The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

The Demon's Lexicon
Sarah Rees Brennan
The Demon's Lexicon #1

Nick and Alan have been on the run their whole lives. After magicians killed their father, they learned to survive on their own, their mother being no help at all. They've been safe for a few months this time when the magicians find them again. Preparing to run, they find Jamie and Mae looking for their help with removing a demon mark. Nick doesn't care about the strangers, but agrees to help for Alan's sake. Their quest to remove the marks will become ever more dangerous and reveal family secrets that never should have seen the light of day.

The Demon's Lexicon was a pretty good story. I like being surprised, and while I predicted some of the plot twists, a few of them were less obvious, which is always fun. The world of The Demon's Lexicon featured evil magicians and good...um...I'm not quite sure what they were, but the people in the Goblin Market. I was a little skeptical of the idea that all magicians are bad and all the Goblin Market people are good, but there were hints in this book that that's not always true. I wish we had learned more about the nature and origins of the demons, who kind of seemed more interesting than the humans in this book.

The Demon's Lexicon is told from the perspective of Nick Ryves, who is not going to be winning any Miss Congeniality awards. I understand why he was depicted that way and I even agree with it, but I just didn't really enjoy his point of view. I wonder if I might have liked this book more if it had been told from Mae's or Jamie's perspective. On the other hand, Brennan did a good job writing Nick because he was so unsympathetic, so I give her credit for that.

I found the ending not entirely believable, though once I finished I could see how Brennan had set up all the pieces to fall into place. It just didn't click for me possibly partly because the writing overall isn't amazing, though I didn't have any major problems with it. However, I definitely liked the story, and it's different enough that I wasn't bored.

Plot: 3 cupcakes
Characters: 3 characters
Style: 3 cupcakes
Overall: 3 cupcakes

If you liked The Demon's Lexicon, try:
Nightlife by Rob Thurman

The Next Thing I Knew by John Corwin

The Next Thing I Knew
John Corwin
Heavenly #1

In one fell swoop, humanity is wiped out. Fortunately it's not quite the end. Lucy and her neighbors wake up in an alternate universe they call Heavenly, where they never get sick, tired, or hurt. As they explore their new world, Lucy finds that the afterlife has the same problem as her old life, plus one other one - she stumbles across a spaceship headed for Earth. The aliens threaten Lucy's post-life existence, and she must figure out a way to stop their enemies from destroying all that's left of the human race before it's too late...


The idea of having everyone on Earth become ghosts was definitely original in my experience. I like a little scifi every once in a while, so a plot of having aliens trying to colonize the Earth was one I could get on board with. (Literarily. Literally I would definitely have a problem with that.)

The pacing was a little odd at times. The first third or so of the book was dedicated to the exploration of Heavenly and the rules of being a ghost, which was interesting for a while but eventually got a little slow. The things suddenly picked up a lot when the aliens arrived, and certain cooperation problems were solved with a speed that left me incredulous. I was also a little irritated that Lucy didn't seem to see a certain betrayal coming despite hints the size of an interstellar billboard.

There were a couple elements of this story that seemed totally disconnected from the main plotline. First, Lucy and Chris's romance bothered me for a lot of reasons that definitely were not resolved by the end of the book. (A "let's get it over with" attitude toward sex is not romantic at all and frankly a little disturbing.) I think this relationship could have been eliminated completely without affecting the plot in the least. Last living human Nick's appearances were a little more integrated into the story but still seemed a little random, and I was surprised that he wasn't involved in the climax of the story. I wish, though, that Nick had been the love interest in this book rather than Chris, which I think would have made a much better story.

I didn't get much of a sense of personality from Lucy for the first half of this book. Maybe this was a YA issue, but she just didn't seem to have any kind of goals or interests or anything. Eventually she did improve to the point where I found her mostly credible as a leader.

I also have a caveat for any religious readers: The Next Thing I Knew is quite explicitly anti-religious, which might bother you if you are not. (It bothered me a little, and I don't consider myself religious. I just don't like preachiness. Which is actually why I don't consider myself religious. Go figure.)

Overall, the story was pretty decent. Check it out if you like YA scifi or if you're looking for something a little different.

Plot: 2 cupcakes
Characters: 2 cupcakes
Style: 3 cupcakes
Overall: 3 cupcakes

If you liked The Next Thing I Knew, try:
Acorna by Anne McCaffrey
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff

Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

Blood Bound
Rachel Vincent
Unbound #1

When Liv and her three best friends were twelve, they swore a magically binding oath to help one another whenever they needed it. Now an old friend Liv hasn't seen in years has come to call in the vow and have Liv, a blood Tracker, find her husband's killer. Worse yet, Liv will have to work with her former boyfriend Cam and in the territory of her unwanted employer's enemy. Together Liv and Cam must uncover a criminal enterprise where nothing is what it seems.

Wow. This was an amazing start to a new series for Rachel Vincent. I couldn't put this thrilling story down. (Fortunately I was reading it on a three hour plane ride so that was not really a problem.)

