Review: The Republic of Thieves

Book Three in the Gentleman Bastards sequence
By Scott Lynch
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
Review copy
Read my review of Red Seas Under Red Skies

RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES came out in 2007, a little over six years ago. The one-two punch of the hilarious, complicated, and inventive THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA and its sequel had fans eagerly awaiting the third book in the Gentleman Bastards series.  (Especially because it promised a reunion between Locke and his love Sabetha.)  Now, it's finally here and almost guaranteed to be disappointing because there has been so much time to anticipate it and wonder about what would happen.

I breezed through THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES, happy to be reunited with Locke and Jean and see them get out of their last scrape and straight into a new one.  As always, the story alternates between an episode in their past and their present.  I quite enjoyed the past, which reveals how Locke fell in love with Sabetha and wooed her.  I found those sections funny and liked how the ending forced the Gentleman Bastards to rely on their developing skills.  I also liked the development of Locke and Sabetha's romance, which is complicated by Sabetha's resentment of Locke's place in the gang.  They're similar in skill, but Sabetha is the outsider and Locke is the leader because of their sexes.

The present plot, which involves Locke and Jean trying to rig an election and Sabetha working for the other side, was less satisfying.  Yes, I liked spending time with the characters, but . . . there is no heist here, no clever unfolding of tricky plans.  The trickiest thing that happens in THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES is about on par with Locke not even trying in one of the first two books.  The biggest revelation occurs in a bit of awkward exposition.  There's barely any plot here.  My disappointment isn't so much from over anticipation as THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES not much resembling the first two books.  Not to mention there's no danger.  Each side is forbidden from killing the other.  If Locke and Jean win, they get to leave with protection.  If they lose, they just get to leave.  Those are possibly the lamest stakes ever.

I'll be back for the fourth installment in the Gentleman Bastards series.  The ending of THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES remembers that there is a series arc and that danger is tantalizing.  The past bits are good and there's plenty of fun banter.  It's just that the main plot of this entry is oddly airless.  On a whole, this book is a nice diversion for an afternoon, but not what I expected from a favorite series.

Review: Fangirl

By Rainbow Rowell
Available now from St. Martin's Griffin (Macmillan)
Review copy

FANGIRL: the novel that launched a thousand laudatory reviews.  It's a little difficult to be just one more, sometimes.  If you haven't heard about it, FANGIRL is the story of Cath, a freshman in college.  She's long found solace in fandom and has become a popular writer of Baz/Simon fanfiction (basically Harry Potter).  She's had some difficulty in her home life: her mother left when she and her sister were eight and her father is bipolar and sometimes has breakdowns.  Now at college, she doesn't even have her twin by her side.  Wren decided to room with someone else at the last minute.

The first reason FANGIRL is easy to love is that its very relatable.  Freshman year is a liminal time.  Some people spend it getting drunk, like Wren.  Some people spend it huddled in their dorm room, like Cath.  Often times things happen to shock people out of their patterns, which of course happens in the book.  The second is that FANGIRL is a total female fantasy.  Cath is hippy but still considered attractive, has no less than two potential love interests, is adored by a professor, and finds fame online.  Her college life is, in many ways, the life other socially anxious internet dwellers dream of.  There are some downsides (anxiety) (parental abandonment), but on the whole it is just plain fun to spend time in Cath's life.

FANGIRL is the cherry on top of a wonderful year for Rainbow Rowell.  She's really arrived as an author, and I am looking forward to her next book.  This book is a great choice for anyone going to college, or who has been to college, or who didn't go and wants proof that college quite often bites the monkey.

Review: The Engineered Throne

By Megan Derr
Available now from Less Than Three Press
Review copy

When this book popped up on Netgalley, I was intrigued by the main character's job.  You don't see many military engineers in fantasy or romance.  And let me tell you, THE ENGINEERED THRONE delivers on that promise.  Vellem's career is quite important to both the plot and his own decisions.  The book will certainly make you think about the importance of having someone around battles who can take bridges down, put bridges up, plan a demolition, and such.

The other point of interest was arranged marriage.  Let's face it, during the holidays I want to read fun books.  Arranged marriages are a classic trope.  Vellem is a war hero, which makes him high profile enough to marry the youngest prince of a neighboring country in order to seal a peace treaty.  However, he might not get to marry Perdith, because someone is trying their hardest to assassinate Vellem.

Despite being 312 pages, I felt that some parts of the story were glossed over.  Vellem starts a dangerous journey, then the book cuts to him arriving at his destination.  Vellem and Perdith are at first uncomfortable and unsure whether to trust each other, then they're totally into each other.  Other parts worked better.  There is a core of grief and rage to THE ENGINEERED THRONE that works very well.  If you pay attention to the title and blurb of the book, it is easy to guess what's coming.  But the book works to make it painful, not just a rote plot point.

I enjoyed THE ENGINEERED THRONE quite a bit.  It was a quick read with lots of action and a touch of romance.  Vellem was an interesting character to spend time with - excellent at his chosen profession, but a bit at sea elsewhere.   It was fun to see him earn a happy ending.

Review: Roomies

By Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy
Read my review of The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life

I love that the explosion of sexy reads about twentysomethings is starting to bring about interest in books that are about life in college, or just before college, without necessarily being about an intense romantic relationship.  I wish there'd been more books about this time of life back when I was in college.

ROOMIES is about the last summer before college for the alternating narrators, EB and Laura.  EB a New Jersey girl is excited to move across the country to San Francisco and hopes to make friends with her roommate because, well, she won't know anyone else.  Laura hoped for a single because she's moving out of her house with five siblings and just wants some alone time.  EB's perky email introducing herself was not what Laura hoped for.

