Blessed Isle is framed as a joint diary by Harry, a captain with his first command, and Garnet, a lieutenant, in which they recount the story of how the loss of the ship and their being stranded finally gave them the opportunity to stop hiding their love.

I'm normally a big fan of Alex Beecroft, but I felt comparatively cool about this book, and I think it was the diary format. First, it meant it was told in alternating first person perspectives, and Harry in particular has something of a florid prose style. In a way it shows Beecroft's talent in making the first person narrators of this story not sound like the third person narrators of the others, but practically, I didn't enjoy the narrative voices of this one as much. Secondly, it may be silly considering that this is a romance and obviously our heroes are going to find happiness somewhere, but the knowledge that they were writing this diary somewhere after the fact, and apparently not from jail since they make references to going outside to write, made the rest of their travails a bit less immediate.

I don't regret having read this book, but I don't love it the way I love False Colors, either.

Overall grade: B

It's Alex Beecroft week here, because I put a lot of requests in through Overdrive at my library, and I read three novellas this weekend. Also, I'm currently working my way through a massive ARC hoping I can finish it just before the release date.

It's 1752, and Robert Hughes is a lieutenant in the British Navy. He's in love with fellow lieutenant Hal Morgan, who suffers from unrequited love for Captain Hamilton. Robert decides to declare his love for Hal just when Hal, in the depths of despair, is about to confess to Robert about his love for the Captain. But Robert is known as a bit of a rogue and a clown, his university education and lack of sea experience making it hard for him to fit in, and Hal doesn't believe that Robert's feelings for him can possibly match the purity of his love for the Captain. He refuses to believe it without proof.

In the past, I've only read Alex Beecroft's full length novels. I love them, but while False Colors, for example is a wider ranging seafaring novel centered on a romance but with both heroes also having various adventures apart, this novella is much more focused as a romance. As always, there's a balance between realism and idealism. Beecroft doesn't shy away from the fact that these men are living in a time when the Royal Navy punished sodomy with death, but after Hal comes to realize that Hamilton will never return his love, we are left able to believe that he and Robert will be able to find happiness together.


Overall grade: A

This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.

In Black Moon, civilization has collapsed in the face of a worldwide insomnia epidemic. It follows a handful of people whose stories intersect here and there, most of whom are among the lucky few who can still sleep. I thought this sounded like an inventive new approach to the apocalypse, in the vein of the impending doom of The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters.

It took a few cases of the insomniacs attacking sleepers, though, before I realized what this book actually is. The first time it happened, I accepted it as the reaction of somebody who has completely lost self control, enraged with envy when she sees somebody who can still sleep when she can't. But then teenage sleeper Lila's insomniac parents test her: they pretend to sleep, and when she doesn't attack them, they know that she is still secretly sleeping. I can buy a worldwide insomnia epidemic destroying society, but it doesn't logically follow for me that the insomniacs, even unhinged, are guaranteed to attack people they see sleeping. I could accept that it happened sometimes, but if we were just talking about people who were beyond all self control, I would expect that although some might react with violence, some would be overwhelmed by despair and weep uncontrollably, some would be too catatonic for the sight to register, etc. That they all react the same way makes them seem less like humans dehumanized by duress than like creatures that are genuinely not human, or like people who are under some kind of external control. The realization that it's so guaranteed that an insomniac will attack a sleeping person that Lila's parents could use pretending to sleep as a test made me realize: this is a zombie novel.

Metaphorically, I mean. Nobody comes back from the dead. Insomnia isn't transmitted by biting. Nobody says the zed-word. But the utter mindlessness and predictability of the insomniacs after they hit the poor-syntax stage in effect makes the threat in this book approximately the same as that of a zombie story, except with less explicit gore and when the affected kill the unaffected, they don't eat their brains.

