*sigh* I don’t have time for detailed reviews of the rest of these books, so one or two-liners will have to do.
The Hollow Crown by Diana Pharaoh Francis: I didn’t like this as much as the first two, but it’s not the end of the Crosspointe saga.
The Magician’s Guild and The Novice by Trudi Canavan: My interest in these books rises and falls, directly correlated to how much agency Sonea–the main character–displays. Mixed feelings about these.
The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry: A surreal literary detective story. Different from my normal fare, but I enjoyed it.
Sea Glass by Maria Snyder: Poor Opal. Pushed around, tortured, betrayed, shows spine (yay!), more betrayal… Still having a hard time relating to her. And the contemporary tone at one point through me completely out of the story. “Looking too young to have even graduated from high school” is not a comparison I expect in a fantasy, especially after most young people are shown to be doing apprenticeships rather than attending educational institutions.
Indulgence in Death by J. D. Robb: These books are super-quick fast-paced reads for me. I skip all the smoochy romantic stuff (yeah, yeah, you’re in looooove) and go straight for the mystery. *delicious shivers* One thing though—how come Roarke has all this time on his hands to work on Eve’s cases? Empires don’t run themselves, you know!
At Home by Bill Bryson: This is subtitled “A short history of private life” but Bryson devotes quite a far amount of time to large-scale public projects like the Hudson Canal, the Eiffel Tower, and the estates of aristocracy. Aside from that minor quibble, I enjoyed this whirlwind tour through the history of various domestic spheres.
The Laurentine Spy by Emily Gee: This is more a romance than a spy story in a fantasy setting. I liked the characters and premise, but I thought that the protagonists didn’t act very spy-like at times. I guess I expect spies in deep cover to be more capable of controlling their emotional responses… hmm, I wonder what personality types spies tend to be?
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