Melanie's Week in Review - October 6, 2013

TWO MEASLY BOOKS! I can't believe I only read 2 books this week. That is dismal and I hang my head in shame at this complete lack of reading progress. I am going to plan my reading better so that I do better next week.


So what did I read? I spent most of the week reading Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. I read the first book of the Throne of Glass series last year. While I really enjoyed book one I thought the second was a bit dull. It almost read like it was two two separate books combined together into one or that they had been written by different authors. The first half of the book was quite sedate and built up more of the main characters and a tiny bit of the overall plot.  However, at the midway point it completely changed and it was all action, intrigue and secrets revealed. It wasn't until the latter part of the book that I started to get interested and I am not one to think a book is boring just because it focuses on character development. I think it was a lack of flow that caused me to not enjoy it as much as I did book one. Imagine my frustration when my main read of the week took ages to finish! I love the cover and I spent a lot of time looking at it. Maybe that is why it took me so long to read it. The swirling reds colours, the swords and the flow of the cape really give you a sense of the character and what you might expect when you read the book (although you have to wait for 200 pages for it get that exciting!).

Lucky for me I was saved from the embarrassment of only having read 1 book when My Lady Quicksilver by Bec McMaster popped onto my Kindle. This is the third novel in her London Steampunk series. I like the world that McMaster has created in this series and her steampunk version of London. This installment focuses much more on romance than the other two books of the series. I realise that is the point of SFR but the first two books teased the reader with the growing attraction between the hero and heroine whereas, in My Lady Quicksliver it starts much sooner. In fact in the first few pages. This book tells the story of the Nighthawk and vampire, Lynch and the humanist rogue, Mercury who we met in book 2 (we may have met Lynch in book 1...I can't remember).  Mercury was an interesting heroine and her back story was well constructed. There was only one scene with a character from the other books of the series and not the one I was expecting. I think McMaster could have put other characters into cameo roles to really bring the series together.

As much as I enjoyed this series for its 'steampunkiness' and resilient female leads I was quite disappointed with the cover of book 3. I know that I probably shouldn't but I am influenced by book covers and spend a lot of time looking at them. I was disappointed with the model used for Lynch as he looked nothing how he is described in the book. He looked a bit more like he is part of a boy band rather than a ruthless and driven leader of the Nighthawk guards (not to mention being a super, strong vampire). I kept referring back to it as I read passages where Lynch was described thinking how poorly it represented him. I did think that Mercury was quite 'sassy' looking although something vital is missing from the cover that is very important to the plot (I won't tell what it is in case you haven't met this character before). Don't put my lack of love for the cover put you off.  It is a great series and if you like PNR or SFR then give this series a go.

That is all for me this week and I will try harder to read more than just two books.  As always, thank you for reading and I hope you have had more success than I in reducing your TBR.  Happy Reading.