Review: The Queen is Dead by Kate Locke

Title: The Queen Is Dead 

Author:  Kate Locke
Publisher:  Orbit

Publishing Date: Februrary 5th 2013

Pages: 333
Genre: YA Paranormal Steampunk 

Series:  The Immortal Empire
Source: Audio

 

Nothing lasts forever---and immortality isn't all its cracked up to be.

When her brother Val gets in over his head in an investigation of Half-Blood disappearances and goes missing himself, it's up to Xandra, newly crowned Goblin Queen, to get him back and bring the atrocities to light. Xandra must frequent the seediest parts of London, while also coping with what she is, the political factions vying for her favor, and the all too-close scrutiny of Queen Victoria, who wants her head. Add this to being a suspect in a murder investigation, a werewolf boyfriend with demands of his own, and a mother hell bent on destroying the monarchy, and Xandra barely knows which way is up. One thing she does know is that she's already lost one sibling, she's not about to lose another.

I finally made it to the second book in this series. I read the first one so long ago I had to reread it. I actually enjoyed it more the second time around.
Original review of God Save the Queen here
So back to this book... I also really enjoyed this read. It wasn't quite as exciting as the first but it was still really good. It was packed full of fights, escapes, relationships, betrayals, and more.

In this installment it is now Xandra's brother who needs help. He has gone missing. It seems Xandra cannot catch a break. This is the last thing she needs when he life is such a mess. The biggest thing is dealing with being the Goblin Queen and figuring out how to control her goblin self. The only thing she is sure of is she has to find Val, her brother, keep her friends safe, and find some time for romance. Maybe figure out how she really feels for Vex. 

Xandra is probably one of my favorite Heroines. She just doesn't take crap from anyone and she is so dang loyal. To her family (Even when they are being idiots) and her friends. Now she has found an entire group of goblins to be loyal to. How she manages to be sane through the mess of her life just amazes me. In the entire mess she does have one saving grace- Vex the werewolf- swooney.

Vex is just a living heartbeat. He's handsome, strong, kind. Oh, and has a Scottish accent. Yup, I can see the yummy. He's a breath of fresh air in this dark and ugly world.

This story basically takes off straight from the first book. More secrets are revealed, more betrayals. It takes the readers deeper into the halvie's experiments. This book felt like it had more action than the first but seemed a little draggy on the story too. I didn't mind 90% of the time. Just in a few parts I felt it could have been more info friendly.

I really love this world, it fascinates me and Kate Locke really paints a grand picture. It's dark and gloomy, but also bright and fun and lively.

I can say though the characters and their dynamics are what really make the story thrive. They are just a riot. A few times I was laughing out loud. 

I am anxious to see where the next and final book takes me.

Didn't disappoint. Loved it!

Kate Locke has always enjoyed making things up — a trait that often got her into trouble as a child, but by which she enjoys making a living. Before writing fiction full time she worked as cook, a journalist and in a photo finishing lab where she saw enough pictures of naked people to rival Hugh Hefner. A guy once asked her out after giving her a roll of film that he expressly requested she develop and print. The entire roll was images of him stark naked in the woods. And no, that’s the kind of thing you just don’t make up.
In her late 20s Kate sold her first book and enjoyed a 10 year career writing under a different name. Her love of fantasy and the paranormal refused to leave her alone, and one day, while sitting on the couch thinking of making a very scary career move, she started jotting down notes for a book she wanted to write just for the pure enjoyment of it; a book just for herself. That book became God Save the Queen. Her agent thought they could sell it — Kate wasn’t certain. Then, the day after having her gall bladder removed (again, can’t make this stuff up), Kate got the call that Orbit books — her dream publisher for God Save the Queen — had made an offer. And it’s been more exciting than she ever imagined.
Like Xandra Vardan, the heroine in God Save the Queen, Kate values those she loves above all else, and has hair a color not typically found in nature. Unfortunately, Kate’s comes from a bottle. She’s married to a fabulous man who doesn’t seem to care what she does to her hair, puts up with her occasional* craziness, helps her plot, and treats her like she’s the best thing since lipgloss.
Kate Locke is pseudonym for Kathryn Smith aka Kate Cross/Kady Cross

Review: Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

Title: Curtsies and Conspiracies

Author: Gail Carriger

Publisher: Hatchet Little, Brown and Co

Publishing Date: November 5, 2013

Pages: 310

Genre: YA Historical Fiction, Steampunk, Paranormal

Series: Finishing School

Source: Paperback

  

Sophronias first year at Mademoiselle Geraldines Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality has certainly been rousing. For one thing, finishing school is training her to be a spy. Now, as she sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ships boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a school trip to London than is at first apparent. A conspiracy is afootone with dire implications for both supernaturals and humans. Sophronia must rely on her training to discover who is behind the dangerous plot and survive the London Season with a full dance card.

