Maggie O'Farrell's writing is just gorgeous. I get so wrapped up in her beautiful descriptions and historical atmosphere. Her tales move languidly, but not in a way that bores...it's more of a gentle flowing, leading you through the plot.

I didn't want to put this book down. O'Farrell's writing kept echoing in my ears, holding me captive. It was an emotional read for me. Lucrezia's fate was looming and my heart just ached for the young girl. There were several moments of anger, disgust, and frustration at both the situation and the other characters. There is some trepidation written into the writing...you know from the beginning more or less what the ending will be...and yet it's not an edge-of-your-seat kind of experience. It's a niggling feeling in your gut. A mild anxiety. And something about it just feels right and delicious, despite the atrocity.

There are some writers who are just suited for historical fiction. Maggie O'Farrell is one of them. She walks the line between history and fiction very well, changing just enough to keep the story intriguing, while still maintaining the essence of historical fact. Definitely an author on my permanent "to be read" list. 

 A fantastic continuation to her The Gilded Ones series, Forna comes out strong in this second novel with an action packed plot. The creation of her world continues to impress, with a lot of complicated political and social culture.

Forna has a gift for world-building. There is a lot going on in this world and the complexity just continues to grow, with surprises in store from start to finish. The writing and construction are clever and clearly have a lot of planning behind them. This is an intricately built story.

There were moments where the inclusivity felt a little heavy-handed. Though it plays an important role in the plot development for this novel, it came a little out of left field as it wasn't used much in the first novel. This made the tendency to create so many LGBT+ characters feel a bit forced, as if part of a ploy to gain wider readership, rather than a natural progression of the plot. Had the inclusivity been a bit more well rounded in the first read it may not have felt quite so spur of the moment. In conjunction with this, the character work isn't as in depth as it was in the first installment. So, while the reader does get a great picture of Deka and her progression/change throughout the plot, the secondary characters are not as well investigated and included. I appreciated the thought behind the characters, but felt that the execution was not quite as impressive as in the debut.

The writing remains gorgeous and each move of the plot was smooth and well thought out. The pacing was a bit slow through the middle of the novel simply due to some repetitive scene work to build some tension and background, but then revived to an explosive and tense pace for the last third of the read.

Overall, a great second installment in this trilogy and an excellent demonstration of Namina Forna's immense writing talent. I am really looking forward to reading the conclusion of this series. 

 My first completed read of 2023 and it was a magnificent one! This 8th installment in the Wayward Children series is near perfection.

I love this series so incredibly much. I'm a big fan of portal fantasy to begin with, but Seanan McGuire just has a way with words. Her characters are wonderful, her stories both heartbreaking and uplifing. The narrative is beautifully written and atmospheric. The Shop Where Lost Things Go is magnificent and I really enjoy the creativity of all the worlds that she manages to create. The only downside to this book is that it is a novella. I would devour each of these reads even if they were 1000 pages long. They are just incredibly magical.

There is some gut-wrenching and potentially triggering content at the introduction of the story, but it is gracefully handled and does a wonderful job of setting the scene. McGuire is nothing if not authentic to her work and I appreciate how many different facets and ways of life she brings to her tales. She is so effortlessly inclusive that I am just constantly in awe.

The plot is full of wonder and magic, but also contains her trademark nature of allegory and life lessons. An absolutely perfect read to begin 2023.