Me on Firestarter

Title: Firestarter
Author: Tara Sim
Release Date: January 15, 2019
Publisher: Sky Pony Press (Skyhorse Publishing imprint)

The crew of the Prometheus is intent on taking down the world's clock towers so that time can run freely. Now captives, Colton, Daphne, and the others have a stark choice: join the Prometheus's cause or fight back in any small way they can and face the consequences. But Zavier, leader of the terrorists, has a bigger plan--to bring back the lost god of time. As new threats emerge, loyalties must shift. No matter where the Prometheus goes--Prague, Austria, India--nowhere is safe, and every second ticks closer toward the eleventh hour. Walking the line between villainy and heroism, each will have to choose what's most important: saving those you love at the expense of the many, or making impossible sacrifices for the sake of a better world.

Firestarter is the conclusion to a series steeped in adventure, mystery, sorrow, and love. It's all revelation and heartache, running and racing and hurrying against time. Or with time. Or on the path to save time.

As I read this I thought back to when I first read Timekeeper, when it all started so unassumingly with a young man walking into a clock tower and finding someone watching him, and never would I have expected the trilogy to unfold as it did. It expanded the world so much, took Danny and Colton out of England and across the continents to India. And it brought them closer and  closer to trouble, to danger. To what could be the end of everything. There's a lot that conspires against Danny and Colton, both intentionally or not. Everyone has plans of their own, dangerous ones, hopeful ones. Murderous ones.

This book is definitely all about endings, about making that final decision that could end captivity, end a way of life, end lives themselves, and the reason for making that decision. Is it one you make purely for yourself, keeping someone you care about alive while so many others die, or is it one you make to keep the world moving as it should while you lose someone you care about? It's one of the hardest decisions to make, and here, it must be made.

It felt like there was so much happening in this book. Timekeeper was the introduction, Chainbreaker was the uncovering of a dangerous plot, and this was the struggle to keep as many people alive as possible as they moved towards the end. They go so many places, hide and uncover so many secrets, confront so many people, it almost felt too long. But there was so much to wrap up. If you're a fan of the first two books and you were gutted by how Chainbreaker ended, you're really going to want to read this. A great end to a sorrowful, mysterious, emotional series.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Sky Pony Press through Edelweiss.)

Blog tour: Chainbreaker

Hi there! Welcome to a very special Monday post. Today is the start of the blog tour for Tara Sim's Chainbreaker, the continuing story of a clock mechanic and the clock spirit he's fallen for.

The first book, Timekeeper, is all parts mystery and fantasy and mythology and romance, and Chainbreaker continues along those same lines, only this time the mystery and the danger reach far beyond the small town of Enfield.

Me on Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869 #1

Title: Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869 #1
Author/artist: Alex Alice
Release Date: September 12, 2017
Publisher: First Second (Macmillan imprint)

In search of the mysterious element known as aether, Claire Dulac flew her hot air balloon toward the edge of our stratosphere-and never returned. Her husband, genius engineer Archibald Dulac, is certain that she is forever lost. Her son, Seraphin, still holds out hope. One year after her disappearance, Seraphin and his father are delivered a tantalizing clue: a letter from an unknown sender who claims to have Claire's lost logbook. The letter summons them to a Bavarian castle, where an ambitious young king dreams of flying the skies in a ship powered by aether. But within the castle walls, danger lurks-there are those who would stop at nothing to conquer the stars.

Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869 #1 is the beginning of an epic tale. It's a searching for the impossible, full of hopes and dreams and sorrow. It's a young boy missing his mother and willing to journey as close as he can to her.

Seraphin is a smart, lonely boy dreaming of the impossible. Of one day flying through the sky using aether, of continuing the work of his mother before her disappearance. His father is a practical man. He holds no illusions as to the fate of his late wife, but Seraphin still dreams. When the letter arrives, speaking of his mother's logbook, Seraphin knows they have to go. And so he and his father end up on an unexpected journey to a Bavarian castle full of secrets and wonder.

The art is wonderfully detailed. The delicate lines that make up the characters' faces, the buildings and castles. The blueprint of the aethership. And the landscapes, the train station and the castle's surrounding trees and mountains, look more like watercolour paintings. The beautiful artwork serves to enhance an already captivating story.

