March Book Reviews

March Book Reviews

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire 4/5 Stars
Discount Armageddon is the first book in McGuire’s Urban Fantasy InCryptid series. Verity Price comes from a long line of cryptozoologists; she is continuing the family tradition in New York City while also pursuing a career as a professional ballroom dancer and waiting tables at a strip club. There’s a lot going on with Verity and sometimes it feels like the author just thought up a bunch of random qualities someone could have and found a way to make them fit into one person’s life. One could almost say she’s trying too hard to make Verity quirky. It’s a pretty generic Urban Fantasy in that they all seem to be written by middle-aged women, the MC is in their 20’s, and the mark for what someone in their 20’s would be like is way off by today’s standards. That said, it was a fairly enjoyable read. It isn’t an instant sell for the series for me, but I have already checked out the next book from the library to see how it goes. If you enjoy Urban Fantasy and non-traditional takes on monsters, give it a shot.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig 4/5 Stars
This book is unique in that we have all of the elements of a time-travel story without the time travel. Tom has a rare condition that has caused him to age slowly since adolescence, allowing him to live for centuries. He’s a part of the Albatross Society, an organization that helps him relocate with a new identity every eight years in exchange for his help in recruiting other members. Throughout the book we get the broad backstory of his life (he’s from France!) mixed with what’s going on in his life at present. The story is refreshingly different and I can see this being a great book to reread.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 5/5 Stars
I was so pleasantly surprised with how unique this story is. Casiopea “accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother.” As they travel Mexico and the Mayan underworld together, they both grow and learn more about themselves. I love a book where internal change happens and this one has a setting so strong it’s a character on its own- two plusses in my book. This is my first read from this author and I look forward to reading more.

Mistress of Paris: The 19th-Century Courtesan Who Built an Empire on a Secret by Catherine Hewitt 4/5 Stars
The fascinating story of how Valtesse de la Bigne worked her way up the most successful courtesan of her time from complete poverty. To be a high-class courtesan, you had to be more than just good in bed. One had to master conversation by being well-versed, well-read, and educated so that you could be taken to public events and not embarrass your date. What Valtesse overcame is admirable for her time and she shared her wealth by being a patron of the arts. I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend it.

Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris by David King 3/5 Stars
This was an okay read. I don’t feel like there is enough information on what Marcel Petoit actually did or what his motives truly were for a whole book, or a book this long anyway. Much of it is speculation on what probably happened and I’d rather read a book based more on facts. It was interesting enough to read what is known to be true through police reports and investigating but I wouldn’t add this to the top of your to-read list.

A Broken Queen (The Nine Realms #3) by Sarah Kozloff 5/5 Stars
This series is so good!! I’ve mentioned it before but I can’t get over how amazing it is to have the books in a series release in consecutive months. I love this world and the characters and I am so excited to see what happens to Cerulia in the final book.
The fourth and final book comes out April 21, 2020 so it is the perfect time to start reading. Read my review of the first book in the series here.

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