The Wall of Storms Review

The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu is the second installment of The Dandelion Dynasty and it does not disappoint.  Liu continues to use his epic poetic style as he did with The Grace of Kings that so mirrors ancient mythology while also commenting on modern social issues and philosophy.  He made this book so applicable to current events it’s delightfully quotable.

Where The Grace of Kings was centered around a war, division, heroes, and tyrants, The Wall of Storms focused on unity, family, philosophy, and education.  Liu takes risks early on by not building on the wars that made The Grace of Kings.  Instead he uses a foundation of philosophy and social commentary.  Everything from women’s rights and social equality to education reform is addressed by characters throughout the story as motivations and bases for world building.  Liu developed a complex society based on the ideals of these philosophers and the interpretations of their words to the point that the story is almost completely dependent upon them.  Even The Grace of Kings would have major holes in its narrative if there was no Kon Fiji.  Being able to see and understand that thought process, those intellectual developments was brilliant and so well done.  With a book like this it would be so easy to overdo the intellectual aspects and bore the reader or not put enough of the intellectual aspects in and confuse the reader.  Liu found a perfect balance.

If I were an English teacher, I would use these books in my class.

The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer Review

The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Cremer builds on a rebellion in a timeline where the U.S. loses the war of independence and the colonies are still ruled by The British Empire.  The main characters, Charlotte, Ashley, and Jack are leaders of a ragtag group of children hiding from the Empire until they are old enough to join the resistance themselves and be reunited with their parents on the front.
Cremer wrote this in third person limited POV choosing Charlotte as her voice.  This could not have been a better choice for Cremer.  Not only does it allow a strong female character to show her ability to take to the action, but when she goes undercover in the New York, it shows she can be feminine as well.
Something I found most interesting was the emphasis on the ancient Greek pantheon.  This seems to seep into every crevice of life within the resistance and the Empire whether they realize it or not.  It is based on an ancient Greek book of the dead that the inventor, Hacket Bromley was able to bring dead flesh back to life.  Knowledge is guarded by the priestesses of Athene.  It follows the characters everywhere, even in the way they dress.
It hits the ground running on page one and doesn’t stop.
There’s more adventure ahead for these rebels, and I can’t wait to see what’s next

Hell Bent By Devon Monk Review

Hell Bent by Devon Monk is a traditional urban fantasy told with a new narrative voice.  Devon Monk has made a name for herself in the urban fantasy genre with the Allie Beckstrom Series, but narrating as Shamus Flynn, she packs a whole new set of skills.
This is a narrative style I’ve seldom seen done well enough to work.  It’s something I call stream-of-consciousness narration.  Monk narrates in first person as Shamus Flynn, but doesn’t bother making him proper or even and often grammatically correct.  With a character like Flynn, this is a perfect narrative because that’s how he operates.  Off the cuff.  Outside the law.  No rules, no games.
Shamus Flynn is an unwilling wielder of Death magic and a Breaker.  With his partner Terric Conley he can Break magic now that dark and light have been brought together.  Terric is of course Flynn’s polar opposite and a wielder of Life magic.  The story opens with a generous helping of their relationship which also helps get the action going and some of the back story out of the way.
Enter Dessa Leeds.  Ex-government spy seeking vengeance for her brother’s death.  She knows Flynn can get her to the killer, but more than that, can make the bastard pay.  Flynn knows who the killer is and that Dessa knows more than she’s telling.
Between government experiment groups, crime syndicates, and just your everyday dust-up Flynn has a lot going on, and all he really wants to do is drink it all away.
Now this story comes after the Allie Beckstrom Series which I have not read but says enough about what the reader needs to know in the world to have it stand alone.  It’s rough and tumble classic urban fantasy, Monk of course has set up her own mythology, magic, and rules by which it works and then places these brilliantly developed characters into the chaotic mess of it.
I truly enjoyed it.

Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien Review

The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O’Brien introduces a futuristic look at reality shows and the conspiracies behind them.  In a sort of Big Brother meets America’s Got Talent, The Forge Show follows the most talented young artists in the country and the more viewers they attract, the more ads they get, money for college, etc.  That’s the basic breakdown of this school setting reality show, but Rosie Sinclair was in it for the education.  She knew staying in her poor town living in a boxcar offered her no future.  The Forge School became her miracle.  Until it became her nightmare.
Rosie’s journey is very well defined.  She goes from artistic hopeful to accepted member of a clique by doing what she does best, directing.  I think that’s a brilliant use of talent by O’Brien the way she structured that character.  After that she she’s an academic and a lover, still her personality doesn’t change.  She knows there are cameras and by that point she also knows something else is going on, but she sees no point in being other than she is.  This is a brilliant message to girls from all walks in all situations.
I also love that O’Brien used a protagonist like Rosie to tell this story and uncover the secrets beneath Forge, because she had everything to lose by letting the truth out and she did it anyway.

When We Collided review

When We Collided by Emery Lord is one of those lover’s knot stories that sneaks up on you.  Straight off, you know these two characters, Vivi and Jonah, were going to fall in love and thus change something about themselves.  But, until the end Lord keeps Vivi’s façade up and running, focusing primarily on Jonah and his family.
There are times Vivi’s condition is hinted at and discussed but never in detail and never with Jonah.  That’s where the relationship fails.  That’s the ultimate breaking point for Vivi, I think.  She never told Jonah the truth until it was too late to matter.
I could spend all day breaking down every fine point in their relationship and what it meant or didn’t mean, but what it boils down to is the connection between them.  I call these types of romances lover’s knot stories because the author takes every detail about each lover and knots it together to make them not only individuals, but a single entity.  In Celtic tradition the lover’s knot has no beginning and no end, symbolizing an eternal love, it also cannot be untied, symbolizing an unbreakable love.
Lord uses modern language and spectacular knowledge of intimate relationships to bring this relationship to the forefront of the story, but I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention a few other characters as well.
Felix and his daughter Ellie show up in the story right when we find out about Vivi’s condition, Jonah still doesn’t know, but it emphasizes the loneliness they both feel even with each other.  Ellie stays close to Jonah after her reintroduction into his life because she knows his mom needs help.  After seeing her brother battle depression, she didn’t want anyone else she cared about to feel that pain.  Jonah’s mom is a constant in the story, you can always feel her in everything Jonah says or does, because everything he says or does is for his family, to keep his mom protected.
This was a remarkable work of fiction.  Having suffered through some of these things personally and seeing my friends suffer through them, I can say it’s one of the most honest portrayals of emotionally unstable relationships I’ve read.  Lord does an amazing job with her use of language, her spot on dialogue, and her subtleties.
Brilliantly done.

Borderline by Mishell Baker Review

Borderline by Mishell Baker is an artistic understanding of not only mental illness but the stigma associated with it.
Baker opens in first person POV inside the mind of a woman who had attempted suicide.  I love how she did this because it makes Millie more than a narrator or a patient or a character in the story.  She becomes vulnerable.  Human.
This helps provide a genuine contrast between the humans and the Fae.  It also allows a unique perspective of mental illness, suicide, and the stigma attached.  Since she wrote in first person, Baker was able to analyze not only Millie but those she comes into contact with through the lens of Millie’s Borderline Personality Disorder.  No narrator is perfect, every writer is unique.  But this is the first contemporary fantasy novel I’ve read that openly acknowledges and addresses a mental illness.
I applaud Baker on her blended style of contemporary fantasy and am truly grateful there is now fiction literature set in first person that steps boldly into the world of magic and the world of mental illness simultaneously.

Ella Review

Ella- Cinders and Ash by Erik Schubach is the third book in the Urban Fairytales series and it’s in this installment things start to change for our many and varied heroines.
Schubach uses his personal narrative spiced with the characters’ wit and banter to make for compelling drama.  Two, well three, new characters are introduced in this book: Parker, who is the narrator, Ella, and Marie, who shares Ella’s body.  They cause trouble from page one and are quickly teamed up with the Red Hood and Gretta Snow to go in search of the fourth avatar, The Briar Rose.
Erik Schubach is putting a whole new twist on fairy tales.  Kick ass heroines with no need of a dashing prince, blessings that curse, and darkness that threatens the modern world.  Now the four avatars of the original fairytales have to come together to defeat the evil of the Black Crown and save humanity from werewolves.
Brilliantly rendered.  A knock-down, drag out page turner no reader could put down.  You will read this in one sitting.