Marion by Leah Rowan
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not impact my rating or review. The first part 30 percent of the book I thought was really good, but then it started to just kind of spiral and I didn’t believe anything that was happening. After a while it just felt like Rowan wanted to keep upping the kill count, no matter how absurd it started to get. I also didn’t buy the ending even a little. For something that was supposed to […]
The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross
Still making my way through the re-read of the Laundry files novels and I’ve hit on one of my favorites. The Apocalypse Codex is set nearly a year ofter the events of The Fuller Memorandum, and poor Bob is still sort of in recovery. It’s not just the whole business of receiving a bit of a soul-shellacking from the Black Pharaoh, which seems obvious from the last book. But it’s also the absolute shock he received from work, who have made their intentions to compress […]
Strange Houses by Uketsu
Strange Houses was the first book I read this year, back in January, and it has taken me entirely too long to just sit down and jot down my thoughts about it. Part of it is because I was very disappointed with how promising the premise was and how it fully deflated by the time I got to the end, so much so that now six months later, I’m honestly struggling to remember how it ended. The other reason why it took so long is […]
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
“The River Liss runs north to south, and its waters brim with grammar.” What an absolutely musical opening sentence. I had to stop and reread it several times just to let it sink in. Amal El-Mohtar’s writing hugs the line between poetry and prose, and results in a truly delicious reading experience. This novella, based on the English ballad “The Bonny Swans,” tells the story of two sisters, Esther and Ysabel. Their family tends the willow trees that grow along the magical river Liss, and […]
A River Red with Blood by John Connolly
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review. Trigger warning: We hear about the rape of girls and women, but thankfully we don’t get a play by play. Or we may have, I won’t lie, I started skipping that part of the book. I feel like this is my fault. I said in my last Charlie Parker review I was sick and tired of the mystery of Charlie and his dead daughter Jennifer. I didn’t care […]
The Children by Melissa Albert
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not impact my rating or review. I didn’t really enjoy Albert’s Hazelwood, but had hopes for this one, but again, I think she has issues with one with the book premise sounding great, and then the execution not really working. I had similar issues with the characters not really drawing you in as you read. I know I was supposed to see Guinevere’s mother Edith as dark figure (she gets mentioned as being similar […]
