Book Review: Wicked as They Come by Delilah S Dawson

Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When it comes to Dark Romance, Delilah S. Dawson knows what she's doing. With engaging, concise, and lively prose, as well as careful world building, Dawson impressed me. I have recently found myself complaining that I don't like it when my leading characters are both helpless and in the dark, which seems more and more often to be the case in novels with a paranormal edge. In Wicked as They Come, while the main character has to have a good many things explained, she is never both helpless and uninformed at the same time, and she is always armed with wit, logic, and the scientific method to help her get through the toughest of problems.
With the sequel, Wicked as She Wants launching right now, I'm anxious to get my hands on it. I want to see what happens next because although the loose ends are tied well enough for this to be a stand alone novel, I care enough about the characters to want to know more about them.
Hat's off to you, Ms. Dawson.

Book Review: Hopeless Maine: Inheritance by Tom and Nimue Brown

Inheritance by Tom Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Inheritance episode in the Hopeless Maine series swells with creepy but gorgeous artwork that feels like the story is reading the reader right back. The Island of Hopeless Maine, isolated and crawling with secrets is certainly one I'd hope to escape.
Torn between her friend, the wasting illness and rapid decline of the woman who took her in, and the discovery of an eccentric family member, Sal begins to push out on her own, but at what cost?
I love the mood of the piece and the beautiful artwork, but the story was a little disjointed for me, and at times, the voices of the characters seem at odds with the attitudes in which they're drawn. I liked it and will read it again, because the creepy art deserves a revisit.

The Dark Unwinding, by Sharon Cameron: a Review

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron, ultimately, confused me. Not the plot, it was all set up well and easy enough to follow, with just enough foreshadowing to make the story gel, but not overly insult the reader by leading them by the hand. Well, maybe there was a little bit of hand holding, and really, only one of the twists was remotely surprising, but that's okay. Really, I like a book that doesn't side swipe me, because I feel that's usually the result of lazy writing.
However, I do have a word-choice bone to pick with Cameron. It makes my skin crawl to hear phrases like "tea things" thrown about when there are perfectly good descriptive and common terms. Maybe I'm wrong and tea service was called "tea things" during the 1870s, and I just don't know about it. I admit, this may be the first book I've read that was set in such a time period, to the best of my knowing. However, I doubt it.
I know it's a silly thing for me to complain about, but when reading a period piece, word choice can make or break a book in terms of suspension of disbelief, and for me, that one broke it every time.
Would I read a sequel? Yes. Would I recommend it to my teenage daughter? Probably. Would I herald it as a steampunk triumph? No.Why not? It has all of the elements, mechanized wonders as a plot point, utopian experiments, manners; it really should be. However, those elements truly played a setting role, and were specific only to the immediate locale, while the rest of the world went on completely as history recalls it. That isn't a bad thing, I just don't recommend it if you are looking for a deeply alternate timeline.
I don't believe it was intended as a steampunk novel, to be clear, but any book with a lot of gears on the cover will likely be expected to be so.

I feel like I should be reviewing this book based on feminist and mental health grounds, but alas, I haven't had enough time to fully dissect it all. I do, however, think that a certain amount of sizeism in the first chapter was unnecessary and unfavorably colored my view of the book, all the while recognizing that in a period piece, it is difficult to assign the same gravity to such things as in a modern piece. Was a character repeatedly mocked on account of weight? Yes. Was weight used as a metaphor for stupidity? Yes. Is that ever okay? No. Is it plausible that it may have been the prevailing notion at the time? Yes. Nevertheless, there are other ways to paint a character as impulsive and unintelligent other than calling them fat.

In terms of women's roles, well, the swooning is a little thick.

Clockwork Princess, by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am erring on the generous side with four stars. My better judgment says three stars, or somewhere in between. However, math says that if it's three and a half, you round up because it will result in an even number. Therefore, I went with four.

I stayed up far too late to finish this book. It was fast paced, engaging, somewhat (quite?) predictable, with glimmers of gratification that push you toward the next. The details were substantial and even occasionally included how things smelled. I always like it when a writer remembers that there are more senses than sight and hearing.  However, there were a good many times when it felt like Clare was on a fan-girl binge, lifting text from other novels, rearranging the particulars in a way that reminded me of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so it would fit the narrative. A sentence here or there of para-quoting makes me smile. Lengthy paragraphs invokes groaning, and also meters my esteem for this work.

Another problem with this particular text is that too often, I feel, characters behave in accordance with the needs of the plot rather than the idiosyncrasies of their characters established in the two previous books. The Clockwork Prince raised my expectations, and these moments didn't meet those expectations. These moments are not horribly glaring, but at times, words and actions and character didn't meld as well as I had expected. Any of my other grouses would be spoilers, but suffice it to say that while I wanted the ending and the fan girl in me was overjoyed, the literary critic in me was disappointed.

Don't mistake my reservations for condemnation. I enjoyed Clockwork Princess, and if you read and liked Clockwork Prince, as I recommended, you'll enjoy this too. Just read it for what it is and have fun with it.

Dearly, Beloved - by Lia Habel: a Review

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes. Lia Habel's high tech with a Victorian twist world, rife with holographic edifices reminiscent of the world before the second ice age, took on a broader life in Dearly, Beloved that left me smiling for hours. The Characters from Dearly, Departed are here given the freedom to interact in new environments and blossom into themselves. Because the plot in the second book of the Gone with the Respiration series is less immediately catastrophic than the kidnapping plus zombie apocalypse scenario set forth in the first, the reader gets to see the characters in their daily lives and learn more about their world.

Of course, true to form, Habel doesn't leave anyone's world in tact for long. All too soon the fissures in the calm facade begin to show. Pamela's panic attacks prove to be not only merited, but nearly prophetic - Nora's independence leads her back into danger - Dr. Dearly's solution to the Laz proves to be too little to quell tensions between the living and the dead. Characters like Michael, who at first seemed simply callous, grow into full fledged villain-worthy unlikability while the seemingly vapid Vespertine blossoms into a deep woman with intricate motivations. Habel's approach to Bram in Dearly, Beloved is far more entertaining. Gone is the tired "I'm no good for you, I'm too dangerous," droning, replaced instead with a young man who doesn't pretend that he knows what's best for Nora at every turn, but instead allows her to make her own decisions. Sure, he continues to weigh in on her options, and she continues to at least consider the words coming out of his cold lips, but the dynamic morphs into something far more healthy and rather beautiful.

Although my experience with the zombie genre is limited to perhaps a dozen books, Dearly, Beloved has proved to be the most enjoyable. I look forward to the saga's conclusion, which can not come soon enough.