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Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: homophobia/lesbophobia, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, murder, animal death, 

Sylvie Mothe was once a conwoman. Now, she's a Baroness, married to a wealthy man who loves her wholeheartedly -- but knows very little of her past. When the past comes barging back in, in the form of her sister, Charlotte, asking for her help one last time, Sylvie feels she has little choice, stuck between family and her husband, poverty and high society. Their mark is the formerly aristocratic de Jacquinots, who are convinced that they are being haunted by their great-aunt, brought down during the French Revolution. But as Sylvie and Charlotte fall ever deeper into the web that they are spinning, caught up in the dark secrets of their own family and those of the de Jacquinots, they will be forced to confront terrors far worse than ghosts.

A remarkable debut! As soon as I saw this was being pitched as "perfect for fans of Sarah Waters," I had very high hopes -- and speaking truthfully, very high expectations, too. I'm pleased to say that Spitting Gold hit its mark with almost complete perfection for me, full of twists and turns, and dark family secrets that will have you dying to pick it up again once you've been forced to sit it down. The writing is lovely, maintaining a period feeling throughout the book, without ever straying into being too dense or feeling as if the author is trying too hard to impart the sensation that you are reading something set in the 1860s. This is a time period and place rich with potential, haunted (both literally and figuratively) by the ghosts of the French Revolution, the Terror, and France as a rising empire, and Lowkis does an excellent job of making the most out of it.

At the center of the story are the Mothe sisters, born into Paris in poverty, inheriting their family's profession of mediumship. Neither of the sisters have ever seen a real ghost, and are firm skeptics, though Charlotte occasionally finds herself seeking out the other side beyond their cons, hoping to make some connection with their deceased mother. Sylvie is more practical, and it's this practicality that leads her into marrying a Baron and cutting herself off from her sister and father. The relationship between Sylvie and Charlotte is rendered with real emotion and complexity, and speaking from my experience, accurate in its depiction of sisterhood. There is love and tenderness between the girls, but resentment, envy, and sometimes ugliness, and I applaud Lowkis for allowing her characters to be fully realized -- and not always sympathetic.

The de Jacquinots create a fascinating counter to the Mothes, former aristocrats who cling to their nobility and the status afforded to them before the French Revolution. Florence and her brother, Maximilien, act as our guide into the family, and while both of their characters are fully dimensional and interesting in their own respect, their mother and grandfather, Ardoir, suffer some in comparison. They are not focal points in the book by any means, but I think it would have added to the intrigue had they been a touch more fleshed out. 

All in all, this was a fantastic debut and perfectly suited to my tastes. I only knocked off half a star for some imperfections that are to be expected in a debut -- some plodding moments, some weak characterization at times, etc. -- but otherwise there are very few flaws to be found here. I cannot wait to see what Lowkis will put out next, and I'm definitely adding this onto my favorites list. 

Book Review: Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

 

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Content Warning: violence, death, homophobia, transphobia, animal death, animal cruelty, misogyny, murder, sexual assault/harassment.

It is 1814 and Maelys Mitchelmore, a young lady of good standing, has few worries. She attends balls, spends time with her cousin and her best friend, and considers marriage proposals. Then, one night at a ball, Maelys finds her dress slowly but surely unmaking itself in the midst of high society, and she barely escapes a scandal that could ruin not only her reputation, but her life as she knows it. But then, in a world where faeries, malevolent spirits, and old Gods reign supreme, what can one expect? As Maelys comes to the frightening realization that she is under a curse, she is pushed into pairing up with Lady Georgiana Landrake, a Byronic Duchess who is shunned in society as a witch -- and one who supposedly killed her own father and brothers for her inheritance. But as Georgiana and Maelys grow closer as they try to discover who has resorted to such means against Maelys, they discover that some things are more powerful than curses, and that some things are worse than having a bad reputation.

This has been on my list for a long time, published in June of last year. Having previously read Hall's Kate Kane series, I was pretty sure that this was going to be something I thoroughly enjoyed, particularly since it's a sort of fantasy, lesbian Bridgerton. Either my tastes have changed over the years, which is highly probable since I read those books as a teenager, or I'm simply missing something here that everyone else is getting, because I did not love Mortal Follies -- and to speak plainly, I didn't even really like it.

Humbly narrated by the hobgoblin Robin Goodfellow, of Shakespearean fame, the novel follows Maelys Mitchelmore and her romantic interest, Georgiana Landrake. I thought it was a clever device to use Robin as the narrator, but I'm afraid to say that it seemed to work much better in theory than in practice. Unfortunately, because none of the events are seen through the perspective of Maelys or Georgiana, it leaves the reader feeling distanced from the supposed connection taking place between the two. Maelys and Georgiana both suffer as characters, too: forced to describe them, I could only say that Maelys is strong and innocent, and Georgiana is dark and brooding. Beyond that, there's very little growth or development.

The side characters have a similar problem, never becoming much more than archetypes or comic relief. Miss Bickle, Maelys's best friend, is the best example of this -- she seems to serve no point beyond making zany comments and doing silly things, which left me not laughing, but rolling my eyes. This is a book obsessed with its own cleverness and witticisms, to the point of becoming exhausting. Page after page is filled with "witty" dialogue that seems to go on forever, pointlessly, without doing anything to progress the novel or help with its characterization. I truly cannot emphasize enough how bad Mortal Follies is in this regard, and how truly tiresome it is to read nearly 400 pages of forced humor.

The world-building is also lackluster. There's faeries, mythical creatures, and the "old Gods" -- Romano-British Gods and Goddesses, which makes sense because this is set in Bath. This is, again, a wonderful idea where execution simply fell short. There's no real cohesion to how the world works or how its deities and folklore interact, and so it ends up feeling like little more than window dressing.

I wish that I had more positive things to say, but I'm struggling to think of parts that I actually enjoyed. I did think that Robin Goodfellow was sometimes cute and a little charming, but even this grew wearisome by the conclusion. So much cleverness, so many big words, all with no point. Not to mention that the curse, which I assumed would be the main gist of the plot, is solved by the halfway point, and then we move immediately onto a sort of quasi-second plot that feels aimless. It's just a jumbled mess.

Before I finish this review, I also want to address some issues with Georgiana and Maelys's relationship. I'm not bothered by the age gap, like some other readers were -- Maelys being nineteen, Georgiana in her mid-twenties -- but instead, I found it very frustrating how Georgiana doesn't even seem to really like Maelys in any meaningful way. She's Byronic, she's brooding, we get it -- personally, this is something I love to see in female characters. But it was done in a very shoddy way, and truthfully, there seemed very little romance or interest between Maelys and Georgiana at all, besides the carnal, and even that feels inauthentic. There's no chemistry between them. I believe the author primarily writes romance between gay men, aside from the Kate Kane series, and I'm afraid that it rather shows itself here, particularly when it comes to the sex scenes.

I hate being so negative, but this is simply my honest experience with the book. Many other readers loved this, and so as always, it comes down merely to taste. Hall is undoubtedly a talented writer, but Mortal Follies was simply a little too infatuated with its own wittiness to win me over.

Book Review: Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro

 

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Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: racism, murder, death, colonialism, sexual assault/rape, misogyny,

Malinalli is known the world over as La Malinche: a traitor, the Nahua woman who helped Hernán Cortés colonize and, ultimately, destroy her own people. But what they don't know is that after Cortés was done with her usefulness, Malinalli was turned into an immortal blood drinker -- a vampire. Searching for purpose, Malinalli has made a name for herself by reclaiming the stolen artifacts and treasures of her people, carelessly observed in museums around the world, hoping to heal the broken heart that has plagued her century after century. What she longs for most is someone to understand her, to embrace both her human side and her dark, vampiric nature. When she arrives in Dublin, eager to retrieve two Aztec skulls that are tied intimately with her past, she meets a mortal who manages to capture her interest. But this mortal is not the only one who snakes his way into her life, and as Malinalli learns to embrace her desires and recuperate from the traumas of her human life, she will be pushed to the limits of what she understands of vampirism and the human will to overcome. 

Before I'd even finished reading Immortal Pleasures, I knew that this was going to be a difficult review to write. While this is certainly a unique experience, unlike anything I've read before, structurally and narratively speaking, it's simply not a very good book. It's hard to write that, as I try to be as fair as possible when writing these reviews -- as someone who writes myself, I know how painful the criticism can be. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy reading this, because I very much did, but man, is it corny and sometimes way, way too over the top.

Now, I don't mind some corniness in my vampire media, but this was to the point that it was taking all of my self-control not to cringe during certain passages. Sadly, the writing doesn't come off as very polished either, and although Malinalli is such a fascinating figure in history, rife with so much misunderstanding, I found that Castro never quite managed to make her feel believable, either as a human being or a creature of the night. Her character development is as equally cheesy as the rest of the story, and all of it somehow feels extremely juvenile, in spite of the very dark and sometimes disturbing content matter. Malinalli reads very much like a teenager, and although I could buy that this comes from her traumatic past starting at such a young age, it's been hundreds of years at this point, and I would expect at least some maturation in her character.

The rest of the characters suffer from similar problems, and I found both of her lovers, Colin and Alexander, to be a little laughable in their dialogue and characterization. In fact, all of the dialogue comes across as being wooden and stiff, as if they are in a Shakespearean play, reading off of a piece of paper. Much of it feels very much like telling us rather than showing us, and I was surprised by how little we actually get to experience of Malinalli's human life. I expected much more of it, since it's so rich for reimagining in a tale like this.

Onto the fun stuff, though: this is one hell of a ride, and I can't fault it for its constant breakneck pace, the way it relentlessly doles out blood and sex. I truly cannot describe to you how unintentionally hilarious the sex scenes are; there are many other reviews with quotes from the book, and I encourage you to read those if you're having a bad day. I'm not saying this to be cruel or mean, but man, some of those lines are truly hilarious zingers.

In the end, this simply wasn't the book for me. As I always say, I'm sure there will be plenty of people out there who enjoy Immortal Pleasures, but for me, this just didn't quite hit the mark.

Book Review: A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

 

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Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: homophobia/lesbophobia, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, murder, animal death, 

Jean is one of the only midwives for miles around. When she's awoken in the middle of the night -- during a storm -- by a cry of pain, it's instinct that sends her outside. Standing there is a woman she's never seen before, half in the marsh, and to Jean's expert eye, clearly in labor. As Jean helps the woman during and after the birth, it becomes obvious to her that this is the wife of her only neighbor, and that she speaks painfully little English. Doing their best to communicate, Jean finds herself drawn into the mystery of Muirinn's life, put off, for some reason that she can't quite place her finger on, by Muirinn's husband, Tobias. Struggling with her growing feelings for this stranger, Jean gradually discovers that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to her neighbors, and that some secrets are worth killing for.

First and foremost, A Sweet Sting of Salt is perhaps one of the most lushly, gorgeously written books I've had the pleasure of reading in some time. Sutherland is masterly at crafting beautiful sentences, of using words with creativity, but never to the point of making her writing inaccessible or too much. Anyone reviewing this book would be remiss not to mention her talent, and it's obvious to me that she is the type of person who is a natural at what she does. It came as a surprise to me that this was a debut, based on the quality and level of the writing and overall feel of the novel.

Our heroine, Jean, is very likable, feisty but sensible, and although I did like Muirinn as well, I was left with the feeling that we didn't get to know her quite as well. If I was forced to describe her personality, I'd be left sitting a bit blank. She's brave, I suppose, and adventurous, based off of what we hear in the latter half of the book, but beyond that, she struck me as being slightly underdeveloped. Jean fares much better as the narrator of the events taking place, but the relationship between them is rushed. It's perhaps not quite instalove, but something very close to it, and the pacing of their developing interest in each other was a little too quick for my tastes.

In many ways, this book suffers from pacing issues, not only with the relationship between the two main characters. In the beginning everything is happening too fast, and by the middle, too slowly. I think these problems are common for a debut, and while they did lessen my enjoyment some, it wasn't enough to put me off of the book. Most likely, Sutherland's next book will have ironed some of these issues out, so I do advise everyone to take some of the problems I mention here with these elements in mind. 

Something else I didn't like was the coincidental nature of the finale. It was a bit unbelievable, even for a book with fantasy elements based off of a folktale. I didn't like how Laurie's story connects with Jean's, and there were times I was inclined to roll my eyes at how perfectly and easily everything seems to pan out for everyone. It's impossible to discuss without spoiling the ending, but that was perhaps the part I liked least. And one more thing I have to mention: the introspection. It's far, far too much. I'm truly surprised that Sutherland's editor didn't catch onto it, and have her cut the majority of it out. It slows the book down considerably, and nearly manages to make it boring.

Overall, I think this is a beautiful book, and most of its problems come with a first time author. Sutherland nonetheless has created something beautiful here, and I can't wait to see what she'll come out with next!

Book Review: The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton

 

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Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: minor violence, alcohol.

Sybil and Esme live in Severon, a decadent, sprawling city full of nightclubs, art, and beauty. For the two girls, however, life there is not all it seems: they're struggling, barely supported by their meager jobs, each of them dreaming of a future where they can spread their wings. Sybil longs for adventure, for something beyond the boredom of her humdrum daily life; Esme, on the other hand, is only too content to work at a library and have a home filled with cats. Despite their differences, they're best friends, and when they're drawn into the world of Fae by the beautiful, mysterious Maeve, it's together. Maeve promises them riches that they can't even fathom, if they do one thing for her: steal the royal jewels from the Fae Queen.

It was the intriguing setting of The Absinthe Underground that truly made me decide to request an ARC. The story (partly) takes place in the city of Severon, inspired by Belle Epoque Paris. It's a unique idea for a story, especially when most fantasy books seem to draw their inspiration from medieval Ireland or England. Although it didn't up being quite to my tastes, I would love to see more people following Pacton's lead and giving us stories with unusual settings!

Our two heroines, Sybil and Esme, are complete opposites, but despite their differences (or perhaps because of them), they're inexplicably attracted to each other. Unfortunately, I say inexplicable because aside from small things like enjoying each other's company and finding one another attractive, there's very little character development for either of the girls -- and this impacts their relationship, too. Although I liked both of them well enough and found their narration pleasant, their individual storylines and characterization are remarkably one-dimensional. They both have a set of traits and characteristics that the author has decided for them, and they never veer far from these predetermined boxes. This ends up limiting the narrative and its ultimate conclusion. To make matters worse, the writing tells us and doesn't show us, and this prevents you from feeling totally immersed in the world.

Don't get me wrong -- their relationship is sweet, and I did enjoy their moments of flirtatiousness very much. But the lack of growth is disappointing especially because the two girls are likable. Another problem that surfaces is that tonally speaking, The Absinthe Underground reads more as middle-grade than YA (in spite of the many, many references to alcohol and drinking, which I found slightly odd). It's a little jarring, as Sybil and Esme are referred to as being seventeen several times, but they come across much younger in their POVs. This isn't necessarily a problem but, for me, it occasionally made the story disjointed.

The primary problem, however, is that everything is so convenient. This is low, low stakes, which isn't always a problem, but for a heist in Fae, it seems a little lackluster. Somehow, someway, everything always works out for Sybil and Esme, to the point where you begin to wonder what's the point of reading anyway, since you know everything will work out in the end. Some people enjoy stories like that, and I have no doubt that there will be many readers who appreciate The Absinthe Underground, but it was boring for me to watch them get into sticky situation after sticky situation only for their problems to be miraculously solved. It gets into unbelievable territory towards the end. Before the last act, I was planning on giving out two and a half stars, but that felt a bit too generous by the last page. It also suffers from everyone being painfully transparent, and you have to either believe that Sybil and Esme are extremely naive, or extremely stupid.

Ultimately, this story just wasn't for me. Again, I have no doubt that many readers, especially young ones, will find a lot to love here, but it simply wasn't my cup of tea.

Book Review: False Witness by Karin Slaughter

 

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Content Warning: violence, death, sexual assault, rape, pedophilia, murder, drug addiction/abuse, parental abuse.

Leigh has spent her whole life trying to run from her past. She and her sister, Callie, did something when they were teenagers that has been haunting them ever since, and although Leigh has built a life for herself up from the ground as a successful defense lawyer and a wife and mother, she knows it's only a matter of time before her life implodes. And this possible destruction of everything she's worked for comes in the form of a high-profile client accused of a violent rape. This client makes it clear to Leigh that he knows exactly what happened twenty years ago, and that he's going to make her life a living hell. Forced to seek out Callie, who she has been estranged from, the two sisters will have to face a reckoning and, in the process, confront their own demons.

When people say that Karin Slaughter is one of the best thriller writers of this generation, they're not exaggerating. Although I've only read one of her previous novels, Pretty Girls, it's clear from the get-go that Slaughter possesses a talent that makes everything she puts out intensely and frighteningly readable. False Witness, like her other works, is dark, heavy, and in spite of the aforementioned readability, filled to the brim with topics that are often difficult to read about. However, she manages to pull off writing about this sort of stuff with grace and class, and though the material is graphic (and rather graphically written about), it never feels exploitative. 

