Wyvernhail by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Spoiler Free Reread Review

Wyvernhail is the fastest paced of these five books. Hai's desperation to save the future from the flames of the unborn Keyi is palpable. She, no overt spoilers, does manage to save everything and tie a neat bow on the whole series. Wyvernhail is also a book of self-discovery for Hai, though I don't think she realizes it until the very end.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Wyvernhail personally. On the one hand, I am again frustrated by the way Wyvern's Court is still super segregated, though that is both less and more of an issue in Wyvernhail. I am annoyed by the falcon interference. I am pleased that Hai, despite being pulled this way and that by her magic, is able to have some adult relationships that are implied to be... well... less than healthy. And to be clear, I'm not pleased by the less-than-healthy aspects of this, but by the fact her character isn't infantilized.

Wyvernhail also does a lot of heavy lifting, as far as the World Building for the entire series. There's been bits a pieces of the past scattered throughout the series, but Wyvernhail comes right out and explains what happened with Maeve and Keisha and Alasdair and the falcons. It feels cathartic, but I also doubt Hai really explains any of this to her compatriots, so I'm not sure whether or not it's helpful to the people of Wyvern's Court.

I do like Wyvernhail well enough. Definitely not as up on it as I was on first read, but then, I've grown since then so... yeah.

Wolfcry by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

 Spoiler Free Reread Review

My feelings on Wolfcry are complicated, as, I think, is the entire story.

On the one hand, I really, really don't think the people of Wyvern's Court are forced to spend enough time together. Just hanging out in the Market isn't nearly enough. They should be celebrating their holidays together, going to school together, etc. It definitely feels as though the society here basically isn't trying hard enough.

On the other hand, the society of Wyvern's Court definitely mirrors real life. The way the USA (the only country I can speak about with any kind of authority and even that is from my priveleged-white-girl stand-point) has segregated itself despite having many more years than the fictional Wyvern's Court to come together. Plus, the societies are just so, so different, combining them is nigh impossible. The Falcons certainly did them a doozy as far as that goes. I'm finding it hard to come up with a more real-world equivalent and failing to come up with a combo that makes sense. But I digress.

Oliza's personal journey here was what actually took up the "runtime." I liked the continued world-building with the wolves and the Obsidian guild. I definitely liked the whole Betia thing, which I won't get into, but yeah... I think it was an interesting choice to have the sakkri tie everything together. Oliza is vaguely aware of the issues she's going to have to face, probably more aware than she realized, before the sakkri essentially woke her to the realities of the situation. She did voice at some stage how she has literally no one in her peer-group who embodies what she herself does, which I found both interesting and absolutely absurd... and proves my point that the societies really aren't trying to combine effectively if even those in their princess' inner circle are so divided.

So yeah... overall, the story hangs together well enough. I feel like Oliza's physical journey took forever, which... yes, the distance she apparently had to cover on foot would have. But it all culminates around the sakkri and Oliza deciding what to do about all that. Still heckin' complicated.

In Other News

I've been on vacation for the last week! I went to visit my family in Washington. If you'd like to see pictures from my trip, head over to my Facebook Page (link in the side bar) and take a look at my "Washington 2025" Album. There's a lot of beautiful tree photos from our walk through "The Hall of Mosses" in Hoh National Park, just as a highlight.

Falcondance by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

A Fairly Spoiler-Free Reread Review

So... Falcondance... honestly, entirely middling and actually a bit confusing. The main plot isn't really that confusing, though it does have some twists and turns, the confusing part is the magic system. Nicias is used and abused pretty much throughout the book, poor thing, really. He definitely wasn't aware or prepared for the kind of machinations going on in the court of Ahnmik... if you can even call it a court.

The magic system has a large focus here, though it is still not very concrete in the way things are explained. Nicias' magic wakes and he must learn to use it, though that use is pretty much glossed over. If this were a movie, Nicias' training sessions would have been montages where light flashed back and forth and nothing was explained. The spells are described as bands of light, eyes change color, and that's more-or-less it. We get some overview of how Ahnmik and Anhamirak's magics used to intertwine and more explanation of Ecl, but it's still all quite vague. Basically the backdrop to explaining why the Falcons did what they did and why the Serpiente and Avians will never and must never become one again.

The world-building aspect of Nicias' visit to the island city of Ahnmik was kind of neat and actually quite horrifying. The class structure is... problematic at best. More-or-less determined by how your magic decides to wake in you at the tender age of FOUR. I don't think I liked it on my first read and I definitely don't like it now. The way magic has permeated the island was the neat part. I kind of enjoy the idea of a semi-sentient city.

Remembering what I do about Wolfcry and Wyvernhail, Falcondance is undeniably setup and explanation for the events in those books.

