Everything Else

Review of European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman

Cover

The second book of the Athena Club involves the main female characters traveling far from their London home to stop a fiendish scheme. The Athena Club consists of the daughters of Dr. Jekyll (Mary Jekyll) and Mr. Hyde (Diana Hyde). Also, the poisonous daughter of mad biologist named Beatrice, the puma woman of H. G. Wells’ Island of Dr. Moreau named Catherine, and Justine, Frankenstein’s female creation. The five members have received a note asking them to help an imprisoned girl, Lucinda Van Helsing in Vienna. And if that wasn’t enough, they are to proceed to Budapest to break up a convention of the evil Alchemical Society. This society is the one that made them all monsters through various branches of science (e.g. Moreau created Catherina from vivisecting a puma).

Mary and Justine decide to travel to Vienna to investigate, receiving help from an acquaintance of Sherlock Homes. Travels by train and carriage ensue along with several adventures for all the club members. Spies for the Alchemical Society, prison breaks, kidnappings, and more exciting action occurs throughout the book. A handful of famous characters in this genre: Abraham Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and Edward Prendick are the villains. The Athena Club meets other interesting adversaries en route.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter. The assembly of the Athena Club and the mystery that surrounded them was captivating and worthy of the term “gaslamp horror.” This time around, we have a longer novel, so long it can’t be finished if you were really traveling between London and Budapest. This book should have been exciting with a chase across Europe, multiple secret enclaves, and (in case you haven’t guessed it) vampirism. Instead the ordinary elements overwhelm the extraordinary.

European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman has its moments. The story takes great pains to make readers feel they’re in London, on the Orient Express, in Vienna, or in Budapest. The character interactions, especially those with Diana, are often funny. Each woman has her own personality, and they form an interesting group. And for the uninitiated, the previous book is summarized near the beginning.

On the other hand, the book goes on far too long. Lengthy passages describe nothing relevant to the story. And for some reason, all the heroes are flipped to villains. This reviewer has no idea why given the outcome of the story. The villains are completely flat, not even aspiring to mustache twirling. Last, the male characters in this novel are either evil, inert, or exist purely to have a monstrous gentlewoman fall in love with them. They have no personality of their own. And the owner of the residence the women lodge in in Budapest should have been a real stunner. But as far as I can tell, the reason he’s in the story is to provide money for the Athena Club.

This novel should be entitled The Strange Case of the Writer Who Fell in Love with Her Own Story and Couldn’t Stop. The book has, at its center, a good story, but it needs a development editor to pull it out. Some reviewers noted they didn’t want to continue the series after this one, and I understand why.

European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman is humorous, has delightful characters, and presents some surprising cameos. Yet, it loses its story somewhere along the way of this journey.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RN7DR3

Everything Else

Review of Visionary Investigations

Screenshot

Visionary Investigations, book 1.5 of Dead and Back Again series by C. Rae D’Arc, is a short collection of three novellas set in the world of Novel. Novel was introduced in the Haunting Romance trilogy, and Inspector Specter was the first in this new series.

Visionary Investigations details the mysteries of three private detectives: Truth Locke, Nita Incog, and Aeron Spade. The narrative is from Truth’s perspective. Rather than being adjunct tales that support the novels, the plots continue the events of the initial book. In Novel, the three detectives live in a noir-ish county, and Truth and Aeron both have magical abilities. Their talents and logic help them solve mysteries.

The first novella is Sole Searching, a Case (in Novel, Cases are capitalized as they are central to what the country does) about a murderer who overdoses their victims with cocaine and steals their shoes. Though bizarre, the situation is treated seriously by all involved and the conclusion follows Novel’s logic. This offering has the most outlandish premise and sets up an arc for Detective Locke.

The second entry is Death in the Family. The middle story concerns itself with a friend of our three main detectives being murdered. All suspicions point to an abusive husband at first, but reader beware! Do not jump to conclusions. A trespasser who hates art and another close friend play a significant part in this mystery. This novella is a slow build with a creative payoff and the closest to a classic mystery.

Last we have Undead Murder in which a member of the undead community is seemingly murdered by impossible means—impossible to kill the undead, that is. The setting is a party at an immense, gloomy mansion with a mysterious host. Outside, a vicious crowd has gathered, surrounding the building. Undead Murder is wildly conceived: a chilling setting, a “locked-room” type of murder, and a reveal about one of our detectives. This story ensures the trilogy of novellas ends on a strong note.

