Review: Magic to the Bone (Devon Monk)

Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk

Publisher: Roc (2008)

Format: Mass Market Paperback | 355 pages

Genre(s): Urban Fantasy

Description (GR): "Using magic meant it used you back. Forget the fairy-tale, hocus-pocus, wave a wand and bling-o, sparkles and pixie dust crap. Magic, like booze, sex, and drugs, gave as good as it got.

Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user - maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying, and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster - and Allison Beckstrom's the best there is.

Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune - and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high-stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic.

Now Allie's out for the truth - and must call upon forces that will challenge everything she knows, change her in ways she could never imagine ... and make her capable of things that powerful people will do anything to control."

I've read this book when it first came out and reviewed it on Goodreads before I started posting english reviews here, so...

Imagine an alternate world where magic is real and you can use it at your leisure... if you pay the price, of course. Magic is a wild resource and it's as bad for you as alcohol and drugs. But the rewards are worth it; or at least some people think so.

Allie Beckstrom is the heir to the company that came up with the technology to harvest and use magic. But, tired of her manipulative father she ran away from home and is now a Hound; a sort of private eye that literally tracks (with smell and other magic-enhanced senses) people who use magic wrongly.

One day she discovers her father had made wrong use of magic; shortly after confronting him, Mr Beckstrom turns up dead. Now Allie is the prime suspect.

I bought this book mainly because it seemed original (by the summary in the back cover) in the urban fantasy genre. I was actually intrigued by the idea of magic as a commodity in the modern world; something you could harvest and sell. Something that used you as you used it.

Maybe I had too many expectations, because I was sorely disappointed by this book. While the world building was solid and interesting, the story was all over the place; it was sometimes, confusing. The identity of the "bad guys" was painfully obvious.

The characters weren't amiable at all, I didn't really care much for any of them, including the main character, Allie. They were all very much like the mass produced heroes and heroines we read about in urban fantasy nowadays. They even seemed one dimensional at times.

Will probably not follow these series, unless the synopse in the back cover of the second book is shiny. I confess I might continue reading just for the quirky world-building. :|

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Review: Spider's Bite (Jennifer Estep)

Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Publisher: Pocket Books (2010)
Format: Mass Market Paperback | 395 pages
Genre(s): Urban Fantasy

Description (GR): "My name is Gin, and I kill people. They call me the Spider. I'm the most feared assassin in the South — when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.
Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way — good or bad. I may look hot, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I'm battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction...especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy."

WARNING: Contains a few SPOILERS!

The Elemental Assassin series is one of the most popular urban fantasies out right now so I've been steadily buying the books for a while. I've also been afraid to pick them up and be disappointed.

I was. I mean, I understand why people like the series; the heroine, Gin Blanco is likable enough and she isn't exactly a goody two-shoes. She is unusual. But... as I read the story I felt like I had seen this one too many times. Yep, it's a common movie plot: famous assassin gets double-crossed, famous assassin gets angry and famous assassin goes on a punishing killing spree. Nothing new there.

On the other hand I kind of get that this first book is clearly introduction for the rest as the author does tie all the loose ends and the plot follows quite a neat line. It was a gamble to start with this book, but I think Estep was clever. I prefer an entire book about why Gin retires than just an hasty explanation in a prologue.

Still, besides the over-used plot, a few other things bothered me. Like the fact that we are plunged into Gin's world with little to no explanation. What are elementals? How did they come to be? Are they human? How come vampires can withstand daylight and are they turned or just another kind of wizards? Nothing is explained and with vampires going out in daylight and being overall quite human I'd certainly like to know more. Still, this is just the first in a series, so I suppose I can wait. It just bug me that there was no explanation of Ashland's society.

Another thing that bothered me: the romance. It felt rushed and there was no chemistry. Also, why the heck did Estep think it was a good thing to have Gin call the male protagonist by his full name every single time? Really I got tired of reading the words 'Donovan Caine' every other sentence. Gah!

