Review: The Kingdom of Copper

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been waiting for this follow-up to the unbelievably amazing City of Brass for a little over a year now, so when it came out at work, I had to grab a copy right away! So after a week or so of reading the book on my breaks at work, I've finally gotten through all 600 pages and...I have to say, I'm mildly disappointed in this one, because it's just long and slow enough to have unfortunately suffered some Sophomore Slump.

Don't get me wrong. I love this book just as I loved Chakraborty's debut. Just not as much, but my God, she's got nothing if not serious skills. The Kingdom of Copper builds on its predecessor's heavy politicking and plays out even more topical to today than even the first book. All throughout the book, there's a lot of storylines involving the ongoing conflicts between all the tribes, and of course the daevas and shafit, and a lot of struggles for civil rights, and a lot of sneaky false-flag operations planned by various people in power (mostly the royals, of course)...it's a lot to take in.

Review: Verses for the Dead

Verses for the Dead by Douglas Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The latest Pendergast novel still doesn't quite match the world-class thrills of Fever Dream to Crimson Shore-era Pendergast, but it does get the nice bump up to a four-star book (I really give it a 3.5 tbh) for the ways it shakes up the usual Pendergast formula. Namely, Miami as its primary setting, and giving Pendergast a new official FBI partner in Agent Coldmoon, an enigmatic and magnetic Lakota Native American (with an Italian mom, hence his green eyes) whose style is very cool and rational, but he's got extra complexity because the bosses are trying to use him to spy on Pendergast. Maybe it's a little less good a book because of how they travel up and down the East Coast from sunny Miami to snowy Maine and upstate New York for stretches just long enough to really disrupt the flow of the story, and not long enough to feel like utterly necessary diversions. But for Pendergast and Coldmoon - a character I sincerely hope to see again in future novels, with or without Pendergast - I'm always happy to have read this one, and ready to pitch it to potential customers at work.

View all my reviews

Review: The Three Secret Cities

The Three Secret Cities by Matthew Reilly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just as Matthew Reilly hinted at after the two-part adventure that was Books 2 and 3 in this series, it's pretty clear that the rest of the countdown in the titles is a big old four-part adventure in the making. Building on the plot threads set up in The Four Legendary Kingdoms, we go from that book's premise of Matthew Reilly doing The Hunger Games to this book's premise of Matthew Reilly doing Catching Fire. The games are much higher in stakes, with an even more insidious environmental threat to contend with, and of course the extra danger level of having to confront the challenges of all three cities all at once or else everything's going to be for naught. And that's before we get into the nasty behind-the-scenes politics of Hades vs. everyone else in charge of the Legendary Kingdoms. This book's the usual Matthew Reilly action rager, building up to his nastiest ending yet - yes, even more so than The Six Sacred Stones. But then there's that last line that foreshadows a twist that leaves me guessing helplessly - and wrongly, no doubt - what the hell Reilly could have in mind when the title countdown ticks to Two.

View all my reviews

Review: Broken Lands

Broken Lands by Jonathan Maberry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Maberry's back to his old world of YA zompocalypse action, and more than ever, we get to see just how screwed up the world got After The End. No longer simply focusing on Benny Imura and his crew, we also get to follow the POV of a new survivor: Gabriella "Gutsy" Gomez, a bi Mexican girl with more than a passing resemblance to Chloe Bennet according to that stunning cover art - and hell, in text it's stated that likely due to her Native-looking features, she's often mistaken for Asian, just as I've occasionally seen some people (namely, my dad) mistake Chloe Bennet for Latina. Benny and Gutsy form two halves of one great story, a long and sprawling one, over 500 pages long, but blazingly fast-paced. For sure, this is the best YA novel that Maberry's given us to date, and I'm excited to see where he takes us next in the Rot and Ruin and beyond! Though first, I'm going to need to catch up on Joe Ledger's adventures, 'cause I understand I'm two books behind on that front...

View all my reviews

Review: Thanos: Titan Consumed

MARVEL's Avengers: Infinity War: Thanos: Titan Consumed by Barry Lyga
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'd say Barry Lyga's a pretty equal-opportunity fanboy. This book couldn't be any less like Lyga's Flash trilogy: not only is it Marvel, but it's a pretty epically crushing secret origin for Thanos. Following the Mad Titan from his birth onward, we get a glimpse of how great a world Titan used to be, until all that prosperous veneer came crashing down in the end, as we all knew it would.

