The House of Fortune

Book Title: The House of Fortune

Author: Jessie Burton

Series: The Miniaturist #2

Date Started: November 23rd 2023

Date Completed: December 30th 2023

Genres: Historical

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

When the BBC television adaptation of The Miniaturist finished, I remember asking when the next episode was - I was so sure that it couldn’t be Nella’s ending. I read the book as I’d loved the show so much, and felt similarly. While I loved it, there was always more story to tell, and now we have it.

What stands out most to me of Burton’s writing is how gorgeous the flow of prose is. It feels like water you’re floating through with almost no effort, spinning on its wheel to tell us the story like we’re in a dream. And the beautiful gentle magical realism, just like the first book, is there just to offer a few possibilities to the characters that would otherwise be out of reach (which is exactly what magical realism is for, and so rarely executed to proper affect).

There are some ways in which the story was a little predictable, but no less enjoyable. I found it especially interesting that, just as the characters do, I felt that my empathy for everyone’s position and understanding of the situation as a whole evolved throughout the book. To begin I felt far more aligned with Nella and found Thea frankly spoilt and naive, but by the end there’s a far more balanced and sympathetic view of everyone, and that’s really the point of the story itself. That’s really sophisticated writing to make a reader feel that, as well as understand.

The House of Fortune stands as it’s own story, though you probably do want to read The Miniaturist first for the full breadth of what’s going on. It does take a few steps away from the political core of the first novel, and is ultimately playing with lower stakes, but it’s more involved in generational trauma, different generations of women, and the moving landscape of time and how that affects how people are forced to evolve to prosper, and even just survive.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Book Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Author: Suzanne Collins

Series: The Hunger Games #0

Date Started: December 14th 2023

Date Completed: December 24th 2023

Genres: Dystopian, Action, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

It’s been a long long time since I read the original Hunger Games trilogy and, revisiting this series after a long time, I’m impressed by how well it holds up and how nuanced it still persists to be. Collins’ stories really are the pinnacle of Young Adult fiction, even if the genre has grown and changed in its own ways - it’s actually curious how harrowing and grim some of the original gamechangers in YA could be, but still execute heart wrenching hope. I’m not here to moan about the current landscape, but I think it’s fair to say that achieving that balance is sometimes massively underrated and often forgotten.

Prequels to existing series - especially ones about the villain’s origins - are often not for me. Many authors find it hard to write their protagonists truly escalating to the levels of predisposed evils required to fit into the main series. But damn, Collins pulls it off. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is really a fantastically well executed exploration of entitlement and toxic masculinity. And one where, lo and behold, the woman doesn’t have to tragically die to motivate it!

Of course, my brain can’t help but compare it to the movie adaptation, which I saw first but did persuade me to jump back into Collins’ writing. The adaptation smooths out some of the unnecessary bulk and fiddly strings of events, but also misses the real depth of entitlement that motivates Coriolanus through most of the novel. I also found the more overt camaraderie and teamwork in the Academy students - even when pitted against each other - really interesting as that was mostly revamped into pure poisonous relationships for the film.

Similarly to how impressed I was by the film (quite by surprise I have to admit!), I’m so happy I was persuaded to read this prequel. It’s an exciting, political, well-balanced and thoroughly enjoyable addition to the original trilogy, strong enough to stand on its own with its own story but actually adding depth and understanding to just how much Snow really must hate Katniss all those years later.

The Illusions

Book Title: The Illusions

Author: Liz Hyder

Date Started: November 6th 2023

Date Completed: November 23rd 2023

Genres: Historical, Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

All done with kindness. It’s a phrase that’s repeated throughout this novel but characters and is even handwritten by the author herself at the start from the lovely signed edition I found at my local independent bookshop - in fact it’s the reason I was drawn to pick it up, and it feels so utterly perfect for the novel I then got to read.

