Daughters of the Storm (Blood and Gold, #1) by Kim Wilkins

Something is wrong with the king. His five daughters rush home from various parts of the world to try to figure out what is going on. No one likes a power vacuum.

Meanwhile, there’s problems in the marriage of one of the sisters, whose alliance with the kingdom next door helps keep war to a minimum. Also, there’s raiders who have a mysterious crow-shaped tattoo accosting people on the roads. So, there’s a lot going on.

And that doesn’t even take into account everything that is happening to the twins, the sister whose magic is awakening and the eldest, who stands to inherit the throne if her father dies.

“Bluebell wasn’t a child. She knew one day her father would die and she would take his place. She had prepared her whole life for the moment, but it had always been abstract, like a story.” pgs 17-18 ebook

The number of characters in this book may seem daunting at first, but Kim Wilkins introduces them slowly. It makes it easy to keep track of who is who.

“Her father was dying — and her father was the king of Almissia, the largest and most powerful kingdom in Thyrsland. And when he was dead… Well, what would they say? They could not caution her if she was grieving. A counselor’s first law was that compassion comes before all else.” pg 34, ebook.

That being said, the characters are rather flat. As for the sisters, we have the violent one, amorous one, magical one, religious one and promiscuous one. The “bad guys” feel rather the same too — fixated on achieving their goals at any cost, killing indiscriminately. There is very little gray area or layered meaning in this tale. (With one notable exception, but no spoilers!)

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“Now everything had been twisted out of shape, the threads of his destiny balled in a hopeless knot. It would be a measure of the kind of man he was if he could smooth things out, take charge of his future, shape the world to his will.” pg 191

Despite the simplistic characters, I would not classify this read as young adult. There’s some violent and sexual situations that younger readers may find confusing. Also, one of the characters, when she can’t think of anything else to say, just uses the f-word, which was disappointing. There are so many different ways to express frustration…

Honestly, I wanted more action in this story and better dialogue. I wanted more magic and less brooding angst. I wanted the sisters to band together and rage across the land like avenging Valkyries. I guess we don’t always get what we want.

“Rose was silent, sulking. Bluebell responded by pretending she didn’t notice. Ash lost herself in thoughts about her power, her Becoming, and how she was to try to make a future for herself.” pg 203

The description of Daughters of the Storm says this book is “Norse-like” but I felt like it was more generic fantasy. I think the author was leaning towards a tale of warriors and gods, but we never quite got there. It was more of a promise unfulfilled.

For what it is though, it is engaging. Readers who like fantasy, large casts of characters and broad story lines may enjoy this book. As an added bonus, the second entry in the series, Sisters of the Fire came out this month, so you don’t have to wait to read what happens next.

Thanks for reading!

And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

“But now, here, once and for all, I set down my tale. I am not who I was then. I said I was ignorant, and I am not wrong, though by that point I had learned that men lived upside down from us, that for them the ocean was below, the Abyss above, our gravities only meeting at the surface.” pg 15

Patrick Ness weaves a re-telling of Moby-Dick, or, the Whale from the point of view of the whales. It falls some what short of his usual magic.

I think the trouble with re-telling major stories or fairy tales, (as I’ve discussed in previous reviews, Dorothy Must Die comes to mind) is that unless the remake is extraordinary in some way, it won’t surpass the original story. It’s exciting to revisit beloved worlds or, in this case, a classic tale and upend reader’s expectations. Using the point of view of the whales is unique, but the story seems to stall there.

The original Moby Dick gives us obsession and memorable characters. Bathsheba, the young apprentice whale in this tale, is a confused mess most of the time. That doesn’t lend itself to either greatness or memorability.

Ness is at his best when he’s describing Bathsheba’s world. I wish he had gotten more into how they respected and feared the depths of the ocean, which they considered the opposite of the ‘Abyss’ in our world. I also wish he had taken readers through one of the cities constructed by the whales. He hinted at a civilization beyond the hunt, but we never quite got there.

I guess he was trying to build tension with the hunt for Toby Wick. I wanted a more layered fantasy tale.

“Maybe it takes a devil to fight a devil,” I said. “But at the end of the fight, Bathsheba,” he said, “Don’t only devils remain?” And for a moment in the ocean, there was only blackness. We were alone. Even with ourselves. And whatever devils lurked, unseen. pg 99

The artwork by Rovina Cai is beautiful and spare, utilizing very few colors or many fine details beyond shading. I think she conveys the idea that most of the story takes place underwater very well. I liked the illustrations perhaps more than I liked the story.

If you must read And the Ocean Was Our Sky, may I suggest borrowing it from your local library.

