Review: The Return of the King

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My heart is full.

This series is just so epic, and here at the end of things that never stops being true. It's the final push, where everyone's limits are tested, and frail hope has to be enough to spur them on.

The final installment begins in the city of Minas Tirith, which is rather fitting since it is to this city the titular king returns. Minas Tirth is practically next door to the (figurative and literal) heat of Mordor so they're preparing for a bad time. But Rohan is sending reinforcements, and all the while they have the fool's hope that Frodo's quest will succeed, although his position is a little precarious after the events of the previous book.

Once again, we spend a lot of time marvelling over the detailed world Tolkien has created. It is often said that he created the story to fit the world, and that is quite apparent in the pride he takes in detailing the world so thoroughly. Mountain ranges, scrublands, cities, rivers, lakes ... even the plains and pits of Mordor itself. Everything is given a name and a visual, and it really transports you to this land. No detail of this world has gone unconsidered.

There's also the magnitude of the quest, and how much heroism is required from the whole cast of characters. Everyone gets their moment to choose whether to be brave and it drives the story. The inner turmoils and second guessing, people doubting themselves yet fighting all the same. I love it all so much. There are so many moments that made my heart soar.

It's a divided book again - books five and six (plus appendices) - with the continuation of Frodo's quest not beginning until the sixth book. This might be a tough extension of a cliffhanger for some, but the action of book five is such that it's easy to blaze through and hardly an inadequate offering. The action is plentiful with heroic thoughts and deeds throughout. It also sets up the importance of Frodo's quest as it comes to its final leg, and you can really feel that urgency as we get closer and closer to Orodruin - aka Mount Doom.

It also takes the time to finish the story properly - addressing where each character ends up, and what their future might hold, and exploring the grey areas even further with fleeing villains who have not yet ceased causing trouble. That's something I really love about this series - sure, the quest itself is fairly black-and-white, good-vs-evil stuff, but the details of the story and its characters give such depth, and nothing can be assumed.

This is an epic saga with characters who will stay with you long after you finish reading. The themes are the sort that will endure, and the story itself will continue making an impact on readers who take the time to understand it thoroughly. There is certainly a lot of material - as can be assumed by the presence of its appendices, which accounts for another 150 or so pages of this edition - but if you relish it and appreciate it for the world it represents, it truly enriches your experience of the story.

Now, for my own pleasure, allow me to detail the things I loved the most:
(view spoiler)[
-Faramir and Eowyn. Those two ... guh. My heart. I can't handle how much love I have for their union. And when Faramir asks her, 'do you not love me?' *cries* SO. BEAUTIFUL.
-Aragorn is finally the badass he's been transforming into, but he still answers to Strider. He's become this epic, powerful, lordly king, and they all bow to him, and poor Sam is like, 'who? Strider?' and Aragorn just like chuckles and takes it and this is why we love him.
-Eowyn being a total badass. Clearly I am enamoured by badasses. Eowyn finally gets her moment of glory and it's in defending her king and it totally makes my heart melt. Them being so close on the battlefield and Theoden not realising it though ... god, what a tear jerker.
-Eomer and Gimli picking between Galadriel and Arwen. I mean, I was thrown a little when it said something like, 'Eomer was amazed by how beautiful the women were,' - it was unexpected in a noble dude I've loved so fiercely, and I was ready to scoff and be like, 'pfft. MEN.' but then it was explained as the elven ladies and it made more sense. I forgive you, Eomer. They are both beautiful, you are correct.
-The relationship dynamics between Pippin, Faramir, Beregond and his son, Bergil. Beregond is an underrated hero, and his dedication to Faramir is precious and warms my heart. Then the way he accepts Pippin and considers him a friend so easily is just really sweet. Then he sends him to go hang out with his son, and the son tries to give Pippin crap, and Pippin is like, 'oh ho ho, you cheeky rascal! Can't get one over me!' and thus their friendship is solidified. And between them all is Faramir, who is to be admired and respected and loved and, YES I LOVE HIM.
-Speaking of friendships, Legolas and Gimli are a bromance for the ages.
-Prince Imrahil is a character I definitely didn't remember but he's so cool-headed, and I liked that he seemed to be sort of a calming presence. He just gets things done that need to be done; steps up when he has to but then steps back when he's no longer needed.
-Speaking of forgotten characters, Ghan-buri-ghan makes me laugh. He's great.
-The fact that Tolkien has even considered where the orcs of Mordor actually get their food etc. THE MAN IS THE KING OF WORLD-BUILDING.
-Sam being described as a fearsome elf lord, and how much pride it gives him. You are a warrior, my lad, and you go ahead and own it.
-Frodo promising Gollum that if he touches him, he'll end up in the fires of Mt Doom himself. Ah, Gollum. You really shoulda listened, buddy.
-Actually that ending, though, because it just ties together everything that Gandalf said, and that whole notion that Bilbo's one act of pity could echo so thoroughly across the ages. It's such a powerful message of compassion.
-Frodo and Sam finally being reunited with everyone in the Fields of Cormallen, after having nearly died to save the world, only to have Pippin be like, 'look, Frodo, me and Merry are serving our kings right now so you're gonna have to wait.' Ah, bless you, proud Pippin.
-Also Merry and Pippin pledging their services to their respective rulers. It really shows that they have become their own people, and I think it really strengthens their part then in the Scouring of the Shire. The pride they have in being in the service of these great lords gives them a courage and strength they didn't realise they had. Warms the heart.
-Cirdan the Shipwright himself coming to collect them. Dang, that dude must be hella old by now.

