Curtsies & Conspiracies

Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book #2 in the series kicks off with the girls in Sophronia's class at the floating Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality undergoing their six-month evaluations, the results of which put everyone out of sorts. Sophronia is grateful for the friendship of Vieve and the sooties in the boiler room, and visits them even more frequently. It's with their assistance that she begins to work out the threads of the complicated machinations afoot regarding a new guidance valve and a test of aether travel. Many factions seem to have a stake in the outcome, from Picklemen to flyway men, vampires to government agents, and it's up to Sophronia to figure out who is trying to kidnap her friends Dimity and Pillover, and for heaven's sake, why?

Although I still haven't managed to work out exactly who the Picklemen are and what their agenda is, I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced romp through an alternate 19th century England where werewolves and vampires live side by side with ordinary humans, and most of the servants are mechanical. It was interesting to watch Sophronia grow and learn the hard way that sometimes her actions have unexpected consequences--a lesson all teenagers need, even the exceptionally mature ones.

For readers' advisors: setting and story doorways are primary. No sex or bad language. Sophronia is in a bit of a love triangle, but so far everyone is very formal and respectful.

I received a free ebook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Sixth Grave on the Edge

Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book #6 picks up only a few days after Book #5 ends. Charley's life hasn't become any less chaotic or complicated. Since Reyes proposed, Charley has been stalling and trying to uncover more information about his background, namely his human family. As a favor to FBI Agent Carson, she's looking into a long-unsolved kidnapping where the missing child just happens to be the one and only Reyes Farrow--a fact Agent Carson does not know. However, it's not as straightforward as Charley thinks: there is more than one kidnapping in this particular story, which mucks everything up.

While she's trying to figure out what to do, gunmen break in and threaten to harm her nearest and dearest if she doesn't track down a witness to a murder who is being kept in protective custody. Again, there is more to this story, and not everyone will escape unscathed.

She also gets a visit from a panicked man who lost his soul to a demon in a card game and needs her to get it back for him so he can someday go to heaven to be with his 3-year-old daughter who just died. Over Reyes' objections, she goes to meet the demon and makes her own bargain with him. A demon with an ulterior motive? What a shock!

Then there is the ghost who so terrifies her teenage friend Quentin, that she traps him on a tram car until Charley can come to his rescue and help the girl cross over. The child's abusive life and horrible death prompt Charley to make it her mission to discover what really happened and ensure supernatural justice takes place.

In the midst of all this, Angel's mom tracks Charley down, demanding a truthful explanation for the money Charley has been depositing into her bank account every month. Angel is furious when (some of) the truth comes out, and it leads to more revelations of what really happened when he died.

Add to that Charley's "ingenious" plan to make Uncle Bob jealous enough to ask Cookie out...by setting her up on several consecutive blind dates. As with all of Charley's plans, it goes awry. It's a busy week in Albuquerque.

There is actually so much going on in this installment of the series, that it felt very much like a middle book--a way station enroute to a larger climactic moment in a later book. Lots of loose ends that don't get tied up, especially with Charley's dad's mysterious behaviour. It feels to me like it ended mid-scene, in fact. I was a little startled when the credits music started playing, as I had been expecting another chapter to follow.

While I still enjoy the author's style, I did find myself a little frustrated that there really wasn't any character development for Charley. Despite all her catastrophes and near-death misadventures, she just never seems to grow up at all. I appreciate that much of her attitude and banter is a defense mechanism, yet I really wished she would learn to think things through a little more, to heed other people's warnings and not barrel head-down into danger all the time, forcing others to come to her rescue. She's got a big heart, but I'm growing a little weary of her foolish recklessness.

I wonder how much of my dissatisfaction has to do with the fact that I listened to the book instead of reading it? The narrator, Lorelei King, did an excellent job, I thought, of giving each character a distinct voice and personality. I'm not sure why Cookie's voice was so deep as to sound masculine, but otherwise I thought Ms. King did an excellent job of bringing to life the words on the page. However, when read out loud, I really noticed the repetition of certain elements, like Charley asking, "What can go wrong?" or all the ways to talk about Reyes being hot--in all senses of that word. I found myself much more impatient than with earlier books. I think I'll go back to print rather than audio with Book #7.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary. There is a great deal of swearing and sexual content. I've seen this book characterized as "urban fantasy," which makes a certain amount of sense--it's too chaotic and lacking a central mystery to call it a "mystery." I listed it as "suspense," but it's also not terribly suspenseful, although "humorous romantic paranormal suspense" is more or less how I'd describe it.

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Royal Airs

Royal Airs by Sharon Shinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book #2 in the Elemental Blessings series features Princess Josetta and her sister Princess Corene. When Corene flees her abusive stepfather, she is rescued by professional gambler Rafe Adova not too far from the shelter Josetta runs just south of the Cinque, the five-sided boulevard separating the nicer part of Chialto from the slums. That encounter is a turning point the lives of all three, as well as the start of an unexpected turn in the complicated politics of the nation.

I was grateful for the explanatory charts of characters, blessings, calendars, and money that Shinn includes at the start of the book. I referred to them time and again to help me keep track of the complicated relationships between characters, especially. It had been a while since I'd read the first book in the series, and the family connections are even more muddled now, thanks to revelations in Book #1 (Troubled Waters) as well as in the second half of Book #2.