The two main characters, Leigh and Callie, are sisters, and it is this bond that drives the entire novel forward. Their relationship is deeply complicated, with Leigh feeling more like Callie's mother than her sister, mostly due to their abusive mother, while also dealing with guilt from something that Leigh believes is her fault that led to Callie's heavy drug abuse and the subsequent destruction of her entire life. Callie, on the other hand, deals with everything with a careless attitude that belies the turmoil she's experiencing inside. Slaughter perfectly captures a sister relationship, with all its complexities, anger and love. 

The stakes are extremely high, and there's not a moment where you're allowed to forget it. I was tense reading this, wondering what was going to happen next, if Callie and Leigh were going to be able to pull off their next crazy stunt. This book is primarily a study of womanhood, sisterhood, and how sexual violence pervades women's lives, from childhood until old age. It could be depressing and, yes, it sometimes is, but throughout Slaughter manages to make this a beautiful and moving story about the devastating effects of sexual abuse and the end somehow leaves you with hope.

Overall, I'd highly recommend it, and I will definitely be seeking out more of Slaughter's books in the future.

Book Review: Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson

 

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Content Warning: violence, death, assault, misogyny, racism.

Eliza Jones and Grace Steele are opposites. Eliza is spoiled, the daughter of a wealthy newspaper owner, while Grace has grown up counting every penny, all of her hopes and dreams reliant on her piano. But both of them have something in common: they're enlisting in the WAAC, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, and they will be some of the very first black women to serve. Drawn together despite their differences, Eliza and Grace are challenged not only by racism and misogyny, but also by the hardships of army life -- but amongst their fellow female soldiers, they discover a sisterhood of courageous women that will challenge and encourage them at every turn, especially when they are finally sent overseas. 

Originally I had requested this on Netgalley, and when I ended up not getting approved, I decided to pick it up at the book store. It has many things I look for in a book: female-focused, historical (and set during WWII), and a story highlighting the lives of black women. After reading the first few pages, however, I began to have an inkling that this might not be the book for me. I almost never stop reading a book once I've started, though -- unless it's egregiously bad or problematic, it somehow feels unfair not to give it a chance to get its footing. In this case, though, Sisters in Arms ended up being little more than a slog for me.

Our dual protagonists, Eliza and Grace, are both black women in their early twenties, but that's about where the similarities between them stop. For the first half of the book, I found myself liking Eliza best, as she's a little plucky and often makes a genuine effort to help others. Grace, on the other hand, is cold and distant, and while typically that wouldn't bother me in a character, it lends itself to the way that she treats Eliza, which I did not like whatsoever. She's rude, condescending, and sometimes even straight up hateful to Eliza, who does nothing but show her kindness every time they meet. Moreover, both of them come across as extremely juvenile -- until their ages were confirmed on-page, I half wondered if we were supposed to be reading about teenage girls. Everything, somehow, is very sanitary, reminiscent of a Hallmark movie, in spite of the fact that there are some dark moments and topics within.

Most of the time, I'm not particularly bothered if an author's writing style doesn't suit my personal tastes, but unfortunately, Alderson's writing just seemed a bit childish. It was more suited for YA than anything, and at times, disregarding the adult topics, I felt as if I were reading in that genre. The main thing is that I'm not a fan of fluff, and that's primarily what this book is. It's light, and although I don't like using the term "chick lit," that's really the only other way I can think to describe this. Fluff is not for me -- I prefer harder, darker books. So although I personally didn't enjoy this one, I imagine there are many who will, as this is exactly their type of genre.

It's boring, for me, when I read a book where everyone is fundamentally good. The ending nicely ties up all their loose ends with a ribbon, and I didn't find it quite believable or engaging. Eliza's father, for example, is "redeemed," and I found it a little hard to swallow. He is a domineering, manipulative man, and I didn't like the way the ending swept aside his former characterization. Many of the other characters suffer from this treatment at the end, too. I also found the conflict between Eliza and Grace, especially one part towards the end of the novel (which I can't discuss in detail without major spoilers), extremely puerile. The romances have that same problem, with the chemistry seeming forced.

However, I didn't know about the 6888th Central Postal Battalion before this read, and I love that it taught me about a piece of history that I didn't know -- and one that should be taught more often. These were strong, courageous women who rose up against all odds, and there are glimpses in this book of moments like that. For me, this one just didn't work, but I know there are many out there who will appreciate this story and enjoy it.