Tagged: masq1
The Devil’s Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
From Jeanne Kalogridis, the bestselling author of I, Mona Lisa and The Borgia Bride, comes a new novel that tells the passionate story of a queen who loved not wisely . . . but all too well.
Confidante of Nostradamus, scheming mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots, and architect of the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history. In her latest historical fiction, Jeanne Kalogridis tells Catherine’s story—that of a tender young girl, destined to be a pawn in Machiavellian games.
Born into one of Florence’s most powerful families, Catherine was soon left a fabulously rich heiress by the early deaths of her parents. Violent conflict rent the city state and she found herself imprisoned and threatened by her family’s enemies before finally being released and married off to the handsome Prince Henry of France.
Overshadowed by her husband’s mistress, the gorgeous, conniving Diane de Poitiers, and unable to bear children, Catherine resorted to the dark arts of sorcery to win Henry’s love and enhance her fertility—for which she would pay a price. Against the lavish and decadent backdrop of the French court, and Catherine’s blood-soaked visions of the future, Kalogridis reveals the great love and desire Catherine bore for her husband, Henry, and her stark determination to keep her sons on the throne.
First off, I have to say that although this is historical fiction because it’s based off of the life of Catherine de Medici, it also has elements of fantasy because Jeanne Kalogridis takes the worst rumours about the queen’s witchcraft and imagines they were real. It’s not a bad approach and the broad strokes of Caterina’s life are of course accurate but just know that this is not strict historical fiction; there is quite a bit of fantasy.
Many of the characters are memorable but of course Caterina herself is the best. Her family was out of power when she was an adolescent and before she got married so not only did she experience the glamorous side of life but the rougher side that comes with strife, conflict and civil war. This early experience with a life-threatening situation leaves a chip on her shoulder that she will carry for the rest of her life. She knows that it is the most important thing she can do as a queen to produce a son (preferably lots of sons) but when her husband seems disgusted by her and she does not get pregnant she turns to witchcraft and blood magic. One particular scene is pretty horrific but it’s in keeping with her character: no matter the cost to herself she will have an heir and avert civil war. She does some pretty horrible things and although she’s not always completely sympathetic, I do feel for Jeanne Kalogridis’ version of her. Her husband is disgusted by her and goes to his mother figure/mistress Diane de Poitiers, she is not an attractive woman and is marginalized politically, etc. Caterina had a hard childhood matched by a hard life; she’s far from perfect but you do have to feel for her.
While the plot isn’t exactly fast-paced it is interesting. I’ve read only one other book about Caterina de Medici so it was nice to learn more about the civil strife that led to her imprisonment in two different nunneries as a preteen and how she was married off to King Henry (then prince). Once she gets to France there’s a lot of interpersonal conflict between characters but it’s not just drama for the sake of drama. Jeanne Kalogridis has a purpose to every scene and even though it may not seem like it at the time, every scene moves the plot forward to the horrifying conclusion. So while The Devil’s Queen is no action/thriller novel, it is very interesting and even if you know about her historical reign as queen and regent, Jeanne Kalogridis may just surprise you with some of the things she speculates at. Nothing is for certain at court, especially when it comes to the royal family.
I know a little about the period but as you’ve probably guessed I’m no expert. However, the main events of the story are very much real and Jeanne Kalogridis inserts those little details into everyday life that make you really feel like you’re there. Personally, I loved that the French all thought Caterina and her Italian entourage were positively barbaric for eating their food with the forks they brought with them. It’s just those little details that both make you laugh and educate you about how certain cultural practices became the norm in pretty much all of the Western hemisphere. There are so many more little details like that that you can tell Kalogridis really did her research (particularly about Medieval astrology). She combines fantasy and history perfectly into this harrowing tale of the complicated life of a complicated woman.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Daughters of Rome by Kate Quinn
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
A.D. 69. Nero is dead.
