Review: Second Chance

Second Chance by Zac Brewer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In this middle installment of The Slayer Chronicles - it wasn't going to be the very middle, but then Brewer shortened the series from five books to three - we pick up Joss McMillan's story once again about a year after First Kill, in the heart of another summer of slayage. This time around, though, Joss has a ton of baggage to take with him, and not the actual luggage kind - I'm talking emotional. The events of Ninth Grade Slays have come and gone, his friendship with Vlad and even his cousin Henry is over (for now), and the Slayers have him under what is basically the Doom of Damocles - hence this book's title - because of his having accepted an unofficial job from D'Ablo, which kick-started his presence in Bathory in Slays.

So what's a fourteen-year-old vaguely Johnny Depp-looking Slayer dude to do? Why, help the Slayer Society take on an apparent vampiric serial killer in New York. Along the way, he solidifies some friendships among the Slayers (though it's clear that they're all substitutes for the loving family ties he no longer really has), plays tourist while searching for Em (and visits Obscura, which always gives me a chuckle because I used to watch Oddities on the Science Channel from time to time), visits V Bar (and does NOT partake of the house red - and holy Lord, I forgot how much the V Bar secretly influenced some of my own work on a vampire-themed Gravity Falls fanfic), and occasionally sees the mysterious Dorian (a favorite of mine and August Graves' for a reason.)

Still, though, Joss is that most complex of Z Brewer creations, and even when he makes bad and/or boneheaded decisions, you still can't help but wish you could hug some sense into him.

One more Slayer Chronicles book left...these books are really short, it's true, but they're pretty rich for it. And size ain't everything. Look at the book I read before this one - 500 pages, and I didn't enjoy most of them. This one? 275 pages or so, and they were damn good ones. (Because they're Z's pages, of course.)

View all my reviews

Review: Now I Rise

Now I Rise by Kiersten White
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm pretty much suckered in by the pretty covers and the promise of some kind of fantasy shenanigans for this series...but the trouble is, it's such a grimdark slog where nothing seems to happen that it's very, very hard to enjoy what I'm reading.

As I suspected after finishing And I Darken a month or so ago, Now I Rise doubles down on Lada being supremely unlikable while adding next to nothing to her storyline. She's got some kind of mission in mind, using the Hungarian royals to try and usurp Mehmed - again - but whenever we're in her POV, virtually nothing happens, save for a few random scenes of her remembering her past, railing against religion (and using Christians against Muslims just because she can), and even sleeping with Mehmed at one point. As for Radu, his story takes on a few more interesting twists as he becomes a sort of spy for Mehmed, sneaking around Constantinople as that city all but burns down in the face of Mehmed's imminent takeover, and continuing to angst about the fact that he can never be with the one he truly loves.

Radu's story adds more to the ongoing saga, much more, while Lada's story grinds the progress of this book to a halt every time it resumes. Honestly, I'd enjoy this so much more if White were to have focused entirely on Radu - even though his characterization is just stereotypical enough that it makes it hard for him to carry the story for me. As it is, Radu is the only reason I'm going to keep going with this series - that, and those twin letters that make the enticing ending of this book, which still epically fails to live up to the promise of its elevator pitch about a female version of Vlad the Impaler.

I only hope that White manages to wrap everything up in Book 3 - and preferably with tons of heads rolling and being spiked up every-bloody-where.

View all my reviews

Cover Reveal: The Glitch Mob

Happy Solar Eclipse Day, Pinecones! Now to give you some book-related news from the desk of the Pinecone General...

As many of you may know from my Twitter updates, I've decided that The Dark Ice Chronicles will no longer be a trilogy of novels, nor will they have that title. Instead, I've decided to condense the trilogy, already fairly overblown and stretched out in hindsight, into a single novel which will form a sort of bridge between the new versions of Red Rain books 3 and 4, White Shadows and Black Mirror. In essence, this new manuscript, The Glitch Mob, will be Red Rain 3.5, basically.

The challenge, though, is getting The Glitch Mob off the ground. I started re-editing that manuscript in June for Pride Month, especially appropriate since I decided to make it so Harris McCallum would be the primary POV character, and his coming-out story arc from The Scalers would now be a moot point because in this new version of the story, he's already out and proud - and so are most in his circle of friends. (It's a new character, Kai Shelby, who combines Harris' old coming-out arc with the original Jason Cross' Dark Ice self-discovery and oddly cute chemistry with Harris.)

I love Harris McCallum. I really, really do. But perhaps because he's a different, more self-realized version of myself - a ball of sunshine and Fire as opposed to my moonlight and Ice, kinda like Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield's respective screen Spideys (and, appropriately, Holland is now Harris' face claim) - he's proven surprisingly hard to write for me. Another sad factor about my Glitch Mob work is that as overlong as the original trilogy is, I find myself having to kill a ton of darling scenes and lines to make the whole single-book thing work. So while my original plan was to finish The Glitch Mob by the end of June to cap off my Pride Month celebrations, that didn't come anywhere close to fruition. Hell, it's been three months and (especially since I've also been working on re-edits for the first three Red Rain books, including having Harris make his Red Rain debut in White Shadows instead of Black Mirror, as well as the first draft of Peppermint) I haven't even finished condensing the events of The Magi yet.

I think it might help now, though, that I've got a sweet cover art design to help motivate me. Sam Ayers, the awesome artist behind the covers for the Red Rain series, returns with a beautifully colorful cover for The Glitch Mob!

To explain the symbolism involved in this cover: the orange flames on one side of the planet represent Harris and his Dark Fire powers. The blue light is for his girlfriend and first love Evan Michaelsen (another major change from the original trilogy - Harris and Evan are the main canon couple now!), a Light Ice - exactly his opposite power-wise. Replacing the Red Rain wing overlays under the title are a couple of flaming swords, Harris' signature weapon, reflecting his origins as a modern-AU version of Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. (I swear, it's coincidence that yesterday we got to see a Game of Thrones episode with a flaming sword making a prominent guest appearance.) And because Harris is the living embodiment of where I hope to have my bi-pride levels someday, the splashes of color on the title come in bi-pride colors - with a hint of blood in there too, because let's face it, it's no book of mine if it doesn't involve some kind of blood. (Not to sound too much like Z Brewer, lol.)

I'm still not 100% certain The Glitch Mob will get to appear on Wattpad, but I'm not ruling it out. In the meantime, to give you an idea of my plans for this saga, here are all the covers (once again, many thanks to Sam Ayers!) in what will be my suggested reading order for these books.

This is absolutely going to be a wild ride for me to write, and for you to read, my friends.

Till next time, Pinecones...

#FeedTheRightWolf

Remember: Denis Leary is always watching. Always.

Review: First Kill

First Kill by Zac Brewer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Coming after the high that was Twelfth Grade Kills would be difficult to top, but as the start of darkness for Joss McMillan, the leader of the great Minion Horde delivers quite the ride in the first book of The Slayer Chronicles. It's been quite some time since I read any of the books in the Vlad Tod 'verse, and I'm starting off kind of in reverse order, reading the Slayer books first - which, incidentally, is not what I recommend if you happen to be a newcomer to the Minion Horde. Relatively standalone First Kill may be, but there are still plenty of original-series Easter eggs, especially towards the end of this book, that might leave you scratching your head if you haven't already read Eighth Grade Bites - and then, if you jump to Second Chance after reading this book, you'll wonder why the heck the narrative jumps ahead a year if you haven't already read Ninth Grade Slays.

But I digress. Long story short, if you're new to the work of Z Brewer, read The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod before tackling The Slayer Chronicles.

As for this book, though, it well and truly is the start of darkness for Joss, perhaps the most morally complex character Z ever blessed us with, and we're so lucky to have received this trilogy further delving into his psyche. Every piece of Z's bibliography gives us some powerful themes, and here, in the first Slayer book, we get a strong critique of masculinity. Especially the toxic kind that many of the Slayers espouse, and that, sadly, infects Joss's mind as the book goes on despite the tempering influence of Sirus - how could I forget Sirus? He was a fave character of mine the first time I read this book, but then again it was six years ago...

