As I wait for for Shadow and Bone series to premiere on Netflix, I’m reading the latest book in the Grishaverse.
What I’m Reading Now: Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
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Kinda Review: The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon
I’m not going to say too much about The Mask Falling because I know that Kate hasn’t read it yet. I do try not spoil things for her (whether she likes it or not) but I will say it was very satisfying installment into the series. We get to see more of Scion outside of the UK and how far it’s reach is growing but also the cracks from within. Paige and Warden are now hiding out in Paris and it allows her to interact with new groups of voyants and non-voyants and discovers more about the Rephaim and tests her own relationship. So good.
What I did like the most is that in the back of the book was a review of the cast of characters and glossary. Before I started reading this book, I searched out recaps online because it’s been a couple of years since the last book came out and it’s so dense and has so many characters and needed a reminder of what has happened. I could have reread the previous books but I wanted to dive right in. Even with reading all the recaps it was still super helpful to have those resources right in the back of the book. I really do hope that more series follow suit because it was super helpful. I’m sure authors and publishers hope that readers will go back and reread the previous books in between releases but let’s be honest that is just not realistic. So why not devote a few pages in the back to character descriptions to help to jog readers memories. Especially series like this one that have so many characters and subplots. (looking at you Game of Thrones) In conclusion this was really good. It ended on quite a cliffhanger and who knows, I might go back to the beginning and read them all again since it’s probably going to be another three or four years before book five comes out.
What I’m Reading Now: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
A murder mystery. Diverse narrator. Hot Hockey player. Sign me up. This book has been getting a lot of buzz so I’m excited to get into it.
Quick Review: Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
Fourteen books and countless novellas in to the Shadowhunters Chronicles, you pretty much know what you are going to get. Lot’s of diverse characters. Action, romance, agnst and humor sprinkled throughout. There is at least one character questioning their identity, at least two characters who are madly in love with each other but convinced the other doesn’t feel the same way about them. Another end of the world plot that they have to uncover, usually having to do with something bad that the Shadowhunters have done in the past and now are paying for it. Chain of Iron is no different and I know this and yet I keep reading on. I guess because despite it all, I still want to know what’s going to happen next. Clare has a way of populating her books with well rounded and thought out characters. They feel real. They are complicated and simple. They may be otherworldly but still live in a space that feels like every day. I may not know what if feel like to battle demons but I do know what it feels like to feel lonely or out of place. I guess that’s why they are so popular because no matter who you are there is a character that represents you somewhere in the series. This series takes place in turn of the 20th Century London but still full of diverse characters because it is England after all and the Empire was in full swing. There are LGBTQ+ characters because they have also existed in this time period even if the media of the time didn’t reflect it. So yes, fans of the books are going to love this as much as the others but new readers may feel a little daunted by the all the references and subplots to previous and upcoming books. Basically don’t start here if feel like jumping on the Shadowhunter train.
What I’m Reading Now: The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon
It’s been 4 years since the last book came out. Thank goodness for people posting their book recaps online. I’m ready now to see how Paige does in Scion Paris.
Review: A Court of Silver Fire by Sarah J Maas
This series is about trauma and found family. It’s not an easy read but it’s also very engrossing read. I do love this series. The first three books focused on Feyre and her journey from human to High Fey. I’m not going to say she is over her trauma but thanks to Rhys and her new family she is in a much better place now then she was. Not something that can be said for her sisters, Nesta and Elain. In particularly, Nesta. This book focuses on Nesta and her trauma over the last few books and beyond. The eldest Archeron family, she was supposed to marry a Prince and continue to help rise the family but when misfortune struck her family she felt helpless and guilty that it was her youngest sister, Feyre that kept them fed. When she and Elain were brought into the Fey’s struggles and turned immortal by the Cauldran, Nesta’s troubles only got worst. She never had the opportunity to deal with the issues of her past life and then she’s thrown into a world strange to her and given more struggles to deal with it.
