Five for Friday: Pirates

Going for a bit of a different direction this week. Instead of a genre, or trope, I'm going to rec books by a theme. And that theme is going to be pirates (blame Black Sails, ok?).

Compass Rose by Anna Burke

Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: violence, death

Synopsis: Rose was born facing due north, with an inherent perception of cardinal points flowing through her veins. Her uncanny sense of direction earns her a coveted place among the Archipelago Fleet elite, but it also attracts the attention of Admiral Comita, who sends her on a secret mission deep into pirate territory. Accompanied by a ragtag crew of mercenaries and under the command of Miranda, a captain as bloodthirsty as she is alluring, Rose discovers the hard way that even the best sense of direction won’t be enough to keep her alive if she can’t learn to navigate something far more dangerous than the turbulent seas. Aboard the mercenary ship, Man o’ War, Rose learns quickly that trusting the wrong person can get you killed — and Miranda’s crew have no intention of making things easy for her — especially the Captain’s trusted first mate, Orca, who is as stubborn as she is brutal.

Comments: Futuristic pirates! Lesbian pirates! Hate to love relationship pirates! What more do you want from these pirates! (No, but seriously. Do yourself a favour and read this.)

The Princess and the Captain by Anne-Laure Bondoux

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis: Malva is the princess of Galnicia, destined to marry the Prince of Andemark, or so her parents think. On the eve of her wedding, she escapes at dead of night, little realising that she is letting herself in for a life of peril and adventure, including being shipwrecked in a huge storm and being captured as part of a harem.

Comments: I first read this book over six years ago. I'm not sure quite when because I think I've repressed all knowledge of it given how much it hurt me. One day, I'll work up the courage to reread it, but that's not going to be anytime soon.

These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch

Rating: 5 stars
Content Warnings: torture

Synopsis: Adeluna is a soldier. Five years ago, she helped the magic-rich island of Grace Loray overthrow its oppressor, Argrid, a country ruled by religion. But adjusting to postwar life has not been easy. When an Argridian delegate vanishes during peace talks with Grace Loray’s new Council, Argrid demands brutal justice — but Lu suspects something more dangerous is at work.

Devereux is a pirate. As one of the outlaws called stream raiders who run rampant on Grace Loray, he pirates the island’s magic plants and sells them on the black market. But after Argrid accuses raiders of the diplomat’s abduction, Vex becomes a target. An expert navigator, he agrees to help Lu find the Argridian — but the truth they uncover could be deadlier than any war.

Benat is a heretic. The crown prince of Argrid, he harbors a secret obsession with Grace Loray’s forbidden magic. When Ben’s father, the king, gives him the shocking task of reversing Argrid’s fear of magic, Ben has to decide if one prince can change a devout country — or if he’s building his own pyre.

As conspiracies arise, Lu, Vex, and Ben will have to decide who they really are... and what they are willing to become for peace.

Comments: Yeah, this might be a little bit of a cheat, because the whole piracy thing isn't that much of a plotpoint, but whatever. My recs, my rules. And I really loved this one, so I'm reccing it. It's probably one of the first fantasy books I've read that manages to create a whole fantasy world without homophobia too (even while having a society set up around a church that considers magic heresy and things like extramarital sex a sin).

Peter Darling by Austin Chant

Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: some transphobia

Synopsis: Ten years ago, Peter Pan left Neverland to grow up, leaving behind his adolescent dreams of boyhood and resigning himself to life as Wendy Darling. Growing up, however, has only made him realize how inescapable his identity as a man is.

But when he returns to Neverland, everything has changed: the Lost Boys have become men, and the war games they once played are now real and deadly. Even more shocking is the attraction Peter never knew he could feel for his old rival, Captain Hook — and the realization that he no longer knows which of them is the real villain.

Comments: You know you always wanted to read a story where Peter Pan was a trans man and had a relationship with Captain Hook. Don't try fool me. But even if you didn't, I bet you're now curious about it at least.

The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard

Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: lots of violence

Synopsis: In the early eighteenth century a number of the great pirate captains, including Edward "Blackbeard" Teach and "Black Sam" Bellamy, joined forces. This infamous "Flying Gang" was more than simply a thieving band of brothers. Many of its members had come to piracy as a revolt against conditions in the merchant fleet and in the cities and plantations in the Old and New Worlds. Inspired by notions of self-government, they established a crude but distinctive form of democracy in the Bahamas, carving out their own zone of freedom in which indentured servants were released and leaders chosen or deposed by a vote. They were ultimately overcome by their archnemesis, Captain Woodes Rogers — a merchant fleet owner and former privateer — and the brief though glorious moment of the Republic of Pirates came to an end. In this unique and fascinating book, Colin Woodard brings to life this virtually unexplored chapter in the Golden Age of Piracy.

