Slay by Laurell K. Hamilton

A Spoiler Free Review

I am overall much happier with Slay than I was with Smoulder. I feel like stuff actually happened and was resolved in a satisfying manner that didn't leave me wishing for a second half of the book. I am kind of over the massive amount of characters we have to keep track of at any given moment... I really just can't keep focused on more than whoever's "on stage" and even then it's like "Wait, who's that again?" or just rolling with it. The same goes for the bad guys. At this point, I think I'm having a hard time feeling any kind of actual threat from them. Deimos was scary to Anita, but not really to me. I didn't really feel any of the threat with Anita because, well, it's 30 books in and it's just not feasible for her to really lose or be permanently separated from her loved ones. I definitely felt the threat from her Grandmother at the end... but I won't say anything more than that about that because spoilers so... yeah.

I did think Deimos had an interesting power set. That he could essentially throw an entire city into chaos by feeding the fears of hate groups and everyone, apparently, was neat. Ultimately disastrous, but you kind of know that if you know people so... yeah. Fear makes us do some fucked up shit, that's for sure. For example... human history. But that's a rant for another time. Also Deimos' dragon form was interesting. I don't know about anyone else, but I definitely clocked that we'd be getting a dragon as soon as crime scene photos started appearing "on stage." Like, yep, only thing that could have bitten a dude in half in one bite and left reptilian footprints was gonna be a dragon. Well... maybe a dinosaur, but my brain dismissed that one pretty quickly... though I guess Deimos could have been a dinosaur instead of a dragon but... nah. Earliest vampire at this point was Mommy Dearest and she was a sabre toothed cat so... yeah. No more dinos at that point in time.

I don't really have much feeling toward Anita's family. They're definitely the epitome of "we're not close at all except for perfunctory things like weddings, but we still think we have some say in your life because we're your family." Or at least, Fredrick and Grandma Blake are. Judith and Andria are clearly more supportive and accepting. Josh is just kind of there in the background, not being "on stage" this time except for a few moments. Fredrick really pissed me off. I sincerely hate his insistence that Anita conform to his ideas about respecting your parents because they're your parents and treating his adult child like she's not an adult in the same breath. Just no. My grandfather tried to pull that crap on me once and I literally screamed in his face and walked away. Probably not the best way to handle it, but it's funny in hindsight. Grandma Blake... really should have just been kept away, like Anita wanted. Anita was definitely the bigger person by not calling off the entire thing immediately when Grandma Blake appeared.

I feel like the entire thing with the Wicked Truth at the hospital really slowed down the pacing. I mean, I guess it was a nice break from the action-action-action happening, but I dunno. It did serve to show how weird it was for Anita to be without the metaphysical stuff for once in a very long time. Definitely wouldn't want that to be the norm. Also that part of the book kind of drove home how really weird and awkward it is to have security also be either lovers or former lovers. Like, I don't know why I didn't really think about it until now, but yeah... awkward stuff with Echo.

So yeah, I was much happier with Slay and it was definitely a lot of fun. Happy 30th birthday to the Anita Blake series. Only 5 years younger than me.

Favorite Lines

"     Judith said, 'Language.'

     I stared at her as I said, 'Motherfucking son of a bitch, what's wrong with my language, Judith?'" - Judith and Anita Blake

"The only difference from the Church's perspective was that vampires were dead, so they couldn't repent, but the bloodiest serial killer could still be saved if they were truly repentant. I'd met serial killers both undead and alive, and they weren't savable. What they had done to their victims put them outside of God's Grace or the salvation of Jesus Christ." - Anita Blake

"It's just rude to leave bodily fluids in public." - Anita Blake

"Part of true love is telling each other the truth even when we don't want to hear it and reminding us again when we forget what we've already told each other." - Anita Blake

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

So, Alanna: The First Adventure is actually quite a quick novel. It’s really easy to read and breezes through three years worth of Page training. Like, really breezes through it. I noticed there was rarely time to actually sit with any of Alanna’s issues, aside from the notable exception of the Ralon thing.

Speaking of, this whole “we don’t report our bullies” thing is some bullshit… carries on into the next generation, too. So dumb. I know this well because, I was honestly far more invested in Protector of the Small than I ever was in Song of the Lioness. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but I guess I just didn’t find it as satisfying. That’s actually exemplified in Alanna. Aside from Alanna herself, there’s not really much to get invested in, I don’t think.