The Roman Empire is up for the taking. With bloodshed spilling out of the palace and into the streets of Rome, chaos has become the status quo. The Year of Four Emperors will change everything—especially the lives of two sisters with a very personal stake in the outcome….
Elegant and ambitious, Cornelia embodies the essence of the perfect Roman wife. She lives to one day see her loyal husband as Emperor. Her sister, Marcella, is more withdrawn, content to witness history rather than make it. Even so, Marcella has her share of distinguished suitors, from a cutthroat contender for the throne to a politician’s son who swears that someday he will be Emperor.
But when a bloody coup turns their world upside down, Cornelia and Marcella—along with their cousins, one a collector of husbands and lovers, the other a horse-mad beauty with no interest in romance—must maneuver carefully just to stay alive. As Cornelia tries to pick up the pieces of her shattered dreams, Marcella discovers a hidden talent for influencing the most powerful men in Rome. In the end, though, there can only be one Emperor … and one Empress.
In order of publication, Daughters of Rome is technically the second book in Kate Quinn’s Empress of Rome series but chronologically it is the first. It’s a sort of prequel and you will recognize some of the characters we meet in Mistress of Rome except for the fact that they’re a couple of decades younger. And the story takes place not in the relative stability of Domitian’s reign but the violent chaos that was the Year of the Four Emperors. You would think that by virtue of having more drama (which Kate Quinn excels at writing about) the story itself would be better. The problem is, it isn’t. The strength of the first book was in its characters, notably Thea, but in this second book the characters really are the weakness.
First off, in true Roman fashion there are four cousins, all named Cornelia because they’re from the wealthy and influential Cornelii family. Kate Quinn helpfully gives us nicknames for them all (the eldest Cornelia is the only one actually called by her name) and it does take a little bit to get used to. However, after a couple of chapters it’s pretty easy to get everyone all organized because their personalities are fairly distinct. Cornelia is the ideal senator’s wife, Marcella is a bookish woman who just wants to write history, Lollia has the most unfortunate string of marriages imaginable and Diana, the youngest, is horse crazy. We do get to see the chaos from the eyes of all four of the sisters: the changing alliances, the marriage swapping, the crass power grabs not even bothered to be cloaked in lofty ideals, etc. The Year of the Four Emperors was a horrifying time to be a Roman, particularly since backing one person meant glory one day and committing suicide while on the run the next. Against this horrific background, you’d think that the characters would particularly stand out.
The problem is that none of the characters stand out; they didn’t have that authenticity that made Thea such a powerful, moving character. Diana is the only one who is vaguely believable in her actions but the idea that she’d be a female charioteer is just ludicrous. Roman women were generally more free than Greek women but they certainly weren’t that free, especially if they were from one of the main families in Rome. Lollia’s string of husbands is definitely believable but even though she finds love in an unusual place I never really connected with her and her plight. Like Marcella, her character felt rather hollow. Marcella’s character didn’t ring true to me because even though she’s a bookworm much like myself, she gets into all of these situations that feel like they’re the direct result of Kate Quinn’s manipulation of historical fact. It doesn’t feel natural that she finds herself in the midst of all of this trouble as it should; it feels forced and as such her character doesn’t grow in the way you would expect it to. Cornelia, the eldest of the four cousins and sister of Marcella, is a bland Roman matron who also finds love in an unexpected place. She at least is a believable character and I could sort of connect to her plight.
While the plot was certainly fast-paced and interesting (how could the Year of the Four Emperors not be, though?), it was surprisingly unsatisfying. Kate Quinn uses the most gossipy of all the gossipy sources on Roman history and takes the worst of said gossip to portray each emperor as a caricature of what they probably really were. This is not surprising given her portrayal of Domitian as a total sadist in the Marquis de Sade mold but it does make it seem like she’s going for the most drama no matter the historical reality. Galba was a stick in the mud, Otho was a jealous brooding sort of hedonist and Vitellius was a total glutton/hedonist but I think Quinn takes things just a little too far and it seems like she’s playing things up for her audience. As some people on Goodreads mentioned, it makes it feel like you’re reading The Real Housewives of Ancient Rome. Really, the story would be just as good if she toned down some of the drama and didn’t rely so heavily on Flavian-biased historians.
