Kiss the Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton

Honestly, even more than taking a break with another book, Kiss the Dead is a breath of fresh air in this Anita Blake reread saga. Kiss the Dead focuses a lot more on Anita's work life and less on the continuing drama of her personal life. Make no mistake, that is definitely still there, but the main focus for a good half the book is on a case, which I very much like. I also like that this case takes place in St. Louis, so there's much less "dick measuring" going on with cops Anita hasn't worked with before, which is also very nice.

The only note I had written down was about Larry and Anita's morality argument. I liked it. Unfortunately, in a world of monsters, someone has to do the monstrous things to save lives from the actual monsters. This is later reflected in the conversation Anita has with Weiskopf. Vampires might essentially be human, but they're humans with supernatural abilities that need to be controlled and have built-in mechanisms for that. Otherwise, that's where Anita, Edward, and the rest of the new Preternatual Marshalls come in.

Speaking of Weiskopf, I think his (and his Master's) quest for freedom makes a lot of sense. I think that quest would also definitely appeal to the modern U.S. vampire. I also think there's not a lot of understanding on the part of those modern vampires as to why the power structures in-built into vampires exist in the first place or that they need to continue to exist. I am also very glad that Hamilton addresses this issue several times within the series and doesn't just do it once and then let it stand as precedence.

So, as for the personal-life aspects of Kiss the Dead... a reread does Asher zero favors. Knowing how his nonsense essentially turns out just makes me roll my eyes at every little thing he says. The last chapter (basically epilogue) posits that he won't do therapy, which he desperately needs, and knowing he continues along that vein... oi vey. I'm already very tired of it.

"The Cynric Problem"... I'm honestly not sure what to say about that. I've never been in a relationship with an age-gap, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about it, especially given how that relationship started. Honestly, talking about age-gap relationships in this day and age is a mine-field I don't feel particularly qualified to comment on. If it works between two consenting adults (which Sin and Anita are at this point) it works. The added complication of Sin just finding out how nerve-wracking it is to be dating a cop... also something I'm not at all qualified to comment on, let's be clear... yeah... Sin's young and it really does show.

But yeah... Kiss the Dead is definitely more up my alley in terms of being much less frustrating than other entries into the Anita Blake canon have been lately. I'm not sure if I have a fully renewed interest, but this one definitely felt better than others. 

 

Bonus Short Second Review

Mort was enjoyable. I do like the “Death takes a holiday” type stories. This one was a bit more complicated than others tend to be. That said, I really just don’t think I’m cut out for Discworld. I gave it a good try, but it’s just not for me. 

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

So… at the risk of saying what I always say… This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is interesting. I don’t usually read Portal Fantasy, but I’m definitely no stranger to the concept (my Anime entry-point was Digimon and The Chronicles of Narnia was a staple of my childhood). I feel like this is an interesting way to do a Portal Fantasy, though, due to the nature of the beast, it does feel rather info-dump-y at times. I like Maggie. The way she is about her book series is very much how I am about Buffy: The Vampire Slayer to the point where I’ve had this exact fantasy about being able to do what Maggie is essentially doing. It’s also a bit of a breath of fresh air to have a female protagonist who isn’t already a total badass in the physical arena, as a lot of the female protagonists I are. I am glad she eventually gets at least some weapons training, but going into it pretty helpless in that arena was neat.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is quite the twisty tale. It relies a lot more on the knowledge Maggie possesses than any physical prowess she may or may not have. Again, very different from what I’m used to reading, but in very good ways.

Not sure how I feel about the “twist” mid-book. On the one hand, kind of a great “twist.” On the other… it’s… yeah idk. It’s not the best “twist” and I’m very interested to find out how exactly the “twist” ended up deciding to be a “twist.” I’m also not sure I can actually talk about it because it is kind of a major “twist” but at the same time… mid-book. Not exactly missable. Yay for random fantasy romance tropes, I guess? It is rather well done, honestly.