The characters and the setting of this collection are bursting with creativity. The method Truth uses to read her victims in the first story, the clever who-could’ve-dunnit-next pace of the second entry, and the supernatural impossible crime of the third—and best—tale are imaginatively designed. The pacing, humor, and surprises are all top-notch. If you want to read a set of novellas unlike any other, read Visionary Investigations.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FKD2KDJC

Everything Else

Review of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Cover of Addie LaRue

In 1714, young Adeline (Addie) LaRue makes a pact with a dark god to live a life greater than her destiny in a provincial French town. She gains, with her new freedom, a lack of identity. People cannot remember Addie for a long period of time, certainly if they lose sight of her for over a minute. This allows Addie to travel and thieve her way across geography and time. But it’s a lonely life having someone you’re attracted to forget you in the morning. Adjusting to her situation, she exists through history without living in it, until one day she meets someone who remembers her.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is written by author V. E. Schwab who also wrote The Darker Shade of Magic trilogy and Vicious/Vengeful duology. Both sets of novels are high marks in the realm of modern fantasy and science fiction. Ms. Schwab is talented, and any of her novels receive instant notice. A standalone like Addie is no exception.

This novel has such an inspired premise that could explore so many different themes: how women have been overlooked over time, how much identity plays a role in loneliness, the entire question of what it means to be mortal and what it means to be a god. Plot-wise, the novel could have delved into historical fiction, or leaned more to the fantastic. While all those elements exist (e.g. the rules around Addie’s freedom are a pleasure to discover, which is something at the heart of an urban fantasy), this story is mostly about how women deal with anonymity both in the past and now—a worthy theme.

Again, the premise is entertaining. Some have criticized Schwab’s style as she departs from more conventional prose to a lyrical way of relating the story. For this reviewer, it works and puts the reader in Addie’s head, allowing said reader to not only know all her strengths and foibles, but feel them as well. The historical fiction element of the story is well-researched, bringing to life such things as the French Revolution. The supporting characters serve their purpose, with two of them having more substance than the rest. Many readers will likely get lost in Schwab’s voice as they live life through Addie’s eyes.

However, in Schwab’s list of novels, this novel is my least favorite and one I will never return to. The anonymous theme supports a rather drab plot for many pages. This is a great 275 page, possibly 300 page novel, but theme and idea cannot support the 442 pages. I found the narrative dragging, not advancing to the back jacket’s description for over 100 pages. Why? Too much back story, too much description of how Addie survived and thrived through history. The interesting story line is in the present, but too little time is given to that thread and too much to the past. To make it worse, Schwab decides to delve into the past of a secondary character halfway through the book, repeating the issue at the start. So many passages could have been cut without harming the theme or plot. Addie, to me, is a clear case of an author falling in love with their material too much, and an editor allowing the author to do so to sell a larger book.

Another twist at the end between Addie and a powerful character also didn’t ring true to this reviewer. While she redeemed it, it seemed like an unnecessary plot element and uncharacteristic of Addie. For once, I was upset at her. I understand Schwab’s decision to include the plot device, but again thought it would have been a better choice to have cut it.

This book didn’t hook me at the beginning. I started enjoying it about 150 pages in, but then had to push through another backstory. But the end can make or break a plot. Schwab masterfully sets up impossible odds, proving once again how talented she is. And yes, she pulls off an ending that is both plausible and pleasurable.

I believe many will find The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue a delightful read, but between a slow start, an unnecessary backstory to a minor character, and a twist that didn’t work, I find this one hard to recommend.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084357H23

Everything Else

Review of DuMort

Cover of DuMort

DuMort, a gaslamp horror novella by Michelle Tang, is set in the fictional gothic city of Myndalla. An oppressive, creepy place where one cannot discuss the dead, and to raise them will send you to the gallows, or worse.

Miss Mina Kwan, aka Lady Mina Braithwaite, seeks out a famous occultist in Mydalla. She crashes a party to meet him and pleads with him to help her while the host is showing her the door. The occultist, the famous DuMort, demands she stay. Ghastly Alexandre DuMort with his rippling robes and dark, angular features proves he can speak to the dead. When the law arrives to imprison everyone, DuMort and Mina escape. After they get a moment to slow down, Mina describes how the ghost of her dead sister is victimizing her and hurting her when she falls asleep. DuMort agrees to help her as long as she serves as his assistant.

From there, the novella twists and turns, leading the reader through interesting encounters, attractions, and horrifying locations. Scenes of DuMort helping others, being evasive about his sick wife, or interacting with Mina crackle with tension. The last third of the book takes an unexpected narrative swing with Mina, and the ending pays off the dread mounting through the pages.

Not only are the plot and setting stunning, but Tang’s prose is morbidly beautiful. Passages pull readers in and keep them there. Her description of falling out of love (“we were once flowers, now dried into husks; we were marble busts, crumbling into dust”) reads like poetry. Or her description of one oozing package as “wet decay and liquid horrors,” provide the right amount of revulsion in so few words. The writing unfolds like a fever-filled dream with a nightmarish conclusion.

Beautiful yet grotesque, gentle yet harsh, this novel takes the reader on a riveting journey of horror and fascination. DuMort is an intriguing, attention-grabbing gaslamp horror fantasy. It evokes the dread and mystery of similar novels in the genre, but does it in a refreshing style all its own.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2MD41G7

Everything Else

Review of Atlantis Rising

Cover Atlantis Rising

Ember Weathers is a bookstore owner on the island of Devil’s Island, Maine. She dreams of adventure and escape from her small town. Nothing ever interesting happens to her. That is, except she has an invisible dragon that only she can see. At the start of the novel, a mysterious stranger appears one cold winter night and informs Ember of her legacy. She is destined to help the invisible city of Atlantis return to Earth.

Amy Cip’s Atlantis Rising may be read as a standalone or as the first in a series. The novel is equal parts adventure, fantasy, and coming-of-age story. Ember is a woman who, instead of balking at what she could become, embraces it. She meets the mysterious Shep, the dashing Hawk, and the spunky Paine as she learns more and more about the people of Atlantis and their history. She wrestles a bit with Chosen One syndrome, but in an affirming, “I’ve got this” sort of way. Ember just may be the one to break the spell that keeps Atlantis from view of the rest of the world. Or is there another person who is of equal importance?

This book is filled with a rag-tag list of archetypes: the man of mystery, the rescuer, the sleeping “princess.” This is a compliment because as the reader comes to know each one, the story grows more interesting. As each character takes the stage, usually unexpectedly, they bring a breath of fresh air to the narrative. Once readers think they have a handle on the plot of Atlantis Rising, the story twists into something different. 

The novel’s pacing is just right and engages the reader along. The writing is descriptive and humorous when the narrative calls for it. Yes, the ending could’ve benefited from a POV switch to read the comeuppance of a character or two. The novel’s lighthearted journey ends too quickly—that’s praise not a criticism. The finale has spectacular imagery and fulfills the promise of the narrative.Atlantis Rising is an thrilling, entertaining ride of a novel with sympathetic characters and unexpected twists.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D94MJW6L

Everything Else

Review of An Heir of Realms

Heather Ashle’s An Heir of Realms is the first book of the Realm Rider Series. The novel is a multi-world, multi-POV, epic fantasy of soldiers who ride dragons, protecting a world.

Cover of An Heir of Realms

A brief summary. In the main world of D’Erenelle, Rhoswen and Thane are niece and nephew to the king. They are on their way to Aethelburh to train to become Realm Riders. Realm Riders ride dragons and destroy shadow creatures called Narxon. Narxon destroy the landscape and create rifts in the sky. Realm Riders also seal the rifts with their fire.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Emmelyn is recruited, against her wishes, to a job in a nexus area known as the Exchange. The Exchange is a place that allows portal travelers to slightly modify other worlds like D’Erenelle. Portal travelers influence worlds to keep them from harm. Emmelyn learns of D’Erenelle and all the intrigue surrounding the efforts to save it. As time passes, she’s not sure the people of the Exchange are trying to save it?

This book is an epic fantasy, following the tradition of a lengthy, world-building narrative that uses magic to contemplate broad ideas. As indicated by the subtitle, An Heir of Realms is the first in a series and ends abruptly. But before it does, the reader is treated to dragon training, a dance club outside of all worlds, an evil king with a plan to save his world, and compasses that do more than give directions. The worlds are richly described, and the characters are engaging. Changing point-of-view is always a risk, but author Ashle pulls it off, allowing the reader to get into the minds of Rhoswen, Emmelyn, and a few other characters. The switches are done on chapter boundaries to orient the reader.

