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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
my least favorite Goddard yet! Mainly forced my way through it as fast as possible because all the reviews of the later books are so enthusiastic.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was cute and amusing; having read some more recent work by this author, it definitely feels like an early book. I am looking forward to more of this series, though!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Feel like it could use more editing because some parts were confusing, but overall a fun read.
Two-out-of-five stars, which is the lowest I've rated any of the dozen or so books that I've read by author Victoria Goddard thus far. I'm heartened that this 2016 novel is one of her earlier works, because it means I know firsthand that her talents improve after this, but I'm honestly not sure I would have finished this title if it was the first one I had picked up. As is, my primary enjoyment has been in spotting the worldbuilding references to the writer's broader Nine Worlds setting: particularly the outlaw poet Fitzroy Angursell and his banned epic Aurora, along with the general depiction of life in the wake of the cataclysmic Fall of Astandalas.
The immediate plot here concerns the protagonist returning to his provincial hometown after leaving college in disgrace, reconnecting with a few old friends, and investigating an odd but seemingly inconsequential mystery -- the titular seafood dish, which someone has left sitting by the fountain in the town square -- that winds up uncovering cult activity and an even larger criminal conspiracy. The characters are fine, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the sub-series launched by this volume grows stronger in subsequent installments. But the story is delivered rather poorly, with important developments happening by chance, oblique connections that readers don't have enough context to follow, and other passages heavy with exposition that the recipients plainly ought to have already known.
The tale is structured like a Regency-pastiche whodunnit (with some fantasy genre flourishes on the side), but the heroes don't really assemble clues in a reasonable or interesting way. Instead they blunder about, make intuitive leaps, and get caught up in a sequence of unrelated diabolical machinations. And yet it doesn't quite land as a comedy of errors, either! It's altogether strange, and although the narrator's personal backstory is fairly compelling once we learn all the relevant details, the narrative around him is a remarkably poor showing for it.
[Content warning for drug and alcohol abuse and sexual assault.]
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The immediate plot here concerns the protagonist returning to his provincial hometown after leaving college in disgrace, reconnecting with a few old friends, and investigating an odd but seemingly inconsequential mystery -- the titular seafood dish, which someone has left sitting by the fountain in the town square -- that winds up uncovering cult activity and an even larger criminal conspiracy. The characters are fine, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the sub-series launched by this volume grows stronger in subsequent installments. But the story is delivered rather poorly, with important developments happening by chance, oblique connections that readers don't have enough context to follow, and other passages heavy with exposition that the recipients plainly ought to have already known.
The tale is structured like a Regency-pastiche whodunnit (with some fantasy genre flourishes on the side), but the heroes don't really assemble clues in a reasonable or interesting way. Instead they blunder about, make intuitive leaps, and get caught up in a sequence of unrelated diabolical machinations. And yet it doesn't quite land as a comedy of errors, either! It's altogether strange, and although the narrator's personal backstory is fairly compelling once we learn all the relevant details, the narrative around him is a remarkably poor showing for it.
[Content warning for drug and alcohol abuse and sexual assault.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Adventure! Magic! Mystery! Manners! I finished this book still a bit unsure of what was actually happening with all the plot threads, but then, so does Jemis.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes