Review: A Cottage by the Sea

A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is closer to 3.5 stars. It's a good time-slip romance / historical fiction set in Cornwall, with smugglers' caves and secret passageways in the background and a lot of drama in the foreground. There's a messy, public divorce, family conflicts, dealing with the death of loved ones, child-rearing philosophy, cultural differences between modern Americans and Brits, career upheaval, tea drinking, gardening, and crystal ball hypnosis. A strange mix of 90s psycho-babble and historical romance / tragedy.

It's also very long for this kind of story, and felt like it at times. My favorite time-slips so far are by Susanna Kearsley, and hers feel much less weighted down and less all over the place with romance novel themes. Still, I did like it even though the drama got to be a bit much at times. I do wish there was more time spent in the tunnels and caves, and by the sea, but in spite of the setting, the sea was just a backdrop, and the smuggler aspect was definitely not the focus.



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Review: Hallowed

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



As with the first book, this is one of those that is interesting while you're reading it, and then looking back you realize that nothing really happened, and there's not much substance. It's a page-turner trick - it's easy to turn these pages. But afterwards - mostly forgettable.

There's even less to this one than there was to the first. There's no real purpose to figure out anymore. Although the visions continue, they are about something else now, and it's just a sad waiting game and then grief. Beyond that, it's love triangle drama. Pretty typical for a teen paranormal romance, I suppose. Somewhat entertaining, but leaving me wondering if that was really 'it'.



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Review: Dragon Flight

Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This wasn't as good as the first book. It had more dragons, which I liked, but the rest of it was lacking. The political intrigue and personal high stakes were missing, and the characters were like snapshot memories of the more dynamic ones in the previous book. I suppose that's always the danger when you enjoy a book that's only first in a series.



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Review: The Physician

The Physician by Noah Gordon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It took me 4.5 months to read this book, since it's the one I've been reading a page or two at a time on my phone whenever I find myself waiting around and needing a book to read. The style of The Physician made it a good one to savor in such a way. It's going to be really strange reading about someone else now when I find myself waiting, which happens a lot by the way.

Wow, this story really covers a lot of ground - literally. It starts out with a young orphan in the early 11th century who develops a yearning to improve his medical knowledge. This desire takes him from Britain to Europe, Persia, and as far as India. Rob is a remarkable man for his time, and it is heartbreaking at times to see him struggle and experience terrible setbacks.

Mostly, though, it's a hopeful tale of learning and compassion, of creative solutions to the closed-mindedness of the time period. It also highlights the religious prejudices of the Middle Ages while inspiring sympathy for individuals of each faith, and portrays each location and people that Rob encounters vividly. The time period really came alive through Rob's travels and relationships. I feel like I lived there.

At one point near the end, I was struck with a sudden fear that it was going to end tragically and I think I could have been induced to throw my phone after all Rob learned and went through. Thankfully it ended well, or as well as it probably could for the mindset of the times, and my phone was spared.



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Review: Rapture in Death

Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Meh. This wasn't nearly as good as the first three books. It was mainly just about sex - a lot of it. Maybe it's because it's Eve & Roarke's honeymoon period, but it forced the mystery to take a back seat, and the mystery itself just wasn't very gripping.

I wonder if Eve & Roarke's relationship can stay interesting now that they're together, or will it just be two or three sex scenes per book? And I find myself wondering how this series is still going on at 37 books with another one on the way. Is it really that good? Is it worth continuing on?



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Review: The Traitor Queen

The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm really glad I persevered through to the end of this trilogy. The first two books set up the world as it has been for centuries, which was a bit tedious because we'd already had that history lesson in a much more compelling way. But finally in this book, things change. I'm not sure it needed a whole trilogy to tell this story, but I am satisfied with how it ended both plot-wise and character-wise.

The conflicts in Sachaka come to a head, and the Guild is forced to adapt beyond their narrow-mindedness. Finally! Cool magic stuff and fighting actually happen, even though I do wish the action was more immediate instead of mostly being observed from a distance. The focus was more on the emotional state of the observers than on what was actually happening, and although I found myself caught up in those emotions, I still wished to be down on the ground.

Most importantly, I like the future that is in store for most of the characters. I feel like Sonea is in a good place - she is finally able to move on from the pain of the past and to build a new life. It's a life that I can accept, and that's about all I really needed out of this continuation of her story. I ultimately still miss the brilliance of the original Black Magician Trilogy, but this gave me a measure of closure that I needed, and I actually ended up enjoying it enough that I'm sad it's over again.



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Review: The Body At The Tower

The Body At The Tower by Y.S. Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm really enjoying this series! I liked the first book even though it took a while to get to know Mary and to like her, but The Body at the Tower gets right into the thick of things and I was able to sympathize with her much more. Mary is now a trained spy working undercover as a boy on her first murder mystery. She is forced to face her childhood nightmares in addition to present dangers, and the world of poverty she enters feels very real.

I love the romance between Mary and James - it feels real and has real problems, such as the fact that James has no idea who Mary really is, and that Mary is supposed to stay single as a member of the Agency. And James doesn't just feel like a stock supporting character - he is well defined, he adds a layer of interest to the plot aside from the romance, and I really like him. I'm dying to see what happens with them in the next book.



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Review: Sworn to Raise

Sworn to Raise by Terah Edun

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'm going with the Goodreads description of 'It was ok' for two stars on this fantasy I picked up at Netgalley. It really is 'ok' and has potential, but it is still very rough around the edges, even for a galley. There are a lot of typos, and several times I got lost in sentences - run-ons are writing problems, not typos. So it could use some good editing.

The story itself is interesting, but feels disjointed or random at times. There's a makeover story, learning of magic and history, a bachelorette-type contest for a patron that includes a hunt as well as balls and a challenging maze, and there's political intrigue with the magical fate of the country at stake.

I found it quite entertaining, but something was missing - depth of most of the characters was lacking, and connections between events and other people besides the protagonist were loose. At times the actions of the other characters were drastic and unexpected, which added to the shock value, but I felt like I didn't know those characters well enough to expect that kind of action from them. The event that Ciardis spends the first half preparing for is also left incomplete. We only meet a couple of her prospective patrons and the book ends on the 3rd day of the event. Also, what happened to her friend? She is only present during Ciardis' training and then melts away.

This was only novella length, so I think it could have been longer and provided more complexity and closure on these plot points rather than waiting for a second book.

**Received free arc for review.

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