This is the start of something epic and wondrous. A journey through the skies, hopefully up into the stars. The practically and reasoning of science and real life colliding with the magical nature that is aether. I would certainly recommend this to kids interested in epic stories of science, impossibility, and steampunk-esque sensibilities.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from First Second through NetGalley.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (335)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Castle in the Stars: The Space Race of 1869 Book 1
Author/Artist: Alex Alice
Release Date: September 12, 2017
Publisher: FirstSecond Books (Macmillan imprint)

From Goodreads:

“This one is Jules Verne meets Miyazaki. It’s the space race in 1869 in a kind of alternate past. … When you see the book itself, it’s this big, oversized object with this incredible watercolor comics style, and it’s this really big, epic, sweeping story of a boy following in his mother’s discovery and then opening up the solar system, but in the age of the 1800s. It’s got a kind of steampunk but also a kind of young, classic children’s story feel to it.”

I don't know much about this, but it sounds amazing. Watercolour art in a comic style. Epic fantasy in space. Jules Verne meets Miyazaki. I'm all in on this.

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (323)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: The Carnelian Crow
Author: Colleen Gleason
Release Date: July 11, 2017
Publisher: Chronicle Books

From Goodreads:

Ever since the debacle of the Chess Queen Enigma, Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker have laid low, trying to settle back into their quiet lives as young ladies of London. But the Holmesian deductive abilities won't remain dormant for long, and when Mina receives a strange package from a winged, midnight visitor, she is catapulted into a new, dangerous adventure: the search for The Carnelian Crow.

Meanwhile, Evaline has received some very disturbing news--news that will change her life forever. Along with that unpleasant knowledge is the strange disappearance of her nemesis, the disreputable pickpocket Pix.

When it becomes clear the arch-villainess the Ankh has made her next move, it will take all of Mina's Holmesian ingenuity and Evaline's courage and determination to stop the criminal from executing her boldest and most dangerous plan yet!

Yesssss. This series is a curious one, a combination of mystery and steampunk and intelligent young women and bizarre magic. It's a series that I enjoy in a not-taking-it-too-seriously way, and I'm rather curious to see what is coming next for Mina and Evaline.

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (292)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Timekeeper
Author: Tara Sim
Release Date: November 1, 2016
Publisher: Sky Pony Press

From Goodreads:

Two o’clock was missing. 

In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.

And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.

But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.

The stunning first novel in a new trilogy by debut author Tara Sim, Timekeeper is perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare and Victoria Schwab.

Ooooo, time travel. And it's complicated time travel. And the characters aren't straight! More gay and lesbian main characters in fantasy and genre fiction! I'm really looking forward to reading this, seeing how the time travel goes and what the deal is with clock spirits and how everything goes wrong. Because it's bound to go wrong.

Me on The Vanishing Throne

Title: The Vanishing Throne
Author: Elizabeth May
Release Date: June 21, 2016
Publisher: Chronicle Books

Aileana Kameron, the Falconer, disappeared through the fae portal that she was trying to close forever. Now she wakes in an alien world of mirrors, magic, and deception-a prisoner of the evil fae Lonnrach, who has a desperate and deadly plan for his new captive. Time after agonizing time Lonnrach steals Aileana's memories, searching for knowledge to save his world. Just when she's about to lose all hope, Aileana is rescued by an unexpected ally and returns home, only to confront a terrifying truth. The city of Edinburgh is now an unrecognizable wasteland. And Aileana knows the devastation is all her fault. The few human survivors are living in an underground colony, in an uneasy truce with a remnant of the fae. It is a fragile alliance, but an even greater danger awaits: the human and the fae worlds may disappear forever. Only Aileana can save both worlds, but in order to do so she must awaken her latent Falconer powers. And the price of doing so might be her life.

The Vanishing Throne is dark and deadly, the continuation of a story now filled with fear and despair. This is the fallout from actions made and evil plots carried out in the first book, the result of the worst possible scenario. But what drives the story forward is the determination of the returning heroine, is her unwillingness to give up. No matter how much pain she's in. No matter how much she wants to scream.

Aileana is lost to the human world, trapped in the Sith-bhrùth, in the fae kingdoms. Trapped by Lonnrach. Tortured by him. In the beginning she's full of sorrow and fear, left helpless, ready to give up. But that solid core of steel that is her strength is still there. Rescued by an unlikely ally, Aileana finds her home ruined, her city destroyed, and those she once knew all changed in some way. This is the healing and the rebuilding for her, the search for power and the unleashing of it. She looks at the rubble of Edinburgh and is filled with guilt, guilt that she didn't fight hard enough, that she wasn't strong enough to keep the fae from running rampant through human cities. It's hard to say it's all her fault when she's forced up against very powerful inhuman beings like the fae. Like Lonnrach and Sorcha.

