people whose opinions I respect and trust rate it so highly, also makes me nervous - what if I don't like it and they'll be disappointed in me?

I made an attempt to read my mother's Norwegian translation of the novel for the first couple of chapters, but because the copy she had was translated in the 1970s, the language was heavy and archaic enough that I struggled. So instead I read the 50th Anniversary edition, translated into English by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volkhonsky. Once the language flowed more smoothly, reading became a lot less like unpleasant homework. As readers of my reviews know, I mostly read genre fiction like romance, fantasy and science fiction, where the plots are light-hearted and the books are very easily digestible. That is not the case with this book, written in the 1930s and up until the author's death in 1940, and finally published in 1996. It's an allegorical political satire, written in a very different time and culture, and getting into it felt like a bit of a slog.

I feel like I'm letting down all of my bookish friends and acquaintances when I confess that the first part of the novel mostly either bored and/or confused me. So much of it is absurdist and strange, and there is a long series of, to me, mostly interchangeable men with long Russian names either dying or ending up in an asylum, as a result of their encounters with Woland (the Devil). Nor was I particularly interested in the sections that involved Herod and Yeshua.

The novel finally got interesting to me in the second part, where the reader finally gets to meet the eponymous Margarita, and discovers the lengths she will go to to be reunited with her beloved, the Master. This section seemed more like a dark fairytale for the most part, and while it also had some odd twists and turns, I was mostly enjoying what I read. I can also faithfully say that at no point could I predict where the story was going to go next, and certainly not the way it was going to end. 

If the entirety of this book had only been the main story of part two (which involved Margarita and her beloved), I think I would have liked the novel a lot more. 20th-century history was never an area that particularly interested me, and while I know some of the atrocities committed in the Soviet Union under Stalin, I am in no way well-versed enough in the background of this novel to get the many layers of satire that the author has created. I found all the digs at literary intellectuals and various officials tedious. 

I don't regret finally reading the book, even though the first part was very hard going. However, I think I can also conclude that great Russian literature is not for me. I have tried several authors now, and if this, which so many of my bookish friends rate five stars, only for about half the novel, entertained me, it may be time to accept that I'm just not cut out for the Russian greats. I can see why it has been a controversial novel since its publication, not just for the political critique, but for prominently featuring the devil and witchcraft as part of the plot. 

Judging a book by its cover: There are 1229 (!) different editions of this listed on Goodreads, so obviously there are also a huge amount of different covers available. Most of them seem to have a black cat somewhere on the cover (Behemoth is a very striking character, who can blame them?). My e-book edition seems to have the black cat in upper corner and the face of a young woman (obviously Margarita) in the lower one. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 56: "Three Reasons to Run" by Jackie Lau

Page count: 241 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Free Space

Disclaimer: This was an ARC from the author, it has not affected my review in any way. 

Leo Mok (younger brother of Max, from Four Weddings to Fall in Love) is late for his cousin Carl's wedding because he got a speeding ticket. He's not exactly thrilled to be going, since he's had a crush on the bride since he first saw her at a family gathering two years ago. He's about to leave his car when the bride comes running out of the church and nearly crashes into him. She implores him to help her get out of there, and Leo wouldn't hesitate to help a woman in distress, even if he wasn't infatuated with her. He takes her to buy ice cream and helps her fetch her things from her apartment before anyone comes home. 

Yvonne Siu is a people pleaser and has always tried to be the perfect daughter and later girlfriend. She could never understand why her older sister was always in conflict with her parents and eventually rebelled and cut all contact with them. She's been in a relationship with Carl for five years, and while she hasn't really felt appreciated or satisfied for a long time, she invested a lot of time and effort into the relationship. She even forgives Carl for cheating on her. However, as she is walking up the aisle, she just can't make herself marry him. She flees and is deeply grateful to Leo for helping her escape the awkward scene of her wedding. 

Even if Leo hadn't been present in the parking lot as Yvonne came storming out of the church, she would have had an escape available. Shortly before the ceremony, Yvonne spoke to Leo's mother, who could tell she was having doubts and gave Yvonne her car keys just in case. Once Yvonne clears out her things from the apartment she shares with her now ex-fiancée, Leo's parents offer to let her stay with them at their house until she can find a place of her own. So Yvonne ends up crashing temporarily in Leo's old bedroom. 