Perhaps that’s misleading, because it was also the promise of two female heroines from the worlds of theatre and filmmaking that fully convinced me. From a personal place, I fell in love with theatre from a young age and then fell even further head over heels for the moving image, partially because of a French filmmaker called Georges Méliès (and later Alice Guy-Blanche) who was one of the first to invent in camera trickery and ‘special effects’. I go into this because this book is palpable for that same adoration of performance and almost literal magic both from an audience seat and through a camera. This book was a joy to read because it was like reliving my discovery of those things all over again, and not least through two fantastically courageous and inventive heroines who were finding their own feet in those spaces all by themselves.

That’s not to say that this book relies on a personal love of these performance arts, it’s a fantastically exciting and touching book full of twists and humour, and even literal magic at some points. It’s a book that perhaps tries to tick too many boxes - it’s a shame the magic didn’t actually end up playing an integral part, some exposition ended up easily forgotten, and the romance was drawn out - but it’s one that takes you with it as it sneaks into all the nooks and crannies. You live alongside these characters (and it’s a hefty cast to keep track of) for a short while, and by the time you get to the end it’s unputdownable.

I would say it leans slightly towards the Young Adult audience though it’s marketed as adult, with that token ensemble of peers and the often lighthearted resolutions to what in other contexts could be very dark themes. But regardless it’s a genuine enjoyable read I wish I could experience all over again. A warm hug of a book, and one personally beloved to me.

A Court of Mist and Fury

Book Title: A Court of Mist and Fury

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #2

Date Started: October 7th 2023

Date Completed: November 6th 2023

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

I took a long break from this series after reading the first book back when it came out. Looking back on my review for that first book, I really wasn't getting on with Maas' follow-up to the Throne of Glass books (one of my most beloved series), but was convinced by a friend of mine to give it another go as, perhaps obviously, the story was just getting started.

Having dipped back into this world, I can see what she meant. It definitely improves on the first book, and clearly had been planned to set that first novel up in a certain way to then pull a signature Sarah J. Maas twist and flip everything on its head to be even better than you expected. While this is, of course, satisfying and Feyre and co are quickly on the right track in this second novel, I do wish it hadn't taken its sweet time to get Feyre to a point of something other than complete misery and despair. It's just not fun reading.

This second book was also far more enjoyable because we finally have our famous Maas ensembles back! While the heroines and their love interests are inevitably at the heart of all chaos in these books, it's undeniable that most of us are waiting on tenterhooks to see the supporting characters do their thing. And, as usual, A Court of Mist and Fury does not disappoint and even puts some new personalities and dynamics to the forefront for us to enjoy.

I did still feel like this book was very heavy on the romance and pretty sparse on action past the basic plot beats, but with all the pining done with impressively quickly (for the most part), I'm looking forward to seeing where the storylines of the rest of the series go now that Feyre and Rhysand are aligned and united. Though a common misconception, the thrill doesn't have to just be in the chase!

The Drowning King

Book Title: The Drowning King

Author: Emily Holleman

Series: Fall of Egypt #2

Date Started: June 28th 2023

Date Completed: October 12th 2023

Genres: Historical

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

*Thanks to NetGalley for this ebook for review*

I really enjoyed the first novel in Holleman's revisioning of Cleopatra's Egypt, and the events befalling the family on its throne. This sequel was less enjoyable, but still interesting enough to get to the end of this fictionalised history. Longer than it needed to be and inevitably less imaginative as it's based on history we have far more records of, we get to see into the lives of two of Cleopatra's siblings, Arisone and Ptolemy.

I felt Ptolemy's perspective slowed things down and didn't really add anything. The first novel had been surprisingly engaging through Arisone's perspective witnessing the historical events, and while the same concept was used for her brother, he was written with such judgement, referred to as weak and cowardly throughout, that he wasn't an engaging character. Why root for someone we're told is automatically a horrible person with no redeemable qualities? Even Ptolemy's inferiority complex was so abject that as a reader he felt like a lost cause immediately and no drama was generated.

