Ready to be transported into a world of magic? || The Witches of New York

The Witches of New York by Ami Mckay

Genre: Historical Fiction, Paranormal

Eleanor and Abigail are witches. Luckily for them they live a couple hundred years after the fever of witch hunting burned its brightest; ghosts and seances are all the rage, in the right crowd of course. They keep to themselves in their tea shop, doling out herbal remedies, peering into the future, and helping women in need. And when Beatrice, a young wistful curious girl from the countryside, sees their flyer looking for an assistant [[those adverse to magic need not apply]], she jumps at the chance for adventure.

The Witches of New York is a mesmerizing novel which balances introspection with a fast paced plot. It features magic which honors tradition while also allowing for enough innovation to hold my interest. It is populated by a vast array of characters-- perhaps one of my only drawbacks to the novel. When your narrative focus switches between a whole host of characters, it can be difficult to really see character growth. There were a few side plots which I felt were unnecessary to the novel as a whole.

However for the most part I think the author weaves all the stories together in a way that made sense. The characters were easy to fall in love with and easy to root for. They were strong, independent, well written, and it was fun to see them work together/against each other throughout the novel.

The novel is interspersed with newspaper clippings, old stories, flyers, etc. I read this as an ebook and I think the formatting may be better in a print book-- but it was still an enjoyable way to read the novel.

Overall I adored this book; it was lyrical and the magic was so effortless yet avoided falling into cliche. I highly recommend this book; especially if you are interested in historical fiction with a twist.

What about you? Have you read The Witches of New York? What is your favorite witch novel?

Why Vigil by Angela Slatter left me disappointed

I had such high hopes for this novel. To begin with this novel is really hard to find in US libraries and when I requested one through inter-library-loan, my library informed me that instead they were just going to buy a copy and put me on hold. Fast forward probably months and I get an email telling me that the book was in.

The first paragraph of this novel got my hopes up and I read the rest of the 350 pages hoping to recapture that feeling. And in some bits and pieces, I did. There were parts of this novel I really enjoyed.

Vigil features the struggles of a woman as she walks between two worlds-- the normal and the magical-- and attempts to keep peace in both and figure out why murdered sirens keep turning up.

This novel is a hybrid of urban fantasy and modern fantasy; blending original elements with the reimagining of classic fantasy tropes (fairies and sirens etc). What excited me about a novel is the originality of it, I'm such a sucker for innovative urban fantasy. However this was a more traditional fantasy novel, with a few sparks of originality thrown in.

This novel features a strong female lead who is tough and caring, overworked and smart. The plot is interesting and the magic isn't dull. The novel is not bad. It just isn't great and halfway through I completely lost interest and the book sat on my table for weeks. Eventually-- solely because I knew I wanted to review it here-- I picked it up and forced  myself to finish it, even though I had forgotten the fine details of the plot, and couldn't manage to convince myself to care about the characters.

Overall I expected more originality than the novel was prepared to give me. It runs a tad bit too long. If you are a fan of a more traditional fantasy novel set in modern times, then you might enjoy Vigil!

Let me know-- what is your favorite urban fantasy novel? (I'm obsessed with Madness of Angels by Kate Griffith) What should I check out next?

Review: The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, YA

Rating: 9/10

I did it. After hearing over and over and over about the beauty, magic, and overall awesome-ness of this series, I finally read the first book.

I won't lie-- I was surprised when the book actually lived up to the hype surrounding it. After all, how many times have you read a overly hyped novel, only to be sorely disappointed?

The Raven Boys did not disappoint. Maggie weaves a spell-binding world, full of surprisingly complexity lyrical prose that manages to be fast-paced yet also introspective. I was drawn in from the beginning, pulled in by the beautiful words and the beautiful world, edged in darkness.

“Gansey had once told Adam that he was afraid most people didn't know how to handle Ronan. What he meant by this was that he was worried that one day someone would fall on Ronan and cut themselves.” 

The characters were well constructed, complex and dark and flawed and beautiful. Perhaps one of my only complaints about this novel was the lack of character development. At the end of the book, the characters felt very much the same as on page one. I get that this book is one in a trilogy-- and I could see the larger story arcs that were being built. However, I would have prefered to see some sort of change or development in any of the characters that I came to love.

“Fate," Blue replied, glowering at her mother, "is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast.” 

