tl;dr A cozy romantasy that spotlights two second chance romances. World building flounders a bit.
Thoughts Dang. Gonna have to file this one under "not tl;dr A cozy romantasy that spotlights two second chance romances. World building flounders a bit.
Thoughts Dang. Gonna have to file this one under "not for me." The world is tongue-in-cheek modern: there are cell phones, video calls, web boards, streaming TV, Uber, and fandom conventions, all painted over with the thinnest veneer of magic explanation. (Other reviewers liken it to Shrek.) And while I don't mind a playful nod, it mostly made me wonder why there weren't magical analogs for other modern things. In a world with internet, why is everyone still fighting with swords? Why are they still riding horses and camping in a forest instead of using a magical flying "not airplane?" Why can't they track down the villain after ten years? Shouldn't they also have magical satellite imaging or CC TV by now? Am I overthinking this? Of course I am! But I prefer world building in a fantasy story to hold a certain amount of consistency, and no amount of coy winking at the camera about fantasy Amazon deliveries is going to make me stop wondering why the queen didn't kit out our heroes with a fantasy GPS tracker they could stick on the bad guy. I'm well aware I'm the curmudgeon here, and I am sorry. But the flippant approach to the world sure did make it feel like the part about the world ending doesn't matter that much. Fight scenes feel perfunctory compared to the time and energy spent on lovemaking scenes. One of the biggest wins happens off screen and is summarized in a single sentence later. And perhaps that's the point. Sure the world may end tomorrow, but what about the relationships? What about the people? What about the LOVE? We've got two second chance pairings here, with plenty of history, drama and a quick hit of spice. They're all likable characters, so your enjoyment will hang entirely on how you feel about second chance romance. Unfortunately, I am ambivalent, so it's another miss. But if you love firey anger that melts into firey passion, or pages upon pages of sexy yearning, there's plenty in here for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own....more
Can confirm, the following: -Page count listed here is correct. It's billed as a holiday special, and thus is shorter. -Still a fulReceived an ARC! RTC.
Can confirm, the following: -Page count listed here is correct. It's billed as a holiday special, and thus is shorter. -Still a full mystery. Still full Ernest Cunningham....more
tl;dr Strong (possibly better?) follow-up to the first book (although first book knowledge not necessary), with more signature meta-commentary, twists,tl;dr Strong (possibly better?) follow-up to the first book (although first book knowledge not necessary), with more signature meta-commentary, twists, and a solid mystery.
Thoughts Ernest Cunningham is back, once again tripping over unfortunate circumstances and the corpses that come with them. In a role reversal from the previous book, Ernest is now one of many murder mystery authors, and probably the least qualified of the bunch, but he brings back his signature self-aware writing style and collection of adverbs to sassily, wittily, and sometimes accidentally, uncover a murderer. I previously enjoyed the energy and style of the first book. The sequel doubles down on that mood - heaping on the meta commentary about the "fair play" mystery. If you liked it the first time around, you'll like it this time too, probably even more. One bit of meta foreshadowing in particular, is extremely effective in its blatant-ness, and I applaud the author for leaning into it. Combine that with a blunt but honest look at The Industry, and you've got another fun mystery on your hands. If I had any complaints, they would be the same as the first. Ernest remains entirely un-earnest, with high emotional walls that make it difficult for a reader to care about him or the stakes involved. Two books in, it's clear this is purposeful, but it can have an alienating effect, and I can totally see this not being everyone's cup of tea. If you liked the first book, jump on it! If you haven't read the first book, but this sounds interesting, there aren't any major spoilers, and you can start here if you like.
Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!...more
tl;dr Snappy and fast-paced meta-commentary, with a surprising amount of heart. There's also a heavy dose of Adult stuff.
Thoughts "Irreverent" might be tl;dr Snappy and fast-paced meta-commentary, with a surprising amount of heart. There's also a heavy dose of Adult stuff.