Overall, I felt that compared to Mistress of Rome was a much better book than her second book. That’s kind of shocking considering it was her debut but it was certainly much more satisfying than Daughters of Rome, which ends so randomly and incomprehensibly that I was left scratching my head in disbelief at the actions of three of the four sisters. There were a lot of good things happening in this book, mainly the portrayal of the chaotic events and the uncertainty that gripped all of Rome but on the character front it was the most unsatisfying book I’ve ever read by Kate Quinn. It’s just a complete disappointment to me, considering the fact that I loved her Borgia Chronicles and her debut novel. Really, the only thing that can adequately express my feelings toward this book is the word ‘meh’.
I give this book 2/5 stars.
Water So Deep by Nichole Giles
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Seventeen-year-old Emma Harris is drowning on dry land.
No one knows what’s happening to her, and she’d like to keep her evolution from human to mermaid a secret, but the truth is getting harder and harder to hide. From her adoptive family, from her friends, and especially from the irresistible James Phelps.
Her time in the ocean is spent dodging a possessive merman, while her time on land is split between caring for her special-needs brother and squeezing in every last possible moment of human life. She soon realizes falling for James is unavoidable when he constantly comes to Emma’s rescue and somehow manages to see through her carefully constructed icy facade to the vulnerability she lives with every day. Everything about James makes Emma yearn for a life on land she just can’t have.
When Emma’s brother disappears on her watch, James is the only person she trusts to help her save him. But even if they can save her brother, nothing can prevent her return to the sea. Whether she likes it or not, Emma is changing—unable to breathe without yielding to the tide—and it’s only a matter of time before she’s forced to surrender forever.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received an ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things that was the most striking about Water So Deep was the world-building. I haven’t read a lot of mermaid books but the way Nichole Giles portrays her mermaids makes a lot of sense to me. Emma, our main character, is a changeling, meaning she appears human now but she’s been gradually shifting into her natural mermaid form. Unfortunately for her, this means that it’s getting harder and harder to breathe just air; she has to go swim underwater for hours at a time with growing frequency. In the past, she could last a week without swimming and by the time our story starts, she has to go swimming for a couple of hours every other day or so. Like I said, this is one of the more ‘believable’ human-to-mermaid stories (inasmuch as a fantasy creature can be believable) and it’s also one of the more enjoyable because it adds just another complicated layer onto Emma’s already complicated life.
The characters were both good and bad. Emma herself is a great character as are James, her love interest, and Keith, her developmentally disabled brother. She was nearly raped and beat up a year previously by one of the popular jocks at school so when she starts her senior year she’s a complete outcast. James, being the new guy, knows nothing of her history and is quite taken with her. This starts a push-and-pull dynamic between the two, with Emma feeling very conflicted about her growing feelings for James and the knowledge that she’ll have to leave him at the end of the school year because she’ll be a full mermaid. We also get to see things from James’ point of view as he falls in love with Emma and tries to understand and help her with her problems. Will he be able to succeed where Gran (who knows the truth about Emma) has failed?
But while those two were awesome characters, my actual favourite was Keith. Keith is moderately developmentally disabled; he’s quite innocent and sweet and has a bit of trouble with his grade level work but at the same time he’s quite capable of doing things on his own. What struck me the most about Nichole Giles’ characterization of him was that she doesn’t make him out to be a Magical Disabled Person capable of things above what normal people can do and she doesn’t make him into a Pitiable Disabled Person, someone who can’t do anything for themselves and needs to be helped constantly. He has his strengths and he certainly has his struggles; it’s a very nuanced human portrayal of an intellectual disability, one that is really quite rare in YA, let alone ‘adult’ fiction.
