Preternatural By Peter Topside

 This was...interesting to say the least. 

Meadowsville owes all of its prosperity to one Mr. Smith. Who is Mr. Smith you ask? Well, I suppose it depends on who you ask because Mr. Smith is something straight out of your nightmares, one of the most well-documented urban legends to ever exist ensuring the town stays prosperous through the tourism Mr. Smith attracts. And if people go missing and gruesome murders are covered up well that's just the price you pay.

Vampire stories are almost always inherently Christian in that they represent the farthest away from god you can get, on multiple levels. And so it was nice to see the religious aspect brought into this book. Well, kinda. Topside takes it to a whole new, over-the-top level for me. Weapons imbued with the power of the Christian god only work if you *fear* god, with the assumption that you've done something to make you fear god in the first place. But if you don't eh you'll be fine even if you did murder a small child 😶. 

In a town where everyone is covering up murders for a paycheck everyone is gonna have some serious issues and it turns out everyone does. Mr. Smith or Blackheart, the bad guy's real name is Blackheart, Blackheart was actually the first victim of the real Mr. Smith and Blackheart is wreaking his vengeance on a town that ignored a small child in trouble. Decades after it happened, I'm not sure, to be honest, there's a mention of child Blackheart listening to a radio so anytime after 1890 and I'm assuming the 2010s. So Blackheart is messed up, really understandably messed up. The "hero" Christian is messed up after watching Blackheart kill his parents, David the other hero has an abusive alcoholic dad, and the whole freaking town is corrupt. The upside of this town that desperately needs a psychologist is that Topside does an exceptional job of describing what it's like to live with an abusive parent etc. The downside is I felt like there was just too much of it going on. After a while I didn't even really feel bad that this whole town had some serious trauma going on, it was just a shoulder shrug. 

Giant plot holes: Mr. Smith dies of old age but somehow Blackheart is a vampire. I pretty much considered not reading any more after that. Blackheart has zombie dogs it is never explained how those zombie dogs come to be although I suppose I should assume Blackheart wanted puppies so he turned some dogs. If Blackheart became a vampire because of Mr. Smith why did Blackheart age? Mr. Smith kidnapped him as a child. There are groups of "gangs" that roam at night I'm assuming to take out Blackheart but they are mostly all teenagers dressed up as superheroes (yes superheroes) or religious zealots who have turf wars. This is never explained and I'm not even sure I want it to be. 

Oh and Blackheart literally sits on rooftops playing a violin-like some creepy Fiddler on the Roof. I may actually watch Fiddler on the Roof now which is a really exceptional story about one man's argument with god. 

Overall I feel like Topside had a lot of really important stuff to say about parental abuse and sexual abuse of children and how these things can be completely ignored by the people that should be dealing with them, that the culprits get away with it while the child grows into an adult who can't have normal relationships. I also think he had a lot to say about grief and a lot to say about straying from god. And normally I'd say that a horror/fantasy book is the perfect place for all of that but I just wasn't feeling it here. It's simply too straightforward and there are simply not enough actual horror/fantasy elements going on unless you count the gore parts and that's really only a very small portion of what makes a good horror book. I've definitely decided I won't be staying in Meadowsville and Blackheart is the least of my reasons for leaving.

Death by Bubble Tea - By Jennifer Chow

 This book was definitely a slow burner, but in the end, it was a solid murder mystery with a cute little side story about the importance of family. 

Yale Yee is not having a good day, she was laid off from her job and then found out her spoiled cousin Celine was flying in from Hong Kong for an impromptu visit. The icing on the cake? Her dad decides that the girls should work together at the new Night Market in their East Village neighborhood selling snacks from Wing Fat Yale's family Dim Sun restaurant. Yale is 100% sure her say can't get much worse, that is until she literally trips over a body. Now, she and Celine are prime suspects in a murder that could ruin her father's business, that is unless they can find the killer first. 

This book moved at a snail's pace. It took a while to get to the actual murder and then it seemed to take forever to get to anywhere in the investigation and even longer for the murderer to be revealed. But it was mostly worth it because the growing friendship between Yale and Celine was as interesting to read as the rest. Sometimes more so since the two characters are so different. So while normally a slow-moving murder mystery would be a complaint from me I found I didn't much mind it. 

What I did mind was the dialogue. A lot of it was very unnatural, awkwardly, painfully, unnatural. I think part of it was to show that Yale was an awkward person but it extended to other characters like Detective Strauss, some of his lines were either unneeded or just kind of silly. Celine's weren't as bad but they were close. 

In terms of the mystery itself, we have just enough misdirection for it to be a real puzzle. I had mostly figured out who the murderer was about halfway through the book, but since a lot of people had some good motives to take out the victim I was left with just enough doubt that I wasn't 100% sure until Yale confirms it. I also really enjoyed that Chow throws in some seriously obvious clues as to who it was and everyone, Detective Strauss included overlooked them since the murderer had an alibi. 

