Tiger's Quest

Book Title: Tiger's Quest

Author: Colleen Houck

Series: Tiger's Curse #2

Date Started: April 12th 2019

Date Completed: April 15th 2019

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Adventure

Quality Rating: Two Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Two Stars

Review:

Wow, this series is still kind of trash, but I think it was what I needed. Probably won't never ever again, mind you.

Amongst the questionable feminism, the predictable plot and the way-too-much-information style to the writing, there are some really nice bits of mythology in here. It's given in massive information dumps showing off how supposedly clever people are (and is about where that intelligence ends) but I do like it and appreciate the diversity of the myths. A history lesson isn't exactly what I was expecting but it has its moments in there.

The story, sadly, doesn't hold up. At all, really. The first part is pure contemporary romance, a tiny little bit of action and then it's off in fairyland for the actual quest. And that ending uses the oldest trick in the book to create drama and no real tension. As much as there's an easy answer to this, I'm still sat here thinking what was the point of the last two books if you're going to start from square one for the characters.

Let's talk about those characters for a moment. They serve one thing and it isn't the story; it's the love triangle. All good fun in objective terms (very boring on all other accounts), but there's a point where it becomes manipulative. It's not okay for someone who's been told the other person isn't interested and is uncomfortable to continue to push, flirt, touch, tease them. And no one should lead another person's feelings on when they know what their own decision is. It's one thing to struggle to push people away, but it's quite another to perpetuate problematic relationships and write them as if it's okay to be acting like that. 'It was a different time' comes to mind when I read most of this; the female characters, the romance, the world. But then again it only came out in 2011, I'm not sure it's an excuse.

It's good fun, but questionable in most others respects. That about sums it up. And I just skimmed through the reviews (and then plots) of the next book and I think I'm good to leave it off here; it sounds like more of the same.

Quintana of Charyn

Book Title: Quintana of Charyn

Author: Melina Marchetta

Series: The Lumatere Chronicles #3

Date Started: March 27th 2019

Date Completed: April 12th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

Quintana of Charyn is the final instalment in the Lumatere Chronicles and one that satisfyingly wraps up the narrative of the previous book. For me, I wasn't as much of a fan of the last two books in this series, but I'm still glad I continued on with the series after loving the first book.

The biggest turn-off for me was how grim the whole thing was. Things have gotten far more serious as we go and it isn't balanced by much else like the first book was. I guess that's fine, it's there for a purpose (most of the time), but it's just not as enjoyable. The characters are too hit and miss for me to be able to feel tension constantly for, what, 400 pages? For me, these books are about entertainment and adventure, and this just became torment, suffering, anguish. Personally, I think it was a bit too interested in being dramatic and lost some of its heart because of it.

Since the first book, these have been told in multiple perspectives, necessarily because there's action happening all across the continent. But I'm not sure there need to be quite as many perspectives as they are, I think it limits some of the mystery and suspense that I remember in the first book. You also, inevitably, feel like the author is favouring certain characters - and believe me, the book may be titled after Quintana, but it still feels like it's about Froi. I'd say about half of the book is following him, and the other half looks at various people including Quintana, Isaboe, Finn, Lucien, Phaedra etc. Which is totally fine, I'm just not the biggest fan of Froi, so I always felt like I was waiting for his parts to be over.

What has to be commended, though, is how nicely Marchetta finishes the trilogy off. A lot of authors seem to have trouble wrapping up a story with enough room of the characters to have lives after it ends; they want to give you every detail of how they all feel and how they all move on when it's just not necessary. Marchetta definitely gives us a lot of run-down time after the final climax, but it's relevant, it's interesting, and you don't feel like she's trying to cram every possibility of a sequel. She's doing justice to the story. I have to say, it felt a bit like this series was a stand-alone novel followed by a duology, and I think you could absolutely read Finnikin of the Rock on its own and be satisfied, though other people seem to enjoy the final two books more than the first, so it depends what you enjoy, I guess.

I really liked the arcs of the characters throughout these books, especially since they're allowed to be flawed. As grim as it is, the tough decisions they make mean more because we know they've really had to find something inside themselves to get there. At first, I was quite defensive of Isaboe and her actions (thinking that she was being far too mean for Isaboe) but actually, her retribution was all the more powerful for it. Similar things happen with other characters, but she struck me the most. You definitely get to see characters 'grow up' in the course of this trilogy.

This was my least favourite book in the series, but I did still enjoy it. I think reading on past the first book definitely offers more to this world - and not just for the sake of it. Ultimately, I just preferred the tone and direction of the first instalment above when it turned later on, but I know lots of other people think differently.

Froi of the Exiles

Book Title: Froi of the Exiles

Author: Melina Marchetta

Series: The Lumatere Chronicles #2

Date Started: March 13th 2019

Date Completed: March 27th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

I didn't enjoy Froi of the Exiles as much as I enjoyed the previous book, but it was still a story I flew through and didn't want to end. I think for me it was a little more contained and based around court politics than Finnikin of the Rock, which was a lot more of a fantasy adventure. More Game of Thrones than Lord of the Rings this time, I suppose.