While Leo tries to keep his distance, he is completely unable to say no every time Yvonne asks for help, or to hang out, and later, because she's never really had a satisfying sexual experience, to "show her a good time". Leo knows that he shouldn't want his cousin's ex, and Yvonne has a lot of work she needs to do before she's certain she's ready for anything new. Can there ever be anything more between them than friendship and casual sex?

Jackie Lau has written quite a few novels where the couple's HEA (happily ever after) doesn't involve becoming parents. When they reconnect after she runs from her wedding, Yvonne discovers that her sister is heavily pregnant. Once her nephew is born, Yvonne is happy to spend time with the baby, but it also confirms to her that she doesn't actually want children of her own. Running away from her own wedding shakes up Yvonne's life drastically, and she's left with a lot of time to think and reconsider her wants and priorities for her future. It becomes very clear to her that being a mother is not part of that future. 

Her thoughts on motherhood are not the only things that Yvonne needs to consider. Having been a "good girl" her entire life, trying to be the perfect daughter who never caused any trouble, and later the perfect girlfriend and fiancée, it's only after leaving her Carl that she realises how unhappy she was. Seeing her sister, entirely estranged from their parents, so happy with her partner and seeing Leo's parents, many years married, also in a healthy, functioning relationship, she comes to understand how toxic the situation she grew up in was, and how controlling and demanding her father was. Her ex wasn't emotionally abusive, like her dad, but he did take her for granted and never seemed interested in or cared about what Yvonne liked, wanted or needed.

Leo is quiet and rather taciturn and doesn't think he's in any way good enough for Yvonne. He's also so smitten that despite knowing it's a bad idea, he still takes every chance to spend more time with her. He takes care of her favourite plan, he will happily hang out with her, or go for a meal with her, and he ends up going on her honeymoon with her. Agreeing to casual sex so she finally discovers what a satisfying sex life is like? He isn't going to say no to that. He has to come to terms with the fact that while his life might seem quiet and boring next to those of his siblings, he's a kind, helpful and very thoughtful person, and wanting what is best for the person you love isn't a bad quality in a partner.

While I liked this, it wasn't one of my favourite of Lau's books. She doesn't write bad books, but this one felt 'just fine' instead of 'really great' if that makes sense? Your mileage may vary. 

Judging a book by its cover: Maybe not the most exciting of covers, but the wedding bouquet is very pretty and the flowers and the pastel colours give a good indication of the book's content (a wedding will be involved, it's unlikely to be a very angsty read). 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

CBR16 Book 48: "A Ruse of Shadows" by Sherry Thomas

Page count: 368 pages

Audio book length: 13 hrs 3 mins

Rating: 3.5 stars

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: the latest or last book in a series

CBR16 Bingo: fan fiction

This is book 8 in the series, and really not a good place to begin. Start with A Study in Scarlet Women. 

Charlotte Holmes, more used to solving murder mysteries, now finds herself questioned by the police, the main suspect in the murder of Lord Bancroft Ashburton. Inspector Threadles is concerned for her, but needn't have worried, Ms Holmes isn't going to let something as tiresome as a charge of murder keep her down.

In the present, the reader follows Charlotte and her questioning by the police. In various flashbacks, we are given insight into what has really happened, and how Charlotte, her beloved Ash, Mrs Watson and the rest of her gang have been working on a number of different schemes, some of which did involve Lord Bancroft. 

While I really enjoyed the most recent book in the series, A Tempest at Sea (or Lady Sherlock on a Boat! as I have cheerfully renamed it in my head), this one felt like more of a chore to read. No reader of this series is actually going to believe that anyone can stick a murder charge to Charlotte Holmes, whether she actually decided to murder someone or not, so the whole framing device of her being questioned seemed a bit tedious. Then there are the flashbacks, which are spaced out oddly, and keep illuminating different aspects of the story, which obviously doesn't entirely come together properly until the end. It probably doesn't help that this story referenced things that happened fairly early on in the series and I didn't entirely remember all the details, so kept being a bit confused.

