Ricky Pine's Blog, page 10

Review: The Pomegranate Gate

The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw this one on the shelf at Powell’s and ordered it right away at the library, not realizing it was about a year old and the sequel was just about to drop too. None of the libraries here have the sequel yet, though I’ve at least gotten in line for the ebook at Multnomah County Library when it’s available. I’m glad it won’t be too long a wait, because at least I’ll be able to jump into the next book relative...

Review: Celestial Monsters

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It took Aiden Thomas a couple of years to follow up on The Sunbearer Trials and its shockingly dark ending, but now here they come with the duology's conclusion and...unfortunately it left me feeling whelmed at best. Though the first book was a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 because of the ending, this one is for me more of a 2.5 rounded down to a 2 because of its lackluster nature. Thomas had been very open about taking...

Review: We Solve Murders

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While Osman takes a hiatus from his signature Thursday Murder Club mystery series, he starts a new one with a slightly more international cast, if not a more likable one. In fact, most of the characters - except old Steve, who really ought to cross over with the Thursday Murder Club sometime, if not for the fact that he lives miles away from their community - just aren’t likable at all. Though that leads to some ...

Review: Heir

Heir by Sabaa Tahir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For a while this book was only known as “Sabaa’s Bane,” and now, having finally read it, I can see why. Returning to her star-making saga of An Ember in the Ashes with a hard hitting next generation story - and a vastly expanded world map to show how much development Tahir put into this fictional world - it’s also a complex high fantasy, YA in marketing only, with three primary POV’s that show just how brutal the next war is g...

Review: Exposure

Exposure by Ramona Emerson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m not surprised that Ramona Emerson wasn’t going to stop at just Shudder, because there was clearly room for much more story to tell with Rita Todacheene. And so it goes with another paranormal murder mystery in New Mexico - this time set in a bone chilling Gallup winter, with a killer targeting indigent Native people under the direction of a vengeful God, or so the delusion would have it. Seriously, though, this part...

Review: Sunbringer

Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Back to Hannah Kaner’s ongoing trilogy, now caught up while the rest of the world also waits for Book 3, and at least I didn’t have to wait a long time after the first book’s devastating cliffhanger. This second book, though, definitely hits a bit of middle book syndrome, where the storyline feels like it’s spinning its wheels as it tries to compensate for having so many characters and POV’s to follow. Yes, this include...

Review: Long Live Evil

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I haven't read anything by Sarah Rees Brennan in quite a while, in part because she went on a very long hiatus due to health problems in her life. Unsurprisingly, she works her personal experience with cancer into the story of this book, a sort of isekai where the protagonist, Rae, gets to go into the world of her favorite epic fantasy series, Time of Iron, and live her own version of the life of the villaines...

Review: Dark Rise

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I'd never read a C.S. Pacat book before, but Jay Kristoff says Pacat is friends with him, and on that basis I was ready to finally try one of her books. (As I understand it, Pacat is genderfluid and uses both she and he pronouns.) Unfortunately, it seems I set my expectations too high on this one and only opened myself up to disappointment. This book seemed pretty promising with its dark historical fantasy setup in early 1...

Review: Red Star Falling

Red Star Falling by Steve Berry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I almost wanted to give up on Berry and Blackwood's collaboration with the Luke Daniels series after the first book last year was such a disappointment. But after eventually getting to read this latest book in the series, I have to say it's a serious improvement. Not quite to four star territory, I'm afraid, but still a better Berry book than his Cotton Malone novel The Atlas Maneuver earlier this year. For me, I t...

Review: Navola

Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

It's not the first time I've tried reading a book by Paolo Bacigalupi and found it lacking, and based on this one, I don't think I'll be making another attempt to get into his bibliography. Though the book is billed as a Renaissance Italian take on Game of Thrones, it's nowhere close to that series' level of addictive, propulsive storytelling. Even when George R.R. Martin's books are going nowhere fast, it's still a rid...