It's not often that I marathon books in a series one after the other. I think it can sometimes make it slower since you don't get to breathe between stories, but it actually works nicely here. There are slight gaps of time between each novel but they very much build on the situation of the last episode, following how the politics and situation has developed but gently bridging the space of relationships and character arcs.

Froi of the Exiles didn't have second book syndrome, which is a pet hate of mine in trilogies. I'm going to put that down to Marchetta treating each book as its own story rather than a chapter in a trilogy (as it should be). Although Froi didn't wrap up its story in quite as satisfyingly as Finnikin did, the arc of the story completed what it initially established enough that it wasn't a waste to read - a middle part to tide over time before the big finale. Which means that I'm now even more excited for that big finale which must be coming in the next book.

When I have characters I'm already attached to in a series, I find it quite hard to care as much about the new ones. So, even though we're following Froi and his story, I have to admit I spent most of the book waiting for Finnikin or Isaboe's chapters. In all fairness, I definitely don't dislike Froi as I used to, but it was still a shame I wasn't as engaged in him as a protagonist. That being said, even if I'm not in love with all the characters, I can still keep track of what is an enormous cast set in a high stakes political world without getting confused.

As I've said, Froi was a little disappointing just personally after reading Finnikin, but I'm going to start right away on Quintana of Charyn anyway. The end is near, and I think it's going to be quite the read.

Finnikin of the Rock

Book Title: Finnikin of the Rock

Author: Melina Marchetta

Series: The Lumatere Chronicles #1

Date Started: March 11th 2019

Date Completed: March 12th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

This has been sitting on my kindle for many years at this point from a friend's recommendation. While I wish I had picked it up sooner it was actually the perfect thing I needed these past few days. I read it in about 24 hours in three sittings, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Finnikin of the Rock is a good old fantasy adventure, one that borders on slightly more traditional high fantasy. Basically, it's a lot of fun. There are some things that don't add up (he really doesn't recognise her? she isn't emotionally scarred for life? they fight like dogs and still make up so easily?) but I'll forgive it because I literally only put this book down because I had to get up and, you know, go to university.

Maybe having Evanjalin experience pretty much every horror humanity is capable of and still being a badass is (while hugely enjoyable) a little unnecessary, bordering on overkill. It feels a bit like it's there to show how terrible everything is and give her a reason to be strong, which we recognise as being a little problematic these days. However, these brushes of feminism - while slightly outdated to a reader in 2019 - were amazing. It actually created a really nice balance in the medieval-style fantasy world that we can't help but imagine dominated by men and started to close that gap with its various portrayals of women.

In fact, it was a good cast all around. Varied and enjoyable. They had nice dynamics with each other and it felt like there were a lot of backstories underneath that came through in their behaviour rather than having to be explained (which, in all fairness, we did get a fair bit of). But while focusing on Finnikin, it achieved that wonderful fantasy expectation of having multiple perspectives and characters that had influence and agency in the story, making it unpredictable and exciting.

I really respect how it wraps up its story and its emotional arcs in one book. It's maybe a little bit older than the trilogy-obsession that swept Young Adult literature when I was a teenager, and it benefits from that. I know there are more books in the series, but I can tell each will be its own story expanding on the world already created. Marchetta does justice to her characters by allowing them to go full circle without interruption and, because of that, it's so much more enjoyable to read.

Finnikin of the Rock was so much fun and I will be picking up the other books in the series, even if I'm not sure they follow my favourite characters. I'll still go for them for the chance of catching a glimpse or a reference, and stay because I have faith Marchetta will have another fantastic story to tell me.

The Cold is in Her Bones

Book Title: The Cold is in Her Bones

Author: Peternelle van Arsdale

Date Started: March 3rd 2019

Date Completed: March 11th 2019

Genres: Historical, Fantasy

Quality Rating: Two Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Two Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

I didn't do well with this book for a number of reasons, even though it sounded right up my street. This is inspired by Medusa? Only as far as the snakes in her hair. And just because you show women suffering doesn't make it feminist - I think that's approaching the opposite, actually.

I get that it's building up to be a commentary on female hysteria. The girls hearing things in their heads as they get older that go against everything the village says and expects of them. Of course, there's a magical realistic element in the way that snakes literally grow from their heads and whisper to them, but it's essentially about historically the oppression and punishment of women. I get that. But it's so forcefully/melodramatically done that it doesn't make its point. At times it feels like the opposite argument.

Milla is so passive and fragile, and then suddenly so stubborn and 'empowered' that the whole thing is just hard to swallow. Maybe if you had some other characters around her that were written to have different sorts of personalities, it would've balanced out more. Yes, they're all under the same oppression, but people react in different ways. I don't believe that within a generation every female of the species became quiet, docile and unassuming. Yes, there is a fantastical element being used to give creative freedom, but it's still essentially a story about a human being. And Milla wasn't there as that for me.

I got 42% through this book. I'm sure the story goes somewhere eventually but I don't care to find out where. I think it's a real shame the author/publisher wanted to go for the Young Adult market just so they could throw in some brutality because it could've been a really good and progressive kid's book (that feels like one already) if they had treated it properly.

Vengeful

Book Title: Vengeful

Author: V.E. Schwab

Series: Villains #2

Date Started: February 19th 2019

Date Completed: March 1st 2019

Genres: Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Action, Thriller

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

Vengeful was fun, but it was confused. I ended up enjoying it more from nostalgia than the actual story, which is disappointing honestly. I love Schwab's stories and writing but I haven't had the best of luck with them recently.

Yay girl power, I guess. But for all the emphasis on strong female characters, they don't really do anything in the end. The battle is still fought and won elsewhere (something I'll get to in a moment). There are definitely glimmers of pure strength from the women, moments where they each make an assertive, active choice that is a challenge for them. And while, yeah, Marcella is a badass, she's kind of a token centrepiece that is eventually pushed to the side - which is damn ironic considering her whole characterisation.

Where Vengeful lost me was when it decided not to be true to its own story. Is it Marcella's story? Because it feels like it's trying to be. You can feel the enthusiasm radiating off the words in her chapters, and she's a very interesting character. So then why is the climax not hers? Why is the arc and resolution of the whole novel separate? Because it isn't her story, really. It's still Victor's. Which is fine, but not when you steer away and confuse the narrative from it in the middle 300 pages because it's not moving yet - and especially not when you let us get attached to Marcella in those pages, only to leave her to dwindle in the actual conflict.

To me, it felt like it wanted to tell something new, but couldn't let go of old characters. I wonder if maybe not having Victor and Co. in until maybe halfway through when they actually become a part of Marcella's story would have been more compelling. (That seems to be how it's being marketed, I mean she's on the damn cover, she's the prologue of the novel, she described three times as many times as anyone else). You'd have the audience on their seats waiting for him to appear too. But that wouldn't work with the current story because it's not Marcella's story at all, it's Victor's. I think we're just misled somewhere in the middle about that.

What was nice was getting to learn about all the characters in more depth. People like Mitch, Dominic, people that we know from the first book but were only really sidekicks. Although, unfortunately, it didn't really need to be there. In fact, at the end of my edition of the book there's a short novella following Rios, and it could have been literally lifted from the first half of this book which consists almost exclusively of additional exposition. Like I said, interesting, but not a part of this story. And considering its nearly 600 pages, it really isn't necessary and convolutes the story even more.

I loved Vicious, so I'd definitely recommend everyone read it. Whether you continue on to Vengeful is your own choice, because I don't really know what to advise. I think I would've preferred to leave Vicious as a stand-alone story, but I can see other people liking the chance to see the universe expanded enough that they'll let go of its flaws.

A Wizard of Earthsea

Book Title: A Wizard of Earthsea

Author: Ursula Le Guin

Series: Earthsea Cycle #1

Date Started: February 11th 2019

Date Completed: February 19th 2019

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: 

Review:

Ursula Le Guin is the mother of modern fantasy, twin/partner/shadow only to Tolkien. And so, being a fantasy-lover, I am ashamed to say I had never read any of her work before this. My exposure had been my mother's recommendation and the Ghibli film by Goro Miyzaki. Of course, background knowledge of 60s/70s fantasy literature and a healthy appetite for mythology comes in handy, but none of which you need to enjoy what has to be one of the greatest and most underrated fantasy novels of all time.

The obvious thing to point out is the old-timey feel. Maybe the grammar and sentence structure might throw a few people off, to begin with, but I'd recommend carrying on anyway. I found it kind of nostalgic for a fantasy reader in her twenties, though I liked it. I think a great deal of the magic is its poetic and deeply atmospheric tone. The prose makes you feel like you're living with these people, hearing their dialect as if it were a far off land, but somewhere that you are travelling along with the hero himself.

We follow Sparrowhawk, a young mage who goes from being a goatherd to a wandering apprentice; calling forth a demon from the afterworld to defeating a dragon, to befriending animals; going to wizard school, to sailing a ship to... The point is, this book has everything. Like most old-fashioned epic fantasy, it works in an episodic structure akin to The Odyssey or Narnia. In what is actually a pretty small book, we are guided through this expansive world with just enough exploration to sate our curiosity, but not too much to overwhelm. It's a love letter to a fictional land as much as it is its own story.

For modern readers, I'd call it the mid-point between Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. It has the epicness of Tolkien; the vast, fathomless landscapes and cultures, driven by nature and magic. But it's the whimsy, the people, the universal relationships that you stay for. I, personally, think it's far more accessible than Middle Earth, wonderful as it may be. And reading Le Guin's foreword and afterword I can tell in the later books there are going to be some powerful women, so it's a shame these books don't get as much recognition as they probably deserve.

I wish I'd read this as a child because I would've been entirely lost inside this world. Even as an adult it sucked me in, but I remember how stories like this used to utterly consume me for days on end where I wouldn't be able to put the book down. A skill perhaps useful for reading this rather extensive collection of stories that I hope to continue soon.