Thanks for reading!

The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, #2) by Tana French

Tana French’s second book in The Dublin Murder Squad series packs a serious punch. Cassie Maddox, a former murder squad detective, has moved to a different unit because of the stresses of the case called “Vestal Virgin” and personal difficulties with her former partner. She’s dragged back into the murder squad, when a woman’s body is found and she’s carrying identification showing her name is one of Cassie’s former undercover personas.

This is the main thing you need to know about Alexandra Madison: she never existed. Frank Mackey and I invented her, a long time ago, on a bright summer afternoon in his dusty office on Harcourt Street. pg 12, ebook.

The slain woman has a unique living situation. She rooms with four other adults in a stately manor home called Whitethorn House. The group is a tightly-knit bunch of university students who not only live together, but also spend nearly every waking moment in each other’s company.

“Her main associates,” Sam said evenly, “were a bunch of other postgrads: Daniel March, Abigail Stone, Justin Mannering and Raphael Hyland.” pg 71

None of the group had a motive for killing Alexandra, whom they called Lexie. Or did they? Or perhaps it was someone outside the group, someone who had an old reason for hating them and the house. Or maybe it was a crime of opportunity… and who was Lexie Madison anyway?

Cassie’s superiors ask her to use her physical similarity to the dead woman to infiltrate the group in an undercover operation to try to dig up some answers. Can she pull it off? And, if she does, will whoever attacked Lexie come at her again?

“This is the part I didn’t tell Sam: bad stuff happens to undercovers. A few of them get killed. Most lose friends, marriages, relationships. A couple turn feral, cross over to the other side so gradually that they never see it happening till it’s too late…” pg 62, ebook.

The tension throughout this entire book is incredible. I noticed the same thing with French’s other book, In the Woods. She really has a way of building the story up through complex layers and then delaying the big reveal to pour on the stress.

The characters are fantastic. The conversations are dances, setting up further plot points.

“She’s fine,” said Abby. “She just said so.” “I’m only asking. The police kept saying—” “Don’t poke at it.” “What?” I asked. “What did the police keep saying?” “I think,” Daniel said, calmly but finally, turning in his chair to look at Justin, “that we should leave it at that.”

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I had to suspend my disbelief at a couple points in the story. The big one was believing that Cassie looked enough like the dead woman to make the undercover part even possible. I suppose I’ve heard stories about doppelgangers, but I’ve never truly believed such a thing actually exists.

Highly recommended for readers who like their mysteries with a heaping side dish of tension.

Thanks for reading!

Cold Days (The Dresden Files #14) by Jim Butcher

I liked having Harry back on this side of the veil, but I was so-so about the rest of Cold Days, the latest entry in The Dresden Files.

Man. Being mostly dead is hard on a guy. pg 11, ebook.

Harry Dresden, wizard for hire, is now the Winter Knight after a series of misadventures and serious adventures in the past couple of books. And the position isn’t very much fun.

The winter fae are hardcore. They’re mean, full of tricks and generally happy to kill without consideration for any consequences. So you can see how poorly Harry is going to fit in.

Queen Mab, his new boss, is smart and dangerous. She also has a lot of pans in the fire that the reader isn’t necessarily aware of until later in the book. But, being that it’s the freaking Queen of the Winter Fae, maybe I should have expected more backstabby things.

“Oh, the Sidhe’s influence had been waning as the Industrial Age gathered steam,” I said. “By making sure the tales kept being told to mortal children, she made sure that she and her folk were never forgotten.” pg 28

I didn’t like Harry’s character development as much in this book. It seems like much of his choice and free will was taken away when he took up the “mantle” of the Winter Knight. I’m not sure that my feeling is fair though. How much choice did he have when he was under the thumb of the White Council? Or being manipulated by the Red Court, etc.

See, that’s the tragedy of the human condition. No one wants to be corrupted by power when they set out to get it. They have good, even noble reasons for doing whatever it is they do. They don’t want to misuse it, they don’t want to abuse it, and they don’t want to become vicious monsters. Good people, decent people, set out to take the high road, to pick up power without letting it change them or push them away from their ideals. pg 30

Harry continues to use “blast first, ask questions later” but now he’s got ammunition made out of ice in addition to fire and he isn’t afraid to use it. His new job (and prior ghost experience) have driven some major wedges between Harry and his friends. I didn’t like that we saw less of the minor characters, some of whom I’ve grown quite fond of. Bob the Skull is the one that comes to mind first, but there were others.