Thoughts "Irreverent" might be the word here. At least, it certainly starts that way. The blurb says Groundhog Day, but the whole time I read it I kept thinking Re:Zero (an assumption that is confirmed by the author's notes in the back). For those of you not into anime, think Live Die Repeat with Tom Cruise. The hero Davi dies violently and often, until the only thing she has left is cynicism and anger. Her foray into becoming the Dark Lord starts as a lark born from frustration and a desire for novelty, but it quickly turns into more as she gets closer to her goals, and further from her old lives. Most reviews will probably say this book is very funny, very crude, or both. (It's both.) But for something as snappy and flippant as this, it also has a surprising amount of heart, with Davi's hurt melting into care the further she gets on her journey. Is becoming the Dark Lord also a journey of healing? The characters she gathers for her horde are a motley crew with their own interests, and it's incredibly easy to care about them as well. The cliffhanger ending is telegraphed well, but still comes as a real punch to the gut, and I'm very curious to see what happens next. Content-wise, there's a good deal of swearing, front-loaded at the start of the book, but present throughout. People die, often horribly. Sex is had with great enthusiasm, although the descriptions tend to be brief. There's also a load of meta commentary including tons of pop culture references and D&D talk, which will probably resonate with genre-savvy readers.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!...more
"PART II: Not from the journal of Dr. John Watson, but from some nebulous, undefined source that is suddenly third person and almost makes you think y"PART II: Not from the journal of Dr. John Watson, but from some nebulous, undefined source that is suddenly third person and almost makes you think you've picked up the wrong book."
For people who enjoy humor that might be described as "irreverent" or "silly." Most Sherlock Holmes retellings only seem to use broad strokes from the original, but this one is way more faithful to the details of the canon than one might expect. The more familiar you are with the original stories, the more you'll get out of this....more
tl;dr A fun book for lovers of books that plays with layouts, grammar, and a unique world to build a fun mystery.
Thoughts I didn't know what to expect wtl;dr A fun book for lovers of books that plays with layouts, grammar, and a unique world to build a fun mystery.
Thoughts I didn't know what to expect when going into this book, and I found myself surprised to find the illustrations drop a corpse literally into the text. Turns out, the book plays with layout a lot - not just illustrations, but text as well. As a book about books, it has a very meta playful self-awareness, and I especially liked all the interesting ways the layout and formatting were used to tell the story. A series of grammatical jokes and a few friendly jabs at every writer's first (iffy) attempts cap this off as a book definitely aimed at fans of books. The two leads are fun enough, but the standout character winds up being an enthusiastic and hungry flower named Eloise, who I adored in every scene. World building is unique and fairly vast, and can run a little long at times just to get all the names and places in. The first part of the book moves a little slowly because of this, but it picks up in the second half, and all the lore drops fit together really well for the solution to the mystery.
This book was originally written in French, and this review covers the English translation by Rivka publishing. Serious props to the translation team. Translating a book made up of grammar jokes into a different language cannot be easy! Names of people and places have been altered slightly (sometimes for pronunciation, other times to adjust the meaning to make sense in English), and there were a few times where the world building in particular got a little hard to wade through, but the overall experience was a very smooth read. They've noted that this book is the first in their line of French-to-English releases, and I wish them well, because I enjoyed this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Rivka Publishing for an advance copy! All thoughts in this review are my own....more
tl;dr A deeply self-aware tribute to the golden age of murder mysteries with plenty of twists and a satisfying conclusion. Mostly funny, but also incretl;dr A deeply self-aware tribute to the golden age of murder mysteries with plenty of twists and a satisfying conclusion. Mostly funny, but also incredibly melancholy.
About Ernest Cunningham knows plenty about a good murder, or at least fictional ones. He spends most of his time writing books on how to write books, and staying away from his extremely complicated family. But when a mandatory family reunion at a distant ski lodge leads to several real life deaths, our hapless writer will have to unravel the murders and his own family's very messy history.
Thoughts Snappy writing and dark humor are the order of the day, with the fictional author POV deeply self-aware that this adventure is falling into some of the classic murder mystery tropes. As a fan of murder mysteries from all eras, I enjoyed the genre breakdowns, and definitely laughed at some of his incredibly dry commentary. The writer Ernest promises that true to his name, he will tell no lies. But despite being honest, he is not terribly earnest. Through all the referential jokes, I began to sense an emotional wall in the MC akin to a kid on the playground who is all-too-eager to point out their own flaws so that no one else can mention them first. By the time I got to the end of the book, I couldn't help but feel like the entire thing was a story told by a sad person who is working very hard to insist they are not sad.
Like the MC, the book has a strict adherence to the rules - namely Ronald Knox's Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction, and it does its best to be a fair play mystery, with regular reminders of all the clues currently available. Overall the mystery is really solidly built, with twists in all the right places and a strong reveal at the end. One of the earlier clues felt really out of place to me, and it still feels like a slight coincidence that we even got it. Everything else fits together really well, and although I expected the ending, it still came as a great shock when it actually happened. A fairly easy read for fans of the murder mystery genre with a lot of irreverent narration and a good reveal.
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