Review: The Son of Porthos: Or, the Death of Aramis

The Son of Porthos: Or, the Death of Aramis by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Look this is really not the satisfactory conclusion I'd have liked but it's more Musketeer love so I'm all for it. I was satisfied the first time I read it (see original review below) but I guess I've become more demanding, and my craving for Musketeer adventures is not so easily sated as it was two years ago.

Anyhoo.

So pleased to discover this little-known Son of Porthos, Joel, who is on a quest to discover who his father was. Along the way, he's thwarted by a cunning, scheming old duke, who we all know better as Aramis. I cannot express how much it pains me that he's still scheming. It just adds insult to injury that the victim this time is the son of his BFF.

The adventure is fun and more of a spinoff than continuation of the previous books, and Joel makes his own friends but it's just not the same.

I love this for the simple fact it is part of my favourite series ever, and I think more people need to know of its existence, but you could probably read it as a standalone. Just be ready for spoilers if that's the road you take.

Ah, my musketeer heroes. I'll miss you.

Until my next re-read.

***
Original Review 10/16

Who could possibly not be entertained by the work of Dumas? This is such a simple yet satisfying conclusion to the D'Artagnan Romances. It has plenty of references to our old friends - mostly through the reflection of an aged Aramis - to keep their spirit alive but it's clearly its own story, conveying the sense that our Musketeer heroes have truly departed to make way for a new generation of heroes.
Joel, our new hero, is an admirable protagonist though somewhat lonely at times after the comraderie of the original sagas. However when he finds his own friends we easily warm to them. I found myself smiling frequently and even laughing out loud; such is the effect this saga has on me. I always feel the realness of Dumas's characters, and so I found with this novel. The writing is eloquent and creates vivid images in the mind whilst indulging the imagination. The story itself was fairly simple, and though I hoped for more references to the past I can see that this novel was stronger without them. It's certainly a tricky novel to track down but for fans of the previous installments I highly recommend getting your hands on this most fulfilling conclusion.

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Review: The Beauty

The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Um.

I don't even know how to rate this.

This is just one fkn WEIRD book okay.

Also it's two stories so that was completely unexpected.

The Beauty

The actual, titular story, which I thought was the entire novel. Super weird. Basically there's no women left because they all died from some nasty womb disease so there's just this little band of lonely men. I thought this was going to be a thought-provoking, feminist-type horror story about how hopeless men are without women but instead we get mushroom women with insatiable sexual appetites. I don't even know how to unravel all the hidden meanings in this. Straight up not smart enough for this horrific little story. I mean, I didn't hate it, but I also absolutely DID NOT GET IT.

Peace, Pipe

Actually probably preferred this story, even if it's entirely not what I signed up for. This time we've got some random in a cell who messed up an alien interaction on another planet and is now in quarantine thinking about his/her mistakes. Huh. I'm just now realising I assumed the entire time that the narrator was female but I don't recall anything indicating that. Just projecting my own gender I suppose! Anyway, this is quite an insightful commentary on language and all its nuances which I found completely fascinating. Definitely got the old wheels turning upstairs.

But then there's also that totally weird element of our protagonist talking to a pipe that might be an alien life form but might also be imagination/delirium taking liberties with noisy plumbing.

Both stories have a super-weird surface with lots of unfathomable depths of hidden meaning. It's all very confusing and if you're super smart when it comes to subtext you'll likely rate this one pretty high. Me, I'm way too dull to unravel this mess.

Weird, creepy and thought-provoking, but ultimately went waaaaaaaaaay over my head.

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Review: The Man in the Iron Mask

The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My insignificant words can hardly do justice to my love for this book, so I'll keep it short.

You can read my original review here.

If you are curious about this book because you're familiar with the title, or saw the (terrible) movie, or have read The Three Musketeers and can't be bothered with everything that comes in between, please don't bother with this book. You've hardly earned it, and as such it'll ring hollow for you.

If, however, you have loyally followed our musketeer friends over their 40 years of adventures; if you can comprehend the significance of Athos showing weakness, of Aramis's tears, of the words 'too heavy' ... read, and do justice to our friends by allowing their stories to conclude.

