Unsearchable RichesChristian. Veg*n. Writer. Wife.

My review of Cashore’s first novel, Graceling, is here. I really enjoyed it. But you know what? Fire was even better.

I’ll be honest, the prologue bothered me because it’s about the antagonist, who we KNOW is the antagonist (if we’ve read Graceling) and that was a hard way to enter the book. But it was still fascinating and Cashore carries us through.

Fire is a wonderful protagonist. She’s complex - her back story in a way defines her, at the beginning, and the first half of the story is her rising above that.  I was dismayed, actually to think, “Get on with the external plot already,” and notice I was at page 200. The first half is slow. It’s not bad-slow; there’s a lot to set up, a lot of internal conflict being addressed. The story does progress, but we have a story question, “Will Fire use her power or not?” and it takes a while to be answered which is, I think, why it felt slow.

The plot in this book is much tighter than the first. I wanted to write this review without comparing, but I found it hard partly because normally the second book is the more difficult book for the writer, and it shows to me as a reader, so I was pleasantly surprised this wasn’t the case here. I loved Brigan; I loved the interplay between all the characters. The cast is somewhat large but I didn’t need any maps or spreadsheets to keep track of who was who and how they related to everyone else, a nice juggling act by Cashore.

The similarities between Fire and Graceling’s Katsa bothered me a bit at first. Here’s another girl who doesn’t want to marry. BUT that’s about where the similarities end, and you can’t fault an author for having a character type they draw well (in this case, the independent woman). Also, Cashore does an admirable job of using Fire’s back story to make her decisions completely believable and, in fact, necessary. Cashore explores the themes of independence and identity and uses this type of character to do so, and does it very well.

The writing, as before, was beautiful. It’s lyrical and storyteller-esque, and even when I critically thought, “this is a lot of telling,” I didn’t care because I was committed and I cared about it, and she tells it so well.

All I can say is I can’t wait for Bitterblue!

Zoe Martinique is *funny*. When faced with evil, she calls it ‘oogey.’ She goes to work in a catsuit and black bunny slippers. What’s not to like?

The tag-line for this book is ‘out of her body and in over her head,’ and whoever came up with it needs a raise because it describes the book perfectly, the tone, the action - she has no clue about any of the ‘oogey’ stuff. She mostly spies on businessmen when she goes out of body, and suddenly she’s chasing murderers. We see more of the world as Zoe does, and what a cool world it is.

Another all-star supporting cast here, too. Especially Zoe’s mother. Goodness that woman has a steel spine. My biggest mistake was thinking this book was more romantic than urban fantasy, because it’s not. It sounds like it ought to be, with Detective Frasier - or Officer McHottie, as Zoe calls him, doing his thang with the plot. So the ending was kind of, oh, hum, for me, but at the same time, I loved it because it made sense and had a poetic irony thing going.

Also, all of the last four urban fantasies I’ve read have had nice structures.

I wanted to read this because I follow Gilman on Twitter and she is smart and sassy and I figured her books would be too. (I was so right.)

This is the first of the Retrievers series and introduces us to the Cosa Nostradamus, or the network of fatae (non-human magical creatures), mages, lonejacks, and all the things regular humans don’t dally with. The world-building in this is SEAMLESS and FUN. Also the plot is top-notch, the stakes build, and the way Sergei’s storyline weaves into the main plot is just devilish and I felt so sorry for the guy.

Also, I love Wren and Sergei together. They are just so stinkin’ cute, and nothing about Sergei Didier should ever be called cute, except the way he is with Wren. The mystery was well-developed, and everything just fell into place so well.

And really, the idea of a woman who’s a human lightning rod (sorta) is just cool, and the idea of wizzing out, and just, ah. The world-building, people, the world-building! It gets me every time.

I want every last book in this world, pronto. Need more Wren and Sergei.

This book is intense. Jack Winter, the mage, is a heroin addict because it’s the only way he’s found to turn off his sight, being able to see the dead. Pete Caldecott is a young detective inspector fighting her way out from under her father’s shadow at Scotland Yard.

The characters are the strength of this book, for me. The world building is quite strong, but Pete and Jack and their demons and their past, that’s the heart. I read this book in less than a day because I could not put it down. I just had to know what happened next (great, solid plot) but also because I cared. I wanted Jack to stay clean, I wanted Pete to save the missing children.

My biggest complaint with this book, frankly, is the cover. It looks like any other dark urban fantasy, really. But the renderings of Pete and Jack made me go, HUH? Ok, Jack is a heroin junky. He is not beefcake. I know that wouldn’t sell copies, but it honestly bothered me because he looks so wrong. And Pete looks like a constipated Elvira is a weirdly open shirt. Just, no.

