Succubus Blues - Richelle Mead

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was, for the most part, a fun read. The overall plot is interesting, both light and dark at the same time, with some mystery, the beginning of a romance, and imaginative modern-day mythology. After reading the Vampire Academy series, I expected much more, however. I hoped that moving onto an adult series would be a progression in depth. Instead the progression is into sexual explicitness, and there is a definite decline in depth.

What continues to bother me is how the gratuitous sex overshadows the rest of the plot. I understand that the main character is a succubus, and that she is supposed to seduce men, but I don't need to read every detail of it. I dislike it when sex is purely about lust in any story, and here it is not only lust, but is with strangers or enemies whom Georgina despises. When it comes to romance, I'm more interested in love stories and get turned off when people are having sex without any meaningful relationship between them.

That is enough to make me reconsider continuing with the series, even though the rest of the plot was well done. I am disappointed, and thinking maybe I should stick to YA Urban Fantasy, since this is not the first time I've had this experience in this genre.

Review: The Never War

The Never War by D.J. MacHale

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



MacHale has set himself an enormous task with this series, having to build a new world in each book. Unfortunately, up to this point the journal format has fallen short. It simply doesn't allow the kind of depth necessary and overlays everything with a distinct teenager's voice, creating distance between the reader and the action. I personally find his voice irritating on top of it all.

But finally, with this book we have an improvement! I believe this one works better because the setting is Earth. It's Earth in the past, which adds a fun twist (especially because I love historical fiction), but also adds a whole lot of depth. No world-building is necessary here. Finally, we're not reading the story entirely through Bobby's juvenile descriptions because we have our own framework for the world he's in! The story itself has a chance under these conditions, and I was able to overlook the method of delivery for once (although it did grate still from time to time).

I'm glad I persevered to this point, but have decided to stop while I'm ahead. I don't want to return to the boredom of Bobby's journals on the next world, although there's part of me that hopes his juvenile voice will mature and make it easier to swallow. It's hard for me to stop without knowing the rest of the story, but the small glimpse we are given of the next world reminded me not to get too excited here.



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Review: The Rose Garden

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I read the Winter Sea first, and at the beginning of this book was afraid it was going to be the same story with different people. Some aspects are indeed similar, including the Jacobite setting in the past, but Kearsley pulls it off again. I loved the mix of contemporary Cornwall and its smuggling past. The language is atmospheric and pulls you under almost immediately. And the love story is wonderful.



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Review: The Highest Stakes

The Highest Stakes by Emery Lee

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Highest Stakes is a historical novel set in Georgian England. It is not a romance novel, although a romance is central to the story. It is about greed and ambition, class and the lack of choice for women and commoners. It's about the lucrative and vicious business of horse-breeding and racing, soldiering in the Napoleonic War, and characters attempting to break out of their social status.

I really enjoy historical fiction that doesn't focus on famous people and events because the outcome isn't pre-determined. This is one of those. It submerges you in the time period and makes you feel the struggles of people living there. It doesn't modernize the characters' choices, but is realistic about what happens. It has really great historical detail, making you feel like you're there. I love the details about raising, racing and caring for horses. And the war scenes were not tedious at all.

The reason I only gave it 4 stars is that it reached a point when I realized that nothing was going right for anyone I cared about in the story. There were truly despicable characters who were very well-drawn and I wanted them to come to serious harm. So I loved it because the author was able to engage my emotions, but the emotions evoked were not happy ones. I wish there had been moments of stolen happiness for the protagonists - that they could have had more time together at points along the way. They do spend most of their time apart. This is truly not about their relationship, but about the hope/hopelessness of their love.

There was a point towards the end when I had no idea how in the world everything could be resolved, and I feared it was impossible. The ending is satisfying except for the fact that it's not longer - a little more of that hard-earned happy ending would have been nice.



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Review: The Crown Conspiracy

The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



What a fun sword-and-sorcery style fantasy! There's a good range of characters - thieves and royals, commoners and nobles, monks and wizards, dwarves and elves. There are murderers and traitors, but the twists and turns kept me guessing as to who they truly were. There's violence, but the overall feel is lighter than what I've read lately (Abercrombie). The plot kept moving, too, so I didn't have any of those moments of willing the story to get on with it. Very enjoyable, and I do plan to read the next one.



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