Rivals in the City - Y.S. Lee

Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was another enjoyable installment in the series, bringing back some loose ends from the mystery in the first book, and answering some lingering questions about the fate of Mary's father. I'm sad that this is the last one in the series. Why can't we have more of Easton & Quinn? The Agency can still be there, right? I love the dynamic between James and Mary, and would love to read more about their partnership as it evolves.

Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Updated Review Sept 12, 2015:

I always find it really difficult to review those books that I experience at a gut level and love completely irrationally. This was one of those. I simply enjoyed reading every moment of it, and don't know how to explain why. Now I've put it off for too long, and I'm going to try anyway.

First of all, if you've read The Curse of Chalion, you need to know that the pacing and focus of this book is completely different. That one was epic, full of political intrigue and kingdom-wide conflicts. This is not. It mostly takes place in a remote fortress and focuses on characters more than kingdom. So the pace is much different, and may seem slow if you're expecting action-driven plot. Now that that's out of the way...

I really loved that the main character is a middle-aged woman. It's not often that you get someone with more experience as a main character in Fantasy. In this case, Ista has already lived a life. She was married to the (now dead) king, and has grown children who are out of the picture. But although everyone around her believes that's all she's allotted to get out of life, she is not by any means old and is completely stifled. She still needs to find out who she can be, just as much as any young protagonist out there. So we get a mature woman who escapes from home and her caretakers to find adventure and a new life for herself. Hurray!

Maybe it's the fact that I am no longer a fledgling myself, but her story really resonated with me. Her observations about life and people were so spot on for someone who has lived more than 30 years. Plus, I really liked her. I wanted to be her. Since this is a character-driven story, that's kind of important.

Aside from Ista, there's a full cast of characters to complement her, and I enjoyed all of them (except the ones I wasn't supposed to). It's been a couple months since I read this, and I still remember at least six of the characters even if I've forgotten their names. There's the monk, two soldier brothers who actually have their own personalities, a female messenger turned lady's maid, and a dynamic lord of the fortress whose brother is mysteriously ill. The mystery of the brother's illness is where the story really gets going, in case you haven't been hooked yet by that point.

What drives the plot are the mystery behind the brother's illness, and problems of god-possession and demon-possession. Ista has been touched by a god before, and was considered insane for years. Now she wants to avoid anything to do with gods because they can't be trusted. Yeah, that doesn't work out so well for her. Once a god notices you, it's impossible to ignore them.

Maybe it built a little slowly, but it captivated me, really from the start. I loved the development of the characters through it all, and the complexity that was revealed over time. How it turned out left me breathless. I was enjoying it so much that I was afraid the ending would disappoint, so I was almost giddy with relief that it didn't. I really loved it. And I know I haven't explained why well enough at all, and used too many words to do it.


Initial Review June 27, 2015:

I loved pretty much every minute of this. Why did I wait so long to read it?? I'll try to write a proper review later.

Boneshaker - Cherie Priest

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Boneshaker is very different from other Steampunk books that I've read (and enjoyed). I think it's considered Steampunk because there are airships (not enough, though!) and a few machines that could be considered in the historical Sci Fi realm. Other than that, it does not have any of the characteristics that I look forward to in Steampunk. No adventure. No cool gadgets or scientific experiments (the breathing masks just don't count).

And there's far too much grit and gore. I've never really been interested in zombies. They make a boring enemy, in my mind. This book only confirmed that. Far too much of it is spent running from 'rotters' or shooting them. When I realized it was a zombie book, I knew I was in for a challenge.

This is an apocalyptic dystopia set in the past with some barely recognizable Steampunk elements. It's the bleakest dystopia I've read so far, one where people can't even breathe the air. Most of the time not spent running from rotters is spent trying to breathe through masks that filter out the yellow sludge that turns people into rotters. Let's just say this is not a pleasant place to be. And let's say that unpleasant things happen when people are unable to take their masks off for any reason. Too much time is spent on every little detail of how hard it is to get by there, on details I'd really like to get out of my head somehow.

I could have used more focus on the people and their interactions, because that's when it started to get more interesting (in the last quarter of the book).

I'm actually not sure why I'm giving this a second star. Maybe because I managed to finish it and was actually ok with the ending? Or maybe I liked a couple of the characters (not the main ones), even though I didn't get enough of them. But I really didn't enjoy the experience of reading it much at all and I'm glad it's over.

The Silver Pear - Michelle Diener

The Silver Pear by Michelle Diener
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More like 3.5 stars. For some reason, I liked this a little less than the first one. I think I missed the time spent in the forest (sucker for magical forests here). Also, I was a bit let down by the final confrontations with the sorcerers. I expected them to be more difficult. I do like that the girls are the ones that keep rescuing the guys and have all the power (but that the guys are needed, too).

I did like it, and found it very readable, and still light and fun. I'll be reading more from this author.

The Golden Apple - Michelle Diener

The Golden Apple by Michelle Diener
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Golden Apple is a fairytale retelling, but it's not a fairytale that I'm familiar with so it read more like a light Fantasy to me. This is very light Fantasy - not much world-building, not a huge cast, and the magic system is not a full-blown system. But it's fun and fast-paced.

Sometimes all I need is magic and adventure and a bit of romance without it being in that higher class, and this was just what I needed after some heavier books. It went really quickly, and I had to grab the sequel right away, which I'm also tearing through right now. (This is a duology, and the first novel does not stand alone.)

Is it perfect? Is every character well-developed? Well, no. There's not a lot of depth. But that's ok. I would recommended this for anyone needing a lighter read, not willing to invest in the couple to three hundred pages it often takes to get into a Fantasy world.

Sweet Revenge - Andrea Penrose

Sweet Revenge by Andrea Penrose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun Regency historical mystery. Fairly predictable, I still really enjoyed it, and it was a quick read. This is one that I think Regency fans would enjoy, and it's a shame more of them don't know about it. There's not much romance so far, but it looks like that might change in the next book. The Regency flavor is there, though.

I have to say all of the chocolate descriptions and recipes made my mouth water, and may have influenced my rating. Yum. I'm off to eat some truffles.