Overall, I enjoyed it enough that I'll be picking up the next book in the series if only to see how Yale and Celine's lives progress. 

And I'd like to thank Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for the free eArc!

April Reading List and guess what there's only TWO carry overs from last month and it's ON TIME!

In March I ended up reaching an insane number of books read: 72! And to top it off I actually crossed off most of the books I wanted to read from March with just Princep's Fury and Monkey remaining. So those are obviously at the top of my list. I'm hoping to get through them and this very random list in April!

This is one of my favorite series so really it's not going to be a problem to get through it by the end of the month. 

How I did not know that Crichton had a book about pirates is beyond me, now that I do know though starting it is a priority!

It's a book about a Rabbi who solves crimes. I really don't believe you can go wrong here! It's in the middle of the series but I've been told it can be read stand-alone so fingers crossed on that level. 

I actually started this last month but decided I just wasn't in the mood for it, so I'll be working on getting this finished. 

I finally picked this one up after it sat on my TBR for the gods only know how long! Pretty far into it already and loving it! 

Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher - The Fourth Book in the series that is not the Dresden Files

 I marked off one for my March to-read list without a moment to spare!

I started reading this more than a year ago, one of my children lost my spot and in my frustration because I was more than halfway done I gave up on reading it. For far longer than I felt I had so forgive me on this review because restarting a 600+ page book just didn't sound fun, no matter how good it is. 

Tavi, now a Captain in the first Alerean Army, discovers that the Camin that invaded two years ago may have had a good reason for it. It seems the Vord have taken up residence in their home inland. Tavi knows that with this knowledge he may be able to end the war between Alerea and the Camin he's just going to have to break a few laws to do it. In the meantime, his Uncle, Amera, and the First Lord himself set off to end a rebellion, but the cost to end it may be far too high of a price to pay. 

I'm just going to start out by saying I love the characters in this series. Each and every one of them. Kitai is my absolute favorite but she doesn't rank much higher than the rest of them. I have to say though that the growth we see from Tavi over the course of the series is remarkable. He goes from this incredibly intelligent but kind of clumsy farm kid who consistently underestimates himself in the first book to a leader who has learned to trust in himself and his sharp wit completely. I'm sure I could think of another character whose growth is as stunning and brilliantly written as Tavi's is but, to be honest, I don't want to. 

As always the action is non-stop and wonderfully descriptive. There are scenes in this book (in all of the Codex Alera books) where you almost feel like you are right there in the midst of it. And in this one, the scene in particular that stands out is when Isana is watching Tavi's final battle. It was simply awesome.

One thing that I found myself enjoying particularly in this one that I may have overlooked in the previous books is that Butcher will go over the same scenes from different characters' perspectives and I love that. It really gives the reader a 360-degree view of what's going on. Not every character is going to see something in the same manner and it's nice to get all of their perspectives. And I know some authors will go and write an entire follow-up novel to do just this but Butcher really shows that a completely separate book isn't necessary if handled correctly. Which is great for my wallet. 

Luckily, since I had really planned on finishing this series a long time ago I have the remaining books already and cannot wait to finish it up! 

Also, as my FB friends know I can't miss up the opportunity to point out that this is sssoo much better than the Dresden Files. 🤣 Seriously, that's just a potshot at a few of my friends no one takes it too seriously.

Thundrhed! By Damon Wolfe - Laugh out loud until you cry funny!!

 

I scrolled past this five or six times, telling myself that the title alone guaranteed it would not be worth my time. I finally read the synopsis and decided that it would possibly be a tad bit funny. I would like to be the first to admit that I make mistakes sometimes and can be very wrong. This wasn't a tad bit funny, it was laugh-out-loud until I'm crying funny.

I'm not even sure how to describe it. It was as if Monty Python, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett all got together and decided to write rewrite Indian Jones but with Thor in place of Indiana Jones. There's an entire chapter that's basically The Hangover but with just one guy and his greatsword.

Highly recommend it if you need a good laugh.

Improper Mage by Taylor Westwood

 *Updated and edited because I wrote this on my phone yesterday before coffee and holy crap should I not write, or really do anything for that matter, before coffee. And I know that and yet I still did.*

So here's the deal. These stories are a dime a dozen; a quirky, kind of outcast girl who underestimates herself, catches the eye of a powerful and exceedingly attractive man, I've read two similar books in the last two weeks alone. And for the most part, they are all pretty good, if they weren't I don't think they'd be as popular of a genre. So if you have an ocean of the same books how do you decide which ones are exceptional? I've found that, at least for me, it is the author's unique voice that truly makes all of the difference. And that doesn't speak to technical writing ability or anything like that, that when they decided to sit down and write a book in a genre that is overpopulated they wrote one that is not just distinctly them but is important to them, that it means something and that myself as a reader can see that meaning through their words. Maybe I don't know exactly what it means to them, but I can tell through their story that it's well precious to them. Westwood nails that perfectly. 

