THE SHAPE OF WATER is a strange book. For a variety of reasons.
1. Dual film/book release, which, to my knowledge, has never beReviewed by: Rabid Reads
THE SHAPE OF WATER is a strange book. For a variety of reasons.
1. Dual film/book release, which, to my knowledge, has never been done before.
2. It’s only 312 pages long, but it has a cumulative 130 chapters (split into four sections).
That’s an average of 2.4 pages per chapter.
In the past, I’ve knocked an entire star off my overall rating of a book if a mere portion of it felt choppy and chaotic b/c short chapters. And before TSoW, I considered a ten page chapter to be short.
3. All those tiny, tiny “chapters” are told from multiple POVs, which I almost always hate outside of 500+ page fantasy novels, preferably in a long-running series.
BUT.
Somehow del Toro and Kraus pack so much personality, so much meaningful information, so much feeling into those tiny, tiny chapters that the only reason I noticed their length is b/c when I buddy read a book, I usually comment in the group thread every five chapters.
Getting through five chapters went a lot quicker than it usually does.
As for the alternate POVs (six of them), it doesn’t work outside of epic fantasy, b/c you don’t have enough time to connect with your storytellers, but that wasn’t a problem here. The short, powerful chapters had an effect usually reserved for significantly longer books—I felt like I knew the characters, and knew them well, almost immediately.
So there’s that.
The story itself . . . It had ups and downs.
Basically, the military captures a mythical fish-man-creature in South America and transports it to a research facility to poke, prod, and torture it (b/c ‘Merica). Then a woman on said facility’s custodial staff falls in love with the fish-man-creature and tries to rescue it before its dissected for research.
Pretty simple, right? Government bad, underdog good. Love conquers all.
Yes and no.
B/c despite the apparent simplicity of the setup, there is nothing simple about this story.
Elisa is an orphan with mysterious scars on her throat, the byproduct of a surgery she has no memory of or explanation for that left her unable to speak. Her loneliness is palpable. Strickland is a career military man clearly suffering from PTSD, yet he is a wholly unsympathetic character, b/c dude is a sadistic bastard. His training only serves to give him the experience and authority to break more shit than a civilian could. Lanie is a housewife whose newly gained independence is yanked away with the return of a husband she’d reconciled herself to losing.
And the list goes on.
All of this is made more intense by the 1960s setting. The evil man has more power. The orphan, the gay man, the black woman, and the white housewife have fewer options, are thoughtlessly victimized in ways that fifty years later seem incomprehensible.
SO. Not only is TSoW a fantastical story of captured sea gods and thwarting the Man, it’s a complex social commentary—it’s remarkable how much was accomplished in just 312 pages.
That being said, I did have a few minor issues, most of them spoilers, so don’t click the spoiler tag unless your prepared for the consequences:
And YES, I get that fish dude is a Wild Thing, but COME ON. It’s bad enough when a pet dies in a book, so if you have a character EAT another character’s pet, be prepared for the fallout. *shakes fist* (hide spoiler)]
2. Worst sex scene I’ve ever read. It’s so bad that when I texted book bff about it, she not only immediately recognized my quote referencing it, she responded WITH THE NEXT LINE:
3. In the words of book bff: those fingers will haunt me forever.
You: What fingers? O.o
Me: Someone loses a couple of fingers in an altercation with fish-man-creature. They get reattached, but b/c reasons, we know there’s s possibility they won’t take.
You: Eww.
Me: You have no idea.
BUT. A couple of lost digits, etc. are hardly reasons big enough to stop you from experiencing THE SHAPE OF WATER for yourself. I can honestly say, it’s been a unique experience, and it’s one I highly recommend.
Now I’m going to watch the movie. I’ll let you know how it goes. *winks*
One of the most interesting characters introduced in THE CLONE WARS series is Asajj Ventress, so when I found an entire novel Reviewed by: Rabid Reads
One of the most interesting characters introduced in THE CLONE WARS series is Asajj Ventress, so when I found an entire novel about her in the SW canon, I one-clicked.
Ventress was a Bad Guy, the “apprentice” of Count Dooku (who couldn’t really have an apprentice b/c Rule of Two), but when she was betrayed by him, she went rogue. She returned to the planet of her birth Dathomir, home to the Night Sisters, an order of assassin witches.
You: Assassin witches!?
Me: I know, right??
Stuff happens and Ventress starts over yet again, this time as a bounty hunter who occasionally tries (and fails) to kill Dooku.
You: What’s this got to do with the Jedi?
Me: Not much . . . Until the Jedi council decides to assassinate Dooku . . .
You: WUT!?
Me:I KNOW. Not very Jedi-like, is it?
That’s exactly what they do though, and they decide that Ventress is the most likely path to success.
BUT.
She can’t know their chosen assassin is a Jedi. She might not want to help a Jedi, you see, b/c leftover animosity from when she was Sith(-in-training?).
Enter Quinlan Voss, Jedi of a less civilized persuasion than is usual, essentially a con man, and like most con men, winsome in the extreme.
