SPFBO 8 Finalist Friday: Review of A Touch of Light (The Ashes of Avarin #1) by Thiago Abdalla
What is SPFBO 8 Check out Mark Lawrence’s post here to look at this year’s entrants, judges and allocations list.
This year I am teaming up again with the ladies from The Critiquing Chemist. We recently announced our finalist. To check out all the Finalists simply follow this link.
Our finalist this year was Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson – if you haven’t read it – I highly recommend it – seriously, grab yourself a copy and tuck in. It’s positively delightful.
Today is our eighth finalist review for #SPFBO 8. Reviews for Scales and Sensibility, The Thirteenth Hour, Tethered Spirits, Mysterious Ways, A Song for the Void, The Umbral Storm and Fire of the Forebears can be found here , here, here, here, here, here and here. Myself and the Critiquing Chemist will be posting a finalist review every Friday for the remainder of the competition – only one more to go after today.
So, to my eighth review is for an epic fantasy including a fierce warriors, a prince plagued with politics and backstabbing and a hunter hiding a curse. Oh, and trouble is coming.
AToL is a story that pretty much hits the ground running. We have three POVs and are thrown immediately into their current situations. Let’s say that all three of them are having problems.
Prince Adrian is grieving his brother. He doesn’t get along with his father and he wants answers. Nasha is a hunter living in the clan lands where life is harsh not to mention cheap. Lynn is a warrior gone rogue who is drawn back to her former life when she notices some troubling signs. All three of these characters are going to become embroiled in a much bigger plot with the spread of a madness that seems to be sweeping across the nation.
So, I do find writing a review for this book quite difficult. On the face of it there are so many elements here that work well for me and I have to say that I enjoyed the writing and the fact that the author clearly loves this world and the characters he’s created, but, at the same time this did create some issues for me.
The writing is solid but, I found it a little over descriptive, to be fair, this isn’t an overly long book but there are too many loose descriptions that bloat the story and slow down the plot. I do understand how difficult it is though when you love the world you’re building so much and this is probably a personal thing that many other readers will be okay with but it just frustrated me a little.
In terms of the characters, I liked them but I didn’t love them. I would say that the last third of the book saw more development but in some respects by that point I didn’t have that gut clenching fear that you feel when one of your favourites is under threat.
I think the plot was well thought out and intriguing. I enjoyed the three differing point of views and being able to observe the differences between them. I think my favourite character was the warrior (absolutely a coincidence that this character is called Lynn by the way!) – this was probably helped along by events that took place later in the book where her role actually started to really stand out.
Overall, I liked this but it took me quite some time to really become invested in the story and characters. I confess myself perplexed, I expected to really like this, perhaps my expectations were too high on this occasion but I think this could work well for other readers and I certainly wouldn’t discourage others from picking this up.
Our rating 6 of 10 stars
Don’t forget to check out the Critiquing Chemist’s review which can be found here.
A Gift of Poison by Bella Ellis (Bronte Sisters Mystery #4)
20 April 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Bronte Sisters' Mystery, A Gift of Poison, Bella Ellis
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Fitting conclusion to mystery series
And so another good series comes to an end. I’ve really enjoyed the Bronte sisters mysteries. They’re a lovely combination of family affairs, gothic mysterious endeavours and period drama with a great injection of detail from the Bronte sisters body of work. To be fair, I love the Bronte sisters and so I’ve really enjoyed reading these dark mysteries that take inspiration from their novels. Just to be clear though, I’m certain that these can be read without any prior knowledge of the Brontes so don’t be put off if you’re not familiar with their work – these make wonderful period mysteries and the sisters are entertaining detectives who often find themselves in bother.
In this particular instalment the women are called upon by a cruel man recently acquitted of poisoning his wife. An attempt on his own life has since been made and although the sisters are reluctant to take on the case they eventually come to the conclusion that they would, indeed, be best placed to solve the mystery one way or the other.
As I mentioned above this has been a series that I’ve really enjoyed. It contains so many winning elements for me as I do love a good mystery and although you wouldn’t call these cosy mysteries the period feel, the restrictions of the time, the dialogue and the family dynamics all come together to provide a comfortable setting even when things take a darker turn.
