A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell #1) by Deanna Raybourn

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Date Finished: January 3, 2017

I will admit to be rather skeptical coming into this book. Mostly because I have already read so many books that seem so similar. It's always in London and the main character is always strong and independent and there is of course some mystery or some issue to handle. And part of the problem is that when you have read one that is very well done, all the other kind of pale in comparison. It's not easy to make a great character and to make her seem real.

And that is one of the things Deanna Raybourn did very well. 

Part of the problem is that the rest of the book didn't quite meet up to the level of the characters. The plot is average and predictable. The mystery wasn't much of a surprise in the end. And while there was indeed danger, it never felt immediate.  If that had been all that there was in this book it would been forgettable at the best.

What really saved this book was the character. I thoroughly enjoyed Veronica and her open commentary. She is intelligent, witty and unabashedly straightforward. And while much of that does resemble other books you may have read, Veronica is a bit unique. She is very scientific and rarely ever unsettled, but more than that she is an explorer and a lepidopterist (someone who studies butterflies, and don't worry, I had no clue either) 

Stoker was a bit of a character himself and there is a lot of mystery to his past that I'm sure will come up often. The one thing that I will say is that I'm getting tired of every Victorian novel I read bringing in the Stokers in some way. So when I first heard the name Stoker I was a bit disappointed. Granted, the characters real name is different but there were hints about violence in his family background and I am just waiting for the next book when he will most assuredly reveal that his family are vampire hunters or something else to that effect. Let's hope she can spin this in an original way at least.

Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly #3) by Susan Dennard

 

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: August 16, 2016

I just didn’t have time to sit down and really read this as I would have liked so I ended up reading it little by little over a couple of days. There was a lot going on in this book but most of it was actually good. That being said, there a couple of things that frustrated me.

The first thing that frustrated me was Eleanor’s personality/relationships. In this book she spent a lot of time pushing everyone away. Usually they’re stupid and do that in the second book but come back better in the third book. In the last book Eleanor and Daniel were struggling to come to terms with her power and whether they would be together. And in this book they express their love and desire to be together, and yet they still spend most of the book pushing each other away.

Towards the end of the book things finally started to come together and Eleanor finally started to really pull herself together. Eleanor’s relationship with everyone started to improve, but that also created another small issue. As her relationships improved, that included her relationship with Oliver. There was so much hinting and vague comments that is started to seem like Oliver had fallen in love with Eleanor, which was a frustrating turn of events considering she was finally mending things with Daniel.

As we reach the climax there was a lot going on. There’s plenty of fighting and action but there is also a lot of important things that all happen very quickly and there were a lot that happened in that final battle that left me feeling unsatisfied.

Oddly enough it wasn't for the reason that most people were. Rather than how things ended with Daniel, I was frustrated with how things ended with Oliver. I understand why most people fixated on Daniel, but there was a lot of relationship building with Oliver, and not necessarily in a romantic sense. At the end when she released him they had a communion of sorts and came to understand one another and Eleanor felt so empty and lost without him. And yet, when he came back and gave up everything to help, I never felt like that relationship really reunited in a satisfying way. I don't mean that it has to be romantic, obviously she still loves Daniel, but not all love has to be romantic and there was clearly love between them and a tender relationship that I feel like kind of disappeared after he left which was very disappointing. He could never take Daniel's place, but he was dear to her as well and there should be some joy at having him back, rather than just sorrow for everything else.

Having said all that, overall is a was a good book, there were just a few things that left me wanting more.

And I Darken by Kiersten White

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Date Finished: August 7, 2016

 

I admit that upon reading the book summary, I wasn’t overly excited for this book. And then I read a review that said this was basically a female Vlad the Impaler! And suddenly I couldn’t wait to pick it up. One of my biggest complaints with most YA is the weak female leads and this promised a dark, cruel, and strong female lead.

And that is definitely what it delivered. Lada was strong and cruel and dark and she came to despise her role of a woman in a man’s world. She fights tooth and nail for any bit of power and freedom she can get. And in doing so, she ends up pushing away the people that she cares about most. Some people may complain about that aspect of her, the cruelty toward others and how she ends up basically alienating herself. But I felt that that was part of what made her feel so real as a character. She is trying to understand her place in the world and fight her way to the top, and of course in doing so she is going to push people away. It is logical that someone who closes her heart in order to protect herself will then struggle to have meaningful relationships with other people.

The one issue that I had with Lada was her relationship with Mehmed. I understand the draw and the attraction and I understand that similarities that draw them together but I have trouble have a real romance with a man who already has a harem of wives. I get that Lada means more to him than any of the other women but that doesn’t change the fact that he goes to them, that he has children with them, and that she will never be the only one for him.

The other women try to teach her how to gain power through a husband and using her body and Lada comes to the point where she has to make a decision. She has feelings for Mehmed but can she really be herself while she’s at his side. She becomes torn because he makes her feel female for the first time and she enjoys that, and yet she is unwilling to give up her own dreams.

In the end, I don’t feel the like romance could ever work out in a way that would allow Lada to truly be who she is and I feel like she set aside her own dreams because she was afraid of being alone. Because she knew that no one else could ever love her for who she is the way Mehmed does. And I agree with the decision she makes in the end.

Radu was another conundrum. I liked him as a character but at the same time I became so frustrated with how needy he was all the time. I understand that he is just as much a product of how he was raised as Lada is and that his lack of affection growing up makes him crave it, but in the end his desperation makes him harder to like. He’s smart and intelligent and he’s found a place for himself in this new kingdom, so why can’t he ever find peace. Why must he always pine after what he can’t have when there is so much more within his reach? I think I just wanted more from his as a character.

Overall, the book was a very good read. There were some interesting dynamics in the characters and their ever evolving relationships and more than anything is was dark and gritty and holds nothing back, and in the end that made it all that more real.