MIND BOGGLING WHIRLWIND —this was the insanity of madcap drama layered upon horror and adventure and more mad drama (inspired rather loosely by Shakespeare’s The Tempest). 

 

Perhaps a bit prophetic… 

 

It’s Sci-fi and a twisted romance and a cyclical drama. It’s religious criticism and social commentary and an analysis of the dynamics of relationships. Dips a toe in fringe psychoanalytical discovery and exploring the depths of the psyche. It’s a fast-paced scream of a thriller as much as undulating red-alert prophecy… Inject a super rich super villain or two… 

 

Captivating from start to end. Highly satisfying, even if at times utterly confusing, but what an ending… What a Ride. So fast-paced it was difficult to keep up, but also impossible to put down! 

Great fast read. Read it in a day. The plot isn’t too complex in this one, and the developed relationships are the thing of it… the author has a toolbox here for more and more of the same sort of mystery, adventure, and intrigue. The exploration of historical context surrounding customs, inventions, and new technology of the era is all so well done, fascinating. I love the jabs and wee social commentaries she adds to these clean-fun adventures. And the dangers that rise to mildly threaten a family forged of necessity and founded on love continue to be the focal point—but love will prevail. 

 

A good addition to a smart wee series of entertaining fun reads that I can gladly recommend to everyone! 

If anyone thought 1000-page books would take an eon to read, they haven’t read Strike. I chomp these in a week or less because they are absorbing, addictive, the kind of work that sucks you in so completely for hours of brain-stimulating entertainment of intrigue, mystery, and romantic tension, sidelining your practical worries, and then spits you out the other end in a daze of euphoric satisfaction and renewed anticipation. 

 

The author unbiasedly presents a prejudiced and ornery detective on a long journey to personal reform via relationships he forges for his own good and the betterment of his growing agency. He’ll get there, we feel it, but he’s clinging on to a few lingering tendrils of discontent despite his better efforts to be a fair, kind, and healthy human being. And the tendrils continue to muck about with his relationships and prod him to self-destructive behaviour. He’s recovering from severe PTSD, so much of this is par for the course, but with a little help from his friends, he’ll make it. 

 

Same with Robin. And we have such hope. 

 

But then they dive into another case that seems like it’s going to be the breaking of them both—finally. And for the large middle of the story, I was fraught with tension and worry, hanging on every word, waiting for the rescue I knew had to be inevitable. Please. But maybe it wasn’t coming… 

 

Raises social issues, explores cult religious appeal, delves into the story’s current political context in the backdrop, but marches on at a steady thrilling pace until the resolution. 

 

On a personal note, I didn’t much like the outcome of this investigation, even if it made sense. And the large chunks of explanation dialogue were slightly over top like an epic fail of an Agatha Christie recipe for reveals. But not sure what other way the resolution might have been accomplished… it all became very criminal case procedural drama near the end. But only at the end. 

 

A high-octane adventure with a slow burn romance, mentally and physically engaging, with the promise for more to come. My favourite detective series of this time (though Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole were differently riveting and I highly recommend those to anyone who enjoys Strike). 

I can understand the appeal… but yet again, to the latest that the genre is producing, I have my criticisms 😂 assuming the genres is YA Fantasy. I did appreciate there weren’t any bits of attempted—but largely awkward and eye-roll inducing—eroticism (as seems rampant in the genre these days). The dialogue and interactions leaned so much towards unbelievable that it robbed the rest of the story of its credibility. Even fantasy has to be somewhat credible—especially within relationships. 

I’m not a fan of Reality TV, which taints my take on this, as the setting was very much a fantasy based on a ‘reality tv’ concept: as in, the ‘game’ gave humans permission to treat each other as objects and obstacles, removing any sense of kindness and love that might have been otherwise present—except a ‘selfish’ (slightly Stockholm-y) idea of ridiculous romance. 

It wasn’t poorly written (fewer criticisms there), and even at times it was mildly poetic (though at other times, highly convoluted and over the top), and while the plot was an interesting concept, by the middle of this disastrous fiasco, the contradictory dilemma arises in that Scarlet ever wanted to ‘play Caraval’ as she evidently had zero clues about what it was! From the moment of her arrival, the Caraval concept rails against her every natural personality instinct. It isn’t in her character to want to be involved in something like this… and sure, maybe she thought it was something different than the reality—but not this different…not from what she’d believed. It’s just too unbelievable. 

