Review: The Devourers

By Indra Das
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I was drawn to THE DEVOURERS by the beautiful traditional illustration on the cover.  Chris Panatier did the front and back cover illustration with ink and watercolor on board, and the full piece can be seen on his Deviantart. The lush, claustrophobic illustration pairs perfectly with the way the beauty of the story envelops you.

I found the opening of THE DEVOURERS somewhat disappointing. It seemed to be devoted to being overly edgy, with the narrator Alok meeting a man with a strange story of being a half-werewolf. Alok agrees to transcribe a set of scrolls for him, and starts with the story of Fenrir, a werewolf who rapes a human woman. Luckily, the novel brought up the exact objection I had and takes a turn into the story of Cyrah, the woman pregnant by a werewolf and determined to confront him with the beast of Gevaudan by her side.

I found Cyrah's tale the most compelling part of THE DEVOURERS. She makes tough decisions for complex reasons, and manages to have true empathy for her traveling companion.  I enjoyed the way that she was able to suss out more of the werewolf culture and find a place for herself bargaining with Fenrir's transgression.  She's a clever, determined woman who is allowed to be angry.

I found that the edginess of THE DEVOURERS evened out as I read. Gender and sexuality are explored through both the nature of these nonhuman creatures and the way they interact with humans. The gore is delightfully horrific, both repulsive and drawing on the human love of the macabre. There's also a lot to enjoy if you like explorations of different cultures, as both historical and modern non-Western human cultures come into play and each tribe of werewolves have their own cultures that shape the characters' behavior.

At first I thought THE DEVOURERS was going to disappoint me, another literary book with a faint layer of the supernatural as an excuse to be shocking. But the book grew on me and I fell under its lovely spell, to find out what happened to Cyrah, Gevaudan, her son, and Alok. And to be sure that Fenrir wasn't forgiven or redeemed.

Indra Das does use a very poetic style that might alienate some (as might the content), but it worked well for me. I also found that there was just enough difference in language between the narrators to make them clearly different people but not disrupt the tone. I certainly look forward to Das' next novel.

Review: The Forbidden Wish

By Jessica Khoury
Available now from Razorbill (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

The latest novel in the young adult genie microtrend is THE FORBIDDEN WISH by Jessica Khoury.  This retelling of Aladdin casts the genie as a woman who once wreaked destruction on an entire city due to her love of a human.  She's wary of interacting with them ever again, and just wants her freedom.

However, Aladdin has found her lamp and now has three wishes.  He's a thief, the orphan son of revolutionaries, and his country is on the verge of revolt.  A new revolutionary is on the rise, and the king is dying.  Everyone fears the foul vizier taking even more control of the throne.  The genie has a simple solution to get Aladdin to use all of his wishes and get his vengeance: become a prince.

While the story of Aladdin is familiar to many due to the Disney version, Khoury takes her story in a different direction.  At the same time, it's not an entirely unpredictable direction.  The romance between Aladdin and the genie is sweet, but I often felt I was being told more about their love for each other than feeling it myself.  I wanted more of a sense of passion.

I did enjoy the variety of female characters that Khoury populated her retelling with.  The princess may no longer be the love interest, but she still occupies an integral role to the story.  Her friends have their own personalities in addition to help move the story along.  There's also some historical queens who inspire their actions.  I liked that Zahra, the genie, wasn't the only woman Khoury added to the story.

I thought THE FORBIDDEN WISH was a fun retelling that combined jinn lore with a satisfying battle for freedom.  The romance was a little flat for me, but the struggle for personal, political, and other freedoms rang quite true.  I admired how Zahra overcame her fears to keep doing what was right, even if it had gone wrong for her many times before.  She's the kind of main character I can get behind in any story.

Review: A Criminal Magic

By Lee Kelly
Available February 2 from Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)
Review copy

In the world of A CRIMINAL MAGIC, prohibition as we know it isn't a thing.  Instead, sorcerer's shine is the forbidden drink being trafficked by organized crime.  Joan Kendrick's uncle has been increasingly drunk on his own product, and she and her family can barely survive on his shows any more.  When a stranger offers her money to use her magic in an experiment, she leaps at the chance. 

Meanwhile, Alex Danfrey joined the feds after his father was busted for magic smuggling.  His supervisor blackmails him into going undercover with a gang that seems to have a big racket in the works.

A CRIMINAL MAGIC is Lee Kelly's second book, and I sure hope there are sequels to come.  It ends in a surprising and satisfying manner, but I'd still love to see more of what happens to Joan and Alex after the last cover closes.

I thought Kelly's alternate twenties were well thought out.  I do find it a bit hard to believe that alcohol doesn't seem to exist, given that sorcerer's shine can only be made in small, localized batches with no shelf life.  (Not to mention for much of human history, alcohol was safe to drink when the water wasn't.)  At the same time, I think the way criminal elements control the restricted magic is very believable.