There's something not so subtle that runs through this book, that starts with Aileana's capture and torture to her escape and beyond. From her fear to her determination, from the shift from victim to survivor. The ways Lonnrach's torture of her is described. His stealing from her and stealing into her memories. His painful attacks. His choice of words. To me, it was rape. It's rape without saying the word, without the explicit sexual action. It's Aileana captured, tortured, and used by someone for their own gains, for their own search for power and domination. And it's what follows. Her escape, the freefalls into dark memories that circle around his touch and his voice. His continued search for her. It would be easy, so easy, for Aileana to accept the offer to forget, but she refuses. She uses that fear, that anger, those fractured pieces of her, and she keeps on going. Keeps on fighting. Because she will get her revenge.

This is a tale of hard lessons and harder to stomach truths, of consequences, of pain and suffering and regret. Of clawing your way out and finding yourself, keeping yourself yours and not someone else's. Of returns and revenge. There were times when I felt uncomfortable, which was great, and there were times when I didn't want it to end, remembering the way the first book ended. This left me both satisfied and desperate. Satisfied because I hadn't expected so much to happen to Aileana, for her to be in so much pain, and for certain truths to be revealed. Desperate because it ended when I didn't want it to end, because this book left me feeling sad. Which, like the uncomfortableness, is good. Books that provoke this kind of reaction in me are good, they stick with me. I'm also desperate to know what will happen next, how the trilogy will end.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (281)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: The Left-Handed Fate
Author: Kate Milford
Release Date: August 23, 2016
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (Macmillan imprint)

From Goodreads:

Lucy Bluecrowne and Maxwell Ault are on a mission: find the three pieces of a strange and arcane engine. They're not exactly sure what this machine does, but they have it on good authority that it will stop the war that's raging between their home country of England and Napoleon Bonaparte's France. Despite being followed by mysterious men dressed all in black, they're well on their way to finding everything they need when their ship, the famous Left-Handed Fate, is taken by the Americans.

And not just any Americans. The Fate (and with it, Lucy and Max) are put under the command of Oliver Dexter, who's only just turned twelve.

But Lucy and Max aren't the only ones trying to put the engine together, and if the pieces fall into the wrong hands, it could prove disastrous. Oliver is faced with a choice: help Lucy and Max and become a traitor to his country? Or follow orders and risk endangering that same country and many others at the same time--not to mention his friends?

Yay to more middle grade with sailing and possible pirates! This sounds a bit more like an exploration and searching kind of adventure, plus some steampunk invention fun. :)

Me on Manners & Mutiny

Title: Manners & Mutiny
Author: Gail Carriger
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group imprint)

Lessons in the art of espionage aboard Mademoiselle Geraldine's floating dirigible have become tedious without Sophronia's sweet sootie Soap nearby. She would much rather be using her skills to thwart the dastardly Picklemen, yet her concerns about their wicked intentions are ignored, and now she's not sure whom to trust. What does the brusque werewolf dewan know? On whose side is the ever-stylish vampire Lord Akeldama? Only one thing is certain: a large-scale plot is under way, and when it comes to fruition, Sophronia must be ready to save her friends, her school, and all of London from disaster—in decidedly dramatic fashion, of course.

Manners & Mutiny is the final book in what's become an adventurous, clever, witty, and entertaining series. Unique characters. Conflict upon conflict up on torn loyalties. Vampires and werewolves and young ladies flashing fans in order to send secret messages.

Sophronia is, as always, Sophronia. Looking for the hidden truths in peoples' actions. Looking to uncover the plot of the Picklemen. But with her past transgressions and actions being held against her, it's harder and harder for her to find those in positions of authority at Madmoiselle Geraldine's to believe her claims. Difficult, yes, but Sophronia isn't one to back down. She soldiers on, worrying about her friends, worrying about Soap. Wondering if Agatha is right, that she now assumes the worst of people, even her own family. Does she? After her time at finishing school, does Sophronia now no longer trust anyone? Does she assume that everyone lies, that everyone has something to hide? Pessimistic, yes, but the past few years have taught her to be suspicious, taught her to observe and discover. Training to be an intelligencer does change one.