Then there’s the bait & switch at the end. 

But no. I’m not curious enough to read the sequel. 

As I say, it has its appeal for a certain age group…? 

Wow. A complete surprise take on Norse Mythology that draws you in and transports you to an icy north to the cave-days before the foundations of Nordic society popped into existence… 

Angrboda is a character you want to saddle up alongside to hear her stories. Immediately interesting without flaunting her worth, she is an attractive recluse, one you’d like to journey with, because you can feel there’s far more than she’s telling, and if you stick close, you’ll learn. 

The banter between her and Loki is some of the best relationship chat I’ve read since Norse gods wreaked havoc in the north. Loki is my favourite. Still. 

And the plot here is a heart-breaking, heart-warming, heart— yes, there’s a lot of rending and restoring of the heart going on in these pages. 

I’ll not do any spoilers, but if you ever thought your offspring might be unlovable, let’s just say the most unlovable sorts of offspring can even be loved by those who would not have been otherwise inclined were it not for the superior writing skills of an author like this one… 

Maybe the last third dragged on more than I liked, but who cares? The rest of it (including the ending) was so bloody brilliant. 

Similar to the plot/outline design of A Thousand Ships in that it speaks with the voices of the women of the story. Different perspective and a smaller selection of women, but it is interesting to see how the voices remain the same despite the change of author…

This tale focuses on three entwined women: Clytemnestra, her youngest daughter Elektra, and Cassandra of Troy. Clytemnestra’s voice is the strongest, most interesting of the three, with her deep love and agonising tragedy carving her thoughts and actions. But Cassandra, as always, is such an incredible character to explore and hear from. I love listening to varied author’s ideas of what went on in the damaged beautiful mind of Cassandra. Elektra is less compelling here, but her understanding of the world around her is young, naive, self-centred, narrow-minded, stubborn and misguided. I my opinión. It’s difficult to side with her, but Saint does a good job of drawing the reader into a kind of sympathy for Elektra as these old, long-familiar events unfold.

The storytelling is superior quality and the unique portions brought to life in this retelling make for an engaging read. Even if you already know where this is heading, it feels new and real, yet again, yet once more…

An improvement on the first instalment, gaining ground with slightly matured characters and an increasingly complex plot.

Part 2 in a 4-part story that pulls together all aspects of fantasy and the darkest corners of fairytales, with honourable vampires, vengeful werewolves, aloof and mischievous faeries, and even a few daft goblins and thickheaded dwarves.

We cross between worlds, uncover hidden truths, and face inner-darknesses. All very interesting. And of course, there’s a love-triangle lingering on the fringes, albeit a weakly established one. There’s never any doubt who will win out.

Several of the secondary characters (Arjun & Pippa) show promising intrigue for the next portions of the story…

Though not a remarkable standout, it’s one for the genre that treads the middle line for quality. Entertaining overall, with bouts of predictability and satisfaction in the romance and fantasy departments, and fortunately easy to read at a fast pace to the finish. 

A bit juvenile, sometimes suspenseful and violent and terrifying, overall a creative story with a nicely twisted plot. Proves somewhat weak in forming depth in relationships—lacks believability throughout in this area—and relies too much on cultural clichés for character development.

However, the story moves addictively fast if you overlook the immature dialogue at the start, and it is a shocking little adventure—the first morsel for what will be a 4-part series. I’d like the first taste to be slightly more tempting, but it was decent. Like the fast food of the teenage vampire fantasy genre (which is relief to some, cos who wants to read 700+ pages of semi-depressing descriptiveness about these kids? No. Get to the action. I can say Ahdieh certainly doesn’t waste time waxing emo nonsense about the sparkle off her characters' skin). 

Oh, the setting of nineteenth century New Orleans was dope (even if the dialogue and terminology didn’t always adhere to the norms of culture and context).

If you’re looking for a girl-power adventure based on Greek mythology, this will do well for the thrills and its railing against the patriarchy. I liked this better than Saint’s Ariadne as I felt she enabled deeper connection to Atalanta in these pages. Atalanta is a more intelligent character who engaged the reader, a more capable woman all-round despite her circumstances; she became a more compelling read as the pages continued to turn.

Characterisation wins in this novel. While the story stays true to the general mythologies, taking literary licence where the author feels she needs to, this reads more like a novel, an arresting story, than a text book retelling. I enjoyed it through and through.