Most of all, I liked the characters.  Joan and Alex are both people who are in a hard place, trying to do their best to survive.  Joan starts out naive and Alex jaded, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Alex is the harder person.  (And, to be fair, Joan has plenty of darkness in her past.)  I was entertained the way both of them used their magic.  Some days it seems hard to find a character who delights in having magic and comes up with cool ways to use it, much less two.  (In fact, more than two!)

A CRIMINAL MAGIC is a sweet romance and wondrous exploration of magic revels.  It's also a look at a seamy criminal underbelly and the way people will backstab each other for their own gain.  It definitely has a strain of noir in its blood.  I found myself sucked in, and enjoyed it down to the unconventional ending that suits the characters perfectly.

Review: A Whole New World

A Twisted Tale
By Liz Braswell
Available now from Disney-Hyperion
Review copy

The premise of the Twisted Tales series strikes me as brilliant: Disney allowing their versions of classic stories to be retold as dark YA novels.  The heroes and heroines of Disney stories are teens, and there is often room for things to go horribly awry.  In A WHOLE NEW WORLD, Jafar gets the lamp as soon as Aladdin steals it, leading to the rise of a dark rule in Agrabah.

Unfortunately, A WHOLE NEW WORLD is not good.  The first 22% is a retelling of the movie events written in a competent but not particularly engrossing style.  When things finally start to diverge, the tone just doesn't work.  The beginning was basically the light cartoonish style of the movie, so the darkness also begins strangely cartoonish.

There's also the fact that nothing in A WHOLE NEW WORLD really evokes the movie.  When Jasmine and Aladdin talk, I can't hear their voices in my head.  The fate of Agrabah is at stake, and yet I can't get a feel for the city even with Liz Braswell expanding it and diving deeper into the underworld of the Street Rats.  Everything feels vaguely modern and American, down to details like Jasmine mentioning a dog as a common pet.  I was bland, as if a few details pasted in from the movie were enough to make the setting work.

A WHOLE NEW WORLD isn't completely irredeemable.  Braswell makes Jasmine an equal protagonist who earns the right to rule and works hard to rescue herself and her city.  I appreciated that she leaned in to the feminist potential of Jasmine refusing to be forced into marriage.  That's about the best compliment I can offer this novel.

For such an amazing premise, A WHOLE NEW WORLD came off as ill-conceived and hastily done.  It's not a very good book.

Review: Sorceror to the Crown

First in the Sorcerer Royal trilogy
By Zen Cho
Available now from Ace/Roc (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I've been looking forward to Zen Cho's debut novel.  Her shorter works have showcased her command of language and character.  Her novella The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo is probably what she's best known for, and who wouldn't want to be known for writing such a humorous delight?  (It's available for free on her website, by the way.)  Even if I wasn't familiar with Cho, I would want to read SORCERER TO THE CROWN.  The cover is gorgeously subtle, the title is evocative, and the back promises a possible murder, magical mysteries, and a runaway orphan.

That runaway orphan, Prunella Gentleman, is the runaway character for me.  She's been raised in a school for magical girls, where she exists somewhat between classes - not a servant, but not a student.  (Especially not since it is clear that her mother wasn't white, as her father was.)  Prunella is just barely a grown woman with no money to her name, but plenty of intelligence and some untrained magic.  She knows she has to secure her own future, and so she pursues it.  Prunella performs one of the most cold-hearted acts in SORCERER TO THE CROWN, but she never lost my sympathy.

(The secondary character that stole my heart was Mak Genggang, an older and most formidable woman.  Also, an excellent source of comedy due to her refusal to bow to English social rules.)

Zacharias Wythe is the eponymous sorcerer, and that position is giving him much grief.  His appointment wasn't popular, especially since he is the first black sorcerer in England.  When his mentor died, he was the only person present, which adds to the dislike, as does the fact that English sorcerers are finding they have less and less magic to work with and it is easy to blame the man in power.  He's a romantic figure, with his quiet dignity and pursuit of duty as he sees it.  (He's rather progressive, so many of the men under him see his duty differently.)

Cho uses a very mannered style for SORCERER TO THE CROWN that evokes the historical time period of the setting and reinforces her themes of class and social mobility.  She's created an intriguing alternate history, where magical diplomacy is as important as martial.  In fact, all of the English sorcerers in the story are bound by what they can do given that they and the French sorcerers have agreed not to get involved in the current war.

The largest weakness, if you want to look at it that way, is the plot.  SORCERER TO THE CROWN is about the characters and their relationships - romance, fidelity, hatred, rivalry - these are the things that drive the story.  Many problems are presented and do get solved, but the focus is less on how they are resolved than who and why.  The plot is a distant concern to what Cho is trying to accomplish with the novel.

SORCERER TO THE CROWN is the first in a trilogy, but stands completely on its own.  I look forward to the second book and I'm eager to see what aspect of the characters' lives Cho explores next, but I would be satisfied with SORCERER TO THE CROWN even if the other two books never materialize.

Review: The Executioner's Daughter

By Jane Hardstaff
Available now from Egmont
Review copy

This middle grade novel starts like a historical novel.  Moss lives with her father in the Tower of London.  Anne Boleyn is still alive, but rumors hint that it won't be for long.  Moss is frustrated by her life, circumscribed by the bounds of the tower.  Even worse, she has to catch the heads (in a basket) of the people her father executes.

Then THE EXECUTIONER'S DAUGHTER takes a turn for the supernatural.  The folkloric nature of that which lies in wait for Moss makes this seem like a natural transition.  It might jar those who expected an actual historical novel, but it doesn't change the tone of the novel.

There's a good balance between Moss's legitimate grievances against her father and her inability to see the sacrifices he's made to give her a good life.  Running into and banding together with a thief teaches Moss a lot about what it means to be hungry and desperate.  That empathy serves her in good stead as the danger grows.

I liked that the historical aspects aren't dropped completely.  Anne Boleyn's oncoming fate continues to be a significant part of the background, and the two children face realistic threats as often as they face supernatural ones.  It's hard out there for a street urchin.

The sequel, THE RIVER'S DAUGHTER, is not available in the US.  I just might order it from The Book Depository, however.  THE EXECUTIONER'S DAUGHTER is a complete adventure; I don't know what the sequel might be about.  It's a very good adventure, though, so I'd like to find out.

Review: Ghosts of Shanghai

First in a series
By Julian Sedgwick
Available now from Hachette Children's
Review copy

The beginning of GHOSTS OF SHANGHAI is rough.  I liked the description of Ruby and her friends catching a fox spirit, but then the story moves back and forth in time rapidly to catch the reader up to what they need to know about Ruby's history and what's coming next.  It's a rather choppy and disorienting beginning.  But then GHOSTS OF SHANGHAI begins to find its groove.

One of GHOSTS OF SHANGHAI's biggest strengths is the setting.  It is the 1920s, and the Qing Dynasty has passed but the People's Repulic of China is still on the horizon.  It's a time of great tension.  It's dangerous for Ruby, since she is foreign, although she has one advantage over her parents: she speaks Chinese.  It's dangerous for her two best friends, who are communists.  Then there's her other friend, whose family was killed by communists.  Violence is brewing even before you throw supernatural nasties into the mix.

Ruby and her friends like to hand out at the old White Cloud Temple, and they're the only ones who can see that something supernatural is happening.  But then a new caretaker comes to the temple and starts to teach them how to face these creatures, instead of relying on an old book with no context.  (A dangerous prospect, indeed.)

And then you throw some mobsters and a kidnapping into the mix.

I really enjoyed the density of the plot of GHOSTS OF SHANGHAI.  There's lots of juicy historical fiction details, including multiple corrupt governments clashing against each other.  There's also lots of great cultural details, including how people get treated differently based on how they're perceived.  Ruby is a bit too good at transcending some of those barriers, but she is the protagonist in a book.  I liked the mythological details too, which draw from Chinese stories and traditions.

I wish GHOSTS OF SHANGHAI had a smoother start, but it levels out into a layered treat.  I believe there are sequels to come, and I look forward to Ruby's future adventures in Shanghai.

Review: The Witch Hunter

First in a series
By Virginia Boecker
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy

When I finished the first few chapters of THE WITCH HUNTER, I was very worried about how I would ever convince myself to finish this novel.  Elizabeth Grey is supposedly one of the king's best witch hunters, despite being a young girl, but the book opens with her completely messing up a mission.  Apparently she's missed up several missions in a row.  Also, she can't stop thinking about how much she's into her friend Caleb.  It's pretty dire.

Things shortly improve with a very dark reveal (minor spoilers): Elizabeth is distracted because she's the king's unwilling mistress.  This comes out because her herbs to prevent birth control are found, which means she gets sentenced as a witch: one of the very people she hunted.  Fortunately, she gets rescued because an actual group of people with magic received a prophecy that she's the only one who can help him.

There are parts of THE WITCH HUNTER that I really enjoyed.  The crew that Elizabeth falls in with have a variety of unique, interesting personalities.  I particularly liked Fifer, the apprentice witch who clashes with Elizabeth and has an incredibly creepy yet fascinating romance of her own.  I liked that Elizabeth did have something to help them out, but that she didn't turn out to have some super special awesome power.