As with the previous books, there is no shortage of mystery or deception, of truth-seeking or secret-uncovering. Of Picklemen-hunting or sootie friendship-making. But this is certainly the most dastardly plan Sophronia has ever had to untangle and thwart. The one that might reveal the most about this secretive intelligencer world of hers. The one that, if mishandled, might bring down society as they know it. Fortunately, Sophronia isn't one to back down and will go down with the ship, so to speak, if that means saving the day.

This series is dangerous, comical, intriguing, full to the brim with the impossible, and I've enjoyed it immensely. It took some time for me to enjoy the first, to allow myself to be immersed in this world, because it requires full immersion. This series needs you to listen, to watch and observe and follow Sophronia during these years at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. It needs to to believe in airships and mechanimals, in vampires and werewolves, in the impossible. Now that it's all over, I should like to re-read it, see what secrets, if any, are given away early. A great series to read for those looking for steampunk and a story that mainly focuses on adventure and intelligence with a dash of female friendship and romance thrown in for fun.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Hachette Book Group Canada through NetGalley.)

Me on The Conjurer's Riddle

Title: The Conjurer's Riddle
Author: Andrea Cremer
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Publisher: Philomel Books (Penguin imprint)

Charlotte leads her group of exiles west, plunging into a wild world of shady merchants and surly rivermen on the way to New Orleans. But as Charlotte learns more about the revolution she has championed, she wonders if she's on the right side after all. Charlotte and her friends get to know the mystical New Orleans bayou and deep into the shadowy tunnels below the city–the den of criminals, assassins and pirates–Charlotte must decide if the revolution's goals justify their means, or if some things, like the lives of her friends, are too sacred to sacrifice.

The Conjurer's Riddle is a look into revolution and rebellion, the secret-gathering and the spying, the hard journeys and the dangers. The heavy cost.

Charlotte is driven, soft-hearted, and passionate about her chose cause, about saving her friends. But doubt lingers, as it always does. Things aren't the same as they were in the Catacombs or in the Floating City. On their journey west, in New Orleans, Charlotte learns how different things are. How duplicitous and two-faced. How her ideas and reasons for fighting back might differ from other members of the resistance.

In terms of the romance, I still feel that Jack is the only option for Charlotte. I still don't understand why a love triangle was added in the first book why Coe suddenly went from person Charlotte barely knew to romantic entanglement. Charlotte is still drawn to Jack, still attracted to him, still hating him and worrying about him, while Coe just seems there. But there wasn't much time for Charlotte to worry about her feelings for most of the book. She was far too busy travelling, learning secrets, or trying to stay hidden and alive. The romance takes a back seat to Charlotte's journey and the still hidden mysteries of Grave. So hidden, so mysterious.

The Resistance is still fighting back against the Empire, fighting to be free from an oppressive ruler from across an ocean. When you fight back as part of a rebellion, you fight for your beliefs, your friends and family. But at what cost? Destruction of property? Injury? Death? Is revolution the only answer? This book, this series, will always scream America to me. Their idea that freedom is a right, that no one can take it from you, but if it ever is taken you can fight to regain it. Is violence ever the only answer? As a Canadian, it feels so American to go in guns blazing to fight for freedom. It feels like it's all they have, like their identity as American is based on freedom and without it they're nothing.

I'm still intrigued by this world, I think the building of it is creative. To speculate on what a country would look like had a major event in its history not happened, if someone else was still in control. If it was a mixture of colonies and disputed territories. It's a dangerous world Charlotte's in, one filled with deception and the impossible. I want to know more. What is the Resistance's endgame plan? What are Grave's secrets, the ones that even he doesn't know? What else is out there for Charlotte to discover? A great follow-up to the first book.

(I received an advance copy of this title from Penguin Random House Canada.)

Me on The Chess Queen Enigma

Title: The Chess Queen Enigma
Author: Colleen Gleason
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Publisher: Chronicle Books

Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes have reluctantly agreed to act as social chaperones and undercover bodyguards for Princess Lurelia of Betrovia, who has arrived in London to deliver a letter that details the secret location of an ancient chess queen that's been missing for centuries. But when the letter—which will heal a centuries-old rift between England and the Betrovians—is stolen out from under Evaline and Mina's watchful eyes, the two girls are forced into a high-stakes race to ensure they find the chess queen before anyone else does.

The Chess Queen Enigma is mysterious and thrilling, yet another adventure of Stoker and Holmes to get wrapped up in. Winding their way through ballrooms and alleyways, in both the best and the worst company London can offer a young woman, they must solve the mystery first and prevent something dangerous from happening.

