All posts in Fiction

City of Bones was… Good

By Brookelorren on 16 Comments

City of Bones CoverSo I’m late to the party.  I just got around to reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, which is an 11 year old book.  I found it to be… good.  It’s not great, but it’s good.

I saw this book while looking through Goodreads 2018 releases, and found that Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness is listed as highly anticipated.  I can’t start in the middle of a series, of course, so I clicked around and found this book which started it all.  Fortunately, my local library had it (although now I’m waiting to read book #2 and I’m tenth on the waiting list).

The book is about a girl, Clary, who stumbles upon a murder that only she could see.  Shortly after that, her world is completely upended when she discovers that the world that she believed to be true isn’t all there is.  Not only are there demons, werewolves, Nephilim, and vampires, but her family is a part of that world.  Over the course of this book, she discovers the truth about this world around her, and about her family.

I did enjoy this book.  Enough that I immediately got on the waiting list at the library to read the second book in the series.  I’ll probably end up reading all of the books, although that might take a while, since there’s quite a few books in this series, and there’s a waiting list at the library for most of them.  I didn’t enjoy the book enough to go out and buy the entire series.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book.  I liked the characters and their relationships.  I liked the imagery and the world-building.  I enjoyed the plot and kept wanting to read more.  The mythology was interesting.

There were some things that this story could have done better, however.  This wasn’t one of those books that sucks you in and grabs you and won’t let you go.  I’m not going to be fangirling over this book years from now after I’ve read it for the fourth or fifth time.  There were a couple of things that I found a little odd — the main character’s life was uprooted over the course of 24 hours, nearly everything she had is gone — you would think she would have a stronger emotional reaction to it.  The mythology was a little mishmashed, and that could have been better.  The final thing that I think could have been written better was, towards the end, where the characters are finding out these big revelations and… I would think that their emotional reactions would have been a little more pronounced.

This being one of Clare’s earlier works, I’m looking forward to continuing on with the series and seeing her develop as an author.  Since I’ve waited so long to read the first book, I can quickly catch up.

Warcross: The Best Book I Read in 2017

By Brookelorren on 22 Comments

Warcross coverIt isn’t often that you can say that a book was the best book you read that year.  In fact, you can only say that about one book a year.  Warcross, by Marie Lu was the best book that I read in 2017.

The whole premise of Warcross, for me, was exciting.  A book about gaming and hacking and tracking down criminals?  Yes, please!  I already knew that Marie Lu could write in more than one genre and make them good: j’adore the dystopian world of 100 years from now in Legend (words in English can’t even express how much I love it, so I have to switch to French 😉 ), and the medieval fantasy world of The Young Elites was amazing too.  A book about a hacking bounty hunter should be great as well, right?

I was not disappointed.  Warcross kept me enthralled from the first chapter until the end.  Then I wanted more.

The main character, Emika Chen, is an amazingly complex character, like so many of the other characters that Lu has created.  Emika is brilliant, but she can’t use her genius to create a comfortable life for herself because she has a criminal record.  Before you go on judging her for that, you have to read the book, because there’s a really good reason for it.  Her past has been difficult, really for no fault of her own, and you just want to root for her and wish for her best.

In this world, everybody likes to play a game called Warcross.  It’s not only a virtual world where you can hang out and chill, it’s also a world where you can join a team and battle against other teams.  Like the real-world game of Overwatch (which my daughter likes to play) there are professional teams that people will root for; only in this book, Warcross is way more popular than Overwatch.  Everybody is involved.  Warcross is so integrated in society that your level in Warcross can determine whether you can get into fancy restaurants (much like the real-life social scoring program, Zhima Credit, can get you perks in China).

In this world, Emika is on the verge of homelessness.  In a moment of desperation, she initiates a hack that will change her life forever.

As she tries to hack into the International Warcross Championships, she accidentally is seen by nearly everybody in the world.  Whoops.

She thinks she’s in trouble.  The creator of Warcross, Hideo Tanaka (whom Emika has been fangirling after for years), gives her a call.  He wants her to come to Tokyo.  This creates one of the best lines in the book:

“I’d love to, but my roommate and I are actually about to get evicted from our apartment tomorrow, so…”

A billionaire that you’ve been fangirling over for years wants to meet you in Tokyo and that’s your reaction?  It seems like something I would say.  In fact, once when I was in Jack in the Box, my boyfriend said to me “let’s go get married” and my response was “I thought we were going to go buy a computer today.”  We ended up getting married, and never did go buy that computer, LOL.

