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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2273 KP) rated Bake Offed in Books

Dec 1, 2022 (Updated Dec 1, 2022)  
Bake Offed
Bake Offed
Maya Corrigan | 2022 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Mystery at the Mystery Convention
Val Deniston and her granddad are going to the Maryland Mystery Fan Fest to help her friend Bethany with it. And Granddad, aka the Codger Cook, is participating in the mystery themed baking competition the first night. One of his fellow contestants is Cynthia Sweet, the woman that Granddad feels stole his shot at turning his Codger Cook recipe column into a book. But when Val finds Cynthia dead in the middle of the night, the two of them start to discover that other people didn’t like Cynthia either. Can they figure out who killed her?

Since the fest is out of town, we don’t see much of the other series regulars, but the series usually focuses on Val and Granddad, so it’s not too big of a loss. This also gives us plenty of time to get to know the new characters, who rise to the occasion. And there is a return appearance by a character from early in the series that is fun. The plot is wonderful. It is intricately plotted, yet it holds together at the end. As someone who complains about the timelines in books when they don’t work, I have to praise this one for holding together perfectly. I got a kick out of the mystery fest setting. The recipes at the end are great fun as well, but I’ll leave that for you to explore on your own. Fans of the series will be happy with this book. If you are looking for a fun culinary cozy series, I definitely recommend you check this one out.
  
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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Crown's Fate in Books

Sep 7, 2017  
The Crown's Fate
The Crown's Fate
Evelyn Skye | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Amazing worldbuilding (3 more)
Well-rounded characters
Gorgeous descriptions
Good use of Russian mythology
An excellent sequel to The Crown's Game
The Crown’s Fate is a sequel to the amazing debut novel, The Crown’s Game. The first book left me crying and a little traumatized, it was so elegant and heart-breaking. The second has proven to be a worthy successor, and healed most of the hurts caused by the first.

The two books tell the story of two enchanters in Tsarist Russia competing to become Imperial Enchanter. The competition, unfortunately, must end in the death of one of them, so Russia’s magic can be solely controlled by the Imperial Enchanter, and therefore be stronger for defending the realm. It only complicates things that one of the competitors is the heir to the throne’s best friend. And what happens when the two competitors fall in love?

Along the way, we see creative enchantments, volcano nymphs, elegant masquerade balls, battles for succession, and a quick glimpse of Baba Yaga’s house. (Oh, how I want to learn more about that!)

These two books are really amazing, but make sure you have the second on hand before you finish the first! I read the first when it was published, last year, and had to wait a year before being able to read the second! I don’t know if Vika and Nikolai’s story will be continued past these two books, but there is room in the world Skye has created for more stories, even if it doesn’t focus on the two enchanters. Especially now that magic beyond the control of the Imperial Enchanter is stirring in the land once again…

You can find all of my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
  
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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Rebel of the Sands in Books

May 19, 2018 (Updated May 19, 2018)  
Rebel of the Sands
Rebel of the Sands
Alwyn Hamilton | 2016 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Amani is a girl in a country that doesn't value women, and treats them as useless property only good for breeding sons. The country is basically occupied by another country that the Sultan is "allied" with, but lets run roughshod over his people. She has her sights set on escaping her backwoods, dead-end town, and running to the capital city, where the aunt she's never met lives. All of that is derailed when she meets Jin at an underground shooting competition, and then later hides him from the armed forces hunting him.

The country is definitely middle-east inspired, but there's a lot of religion-bashing, and complaining about the culture oppressing women. It's the same problem I have with a lot of knight-and-castle era fantasy - just because historically in OUR world those time periods weren't kind to women, doesn't mean they have to be the same in fantasy. It's FANTASY! It can be anything you want! Break the tropes! It's a fine line to walk, taking the good parts of a culture without just cherry-picking and appropriating the culture, and who's judging what the good and bad parts are, anyway? So I understand it's difficult, but bashing the culture in a book inspired by their mythology is not quite cool, either. I feel like City of Brass, another fantasy book set in the middle east, hit a better middle ground of embracing the culture of the inspiration without bashing parts of it.

That gripe aside, I really enjoyed the world-building. I'm not quite sold on the characters yet - Amani is far too quick to abandon things she should fight for - but I'm interested enough to see how they progress in the next two books.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com