Mina and Evaline are back to solve another mystery, back to rely on the separate strengths of brains and brawn. Back to argue about which piece of the mystery needs solving first. They will always be at odds, which is one reason why they work so well together, even when it looks like they're not working together at all. The challenge each other, push each other, make each other stop and think before continuting on recklessly (although that doesn't always work). Left to their own devices, they have no one to bounce ideas off of, no one to discuss and squabble with. They're both head-strong and stubborn young ladies, they both have their quirks and flaws, and they always get the job done in the end.

There's only so many times I can repeat myself in terms of the inventiveness of the setting, the illegality of electricity and the over-abundance of steam-powered vehicles, contraptions, and clockwork machines. The way that London is layered in this world, the slums hidden below the more desirable and more expensive buildings, kept straight in the air by large balloons. It has a way of keeping the secrets of its residents hidden from sight.

I'm surprised at how invested I was in the story right from the start. In the past two books, I've struggled to suspend my disbelief in the idea that both Holmes and Stoker existed at the same time and in a London that had abolished electricity. I didn't have that problem here. Perhaps I was far too interested in the mystery. It's an intriguing mystery. Where is the chess queen? And the questions that have stretched across the series. Who is the Ankh? Who is Pix? Where are the vampires? There has to be another book, considering the rather shocking and surprising way this one ended. There just has to.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (245)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Manners & Mutiny
Author: Gail Carriger
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group imprint)

From Goodreads:

When a dastardly Pickleman plot comes to fruition, only Sophronia can save her friends, her school, and all of London...but at what cost? Our proper young heroine puts her training and skills to the test in this highly anticipated conclusion of the rousing, intriguing, and always polished New York Times bestselling Finishing School series!

This series has been fun and quirky and exciting and I'm so sad to see it ending, but at the same time I'm so curious as to what will happen next with Sophronia and her friends. They're a rather intriguing cast of characters.

Me on Rebel Mechanics

Title: Rebel Mechanics
Author: Shanna Swendson
Release Date: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (Macmillan imprint)

It's 1888, and sixteen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family—but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister—but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family's life. She soon realizes she's uniquely positioned to advance the cause—but to do so, she'll have to reveal her own dangerous secret.

Rebel Mechanics is entertaining, an exciting story of one young woman's new life in a city filled with magic, machines, inventors, and rebellion.

Verity is clever, honourable, and a little adventurous when she needs to be. When she feels she needs to be, when she wants to help. Now in New York, now part of multiple spaces, she aquaires new roles and personalities. The proper governess. The honest reporter. The rebel spy. She sort of falls into these spaces, the people around her seeing her, seeing the good in her and drawing her into their arms, and she never says no. After a childhood filled with books and an apathetic parent, she's looking for a place to belong. And she's found them. The magister home she becomes a part has a number of secrets, as does the rebel group of inventors and activists, but so does she. There's more to Verity Newton than meets the eye. She's hugely intelligent and investigative with a strong sense of honour. It's not about position or status with Verity. It's more about character, it's more about doing what's right. It's more about helping everyone, no matter if they're magister or not. It's about the truth.

This is a rather intriguing alternate history world. It's an America that's still under British rule, a New York where the privileged and titled are magic users, where only the magisters can use machines powered by magic in order to make their lives easier. Where those without magic aren't allowed this luxury. Where rebels and inventors are trying to build their own machines, trying to harness steam power and electricity in order to escape the ruling grasp of the magisters. Whenever there's a book with this sort of alternate history, where the British Empire still reigns over America, there's often a long-running tone of freedom and escape from imperialism coursing through the book. It stems from that moment in history where America went to war against Britain in order to obtain their freedom from the empire. As a Canadian, I always find this interesting. That in alternate histories America always asks for its freedom from Britain. It's something they will not let go of, something they will always demand. Something I'll always find a little bit charming.

I found this book to be more fun than I expected. It's a bit light, there's some suspense, a little mystery here and there. The side characters were interesting and fun. Lord Henry and the children. The Rebel Mechanics. To me, the book seems to be more about Verity and her introduction to this new world that isn't the same as her stoic and literary upbringing. She's entered a new world, a new space. She's crafted a new identity for herself here. Perhaps more than one. I'm so curious as to what happens next. There must be more, it can't end like that. There's so much that hasn't been revealed.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Macmillan through NetGalley.)