The only character that was not very good was Merrick, the possessive merman mentioned in the blurb. Throughout the novel Giles’ portrayal of him is quite good: he sees Emma as a prize, a reward for being the guard to Atlantis as well as one of the very few merfolk that can assume a human form. And because he feels entitled to her, he also treats her like an object at times, infuriating Emma to no end. Without delving too deeply into my own experiences, the way she describes Merrick’s gaze, that mixture of entitlement, lust and a bit of anger is so realistic it makes me shiver. So why did I say Merrick wasn’t a very good character? I can’t tell you precisely because that would spoil the ending but let’s just say that his character does a total 180 at the end of the novel with no lead up to it and it really doesn’t fit with his earlier characterization. It just feels odd, like he’s the Deus ex Machina for Emma instead of the antagonist.
And that leads right into the problem with Water So Deep: the plot. Don’t get me wrong, the plot is absolutely amazing for about 90% of the novel. It’s slower than your average YA novel because it’s very largely character driven but you never really get bored because we switch between Emma and James to see both of their sides of the story. That keeps the pacing consistent, if slow and because Nichole Giles has such a beautiful writing style it didn’t bother me in the least. She is excellent at making you feel the characters’ emotions and sympathize with their struggles, more so than you would with your average YA author. However, the problem with this novel was in the ending. Again I can’t say much without spoiling things but the events leading up to the ending were logical but the ending itself was awful. It made sense in the context of the story in general except for Merrick’s total 180 but it was very abrupt and rushed. Really, it felt like Giles realized she had reached her word count limit or something and just had to stop. The problem is that the ending is very ambiguous, which would not be bad if there was a sequel or at least more of a hint of the fates of the characters.
I was so involved with these characters and kind of concerned about the possibility of there not being a sequel that I actually contacted the author to ask if there would be one, to which she replied: “To answer your question, yes, there will be at least one sequel.” She’s hoping for fall of this year, so thank goodness for that! It’s a testament to her writing skill that I was so involved with the characters and so concerned about their ambiguous fates that I actually contacted her. Believe me when I say that I’m so glad that there will be a sequel. So despite the overly dramatic cliffhanger at the end, I did love Water So Deep and I’m very much looking forward to the sequel. If anything I’ve said in this review intrigues you, go check out the book! It officially releases on February 2 of this year.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
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Shadow Dragon by Marc Secchia
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Chameleon Shapeshifters, uncontrollable storm powers, and the rise of Sylakia’s Dragon-elite. The battle against evil scales new heights, but the price of victory grows ever dearer.
Once, a Shadow Dragon ravaged the Island-World. Insatiable. Unstoppable. A Dragon-killer. Now the Shadow Dragon has reappeared, on a collision course with Aranya and King Beran’s campaign to liberate the Islands from the scourge of Sylakian tyranny. He is dark, beautiful and deadly, a predator of untold power.
Meantime, Thoralian weaves his web of guile and betrayal right in the hearts of Aranya’s friends and allies. He will bring them to an encounter only he can win.
Incredible aerial battles. An Ancient Dragon bent on enslaving Aranya. The treacherous secrets of Dragon magic. This is the fight for which destiny has shaped a heroine of rare courage–Aranya, Princess of Immadia. Criminal. Shapeshifter Dragon. A woman who will confront evil at any cost. Spite her at your peril.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]
As you may or may not remember if you’re a regular reader of my reviews, I absolutely gushed about Aranya. It had everything: solid and inventive world-building, a cast of characters you couldn’t help but love and a fairly fast-paced plot despite being largely character-driven. I think I was understandably a little worried about Shadow Dragon because how could it live up to my expectations, let alone keep up the high quality of the first book?
In the end, I didn’t need to worry so much. That unpredictable and fast-paced plot remained, the world-building was even better and I really felt for all of the characters. It’s also a good thing I read The Pygmy Dragon first. You don’t have to read the spin-off first but let me just say you’ll appreciate some of the plot elements way more if you do.