Review: Sherwood

Sherwood by Meagan Spooner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wasn't as impressed with Meagan Spooner's Hunted as I was with her collaborations with Amie Kaufman, but this second solo-written retelling of Spooner's, which I read in ARC form, is somewhat of an improvement over Hunted. It's still nowhere near any of my favorite books ever, but as a Robin Hood retelling, one in which the original Robin is dead almost from the get-go and Marian has to take up the mantle, it's a pretty good one which I really hope to see get made into a movie someday. I mean, the last couple of attempts at a major studio production of Robin Hood were both pretty financially floppy, but a film adaptation of this book? I could see it raking in the big bucks if it's done right, retaining the action-packed feminist core of its source material.

View all my reviews

Review: Dragon Pearl

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The third book published under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint proves to be the most different yet in the lineup, mostly because instead of being a straight-up modern fantasy just like Riordan's books were, here we get our mythological retelling (Korean, in this case) in the form of a space opera. And also very differently from previous Riordan books and Rick Riordan Presents, this one's a standalone. So far. With that open ending, there's absolutely room for continuing the story, and I'd be very devastated if Yoon Ha Lee never does continue it, not when there are literally a Thousand Worlds to explore! But for this book, Lee gives us a fast-paced interstellar adventure, where spaceships and fox magic (and goblin magic, and dragon magic, and more kinds of magic) have pretty equal impact on the story's unique aesthetic. That fox magic, though...it's really something else, something that our protagonist Min's been forced to hide all her life, but only now that she needs it does she really get to cut the heck loose. (I wonder if perhaps Lee drew on his experiences as a trans man to write Min and her unique conflicts with society.) It's a great little book, though, a bite-sized powerhouse of action and intrigue. And of course, pretty inclusive in its characters, as befits the Rick Riordan Presents imprint (most notably, it's common practice for people, especially in official positions, to wear symbols on their nametag indicating their gender.) Again, I'll be very sad if Lee doesn't come back to this story world...but hey, I'll be sure to read more of his other books as soon as I can!

View all my reviews

Review: Black Wings Beating

Black Wings Beating by Alex London
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Trigger warnings: parental abuse, religious discrimination, racism.

I'm actually a little...disappointed...in how this book turned out for me. The first time reading a new Alex London book since Guardian, almost half a decade ago, and I wasn't super invested in it? Like...WTF happened? I mean, that's not to say the book is a total stinkbomb. It's much more readable for its characters, especially Brysen and Kylee. But especially Brysen, #ownvoices gay as he is...and just like with Syd in the Proxy duology, London writes him as both Black (or, at least, Black-coded, and biracial Black- and white-coded at that) and gay, but takes care to ensure that neither his skin color nor his sexuality be his sole defining characteristics. (Unlike Proxy, this is also a very queer-friendly world. While Syd has to put up with rampant homophobia including heavy use of futuristic slurs, here, nearly nobody bats an eye at Brysen going out with another boy, and heterosexuality isn't treated as the default either.) Kylee, though, reads more like she stepped into this book from the world of This Savage Song - she's cut from some of the same cloth as Victoria Schwab's Kate, so I feel like she's very hard to like...hard, but not impossible.

Review: The Black Coats

The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trigger warnings for this book: rape, sexual assault and allusions/accusations thereof, racism, death of a loved one.

Picking up this next book from Colleen Oakes in ARC form at work, I expected it to be a rewrite of her Peter Pan-themed fantasy retelling just like Queen of Hearts and sequels were rewrites of a previous self-published project. But no, instead she gives us a pretty high-stakes - and pretty accidentally relevant, since it was written several years ago before #MeToo became so prominent and topical - contemporary thriller.

Review: Red Glove

Red Glove by Holly Black
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm...starting to remember what it is about Holly Black's books that I tend not to like. It's always been some kind of undefinable something missing, and that's still undefinable, but after the first book made a good impression, this sequel kinda left me a bit cold. For a follow-up to a real masterpiece of world-building and prescient political commentary, this second book feels like it adds little to nothing new to the table. I mean, it has its good moments of that political commentary coming back to the fore from time to time, like in this scene where some of Cassel's schoolmates want to go to a pro-worker protest and the headmaster bans the protest entirely. But really, this book had its flashes of fun and then for the most part came off rather boring. It's a shame, really. But you know, I'll still go ahead and complete the trilogy and see what happens.

View all my reviews

Review: The Music of What Happens

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trigger warnings for this book: rape, PTSD, abusive parents, mental health issues.