Me on Illusionarium

Title: Illusionarium
Author: Heather Dixon
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Greenwillow (HarperCollins imprint)

Jonathan is perfectly ordinary. But then—as every good adventure begins—the king swoops into port, and Jonathan and his father are enlisted to find the cure to a deadly plague. Jonathan discovers that he's a prodigy at working with a new chemical called fantillium, which creates shared hallucinations—or illusions. And just like that, Jonathan is knocked off his path.

Illusionarium is magical and mysterious, a journey to a new and dangerous world, one Jonathan might not be able to escape.

Jonathan is a clever young man with good intentions. It's clear that he's never faced danger like this before in his life, the dangers he face in the illusions. He has a very strong sense of right and wrong. He's consistently shocked when someone does something 'wrong' and they aren't apologetic, unused to people without morals, people who act on their own best interest as opposed to acting in order to help others. At times he can be sarcastic and witty, some amusing quips are thrown at certain characters when they're being jerks to him. It lightens the mood at times.

There's some very lush world building going on in this book. First comes Jonathan's world with its aerial cities and airships, the country taking its name from Arthurian legend. Then comes the new world, the world filled with impossible illusions, imaginative illusionists, dangerous foes and almost zero allies. It's a place where Jonathan must stay awake and be light on his feet if he wants to return home.

It took me a little while to get into the story, I kept wondering who the villain was and what Jonathan's motivation was. There was a time or two that, because of the illusions, I was confused as to what was really going on. Was it an illusion, or what it real? Was any of it real? When I got into it I did enjoy it, enjoy watching Jonathan figure out what to do and how to illusion it into being. And the cover is rather misleading. Please don't go into this expecting an epic romance, there's barely any romance to be found here. I imagine fans of impossible illusions and clever, well-meaning heroes will enjoy this.

(I downloaded an e-galley of this from Edelweiss through HarperCollins.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (219)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Glittering Shadows
Author: Jaclyn Dolamore
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

From Goodreads:

The revolution is here. 

Bodies line the streets of Urobrun; a great pyre burns in Republic Square. The rebels grow anxious behind closed doors while Marlis watches as the politicians search for answers—and excuses—inside the Chancellery. 

Thea, Freddy, Nan, and Sigi are caught in the crossfire, taking refuge with a vibrant, young revolutionary and a mysterious healer from Irminau. As the battle lines are drawn, a greater threat casts a dark shadow over the land. Magic might be lost—forever. 

This action-packed sequel to Dark Metropolis weaves political intrigue, haunting magic, and heartbreaking romance into an unforgettable narrative. Dolamore's lyrical writing and masterfully crafted plot deliver a powerful conclusion.

After how the first book ended, I'm very curious as to where this book will go and what will happen to everyone. Also, the new covers are gorgeous. :)

Me on Waistcoats & Weaponry

Title: Waistcoats & Weaponry
Author: Gail Carriger
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group imprint)

Sophronia continues her second year at finishing school in style--with a steel-bladed fan secreted in the folds of her ball gown, of course. Such a fashionable choice of weapon comes in handy when Sophronia, her best friend Dimity, sweet sootie Soap, and the charming Lord Felix Mersey stowaway on a train to return their classmate Sidheag to her werewolf pack in Scotland. No one suspected what--or who--they would find aboard that suspiciously empty train. Sophronia uncovers a plot that threatens to throw all of London into chaos and she must decide where her loyalties lie, once and for all.

Waistcoats & Weaponry is as entertaining and exciting as adventure as the previous two installments. Mysterious, compelling, and ever so complicated, this is perhaps Sophronia's most dangerous adventure yet.

These are the things we've learned about Sophronia: she wants to know everything, she will always help those she considers close friends, she doesn't like not knowing what's going on around her, and she is most comfortable when in control of the situation. And this does rattle her, this mystery involving Sidheag and her werewolves up in Scotland. There is no question that she will not put down everything and go help. If I were in a similar situation, I would be thrilled to have Sophronia step in and take over, save the day as she so often does.

This time around, she's caught even more between Soap and Lord Mersey. Soap respects her, he will always understand the risks she takes and the decisions she makes. But Lord Mersey... I feel he respects her when it comes to certain things, and I fully believe he is waiting for the day when she will finally acquiesce to his wishes. In terms of Sophronia's own feelings, both of them confuse her. Soap with his changes in this book, and Lord Mersey with his knowledge of a group she is increasingly suspicious of. Both keep her from moving any further forward in terms of a relationship, but she has far too much to worry about.