Snakecharm by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

 A Semi-Spoilery Reread Review

So, of the 5 Keisha'ra books (and given, I've not reread the rest in a hot minute), Snakecharm is probably my least favorite. It does have a lot to enjoy, but it just kind of falls flat for me.

That said, if there is one thing Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is good at, it's creating vibes. The legend related in the Prologue is a chef's kiss of vibes. Might just be me recalling my Ancient Egyptian fixation from when I was a kid but... I felt like the vibes of an Ancient Egyptian cult were spot on.

Ultimately, I think Snakecharm suffers from reread-itus. I've reread it enough times that the answers to the mysteries have imprinted themselves on my brain and the "Happily Ever After" of it all just kill the tension. And yes, that is a mild spoiler, but I'm gonna let it be. After all, Snakecharm does have Romance elements and an HEA is demanded by the genre so... yeah. But anyway, the tension was just dead on arrival during this reread. I did, however, have a bit of rage.

I will fully admit that I spent entirely too long reading and sitting with the first couple of chapters and this may have colored my feelings on this issue buuuut... no one tells Danica she might be/probably is pregnant despite talking around it a bunch. Apparently she's too naive to realize this on her own, despite everyone else figuring it out... even Valene in a couple of seconds. Like WTF, ya'll. Just finish your dang questions and tell her already. Geez.

All of that stuff said, Snakecharm is really about expanding the Keisha'ra world. We got a little of it in Hawksong, but now it's in the aftermath and the "What do we do now?" stages. There is a much greater focus on Serpiente society, specifically the dancer's nest, Sha'Mehay. And I did love the looks into the past we got after the Falcons pushed them into research mode. We also get more background into the Falcon shapeshifters, who are much more relevant to the overall story later. It's enough to make us hopefully wary of them, at the very least, for Falcondance. Syfka and Araceli themselves are kind of "meh" characters at this point, though. Syfka mostly just comes off as a bitch and Araceli... well... also a bitch, but a to-the-point one.

But yeah... Snakecharm honestly just felt like filler. A necessary bit of filler, given the rest of the Keisha'ra story, but filler nonetheless.

Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Spoiler Free Reread Review

I'm usually not a fan of Romance and Hawksong is, first and foremost, an Enemies-to-Lovers Romance. However, Hawksong spends a lot more time in the realm of introspection than it does anywhere else, so it doesn't exactly feel like a Romance to me... if that makes any sense. We spend most of the book in Danica's head and she's not super focused on the Romance aspects of her life. She's definitely more concerned with simply stopping a war and keeping it stopped than she is on whether or not her love-interests are interested. Again... if I'm not making sense about this, it's probably because what I'm trying to say is mixed up in my own head.

Anyway, I like Danica as a character. She honestly comes across more Ace to me than anything else. Again, more concerned with stopping a war than the romantic side of things. This also might be because of the "Avian Reserve" aspect of her life sort of saps the outward manifestations of her emotional states. That's a fun bit of world-building that's brought to the fore once she spends more time with Zane among the Serpiente.

I also quite like how the world-building is done through how the people behave, rather than just their surroundings. The Avian Shapeshifters bottle up their emotions and act "properly" rather than, like the Serpents, be very open in thought and deed. I don't know how true this is, as the Hawk's Keep isn't really described in terms of building materials, but I've always kind of envisioned it as made of wood and plaster in contrast to the Serpiente's palace of stone. Not sure why that is, but yeah... Contrasts.

It's also really interesting how these writ-large Shapeshifter societies and kingdoms eventually get whittled down when moving from this series to the main Nyeusigrube series. Rise and fall of civilizations, I suppose. Just something fun to think about when reading and rereading these series.

Promises to Keep by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Mostly Spoiler-Free Reread Review

So, Promises to Keep is essentially where the Den of Shadows/Nyeusigrube series ends. It doesn't precisely feel like an ending, nor really a beginning... which will make more sense if you read it to the end. There ends up being a lot going on that both is and isn't properly explained. That's not a bad thing, but... does feel sort of rushed.

Promises to Keep combines all the elements from the stories that came before and the characters. It gives Token of Darkness an actual reason for being (which I had forgotten on my last reread) as, it turns out, Promises to Keep deals rather heavily in the Elementals that were more properly introduced in Token of Darkness. I was highly interested in the inner-workings of the Nyeusigrube magic system and Promises to Keep managed to explain it better than any of the other books. The power scaling from Token of Darkness's Samantha to what Jay deals with in Promises to Keep is all the more impressive considering Samantha was just a weak Elemental and nearly killed a girl.

I also quite enjoyed Jay as a character. He was a bright spot in All Just Glass and is definitely more fleshed out here. He's a relatively light, fun character, as Nyeusigrube characters go. Just what this story needed. His relationship with Brina was very interesting. I like them as a pair.