I thought the romance element was a bit weak.  The love triangle fortunately dies an ignominious death, but that doesn't make the new romance that much more convincing.  Elizabeth falls for John, a healer.  The two of them can't keep their eyes off of each other.  It wasn't terrible, but I didn't feel any depth or spark to it.

I also had some issues with Elizabeth's changing view on witches.  As she comes to spend more time with them, she starts to see them as real people and understand that Blackwell, her master, had his own agenda and maybe she wasn't doing what was best for her country.  It's a believable character arc.  Yet she never really expresses any remorse that she helped lead innocent people to their deaths.  I would expect that to carry a heavy toll.

THE WITCH HUNTER was much better than I expected from the opening.  It has a brisk plot, a complex protagonist, and subverted some of my expectations from years of reading paranormal YA.  But it definitely felt like a debut novel, and didn't explore some of the darker implications of the setting as thoroughly as it could.  Hopefully Virginia Boecker will become a stronger author with the sequels.

Review: Rose and the Silver Ghost

Book four of the Rose series (my reviews)
By Holly Webb
Available now from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review copy

In the final novel of the Rose series, Holly Webb brings Rose's parentage to light through a mysterious mirror, a dangerous gang, and two loyal women.  There's still war brewing on the horizon, but it is mostly an afterthought, something the grown-ups are focusing on while Rose and her friends chase the truth and run straight into danger.  But the kids will be drawn back in before the end.

I thought ROSE AND THE SILVER GHOST was a wonderful end to the series.  It stays true to the lessons Rose has learned about magic and responsibility.  The events of the novel also force Rose to face the ways she's changed, and that she can never go back to just being a maid.  I'm not entirely happy with the way she was forced to give up the last bits of her earlier identity, but she really isn't that little girl anymore.  ROSE AND THE SILVER GHOST also continues the darker direction that started in the third book, although the story is still appropriate for younger children.  There are some things they might find scary.

I will miss Rose, Freddie, Bella, and Bill.  All four children had distinct, memorable personalities and worked so well together.  Then there was Gus.  I can think of very few books that wouldn't be improved with the addition of a talking cat.  It's just common sense.

I doubt ROSE AND THE SILVER GHOST would be that exciting for anyone who hasn't read the first three books on gone on this journey with Rose.  But these books are short and delightful, so there's no reason not to catch up now that the entire series is available in the US.

Review: Mark of the Thief

Book one of the Praetor War
By Jennifer A. Nielsen
Available now from Scholastic Press
Review copy
Read my Jennifer A. Nielsen tag

I loved the Ascendance trilogy, so I was eager to read MARK OF THE THIEF, the first book in Jennifer A. Nielsen's new Praetor War series.  The story follows Nicolas Calva, known as Nic, a young slave in the Roman Empire.  When his master discovers a cave full of Caesar's treasures, Nic is tasked with finding a bulla.  However, he ends up possessing the bulla himself, which leads him down the path of adventure and potentially being a pawn for either side of a brewing war.

MARK OF THE THIEF is a very easy read.  The action is fast and furious, and the cast is reasonably sized so that it is easy to remember who everyone is.  I do wish there were more female characters.  Aurelia, a mercenary, becomes Nic's ally, and one of his major motivations is reuniting with his sister.  However, both of the girls are great characters.  You do have to pay attention to the characters, because they change sides easily.

I think the combination of the Roman Empire and magic is very appealing.  There's some actual history about the subjugation of conquered people and class in Roman times in addition to a fantastical adventure that pits magic user against magic user.  Given the presences of gods and griffins, however, don't expect too much actual history.

I flew through this novel with much enjoyment, aside from one major flaw: I don't understand Nic.  He's a Gaul who was forced into hiding and then kidnapped into slavery.  When he gets a little power and can make choices for himself, he firmly opposes the man who wants to destroy the Roman Empire and works to preserve it with all he has.  Why does he care about Rome?  Why is he so loyal to the force that enslaved him?  Why doesn't he want to bring it crashing down or help his fellow slaves rebel or anything but be a good subject of the emperor?  I have no idea, and it bothers me every time I think about it.

MARK OF THE THIEF showcases Nielsen's addictive writing, which has much to entice adults as well as the target child audience.  She's got an ear for action and a flair with magic.  But this series just might fall apart if she can't make sense of why Nic does what he does with such determination on the page.

Review: The Walled City

By Ryan Graudin
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy

THE WALLED CITY seems like so many dystopians when it opens.  Yet, it quickly becomes clear that the world outside the city is pretty darn normal and that the law is waiting just outside the walls.  This is not a dystopian at all, but instead a more realistic story based on the history of 1980s Kowloon, a former military fort turned no man's land.