Ultimately, I finished the novel due to my interest in the real historical events, rather than this particular revision of them. As a fictionalised version of history, it's fascinating to look at through this less popularised lens, though the conflict between narrative storytelling and historical events can more to the forefront the longer you read - resulting in an incredibly abrupt ending, and disappointingly little progress for the heroine we fell in love with in the first book. This novel's arc ends up about Ptolemy, who is ultimately pretty dull to read about, with Arisone yet again an overlooked footnote in the record.

Her Radiant Curse

Book Title: Her Radiant Curse

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Date Started: June 10th 2023

Date Completed: June 28th 2023

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

*Thanks to NetGalley for this ebook for review*

Ultimately, this book was alright but not amazing. I enjoyed the changing landscapes, the rising stakes, and the vivid sense of time and mythos alongside the contemporary worldbuilding. However, overall, it held back on its characters, unable to let them flourish as they seemed to want to, which dampened the overall feel of the story.

I could feel towards the end that things didn't seem to be resolving themselves, which of course is because Her Radiant Curse is a prequel to the Six Crimson Cranes duology. I love those books dearly, and I have to say that this is the most involved, engaging and satisfying prequel I've read in a long time - so much so that I forgot it was a prequel for most of it. But, it's still a prequel and at the mercy of meeting certain plot points and having limits to its character's arcs.

Impressively done within its own confines, Her Radiant Curse unfortunately falls into the pitfalls of many prequels, though it's a fun journey to get there.

Hell Breaks Loose

Book Title: Hell Breaks Loose

Author: Derek Landy

Series: Skulduggery Pleasant

Date Started: June 14th 2023

Date Completed: June 19th 2023

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Historical, Mystery, Horro

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

Hell Breaks Loose is a very entertaining and cleverly placed adventure with our favourite characters from the Skulduggery Pleasant universe, while we await the last book to the sequel series to release. While I would rather the multiverse would stop infiltrating literally every form of media, it's undeniably hats off to one of the few franchises that actually puts effort into its spin-offs, embedding them so well in the main overarching universe while being entirely enjoyable on their own.

This story wasn't what I expected, while simultaneously being precisely what I should have seen coming. Once it gets into the swing of things, it's the classic action-adventure I fell in love with as a child, alongside the good old-fashioned drama and comedy that my adult self appreciates even more so.

The action is always so impressively written; it flows, the chaos is vivid, the movement articulate. You can see it playing out, startingly, in your head like a movie. And, always, Derek plays with violence and conflict and pain in an accessible way without glorifying it; action scenes leave scars, people get hurt, people are conscious of their actions. Those are all factors that so often are just left behind because they're heavy, and even more so with characters who you're supposed to root for without descending your book into discussions on moral philosophy. Derek touches on the dark, but has such an appreciation for the light (be it comedy, characterisation, motivation) that he can do both.

Hell Breaks Loose isn't my favourite in the series, but it's absolutely grounded in its universe, and fully appreciates its place and opportunity. This book is fun and easy to read in a way that a series sometimes limits; it's just what I needed for a little summer holiday action.

Atalanta

Book Title: Atalanta

Author: Jennifer Saint

Date Started: May 28th 2023

Date Completed: June 10th 2023

Genres: Historical, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

I struggled a lot with Atalanta, for many of the same reasons I struggle with a fair few classical retellings; ‘strong independent woman’ who does still need a man in her resolution, reimagining a known tale from a different perspective but ultimately just making the protagonist be an observer, throwing in a bunch of references but not really executing what they thematically mean and missing out on the true wonder of these beloved myths. That being said, I do want to give it credit for not being entirely depressing, which I think is another common pitfall with female retellings of Greek myths.