I do confess that I had a fondness for Xeke and Rikai from well before I read them in these pages. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' website in the early 2000's had some message boards in which she would essentially roleplay her characters with users. It was good fun and endeared me to Xeke and Rikai. It was definitely fun to finally see them in the pages of Nyeusigrube proper.

I am largely satisfied with the ending... or multiple endings. We get to check in on a few of the more prominent Nyeusigrube denizens, see how they're doing post-Elemental shenanigans. I won't spoil any of that. It really did feel like a good send off (or just a stopping point) for the world and its characters.

2014 Review

Favorite Lines

"Do not disturb except in case of unexplained life-threatening injuries. It would suck if the healers let him die because her left a badly worded note." - Jay Marinitch Narration

"You live comfortably in one of the wealthiest nations in the world," Brina said, voice clipped. "You live on the bones of your own ancestors, who were eradicated by the expanding white populations. The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the toys you buy are often made across the oceans by nameless, faceless workers living in conditions you would find intolerable." - Brina di'Birgetta

"Cat pee never lies." - Xeke

Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Slight spoilers included. Nothing too specific.

I am forever conflicted when mental illness is conflated or caused by supernatural elements of a story. I don't really have a problem with the supernatural making whatever the mental illness is worse or better, but being the root cause... that's sticky for me. That said, how this is dealt with in Persistence of Memory at least feels like a good representation of that... mostly. Having never experienced something like DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), I don't feel qualified to discuss that aspect of the story, so I will try to stay away from it, despite it being a rather big part of the story.

I actually quite liked most of the characters here. Erin felt like a mostly blank slate, even though she is arguably the main character. Sassy and Adjila were quite good as the love-interest-types. Shevaun... well... Shevaun mainly comes together in the last third of the book. I mostly the the feel of her as a mothering character with a wild streak. Given how short Persistence of Memory is, I feel like the characterization was mostly well done.

I definitely feel like the plot elements all crashed into place at the end, rather than revealing themselves more slowly. I don't think Single Earth/Marissa's inclusion would have ever been revealed without Alexander just handing over the info... and Pandora... I really, really want some kind of Pandora character study. We're told how she operates, but aren't really shown much of that. She's basically shamed into helping at the end, but otherwise doesn't really contribute much.

I'm overall conflicted about how to feel about the whole thing. I did enjoy the story, right up until the very end, though that wasn't dissatisfying either. Add in the mental health stuff... I do understand that Nyeusigrube is a world in which the supernatural is hidden and can come out in sudden ways. The epilogue definitely didn't help with this feeling. Even Erin's acceptance of the events leading to her "current" life feels kind of rushed. It's fine. It's honestly par for the course of this era of Nyeusigrube. At least I actually cared about the characters this time around.

Poison Tree by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Poison Tree. I read it once before but have zero memory of doing so. I mean, I remembered some after I started reading, but otherwise... much meh. I think it's the amount of characters all set up enough to be interesting, but none really given time to really develop that's my issue.

The pace is quite quick and the story ultimately enjoyable. It also fleshes out some of the issues at play at SingleEarth, especially when they don't dig into the past of their employees as well as they should.

I really, really would have liked a more insular story around Sarik, since that's essentially where the main conflict ends up. But again, she's fleshed out enough to be interesting, but not enough for me to really connect with her on the level I think would have made her shine.

Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

Winter Lost was somewhere between filler and a romp, mostly. It was definitely good filler/rompy goodness. The stakes were ultimately really high, but I wasn't ever really worried Mercy wouldn't solve the problem. That's what she does, after all. I honestly feel like Winter Lost had one problem to actually solve and the rest of the story was just getting Mercy to a place where the solving could happen. (Slight spoiler in the second-to-last paragraph, just btw)

As usual with the Mercy series, I really loved the interweaving of mythologies. It makes total sense to me that beings that have been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years would know each other and probably even be friends.

I also loved the bits of character development we got outside of Adam and Mercy. I definitely didn't remember Mary-Jo's love-interest, but it was nice to get a slice of her life and flesh her out a little more. We didn't really get a lot out of Darryl's bit of story, but Sherwood and Warren's bit had me laughing. Gotta love these little, low-stakes vignettes where characters we don't normally "see" interact do so.

The stuff at the lodge was vaguely interesting, but I spent most of that going "there's not that much book left," over and over to myself. The characters there were mostly just... whatever. They were there. The mystery wasn't that deep and kind of deus ex machina'd away thanks to whatever Mercy's damage was from Soul Taker... which was a lot more serious than I remembered, so I guess that was fun? Eh. The point was really to get Grandmother to "fix" Mercy's main, most pressing issue so... yeah.

