Review: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of his book via Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore through Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This is the second book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, and while this can be read a standalone I would recommend reading [book:The Tainted Cup|150247395] first.  It was a nice introduction to the world and the characters of Din and Ana and how they interact to solve crimes.  The novels act as companions, following completely separate incidents with interconnected characters and themes and the author does a fantastic job giving you enough background information in this novel so you don't feel lost.  It has been over a year since I've read book 1 and I felt like I had a nice refresher on the world and the characters.  The world is strange and complex, and the author does a wonderful job detailing out the setting for this murder mystery.

As with the first book, Iudex investigator Din is sent on a mission to uncover clues when a murder under strange circumstances occurs in a small village on the outskirts of the Empire.  Yarrowdale is a strange place, but it is very important to the empire, and when officers of the Treasury disappear and are found murdered only the best are sent to find out what happened.  His superior officer and mentor Ana, trails behind him to conduct the investigation in her strange methods.   Once in Yarrowdale, Din meets up with Malo, a Warden who aides in the investigation.  Malo is surly, but she takes her duties seriously especially when the precious reagents produced in her homeland are in danger.  As Ana, Din, and Malo investigate the murder of the treasury officer, they uncover a much larger plot that puts not only Yarrowdale, but the entire empire in danger.  They must quickly find the culprit and stop him before he does more damage.

This was an excellent adventure!  As with the first book it weaves several genres into a Sherlockian style mystery.   I loved the fantasy setting and the characters.  We meet new characters with new augmentations.  In this world people can choose to under go procedures to permanently enhance their abilities like Din's ability to remember everything for his position as an engraver or take tonics to temporarily enhance things like wakefulness or stamina. I'm not sure how many books there are going to be in this series but if Din and Ana are investigating I'm going along on every case with them.  In this installment we get to know more about Ana's abilities, even if she doesn't come right out and say what they are.  Ana's methods are strange and she is able to draw conclusions from the most disparate information, but in this particular investigation and with Din's engraver abilities she is able to piece together the solution in a way we haven't seen before.  I won't spoil Ana's abilities, but she did tell Din she would reveal her enhancements when the time was right.  We also learn more about the strange leviathan creatures that threaten the world and what is done with them at the mystical place called the Shroud.  

There is so much going on in this book, but I never once felt overwhelmed or confused.  The author does a great job with the pacing and keeping the reader engaged and connected to each of the plotlines.  With such a complicated storyline and so many offshoots it would have been very easy to lose sight of what was going on, but RJB kept things connected and brought things together in the end in such a great way.   We get a great reveal as one would expect in a mystery, but along with the investigation we also get eerie emotional movements as well as excellent fantasy elements.  We get more information about all of the abilities people can have and we get more development into Din and Ana's relationship.  There were some great side characters that both helped and hindered the investigation.  The author does a good job feeding you information throughout leaving clues along the way.  I loved this book and the series has quickly become a favorite to recommend to other mystery and fantasy fans!

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Review: The Prince Without Sorrow: Obsidian Throne, Book 1 by Maithree Wijesekara

The Prince Without Sorrow: Obsidian Throne, Book 1 by Maithree Wijesekara
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.  In full transparency, I borrowed the audiobook from my local library after publication date and listened to the audiobook while following along with the ARC.

This is the first book in a trilogy and follows Shakti, a witch whose order follows pacifist teachings, but when the emperor orders her village and everyone she loves brutally murdered she breaks that code.  Shakti seeks revenge with a curse upon the emperor, but as with all magic it takes an unexpected turn she never expected.  She seeks to overthrow the new emperor from within, but she has also discovered new abilities that will either aid her cause or get her killed.  Our second point of view is from the emperor's son Ashoka who practices pacifist ways, despite his father being a violent tyrant.  His siblings follow his father's tactics and Ashoka is shunned for his peaceful ways.  When Emperor Adil unexpectedly dies, Ashoka must not only find his way under his brother's rule, but he seeks to make changes within the empire by bargaining with his brother and sister for power.  

Shakti and Ashoka's paths only briefly cross despite their goals being similar.  They both want to save the witches from persecution and violence.  They both want the the new emperor to rule with a more peace minded approach, but they both are going to have to break some rules to get to their desired outcomes.  I enjoyed the magic and the lore woven into the story and look forward to seeing how that evolves over the rest of the series.  I also look forward to seeing where Shakti's revenge arc and Ashoka's pacifist takeover arc take them.   There is clearly alot more story to be told.  

