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109 reviews
Salem's Lot by Stephen King
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
I don't know why, but I didn't think Stephen King had written a vampire novel. This is strange considering he's known for writing horror. Of course, it doesn't help that this book doesn't allude to vampires at all on the back cover copy or promotional material. It was only after seeing the book appear on multiple lists of "The Best Vampire Novels" that I decided to give this book a chance.
'Salem's Lot follows a man by the name of Ben Mears. He's returning to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot, Maine to write his next novel about the mysterious abandoned house known as the Marsten House. Jerusalem's Lot is a fictional town, also known as "The Lot" by its residents, which is good considering how high the body gets by the end of the book. It's your typical small town with a small town attitude.
Ben learns the Marsten House is under new ownership for the first time in years, occupied by the mysterious Kurt Barlow and his business partner Richard Straker. It soon becomes apparent that Barlow is a vampire and the town slowly succumbs to his influence. To combat Barlow, Ben teams up with high school teacher Matt Burke, college student Susan Norton, doctor Jimmy Cody, elementary school student Mark Petrie, and Catholic priest Father Callahan.
If you've read Bram Stoker's Dracula before, you will find similarities here. Stephen King has gone at record to say he was inspired by Dracula and wanted to write what would happen if he returned in 20th century America. However, King takes the story is a much darker direction and the book does not end on a happy note. As stated above, the body count is very high.
King goes through painstaking effort to describe the town and many of its residents. He gives us short glimpses into their lives, both public and private. He wants us to care about this town and its people. The flaws of each character (main characters included) take centre stage, many who are actually pretty terrible people. As a writer myself, I do appreciate the effort. It helps to ground the book in reality. However, I feel like it was more or less pointless. Almost all the characters the book focuses on dies by the end, save for a few.
This was King's second-ever published novel, and it does show. This early in his career, he was also bad at writing women. Between the boob euphemisms ("jahoobies?" seriously?) and very one-note female characters, it's clear he was lacking experience. Unfortunately, this problem also affected the book's only main female character, Susan. I wanted to care about her but couldn't bring myself to. She basically existed only to be a love interest for Ben and a damsel in distress, and that's it. It's a shame.
One of the things I absolutely love about this book is the atmosphere. There's something about King's writing that pulled me in and kept me hooked. This was especially crucial in the early to mid portions of the book where the plot moved very slowly. It's not quite enough to convince me to read more of his books, though I may eventually.
By far the best part of the book was the vampires themselves. King's interpretation of them was perfect for the story. Twisted and evil, caring only about the consumption of blood and their own survival. This was especially true of the main vampire, Barlow. There are a few scenes that showcase how brutal and cruel he truly is. Some of the best scenes in the book. There were a few old-school vampire tropes that I'm not fond of, but they didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book.
Overall, reading 'Salem's Lot was a pleasant surprise. I went in with low expectations and came away feeling satisfied. Stephen King is a well-known author who doesn't need anymore endorsements. However, as an aficionado of vampire fiction, it truly deserves a place on my shelf as an example of such a book done well.
'Salem's Lot follows a man by the name of Ben Mears. He's returning to his hometown of Jerusalem's Lot, Maine to write his next novel about the mysterious abandoned house known as the Marsten House. Jerusalem's Lot is a fictional town, also known as "The Lot" by its residents, which is good considering how high the body gets by the end of the book. It's your typical small town with a small town attitude.
Ben learns the Marsten House is under new ownership for the first time in years, occupied by the mysterious Kurt Barlow and his business partner Richard Straker. It soon becomes apparent that Barlow is a vampire and the town slowly succumbs to his influence. To combat Barlow, Ben teams up with high school teacher Matt Burke, college student Susan Norton, doctor Jimmy Cody, elementary school student Mark Petrie, and Catholic priest Father Callahan.
If you've read Bram Stoker's Dracula before, you will find similarities here. Stephen King has gone at record to say he was inspired by Dracula and wanted to write what would happen if he returned in 20th century America. However, King takes the story is a much darker direction and the book does not end on a happy note. As stated above, the body count is very high.
King goes through painstaking effort to describe the town and many of its residents. He gives us short glimpses into their lives, both public and private. He wants us to care about this town and its people. The flaws of each character (main characters included) take centre stage, many who are actually pretty terrible people. As a writer myself, I do appreciate the effort. It helps to ground the book in reality. However, I feel like it was more or less pointless. Almost all the characters the book focuses on dies by the end, save for a few.
This was King's second-ever published novel, and it does show. This early in his career, he was also bad at writing women. Between the boob euphemisms ("jahoobies?" seriously?) and very one-note female characters, it's clear he was lacking experience. Unfortunately, this problem also affected the book's only main female character, Susan. I wanted to care about her but couldn't bring myself to. She basically existed only to be a love interest for Ben and a damsel in distress, and that's it. It's a shame.
One of the things I absolutely love about this book is the atmosphere. There's something about King's writing that pulled me in and kept me hooked. This was especially crucial in the early to mid portions of the book where the plot moved very slowly. It's not quite enough to convince me to read more of his books, though I may eventually.
By far the best part of the book was the vampires themselves. King's interpretation of them was perfect for the story. Twisted and evil, caring only about the consumption of blood and their own survival. This was especially true of the main vampire, Barlow. There are a few scenes that showcase how brutal and cruel he truly is. Some of the best scenes in the book. There were a few old-school vampire tropes that I'm not fond of, but they didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book.
Overall, reading 'Salem's Lot was a pleasant surprise. I went in with low expectations and came away feeling satisfied. Stephen King is a well-known author who doesn't need anymore endorsements. However, as an aficionado of vampire fiction, it truly deserves a place on my shelf as an example of such a book done well.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The novel follows several characters as they go on a quest to kill the titular Count Dracula. Most of these characters are known, since Dracula is public domain, and there's been many adaptations and interpretations of the story and its characters.
Prior to reading Dracula, I had little to no experience with horror fiction. It was the book that made me realize that my opinion on horror was heavily skewed by movies and games, who tend to use shock value, such as jump scares, suspense, and excessive gore. That all it's meant to do is scare you, which is quite effective is a visual medium. In literature, it's more dependent on atmosphere and the narrative. For Dracula, it's more the setting and the character himself.
Since you're seeing the story from the perspective of the human characters, it helps to build mystery and suspense, especially with those who become targets of Dracula. With their experiences, the gaps in their memory, and so on.
Dracula is written differently from other novels. The story is presented in the form of journal entries, newspaper articles and telegrams in chronological order. This is similar to Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. However, this was much harder for me to read due to the older English mixed with the style of writing that was common for the time period. The writing style did not age well at all. There are whole sections of the book I skipped over, either because I didn't fully understand what was written or the constant jumping between perspectives was too jarring.
While many adaptations of Dracula in media have more high stakes and epic conclusions, the book itself has a rather lackluster ending. With the high praises many people give this book, I was expecting more and got let down. I was also expecting more of a focus on Dracula himself, but the focus was entirely on the human characters. There's a lot of build up with not a lot of payoff.
Despite my experience, however, I still gave it a 3-star rating and I stand behind that. It may not have vibed well with me, but I can see how other readers can enjoy it and I acknowledge how influential the novel is to horror and vampire fiction as a whole. Hopefully I'll feel better about it when I re-read it again in a year or two.
Prior to reading Dracula, I had little to no experience with horror fiction. It was the book that made me realize that my opinion on horror was heavily skewed by movies and games, who tend to use shock value, such as jump scares, suspense, and excessive gore. That all it's meant to do is scare you, which is quite effective is a visual medium. In literature, it's more dependent on atmosphere and the narrative. For Dracula, it's more the setting and the character himself.
Since you're seeing the story from the perspective of the human characters, it helps to build mystery and suspense, especially with those who become targets of Dracula. With their experiences, the gaps in their memory, and so on.