Winter Lost was not that deep, but it was fun. Was a nice break from my read-through of Kelley Armstrong's Cainsville series where everything is super serious.

Favorite Lines

"Fine. When they shovel our frozen corpses out next spring, they can put 'They thought it would be fun' on our gravestone." - Mercy Hauptman

"Are you embarrassed that your audiobook started in the middle of a very hot sex scene between three men in a swimming pool?" asked Sherwood politely. "There's not reason to be embarrassed about that."

"Saddest thing in the world is listening to nineteen minutes of a twenty-minute sex scene," said Sherwood in a mock-mournful voice.

"Locks only ever keep out people who aren't determined to come in," - Grandmother Spider

Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Filled Review

So… I wasn’t so fond of Soul Taken. I feel like there was a lot of… not exactly misdirects, but a lot of dancing around the actual plot to do a whole lotta nothing.

Hooooly Shiiieeeet. Sherwood’s a Cornick. If I had to guess, probably Bran’s brother… probably. Confirmed later on in the book. Go me. But also… big concern all of a sudden that turns out to not be a concern at all so… yay, I guess. Honestly felt somewhat tacked on even though it happened right before Marsilia appeared with her cryptic message.

Maybe I’m just done with overly complicated vampire politic plot lines. Not sure. This was definitely one of those with a fae artifact twist.

Actually, thinking on it, I was just really confused for most of the plot and then everyone was like: Bonarata’s behind this! Still not entirely sure why, but they were right so… yeah. Soul Taken. Not my fave by a long shot.

Favorite Line

"Sadly, gods seldom die unless someone kills them." - Siebold Adelbertsmiter

Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs

I am honestly not sure how I feel about Smoke Bitten. It contained a large amount of relationship drama, which I hate, but which is also largely resolved at the end... and that relationship drama is one of the worst things, too: people not talking to each other. Or one party refusing to talk to the other. Even Mercy comments about the communication issue, so... yeah. The rest of the story, however, was actually pretty good. I was kept guessing as to who the smoke monster actually was until he was revealed... although I was reasonably sure I had the correct being once bargains were mentioned (thanks Once Upon a Time).

Smoke Bitten had a longer "run time" as far as the sequence of events goes. Took place over a longer time period than usual, anyway, so not so much with the exhaustion setting in. This definitely served to draw out the tension, although there weirdly wasn't a lot of that, either, I felt. Like, it was kind of lurking in the background, but Mercy and Adam and the pack were able to go about their business as per usual for the most part.

But yeah... I don't really have a lot to say about this one. It was alright, pretty solid, gave us a little more insight to the fae. Mostly centered on Mercy and Adam working on Adam's big ol' issue... which sound dirtier than it is.

Favorite Line

"Not all relationships that end are failures." - Zee Adelbertsmiter

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs

Storm Cursed has a lot more government shenanigans in it that I was expecting… which was, like, none. Most urban fantasy books that have such far-reaching, public “fantasy” world stuff like this one keep that back-room government stuff off the stage, so to speak. We get told things happen, but not actually shown any of the inner workings. I’m not sure whether I like it or not.

All the witch stuff is also interesting. We’re definitely lacking in world-building on that front. I don’t even think we’ve gotten a description of the white, gray, and black distinctions before. I’m very glad Adam and Mercy have taken a hard stance against black witches. Don’t need any of that mojo around.

The somewhat revelations about Sherwood, or at least his wolf, are… interesting, to say the least. A witchborn werewolf isn’t something I’ve ever come across in any of the books I’ve read. Harry Potter does not count because reasons. But anyway, that whole thing was tragic, in its own way.

I definitely enjoyed the twistiness of Storm Cursed. I had fun reading it and I feel that it’s another solid Mercy entry.

Favorite Lines

"Epic," she said with a wry glnce at Ben. "Epic it is. I think I will probably quit apologizing." Then she said, "I suppose I'll find some other way to irritate you." - Mary Jo

"Just because something is stupid doesn't mean it is not true," said Stefan

"Sometimes there us no way to make things better. There is only making it through." - Mercy Hauptman

"Politicians have to lie," Adam said. "It's written into their black souls. It's only a problem when they begin to believe their own lies."

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

Anyone else find it extremely annoying when old vampires decide to be ridiculously extra when they largely just want to talk instead of, I dunno, using the usual means of human communication that don’t involve kidnapping? Like really, you used to be human. Why can’t you just walk up to someone and start talking to them or call them, like everyone else does? Hell, the fae have more manners that you. What the hell?

