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Book Review: The Book of Autumn, by Molly O’Sullivan

I received an ARC copy of Molly O’Sullivan‘s The Book of Autumn from Kensington Publishing.

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Try as she might, anthropologist Marcella Gibbons can’t escape the fact that she’s a dimidium, one half of a formidable pair of Magicians, forever tied together to enable the other’s powers. After a tumultuous final year at Seinford and Brown College of Agriculture (and Magic) in rural New Mexico, Cella felt more than a little uneasy about returning to the sun-drenched desert campus ever again. She’d cut ties with her other half—the charming and rugged rancher Max Middlemore—and sworn off Magic, academia, and heartache for good.

Until Max turns up at her door, grinning under his cowboy hat for one last favor. Something is shifting at her alma mater, something bigger than anyone understands. One student is dead. Another is floating midair in the infirmary, growling guttural nonsense and terrifying the staff. Their best, perhaps only, chance to intervene requires Cella and Max to work together. But the origins of the disturbances lie centuries ago. To unravel them, Cella will have to confront the truth about her past—and Max. Because she might be challenging a power she could never rival alone . . .

my review

This review contains a spoiler. I’m super angry about how this book ended, and I want to talk about it. But it’s a spoiler. I’ll try to be as oblique as possible, but you’ve been warned.

First, the positives: The prose here is lovely. The book is atmospheric, and the location is almost a character on its own. It was honestly a joy to read.

Second, a small (maybe irrelevant) critique: There are a couple of timeline snags. Places where Cella knows things that she can’t have been told yet, for example. Now, I read an ARC, so maybe those get fixed, and you can ignore this one.

Third, a few minor personal detractions: I never felt the romance here. By this, I mean I didn’t sense the two falling back in love or that they ever adequately addressed the reason they broke up. Neither seemed to fight for their supposed great love. Also, the plot is pretty slow and sometimes a little disjointed.

Fourth, the giant glaring problem that made me seethe and the spoiler: Cella spends the whole damned book wrestling with the fact that she ran away because she was tired of being in Max’s the book of autumn photoshadow. Always overlooked because he is a man, and thus she (as a woman) was relegated to tag-along, assistant, or girlfriend, despite being a complete equal (maybe even the driving force) of their work. This was a perfectly understandable complaint, one I feel was never appropriately addressed between them. But then O’Sullivan wrote a climax in which, despite Cella’s best efforts, Max saves the day. Putting Cella (the main character) smack dab IN HIS SHADOW. I’d detract a whole damned star for this.


Other Reviews:

The Book of Autumn by Molly O’Sullivan

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Book Review: Terror at the Gates, by Scarlett St. Clair

I purchased a signed copy of Scarlett St. Clair‘s Terror at the Gates at a local bookstore.

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She is the beginning and the end.
She is peace and chaos.
She is terror knocking at the gates.

Estranged from her powerful family, Lilith Leviathan finds refuge in Nineveh, a district in the city of Eden devoted to sin. There, she uses her magic to steal for a living, attracting the attention of the five governing families as well as the church, which expects women to remain pious and silent. When Lilith comes into possession of a beautiful blade, she thinks all her worries are over…until her usual buyer dies while inspecting it.

Frantic, Lilith turns to the only man who can help her: Zahariev, head of the Zareth family and ruler of Nineveh. His currency is information, and his power is extortion, though he’s always had a soft spot for Lilith. But when the dagger appears, he isn’t sure he can protect her from what’s to come.

Together, they embark on a mission to discover the true power running their world. As their lives intertwine, Lilith realizes Zahariev is more than just a friend, but their devotion to each other is a threat—to the truth, to the church, and to those who want to tear it all down.

my review

I thought this was ok. It kept me interested. But ultimately, I didn’t think there was anything particularly special about it. I liked Lilith well enough. She’s got a backbone and seems to be a good person. But she also would have been significantly less able and dynamic without her connection to Zahariev. It’s her connection to his social power that enables her to do the things that make her interesting in the book. And I’m a little like, ‘meh’ on that fact. For his part, Zahariev is interesting on the surface. I enjoyed his quiet longing. But he’s a cardboard cutout. The reader barely gets to know him and never learns when, why, or how he fell so in love with Lilith. The villains are villainous. But it’s basically just a fantasy version of the Catholic church, and I’m always a little like, ‘unless this turns out to actually be some post-apocalyptic earth, either bite the bullet and use (and name) the Catholic church or make your vile religion different enough from the church to not feel so very much like a lazy copy.’ All in all, I’d be willing to read the next in the series. But I’m not running out to buy it.

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Other Reviews:

Amphibian Authors: Book Review: Terror at the Gates

 

 

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Book Review: Splintered Sight, by W.R. Gingell

I contributed to the Kickstarter for W.R. Gingell‘s Splintered Sight and therefore got an early e-copy of it. It is book three of the Shattered World Series. Here you can find reviews of books one and two.

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Viv has been living alongside behindkind and fae in the Historic Renner Tea House in Melbourne for nearly a month now. In that time, she’s been almost killed by friends and enemies alike, discovered that the human world is not the only world on the edges of her reality, and become a glorified babysitter for Luca, an unstable assassin of otherworldly creatures who has nightmares that are a bit too…real. She has uncovered mysteries and murderers—and discovered just a bit too much about herself into the bargain.

Now a small selkie has turned up on her windowsill, while a nightmare has begun stalking the floors of the Tea House, and Viv is certain the two things are connected. The selkie’s human sponsor has disappeared, as has his pelt, and there’s no help to be had from the selkies, who won’t interfere with a traditional sojourn of one of their own on solid land.

Between her boss Jasper’s dislike of doing anything he doesn’t get paid for, and Luca’s disinclination to do anything to help behindkind rather than humans, Viv is finding it hard to get to the bottom of the disappearance. But if she doesn’t, the nightmare that has infiltrated the Tea House might burgeon into daylight reality, and the little selkie won’t get his pelt back. And without his pelt, it’s just a matter of time before Kyma crumbles away into dust…

my review

There are very few authors whose books I enjoy so much that I am willing to read them as they are published, rather than wait for the series to be complete so that I can binge (my preferred reading method). Gingell is one such author. I contribute to the Kickstarters for her books as soon as they are posted, so that I can get them as quickly as possible, and then I devour them. Which is what I did with Splintered Sight.

I love Viv and Luca as a duo. I like all the sundry side characters and get a little thrill when there is a bit of crossover from Gingell’s other related series. I’m invested in the secrets that are slowly being revealed, and I like the bit of mystery each book presents. And I adore Gingell’s sense of humor and writing style. All in all, I was thrilled with this book and am now back on the edge of my seat waiting for the next one.

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