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Book Review: The Forgotten Empires, by Jeffe Kennedy

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Several years ago, I won a copy of Jeffe Kennedy‘s The Fiery Crown. As a second book in a then-unfinished series, it has sat on my shelf ever since. But I am making an effort to read more of my physical books. So, I borrowed The Orchid Throne from the library, and when they did not have a copy of The Promised Queen, I purchased one.

A PRISONER OF FATE

As Queen of the island kingdom of Calanthe, Euthalia will do anything to keep her people free—and her secrets safe—from the mad tyrant who rules the mainland. Guided by a magic ring of her father’s, Lia plays the political game with the cronies the emperor sends to her island. In her heart, she knows that it’s up to her to save herself from her fate as the emperor’s bride. But in her dreams, she sees a man, one with the power to build a better world—a man whose spirit is as strong, and whose passion is as fierce as her own…

A PRINCE AMONG MEN

Conrí, former Crown Prince of Oriel, has built an army to overthrow the emperor. But he needs the fabled Abiding Ring to succeed. The ring that Euthalia holds so dear to her heart. When the two banished rulers meet face to face, neither can deny the flames of rebellion that flicker in their eyes—nor the fires of desire that draw them together. But in this broken world of shattered kingdoms, can they ever really trust each other? Can their fiery alliance defeat the shadows of evil that threaten to engulf their hearts and souls?

my review

I’m going to write a single review for this whole series, since it is a single story. Each book picks up just as the last ends.

I adored this wholly. There was a moment in book three when I thought Kennedy brought in some pointless kink to write to the market, and I was annoyed. But even that turned out not to be pointless after all. So, I basically just loved all of this.

Con and Lia are marvelous characters. He’s just the Goodest of Good Boys when he’s not being a dangerous, murderous rebel. She’s smart and poised. She’s also 26, if I remember correctly, and he is of a similar age. So, they’re full adults. There’s no young or new adult angst over self-discovery or sex. Nor is there any artificial misunderstandings or third-act breakup. The side characters are also marvelous and complicated. Ambrose is my favorite, though I enjoyed them all.

True, there isn’t much of a sense of the rest of the world, outside of the immediate happenings the forgotten empires photoof the book. Where did Con’s army go, for example? Once the Illustrious Toad was deposed, what of his court and the regular people? But the world and magic are interesting. The pacing is also, admittedly, uneven. But that was something I noticed, and then I shrugged. It didn’t particularly bother me.

All in all, Jeffe Kennedy (who I’m relieved to discover is not male) is definitely on my watchlist now.

Other Reviews:

Nerd Girl Loves Books: The Forgotten Empires

 

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Book Review: My Funny Demon Valentine, by Aurora Ascher

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I borrowed a copy of Aurora Ascher’s My Funny Demon Valentine.

my funny demon valentine

Asmodeus, Prince of Hell, just wants to play music. Jazz, specifically.

Unfortunately, he’s a demon, and he’s supposed to be evil. A career as a musician isn’t exactly an option.
And he’s cursed, to top it all off.

Sick of playing by the rules, Ash and his brothers escape Hell in search of freedom on Earth, only to discover it’s harder than they thought to keep their enemies off their tail. The four rogues quickly become the Underworld’s Most Wanted, and if they’re caught…
The consequences will be dire.

Everything changes for Ash when he meets a beautiful violinist who can see through his curse. It must be too good to be true, but he can’t resist the temptation.
No matter the risk, he has to have her.

Evangeline Gregory is just your average human. She works at a jazz bar, plays gigs on weekends…
And, apparently, hallucinates demons.

At least, that’s what she tells herself happens when, moments after she meets the man of her dreams, she sees him shift into a seven-foot-tall, red-skinned monster.

Not believing her own eyes, Eva decides to investigate and soon finds herself caught in the middle of a supernatural clusterf**k of epic proportions. But Ash isn’t the only one keeping secrets, and the search for answers reveals a shocking truth that will change the course of her life forever.

Or maybe just doom it.

my review

I hated the first half of this book. Honestly, I’m surprised I stuck with it to get to the second half, which I liked well enough. Look, I understand sometimes characters have to be unpleasant in the beginning to give them room to grow as a character. But, man, I am so freakin’ tired of reading male romantic leads (and their friends who will likily be romantic leads in future books) who basically hate women, just see them as pieces of ass.

This book is particularly bad about it. In fact, if you really think about some of the things they say to one another, they’re probably rapists on top of everything else. Yeah, yeah, their demons, whatever. That’s not why the characters are misogynists…or, rather, why the author chose to emphasize the men’s disregard and dislike of women as their primary character trait, instead of literally anything else. This appears to be just clichéd writing on the part of the author. It’s not plot or character-dependent. So, I really disliked the first half of this book. The casual and constant disregard for women was sandpaper my funny demon valentineon my skin.

The author largely drops this in the second half of the book, as the reader is supposed to develop some attachment to the characters. I appreciate that Ascher didn’t bother with artificial miscommunication or a third-act breakup. Ash is sweet, the brothers’ banter is endearing, and I liked Eva. I might be willing to continue the series, but I’m not in any hurry about it.

Other Reviews:

Amanda’s Book Corner: My Funny Demon Valentine

 

 

once and future

Book Review: Once & Future duology, by Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy

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I’ve had Sword in the Stars (by Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy*) on my bookshelf for a while. I think someone put it in the little free library. I borrowed Once & Future from the public library so that I could read the duology together.

*Side note, I’ve seen the authors’ names spelled differently. So, I’ve done the best I can here by going by what is on these covers.

once and future covers

Once and Future King as a teenage girl — and she has a universe to save.
I’ve been chased my whole life. As a fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur.

Now I’m done hiding.

My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.

When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.

No pressure.

Reviews:

Once & Future:
My experience with this book was very up and down. I loved the racially diverse, queer/gender queer, gender-bent retelling of ‘King’ Arthur and their knights in space aspect of the book, and I found the banter really funny. But…and I hope I can say this in a way that doesn’t come off horribly. The humour aspect got stale after a while, and the constant reminder of the queering of the story became overly heavy-handed.

Never is there a knight who happens to be bi, or non-binary, etc., even after we’ve been told. ALWAYS it is a cisgender or gay who happens to be a knight, if that makes sense. After a while, it felt self-congratulatory on the part of the authors; see how with-it we are?! We left no one out. Which is great on one hand, but it just…well, it left very little room for the characters to be anything else.

Here’s the pretty gay one. Here’s the strapping cisgendered, heterosexual one. Here’s the hip non-binary, disabled one. Here is the asexual one. Here are the lesbians and the neurodivergent one. Look at all the different family structures they came from, lesbian moms, happy heterosexuals, adoptions, abandonments, they’re all represented! After a while, even their names muddle, but never their identity or form of self-expression. I wanted so much more for all of them than to be an identity placeholder.

So, I loved the book in the beginning, flagged through the middle, such that I wasn’t sure I’d continue to the second (even as it sat on my coffee table), and then came back around to enjoying the ending. I will read the second one, I think, but I’m not going into it with anywhere near as high hopes as I did the first.

Sword in the Stars:
I enjoyed this second book more than the first because the twistiness of time added an interesting dimension that the first lacked. I do, kind of, feel the story would have held together a little better if the characters had been in their 20s, rather than teens. But all in all, it wrapped up nicely, and I appreciated the meta-ness of the last few chapters, as well as what I have decided is a little bit of an easter egg relating to the state of America in 2020 when the book was published.

once and future photo

Other Reviews:

Steph’s Story Space: Once & Future