Speaking of the romantasy tropes, I thought the potential love interests were well established. I was sure it was going to turn somewhat soppy at some point and I’m glad I was very wrong about the lack of sop. The story definitely didn’t need it, nor did I. All that to say, I am very pleased with the amount of romantasy drama. Just right for my tastes.

I like the bits of fantasy critters we get. You’d better believe I have them visualized via OviPets and plan to eventually add them to my too-long list of critters I want to make.

I will say, as I was nearing the end, I feared This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me was going to just trail off and not actually end. Another spot where I was very glad to be proven wrong. The climax definitely took it straight to a satisfying ending. The epilogue was also satisfying enough and leads into the next book well. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes from here.

So… yeah. This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me was a fun break from what I’ve been reading lately. Definitely recommend giving it a read. 

Butterfly Effects by Seanan McGuire

Spoiler for the end of Butterfly Effects in the review (at the end and nicely separated) for We Sing it Anyway, the novella included at the end.

I feel like I always start out reviews of books I'm not entirely sure about with something like Butterfly Effects was... interesting. It's not an entirely bad way to start a review, but I'm also not sure it's helpful.

Anyway, Butterfly Effects is basically book trying to tie up some loose ends left by the last chunk of novels, specifically those left around Mark and Artie/Arthur. It did so in a way I'm not entirely a fan of... I do so hate when a character is "held to account" by characters/societies who have absolutely zero jurisdiction and zero reason to be involved at all. That said... it was okay, I guess. It also feels really weird saying that about an InCryptid novel due to my usual enthusiasm for them and the characters.

I am very glad to see Alice settling into life after finding Thomas. I am also very glad to see Antimony and Sam living their best lives in proximity to that. I was less enthused about Johrlac society and the Kairos clinging to the outskirts of that. It was honestly whatever. The Johrlac are... honestly quite "meh," as I imagine a telepathic society ruled by queens is wont to be. Very akin to watching a movie like Ants where a main character didn't appear to break society because "individualism is better" or whatever.

The story itself was also rather "meh." I spent part of it going "okay... so Sarah's got a goal that she immediately abandons because this Kairos child shows up in the middle of it... why?" Just... that was very weird to me. Everyone else was very focused on their goals, as I would expect them to be. We also got some explanation as to why dimension-jumping is still bad, actually from a power stand-point. Made sense. Really, the point of the story was the very end, which I'm not going to spoil, but... yeah... everything is mostly tied up with a pretty neat bow. I am, as usual with InCryptid, very interested in where we go from here.

Favorite Lines

"Tomatoes are only considered a vegetable for tax purposes anyway!" - Isaac

"Lady, I know you've been out of touch for a while, but if you think I'm going to go along with that, you're absolutely out of your gun-loving, banana-shit mind." - Sam Taylor

"I think we'd all like an adult, sweetheart." - Alice Price

"That shit never worked. Not from the beginning to the end of time. Bullying your queer kid isn't going to get you a straight one. If you're lucky, it'll get you what James's dad got: a living queer kid who doesn't consider you family and will never voluntarily speak to you again." - Antimony Price

"We Sing it Anyway"

The perfect novella ending for Butterfly Effects. Things definitely nicely tied off with a bow.

I hadn't exactly wondered how Elsie was coping, but I am glad to have gotten that information. Mary and Rose are always fun to see. Of course, the "return" of the brothers was sweet. I definitely choked up as Mary affirmed Arthur/Orin.

Favorite Line

"Friends don't let friends accept new legal names from religious rodents." - Artie Harrington 

Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch

My review is broken into pieces following each individual story in the order I read them in. I read 6 of the stories contained in Tales from the Folly.

"Moment One: Nightingale — London September 1966": Basically just noting the origins of the idea of Nightingale’s Jaguar and the “birth” of Mama Thames.
 

"A Dedicated Follower of Fashion": That… was oddly compelling and then very weird all of a sudden at the end. The subject matter was honestly not my thing, but the writing was good enough to keep me engaged.
 