As a big fan of Thomas' romances, I was pleased to see that the relationship between Ash and Charlotte is proceeding apace, and some very lovely declarations are made over the course of the story. I always enjoy Mrs. Watson and her niece, but have to confess that I care very little for Charlotte's sister Livia and her thwarted romance with the put-upon Mr. Marbleton. This whole book felt like filler, and since the plot seems to suggest that Charlotte is gearing up to take on Mr. Moriarty in a more serious manner in upcoming books, I am not exactly thrilled by the prospect. Nevertheless, Kate Reading's narration always make these a treat, so I'll probably be reading the upcoming books as well. 

Judging a book by its cover: Another woman in an expansive dress, seen from the back, possibly running from something or towards something. Is it supposed to be Charlotte? Who knows?

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 15: "The Write Escape" by Charish Reid

Page count: 291 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo: A book with a BIPOC author and main character

CBR16 Sweet Books: Cozy

In very short order, Antonia Harper has lost her job and discovered that her fiancée was cheating on her, very shortly before the wedding. The honeymoon was supposed to be in Ireland, and Antonia decides to travel there by herself. Her spiteful ex has cancelled their original reservations, but she rents a cottage to stay in instead. With nothing else to distract her, Antonia decides to make a stab at writing more of the romance novel she's been dreaming of completing (but never had time for, what with her busy job as an editor and trying to plan a wedding). She isn't exactly happy with men in general at present, but the handsome professor in the cottage next door is making her reconsider her wish to be alone.

Aidan Byrnes is a literature professor who is finding his job difficult at the moment. He's rented a cottage in the little town of Tully Cross to get some peace and quiet and to finally have the time and focus to complete an important academic paper. He first runs into Antonia in the tiny supermarket nearby and is both surprised and delighted to discover that she is staying in the cottage next to his. Still slightly weary of romantic entanglements after his girlfriend dumped him a year previous, Aiden nevertheless can't stop thinking about Antonia, who he discovers is not only gorgeous but clever, educated, and funny as well.

What starts out as a bit of a holiday fling begins to turn serious pretty quickly. Neither Antonia nor Aidan were expecting to meet anyone, let alone start falling for them in the sleepy village of Tully Cross. Yet Aiden has a job at an Irish university, and Antonia's life is back in America. Can their fledgling romance turn into something more permanent, with an entire ocean between them?

This is my first novel by Charish Reid and it was fun, but not exactly a perfect read. I really liked Antonia and Aiden as characters, both apart and together. Both are hard-working and devoted to their jobs (but obviously Antonia is unemployed for much of the book since she loses her job early on). Antonia is also very close to her family, especially her sister, which made it difficult when they clearly weren't enthusiastic about her upcoming wedding. I would love to read a sequel novel about her sister.

The majority of the book is set in Ireland, and while I'm sure Irish villages are very quaint and welcoming, it seems like a slightly exaggerated ideal of the place. No one is unpleasant, racist, or rude. I understand that those aren't exactly things that you would want in a fluffy escapist romance, but from my experience, not all small-town folk anywhere are open-minded and whole-heartedly welcoming to any strangers, certainly not those with darker skin colours. 

This was a quick breezy read, and I liked it a lot. There were a few things that annoyed me a bit, but nothing serious enough for me not to want to read more of her books. Firstly, Antonia is obviously using her vacation in Ireland to work on her romance novel. At one point, Aiden uses her computer and can't help himself from reading what she's written. Considering how unsure she is of her writing and how personal a book manuscript can be, this felt like he was reading her journal. When she eventually discovers what he's done, she seems to forgive him very quickly. SPOILER! Antonia also seems able to relocate her entire life to Ireland on very little notice, to be with a guy whom she's known for less than two weeks. Good to know that it's that easy to make a major life change when you finally meet the hot guy you decide is Mr. Right.