GOD THERE ARE JUST SO MANY MOMENTS TO LOVE. (hide spoiler)]

I love this series. I'm so glad I decided to re-read it. It's brought so much joy into my life.

Here ends my review for the conclusion of one of the greatest fantasy series of all time. Please read on for my review of the appendices.

Review for The Fellowship of the Ring HERE
Review for The Two Towers HERE

***

When I first started reading Appendix A, my first thought was, 'why have I never read this straight through before?' and then I got to Appendix C and was like, 'ohhh THIS is why.'

Here's the breakdown:
Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers
Appendix B:The Tale of Years
Appendix C: Family Trees
Appendix D:Shire Calendar
Appendix E:Writing and Spelling
Appendix F:The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age

It's basically all supplementary info for the trilogy, but the first two are really all you need.

*Please note: spoiler tags have been used to hide events that occurred in ROTK, but that's it. If you don't want spoilers for the appendices or any random Middle-Earth history this is your warning.

Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers (5 stars)
This one is actually a lot of fun, and has some great stories. It talks about the history a little more, and we get the story of how Aragorn and Arwen meet. We learn a bit more about how the races connected, about the relationship between Rohan and Gondor, and what Denethor was like before (view spoiler)[he turned into a proper psychopath he was driven mad by Sauron (hide spoiler)] the events depicted in this book. There are so many things about legends of old that are totally glossed over like it's no big deal, but I would definitely read an entire novel on it. For example, this one guy, Eldacar, is overthrown by Castamir, who turns out to be a grade A jerk. He captures Eldacar's son and has him put to death. Eldacar bides his time - which turns out to be a short ten years - then gathers this massive army from all over (because people love him and hate Castamir) and they go into battle and Eldacar slays Castamir himself as revenge for his son. This is such a BADASS story and it's told in less than a page. This is why I had so much fun with Appendix A. There are so many great tales of warriors, and they're all generally the ancestors of our hero friends from LOTR.

There are a lot of place names which gets really confusing, so I found it helpful to continually refer to the maps at the back. There's also a lot of names that come in and out of stories and it's impossible to remember them all. It's tempting to skim some of the long lists of names, but they're handy to refer to when the name crops up in a story a few pages later.

Appendix B: The Tale of Years (5 stars)
This is great because it's a more chronological approach to a lot of the stories we've just learned, as well as a lengthy timeline for the entire LOTR trilogy. It helps to highlight the important events that occurred prior to LOTR, and gives a greater understanding of what was going on all at the same time.

Appendix C: Family Trees (N/A)
The (hobbit) family trees were just a bit of fun. It details the ancestory of our four hero hobbits and their subsequent unions. I basically skimmed anything that didn't directly relate to Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry or Pippin, but one could have a lot of fun following the tree back and trying to work out the direct relationships they had to one another. (view spoiler)[My favourite part of the trees, though, was seeing who married whom, and their kids, and the kids' names. For example, Sam and Rosie had 13 children! That is a lot of kids! And a lot are familiar names. Also, I LOVE the fact that Pippin named his son Faramir, and then Faramir marries Sam's daughter Goldilocks. THAT IS TOO FREAKING CUTE. (hide spoiler)] Really, the fun part of the tree is just checking where our friends ended up.

Appendix D: Shire Calendar (2 stars)
OH GOD. The calendars were so dreary. I mean, it's a little bit fascinating with the variations of the names and days and years etc but there was so much detail here that I just did not care about. This is purely Tolkien getting wrapped up in the world he created. He did so much work to make sure his fantasy rules corresponded with real world science, which I appreciate so much but WOW, I don't think I needed to read about it.

Appendix E: Writing and Spelling (3 stars)
Same kinda deal with above - there's so much detail that I probably didn't need. But at the same time it was fun trying to understand the languages a bit more, and it really helps with pronunciation. It's fascinating, but it's a hard slog.

Appendix F: The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age (4 stars)
This one is a little easier to bear, because while it is still giving a lot of information that is hard to follow, it's often accompanied by the movement of peoples, so it gives us more story. It was a bit more fun, having the context relevant to the information.

FINAL VERDICT
The appendices aren't necessary to understanding LOTR, but it gives a lot of fun information about the world, so it's more like 'additional reading' without you having to go find the sources. Although some is a little hard to follow, it's truly fascinating, and I'd highly recommend reading at least the first two. But make sure you've read the trilogy first because the appendices assume that you have.