I am nervous about reading the next one (but oh do I plan to) because it’s from Jack’s perspective and he’s frankly not a nice guy, so I’m worried about caring as much, but I’m not going to pre-judge. In fact, I’m curious to see how Kittredge builds off of SM and utilized the different viewpoint. She’s certainly quite talented.

First off, I love the author’s name. Sean-an. Shawn-an. Very cool. *ahem* I digress. Second off, I’ve just gorged on urban fantasy and want MORE because this stuff has been seriously good, and now you’re going to hear me gush about world-building for four reviews straight. Shall we commence?

ROSEMARY AND RUE is about a changeling outcast, who likes it that way, and gets swept back into fae politics when an old friend is murdered and binds Toby (also - love the char names!) to avenge her.

The world building is so so so much fun. SO much fun. And Toby’s backstory is brilliant. I love Tybalt, the King of Cats, and hope we see more of him later in the series.

I really like Toby because she isn’t something special. She was knighted, which is unusual, but then she completely botched an assignment and the consequences of that were heinous (and funny - no really). She’s a weak-magicked half-breed. She’s also really hard to kill. Her heritage gives her just enough gumption to survive being shot a few times. The action doesn’t stop and the questions just keep mounting which made for a page-turning read.

The supporting cast is richly developed and well-utilized.I always love that.

My biggest complaint with the book is (sigh) the ending. I wasn’t happy with the antagonist because I thought it made the character’s actions seem inconsistent throughout the rest of the book, or at least, I don’t understand some of the motives.

However I totally fell in love with the world-building and it’s really easy to root for Toby, (come on - she spent 14 years as a FISH), so I’ll definitely look for the next book.

The cover art for this is lovely, red and swirly. And the series has a nice title theme, my soul to __. (Though I confuse which is which in the order). And how cool is the premise? A real banshee. Cool mythology? I’m there.

Unfortunately, like INTERTWINED and RAMPANT before it, I got overhyped for the premise. The plot made me shake my head. It had so much potential and then the antagonist was what it was and I was disappointed.

Also, no offense, but Nash made my disbelief suspension crash, because you can give me that there are banshees and all that but two teenage banshees at the same school? When the world is So Super Sekrit and Special and I don’t know, it just didn’t work for me. I did love Tod, and the story behind him, and the story behind Kaylee, and the mythology was cool.

To be fair, this was the book I was reading when I went in the hospital and it took me a bit to pick it back up, especially as I had read the free prequel where Kaylee is put in a mental ward, and well, I read to escape reality, so I was somewhat biased away from it for a time.

I just felt no need to devour it and whine about the next one not being out yet. Could be me. The second one actually sounds like the plot is better, but I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to get it. I liked the first, but I didn’t love it.

The YA I’m reading this year is knocking my socks off. Kristin Cashore’s debut, Graceling, is striking. The characters are subtle and well developed. The world is simple but expansive. The voice and writing (which always wins me) is lyrical. There’s a certain amount of telling, but it works. The book is somewhat long, so it’s not really a complaint, and the telling works well with the tone anyway.

I liked the progression from Randa’s court through the world, and Katsa’s journey of self-discovery along the way. It was nuanced and executed carefully, so that when I reached the end and thought of where we had started, I marveled that she had been that person. However, I was disappointed with the ending a little. I had hoped that the mental acuity Katsa was building would serve her against the antagonist, but in the end it was her newfound trust and love for other people that helped her beat him. This isn’t a bad thing, but one of Katsa’s biggest challenges is her self-control and I’m not convinced the ending handled this as well as it could have.

My last two poins are spoilery, so if you don’t want to read it, know that I recommend the book strongly and already have Fire, the ‘prequel’, on my TBR stack.

One of the controversies surrounding this book is Katsa’s refusal to marry, even when she’s totally in love. Frankly, I don’t have a problem with it. I’m all for a book encouraging girls to think for themselves, challenge societal norms, and be independent. It suits Katsa’s character, and the decision is 1) not made lightly, 2) re-evaluated as needed. Also, it’s set in a fantasy world, not ours. The rules are different (ie, it’s not a Christian world, so the Christian necessity of marriage doesn’t apply). Therefore, I don’t see a reason for this to be an issue.

Second, Katsa and Po rescue Bitterblue and a good chunk of the second half is spent weathering the elements, only to get to Po’s castle and, oh, look, the antagonist has beat them to it! I sort of went, WHA? at this because it sort of felt like the wilderness trial was completely unnecessary and negated by it. That might just be me, though.

All in all, great book, things to think about, fun characters and world and overall decent plot. Will be passing it along to friends.