The random swapping of POVs gives me a bit of whiplash. The entire lack of detail here versus the Beka Cooper books also is giving me a bit of whiplash, though it is very welcome. I do not need super detailed accounts of Alanna’s day to day. That’s not to say I wouldn’t have enjoyed more detail… Alanna’s story thus far is just not memorable. Like, I literally did not remember anything from it aside from Jon, Gary, and George being Alanna’s friends. I’d still be a little hard pressed to come up with even an outline of what happened despite having just finished the book.

Roger of Conte suffers from a bad case of “obviously the bad guy.” He’s not even super subtle about it himself, Alanna’s feelings about him notwithstanding. “I am not often kind, Alan.” Really, dude? I also very much agree with Alanna’s assessment of his motives at the end. I don’t remember any details at all about Roger from my past reads, but he definitely has “super obvious bad guy” vibes, even without Alanna’s feelings about him.

I’m pretty sure I’ve only revisited Alanna once since my first reading. Having her entire four years or whatever as a Page all compressed into one book is interesting. Seems as thought the time just flew by, which is probably part of the realism, really. If you’re so consumed with work or schooling or whatever, the time just flies by. I honestly don’t know if it really works in the book’s favor, though. Like I’ve said, I literally remembered nothing about Alanna so… yeah. It was a fun, breezy read that didn’t leave anything stuck in my brain for later.

An After-Thought

In the 2014 Afterword, Tamora Pierce notes that she originally wrote Alanna's story as an adult novel. I think that is probably why Alanna is the way it is. The teenage years of a protagonist's life wouldn't really be that interesting to an adult audience and so aren't super fleshed out.

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

I honestly found Mastiff to be both better and worse than the previous Beka Cooper books. Beka’s more grown up now, but since we missed those years of growing, she’s also more distant, I felt. There’s also a bit of semi-interesting world-building around mages here… honestly, I was more interested in what Farmer was doing half the time than what Beka was up to. But since we’re following Beka and not Farmer, my curiosity was not sated.

So, I know we’re supposed to feel something for Beka in the beginning of this book. However, with a two year time jump and her stoicism about losing her betrothed, who we as readers know nothing about, I’m just not feeling anything about him or them as a couple. I have no idea who Holburn is and I honestly don’t care about him in the slightest. Probably for the best, as Beka’s actual feelings about him were close to the same. I do appreciate that we didn’t actually get a lot of detail about their relationship through this, as Beka wouldn’t need to write about it to remind herself. But yeah… I feel like the whole thing with Holburn was unnecessary, really.

There’s just so. Much. Detail. Too much, honestly, at times. Other times, seems like too little. Those times are rare, but… yeah. Mastiff just feels tedious for a good portion of it. It’s understandable, given the circumstances of the book, really, but it’s still not great. I really didn’t need to know how many times Achoo stopped to sniff at spots along their route.

I would like to body slam whoever came up with that nonsense “Gentle Mother Goddess” crap off a cliff. Please and thank you. I hate it with every fiber of my being. Anything that attempts to keep people in narrowly defined boxes is shit on a stick.

All of that said, the ending of Mastiff did make me cry a bit. Not rolling tears, but tears nonetheless. It’s probably all that togetherness and triumph and recognition that did it. I won’t spoil it, exactly, but yes, Beka does triumph in the end. That was nice. Really should have just ended there, in my opinion. The epilogue I guess was necessary for the framing narrative of the whole Beka Cooper series, but… yeah. I wasn’t really a fan of it.

Much hand-waving at this point. Mastiff felt better than either Terrier or Bloodhound, but that’s not saying a lot. I’m already super ready to jump into Song of the Lioness, so I’ll bid Beka Cooper adieu and be on my way.

Favorite Lines

"That time together was still worth some grief," Rosto said. "And the guilt is still heavy, even if your love has turned to hate or dislike."

"There, you see? A cat understands how to be pleasant in the morning. He doesn't talk." - Farmer Cape

In Other News

Third time I've smashed my reading goals. Might get easier for the rest of the year as I'm increasing the goals by 5 each time.

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

A Very Spoiler Free Review

I thought War of the Oaks was a very cool take on modern Faerie. I was honestly expecting Eddie to get dragged into Faerie at the beginning, but I’m glad she didn’t. I thought the phouka was going to end up going all Edward Cullen on Eddi, which he kind of did, but also didn’t. That is not to say the phouka and Edward have anything in common (they don’t), just the protective aspect over their humans is similar. Other than that, I honestly hadn’t remembered why I wanted to read War of the Oaks and I didn’t read the blurb or summary before reading, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. War of the Oaks is quite good and the story is neat. It’s very different from anything I’ve read recently. I enjoyed it a lot, even if I have little to say about it, really.