What I love about this series in the contradiction in the tone. It's a rather serious tone, there's nothing to laugh about in regards to intelligencing and adventuring. Each girl, Sophronia especially, takes her time at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality very seriously, but the mishaps and the adventures, the names and personalities, are just so outrageous that I can't help but chuckle each time I turn the page.

Sophronia has been learning these past two years, of that there is no doubt, but when it comes to putting it all into practice and thinking about the future? That's new, and somewhat frightening. In the end, who will she give her loyalty to? I'm sad that the series will end next year with the final book, but I'm so excited to find out what will happen next.

(I received an e-galley of this title from Hachette Book Group through NetGalley.)

Me on The Spiritglass Charade

Title: The Spiritglass Charade
Author: Colleen Gleason
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Publisher: Chronicle Books

After the Affair of the Clockwork Scarab, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes are eager to help Princess Alix with a new case. Seventeen-year-old Willa Aston is obsessed with spiritual mediums, convinced she is speaking with her mother from beyond the grave. What seems like a case of spiritualist fraud quickly devolves into something far more menacing: someone is trying to make Willa "appear lunatic," using an innocent-looking spiritglass to control her. The list of clues piles up: an unexpected murder, a gang of pickpockets, and the return of vampires to London. But are these events connected? As Uncle Sherlock would say, "there are no coincidences." It will take all of Mina's wit and Evaline's muscle to keep London's sinister underground at bay.

The Spiritglass Charade is a return to an intriguing late 19th century London, a city technologically advanced in some ways and stunted in others. It's a return to a city filled with secrets, with dark corners and even darker figures. It's a return to the most intelligent Mina Holmes and the most intrepid Evaline Stoker, a return to their ongoing adventures and discoveries.

What's refreshing is that Mina and Evaline haven't changed a single bit. They're still the same young women from the previous book. One is all-knowing, all-presuming, all-problem solving, and the other is strong and fierce, ready to take up arms and fight back against evil. A mismatched couple, to be sure, but they're slowly coming to understand each other. Both their strengths and their weaknesses are highlighted throughout this mystery involving ghosts, spiritualists, and vampires.

I am wholly intrigued by the setting and the world-building. The mixture of the late Victorian era time period, the inclusion of steam and clockwork-based technology, the lack of electricity, the hints of time travel, the vampires. But the combination of Holmes, a fictional character, and Stoker, a real life writer/author make it hard to suspend my disbelief. There's a tiny scrap of it remaining, and it's because of this. This story is interesting, the characters are complicated, but this one small part still bothers me, and it probably will throughout the series.

But I'm still curious, still interested, still entranced by the mysteries that weave themselves around Mina and Evaline. More questions are asked this time around with only a few answered, and I'm still left wondering about the origins and motives of almost every other character. Mainly Pix. Who is he? If you enjoyed the previous book, if you're interested in steampunk mysteries with clever and flawed leading ladies, you'l probably enjoy this.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on The Falconer

Title: The Falconer
Author: Elizabeth May
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Publisher: Chronicle Books

Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh's social events – right up until a faery killed her mother. Now it's the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She's determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city's many dark alleyways. But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana's father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose? And just how far will Aileana go for revenge?

The Falconer is exciting and dangerous, filled with mystery and intrigue and magic. It's a whirlwind of a story, a story of one girl's strength and revenge, and it's only the beginning.

Alieana is a number of things. Strong. Serious. Vengeful. She's a girl on a mission, a rather perilous one, but duty has a way of ruining her plans. As the daughter of a marquess she leads a privileged life. She's expected to always act like a lady, polite and beautiful without a hint of anger. Instead she's caught between the immovable rock that is her father and the deadly hard place that holds the faeries slowly creeping out into the city. She cannot escape either, much to her dismay. It's rather obvious that, given the choice, she would leave behind the ballrooms and courtesies and never-ending dances with boring old earls and viscounts. Alieana has her qualities, her skill at fighting, her intelligence and inventions. She acknowledges her beauty but she doesn't focus on it. It's one of the last things she things about. But what she also has is her pride, her focus on one goal and one goal only: to kill the faery that slaughtered her mother.