Judging a book by its cover: I really like the visible joy on the faces of both of the cover models here. This is exactly the sort of novel that would have a jewel-toned cover with cute cartoony characters on it now, and I'm not sure that trend is as great as publishers think it is. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR15 Books 96-99: More books I read this summer and am only reviewing now to make it to 104

Cassiel's Servant - Jacqueline Carey

Page count: 576 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Kushiel's Dart is one of my favourite fantasy books, and books in general, of all time. It stands up, I re-read it this summer in preparation for the release of this. Has Jacqueline Carey done exactly the same thing as Stephenie Meyer and E.L James did, and retold her already existing novel from the POV of another central character? Yes, she has. Was I pretty sure that this was going to be a lot more worthwhile and actually better written than those other books? Also yes. So much so that I pre-ordered this pretty much as soon as I heard about it. 

This is clearly a book written for Carey's existing fans. I'm not sure that a new reader would get as much out of the story, three-quarters of which is indeed a retelling of Kushiel's Dart, told through Joscelin's eyes. In case you are entirely unfamiliar with Carey's epic fantasy story, Joscelin is the loyal and oath-sworn bodyguard and companion to Phédre, our courtesan spy protagonist. Since he's a warrior priest sworn to celibacy, falling in love with a woman who considers sex an act of worship isn't exactly ideal.

The first section of the book gives us entirely new material, with Joscelin's childhood and training with the Cassiline brotherhood, which he has to join while still very young. The training is rigorous and while he makes some friends, it's not a life in which he makes many lasting connections. Seeing certain specific sections of the novel from Joscelin's POV certainly adds more depth to them, and Carey makes it clear that there was a certain understanding between Hyacinthe and Joscelin which Phédre wasn't necessarily aware of.

I'm not sure this book needed to be written, but it's a nice gift to Carey's fans, and it brought me a lot of joy. I really wouldn't recommend it to new readers of her work, though.

Codename Charming - Lucy Parker

Page count: 382 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

I love Battle Royal. I agree with some people that it should have more Bake-Off scenes, but I absolutely adore it, and the baking-related challenges grouchy Dominic and cheerful Sylvie face while falling in love. Towards the end of that book, Dominic's diminutive younger sister Petunia "Pet" DeVere saves the life of Johnny Marchmont, then fiancée to Princess Rose. Marchmont's bodyguard, Mathias Vaughn, feels very guilty that she got injured on his watch. By the time this book starts, Princess Rose and Johnny Marchmont are married and Pet works as Marchmont's personal assistant. The man is clumsy to the point of parody, and when the ruthless press starts writing scurrilous gossip pieces that suggest that there may be something between Pet and her employer, Princess Rose concocts a scheme where Pet and Matthias start fake dating, preferably being spotted canoodling in public, so the gossip dies down. 

Pet thinks Matthias finds her irritating. Matthias keeps being called ugly and brutish and is dealing with a lot of demons from his past. The two like and respect their employers enough that they go along with the preposterous plan, and hijinks ensue. Since both protagonists have been pining for each other, the fake dating gives them the excuse to finally give in to their feelings. 

Normally I devour a Lucy Parker novel in 24-48 hours. That was also the case with this one, but because it's slow to start and there are absolutely parts that didn't entirely work for me, they were just too farcical. Don't get me started on the reverse parrot heist (IYKYK) and getting locked in a closet. Is it Parker's weakest novel? No, that would still be Making Up (which is still a perfectly fine novel, it just doesn't manage the greatness of most of Parker's other books).

With the Fire on High - Elizabeth Acevedo

Page count: 400 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Emoni Santiago isn't exactly like other high school seniors. She's half African American, half Puerto Rican, and as well as juggling school and a part-time job to try to supplement her family's income, she's also raising her daughter Emma (whom she calls Babygirl). They both live with Emoni's Abuela, who raised Emoni after her mother died in childbirth. Emoni's father was absolutely devastated by the loss and left them both to go back to Puerto Rico. He returns every so often to visit, but Emoni has a very complicated relationship with her father. She has some contact with some relatives from her mother's side, but mostly, it's just her, Babygirl, and her Abuela, fending for themselves.

Emoni loves to cook, and frequently experiments with recipes, giving them her own twist from what feels right. People who eat her food often experience strong emotions, and she dreams of becoming a professional chef one day but also realises that it's a very far-fetched dream. However, when she gets a chance to take part in a special cooking elective in high school, and even travel abroad for a week to Spain, her horizons broaden and her dreams don't seem so impossible after all.