I’m not entirely sure his relationship with Molly is ever going to be the same. The patchwork relationship fixes Harry makes with Karrin Murphy, Butters and Thomas are questionable. Overall, I just felt sad. Sometimes, we out grow our friends or they out grow us. I wanted Harry to be best of pals with those folks forever.

Butters tore off a final piece of medical tape, stuck the end of the bandage down with it, and sighed. “Yeah. Just try not to… well, move, or jump around, or do anything active, or touch anything dirty, or otherwise do anything else that I know you’re going to do anyway in the next twenty-four hours.” pg 287

That’s not to say there aren’t moments to enjoy in this book. There’s still magic, danger and adventure. But I feel like things have certainly changed since a few books ago, and Jim Butcher hasn’t necessarily recaptured the magic he conjured when his characters were racing to prevent the death of a little girl at the hands of Red Court vampires.

Wizarding just isn’t what it used to be. Not so many years ago, I’d think it was a busy week if someone asked me to locate a lost dog or a wedding ring. It had been horribly boring. I’d had lots and lots of free time. I hadn’t been rich, but I’d gotten to buy plenty of books to read, and I’d never gone hungry. And no one had tried to kill me, or asked me to make a horrible choice. Not once.pg 457

I’m dragging my feet on picking up the next entry, Skin Game, because I read that it was the last that Butcher has finished, for now. There are plans in the works for another book, Peace Talks but it isn’t finished yet. I’ve been burned by too many science fiction/fantasy writers like George R.R. Martin or Scott Lynch to expect that the next book will be finished any time in the near future.

Butcher writes on his professional website that he’s lost his dog, gotten a divorce, moved, been delayed in the construction of his new house and gotten engaged since the publication of the last book in the Dresden Files. That’s a lot of change. I wonder if it will come through in his writing…

Maybe I’m mourning the loss of Harry Dresden before the series even ends? The ending seems to be there or at least coming towards us, on the horizon. In addition to the approaching end, I feel like the quality of writing in the books isn’t as good as it was, even a few books ago, when Butcher almost blew up the world he had created with the awfulness that went on between Harry and Molly.

Anyway, of course I will read the next book. Maybe over the holidays, which are swiftly approaching.

In conclusion, I wish Cold Days was more whimsical like the first books in the series or action-packed like some of the last. Because it seems to exist in this middling reality where Harry can’t do anything right and seems to be losing friends faster than he’s making them, all the while spinning his wheels on ice and being manipulated by others who are far more powerful and inventive than he will ever be.

Thanks for reading!

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Similar to The Alchemist, The Little Prince is a metaphorical tale that people seem to love or not.

“In the face of an overpowering mystery, you don’t dare disobey. Absurd as it seemed, a thousand miles from all inhabited regions and in danger of death, I took a scrap of paper and a pen out of my pocket.” pg 4

A pilot crashes in the desert and discovers a child wandering around who claims to be from another planet. His planet is so small that the prince can see multiple sunsets by simply moving his chair. And there’s a rose with four thorns that the prince loves. But he left this planet because of a disagreement with the rose. After a series of adventures where he meets dysfunctional adults on other planets, sees that his rose isn’t the only rose in the universe and learns about love from a fox, the prince decides he wants to go back home.

How he’s going to do that is not really clear.

So that’s the literal story.

The allegorical part has to do with how differently children perceive life than adults, what love is or means and how growing up, change or death affects love… among other things.

Here is my secret. It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” pg 63

I felt like there were layers to this story that I haven’t grasped yet. I suppose this could also be about a man contemplating his inner child. Then again, I suppose this story could be about a lot of things.

This was the first time I’ve ever read it and, to my amusement, when I checked it out from the library, my 12-year-old said she has already read it. I asked her what she thought of it and she just shrugged her shoulders. I liked it more than a simple shoulder shrug, but, in conclusion, I think there was stuff I was missing.

This book has been adapted for the screen a couple times. One of the latest was in 2015.

Thanks for reading!

In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French

“They are running into legend, into sleepover stories and nightmares parents never hear. Down the faint lost paths you would never find alone, skidding round the tumbled stone walls, they stream calls and shoelaces behind them like comet-trails.” pg 14, ebook.

Rob Ryan is a detective in the Dublin Murder Squad. He has a curious past, being the only survivor of a strange afternoon in the woods. Rob and two of his friends went into the woods, but only he emerged. His memories of that time are a blank. It may be that his subconscious prefers it that way.

