Tag: 6.5-rated

Categories
Books

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

Leonie Swann Three Bags Full

August was supposed to be Women in Translation month. So I turned to Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full, a book translated from German to English (thanks to BookWyrm Knits for telling me that).

Three Bags Full is apparently one of those books where nothing bad happens to our main characters — at least that’s what the commenters said on this Tor post by Jo Walton. The book happens to be about a flock of sheep playing detective. I was easy prey because I’m all for light, breezy reads right now (still going through a reading slump!).

Continue reading “Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann”
Categories
Books

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows

My Lady Jane

My Lady Jane! A better title would have been Teens Messing with Henry VIII’s Succession Plans. Lady Jane Grey is a rather tragic figure in English history: ruled England for only 9 days before she was beheaded by her cousin Mary Tudor in the Tower of London. (And then Mary was overthrown by her half-sister Queen Elizabeth.)

The authors decided to give this an alternative history spin, with magic and humor. This is how the succession feud should have gone on. The split between the Roman Catholic Church and Church of England became the split between Eðians (people with shapeshifter abilities) and the non-Eðians.

Continue reading “My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows”
Categories
Books

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Evelyn Hardcastle
Cloak & Dagger 2021: Book #6

I really wanted to give this book a 10-rating, to put it in my Top 10 of 2021 list later in December. Unfortunately, while The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was interesting and certainly novel, I just couldn’t fall in love with this book.

The Plot:

Aiden Bishop finds himself trapped at Blackheath Manor, where he has been invited to attend the homecoming party for Evelyn Hardcastle. It should have been a happy occasion. But night after night, Aiden finds his “spirit” transmigrated to the body of a different guest at Blackheath — all on the same day. If Aiden can figure out who wants to kill Evelyn, he can escape this repetitive time-loop. Trouble is, Aiden has “competitors” in this game, and only one victor can escape Blackheath.

Continue reading “The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton”
Categories
Books

Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer

Behold, Here’s Poison is a good example of how difficult it must have been to investigate back in the 1920s. There were no CCTVs, camera phones, voice recognition, or DNA analysis. Even fingerprinting really just started in 1901. All the police had: post-mortem (never as sophisticated as forensics today), witnesses (mostly unreliable), and criminal psychology (quite dodgy). There’s also a certain disdain towards police among the upper classes, which makes it difficult to make honest inquiries.

That’s why Inspector Hannasyde and his very-chatty Sergeant Hemingway are in a bit of a pickle. Old Mr. Matthews has been poisoned by nicotine overdose, and his entire remaining family is suspect. Then his sister dies, also by nicotine poisoning, and the police none the wiser. The Inspector knows that Randall, the extremely snarky dandy heir to Matthews, is hiding something. But Randall just won’t spill the beans.

Continue reading “Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer”
Categories
Books

The Lord of Dreams by C.J. Brightley

Lord of Dreams

A human girl gets translocated to the Fae world for mysterious reasons. There, she meets the Nightmare King, who sets her a task to help rout the Unseelie invaders. Not an easy task! The rules of the Fae world are strange, and Claire has very little to guide her. Even the Nightmare King, once the Lord of Dreams, seems to oscillate between villainy and madness. Can Claire be the hero she always wanted to be, in The Lord of Dreams?

Six words to describe this book: gentle, folkloric, dream-like, odd, confusing, hypnotic.

Continue reading “The Lord of Dreams by C.J. Brightley”
Categories
Art & Illustration Books

Tam Lin by Jane Yolen & its Splendid Artwork

O I forbid you, maidens a’
That wear gold in your hair,
To come or go by Carterhaugh
For young Tam Lin is there.
Continue reading “Tam Lin by Jane Yolen & its Splendid Artwork”