I don’t think there was a lot of personality in this story, it was just the straightforward sequence of events of the Argonauts from a slightly different angle. While I appreciate that some myth retellings become hard to follow from how much effort being put into making it ‘different,’ I feel like the wonder and the glory, the characterisations and the morality is just lost. I also feel that this book, while reinventing a classical tale to make space for female stories, just came across ignorant to reality while still referencing misogyny and taking part. Atalanta didn’t really conquer anything, not because it wasn’t there, but because it didn’t seem to affect her.

The ending is so hilariously ironic, and sums up my frustrations with this book; we’re going to make fun of and look down on all these ‘womanly’ women throughout the story and be strong and independent (which mostly manifests as making judgements as we stand at the sidelines watching the actual story happen) with very little nuance, but our resolution will still rely on us falling in love with a man who tricked us (but it’s okay because we let him).

The Beautiful Ones

Book Title: The Beautiful Ones

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Date Started: May 13th 2023

Date Completed: May 28th 2023

Genres: Romance, Historical

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

The Beautiful Ones was definitely more romance focused than I had expected after reading Mexican Gothic, though the setup and many themes carry through; this is Regency era politically infused love schemes with Moreno-Garcia's signature stylistic flair. Honestly, it's not my kind of genre, namely because I find characters who act this way very hard to get behind - but kudos is due to the book for giving tempered backstory so characters' actions are motivated. Unfortunately, I still didn't really enjoy reading any of the perspectives.

There's an awful lot of preamble for a final crux that wraps up startingly fast and neatly. The first half of the book acts essentially as a prologue for the latter, and I wished it hadn't felt so separate and detached. I also felt the magical elements were underused and more like some aesthetic feathers than built solidly into the world, which I found a little disappointing as the concept was interesting and felt at times like it could have contributed to raising tension and political pressure. In the end, it was just sort of displayed and left alone.

Much of this book, from the early plot to worldbuilding, was necessary for the final beats but felt largely included just for the deus ex machina. The distinction between the 'beautiful ones' of the title and everyone else felt tagged on for an explicit status divide but not followed through with lore or actual politics. While this is predominantly a love story, I had hoped that the background framing everything and so deliberately thought about would be more than just a background in the end.

The Bone Shard War

Book Title: The Bone Shard War

Author: Andrea Stewart

Series: The Drowning Empire #3

Date Started: April 21st 2023

Date Completed: May 13th 2023

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

The Bone Shard War wasn't what I was expecting from the final instalment in Andrea Stewart's glittering trilogy, and while I was disappointed at the absence of real adventure the previous books had, I undeniably loved revisiting these characters and seeing their tales come full circle. I was also impressed by how easily I remembered names and backstories, and that's a real testament to the previous books that I could fall so easily back into this world.

My reservation around this final book is around the lack of momentum, and how isolated it felt from the rest of the series. The story took a significant transition at the end of the last book (as trilogies often so), but the time jump forced the story to have to generate its own momentum all over again, rather than riding from the wave already created. Separating the characters created more self-deprecating internal monologuing than actual tension - though it's interesting to remember that the first book was largely structured with individuals on their own paths, and it worked well back then. I feel like the internal motivations for our ensemble have been existing in an increasingly complicated political system, but their internal through-lines should always be the same within that. With so much going on in this final book, that felt a little lost.

The story itself, while I'm sure conceived early into the series, felt like it was going in circles to reach its finish. Any seeds planted for later resolution felt very obviously done so (and highlighted in this final book rather than previous ones) and the reveals came so thick and fast, but sort of unrelated to the core characters arcs we were attached to - that they were ultimately unsatisfying. In hindsight, some of the worldbuilding and reveals were very clever and cool, but in the moment reading them I felt no dramatic tension or epiphany, which was a shame.

The Bone Shard War was still enjoyable to read (I promise) and will remain one of my favourite trilogies, and it was nice to see the story wrapped up well enough. The characters for the most part had their fitting ends - it just felt sadly flimsy how we got there.