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Review: The Two Towers

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to say, this one drags a little more than Fellowship, but it's still a heck of a ride.

It's split clean down the middle: Book 3 deals with Aragorn and friends as they journey in pursuit of the orcs, encountering many new friends along the way, while Book 4 continues Frodo's journey towards the Cracks of Doom.

What I love most about this installment is all the new characters. Finally we learn a little more of Rohan and Gondor and the people that inhabit those lands. Eomer is one of my favourites because of his loyalty, and Faramir is such a wonderful, humble contrast to his proud brother.

The story begins to darken, as the perils become greater and the evils of Orthanc and of Mordor spread further. There's a gloom that hangs over the story now, and we begin to feel the true weight of Frodo's quest. All the same, it has its light moments here and there, and there is the promise of unseen strength as Aragorn begins to come into his own. We finally start to see him taking command of his destiny, yet always he puts his friends first. I love that. I love that, even though the Fellowship is broken, there is still this thread that binds them across the distances.

Tolkien takes a lot of time to describe everything, and this is painfully evident throughout book 4. Book 3 at least has a variety of new characters, places, plots and battles to keep things interesting and unpredictable, whereas poor old Frodo and Sam are wandering from one desolate place to the next. I've just about had my fill of Middle Earth's landscapes and flora, I'm sorry to say. Again, it is the new characters they interact with throughout their journey that keep things interesting. (None make me happier than Faramir, who is kind, noble, and appears way too briefly for my liking.)

There are plenty of heroic moments and I feel that the themes of the story are stronger now, with the battle of good vs evil becoming more vital as time passes. There are some great moments where characters debate their courage, their purpose, their decisions, and even the nature of the enemy. We get to go a little deeper, yet we never feel that we're on the wrong side. Good MUST prevail.

The character development is crucial and it's really wonderful to see how the members of the Fellowship begin to function outside of the quest.

It does tend to get a little sidetracked with describing every single detail of the surroundings, and this becomes particularly painful towards the end of the novel, but the host of new characters and the promise of epic things to come makes this still a worthy, tense, exciting read. I'm definitely still absorbing more than I did on my first two reads almost 20 years ago, and I still find my breath catching in places, fearing and cheering for these beloved characters.

A worthy continuation, and you know it's only going to get better from here.

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Review: Seven Cleopatra Hill

Seven Cleopatra Hill by Justin Holley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wow this was absolute chaos and I kinda loved it.

I mean, there is a lot going on. We're stuck in a small town in the middle of a crazy snow storm, the likes of which have not been seen for 30 years. The grand hotel is haunted by ghosts already, but now suddenly something evil is getting about town, shredding people in its wake.

I liked that the ghosts were such a side character in this. Personally I tend to prefer to think of ghosts as mostly benevolent, so their role in this book really interested me. They're a connection between the world of the living and the evil that's currently terrorising that world. There's a fair bit of curiosity about who they are and what they want, but they're not the main focus. I would have loved more about them, though!

The big bad is pretty hard to get a read on, but it seems he's known to a few of the town inhabitants, who have rituals prepared for this kind of event. Only they're all old and useless so things don't really go as planned, leaving a bunch of newcomers in a whole world of trouble. Messy, messy trouble.

The characters were a real mixed bag, but aside from the kids I didn't really take to them. First you've got school teacher, James, and his sex-crazed wife, Vic, who are in town for Vic's romance convention. James is such a classic school teacher dude throughout, which I really appreciated, although he and Vic both flit between cowardly and brave, which was a little jarring. More on that later.

Robbie is the local cop, fairly new to the role, and he has a really tough time believing this is all the work of a mythical monster. If he can't shoot it, it doesn't exist. I did like that about him but he sure did take a lot of frustrating convincing, considering how many people were being slaughtered in unusual ways.

Angela is also a cop and unfortunately something about her just grated. I think because she was so fair-weather. She's recently been through a trauma and it colours her character so completely at the start but then suddenly a new relationship takes front and centre and her life becomes all about that? It was a bit too harsh of a transition for me to properly be on board with it. Aside from that, though, I liked her bravery and ingenuity, and her willingness to listen to people who had useful things to say.

The real stars here are Miles and Janey who have seen some crazy stuff in their meagre years and ain't afraid of no ghosts. They're kids with a wealth of knowledge on all things supernatural and bizarre, and they handle the chaos better than all of the adults combined. Janey has an unfortunate potty mouth, and I personally would have preferred something more mild than the c-bomb, but that's just my own aversion to vulgarity. Janey is the conduit and Miles is the action hero and together they make this story a lot of fun. It also helps ease the tension when things seem to be getting a little too serious because Miles says whatever he's thinking, and he and I apparently think alike.

The story jumps between James and Co at the hotel, and Angela and Co out about town. It gives us a nice contrast between action and history lessons, although this did feel a little messy at times. I did feel there were a lot of moments that were over-told, leaving me a bit detached from it all, but that certainly wasn't the case the whole way through as there were some passages that I really loved. I guess a good example would be the snow - it was constantly mentioned, but I often forgot that permeating cold because the snow itself seemed to bother the characters more than the cold. Living in Australia, I don't have any actual experience with snow storms so I don't think I got to fully appreciate its presence in this story.