Instead of getting in trouble, Emika gets a job.  She goes on adventures.  Finds danger.  Maybe finds love.  You’ll just have to read it to find out.

This book almost feels like it could happen in the next five or ten years.  Even today, there is a Dark Web.  There is an assassination market.  Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are already here, and they are getting better every day.  The world of Warcross is one that has all of these elements, which are already here, and are only getting more prevalent in our lives every day.

In addition to being a great book, Warcross asks ethical questions, although not overtly.  Is giving up freedom for security worth it?  Who determines right from wrong?  Should we let the powers that be keep us from doing what “they” think is wrong?  It’s not just a fun book, it’s a fun book that makes you think.

I don’t think I can say enough good things about this book.  If you haven’t read Warcross, get it now; and while you’re at it, pre-order Wildcard, which comes out September 18th.  While I can’t say that Wildcard will be the best book I read in 2018 (I haven’t read it yet, and there’s still 6 months left in the year), I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a great book as well.

Should You Fear A Reaper at the Gates?

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment

A Reaper at the Gates CoverA Reaper at the Gates is Sabaa Tahir’s third book in the Ember in the Ashes Quartet.  It is another outstanding book in the series.  I read the three books in three days, and now I feel like I’m stuck in the Waiting Place until 2019 when the final book comes out.

This review contains spoilers for An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night.

When we last left our fearless characters at the end of A Torch Against the Night, Elias had died, but in exchange for his life, he had agreed to become the Soul Catcher, which allowed him to return to the mortal world and help Laia and his friends in the outside world, when he wasn’t working with the ghosts.  Darin had been busted from Kauf prison, but he wasn’t like his former self.  Laia had discovered that she was gifted with the power of invisibility, and was starting to become a leader (although she didn’t want to admit it).  Helene’s family had been killed, with the exception of Livia, who was now married to the sadistic emperor.

Can things get any worse?  I asked that while I was reading A Torch Against the Night too.  Unfortunately for these characters, things continue to get even darker in the third installment of this series.

Like the last book, A Reaper at the Gates is primarily told from the perspectives of Laia, Elias, and Helene.  A lot of the time, they are dealing with their own battles, so it makes sense to follow these three.  The Nightbringer also has a couple chapters from his perspective.

After she accidentally gave away a piece of the Star to the Nightbringer (dumb dumb dumb!), Laia goes on a quest to prevent him from getting the final piece.  She’s also trying to help the scholars rage against the machine (the Empire, that is) and not get killed.  Meanwhile, her brother wakes up, and she needs to help him get back to work making Serric steel weapons.

Elias has his own battles to face.  He’s taking over as the Soul Catcher, but he’s still trying to help Laia, whom he loves.  If he doesn’t do his job as Soul Catcher well enough, there could be disastrous consequences.  Unfortunately, there is a tug at him to give up his care about the world in order to do his Soul Catcher duty.

Helene is dealing with politics in the Empire.  Keris Veturius is trying to undermine her at every step, and there are enemies trying to wage war on the Empire.  Meanwhile, her sister Livia is in danger, both with the Emperor and with Keris.

A Reaper at the Gates is even darker than A Torch Against the Night.  The characters deal with court intrigue.  They learn secrets.  Many of them grow as people.  Some of them seem to be fighting a losing battle.

One of the subplots of the series is the relationship between Elias and Laia.  If I were to give this relationship a tag on Archive of our Own, it would be sloooooooow burn.  At least they finally realize that they love each other in this book, and are willing to admit it.  There are a couple of really nice scenes between the two regarding their love for each other, but with Elias’s new gig as Soul Catcher, is their relationship doomed?  You may or may not find out the answer in this book.

At the end of A Reaper at the Gates, the characters don’t run off into the sunset and sing Kumbaya.  They still have a lot to deal with.  You may finish this book and, like me, feel like you will be stuck in the Waiting Place until 2019 when this book concludes.  I’m personally a little scared though… I really hated chapter 50 of Allegiant, and I hope to not see another repeat of that.  However, the darkest hour is just before the dawn.  Perhaps there was a little foreshadowing involved when Laia said what Nan once told her “as long as there is life, there is hope.”  While things will look bleak when you finish this book, you will want more, and fortunately, there is one more book to hopefully set this world right once again.

