Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

A Slightly Spoilery Review

Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 25, 2020

Grabbed me and didn’t let go. Pretty easy to read, quick pace. Enjoyed every moment... except for the melodramatic relationship stuff, but then, I’ve never really been a fan of that stuff so... yeah.

I liked the Grisha and their powers and the explanation of their powers. I kind of liked the reveal of The Darkling, if we’d gotten more with him, it probably would have been better. There didn’t really seem to be a villain to the piece until late in the game, but that wasn’t really a detriment to the story. I like villains hidden in plain sight so long as they work well. This one definitely did.

I enjoyed the characters themselves as well. Alina was a good heroine, I think. She isn’t floundering around unsure of herself, mostly, but when she does, it’s believable. I find that refreshing. Genya was probably my favorite. Unabashedly herself, even though she’s in service to the queen and looked down upon. Mal was... eh. There, I guess. He’s not entirely fleshed out.

Anyway, I loved this book a lot. Gotta go read the sequel now.

Bonus TV Show Quick Review

Shadow and Bone is a TV show on Netflix, if you weren't already aware. It's a lot of fun and mixes the Shadow and Bone Trilogy with the Six of Crows Duology, which makes sense from a timeline perspective. It does change some things, the biggest being Alina's appearance. It's not a bad change, to be honest. I quite like the Jessie Mei Li in the part and I feel like she's a lot more enjoyable as a character.

Mal got a bit more fleshing out, but he's still largely just around... which is addressed at the end of the second season, so that's fun. I love me some Jesper. Nina's amazing and I can't wait to see how she progresses in the show. Her book counterpart goes some interesting places. I'm still reeling from the Genya/David thing that I won't spoil... just know it's reel-worthy. I love Bagra in both book and show; Zoe Wanamaker is awesome. I cannot not mention Ben Barnes as The Darkling. I've been in love with him since he played Prince Caspian, so... yeah.

The effects in Shadow and Bone are pretty good. Nothing can match what's going on in my brain as I read the books, so Alina's powers were honestly a little underwhelming in that aspect. Everyone else's powers were just fine. I feel like Alina's were probably the most difficult to get right... there's a lot of aurora effects going on, which kind of makes sense but wasn't what I envisioned. Much shrugging. Adaptation gotta adapt.

This is supposed to be a quick review (might do a longer one at some stage, but I'm not sure right now), so I'll leave off with this: I really enjoy the TV show for what it's brought to screen. I'm a little disappointed we didn't get a lot of Alina in The Little Palace, but they condensed that bit a lot so... eh, it works well enough. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, head over to Netflix and enjoy yourself.

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

River Marked by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

It is really amazing to me how your brain can just discard information on a whim. You can read a book and really like it, only to forget pretty much everything about it in the space of a few years. Makes rereading more fun, I guess. I remembered the otters, well otterkin actually, in River Marked and that Adam and Mercy were on their honeymoon, but virtually nothing else. River Marked is chock full of lore pertaining specifically to Mercy and Mercy's heritage... and I remembered none of it. Well... a tiny bit... but that tiny bit is spoilers, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I teared up twice during River Marked. Once during Adam and Mercy's wedding and the second time reading Mercy's letter to Adam at the very end. I am a sap for people coming together in unexpected ways and for the love letters, apparently.

So, the lore. I love me some lore. I'm not sure how true-to-life this particular lore is, given it's Native American lore or based on it anyway. I haven't done much research into that area of things, though given I've heard basically nothing in the way of controversy on how Particia Briggs handled it, I'm willing to bet she did. It definitely seemed authentic enough to me. Insert much ignorant white person shrugging here. I am very glad they spent a bunch of time here making damn sure we knew Mercy wasn't anything like a skinwalker. 'Cuz yeah, definitely an entirely different thing than what Mercy is.

Coyote really reminded me of The Doctor from Doctor Who, complete with the whole "thinking out loud while problem solving" thing. I quite liked him and his characterization makes loads of sense. Again, insert ignorant white person shrugging here. Oh! The Maryhill Museum and Stonehenge replica are real places that you can visit and they've definitely earned a spot on my "I would like to go to there" list.

I quite enjoyed River Marked. The story was fun and pretty much ran a mile a minute, so it was also a fairly quick read the couple of times I had time to sit down and actually read it for long stretches.

Favorite Line 

"Wal-Mart is the Happy Shopping Grounds for the financially challenged." - Mercy Thompson Hauptman

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

A Spoiler Free Review

Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 14, 2014

Alright, so... this was my second Neil Gaiman book, my first being Neverwhere. I saw the 2007 movie adaptation a few years ago and absolutely loved it. However, the movie also did that thing where it condensed the plot lines and, in my opinion, made the story more enjoyable.

That does not mean, however, that I didn't enjoy Stardust. It was fun. The plot was a lot more twisty and the world of Wall and Faerie populated with more people. The only real problems I have with the book are: there wasn't really any real threat and the ending just petered out.

The witch is set up as an antagonist but all she does is try to kill Yvaine that one time. There's a lot more time spent with the Stormhold brothers who never did much of anything. There wasn't any danger established other than that. Nothing. Just a lot of "Oh hey, Tristan and Yvaine are wandering around and Yvaine's not eating but Tristan is eating loads."