There were also times were I felt the action stalled because the author felt the need to defend what he'd written. For example, during the chaos James asks a question then is proud of himself for still being able to ask important questions in the face of danger. I wonder if maybe these thoughts could have somehow been transferred into character development, so that we know how he feels without him having to consider it for us? There's also the constant shifting between bravery and cowardice for both James and Vic, which just got confusing after a while. They take turns in supporting one another, but the constant changing is jarring and after too much repetition becomes a little unbelievable. James is a little whipped at times, and Vic is constantly talking about sex, but then they switch and Vic is scared and James is the solid, dependable man, which is all well and good but it just makes it hard to properly understand these characters. I think maybe they needed to be developed a little more before all the chaos started. Again, I feel that a lot was justified in thoughts instead of by their character. If that makes sense. *nervous laugh*

Overall it was an entertaining story, but I think the characters were undeveloped in favour of grisly action. I do enjoy a bit of grisly action so that wasn't a deal breaker for me, but it did leave me a little detached from a story that otherwise sucked me right in. I think we needed a little more scene-setting and character-building prior to the storm coming in so that we could fully appreciate these people and their trials. Also more similes and feeling to help communicate the atmosphere a little better.

All the same it was a fun, chaotic ride that I thoroughly enjoyed.

With thanks to HA and the author for this group read, it was a fun time!

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Review: The Mazarinette and the Musketeer

The Mazarinette and the Musketeer by Heather Rose Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not bad for a freebie!

This was a cute lil story with strong musketeer vibes so I'm all for that. Throw in a d'Artagnan reference and I'm happy. :)

It's weird, though, because I love musketeer adventures, and I love feminism, but the blend here did throw me off a little. The feminism felt a little heavy handed. Buuuut I do have a strange loyalty to Dumas's musketeers. Julie is cute and all, but she's no d'Artagnan.

Anyhoo!

It's a fun little adventure, short and succinct, featuring women mostly dressed as men. I mean it was a bit weirdly coincidental for me that these women all had the same idea and also all enjoyed bisexuality but the historical notes suggest this stuff did actually happen. An these ladies actually existed. So that was interesting. The real Julie sounds like she lived a crazy life and I would definitely be down to read that story!

It flows easily and is a clear cut adventure with fun characters. It was a little too feminist for my tastes because it has three women talking about the unfair differences in treatment between the sexes, but it's a solid point so you can't really begrudge it. It just needed less preaching and more ass-kicking.

Definitely not in the ballpark of Dumas, but a fun story with fairly loyal vibes. A quick and enjoyable read. Thanks Andrea for the recommendation!


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Review: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm so thankful for these books.

Many, many years ago, teenage me thought Lord of the Rings was somehow related to a flea circus. Where did that thought even come from? Honestly my mind works in mysterious ways. Either way, it meant this book held zero interest for me.

Then, mid-2001, I saw a preview for the first film and it looked right up my alley. Of course, being the loyal book nerd I am, I vowed to read at least The Fellowship of the Ring before seeing the film.

So it was that I first read this book, and began a lifelong love affair with the series. I read it a second time before the second film was released, a year later.

I remember loving the book but, having seen the film too many times to count, events were beginning to blur in my mind. I remembered the book as dense, full of words I didn't understand and long explanations about things I didn't really care about. I remembered everything up til Rivendell being something of a chore to get through.

It's a good example of why it doesn't hurt to re-read books, particularly if decades have passed.

This third read has been such an incredibly enjoyable experience. Having become a little obsessed since those early years, I relished all the little details this time around and got so much pleasure out of being fully immersed in this world. Tolkien had a gift of painting detailed pictures with only a few words, and it draws you into the world completely. There's never too much revealed about what any one person is thinking, and yet we learn their characters so completely. They are developed brilliantly and each has their own journey.

It's certainly a darker sort of story, with this cloud of evil constantly hanging over them all, but I think that's what makes the relationship between the characters so strong. There are some really beautiful moments when they turn to one another, or even when they annoy each other but stick together all the same. The relationship between Gandalf and Pippin is particularly priceless. Sam is basically Frodo's servant at the beginning of the book, but becomes his most trusted and loyal friend. Boromir is proud of his ability to protect others, and Aragorn is a reluctant leader who leads well all the same.

The book is divided into two, and the first is certainly not nearly as action-packed as the second. There is a lot of travelling in much the same vein - they walk, they rest, they eat, they sleep, they set out again - but there is also a lot of world-building, and telling of the history of the rings. The songs and poems can get a little tiresome but they're also an efficient way to touch on histories relevant to the story, so I had a lot more tolerance for them this time around.

The second book is one adventure after another, as the Fellowship makes their way south through perilous terrain. It's impossible to predict and there is always more information to latch onto. There is also just a lot of fun to be had in learning about these characters and watching them interact.