Other books in this series I have reviewed:

A Torch Against the Night Kept Me Awake

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment

A Torch Against the Night CoverA Torch Against the Night is the outstanding second book in Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes Quartet.  I started reading this series a couple of days ago, and finished all three books in three days.  They were that good.  I was fortunate in that my library had an extra copy of this book on their shelves.  Once I realized that this book was available, I rushed to go pick it up.

The following review may contain spoilers for An Ember in the Ashes.

In the first book, our heroes, Elias, Laia, and Helene, were tried in various ways.  As A Torch Against the Night begins, Elias and Laia are running for their lives, and Helene has sworn an oath to the foul Marcus to be his Blood Shrike.  Could things get any worse for these people?  Oh yes, they can.

Elias has promised Laia to go to rescue her brother, whom we discover is in the Kauf, the worst prison of the Empire.  Along the way, they run into all kinds of trouble, but they also find the help of allies, and discover that they can show kindness to others, even when they are in all kinds of distress.

Helene has been tasked to track Elias down.  If she doesn’t, there will be consequences for both her and her family.  As a result, she is put into a very tough predicament.  Will she become a completely different person in pursuit of her duties?

When we last left our cast of characters at the end of An Ember in the Ashes, we were left with questions about who is going to fall in love with whom?  Will Elias and Helene get together while Laia and Keenan find love?  Or will it be Elias and Laia?  If you read the first book’s description, you already know, but by the end of this book, there will be no doubt about who loves whom in this series.  Whether they end up happily ever or not… remains to be seen.

Like the first book, A Torch in the Night has beautiful scenes, great characters, and a lot of action.  If you’re looking for a feel-good book, this is not it; however, if you’re looking for a book with a lot of excitement and magic, this series is great.  I highly recommend this series for people who are interested in this genre.

Other reviews in this series:

Ember in the Ashes Sale on Today!

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments

Just thought that you might want to know, the Kindle version of An Ember in the Ashes is currently on sale TODAY for $2.99 (I know that it says $9.99 next to this paragraph, but if you’re reading on June 15, 2018, it’s actually $2.99).  I posted a glowing review for it yesterday, so if you’re interested, now is the time to get it.

Sabaa Tahir’s Twitter feed says that the sale is for today, so I wouldn’t count on it being this price tomorrow.

Since I picked up the copy that I read at the library, I took advantage of this offer myself.  I’ll probably eventually want to get the entire series in hardback, but for now, at this price, it’s hard to pass up.

An Ember in the Ashes Has that Spark

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments

An Ember in the Ashes CoverAn Ember in the Ashes is the first book in Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes tetralogy, and it is excellent.  If you haven’t read it yet, you want to add this to your TBR list.  Be warned, however, once you start reading this series, you’re going to want to get your hands on the next two books so you won’t have to wait for the next book.

I was originally planning on reviewing Marie Lu’s Legend series today, but since the third book in this series, A Reaper at the Gates, just came out, I will be reviewing the three books in this series over the next several days instead.  I plan on reviewing A Torch Against the Night on Saturday, and A Reaper at the Gates on Monday.  As I am writing this, I’m only 120 pages into the second book, but I already know that I’ll be spending most of my free time reading these books until the series is done.  It’s that good.

An Ember in the Ashes is set in a fictional world that is based on the ancient Roman Empire.  In the beginning of the story, it’s a normal world with stories of magical creatures, but as the story progresses, it turns out that these stories are real.  The story is told from the point of view of our two protagonists, Laia and Elias.

Laia is a lower (maybe lower-middle) class girl living under the oppressive Empire.  Elias is about to graduate from 14 years of grueling training that have turned him into an elite soldier.  After Laia’s life is turned upside down in one horrific night, she undergoes a quest to try to save her brother, voluntarily becoming a slave.  This is where she meets Elias, who is not like most of the other trained killers in his profession.  Elias doesn’t want to be a killer – he wants to be free to be something else.  Over the course of the book, they develop an unlikely relationship and realize that they both can help each other.

The book is well-done.  The characters are interesting, the plot is intricate but not confusing, and the world is well-built.  Before I was even halfway done with this book, I made plans on obtaining the next two books.  I didn’t go to bed until I had finished the book, and I’m sure that I will finish the second book tonight.