In Other News

In the last month I have finished two OviPets projects! I posted about one of them over on Threads, but I have been remiss in posting about them here... Oops.

The first is Etemon. One of the simplest projects I've ever done, Etemon has just two mutations and took me 4 months to complete.

The second project is my Rainbow Unicorn Charity project. Just about every year, OviPets does a set or two of mutations whose proceeds go to charity. The proceeds went to Sunshine Animal Sanctuary Malta. The Rainbow Unicorns have three Charity mutations out of seven mutations total. They took me a year and 2 months to complete.

November is going to be another slow month for posts. I have one batch post this month and the rest will come as I finish reading/whenever I feel like reviewing something. Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween. ^_^

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K Rowling - Illustrated Edition

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

If you are planning to purchase this book, please do so used in order to curb J.K. Rowling's spending on her transphobia.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite of the Harry Potter books, full stop. This review is a reread review but also specifically for the Jim Kay Illustrated Edition. This time around, I’m going to be trying to focus a bit more on reviewing Prisoner of Azkaban from the lens of it being illustrated. That said, I am absolutely in love with the cover! The contrast of the emerald green lettering against the indigo background and Knight Bus is just beautiful. I could happily just stare at this cover for a while.

I am also strangely in love with the inside cover illustration of Azkaban. I like the touch of the wrecked ships along the coastline. I also love that the Azkaban motif if carried through the title, copyright, and content pages. It’s way more beautiful than Azkaban deserves.

Honestly, the illustration of Aunt Marge in her swelled state is really disturbing and might haunt my dreams. Do not like.

Love the tile designs in chapter 4. They manage to be pretty cute. Also the two page spread for the Magical Menagerie shop is fascinating.

“Talons and Tea Leaves” was the first chapter for Harry Potter I remember reading. It had been published in Disney Adventures magazine ahead of the Prisoner of Azkaban book release. I remember it being much more atmospheric than it is when I read it now. Possibly to do with some of the illustrations Disney added. The doily motif used in this version of the book, however, doesn’t lend itself well to the atmosphere or the chapter, even if it is easy enough to read through. “Talons and Tea Leaves” does contain my favorite illustration, though. Jim Kay’s hippogriffs are absolutely gorgeous; fully deserving of their two-page spread. All the hippogriff illustrations are gorgeous. I especially love the background details in the Buckbeak portrait in chapter 14.

The illustration of Crookshanks and Scabbers is fantastic. Really captures Crookshank’s menacing look. As a veteran Harry Potter fan it is, of course, absolutely hilarious to me how Scabbers looks so terrified of him.

The grindylow two-page spread is impressive. Makes me wish it was included in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Gorgeous and well detailed. The Werewolf page is less impressive. Between this illustration and the movie version, it’s super easy to tell a real wolf from a werewolf. Much rolling eyes.

The Marauder’s Map illustration is much more in line with what I’ve always envisioned as opposed to the movie version. I LOVE all the little details you can read if you squint. So cool.

So… butterbeer. Introduced in this book, so it makes sense Harry wouldn’t have had it before. However, if Fred and George can sneak down to Hogsmeade whenever they like and have brought butterbeer back before… which I assume they would have and do in this book… then why is it so odd to Lupin that Harry gets all excited about it. I doubt James and them wouldn’t have snuck butterbeer into the castle given the opportunity. Just a weird bit of retconning silliness I noticed.

I am in love with the tortoise teapot at the head of chapter 16. Love it, love it, love it. The greenhouse in the same chapter is wildly eccentric.

The Servant of Lord Voldemort contains the most menacing portrait of Snape I’ve ever seen. He looked unhinged… which he probably was in that moment, the git. The portrait of Peter is also terrifying, though for different reasons.

So yes, I am still very much in love with Prisoner of Azkaban. The illustrated version definitely enhanced the reading experience. 10/10, will probably reread this version again. And open it just to stare at the pretty pictures.

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce

Finished and written during a power outage! What fun!

Spoiler Free Reread Review

Bloodhound was in some ways more interesting than Terrier and in some ways more boring. I don’t know if it’s this style of novel that I’m having an issue with or the subject matter… the Beka Cooper series just doesn’t grab me like other books do or have. That’s not to say they’re bad, just that my brain isn’t as engaged with them.

It’s interesting that Pounce has just decided to talk to people now, rather than just Beka. He’s largely absent from Bloodhound for constellation reasons, but he is ever the sardonic talking cat we all love to read.

