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.