Does this scoundrel succeed in securing the cooperation of Dooku’s former apprentice? Does he manage to keep his affinity for the Force secret? Do their combined efforts finally bring an end to the indiscriminately murderous figurehead of the Separatists?
After finishing Chuck Wendig’s AFTERMATH trilogy, I tried to settle in to several non-STAR WARS books, but after a few lacklusReviewed by: Rabid Reads
After finishing Chuck Wendig’s AFTERMATH trilogy, I tried to settle in to several non-STAR WARS books, but after a few lackluster beginnings that were all unceremoniously set aside, I surrendered to my fate and indulged my recent obsession with THRAWN.
I didn’t know what to expect, having never heard of the character, but it was well received by readers, and if a character is so badass that his name is the only title needed . . . I was okay with lack of prior knowledge (which worked out just fine, FYI).
The story begins with a small unit of Imperial soldiers on a recently discovered planet, for the purpose of gathering information about a recently discovered alien population. Apparently part of the Imperial initiative is studying any and all new life forms (probably to better subjugate them).
BUT.
Something is picking off the members of the group.
The way it’s presented is horrifying.
So imagine my surprise when an officer discovers that the wraith responsible for the deaths of so many of his drones has stowed away on one of the Imperial vessels, and rather than destroying the culprit in a hail of laser fire, questions and ultimately delivers him to the Emperor himself.
You: O.o
Me: RIGHT?!
Thrawn is a Chiss, a member of an alien race so feared and respected that it exists only in legend. Or so Eli Banto, a student of one of the Imperial academies thought, but he recognized Thrawn for what he was immediately, and being the only one present capable of communicating with the Chiss, he finds his life upended when he gets assigned as Thrawn’s translater and guide.
The Emperor is intrigued by Thrawn, you see, and enrolls him into the Imperial academy on Coruscant, transferring Eli with him, the equivalent of a semester away from Eli’s intended graduation.
THRAWN is the story of them both, alternating primarily between their POVs.
Zahn did an excellent job of illustrating the alienness of Thrawn’s mind. Not only are his senses hightened, but he uses them to analyze and categorize the humans that surround with surprising insight. It’s as unsettling as it is captivating.
In contrast, Eli is wholly human, albeit a decent human as far as humans go, and his perspective keeps the bizarreness of Thrawn’s from becoming overwhelming.
Beyond the likability of these main characters, THRAWN is ultimately an underdog story and who doesn’t love a good underdog?
SO. If you also love STAR WARS and and underdogs, I highly recommend this recent(ish) addition to the canon. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be chomping at the bit for more information about this blue-skinned, red-eyed alien and his legendary people.
I have a confession to make . . . I don’t have much use for Neil Gaiman as far as full-length novels go. I KNOW. *dons sackcloth* *mortifies flesh*
I gave him a more than fair shot, but Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book both bored me to tears, I didn’t make it more than a few chapters into American Gods, and Stardust has the dubious honor of being the only movie that was actually better than the book.
BUT.
Give him a talented illustrator and tell him to write a new fairy tale (or anything fairy tale-like, really), and that man is a god.
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Take INSTRUCTIONS, for example. Technically, it’s a children’s picture book of, yes, instructions, for a fairy tale adventure, but it possesses a whimsy and free-spiritedness that will lighten any heart, young, old, and everything in between.
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The assumption that an adventure is forthcoming coupled with the willingness to shake the hand of said adventure are contagious.
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The feeling that I might stumble across a door in the hedge that I’d never noticed before persisted long after I’d finished the story, and in this world, anything that can resuscitate your belief in magic, is something worth reading for yourself, don’t you think?
I’ve never read Picoult before THE MERMAID, and the only reason I did this time is b/c of my recent fascination with Reviewed by: Rabid Reads
4.5 stars
I’ve never read Picoult before THE MERMAID, and the only reason I did this time is b/c of my recent fascination with Kindle in Motion.
No offense meant if you’re a Picoult fan, but I’m a very specific kind of escapist reader: the kind that ultimately wants to be happy. I don’t mind a reasonable number of obstacles on the way to that happiness, but I absolutely do not want to be miserable b/c inevitable tragedy circling like a shark.
So there are certain books that I refuse to read. Books like THE FAULT IN OUR STARS (two teenagers with cancer fall in love, what could go wrong?) and MY SISTER’S KEEPER. My reluctance to read these types of books is so great that it isn’t unusual for my avoidance of the book to evolve into an avoidance of the author altogether.
They’ve shown what they’re capable of, and now they cannot be trusted . . . *backs slowly away so as not to attract the attention of cruel and unpredictable author*
But Kindle in Motion. And MERMAIDS. And how much damage can be done in forty pages?
Then there’s the fact that it’s almost certainly her lowest rated work, plagued by WTF? reviews from her longtime fans, both of which are signs that I might actually like it (b/c contrary). #sorrynotsorry
But before I get to story itself, I want to talk about my first Kindle in Motion book for adults.