What I really enjoyed about Shadow Dragon was that aforementioned unpredictable and fast-paced plot. With Aranya and her father King Beran waging war on Sylakia there are surprises around every corner and there’s nothing Thoralian wouldn’t do to stop their rebellion. Yolathion, who has now joined the Immadian cause, is sort of a wildcard in the whole mix because although he did betray Sylakia for her, he still carries many of the attitudes from that country with him. He doesn’t approve of things like Aranya fighting all of the time, her wearing trousers as a more practical alternative to wearing dresses during fighting, etc. It can be extremely infuriating, just like the actions of some other characters I won’t mention, but Marc Secchia is playing a deep game here, folks…nothing is as it seems!
Where can I start with the characters? Aranya of course is still as awesome as she was before only this time she’s helping Zip cope with her new found powers as well as dealing with the Yolathion issue. And she’s fighting a war, which sort of puts all of the personal drama on the back burner a lot of the time. In the first book, Aranya is a sort of spoiled Immadian princess who matures into a young woman who wants nothing more than to use her Dragon powers against Sylakia. In the second book, we see more of a tempering of her character as she goes through trial after trial and heartbreak after heartbreak. I don’t want to give away too much but by the end of the book, the change in Aranya is startling and very believable given all that happens to her. Will she be able to overcome these new personal demons to defeat Sylakia in the third book? It’s hard to say, honestly.
On a side note, one of the things that I really enjoy in Marc Secchia’s novels is that he writes incredible female characters. Not just Aranya, but Zuziana and Kylara and even Pip from The Pygmy Dragon spin-off. Unlike a surprising number of male writers, he makes sure that they all have believable motivations and unique personalities; they don’t just exist for the gratification of the male characters. Yes, they have romances and relationships but they’re not the sole motivation and/or focus of the characters. And not only that, all of the characters come from such diverse backgrounds and cultures. There’s actual racial and cultural diversity in his novel! Sometimes there are tensions between cultures and yet sometimes there are interracial relationships. It’s actually kind of shocking to see such diversity in fantasy and it’s done in an unforced, believable manner.
Aranya isn’t the only main character in this novel. We get to meet the mysterious Ardan, a man who wakes up stark naked under burned prekki-fruit tree and falls into the hands of the fearsome female warriors of the Western Isles. He remembers very little from his past so his journey with the warriors is interesting to say the least and at times his banter with them is quite funny. But of course in Shadow Dragon there’s a darker side to everything and as I said before nothing is as it seems in this book. There’s far more to Ardan than meets the eye and once he meets up with our main cast of characters, the Island World will be shaken to its core by the changes he brings.
The world-building is…there are really no accurate adjectives to describe how awesome it is. Of course there are the Dragons we met in the first book when Aranya transformed into one but we don’t know much about their history. Why did they essentially vanish after the Second Dragon War? And why did the Pygmy Dragon seem to do something to alter the memories of Nak and Oyda, who took part in the war? And what is everyone to do now that there’s a Shadow Dragon loose in the Island World? In this second book we do learn so much more about the history of dragons and the extent of their abilities in part because Aranya discovers she isn’t the only dragon outside of Thoralian’s immediate family.
Since Beran and Aranya are waging a running war against Sylakia, we also get to see a lot of the different kingdoms in the Island World, including Jeradia. When we go to these islands you can tell just how much effort Marc Secchia has put into his world-building because all of the cultures we meet have their own history, customs and ways of making war. Some greet Beran’s forces as liberators and others fight almost to the death which makes it far more realistic than having Aranya and her father go from island to island, liberating a jubilant populace every single time. As I noted in my review of the first book, the Shapeshifter Dragons series nearly veers into political thriller territory simply because of how complicated the plot and world-building are.