This book poses quite a few questions about morals, politics, and societal norms.  Many of the characters are set in their ways one way or the other, so discussion about change is often not well met or leads no where.  I'm expecting as our main characters continue on their chosen paths, we will see these questions and conversations come up again and our characters will begin to sway the masses to their causes, but this book feels more like it is setting the stage for more to come.  I can't tell if they will aid each other in the future or become enemies, but I look forward to finding out as the story continues.

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Review: The Merger by Adriana Locke

The Merger by Adriana Locke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ALC via the author, all opinions are my own.

This is the 4th book int he Brewer Family series, however you can read it as a complete standalone.

I love Adriana's books, and this pains me to give it 3 stars.  They have all been instant favorites.   It took me until the latter half of the audiobook to finally connect with Gannon and Carys.  That isn't the norm, I am normally connected within the first chapter or two.  Grumpy sunshine, opposites attract is one of my favorite tropes too.  I feel like for the first half of the book, the main characters spent most of the time objectifying each other and having sexy times before we got to the plot.  I never felt the chemistry develop between them and I felt like the family interactions that I love so much within Locke's interconnected series was missing.  Tate is present and Gannon's other siblings were in a few scenes here and there but far less than we have seen in other installments in the past.  As the story develops Gannon and Carys didn't feel like strangers to me any longer and I started to enjoy the storyline.  I wanted more character development (aka background story) earlier on in the book interspersed with their inner monologues about how hot each other were and their banter and innuendos.  

Overall, while this had some humorous moments and in the end Carys and Gannon get the happy ending they were meant to have, this one isn't my favorite.  The narrators did a good job with the dual POV narration.

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Review: The Deathly Grimm

The Deathly Grimm by Kathryn Purdie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided both an ARC and ALC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This is the second book in the Forest Grimm duology, and don't feel this could be read as a standalone. You really do need to read The Forest Grimm first to understand what is going on and what is going on with the world and the characters. This installment drops you right back into the world where the first book leaves off and the characters pick up where they left off. With the curse on the village only partially broken, Clara and Axel must venture back into the Forest Grimm and Henni must go into hiding until they return with answers and the missing page from the Book of Fortunes. As they venture back into the forest Clara and Axel's relationship will be tested, and Clara will have to face many of her fears as they find more lost villagers and try to break the curse for good. They face

Once again the author does a great job leaning into the darker side of the fairy tales in this book and weaves them into the plot with her own reimagining. This is a bit of retelling and mystery. It has a nice twist when we finally get the full reveal of who the real villain of the story is and how the curse came to be.

Much like with the first book, I felt this read a bit young for my tastes, but the target audience is young adult so take that with a grain of salt. We do get more character development from Clara in this book, which was something I felt was lacking in the first book. In the last book I felt like everything she did was based on what the tarot cards told her was going to happen, where in this book she almost shunned the cards and what they foretold. She was able to think before she acted and solve some of the riddles without acting on impulse all the time. I would have like more character development overall, but I do appreciate the character development we did get.

Overall I felt like this was a satisfying conclusion to the duology.

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Review: Transmentation | Transience: Or, an Accession to the People’s Council for Nine Thousand Worlds by Darkly Lem

Transmentation | Transience: Or, an Accession to the People’s Council for Nine Thousand Worlds by Darkly Lem
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided both an ALC and ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

Dion Graham was a fantastic narrator!  I enjoyed the different voices he gave the the various characters and he did different accents as each character moved from world to world at times.  Such a fantastic performance!

This is perfect for fans of Caldwell Turnbull's No Gods, No Monsters and the Convergence Saga. Turnbull is a member of the author who make up Darkly Lem, the other authors in the collaboration are Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln, Ben Murphy, and M. Darusha Wehm. This didn't feel like it was written by multiple authors, and felt like a cohesive effort by the five members that make up Darkly Lem. If you enjoy that style of writing and storytelling you will enjoy this sci-fi, speculative fiction. This touches on politics, philosophy, environmental factors, corruption, self-reflection, and more.