I couldn’t find anything that I didn’t like about this book.  It seems appropriate for most teens.  There is a lot of violence and some threatened sexual violence, but there is nothing explicit and there is no cursing (when the characters “curse” they say things like “ten hells” or expressions that we don’t consider to be obscene).

This book seems to have positive messages.  Don’t beat yourself up for protecting yourself.  As long as there’s life, there’s hope.  I liked that about this story.

If you like young adult stories with a little bit of magic, check out An Ember in the Ashes, and the followup books.  I’m loving it so far.

Other books in this series I have reviewed:

Best Books I Read in 2017

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I’m finally publishing my long-overdue list of the best books I read in 2017.  Now, you may be thinking “Aren’t we already halfway through 2018?”  You are absolutely correct.  At any rate, I’ve been publishing the list of my favorite books of the year for nearly 10 years, and I missed 2017, so I’m writing it now.  I did write this list down in my journal on January 1st, so I’m actually not relying on memory.

My annual best books list are for books that I personally read for the first time in a year.  So… you may find a lot of books that were published years ago that I just got around to reading.  Also, even though I read translations of books (for example, I read Carve the Mark in Spanish and Divergent in German earlier this year) they don’t count, if I’ve read the book before.  So without further ado, here’s my list.

The 2017 List

10) The Age of Reagan – The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order: 1964-1980 was #10 on my list of top books that I read last year.  I got this giant bag full of books from our library a year ago and this was one of the books that seemed interesting.  It’s not a book that focuses on Ronald Reagan as president, but it does talk about the circumstances that led to his campaign and how he ended up getting elected.  It’s on the scholarly side (I do end up with Erudite in all of the “which Divergent faction do you belong in” quizzes, after all) but if you’re interested in 20th century history, you might like this.

9) The Better Angels of our Nature – Ever wonder where the phrase “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” came from?  Or perhaps “cut off your nose to spite your face”?  Maybe you don’t want to know.  Anyway, Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of our Nature was a book that I had been meaning to read for a while, and finally got around to.  It was a fairly quick read (for a nonfiction book) and I learned all sorts of interesting things.  I also feel very fortunate to live when I do, and not in times where people literally did cut off each other’s noses.  This book makes a very good case that we live in the most peaceful time in human history.  Pinker is not a big fan of Christianity, but beyond that, there is a lot of good stuff here.  Maybe he does have a good case against huge religious organizations that would send people on crusades, however.  At any rate, this was a great book with a lot of interesting history in it.  If you like history, you may want to put this on your books to read.

8) Daily Life in Medieval Times – I bought this book years ago.  Daily Life in Medieval Times is one of those books that you can read for a little while and put down, not because it’s not interesting, but because it talks about one subject, then moves on to another subject.  I started this book before and “ooh, squirrel, I mean, a book!” found other books that I just had to read right then, and it never got read.  Until last year.  It made my top 10 books of the year.

7) The Third Target – The lowest-ranking fiction book that made my list, The Third Target is a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  I don’t think that I’ve ever read anything by Joel C. Rosenberg that I didn’t like.  I reread his The Last Jihad series last year as well, but since I had read it before, it wasn’t eligible for this year’s list.

6) American Miracle – If you find American history and divine providence to be interesting, American Miracle by Michael Medved is a really interesting story about some of the amazing coincidences that happened that allowed the United States to form as a country and make it what it is today.

5) The Game of Thrones (books 1-5) – If I read multiple books in a series in a year and they all are worthy, I bunch them all together in my end of year list.  The Game of Thrones is a very complex book with a lot of characters and plot turns, and it’s not appropriate for younger audiences, but it is an exciting series of books.  The only downside to this book series is that book 6 still hasn’t been published, and who knows when it will.  By the time the follow-up book, Winds of Winter, comes out, I may have to reread this series.  Which is not bad, because there’s a lot going on and I’m not sure that I can keep all the characters in plot in my mind after only one read, but it’s something to keep in mind.

4) Deep Under Cover – Deep Under Cover by Jack Barsky is the story of how one man was recruited by the KGB (or was it the German Stasi… it doesn’t matter) and ended up spying in America.  It was interesting and kept me wanting to find out more.