Dracula is written differently from other novels. The story is presented in the form of journal entries, newspaper articles and telegrams in chronological order. This is similar to Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. However, this was much harder for me to read due to the older English mixed with the style of writing that was common for the time period. The writing style did not age well at all. There are whole sections of the book I skipped over, either because I didn't fully understand what was written or the constant jumping between perspectives was too jarring.
While many adaptations of Dracula in media have more high stakes and epic conclusions, the book itself has a rather lackluster ending. With the high praises many people give this book, I was expecting more and got let down. I was also expecting more of a focus on Dracula himself, but the focus was entirely on the human characters. There's a lot of build up with not a lot of payoff.
Despite my experience, however, I still gave it a 3-star rating and I stand behind that. It may not have vibed well with me, but I can see how other readers can enjoy it and I acknowledge how influential the novel is to horror and vampire fiction as a whole. Hopefully I'll feel better about it when I re-read it again in a year or two.
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is actually my second time reading this book. I first read it almost two decades ago, and wanted to read it again to get caught up for reading the newer additions to the series from the 2010s.
Interview with the Vampire is exactly what it says it is. You are a fly on the wall, listening as a man, know only as "the boy," interviews the titular vampire Louis. It's written in third-person, but it feels more like first-person because the vast majority of the book is dialogue. Louis is telling the story of his life from just before becoming a vampire to the present in the 1970s. This includes his interactions with a few other well-known characters, particularly Lestat and Claudia.
Compared to what is considered the norm for vampire fiction, Anne Rice's vampires are not undead in the traditional sense. They don't die and then come back to life. Rather, their bodies experience a "death" of sorts in which all bodily waste and fluids are expelled, which they no longer need. Their eyes don't change colour, though their skin does pale considerably. When they feed, their skin become a more normal hue, which allows them to walk among mortals for a time without being easily noticed. They still breaths, they still sweat, they still have a beating heart. They often fall in love with detail, due to seeing more detail than our human eyes can. Same goes for sound. They don't have weakness for silver, wooden stakes or crosses, and they can enter holy places just fine. The do however have a strong weakness to fire and sunlight, enough that they can burn to ash rather quickly.
Now, there are a lot of things that I like. I will mention the following two items not because I like them (I do), but because they are highly subjective based on taste and could make or break the book for some people:
1) The Detail
2) The Protagonist
1) It is clear that some people don't like Rice's attention to detail. And yet I find how she writes it much easier to enjoy than, say, George R.R. Martin. She's able to paint a clear picture without causing boredom, even if it does get a bit slow at times. Many of her character are from at least a few centuries ago. Their more detailed and extravagant speech is a product of the time they came from, but is never difficult to read or understand. I never found myself with the desire to skip any part of this book for any reason.
2) Now let's talk about the protagonist, Louis. Throughout his immortal life, he struggles to hold onto the little humanity he still has, and becomes depressed when he has to forsake that humanity for any reason. He will even go so far to try to convince a human who wants to become a vampire to change their mind, and become upset or even angry when he doesn't get his way. At one point he goes to seek out other vampires to learn more, and when he doesn't get the answers he wants he falls into a depression, he gets angry, and rarely even violent. To be fair, he goes through a lot of shit but he acts like a child. In his mind, it's all about him. It’s the whole, “Oh it don’t like what going on or what’s happening to me, but I’m not gonna change. It’s someone else job to do that!”
Personally, I love Louis as a character. He is very flawed and not as likable as some readers may prefer, but he is realistic. Everyone knows at least one person who is like him, a narcissist who would rather make others change for him than change himself. As we know, that doesn't work and it's entertaining to watch his world come down around him.
When I first finished this book, I gave it 5 stars. However, I dropped it to 4 after I started reading the next book in the series, The Vampire Lestat. I don't like the book any less than when I finished reading it. I just can't justify putting it on the same level as the sequel. All in all, Interview with the Vampire is a great read and a more than worthy entry into the realm of vampire fiction.
Interview with the Vampire is exactly what it says it is. You are a fly on the wall, listening as a man, know only as "the boy," interviews the titular vampire Louis. It's written in third-person, but it feels more like first-person because the vast majority of the book is dialogue. Louis is telling the story of his life from just before becoming a vampire to the present in the 1970s. This includes his interactions with a few other well-known characters, particularly Lestat and Claudia.