When I posted my Bookfessional on enhanced reading a couple weeks ago, I was surprised by how many people responded negatively—I mean, pretty pictures that move, guys. What’s not to like?—But more than half the comments were against it. Too many distractions, fun for kids, but leave us grownups alone, etc.
After reading THE MERMAID, I have to say that I agree.
Firstly, it’s much easier to animate quality illustrations in a children’s book than it is to film quality content for adult books. The graphics from the fairytales in which I first encountered KiM were lovely and material-appropriate. They were a natural embellishment to the reader experience, and I very much enjoyed it. In contrast, the video clips from THE MERMAID were cornball and low budget, and I absolutely could have done without them.
Not only that, but where I initially appreciated the beachy and/or ocean-themed backdrops for the actual words, when I went to highlight something, the combination of highlight and background picture made for difficult-to-read highlights, which kind of defeats the purpose:
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So that’s a problem.
As for the book itself . . . It’s surprisingly good. It’s weird, but I primarily read speculative fiction anyway, so weird is my normal. That being said, this was not my usual weird.
The story is about a woman named Hope who has recently experienced a tragedy. Under any circumstances, what she went through is difficult, but in this particular scenario . . . (view spoiler)[I’m not much for personal anecdotes of the painful variety, but I went through something similar right after my husband and I got married.
We got pregnant . . . I wasn’t ready . . .
Never having lost a child that I’d deliberately made, I can’t say that one experience is worse than the other, but I can say that when you aren’t sure you want it to begin with . . . the guilt experienced afterward . . .
I didn’t end up in treatment like Hope did, but it was a dark time. (hide spoiler)]
If you don’t care to be spoiled, let’s just say that I am intimately acquainted with Hope’s situation, and I can vouch for the authenticity of the emotional aftermath.
Perhaps it’s the firsthand knowledge that made the ending so many others are calling pointless, particularly affecting, but I don’t think so. I think I’d get the analogy even without the accompanying illustration. (view spoiler)[I’m also not much for disparaging the reader experience of others, but COME ON. How obtuse do you have to be to not see the implicit hope of a reference to future growth coming from someone who recently lost a child? (hide spoiler)]
That’s another problem with the aforementioned books I avoid: the pain is so obvious that you don’t have to think for yourself. You don’t have to explore your own feelings; you’ve been attacked by that ever circling shark, and it hurts. The end.
But there’s more than just the hopeful note a seemingly hopeless story ended with ((view spoiler)[bloody hell, that woman is clever (hide spoiler)]). It’s how quickly she managed to do it. I repeat, this was a forty page short story. In just forty pages, Picoult managed to create a scenario so devoid the thing our heroine was named for that I felt a flash a anger when (view spoiler)[her attempt to give herself to her freaky pool failed.
When I realized what she was going to do, I felt a rightness, a, yes, please, god, let this poor woman’s agony be over.
And didn’t it seem like everything in her life had been leading up to that very end? (hide spoiler)]
Then she turned it all around in a single page.
I think I may have underestimated Ms. Picoult. I think there may be more to her than expert manipulation of grief. I’m not saying I’ll ever read MY SISTER’S KEEPER, but I may have to look into her other works.
SO. Highly recommended despite the low-budget film antics, etc. If for no other reason, read it to see what the hype is about.
This is going to be a nontraditional review. Kind of. I posted it on Rabid Reads as a Bookfessional on RAGE Buttons, but while I discuss another iThis is going to be a nontraditional review. Kind of. I posted it on Rabid Reads as a Bookfessional on RAGE Buttons, but while I discuss another instance of inappropriate behavior between children and adults in fiction, my review for this book is solidly in there as well.
If you don't like it, don't read it.
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Several years ago there was public outcry against Karen Marie Moning when she rehired a registered sex offender to narrate the role of Barrons in the audiobook version of the (then) latest installment of her Fever series.
I too was disgusted, but I didn't understand the shock a lot of her long-term fans were demonstrating . . . How is it surprising that someone who would subject her adolescent heroine to the sexual advances of centuries-old men (for lack of a better term) would also employ a man who behaves similarly in real life? #notsurprised
I'm referring to the events of Iced, of course, the first installment of the Dani spinoff, and while the specifics are unknown to me--when I heard the rumblings, I refused to read it--the consensus was clear: the interactions were inappropriate.
Oh, some readers were more bothered than others, but even the readers who weren't offended used the speculative nature of the series as grounds for leniency.
And that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and if they're not bothered, they're not bothered. *does not judge*
BUT. As far as I'm concerned: NOT fine.
You: Y you beat this dead horse?
Me: B/c that horse is apparently not dead.
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I was feeling graphic novel-y a week or so ago, so I logged into my NetGalley account and checked out the Read Now options (b/c unless they're DC or Marvel, pretty much all the graphic novels are Read Now).
At first glance, The Scarecrow Princess by Federico Rossi Edrig appeared to be one of the most promising. It was recommended for fans of Coraline and Over the Garden Wall, and I've always been drawn to myths about crows, so I downloaded it immediately.
