Review: Godsgrave

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well I didn’t see that coming. I’ve got thoughts though, which I’ll expand upon later.

Okay, so thoughts, here goes, review with spoilers:

I'll say straight off that the strength of this book lays in the narration and the narrator, unreliable as he may be. It's funny because most of the joy I get from other books comes from the characters, and identifying with the characters and what they're experiencing, thereby inserting myself into the story and having it become more of an immersive experience. I don't get that here. I don't identify with anyone (except maybe Mr. Kindly? Ha), but I have so much freaking fun reading about them that I kind of don't care. It's also one of those rare books where I don't really care who lives and who dies....which I suppose is a good thing, because there's like loads of death here. Normally I get so wrapped up in things that I'm crushed if anything happens to a favorite character (I guess the tween in me never died) but I can still entertain myself even when someone croaks (as Tric did in book 1). That's not to say that characterization here is weak, or that it's so strong in other books....it's just different, and that's good, because I think the strength of the Nevernight Chronicles is that they're different.

Anyway, I digress...

Review: Go Hex Yourself

Go Hex Yourself by Jessica Clare
My rating: 2 of 5 stars



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Review: The Witch's Heart

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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I Love to Hate It: The Joys of a Hate Read

 

And #1 on the Hate Read list goes to......

I'm not a glutton for punishment, I swear.  I take great pleasure from reading - it's my literal escape (see what I did there?) so it doesn't make much sense that I'd devote time to reading things I don't enjoy.  I'm an adult now, so I'm not obligated to read anything I don't want.  I DNF books on Kindle Unlimited with abandon; if I have the misfortune to purchase a physical book that just isn't doing it for me, I usually don't bother to return, but I will donate.  I am never, ever, EVER going to read the Great Gatsby again.  Ever.

Review: The Unseelie King

The Unseelie King by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Note - I'll be reviewing the entire series here, just because I'm lazy.

I'll start out by saying that I'm not one for dark romance. I believe I've abandoned every single one I've tried within pages (that terrible JT Geissinger one, previously reviewed, immediately comes to mind). I knew this what categorized as a dark romance, but fae books are a special kind of catnip for me (I'll be the first to admit I have a pointy ear fetish - elves, fae, vulcans, whatever), so that drew me in.

After finishing all four books (plowed through the first 3, slogged through the last one) I'm not sure I would lump this in with those toxic-bf mafia crapfests I've had the misfortune to stumble upon in the past. Yes, the MMC is an asshole, yes there's dubcon, but to be perfectly frank there was a lightheartedness to this entire series that I definitely wouldn't put this in a dark romance category. I can't believe I'm saying that a book where the MMC literally chains up the FMC is lighthearted, but yeah, here I am.

Review: The Curse Workers: White Cat; Red Glove; Black Heart

The Curse Workers: White Cat; Red Glove; Black Heart by Holly Black
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is probably the first Holly Black book that I didn't fall in love with immediately. I did like it, but I didn't find it quite as engaging as the Folk of the Air (a masterpiece series), Coldest Girl in Coldtown (a standalone under-the-radar masterpiece), or even the Tithe series.

Most of what I love about Holly Black is there - great characters, clever dialogue, a crapton of bon mots. The worldbuilding here (curse workers possess various cool powers but cannot use said powers indiscriminately) wasn't as strong as in other books, but I didn't hate it. I thought the concept of blowback (basically receiving back what you put out ten folder, so if you're a death worker you can kill someone with a touch, but you'll literally lose parts of yourself as a result) was smart, I was really engaged by the whole criminal underworld/con man focus, and I thought Cassel was a delight. Actually, most of the main characters were great (I very much enjoyed Cassel and Sam's dynamic, and Cassel's family is like a smorgasbord of train-wreck entertainment).

Given all that, I'm not sure why I only rated it 3 stars; in fact, I'll be generous and bump it up to 3.5. I think if I had to pick a reason, it would be, first, I didn't like Lila (the main female character and Cassel's love interest) at all. For a gangster's daughter, she was bland, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why Cassel loved her so much. She's supposed to be some tough, cool girl, but I found characters like Jude from FotA and Tana from CGiCt much grittier, which is saying something, given that Lila is a mob boss in training. Also, this was a bind-up of three separate books, so I think it just felt like kind of a slog going through all three one after the other.

That being said, I'd still recommend it because there's enough of what Holly Black is known for and what she excels at present here to make it worth the effort in reading.

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Review: The Contortionist

The Contortionist by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am slightly shocked that I liked this as much as I did. I'm also pleasantly surprised to see that Kathryn Ann Kingsley appears to be not only talented, but consistently talented - there is nothing worse than reading a book, loving it, and trying to devour the author's entire catalog only to discover that the one book was an outlier and that everything else sucks.

Definitely not the case here - KK is so far five-for-five in my book as far as writing engaging, funny, witty, sexy stories. And she has a definite knack for writing truly dark heroes that you can't help but love. I'm not talking about the type that seems bad at first but then somehow has an explanation for literally every bad thing they've ever done. Her heroes are bad, they know it, but somehow they can't help being soft for the FMC. There's no trying to understand it, and I'm actually kind of glad that I don't have to perform the mental gymnastics required to understand how I could actually be hot for a villain (or read a fucking chapter-long diatribe on the same). In other words, this is true dark, fantasy romance, and it's great.

I've mentioned before that I'm not normally a fan of dark romance, though I do find it more palatable when it's in a fantasy setting, and I think that's purely because I want to suspend disbelief and don't want to think about the implications of finding an actual psycho that could very well exist in the read world kind of hot. I don't want to read about another Ted Bundy. A freaky undead puppeteer that's part of a murder circus (as Cora would say)? Sign me up, I don't have to worry about running into him in an alley at night.

This is true dark romance, mind you, and while Simon is every bit as witty, intriguing, and charming as Valroy (from the author's Maze series) you'd do well to understand that he is not a good guy and doesn't try to be at all, except when it comes to his intended. In other words, you're not going to get all hot for him only have him be completely defanged later because it turns out he was working undercover the whole time and was really emo over the bad stuff he did, and can you tell I'm talking about Rhysand here?

You're safe with Simon....not literally, but you're safe in knowing that he's not going to turn out to be a wimp later on.

All things aside, the story is engaging, the setting is *chef's kiss* (freaky vintage carnival with a sort-of tarot theme! I can practically smell the popcorn). And if that doesn't have you convinced, KK is an artist in addition to being an author, so her books are often accompanied by character and setting artwork, which is such a treat. I know not all authors are artists, but I do wish more included artwork in their books (and it's really just on the flyleaf or end papers here, there's not a ton) because it really helps with the immersion, and I am American, and thus lazy, and don't like to think for myself. In all seriousness, her art is gorgeous, as is her writing, and I'm so so glad I discovered her. You will be too.

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Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm surprised I never reviewed this on my first go-around two years ago. In a way I'm glad, because I apparently gave it a five star rating, and I had written some gushy review I'd be feeling pretty damn embarrassed right now.

This was the audiobook version, and that bears mentioning because I severely disliked the book narrator. I don't believe that had any impact on my downgraded rating, more that emphasized a growing dislike for Feyre and Rhys that really started in "A Court of Silver Flames." Why it started there I can only chalk up to the fact that their behavior is so egregiously bad in that book that it's hard to ignore. I apparently did ignore it my first trip through this book, but now that I look at it, it's there in spades.