There are three points of view: Jin, Dai, and Mei Yee.  Jin and Dai become drug-running partners as part of the secretive Dai's plan to do something.  Jin agrees because he'll get her access to the final brothel she needs to search.  Mei Yee is the sister Jin is looking for, who Dai meets unknowingly.  The countdown that starts the book lets you know that as these three are drawn together, they only have eighteen days to achieve their goals before something big happens.

THE WALLED CITY is a rough read.  Mei Yee's passages are particularly difficult, because she's been sold into sexual slavery.  As a favored girl at the nicest brothel in town, she has it better than some others.  But that's about the only good thing you can say about it.  Jin is hiding as a boy and roughing it out on the streets, but one of her last thefts earned her the enmity of a gang and there's not many safe places left for her.  Dai has dark secrets that drove him to the Walled City.  Ryan Graudin does not shy away from depicting the dangers her young protagonists face.

This is Graudin's second book to release this year.  Her debut, ALL THAT GLOWS, was a fairly standard urban fantasy with insta-love and a protagonist whose competence all too often relied on telling instead of showing.  I bounced off of it.  I wish THE WALLED CITY had been her debut instead, because this book says that Graudin is one to watch.  It's not quite like anything else I've read this year.  It's tense, deftly plotted, and well characterized, with an unpleasantly vibrant setting.

I'm not quite sure how to classify THE WALLED CITY.  I think it will please fans of historical fiction, dystopian fiction, and thrillers.  It has elements of all three genres, blended smoothly together.  It's a real nail biter, right down to the cathartic epilogue.

Review: Mortal Heart

Book three of the His Fair Assassin trilogy
By Robin LaFevers
Available now from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt BFYR
Review copy
Read my reviews of Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph

I didn't start to read MORTAL HEART as soon as I got it because I didn't want to say goodbye to the His Fair Assassin trilogy.  The first two were darkly beautiful historical fantasy novels featuring two very different, but equally compelling heroines, and their genuine chemistry with their heroic counterparts.  But I couldn't hold off for long.  Amazingly, I think MORTAL HEART might be my favorite of the three.

MORTAL HEART is actually more forgiving to new readers than DARK TRIUMPH.  It winds time back a bit, to shortly after Sybella is sent on her mission (in DARK TRIUMPH) and re-establishes the rhythm of convent life and what is at risk in the War of Breton Succession.  There's been something fishy at the heart of the convent, and it comes to a head as Annith realizes the abbess's orders can't come from their patron saint Mortain (the saint of Death).  The abbess thinks Annith is docile and biddable, when really Annith is helpful and doesn't see the point of making waves.  When she does, she reveals the steel beneath.

I loved Annith's appearances and Ismae and Sybella's books, and she does not disappoint when handed center stage.  She's confident in her skills and her knowledge, but unsure of her heart.  She's never been able to see the marque (which is how Mortain's handmaidens know who to assassinate), and so she's less confident in her kills, even when they save people.  She doesn't know if she's cut out to be an assassin, but she knows she isn't destined to be a seer, locked in a little room, the destiny the abbess is trying to force upon her.

Annith, of course, gets her own romance.  Balthazar is a hellequin, sort of a member of a Wild Hunt.  He and Annith instantly spark - some good ways, some bad ways.  Love certainly doesn't turn Annith into a swooning damsel.

"What was your intent with this sparring of yours?  To entice them?  To entice me?"
...
"If that is the case, then it is their fault and not mine.  I wished only to keep my own skills honed." - p. 141, ARC

I think DARK TRIUMPH had the strongest love story of the three books, although I enjoyed the other two.  Annith and Balthazar's relationship frequently takes a backseat to the action plot, and I am not going to complain about that.

I love how Robin LaFevers wove real history and fantasy together in this series.  She makes the political maneuvering between battles just as vivid and high stakes as the battles themselves.  The Duchess of Breton is in a bad place: the princess is dying, her husband-by-proxy has his own wars to fight, she can't pay her mercenaries, and it's just bad all around.  The struggle to save Brittany from destruction holds equal weight to Annith's personal journey, and both are dealt with together in a satisfactory ending.

His Fair Assassin is one of the best trilogies in recent years.  It starts strong and just keeps going - no sagging middle, no lagging finish.  I highly recommend all three of these books.  They're exciting and insightful, and a wonderful exploration of feminine strength in a time when women were regarded as little more than property.

Review: Curtsies & Conspiracies

Book two of the Finishing School series
By Gail Carriger
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy

I found the idea of Gail Carriger's Soulless series intriguing, but the execution was lacking for me.  Especially after the first two books.  However, I kept hearing that her Finishing School series was much better.  Thus, I gave it a try.  I have to agree.