Compared to what is considered the norm for vampire fiction, Anne Rice's vampires are not undead in the traditional sense. They don't die and then come back to life. Rather, their bodies experience a "death" of sorts in which all bodily waste and fluids are expelled, which they no longer need. Their eyes don't change colour, though their skin does pale considerably. When they feed, their skin become a more normal hue, which allows them to walk among mortals for a time without being easily noticed. They still breaths, they still sweat, they still have a beating heart. They often fall in love with detail, due to seeing more detail than our human eyes can. Same goes for sound. They don't have weakness for silver, wooden stakes or crosses, and they can enter holy places just fine. The do however have a strong weakness to fire and sunlight, enough that they can burn to ash rather quickly.
Now, there are a lot of things that I like. I will mention the following two items not because I like them (I do), but because they are highly subjective based on taste and could make or break the book for some people:
1) The Detail
2) The Protagonist
1) It is clear that some people don't like Rice's attention to detail. And yet I find how she writes it much easier to enjoy than, say, George R.R. Martin. She's able to paint a clear picture without causing boredom, even if it does get a bit slow at times. Many of her character are from at least a few centuries ago. Their more detailed and extravagant speech is a product of the time they came from, but is never difficult to read or understand. I never found myself with the desire to skip any part of this book for any reason.
2) Now let's talk about the protagonist, Louis. Throughout his immortal life, he struggles to hold onto the little humanity he still has, and becomes depressed when he has to forsake that humanity for any reason. He will even go so far to try to convince a human who wants to become a vampire to change their mind, and become upset or even angry when he doesn't get his way. At one point he goes to seek out other vampires to learn more, and when he doesn't get the answers he wants he falls into a depression, he gets angry, and rarely even violent. To be fair, he goes through a lot of shit but he acts like a child. In his mind, it's all about him. It’s the whole, “Oh it don’t like what going on or what’s happening to me, but I’m not gonna change. It’s someone else job to do that!”
Personally, I love Louis as a character. He is very flawed and not as likable as some readers may prefer, but he is realistic. Everyone knows at least one person who is like him, a narcissist who would rather make others change for him than change himself. As we know, that doesn't work and it's entertaining to watch his world come down around him.
When I first finished this book, I gave it 5 stars. However, I dropped it to 4 after I started reading the next book in the series, The Vampire Lestat. I don't like the book any less than when I finished reading it. I just can't justify putting it on the same level as the sequel. All in all, Interview with the Vampire is a great read and a more than worthy entry into the realm of vampire fiction.
Dracula's Child by J.S. Barnes
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
I received a digital arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Dracula's Child by J.S. Barnes is this author's attempt to make a sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula. It takes place roughly 12-13 years later and follows several characters over a period of several months. There are some returning characters from Stoker's tale, as well as many new faces. It's is also written in a very similar format to Stoker's book, known as an epistolary novel: a book written as a series of documents. In this case, the book contains diary entries, letters, telegrams, and newspaper articles in chronological order.
Two characters are the primary focus of the novel: Quincy Harker, the son of John and Mina Harker, and newcomer Gabriel Shone. We don't see these two characters' own thoughts in this book, save for the last two entries in the book, but through the accounts of other people. This is a good thing, however, as witnessing their side of things would've removed some of the mystery from the story.
The story begins with a meeting of the surviving members of the main group from Dracula, and the story officially takes off after Professor Abraham van Helsing suffers from what seems to be a heart attack and falls unconscious. The book takes it's time introducing the characters and building the plot. But once it does take off, it moves at a descent pace, becoming lightning fast by the climax. Speaking of the climax, don't expect an epic battle or you will be disappointed.
Most of the characters, the ones that matter, are fairly well developed. The more personal touch epistolary grants helps to develop the characters, and allows you to picture them with ease. I could grasp the scenes, personalities and settings with no trouble at all.