The Screaming Staircase

Book Title: The Screaming Staircase

Author: Jonathan Stroud

Series: Lockwood & Co #1

Date Started: April 12th 2023

Date Completed: April 21st 2023

Genres: Adventure, Mystery, Horror, Fantasy

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to Double Day for this proof copy for review (from 10 years ago, I'm sorry) ◆

Having enjoyed the show, and receiving this proof copy in the mail about a decade ago, I thought it was time to have a little easy read from my TBR. The first Lockwood & Co book was good fun, exciting and spooky, and just the sort of thing I was looking for. Like the show, the well-balanced mix of worldbuilding and fantasy building, fleshing out parallels and similarities with our own reality, was pretty key in making the spoopy ghost-hunting adventures feel more mature and complex, with bigger enemies clearly at play behind the curtain and waiting for the heroes to find them.

It's fair to say that the recent Netflix adaptation is really quite faithful to the book, though this first novel instalment takes up a mere couple of episodes as the start of the tv series. On reflection, of course it was destined for Netflix glory as its episodic style, with multiple seemingly unrelated threads all tying together into a chilling finale is the perfect source material for such creations. And, even though I know the story and its twists, I still found experiencing it in its original medium engaging.

The most significant area of surprise for me was how unkind to its characters the prose is. There are constant jokes about George's weight (there isn't a single time he's referenced that doesn't include exaggerating his size) and Lucy 'smiling prettily' to get her way and being more 'sensitive to emotions' than the boys. Look, I don't think it's unfair to say that it hasn't aged very well in the last 10 years. That had no small part in making me appreciate the TV show and how well it adapted the story, developing areas of weakness and utilising the cinematic and enthralling mysteries and themes.

Unfortunately, the early 2010s attitude of body shaming and casual sexism isn't honestly something that fills me with a great desire to continue the series in book form, though I hold big hopes for the continuation of the more culturally-conscious Netflix adaptation bringing me more exciting ghost-hunting adventures with (their version) of the gang.

Jade City

Book Title: Jade City

Author: Fonda LEe

Date Started: March 12th 2023

Date Completed: April 13th 2023

Genres: Thriller, Fantasy

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

I wasn't expecting an incredibly detailed and political gangster-clan war story when I picked this up. And yet, while it came as a surprise to me, you can't oppose that the hype is founded; Lee's grasp and exploration of sometimes incredibly violent, sometimes incredibly vulnerable, complex characters - her humanisation of them and ability to lift them beyond their actions alone, into their motivations, vices, and ambitions - rival and surpasses classic gangster or even epic fantasy tropes.

It's undeniable that the worldbuilding is simply lush. The fantasy elements are so naturally constructed and fit into the story it comes across closer to magical realism, where the fantastical elements heighten the stakes and drama of the otherwise familiar characters, dynamics and narrative.

If you enjoy watching characters you've come to feel (for over the course of years in-story) making terrible decisions, and yet being unable to disagree with them, then this is probably going to be a wild ride for you - and a very good one.

Yellowface

Book Title: Yellowface

Author: R.F. Kuang

Date Started: February 11th 2023

Date Completed: March 11th 2023

Genres: Contemporary, Literary

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

Yellowface is one of those books that I find it hard to write a review for (the irony is not lost on me). In both academic and emotional terms it struck a chord with me to the point I was swearing out loud. Still, at the same time, I often found it unpleasant to read (again, I appreciate why) and towards the end, things dipped into melodrama for the sake of a wrapped-up plot.

Regardless, I kept picking it up. I wanted to know where it went, who would connect the dots, and how the wrong-doers would get their comeuppance - which in itself is a sad reflection of the human impulse Kuang often looks at in the story. The ending (once past the climax that felt sort of forced) was no surprise, and there's no denying that it was a joy to read Kuang embody yet another genre, time and cohort of characters.