This is the book where four inseparable, energetic men find that time and politics have finally caught up with them. It's absolutely gut-wrenching at times to see how their stories have been influenced.

This book will live forever in my heart, as will its heroes.

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Review: Mind Behind The Crime

Mind Behind The Crime by Cheryl Critchley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I feel like this book was trying to be too many things at once and so ultimately failed at all of them.

There are three main components to it:
-The true crime stories
-The psychology of criminal acts
-How the psychology of criminal acts is relevant to each specific crime

The book opens with a long-ass introduction that discusses what cases will be included and what disorders are relevant to these cases. Then it talks about different types of murders. Then it touches on the psychological disorders behind different types of murders. So just in the introduction alone we already have a serious case of repetition. Not gonna lie, I skipped a lot of it when I realised it was being repeated (and then when it came up again in relation to each case).

Then each case is grouped under a general disorder/murder type, with an introduction that AGAIN discusses the traits of the disorder/murder.

The cases themselves are set out in a rather messy manner, and to me it didn't really seem to flow. First you get the 'character' list, then motive/short summary of the crime, then an introduction that sets the scene, then the actual crime and its fallout, followed by an overview of the murderer's background/history. Then some more about the relevant disorder and how it applies to the murderer (yet again).

But not always.

The subheadings change, the order is sometimes different, some include a LOT of extra detail and some are quite vague. I found it incredibly frustrating.

I felt like I was reading the same thing repeatedly when it came to the psychological stuff. There is some really fascinating information here but it's kind of just dumped so you have to be pretty patient to wade through it all. I found that when it related to the behaviours of the murderers it was quite interesting and easy to understand, but there was always the patronising info-dump either in the introduction or in the conclusion (or both) that seriously undermined it.

Then the cases themselves were really interesting but tainted by the personal opinions of the author(s). This bugged me so much. You'd get this nice long paragraph about the influence a personality disorder has, and how it affected the murderer, and it would really make you think about how much psychological disorders are responsible for unacceptable behaviour. But then you'd get this naive, black-and-white statement where the author basically says, 'the disorder is irrelevant because this person committed murder which makes them a horrible person. Full stop.'

I mean, I agree, there are seriously terrible people in this book, and the crimes are absolutely heinous, but you can't write a book about the influence of personality disorders and then inject your own biased opinions. That's not how science works.

I think this would have been better had it focused in one direction. For example, if it was just the true crime stories, including fleshed out characters with personality disorders. Or if it discussed how different personality disorders can have criminal implications, with reference to some true cases. I think going into this much detail for both aspects just made it a tedious read.

It was quite interesting to read about some cases that I'm actually familiar with, and I was horrified to learn some of the details that were obviously withheld when I watched the story emerge on the news. It's quite sobering to think that these crimes were committed only a few years ago in most cases, and some not too far from where I'm currently living. That fact had the potential for such a massive impact, and I think it's important to emphasise that so many of these murders came completely by surprise.

Unfortunately our society has become such that we must be constantly aware of our surroundings, be vigilant, and take serious note of suspicious behaviour. I feel like this book is trying to say, 'these are homicidal tendencies, PAY ATTENTION!' but the message is buried by all the superfluous crap.

So it wasn't a great read but it does contain some fascinating, important information and I'll keep it as a reference book for sure. Even if it's just for the fun of picking which personality disorders most suit the people I know ...

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Review: The Small Hand

The Small Hand by Susan Hill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Creepy, but average.

I mean, if I stop and think about that little hand ... *shudder* There's just something special about evil kids, even if they are ghost kids.

But there was a relative lack of creepy occurrences, and the chill factor was slightly underwhelming. I'd probably appreciate this story more as an episode of Supernatural. Get some sass into this ghost story.

It's got some lovely descriptions but it never really builds a haunting atmosphere because he's always moving. TBH I was probably more interested in his work as an antiquarian book dealer. I loved the stuff at the monastery.

It was a good, short little ghost story but nothing particularly special.

That being said, I won't be holding hands with kids any time soon ...

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Review: Two Dark Reigns

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

PHWOOOOOAAAARRRRR!!

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for the previous two books of the series.

