Today I’m posting three short reviews for books that I read a while ago and still haven’t reviewed.  I figure three short and sweet reviews might help me to catch up.

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry

Well, I’m enjoying my romantasy at the moment (in fact all three reviews today fall into that bracket or at least have romance elements) but unfortunately, and in spite of many glowing reviews for Shield of Sparrows, this one didn’t work for me.

Odessa is a princess who has spent her entire life in the shadows whilst her sister (Mae) has been reared with all the expectations.  Unfortunately, on the day that an ancient blood pact is due to take place between Prince Zavier and Princess Mae, ensuring peace between the five kingdoms, everything goes a little pear shaped when Princess Odessa is chosen instead.  From here forward Odessa finds herself married, uprooted and en route to a foreign land accompanied by a Guardian who seems to despise her (and the feeling is mutual) and high expectations from her father about turning ‘spy’ regardless of her total lack of training.  I will say that I had some sympathy with Odessa at this point.

The world Odessa is taken to is cursed and monster ridden and nothing is quite as it first appears.  I’m not going to go further into the plot as there are already plenty of other reviews out there.

Now, this book is receiving glowing reviews and to be fair it has all the ingredients that would normally work really well for me but on this occasion something didn’t gel.

The romance is described as slow burn, however, I would say that the first two thirds of the book are very slow paced so really it’s the plot itself that is slow (and the romance almost as a consequence). This wouldn’t usually be an issue for me tbh, I don’t mind books that take their time with world building but on this occasion I felt my interest wandering.  On top of this, and this is probably the key issue, I didn’t really like Odessa.  As I said above, I initially had sympathy with her but eventually I just found her a little irritating.  She had a never ending stream of questions running through her head and on top of this, okay, she came across to me as a little too self pitying.

I don’t know, something just didn’t quite work for me.  Take this with a pinch of salt though as there are many glowing reviews out there and it feels on this occasion it’s a ‘it’s me not you’ kind of situation.

I bought an audio copy.  The opinions above are my own.

My rating 3 of 5 stars

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

I really enjoyed the Knight and the Moth.  I listened to the audio of this and the narration was really good, I loved the world building and all the scenes with the Cathedral and the diviners and I was hooked pretty much from the start.  I also really liked the main character – Six or Sybil (as she was once known) and the love interest character Rodrick (or Rory) Myndacious.  This is a slow burn romance, well, it starts with something like contempt from both characters. Fortunately, their enemies to lovers status is not the main focus here but just simmers away in the background.  Instead we have a mystery.  One in which the other diviners are disappearing and Six is determined to find out what is actually going on.

I really enjoyed Six’s narration, it worked well for me and I found her intriguing.  The diviners live a strange life of acquiescence, rescued by the Abess at a young age they are all subservient, playing their roles as soothsayers dutifully – which can’t be easy given that their visions are only induced through near drowning.

The Knights who visit the Abbey play a central role, eventually assisting Six in helping to uncover the truth behind the other diviners’ disappearances, whilst actually serving to fulfill their own agenda.

I liked the romance, it didn’t take over the plot and there was a maturity to it that I enjoyed.  That on top of the gothic elements and the mystery of the diviners really did work their magic, plus the world was fascinating and the eventual reveals really interesting.  Also Bartholomew – a gargoyle who, without doubt, stole the show.

I look forward to reading the next instalment.

I purchased an audio copy.

My rating 4.5 of 5 stars

This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara

This Monster of Mine is an ancient Rome inspired fantasy with a mystery at it’s core.  As the story begins there is an (attempted) murder.  The survivor, Sarai, eventually returns to the City where she was left for dead, in search of answers.  She becomes a petitor, a person who uses magic to detect lies, and is assigned to the most dangerous of the four judges, Tetrarch Kadra, the Tetrarchs basically rule the land.  Sarai remembers very little from that terrible night four years ago but she does recognise Kadra’s voice and he quickly becomes her number one suspect.

This is a brutal world for sure and I think certain elements of this would not work well for the faint of heart.  The world here is corrupt.  The Tetrach’s ever in search of more power and certainly not shy of back stabbing.  Aside from Sarai’s own murder mystery it appears that a large number of petitors have died in the last few years, all deemed suicide, and yet these cases resemble Sarai’s own.  It appears that justice is definitely not being served and Sarai intends to uncover the truth.

I really liked Sarai and she definitely makes this story.  As I said this is a dark tale. Life is cheap in these times and torture and cruelty rife and Sarai takes many risks.  On top of this, Sarai and Kadra begin to develop feelings for each other – which is a conundrum, particularly to Sarai.  Kadra is a complex character though and it’s easy to see how this develops.

Overall, I enjoyed this, it was intriguing and fast paced.  The romance elements were low key with the political intrigue and murder mystery taking centre stage.

I purchased a copy for audio.  I really enjoyed the narration for this one.

My rating 4 of 5 stars