Maybe I find a mindless enemy too uninteresting, but the zombie stories that I like are the ones in which the threat comes from the unaffected humans. I like the ones where the apocalypse brings out the worst in people, like 28 Days Later or Zombie, Illinois. Or I like the ones in which sentient zombies narrate and are symbolic of various marginalized human groups, like Breathers or Zombie, Ohio. But in this insomnia epidemic, everything is strictly insomniac vs. sleeper. Most of the systems of civilization appear to have collapsed more or less by the time the book begins, although one character's storyline begins when the epidemic is just a rumor. If curfews were instituted or any civil liberties curtailed before everybody was just too delusional to keep the world running, we don't hear about it.

If I'm giving the impression that this is primarily a book about sleepers hiding from and fighting off attacks by insomniacs, I don't mean to. The main activity in all of the storylines is wandering, in search of refuge or loved ones while the men ponder their sexual and/or marital baggage.There are female point of view characters, but their thoughts seemed more focused on the basics of finding safety/finding loved ones, if possible. The men also search for and think about their loved ones, but those thoughts involve a lot more wallowing in uncertainty about their relationships or sexual prowess. I have read romance novels that spend less time discussing the state of somebody's penis. Erotic romance novels. If you are a fan of a certain kind of low key "literary" novel that is mostly about the protagonist worrying about his masculinity, then I have the apocalypse for you.

It is entirely possible that I'm just not the audience for this book. If I liked zombie stories in which the main threat was the zombies, or books that deal with male anxiety re: impotence/priapism/feeling distant from their wives, I'll allow that this book might be a wonderful new twist on my favorite thing. I also didn't care for The Road, which proves that my taste in the apocalypse might be far different from the public at large. I'd like to give this book to somebody who did like The Road to see if they like it more than I did. It certainly wasn't badly written, but going solely on my own opinion, this book is not nearly as original as the description made it appear.

Overall grade: C


Black Moon will be available March 4

Broken Homes is the fourth book in the Rivers of London series, which is my number one go-to recommendation for fans of The Dresden Files who need something new to hold them over between books. Peter Grant is a PC in London and apprentice magician. There are a lot of spell-slinging detectives (private or actually on the force) in the world of urban fantasy these days. What makes this the next best thing to Harry Dresden, in my mind, is that like Harry, Peter could be described as a geek's geek. I've always thought that wizards/sorcerers/magicians/witches/take your pick were naturals to be a bit nerdy, since unlike other groups with supernatural powers like vampires or werewolves, the magic users may have natural talent but they have to study to be able to use it. Peter is a perfect example of this. His narration is peppered with Monty Python references, or notes that he resisted the urge to correct somebody on the name of a creature from Doctor Who, and the like. He's fun to spend time with, as is the cast of human, nonhuman, and questionable supporting characters.

That said, Broken Homes is not the one to start with. After an initial discovery of a murder following an odd traffic accident, one crime links to another and another through a chain of events that leads to The Faceless Man, and you're going to need the backstory in order to follow everything that's going on from there. So if you haven't read the first three books, locate The Rivers of London if you're somewhere you'd have the UK edition or Midnight Riot if you'd have the U.S. version (apparently rivers aren't exciting enough for us?) and start now.

Armed with all previous knowledge of characters and events, Broken Homes is still a twisty story that will keep you on your toes from one page to the next, and the end comes with a big twist that took me completely by surprise. I can't wait for the next book.

Overall grade: A

A Case of Possession is the second book in the A Charm of Magpies series, the first of which I reviewed here last fall.

As the book opens, Crane is being blackmailed over his relationship with Day. Crane could easily run back to China, but he won't leave Day behind. Day, meanwhile, is on a watchlist under suspicion of having turned warlock because the other justicars don't know that his sudden increase in magical power has been caused by his sexual bond with Crane. If that wasn't enough, London is being invaded by giant rats of Sumatra.

"Giant rats of Sumatra" is actually in the "product warnings" for this book. If I hadn't been awaiting the sequel to The Magpie Lord already, K.J. Charles would have had me at "giant rats of Sumatra." I love references to outside things and I love things that are mentioned but never explained, so I could only have been more excited if there was a warning for The Noodle Incident.

Generally, I love this book almost as much as I love the first one. Almost. I'll get the things that I didn't love as much out of the way first, since ultimately they're less important. First of all, in the first book I thought the time it took for Crane and Day to have sex and the various near-misses along the way made sense in the course of the story and for the characters. This book starts with them in an established relationship, so in the abstract it would make sense for there to be more sex throughout the book... but the first "sex" scene in the book is a dream sequence that takes place before we actually get our heroes into the same room, and the pacing didn't seem quite as natural. To me it felt a bit like somebody suggested that we needed to get to the sex faster, but since there wasn't a place for it to actually happen yet, Day had a dream. Secondly, Day doesn't get to sling around magic and kick butt quite as much in this book; given the emphasis on how much smaller he is than Crane, I thought it was important to the balance of power between them in the first book that above his being talented and brave, he is specifically able to throw somebody across a room using magic if he so chooses. Crane can say that Day's always in charge even if he's chained to the bed as much as he wants, but it's also true that Crane really couldn't physically overpower Day if he honestly resisted, or at least not without a serious fight, since Crane does have some ability to resist magic. The big magic showdowns in this book always include Day's other associates, so I'm not sure it's as clear just how dangerous he is in his own right this time around.

However. All of that pales next to how much I love all the things I love in this book. The story of the giant rats and the blackmail plot would be a great way to spend an afternoon even in the absence of the romance. And the tensions and anxieties in the relationship are quite believable ones; these are both men with considerable determination to protect the people who matter to them, and as a result neither are all that comfortable being taken care of. They have to find a balance of when to ask for help from each other. The big declaration of love scene is brilliant and so perfectly suited to both of them. We also get to come to know Day's associates a bit more, whom I hope we get to spend more time with in the third book, especially Esther.

I have a shelf full of ARCs I need to read and I'm debating if I can justify going back to read the short story that takes place in between The Magpie Lord and A Case of Possession next. I can't wait for bo

"Surreal Estate" is, if I remember correctly, the shortest of the Pax Arcana short stories so far, with under fifteen pages of actual text. It's really only a single scene, but it's an effective, self-contained one that pulls the reader in from the first sentence and conveys at least the basic concept of what John Charming is (not an easy concept to explain briefly) and his backstory while never detracting from the nonstop action.

Overall grade: A

This review is based on an advance copy received from the publisher through LibraryThing's early reviewer program.

It's 1385, and around London, rumors are spreading of a book that allegedly predicted the deaths of the thirteen English kings since the conquest, including the imminent demise of the reigning king, young Richard II. John Gower is asked by Chaucer to use his connections to find it. A young woman has already been killed for it, and the book has fallen into the hands of Southwark prostitutes who don't know how dangerous it is, also tying into plots overseas.
This is a fascinating, twisty literary thriller. The cover text compares it to The Name of the Rose, and while there's less philosophy to it, there's every bit as much medieval atmosphere. At first I had to consult the "cast of characters" list regularly to help keep straight the names I wasn't familiar with from history, but after a few switches back and forth between characters I got the feel of them. This is a dense but highly rewarding work that keeps revealing new layers and new mysteries all the way to the end.

Overall grade: A

A Burnable Book will be released on February 18

This review is based on an uncorrected proof received free from the publisher.

Next disclaimer: This is book two in Anne Bishop's The Others series. I didn't read the first one, Written in Red, before I picked this up at ALA Midwinter. I think I got the hang of the world well enough.

Meg Corbyn is a blood prophet living among the terra indigene, or the Others, in the Lakeside Courtyard. Blood prophets see prophecies when they are cut, and it's believed that they can only be cut so many times before they die or go insane. But the urge to speak prophecy is coming to Meg more frequently, and two drugs are beginning to spread throughout the cities leading to the deaths of both humans and Others. Meg and her friends must juggle the need to keep her safe, both from cutting more than necessary and from the man who owns the compound from which she escaped, the need to stop the violence caused by the drugs, and the need to keep the fragile peace between the humans and the Others.