For readers' advisors: setting and story doorways are primary, character secondary. One swear word, and the few sex scenes are nearly entirely offscreen.

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Books Can Be Deceiving

Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Lindsay Norris is the director of a small town public library. Her best friend Beth is the children's librarian. Beth has spent the past five years dating a famous picture book author/illustrator who is a total jerk, and she breaks up with him the night before discovering he has plagiarized her work on a picture book she wrote and would like to get published. When she and Lindsay go to confront him, they discover he has already had a fatal confrontation with someone else, but the town's police chief is convinced he need look no further than the angry ex-girlfriend to close this murder case. Lindsay refuses to let her best friend be railroaded and sets out to solve the crime herself.

My favorite thing about this book were the snippets of library life--very very brief mentions of quirky questions and patrons. As a reference librarian, I can totally identify with those. Unfortunately, the characters and much of the story felt pretty one-dimensional and formulaic. It wasn't a terrible book. I just really wanted to like it more than I did, and I was hampered by the stereotypical characterizations and idiotic actions of the narrator, especially by the end of the novel. I mean, seriously, someone breaks into your apartment in the middle of the night, and once you chase the person out, you don't pick up the phone and call the detective?! Yeah, I can see not calling the idiotic chief of police, but to not pull out the intelligent detective's business card, even the next morning?? Oy.

I'm also confused by something that happened at the crucial climactic moment, but as talking about it would be even more spoiler-ish than my previous complaint, I will just rant to my mom, who read the book before she gave it to me. (Standard practice in our family.)

For readers' advisors: story doorway. No sex, on-screen violence, or swearing.

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I Ate a Cicada Today

I Ate a Cicada Today by Jeff Crossan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"I ate a cicada today. I know that sounds crazy to say. But it flew in my mouth, and it didn't fly out. I ate a cicada today."

For kids, especially 8 year old boys, who are enjoying language exploration, this could be a fun choice. The vocabulary, rhymes, and humor would most likely fly over the heads of preschoolers, but primary school students should get a kick out of both the book and the song as well.

The illustrations are simple watercolors which enhance and emphasize the humor of the random, quirky lyrics. ("I followed a swallow today. She wanted me to go away. She swerved and she swooped. I looked up, and...oops!"

This picture book comes with a CD, but my free review e-copy didn't include the audio files, so I've only heard a sample of the first few pages. I can't speak to the full song, but the sample certainly got stuck in my head! I think elementary school teachers could easily incorporate Crossan's book and music into their story times.

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The Goodbye Witch

The Goodbye Witch by Heather Blake
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Darcy's best friend Starla rushes in to As You Wish, panic-stricken because she's just seen her ex-husband for the first time since he tried to kill her two years ago, Darcy is determined to keep her friend safe. The trouble is, no one else can see Kyle, and how do you defend against someone you can't see? While Darcy's police chief boyfriend focuses on locating the fugitive, Darcy turns her attention to puzzling out why Kyle has suddenly reappeared after all this time. As with everything in this magical village, all is not as it seems, and unraveling the secrets to uncover the truth can be painful in more ways than one.

This is my favorite book in the series so far. The character development is especially strong for a cozy mystery, and I really enjoyed the relationships between all the major and even the minor characters. I admit, I was teary-eyed on more than one occasion! Bring on book #5!

For readers' advisors: character and story are both strong. There is no sex, bad language, or on-screen violence. There is magic, however, as most of the main characters are witches or related to witches. Contemporary setting--a magic-themed neighborhood of Salem, Massachusetts.

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The Mill River Redemption

The Mill River Redemption: A Novel by Darcie Chan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the early 1980s, Josie DiSanti flees to Mill River with her two young daughters after they lose everything in a house fire, including Josie's husband.  The trio takes refuge with Josie's aunt, a lovely, generous woman Josie barely knows, and they begin to rebuild their lives.  Twenty or so years later, a tragic accident breaks the bonds of sisterhood.  A decade goes by in icy silence, until their mother's will forces Rose and Emily to live side by side one summer and work together to solve the clues to unlock their inheritance.

It's easy to get hooked into this story and the lives of these characters.  The nonlinear storytelling keeps readers in suspense for much of the novel, wondering what exactly happened the night of the fire and how is it possible that two sisters went from being devoted confidants to mortal enemies?  Eventually I did get a little impatient and wished Chan would hurry it up and tell the backstory faster, as she alternated between the early '80s and present day for most of the book.

The road to Rose's alcoholism was paved with Josie's good intentions, and my heart broke for them even as I inwardly groaned and chided her for focusing too much time on her career--a completely understandable series of mistakes that predictably snowballed into a giant mess.

I haven't yet read the first of the Mill River books--Mill River Recluse--so I'm not sure how much the characters overlap, but I got the feeling with this novel that the secondary storylines must have picked up where they left off in the first book.   I'm hoping the same is true in the next book, since it seemed like there was still more story to tell.

For readers' advisors: character and story doorways, primarily.  No on-screen sex, but a little bit of bad language.  Many thanks to NetGalley for the free ebook copy I received in exchange for my honest review.

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