The magic system was not ground-breakingly unique or innovative, yet I still loved it. I was genuinely spooked by parts of this book and that was something I was not expecting. There were shocking twists that not only managed to catch me off guard but, once revealed, made sense. The plot twists were the type that, one you know them, you can go back and see how the answer was really obvious all along. This an unique talent-- to surprise the reader while also staying within the bounds of the story and the characters.

The writing was lyrical, the plot fast paced, the characters complex; I had a hard time putting this book down. I can't wait to pick up the sequel! I would recommend this novel to just about anyone, but especially if you are a fan of modern fantasy.

What about you? What did you think of The Raven Boys? Did you see character development where I did not?

ARC Review: The Beautiful Ones

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Genre: Literary Fiction, Romance, (slightly) Fantasy
Rating: 7/10
Expected Publication Date: Oct 24th 2017

This book.

I don't even know how to explain how I feel.

At times, it was as interesting as an unbuttered piece of toast and the only reason I kept reading was that I had received this eARC in return for a review.

At other times, it held me rapt with its sumptuous lyrical prose and the dark and deep characters.

The Beautiful Ones is a historical fiction novel, set in an alternate world. It's basically France in the early 1900s only with all the names changed (whyyyy?). It is a character driven novel which follows a young woman with a strange talent as she enters her first season as a eligible woman with a good name.

The Beautiful Ones is, on some pages, a beautifully written story, but its inconsistency held this novel back from being one of my favorite reads this month. The characters were beautifully constructed and while most of them had really interesting arcs where they changed and grew, the main villain was never given this luxury. She ended the novel feeling like a stale archetype; luckily the other characters were the opposite.

The lyrical writing was captivating at times, but overused some of the impactful metaphors. The first time you read it it is fascinating...the tenth time the same metaphor is used? It loses its luster.

The magically aspect of this novel was not used to its full potential, and felt like a toss away plot line. This is probably what upset me the most. I love well-thought out interesting magic; magic was used here infrequently, and almost as a crutch to build up characters.

But even as I was rolling my eyes in boredom, I kept reading-- partly out of obligation, and partly because I couldn't see exactly where the plot was going, and that kept me interested. By the end of the novel I was hooked, and even teared up (y'all this never happens and made me reconsider my initial boredom). With all my complaints, some of the character development was really well done and that is one of the things that I look for in novels.

I would recommend this book if you are looking for a literary fiction novel set, basically, in the early 1900s. I went into this book expecting a far stronger magically element, and thus couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

How about you? Have you read The Beautiful Ones? Did you also cringe when they said 'the beautiful ones' approximately 200 times?

Top Ten Tuesday: 4 Hidden Gems

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's theme is hidden gems, books that you believe have unjustly flown under the radar. To be far, it wasn't easy to figure out which books I've read that are 'well-known' vs 'obscure'. I'm still too young of a book blogger to be really in touch with what's popular (story of my life, amiright??). So, I picked four of my favorite science fiction/fantasy novels that I haven't seen featured on other blogs. I hope you give at least one of them a try!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik


“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley"

Why: This is a delightful, dark fantasy novel that I read a couple years ago and feel very quickly in love with both the story and the writing itself.







Conservation of Shadows by Yoon Ha Lee

“What was a shadow, after all, but a shape in the moving world reduced to a projection of possibilities?” 

Why: Part of the problem with coming up with weekly lists is that there are bound to be repeats. I have raved on previous lists how much I adore this dark, complex, and inventive collection of sci-fic short stories.








A Madness of Angels by Kate Grifftn

“Where there is life, there will be magic; the one generates the other.” 

Why: The is an amazing urban fantasy a la American Gods novel  finds magic in the neon lights and in the humming of electrical wires. One of my favorite books of all time.










The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

“Take no heed of her.... She reads a lot of books.” 

Why: Jasper Fforde is in a class all of his own, and his books really deserve their own genre. He's witty and writes wildly speculative stories that are brilliant and quirky. Sometimes boarding on the absurd, his novels are always a blast to read.








What about you? I know I called these hidden gems but have you heard of any of them before? What are you favorite fantasy/sci-fic hidden gem novels that I need to discover?

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books in 2017

This post brought to you by the Top Ten Tuesday series over at The Broke and the Bookish.

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Oh how could I ever choose I moaned to myself when I first saw this topic. I mean I've just read so many good books this year! 

Then I sat down at took a hard look at my read-books list on Goodreads. Yes, I've liked most books I read this year but really, which books did I love? Which books did the authors truly excel at the art of writing, the devilishly difficult task of intricate plots and exciting twists??