3) Defying Hitler – I read a lot of 20th century books last year (some of which did not make this list).  Defying Hitler, by Sebastian Haffner, is the only book that has ever made this list that is unfinished (although the way things are going, The Game of Thrones might be finished by a ghostwriter).  It is the oldest book that made the list this year, at least in terms of when it was written.  Defying Hitler is a first-hand account of a teen and young man growing up in the years that Adolph Hitler was gaining in popularity.  It was very interesting, and worth the read.

2) Carve the Mark – When a book is released in the year potentially affects how high a book gets on this list, I suppose.  Carve the Mark, by Veronica Roth, was one of the first books that I read last year, and gets second on my best books of 2017 list.  If I read this book last, it might have made the top spot, because it is outstanding, but I read it first.  This is an exciting read and I couldn’t wait to read the ending (and I loved the second book in the duology).  I reviewed this book on my blog last year.

1) Warcross – The best book that I read in 2017 was also the last book that I read in 2017: Warcross by Marie Lu.  I read it on December 31st, finishing an hour or two before midnight.  There are just some authors that reliably write good books, and I wanted to make sure that it had the chance to get on my best books list for the year, so I spent most of the day reading it.  I wasn’t disappointed.  I loved this book, and I’ll probably read it a couple more times this year (I’ll definitely read it again before I read Wildcard, which I pre-ordered over a month ago).  I haven’t put out the review yet (I plan on publishing a review for it later this month).

So there’s the list of the best books that I read for the first time in 2017.  Better late than never.  I hope to not be so late with publishing my 2018 list.

No Angry Morning with the Wrath and the Dawn

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The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée AhdiehThe Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh is a modern retelling of 1001 Arabian Nights.  After reading Flame in the Mist and absolutely adoring it, I thought that I should check out her other works.  This became available at the library the day before Smoke in the Sun showed up on my doorstep, so I had a little Renée Ahdieh reading marathon going on this week.  I enjoyed this book, and plan on reading the follow-up book soon, but I didn’t like it as much as I liked Flame in the Mist.

Like 1001 Arabian Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is set in the Middle East during the time of sultans: if images of Aladdin and flying carpets come to your mind, that is exactly the type of world we are experiencing with this book.  The king, Khalid, has been marrying a new girl every day, and in the morning he has been killing her.  Shahrzad’s best friend, Shiva, was killed by this king, and Shahrzad volunteers to marry him (knowing the consequences), although her intention is not to die, but to take revenge on Khalid for what he did.  Shahrzad tells stories in order to get through the first couple of nights, which keeps her alive.

Shahrzad’s plan for revenge doesn’t quite go the way she intends, because she eventually develops feelings for her husband.  She starts to believe that he’s not the monster that everybody says that he is.  Threats to the kingdom develop, and we are left with something of a cliffhanger (that’s why it’s a duology).

I enjoyed this story.  I haven’t had the chance to read 1001 Arabian Nights yet, but I’m suspecting that there are many differences.  I loved how Ahdieh put together this world, which brings us a world with a little bit of magic and characters that you want to read more about.  Although the character’s problems don’t magically resolve at the end of this story, it leaves you wanting more, and doesn’t leave you frustrated, sad, or wrathful at the ending.  If I had read this book in 2015, I might be upset that I have to wait another whole year to find out what happens, but since the sequel to this book has already been written, I don’t have to wait.

The Wrath and the Dawn is not my favorite book by Renée Ahdieh, but I can say that, so far, I’ve liked everything that I’ve read that she’s written.  It’s probably a matter of personal preference, but I didn’t click with these characters quite as much as I did with the characters of Flame in the Mist, but I enjoyed this story all the same.

If you like YA stories with a little bit of magic to them or enjoy Renée Ahdieh’s books in general, you might want to check out this book.  Since this book has been out for a while, you can get a pretty good deal on this book in paperback, or your local library probably has a copy that you don’t have to wait very long to read.

The Smoke in the Sun Robbed Me of Sleep

By Brookelorren on 1 Comment

Smoke in the Sun, the sequel to Renée Ahdieh’s Flame in the Mist, robbed me of my sleep.  I was fortunate in that it arrived a day early.  Yay!  It was a great book, although perhaps not as captivating as the first one was.

This review contains spoilers for Flame in the Mist, so if you haven’t read it yet, proceed at your own peril.