I loved the sisters and the way they interact. This particular instalment started with the three being somewhat out of sorts due to sibling rivalry, not to mention the horrible realisation that they were all beginning to come to terms with that their brother was unlikely to recover from his malaise, but, they eventually band together and each contributes to the eventual reveal.
The mystery here is intriguing. It has a supernatural feel to it, dark in places and really quite gripping. The sisters seem to move closer and closer to danger and I was absolutely intrigued about what was really going on here. Eventually, rational explanations are found but not without a struggle.
I thought this was a really fitting end to the series. Yes, of course I would have liked more, but at the same time this feels like the appropriate place to conclude.
I definitely recommend this series to murder mystery lovers who enjoy gothic period dramas.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4 of 5 stars
Love Will Tear Us Apart by CK McDonell
18 April 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: CK McDonnell, Love will tear us apart, Stranger Times
My Five Word TL:DR Review: I am loving this series
Okay, let’s just cut to the chase. It’s been a while since I read this book and yet the feeling of absolute adoration for this series still feels strong. So, that being said I’m going to post up the blurb for the book before I begin That way I can focus on my feelings without going into the description too much:
“Marriages are tricky at the best of times, especially when one of you is dead.
Vincent Banecroft, the irascible editor of The Stranger Times, has never believed his wife died despite emphatic evidence to the contrary. Now, against all odds, it seems he may actually be proved right; but what lengths will he go to in an attempt to rescue her?
With Banecroft distracted, the shock resignation of assistant editor, Hannah Willis, couldn’t have come at a worse time. It speaks volumes that her decision to reconcile with her philandering ex-husband is only marginally less surprising than Banecroft and his wife getting back together. In this time of crisis, is her decision to swan off to a fancy new-age retreat run by a celebrity cult really the best thing for anyone?
As if that wasn’t enough, one of the paper’s ex-columnists has disappeared, a particularly impressive trick seeing as he never existed in the first place.
Floating statues, hijacked ghosts, homicidal cherubs, irate starlings, Reliant Robins and quite possibly several deeply sinister conspiracies; all-in-all, a typical week for the staff of The Stranger Times.”
So, for me this is a series that is going from strength to strength. If you love urban fantasy I strongly think you should pick this one up. I can’t deny that the connection to Manchester and all the other connotations are strong for me but I seriously don’t think that alone would be enough to make me enjoy this so much. The characters are great, I love them all and I don’t want any of them to come to harm. The setting is well done. Contemporary, ironic, sarcastic. I mean, I just love it. The plots are original, the dialogue is spot on and I can’t wait to read more.
This is a short review but that isn’t a reflection on how I feel for this book or this series. I heartily recommend this series to readers who enjoy urban fantasy, contemporary settings, batshit crazy happenings, a great cast of characters that feel like ‘found family’. I literally can’t wait to see what comes nest.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating : 5 of 5 stars
The Vanishing of Margaret Small by Neil Alexander
18 April 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Neil Alexander, The Vanishing of Margaret Small
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Ultimately heartwarming tale of injustice
The Vanishing of Margaret Small is a book that falls outside my typical style of reading but it caught my attention and I do love a story with a dual timeline so decided to give it a shot. I was granted an audio copy and I will say I really enjoyed the book in this format. The narration was really good.
I would say that the VoMS ddin’t feel totally unique to me in some ways, but, I read a lot of books and it stands to reason that certain themes or plots will eventually have a familiar feel. That being said, this is a lovely, heart warming, also terribly sad though ultimately uplifting story but what really kept me on board with this book was the central character. Margaret is very easy to like. She brought a smile to my face more often than not and even though I was at tims outraged at the way her freedom had been so cruelly and casually stolen from her she actually took things very much in her stride.
To sum this up quickly Margaret is, at a young age (7 or 8 I think), put into an institution for children with learning difficulties by her grandmother. She remains in this institution until she’s in her thirties when she’s told she can leave to live in supported accommodation. As a child Margaret received no education, owns no possessions, is badly dressed and often mistreated. As she gets older she’s often in charge of various tasks and obviously none of her time is paid for and to be totally honest her story is shocking (all the more so because stories such as these genuinely took place). Literally, because Margaret suffered from learning difficulties she was ‘vanished’ from society – how truly awful. Put me in mind of those young women who were similarly put in institutions for having become single mothers.