One element that stands out is the writing. The writing is superior to most books on the market, especially for the size. Its language, metaphors, and details are captured elegantly. The style draws the reader in an easy-going narrative that fantasy fans are bound to enjoy. If it has a fault, it provides too much technical detail at times for a magic novel. That said, the handling of creatures, in particular the dragons, feels authentic. The winged creatures have a personality all their own.

Is it a portal fantasy? Yes, but a unique one because the Earth characters don’t go to D’Erenelle but influence it from afar. Is it an epic fantasy? Yes, though there are few epic battles, instead opting to set the stage for future entries. An Heir of Realms is best as an intrigue novel wherein different factions are jostling for control. The novel shines at describing the machinations of evil and the countermeasures of good.

An Heir of Realms is a fantasy with more on its mind than simple sword fights and spells. The novel has world-ending stakes, plucky heroes in over their heads, and a set of dragons with unique personalities. What a start to the series!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9KCR954

Everything Else

Review of Straw Girl

Cover of Straw Girl

Melisandre (Melissa) Roberts is a new homeowner of a wonderful house on a decent-sized lot. Her best friend, Alexandra, sends over a handsome man, Ryan, to help her move in. Ryan is not only handy around the house, he’s friendly. In addition, Melissa’s acing her classes at college and enjoying her rides on her horse, Tori. Melissa’s life is looking up…

…until she starts to experience the haunts in her new home.

Straw Girl’s take on haunted houses has a protagonist who knows a thing or two about the preternatural because she had experience as being a member of a paranormal team. Though, her stint being on the team ends near the start of the novel. The leader “encourages” her to resign, believing her to be too skeptical. They may be right. Melissa experiences quite a bit of unusual phenomenon to get her to admit she has ghosts.

But does she live in an old Victorian mansion or a house that was abandoned years ago and flipped? No. Melissa lives in a new house with no prior owners. A new house raises eyebrows with the first paranormal group she invites out to investigate. She describes the mysterious lights on her bedroom ceiling and the footsteps on the porch with nobody there, but they find nothing unusual. The second group is more accommodating, and they find evidence, mostly in the form of whispers and other sounds. They inform Melissa that she has more than one spirit on the grounds. From there, the novel proceeds into scenes about Melissa’s life, her friends, and more investigators who both help and hinder her in her quest to eradicate the uninvited intruders.

Straw Girl is the first published novel by Brigid Barry, and the writing grips the reader and brings them into Melissa’s world. The combination of sounds and shadowy encounters make for effective sequences, perfect for those seeking horror. The terror factor is especially noticeable in two scenes with a dog Melissa is babysitting. While I had hoped for more concerning the titular character, the numerous ghosts satisfied this horror fan. Just when the reader thinks Melissa is safe, events turn dangerous. The tension builds to an exciting conclusion, one often not seen for a haunted house tale.

Straw Girl is a creepy, thrilling horror story of mysterious phantoms that will keep the reader engrossed well into the night.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DKG55MSK

Everything Else

Review of Trouble Comes in Threes

Many fairytale anthologies focus on the princesses, so it’s a welcome surprise to find a collection of stories on a fable not often represented, “The Three Little Pigs.” Ye Olde Dragon Books has produced their fifth in the series of take-a-fairytale-in-an-unusual-direction series. The short stories contained in Trouble Comes in Threes aren’t retellings but creative reinterpretations.

By my count, only three of the ten offerings are high fantasies. Of the other seven, the reader is treated to two horror tales, one urban fantasy, a dystopian science fiction piece, and three contemporary fiction. Yes, contemporary fiction—three stories that could take place in our world, not in the world of talking hogs building houses.

The stories are consistently interesting, especially if one has a wide reading range. Readers will enjoy the grimness of “Rise of the Pigs,” “Vengeance is Swine,” and “By the Light of the Moon.” Bibliophiles will encounter levity in “The Proctor and the Pigs” and “Nobody Gnomes the Troubles I’ve Seen.” Others will be amazed how the fable has been turned into hunting (“Pass the Bacon”), home restoration (“Elevated Risks”), and music (“Bringing Down the House”). And delightful high fantasy is well-represented by “True Love’s Pigs.”

