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A review by thelizabeth
Reason by Thomas Siddell
5.0
EDIT 8/13: Upping to 5 stars because what am I, crazy?
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I love keeping this series going. It's soo good.
Backstory galore in this volume, and I am a walking valentine to backstory, so, good heavens. The lengthy chapters finally unlocking the mystery of Jeanne (the awesome, threatening ghost stuck at the Annan Waters) are the best and the clear highlight of this book. They're beautiful, and upsetting for everyone who learns what happened, and make the present problem of Jeanne no less frightening or urgent.
Kat's crisis of faith after what she learns is sweet and sad to watch. She's one of those characters you can't stand to see upset. In general, I like that Antimony is sort of leading this investigation into what Jeanne's death did to the place: so little understanding of this part of the Court's history seems to exist, and Annie's odd circumstances and abilities have made it possible for her to start learning about it. Five stars for advanced use of blinker stone. It's beautiful what that thing can do.
As for secondary characters, yet again, Gamma and Zimmy forever, FOREVER. Forever. I wasn't that into two whole chapters being devoted to dealing with creepy Jack's issues, which didn't quite do it for me. (Or rather, I like the underlying thing, but got a bit mystified with the uh, the ether station, and the higher-ups talking about his condition, I don't know.) BUT it was a great excuse for a cool Zimmy/Gamma trick, so. When Gamma smooshes their heads together and tells her all about the things she's seen that day, omg. So CUTE. Also five stars for advanced use of Ms. Jones.
As a pigeon enthusiast, I enjoyed this chart of helpful information. And now I know what to do if a robot ever becomes attracted to me. (Hahaha.)
I dig the way the art gets drawn when she goes to the forest to work with Coyote, and how she always learns something from his tricks.
The ending, of course, is fantastic. Antimony always amazes everyone when she goes to the forest, and turning to it the way she does at the end is really, really moving. A lot of the characters are gripped with a pathos in this book that they haven’t touched before, especially those from the forest. We see more (literally) of Ysengrin than ever, and the way he carries Annie, previewed in the cover image, is desperately sad. (And he’s still a big meanie!) And, the things Renard has been through mean a huge amount to the story -- EVEN THOUGH he is (now) a STUFFED ANIMAL whose main purpose so far has been to SASS PEOPLE. That’s why this series is so good, in my opinion. Hilarious, adorable, and sad. A beloved nerd troika.
Anyway, I also love the way this happened, because really it’s one of the first times we’ve seen Antimony be bothered by something. I actually rather like that about how she’s written -- cool as a cucumber no matter what she sees. It gives the world-building a lot of shorthand, to show us what she doesn’t think is weird. (Of course, then there’s Kat, a perfect unrestrained foil of feelings.) She’s our base, and now she’s hurt. And to deal with that, she takes a really, really unusual and risky option. Fantastic. I can’t wait to see what she does.
(So far there's no word on Vol. 4 coming out. What am I gonna have to do, go to the website, and read them, for free?? NONSENSE!)
---
I love keeping this series going. It's soo good.
Backstory galore in this volume, and I am a walking valentine to backstory, so, good heavens. The lengthy chapters finally unlocking the mystery of Jeanne (the awesome, threatening ghost stuck at the Annan Waters) are the best and the clear highlight of this book. They're beautiful, and upsetting for everyone who learns what happened, and make the present problem of Jeanne no less frightening or urgent.
Kat's crisis of faith after what she learns is sweet and sad to watch. She's one of those characters you can't stand to see upset. In general, I like that Antimony is sort of leading this investigation into what Jeanne's death did to the place: so little understanding of this part of the Court's history seems to exist, and Annie's odd circumstances and abilities have made it possible for her to start learning about it. Five stars for advanced use of blinker stone. It's beautiful what that thing can do.
As for secondary characters, yet again, Gamma and Zimmy forever, FOREVER. Forever. I wasn't that into two whole chapters being devoted to dealing with creepy Jack's issues, which didn't quite do it for me. (Or rather, I like the underlying thing, but got a bit mystified with the uh, the ether station, and the higher-ups talking about his condition, I don't know.) BUT it was a great excuse for a cool Zimmy/Gamma trick, so. When Gamma smooshes their heads together and tells her all about the things she's seen that day, omg. So CUTE. Also five stars for advanced use of Ms. Jones.
As a pigeon enthusiast, I enjoyed this chart of helpful information. And now I know what to do if a robot ever becomes attracted to me. (Hahaha.)
I dig the way the art gets drawn when she goes to the forest to work with Coyote, and how she always learns something from his tricks.
The ending, of course, is fantastic. Antimony always amazes everyone when she goes to the forest, and turning to it the way she does at the end is really, really moving. A lot of the characters are gripped with a pathos in this book that they haven’t touched before, especially those from the forest. We see more (literally) of Ysengrin than ever, and the way he carries Annie, previewed in the cover image, is desperately sad. (And he’s still a big meanie!) And, the things Renard has been through mean a huge amount to the story -- EVEN THOUGH he is (now) a STUFFED ANIMAL whose main purpose so far has been to SASS PEOPLE. That’s why this series is so good, in my opinion. Hilarious, adorable, and sad. A beloved nerd troika.
Anyway, I also love the way this happened, because really it’s one of the first times we’ve seen Antimony be bothered by something. I actually rather like that about how she’s written -- cool as a cucumber no matter what she sees. It gives the world-building a lot of shorthand, to show us what she doesn’t think is weird. (Of course, then there’s Kat, a perfect unrestrained foil of feelings.) She’s our base, and now she’s hurt. And to deal with that, she takes a really, really unusual and risky option. Fantastic. I can’t wait to see what she does.
(So far there's no word on Vol. 4 coming out. What am I gonna have to do, go to the website, and read them, for free?? NONSENSE!)