City of Ghosts

Book Title: City of Ghosts

Author: Victoria Schwab

Series: Cassidy Blake #1

Date Started: September 9th 2018

Date Completed: September 18th 2018

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Two Stars

Final Rating: Three stars

Review:

Overwhelming reaction: eh. It feels like a prequel story that was padded out in order to make a whole book but lacks... well, a story. And I love Schwab's imagination and novels, this one just wasn't there for me.

What I struggled with the most was the lack of solid worldbuilding. There really aren't enough clear rules of how the Veil works, or even how Cassidy understands it works. When it comes to ghosts and worlds within worlds, we need to know how it happens and what's in control of the characters, because that's where the tension comes from. If you have fantasy without limits there's no conflict. And I felt like there wasn't conflict here because I couldn't anticipate what would be an issue for the characters and what they could easily dismiss.

I have to say, I felt a little out of place reading this as a Brit. The jokes about different dialects are funny the first time but when you stop the plot every chapter to mention another one it starts to grate on you. And I don't really feel like it painted Edinburgh's uniqueness (being said, I've never visited Edinburgh); it ruminated more on Britishness in general (let alone Scottishness) and the popular cult attractions. I wanted more of a love letter than fan fiction.

In all fairness, City of Ghosts isn't terrible, it just lacks a lot of spark that I wanted from it. Nothing really happens - we go into the veil, out of it, into, out of - without much conflict. There's a moment of 'oh no, how will we get back' every time, but it doesn't seem to take them very long to find a loophole. A plot line doesn't form until halfway through, and the villain is barely there enough to even be a villain. Where's the tension? Where's the loveable characters? It's just flat in the end, when a ghost story in Edinburgh is possibly the most potential any story could ask for.

'This isn't at all like those cheesy ghost shows on tv' - sadly, it pains me to say that this book is exactly like those cheesy ghost shows on tv.

Nevernight

Book Title: Nevernight

Author: Jay Kristoff

Series: The Nevernight Chronicle #1

Date Started: August 30th 2018

Date Completed: September 8th 2018

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Five stars

Review:

Nevernight was great. I could leave it there, honestly. It's a firm favourite of mine now and I'm resisting the temptation to go straight onto the next one. There's such an attitude - a bite to it. Humour, spark, whatever you want to call it, just a little bit of flair that sets it apart from the other assassin student stories that seem to be appearing everywhere at the moment. Really, this is my kind of genre and everything that I love about it in one place. Consider me bought.

Well written choreography and fighting is hard to come by. My first recommendation is always to go to Derek Landy for reference, but Kristoff has definitely made his mark with it. Battle sequences are really only a small part of the book, but when they are there they're done well. Not only is the action itself described in a way you can visualise, there's some solid thought-out strategy mixed in there. When you have a protagonist like Mia it immediately elevates it, because of course she's got a good head on her shoulders. Having her not already adept at the physical training and more knowledgeable in other areas was refreshing too. It always helps to ease your audience in and how duality in any person so we root for them more.

The main criticism I come across for this book is its slow start. Which is fair enough, because I don't think I've come across anyone who hasn't been questioning it at the beginning. There's a lot of exposition to give, and some travelling and introductions to do. But goddamn, once it gets going it ramps up fast. And there's still a few little blips dotted through, but for the amount of enjoyment I got out of it past the initial build-up, I really can't complain.

I'm not generally a massive fan of the school trope, magic or not. It can so easily become predictable and boring (most of the time we end up with Mean Girls but no where near as good), but there's plenty of other things going on between the lines, and Kristoff kind of uses it to trick you into a false sense of security. There's a pretty dramatic twist towards the end of the story, and while I knew it was coming (I'd been put under a bet by someone to see if I could work it out), I didn't expect it in that way at that moment. And for those of us with suspicious natures and a pretty good knowledge of story mechanics, there's still a lot of value in that. There's still anticipation in how it's going to happen, so why the hell not.

So you've met Celaena Sardothien (fallen in love with her), and your idol is Inej Ghafa, and don't forget the marvelous Lila Bard. Well, since you have a weak spot for heroines who curse and arm themselves to the teeth, meet Mia Corvere. Because, once again, you're screwed. I can't tell you how happy it made me to proeprly feel the attitude and swears coming off of her, and for no one to question it (it's the little things, right?). But I'm also happy that we aren't completely diving into the anti-hero thing just for the sake of it. Throughout Nevernight, people point out that Mia doesn't really belong in a homocidal assassion school, even though she's more than tough enough and has kinda murderous tendancies. But she's also kind and openly so - it's great that we have no-shit heroines, but empathy can be shown without being a weakness and still with a little spark.

Give me more. Now. (Please?) Obviously the series is going to expand its reach and build up even higher in the stakes than it is, but I was happy that Nevernight completed its own act as well. And things change pretty dramatically over the course of the book; it's not just Point A to B, it's all the way down to F and we're not finished yet. I'm excited about what happens all the way down at Z.