One interesting fact I noticed was the pigs don’t come off as well as their original story counterparts. I wonder if this is a sign of our times, as audience members in the Disney cartoon rooted for the pigs, equating the wolf with the Great Depression. In this anthology, pigs are the antagonists in at least five of the stories. In general, the wolves (and their counterparts, the werewolves) are treated more sympathetically.

Trouble Comes in Threes collects an amazing ten stories about pigs, wolves, and houses. Whether you live in a house of straw, wood, or bricks, you should add this anthology to your library.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3BGZ2G2

Everything Else

Review of A Bloody Habit

Cover

Eleanor Bourg Nicholson’s novel, A Bloody Habit, is set in the early 1900s, directly after Bram Stoker published Dracula. In the novel, Londoners are talking about the Stoker book, and the main character, John Kemp, is currently reading it. Kemp is a lawyer and above such foolishness as vampires, but he reads it on a favor from his girlfriend. At the start of the novel, John encounters something he can’t explain away. And then, London is besieged by another vicious killer in the style of Jack the Ripper. Or is it a vampire?

Unlike other historical speculative stories, A Bloody Habit involves a large dose of spirituality into its narrative. Modern vampire stories sympathize with the bloodsucker or make the undead villain into a victim. A Bloody Habit contemplates vampires as people willing to make deals with devilish forces and become undead as a result. To make this work, the novel has a skeptic in John, and a believer in Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy who must join forces to overcome the plague invading London.

The novel is attempting to be many things at once. A Bloody Habit plays off Dracula quite well with its lawyers (Kemp/Harker), believers (Gilroy/Van Helsing), and gunmen (Inspector Harris/Quincy Morris). Parallels are established, yet the novel is unique in that the narrative is not a retelling. As a horror novel, it’s less satisfying (the same is true with Dracula, it turns out).  Events never turn as oppressive to ratchet up the suspense. As a ghoulish romp through a graveyard, the novel hits its mark. Scenes of vampire ambushes and madmen abound. Lastly, as a treatise of good versus evil, it succeeds admirably. The moral lessons don’t bog the story down, and Father Thomas Edmund is appropriately wise about the chaotic events unfolding around him.

The writing hearkens back to a past age and largely succeeds. I found myself enjoying the style of a main character not actively speaking but explaining his sentiment. This stylistic choice actually drew me closer to John than put me off. London is appropriately described, and the fate of the vampire’s victims create imaginative scenes not found in Dracula. The prose, despite its older style, flows along the page.

Overall, A Bloody Habit is an exciting read that pairs dance partners of vampires and moral lessons. If you’re tired of blood diseases and sullen vampires, you’ll enjoy this gem of a novel.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1621642062

Everything Else

Review Fear the Wolf

Stefanie Gilmour’s Fear the Wolf is the initial entry in the Alex Steward series. The novel tells the story of a woman, Alex, in her twenties at odds with her lycanthropy. Alex finds herself in a traumatic experience when her inner beast first emerges. Having no idea she was a werewolf, she manages to find her way back home where her grandmother reveals lycanthropy runs in the family. Alex, fearing her abilities, leaves home and ends up in Hopewell where she attempts to keep a low profile.

Cover

The novel starts with Alex and her two friends, Emma and Anne, having a girls’ night out. Things turn ugly when two guys start following Alex and Emma on their way to their cars. When Alex partially changes not once but twice, and once on video, she tells her story to a supportive supernatural community. But while she is making new friends, she’s starting to lose her two best ones. Anne, who doesn’t know about her dual nature, is asking hard questions. And Emma’s new boyfriend Mitch isn’t what he appears to be.

Fear the Wolf is a terrific debut novel with mystery, horror, and action. The pace hardly slows down as Alex and her new circle of friends investigate what is behind the recent attacks of supernatural creatures. The narrative has a more realistic tone than most urban fantasies, drawing the reader into a world of a powerful, underrepresented community of supernatural creatures. All the elements of an urban fantasy—an introduction into hidden societies, persecution, a sensible magic system—are here. Readers will be turning pages long into the night.

A final world about a series. A proper ending for the first entry of a series, even if some threads are left dangling, is more important to me than most reviewers. This novel wraps up its plot satisfactorily, leaving me both satisfied and awaiting the next book.

Fear the Wolf is a gripping novel of friendship, adventure, and suspense. Alex’s first foray into a broader world is an exciting read that leaves the reader wanting more.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFGFKW95