Walton, Jo - Half a Crown

Half a Crown concludes the Small Change or Still Life with Fascists trilogy, which also consists of Farthing and Ha'Penny.

It's 1960, eleven years after the events of Farthing and nineteen after a group of powerful British politicians brokered a peace with Hitler. Elvira, the adopted niece of Carmichael, is about to debut when she's drawn into the world of politics that her uncle inhabits.

I didn't like Ha'Penny as much as I liked Farthing. But I think Half a Crown is the strongest in the series, largely because it departs from the mystery format that worked so well with the first book and not so well with the second. Of course, this may be influenced by my not being much of a mystery reader. Part, though, is because the second and third books in the trilogy lack the element of surprise and discovery about the worldbuilding that's so intrinsic to Farthing, so what we're left with in Ha'Penny is a more standard mystery, not one that simultaneously works as mystery and worldbuilding.

I also found Half a Crown effective because it places Carmichael front and center; we've been waiting for his story after realizing he's the continuing thread that ties the books together, and it's good to get it at last.

( Spoilers )

I cried when I read this, and then I remembered elections and the change come January.

Links:
- oursin's review
- kate_nepveu's review

(no subject)

Argh! I am so sick of studying already! It is so bad that I have actually started my Yuletide story as a means of procrastination.

In other news, I've attempted snuggling with the rats on the sofa while studying, as opposed to on the bed. Ren cuddles nicely, especially if I scritch his cheeks or behind his ears; if I stop, he'll keep his eyes closed and stay still for a few seconds in hopes that I'll resume again shortly. But after a while, he gets bored, makes a flying leap off the couch, and dashes to freedom.

I think I have aptly renamed Ed and Al, as Al has grown much bigger than Ed and can probably still beat him up if he so chooses, but doesn't often choose to. Ed, on the other hand, is small and crazy full of energy; while Al is curled up under the covers, Ed is scampering around the bed and sniffing at everything. On the other hand, if I drag Al out alone, he starts at all the scary noises and then stuffs himself inside my sweatshirt sleeve. This is somewhat awkward, as he refuses to come back out, so I have been walking around the apartment for the past half hour with a rat curled up by my forearm.

People! Entertain me! Or else I will just spam LJ more!

ETA: Spoilers for Demon Ororon in comments! (Most is spoiler texted out, but I got my code wrong, so mine is not.)

Gray, Claudia - Evernight

First off, it would be nice if publishers made it explicit when a book is the first of a series, not a stand alone!

Bianca Olivier's parents have decided to enroll her in prestigious Evernight Academy, an elite boarding school that naturally hides dark secrets among its Gothic arches and gargoyles. She feels dowdy and lacking compared to the "Evernight types," who seem to vacation in the Swiss Alps or the Bermudas and have their uniforms tailored by fashion designers, and she's irresistably drawn toward troublemaker Lucas, who warns her to stay away from him, as he'll only cause trouble for her.

So far, switch out some names, and this could be just about any YA vampire novel out there (I say, probably having read 75% of them as a teen). Then things don't quite go as expected. And then they sort of do. It feels a lot like Gray wanted to subvert all sorts of YA vampire tropes but stay within the tropes to get the same payoff, and it just doesn't work for me.

Oh, and skip the prologue, which adds nothing.

( Spoilers )

A very interesting premise, but I think the execution falls down.

Links:
- madeleinmae's review (non-spoilery)
- sarahtales' review (non-spoilery)