The second book in the awesome steampunk/kick butt/paranormal finishing school series. Full of laughs, mysteries, and of course, butt kicking.

What made me pick this book up?

I read the first one, and absolutely loved it. I literally could not wait to read the second one. If the first one was good, I had to assume that the second one was going to be just as good, or even better. I can't say it was better, but it definitely was just as good. 

What do I like about the cover?

I absolutely love the colors of it. The blue background with the colorless model is great, and I love the model they chose. She reminds me of Kiera Knightley. 

What made me read it?

It was the second one in the series, I had to read it. 

What did I like the most?

The way it made me laugh, but kept me wondering at the same time. The story is good, has plenty of mystery that makes you want to keep reading it. Plus it will make you literally laugh out loud at parts. Sophronia gets in so much trouble, and is always causing a ruckus, you can't help but love her. The characters are great, very witty and unique. And you can't help but feel like you are part of the world when you are reading it. I'm totally in love with the character Soap as well. 

The least?

I don't have the third one. 

Would you read the rest of the series/Other books by this author?

Uhm, duh. 

Gail Carriger writes comedic steampunk mixed with urbane fantasy in three series: two adult, the Parasol Protectorate and Custard Protocol, and one YA, the Finishing School. Her books are published in over a dozen different language. She has twelve NYT bestsellers via five different lists (including #1 in Manga). She has received the Alex Award from the ALA (for her debut Soulless) and the Prix Julia Verlanger and the Elbakin Award from French readers. She was once an archaeologist and is overly fond of tea.Gail has a fun newsletter: the Monthly Chirrup, sign up at http://www.gailcarriger.com/contact.php

Review: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Title:  Etiquette and Espionage

Author: Gail Carriger

Publisher:  Hachette Little, Brown and company

Publishing Date:  October 8, 2013

Pages: 320

Genre: YA Steampunk/Alternate History/Supernatral

Series: Finishing School #1

Source: Paperback

  

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Pretty much this is an amazing kick butt steampunk/fantasy/action packed book. It has everything you could want in a book. Humor, action, werewolves and vampires, OH MY! 

What made me pick this book up?

 I had seen the second book at Barnes and Noble for a long time, and I had kept looking and looking for the first one. I picked this book up because the cover really caught my eye. It was bright and had Victorian clothing on, which immediately made me think steampunk. That's why I originally picked the book up.

What do I like about the cover?
It's more what I don't like about the cover. Which is absolutely nothing. The cover caught my eye pretty quickly. I especially love the colors of the cover.

What made me read it?
Steampunk. That's about it. Jenn had read another book by her, and said she was really funny. Which is another thing I look for in books, if it can make me laugh out loud then I'm sure I'll love the book. Other than that I love anything steampunk.

What did I like the most?
The humor, I was almost falling out of my chair at work laughing. I love the vampires and werewolves and how they are just a normal thing of society. I also love seeing the different gadgets and such that they come up with.

The least?
That it ended. But I just started the second one, so yay. 

Would you read the rest of the series/Other books by this author?

Uh, yes. I literally want to go buy every book by her now. 

This has become one of my favorite series, I really love this book and I'm sure I'd read it again.

Possible books of likeness...

