Tidying up the 2020 reviews part 2: Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker (Seanan McGuire)

So if I'm not mistaken, Seanan McGuire is one of the only writers currently writing portal fiction. (If I'm wrong, please let me know!) This book is an adjunct to Middlegame and gives Middlegame an extra layer of depth.

Over the Woodward Wall is interesting, as it's explicitly stated in Middlegame that it's an allegory for alchemical processes. Seanan pulls it off -- you can see the start of the allegory forming. Nothing is explicitly stated in Wall, but it sounds like more is coming in this world (and can I say that it looks from here that Wall may intersect with the Wayward Children series.) which can only be a good thing.

The writing is just a shade different than Seanan's usual tone, I can't quite put my finger on it, but it does serve to differentiate between the voices. The story is good and leaves you wanting more. Which, really, all of Seanan's books do.

Read Middlegame and then Wall or the other way around, they compliment each other and add layers to the story.

I recieved an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion

#OverTheWoodwardWall #NetGalley

Tidying up the 2020 reviews part one: Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

It should be no surprise by now that I am a huge fan of Seanan McGuire. She writes well, her characterizations are all very well done, her plots are fantastic and on rereads, you start to realize that she has Something to Say.

"Across the Green Grass Fields" is the latest installment in the Wayward Children series. It can be read as a stand-alone, the series proper starts with "Every Heart a Doorway", so if you're a completist, start there. One of the themes in this series, sometimes explicitly stated is the power that adults have over children and how, sometimes with the best of intentions, that power is abused. Not "abuse" as it's been coded in the past, but the more subtler forms.

Seanan's protagonists are aware of this power imbalance and sometimes are able to take the power back. Sometimes not, which while heartbreaking at points, is also much more honest.

I love this series and feel it gets richer with each addition and each reread.

I recieved an ARC ebook from NetGalley for my unbiased opinion.

#NetGalley #AcrossTheGreenGrassFields

Miss Benson's Beetle review

To be completely honest here, I was under the impression that the beetle in question was actually a VW, not, you know, a beetle! So there was a touch of cognitive dissonance when I got past the first chapter.

I did like this quite a bit, I thought the post-war description of Britain was very well done and I loved the contrast with the tropical island Miss Benson lands on. I also liked that although she had faults, and was not described as attractive at all, that had nothing to do with the story, it was just how Miss Benson was.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants a well-written novel to curl up with for an afternoon.

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

#MissBensonsBeetle #NetGalley

A Killing Frost review

Seriously, Seanan McGuire just gets better and better. Toby's adventures are always logical in that somewhat sideways Faerie way and I love love love how tiny breadcrumbs from previous novels suddenly become either plot points or are tied up in a bow. The series is a favorite and Seanan McGuire is rapidly becoming one of my will read no matter what authors.

Toby is also one of my favorite characters, she is absolutely real in the ways that count. She screws up, sometimes about the same things over and over, she apologizes and means it and works to help her friends and tries to live a good life. Her definition of a good life may change from day to day (sometimes hour to hour), but doesn't ours?

Read this series from the start if you haven't and if you're already an October Daye fan, why are you reading this and not that? You're in for a treat.

I received an ARC ebook in exchange for my review.

#AKillingFrost #NetGalley

Sucker Punch by Laurell K. Hamilton

I have quite enjoyed the last two or three Anita Blake books.  Sucker Punch drops you into the action and delivers a twisty, well-written mystery. 

I have been an avid Anita Blake fan since I picked up Burnt Offerings on a whim, devoured it, and ran to my local bookstore to find the first six books.  I have enjoyed seeing Anita grow and change throughout the books, and liked that Hamilton skewed sex-positive.  That said, I am not really a fan of feeling like I need a flowchart to keep track of who means what to whom when.

But that is a minor quibble with what is a solid entry in this series.  Hamilton seems to be pivoting back to the roots of the series -- Anita working with/alongside the police.  Those are always the stronger of the series entries and I think the series is the better for doing so.

I was provided with a free ARC for my opinion.

#SuckerPunch #NetGalley