Luckily, I already have the remaining Slayer books sitting in my TBR, as is the one where it all began: Eighth Grade Bites. For the next few weeks or so, at the suggestion of my friend August, I'll be re-exploring Z's masterworks and rediscovering their secret influences on my own work.



View all my reviews

Review: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Silly me, I thought this was Mackenzi Lee's debut novel. Actually, no, it's not...but now I want to read her first book, and all her others after The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue dazzled me.

I've been waiting a while to read this one, and in that time, I've seen a fairly polarized string of reactions from my Goodreads and Twitter mutuals. Depending on who you ask, this book is either a fun romp or brought down by an annoying protagonist. After reading it, as expected, I've found myself falling somewhere in the middle of that spread of opinions...but definitely leaning more towards positive. Not 100% glowing, but it's a pretty good book all the same.

I think the two biggest points against Gentleman's Guide, for me, are its length - almost 500 pages, with a lot of slow-paced stretches throughout, punctuated by bursts of action for texture - and, hell, Monty himself. Though I love that he gives us some much-needed bi rep (whoo hoo!), his personality actually takes a hell of a lot of getting used to. Not so much his frequent giving in to his vices (gambling, though that's more of an informed attribute than anything else, and of course drinking and sex), but his way of treating those he loves selfishly. He even makes a few microaggressions towards his best friend and crush, Percy - and it's hard to say whether or not they're bigger slaps to poor Percy's face than the rampant racism he faces on the course of this Grand Tour.

Then again, though, that was probably the point: Monty realizing just how privileged he is (his bisexuality notwithstanding), and coming to terms with it. It's one of many heavy themes this book boasts.

In between the character interactions (most of which are surprisingly sweet even as they tend to highlight Monty's flaws), this book takes on a surprising bit of light adventure and historical fantasy, which I really didn't see coming as well as I should have. Certainly not the presence of a sorta proto-steampunk-clockpunk-biopunk MacGuffin that actually makes me wonder if Lee ever watched Alias, because it sounds like it could've easily been another lost Rambaldi device. As for the Grand Tour itself, that device quickly causes a few detours - so, even after the first third or so of the book goes through France, we then get to go to Barcelona (and I'm happy to see the Catalan language get some time in the spotlight when it so rarely does), across the sea to Venice, and finally to Santorini...all in the map at the start of the book, with those funny notes Monty adds in, though I was a bit disappointed that the narrative spends less time in each location as the story goes on.

Overall, Gentleman's Guide is a wonderfully diverse piece of historical fiction, one of the few in YA I've read and really enjoyed. I can't wait to read the next Guide book - centered on Felicity, if I'm not mistaken. Which will be quite the sight to see, given that Felicity is the smartest - if not the smart-assest - character Lee's graced us with thus far.

View all my reviews

Review: Ash and Quill

Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Originally meant as the end of the Great Library series, I think, Ash and Quill is now the very middle entry, the third of a planned five books. And it kinda shows in that the plot of this book feels a little bit spread thin and repetitive, especially compared to the first two books. That said, though, this third book adds a little to the world-building by really introducing us to an alternate America run by Burners, who are basically all the worst aspects of the far left rolled into one - anarchic, militantly anti-religious (though they idolize Ben Franklin), and fixated on ideological purity, to the point where, as potential allies, they prove pretty damn unreliable.

In any case, the Library isn't about to be cowed by Burners, or royalty, or anyone else who dares oppose them on any level. Which is why Jess and company can't stay in Philadelphia, and have to keep on moving around the world all over again. And again. And again.

I really have no idea how Caine can keep the story going for two more books, but I would really love to see how well she pulls it off. Book 4, hopefully, will hit shelves next year so we can start getting an idea of when and where the next phase of the war on the Library really starts.

(And, of course, we'll finally be able to resolve this book's nasty little cliffhanger.)

View all my reviews

Review: The Love Interest

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the months since this book hit shelves (months in which my library took its sweet time getting ahold of copies and distributing them), my hype for this book took a few hits when I saw a surprisingly high number of bad reviews and a relatively low GR average. A lot of these reviews complained about the book having a paper-thin backstory - which, admittedly, it kinda does, but then again it's also one of those "please park your brain at the door, don't worry, we'll validate it for you" kind of stories. Other reviews said the book had bimisia and/or erasure - to which I say, as a bi human being, I see none in this book.

