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juushikaTitle: The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home (Fairyland Book 5)
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Illustrator: Ana Juan
Published: Feiwel and Friends, 2016
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 320
Total Page Count: 215,830
Text Number: 655
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: When its previous rulers are revived, September and company must compete in a race for the crown of Fairyland. The cumulative effect of this series is what makes it successful, and the finale is all about culmination: expanding and reuniting the cast, challenging and resolving September's relationship with Saturday, and her relationships with Halloween, Maud, Mallow, and the Marquess, and, finally, her relationship with Fairyland. It's also an especially obvious travelogue, which has become the series's weakness—but here, too much else is going on for the traveling to overwhelm the plot. I've had quibbles with the series entire, and none of the books have lived up to my experience with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland—but September's cumulative journey through Fairyland has a comparable resonance, and couldn't have been contained in a single book. The Girl Who Raced Fairyland reflects that exactly, and is just how I wanted the series to end.
read last December; still not caught up on belated reviews, pls send help—interestingly, they're all finales of series, and I liked them all; I guess the cumulative feels of multiple books makes writing a review of a good book that much harder, esp. as reviews of finales almost must become reviews of the series entire, a "was it worth it?" judgement
Title: Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas Book #1)
Author: Zoraida Córdova
Published: Sourcebooks Fire, 2016
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 330
Total Page Count: 216,160
Text Number: 656
Read Because: reading PoC, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Alex believes her family's magic has only ever brought them pain, so she attempts to cast off her own powers with disastrous results. As a premise—Latinx witches with their own customs, pantheon, and hereditary magics; a journey into a dangerous portal world; a bisexual love triangle; novel-length themes of self-acceptance—this is phenomenal. But the writing lets it down. The staccato sentences grow repetitive, and brief visual descriptions deaden the action and the magic; combined with a predictable plot, it all just ... sits there, lost potential. I wanted badly to love this, and probably would have fared better were I a visually-inclined reader, but frankly I can't recommend it.
Title: Black Powder War (Temerarie Book 3)
Author: Naomi Novik
Narrator: Simon Vance
Published: Books on Tape, 2007 (2006)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 350
Total Page Count: 216,510
Text Number: 657
Read Because: continuing the series, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Laurence and company undertake an overland journey, only to encounter hurdles and the war at every turn. This installation begins as a comedy of errors and develops into a tragedy of errors, all without a strong overarching plot. Yet neither the misery nor aimlessness are particularly tiresome, although I did lose the thread the war a bit (my own fault—I let my attention slip while listening and I'm unfamiliar with the history). It works partially because there's still enough action to provide momentum, but moreso because the human element compensates: the precision of the lived, daily detail within the historical and fantastical setting, the way characters's personalities and values are shaped by these experiences, and, at the heart, the relationship between Laurence and Temeraire have pathos and humor and just enough conviction. This series continues to engage and satisfy me, and I can't wait to read more.
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Illustrator: Ana Juan
Published: Feiwel and Friends, 2016
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 320
Total Page Count: 215,830
Text Number: 655
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: When its previous rulers are revived, September and company must compete in a race for the crown of Fairyland. The cumulative effect of this series is what makes it successful, and the finale is all about culmination: expanding and reuniting the cast, challenging and resolving September's relationship with Saturday, and her relationships with Halloween, Maud, Mallow, and the Marquess, and, finally, her relationship with Fairyland. It's also an especially obvious travelogue, which has become the series's weakness—but here, too much else is going on for the traveling to overwhelm the plot. I've had quibbles with the series entire, and none of the books have lived up to my experience with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland—but September's cumulative journey through Fairyland has a comparable resonance, and couldn't have been contained in a single book. The Girl Who Raced Fairyland reflects that exactly, and is just how I wanted the series to end.
read last December; still not caught up on belated reviews, pls send help—interestingly, they're all finales of series, and I liked them all; I guess the cumulative feels of multiple books makes writing a review of a good book that much harder, esp. as reviews of finales almost must become reviews of the series entire, a "was it worth it?" judgement
Title: Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas Book #1)
Author: Zoraida Córdova
Published: Sourcebooks Fire, 2016
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 330
Total Page Count: 216,160
Text Number: 656
Read Because: reading PoC, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Alex believes her family's magic has only ever brought them pain, so she attempts to cast off her own powers with disastrous results. As a premise—Latinx witches with their own customs, pantheon, and hereditary magics; a journey into a dangerous portal world; a bisexual love triangle; novel-length themes of self-acceptance—this is phenomenal. But the writing lets it down. The staccato sentences grow repetitive, and brief visual descriptions deaden the action and the magic; combined with a predictable plot, it all just ... sits there, lost potential. I wanted badly to love this, and probably would have fared better were I a visually-inclined reader, but frankly I can't recommend it.
Title: Black Powder War (Temerarie Book 3)
Author: Naomi Novik
Narrator: Simon Vance
Published: Books on Tape, 2007 (2006)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 350
Total Page Count: 216,510
Text Number: 657
Read Because: continuing the series, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Laurence and company undertake an overland journey, only to encounter hurdles and the war at every turn. This installation begins as a comedy of errors and develops into a tragedy of errors, all without a strong overarching plot. Yet neither the misery nor aimlessness are particularly tiresome, although I did lose the thread the war a bit (my own fault—I let my attention slip while listening and I'm unfamiliar with the history). It works partially because there's still enough action to provide momentum, but moreso because the human element compensates: the precision of the lived, daily detail within the historical and fantastical setting, the way characters's personalities and values are shaped by these experiences, and, at the heart, the relationship between Laurence and Temeraire have pathos and humor and just enough conviction. This series continues to engage and satisfy me, and I can't wait to read more.