That said… Silence Fallen was a trip. And I don’t just mean because Mercy and Adam went to Europe. Coming more solidly from the Anita Blake fandom, I am much more used to weird metaphysical things happening to end vampire conflicts, so having this one largely ended with a physical fight was interesting. Having essentially a full, multi-species delegation from the Tri-Cities go over to Europe was fun. I’m much more attached to Marsilia now.

I’m really not sure I have much more to say about Silence Fallen. I mean, Mercy’s figuring out more about her powers, as one does. We got vampire shenanigans. More Coyote interference… apparently. I dunno, it was solid, just not a lot to talk about that’s not either spoilers or vampire shenanigans… which also… spoilers.

Oh! And Honey is amazeballs. Like, I’ve been growing to like her more and more as the series goes on, but Silence Fallen definitely cemented her as one of my favorite characters.

So… yeah, that’s it.

Favorite Line

"If you are taken by your enemies," he said, "don't wait to escape. The hour you are taken is when you will be at your strongest. Time gives them the opportunity to starve you, to torture you to break you and make you weak. You have to escape as soon as you can." - Charles Cornick

In Other News

The first part of the new Pokemon Scarlet/Violet DLC has been released. I'm going to be spending my off-hours playing that for a bit. Definitely planning to do a couple of "Scarlet Adventures" post about that, so stay tuned.

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Review

I really enjoyed Night Broken. Like, really enjoyed it. Like, crying at the end when everyone was being all fatalistic. Night Broken was awesome. However, that does not mean I did not have thoughts. So here goes:

Okay, Mr. Gywnn ap Lugh, who knows he’s dealing with a ridiculous and changeable person such as Coyote, please set an arbitrary deadline for getting back an artifact you literally spent a bunch of time not caring about. Good plan. Probably not going to work out for you. I hate this kind of crap so much. You are an incredibly powerful, incredibly long-lived person so a week is nothing. You know this. You also know who has the damn Walking Stick so… why don’t you maybe try to contact Coyote? I’m assuming that’s within your power. Instead, we must make vague threats at Mercy. Good plan. Solid plan. You’re an asshole. Leave it to Zee to point the time thing to Mercy. THANK YOU. I was overall pleased with how that whole thing turned out, just got real annoyed at that first meeting.

I very much dislike Christy. Probably picking up what Mercy’s laying down, but also… I dislike women who play the kinds of games she’s working on and yeah. Hate it. So much. So very glad that relationship drama didn’t actually become relationship drama because I despise relationship drama more than I despise Christy. Make no mistake, I despise that woman. The revelation that she basically won’t take responsibility for her own shit on top of the manipulation… ugh. Keep her away from Mercy and the rest. Forever, if possible.

I really do enjoy learning about mythologies, especially those that aren’t as “well trodden” as the ones we hear about in the US… ya know, mainly the Greek/Roman and Celtic ones. Getting the Guayota story from Kyle was neat. I did look Guayota up immediately upon seeing the name. First thing that comes up is the Wiki article, which I only read the blurb about due to potential spoilers. Honestly glad I didn’t read further due to Kyle’s retelling.

Honestly, things were progressing pretty okay, then Wulfe up an throws a wrench into things. I sometimes love that this world feels so lived in; that’s partially due to the amount of characters. However, when 15 thousand of them show up at random intervals for random reasons, it really feels too full. Especially when, say, Mercy has barely gotten any sleep and everyone suddenly want to see her tonight. And just… ugh with that whole bit. Definitely smacks of something needed to be dealt with right now that I feel like could have waited. Which shows how much I know, because having Stefan at the ready was ultimately helpful. Still felt stupid as it was happening. I am very glad Mercy’s exhaustion is shown “on screen” cuz protagonists who just keep going like the Energizer Bunny are odd.

It is very interesting to me to get to see some of the politics involved in the supernatural community basically vs the humans. I saw a very little of that in The Hollows series by Kim Harrison and a bunch of it in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurel K. Hamilton. The Anita Blake series focuses on it from a police perspective, as Anita becomes a Federal Marshall throughout the series and often liases with police. It’s interesting to see it from a purely political standpoint here. I mean, it’s a clearly corrupt political standpoint, but that’s politics for you. I am glad Mercy and Adam have some pretty heavy hitters on their side, as far as political maneuvering goes, apparently. It is quite nice to see idiots put in their place by smarter people, especially in regards to politicians and trumped up government agents.

Night Broken ran a mile a minute and barely let up. There were points where I felt about as exhausted as Mercy. But it was good, ultimately. Everything hung together pretty well and made sense —Wulfe notwithstanding. I’m a pretty happy camper with this one, even though reading the first paragraph of the blurb made me very scared I wouldn’t be. Seriously, there are reasons I don’t read blurbs after the first one gets me. But anyway, Night Broken = fun and intense and good.

