It's New Year's Eve, fellow bibliophiles, and that means that this is the last post of book reviews for 2023, which was a really tough year. That said, I'm glad that I survived it and was able to read over 145 books and review them here. My journey toward one thousand posts will continue into 2024, where I should get to 900 by March and 950 by the end of the year (I hope).
I'm also looking forward to more streaming series based on books, like the Jack Reacher program that will be finishing its 2nd season and going into its third season in 2024, along with Only Murders in the Building and, of course, Doctor Who with the magnificent Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Star Trek Discovery's fifth and final season, along with Strange New Worlds next season. There's supposedly even more Star Trek offshoots coming our way, with a show based at Starfleet Academy and one called Legends and an in-depth look at the legacy of Star Trek Voyager, helmed by my favorite Captain Janeway, played by the impeccable Kate Mulgrew.
At Any rate, here's some reviews:
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older is a science fiction/mystery/lesbian romance that reads like Sherlock Holmes, the SF women's version.
Here's the blurb: The Mimicking of Known Successes
presents a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on
Jupiter, by Malka Older, author of the critically-acclaimed Centenal
Cycle.
On a remote, gas-wreathed outpost of a human
colony on Jupiter, a man goes missing. The enigmatic Investigator Mossa
follows his trail to Valdegeld, home to the colony’s erudite
university—and Mossa’s former girlfriend, a scholar of Earth’s
pre-collapse ecosystems.
Pleiti has dedicated her research and
her career to aiding the larger effort towards a possible return to
Earth. When Mossa unexpectedly arrives and requests Pleiti’s assistance
in her latest investigation, the two of them embark on a twisting path
in which the future of life on Earth is at stake—and, perhaps, their
futures, together.
The prose was similar to Conan Doyle's antique wordsmithing, while still allowing for revelations that were distinctly modern. the plot was also fascinating and swept along like a Japanese Bullet Train. Though I'm not usually a fan of dense prose that outlines all the character's feelings, in detail, I loved these particular characters enough to push through the posh British prose and enjoy all of it's well-edited 166 pages. I'd give this novel a B+ and recommend it to anyone who likes diverse retellings of classic books.
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross is the delicious sequel to Divine Rivals, a book that I read in hardcover several months ago, and I loved it so much I could hardly wait for Ruthless Vows to hit the shelves. This fantasy/romance/mythological revamp is so engrossing and filled with fascinating characters that I couldn't put it down. Here's the blurb:
The epic conclusion to the intensely romantic and beautifully written story that started in Divine Rivals.
Two
weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and
heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is
missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief
and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report
on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward
once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before
the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the
chancellor’s reign.
Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman
cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories
will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain
of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter
arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As
he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will
soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who
healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and
Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and
futures to change the tides of the war.
The blurb is absolutely correct in it's assignment of gorgeous prose to this novel. Ross is a deft hand at making sure each paragraph sings a poignant song, while also crafting a plot that never slows or dawdles, but dances with imagination and sparkles with magic. Having been a journalist for over 35 years, I was particularly taken with the conceit of the magic typewriters that can send messages to another person with a typewriter if you slip the missive under the wardrobe...shades of CS Lewis! I'd give this marvelous story an A, and recommend it highly to anyone who has read Divine Rivals...you won't be disappointed by the sequel.
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall is a fantasy romance set in a world of magic and curses. While it was billed as being a cross between my beloved Gilmore Girls and Practical Magic, I found it to be neither as filled with snappy dialog as the former or with spooky and atmospheric feminine magic as the latter. The prose is lackadaisical, and the plot meanders along in a lazy fashion that is extremely irritating.
Here's the blurb: For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic.
Sadie
Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that
accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother
is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first
heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully
structured life begins to unravel.
With the news of their
grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth
returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that
threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the
backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't
sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic,
together.
As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her
grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her
heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic?
Readers who love the magic of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and the sense of community found in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches will enjoy this warm, witchy novel.
Both men in this book, Jake the ex-bf and Seth the abandoning brother, are complete and utter selfish jerks, and though they have many weak excuses for their behavior, I still felt like Sadie was a fool for taking either of them back into her heart or her life. I would have told them to shove off, especially when Jake fails to reveal that he has a pregnant fiancee (though it turns out she's lying about being pregnant to trap him into marriage...talk about a misogynist cliche!). Sadie herself is the stereotypical romance heroine, who is childish/immature, filled with self-doubt and low self-esteem, and yet can't help but follow her heart (and her lustful thoughts!) back into the arms of Jake the affianced creep. Of course she has little control of her magic or the curse, which causes her to break and despoil things around her when she gets flustered and emotional, like a 13 year old going through puberty at the mention of a 'cute boy' in her class. And when her wise grandmother dies, Sadie, along with everyone else in her family, is completely devastated (I would think she'd be at least a little angry that granny shielded her and was overprotective enough that she's still like an innocent child when confronted with the real world) to a degree that all the weeping and wailing became tedious after awhile. Hence, I'd give this wobbly and whinging mess of a book a B-, and only recommend it to those who don't mind wasting time on tropes held up with lukewarm magic and a wimpy heroine.
Here's a sample of my growing bedside TBR:
Mrs Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler
The Wizard of Seattle by Kay Hooper
System Collapse by Martha Wells
Didn't See That Coming by Jesse Q Sutanto
The House of Marionne by J. Elle
On the Plus Side by Jenny L Howe
The Salt Black Tree by Lilith Saintcrow
The Queen's Resistance by Rebecca Ross
The Mad Girls of New York by Maya Rodale
Desperation by Becca Ryden
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