The second book, CURTSIES & CONSPIRACIES, finds Sophronia being ostracized after she scores the highest on their spy skills and etiquette test.  Determined not to let it get to her, she keeps spying on her own time to discover what's really going on at her school, beyond the whole training-young-women-secret-skills thing.  She's particularly intrigued by an apparent plot against her best friend, Dimity.

 Another ripple comes when the school takes a trip to London, accompanied by the boys of Bunson's (a school for mad geniuses).  It's highly unusual, and Sophronia is determined to get to the bottom of things, all while flirting politely with Lord Mersey.  I feel that the love triangle is overused in YA, but I do like both points of this triangle.  Soap is of lower social status, but Sophronia respects his skills and he respects hers.  Lord Mersey is to be a duke, which makes him act rather entitled, but his attraction to Sophronia is honest and he has no desire to squash her eccentricities.

At the same time, Sophronia's focus really isn't boys.  It's putting the pieces together.  Doing so also makes her think more about what her future means.  Who will she work for?  How will she know she's doing good?  She's being made into a tool, and if she's not careful, she could be wielded in ways she does not approve of.  Carriger doesn't flinch from depicting the darker side of spycraft.

If you're looking for a steampunk series with humor, adventure, and romance, give the Finishing School a chance.  The third book, WAISTCOATS & WEAPONRY, comes out tomorrow.

Review: The Brothers Cabal (and giveaway)

Book four of the Johannes Cabal series
By Jonathon L. Howard
Available now from Thomas Dunne Books (Macmillan)
Review copy
Read my review of The Fear Institute

THE FEAR INSTITUTE ended with the surprising revelation that Horst Cabal was once again alive.  (In a sense, given that he is once again risen as a vampire, and technically he's just undead again.)  For the first two thirds of THE BROTHERS CABAL, the focus is on Horst's resurrection and his adventures before reuniting with Johannes.

While I missed Johannes' dry impatience, I did relish getting the chance to see this world through a different point of view.  Horst is more social and affable, if inhuman in his own way.  He certainly makes friends and allies easier, including monster hunters and a barnstormer circus.  Once more Leonie Barrow doesn't make an appearance, but a wide range of female characters are introduced.  It's an aspect I appreciated.

The plot starts simply, with a supernatural society that wants to take over the world.  There is a long chase, and a big battle, but it's just big set pieces illuminating that Johannes Cabal's enemies are starting to work together for a bit of revenge.  I liked that there turned out to be a personal motive behind everything and that the bad guys were much smarter than they first appeared.

Some of the action was a bit hard to follow.  There are a lot of people with different powers on the scene, which means sometimes there are giant, fierce bugs with little explanation of how that happened.  The humor, however, is more than intact.  I can turn to almost any page and find a gem that made me laugh.  Let me try it right now.

"Does my little brother have a crush?"
Cabal started to deny it, but then instead blushed a little, and a small, perhaps even shy smile appeared on his own face.  He leaned towards Horst and said in a lowered voice, "She told me where to find the fifth volume of Darian's Ocusculus." - ARC, pg. 58-9

The humor is best whenever Horst and Johannes banter with each other, but really, many of Jonathon L. Howard's characters give good banter.  Thanks to the multitude of new characters and POV change, THE BROTHERS CABAL is fairly welcoming to new comers.  The climax slightly less so, although the old connections between the characters are explained.

This is one of my favorite series, and I dread the wait for the next book. 
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Review: Rose and the Magician's Mask

Book three of the Rose series
By Holly Webb
Available now from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review copy
Read my reviews of Rose and Rose and the Lost Princess

ROSE AND THE MAGICIAN'S MASK can be read alone, although it is best if you have read the first two books about maid and nascent magician Rose.  This book reveals more of her personal history, and delivers a thrilling plot.

Fans of the series know what to expect.  For those who are new, expect a practical heroine, friendship, and magicians versus magicians.  Gus, the talking cat, will be funny.  The adult-in-charge will be useless, leaving saving the day to Rose and her friends.  In this story, Venetian thieves who have stolen a mask of great power that must be retrieved.

This series reaches the point that so many series featuring magical kids (such as Harry Potter and Avatar: The Last Airbender) must reach.  As Rose becomes more powerful, and faces more dangerous enemies, she can potentially use lethal force.  This lends a bit more darkness to the final confrontation.

It's hard to say something new about the third book in a series.  But it is easy to repeat something old.  If you have a young reader in your life who enjoys fantastical adventures, I highly recommend this series.  Yes, even to the boys.

Review: The Diamond Thief

By Sharon Gosling
Available now from Switch Press (Capstone)
Review copy

THE DIAMOND THIEF is a British import and one of the first books from Switch Press, a new YA imprint from Capstone.  It switches between the points of view of Rémy Brunel, a trapeze artist and thief, and Thaddeus Rec, a policeman.  Both of them are after a diamond - Rémy to steal it and Thaddeus to recover it.