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

Okay, I’m all for sudden changes in the status quo, however, I feel like something as big as the Fae essentially disappearing would get more than a “oh hey, this happened off screen between books.” Especially given how big the Far have been in Mercy’s recent life up til now. I assume since it actually has nothing to do with Mercy personally, that’s probably why it’s in the category of “this happened off screen between books,” which, again, is fine. I am just shocked. Shocked, I tell you! The only thing I remember from my first read of Frost Burned was that Mercy and Jesse went Black Friday shopping.

I don’t know if it’s just my mood or lack of sleep, but Frost Burned has me tearing up at random points. They’re clearly tear-jerking points, but I’m not sure I was so teary on my first read. It’s really the little things: Tony showing up, Kyle hiring Hauptman security, etc. Mostly happy tears. Frost Burned has a bit of a feeling of a finale book. Just about everyone Mercy knows showing up somewhere.

If I didn’t love Kyle already, this book would have done it. It takes a very special person to stand up to kidnappers the way he did and then he took care of Mercy after. So great. Love him. I also quite like Asil. He’s my brand of ancient, dangerous, and amusing at the same time. Kind of reminds me of Laurel K. Hamilton’s Wicked Truth.

It really very much sucks that Mercy had another will-stealing Fae artifact used on her. Sucks big time. Again, though, I’m both happy and not that her trauma continues to be an issue, if only for the realism.

Despite the fact that the late villain of the piece was actually behind the plot the whole time, he did still feel exactly like a sudden third act villain. I did find him a little bit interesting, for all his entire story was info-dumped by Marsilia, Stefan, and Hao. I did manage to remember a bit about that last battle, mostly about the ice, as that whole scene started… but that’s where I’ll leave it for spoilers sake.

Frost Burned really does have the feel of a finale. That’s not a bad thing and probably helped me leave the series alone for so long. That said, it’s also a lot of Mercy running around, trying to keep those she could safe. Also our first real run-in with the government vs the werewolves, since that bullet was dodged earlier in the series. It’ll be interesting to see how or if that shakes out in the rest of the series.

Favorite Line

"I am always careful with the truth. It is a powerful thing and deserves respect." - Tad Adelbertsmiter

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

A Slightly Spoilery Reread Review

Silver Borne is another solid entry in the Mercy Thompson catalogue. It mostly deals with the ties between Mercy and the wolves she’s surrounded with. Also there are fae involved again. Most of what follows are my notes from my reread. I vaguely remembered the Phin plot, but only vaguely. Everything else was written as I read this time.

I HATE the bowling scene. I HATE characters not talking to each other. HATE IT. The conflict WILL NOT resolve unless you talk about it. Being silent on the matter helps nothing. Which is why I love Adam and Mercy so much. They might make mistakes in the moment, but they take the time to talk things out. It makes them a more solid unit and a more believable couple. I seem to remember that this is the last of the big drama between them, but I also only read the next two books in the series, so I’m not entirely sure. I hope so. I’d much rather see a healthy relationship than a constantly battling one.

I find it interesting that the werewolves in the Mercy Thompson universe basically get Dissociative Identity Disorder with a big ol’ side helping of shapeshifting… apparently. It’s also interesting that the wolf can wholesale take over, even if the werewolf is in human form. Clearly that doesn’t happen super often, as Samuel/Sam’s case is extreme, but… yeah. Super interesting. This is further expounded upon once Adam knows about Samuel’s condition.

We get some more fae lore here, which is great. I will forever enjoy getting more fae lore. They’re a weirdly big part of the Mercy universe. I say weirdly because most werewolf books I’ve read largely revolve around the wolves and vampires. Not much else.

I liked Mercy’s mind-scape where she met with Bran at the end of the book. It’s always interesting to see how a main character’s mind works and how the author chooses to visualize it. Garland and rocks is definitely original.

Favorite Lines

     "I raised my eyebrows, and said in dulcet tones, 'Are you telling me you can't fix it? I'm sorry. I distinctly remember you saying that there is nothing you can't fix. I must have been mistaken, and it was someone else wearing your mouth.'

     He gave a growl that would have done Sam credit and pushed himself back under again, muttering, 'Deine Mutter war ein Cola-Automat!'

     'Her mama might have been a pop machine,' I said, responding to one of the remarks I understood even at full Zee-speed. 'Your mama...' sounds the same in a number of languages. 'But she was a beauty in her day.' I grinned at Gabriel. 'We women have to stick together.'

     'Why is it that all cars are women?' he asked.

     'Because they're fussy and demanding,' answered Zee.