Overall, this book was a pretty standard urban fantasy. There wasn't anything special about story or characters and the world-building was pretty weak. The writing style was engaging and the pace was good but these are mostly the only things to recommend it. Since it is clearly an introductory book I am hoping the series gets better though.

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Leituras de 2011 - Balanço

Com o ano de 2011 quase no fim é chegada a altura de fazer o 'balanço' das leituras. Ainda faltam uns dias, mas penso que já dá para ver mais ou menos quais foram as leituras mais agradáveis e as que mais desapontaram. Este ano li mais livros do que no ano passado e alguns destacaram-se pela positiva:

Chime de Franny Bilingsley (English Review here): Simplesmente fantástico! É uma história de época com magia à mistura que consegue fugir à maioria dos clichés tão comuns na literatura juvenil. As personagens não são estereotipadas, o romance é verosímil e o tom da narrativa acrescenta um toque mágico ao enredo. Adorei este livro, a autora fez um excelente trabalho na construção do seu mundo e da história.

Eon e Eona de Alison Goodman (English Reviews here and here): Uma saga de fantasia de dois livros muito interessante, com um mundo inspirado nas civilizações orientais (China e Japão) e um bom nível de pormenor no desenvolvimento. Uma história épica e mágica que apelará a todos os fans de fantasia.

City of Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, #3) de Stacia Kane: Uma verdadeira lufada de ar fresco no mundo da fantasia urbana, esta é certamente uma das minhas séries preferidas dentro do género. A heroína, Chess é diferente de qualquer outra e o resto das personagens são carismáticas mas ao mesmo tempo humanas. Gostaria de mais desenvolvimento do mundo destes livros (algumas coisas ainda não estão bem explicadas) mas de resto... adoro. 

Celestial de Cynthia Hand (Opinião em Português aqui): O que mais dizer deste livro que não tenha dito já antes? Celestial faz parte desta lista porque foi mais uma lufada de ar fresco... um livro original de entre muitos na literatura juvenil. Percebo a aposta da Saída de Emergência nesta série. Se estão fartos do típico romance adolescente que povoa este género, Celestial é vosso livro!

Feed de M.T. Anderson (English Review here): Uma distopia bastante interessante que me pareceu mais do que uma invenção apagada de um mundo futuro. Feed é um livro com alma. O enredo manteve-me interessada e algo arrepiada e definitivamente manteve o meu interesse.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Vols 01 & 02 de Naoko Takeuchi: Que lista 'best of' estaria completa sem alguma manga? Nenhuma, claro, eheh. Quando soube que iam reeditar esta manga que resultou nos anos 90 num dos meus desenhos animados favoritos fiquei com imensa vontade de ler esta história. Posso dizer que a manga é tão boa como a animação, pelo menos até agora. :D  

Menções honrosas:

Eis mais alguns livros de que gostei ou que foram surpresas agradáveis: 

- Forsaken e Forbidden de Jana Oliver: uma série que me surpreendeu pela positiva.

- Drink, Slay, Love de Sarah Beth Durst: uma leitura bastante divertida que me agradou imenso.

- Angelfire de Courtney Allison Moulton: outro livro juvenil que foi bem melhor do que esperava.

- Ghost Story de Jim Butcher: do qual gostei bastante apesar de ser já o 13º da série Harry Dresden. Como se sabe as série tendem a ficar piores quando se tornam mais longas, em regra.

- Divergent de Veronica Roth: mais uma distopia que se revelou acima das minhas expectativas.

Se houve livros que adorei ler, outros houve de que não gostei tanto. A Noite de Todas as Almas de Deborah Harkness por exemplo, foi bastante mau. Não consegui acabar de ler o livro porque a história se arrastava e arrastava. The Faerie Ring de Kiki Hamilton foi outro livro que deixei a meio porque sinceramente a história não tinha qualquer nexo.

Quanto aos livros que considerei muito más leituras temos Anjo Caído de Lauren Kate, Bloodring de Faith Hunter, 13 Little Blue Envelopes de Maureen Johnson e Angelologia de Danielle Trussoni. A Luz do Fogo de Sophie Jordan também não foi grande coisa.