This certainly is the dangerous side of faeries. The vicious side. The mischievous evil side. Thankfully Alieana isn't completely alone, even if her allies are Kiaran, a rather secretive faery who instructs her in how to fight those of his kind who plague Edinburgh, and Derrick, a pixie who lives in her wardrobe and mends her clothes in exchange for honey. While they certainly appear to assist Alieana at times, they still shouldn't be trusted. Not with everything. Because they keep secrets in the way magpies keep shiny objects.

Alieana's inventions were interesting and different, her intelligence and her knack at inventing certainly set her apart from other heroines in other books. Her creativity when it comes to machinery and weapons seems to know no bounds, even if they are used for one purpose and one purpose only. But she needs to defend herself, she needs to defend those she cares about and the city, and so she crafts what she must.

As I read this, I wondered why I hadn't read it sooner. And I wondered why it felt so familiar. An odd sense of nostalgia overtook me while reading this and I had no idea why. Later on, I realized it was more nostalgia from reading a book I enjoyed to the core. A book with equal measure Victorian time period setting, fae magic, a strong heroine trapped between fate and duty, mystique, intrigue, a supportive friend, impossible to handle male counterparts, and the prospect of near certain death at the hands of the heroine's enemies. My only complaint is that it has an ending, an ending where the book ends and does not magically turn into the next book.

(I received a finished copy from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Fragile Destiny

Title: Fragile Destiny
Author: Suzanne Lazear
Release Date: August 8, 2014
Publisher: Flux Books

Noli and her true love V fear the worst if the Staff of Eris, a potent Otherworld relic, falls into the wrong hands. Broken into pieces and hidden in the mortal realm long ago, the staff bestows vast powers on whoever possesses it. Ciarán, the dark king, is trying to rebuild the staff, intending to use it to install a new queen. In a desperate effort to keep the Otherworld from falling into darkness, Noli and V plot the daring theft of a jewel Ciarán needs to complete the staff. But Ciarán is not so easily defeated. Through his devious machinations, he has set a plan in motion for a final showdown that will decide who rules the Otherworld once and for all.

Fragile Destiny is the third part of Noli's story, a story of epic and dangerous adventures. A story of mystery, intrigue, faerie magic, and unexpected revelations.

Noli and V are back, along with their friends and family (and manipulative enemies). They're still racing around, this time trying to keep the Otherworld safe (from those aforementioned manipulative fingers). They're still together, even if they are butting heads and arguing far more than usual. I was surprised at how often they clashed, how often they didn't tell each other everything and let things like stubborn pride and jealousy regarding Kevighn get in the way. I certainly didn't expect things to be easy for them, their lives are constantly wrenched out of their control and into someone else's, but I thought they trusted each other. Had more faith in each other after what happened in the previous books. And they have to work out their problems, they have to prove their strong enough to continue, or else everything they've worked towards will crumble.

Where there were airships and journeys and roaming in the second book, this one seems to spend a fair amount of time in the Otherworld. And that means complicated royal faerie court policies. That means spies and bodyguards. That means lies and tricks and plots. It becomes a rather dangerous setting, not as peaceful or magical as I'd expected. In the end I wasn't surprised. Again, I didn't think it would be easy for Noli and V to find what they were looking for.

It's very reminiscent of the previous two books. Adventure and tricky faeries, clashing personalities, quests and journeys. Noli's uncommon personality, V's intelligence, and Kevighn's unwillingness to let go of the past. I did assume that this was the end of a trilogy, but considering the ending, considering what is resolved and what isn't, what questions I still have regarding  I wouldn't be surprised if there's another book in the future.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Flux Books through NetGalley.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (187)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Ticker
Author: Lisa Mantchev
Release Date: December 1, 2014
Publisher: Skyscape (Amazon imprint)

From Goodreads:

A girl with a clockwork heart makes every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly died, the brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick managed to implant a brass “Ticker,” transforming her into “the first of the Augmented!” But soon it was discovered that Warwick kidnapped and killed dozens of people striving to perfect another Ticker for Penny. 

The last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthing factory is bombed, Warwick disappears, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom demand for all of their Augmentation notes if they want to see their parents again. Who is trying to stop their work? Or to control it? Or is the motive more sinister?

Determined to solve the mystery and reunite their family, the Farthings recruit their closest friends: fiery baker Violet Nesselrode and gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling. Unexpectedly leading the charge is Marcus Kingsley, the young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

I really enjoyed Lisa's previous books about Bertie Shakespeare Smith, they were fun and exciting and full of whimsy. This sounds like the start of something just as exciting. :)