So much about this story is epic, and the world is rich with detail. At the same time, Tolkien really did work magic in packing so much lore and action and adventure into a nice, tidy size. He doesn't waste time with pages of character musings - he just tells the story, with the passion of someone fully immersed in this world.

I love everything about it, and I'm glad I felt the urge to re-read it because I got so much more out of it than I did in my teens. Sure, there are some things due to its age that may rub people the wrong way in this PC age - not enough women, Sam being a slave, all of the characters being white, etc. - but if you just relax into the story none of that stuff matters. It's just an epic adventure.

It also gives me such great respect for what PJ did with the films, and how he managed to be so faithful to the parts of the story that really mattered. The adaptation of this book to film is a work of genius. Both mediums are epic and brilliant in their own right and I will never stop loving them both equally.

Tolkien created an entire world, with detailed maps, races, and history. This book begins the expression of that, and the detail is what makes this story so powerful and enduring. It has timeless themes that can be interpreted by successive generations.

It's a classic, and one that only gets better with each read. It absolutely changed my world, and for that I will never stop being thankful.

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Review: Force of Nature

Force of Nature by Jane Harper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Certainly not as strong as her other offerings, but an intriguing enough mystery I suppose.

I honestly thought I would like this more because the dense bush of a mountain range sounded a far more interesting setting to me than the dull dry drought of the other two Harper books I've read. But this fell a little flat sadly.

Plot: With a very thin excuse, Falk and his new partner, Carmen, are helping assist in a missing persons case. Alice went missing over the course of a four day team-building adventure in the bush and the longer they take to find her, the more they worry about finding her alive.

The link tying Falk and Carmen to this case is pretty stretched. They work in money crimes and Alice has some info they need, so they're invited to help out. Why they do more detecting than the detective actually on the case is beyond me.

We flit back and forth between the present investigation and the four days of the hike's events. Unfortunately this felt more gimmicky than clever - there are a lot of secrets that the group aren't telling the cops until after we read the relevant scene, but reading the scene makes you wonder why they bothered to hide things in the first place. It frustrated me that the explanations were so weak and pathetic, and that there really was no reasonable explanations for the behaviours of anyone in the group.

There was nothing particularly exciting in the events, either, so when they come to light there's no gasping, or gaping, or hand over mouth kind of reaction. It's more like, '...oh. Okay then.' Also super disappointed that despite the team being in the bush for four days there's virtually no sign of wildlife? Harper does a great job of setting the scene and making us feel that through-to-the-bone coldness, but I feel like the lack of animals was a huge oversight. One snake relevant to the plot does not do justice to Australian wildlife.

I'm also just not a huge fan of Falk, and none of the other characters were particularly enjoyable. Falk seems like an old, doddery kind of fella and the awkward, barely-there sexual tension between him and Carmen was cheap and pointless. The ladies from the hike are all pretty whiny and selfish, and it took me way too long to figure out who was who, and what each of their vices were. I just cared nothing for them. Add in the guilty bad parenting with another strained link back to our detective and I've almost entirely lost interest.

The mystery itself doesn't drive the story particularly fast, either - Alice is missing. Where could she be? And how does her disappearance relate to the two words Falk could make out from her voicemail - '... hurt her'? I mean that voicemail clue at the start of the novel was so fkn terrible. It was clearly part of a longer sentence so why he was so 'troubled' by it is beyond me. Repeating it throughout the entire novel as something ominous seemed completely pointless.

So yeah, I guess that's my biggest complaint with this book: so much of it was pointless. There's no real drive or fear or thrill, there's no action, no adventure, no token kangaroo or wombat even to spice things up. She does write atmosphere quite well but there just wasn't much of a thrilling story to keep this one alive as much as I wanted.

An enjoyable setting and an intriguing setup, but ultimately tainted by a mediocre story.

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Dymocks 2020 Challenge Highlights

So we've been at it for four months so far.

With 26 books to read in total, we should be into our 10th read for the challenge. How are you tracking?

Here's what I've read so far:

1.  The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury (About books) Review Here (3 stars)
2. Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina (AA) (Indigenous Author) Review Here (3 stars)
3. One Last Child by Anni Taylor (AA) (Mystery/Thriller) Review Here (4 stars)
4. A Sceptic's Search for Meaning by Mike Willesee (AA) (Memoir) Review Here (5 stars)
5. Weapon by Lynette Noni (AA) (Read in a day) Review Here (4 stars)
6. Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA) (Award winner) Review Here (4 stars)
7. Challenge Accepted by Celeste Barber (AA) (Makes me laugh) Review Here (4 stars)
8. You by Caroline Kepnes (Adapted to film/TV series) Review Here (4 stars)
9. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas (Dymocks 'Book of the Month' for March) Review Here (4 stars)
10. Josephine's Garden by Stephanie Parkyn (AA) (Featuring favourite country, France) Review Here (3 stars)
11. Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte (AA) (Australian Author) Review Here (2 stars)
12. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (From Top 101) Review Here (2 stars)

So tracking just a little ahead of schedule!

