Mastiff

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Tamora Pierce weaves a masterful tale of treachery and treason, magic and mayhem in this final episode to the Beka Cooper trilogy. The four-year-old prince has been kidnapped and made a slave in a violent attempt to overthrow the king. Beka, her scent hound Achoo, and her partner Tunstall are assigned the secret (and dangerous) task of finding and rescuing the prince. They and their companions set off across the country, tracking the slavers and their deadly mages. Traitors are everywhere, though, making it difficult for Beka to know whom to trust.

I was so glad this book was longer than the others. The length gave Pierce time to really develop the characters and the story. She kept me guessing until the end as to who the traitor was. I was, however, a bit sad that most of Beka's friends from the first two books only made brief appearances, although that made sense for the story.

For readers' advisors: story, character, and setting doorways. There is a lot of slang (and made up slang) in the Beka Cooper books, so it's nice that Pierce includes a glossary at the end.


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Bloodhound

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book 2 in the Beka Cooper series picks up a few months after book 1 leaves off. This time, Beka is no longer a trainee "puppy" but a real "Dog" (i.e. police officer) in the middle of unraveling where all the counterfeit money is coming from and halting the spread of it. It's a pretty good read, as with all of Pierce's books.

If you're recommending it to teenagers, be aware that there is some sexual content (more than the first book). Nothing graphic, but definitely some hormones happening, and Beka does actually have sex a couple of times. (Frankly, I wasn't all that impressed with the guy she chose, but for a teenager, she handled it maturely.)

According to the Find a Book website, Bloodhound is categorized as "High/Low," meaning that it's high interest but low reading level (for vocabulary). I don't think I agree with that because so much of the story is told in what Pierce--via Beka--calls "street cant." Think: fictionalized fantasy version of Cockney. It's fun to read, and Pierce does include a glossary at the end of the book, but someone who struggles with reading in general may have trouble with the made-up words and phonetic spelling.

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