Category: Book Review
Kushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline Carey
(Cover picture courtesy of LOVEandLIVEtoREAD.)
Imriel de la Courcel’s blood parents are history’s most reviled traitors, while his adoptive parents, Phèdre and Joscelin, are Terre d’Ange’s greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in beauty, art, and desire.
After a year abroad to study at university, Imriel returns from his adventures a little older and somewhat wiser. But perhaps not wise enough. What was once a mere spark of interest between himself and his cousin Sidonie now ignites into a white-hot blaze. But from commoner to peer, the whole realm would recoil from any alliance between Sidonie, heir to the throne, and Imriel, who bears the stigma of his mother’s of his mother’s misdeeds and betrayals. Praying that their passion will peak and fade, Imriel and Sidonie embark on an intense, secret affair.
Blessed Elua founded Terre d’Ange and bestowed one simple precept to guide his people: Love as thou wilt. When duty calls, Imriel honors his role as a member of the royal family by leaving to marry a lovely, if merely sweet, Alban princess. By choosing duty over love, Imriel and Sidonie may have unwittingly trespassed against Elua’s law. But when dark powers in Alba, who fear an invasion by Terre d’Ange, seek to use the lovers’ passion to bind Imriel, the gods themselves take notice.
Before the end, Kushiel’s justice will be felt in heaven and on earth.
Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised at Kushiel’s Justice. Not only did we get to see more of the politics in the countries around Terre d’Ange, but Imriel really grew as a character. He’s so much more mature by the end of the book than he was at the beginning, let alone the beginning of his trilogy.
Poor Imriel! Contrary to the precepts of Elua, Ysandre sends Imriel off to marry an Alban princess named Dorelei in a political match. This is especially heartbreaking as Imriel and Sidonie finally realize just how much they really do love each other. What surprised me most about Imriel is his maturity about the whole arranged marriage, especially by the end of the book. Although he loved Sidonie he put duty first and I don’t want to give too much away, but you just know that it will end badly for Imriel and Dorelei. And although Imriel is heartbroken at having to part Sidonie, he still sucks it up and eventually learns to treat Dorelei as she deserves and learns to love her in his own way.
The plot is not what I’d call fast-paced, but that’s really not the point of the book. The point is Imriel’s amazing adventure across Jacqueline Carey’s vivid fantasy world as well as his own inner journey. Jacqueline Carey is hardly easy on poor Imriel, which makes him a better character for it. Background characters like Sidonie and Dorelei are three dimensional as well and although we only see them through Imriel’s eyes, you get the feeling there’s far more to them than just being love interests/plot devices.
If you loved Kushiel’s Scion, you’ll enjoy Kushiel’s Justice even more. Imriel grows as a character and does learn to overcome some of his demons from the past and confronts every challenge he faces. He’s a loyal, determined and caring person who makes for a great narrator that you can’t help but fall in love with. That doesn’t mean he does have flaws—he certainly does—but that he learns to overcome some of those flaws and is a better person for it. His unexpected action at the end of the book just reveals how much he has changed.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Opera A to Z: A Beginner’s Guide to Opera by Liddy Lindsay
(Cover picture courtesy of NetGalley.)
Look no further than this book for a succinct yet thorough primer on the world’s most famous operas! From Aida to Zauberflöte, this ABC of operas will inform music lovers of the storylines and characters in these beloved masterpieces. A book intended for young readers (ages 8-12), but sure to delight music lovers of all ages.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ARC ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
As someone who loves opera and who grew up in a household where opera was treasured, I never really had the disadvantage of having to learn about it later in life. If I had, I’m know Opera A to Z would have been the perfect place to start. My earliest memories of the holiday season in December are of listening to Christmas with Pavarotti as well as Handel’s Messiah, so as an opera lover for years I do feel qualified to comment on how Liddy Lindsay represents opera. (Even if I sort of ignored opera throughout my tween years and fell in love with it again at the age of 14.)
So how does she represent opera? Quite well, actually. She explains the basics, from the fact that it’s an art form that has developed over four distinct periods, what an opera entails and some of the technical terms like libretto, overture, aria, etc. These are all explained thoroughly in the introduction but Liddy Lindsay actually had faith in her tween audience and decided not to overdo the explanation part. Her writing style is simple but easy to read, so I doubt there’s much danger of misunderstanding in the beginning.