Gail Carriger writes comedic steampunk mixed with urbane fantasy in three series: two adult, the Parasol Protectorate and Custard Protocol, and one YA, the Finishing School. Her books are published in over a dozen different language. She has twelve NYT bestsellers via five different lists (including #1 in Manga). She has received the Alex Award from the ALA (for her debut Soulless) and the Prix Julia Verlanger and the Elbakin Award from French readers. She was once an archaeologist and is overly fond of tea.
Gail has a fun newsletter: the Monthly Chirrup, sign up at
http://www.gailcarriger.com/contact.php

Review: Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason

Title: Clockwork Scarab

Author: Colleen Gleason

Publisher:  Chronicle Books
Publishing Date: September 17th 2013

Pages: 358
Genre:  YA Steampunk/Historical Fiction/Mystery

Series: Stoker and Holmes #1
Source: Audio

  

Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes never meant to get into the family business. But when you’re the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock, vampire hunting and mystery solving are in your blood. And when two society girls go missing, there’s no one more qualified to investigate.

Now fierce Evaline and logical Mina must resolve their rivalry, navigate the advances of not just one but three mysterious gentlemen, and solve murder with only one clue: a strange Egyptian scarab. The stakes are high. If Stoker and Holmes don’t unravel why the belles of London society are in such danger, they’ll become the next victims.

I discovered this book among a blog I regularly follow. I hadn’t heard of it before but she liked it and I thought it sounded different, intriguing, and adventurous. I still havn’t heard much about this book but I couldn’t wait to start the audio. It was a really fun read. There was so much put into the story to make everything run together flawlessly. I loved all the elements, the steampunk setting, the historical characters, the mystery, the mythology, and the science. It was just a little bit of everything but it worked and more importantly it entertained.

This story is about a mystery of the disappearing and found dead girls of London. The mystery is being investigated by Evaline Stoker (Bram Stoker’s Sister) and Mina Holmes( Sherlock Holmes niece). Pretty cool. They are called together by Irene Adler . Just keeps getting better. She calls them forth to work in secret for the crown, solving these mysteries. So these two girls, one very beautiful and fierce, the other very logical and sort of a recluse, start to investigate. They find themselves in the company of street boys, a boy from another time, the London police, and of course the bad guys. They always seem to land themselves in the midst of it all.

This was a very well done story. Mysteries seem to be (to me) the hardest story to write, especially when it’s meant to be a complete mystery to the very end. This one not only had the difficulty of being a mystery, but to follow Sherlock Holmes style. I am very impressed with the writing of this book. It was very classic in tone. I loved the feel of the story. I felt it was another Sherlock Holmes mystery but with new characters and bit of the fantastical elements thrown in. What I really loved was the idea of the mystery being part of a mythical world. Holmes and his brood rely on science and logic to be involved and the heart of everything they do.. so lets throw in some mythology and see Miss Mina Holmes deduce. It was pretty awesome. Which brings me to the plot.. all I need to say is it rocked. I loved it from beginning to end. The mystery was done so perfectly. In the end I didn’t get the answers I needed…. But that just means I need to read the next book.

The setting was pretty spectacular too. It’s a definite hit or miss for me with steampunk. I love historical fiction and I love the idea of steampunk, but it doesn’t always work well for me in books. I think it’s a bit for me to handle on the tone of descriptions thrown in. It tends to slow the pace to a speed I can’t handle or its too much or to vague for me to picture. I know that books, especially ones such as steampunk, rely on the descriptions for the setting to come to life, Its just hard to find the satisifying middle for me. This book did just that. I was lost in the descriptions from the steam vehicles to the outfits, I loved it all and it so very clear.

The characters were a hoot. And yes I said hoot. The interactions between Miss Holmes and Miss Stoker were truly entertaining. Its hard to get a very logical and very magical person in the same room much less agree with each other. Miss Holmes always relying on deductions and science has a hard time going on gut feelings. Miss Stoker is a vampire hunter. She is strong, fast, and works on instinct not thought and really doesn’t have much in the deducing talents. So get them together and not only are they entertaining but they balance each other out. Quite well in fact. In the beginning they deal, in the end they were on the verge of friendship. I actually liked Miss Stoker better, She was the fun one, the dangerous one, the one who always ended up in trouble because she acted before she thought it out. Miss Holmes was a bit on the boring side and bit stuck up. She knew she was smart and in her mind was never wrong.

I would like to also mention the narrator for this audio. She was wonderful, there were so many characters and each one had a very unique self owned voice. She did an outstanding job on getting their personalities down and making them clear to the listeners.

The only downer for me was the pacing did get a bit slow a few times. Very few times though, in the beginning. After about 1/3 of the book, it picked up, then about 2/3 of the way it took off at jet speed. Once it started to pick up it didn’t ever slow back down. The beginning was filled with lots of build up so I imagine the next book will not have a problem with pacing at all. I am really looking forward to the next book.

