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ellelainey's reviews
2274 reviews
A Death at His Majesty's by David C. Dawson
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
~
A Death at His Majesty's, by David C. Dawson
A Simon Sampson Mystery, Book 3
★★★★★
280 Pages
3rd person, dual character POV
Themes: murder mystery, theatre, friendship, found family, religion
Genre: LGBT, Murder Mystery, Cosy Mystery, Historical
Triggers: mentions of 1920's homophobic laws and attitudes, murder, religious views
~
I've loved the Simon Sampson Mysteries, so far, so when I knew that there would be a prequel story – showing us how Bill and Simon came together – I couldn't have been more excited. Somehow, David C. Dawson manages to outdo himself with every book in this series. I remember being impressed when Book 2 was just as good, if not better, than Book 1. Well, he's done it again. This book could very well be the best in the series, yet. And I sincerely hope there's more to come. I could read about Bill and Simon's adventures forever. I hope they'll still be a crime-solving duo well into their nineties, because even then I'd still want to read about their escapades.
First off, I want to commend Dawson on making this an extremely female-centric novel. Not only do we get heavy amounts of Bill's POV, which was awesome, but the entire book is littered with timeline and well-written, well-researched honesty about the things women experience on a daily basis. These issues aren't just relevant to the historical timeline but also to modern women, because nothing has changed. I won't go on about all the scenes that made my heart race with anticipation or how I knew how Bill felt, whenever she thought there was danger, because that's something every woman knows. The thought process and reactions that Bill went through were phenomenally honest, heartbreaking, endearing and real.
Simon was adorable in this book. I loved the perfect meet-cute of how he first met Bill, then the little slivers of journalistic snark, how the shark inside came out when he realised he had a good source, but that he also knew how and when to draw the line between journalistic endeavour and friendship.
Bill was – as always – incredible. She's such a strong, feisty woman but it was lovely to see a softer side of her, in this book. To see her experiencing love, having a tender heart, and still ball-busting was so much fun.
While I can't say much about the plot itself, because anything I say would probably be a spoiler, I will mention that we get the unusual – but brilliantly executed – journal entries of the killer! This was so much fun, because there were tiny little snippets in those entries that gave us hints and clues towards the killer without ever pointing out just one person. So, we were able to follow the clues that Bill and Simon found, but add on the ones that only we knew about, to try to figure out who the killer was.
As always, the cast of secondary characters was full of life, colour and vibrancy. The story was immensely clever, well executed, and kept me guessing from the start. I was always on the edge of my seat, trying to work out who was liked to who and how. I adored Calvin and sincerely hope we get to see him again, and Aunt Cynny was wonderful! Bill's acerbic wit was like the cherry on top of a clever mystery and an adorable budding friendship.
All in all, a standing ovation for A Death at His Majesty's. It's been the highlight of my week, and I look forward to more from Bill and Simon.
~
Favourite Quote
“Noël insisted on bringing you in for this London run. God knows why. The only thing he knows about you is that you've been at the opera house. What did you do there? Make the tea?”
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
~
A Death at His Majesty's, by David C. Dawson
A Simon Sampson Mystery, Book 3
★★★★★
280 Pages
3rd person, dual character POV
Themes: murder mystery, theatre, friendship, found family, religion
Genre: LGBT, Murder Mystery, Cosy Mystery, Historical
Triggers: mentions of 1920's homophobic laws and attitudes, murder, religious views
~
I've loved the Simon Sampson Mysteries, so far, so when I knew that there would be a prequel story – showing us how Bill and Simon came together – I couldn't have been more excited. Somehow, David C. Dawson manages to outdo himself with every book in this series. I remember being impressed when Book 2 was just as good, if not better, than Book 1. Well, he's done it again. This book could very well be the best in the series, yet. And I sincerely hope there's more to come. I could read about Bill and Simon's adventures forever. I hope they'll still be a crime-solving duo well into their nineties, because even then I'd still want to read about their escapades.
First off, I want to commend Dawson on making this an extremely female-centric novel. Not only do we get heavy amounts of Bill's POV, which was awesome, but the entire book is littered with timeline and well-written, well-researched honesty about the things women experience on a daily basis. These issues aren't just relevant to the historical timeline but also to modern women, because nothing has changed. I won't go on about all the scenes that made my heart race with anticipation or how I knew how Bill felt, whenever she thought there was danger, because that's something every woman knows. The thought process and reactions that Bill went through were phenomenally honest, heartbreaking, endearing and real.