Though I've only read Dracula once so far, I can say with certainty that the author did a good job with mimicking the writing style of Bram Stoker. There are a few times where the illusion slips, but it is only for a brief moment and doesn't pull me out of the book too much. My primary reason for not rating this book higher than average is due to me not being fond of epistolary books, though I still enjoyed it. I can definitely see myself owning a copy and reading the book again in the future. D
Dracula's Child by J.S. Barnes is this author's attempt to make a sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula. It takes place roughly 12-13 years later and follows several characters over a period of several months. There are some returning characters from Stoker's tale, as well as many new faces. It's is also written in a very similar format to Stoker's book, known as an epistolary novel: a book written as a series of documents. In this case, the book contains diary entries, letters, telegrams, and newspaper articles in chronological order.
Two characters are the primary focus of the novel: Quincy Harker, the son of John and Mina Harker, and newcomer Gabriel Shone. We don't see these two characters' own thoughts in this book, save for the last two entries in the book, but through the accounts of other people. This is a good thing, however, as witnessing their side of things would've removed some of the mystery from the story.
The story begins with a meeting of the surviving members of the main group from Dracula, and the story officially takes off after Professor Abraham van Helsing suffers from what seems to be a heart attack and falls unconscious. The book takes it's time introducing the characters and building the plot. But once it does take off, it moves at a descent pace, becoming lightning fast by the climax. Speaking of the climax, don't expect an epic battle or you will be disappointed.
Most of the characters, the ones that matter, are fairly well developed. The more personal touch epistolary grants helps to develop the characters, and allows you to picture them with ease. I could grasp the scenes, personalities and settings with no trouble at all.
Though I've only read Dracula once so far, I can say with certainty that the author did a good job with mimicking the writing style of Bram Stoker. There are a few times where the illusion slips, but it is only for a brief moment and doesn't pull me out of the book too much. My primary reason for not rating this book higher than average is due to me not being fond of epistolary books, though I still enjoyed it. I can definitely see myself owning a copy and reading the book again in the future. D
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Blood
Winterly by Jeanine Croft
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I received a digital arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Winterly is a self-published novel by author Jeanine Croft. It's takes place in the late 1800s, and is the story of two sisters, Emma and Milli, who end up getting mixed up in a bunch of paranormal nonsense. This book has vampires. It has witches. And, to a lesser extent, werewolves.
Emma is the primary focus of the story. She is seen as strange because she does things and thinks things that are not considered normal for a woman in this time period. Women are being murdered at night, so lots of people are on naturally on edge. Emma walks home with her family one night, gets separated in the fog, and meets the love interested, the mysterious Markus Winterly. This meeting ultimately leads to a trip to his castle outside of London, where most of the rest of the book takes place.
One of my favourite things about this book is how the author chose to justify the existence of the vampires, werewolves and witches. It's not unique per se, but I found the implementation to be interesting and refreshing to a degree.
Another thing I really loved was the care in making sure the book read like one written in the time period it's set in. You feel like you're reading a real story from that period. It helped draw me into the book and is ultimately what helped lead me to the end.
This books is an adult paranormal romance, and it's VERY slow burn. Ridiculously slow. Too slow for me, in fact. This is one of two major gripes I had with this book. I'm not opposed to longer books or slow burns in general, but this felt like it was too much. Enough to drag down what would have otherwise been a 4-star book for me.
The other thing I didn't like, which goes hand-in-hand with the previous point, is too much attention to detail. I love detail in general. But did I need a whole chapter dedicated to a carriage ride to the castle with no important events or character development? No, I didn't. There were multiple chapters, or portions of chapters, that could've been cut and I wouldn't have missed a thing.
Overall, Winterly is a 3-star book. It's well written and interesting, but dragged down by too much unnecessary detail. Still, I enjoyed it and will read the sequel when it's released. Hopefully, the next book is an improvement.
Winterly is a self-published novel by author Jeanine Croft. It's takes place in the late 1800s, and is the story of two sisters, Emma and Milli, who end up getting mixed up in a bunch of paranormal nonsense. This book has vampires. It has witches. And, to a lesser extent, werewolves.