What I liked about this book, and what kept me reading, was the history of the world and the relationship between the people in it. There are a lot of series in which the paranormal races like vampires and shapeshifters live in secret among the human race and some in which they are known to the human population, but there are very few in which the vampires and shapeshifters (the Others of this series) rule the humans. The different societies and even the humans with some supernatural abilities or other human subcultures interacting with each other, or trying to avoid interacting with each other as much as possible, was a fascinating exercise in worldbuilding.

However, I was less comfortable with the concept of blood prophets. A race whose only power requires slow self-destruction (assuming they are lucky enough to be able to make their own decisions about when to cut, and not held in a compound where customers can buy a cut) and that craves the euphoria of speaking prophecy makes me uneasy, especially considering that they are all women. Men can only be carriers. The emphasis on Meg's sweetness and innocence, although she seems perfectly likeable, also doesn't exactly make her come across as somebody with strength and agency aside from what she is able to do through self sacrifice.

There was also quite a bit of will-they-or-won't-they between Meg and Simon Wolfgard, the head of the Wolves, especially in the first half of the book. I'm rapidly losing my patience with will-they-or-won't-they, especially early in a series. I think I accept it in Dresden Files because 1) both major examples of it didn't come up until well into the series, when there was lots of history to explain why it wouldn't be settled quickly 2) in both instances, Harry and the woman in question have actually talked about the issue. This is the second book in a series, other people are wondering if Meg and Simon are having sex, and there are a large number of characters including Simon who can smell if somebody is feeling "lusty," and the two of them are ignoring it because of... reasons. This is a major plot thread of the first half of the book and in the second half nobody is even thinking about it, and I think that will-they-or-won't-they that moves backwards in intensity might even be worse than ordinary will-they-or-won't-they stretched out over a series unnecessarily. I'm also wondering if people who read Written in Red will be disappointed in this element, since several reviews that I read on LibraryThing for it praised the lack of romance as one of the things that they liked about it.

I liked most of the world except for the magical race to which one of the main characters belongs, and I'm not so sure about her story, either.

Overall grade: C


Murder of Crows will be available March 4

This review is based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.

A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of the Way Plants Work is allegedly the story of Ruth Kassinger's quest to turn her black thumb a little greener. It's less about botany than about the history of botany and biology more broadly, since the subject does more than occasionally stray to animal life. The result ranges from the discovery that plants can render air that kills animals and can't burn "pure" again (by replacing carbodn dioxide with oxygen, although the scientists in question hadn't identified those yet) to the creation of Kassinger's citrus cocktail tree. The more detailed scientific sections can get a bit bogged down and dry, but on the whole this is an enjoyable, rambling popular science book in the vein of Mary Roach, if not quite as funny.

Overall grade: B 


This book will be available February 25

Nick is known more as a lover than a fighter, but after one of the outside agents who is trying to track the psychotic Malcolm (recently discovered not to be dead after all) goes missing, he teams up with half demon Vanessa to find them.

Having recently read Angelic, it's clear that Kelley Armstrong has come a long way with her novellas since then. By necessity the pace is faster than a novel, but this time none of the action feel sacrifice, and although we're dealing with smaller story, for the most part it feels no less complete. The relationship between Nick and Vanessa is also given equal attention to develop without being pushed farther than seems natural with the amount of time they've had to explore it.

There's one thing I didn't care for, but it's a giant spoiler, so I'm going to leave a little space for it.




Are you ready? Spoiler in the next line of text.




Malcolm getting away feels like unnecessarily stringing us along for sequel bait at this point. When he initially reappeared in Thirteen and got away, it was clear that he was being saved for a novella, but I didn't expect hunting Malcolm to be a plot for multiple novellas. The Women of the Otherworld series never had reoccurring Big Bad before, not counting the Savannah trilogy which was a mini-series within the larger series. Old villains might pop up again but they weren't so obviously saved to fight another day at the end of one story.

All in all this was a fun, quick, action packed read.

Overall grade: B+