A review by hollyollyoxenfree
The Sumage Solution by Gail Carriger, G.L. Carriger

3.0

This book was compulsively readable. As I was reading it, I could not put it down, and was always disappointed when I had to do things, like go to work, or make dinner. However, that being said, I don't know that it was the greatest book, or that I would necessarily go out and recommend it to everyone. Like the more I think about it, the more little issues I think of. The most glaring issue I had, and a big part of why I gave it three stars upon completion, was the confusing lack of world-building or some other sort of explanation of... a lot of things. There were all of these different types of mages, and I still can't tell you what each one does or why. There was some sort of magical magickyness called quintessence that I still don't really understand... so. Yeah. I even tried Googling the terms to see if they were things present in fantasy in general that I just don't know about, but they all seemed to mostly be terms created for this series. So. Once I set aside my general confusion, it was great! Max was SO snarky and we all know I love snark, and Bryan was SO sweet, it was nice. It was a fun story while I was in it, but after finishing I think my general confusion led to it not making much of an impression overall. That being said, I DO plan on reading the sequels, because like I said, it was super readable while I was in it, and maybe I'll get more of an explanation later! I think this book will definitely appeal to certain readers, and if you read the description and think it sounds good, you should definitely give it a shot, but be prepared that some of the world-building (or lack thereof) could be confusing.