Greetings fellow readers and bibliophiles! It's been a long month without access to my blog, due to my iMac computer dying and our central air conditioning dying at the same time...so I was left, on the hottest weeks of the year, sweating and uncomfortable, with a stack of books that I couldn't review. Fortunately, my brilliant son was able to find me a replacement iMac of the exact same make and model, for a very reasonable price. He'd backed up my hard drive a couple of months ago, so I didn't lose too much data. However, I did lose my "tidbits" from Shelf Awareness, which was on an MS Word document on my desktop. Nothing could be retrieved by the time the techs cracked it open in the shop.
At any rate, here I am on my "new" used iMac, ready to review a mighty stack of books that I've been reading all month. Forgive the lack of publishing tidbits, folks. They'll be back soon, I promise.
Night World by L. J. Smith is an omnibus edition of three books, Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness and Spellbinder that illuminate the stories of vampires and witches and werewolves in the authors bestselling TV series Vampire Diaries novels.
I never read the Vampire Diaries, and I tried watching the TV show based on the books but I couldn't get into it, it just seemed too horror/gore soap opera for my tastes. That said, these books are not about the main characters from that world, but more about other characters from the sidelines and how they came to be within the VD world. Here's the blurb: Night World Volume 1 includes books one through three of the New York Times bestselling series by the author of The Vampire Diaries.
Vampires,
werewolves, witches, shapeshifters -- they live among us without our
knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with
very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night
World.
In Secret Vampire, Poppy thought the summer
would last forever. Then she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Now
Poppy's only hope for survival is James, her friend and secret love. A
vampire in the Night World, James can make Poppy immortal. But first
they both must risk everything to go against the laws of Night World.
Fugitives from Night World, three vampire sisters leave their isolated home to live among humans in Daughters of Darkness. Their brother, Ash, is sent to bring the girls back, but he falls in love with their beautiful friend.
Two witch cousins fight over their high school crush. It's a battle between black magic and white magic in Spellbinder.
These books are most definitely in the YA category, but they're written in a style that is almost preteen-easy, with lots of stupid choices made by children who have no fear of dying because they're so young. There is also a ton of dialog, so though the book is well over 700 pages long, it moves swiftly and reading through the entire volume doesn't take more than a day. The plots of each book are also easy to navigate, with no real surprises, and how each couple finds work-arounds for the Night World restrictions against human/supernatural love is cute, but hardly innovative. All in all, I liked some of the characters, but found most of the humans annoying and stupid, but the easy style provided some much needed distraction from the heat and misery of August without AC. I'd give this omnibus a B, and recommend it as a "beach read" to those who like their YA vampire stories light and fun.
10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon is her 5th YA romance novel with Indian protagonists and a twisty path to a satisfying HEA. I've read all of Menon's YA romances, starting with the stellar "When Dimple Met Rishi" a couple of years ago. Her books are always well crafted, with bubbly prose and beautifully choreographed plots that, along with winning characters, will have readers turning pages into the wee hours. Here's the blurb: The delightful follow-up to When Dimple Met Rishi and There’s Something about Sweetie,
which follows Ashish’s friends Pinky and Samir as they pretend to date
in order to achieve their individual goals, to disastrous and hilarious
results.
Pinky Kumar wears the social justice warrior badge
with pride. From raccoon hospitals to persecuted rock stars, no cause is
too esoteric for her to champion. But a teeny tiny part of her also
really enjoys making her conservative, buttoned-up corporate lawyer
parents cringe.
Samir Jha might have a few…quirks remaining from
the time he had to take care of his sick mother, like the endless lists
he makes in his planner and the way he schedules every minute of every
day, but those are good things. They make life predictable and steady.
Pinky
loves lazy summers at her parents’ Cape Cod lake house, but after
listening to them harangue her about the poor decisions she’s made
(a.k.a. boyfriends she’s had), she hatches a plan. Get her
sorta-friend-sorta-enemy—who is a total Harvard-bound Mama’s boy—to pose
as her perfect boyfriend for the summer.
When Samir’s
internship falls through, leaving him with an unplanned summer, he gets a
text from Pinky asking if he’ll be her fake boyfriend in exchange for a
new internship. He jumps at the opportunity; Pinky’s a weirdo, but he
can survive a summer with her if there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
As
they bicker their way through lighthouses and butterfly habitats,
sparks fly, and they both realize this will be a summer they'll never
forget.
This is another beach read, and if books were an expression, this one would be all giggles and eye rolls and sighs. I enjoyed, it, though I was annoyed at the way privileged teens took all their wealth for granted, and, as usual, their parents constant manipulations as gospel. I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to anyone who has read Menon's other books.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is an epic, if gory science fiction/fantasy that is inclusive in terms of characters of BIPOC and sexual orientation, but makes the lines between love and hate blur a few too many times for comfort. Here's the blurb: The Emperor needs necromancers.
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.
Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth
unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian
necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated
as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science
fantasy.
Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient
retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of
servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her
sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her
daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a
service.
Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth
House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The
Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly
trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an
immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer
can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will
fail, and the Ninth House will die.
Of course, some things are better left dead.