The ending... due to a lack of a decent villain, there was a serious lack of, to put it in gaming terms, final boss battle. I'm not saying the ending was bad but it just sort of petered to a fairly uninteresting end... in my opinion anyway.

My recommendation is to read the book before seeing the movie, but definitely see the movie.

The Oathbound by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

Not sure I actually read all of this the first time, though.

The Oathbound definitely reads a lot better after having read the short story “Sword Sworn.” I vaguely remember flailing upon reading the info dumps of the beginning of The Oathbound the first time I read it. Having full context of how Tarma and Kethry met and teamed up really does help. Not that it makes Kethry’s info dump about sorcery any better… my brain hurts trying to parse it all. The Oathbound also very much reads like a series of short stories, strung together by time rather than an overarching storyline.

Both Tarma and Kethry have been raped. Joy. That’s only two of the Valdemar heroines, so far in the chronological order… however, most of the Valdemar books have had male protagonists so far and of those, only Vanyel was raped. So that, ya know, great.

I think Need is an interesting magical item. Made more interesting by a previous-in-the-chronology short story where she helps a trans woman and actually transforms her body. I think Need’s neat.

Was really expecting the thing with Kavin and Wethes to last longer. Highly unsatisfying, to be honest. You’d think a thing Kethry was dreading would have taken more time to get over, but apparently not. Just a hurdle to get over on her path to more power, really. I guess.

The Oathbound is basically a string of short stories about Kethry, Tarma, and Warrl stretched along the timeline from shortly after Tarma and Kethry met. As such, we get descriptions of them over and over. Need gets a side eye from pretty much everyone because apparently sorcerers just don’t bother with blades at all. I personally find all this repetition tiring and honestly, uninteresting. That’s not to say the stories themselves aren’t interesting, just the repetition of the descriptions. Kethry and Tarma’s chosen occupation lends well to short stories.

It’s not entirely great, though, when you get the story from earlier chapters retold by Tarma and Kethry. And the one from a mere two chapters earlier, too. Just… why? This book is arranged in chapters, not actually short stories in their own rights, so why retell the story we already read? Could have been solved by simply relaying that the ladies told the priest they’re talking to the real story. I’m heartily rolling my eyes and skimming this entire section.

Hey guys, did you know that Warrl is as tall as Tarma’s waist? Did you? Did you? — an example of the massive amount of sarcasm I’m having 84% through the book when this fact is reiterated… for at least the forth time.

I honestly feel like The Oathbound is middling, at best. It largely skirts around the action until the last few chapters. There are a few endings that could have been handled better… both Tarma and Kethry need some therapy, especially after what happened at the hands of their demon… Jesus that was a thing and a half. I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. It feels like it’s just being swept under the rug… I don’t know.

The Oathbound is not the best and not the worst.

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*

The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer

A Spoiler Free Review

The Dark Wife retells the story of Hades and Persephone in a slightly interesting way. We get the story from Persephone’s view point and she’s young, a teenager at this point and doesn’t actually know what’s going on. Zeus is painted as a villain, which, ya know, he kind of is. I honestly wasn’t a big fan of this, mostly because Persephone is just so… wet as a protagonist. Engaging enough to get me through the book, but otherwise just kinda there for most of it.

I was not expecting bisexual Persephone or female Hades. Apparently our view of Hades and apparently Cupid as males rather than females was a thing Zeus decided to do. I’m not entirely sure why and it’s not really explained, other than to explain the whole perspective of Hades kidnapping and raping Persephone. Not super important to the plot… especially with a revelation near the end about the Olympians…

I really don’t like the whole “we must be mysterious and speak in riddles for PLOT” thing. I dislike the withholding of information mostly for the sake of withholding it. Persephone isn’t sure enough of herself or her position to demand answers. We do get those answers, with a bit more mystery on the part of Gaia, but still not really.

This had an interesting take on Elysian Fields. I always kind of pictured the fields and less literal than just fields. This version of the dead just sitting and wallowing in their oh-so-heroic misdeeds is really quite horrifying. Of course Persephone changes that, which ends up quite well.

“But I was lonely” and couldn’t dream of asking to accompany Hades on her duties… that would just be too crazy. Seriously, this Persephone had agency enough to choose to go to The Underworld but none beyond that. Just following Pallas around or wandering Hades’ palace alone. When she finally shakes that off, it’s much better for everyone. This is really what I meant when I said Persephone was a “wet” protagonist.

Hades honestly wasn’t much better and wasn’t actually around so much. Like, she was there, but it was really closer to an Edward Cullen style of “I’ll watch you sleep and hug the nightmares away” kind of thing. I liked Pallas well enough. Hermes mostly appeared and was cryptic when he wasn’t doing his messenger god duties.

I like this take on Charon. There’s no way there would just be a bunch of dead standing around who didn’t have ferry fare so they’d have to pay somehow. I think it’s interesting that all their bits of “payment” are incorporated into Charon’s physical body. Makes the ferryman way creepier than they are otherwise… which is kind of creepy enough.

I have this feeling I should just stop reading retellings. There are very few I’ve read lately that I’ve enjoyed. I have a feeling it’s mostly due to the characterization of the protagonists, but… eeehhh… not entirely sure. I have enjoyed Punderworld by Linda Sejic, which honestly just cements my characterization theory. Sejic’s versions of pretty much all the gods and goddesses are much more vibrant and active in their narratives. The Dark Wife just didn’t do it for me.