After the end of the war with Hybern, Feyre let Nesta to her own devices fearing that if she stepped in Nesta would just resent her but when Nesta continues to self destructs she finally can’t let it go on. She orders Nesta to train with Cassian in the morning and work in the library in the afternoon and live in the House of Wind. Nesta and Cassian have had a fiery relationship so it was only a matter of time before things really started to spark between them but this is not the relationship I want to talk about. Throughout the book she meets two other women. Gwyn, a priestess who also works in the library and Emerie, an Illiayrian with her own shop. Together they all train together and bond over their own personal traumas and become their own family. Gwyn and Emerie understand Nesta in a way that Feyre, Rhys and the others can not and she understand them too. It’s such a joy to see three women grow with each other and support each and lift each other up. They can just be themselves with each other as they all work through their own struggles. It’s not that female friendships are missing in this series, Feyre and Mor have a strong relationship but it was never the focal point like Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie are. I like reading strong female friendships and making it up front and center because it doesn’t happen very often. Even in YA novels that are mostly written by women. Friendships are usually secondary to the love line of the story. So yes, more female friendships.
This is such an incredible series because it has so many different elements of fantasy. Yes, it’s not always easy to read all the trauma that the characters have gone through but the characters in the story are well thought out and fleshed out. It’s worth the read for fantasy lovers out there.
What I’m Reading Now: Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
Every time I think I’m done with Clare’s Shadowhunter’s world, I get sucked back in.
Happy International Women’s Day from Stacks!!!
Happy International Women’s Day to all the women out there making a difference and breaking those glass ceilings!! Let’s Go Get it!
What I’m Listening to Now: Being Lolita by Alisson Wood
I went down a bit of a rabbit hole this week and listened to almost the entirety of Lolita Podcast. It’s made me want to re-read the book, but I realized that I only have it as an audiobook in the house and not a physical book. So, I thought, why not read…listen to… a recently published memoir by one of the folks Jamie Loftus interviewed on the podcast instead. So, I’ve picked up Being Lolita by Alisson Wood.
Review: Stormbreak by Natalie C. Parker
I will miss this series. Caledonia and crew are special and took me on a quite of adventure. When the series begins the crew’s motto has run and hide and stay away from bullet ships. They are no longer running or hiding. They are striking back in hopes of creating a new world. Despite of all the trials Caledonia and crew continue to inspire others to join them and fight. They do it by giving the people the power of choice. They can stay and help them or they can go back to their life of servitude but for once it’s their choice. They all grow as characters but this is Caledonia’s story. She starts guilt ridden and angry, seeking revenge on Lir and Arik’s Bullet army to killing her family. Her need for vengeance often got her in trouble. Her inability to let it go and to not let her sisters in made her fail over and over again. It wasn’t until she was able to let go of her own wants and needs and let her crew burden some of the responsibility did they succeed. The book doesn’t sugar coat her flaws. It doesn’t gloss over her mistakes and her bad decisions. Her own personal struggles with who she is and the choices she has to make. She knows that to win they have to be as ruthless as their enemy but how do you do that without becoming them. She does it by again letting people choose their own destiny. When the fight is over it doesn’t mean that everything is now perfect or that she can go back to living as she did because life doesn’t work that way. She may have succeeded but now she has to live with everything she did to get there and that’s not easy. Caledonia wasn’t the only one who grew over the three books. Picses was always Caledonia’s second in command. There to help and follow Caledonia’s lead. She was Caledonia’s moral compass when she ever went to far but seemed at the beginning only wanting to follow. Over the series, she found her voice and began to not only challenge Caledonia more but also take more of the lead until she was the one giving orders. It’s great to see.
This books is full of great characters of all spectrums that anyone can see themselves represented. They all brought their own strengths to the crew and made it possible to win the day. From Amina to Hime to Nettle to Tin to Oran to Pine, Sledge and more. I don’t think there was an unlikeable character. Lir, our big bad was a good villain. He did unthinkable things but it wasn’t just for evils sake but born out of years of violence and abuse. It doesn’t excuse his actions but makes sense to the story and motivation. I do hope that someone buys the rights to this series because it would make a great series or movie. I would say TV show then movie because there is just so much into that it would lend itself well to an episodic format. So yes read this series from beginning to end. Especially if you liked Mad Max: Fury Road. You won’t regret it.