It did not go well.
Meet our charming heroine, Morrigan:
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You: What a brat!
Me: I know, right?
But she's only fourteen, and we all had our moments at that age, didn't we? Still, just b/c I can identify the developmental stage doesn't mean I want a heroine who embodies it.
You: How can you be sure she's fourteen?
Me: B/c she's clearly identified as such.
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SO. No room for misinterpretation. Which made it all the more upsetting when this happened about halfway through:
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That these kinds of comments are made to an underage child by an adult are upsetting enough, but what really chaps my hide is that THE AUTHOR KNOWS EXACTLY HOW INAPPROPRIATE HE'S BEING.
Look at her reactions. These aren't off-hand comments written by some socially awkward middle-aged man who doesn't understand the implications of his villain's overture, HE KNOWS.
One can only hope that the knowledge has been extrapolated, but as I've already pointed out, art. Imitates. Life.
And hey, now that we've got the sexual harassment of a minor on the table, what's a little underage drinking?
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I repeat: this graphic novel was recommended for fans of Neil Gaiman's CORALINE, a children's book, the recommended age level being 10+.
BUT.
That's not even the worst of it.
In the final conflict, fourteen-year-old Morrigan is stripped of all of her clothing (i.e. completely nude), in the presence of Bad Guy-the-Pervert, who is ALSO NAKED.
And no, I'm not posting the screenshots of that (though I do have them), b/c it feels like it's a hop, skip, and jump away from child pornography, which is a FELONY.
When I finished reading THE SCARECROW PRINCESS, I went back to NetGalley to skim the reviews already posted, but I was baffled to discover that not one of the other nineteen listed reviewers raised any concerns.
I take that back, there was one mention: a LIBRARIAN said that she felt the nudity was gratuitous, but she still gave it four stars, b/c the color palette was evocative of autumn which "feels appropriate at the moment."
Last year when I listed my most anticipated new releases in a mid-year roundup Bookfessional, INTO THE DROWNING DEEP by Mira Grant (aka S2.5 stars
Last year when I listed my most anticipated new releases in a mid-year roundup Bookfessional, INTO THE DROWNING DEEP by Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) was at the top of my list.
A book about killer mermaids in the Mariana Trench (I am obsessed with the Mariana Trench) by one of my favorite authors? YES, please. The oh-so-pretteh cover didn’t hurt either.
BUT.
As is often the case with Grant/McGuire, there was a prequel.
Truthfully, I’d forgotten about it, but that’s why we have like-minded book friends, isn’t it? When I was reminded about ROLLING IN THE DEEP (thanks, Steven!), even though by that point I was keen to begin ItDD, I was assured it was a quick read, so I downloaded it onto my iPad for immediate consumption.
The style was somewhat different than what I’m used to from McGuire, with reflective documentary-like commentary interspersed with the live action events, but it was an easy adjustment, and I was just as easily caught up in the story.
A ship captain and her crew. A team of scientists willing to participate in a largely unscientific undertaking to further their legitimate research. A Felicia Day-esque TV personality. A group of expert swimmers who pay their bills by dressing up as mermaids . . . In an expedition to prove the existence of mermaids . . .
But when this motley group found the thing they’d set out to find (not really believing that they would), they couldn’t have been more different from their human pretenders.
“All the stories about mermaids drowning sailors, all the men lost at sea . . . we never took those into account . . . We said ‘pretty women in the sea,’ and that was good enough, because who doesn’t want there to be pretty women in the sea? We turned monsters into myths, and then we turned them into fairy tales. We dismissed the bad parts. We were too interested in . . . in . . . in pretty women in the sea.”
(An excellent point, yes?)
All the key components for an excellent story were present and accounted for.
And I very much enjoyed myself . . . Right up until the very end . . .
Still, I tried to read INTO THE DROWNING DEEP anyway, but stalled out around 15% into it. The writing was excellent, and I was already invested in one of the main characters (having met her older sister in RitD) . . . but I couldn’t take it seriously.
SO. I’m not sure how to proceed. On the one hand, if you too are obsessed with what might be living in the deepest part of ocean, you might love ROLLING IN THE DEEP (and after that, INTO THE DROWNING DEEP as well). Alternately, the final plot twist might ruin it for you like it did for me. And there’s no way to clue you in on said plot twist without spoiling it.
As an adult, this single fact has fundamentally shaped my reading preferences. I love the darknessReviewed by: Rabid Reads
I was raised on fairytales.
As an adult, this single fact has fundamentally shaped my reading preferences. I love the darkness, the trick-cy faeness of the villains, the magicalness of the forest where almost all of these stories take place, and anytime I find a new story that embodies this kind of fairytaleness, I gleefully devour it.
I wasn't expecting THE LITTLE RED WOLF to be one such story when I received it, which seems kind of silly in hindsight . . . But at the time, I thought I was getting a typical role reversal-type retelling with oh-so-pretteh pictures.
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What I got was so much more.