This one's a bit of a tough book for me to rate. I've spent a day after finishing up reading the ARC to let my thoughts collect well enough, and I think I'm going to give it a 3.5 and round up to a 4. I can see why it gets a lot of comparisons to Ari and Dante - the Southwestern setting, a certain retro vibe to it (though it's set in the present day but makes a lot of use of 80s music and an ancient food truck), one tough gay boy and one soft gay boy making an unlikely romance...

Review: The Edge of Everything

The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This one's kind of a 3.5, which I'll round down to a 3 mostly because I remember more of the annoying parts of this book better. Namely, Dallas and his job at the House of Huns, which feels more than a little bit culturally appropriative. And the fact that most of the characters tend to be surprisingly forgettable, and the narrative has a way of going around in some kind of anachronic order that makes it strangely hard to follow. But hey, even Dallas has his moments of self-redemption because of his eventual involvement in helping to save Zoe and X's respective bacons - and Zoe and X form a very strong power couple, strong enough to really carry the book and make me interested enough in picking up the sequel as soon as I can.

View all my reviews

Review: The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The sequel to The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue already has a surprise or two up its sleeve from the word go. I went into it lowkey thinking that we'd start off with Monty and Percy still in Greece after the end of Book 1, even if Felicity was on her way back to Britain - and then, surprise, the boys are rooming together in London and Felicity escapes from a hapless would-be suitor in Edinburgh to come see them. (Naturally, she claims Monty's afflicted with syphilis, which let's be honest, wouldn't be a whit out of place.)

Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Normally, I'm not into this kind of contemporary YA - it's almost always a hit or miss for me, usually a miss unless there's some aspect about it that really connects with me in some way. I'm sorry to say that I didn't connect with this one super well, but I can see why it's as popular as it is. It's not a complete 100% fluff-fest with no exceptions, but it's overall very light and airy and easy to devour. I guess it's just not for me? Although, to be honest, I think maybe my one issue was that if I were Lara Jean, I'd give up on trying to find love in this high school and look for the Right One elsewhere. But that's just me, and it's a bit rich of me to say that since I've never had the guts to pursue love like I should have...but I digress. Not my cup of tea, but if it's yours, more power to you!

View all my reviews

Review: Circle of Shadows

Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another ARC found at work, and another story greatly enjoyed.

The latest from Evelyn Skye gets a lot of comparisons to the works of Leigh Bardugo and Renée Ahdieh, but I'm also going to offer up some comparison to Julie Kagawa's recent feudal Japanese-inspired dark fantasy, Shadow of the Fox. Especially since both books highlight main characters with some kind of affinity for a certain canid beast. And since both involve some seriously nasty magic that certain nobles shouldn't have hold of, and yet that's how the story really kicks off the drama, no?

Review: Seven Tears at High Tide

Seven Tears at High Tide by C.B. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wish this book wasn't so hard to find. But eventually my library did get it, even in ebook form, so I've finally gotten to spend a night devouring it all. And while I'm reading it on a cold winter's night, as cold as it gets in the Bay Area, it's a perfectly sweet summertime tale of adorable fairytale love between two queer boys who very much deserve it. In a world where What If It's Us gets all the attention, this is the m/m YA love story I think we all really deserve. Kevin is everything I wish I could've ever had in my life - well, aside from enduring super-crushing heartbreak (not to mention the boy who causes said heartbreak has a certain lowkey racist streak in addition to his other faults), but an incredible support network to help make his life as a bi boy so much easier? I want that. And Morgan, being tasked with fulfilling a human's wish for love and genuinely falling head over heels for the boy in the process? I wish I could've lived that life too. C.B. Lee needs more recognition, stat. And I'm happy to ensure that this is my first good review of 2019 - 20-BI-teen, as the meme goes, so you know I'm hella here for that!

View all my reviews

Review: The Plotters

The Plotters by Un-su Kim
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Starting off my 2019 reviews on a low note, I'm sorry to say. I mean, at least I finished this ARC, but I've now returned it to the pile in the office at work in the hopes that someone else will pick it up and enjoy it more. I guess I was a little disappointed in how cerebral this book really was when the very premise came with a more John Wick-like promise. But I suppose not for nothing is Un-su Kim an international prize-winner, and I will tell you that he's got a gift for keeping me hooked. But there's so little plot, ironic for a book with this title, that I'm really just keeping on going for the pretty - and often pretty vulgar, of course - prose. Too bad, I was hoping for better to start 2019 with. But maybe my next review will be better. I'd certainly hope so since the next ARC in my pile is back in my usual YA wheelhouse.

View all my reviews