Tag Archives: W.R. Gingell

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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.

splintered sight cover

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

I contributed to W.R. Gingell‘s Kickstarter for this book in order to get a copy as early as possible. Splintered Life is book two in the Shattered World series. I reviewed book one, Splintered Mind, here.

splintered life cover

The world isn’t the same as it was yesterday. In fact, Viv is no longer sure that she is the same as she was yesterday. She can do something she never knew was possible—and Luca tried to kill her, just like Jasper said he would if she let him get too close.

At the teahouse, it’s business as usual, tentacles in the top floor, an invasion of not-quite-real-but-nevertheless-terrifying spiders…and a new murderer to catch, of course. Someone is trying to make sure a Greek-Australian couple never makes it to the altar, and it’s not just perfume they’re sneaking into the bride’s room.

But Luca isn’t talking to Viv; not since she stopped him from escaping. That shouldn’t be surprising—and the last thing Viv should be doing is trying to talk to him more than she has to—but there’s another murderer on the loose, and they’re going to need Luca’s help to catch him.

Life was already hard, but now Viv has to somehow stop the wilder side of that life from spilling over into her normal life. Her human life. But if the two halves begin to split apart, which should she try to hold onto?

my review

Ugh, why did I start a series that isn’t finished? Well, I know why. Gingell is one of my favorite authors, and I was so excited to get a new series from her that I contributed to the Kickstarter so I could get the books early, and then dove right in. But I’m a binger. Waiting between books is agonizing!

I greatly appreciated that almost everyone in this book started off angry with one another, but eventually found a way to come to equilibrium again. Viv and Luca together form an adorable manzai-like double act (with Viv the straight (wo)man and Luca the funny man). Jasper isn’t in this book as much as the last, but he and the rest of the Tea House are a great cast of characters. Plus, I love how the other Behind/Between series seem to be weaving together.

Obviously, I can’t wait for the next book.

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

I contributed to the Kickstarter for W.R. Gingell‘s Splintered Mind, so I got an early copy. I’m all in for doing the same for Book Two (Splintered Life) when it becomes available, too.

splintered mind cover

Viv just wants work—any work. Well, not quite any work. But she’s desperate enough to accept a job offer as personal assistant to Jasper Renner—the rich and mysterious owner of the Renner Tea House—even though odd things happen whenever he’s around.

She expects to deal with rich, entitled Melbournians and a full business schedule. Instead, Viv finds herself following Jasper into a strange new world where a murderous madman has been incarcerated in a secret floor at the old Kew Asylum that may or may not exist in the human world as she knows it.

Reality is just as worryingly soft at the old tea house itself, which hides a few too many not-quite-human secrets. In one of the downstairs rooms, there’s a little girl who has been a little girl for a suspiciously long time; in the uppermost floor, there are a few windows that show a view that doesn’t exist in Melbourne. And then there are the giant cephalopod tentacles that appear from nowhere and disappear again, seemingly at will…

Now Viv isn’t sure if she’s going mad, or if the world itself has gone mad and the lunatic in Kew Asylum is the only sane person she knows.

my review

I pre-ordered a copy of this book as soon as I saw Gingell had a new series coming out; it was one of my better decisions in life. I do so love her writing. Where I made a mistake in reading this one before the rest of the books are out. Because now I’m sitting here, bereft because Splintered Mind ended on a cliffie, and the next book isn’t available yet.

I have always appreciated a practical heroine, and if there is one thing to be said for Viv, it is that she is eminently level-headed and pragmatic. Having said that, I very much appreciated that Gingell didn’t drag out Viv’s awakening to Behind and Between by making her so grounded in reality that she wasn’t able to bend. From a reader’s perspective, it is painful to read a main splintered mind photocharacter’s denials well past the point that the plot needs to progress. I see this a lot (usually accompanied by some TST antics). So, props to Gingell for walking the knife’s edge on this one.

For those who have read Gingell’s other Behind/Between books, I’m reasonably sure I caught a few easter eggs, which was fun. I liked the male leads and the realism of Viv’s contested relationship with her father. I cannot wait for the rest of the series.


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Splintered Mind: a book review