     'Because if they were men, they'd sit around and complain instead of getting the job done,' I told him." - Mercy Thompson, Zee Adelbertsmiter, and Gabriel Sandoval

"Endings are relative," I said, and Samuel jerked his head up. "I mean, as long as no one is dead, they get the chance to rewrite their endings, don't you think? Take it from me, Samuel, a little time can heal some awfully big wounds."

In Other News

I finished another OviPets project today. Goatmon, the Rangifer version (there will be an Ovis version down the line), took me 9 months to complete. Goatmon is part of my Armor Digimon Project. I did the little bit of tattooing around the ankles. Supposed to be Goatmon's shackles. *shrug*

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

A Spoilery Reread Review

I said at the end of my Iron Kissed review that I didn’t know if Mercy got some more time to deal with her trauma and I am very happy to report that not only does Bone Crossed start off in the same moment Iron Kissed left off, but Adam is #1 awesome dude about Mercy’s trauma. No pressure on her to put out. A+ Adam. This is part of why he’s in the top 5 of my favorite werewolf Alphas.

Not that I am particularly happy that Mercy’s having panic attacks and such, but I am glad she didn’t bounce right back to being okay. The trauma she went through in Iron Kissed isn’t something you just get over so I’m glad she’s having to deal with the aftermath… from a Doyle-ist kind of perspective. I’m also very happy she and Adam tend to talk about their “secrets” and shit instead of just letting it fester and make them angry with each other. That kind of drama, I hate with a fiery passion.

Bone Crossed was interesting. The antagonist doesn’t really come fully into play until late in the book, which is fine. I suppose Mercy’s got enough on her plate with panic attacks and Marsilia stirring up shit. Blackwood was just kind of lurking in the background most of the time.

I love this version of Baba Yaga. Seeing each author bring the more famous mythical beings to life is fun for me. I also quite like the idea that since the government doesn’t actually have a fae classification system that the fae can just make up whatever. Kind of hilarious. Them governments, never quite knowing what to do in the face of new-to-them shit.

I liked Bone Crossed. I felt there was a lot of good world-building, which I like. I’m interested to see how Mercy takes to being the Alpha female of the Columbia Basin Pack and how she’ll continue to grow into her powers.

Favorite Lines

"But you can't marry someone to fix him, even if you love them." - Mercy Thompson

"One of the oddest thing about being grown-up was looking back at something you thought you knew and finding out the truth of it was completely different from what you had always believed." - Mercy Thompson

"Hostage-holding is for the bad guys." - Mercy Thompson

 

In Other News

GoodReads actually counted Brightly Burning and Bone Crossed twice... which it does sometimes when your previous "Read" dates aren't filled in and you report you've finished a book via the app... le sigh. But I upped my reading goal before I checked on that... which is fine cuz it actually turns out I thought I read Brightly Burning before, but I didn't, actually. Much shrugging. 12 more books to hit the new goal.

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

A Spoilery and Possibly Triggering Reread Review

First and foremost: Queen of the Damned is such a horrible movie and a horrible adaptation. However, Queen of the Damned is pretty much unadaptable as a movie. Needs a mini series at least. Give those plot lines time to breathe or, ya know, exist. Good book, bad movie. Stewart Townsend is best on-screen Lestat. Fight me.

Iron Kissed was really good and mostly enjoyable. Mercy books are kind of like watching Netflix shows. The chapters run together in cliff-hanger-ish ways, but a bit more subtle. Keeps your attention and keeps you wanting to turn the page. I have a hard time putting down the book when I know I should, chapter breaks or not.

Iron Kissed focuses a lot on the fae. We learn a lot more about them and how they work. We also learn that they’re definitely scary af. Even their objects aren’t to be trifled with. I very much enjoyed the world-building. It was fun, until it wasn’t… and this is where the spoilers are going to start, if you’d like to avoid them. Also a trigger warning: discussion of rape.

This Is You Final Spoiler and Trigger Warning

I really like how Mercy’s love triangle is handled. Turns out, not an actual love triangle. Makes me very happy. Love triangles have always bugged the shit out of me. These days I’m more likely to just yell at whatever I’m reading or watching that they should just consider a Polyamorous relationship, because the stupid drama is just stupid. Mercy neatly bypasses all that with Samuel and Mercy realizing she’s just pack to him and not mate.

I really and sincerely hate rapist antagonists. Tim Milanovich is definitely one of those and he’s hella gross. I hate him and I hate seeing what he did to Mercy. And that was written before I reread the actual rape part… why is it female protagonists so often end up raped and male ones don’t? Mind you, I don’t read a lot of male-led series, so I’m mostly assuming… seems to be a thing with female protagonists, though. Some form of rape, be it mental of physical, often happens to them at some point in their lives. Ugh. Also, I say that, but the last handful of series I’ve read don’t include rape plots… just this one. TV series on the other hand… I’m probably projecting in my utter disgust, but… idk. I’m also pretty sure some part of me was dreading that part of the story as well… which is possibly why it took me longer than normal to get through Iron Kissed.