What I got was the story of a tiny wolf sent to bring his grandmother a (dead) rabbit b/c too old to hunt for herself.
A (dead) rabbit that Tiny Wolf eats bit-by-delicious-bit, b/c exploring the woods can be exhausting.
But OH NO! He didn't mean to eat ALL of it. What's his grandmother going to think when he shows up empty handed? What will his parents think when they find out?
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Poor, poor Tiny Wolf.
Imagine his relief when a little girl appears and offers to help.
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So relieved that he completely forgets all the warnings his parents gave him about the hunter and his daughter.
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And that's where the stories diverge.
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I'd love to tell you how, truly, I would. It's dark and lovely and it hurts in the way that all the good stories do . . .
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But telling you would ruin it, and that is something I will never willfully do. Highly recommended to any fellow lover of fairytales.
Over the course of the RED RISING trilogy, we learned of a Gold who didn’t meet the exacting standards of his peers. He wasn’t as tall, as bright, as shiny, as his gilded brethren, but rather than having the decency to die in the passage, he lived to become a peerless scarred.
And turned their world upside down.
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RED RISING: SONS OF ARES is Fitchner’s story.
It’s the story of how he fell in love with a Red and how that love became the foundation of a rebellion that brought his world to its knees.
It fills in the gaps of the things we thought we knew . . .
But we were wrong.
Fitchner didn’t fall in love with a Red and live a peaceful, happy life with her until the aberration was discovered.
Nothing in Fitchner’s life was ever peaceful or happy, so we should’ve known better.
Maybe you did.
But I didn’t.
Either way, Fitchner’s story is not one that should go unread.
Now it’s your turn to learn his truth. Highly recommended.
I love Elizabeth Hunter. She’s one of the only independent authors who consistently produces quality work. Hell, her stuff is Reviewed by: Rabid Reads
I love Elizabeth Hunter. She’s one of the only independent authors who consistently produces quality work. Hell, her stuff is better than a lot of the traditionally published urban fantasy these days.
BUT.
B/c I’m ridiculous, I dragged my heels about reading ELEMENTAL LEGACY, the second spin-off from her ELEMENTAL MYSTERIES series. *shrugs awkwardly*
Tenzin and Ben . . . I guess it kind of freaked me out. She’s a several millennias-old vampire, and last I checked, Ben was a teenager . . .
Except he’s not. In MIDNIGHT LABYRINTH, he’s twenty-five and hot enough to rival not-really-his-uncle Giovanni. And they’re not together like that anyway.
Yet.
They will be. It’s inevitable. And having since caught up on the previous three novellas leading up to this one, the first full-length novel, I can tell you that:
1. If you has similar misgivings about ELEMENTAL LEGACY, you should can dive right into MIDNIGHT LABYRINTH without having read the preceding stories, and . . .
2. FOOLISH MORTAL, do not doubt Hunter.
I’m not only cool with Benzin, I now eagerly anticipate it.
I also eagerly anticipate Ben becoming a vampire, which is also inevitable.
Previously, his stubbornness regarding the subject was a point of contention for me—if you can be a Supe, why would you not be a Supe?—but in IMITATION AND ALCHEMY (ELEMENTAL LEGACY #2), Hunter has Ben begin to confront his fears about immortality in a way that not only emphasizes his youth, but also makes his reluctance sympathetic.
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As for MIDNIGHT LEGACY, Tenzin and Ben are living in New York, doing their art version of Giovanni and Beatrice’s book retrieval business, which is awesome. I’m with Ben on this one. I love books. LOVE. But ever since watching White Collar, I’ve been fascinated by insurance fraud investigators.
In real life, I doubt it’s the legitimate version of grifting that Hollywood makes it appear to be, but urban fantasy isn’t exactly real life, is it? And the service that Tenzin and Ben provide for the immortal community is decidedly Leverage-esque.
BUT.
What happens when the con artists get conned?
Shenanigans, that’s what. And who doesn’t love shenanigans?
MIDNIGHT LEGACY is the latest installment in Elizabeth Hunter’s ELEMENTAL WORLD. If you’re like me, urban fantasy is your jam, and finding new (to you) UF that lives up to the series that made you love it is often an exercise is futility. It doesn’t have to be. If you’re a Hunter noob, the first book set in this world is like a dollar:
If you’re not a noob, but you haven’t caught up with what may be my favorite Hunter pairing to date, tomorrow never comes. One-click it, one-click it NOW.
Here’s to growing up and doing it well. Highly recommended.
So here’s the deal: I binge read the first six volumes of SAGA, and it was gutting. Then like the long term SAGA fans, I had to endure the ei3.5 stars
So here’s the deal: I binge read the first six volumes of SAGA, and it was gutting. Then like the long term SAGA fans, I had to endure the eight month wait for the next volume, which was also gutting.
The point being, I’ve never had a SAGA reading experience that didn’t involve an intense emotional response.
Until now, that is.
And it’s messing with me.
Overall, this was still a good edition in a series that is mind-blowing . . .
