Tag Archives: W.R. Gingell

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

I contributed tothe Kickstarter campaign for a copy of W.R. Gingell‘s Splintered Path. It is book 4 of the Shattered World series, and I have been reading/reviewing them as they come out.

Viv thought that her life was gaining some sort of equilibrium.

Yeah, there’s something dodgy in her family tree, and yeah, she’s living in a magic Tea House in Melbourne that has fae residents and feathered-and-or-tentacled visitors; but at least she’s starting to get the hang of it. She’s been keeping an eye on her not-quite-sane and perennially murderous co-worker Luca (while convincing him not to kill quite everyone who looked at him sideways), getting closer to her mysterious and probably-fae-royalty boss Jasper, and catching humans and behindkind causing trouble between the worlds.

But now one of her house-mates has kissed her—and she may have accidentally kissed him back. Romance wasn’t meant to be a part of Viv’s new life at the Tea she’s still just trying to figure out how her mother connected with the world in which Viv now lives, and making sure she doesn’t get killed either outside or inside the Tea House. She would also settle for just figuring out what her father is hiding from her and why he has what he has in his safe at home. She doesn’t have the bandwidth for romance as well.

Meanwhile, outside the Tea House, the “men” from Forex have begun to take a closer interest in her…

As always, I enjoyed this new installment of the Shattered World series. I laughed frequently at Gingell’s (and the characters’) dry delivery of lines, enjoyed the small cameo-like references to characters from other books/series, and was caught up in the mystery. However, there was significantly less interaction between the main characters and less forward progression on the larger series-level plot arc than I might have liked. I suppose I could describe my complaint as the whole thing just feeling very middle-book; something to get through to get forward. All in all, I didn’t love it as much as previous books, but I still very much enjoyed it.

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

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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.

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…

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.