Yellowface is a book with a lot of courage to point and prod at everything wrong with the publishing industry, an industry that like several profiting off the creative arts pigeonholes, rigs, discriminated, tokenises, torments, strings along and creates a respectable about the identity of its storytellers. Poignantly aware of the wider social, economic and political frameworks established to keep everything circulating back to the same status quo, Kuang brings the narrative back down to the responsibility, and humanity, of the individual, whether it be writer, reader, reviewer, publisher or witness.

Strike the Zither

Book Title: Strike the Zither

Author: Joan He

Series: Kingdom of Three #1

Date Started: January 28th 2023

Date Completed: February 11th 2023

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

The mandatory 'thank you NetGalley' line is above this, but I feel like an extra thank you is required for introducing me to the powerhouse of a writer that Joan He is. With each book, I'm more enthralled with her stories. This time she makes the transition from stand-alone novels to a series (and perfectly executed as well), and it's just as clever and utterly absorbing at her other books.

I found Zepher's narration a bit hard to get into at first, but it's purposefully written to be aloof and pedantic for further character development later on down the line. It still made this a little harder to get into, but worth the wait. Zepher's character in general is worth the wait of her build-up - and something He wrote in the afterword has stuck with me. Before being a strategist, a warrior, a god or anything else, she wanted to write Zepher as a person. In a lot of authors' afterwords, the intention isn't necessarily essential or tangible to the book you've just read - but here it felt significant.

Plot-wise, Strike the Zither is perhaps the most twisty and turny from He yet - and that's saying something when her midpoint twists are always quite something to behold (this edition, of course, doesn't disappoint). But I loved that so much attention was given to expanding the worldbuilding and constructing a YA romance that didn't give in to sickly cliche temptations. Like the classical poems the story is adapted from, it felt like everything was so perfectly orchestrated, pre-ordained in events and relationships in a godlike way. And yet the characters were so desperately pushing for their own agency within it - that's what makes them human. And that's what the whole book is about.

Strike the Zither definitely made me want to go away and read the Three Kingdoms itself, but I'm not sure if I want to spoil myself on the potential ending ahead of this book's sequel. I'm sure He has retold a lot of things in her own way, and will still have a staggering finale ready for us next time.

For The Throne

Book Title: For the Throne

Author: Hannah Whitten

Series: For the Wolf #1

Date Started: January 22nd 2023

Date Completed: January 28th 2023

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

I had a lot of fun with For The Wolf, finding the creative inspiration of various fairy tales really satisfying while appreciating how it gave itself plenty of creativity to create its own story. It's at times a little cliche and angsty, but For The Throne was still an enjoyable read to close off the tale.

You can get away with a lot if you have good characters, and the Wilderwood duology is a good example of that. The ensemble wanes from falling into tropes, and while it's apparent effort is made to make them their own thing, it often does slip in favour of the angsty moments. But in those moments that might have me rolling my eyes in other circumstances, I'm happy to let go when there's a connection between characters. I have a lot of love for Neve in particular so was happy to see she got to take centre stage this time around. What I really wish was that there was a bit more adventuring in the series as a whole, to spend more time building these characters and relationships up to make them really move me, over just being cute. (The romantic ones not so much, but the platonic friendships that are so deeply routed in this story, but often aren't given the limelight.)

For The Throne was particularly cool in the worldbuilding department. Last time we had the Wilderwood, but now we get to explore the underworld, which is both creepy and spectacular. In the first book I was fascinated by the religion, customs and tradition and how it moved the characters and their stories (Neve was so intrinsic to this theme and was what made her really stand out to me). This is lost a bit in the sequel, but the imaginative landscapes are still a strength, and so much of the events of the book first map out the arcs that are finalised here.

Overall, these books have been very enjoyable, if a little more predictable having seen where the first one went. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun with For The Throne, and am eager to see what Whitten has brewing up next (and I'd be more than happy to visit this world again, as its cast are so well set up for a spin off).