But it still feels less.
If it was just an issue of nothing horrible (or worse, tragically realistic) happening, I would probably brush it off as my own adrenaline junkie tendencies being unsatisfied, but that’s not the case. There was definitely a situation meant to continue the grand shred-your-heart (b/c adulting is HARD) tradition that is this series.
I mean, come on . . . It’s called SAGA, a title as simple as it is portentous.
BUT.
For whatever reason, this situation read as less genuine and more convoluted. Or maybe it was just so awful that my mind refused to accept it.
And now that I’ve been able to put the above sentiment into words, I’ve found the core of my issue: rather than this volume’s gutting being the result of events that are painfully REAL, portraying life’s joys and miseries as a seamless tapestry, as beautiful as it is hideous, for the first time . . . It felt a bit contrived.
In a pain-for-pain’s-sake kind of way.
I bloody hate that.
Then to add insult to injury, the unnecessary pain was ultimately rendered pointless. (view spoiler)[Who cares if Hazel lost her brother-who-could-have-been, if he’s immediately replaced with another one? (hide spoiler)]
The pointlessness cheapened the loss this family was dealt in volume seven.
So yeah, like I said, this one’s messing with me.
But moving on from that, there was still a lot of awesome. I found the whole “monsters” plot line particularly gratifying. Hindsight is indeed 20/20. (view spoiler)[Why on earth would you take the word of a family of judgemental highwaymen?
Seriously. The entire concept of judgemental highwaymen is borderline hilarious.
And yet . . . Until Alana showed up hale and whole, the combination of their warning and the monstrous appearance of that wolf creature had me fearing the worst . . . *hangs head in shame* (hide spoiler)] <———exactly the kind of thing I’ve come to expect from SAGA.
SO. Not terrible, but not as epic as Vaughan has consistently proven himself capable of.
Even though one of my few legitimate phobias is anything Stephen King-related (I read one of his short story collections when I was far too young and have been unable to sleep in a room with an open door ever since #truestory), all the hype surrounding The Dark Tower movie, made me curious . . .
Of all of His work, it's always been THE DARK TOWER that I've been the most interested in. B/c fantasy.
BUT.
What does Stephen King fantasy look like?
I'd heard enough whispers to feel my hesitation was warranted, but curiosity and me . . . We're bffs.
And FYI, Stephen King curiosity + new(ish)found love of graphic novels = duh.
I figured it would be safer. I'd get the gist and some cool artwork without the dread and fear.
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I was right.
This is where my basic outline of the plot begins, so if you don't want to be spoiled, get thee gone. BUT. I'm just giving the gist, so I'd consider it safe--I'm not going to tell you anything that I wouldn't want to know.
Roland Deschain is a Gunslinger.
I don't know what that means beyond the obvious connotation and that it's kind of a Big Deal in this world. Also, this world is very chauvinistic, so be aware of that. Anyway, Roland and his peers are trained by an abusive drill sergeant-type, until the day they challenge their master to a duel.
If they win, they become Gunslingers in their own right.
If they lose, they're banished, ostracized, shunned, etc. They leave their families and their lives, never to return.
This is the first thing I learned.
The second is that Roland is being manipulated into throwing the gauntlet years before he'd be considered ready by his nemesis, the Man in Black.
Fortunately for Roland (and apparently everyone and everything Good in his world), he wins the challenge and isn't sent far, far away.
But his actions cause complications, so his father sends him and a couple of his friends to scout out a kind of in between area.
From there things get . . . more complicated.
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Were parts of it gross in the way I imagine all things Stephen King to be?
Yes.
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Were parts graphically violent?
Yes?
But in a manner most unsurprising (if you know me), I sped through those parts, not looking too closely at the images, and overall, I have to say this was an excellent compromise. Recommended unless you have a fragile digestive tract and/or are unfamiliar with the practices of ostriches.
Just getting started with this one and not sure how long I'll be able to stick with it.
Ruby's parents' firstborn is a drug addict (who eventually dieJust getting started with this one and not sure how long I'll be able to stick with it.
Ruby's parents' firstborn is a drug addict (who eventually dies of an overdose), but he's "so beautiful and enchanting" that Ruby believes she and her equally "podgey, unattractive, and socially helpless" twin brother are disappointments, despite Parents having been so desperate for more children that they invested in IVF. Ruby even blames their divorce on said disappointment.
Not her addict brother. Not even his death. Herself and Twin. B/c average looking and socially awkward.
😑
And that's just the obnoxious. I'm not getting into the disturbingly darrrrrrk and somewhat uncomfortable relationship Ruby has with dead elder brother . . .
Last year, when we discovered that amongst the residents of Rockton lived a serial rapist who would abduct a woman, fake her dReviewed by: Rabid Reads
Last year, when we discovered that amongst the residents of Rockton lived a serial rapist who would abduct a woman, fake her death (by dressing and strategically positioning the mauled and thus hard to identify corpse of another woman of roughly the same dimensions in the clothes the abductee was last seen in), hold her captive for months (more than a YEAR in one case), raping and torturing her until she died (for real this time) before choosing a new victim and beginning his twisted cycle all over again, I thought Armstrong had peaked.