It's a great premise for a novel, because the roommate relationship is such a unique one and so very variable.  You could be best friends with your roommate and hate living with them.  You could hate them but think they're great to live with because they never eat your food or steal your makeup.  Or anywhere in between!  Pre-move-in email exchanges are basically the only thing you know about the person you'll be living with for a year before you make that plunge.  (Unless you decide to room with a friend when you go off to college.)  Plus, it's a situation ripe for misunderstandings.  Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando clearly had a great deal of fun playing with the idea.

I found it a little hard to warm to EB and Laura at first because they were both determined to think the worst of each other based off of some pretty ungenerous readings of each other's emails.  Then I started really getting into their stories.  Laura's is the simpler one.  She's preparing to move away from her close family, which is difficult even though it's something she really wants, and maybe starting a relationship with a coworker.  Her coworker is black, and ROOMIES does a great job of dealing with how people act like they don't notice that but do.  EB, meanwhile, is having to deal with her mom's affair with a married man, the new guy she likes despite having a boyfriend, and getting up the courage to talk to her estranged gay dad who lives in San Francisco.  It is to the book's credit that it refers to this storyline as a soap opera but doesn't let it get too overly dramatic.

I really loved how many relationships are woven into ROOMIES.  There is the girls' growing, fraught relationship, of course.  But both of their family relationships are explored, as are their relationships with boys, and their relationships with their best female friends, all of which are changing because going off to college is a huge transition.  It's very realistic, which helps keep ROOMIES moving smoothly along instead of feeling overstuffed.

I think ROOMIES will be a big hit with contemporary fans and anyone who is making their own transition to college.  It's very positive while not ignoring potential negativity, and often just sweet and funny.  Just don't be fooled by the cover: they don't make it to the dorm room until the very end.  And you'll have to read the book to find out whether EB and Laura decide to live together after all.

Be sure to visit on January 10th when I post my own Roomies story and give away a copy of ROOMIES!

Mini-Middle Grade Reviews on a Monday

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
By Kathi Appelt
Available now from Atheneum BFYR (Simon & Schuster)
Review copy
Read my review of Keeper

The eponymous scouts are Bingo and J'miah, raccoon brothers keeping an eye on the Sugar Man Swamp from an old, overgrown DeSoto.  They're to wake the Sugar Man, a Yeti-like figure, if the swamp is in trouble.

It quickly becomes apparent that the swamp is in trouble.

Kathi Appelt weaves together a tale of humans, animals, and cane sugar in a sweet, down-home voice perfectly suited to the material.  It's so beautifully descriptive that I wanted illustrations even as I was happy that everything was left to me to imagine.  It's funnier and less dark than her other books, although it still touches on important issues.  THE TRUE BLUE SCOUTS OF SUGAR MAN SWAMP is definitely worthy of that National Book Award Finalist medal on its cover.

Listening for Lucca
By Suzanne LaFleur
Available now from Wendy Lamb Books (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

LISTENING FOR LUCCA is the tale of Siena, who has just moved to a beach house with her parents and younger brother Lucca, who doesn't talk.  She quite likes their new hometown, but she and Lucca both suspect that their house is haunted.

I really enjoyed LISTENING FOR LUCCA.  This is a quiet, simple book.  The fantasy elements are likewise quiet - these are fairly passive ghosts.  Thus, LISTENING FOR LUCCA reads almost like a contemporary.  The family is well realized, both agreeing to let Lucca talk in his own time and individually worrying about how to convince him to talk.

I suspect lots of readers will identify with Siena, who struggles with fitting in and being a patient big sister.  I think this novel will appeal to fans of Mary Downing Hahn.

In Search of Goliathus Hercules
By Jennifer Angus
Available now from Albert Whitman & Company/Open Road Media
Review copy

Henri is a normal nineteenth-century boy until he goes to live with his aunt.  There he starts to realize that he can speak to insects.  But he runs away to the circus to escape his aunt's sinister neighbor, Mrs. Black, who might know his secret.

I liked how this story combined a mystery about Henri's father's disappearance, the mystery of Mrs. Black's motive and powers, and an adventure about life in the circus.  There is, of course, a search for a large insect known as the Goliathus Hercules as well.

In the end, I had niggling questions remaining about how some of the magic worked, but I did like IN SEARCH OF GOLIATHUS HERCULES.  Few books are so passionate about the insect world, and Jennifer Angus clearly knows her subject.

Magic Marks the Spot
Book One of The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates
By Caroline Carlson
Illustrated by Dave Phillips
Available now from HarperCollins
Review copy

I do enjoy books about pirates!  MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT tells of Hilary Westfield's journey to become a pirate, complicated by the facts that she's a girl and the daughter of an admiral.  I have always enjoyed girl-crossdresses-as-a-boy stories, but that is not this one.  Hilary is determined to do it all as a girl.

MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT is a very fun story, filled with a search for treasure and mysterious thieves and unexpected magic.  I'm not sure it's a great start to a series, because it stands very well on its own.  There are no loose ends here.  The only real problem is that the chapters end with bits of letters and newspaper articles.  This would be a nice way to catch up with what's going on with other characters, except at least half of the letters are in a little cursive font on a darkened background.  It's hard to read as an adult who was taught cursive - I can definitely see it tripping up kids.

The Savage Lands
Book Three of Tarzan
By Andy Briggs
Available now from Open Road Media
Review copy

I read the original TARZAN by Edgar Rice Burroughs back when I was a kid and Disney's Tarzan came out.  I must say, I never was a real Tarzan fan.

In many ways, I like the idea of a rebooted Tarzan, with modern technology and such.  In execution, Andy Briggs' THE SAVAGE LANDS didn't do anything more for me than the original.  I did like that Jane is very active in the series.  Why, the first thing she does is save a man with a well-timed machete swing.  You can certainly try this book with the young action/adventure fan in your life.