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Book Review of The Banished Craft (Shkode #1), by E.D.E. Bell

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The Banished CraftI received a copy of E.D.E Bell‘s The Banished Craft from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Struggling to solve the mystery of her parents’ murder, Cor comes across a mystery much deeper—a secret society who predicted that someday their world would be devastated. That time is now. In a world where women are not allowed to read, live alone, or pursue knowledge Cor presses forward, discovering a new magic and the power to wield it. A world away, Atesh works in the Imperial Labs, devoting his study to the turmoil destroying his home and endangering dragonkind. Instead he discovers a long-hidden truth. Humans are real.

A quirky and modern take on dragons and wizards, The Banished Craft begins the genre-bending Shkode fantasy trilogy about a split world, exploring themes of identity, prejudice, violence, compassion, and the ways we are all connected.

Review:
OMG, I finally finished this, which was in doubt on more than one occasion. I just could not get into it and every page was a slog. I mean, I can read a book this length in a day. But I’ve been reading this one forever and a day…ok, three weeks, but for me, that’s an eternity. I would pick it up, read a chapter (sometimes less), put it down, go off and read something else (usually an entire other book) and then come back to this one for a chapter (sometimes less). It was in this arduous manner I finally chipped away at it enough to finally finish. And do you know what? It ended about where I expected it to start with nary a conclusion in sight.

And it’s not even that it’s a bad book. The writing is pretty good and the characters seem interesting enough. Unfortunately, there are about four billion of them, most of whom don’t seem relevant (though I suspect they will be in future books). And all these characters populate about a million unrelated plots. Though I expect they’ll connect up at some point, just not in this book. I can kind of see the shape it will be taking, but that’s not enough to be a satisfying rad.

It this over abundance of characters and plot lines that did me in. I was just never able to sink into it and float away with the story. Just about the time I settled into a narrative, it jumped to another, and just about the time I got comfortable there, the book was off again. This is stylistic and if it doesn’t bother you then you may like the book. This drives me batty and I wanted to scream…or DNF the book.

There is a pleasant circularity to the two worlds that I appreciated and again, the writing is pretty good. But This one was definitely not for me. I had hoped to read the sequel, but I barely made it through this one.

pansies

Book Review of Pansies, by Alexis Hall

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PansiesI requested Alexis Hall‘s Pansies from Netgalley. I was approved and then two hours later the paperback showed up in the mail. Apparently, I had forgotten that I’d pre-ordered it. Oops. But it was fortuitous since I ended up reading from both copies and finishing that much faster.

Description from goodreads:
Alfie Bell is . . . fine. He’s got a six-figure salary, a penthouse in Canary Wharf, the car he swore he’d buy when he was eighteen, and a bunch of fancy London friends.

It’s rough, though, going back to South Shields now that they all know he’s a fully paid-up pansy. It’s the last place he’s expecting to pull. But Fen’s gorgeous, with his pink-tipped hair and hipster glasses, full of the sort of courage Alfie’s never had. It should be a one-night thing, but Alfie’s never met anyone like Fen before.

Except he has. At school, when Alfie was everything he was supposed to be, and Fen was the stubborn little gay boy who wouldn’t keep his head down. And now it’s a proper mess: Fen might have slept with Alfie, but he’ll probably never forgive him, and Fen’s got all this other stuff going on anyway, with his mam and her flower shop and the life he left down south.

Alfie just wants to make it right. But how can he, when all they’ve got in common is the nowhere town they both ran away from.

Review:
This is a truly beautiful book. Now, I’ll admit I’m biased, as Hall is one of my favorite authors and I’m kind of predisposed to like anything he writes, but I did very much enjoy this. The writing is lush. The romance so…well, so sweetly romantic you could almost scoop it up with a spoon. Both characters are distinct and likable. Hall even managed to make Fen’s forgiveness believable, which in the beginning I didn’t think was possible. Apparently, I’m a horrible person because I didn’t think Alfie deserved it.