When she launches into her list of operas from A to Z, she really shows her knowledge of opera in an easy to read and understand way. For each opera, she gives a brief summary of the plot and explains certain famous elements (i.e. the habanera from Carmen). And for beginners, that’s really all you need. The illustrations she provides are awesome even on my Kindle, but I still highly recommend picking up the print copy to fully appreciate them. My only real criticism of the book besides from the occasionally slipshod proofreading is that in her plot summaries, Lindsay greatly oversimplifies things. She tells them in a simpler manner than they are told in the actual opera, which I can see why she did but I still didn’t like. It sort of misrepresents the opera, or its plot to be more accurate.
I could dispute some of her choices for letters, but I won’t as they’re a matter of personal preference more than anything. Overall, I was actually quite pleased at the selection of time periods and composers that Liddy Lindsay chose to include. She includes every opera from Aida to Vanessa and every composer from Verdi to Francesco Cavalli. It’s quite an impressive selection and even I learned some new things.
If you’re looking to get into opera or just want to know what the heck all the fuss is about, this is the book for you. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll give opera a chance and have that magical moment where you inexplicably fall in love with it in the midst of watching one. I know I did.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
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Short Story: Boxed in a Curse by Luciana Cavallaro
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
She was created by the gods as a gift to humanity. Then there was the urn.
Pandora, the first woman on Earth, was endowed with many gifts: beauty, intelligence, domesticity, and curiosity. She was at once lover, sympathiser and nurturer. Zeus presented an urn as her wedding dowry. Neither she nor her husband, Epimethos knew what it contained inside, and Hermes, the Messenger, warned them never to open it.
So the story goes… according to Grandpa.
Two precocious children visit their grandfather and beg him to tell a story. It wasn’t ‘on a dark and stormy night’ or ‘once upon a time’ type of story either.
[Full disclosure: Luciana Cavallaro sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
Unlike the other two stories about famous Greek women that I’ve read by Luciana Cavallaro, we don’t get to hear Pandora’s story from her own lips. That’s why I was initially a little apprehensive about reading her newest short story, but I was worried over absolutely nothing. Despite hearing a second hand account of her life, Pandora came across as yet another strong woman who was given the short end of the stick in later stories.
Although I’m an avid fan of Greek mythology and have been for many years, I actually learned a lot from Boxed in a Curse. The Pandora myth was never very detailed and I love how Luciana Cavallaro researched for more details as well as added in her own believable ones. Instead of accepting the ‘she was just really curious’ version of events, she delved deeper into the myth and peeled away the theme of ‘women are evil’ that’s found quite a bit in Greek myths. No, Pandora is not evil or just curious. She was a complex woman who really didn’t know how to act in a world full of men but was still intelligent and strong.
Told through the eyes of a grandfather telling his grandchildren the story, we’re really transported back to that ancient time when humanity was new. It doesn’t really feel like we’re being told what’s happening, but rather it’s described very well and the narrator allows us to draw our own conclusions about the ‘moral’ of the story and about Pandora’s character. Does all of the blame for humanity’s ills lie squarely at her feet? Of course not! I don’t want to give too much away, but after reading Boxed in a Curse you’ll definitely have more sympathy for the first woman.
I give this short story 5/5 stars.
Mortality by Kellie Sheridan
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
After surviving a deadly plague outbreak, sixteen-year-old Savannah thought she had lived through the very worst of human history. There was no way to know that the miracle vaccine would put everyone at risk for a fate worse than un-death.
Now, two very different kinds of infected walk the Earth, intent on nothing but feeding and destroying what little remains of civilization. When the inoculated are bitten, infection means watching on in silent horror as self-control disappears and the idea of feasting on loved ones becomes increasingly hard to ignore.
Starving and forced to live inside of the abandoned high school, all Savannah wants is the chance to fight back. When a strange boy arrives with a plan to set everything right, she gets her chance. Meeting Cole changes everything. Mere survival will never be enough.
[Full disclosure: I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
At first I thought this was going to be a mushy, lovey-dovey romance just set against the background of a zombie apocalypse. While there’s romance, that’s certainly not the case because the blurb is a bit misleading.