A great story set in a historical steampunk world that gave off an awesome classic mystery vibe.

Review: The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

Title: The Peculiar 

Author: Stefan Bachmann
Publisher:  Greenwillow Books 
Publishing Date: September 18th 2012

Pages: 384
Genre:  Middle Grade Fantasy/Steampunk

Series: The Peculiar #1
Source: Audio 

  

Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged.

In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew Kettle and his sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are changelings--Peculiars--and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them.

One day a mysterious lady in a plum-colored dress comes gliding down Old Crow Alley. Bartholomew watches her through his window. Who is she? What does she want? And when Bartholomew witnesses the lady whisking away, in a whirling ring of feathers, the boy who lives across the alley--Bartholomew forgets the rules and gets himself noticed.

First he's noticed by the lady in plum herself, then by something darkly magical and mysterious, by Jack Box and the Raggedy Man, by the powerful Mr. Lickerish . . . and by Arthur Jelliby, a young man trying to slip through the world unnoticed, too, and who, against all odds, offers Bartholomew friendship and a way to belong.

Part murder mystery, part gothic fantasy, part steampunk adventure, The Peculiar is Stefan Bachmann's riveting, inventive, and unforgettable debut novel.

I have been trying to open op to more middle school age books and this one looked interesting. I took the chance and grabbed the audio. I want to say that I think it’s a good story but the book just wasn’t for me. I liked the plot, the concept, and the characters, but for some reason it didn’t work together well for me, the reason why, I love a great character driven story. This book had some great characters but was written more for the story than the characters, and though it was a very creative and unique story, it was just lacking for me.

The story is about two young Halflings, half human, half faery. They are called peculiars in this book and they don’t belong anywhere. The faeries don’t think they are good enough and the humans think they are trouble. Bartholomew and Hettie live with their mother hidden away in the house. Bartholomew looks human enough, but Hettie does not. Their mother loves them and wants to keep them safe. Therefore they are restricted to stay in the house out of view. Bartholomew dreams of leaving the house, making friends, and living a normal childhood. He sees interesting things and people outside his window and wants to escape into the real world. Looking out the window one day he sees a lady in a plum dress and sees her talking another Halfling away, he wants to be taken away, and in the process of looking he is noticed. This gets him and Hettie in a lot of trouble. In the meantime there are Peculiar children disappearing and then showing up dead. One man, Mr. Jelliby, decides to solve the mystery of the Peculiars abductions and deaths which leads to his world colliding with Bartholomew’s world.

This was a very well written and creative story. It just didn’t capture me. The world building was amazing and it was very interesting but it was a little slow and at times I was lost because it dragged. I found myself spacing at times from the story and then catching up. I love creative worlds and well written stories, but I have a hard time when the descriptions overrun the characters and stories. That is what happened to me in this book. As wonderful as the world created was, it could have been shortened in detail and more time spent on the characters and story, which were also wonderful, just not there enough to keep me invested in the story.

The characters were a wonderful addition to the story and I feel that I wasn’t given enough time to get to know them the way I would have liked. From what was there Mr. Jelliby was just a superb gentleman that had too much curiosity. I did enjoy his part in the story as an unusual hero. I also really liked Bartholomew and Hettie but feel like I only knew them by descriptions of their looks and a few amazing things they did throughout the story. Bartholomew is curious and kind to his sister. He tries to have good manners and behave for his mother but he can’t help but get himself in trouble. Hettie is quiet and reserved. I really wish I was given the chance to fall in love with the characters, as they seem to be pretty awesome in the rare moments I spent with them.The pacing of the book is probably where I had the most trouble, the story dragged and I found myself having trouble staying grounded in the book. I often had thoughts of wishing the book would just hurry up and be over. 

I really don’t want to give a really bad impression of this book and this review was very hard for me to write. I think that this book is just right for many readers out there who love a book with fantastic world building and a story that takes its time to delve into everything in its surrounding. It just not for me.

I would recommend this book to ones who love a colorful story with lots of unique elements, but if you need a character driven, fast paced novel, it’s not for you. I enjoyed it enough to finish it but I will not be continuing on with the series.