Now, as with most of Hall’s books (maybe all, but I’m not a fan of definitives) all that lush writing can come across as painfully purple at times and this one may have been even more descriptive than normal. I think it’s lovely, but someone with little patience for such will probably not call this a winner. I also thought a few sections stood out as notably stuttered, in that they lacked the same level of flourish as the rest. Personally, I could have done with a little less sex, but I did really appreciate what Hall did with the sex he included. There are mishaps, and affection and a broad definition of what qualifies and very little penetration politicking (yes, I made that up), beyond Alfie’s engagement of his own injurious beliefs.

In all honestly, Alfie coming to terms with his own misconceptions and past self, with his own thoughtlessness, his own inability or unwillingness to consider the effects of his actions on another, or even to consider that he should consider such things was my favorite part of the book. Haven’t we all known (or been) that youth at some point?

I won’t call this my favorite Hall book. There’s little chance a contemporary romance could ever claim that title for any author, it’s just not my preferred genre, but this is definitely worth picking up. There is more emotion in this book than in most of what I’ve read this year put together.

What I’m eating/drinking: An extra hot latte from Webster Groves Garden Cafe (my local coffee shop) and, what turned out to be a chocolate chip muffin. I thought it was blueberry when I pointed to it in the display case. But honestly, how disappointed could I be?

Interborough

Book Review of Interborough (Five Boroughs #4), by Santino Hassell

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InterboroughI received a copy of Interborough, by Santino Hassell, from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
The Raymond Rodriguez from a few years ago wouldn’t recognize the guy he is today. He’s left his slacker ways far behind him and is now juggling two jobs and school. But the balancing act doesn’t allow much time for the man he loves.

David is doing his best to be supportive, but problems at work and his own insecurity leave him frustrated—in more ways than the obvious—whenever he goes to bed before Raymond gets home. The heat and affection between them is still there, but they barely have the time or energy to enjoy it. And it doesn’t help that Raymond is still hiding David from his colleagues.

The stress mounts so high that a vacation in paradise is filled with turmoil instead of harmony, and culminates on their return to the five boroughs with broken promises and heartache. They have to figure out how to stop allowing their differences to overshadow their love. It’s the only way they’ll make it to forever.

Review:

You know, I generally know what to expect when I pick up a Santino Hassell book and in that respect there were few surprises here. The characters were real and the situation gritty and über New York. He writes gay and bi men who struggle with relatable difficulties. It’s not the cotton candy fantasy many contemporary m/m romances portray and I love that about them.

In this one I unfortunately felt the under-framing a bit too much at times. There were certain scenes that felt abruptly added because the author had something to say on the subject. (Or maybe like he wrote a book around the theme instead of the other way around.) I’m not really complaining, I agreed with him and there are undoubtedly many who can relate and will appreciate seeing their experiences mirrored by the characters. And honestly the story really did call for them. An interracial romance could easily feel less authentic if racism wasn’t at least alluded to, for example.

But I thought that some scenes had jagged edges, where I could see where they’d been stitched into the plot. For example, privilege was addressed several times in the book—passing privilege, racial privilege, situational privilege (being able to be out or not), financial privilege. These are real-world issues and I’m glad to see them addressed, but sometimes I didn’t think they were dovetailed as smoothly into the plot as they should have been, even when accounting for the fact that some of these things, like a racist interaction with the police, can and often do pop up on any regular Tuesday. Thus, my ability to pick them out as the author’s issue de jour.

But man, if my biggest complaint is a little roughness around socially relevant scenes that I’m glad were there regardless, in a book that otherwise shines, that’s high praise in my opinion. And others I’ve spoken to didn’t even agree that any particular scenes stood out at all, so this is subjective anyhow.

While the book does stand alone, I think a reader would enjoy it significantly more if they’ve read Sunset Park. Otherwise, you might wonder why it’s so important to these two young men to fight for a relationship that truly seems to be making them miserable. As much as I adore Raymond and David, what really choked my up in this book was all the ways the reader is told that they are madly in love with one another. I really liked seeing the gruff, protective exteriors scrubbed away and the beating hearts underneath.

All in all, it’s another win from Hassell. I’ve somehow missed the third book in the series and I can’t wait to go back and read it.