I loved the premise of THE DIAMOND THIEF and was very fond of the characters, although I think the whole book could've been from Rémy's point of view.  My favorite character was probably J, a younger urchin who befriends both protagonists.  But I thought that the book was a little lacking.  It is historical fiction with a bit of steampunk and of fantasy, with no real limits on what was possible in the world.  There was magic and impossibly advanced science with little explanation of how either worked.

Going back to the characters, I love the idea of two basically good people working at cross purposes with each other.  Thaddeus is almost impossibly good, a truly honest cop who will sacrifice himself to save others.  Rémy is a bit more complicated.  She steals to survive and understands that there are shades of grey in the world, but at the same time she, too, will sacrifice herself to save others.  She understands that there are more important things in the world than her individual happiness.  

I don't know.  I liked these characters so much, yet there world lacked a snap to pull me in.  I felt like the plot was a pretty basic progression from point A to point B, and the romance a touch tepid.  I liked Rémy and Thaddeus individually, but they were pretty quickly passionately in love with each other for little reason.  It's hard for me to remember the specifics of THE DIAMOND THIEF already, because there weren't many memorable details (aside from J).

I think THE DIAMOND THIEF will appeal to younger YA readers who like circuses, thieves, and curses.  Older YA readers who think that sounds interesting would do well to look into PANTOMIME by Laura Lam.

Review: Salt & Storm

By Kendall Kulper
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy

Avery Roe is supposed to be the witch of Prince Island.  But her mother took her from her grandmother, the current witch, and is keeping her imprisoned.  When Avery foresees her own murder, she knows she must become the witch if she is to survive.  Her only hope is newcomer Tane, who has his own magic.

I was drawn into the world of SALT & STORM, which is basically our world, on the eve of whale hunting.  Obviously, the magic in the book wasn't real, although sailors and whalers were a superstitious lot.  I really enjoyed the book's focus on culture and community, how knowledge and art can be lost forever as people die out and as more dominant cultures take over.  Avery and Tane are both the last of their kind, and both are merely half trained.

(I did appreciate debut author Kendall Kulper's end note, which talks about what in SALT & STORM is based in history, what is made up, and why Avery and Tane both have names no one would have.)

The romance left me cold at times.  Avery and Tane are both headstrong, passionate, and high-handed people.  For all that there isn't much real conflict between them, they can bring the drama and I found it a little tiring.  At the same time, I did believe they felt for each other.  But the truly interesting figure in the book is Avery's mother.  She starts out a real villain, keeping her daughter from her destiny and letting the island's magic die.  But her history and motives and feelings really get fleshed out as Avery discovers more about the Roes.  I do admit, however, that I longed for Avery to just tell her mom about her vision of impending doom.  (Yes, even back when Avery was representing her mother as the Source of Everything Wrong with the World.)

SALT & STORM is full of intriguing magic and a legacy of powerful women with fatal flaws.  It's great for historical fantasy fans looking for a standalone, as long as they can take a protagonist who is a bit of a drama llama.

Review: The Sunbird

Book three of the Lion Hunters
By Elizabeth Wein
Available now from Open Road Media
Review copy
Read my review of The Winter Prince

The first three books of the Lion Hunters series switch focus between three members of a family: Medraut, then his legitimate half-sister Goewin, and then his son Telemekos.  This means that although the books build on each other, they also stand fairly well on their own.  (The last two books focus on Telemekos and should be read as a duology.)

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THE SUNBIRD first came out in 2004, and in some ways feels dated despite only being ten years old.  It is very short compared to most current YA novels, although it cannot be confused with an MG novel despite Telemekos's youth.  (He's eleven.)  The Lion Hunters novels address some very dark themes, including torture and dehuminization in this entry.

The start of the series plays with Arthurian mythology, but the series does not stick to a traditional path.  THE SUNBIRD takes place in Aksum, now known as Ethiopia.  Telemekos is half-British and half-Aksumite, but he is still accomplished at hiding in plain sight despite his distinctive pale hair.  It is that skill that causes the Emperor to recruit him.  Plague is spreading through Europe, and quarantine has been instituted to protect Aksum.  But there are those who would take this as a chance to make money on the black market, no matter the risk of spreading disease.

In THE SUNBIRD, Elizabeth Wein skillfully weaves together an espionage adventure with a coming of age and the story of a broken but loving family.  Medraut does not speak, and Goewin is a princess of Britain first, grooming her nephew (who is unknowingly the heir apparent).  Fans of her breakout novels CODE NAME VERITY and ROSE UNDER FIRE will not be surprised at the depth of emotion in THE SUNBIRD nor the exploration of darker themes.