“Obviously, I have always wished I could remember what happened in that wood. The very few people who know about the whole Knocknaree thing invariably suggest, sooner or later, that I should try hypnotic regression… I worry that I might come out of hypnosis with that sugar-high glaze of self-satisfied enlightenment, like a seventeen-year-old who’s just discovered Kerouac, and start proselytizing strangers in pubs.” pg 35, ebook

Fast forward twenty years, a child’s body is found in the same town, Knocknaree, where Rob lived when he was a child. Could the two cases be related?

“This is what I read in the file, the day after I made detective. I will come back to this story again and again, in any number of different ways. A poor thing, possibly, but mine own: this is the only story in the world that nobody but me will ever be able to tell.” pg 15, ebook

I loved the unfolding of both of these stories. Tana French was able to build tension through the slow reveal and she kept me guessing. Rob was the quintessential unreliable narrator and likable (for the most part). He made some bone-headed decisions that I didn’t agree with, but the reader always knew why he was making them.

Rob’s partner, Cassie, was my favorite character in the story. She’s the only woman on the Dublin Murder Squad and loyal to a fault. Cassie also has some dark secrets in her past. She and Rob complement each other perfectly.

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“When we went into work the next morning we were friends. It really as simple as that: we planted seeds without thinking, and woke up to our own private beanstalk.” pg 30, ebook

I also loved the layers of this story. There’s the relationship between Cassie and Rob, their relationship to the rest of the squad, Rob’s memories, Cassie’s backstory, the two cases, and the reactions of everyone around them.

“Now death is un-cool, old-fashioned. To my mind the defining characteristic of our era is spin, everything tailored to vanishing point by market research, brands and bands manufactured to precise specifications; we are so used to things transmuting into whatever we would like them to be that it comes as a profound outrage to encounter death, stubbornly unspinnable, only and immutably itself.” pg 57, ebook

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Recommended for readers who enjoy mysteries and not-so-scary thrillers. I’m definitely picking up the next book in this series.

For any readers who enjoy page to screen viewing, the show adaptation of this book and its sequel called “Dublin Murders” was pretty well done.

Thanks for reading!

Mary B: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice by Katherine J. Chen

Mary B is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice (before and after the original story) from Mary Bennet’s point of view. It is well written and unique… and probably will be hated by any serious “Austenites”.

Katherine Chen takes major characters and adds to their stories in ways that were difficult to swallow. In that way, it reminded me of Longbourn. And I’m not even what you would call an Austenite.

“It was therefore acknowledged, long before my younger sisters and I had any say in the matter, that beauty, goodness, and intelligence had disproportionately concentrated themselves in the two eldest and gone woefully amiss the three following; namely, that I had been touched with a plainness in appearance unrivaled throughout the whole country…” pgs 3-4

Mary Bennet is the forgotten middle child of the Bennet family. Her two older sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, are the main focus of Pride and Prejudice and her younger two sisters, Kitty and Lydia, create scandal and mayhem almost wherever they go.

Mary just wants to play piano and relax quietly with her own thoughts. She doesn’t get to do that often between her sisters and her ever-worrying mother.

“I wonder sometimes that Mary is so plain and what, in consequence, will become of her!” pg 12

Readers can empathize with her love of books and writing. But Mary has also weaponized these things, using them to keep the world that has rejected her at arm’s length, so that it cannot hurt her even more. Or so she thinks.

… the act of reading is a silent rebellion. To read in the presence of company is a most convenient excuse for not partaking in conversation. The book is a better tool than the piano in this regard. pg 21

In addition to an excuse not to mingle, Mary uses reading to escape her carefully restricted world and its expectations of beauty, wit and submissiveness.

“But there is pleasure, is there not, Mr. Collins, unrivaled by any other feeling in the world, to reach the last page of a book and know that you have lived in it, that you have stood witness to the performance of momentous deeds at the hands of extraordinary personalities?” pg 33

Most of Mary B is actually rather sad. Because of her looks and circumstances, Mary has very little say in what happens to her or what goes on around her. In small ways, she pushes back. This book has made me appreciate, as a modern woman, how much gender equality has advanced.

Not that everything is perfect. But at least I can own property now, hold a job and make decisions that affect my own life.

“So you see, dear cousin, the lesson to be learned from this is that one should never settle in life for what others may think is best and right for you. There is always the larger and more delicious fruit hanging from a higher branch, just out of your grasp, and which might easily be yours, if someone would only lend you the ladder to reach it.” pgs 66-67

Surprisingly, I found myself feeling some pity for the generally despised Mr. Collins. But the way Chen alters the fate of Mr. Darcy was not my favorite change. The ending of this book, in fact, was what lessened my enjoyment of it.