I've probably read a few books that match some of the other prompts but I wanted to stay true to my list with this one, since that's the whole point of a challenge! This lot has been a mixed bag so far - some I expected to love ended up disappointing, and others I expected not to like so much blew me away.

Highlights: A Sceptic's Search for Meaning has been my only 5-star read so far, and it was completely unexpected. I didn't expect this one to move me as much as it did! It was such a beautiful story of faith, and I really enjoyed his story.

I also found myself thoroughly enjoying Gemina, which was a relief since the first book in the series disappointed me a little.This one came on strong with all of my favourite things, so it was a nice easy read. It was amongst a run of solid 4-star reads so that was a good time for me!

Unfortunately, the last few have been books I expected more from. Four Dead Queens scrimped a little too much on the world-building for my tastes and ended up being rather dull, and The Cruel Prince was dark and disturbing in all the wrong places. 

I've got some great reads coming up that I'm really looking forward to, but since I'm near the halfway mark I think it's time to treat myself with re-reading my favourite book. So The Three Musketeers is up next!

I've also been working on Mao's Last Dancer rather slowly, since it's quite a dense book with a lot of politics and poverty - two of my least favourite things to read about. I'm determined to get through it though! 

Here's the list of what I have left:

1. Kid's Top 51: Withering by Sea by Judith Rossell (AA)
2. Re-read favourite book of all time: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
3. Friend's recommendation: Mao's Last Dancer by Cunxin Li (AA)
4. From TBR pile: North Star Guide Me Home by Jo Spurrier (AA)
5. Outside usual genre: Entranced by Nora Roberts
6. Short stories: Saga Land by Richard Fidler & Kari Gislason (AA)
7. Self Help/Motivation: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
8. Fairytale/Fable adaptation: Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth (AA)
9. Book 1 in Fantasy series: Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
10. Teaches something new: The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
11. Red cover: Cherry Pie by Leigh Redhead (AA)
12. Colour in title: Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
13. Published this year: Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA)
14. Said I've read but haven't: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

On we go! Happy reading!

Review: The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My god this is dark.

It's like a mashup of all the darkest Grimm's Fairytales with a garnish of more darkness. Yikes.

It's a little hard to summarise the plot for this one because it rambles all over the place, but basically it involves mortal girl, Jude, wanting to be acknowledged by the jerk fae she lives amongst. She is skilled with a blade and wants to be recognised for it and serve at court. I think that was the idea, anyway.

However the fae are absolute monsters so they bully everyone for the heck of it. The way they treat others is despicable and some of the bullying from Cardan and his gang of cronies had me feeling sick. This is not a happy fairytale. Disney wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot pole. I wasn't even sure I wanted to finish it myself.

It was both good and bad that I never really knew what the heck was going on. I mean this story is all over the place and it feels scattered and clunky. But that also made it unpredictable, so that was fun. At the same time, though, I feel like most of the big reveals were obvious a mile away. Here are the things I pegged early on: (view spoiler)[Dain was going to be a d*ck to work for, Locke was Taryn's secret lover, the kid lived, most of the royals would wind up dead, Jude was going to eventually ingest poison which would be inconsequential because of her building tolerance, Cardan was going to end up king ... (hide spoiler)] I mean none of that stuff came as a surprise to me.

It just felt like it went on a lot about insignificant stuff, and there wasn't really a point to the story for a good half of the book, except to detail how despicable the behaviour of the fae was. The bullying is really sickening and I hated reading it, and that made it problematic.

Here we come to it: my biggest issue with this book. Of course, it's kind of a spoiler.

(view spoiler)[So much of the first half of this book is about what a jerk Cardan is; how he threatens to kill Jude and her sister, throws dirt all over their food, making it inedible, allows Jude to be utterly humiliated, and even ripping the wing off some random kid just because he didn't bow to Cardan. He is an absolute D*CK. But then we find out he's been mistreated by his older brother so, oh, that explains why he's a jerk, and then by the end we're supposed to be okay with the flirting between Cardan and Jude? But even though they both like each other they are disgusted and ashamed of liking each other??! And Jude KISSES HIM TO HUMILIATE HIM?! I mean where do I even start with how messed up that is?? (hide spoiler)]

The non-spoiler version is basically this book suffers from what seems to be becoming a disturbing trend - it wants to make bullying sexy. Like, there are sexy bad boys but then there are just psycho bad boys who literally do evil things. Jude should be running for the hills but instead she's all gung-ho for plotting and violence so naturally she ends up in the middle of everything.

I gotta be honest - I don't think I liked Jude at all. Probably the only character I liked was Vivi. The rest are all dirtbags and Jude is the worst. She's hotheaded but also gullible and she causes all this trouble but then seems surprised when there are consequences? It tries to make her a tomboy, knight-saviour-wannabe, but instead she's meddlesome and arrogant? Why would I like that?!