First off, Savannah is an awesome character. She can kick butt and kill zombies like it’s nothing, but at the same time she’s trained for a long time to be able to do so. She’s definitely not one of these heroines that just magically gains killing powers out of nowhere. Secondly, Zarah, the other girl whose point of view we see is an interesting contrast to Savannah. She can’t kick butt and she has to use her wits to survive the first and second outbreaks with her new boyfriend Liam. So how do these two stories converge? Well, it’s definitely not how you would expect them to, thank goodness. I’m just hoping that Kellie Sheridan does not go with one of my hated clichés in the next book, although from the ending it almost looks like that. (Cringe.)
The plot was fast-paced and despite the point of view changes, Mortality never really got to a point where it lagged. The zombies, or Zs as they’re mostly called here, are an omnipresent threat throughout the novel. Although in contrast to many zombie apocalypse novels they’re not necessarily the main focus 100% of the time. They’re prominent to be sure, but the romance between Savannah and the mysterious Cole does steal the attention away sometimes. Although I really hated Cole as a love interest (what a selfish, brainless jerk!) I guess I can forgive Kellie Sheridan for that. Cole is just really not my type of guy.
What I liked about Mortality is that when there are clichés, Kellie Sheridan did her best to put her own spin on them. Cole is out searching for his uncle who was part of the cure and possibly the initial outbreak, but there’s quite a twist on that old trope. I can’t say much on how she negates old tropes without giving the major plot points away, but trust me on this: there are very few clichés throughout the novel. And while it’s not in the same category of awesome as Feed or The Return Man, I really can’t complain too much about Mortality. It was pretty good and I’m looking forward to reading the next book, Duality.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Piece of My Heart by Lynn Maddalena Menna
(Cover picture courtesy of NetGalley.)
Still in high school, Marisol Reyes gets the chance of a lifetime to be a real singer, and she leaps at it. After all, this is the dream she held on to, all the days and nights she spent growing up on means streets of East Harlem. Marisol never gave in–no matter what her boyfriend or her best friend had to say. Who cares if only one in a hundred pretty, talented girls make it? She will be the one. In her rush to fame, Marisol tramples on the heart of her loyal best friend, and Julian, the boy she loves. But will it be worth it?
One night at a private gig in the Hamptons, the little Latino girl with the big voice from East Harlem gets a severe reality check. A famous rapper who claims to be interested in her talents turns out to be interested in something else, threatening not only Marisol’s dreams but her body and soul. Will the realities of the gritty New York music scene put out the stars in Marisol’s eyes forever?
[Full disclosure: I received an ARC ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I have some mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the premise is amazing and the descriptions Lynn Maddalena Menna writes are beautiful. On the other hand, the writing felt rushed as Marisol just all of a sudden got discovered and there were times I wanted to slap her for being so cocky.
Marisol is not a perfect character and I can usually deal with that just fine. She’s gorgeous? Okay, fine. She’s a good singer? That’s okay too. But does she have to be perfect at almost everything? All of a sudden, out of absolutely nowhere she writes her own song or inadvertently avoids a disastrous situation by nothing but pure chance (AKA author intervention). Marisol can be a bit shallow at times, but it seems like it’s a product of how she was brought up as well as confidence about her talent. However, it can get tiresome when she constantly fights with her friends over putting her career first. And by the end, it does seem like she’s learned her lesson but it was definitely a painful process and overall she doesn’t feel more mature.
The plot was amazingly fast paced, which I loved. What I didn’t like was how Menna transitioned from scene to scene. Whenever the characters had to travel, it was like they’d magically pop there without any clues for the reader to understand they’d hopped on a train or walked. They were just suddenly at their destination. Or, when it seemed like things were slowing down, some new drama would just pop up out of nowhere that was not really relevant to the plot. Despite this, I’m actually quite fond of her writing style overall. Aside from scene transitions, the amount of description and dialogue was balanced perfectly and the plot did move along quite nicely.
There were some unexpected plot twists and there were some important messages about self-esteem and how sick the entertainment industry can be, but on the whole Piece of My Heart was okay. It isn’t great, but neither is it bad; it falls somewhere in the middle. Despite some hiccups, it’s a strangely addictive story, possibly because of the premise and how it was generally executed well. What I’m trying to say is that it’s light reading for the most part: it’s really good until you think deeply about it. And for some people, that’s perfectly fine. I just think Lynn Maddalena Menna missed an opportunity to really send out a great message to readers. Still, there is so much potential here that yes, I will be checking out her future books. I’m sure she is one of those writers that will improve with more experience.
I give this book 3/5 stars.