And then there were three. Three books that earned the difficult 5 star Goodreads rating on my account. Three books that I adore not only because I enjoyed reading them, but because they were so artfully created.

Let's get to these special books, shall we?




Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

If 1984 and Catch-22 had a child, and that child went through a rebellious teenage phase, then the result would be this stunning, witty, and expansive novel. Part dystopian, part political satire, all amazing, this novel kept my eyes glued to every one of the 400 pages.  It's hilarious and depressing and fascinating all rolled into one.This type of novel was what Jasper Fforde was made for-- I can't imagine what it would be like to be in his mind.



Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

I'm not sure where I first heard about this short story. Maybe a John Green recommendation? Either way I'm so glad I stumbled upon this sci-fi tale. I love my science fiction to be inventive, to think of other civilizations and technologies so different from our own, and then to craft a story out of their foreignness and Binti was all of that and more. Clearly taking it's roots from the author's own Nigerian roots it is both wildly inventive and universal in all the right ways, as a young woman leaves her village to travel thousands of miles through dead space to claim her spot at a prestigious university.



Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

This is a novel I'm sure many of you are already familiar with, so I shouldn't have to work too hard to convince you of its beauty. It's medieval fantasy but without any of the heavy boring elements that can drag down other novels of that genre. It's fast paced-- honestly the 662 pages flew by in a matter of days. The writing is beautiful, the story line intricate without being confusing, and the characters are at once both intimate and foreign. I know it sounds like I'm just throwing words at you (and in some part I am) but I am trying to find the best combination of words that can explain how much I enjoyed this novel. Better yet, just go read it for yourself!


Whew!

That's wasn't as hard as I feared-- once I took a critical eye to my books these three books easily outshone the other novels I've read in 2017. Somehow, they all managed to have sequels-- the one for the Jasper Fforde novel won't be published till next year (maybe?), but the sequel to Binti was amazing and I can't wait to read the sequel to The Name of the Wind.

What about you?? What were your favorite books of 2017? Let me know in the comments and link to your post if you also participated in this series!

Review: First Grave on the Right

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Genre: Paranormal

Rating: 6/10

It's not easy being Charlie Davidson-- first off having parents that would name you thus would definitely be a burden. Secondly she happens to be the grim reaper which is sort of a learn-as-you-go type of job full of dead people who sometimes request her PI skills to solve their murders.

I have strong mixed feelings about the book-- it's definitely a love hate thing going on here. There are parts of it I love-- the narrator has a strong, witty voice, the plot is fast paced-- and parts I hate-- the narrator thinks she's so witty the one-liners nearly dominate the story line, the story line itself is a little confused as to what it is.

Charlie is funny-- and the problem is she thinks she's hilarious. You could cut out half of all the one-line jokes dotted through the text and the book would be much better. When you start reading it's funny-- 200 pages later, it's a little less funny.

I alternated between liking Charlie and finding her absolutely insufferable. She has a chip on her shoulder the size of Newfoundland and the woe-is-me act can get repetitive for me. She honestly does have a lot to complain about-- but sometimes I want her to stop actively trying to piss off everyone around her.

The plot, while fast paced, reached a bit too far, and tried to do a bit too much. It's an easy problem for the first book in a series-- the author wants to set up bigger story arcs while also creating one that will start and finish in this book alone.

I thought there were some troubling non-consensual problems in this book. At the beginning of the book we find out that some dude has been coming to her in her dreams to sleep with her-- and she is in no way complaining about this turn of events. (**mild spoiler y'all**) We find out later that the mystery dream dude is a guy she met while in high school-- a guy who nearly sexually assaulted her and threatened to rape her. But the text focuses more on how hot he was as opposed to, you know, the problem with sleeping with a guy where in the only other interaction you had with him he threatened to rape you. I just want Charlie to talk about that-- to say something other than how sexy he was, to explicitly say how even though their first interactions were non-consensual, now they are consensual. I know this is a minor thing for most people-- I haven't read any other reviews that even bring this up-- but it was something that bothered me when I was reading this book. And maybe I'm being too nit-picky-- I mean she's clearly (kind of?) consenting now, so what's the big deal? Still.

Overall this book kept my interest, made me laugh out loud, and made me roll my eyes. If paranormal/urban fantasy books are your thing I would say definitely give this one a try-- it's a love hate book so while it was not my cup of tea, it just might be yours.

Have you ever read First Grave on the right? If so, what did you think?