I mean my feelings are all over the place because this story is all over the place.

There also seemed to be some inconsistencies in the plot, which bothered me a lot because it felt like a weakly disguised method of making Jude more powerful instead of actually necessary to the story. This is what I'm taking about: (view spoiler)[The geas. She was going to be immune to enchantments, but she couldn't talk about the spying or show anyone the hideouts etc etc. But then she falls under the apple enchantment with some weak reasoning about how it's a different kind of enchantment, and then the geas is still in effect after Dain's death which means Jude is still immune to enchantment, but now she can freely talk about spying, and lead Cardan back to the hideout, etc? I mean you can't pick and choose based on what is more convenient to Jude. (hide spoiler)] It was such a glaring oversight and it cheapened the whole story. Plus, (view spoiler)[ are we ever gonna be concerned about that 'curse' of Valerian's? (hide spoiler)]

Guh. Lemme do a list.

Things that were okay:
-Unpredictable plot
-The dark stuff
-Plots and intrigues
-Variety of fantastical creatures
-Addictive writing

Everything I hated:
-Messy plot
-Romanticising the dark stuff
-Jude seeming to be at the middle of everything for no plausible reason
-Variety of fantastical creatures with no explanation of what they are or what any of them look like
-Plot inconsistencies
-Pretty much all of the characters SUCK
-The bullying is ridiculous and never properly called out
-Nothing to really root for

Basically, everything that was okay got crapped all over, making me hate it.

I just felt very little attachment to the story, and while I am a fan of dark and twisted it felt gimmicky here. It's got some clever insights into slavery and racism but instead of making a powerful story about that it's more concerned with Jude's quest to stick her nose into everyone's business.

*sigh*

I don't even know how to rate this. It was an addictive read, sure, and I do feel like I need to see it through now, but I'm also kind of mad at it for making such a mess of things.

Addictiveness: 4 star
Everything else: 1 star

Conclusion: 2 stars for this disaster.

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Review: Girl in the Rearview Mirror

Girl in the Rearview Mirror by Kelsey Rae Dimberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a tough one to rate because it was definitely an addictive read but it still fell a little flat for me.

The plot involves Finn, who works as a nanny for the Martins - senator's son, Philip, his wife, Marina, and their four-year-old precocious bundle of sass, Amabel. Naturally they're loaded and Finn benefits from this rich lifestyle, until a strange girl shows up making accusations that threaten to upset Finn's place in this opulent world.

Finn is not a likeable protagonist. She's got a secret past so naturally she lies about it, and she seems to have some questionable ideas of right and wrong. She sticks her nose into everything unashamedly and has no problem with lying. Personally I hate lying so she and I were never going to get along. Especially when her lies are ridiculous and pointless. So frustrating.

Philip is a sleaze, and clearly a terrible husband, and I feel like there's a lot of issues there that were never properly brought to light. He's got an interesting past, too, but it's messy and never really explained with any kind of satisfying explanation.

Amabel is a petty, lying, mean child who is rude and abrupt and spoiled and congrats to Finn for dealing with her on a daily basis. She's four but she acts way more bratty than you'd expect. I did not care for her at all.

Bryant seems perfect so you know he's definitely not, but Finn still treats him like crap when he's being a good dude which was pretty confusing. Their entire relationship confused me. Also, what was up with Guy? What was he even doing in this book?

Then you've got Iris who shows up to make trouble, and Finn seemed to constantly shift between being on Iris's side and wanting to kill her. Make up your mind, girl. Iris is a trouble-maker, but the reasons are pretty cloudy.

Honestly, these characters are just all kinds of messed up, which I guess works for a thriller because I trusted none of them. They were all jerks in their own special way but it was a little sad to not have someone I really connected to. Made me feel quite detached when all the drama started, because I didn't have an emotional stake in any of it. But if you like twisted characters that are rife with moral ambiguity, you should get a kick out of this.

This is one of those books where nothing is what you expect, but instead of it making for a tense, mind-blowing unravelling, it just feels tangled and messy with an ending that kind of fizzles out. The drama starts strong with lots of clues and red-herrings but by the time we get to the last few chapters it's way too drawn out and you just want it to be over already.

Imagine builders spend weeks digging deep so they can build solid, supportive foundations for a towering skyscraper but then when it comes time to actually build on top they decide to go with a boring, one-storey 3-bedder. This is what this story felt like to me. So much pointless history.

Still, it did keep me interested the whole time because I wanted to know what the heck was actually going on. So it's not like it was boring.

As far as thrillers go, it kept me hooked but was ultimately a disappointing conclusion. It was easy and fast but it slows down around the halfway mark then kind of fizzles into a strangely convoluted ending. I enjoyed reading it, but the story was a little too sprawling and weak.

It wasn't a total loss, though, and it was a fun way to spend a day. I enjoyed being sucked in to the point where I couldn't stop reading and I'd definitely read more from this author. Hopefully we just get better characters and a stronger story next time.