Comments: Yeah, so this is a non-fiction book, but it's a really good account of the pirates of Bahamas. If you're interested in finding out more about the Golden Age of Piracy, you should read this (or watch Black Sails. Do that too).

Review - "Beneath The Citadel"

Beneath the Citadel
by Destiny Soria
rating: ☆☆☆☆
published: 9th October 2018
spoilers? minor

Goodreads

We are not foretold.

Galley provided by publisher

Beneath the Citadel has been high on my to read shelf since pretty much the first moment I heard about it. The synopsis gives off vague Six of Crows vibes, so I'm fairly sure if you liked that, you will also like this one.

The story follows five points of view - Cassa, Evander, Newt, Alys and Vesper - five teens who are fighting against the corrupt council of the citadel itself. Cassa is the daughter of two rebels who died when the chancellor brutally put down an attempted revolution. Evander and Alys are the children of two apothecaries, who were branded rebels after healing a true rebel, while Newt is the son of a man who betrayed the rebellion. Vesper, the final character, is the grandniece of the chancellor himself.

The book opens up with Cassa, Evander, Newt and Alys being sentenced to death by the chancellor. It's definitely the kind of beginning to get you hooked quickly, and the plot is fairly rapid from thereon. In fact, the whole book only spans about five days. The POVs alternate, interspersed with occasional flashbacks into the past for exposition. I liked being able to see into all the characters' minds and everything, but occasionally it felt like having so many POVs left some plot threads underdeveloped, although that equally might have been because some of them also started in the past we did not see. Case in point: Vesper is shown within the first few chapters to have betrayed them to the council, but the only problem is, because you haven't seen how close Vesper and Cassa are, you've only been told it, there's no real emotional involvement in the betrayal. Despite that, the characters themselves were probably what carried the book along for me. Yes, the plot itself was good, but I wouldn't have cared about a lot of it if I hadn't really liked the characters. It did take a little while for Alys and Cassa both to grow on me, but by the end I liked them as much as everyone else.

One of the places this book falls down, however, is in its worldbuilding. There's an infodump right near the beginning, that includes explaining four types of powers (seers, sentients, diviners, and rooks) and bloodbonds, but I really still couldn't for the life of me tell you what the difference between seers and diviners is supposed to be. And even worse, I didn't realise that the citadel/city was even part of a country until about two thirds of the way through. Because the events happen solely enclosed within the city (which in itself seems to be somewhat insular and out of touch with the rest of the country), there was no need to really expand on the whole what's-the-rest-of-the-country-like idea. It felt instead like the city existed in a vacuum. Not to mention the fact that I can't really tell you that much distinctive about the city - there are some wards? Some tiers? Rich people live in the first ward, poor people in the lower wards? It's really not so much different from other fantasies in that respect. But like I said, I really did like the characters, and therefore the plot, so that kind of made up for any weaknesses in the worldbuilding.

Finally, I really appreciate that, in this book, a fantasy book (and a high fantasy at that), Destiny Soria chose to use the word "bisexual". Because there have been so many fantasy books I've read where such "modern" terms for sexuality have been eschewed in favour of just not giving labels. In a completely made up world, there's no reason not to use these terms. So yeah. I liked that.

And that ending. I don't want to spoil it, but I'll just say: Destiny Soria has some real guts.

Five for Friday: Historical (I)

After yet another accidental 4 or 5 week hiatus, I'm back with more recs! This week, I'm reccing historical fiction, namely adult fiction (young adult will come later, as may new adult). Some of these books may crossover with other genres (one of my favourite genres has to be historical mysteries), but they're all historical.

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

Rating: 5 stars
Content Warnings: child deaths, child prostitution, death, violence

Synopsis: 1845. New York City forms its first police force. The great potato famine hits Ireland. These two seemingly disparate events will change New York City. Forever.

Timothy Wilde tends bar near the Exchange, fantasizing about the day he has enough money to win the girl of his dreams. But when his dreams literally incinerate in a fire devastating downtown Manhattan, he finds himself disfigured, unemployed, and homeless. His older brother obtains Timothy a job in the newly minted NYPD, but he is highly skeptical of this new "police force." And he is less than thrilled that his new beat is the notoriously down-and-out Sixth Ward - at the border of Five Points, the world's most notorious slum.