Not that the series itself had peaked, but that future installments would need to seek out alternative avenues to continue the Bigger and Badder trend a series is wont to pursue. The creep factor had topped out.
Armstrong: SILLY HUMAN, I AM KELLEY ARMSTRONG. I DO NOT PEAK. *laughs maniacally* *twirls mustache*
You: What is creepier than diabolical serial rapist guy!?
Me: Thrill-seeking equal opportunity serial killer guy.
Which is exactly what Rockton gets when an unscheduled plane lands and discards:
” . . . a thrill killer,” I say. “He murders because he enjoys it. Tortures and kills. Five victims in Georgia. Two men. Two women. And one fourteen-year-old boy . . . Oliver Brady is a killer motivated by nothing more than sadism . . . An unrelentingly opportunistic psychopath.”
You: Okay, I know we learned the “council” could be a bit sketch on the residents’ backstories in A DARKNESS ABSOLUTE, but a serial killer? Really??
Me: YEP. But he’s not actually meant to be a “resident” this time—more of a temporary prisoner—and at least they’re told up front that this dude is a serial killer . . .
. . . Or is he?
*laughs maniacally* *twirls mustache*
But regardless of whether or not Oliver Brady is what he’s accused of being, his presence wrecks havoc on the town created for those who need to disappear. Numerous well-liked citizens are placed on the chopping block, leaving you with decimated fingernails as you frantically read to learn their fate.
It is b/c of this personally experienced terror that I’m going to—for the first time ever—offer you an unnecessary spoiler. In the spirit of doesthedogdie.com:
BUT. Despite Armstrong clearly not having peaked, I had a couple of minor issues that kept this installment from the 4.5 - 5.0 star ratings of its predecessors.
1. The council threatening to oust Dalton if he doesn’t walk the line is getting effing tiresome.
There’s only so many times you can use a specific threat before it starts to lose its effectiveness, and I reached that point in the last book.
Shut up, Phil. You’re not sending him anywhere. And if you do, he’ll make a new and improved Rockton elsewhere and be happier for it.
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2. There are suddenly a LOT of various “others” in the alleged Yukon wilderness.
More than I could countenance. Especially considering the convenience of some of their identities.
3. Despite the soundness of her reasoning . . .
(view spoiler)[It’s a weak move to repeat the misdirection used in the last book to hamper a body’s accurate identification. (hide spoiler)]
4. All those bombs dropped in the final pages.
(view spoiler)[I mean, really—what is the deal with Petra? And beyond that, why can’t Casey keep a female friend for longer than an installment? Why they all gotta be shady bitches?
It’s disappointing.
Then, adding insult to injury, that revelation is followed by the possible hijacking of Casey’s emotionally defunct sister to save Kenny’s life, and speaking of Kenny, why do we care if he dies? Either my memory is seriously deficient, or a nonessential character was placed in jeopardy, making the lack of resolution on that front just irritating. (hide spoiler)]
All of that being said, THIS FALLEN PREY is still a stellar read in a series of exceptional reads. Armstrong cleanly laid the groundwork for multiple future developments, including some of Casey’s ongoing suspicions concerning the evolution of a “hostile.”
Dalton was his delightful self:
Shortly after we installed the bell someone rang it in the middle of the night. Drunk, obviously. Rang it and ran . . . leaving boot prints in the snow, which I matched to a perpetrator, whom Dalton then sentenced to go to each and every person in town and say, “I’m the fucking idiot who rang the fucking bell at two in the fucking morning. I’m sorry.” No one has touched the bell since.
Casey continues to wrestle with her darker nature:
I want justification for my rage. I do want to see Brady gutshot for this. Gutshot and left in the forest. And that scares me. It’s the sort of thing Mathias would do, and I tiptoe around the truth of what Mathias is, alternately repelled and . . . Not attracted. Definitely not. But there’s part of me that thinks of what he does and nods in satisfaction.
YAS.
In THIS FALLEN PREY, Armstrong keeps you guessing right up to the end about the true nature of Rockton’s newest (sort of) inhabitant, and when you finally get the full story, I can almost guarantee it won’t be what you expected. I don’t know what the future holds for this settlement and its occupants, but once again, I’ll be impatiently waiting to find out. Still very much recommended.
First of all, I have no idea what previously led me to give this 3.0 stars. Obviously, part of it was not rereading vol. 1 beforehand, Updated review:
First of all, I have no idea what previously led me to give this 3.0 stars. Obviously, part of it was not rereading vol. 1 beforehand, so a lot of the details flew over my head (b/c crappy memory), but it was more than that, b/c I had tangible feelings of resentment over the "lesser quality" of this second volume.
*rolls eyes at self*
I still think vol. 1 was slightly better. The ending socked me in the FEELS in a way this one didn't, and (despite vol. 2's content) I connected more to the previous leg of Maika's journey, but overall . . . Definitely not a 3.0 star read.