With thanks to Macmillan for an ARC

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Dymocks 2020 Challenge April Progress

Currently reading:
Mao's Last Dancer
The Cruel Prince

Progress: 11/26

• Australian Author: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte (AA) Review Here
• Indigenous Author: Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina (AA) Review Here
• From Top 101: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• Kid's Top 51: Withering by Sea by Judith Rossell (AA)
• Dymocks 'Book of the Month': House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas (March) Review Here
• Re-read favourite book of all time: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
• Friend's recommendation: Mao's Last Dancer by Cunxin Li (AA)
• Featuring favourite country (France): Josephine's Garden by Stephanie Parkyn (AA) Review Here
• From TBR pile: North Star Guide Me Home by Jo Spurrier (AA)
• Award winner: Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA) Review Here
• Mystery/Thriller: One Last Child by Anni Taylor (AA) Review Here
• Memoir: A Sceptic's Search for Meaning by Mike Willesee (AA) Review Here
• Outside usual genre: Entranced by Nora Roberts
• Short stories: Saga Land by Richard Fidler & Kari Gislason (AA)
• Self Help/Motivation: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Fairytale/Fable adaptation: Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth (AA)
• Book 1 in Fantasy series: Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
• Teaches something new: The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
• Adapted to film/TV series: You by Caroline Kepnes Review Here
• Red cover: Cherry Pie by Leigh Redhead (AA)
• Colour in title: Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
• Read in a day: Weapon by Lynette Noni (AA) Review Here
• About books: The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury Review Here
• Makes me laugh: Challenge Accepted by Celeste Barber (AA) Review Here
• Published this year: Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (AA)
• Said I've read but haven't: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Review: The King's Spy:

The King's Spy: by Andrew Swanston
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I honestly don't know how something that includes so many exciting things could be so monotonously DULL.

What the story promises: Murder, lies, betrayal, torture, secret codes and mystery, all set during one of the most exciting periods of history.

What we get: Dude is assigned code to break. Detailed explanation of code-breaking. Only this is a tough one so he goes for a walk. Then goes back to trying to break the code. Then goes for a walk. Then tries code-breaking again. Another walk. Gosh this secret is really something isn't it!

I'll be honest - I was mostly skimming from about 50 pages in and I did not miss anything.

So disappointed by this because it should have been so much more exciting than it was. But there's just no emotion to it. Thomas is this 'quiet bookseller' who hates war, but other than that it's really hard to get a clear picture of him. He says he was good-looking in his youth but then agrees that he's ugly, he's a peacekeeper who won't fkn SHUT UP about dislikes how despicable war is but he easily wallops the soldiers when it's needed. He's a master code breaker, one of the best in the country, so brilliant and amazing, but then he struggles with every single code he's charged with cracking? I mean I feel like maybe someone exaggerated a little on his resume.

Plus you've got the fact that this story suffers from a classic case of 'told' not 'shown'. Zero emotional connection because there's no feeling behind any of it. I don't know any of these characters and therefore don't really care about them. The lack of feeling was a really noticeable absence because the info we're given all seems a bit confusing and contradictory. We know Thomas hates whores because they're ugly (stand up guy, this one) and generally acts like a fussy old man, but then Jane is the most lovely creature he's ever met (and he's actually in with a chance?) but, 'oh, she's talking to that soldier I don't like so I never want to see her again.' Total petulant child. And I STILL have no solid idea of this guy. One minute he seems like a judgy grandpa and the next he's apparently Don Juan.

So Thomas is a terrible main character. And I'm not exaggerating about the code-breaking, walk, code-breaking repetition. There are also way too many lessons on code-breaking that end up being dull and hard to follow instead of intriguing. Also, lots of talk about the war and how wrong it is and how Thomas hates war and violence. Yet I learned nothing about this war, or why it was really happening, or how anyone felt about it other than Thomas couldn't decide which side he was rooting for because, EW, WAR.

It was such a terrible, poorly written story. It really does include murder, and deciphering secrets, and betrayal, and all of these things usually keep me hooked but I honestly just did not care because they just cropped up in a sentence or two at the end of one of Thomas's walks so, again, there was no emotional attachment to what was happening.

Look, the whole thing is a mess. A little like this review, if I'm honest.

Here's the summary of everything that didn't work for me:
-Poor characterisation
-Monotonous plot
-Code-breaking was dull
-Murders seemed pointless and badly explained
-No emotional attachment
-Historical setting wasted
-No mystery
-Bad guys evident/unveiled early on
-So repetitive
-Boring superfluous details
-Rubbish final explanations

Things that were actually okay:
-Simon

Then to top it all off, when the why comes out at the end it's SO. FREAKING. POINTLESS. Why does this story even exist. I want a refund for all the brain cells wasted on this.

It honestly should have been a roaring, addictive, action adventure but instead had me about as interested as I am in watching paint dry. I'm offended by it taking one of my favourite periods of history to read about and making it mind-numbingly boring.

Apparently there are more books in the series but guess who absolutely does not care at all. There are definitely better books covering this period so I'll be reading those instead.

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