Really, The Love Interest is, as I said, a "park your brain at the door" book, but that's just part of the fun. It's a damn good satire of YA books and their associated tropes, taken to some logical genre-fusing extremes with its suggestion that there exists a facility that raises teenage spies - and not the dark, gritty CHERUB kind, either, but deliberately manufactured product (now here is a story where I could probably debate for hours whether or not Caden and Dylan and the other Love Interests are humans or cyborgs or what) designed to act out a YA love triangle, and with the spies being pretty much all self-aware of their meta-fictional nature all the time.

It's a satire, like The Rest of Us Just Live Here, but I enjoyed this book so much more because it boasts some very sincerely strong and engaging characters. As a "Nice," Caden is seriously conflicted by the fact that his very job is to be a convincing liar. Dylan, the "Bad," projects an aura of dark self-confidence but, when he can be himself (meaning, when he's around Caden), he cries because he's scared of the lethal stakes of his assignment. And there's Juliet, who doesn't seem to have impressed most of my fellow readers - to which I say, why not? She's a STEM girl, super-smart, and taking inspiration from Black Widow for her dream project. (Another point in this book's favor for me - numerous pop-culture references, especially to Marvel. Also note that Caden at one point dresses as Spider-Man for a costume party, and Juliet is said to have plenty of "Spidey-butt" in her search history.) The first two thirds or so of this book use these characterizations as part of the initial setup of a YA contemporary with a sci-fi twist, and then comes the final third when all the secrets come out and we get into some pretty ass-kicking action, worthy of the Marvel heroes to whom Caden and Juliet, especially, look up.

My two biggest reasons for loving this book, though, are some very relatable themes. One, of course, being Caden struggling to understand his sexuality. Been there, especially when I was his age. Though I'm a lot more certain of mine by now, I don't think I'm done questioning by a long shot. Not to mention the sub-theme to that overarching theme, that coming out is different levels of difficult for everyone - I think, for me, it's about as difficult as it is for Dylan, especially since I'm pretty much only out online. The other major theme that resonated with me was the emphasis on the artificiality of perfect "Love Interest" bodies. The fact that all Love Interests, when activated, have to undergo certain surgeries and watch their diets carefully to get to the degree of physicality their superiors want them to have for maximum attractiveness, really stands out. Also, Caden noticing (especially in early scenes, before his activation) that he's naturally pale and surprisingly hairy - that was probably the first time I saw a YA protagonist super-reflecting me physically. (Though I only wish I was well-built enough to rock a Spider-Man suit, but I'm getting there, a little closer every day to being more easily mistaken for Andrew Garfield's secret twin, I hope.) I feel really bad for him having to constantly get rid of his body hair, too - not because he wants to, but because for some reason, Nices are supposed to have no hair anywhere that isn't their heads. Not even their armpits, which, to me, smacked of the LIC superiors just wanting to troll their charges with excessive control. Which also made me think a lot about male body-shaming, how so many guys feel the pressure to look as muscular as, say, Stephen Amell (and then there's me, whose bod goals are more in line with Grant Gustin.) Hell, just recently I went onto Facebook, a place I haven't really been in years, and saw a picture of one of my old high school friends showing off how super friggin' ripped he was now. But that picture's meant for encouragement, to show that even if you're dissatisfied with your body, it's up to you to shape it into whatever you want it to be. A sort of self-control, agency, and autonomy that Caden and Dylan both have to fight for before this novel is through.

tl;dr: sexual self-discovery and satire of beauty standards.

Bottom line, for a story that too many of my friends in the community find thinly plotted, I found Cale Dietrich's debut both thought-provoking and funny - and, above all, downright fun to read. Good thing I savored it for a while - if I tried to rush through it, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much, nor would I have had nearly as much to say on it.

Now I seriously can't wait for Dietrich's next book, The Tower. Fingers crossed it'll be just as good as this one, if not better!

View all my reviews