Romance and Adventure in a Familiar Setting, If Not Quite Luxury

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been (probably not, I have been mostly AWOL these days), mostly occupied with Heyer, which has the decided advantage that I can review all my reading at once :) And I will, hopefully sooner rather than later, but meanwhile, I do have one non-Heyer on my list.  Around January or February, we went to Saki and Danny for Shabbos and I was discussing books with Gital (who is of course, also a Heyer fan and, as such, can be trusted :)) She said she had been reading this fantasy series she was enjoying and gave me one of the books. I wasn’t expected and TON out of it b/c she didn’t give it rave reviews, but I figured it would be a solid romance.  (Name of the book is Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier btw).

And it was that.  It was Sharon Shinn-style fantasy, mostly old-fashioned society where the romance takes a central part of the story.  This particular fantasy land was based on Celtic myth, so apparently quite close to medieval Irish society (not that I know much about it).  Being medieval (and medieval fantasy) it was more earthy than chronicles of my beloved hyper-refined Regency era, but I think that’s typical of this kind of fantasy.  I’m trying to think of other examples of it, because I feel like there are others - maybe Sherwood Smith? Court Duel is actually quite refined though… I guess maybe Outlander, though that obviously takes place in much less refined circumstances… anyway, not that important.  Point is, old-fashioned nobility, less elegant than perhaps my preference, but still framed in a society where romance means something.  Plenty of magical elements too.

Fine, so that’s the setting.  What about the plot? It was a romance.  Definitely a bit of an earthy one :) But solid, well-plotted, with some angst.  I guess the romantic plot culminated well before the actual ending, but it was far enough along that it was fine.  But, as that suggests, this book is not a solid romance, there’s plenty else going on, mostly of fantastical nature.  I found this part of the book well-crafted, with lots of loose ends that are tied up neatly, and puzzles that work out.  (I tend to like this kind of thing, I should really call it out more explicitly in reviews).  I guess the beginning was a little slow, but it always is, in comparison with the end.  And our hero and heroine really do impress with their performances, outwitting the evil king of the fairies (or whatever they call themselves :))

As I said (or maybe I didn’t say it yet), it’s been a very long time since I read this, so it’s a little hard to remember exactly how I felt about it.  I do know that I thought it was too earthy for my ideal taste, but that I got through it extremely quickly (at least for the usual pace I’m setting these days) because I found it interesting and fun.  And looking back, and I definitely am thinking I want to read the rest of the series.

Verdict: 3.75/5

Great Form, Lacking Substance

Way back when, I started Clare Darcy's regency trilogy (or actually just 3 books published together).  At that point, I wanted to review all three at once, but by the time I finished the first, I had higher priority books in the wings, so I just stopped and review the first.  I have made it back to the low priority pile, for the time being anyway, and I finished the second one today.  Just as I thought, there's not much to say about this one that I haven't already said about the first, but that's what I got myself into by reviewing after  only finishing one...

So, recapitulate (actually, I just assume this is pretty much what I wrote, I didn't reread the other post, naturellement) Clare Darcy is remarkable for her uncanny ability to imitate Georgette Heyer.  Right away, I am sucked in by the familiar cadences - the nineteenth century cant, the lifestyle of Regency gentility... it's there, and in a quite delicately copied fashion.  This particular story, Georgina, was an ode to Venetia -  girl is an isolated town falls in love with a known rogue... and there's a young suitor, a crippled young companion, and some other similarities that make me wonder if CD was at all embarrassed by how much she ripped off.  It's so obvious, I almost think she meant it as an homage.  But homage or not, it is of course not Georgette Heyer.  The characters are less believable, the plot more boring... And in this particular case, GH's signature snobbery was just not there in force.  The guy is... well I suppose he *is* nobly born... in a manner of speaking (he's a bastard).  And all that talk about money... whew! You know only the mushrooms care that much!   Then there's the romance itself, which so disappointingly executed. Georgina figures out quite soon that he loves her, and despite some waffling that seems a bit forced, we and she never really doubt it afterwards.  And where's the fun in that?! And nothing less lack of fun like a poor hero and wealthier heroine.  Where are those principles of GH we can rely on? Gentlemen, with some respectable source of income... who can hide their love from their beloved just a little bit better...

But again, why complain about how CD isn't GH? Of course she's not GH.  So judging the book on its own merits, the romance isn't perfectly executed, but she certainly tries, which is more than I can say for most books.  The writing isn't bad at all, I didn't find it grating.  But overall... well overall the book was just boring.  I don't know, it just didn't move.  I'm not even sure why I found it this way, but perhaps I was picking up on the author's central focus - an "authentic" Regency novel, not necessarily a good story.

Verdict: 2.85/5

Surprising- (and Pleasant-)ly Down to Earth

After my mad May frenzy, I calmed down a bit, secure in my ability to finish all my library books once and for all.  Next on the list was Cecilia Ahern's Book of Tomorrow, which I have to date renewed... wait for it... 7 times :) (it's considered new, so each renewal is only two weeks).  No more though, I am DONE :) (not that it was such an accomplishment, don't get me wrong).  You all know Cecilia Ahern, even though I haven't reviewed her books yet, I don't think.  She's a bit on the chic lit side, but only because I don't think many men are reading her books.  They have a bit of romance usually, they are *all* about relationships, they end happily enough for the most part, have some serious-ish soul searching thrown in, and to top it all off, never fail to sprinkle a little fairy dust.

The Book of Tomorrow is no exception to all that.  It starts off angsty, with the suicide of the main character's father, and continues with her realization that she is, in fact, not a very nice person.  But it's not dark, just maybe a bit obvious.  On the plus side, the main character is sixteen, so she's allowed to be an idiot, which makes her naive amorality a little more believable, and definitely more funny.  Since the tagline of the book was something about knowing what tomorrow will bring, and would you want that, I was afraid the plot would descend into that sort of philosophical morass, but it stayed surprisingly fresh of such uncomfortable questions.  Though the diary tells Tamara some notion of her future, it never gets her in trouble.  Instead the book morphs into a sort of mystery, with Tamara exploring her own and her mother's hidden past.  And in that respect, it becomes surprisingly compelling.  While I don't think I would have had any patience with Tamara drawing herself further and further into the trap of using "magic" for the wrong reasons, I was genuinely curious to find out what in fact were the real relationships among the shadowy figures populating the novel's backstory and how they relate to those in  the foreground (;))

I guess in the end I was a little disappointed (I think the ending was a lot more obvious to all of us than it was to Tamara), but overall, I don't think Cecilia Ahern did a bad job at all with this, more mysterious, storyline.  I almost don't remember what she usually manages to fill out her books with, but I have a feeling it involves a lot more discomfort and tension than this little number.  In that sense, this book definitely compares favorable to some of her other recent ones... I suppose it is less emotion-wrought than her other ones, which could be viewed as a  bad thing, but of course does draw the reader in, if annoying at the same time.  This book didn't have that same level of shut-up-already-it-ness as a lot her others, but it also is slightly more boring I think.  I'm not really complaining about this, it was a nice little story in its own right.  And if it wasn't that romantic either, well it had something, and I don't know that I was expecting more.  So basically, didn't disappoint, because not many expectations :)

Verdict: 3/5