Here in Shadow Dragon, you have everything you could possibly want in the second book of a series you love: no plot drags (particularly in the middle), believable and three dimensional characters, an expanded fantasy world and so many plot twists you won’t see the end coming. You can’t ask for more and if the blurb or anything I’ve said in my review has intrigued you, I can’t encourage you enough to go try out the first book, Aranya. You’re pretty much guaranteed to love it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Frost by Wendy Delsol
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
After the drama of finding out that she’s a Stork, a member of an ancient and mystical order of women, and that her boyfriend, Jack, is a descendent of the Winter People able to control the weather, Katla Leblanc is delighted when all signs point to a busy and peaceful Christmas. That is, until the snowstorm Jack summons as a gift to Katla turns into the storm of the century, attracting Brigid, a gorgeous scientist who, in turn, attracts Jack. Between the school play, a bedridden, pregnant mother’s to-do lists, and keeping an eye on her aging grandfather, Katla doesn’t have time to question Brigid’s motives or deal with Jack’s increasingly cold behavior. But Katla’s suspicions mount when Jack joins Brigid on a research expedition to Greenland, and when the two of them go missing, it becomes clear that Katla is the only one who can save her beloved Jack from the Snow Queen who holds him prisoner. Adventure, romance, and myth combine in this winter escapade for teens who like a bit of fire with their ice.
It took me a little bit to warm up to Stork because of Katla but by the end I liked the story enough that I was willing to read the second book. I had bought the entire trilogy on a whim anyway so why not? It certainly sounded a little more action-packed than the first book. In a way it was but in a way it was also slightly disappointing.
My whole impression of Katla in Frost was essentially ‘meh’. She’s changed a little bit from the first book in the sense that she’s no longer as stuck up and is taking on the responsibilities of being a Stork willingly but at the same time she’s also still pretty immature. When Brigid shows up, Katla immediately goes into jealous girlfriend mode without seeing how Jack will even react to the woman. Of course her initial suspicions are confirmed when Brigid drags Jack off to Greenland but at the same time I can’t help but feel a little colder toward Katla for her rather obsessive jealousy. I don’t hate her or really dislike her because I can completely understand jealousy but it didn’t make me feel any warmer toward her. When she set off to go find Jack her selflessness really came into the spotlight so in the end I did like her a little more than I did in the first book. Still, I wouldn’t call her a great or even a memorable character; she’s pretty average.
The plot was pretty slow-paced even though this book is only a little under 400 pages long. It’s very much character-driven (which I usually don’t mind) but at the same time I had a hard time with the first 200 pages or so because not much happens. Sure it’s nice to see how Katla is settling into her duties as a Stork and how it’s changed her life at school but at the same time I couldn’t help but get bored. It’s nice to see Jack and Katla’s relationship develop before Brigid bursts onto the scene but I think Wendy Delsol spent a little too much time on her introduction. I wanted a lot more action and I simply wasn’t getting it. Because of the slow pace of the first part of the book it also felt like the last part where Katla had to go rescue Jack was way too rushed and more than a little bit confusing. I would have liked the plot to start out a little bit faster and then gradually build toward the more action-packed sections rather than the abrupt transitions in Frost.
As for the world-building, it was thoroughly enjoyable even if it lacked that ‘wow’ factor. The plot of Frost is loosely based upon the Snow Queen story which I’m more familiar with than the first book’s story so in that regard it was a little more enjoyable for me. I liked how we finally got to see how the hierarchy of Storks works and whether or not there are other Storks around the world that carry out the same or similar duties. It made things a little more realistic and it added more depth to the story.
Wendy Delsol has a good writing style that describes things well and clearly while not beating around the bush, which would have made the book excellent if not for the lack in pacing and the admittedly lackluster characters. She’s an author with a lot of potential and despite my overall ‘meh’ impression of Frost I’ll be reading the last book, if only to finish the series. Basically, this book was just not made for me and if the blurb at least sounds intriguing to you I’d recommend giving the series a try. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like it better than I did.
I give this book 3/5 stars.