Prior to the ending, I was thinking highly of the book. It finally gives Mary Bennet a story and a moment in the limelight. I think she deserves that considering the way she was treated, or almost completely ignored, in the other story.

“The fewer Mary Bennets there are in the world, the better. They add no beauty to their surroundings and will all grow up to be ugly old maids, living on the charity of their families.” pg 71

Recommended for readers who like books that are written in the style of Jane Austen and who can also bear new major story arcs to beloved characters. They may not be so beloved after this book.

Thanks for reading!

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

“The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry” is a contemporary fictional story about a book shop owner and how he handles the unexpected twists and turns that life has in store for him. If you are a reader who enjoys mulling over and applying what you read to your real life, you may really like this book. The main characters are all about that — learning lessons from books.

“Her mother likes to say that novels have ruined Amelia for real men. This observation insults Amelia because it implies that she only reads books with classically romantic heroes. She does not mind the occasional novel with a romantic hero but her reading tastes are far more varied than that.” pg 12, ebook.

There’s some romance, some mystery, some heart break in this tale. There’s also fantastic book analysis of classic works written by the character A.J. Fikry that add dimension to the story as it unfolds. It is through these mini book reviews (and his actions) that the reader gets to know A.J., who is otherwise a rather introverted and sometimes curmudgeonly character.

“Despite the fact that he loves books and owns a bookstore, A.J. does not particularly care for writers. He finds them to be unkempt, narcissistic, silly and generally unpleasant people. He tries to avoid meeting the ones who’ve written books he loves for fear that they will ruin their books for him.” pg 39, ebook.

But he’s not unpleasant to the extent that I didn’t like him. In fact, A.J. was my favorite character. I felt like he lashed out at people or kept them at a distance because he was hurting. I think at one point or another in our lives, we’ve all been there.

“So it’s basically like a book party.” “Yeah, sure.” Lambiase has never been to a book party. “I hate book parties,” A.J. says. “But you run the bookstore,” Lambiase says. “It’s a problem,” A.J. admits. pgs 74-75, ebook

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There’s plenty of relate-able moments in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. The characters feel real with all of their imperfections and dreams.

The thing is, though, sometimes people tell you you’re on one kind of trip, but it turns out to be another kind of trip, you know what I mean? I just want to know what kind of trip I’m on. Are we going to see topiaries, or are we going to see something else? Maybe that lady friend of yours, say? pg 118, ebook.

The trip this story takes you on is unexpected, very much like life. Who know where we’re all headed and what we’re going to do along the way. But, at the very least, I hope we all get to read as much enjoyable fiction as we want to before the trip ends.

Recommended for readers who enjoy contemporary fiction and book clubs.

Have you heard they’re making this into a film?

Thanks for reading!

Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13) by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden, wizard for hire, is dead. And he still has to save the world by discovering his killer. How is that fair?

Maybe I was dead, but I was sure as hell not ready to go. I had to make sure the people who’d helped me take on the Red King were taken care of. pgs 32-33

He quickly discovers that magic and dead people don’t mix. Now, instead of taking on god-like enemies with the backing of the Winter Queen, he can’t even pass through thresholds without permission.

It’s frustrating for both Harry and the reader. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed reading about Harry blowing stuff up until he couldn’t do it anymore.

One of the things a lot of people don’t understand about magic is that the rules of how it works aren’t hard-and-fast; they’re fluid, changing with time, with the seasons, with location, and with the intent of a practitioner. pg 179. And if you’re alive or dead.

We spend a lot of time in Harry’s mind and memory in Ghost Story and less time in action. Frankly, it’s not as much fun as the other books in the series.

“You have entered a new world. Your old life is no more. You cannot be a part of it any longer. The wide universe stretches before you.” pg 185

I also didn’t realize how much I enjoyed the give-and-take of the characters in this series until the main character couldn’t interact with most of them anymore.

Ghosts who weren’t supermighty manifested all the time. It wasn’t a question of raw power, and it never had been — it was a matter of desire. You just had to be crazy enough to make it happen.” pg 550

That being said, the ending of this book was strangely satisfying. And I cried at the part with Mouse. Overall, I’m glad I read it, but I’m not of the opinion that it was the best in the series.

I would have already started on the next book but there’s a wait list for the digital copy. Library user problems, sigh.

Thanks for reading!

The Help Desk Book Blog

Sharing reviews and deep thoughts about life.

Tag: Fiction

Daughters of the Storm (Blood and Gold, #1) by Kim Wilkins

And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, #2) by Tana French

Cold Days (The Dresden Files #14) by Jim Butcher

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French

Mary B: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice by Katherine J. Chen

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13) by Jim Butcher

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