This historical fantasy will appeal to fans of Megan Whalen Turner and Jennifer A. Nielsen, which also feature clever and secretive young boys having adventures with consequences for entire nations.  I do recommend reading THE WINTER PRINCE and A COALITION OF LIONS first.  It is not necessary to understand THE SUNBIRD, but it makes the experience richer.  Plus, they're also terrific novels.  This series is criminally underrated.

Review: The Quick (and giveaway!)

By Lauren Owen
Available June 17 from Random House
Review copy

The cover of THE QUICK is ridiculously boring: sepia-toned man leaning on the edge, most of the cover taken up by a table.  But I was quite intrigued by the blurb, which promised both magic and terror.  I'm glad I paid little attention to the cover, because I thoroughly enjoyed THE QUICK.

The action begins when siblings James and Charlotte Norbury are children, just long enough to establish their relationship.  James is sensitive; Charlotte is practically his mother.  The time then jumps to James deciding to leave Oxford and go to London to be a writer.  That's where he meets and lets rooms with Christopher Paige, the black sheep of an aristocratic family.  The opening quarter of the book is all about getting to know James and Christopher, as well as the social strictures that govern their lives in Victorian England.  Then something very bad happens to them.

Unfortunately, the book doesn't quite kick into gear at that point.  THE QUICK delves into several of the characters' points of view, and unfortunately the next one is a lengthy section of exposition that I don't think added that much to the story.   THE QUICK does blend genre and literary fiction, so I can see these passages being of use to literary fans, perhaps.  I've seen it called a Gothic horror story, but I think that's inaccurate.  Once the fantastical enters the story, the book instantly tells the reader what happened.  But it is nice to go in with the exact details of the genre shift from historical fiction to historical fantasy being a surprise.

I liked the plurality of characters.  They represent many different factions, and even the ones on the same side come at things in a different manner.  I thoroughly enjoyed that almost all of them were driven by love.  It's a strong motivation, and one that can lead to a desire for revenge just as much as compassion.  It also enforces the need for that mundane first quarter, to show why James and Charlotte would never just go into hiding.

I think THE QUICK will appeal to someone looking for story where early Anne Rice meets Oscar Wilde.  Not the best comparison, but the best I can come up with.  It has wonderfully drawn characters, bursts of action, and a human villain who might be more terrifying than the inhuman ones.

Giveaway courtesy of TLC Book Tours. Limited to US only; must be 13 years of age or older.
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Review: The Serpent of Venice

Sequel to Fool
By Christopher Moore
Available now from William Morrow (HarperCollins)
Review copy

Christopher Moore's novels are a bit hit and miss for me, but the ones I love I love.  And FOOL, a retelling of KING LEAR, is absolutely one of my favorites.  I was quite excited to see that Moore was returning to the character of Pocket.  (Jeff and Drool are back as well.)

In THE SERPENT OF VENICE, Moore throws OTHELLO, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, and "The Cask of Amontillado" into a pot with a dragon and lets loose with the results.  Pocket goes to Venice on Cordelia's orders, to try to prevent another Crusade, but everything starts going awry when Cordelia is murdered.  (This, sadly, means that there is very little Cordelia in the book, though of course her ghost does get to make an appearance.)  After a rather odd misadventure, Pocket is sheltered by the Jewish community of Venice and makes his plans for revenge.

If you're familiar with the Shakespearean plays, it's quite interesting to see what Moore makes of them.  Some heroes become villains, for instance.  I didn't agree with all of his changes, but others made perfect sense.  And I quite enjoyed the note at the end where he explains what guided him to his interpretation of certain characters, like Portia.

I think THE SERPENT OF VENICE isn't quite as good as FOOL, but it does have a high bar to clear there.  However, it is just as hilarious, twisted, and perverse as I could've hoped.   I don't normally have a vulgar sense of humor, but something about Moore's writing brings it out in me.  THE SERPENT OF VENICE is more violent than some of his other books, but that suits the setting.

One of the things I think THE SERPENT OF VENICE does best is with Shylock, Jessica, and the other Jews.  There just as much a part of the humor as anyone else, but Moore doesn't back down from showing that they are treated is wrong.  The historical truths are there (often footnoted), and the modern sensibility is fairly scathing about it.  At the same time, Shylock and Jessica are still allowed to be flawed characters.

I do recommend reading FOOL before THE SERPENT OF VENICE.  THE SERPENT OF VENICE is capable of standing alone, but I think it is probably more fun if you know who Pocket and his companions are.  If you enjoyed FOOL, then you should definitely read THE SERPENT OF VENICE.  I'm very happy Moore decided to revisit these characters and their setting.