I have to SPOILER ALERT here, because it's impossible for me to review this book without railing against some of Muir's choices as an author. Why, in the name of all that is holy, does she make Harrowhark and Gideon go through several near death experiences before they realize that they love one another (though they've hated each other all their lives)? Then she kills off Gideon, so that Harrowhark can suffer even more. There's so much pain and suffering in this book that it's exhausting, so even allowing the two protagonists a few months of a relationship would have been a welcome relief from all the bleak death and mayhem. This is a book that you have to be something of a masochist to enjoy, because the pain and bloodshed is unrelenting.
That said, the prose is razor-sharp and beautifully wrought. The plot, though labyrinthine, is fascinating, and makes you feel as if you're under a compulsive spell,so you have to read it through to the finish or your head will explode. Though I can't say that I "enjoyed" this book in the literal sense of the word, (and I won't be reading the sequels, because they are likely as stomach churning as the inaugural book) I did feel it was worth the price and the time it took to read the witty dialog and lush prose. An A for the writing alone is in order, with a recommendation to anyone with a strong enough stomach to make it through the gory parts (and they are legion).
The Glamourist by Luanne G Smith is the sequel to the stunning Vine Witch, which I read earlier this summer. This book is a fantasy set in early 20th century France, and concerns a regulated group of witches of various kinds who use their powers generally for simple things like making wine grapevines healthy or creating potions to make foods more enchanting (or to poison someone, there's always the dark witches to consider). However, in this book we soon discover that children of the fairies/fae also have been around and often have difficulty identifying their powers and training them for use. Here's the blurb:
A spellbinding novel of bloodlines, self-discovery, and redemption by the author of the Washington Post bestseller The Vine Witch.
Abandoned as a child in turn-of-the-century Paris, Yvette Lenoir has longed to uncover the secrets of her magical heritage and tap her suppressed powers. But what brave and resourceful Yvette has done to survive the streets has made her a fugitive. With a price on her head, she clings to a memento from her past—what she believes to be a grimoire inherited from the mother she never knew. To unlock the secrets of her past, Yvette trusts in one woman to help solve the arcane riddles among its charmed pages.
Elena Boureanu is the vine witch of Château Renard, noted for its renowned wines. Even as she struggles with her own bloodline—and its poisonous threat to her future—Elena can’t ignore a friend on the run. Joined by a cunning thief, the proprietor of an enchanted-curio shop, and a bewitching black cat, Elena and Yvette are determined to decode Yvette’s mysterious keepsake. But what restless magic will be unleashed? And what are Yvette and Elena willing to risk to become the witches they were destined to be?
Smith's prose is lush and sensual, and her plots move along swiftly and without skidding or tripping up on typos. The way magic works in her novels is also more down and dirty and realistic than most fantasy novels, which is a good thing for the characters navigating the underbelly of society as they try to find the secret of Yvette's heritage and powers. I'd give this book an A, and recommend it to anyone interested in witches and practical magic.
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman is basically a short story that some idiot publisher decided to pad out and put between the pages of a hardback book and sell for 10 bucks, which is outrageously overpriced for what you get or don't get therein. To add insult to injury, my copy of this tiny "novella" was printed half upside down and half right side up. The entire book is comprised of a conversation between a boy and his dementia/alzheimer's addled grandfather/father. It's confusing and painful to read, and I wish that I hadn't been lured into buying a copy and wasting my money. I'd give it a D, and not recommend it to anyone for purchase, but if you really want to read a sad and unsatisfying short story, get it from the library.
The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani is a contemporary literature novel with a romantic subplot and characters who are second generation Indian immigrants, who struggle with their place in American society due to their cultural heritage. In this tale, the protagonist goes back to India to try and discover why her mother has always been so distant with her and what caused her grandmother to leave her school and home to her grand daughter after her death. Here's the blurb:
From the bestselling author of Trail of Broken Wings comes an epic story of the unrelenting force of love, the power of healing, and the invincible desire to dream.
Nothing prepares Jaya, a New York journalist, for the heartbreak of her third miscarriage and the slow unraveling of her marriage in its wake. Desperate to assuage her deep anguish, she decides to go to India to uncover answers to her family’s past.
Intoxicated by the sights, smells, and sounds she experiences, Jaya becomes an eager student of the culture. But it is Ravi—her grandmother’s former servant and trusted confidant—who reveals the resilience, struggles, secret love, and tragic fall of Jaya’s pioneering grandmother during the British occupation. Through her courageous grandmother’s arrestingly romantic and heart-wrenching story, Jaya discovers the legacy bequeathed to her and a strength that, until now, she never knew was possible.
Though the prose was somewhat overwrought and there was a great deal of repetition throughout the novel, I did enjoy the grandmother's story of secrets and love, as told by her faithful servant, an untouchable named Ravi. Her kindness to him and his family, in giving them meaningful work and a helping hand out of dire poverty, had repercussions for generations to come. This view of going against the perceptions and cruelties of the caste system was unique and fascinating, and made the story that much richer. The plot never lagged, and I appreciated this peek into the world of India under British rule.
I'd give this book a B, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in a little discussed part of history, as well as those interested in unique love stories.
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