Tag Archives: ReadingChallenge

A Spy In The House by Y.S. Lee (BR00173)

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A Spy in the House (The Agency, #1)PLOT OR PREMISE:

An orphan in the mid-1800s is diverted from the gallows to a school for girls, gets her high school education, and graduates to become an operative for a special investigating Agency of women run by the heads of the school.

WHAT I LIKED

The story has a very strong “Anne Perry” historical fiction feel to it, but without the constant discussion of Jane Austen-style society. The mystery is solid, the characters are rich, and the investigator — Mary Quinn — is inexperienced, which shows in some of her actions. I didn’t guess the outcome, although I suspected some of it, and the hint of romance improves the flavour as it goes. She is more active than the Anne Perry-style heroines, and it shows as she breaks into various places.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

Her age is a bit distracting as she is 17 passing for 20, which no one really believes.  » Read the rest

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The Burning Edge by Rick Mofina (BR00172)

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The Burning EdgePLOT OR PREMISE:

A woman witnesses an armed robbery at a truck stop, and as the FBI closes in on the robbers, they worry that the woman saw too much.

WHAT I LIKED

The story is told from the perspective of four groups — the woman who saw the robbers, Lisa; a journalist digging for the story, Jack; the robbers themselves; and the FBI agent hunting them, Frank. The story jumps from person to person, which is great for seeing the different aspects of the investigation vs. home life. Short chapters, kind of Patterson-style, keep the action moving.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The short chapters seem a bit too jumpy in places, and the constant PoV shift isn’t even. The journalist is good, but the backstories for the witness and the FBI agent are overkill. Past losses, current illnesses, everything reads a bit more soap opera-ish than mystery novel. And the final motive for the robbery is ridiculous.  » Read the rest

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The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness (BR00171)

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The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3)PLOT OR PREMISE:

After falling in love (book 1), and hiding in the past (book 2), Diana and Matthew return to the present to start a family and figure out what is in the Book of Life.

WHAT I LIKED

This third book recaptures some of the mystery from the first book and tackles head-on the issue of the lineage of demons, vampires and witches. Gone are the long, loving descriptions of places, and instead, there are multiple action scenes, broad moving parts across multiple continents, confrontations with the Congregation, and a reckoning for some wayward players. More importantly, you get to see Matthew and Diana weave all of it into a family. It even rectifies one of the glaring gaps from book 2 regarding a young boy named Jack.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The true villain of the trilogy is revealed as is a hidden hero. But while the villain is vanquished, the hidden hero who is around for most of book 2 and is revealed in book 3 ends up disappearing near the end.  » Read the rest

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Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness (BR00170)

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Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy, #2)PLOT OR PREMISE:

A witch and a vampire hide out in 1590 Europe while she learns to control her powers.

WHAT I LIKED

After timewalking from present day, Diana has to learn to live in Elizabethan England, adapt to the customs of the day, and attempt to blend in. Lots of historical figures pop in and out, friends of Matthew in the “School of Night”, and she feasts on the living history. But it is only when she is at Sept-Tours that the book really brings the same sense of place that the first book did. She learns about the nature of her witch powers from a coven, and her family grows in size, including a nephew named Gallowglass.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The sense of place that was so common in each of the locales in the first book is not as vivid, except in Sept-Tours with Philippe (Matthew’s father).  » Read the rest

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A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (BR00169)

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A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, #1)PLOT OR PREMISE:

A witch who has ignored her powers feels them re-awaken in Oxford as she does research on alchemy and encounters a vampire interested in the same book.

WHAT I LIKED

The story is far removed from the world of young magicians or young love. Instead, we see a budding partnership, collaboration and even romance blossom between Dr. Diana Bishop, hidden witch, and Matthew de Clermont, vampire. But it is the richness of every place and event that overwhelms the senses…Oxford comes alive, his castle in France is a presence all on its own, the changing relationship between Diana the witch and Ysabeau the mother-in-law vampire, and even the life in America with Diana’s aunts. Each segment is visual, sensual, tangible to the reader. Yet at the same time, it combines all the magical elements with DNA tests and the use of science.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

The sheer magnitude of the story is hard to keep straight with all the characters and the various histories that intertwine.  » Read the rest

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