Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I really need to read more these days. I feel like things have been turned on their head because Taylor is reading books and I'm watching TV. He's reading Red Rising and the rest of the books in the series after I basically told him to read them or else and he is loving them. I knew it. Such good books for guys and we've been having some lovely discussions about themes and characters.

But I digress.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in a new series by Sarah J. Maas of Throne of Glass fame. This one is definitely different though from that series though. This is another retelling of Beauty and the Beast but in a way that doesn't make me want to throw things and run through the streets screaming. I mean, I think we're all sick to death of the traditional story line and this book takes a different spin on it. 

Alright, before I get distracted again, I want to talk about the cover. While it is a lovely idea, I'm sick to death of black and red covers. Sometimes, they work for me but those tend to be a bit more subtle. I get that black and red are supposed to be the dangerous scary sort of combination but I wish that authors and publishers would mix it up a bit. It's all we see now! Please, I'm begging you. Some other color combination. Use orange. Use green. I'd die a happy woman if you used purple. CHANGE IT UP.

Feyre is a survivor and always has been. She doesn't remember much of the luxury her family used to live in but she does know how to aim a bow and take care of her kills. She knows that she has to work hard or her family will starve and knows equally as well that she will get neither help nor praise for her efforts. Her sisters were used to being taken care of and nothing has changed much there. Her father sees himself as a worthless cripple even though with a little effort, he could get a job. So that's why Feyre is out in the woods, alone, hunting a deer when the biggest wolf she has ever seen stalks into her life. She had heard stories of faeries turning into animals and kills the beast, not knowing what repercussions may follow. Feyre then finds herself spirited away to the land of Faeries and curses where danger not only comes in the form of her captors, but also what lurks in the woodland.

So in the beginning, we have a bit of a Cinderella situation going on. I mean, her sisters are pretty horrible. 

If you haven't seen this version of Cinderella, you're seriously missing out

They used to be a well respected family with money and power but their father lost all of their money and these girls haven't quite gotten over that. They prance around their little town like they are the best thing that ever happened to it because they were brought up with silver spoons in their mouths. Feyre never really experienced all that so she has a bit more humility. You end up hoping that something horrible happens to her sisters because they are the bullies that you always hate in life and literature. You want them to have to work and struggle when they don't seem to initially.

"Nesta cocked her head. I'd seen predators use that movement before. I sometimes wondered if her unrelenting steel would have helped us better survive - thrive, even - if she hadn't been so preoccupied with out lost status."

Moving on though to the actual fairy tale part of all of this. Feyre, in retribution for what she has done, is dragged off through the woods to live in an enchanted faerie castle with a terrifying male who seems to be lacking in the social skills department. Feyre has been told all her life to be scared of faeries. That they're wicked and they control the land and could unleash all sorts of hell on it. But this mysterious masked man isn't all thorns and snarling. And neither is his companion Lucien. 

So Tamlin (big scary fae) and Lucien and everybody else in this particular faerie realm is under some sort of curse. Tamlin and Lucien are both High Fae which means while they are handsome and powerful, they are cursed to wear masks that they cannot remove. But beyond that, both are incredibly attractive. Feyre finds herself being drawn in more and more to Tamlin, her captor, and can no longer see him as the enemy. And then...everything goes to hell in a hand basket.

The fairy tale aspect of this works really well in my opinion. It is definitely Beauty and the Beast but the beast has more personality and charm than the one we always associate with. You get to see into his mind more and understand his pain. And Feyre is more than just a Belle character. She can't read but she is an artist. She paints and tries to make the world a more beautiful place than her reality. She is bitter and cynical and all of the things that would naturally happen if you were left to fend for yourself with nobody's help. The magic works. The curse works. It all is great for me. 

And it's funny! I had some laugh out loud moments in it and the writing is actually pretty good. There's a nice balance between humor, dialogue, world building and introspection.

"He also said that you like being brushed, and if I'm a clever girl, I might train you with treats"

And it's sexy. It's so easy to try to tame fairy tales because it's what we grew up with as kids and we don't want to see them corrupted. But there's some definite tension going on here and Feyre is a mature woman. She is open and honest with herself and isn't some wilting violet. And Tamlin isn't either. He's possessive and dominant. He is fully aware of his sex appeal but he doesn't use it as a weapon. Once he gets over his supremely awkward stage, he is charming and the perfect gentleman most of the time. But when he gets pushed, he has this dark and alluring side that Feyre can't resist. 

