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Deborah (162 KP) rated The Wife Trap (The Trap Trilogy, #2) in Books

Dec 21, 2018

Oh dear. Not the greatest example of the genre I have ever read it has to be said. The Wife Trap is the middle book of a trilogy by this author; the first books seems to have dealt with the courtship of the twin sister of the 'heroine' of this novel, seemingly involving deception and machinations. You could read this book without having read the first one, but of course you don't know exactly what has gone on beforehand and why exactly Jeanette has been banished to stay with cousins in Ireland.

The hero of this book was called Darragh O'Brien. My problem with that was that I got an image of Darra O'Brien (chap who presents Mock The Week etc.) in my head, and I'm guessing that wasn't quite what the author had in mind! Obviously the character wasn't strongly enough written to dislodge said, disconcerting, image!

That though is a minor quibble when compared to my big issue with this book; the so-called heroine. Jeanette is shallow, vain, silly, selfish, self-centred, childish and utterly unlikeable! I can't for the life of me understand what the hero sees in her, except that she is apparently beautiful and quite good at painting... She seems to think she 'deserves' anything she happens to fancy and is willing to stamp her foot and pout until she gets her way. She thinks it quite reasonable to disrupt everyone else so she can have a lie-in (after refusing to abandon her 'town hours' and go to bed earlier!) If it were me, I would have left her stuck in the carriage in the mud in the first chapter and rescued the servants from her!

Kudos

Rob P (30 KP) rated Best Served Cold in Books

Jan 22, 2019

Best Served Cold

Joe Abercrombie | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry

9.3

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

Morally taxing (2 more)

Satisfying story line

Exploration of side characters from the Abercrombie "First Law" universe

Brutal in places (although I'm fine with that) (1 more)

Not for the fainthearted

Best Served Cold

If you couldn't tell from the title, this is all about the revenge motif. If you've read Abercrombie, the savagery of the opening chapter (and plenty of others) should not bother you by this point, but having said that there were moments in this even I winced at.

This standalone novel takes place in Abercrombie's universe established in the "First Law" trilogy, and much like other offerings (The Heroes, Red Country) it's charms for me lie in the characters that play only a fleeting part in the previous books. Seeing where they are from and how they operate is so satisfying to me as a reader.

The very next facet of this read that made it so excellent for me, is theme of moral bankruptcy. At the start, Murcatto is a leader, betrayed and left so horribly injured that it sets a moral precedent. She sets out to kill the seven men who carried this out (one of which is a despot who looks to name himself King of Styria), and as they fall, one by one, more and more of the moral right she has is chipped away and spent, having to turn her hand to more and more depraved acts, associate with lower and lower people, and be part of more and more hideous scenarios in order to exact her justice.

If you've had the pleasure of reading the First Law trilogy, this is the book to start with next, it then leads brilliantly into the Heroes, and most recently Red Country.

Overall, a savage, visceral, compelling read.

- Rob