Is this a promise like that crazy lady from KATE DANIELS where just b/c the original promise was made to an enemy doesn't necessarily mean it will pose a threat to the subject of the promise?
i.e. Cat will keep Maika safe even after Tuya is hellbent on her destruction?
But why would Tuya make Cat promise to keep Maika safe in the first place? SHE'S TRYING TO KILL HER. So is "keep safe" a euphemism for "kill if necessary"?
And if it wasn't enough that the Cumea, the old gods, the Dusk Court, and Psycho Aunt are all after Maika:
Would that be a seal to whatever prison is holding the old gods??
2. There's still so much about this relationship that we don't know:
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Dammit, what promise?
3. And when Maika put the mask fragment to her face?
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WTF was that?
4. Then there's (maybe) Maika's father:
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So we know, at the very least, Maika has a half-sibling. BUT. If this is the other potential host that Monster God mentioned in vol. 1, then he or she would have to be a full-blooded sibling, which means also means they're older . . . And since Momma Wolf asked Crazy Fox about the prophecized descendant, if the answer was "the second child" in whatever union, then Big Sister has a lot of reason to harbor resentment given the glimpse we were given of her circumstances.
The second collection of MONSTRESS is centered around Maika Halfwolf retracing her mother's steps in an attempt to discover how to rid herself of the monster that lives inside of her.
Like that's going to be possible. *rolls eyes*
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The journey is interesting despite its pointlessness. We learn much about Maika's family and meet her goddessfather, who is both a giant tiger and a pirate), and we see more of her glorious violence as third parties try to keep her from her goal.
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BUT.
There was something missing from this volume . . . Maybe several somethings. The art, while still beautiful at times, was somehow less overall. The story, while informative, lacked the heart that had previously punched me in the feels.
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Then there was the was the vulgarity for the sake of . . . I don't know . . . a splash of color? I'm not a prude, and I can even appreciate the creative use of four-letter words if it serves a purpose. But it didn't. And that's so boring.
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I'm not ready to give up on MONSTRESS just yet though. We've already seen the greatness this team of author and artist are capable of, and the seeds planted for the future installments are promising--who is Maika's father, and how did I never think the ask about him before? Why is that adorable fox child compelled to follow after a girl who might devour her one day? And those cats . . . What is their endgame?
Questions, I have them, so eagerly await vol. 3, I will. Recommended. Ish.
Yay! Finally an extra about Thomas and Alice. It's just the beginning of their acquaintance, and their age difference is currently inappropriate for a romantic relationship, but the foundation gets laid, so hooray for that.
ALSO there's a talypo. #ilovetalypos
Obviously, none of this is going to make a lick of sense to you if you aren't also a die-hard InCryptid fan, and for that I apologize. At a minimum, I hope you take how great McGuire is to her readers, and give her a chance if you haven't already. One Author. Two of my current favorite urban fantasy series. The end.
I don't know about you guys, but of all the mysterious mystery men in Raphael's coterie, Venom probably held the least interest for me.
That's not to say he held no interest--this is Singh we're talking about--just that of all the intriguing men up for grabs, Venom might've wound up my last pick.
You: Y no Venom love?
Me: Umm . . . b/c probably a parselmouth.
You: Pfft. Lies.
Me: Also, he's POISONOUS.
And let's be realistic, just b/c I'm a proud, card-carrying member of House Slytherin, doesn't mean snakey Voldemort is my dream man.
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And try I as I might, the only other man/snake amalgam I could come up with was Jafar, which isn't any better, and is also a Bad Guy.
B/c snakes are ALWAYS the Bad Guy.
*flinches b/c hears Nalini Singh laughing from undisclosed location*
So that's the first hurdle Singh had to jump. And she did. Remarkably well. Her efforts aided, in no small part, by Holly.
You: Holly who?
Me: Holly-the-lone-survivor-from-cannibal-archangel's-pile-'o-woman-flesh (from book 1).
You: O_____O
Me: YEP. Bet you forgot about her. I know I did.
BUT. As it turns out, she's kinda poisonous too.
I'm not going to waste time outlining this installment's furthering of the main plot: is that crazy bitch who hung out in China really dead? What new worrying signs of the Cascade appeared? All of that is typically secondary in the non-Elena and Raphael segments anyway.
ARCHANGEL'S VIPER is about Venom and Holly and how two individuals, abused by fate and man, can be forged into something new and profoundly unique, and in that shared abnormality become perfect for each other.
It's quite lovely.
SO. If you've yet to begin reading what is one of my favorite urban fantasy/paranormal romance combos, I encourage you to climb on up and get on this bandwagon. There is cake, and I will share it. Probably. If your hesitation stems from the number of installments you're behind, consider how you'll feel in five years when GUILD HUNTER is still going strong, as I predict it will be. *sing songs* Better late than neverrrrr. To the veterans, I say nothing. B/c you already know. *eats cake*
Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁
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