"He took my hands. His callused fingers, strong and sturdy, were gentle as he lifted my bleeding hand to his mouth and kissed my palm. As if that were answer enough."

The biggest issue I had with this book, besides the cover, is the ending. And I'm not going to spoil anything for you but it felt a bit rushed sometimes. It had a Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire feel to it and it left me wanting more. The rest of the book had been done so well with all of the world building and character development that the ending just didn't live up to it. It felt like the author was searching for a conclusion. I'm not saying it was terrible but it was just not as good as the rest of the book. 

I will be reading the next one but I hope it builds more. The first book has established a wonderful world and an interesting plot. I desperately hope that the next one lives up to its legacy.

Book Review: Phantom by Susan Kay

HELLO ALL!

It's been a while. If we're going to be honest here, I've been crazy bogged down with school. It's online classes but holy shit there is a ton of reading and work and I haven't had time to read. Add that to an ever expanding obsession with KDramas and people that feed that obsession and I am just short on time for everything.

But I'm back! At least for now. And I have a book review!

Phantom by Susan Kay has been a favorite of mine for a really long time. I first got hooked on Phantom of the Opera stuff in high school. I watched the movie with Gerard Butler, I read the original novel by Gaston Leroux and I found this book. Then, in college among moving stuff from dorm to home and back again, I lost my copy of it! It's probably still floating around somewhere but I bought a new copy and I'm so thrilled that I was able to read it again.

Phantom really delves into the mind of the Phantom, Erik. He isn't just a mindless psychopath living in the basement, praying on young women. He has motivation. He has his arrogance. He is brilliant and so broken in this. Every aspect of his adolescence is so twisted, from his mother refusing to give him any warmth to his imprisonment in the gypsy camp to losing the one man who he could call a father figure. You begin to understand how he became the way that he did.

God, this book hit me so hard in the heart the first time I read it. It's so dark. It's so hopeless in many ways. You see someone suffering for how they look, despite their amazing mind and you wonder what would have happened if he had had love as a child instead of fear and scorn.

“I am not forsaken! I'm no longer alone in the darkness! Before my eyes I see a thousand little devils lighting black candles along the path which leads toward the edge...the blindingly beautiful edge.”

The secondary characters are remarkably well built as well. I hated his mother, Madeleine but you can understand her fear. In that time, Erik would have been seen as an abomination. There would be no place for him in society because of his image and you desperately hope that wouldn't be the case now. She was scared of this child that had so much intelligence but was hampered by her revulsion towards him. She was a young mother whose husband just died and she saw Erik as a curse. I can't imagine.

And then the Daroga. And the architect in Italy. Where he had once had hope and friendship, he managed to lose it all. I feel like throughout the book, up until he meets Christine, Erik strives to be a better person but his situation in life turns him into the sadistic person that he is.

“My mind has touched the farthest horizons of mortal imagination and reaches ever outward to embrace infinity. There is no knowledge beyond my comprehension, no art or skill upon this entire planet that lies beyond the mastery of my hand. And yet, like Faust, I look in vain, I learn in vain. . . . For as long as I live, no woman will ever look on me in love.”

My biggest fault with this book is the last ten to fifteen percent. The last little bit where he finally meets Christine and succumbs to the madness that he has been fighting for so long.

“She wanted an Angel of Music . . . an angel who would make her believe in herself at last. I'd been the Angel of Doom for the khanum. There was no reason in the world why I could not be the Angel of Music for Christine. I couldn't hope to be a man to her, I couldn't ever be a real, breathing, living man waking at her side and reaching out for her . . . But I could be her angel"

I hated Christine. She follows blindly and doesn't question anything. Lamb to the slaughter. And I'm not saying that she was supposed to be more worldly since she was only 20 and had hardly experienced any of the world but I wanted her to have more doubt than she did. Erik loved the idea of her more than anything else and she knew it. She couldn't make decisions on her own except on the occasions of threats against her or others. She ruined Erik's character for me since he had been so resolute and strong for most of the book but finally crumbles under an obsession.