Adam’s complete acceptance of Ben is heartwarming. I teared up. Also got set off by the Pack showing up for Mercy. I know it’s essentially on Adam’s orders, but still. Ben is definitely my favorite wolf after Warren.

I am overall pleased with how Iron Kissed handled everything. That said, I am also very aware that Mercy largely getting over her trauma in a week or so isn’t at all realistic. I barely remember anything from the next four books, which I have previously read, so I can’t say whether or not there’s anything lingering, but a part of me highly doubts it.

Favorite Lines

"I didn't brush my teeth with gunpowder this morning so I could go shooting my mouth off, Mercy, but this is serious." - Warren Smith

"We might not be able to lie... but truth and honesty are rather difficult." - Zee Adelbertsmiter

"Some people are boys longer than others," - Mercy Thompson

"If there was one thing I'd learned over the past few interesting (in the sense of the old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times") months, it was that when things started to get dangerous, it was important to have people who knew as much as you did. That way, when I stupidly got myself killed -- someone would gave a starting place to look for my murderer." - Mercy Thompson

Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

A Spoiler Free Review

Originally Posted on GoodReads: May 21, 2022

Welp, gave Skinwalker a try and was not impressed. Couple things turned me off: the writing, the main character, and the solve of the mystery. The writing isn’t super bad, else I wouldn’t have finished Skinwalker, but it’s not the greatest, either. It reminded me a lot of things I used to write in high school. Stream-of-consciousness styling that doesn’t actually do the story any favors. As for Jane… she’s some weird combination of super confident and rude and completely oblivious that just doesn’t mesh well. It’s off putting. And as for the ending… well, I have no idea how Jane came to the conclusion she did… and then had the actual answer spoon-fed to her. Not great.

The following are my thoughts while I was reading, followed by my final thoughts on Skinwalker.

Little under halfway through with Skinwalker at this point and I have thoughts. First: the writing style is very stream-of-consciousness until it grinds to random halts in order to describe things. Second: I have a problem with a certain turban and the hiding of weapons. It annoyed me right off the bat and has stuck in my mind as something that just doesn’t make sense. Third: get over this “The Joe, Rick” thing. Just call him Rick or The Joe. Again, annoying. Fourth: read a few reviews that mentioned Beast and how annoyed people were with her. I have zero problems with Beast. She’s a mountain lion, not sure we need to expect her thoughts to be on par with Jane’s.

Speaking of Jane… she’s definitely not even rating in the favorite heroines category for me. She’s really quite boring and inept at doing her job. And inconsistent af. We learn at the very beginning of the book that this is her first foray into working with “civilized vampires” and yet she seems to know more about how they function at times than she should. At other times it’s all “I’m learning a lot from interacting with exactly two civilized vampires.” Add to that a penchant for physical altercations instead of just straight up talking to people as an introduction and you’ve got me rolling my eyes and wondering how she’s not dead yet. Definitely nowhere near the levels of competence in characters I’ve seen her compared to in other reviews (Kate Daniels and Mercy Thompson, for example).

Three-quarters through now… Jane would definitely be dead in almost any other universe with vampires and vampire power structures. Like, yeah, it’s nice to have a little legal paperwork around to subvert a bit of the old “Master Vampire” things, but dude, you’re lucky the Master Vampire didn’t kill you for subverting his authority… or almost killing his daughter-in-law-to-be. Also, Jane REALLY needs to learn to work with cops. As annoyed as I’ve been getting with the Anita Blake novels and their constant “lets talk about how cops work” thing, having a character just straight up baiting them does not sit well with me. You want access to crime scenes, maybe make nice with the cops instead of baiting them all the time. Wtf, woman.

I honestly do not understand where the praise for Skinwalker comes from. I’ve read much better — not versions, but versions is the only word I’m coming up with — versions of this from other authors. The writing is, in my opinion, not where it needs to be to get across the information that actually needs to be given to the reader. It tries to do the blow-by-blow, super descriptive thing but at the same time doesn’t… see my confusion about the turban. I’m also still confused as to how the ending came about… just… Jane suddenly knows who done it and rushes off to deal with it. I mean, that rather sums up all of Jane’s hunting method, really. Just… ugh. I’m not going to be continuing with the Jane Yellowrock series. Not my cup of tea.

Gonna end this on some stuff I did like though. I liked the skinwalker/liver-eater mythology. Always nice to get something other than bog-standard stuff. I liked what we got of actual vampire mythos. Wanted more of that.

If you’re interested, my notes and highlights are visible for Skinwalker over on GoodReads.