Simon was adorable in this book. I loved the perfect meet-cute of how he first met Bill, then the little slivers of journalistic snark, how the shark inside came out when he realised he had a good source, but that he also knew how and when to draw the line between journalistic endeavour and friendship.
Bill was – as always – incredible. She's such a strong, feisty woman but it was lovely to see a softer side of her, in this book. To see her experiencing love, having a tender heart, and still ball-busting was so much fun.
While I can't say much about the plot itself, because anything I say would probably be a spoiler, I will mention that we get the unusual – but brilliantly executed – journal entries of the killer! This was so much fun, because there were tiny little snippets in those entries that gave us hints and clues towards the killer without ever pointing out just one person. So, we were able to follow the clues that Bill and Simon found, but add on the ones that only we knew about, to try to figure out who the killer was.
As always, the cast of secondary characters was full of life, colour and vibrancy. The story was immensely clever, well executed, and kept me guessing from the start. I was always on the edge of my seat, trying to work out who was liked to who and how. I adored Calvin and sincerely hope we get to see him again, and Aunt Cynny was wonderful! Bill's acerbic wit was like the cherry on top of a clever mystery and an adorable budding friendship.
All in all, a standing ovation for A Death at His Majesty's. It's been the highlight of my week, and I look forward to more from Bill and Simon.
~
Favourite Quote
“Noël insisted on bringing you in for this London run. God knows why. The only thing he knows about you is that you've been at the opera house. What did you do there? Make the tea?”
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexism, Violence, Stalking, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Outing, Death, and Lesbophobia
Given vol.8 by Natsuki Kizu
5.0
I love Mafuyu's connection with Ugetsu. My heart hurts for Haruki, who does so much for everyone else and is finally happy, but I get this feeling that it won't/can't last! I love how much Uenoyama cares for Mafuyu, that he apologised when he's messed up, explains himself and tries to find a good balance between keeping his commitments and being a good boyfriend. I have a feeling part of the reason Mafuyu feels so untethered and conflicted is because Uenomaya is doing all the right things, but it's either a repeat of what happened with Yuki or the exact opposite...
A Beast's Love Is Like the Moon by Guri Nojiro
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This had no right being so tragic, beautiful, bittersweet and wonderful. I cried at that awful, wonderful, brutal ending, yet I don't think it could or should have ended any other way. And now I'm crying again, just thinking about how perfect that ending was...
Jealousy Blinds Love by Eiji Nagisa
4.0
This was a surprisingly sweet, emotional story about grief, expectations and learning to let go. Both main characters had depth, intrigue and a great back story. It was fast paced, fun and intense.
Too Close to Fall in Love by Akira Nakata
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was actually a really sweet story about insta-attraction between step brothers and how they navigated their relationship with each other and their fathers. There was a nice twist with the back stories too.
Rooming with My Two Lovers by Anji Seina
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a fun story. Exactly what it claims to be, but also with a sweet side dish of learning how to accept yourself, faults and all, and how to communicate.
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 3 by Mokumokuren
5.0
This was such an intriguing continuation of the story. I absolutely adore the artwork, the choice of how certain scenes are displayed - like that How does she know panel, and the entire page dedicated to the bath scene. The way that village lore, Hikaru's exploration of his feelings and his abilities, and how Yoshiki responds to that, is explored is perhaps some of the best I've seen in a YA manga. It reminds me of A School Frozen in Time, in that it weaves a mystery into everyday teen life, but this one has a much darker origin. I can't wait to see what happens in the next volume.
Should Our Hearts Catch Fire by Amithia Raine
~
370 Pages
~
I DNF'd at 38%. This review is to explain why.
~
As I was re-reading Book 1, I realised that it just wasn't as interesting or as compelling when I knew the big plot twist. It didn't make a good re-read book, and that's fine because some don't. Especially the kind of books where they're a lot of tension, build up and uncertainty until you reach the big plot twist at the end. Reading the book again, I already knew the plot twist, so I found my attention drifting while reading the middle of Book 1...and that's exactly what happened here.
There is no big plot twist, here. We already know that Gabe is an empath, and thanks to the Epilogue of Book 1, we already know that he's got a boyfriend 2 years down the line from the end of Book 1. There's nothing NEW to discover here, which I think was part of the problem.
Another issue I had was that the author tried so hard to make this a possible to be read as a standalone – which I DO NOT recommend, because there is a whole lot of context missing – that it was really boring and repetitive for the return readers to delve into. There are AT LEAST three or four FULL scenes taken from Book 1, that are told in Ellis' POV, that I find have absolutely NOTHING to do with his story. They're in here only as filler, because the author needed to explore the entire timeline stretch.