But I guess that's the point of it all. He is supposed to lose it. Erik finally relinquishes control of his mind and basically damns himself. It's all so sad and terrible and that's why I love this book.

If you haven't read this book, you need to. It is such a beautiful supplement to the story that most are familiar with and it only enhances the musical and the original book. Seriously, go get it. Now. Do it. It's wonderful.

I promise I will get back to regular posting and reading other blogs. I've just been so busy it's ridiculous! Take pity on me and don't forget about me! I'm still around. I'm just lurking.

Book Review: The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig

I saw this cover in a book store a few months ago and simply stared at it for a few moments. Any book that doesn't have a title, author, or anything on the cover is either really flipping good or an attempt at being surreal and thoughtful without really accomplishing either. Either way, the publisher and author would have to be confident in both the cover art and the content to be able to put out a book like this.

And their gamble worked. It got my attention.

The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig is a post-apocalyptic novel where everything has basically reset. Whole nations and societies were destroyed from a nuclear blast and due to fallout exposure, the world has changed in dramatic ways. Most species have died out, leaving the most plain or common to adapt and survive. Pigeons are the only birds. Cows and horses the only real large fauna out there. And children are only born as twins, an Alpha and an Omega, boy and girl. An Alpha is strong and whole and is given all of the best opportunities in life. They are fertile and run the government and everything left in the world. Omegas are deformed and infertile. They may be missing legs or an eye or be mute and are left ostracized on the outskirts of society to be forgotten by their Alpha twin. But here's the catch. Twins are connected in a way other than birth and blood. If one twin experiences extreme pain, illness, or death, the other does as well. There's no choice in that. If one dies, the other does as well.

Cass and Zach are twins but neither one has an obvious deformity. Unlike many other twins that are separated young, they grow up together, waiting for the other to expose their Omega trait. Cass is keeping a secret though and has become very clever at hiding it. She is a Seer, a rare brand of Omega and once Zach discovers it, everything goes to hell.

Cass has to scramble to survive alone and then imprisoned. She is strong and will not be conquered by the twisted brother she grew up loving and now has reasons to fear. 

This book is definitely a rollercoaster ride. There is a lot going on and the characters are in constant movement. Time passes quickly in the first bit of the book, showing Cass and Zach growing up, and it allows for some excellent world building. The entire world is scared of machinery and electricity because it was seen as the downfall of the "Before" civilization. Everything from Before is considered taboo and people refuse to go near it. Life has been reduced to pre-industrial standards and civilizations are once again based on agriculture and trade instead of technology.

Cass was an interesting character to read. She is strong where she needed to be strong but also has her vulnerabilities. She loves her brother dearly and in many ways, cannot accept what he is doing to her. She struggles with reconciling her childhood sibling with the man that he has become and it holds her back throughout the book. It's easy to rely on impressions made as children for the rest of your life and never change them and I think that she does this too much. It's her major flaw. She cannot escape the memories of playing with her brother as a kid and those memories make her make stupid decisions.

Cass's companion, Kip, fills the role of helpless sidekick for me. He's missing his arm but plays the clever supporting character that doesn't do much on their own but helps the main character throughout the book. From the beginning, it was obvious that he was going to play the love interest but that part of the book was remarkably muted. There's very little passion which gives more time to the plot and action but it was a little disappointing to read. 

But there are some extreme noticeable flaws that are big drawbacks to this book.

One. If I had a twin and had to rely on them for survival, I would be a little bit nicer to them. I would not send them into the slums to scrape a living where they could get sick, get infections, fall off a cliff, or whatever. I would put them in a house with myself and take care of them. Because there are always those people that would resent being abandoned and take revenge on a sibling by waiting until they were successful and then finding a way to torture them, or even more extreme, kill them. It's a big plot hole. If I was ostracized by my family, you can bet that I would take it out on my perfect sibling. That's human nature and I'm surprised that wasn't considered in the book.

Two. The role of electricity isn't really fully explained. If they are trying to keep it under wraps, then having guards around swinging light bulbs seems rather short sighted. And where are the generators? How are they making the electricity?