The world of Unbound is dark and fascinating - the Skilled, legally nonexistent, are in high demand in crime syndicates, who are willing to do just about anything to get their hands on the strongest and most unique of the lot. There's not much chance of a Mary Sue here; each Skill is a single very specific power, and a person can only have one.

Blood Bound is a little different from most urban fantasy in that it's told by two narrators, Liv and Cam. It works though - you get Liv's fear and Cam's fury over the state of their relationship, and Vincent does a great job keeping secrets secret as long as she needs to.

And those secrets were plentiful. Everyone was keeping things from everyone else, and we didn't learn the whole story until the end, which is something I absolutely love in books. The layers of mystery and misdirection filled Blood Bound with suspense.

The characters were both believable and intriguing. This wasn't a good guys/bad guys kind of story; no one was squeaky clean and they were mostly just trying to survive, and I think that makes it a better book. I really liked Liv, who was relatable and sympathetic for quite a few reasons, and I was rooting for her and Cam the whole time.

Without spoiling anything, the ending made me angry, but in a good way, if that makes sense. I really want to get my hands on the next book!

Plot: 5 cupcakes
Characters: 4 cupcakes
Style: 4 cupcakes
Overall: 4 cupcakes

GARS Score: 1 (3/3/3/3)
What's a GARS Score?

If you liked Blood Bound, try:
Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

My Fellow Americans:

Have an amazing Thanksgiving!

Enjoy your families, friends, food, and of course books!

To my international friends, please don't be jealous that we have a day off to eat delicious food and watch football :P

This kind of football

Not this kind

I am very thankful for all my followers! Thanks so much for visiting, commenting, and helping cut down on the talking to myself :)

I leave you with this thought:

Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

Second Grave on the Left
Darynda Jones
Charley Davidson #2

The indomitable Charley Davidson returns in Second Grave on the Left, where she is faced with a missing persons case that has her stumped. And as if that's not enough, she has to find where her boyfriend's stashed his body before he can get it killed. 

Second Grave on the Left is 84 percent fluff. And granted, it's fairly fun fluff, but if you're looking for something with depth and substance, look elsewhere. This book takes a similar tone to its predecessor, First Grave on the Right - light and funny, sometimes a little overly so.

I find it somewhat difficult to believe that Charley takes so little seriously, particularly considering her improbable depth of knowledge and experience. She seems to just sort of flit from scene to scene with no real plan or thought, while her "assistant" Cookie does all the real work. She rarely listens to anyone else's advice or opinion, however logical it may be. Not that she's not funny, because she is, but it would be more believable and more relatable if she at least occasionally didn't think the most reasonable response to any given situation was a joke.

I'm not actually sure there are any other characters in this book. There basically just seems to be Charley, and Other People Who Exist To Facilitate The Plot/Jokes. Everyone else is an afterthought to the brilliance that is Charley Davidson. She has her Sidekick, her (Wise) Old Mentor, her Love Interest, various villains, etc. and they're little more than the archetypes they represent.

However, at about the two-thirds point in the book, I forgot my other concerns and was able to really enjoy it. The story picked up and the suspense overcame an endless litany of mediocre wisecracks. The quality of the last third was enough to distract me from the various irritations of this book. Despite the problems I had with Second Grave on the Left, I'm sure I'll read the third book when it comes out.

So I leave this one up to you, avid readers. Don't take this review to mean I didn't like the book - I did, with the previously mentioned reservations that made up a smaller portion of the book than the review. Presumably you know what you like, and you can decide whether you would enjoy a fun book with the flaws I've described. But you'll probably want to start with the first book.

Plot: 3 cupcakes
Characters: 2 cupcakes
Style: 3 cupcakes
Overall: 3 cupcakes

GARS Score: 0.83 (2/3/4/2)
What's a GARS Score?

If you liked Second Grave on the Left, try:
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

The Iron Duke
Meljean Brook
Iron Seas #1

From Goodreads: After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession. 

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

I liked this book. It was somehow simultaneously both very original and completely conventional. I was truly fascinated by the combination steampunk/scifi/alternate history world Brook created for this story - after 200 years of Mongol oppression through some sort of emotion-controlling nanotech, the Iron Duke overthrew Horde rule and uninfected expats are returning to Britain.

I do wish there had been a little more focus on the world and the conflicts it presented rather than the romance, which could easily have been drawn out over several books. The attraction between Mina and Rhys seemed to be mainly physical, which is fine but I do like to see a little more there.

The main plot was dark and interesting and made great use of the world of the Iron Seas. What started out as a (mostly) simple murder case became a battle for survival on a grand scale. Suspense, betrayal, and near-death experiences are always fun (to read about). Some of the minor characters were quite fascinating - the Blacksmith, for example - and I'd almost rather have read their stories than this one. However, The Iron Duke was a pretty good read overall, and definitely worth a try.

Plot: 4 cupcakes
Characters: 3 cupcakes
Style: 3 cupcakes
Overall: 3 cupcakes

If you liked The Iron Duke, try:
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am currently reading Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones, the second book in the Charley Davidson series.

For the first time in my life, I was in a shoot-out. A real, honest-to-goodness shoot-out with a bad guy. And apparently, we both sucked.