This was a lovely book, with some touches of magical realism. It wasn't quite the emotional gut-punch to me that The Poet X was, but it was a wonderful read and I can see why Acevedo is so highly rated among YA reviewers. I'm looking forward to reading more of her stuff.

Sleep No More - Seanan McGuire

Page count: 368 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Spoiler warning! This is book 17 in the series, and absolutely under no circumstances the place to start. There will also be some spoilers for book 16, because I don't think I could review this book without mentioning what happened to Toby at the end of that one.

October "Toby" Daye doesn't remember her real life. She doesn't remember her husband Tybalt, or her many friends and allies. She believes herself to be a lowly changeling servant, handmaiden to her pureblooded sister August, and living a sheltered life in her mother Amadine's tower. She is not a hero of the Faerie realms or a brave and resourceful fighter. She is meek, and timid and doesn't do a thing without permission. Her entire life is a lie created by a vengeful Titania, determined to shape all of Faerie to her demands. 

It thankfully doesn't take too long for things to start unravelling, little by little. When she accidentally tastes her own blood, she sees things that entirely contradict her current memories. A lot of people start telling her unbelievable things, about who she is and what she has done before. Even so, it takes four months for Toby's friends to reach her and start the complicated work of defeating Titania. Sadly, it takes her far too much of the book to remember her life with Tybalt and the poor man can barely look at her because it hurts him so much.

McGuire also published a book from Tybalt's POV, where we find out what he did in those four months and how he coped with the challenge of losing his beloved. I haven't read it yet, because there's usually pretty much a year between new books in the series, and I want to spread out the goodness so the wait for book 19 won't be so interminable. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR15 Book 50: "A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons" by Kate Khavari

Page count: 365 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

CBR15 Bingo: Guide (it's right there in the title)

Official book description, because I'm still reviewing books I read in JULY):

London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party for the University College of London. While she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn’t expect Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’ wives to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin.

Dr. Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, is the main suspect, having had an explosive argument with Dr. Henry a few days prior. As evidence mounts against Dr. Maxwell and the expedition's departure draws nearer, Saffron realizes if she wants her mentor's name cleared, she’ll have to do it herself.

Joined by enigmatic Alexander Ashton, a fellow researcher, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons. Will she be able to uncover the truth or will her investigation land her on the murderer’s list?

While I'm no longer able to read a lot of mystery, because it know either squicks me out or just plain upsets me, I am still fond of historical mysteries with lady sleuths. The first book about the plucky Saffron Everleigh is set in the 1920s, a lovely change of time period from the Victorian-set mysteries I tend to default to. This means that our heroine is slightly less constrained than her Victorian counterparts, but she is still a woman working in a wholly male-dominated environment so mustn't try to advance too far, no matter how clever and capable she may be.

Saffron's father was a famous botanist and Dr. Maxwell, her mentor, was one of his close friends. So he treats Saffron kindly and fairly, and she's determined that he not go to prison for a crime he didn't commit. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people at the party and a large majority of them would have access to the same greenhouses where the police suspect the poison was grown, so Saffron's search is not an easy one. She also has to try to conduct her investigations without arousing the suspicion of the real murderer or aggravating the police who are actually on the case. 

I'm always a fan of a romantic subplot and Alexander Ashton is an excellent love interest. Clever and capable in his own right, he's exasperated by Saffron's tendency to heedlessly throw herself into dangerous situations, yet doesn't seem to feel threatened by her intelligence and doesn't actually try to stop her, just figure out how he can best keep her from getting herself killed, which isn't always easy (although how can you not root for a woman who decides to test the suspected poison on herself to note down what the various side effects are?) This is the first book in the series, and whether I feel like reading more of this series really is determined a lot by whether Mr Ashton is going to feature in future books, because we didn't exactly get a lot of romance here, and I don't want to waste my time investing in handsome gentlemen if Saffron's going to have a new love interest in each new book. 

Judging a book by its cover: The title of the book is rather misleading, but I can see why the author/publisher was tempted by the alliteration. There is only the one party, where the crime takes place. There is however rather a lot about poisons. I like the medicine bottle and the plants, there is a lot of poking around greenhouses as part of the story. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.