Got our LGBTQ+ representation in Nestor and Okha. I’m not sure how I feel about the terms “bardash” and “honeylove,” but… eh. They are what they are. I do kind of like the explanation for trans people from Okha’s explanation. Not sure how actual trans people view it, but… yeah. I think it’s kinda neat.

Pearl was probably the only thing from Bloodhound I even vaguely remembered about it from my one previous read. My remembrance of her was incorrect, appearance-wise, but otherwise pretty spot on. I didn’t enjoy her as a villain, though her presence is definitely felt when she’s not around.

Not sure how I feel about Dale or the Dale/Beka thing. Not really into the romance side of things to begin with so… bleh. I did think it was really convenient for Beka to find out that Dale definitely wasn’t in on the crime through her dead contacts, but whatever. Glad it pretty much ended the way it did.

I also feel like I should definitely mention Achoo. She is a very good doggo. I’m glad Beka “rescued” her from her previous handler. I also enjoyed the peek into the scent hound handler life we got because of it.

I’m mostly really glad to be done with Bloodhound. That finishes up my reread portion of the Beka Cooper trilogy, so I’m a tad excited for Mastiff. Like I said in the beginning of this review, I’m not hating this trilogy, I’m just not enjoying it as much as I feel like I enjoyed other parts of the Tortall series.

Favorite Line

“Why do I argue with a cat?” I always ask myself that, when I know there’s only one answer: I don’t learn. I can’t even sat it’s because he’s a talking cat. He’s a cat, and cats just aren’t reasonable. - Beka Cooper

Take a Terrier Thief

I started reading Mercedes Lackey’s Take a Thief and Tamora Pierce’s Terrier at pretty close to the same time. They take place in about the same time period of their respective world so I thought it might be fun to compare and contrast them a bit. I did do this as I was reading, so it is a bit haphazard. Just be warned. Oh, and a big ol' spoiler warning for both Take a Thief and Terrier.

Both have some version of “gutter speak.” Beka is actually warned off speaking in it by Tunstall. Pierce largely stays away from the “gutter speak” aside from a few slang words -- largely "gixie" and "mot" and that sort of thing. Made Terrier a lot easier to read, honestly. Skif and almost everyone he comes into contact with speak in it all the time. Lackey has a thing with accents and writing dialogue as you would hear it spoken. I found this a little difficult to read at times. It's also noted when Skif finally becomes a Herald Trainee that he'll be taking speech lessons to get rid of that, but it doesn't completely disappear.

Obviously Beka and Skif are on differing sides of the law, but they essentially start out in the same place. Lowest of the low. Each is lifted out of that abject poverty in different manners: Skif by Bazie and Beka and her family by the Lord Provost. Skif is rather suddenly lifted completely out of his poverty by virtue of being Chosen by Cymry, his Companion, and therefore becoming a Herald Trainee. Beka isn’t exactly living in the lap of luxury, but she is working throughout Terrier.

Tortall and Valdemar’s justice systems are both different and the same. Valdemar largely relies on the Guard for policing, where Tortall has the Dogs… who eventually do become the Guard, but not for years down the line from Beka’s time. Valdemar also has the Heralds, who serve on the courts. Tortall has knights doing that job. There’s not really a good look at the actual justice system of Valdemar in Take a Thief. Most of that information I gleaned from previous Valdemar books. However, Terrier has a couple of instances of Beka actually attending court proceedings and giving evidence during them.

Beka has siblings. Skif is an only child and the closest thing he has to siblings are his thief family under Bazie's care. Skif does have a cousin who shows up a few times, but doesn't really have much responsibility for Skif. Beka’s siblings are all younger than she and not exactly a support system for her. The girls look down on her and the boys are too young to do much in the way of supporting their elder sister. Both batches of “siblings” don’t actually have much to do or show up much in either story.

Pierce and Lackey’s writing styles are also very different. Lackey spends a lot of time setting scenes and really making you feel like you could reach out and touch Valdemar. Pierce is more focused on character and dialogue. I don’t feel as attached to any of the places Beka inhabits as I do Skif’s world. Of course, the writing perspectives are completely different as well. Lackey does a third person limited and Pierce did an epistolary style. The epistolary style does have its drawbacks, especially in terms of how much an author can reveal if the character isn’t, say, super interested in the decor or atmosphere of a place. I feel that’s where Terrier really fell down, just in an overall lack of atmosphere.

So yeah, that’s my take on both Take a Thief and Terrier.