This series honestly just keeps getting better. It's so dark and twisted now! I was not expecting such fantastically macabre things from a ya fantasy about competitive queens.

So the third book opens with a mini history lesson, which was fun. I love when we get dark pasts that affect the present. That historical thread was probably one of my favourite aspects of this novel. It made the whole story level up and created a new, intriguing dynamic. I was so frustrated for Arsinoe that it took so long to convince people she wasn't just dreaming. It should just be common knowledge that if you dream something more than once you need to accept it as the message it inevitably is.

At the end of the second book, here's where we stand:
-Mirabella, Arsinoe and Billy are on the mainland
-Jules is with the war-gifted
-Katherine is queen and possessed by innumerable dead queen spirits
-Pietryr still has the worst name in the whole book and I'll never remember how to spell it. Oh, and he's still Kat's right-hand man. Even though it's his fault she's possessed. I don't get that. *shrugs*

Arsinoe on the mainland is hilarious. She's definitely my favourite queen because she grumbles about everything, hates wearing dresses, and refuses to show affection. She's basically me. Billy is devoted to her no matter what, and it's interesting to see the interaction between his family and the exiled queens but it doesn't pack much of a punch. It's mostly just filler - a diversion before we get to the good stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed imagining the tea parties, though.

I've always loved Mira's feisty-ness but it seems paled a little here. Possibly because, on the mainland, her powers are somewhat muted. It's like she's lost a little piece of herself, and I liked how that was reflected in her behaviour. It made me a little sad, though.

Katherine is becoming more and more badass and I love it but I wish she'd embrace it more. She's still trying to Do The Right Thing but she's got these evil queens circling around inside her so things keep going awry. I kinda wish she'd just accept it and go total Evil Queen. I guess it's good that there's hope for redemption, though. *sigh*

Jules is being recruited to lead a rebellion which is a fun surprise! She's pretty tough so it's interesting to see how she approaches the suggestion and still maintains her integrity. Sort of. Camden is kinda my favourite part of Jules, though. I'm just so jealous because I want my own mountain cat to be my bff and claw my enemies to shreds when they deserve it. I love the animals in this book. I want an exotic pet.

Peitiryr of the Terrible Name is still an annoying little brown-noser who is more of a lapdog than an equal. I honestly don't know what Kat sees in him. Also if I, as a reader, am supposed to be enamoured with this guy? Honestly the only fella I'm digging in this series is Billy, and even he doesn't have quite enough pull to make me swoon. Piet- you know what, I'm just gonna call him P-Diddy- P-Diddy spends most of this book running around telling Kat what to do but backing down meekly when she objects. I just do not like that guy. Not one bit.

Did I mention the series is getting darker? I mean, there are some gruesome things, and people die and stuff. It can get messy. I LOVE that. I'm such a psycho. But I love that this is so dark and twisted and nothing is safe and I have absolutely no idea how this is going to end. Not a clue. There was less magic in this one but I feel like that aspect was just the calm before the storm, and I sense the final book is going to be one epic finale. I'm so excited for magical showdowns.

I love the way this series is written. It always takes me a few pages to get into the present tense, but once I'm there it's such an easy read. There's always something happening.

This series isn't slowing down and I'll be anxiously awaiting the fourth book! In the meantime I'll have to track down the short stories.

With massive thanks to Pan MacMillan Australia for my advanced copy!

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Unrequited

Unrequited

Fear, love, pain and lust

We’d forget them all

For a moment’s trust

Your opinion of me

So high in my eye

A lie lingers there

I just pass you by

So skewed from my view

Barely noticed by yours

Overlooked, overworked

Trying to be heard

To be seen

To be feared, felt

Loved

Faith, doubt, hope and heart

So fragile and dependent

On another’s part

Your eyes never see

A slip of the lip

The quick cover up

With unwearied wit

I won’t be ashamed

Of my pathetic rogue heart

Overlooked, overworked

Sometimes it hurts

To feel doubt

To feel faith, hope

Loved

Devotion and shame

So easily unnoticed

Through my own pain

Of feeling unloved

He’s forward; I’m awkward

Towards his advance

As an afterward

I apologise

Unloving, and unloved