Emma is the primary focus of the story. She is seen as strange because she does things and thinks things that are not considered normal for a woman in this time period. Women are being murdered at night, so lots of people are on naturally on edge. Emma walks home with her family one night, gets separated in the fog, and meets the love interested, the mysterious Markus Winterly. This meeting ultimately leads to a trip to his castle outside of London, where most of the rest of the book takes place.
One of my favourite things about this book is how the author chose to justify the existence of the vampires, werewolves and witches. It's not unique per se, but I found the implementation to be interesting and refreshing to a degree.
Another thing I really loved was the care in making sure the book read like one written in the time period it's set in. You feel like you're reading a real story from that period. It helped draw me into the book and is ultimately what helped lead me to the end.
This books is an adult paranormal romance, and it's VERY slow burn. Ridiculously slow. Too slow for me, in fact. This is one of two major gripes I had with this book. I'm not opposed to longer books or slow burns in general, but this felt like it was too much. Enough to drag down what would have otherwise been a 4-star book for me.
The other thing I didn't like, which goes hand-in-hand with the previous point, is too much attention to detail. I love detail in general. But did I need a whole chapter dedicated to a carriage ride to the castle with no important events or character development? No, I didn't. There were multiple chapters, or portions of chapters, that could've been cut and I wouldn't have missed a thing.
Overall, Winterly is a 3-star book. It's well written and interesting, but dragged down by too much unnecessary detail. Still, I enjoyed it and will read the sequel when it's released. Hopefully, the next book is an improvement.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Blood
The Medina Device by T.J. Champitto
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.5
ARC received via book tour in exchange for an honest review
The Medina Device tells the story of Cameron Lyle, his bother Michael and their friend Trip. Together they call themselves the Huntman's Club. As modern Robin Hoods, they steal millions of dollars from corrupt corporations and donate the majority of it to charity. While this is a noble goal, it is still illegal and attracted the attention of FBI agent Rand Kershaw, whose made it his goal to learn their identities and arrest them.
The trio are met by a mysterious man named Rook, a representative of a secret organization called the Knights of Medina, who blackmails them into performing their most risky and dangerous job so far: to steal a mysterious artifact, the same one that was unearthed in the book's prologue. The device was supposed to be delivered to the Knights of Medina, but was instead sold to the CIA. The Huntsman's Club must intercept the boat the device is on before it reaches its destination. They succeed and arrive at their rendezvous to receive payment, only to ambushed by the CIA.
That is when the book really kicks into high gear. Well, the book already moves pretty quick, but the pace gets even faster from that point on. It's a pretty short book, only 268 pages, so the story beats occur pretty much in rapid succession.
The CIA agent who leads the attack on the Huntsman's Club is not a good man. The book does a good job of making you hate him with every fibre of your being. An bonefide asshole.
Toward the ends of the book is a very, very mild sci-fi twist. It came out of left field, though it did help to tie things up at the end. However, in doing so it also created a bit of loophole. Try not to think about it too much.
The book did do an okay job of making the characters relatable, about as good a sit could do with the breakneck pace. Cam, Mike and Trip come across as a tight-knit group of budding who want to leave their mark on the world. Cam also has his wife and two daughters to think about, Trip recently got engaged to his girlfriend. Even the FBI agent, Rand, has a story we follow throughout the book that gives a little bit of depth to his character.
I respect the author for being willing to put his character through the ringer. There are multiple characters that get injured or even die over the course of the book.
The end of the book is just a little too abrupt. I felt like it could've used a little bit more... something. Not sure where or how, but it felt like it was lacking. Too sudden.
In the end, considering this book is outside of my typical reading material, I did enjoy it. A solid 3-star book. I recommend this book if thrillers are your thing or you're just looking a nice, quick read.
The Medina Device tells the story of Cameron Lyle, his bother Michael and their friend Trip. Together they call themselves the Huntman's Club. As modern Robin Hoods, they steal millions of dollars from corrupt corporations and donate the majority of it to charity. While this is a noble goal, it is still illegal and attracted the attention of FBI agent Rand Kershaw, whose made it his goal to learn their identities and arrest them.
The trio are met by a mysterious man named Rook, a representative of a secret organization called the Knights of Medina, who blackmails them into performing their most risky and dangerous job so far: to steal a mysterious artifact, the same one that was unearthed in the book's prologue. The device was supposed to be delivered to the Knights of Medina, but was instead sold to the CIA. The Huntsman's Club must intercept the boat the device is on before it reaches its destination. They succeed and arrive at their rendezvous to receive payment, only to ambushed by the CIA.
That is when the book really kicks into high gear. Well, the book already moves pretty quick, but the pace gets even faster from that point on. It's a pretty short book, only 268 pages, so the story beats occur pretty much in rapid succession.
The CIA agent who leads the attack on the Huntsman's Club is not a good man. The book does a good job of making you hate him with every fibre of your being. An bonefide asshole.
Toward the ends of the book is a very, very mild sci-fi twist. It came out of left field, though it did help to tie things up at the end. However, in doing so it also created a bit of loophole. Try not to think about it too much.
The book did do an okay job of making the characters relatable, about as good a sit could do with the breakneck pace. Cam, Mike and Trip come across as a tight-knit group of budding who want to leave their mark on the world. Cam also has his wife and two daughters to think about, Trip recently got engaged to his girlfriend. Even the FBI agent, Rand, has a story we follow throughout the book that gives a little bit of depth to his character.
I respect the author for being willing to put his character through the ringer. There are multiple characters that get injured or even die over the course of the book.
The end of the book is just a little too abrupt. I felt like it could've used a little bit more... something. Not sure where or how, but it felt like it was lacking. Too sudden.
In the end, considering this book is outside of my typical reading material, I did enjoy it. A solid 3-star book. I recommend this book if thrillers are your thing or you're just looking a nice, quick read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Torture
A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A Blade So Black is the first in a series of YA novels that serve as a re-imagining of two Lewis Carroll stories: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.
Alice is a teenage Black girl who runs off after learning of the death of her father, and is attacked by a horrific beast only she can see. She is rescued by Addison Hatta, a resident of Wonderland, and begins her training as a Dreamwalker.
This interpretation of Wonderland is a world of dreams that is affected by the energy of humans. Positive energy and dreams turn Wonderland into a beautiful paradise. Negative energy and dreams corrupt Wonderland and spawn Nightmares, beasts whose goal is to make their way into our world so they can cause havoc. If they succeed in crossing the veil into our world, they get much stronger.
This is where Dreamwalkers come in. Dreamwalkers are humans who can see the Nightmares. They wield special weapons when, combined with their "muchness," destroys the Nightmare for good. A resident of Wonderland can fight them as well, but are incapable of destroying them, only defeating them temporarily.
Alice herself has to deal with not only high school (which is thankfully minimal in this book) but also her friends and mother, who can't know the truth about what she does. The only person who knows about Alice's Wonderland stuff is Courtney, Alice's best friend and a white girl who helps to cover for her when she needs to do her Dreamwalker duties. Said duties become harder after a shooting occurs in her home city of Atlanta, which prompts her mother to become even more protective of her than before.
I wasn't sure how much I would like this book at first. I love Carroll's Alice tales and jump at the chance to read any book based on them. By the end of the book, I was hooked. The action, the revelations, even a bit of romance. The only reason why I gave this book 4.5-stars instead of 5 is because I'm hoping the next book will be better.
If you want a book with action, Sailor Moon references and lots of Black girl magic, pick this one up. You will not be disappointed.
Alice is a teenage Black girl who runs off after learning of the death of her father, and is attacked by a horrific beast only she can see. She is rescued by Addison Hatta, a resident of Wonderland, and begins her training as a Dreamwalker.
This interpretation of Wonderland is a world of dreams that is affected by the energy of humans. Positive energy and dreams turn Wonderland into a beautiful paradise. Negative energy and dreams corrupt Wonderland and spawn Nightmares, beasts whose goal is to make their way into our world so they can cause havoc. If they succeed in crossing the veil into our world, they get much stronger.
This is where Dreamwalkers come in. Dreamwalkers are humans who can see the Nightmares. They wield special weapons when, combined with their "muchness," destroys the Nightmare for good. A resident of Wonderland can fight them as well, but are incapable of destroying them, only defeating them temporarily.
Alice herself has to deal with not only high school (which is thankfully minimal in this book) but also her friends and mother, who can't know the truth about what she does. The only person who knows about Alice's Wonderland stuff is Courtney, Alice's best friend and a white girl who helps to cover for her when she needs to do her Dreamwalker duties. Said duties become harder after a shooting occurs in her home city of Atlanta, which prompts her mother to become even more protective of her than before.
I wasn't sure how much I would like this book at first. I love Carroll's Alice tales and jump at the chance to read any book based on them. By the end of the book, I was hooked. The action, the revelations, even a bit of romance. The only reason why I gave this book 4.5-stars instead of 5 is because I'm hoping the next book will be better.
If you want a book with action, Sailor Moon references and lots of Black girl magic, pick this one up. You will not be disappointed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Racism, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent
Black Butler, Vol. 4 by Yana Toboso
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What starts as rather serious situation, with Anglo-Indians being stripped of their clothes and hung upside-down outside of a pub that sells Indian food, leads into shenanigans involving the young Indian Prince Soma and his loyal butler Agni. Ciel and Sebastian are forced to work alongside them in order to solve the mystery.
At first, Soma appears to be nothing but comic relief and Agni as just a foil for Sebastian. But as the book goes on, secrets are revealed, and Sebastian must enter a curry-making competition in order to succeed. This leads into the next volume.
Soma's character goes through a fair bit of development over the course of this book. He starts off as a rich brat who is used to everything being handed to him on a silver platter (figuratively speaking). As the truth slowly comes to light, he begins to question himself and the loyalty of Agni, who appears to be in league with the villain of this arc. I look forward to seeing what the next volume brings.
At first, Soma appears to be nothing but comic relief and Agni as just a foil for Sebastian. But as the book goes on, secrets are revealed, and Sebastian must enter a curry-making competition in order to succeed. This leads into the next volume.
Soma's character goes through a fair bit of development over the course of this book. He starts off as a rich brat who is used to everything being handed to him on a silver platter (figuratively speaking). As the truth slowly comes to light, he begins to question himself and the loyalty of Agni, who appears to be in league with the villain of this arc. I look forward to seeing what the next volume brings.
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore, Blood
Black Butler, Vol. 5 by Yana Toboso
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This volume is the culmination of Prince Soma's character arc as it began in volume 4, as well as the conclusion of this short and sweet story arc.
Sebastian used Soma as a taste tester to figure out how Agni makes his curry so they may win the competition. In the process he learns of a somewhat unorthodox way to make curry, which gives him an edge and ultimately wins the competition. This grants Ciel company, Funtom, the license to produce food products for mass consumption.
And Soma finally sees Mina, a former servant girl of the palace who Soma believed was taken against her will. His interactions with her are what help to complete his development as a character. He learns the hard way the truth of his childishness and foolishness. Thankfully, he accepts this and becomes even more thankful that Agni had chosen to stay by his side and protect him.
It's a nice, sweet way to end this Indian Butler arc and I look forward to seeing more of Soma and Agni in the future.
Sebastian used Soma as a taste tester to figure out how Agni makes his curry so they may win the competition. In the process he learns of a somewhat unorthodox way to make curry, which gives him an edge and ultimately wins the competition. This grants Ciel company, Funtom, the license to produce food products for mass consumption.
And Soma finally sees Mina, a former servant girl of the palace who Soma believed was taken against her will. His interactions with her are what help to complete his development as a character. He learns the hard way the truth of his childishness and foolishness. Thankfully, he accepts this and becomes even more thankful that Agni had chosen to stay by his side and protect him.
It's a nice, sweet way to end this Indian Butler arc and I look forward to seeing more of Soma and Agni in the future.