Speed-Reading Book Nerd Reviews

Divine Rivals

By Rebecca Ross.

If you loved The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, READ THIS. If you love rivals to lovers, READ THIS. I bought myself the book a few days ago and was warned by the clerk, "the next one comes out on December 26, you're gonna wanna order that too," and thus I did, and thus I'm able to read one after the other.

I'm gonna note that my usual rule for "spoiler space" stuff is about halfway through the book. I'm going to mention a lot of plot details below that might be more than one expects to read, but they are within the first half of the book...and then I'll spoiler space the usual stuff. 

Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt are teenagers working for the Oath town newspaper, competing for a columnist position. Roman comes from New Money and a demanding dad who insists on getting what he wants, while Iris is dealing with the grief of (a) her missing brother Forest who went off to war, and (b) her alcoholic mother Not Doing Well, and circumstantially Iris isn't doing as well under those circumstances. Roman is handsome, comes off as arrogant, and writes extremely well--but then again, Iris also writes very well. Iris soon swears off reading Roman's writing, but that doesn't happen the other way around. 

Iris has an inherited typewriter from her grandmother, which apparently can deliver mail to anyone else with the same magicked typewriter....which it turns out Roman also inherited one of from his nan, and he's been getting the letters Iris writes to her brother and throws in the closet. He recognizes her writing right away but for obvious reasons of Awkward, doesn't tell her it's him right off, and they end up having a very poignant, beautifully written correspondence. It's adorable. But after Roman wins the job and Iris's mother dies, she's got nothing left to lose and takes off for another job as a war correspondent--also, maybe that way she finds Forest. I haven't mentioned the war is between two gods who haaaaaaaaaaate each other and have managed to revive after all these years, and they compel people to fight for them. Both Dacre and Enva have good reason to hate each other (attempted romance gone wrong, one lives in the earth and one in the sky), and the war going on is truly terrifying.

Roman, pretty well in love with Iris, follows her off to war, where they make good friends with their landlady Marisol and their fellow war correspondent Attie. The two of them get closer and closer, and obviously there's a detail that Iris needs to find out in full....Beyond that lies spoiler space territory. I will say that this book is romantic as heck, I loved Roman and Iris as opposites who fit together, I loved his passion for her, I loved her "oh my gosh, I love Josh!"-esque revelations on her own end, it made me so jealous I can't have a love like that.

Per the above warning, yes, it ends on a cliffhanger. So if you get book one, grab book two at the same time, now.

Four and a half stars. 

In The Form Of A Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life

By Amy Schneider.

My mom got me this for Christmas and I found it a quick and enjoyable read. I note that this probably isn't the sort of book you expect from a Jeopardy champion, as it's more of a quick piecemeal-y autobiography and Jeopardy only comes up here and there, mostly at the end and with chapters here and there about enjoying acquiring information. Mostly it's about how Amy grew up Catholic in Ohio, was not enjoying being a boy publicly (what, you mean anyone actually enjoys playing boy roles?!), was a nerd at dating, got married, moved to California and took up polyamory, which ended in the annoyingly stereotypical way some poly relationships end. Best sentence in this book: "Not that everything about my wife's sexual relationship with a mysterious homeless felon that she met at a comedy open mic was perfect." I DIED, y'all. After that Amy came out to herself as a trans woman, discovered latent bisexuality, and got a new girlfriend/future wife, then eventually got up the nerve to audition for Jeopardy.

I note there's a lot of sex and drugs in this (but not rock n' roll), so that's a thing to keep in mind if that's a thing that you're not into. Amy is unapologetic about whatever drugs she's tried here and there, and that she's into polyamory. (That said, man, did I ever feel uncomfortable reading the losing-my-virginity chapter.) This is interspersed with more innocuous random topics like favorite teachers, a very weird anti-drug special on television, and how awesome Daria is. I especially enjoyed the "what's it like to be famous" chapter--pretty great, actually--and in a sense, the best chapter was the "what's it like having ADD" chapter because she actually writes it like someone with ADD would be thinking in the moment. I read this to my relatives so they got what I was talking about.

Amy seems like someone I'd hang out with: into theater and tarot and Daria, has ADD  (she dislikes the "H" being thrown in there), flexible takes on things. There are footnotes on virtually every page, which I totally get as an ADD sort myself. I personally love all the footnotes and random asides and sometimes long takes to tell different stories and the like, but I would say that this is probably a book you want to get a paper copy of instead of e-book because e-books are a pain in the patoot for footnotes. 

This is an excellent interview that covers topics in the book.

Four stars. Fun read.

The Light We Carry

By Michelle Obama.

This is a post-White-House memoir about dealing with life in various ways, such as taking up knitting during the pandemic (something I approve of, of course, and that's why I read this). Michelle goes into the history of her family and how upbringings influenced behaviors, how her life's been adjusted by his "disruptor" husband, and how she doesn't have all the answers to everything, but this is "a glimpse inside my personal toolbox" as to how she handles life. It's more of reflections than a how-to manual, she says, giving real life examples of making friends while First Lady, dealing with the arsehole who took over, and why memorizing a speech is a good idea instead of relying on the teleprompter.

....sigh, you know what? I liked this book but my brain can't review it right now in detail. Four stars, just go with it. 

The Prince and the Apocalypse

By Kara McDowell.

Wren Wheeler is stranded in England when the news comes down that a comet is going to hit the Earth. She ends up meeting Prince Theodore, on the run from his family, and they go all Planes, Trains and Automobiles as they try to get to his family's estate in Santorini, where he can get her access to a pilot to fly her home and see her family one last time before they all die. Pretty simple plot to explain there. Wren and Theo bond, adopt an abandoned dog and name him Comet, meet his various friends while on the run, have freakouts, the usual. It eventually comes out that Theo is avoiding going into the family bunker because (a) he has depression issues and (b) really, really wants one of their employees, Penny, to go in and the family wouldn't allow it, and he hates how so many people can't be saved. Wren, as she becomes more attached to him, would rather he be saved.

The book gets into more romantic/complicated territory as time goes on and the measures being taken to take out the comet keep on failing (I was REALLY reminded of watching "Don't Look Up"). A whole lot of carpe diem going on, along with "will public transport still work as there's no point in going to work any more?" types of situations coming up. I'll comment more on the ending below the spoiler cut, but I was pretty surprised/shocked/kinda impressed at how things ended, in a lot of ways. Why yes, there shall be a sequel. Anyway, I enjoyed it more and more as it went on--I'd say to keep reading past the start if you're finding Wren a bit hard to take in the first few chapters as she's having her dream trip not go well and is super cranky--as Wren and Theo partner up very well in a lot of ways. Overall I think I give it four stars and look forward to the next book.

I feel like I'm not writing this review too well, this is a better one.

Dear Prudence: Liberating Lessons from Slate.com's Beloved Advice Column

By Daniel M. Lavery.

Like many advice columnists, the author has compiled a book of their most memorable letters over the years. This is interspersed with brief commentary as to what the author was thinking at the time when writing them. Even though sometimes I'm kinda like, "I dunno on these books, am I getting anything new out of it?" I enjoyed this well enough. I note I'm having Huge Whopping Crisis going on in my life right now, so it was easy to get through.

I also enjoyed how the author did discuss his now-infamous family issues (famously having to disclose that the author's brother is sexually attracted to children and how their dad was enabling the situation, leading to estrangement)..  Obviously he has good perspective on the topic. "I can promise that estrangement is possible, that it is survivable, and that other forms of relation and kinship and reciprocity exist on the other side....I can offer a reassurance that it is neither cheaply earned nor lightly given: it can be done, and it can even be good." 

I did enjoy the commentaries before letters, such as one on "looking for flimsy excuses to get closer" such as "do you need someone to hold your hand at your friends' gravesides?" and noting that an entire family tries to downplay and excuse setting someone's dress on fire. And, "I have little to say about the pandemic that feels useful, new, or interesting; it's as exhausting to discuss as it has been to contend with." Agreed. 

And I enjoyed reading the original letters, with comments such as, "I don't know what you could say to her that's more effective that 'I'm breaking up with you because you wore an R2-D2-themed dress to my sister's wedding." And, "Say the following sentence out loud to yourself: 'I'm thinking about going to a barbecue with a woman who tried to set my mother on fire for talking to a man.' Does that sound like a reasonable sentence?" 

Overall I enjoyed this, albeit republishing of advice columns is what it is. I'm going with 3.5 stars. 

Cassiel's Servant

By Jacqueline Carey.

This is a companion book to Kushiel's Dart, covering the exact same story of it, except from Joscelin's point of view. 

Now, I've been having thoughts on this topic of late. I still need to write a companion review for the latest Seanan McGuire books, except I am having Mental Health Crisis this fall and frankly haven't been able to mentally do all the shit I normally do that requires a lot of thoughts. But the one thing that occurs to me when someone writes a companion book is: did we need it? Did we get different plot, insights, anything from rereading this plot from someone else's point of view?

Much as I think this book is well written and enjoyed reading it, I strongly suspect re-writing Dart wasn't necessary?

I confess I wasn't hyped to read the book because much as I love the series, Joscelin is the most stoic character in it and by virtue of being a professional stoic, is kind of the least interesting. But the author is an excellent writer and even got me interested in a guy who's spent his whole life intending to be a professional stoic. The book covers how Joscelin always knew he was intended, as the middle son, to join the Casseline Brotherhood. He's absolutely fine with this destiny and has no interest in rebelling against it, and is a bit baffled at his best friend in training, Selwyn. Selwyn lost an older brother and was forced into the Brotherhood, and much as Selwyn loves training in fighting, he's not at all cool with the celibacy requirement and gets his butt kicked out for being caught fucking before graduation. This sticks in Joscelin's mind a bit, and when he finally gets hired for a bodyguard job, it's bodyguarding a professional courtesan. Even though he sees Phedre literally light up upon meeting her, at first he's...well, not into the job or particularly impressed by her and her predilections, even as he does hit it off with the rest of the household. But as things go on, he realizes Things Aren't What They Seem. 

Joscelin's origin story as about as "new" as this plot gets because otherwise it's just pretty literally rewriting the previous book from another POV. I enjoyed reading it very much, mind you, and I did enjoy hearing of his personal struggles as he's totally stressed and abused by the Skaldi and ends up breaking almost every oath he ever swore, and learning to live with that. He falls in love with Phedre but respects that she might want to be with Hyacinthe if able. 

Now, I haven't reread Dart in quite some time, so I really enjoyed rereading the story again and revisiting Terre d'Ange. But if I had read Dart again recently, I suspect I'd feel like I was reading the same thing over again, because I probably was. I don't feel like we got anything much new added to the original story to do this book. (Though I did get a kick out of Joscelin's relatives arriving at the end and hearing the "Phedre's Boys" chants. Yes, that's my girl.) Is it needed? Well, no, it's not. I don't know if the author plans to rewrite the entire first trilogy from Joscelin's point of view or not--wouldn't be surprised--but unless we get some new material (which I note on Amazon, might have some potential in the second book), I sort of wonder.

So on the one hand, I'd give it four stars and enjoyed the read. But would I recommend it? Perhaps as a library read (which is what I did), because it literally doesn't seem needed and doesn't really expand what came before.