Overall I really enjoyed this. It is strange in the best way, and while the pacing is a bit slow that fit the plot as it develops and the characters move about the multiverse. It is told from several different perspectives, but I had a hard time telling the characters apart and perhaps that was by design. There is a definite undertone of self-reflection by the characters as they move from place to place and they question their own identities. A major part of the plot is that characters can travel the multiverse and they inhabit different "husks" in different worlds. Their consciousness travels, while their "prime body" stays put, but don't quote me on that I'm still not 100% clear on that point. Some people have the ability to travel on their own, while others can move multiple people at once and the characters visit something akin to a train station to travel. It wasn't always clear if the character was another person when they traveled or if they were themselves, and that was a bit confusing for me. This is one of those books that I feel like upon re-read I would really understand the world and the science much better. I enjoyed the various characters once I got comfortable with their plotlines and motivations. There is alot going on and I was left with that feeling of "What did I just read?" when I was done. With this book that is meant as a huge compliment to the authors as I want to start over and dive back in because this book was so intriguing and interesting. I want to pick up on all of those things that I missed the first time through and pay closer attention to certain characters. I believe this is the beginning of a series and will 100% continue on.

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Review: The Knight and the Butcherbird: A Short Story by Alix E. Harrow

The Knight and the Butcherbird: A Short Story by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This is a strange little book set in a small Appalachian town, where demons infest the wild lands and knights are summoned to hunt them down.  Information is no longer passed down electronically, but via storytellers, the current storyteller is Shrike who knows more about the town's current demon than anyone as it was once her wife May.  The knight also knows much about demons but he longs to know the secret of their creation for like Shrike, his wife was also turned into a demon.  Shrike is determined to keep May safe and prevent the knight from harming her.  He is surprised by the history lesson given by the storyteller, but knowing what he knows about the toxic lands and the science and medicine available in the cities it all makes sense.

I really enjoyed this short story.  The author packs alot of information into only about 40 pages.  It is rare that I find a short story that feels complete and while the author could probably write and entire novel about this world, I think it is perfect as is.  Harrow's work to date has been hit or miss for me, but this was a real hit!  I loved the push and pull between Shrike and the Knight, they both have secrets and personal motivations.  They both want to protect their loved ones and took their vows seriously.  This also has  commentary on the environment, technology, healthcare, societal collapse, religion, etc.  It certainly made me think.

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Review: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ALC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This is told from multiple perspectives, and I appreciated that the audiobook had multiple narrators, all of whom I enjoyed.  It really helped to know which person from the island you were with for that chapter based on the voice you were hearing.

This mainly follows Dominic and Rowan.  Dom is a widower and his three children on a tiny island that has been used for research and as a seedbank.  All of the scientists have left the island, as the sea is threatening to overtake the island and the lighthouse Dom and his family live in.  He and the kids are responsible for packing up the seeds and whatever else they can salvage when the last ship comes to get them.  The kids Raff, Fen, and Orly really don't know a home other than the island and spend their days among the plants and seals.  Their lives are about to be completely turned upside down when they have to return to "proper" society, but as they are packing things up a strange woman washes up on shore during a storm.  When Rowan finally wakes up she finds Dominic's strange family nursing her back to health.  As she gets to know them she finds that while they are kind, something strange is going on and she is determined to find out what they are hiding.  Turns out she has secrets and motivations of her own.

As far as thrillers go this was pretty tame, it is atmospheric though.  The themes of isolation, desperation, and loneliness played a much bigger part than the actual mystery elements.  This is very much about the human condition and what each character is going through and their connection to the island.  This is highly character driven, and the characters are well developed.  I felt the pacing was a bit slow, but I chalk that up to the fact that we swap POVs almost every chapter. While  much of the story is told from Dom or Rowan's perspectives, we also get chapters told from each of the children, that tends to slow things down for me because just as you think you are getting somewhere the author takes you somewhere else.  It all does come together in the end.  I wasn't a big fan of the romance element, I didn't feel the chemistry between the two main characters.  I feel like the romance wasn't necessary and the story would have been fine without it. I did think that the world building was excellent and I felt like I was on the beach with the seals or in the storms with the characters.  The setting and flora and fauna were all described very well and you can tell that the author did her research which I always appreciate.  

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