Anyhow, now in her 70s Margaret has been receiving letters and gifts in the post from an unknown source, signed simply ‘C’. Margaret has a slight obsession for the late singer and tv star Cilla Black and thinks that Cilla is communicating with her from the grave. She eventually confides in her support worker Wayne and the two go on a voyage of discovery.
What I really enjoyed about this. I loved the split timeline. To be fair I preferred the chapters where we cast back to Margaret’s time at the institution. She had a dreadful life really but. knowing no better, she had a strangely accepting way of taking life in all it’s worst guises and simply getting on with things. That being said witnessing the way Margaret manages to get herself round certain tricky situations was amusing to say the least. She may have missed out on a formal education but life has taught her some lessons of it’s own and it put a smile on my face to see how resourceful she was.
I love a book that makes me want to go back and examine things through history and this book did make me want to do more research so I have to applaud that.
The writing is good and in fact I was surprised to discover that this is a debut and the narrator does a great job of bringing Margaret to life.
Although this isn’t my usual type of read I enjoyed it very much. I think this will definitely appeal to readers who like a little history and injustice rolled up with a mystery.
I received a copy through Netgalle, courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 3.5 stars of 5 (rounded up to 4 due to the ‘feel good’ factor).
Blogger’s Block
17 April 2023
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Backlist books, Future Books, Return to blogging
Is blogger’s block a thing? I don’t know, I just made it up. I’ve been thinking about this for a little while, primarily because my blogging and reading for the past few months has been very quiet. I’ve had a very stressful few months to be honest and sometimes life just happens all around you whether you want it to or not. What I do know about these sort of periods is that you have to follow your own gut instinct and at that point mine was to retreat a little, not to mention I simply didn’t have the concentration levels I would have liked. So, that’s the reason I’ve not been terribly visible of late. I have kept up with my SPFBO judging commitments and continued to post a weekly review, along with my lovely partners the Critiquing Chemist, but I’ve fallen way behind both with other reading and reviewing (although I have fit in a few good books). I certainly owe an apology to all the publishers who have granted me review copies for books that I was so excited to read and haven’t yet reviewed and also to all my lovely blogging buddies who I’ve fallen behind in visiting.
So, the one thing I know for sure is that I’m not yet ready to give up my book blog. I feel that life is maybe back on a normal(ish) keel for now and so I’m keen to dive back in. Let’s see how it goes.
Where to begin then. Well, firstly, I’m hoping to pull together quite a number of outstanding reviews:
- The Vanishing of Margaret Small by Neil Alexander
- Love Will Tear Us Apart by CK McDonnell
- A Gift of Poison by Bella Ellis
- The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan
- The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
- A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher
Plus my two final finalist reviews for SPFBO. So, lots of posts incoming. In order to not go on a total mission I’m not going to post any memes for now although I’d like to get back to my Sunday catch up post.
I have got behind with a number of review books and so I’ve decided that my best course is to read the books that are due to be reviewed for the rest of this month and then try and slot in one or two of the backlist books that I wanted to read during February and March but fell behind with. Hopefully this is something that I can get along with okay.
So, books that I’m hoping to read going forward:
- The Cleaving by Juliet E McKenna
- Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
- The Other Lives of Miss Emily White by A J Elwood
- Games for Dead Girls by Jen Williams
- The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart
These are my remaining April books. I’m not sure I’ll fit them all in but I’ll give it a good try. Have you read any of these?
I’ve got some fantastic books to look forward to in May that I’m really excited to share but will leave that for a future post.
In terms of blog hopping. I’m going to start catching up with everyone soon. I’ve made the decision that I probably won’t try and read every post that I’ve missed between January til now (although obviously I’m scared of missing anything good!) because if I try to read everything I’ve missed I think I’ll just sink. So, I’m going to try and draw a line under everything and start afresh. I’ll probably still flip through a lot of the reviews but maybe not leave a comment at this point.
Anyway, that’s the plan. Of course we all know the saying about the best laid plans…
Wish me luck.
Books and travelling with Lynn 