However – and here is my big issue – if they had just started the book AFTER the events of Book 1 (even before the Epilogue that was 2 years later) HALF of my issues with the book would never have existed. For return readers, we don't want to re-read the EXACT same scenes from Book 1 all over again – especially if you did what I did, which was re-read Book 1 before starting this one – because we've been there, and seeing them in Ellis' POV really didn't add anything new.
But, if you're going to rehash old scenes – for the love of God – include some POV labels and timeline markers. It took 7% before I knew where in Book 1's timeline it was even starting, and then it seemed to jump around after that. By 38% we'd explored most of Book 1's main story timeline, but all I read were filler scenes. It took FOREVER to get to the point, because the author cared more about rehashing Book 1 than giving us a fresh, new storyline to follow.
Sadly, that meant that even in his own book, Ellis was overshadowed by Cal. Both Ellis and Gabe were so shy and introverted that neither stood a chance in hell of standing out as a main character against the exuberant characters like Ash, Zeke and Jordan, who all had a bit of spark and fire in them. Even the scenes where Dawson and Cal showed up had more chemistry than the very few scenes we got when Ellis and Gabe were together.
At 80 pages SHORTER than Book 1, I have to admit that every time I sat and read a chunk of it, I'd look at the percentage hopefully only to feel really deflated to realise that by reading about 3 chapters in a row, I'd only moved on about 2%. Because of the lack of flow and the fact that nothing of interest ever happened, it just felt endless.
~
OVERALL
Unfortunately, nothing caught fire, in this book. No hearts, not even a pair of pants. There was nothing even remotely fiery or hot or spicy about the parts I read, just...sadly to say...boring. It was all mundane daily stuff, work and hanging out with friends and family. Take the middle parts of Book 1 – where Cal and Dawson are getting to know each other again – making it half as interesting, completely separate them and force them to spend more time with other people than they do with each other, and that's about what you get for this entire book.
My suggestion as a beta/alpha reader would have been to make this book take place between the end and epilogue of Book 1 – an entire two years, which is more than enough to have a slow burn. That would have solved half the problems, such as rehashing scenes with Cal that probably made zero sense to new readers – because this is NOT a standalone by any means – and that add nothing but cause a lot of timeline and flow issues for Ellis' story.
emotional
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
~
Should Our Hearts Catch Fire, Who We Are 02
by Aminthia Raine
★★☆☆☆
370 Pages
3rd person, present tense, dual character POV
Themes: grumpy/sunshine, bi awakening, mutual pining, found family, empath, touch-starved
Triggers: mentions of childhood abandonment, unplanned/unwanted pregnancy, internalized homophobia/biphobia
Genre: LGBT, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
~
I DNF'd at 38%. This review is to explain why.
~
I was really excited about this book. I loved Book 1 when I first read it and came back to re-read it before starting this one, to make sure I had all the small details and nuances right. Weirdly, on the second read, I found myself wavering in the middle (which is another issue), however, that problem directly relates to this book, because the *same* thing happened there, except it wasn't just in the middle...it was the entire book.
As I was re-reading Book 1, I realised that it just wasn't as interesting or as compelling when I knew the big plot twist. It didn't make a good re-read book, and that's fine because some don't. Especially the kind of books where they're a lot of tension, build up and uncertainty until you reach the big plot twist at the end. Reading the book again, I already knew the plot twist, so I found my attention drifting while reading the middle of Book 1...and that's exactly what happened here.
There is no big plot twist, here. We already know that Gabe is an empath, and thanks to the Epilogue of Book 1, we already know that he's got a boyfriend 2 years down the line from the end of Book 1. There's nothing NEW to discover here, which I think was part of the problem.
Another issue I had was that the author tried so hard to make this a possible to be read as a standalone – which I DO NOT recommend, because there is a whole lot of context missing – that it was really boring and repetitive for the return readers to delve into. There are AT LEAST three or four FULL scenes taken from Book 1, that are told in Ellis' POV, that I find have absolutely NOTHING to do with his story. They're in here only as filler, because the author needed to explore the entire timeline stretch.
However – and here is my big issue – if they had just started the book AFTER the events of Book 1 (even before the Epilogue that was 2 years later) HALF of my issues with the book would never have existed. For return readers, we don't want to re-read the EXACT same scenes from Book 1 all over again – especially if you did what I did, which was re-read Book 1 before starting this one – because we've been there, and seeing them in Ellis' POV really didn't add anything new.