Houve ainda algumas obras que me desapontaram bastante quer por ter altas expectativas em relação a elas quer por achar que a autora podia ter feito melhor (os leitores pensam sempre isso, ahah... somos 'escritores de bancada'). São eles Hourglass de Myra McEntire e The Near Witch de Victoria Schwab entre outros.

E pronto, está feito o 'balanço'. :D

Review: Skinwalker (Faith Hunter)

Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

Publisher: Roc (2009)
Format: Mass Market Paperback | 320 pages
Genre(s): Urban Fantasy

Description (GR): "Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind-a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she's been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie's Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who's killing other vamps..."

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS!

After the disappointment that was Bloodring, I wasn't sure when I was going to pick up this book by Faith Hunter. Still, I was in the mood for urban fantasy and a book about a Skinwalker seemed good.

It was... such a frustrating read. Like Bloodring, Skinwalker also distinguishes itself by the relatively original concept but on the other hand the writing style, the overall focus of the narrative and the unlikable heroine ruined the book for me. I'm not sure how to voice my opinions objectively so I guess I'll rant a bit about this book by listing the pros and cons. :P

Pros:

- The Concept: Bloodring had an amazing one and while Skinwalker's was a little more run-of-the-mill urban fantasy it had a nice twist when it came to Jane's origins. I loved the bit about the Skinwalkers and the mysteries behind Jane's past. I don't think I ever read much about Skinwalkers in UF books, except as villains, so I liked it. You can see that Hunter did some research on the mythology she uses (Indian legends and all that). Really good.

- Beast: sure, 'beast-speak' chapters were a little annoying after a while but Beast is a refreshing character. Especially since I didn't like Jane Yellowrock that much.

Cons:

- Writing Style: yep, writing style. Too much useless (and boring) description. I mean, I don't like books where the heroine skips steps and in one scene is doing one thing and in the next is doing something different, but this book exaggerates on the description. Some parts are so info-dumpey and boring I felt like throwing the book at the wall. I get the author had to research several things to write the book but the reader does not need to have it pasted onto the book. Descriptions of weapons (in painful detail) and its uses, descriptions of Jane's bike, descriptions of clothes and jewelry, descriptions of tea and ways to prepare tea. And not just once either. Every time guns appear they are described again and again; every time Jane drinks tea we are treated to a lengthy summary on how she brews it, what kettles she uses, etc, etc. All this seemed unnecessary and distracted me from the story, which felt cluttered with all the description. Gah.

- Plot focus: so, this book has a mildly interesting supernatural mystery going on but the protagonist does very little to solve it. She 'shifts' several times into her 'beast' form to track her quarry but mostly the book is about how Jane Yellowrock establishes relationships with some of the inhabitants of the place she is investigating (mainly she is contrary and rude). Interactions with vampires, their thugs (we are told they are all so full of muscles... and hot) and the rare human (since humans are 'sissies', 'weak' and 'prey') are what most of this book is about.

- Jane Yellowrock: ... reminded me a lot of Anita Blake. And not in a good way. She is contrary and rude to everyone, doesn't understand 'girly things' like eating salads, make-up and dresses. Of course she is of the opinion (just like most men, apparently) that all women are weak, feeble and whimsical. Oh and dumb as rocks. They can't fight, hold their own or handle guns. As such, Jane is not your typical female, no! She is tough, wears leather and of course 'fights like a man', is good at sports (we all know all women suck at sports) and can shoot guns. And likes steaks... because we all know women wouldn't dare to eat such a manly food as steaks (rare) or drink bear. Of course, in pursuit of being the perfect warrior (which can only be male... women are weaklings) she can't be sexy or beautiful or feminine.