One night while making his rounds, Wilde literally runs into a little slip of a girl - a girl not more than ten years old - dashing through the dark in her nightshirt... covered head to toe in blood.

Timothy knows he should take the girl to the House of Refuge, yet he can't bring himself to abandon her. Instead, he takes her home, where she spins wild stories, claiming that dozens of bodies are buried in the forest north of 23rd Street. Timothy isn't sure whether to believe her or not, but, as the truth unfolds, the reluctant copper star finds himself engaged in a battle for justice that nearly costs him his brother, his romantic obsession, and his own life.

Comments: Do you like angsty familial relationships? Then this is a book for you. Quite honestly, the Wilde brothers are one of my favourite families, and also one of the families that causes me the most pain. And the historical setting is amazing too.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Rating: 5 stars
Content Warnings: racism, death

Synopsis: Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.

So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

Comments: 1970s counts as historical, right? But anyway, this is one of my favourite books ever by one of my favourite authors. I initially rated it only 4 stars, but then I realised I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks after so upped the rating. I would also rec Celeste Ng's second book about as much.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Rating: 5 stars
Content Warnings: murder, mentions of rape

Synopsis: Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.

Riveting and rich with lyricism, Burial Rites evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

Comments: Burial Rites is another one of those ones I read and was left thinking about for weeks. It's gorgeously written and properly evocative.

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis: Creeper, a scrappy young teen, is done living on the streets of New Orleans. Instead, she wants to soar, and her sights are set on securing passage aboard the smuggler airship Midnight Robber. Her ticket: earning Captain Ann-Marie’s trust using a secret about a kidnapped Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.

But Creeper keeps another secret close to heart--Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, who speaks inside her head and grants her divine powers. And Oya has her own priorities concerning Creeper and Ann-Marie…

Comments: OK, this is a bit of a cheat because it's more like an alternative steampunk history, but it's so good I had to rec it. It's a really really good novella too (and basically a guide on how to write a good novella).

Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg

Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Warnings: death, violence, some gore

Synopsis: Jack Sheppard - a transgender carpenter's apprentice - has fled his master's house to become a notorious prison break artist, and Bess Munshi has escaped the draining of the fenlands to become a revolutionary mastermind. Together, they find themselves at the center of a web of corruption leading back to the dreaded Thief-Catcher General...

... Or so we are told in a mysterious manuscript unearthed by one Professor R. Voth. Voth traces the origins and authenticity of the manuscript as Jack and Bess trace the connections between the bowels of Newgate Prison and the dissection chambers of the Royal College, in a bawdy collision of a novel about gender, love, and liberation.

Comments: If you want to read a historical book with a trans main character (written by a trans author), where there's a happy ending, then this one's for you.

Review - "Zero Sum Game"

Zero Sum Game, Russell's Attic #1
by S. L. Huang
rating: ☆☆☆
published: 2nd October 2018
spoilers? some

Goodreads

I'll thank you to talk to me like the heavily armed person I am.

Galley provided by publisher

If, like me, you enjoy plenty of action (and I mean plenty) in your books, then Zero Sum Game is the book for you. From page one, it's busy and intense, and there were definitely no points where I thought there was too much of a lull. So, all in all, perfect for me and my short attention span.

You might think, therefore, that I'd rate this book a lot higher than I have. Mainly, I didn't because, for all that the plot never let up, I had a little trouble always feeling sympathetic towards some of the characters, in particular Cas and Rio. I liked Cas, but every time she blithely insisted on asserting how much she trusted Rio and couldn't work with anyone who wouldn't work with him too, I had to roll my eyes. Because Rio is described as being a mass-murdering sadist. He is a psychopath (although apparently calling him this is crossing a line for Cas. And mass murder isn't? Okay). But Cas trusting him is supposed to be enough for other people to trust him too. So yeah. I could definitely see more where Arthur and Checker were coming from with this. Additionally, the plot somewhat revolved around Rio and I just couldn't side with him and Cas enough to actually care.

Then there was the little problem of how Cas just seemed to kill everyone who got in her way. I wouldn't mind so much if they were all genuinely bad guys but they just seemed to be anyone she categorised as impeding her. There was a part in the middle, when Arthur calls her out on this, where I thought here we go, here's going to be some soul-searching and character development, but it seemed to get dropped fairly quickly.

But lack of sympathy for characters aside, I enjoyed this book. It was an action-packed ride and definitely one I'd recommend if you're looking for a quick thriller to read.

Review - "Outrun The Wind"

Outrun the Wind
by Elizabeth Tammi
rating: ☆☆
published: 27th November 2018
spoilers? some

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

To be honest, I think the hype for this book actually killed it for me. If it hadn't been so hyped and I came to it with no expectations, I'd have probably liked it more than I did. Because the writing is pretty good, the characters were alright, and there's a good romance. But it was hyped, and so I'm disappointed in how it turned out.

THE GOOD

- The relationship between Atalanta and Kahina was well-developed and nicely slowburning. They start off disliking each other - or rather Kahina dislikes Atalanta for reasons she can't actually explain to her, and Atalanta dislikes her in response to that - and then come together to work against the suitors later on. You might say that they start liking each other fairly abruptly, but besides that the development was realistic.

- The writing wasn't awful. OK, I'm definitely framing that in a negative way but I mean like. It was alright. Not much more, not much less. Readable, but nothing special.

- The characters were good - maybe not very nuanced - but they were good characters. I just didn't really like any of them particularly, which was unfortunate. I think if I'd liked them, things would have gone better for me.

THE BAD

- Just to clarify, I don't mean bad bad, but more like these-are-the-things-I-didn't-like bad.

- It just felt like your generic superpowered fantasy (albeit with an f/f relationship), where the characters happened to have names from Greek myths, and not actually a Greek myth retelling. I know, in the author's note, it said that she did research and took certain historical and mythological licences when writing it, but it doesn't even feel like it's actually set in Ancient Greece. Part of that was because of the language used ("insane", "lieutenant" are the examples that stick out), and the descriptions of their clothing (calling what Ancient Greeks wore a "dress" doesn't help in making it seem believable). Overall, though, besides the names for things, there didn't feel like that much effort in worldbuilding. I couldn't help comparing it (unfavourably) to Madeline Miller's novels in the end, because those are examples of how to take some liberties with the myth and still have it feel like it's actually set in Ancient Greece.

- Also, I know in the author's note she does mention that in the time of the myth - 3500BC or so - there wouldn't be coins as money and some of the city states wouldn't have been formed (although in the book she actually does have these things), but it's that kind of thing that takes me out of the story. Specifically in this book, I was taken out the story when Kahina started teaching Atalanta about forks. Which, as the smallest bit of research would tell you, were not used in Ancient Greece. Forks as we know them weren't actually used in the west until only a few centuries back. And that kind of anachronism really annoys me for some reason. It's the kind of detail that makes me think that, while there might have been plenty of research gone into the myth itself, research into the era might have been overlooked.

- There was plenty of plot to this book, but even so, I actually found it fairly boring. I think that's mostly linked to the fact that the writing was only alright, but also a bit to my next point.

- I didn't like any of the characters. Don't get me wrong - I didn't dislike them. But I just didn't actually like them. Ultimately, I didn't care about them, which would be a major factor in me liking a book (second to good writing). They are good characters, like I said before, but I didn't care.

- Finally, I just couldn't see Apollo as an out and out villain. Maybe part of that is because of Rick Riordan and the way he writes the Olympians. But for whatever reason, it just didn't work for me.

So yeah, in the end, this was just one of those books that was overhyped for me, meaning I didn't like it as much as I was hoping to.

On The TBR Shelf

I am notoriously bad at actually keeping to TBR lists per month, so this may turn out to be an unmitigated disaster. But given that I have a box of about 40 unread books I really need to get to sometime, I'm going to give it a go. This time, though, I'm only going to put a few books on this TBR list, because I always deviate from them at some point on account of wanting to read something else or not being in the right mood. Hopefully, that means I'll actually be able to complete one (for once)!

Outrun the Wind (ARC)
by Elizabeth Tammi

The Huntresses of Artemis must obey two rules: never disobey the goddess, and never fall in love. After being rescued from a harrowing life as an Oracle of Delphi, Kahina is glad to be a part of the Hunt; living among a group of female warriors gives her a chance to reclaim her strength, even while her prophetic powers linger. But when a routine mission goes awry, Kahina breaks the first rule in order to save the legendary huntress Atalanta.

To earn back Artemis’s favor, Kahina must complete a dangerous task in the kingdom of Arkadia— where the king’s daughter is revealed to be none other than Atalanta. Still reeling from her disastrous quest and her father’s insistence on marriage, Atalanta isn’t sure what to make of Kahina. As her connection to Atalanta deepens, Kahina finds herself in danger of breaking Artemis’ second rule.

She helps Atalanta devise a dangerous game to avoid marriage, and word spreads throughout Greece, attracting suitors willing to tempt fate to go up against Atalanta in a race for her hand. But when the men responsible for both the girls’ dark pasts arrive, the game turns deadly.

Zero Sum Game (ARC)
by S. L. Huang

Cas Russell is good at math. Scary good. The vector calculus blazing through her head lets her smash through armed men twice her size and dodge every bullet in a gunfight, and she'll take any job for the right price.

As far as Cas knows, she’s the only person around with a superpower...until she discovers someone with a power even more dangerous than her own. Someone who can reach directly into people’s minds and twist their brains into Moebius strips. Someone intent on becoming the world’s puppet master.

Cas should run, like she usually does, but for once she's involved. There’s only one problem...

She doesn’t know which of her thoughts are her own anymore.

Beneath the Citadel (ARC)
by Destiny Soria

In the city of Eldra, people are ruled by ancient prophecies. For centuries, the high council has stayed in power by virtue of the prophecies of the elder seers. After the last infallible prophecy came to pass, growing unrest led to murders and an eventual rebellion that raged for more than a decade.

In the present day, Cassa, the orphaned daughter of rebels, is determined to fight back against the high council, which governs Eldra from behind the walls of the citadel. Her only allies are no-nonsense Alys, easygoing Evander, and perpetually underestimated Newt, and Cassa struggles to come to terms with the legacy of rebellion her dead parents have left her — and the fear that she may be inadequate to shoulder the burden. But by the time Cassa and her friends uncover the mystery of the final infallible prophecy, it may be too late to save the city — or themselves.

The Ghost Bride
by Yangsze Choo

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim's handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

The City of Brass
by S. A. Chakraborty

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles.

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for...

As Meat Loves Salt
by Maria McCann

In the seventeenth century, the English Revolution is under way. The nation, seething with religious and political discontent, has erupted into violence and terror. Jacob Cullen and his fellow soldiers dream of rebuilding their lives when the fighting is over. But the shattering events of war will overtake them. A darkly erotic tale of passion and obsession, As Meat Loves Salt is a gripping portrait of England beset by war. It is also a moving portrait of a man on the brink of madness. Hailed as a masterpiece, this is a novel by a most original new voice in fiction.

So now, I guess, all that's left is that I read these books. And then maybe do a monthly round-up (if I remember).

Review - "Hearts Unbroken"

Hearts Unbroken
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
published: 9th October 2018
spoilers? minor maybe

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

Actual rating 3.5

Hearts Unbroken is set in Kansas, and tells the story of a high school production of The Wizard of Oz. When the drama teacher decides to take an inclusive approach to casting (including casting the main character's brother, Hughie, as the Tin Man), a group of parents in their mostly white, middle-class neighbourhood, takes exception. In the meantime, Louise, the main character, has started work at the school newspaper, and is paired with new kid Joey to take on the Features section.

What I liked about this book was that there were actually probably three strands of plot going on at once - firstly, with Louise at the paper and her budding romance with Joey, secondly, with the parents and their dislike of the casting, and finally, with Hughie and his relationship with the play and Baum. This saved it from ever getting dull in terms of plot, for me, and although it might seem a lot, it didn't ever get too crowded with plot. There were a few, more minor, plotlines that possibly went unresolved (Louise's first boyfriend, who she dumps at the start of the book for making bigoted comments about Native people, starts all these rumours about her after the breakup, but supposedly no one believes he isn't just running his mouth, so it's kind of brushed under the carpet when they meet one last time for "closure"), but overall, it was a solid book plot-wise.

Even though the plot was good, it did take me a little while to get properly into the book. I did like it, don't get me wrong, but I was mostly reading it without all that much caring about it. Part of that was because it was written like a series of vignettes rather than a fully continuous story so the plot seemed to start off moving really quickly, and I found that hard to read for some reason. Another reason was probably because I wasn't the biggest fan of the main character before she had her learning moment. She was kind of self-absorbed and a little self-righteous. But she also had some pretty good character development precipitated by her friend calling her out (at exactly the right time in the book, because I'd been getting a little bored before then).

As well as this, the start of the romance kind of bothered me. If only because I couldn't for the life of me see why it started (or continued for that matter). Joey seemed fairly arrogant and self-obsessed and kept boasting about his journalism prowess, and I couldn't work out what Louise actually saw in him. So maybe he was a nicer guy than Cam (the boyfriend she dumped), but there didn't seem to be anything there. Or at least nothing I was shown. I was told she didn't shut up about him to her friend Shelley or her brother Hughie but there was no evidence of that. (Just like, at the start, there was no evidence of Cam getting easily jealous until she mentioned it in one line - and this is the guy she thought she loved? Yikes.) But once the conflict had happened, and they were kind of broken up, I almost liked it more, conversely. Because it made Louise develop as a character.

So, overall, this book was one I liked a lot but didn't quite really really like (if that makes some sense). I did get more into it as it went on, but ultimately not enough to love it.

Review - "The Black God's Drums"

The Black God's Drums
by P. Djèlí Clark
rating: ☆☆☆☆
published: 21st August 2018
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Somewhere in my thoughts, Oya starts up humming a song. I think I can hear Oshun join in.

Galley provided by publisher

Honestly, this is how you write novellas. With enough worldbuilding and plot and characterisation that you simultaneously feel that it works as a novella but also that it could be expanded into an entire novel. And The Black God's Drums does all that so well.

This novella is an alternate, steampunk history set during the American Civil War, in which the Confederates and Union came to an truce (along with a number of other things, as explained better in the book than I could ever hope to summarise in this review). It follows Creeper, an orphan living on the streets, who overhears a Confederate plan to use a weapon known as the Black God's Drums to defeat the Union once and for all, and plans to use the information to bargain her way onto an airship.

Sometimes, in a novella, it can feel like there's either not enough worldbuilding or not enough plot, but in this one, there's the perfect balance of both. The world and the characters in it are compelling, and there's a fully realised plot as well. It's so good, I even didn't mind the present tense, which would usually be a bit of a problem for me.

If there's one tiny thing that I didn't really like, it was the strangely omniscient nuns. I get the plot needs to move along, but the fact they knew everything and had the right tools for the right moments in time, and even seemed to perhaps be able to see the future? It all felt a bit overly convenient. I'd have liked the main characters to have had to struggle a bit for the answers but there we go.

Review - "Jade City"

Jade City, Green Bone Saga #1
by Fonda Lee
rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
published: 28th June 2018
spoilers? none

Goodreads

"I could still kill him for you." "Screw you, Hilo," she snapped. "I can kill my ex-boyfriends myself."

tw for extreme violence

Galley provided by publisher

How do you review books that ripped your heart out about halfway through and then continued to batter your emotions mercilessly, all the while laughing with glee? Who knows, but I'm about to try. (Don't be surprised if this review dissolves into incoherency. It's been a week and I'm nowhere near over this book.)

The island of Kekon is controlled by two crime syndicates - clans of Green Bones, who are granted superhuman abilities by the island's magical jade. In the past, the Green Bones protected the island from foreign invasions, but now the clans are involved in commerce, construction and the protection of the districts who pay them. However, the Mountain clan aren't content with the way things are, and want to gain control of the whole island for themselves. Thus begins a clan war.

Jade City is primarily a character-driven novel. There is definitely plot, but it's a fairly slowburning one. The first half of the book is more focused on the Kaul family, of the No Peak clan - Lan, the Pillar (leader), Hilo, the Horn (kind of like the general), Shae, their jadeless sister, and Anden, their cousin/adopted brother. One of the best parts of this book, in my opinion, is the amount of time spent on the family relationships. Yes, they're pretty damn painful, and quite angst-filled (if you've read the Timothy Wilde series by Lyndsay Faye, they're definitely up there competing with that for Most Painful Familial Relationships), but they are also so compelling and there's no one character you'll love to the detriment of all the rest.

As well as there being such good relationships, the characters in themselves are also brilliant. I don't remember the last book in which I loved every single one of the main cast so much. (Which was a Big Problem around a particular part because it absolutely wrecked me. Beware of getting too attached to anyone in this series, I think, is the message to be taken away from that.)

Another wonderful thing about this book was the worldbuilding - ultimately it's a fairly simple fantasy world, but it felt so realistic and, to be honest, it's probably some of the best worldbuilding I've read in a fantasy novel of any sort. Everything just fits so seamlessly together.

If there's any complaint I have about Jade City, it's just that it was fairly slow up until That Particular Scene Which I Like To Pretend Didn't Happen. Yeah, the characters and the worldbuilding made up for it, and this is only a really minor complaint, but I did feel there needed to be a bit more action before the halfway point. Like I said though: this is a really minor issue. In the end, it didn't make a difference to how I rated the book.

So now all I have to do is wait (suffer/attempt to recover) until Jade War comes out.