Sundial by Catriona Ward
I loved her previous book The Last House on Needless Street! Such a twist and had no clue what was coming for so long. It's truly hard to create a book like that again...I liked Sundial. But I did not love it. It took a really long time to get into it and while there were plenty of surprises towards the end, it wasn't enough for me. It was really hard to sympathize with any of the characters and I felt like the characters were serving the plot instead of having some real motivation. But yeah, it's still a horrific and tragic story but not one I'd recommend whole-heartedly like I did her other book.
Rob has a past. Her husband is abusive and now her youngest daughter is sick and maybe her oldest daughter is to blame? She must take her oldest daughter Callie back to her childhood home of Sundial. She must face what's truly real and what happened to her before Sundial so she can save her family.
Catriona Ward is creative. The way she can plot out these stories is just remarkable. While this one was not my favorite I will still be looking forward eagerly to her next book!
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
I had a great time with this one! It reads fast and I loved the world building and the characters. Sometimes you get one or the other and I really felt like she did a great job building both up without being a really long high-fantasy series.
There are four Londons. Yes a multiverse. And only antari can pass through the worlds. Black London has been lost to magic for long time now. White London sucks magic dry, Red London is blooming and booming with magic, and Grey London...well, that's our world. Magic has been long-gone and we make do with our guns and industry rather than magic.
Cue in Kell who is the antari of the Red London world. He takes messages between each London. White London is plotting. And Kell is saddled with a forbidden bit of Black London. He is unexpectedly saved and then subsequently robbed by a woman named Lila in Grey London. They eventually team up eventually, cuz of course they do! This forbidden stone from Black London must be destroyed and kept out of those hands that would use it to conquer and destroy the other Londons.
The plot gets a bit muddy but overall it's funny and the worlds of the different Londons are intriguing. She uses the greats to draw from but makes the magical and fantastical worlds her own.
This is the first of three.
That's quite a few Londons to keep track of. Red London seems like the ticket. And Sundial looks tough on subject matter ... yikes. Happy reading.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does get a bit confusing. I also wonder about the rest of the world that are connected to these Londons. Are there other magic users like from Red London? It makes me wonder if she adds more in as we go.
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