"The Home Crowd Advantage": I liked that one. Peter is ever the practical man. Definitely helps he didn’t gain magic until adulthood.
 

"Moment Three: Tobias Winter — Meckenheim 2012": Okay so, clearly more to “The Agreement” than I originally thought… which was that it was silly. But I guess we’ll be finding out just how that works in Moon over Soho.
 

"The Domestic": Kinda sweet, all things considered. I like that Toby’s actually being useful every once in a while.
 

"The Cockpit": Very sweet. I liked all the literary references and having a bookshop god that requires reading as a “sacrifice” is cute. 

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

This marks the beginning of my second attempt at reading through Discworld. So far, it’s gone far better than the first attempt. I actually want to read the next book, for instance.

I don’t really have a lot to say about Guards, Guards. I think it’s definitely a good jumping-on point. It’s fairly well paced. The world presented is interesting enough and works well within its own logic.

I thought Lord Vetinari’s view of the world was actually pretty spot on, if a fairly bleak way of putting it. We’re all varying degrees of “evil,” that is to say, shades of grey.

Aaand. That’s it, really. On to the next one. 

Pokopia Review

At time of writing this, it's been two weeks since Pokemon: Pokopia came out and I am definitely hooked. Seriously, all of my time not spent at work, eating, sleeping, or going to the Dallas Arboretum with my Boyfriend is spent playing Pokopia.

This game is so, so much fun. It's so cute. I love it to death. It satisfies my Pokemon, puzzling, and creative itches all at once. I've never really been a fan of battling in Pokemon, despite the fact that's pretty much the entire franchise base. Pokopia is a lovely change from all that. You can collect them all (well, 300 of them, apparently) without having to train them to do anything. They just get to vibe and be adorable in their little environments. You get to build them houses... all of this at your own pace, too, which is nice. Pokopia is really just vibes.

 I also really like the music, for the most part. Again, it's just vibes. The music isn't jarring, but rather quite peaceful... until Rotom comes in and makes things a little crazy. But then, you can collect CDs in the game and make Rotom play something more peaceful. 

If I had once complaint, it's the lack of a unified storage system. I really quite hate having to jump between "realms" to get stuff I need. The item stacking only goes up to 99 and I have approximately... oh, 20 stacks of Volcanic Ash alone from Rocky Ridges. The lack of storage labeling also sucks. Gotta open every box to find what I'm looking for and I probably have the same item in a couple different boxes because I forgot it was in another box to begin with. Just... the storage system needs work/an update.

Being a Day Two or Three player (my game arrived late), I have been taking part in the month-long Hoppip event. It's alright... I, like some other players I've seen, honestly think it's lasted too long. It's not really that big a deal. Just one more thing to collect from the Dream Islands we're looting. But hey, I guess I'll just find a place to have a field of dandelions.

I really don't have anything insightful to say about Pokopia as a game. I'm not a big "gamer," so a lot of the technicalities are lost on me. It's been a while since I was so locked into something like this.

It's also been pretty fantastic seeing what the community has been doing with their Pokopia games. The community's so creative with their builds. Pokopia is one of the most endlessly customizable games I've ever played (having completely missed out on Animal Crossing and Minecraft). I can only aspire to those levels of greatness. I'll just be over here with my simple gardens and building re-builds.

And Now... More Cute

Double DNFs

Welp, I had a pair of DNFs happen in the last week or so. Figured I'd go ahead and share my short reviews of them because why not.

 

What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch


I was honestly just very, very bored with this one. I also didn't appreciate the footnotes explaining modern slang terms Abigail uses. Either don't use them at all or trust your readers to figure out what they mean on their own.

Tea & Alchemy by Sharon Lynn Fisher

Largely alright, but certain plot similarities to Twilight kept jumping out and taking me completely out of the story. That’s not to say the plot is actually following the Twilight model, just… ya know, I saw the bits and am nope-ing out.