Tag Archives: lgbtq

Review of The Year of the Knife, by G.D. Penman

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I received a copy of G.D. Penman‘s The Year of the Knife from the author.

Description from Goodreads:
Agent “Sully” Sullivan is one of the top cops in the Imperial Bureau of Investigation. A veteran witch of the British Empire who isn’t afraid to use her magical skills to crack a case. But Sully might need more than a good education and raw power to stop the string of grisly murders that have been springing up across the American Colonies. Every one of them marked by the same chilling calling card, a warning in the form of a legion of voices screaming out through the killers’ mouths: “It IS tHe YEAr oF the KNife.”

Sully’s investigation will drag her away from the comforts of home in New Amsterdam, the beautiful but useless hyacinth macaw that used to be her boss, and the loving arms of her undead girlfriend, in a thrilling race against time, demonic forces and a shadowy conspiracy that will do anything to keep its hold on power and ensure that Sully takes their secrets to her grave, as soon as possible.

Review:
Generally really enjoyable. There is some good humor and the writing is fun. I liked the cast of characters and the little bit of softness Sully shows when it comes to Marie. Which is especially notable because the book does suffer a bit from tough woman must be tough syndrome. By this I mean the common occurrence where authors want to make a woman seem strong and capable, so they make her overly violent and prickly. Gleeful violence is Sully’s first response to everything and it leaves her a little hard to relate too.

Certain aspects of the book confused me. I never wholly got my head around the political and geographic landscape that the story occurs in, and the confines of the magic system are vague. So, I never understood the limitations of what is or isn’t possible.

All in all, however I really liked The Year of the Knife and look forward to more.

Book Review of Hot Flash, by Nicole Casey

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Author, Nicole Casey sent me a copy of their novel Hot Flash.

Description from Goodreads:
Give him your latest novel, Ariana says. It’ll be the best way to thank him, she says.

Yeah. If only it were that easy.

After all, Dylan is a firefighter who runs into burning buildings to save lives. It’s how I met him—and how, after a freak accident at my apartment complex, he saved my life.

What could he ever see in a guy like me, who’s little more than a writer who sits in front of his computer all day?

I guess Ariana is right.

There’s only one way to find out if he’s interested.

Review:
As I said, I received an ARC of Hot Flash from the author, some time ago, and then promptly lost it in my jungle of ebooks. I rediscovered and read it tonight. I liked it better when it was lost and just an idea to me. It has a sweet plot, but is rushed and unsupported. Nothing feels natural or believable. The parrot was cute though.

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Book Review of Rook, by T. Strange

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I received a copy of Rook, by T. Strange from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
For killing his husband, Rook is sent to B-226—an alien planet populated by deadly creatures, where the average life expectancy for a prisoner is three weeks. Rook is relieved by the sentence—all he wants is to die and rejoin his husband.

Upon arrival on B-226, Rook is partnered with Stevie, who has beaten the odds and survived for several months. Rook is drawn to Stevie in a way he didn’t expect in the aftermath of losing his husband. Before Rook can untangle the mess of his emotions, the already deadly situation on B-226 worsens, plunging Rook and Stevie into an even more desperate struggle to survive.

Review:
This book has an interesting blurb. Man gets sent to a prison planet, is partnered with a slightly more experienced prisoner, and feels drawn to him. That’s the basics of the blurb. It’s also the basics of the book. There is almost nothing more to the book than is in the blurb, which is fine, except that the book is 218 pages long. That is nowhere near enough plot to fill 218 pages. Nowhere. Near. Enough. The book is just FAR TOO LONG for the plot points it contains and the last 1/4 or so of it is just almost completely tell about what happens after….well, after the book should have ended.

The copy editing is pretty good, but there are a few consistency problems. (Hopefully those get cleaned up in the final edit. I read an ARC.) But there are some frankly ridiculous occurrences that I can’t really discuss without spoilers—finding things they need conveniently abandoned or knowing things immediately from little available information—that sort of stuff.

OK, this is a spoiler (be warned), but I have to say it, the occurrences and decision that get them off the planet and home was just more than I could believe. The government does not just suddenly decide to let prisoners they’ve convicted to death go free! I don’t care what favor you did or what new information was miraculously discovered.

I do appreciate that Strange death with depression, PTSD and readjustment after the characters went through something traumatic. And I didn’t hate the book. But I think it needed to be pared down quite a bit.