What of Mariko
With wedding bells in her sight
Will she lose her love?

As we begin our story, Mariko is getting ready to marry Prince Raiden, a man that she does not love.  Her true love, Ōkami, is locked away in the dungeon, destined for death.  Mariko has to play the part of a clueless, submissive girl in order to try to save her love, even if it means that she will have to marry someone else.

Smoke in the Sun answers a lot of the questions that we are still left with at the beginning of the first book.  Will Mariko be able to save her true love from the jaws of death?  Who tried to kill her in the first place?  Will Mariko and Ōkami get to live happily ever after?  You’ll have to read this book to get the answers.

I enjoyed Smoke in the Sun a lot.  The book was full of court intrigue, introduced us to new characters, some honorable, some not, and kept us wondering what will happen to our two lovebirds up until the very end.  I love how Ahdieh wraps up the book nicely.  I also loved how some of the characters that we got to know in the first place stepped up to become more than they were in the original book.

I didn’t think that Smoke in the Sun was quite as good as Flame in the Mist, however.  One of the charming things about the first book is watching Ōkami and Mariko fall in love, share their first kisses, that sort of thing.  That’s a little hard to do when half of the couple is in the dungeon and the other half of the couple is marrying somebody else.  I suppose it’s not the story’s fault — obviously, these problems are going to have to resolve themselves before they can get back together, but it does make the first book much more fun than the second book.

If you enjoyed the first book, you’ll definitely want to read Smoke in the Sun.  It answered all of the questions that I had at the end of Flame in the Mist, and resolved itself in such a way that I’m not going to go to bed tonight (as I just finished it) crying in frustration or vowing to fix the ending with fanfiction.  Even if it’s not quite as good as the first one, I’m sure that you’ll still love it like I do.

Marissa Meyer’s Heartless is Good Fanfiction

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I recently read Marissa Meyer’s 2016 book Heartless.  It is a story based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland stories, with a few references to some familiar nursery rhymes and Edgar Allen Poe thrown in for good measure.  I thought that it was an excellent piece of fanfiction and is well worth the read.

I’m not sure if many people refer to this novel as fanfiction, but that is what it is, and it’s not meant to be an insult.  As someone that’s written over 1000 pages of fanfiction myself (and have probably read at least a million words of it written by other authors) I happen to like fanfiction.  Meyer herself wrote more traditional fanfiction (based on Sailor Moon) years ago, so it probably shouldn’t be surprising that someone can make a career writing fanfiction based on works that are in the public domain.

Heartless delves into the question of “What was the Queen of Hearts like before she became the evil creature that Alice runs into?”  It’s a fair question, because most children aren’t calling for the heads of people that they’re angry with.  It turns out, at least in Meyer’s world, that the Queen of Hearts was just an ordinary girl with big dreams.  Big dreams, a love interest, and a family that didn’t quite have the same dreams for her that she did.

Like most good fanfiction, the story is much richer if you are familiar with the original stories that it is based on.  There are characters in this story that you’ll run into that play a minor part in Alice in Wonderland that play a larger part here.  You can still enjoy this story even if you aren’t familiar with Alice in Wonderland; the more you know about the original work, the more you will appreciate the little details in this story, however.

I enjoyed most of the elements of this story.  Meyer uses beautiful imagery to tell about the treats that the future Queen of Hearts, Cath, makes, she creates an interesting little love story, and the story ends with a good explanation of how the Queen of Hearts becomes the heartless creature that we see in Alice in Wonderland.

This is not a feel-good story, but that’s not really to be expected, because if it truly was a story that emitted happy feels, then the Queen of Hearts wouldn’t become who she becomes.  She is a character who, although she is brave in some areas, can’t assert herself in other areas, and is slightly unlikable as a result (overall, I do have a favorable impression of her though).  Her love interest, Jest, is a likable guy, and I would have liked to have seen more of the story exploring their relationship.  These are just minor complaints, however.

If you haven’t read this story yet, I recommend it, especially if you like stories set in an Alice in Wonderland-style fantasy setting.  If you like Lewis Carroll, I definitely recommend it, as there are some passages with witty banter like you would find in the Wonderland stories.  Although it is not the best book that I’ve read this year, I did enjoy it a lot, and I kept reading it on my work breaks and in the evenings until I finished it.