So basically, the protagonist's attitude made me gag. I just hope she has a better side to her because well this behaviour is very outdated, I think. I'm not saying Jane had to like frilly pink dresses, but to erase all traces of female personality from the character? Maybe Hunter should write about John Yellowrock instead? O.o

Overall: this book had many of the same problems as Bloodring. The over-the-top description, the focus of the narrative and the heroine who lacks charisma (really I doubt male or female readers would identify with her). The concept is great, sure, but the execution is messy and leaves much to be desired. Still, I want to know more about Jane's world (yes, the concept and general world-building are that good) and that is why I gave it this rating (and not one star or close). A bit better than Bloodring, but still not enough to be truly enjoyable.

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Boas Festas!

Imagem daqui

Mais um ano que está quase a terminar. Desejo a todos um Natal muito feliz, com alguns livros no sapatinho, se possível! ^_^

In my Mailbox (42)

E cá estamos para mais uma 'mailbox'. Esta semana recebi mais alguns livros. A Cat enviou-me a minha parte da grande encomenda twitgang/ presença (thanks! :D) e vieram também os livros três e quatro da série Desparecidos, eheh.

Scandal of the Year - Laura Lee Guhrke 

Plague - Michael Grant 

Lies - Michael Grant 

The Watchtower - Lee Carroll

Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater 

A Tapeçaria dos Deuses - Chris Wooding 

Os Tecedores de Saramyr - Chris Wooding

E vocês o que receberam na vossa Caixa de Correio (What did you get in your mailbox this week?)?

"In my Mailbox" is hosted by The Story Siren.

Review: No Proper Lady (Isabel Cooper)

No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (2011)
Format: Mass Market Paperback | 329 pages
Genre(s): Historical Romance, Urban Fantasy

Description (GR): "England, 1888. The trees are green, the birds are singing, and in 200 years demons will destroy it all. Unless Joan, a rough-around-the-edges assassin from the future, can take out the dark magician responsible. But to get close to her target she'll need help learning how to fit into society.

Simon has his own reasons for wanting to destroy Alex Reynell, and Joan may be his perfect revenge. But as each day passes, Simon is less sure he wants her anywhere near Reynell. Because no spell in the world will save his future if she isn't in it."

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS!

No Proper Lady was an impulse buy (I know I have a lot of those, gah). I wanted to read an historical romance, but somehow I also wanted a bit of paranormal. So when I read the synopsis for this book, I thought it was exactly what I was looking for.

And it was, in a way. The idea is still pretty good. The execution (yes, you read right, it's one of those... sigh), however...

I was okay with time travel and Joan being a though female. Very good. I did not like the way her first encounter with Simon (the hero) went down. It appears Simon is a wizard and doesn't frown on bright lights and women from the future... which means he pretty much took it in stride and didn't doubt her. There was no fights, no disbelief, no period of adjustment. It was like: "Oh right I'll help a strange woman, give her dresses and all". I just... didn't feel like it was realistic behaviour.

Also it bugged me that the focus of the book was Joan learning to fit Victorian society. Half the book is about that (and the instantaneous attraction between her and Simon) and I was kind of bored, because, well it was boring and the interactions were not very interesting. Or conductive to attraction. Basically, the protagonists had no chemistry.

After this first half, Joan and company move to London to meet their foe (Simon's former friend), who could have been a layered, complex character but ended up being the villain of the jour. As mean as they come and strangely with a tendency for self-pity (Woe, no-one understands my evilness) that made me roll my eyes. The part where the heroes deal with this very dangerous villain is short and anti-climatic after all the talk of him being so powerful and so dangerous. It was like Cooper was tired of the story and decided to end it abruptly after spending much of the book focusing on Joan and how she couldn't dance or eat properly.

I think the major problem with this book is that it tries to be too much: time-travel story, mystery and thriller, paranormal fiction, historical romance... and consequently none of these are very well developed. Same for the characters.

I did like the descriptions of Joan's world (great setting for gritty urban fantasy) and her flashgun. I did not, however, like Joan that much. I didn't connect with any of the characters, really.

Overall: No Proper Lady could have been an interesting book (it certainly had an interesting idea behind it) but the author seemed to want to cram so much into the story it ended up being underdeveloped. And generally boring, except for a few select parts. Not a "time-travel romance" I would recommend.

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