Three. I'm convinced that if Kip hadn't been in the plot, it wouldn't have changed much at all. In fact, Cass might have been able to do more things in a more significant way by relying on herself. She leans on him a bit too much for my taste and it holds back her character growth. Throughout her life, she relied on others to support her and doesn't take full control over any of her actions. She is a passive person and it practically takes a cattle prod in order for her to make a decision on her own.

The world building is awesome but the large plot holes make it a less enjoyable read.

It's really a unique concept and I wish that it had been developed more. It's different than all other YA dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels out there and it was held back by characters that were a little bit too cliche and plot devices that didn't really work in the end. I wish that the romance had been more developed. I wish that more had been explained throughout the novel. I wish that Kip was made into a stronger person in general.

But I will read the next one when it comes out. I think it has potential and I'm looking forward to it.

Book Review: A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley

Susanna Kearsley has done it again. And it's beautiful and wonderful and all the good things about a book that makes you keep coming back to it over and over. 

Susanna Kearsley is an auto-buy author for me. When a new book of hers comes out, I try to pick it up as quickly as possible and usually devour it in an afternoon. All of her books blend the past and the present in such a way that you feel like you are stepping into the shoes of the characters and experiencing everything that they do.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you...I hate this cover. I feel like it is a cop out. In the book, the outfits and settings are so perfectly described so at least the cover could have incorporated something like that. Instead, it is a generic woman looking at a generic bridge with a sepia tone over it. I understand that it can be difficult to get the right feel for a cover and get exactly what you want but I wanted something more than this.

A Desperate Fortune follows the growth of two women: Sara, an English who struggles with the day to day challenges of living with Asperger's in a society that increasingly demands extroversion and conformity and Mary, a young woman who grew up in France during the Jacobite revolution and finds herself at the center of a covert operation that goes bad quickly.

I absolutely adored Sara. She wants desperately to be normal and she goes with the "Fake it till you make it" mentality when dealing with others. She quit her most recent job because it forced her to work with others instead of working alone which she prefers. After she is given a cipher to crack, Sara is invited to work for an author who has found a very curious diary. The diary is that of Mary Dundas and is written entirely in code. It is supposed to depict the life of an ordinary girl in France but instead, it's the story of a great adventure.

Mary Dundas starts her story by wanting to move back with her family after an invitation from her brother. But her brother has other plans and sends her to be a tool in trying to protect a fugitive from England that is a sympathizer to the Jacobite cause. Mary tries to play her role perfectly but things quickly go south and she finds herself traversing the country with a quiet and intimidating Scotsman, a charming Englishman, and a chaperon. Their journey is perilous and forces Mary to abandon her ideals of living a peaceful life with her brother's family and stand up for herself.

The romances are lovely in this book.

Sara always pushes away her love interests and is content with being solitary for the rest of her life. She has accepted it and it's okay. Then she meets Luc Sabran who sneaks through the cracks in the walls she has built. He is patient and kind which is exactly what she needs in her life. Sara wants calm and steady and that is what he offers.

And Hugh MacPherson...

I have to say that he is my favorite hero that Kearsley has written so far. Yes, he bumped Rob off the top. He is so wonderfully written, it is amazing. Hugh is cold, removed, strong, stubborn, and all of the things you want/don't want in a damaged man. He just wants to keep everybody safe and do his job but the close quarters between Hugh and Mary force them to try to get along and help each other. Mary is originally terrified of him but it grows to respect and admiration in such a natural way that it is perfectly believable.

The historical aspects of this book are on point, as per usual. This author loves this particular period in French and Scottish history and has done a great job of tying in the history with the romance. The outfits are period appropriate, the manner of speaking, and she obviously does her research. I love well planned books. They make my heart soar.

Characters from the author's other novels make cameos which is fun in many ways. I like seeing that all the stories are tied together in some way. However, it can get a bit tiring. You have to remember their stories and make those connections and sometimes it can be annoying.

There are 3 reasons that this isn't a 5 star book for me:

1) The cover - not relevant to anything. Just a sepia tone of a pretty girl.

2) The ending for Sara was too abrupt and I hated how it concluded way before Mary's story.

3) The beginning was a bit slow. It was like the story had to gear up a bit before it got going. But if you're patient, it's entirely worth it.

So yeah...another wonderful book from this author. It's such a fine and lovely thing that I couldn't even find gifs for it.

I'm still basking in book afterglow here.