I honestly felt that there was no natural flow between the new material. All those rehashed scenes interrupted anything that had time to build up, resulting in a choppy, indistinct timeline, no flow between scenes, and made the book feel like a very long collection of vignettes rather than a cohesive novel.
Because of the constant choppiness, and the glacial pace, it was missing the tension, emotional impact and intrigue of Book 1. Unlike Book 1, there was no big mystery to solve, no anticipation of what was to come, because we already know they get together and Gabe's empathic abilities is far easier to swallow than the super intriguing reaper of Book 1.
But, if you're going to rehash old scenes – for the love of God – include some POV labels and timeline markers. It took 7% before I knew where in Book 1's timeline it was even starting, and then it seemed to jump around after that. By 38% we'd explored most of Book 1's main story timeline, but all I read were filler scenes. It took FOREVER to get to the point, because the author cared more about rehashing Book 1 than giving us a fresh, new storyline to follow.
Sadly, that meant that even in his own book, Ellis was overshadowed by Cal. Both Ellis and Gabe were so shy and introverted that neither stood a chance in hell of standing out as a main character against the exuberant characters like Ash, Zeke and Jordan, who all had a bit of spark and fire in them. Even the scenes where Dawson and Cal showed up had more chemistry than the very few scenes we got when Ellis and Gabe were together.
I think my biggest problem with Ellis and Gabe was that they were so....high school. I was far more interested in the Kieran/Ash and whether Jordan/Zeke might be a thing, than in whether the two of them would ever make it through the 10,000 layers of shyness to actually admit they liked each other.
At 80 pages SHORTER than Book 1, I have to admit that every time I sat and read a chunk of it, I'd look at the percentage hopefully only to feel really deflated to realise that by reading about 3 chapters in a row, I'd only moved on about 2%. Because of the lack of flow and the fact that nothing of interest ever happened, it just felt endless.
~
OVERALL
Unfortunately, nothing caught fire, in this book. No hearts, not even a pair of pants. There was nothing even remotely fiery or hot or spicy about the parts I read, just...sadly to say...boring. It was all mundane daily stuff, work and hanging out with friends and family. Take the middle parts of Book 1 – where Cal and Dawson are getting to know each other again – making it half as interesting, completely separate them and force them to spend more time with other people than they do with each other, and that's about what you get for this entire book.
My suggestion as a beta/alpha reader would have been to make this book take place between the end and epilogue of Book 1 – an entire two years, which is more than enough to have a slow burn. That would have solved half the problems, such as rehashing scenes with Cal that probably made zero sense to new readers – because this is NOT a standalone by any means – and that add nothing but cause a lot of timeline and flow issues for Ellis' story.
There were a lot of unnecessary scenes and concepts going on here, that either had zero impact on the novel or were used as convenient plot devices to force a situation, which I never enjoy. I would have removed the cinema scene between Ash and Gabe (kept the mind link, but DEAR GOD, remove the shared-experience horniness between cousins! That was entirely unnecessary and gross!) And remove the fake pregnancy thing, because that was clearly just a filler, so that Ellis' POV could be shown and so that he'd be stressed and self-doubtful enough to open up to Gabe. There were better, more logical ways of doing this. Having one of the few female characters in the entire book by a cheating, lying ho probably wasn't the best idea.
Finally, I'll admit that I read some reviews before writing mine. In fact, I read them before DNF'ing because I hoped they would tell me it got better. For this, I always read the negative reviews, just to see if they admit it started bad but had a strong finish, but they didn't. They agreed with all my points, but they also pointed out some things that I don't want to read about, so since I already wasn't feeling the story, I decided to give up before the book actually made me mad.
e.g. Ellis feeling up Jordan's boner. What is that about?
After Gabe and Ellis have sex, they discover that Gabe's MOTHER heard everything through the wall ??? Then she says “That was beautiful.” I mean...WTF??
No thanks.
Sadly, while Book 1 was strong on the initial read, I don't think this is a book or series I'll be revisiting again. There was so much untapped potential, but in the end, nothing caught fire except my last nerve, because the only thing happening in the book was a whole lot of nothing.
SOTUS, Vol. 3 by BitterSweet
5.0
Beautiful. Wonderful. Took me right back to watching the show! The manga is so stinkin' adorable!!
SOTUS, Vol. 2 by BitterSweet
5.0
Beautiful. Wonderful. Took me right back to watching the show! The manga is so stinkin' adorable!!