The Kingdom of Triaedian united the three races under the Ashwood reign one thousand years ago. The Ashwoods a Vampire family reign as monarchs and underneath them are the Counsel of Mages and finally the Counsel of Shifters. And while they are united each counsel creates the rules which dictate the social fabric of each race. Within the Vampire and Shifter races, women are looked upon as equal to men. Unfortunately, for Liana Monroe a young mage, the Mages do not see women that way at all. Female mages are taught just enough magic to keep their homes, their lives wrapped around the idea of marriage and motherhood from an early age. Liana wants more and at a young age, she starts practicing magic in secret so that by the time she is old enough to marry she is one of the most powerful mages in Triaedian. She also wants to have absolutely nothing to do with marriage, she makes it clear that she would much rather become a spinster living with her father where she can tend to her gardens and practice her magic for all of her days, unfortunately for her again her quirky ways attract the notice of none other than King Damien Ashwood himself and Liana must resign herself to marriage because who can say no to the King? But as a shadowy group from the kingdom's past rises up Damien and Liana find themselves bound together in a fight to protect what they hold dear, which may just be each other more than anything else. Even a kingdom.

Triaedian operates under a "Separate but equal" mentality. While yes, the kingdom is united the races do not intermix on a social level, this resembles the Civil Rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. There isn't a law calling for segregation in Triaedia, it is motivated purely by social customs and norms, and if our own history is any example these can be far harder to break than any law on paper. Income disparity is also a very real issue in this kingdom among all of the races. The reason I point these out is that by using real-world problems Westwood has already created a bond with the characters through her world-building. We can (especially women because of the Patriarchal rule of the Mages) understand Liana intimately through the social issues she faces in her world and the steps that she takes to try to better the world on her own. 

And let's talk about Liana for a minute; because she's wonderful. She is one of the best most complete characters I've read recently. Her insecurities are understandable and even relatable if you were ever the "weird kid", hell if you still are the "weird adult". She's sweet and caring but she's erected this kind of shield because of the ridicule she's received her whole life for simply being herself which society deems as "different". Her smart-ass game is absolute perfection so for that alone I love her. Damien is great as well but kind of stereotypical of the male role in this type of book. He's super hot, he's pretty intelligent and desperately in love with Liana which I can't really blame him.

Once again I'd like to thank an author for introducing a shadowy villain who is brought to our attention in the book in several instances but since this book, in particular, isn't about them that's all we get, we've got another book coming so we can explore this evil group hell-bent on destroying the peace at a later date. We know they are bad we know they are out there and now we can look forward to book two!

Overall I really don't believe I have any complaints other than the whole vamps don't need blood thing, in this case, though no stars lost because Damien absolutely has a vampire moment towards the end of the book. I just finished a rather similar book so I wanted to take the time to really digest this one before reviewing it and make sure that I wasn't giving it five stars because I did find it to be better than the last. And I can say with certainty this is a great book that comes across as superficial on the surface but has some deep undercurrents to it.

I of course want to thank BookSirens for the free eArc of this magical book!

Revevant by Gina and Anne Marie Dicarlo - The never-ending horror

 Renee and Lou are as close as two sisters can be, after the loss of their mother when Lou was twelve they have relied on each other through everything good and bad. As adults, the girls now work together as photographers for a travel magazine along with Renee's long-time boyfriend Ian. The girls' newest assignment will take them to Romania to do a spread on the area's castles, something Renee is not looking forward to except that she gets to work with Ian. Lou, on the other hand, is excited she loves the occult, and when a passenger on their train offers her a tarot reading on the way to their first castle Lou jumps at the chance. Unfortunately, the reading casts an ominous future ahead and after stumbling upon a castle that has such a bloody past the entire village surrounding it abandoned it decades ago even Lou is beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea. 

I honestly didn't connect with much of anything in this book. Even though it was really long (or at least it felt like it was) I never really felt like I got a feel for any of the characters. I didn't really care what happened to them as long as it hurried up and happened.

The dialogue felt unnatural at times as well. There were several conversations where it just felt like no one would actually say the things the characters said in the manner that they did. And the way they talk about Lou's "incident" was really just not right. Even after Renee reveals the "incident" it's still super vague. It felt like we were back in 1980 and these are things you just don't talk about. 

The plot kinda mixes up the story of Elizabeth Bathory (Bathory isn't actually in the book just a character that resembles her), Gypsies, and Hindu beliefs and I thought that was a bit much too. Without giving to much away one of the characters is possessed by the Bathory character, that would have been enough right there. You've got a person possessed by one of the most prolific serial killers in history, the story practically writes itself. But the authors threw in all of this other fluff that was just not needed. 

Overall it was meh. It wasn't bad but it also wasn't great either. I really thought what really dragged it down was the length, cut a couple of chapters out and this would have been much better.