Thursday, April 28, 2016

More Snarky Book Reviews

Daughter of the Blood (Bishop): starts off with a bang!  Ritual rape and first-page violence.  A record for how few pages I read (three) before giving up. NOPE.

Truthwitch: Heroine couldn't decide if she was intelligent or impulsive.  Also mandatory falling in love with hero figure. Bored, DNF.

Mairelon the Magician/ The Magician's Ward (Wrede): A little dude-heavy on the first one, but the second is fantastic and has a saucy mother.  I'd forgotten how much I liked them! (Reread.)  How to do 'set in Victorian England' and still have ladies do stuff.  A favorite line: "Lady Wendall has always had a reputation for... originality, even before the curried snails in aspic."

Disenchanted & co: Great premise, mediocre execution.  Heroine is inconsistent until the last few chapters.  Also there is random porn inserted (hah) here and there and a literal deus ex machina, which I always find irritating.

Grand Sophy (Heyer): My favorite Heyer of all, probably because Sophy doesn't give a fuck for social conventions.  The 'crush you in my arms' ending could, as  always, go.

Library at Mount Char: Well written but too violent and disturbing for me.  First 40 pages feature violence, reanimation, violent abuse, maggots, and two messy, violent, graphic deaths.  DNF.

Secrets of Drearcliffe Grange School: Very strange and a bit self-consciously precious, but enjoyably strange.  Recommend.

Wireless (Stross): Tried to re-read while feverish.  Do not do this; you will have nightmares of tentacled horrors abducting you to  strange alien planets.  With termites.  (Great book otherwise but above-average disturbing.)

Frostfire (Viehl): Terribly boring.  DNF.


What have you been reading?

8 comments:

  1. Garth Nix. I'm trying to get C1 to read Sabriel, but I think he's worried about the undead villains. I've checked out the new one, Clariel, but haven't started it yet.

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    1. I read Clariel last year! (I liked it but didn't love it.)

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    2. Anonymous2:58 PM

      I read Clariel a few months ago, and it was my first of the Nix books. It has remained my favorite, but I suspect that any one that I read first would've been my favorite, because they're all so...predictable. Finished up Sabriel a few weeks ago, was rather meh about it.

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  2. You might like Sorcery and Cecilia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot; or The College of Magics.
    I also liked Kitchens of the Great Midwest

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    Replies
    1. Read the first two years ago! The Kitchens one sounds interesting!

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  3. The Farseer Trilogy (Robin Hobb). Just finished the second one and still enjoying the tormented hero.

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    1. I've liked most of that (very long) series though I personally never got into the Dragon Traders series. Also! Female author! (Took me an embarrassingly long time to realize esp as one of fave authors is Robin McKinley.)

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  4. Wow, between the post and the comments you've hit a good number of my all time favorites! Mairelon the Magician/The Magician's Ward, The Hero and the Crown, and The Farseer Trilogy. I really like Robin Hobb, but the husband couldn't finish it. He thought there was too much "kick him when he's down."

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