This is where our reviews live. They get along in relative harmony. You can find reviews for brand-new titles, and upcoming titles. There are reviews from our to-be-read piles, the books we simply didn’t get to when they first released. We even have a Throwback Thursday page where you can find reviews of books ten years old or older. So take a look. Stay a while. Find something new to read.
Never Goodbye (Broden Legal #2)After the events in book one Dead Certain we see Ella come to terms with the fact that she really does love singing more than she loves being in the courtroom so when this story opens up we learn Ella has left her position as a lawyer and is now singing regularly in the clubs around Manhattan.
Dead Certain (Broden Legal #1)I admit that sometimes I fall in love with genres and never let them go and obviously that’s true for my crime/thriller/mystery stories but can you really blame me? We get suspense, action, a puzzle or two to solve and sometimes a hint of romance. Which, to me, sounds like perfection.
A Body in the Village Hall (Kate Palmer #1)This is a slight departure from my normal mystery reads because, while this is a mystery (surrounding murders) this book falls into the genre of Cozy Mystery. Let me quickly define this for anyone who doesn’t know what this means.
Today, I’m excited to be here as part of the Ultimate Blog Tour with The Write Reads for Catalyst by Tracy Richardson, the second book in The Catalysts series. Here, you’ll find a mini-review of the first two chapters, as well as a spotlight on the title.
More …
The Angel of the CrowsIf you are a fan of historical fiction and alternative history writing this story is definitely for you. Also, if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes then this story is 100% even more for you.
Now, before moving into the story itself there are a few things I wanted to clear up as I found them out for myself as I finished this novel. First, the author Katherine Addison is the same person as the author Sarah Monette. It appears that for different genres and topics Monette has applied her pen name Addison, so keep that fun fact for yourself if you want to read more of her writing. Second, and this is direct from the author herself in the Author’s Note – The Angel of the Crows began as a Sherlock wingfic fanfiction.
Now, to talk about this wonderful book itself. I am, admittedly, a fan of all things Sherlock Holmes so to see a reimagining of the story with different characters (Crow being Sherlock and Doyle being Watson) was fun for me. The explanation for why the characters are the way they are fits so well that I found myself smiling wide. Crow, being an angel whose domain is all of London, thus explaining his heightened senses and sometimes odd behavior as Sherlock, is wonderful in his odd ways. Doyle, much like Watson, is suffering from a leg injury and from having been in the war however his injury is of a spectral nature as he was attacked by what is known as a Fallen angel i.e. one that is now filled with dark, nefarious energy and power.
Throughout this book we cover the well-known Sherlock Holmes stories of “A Study in Scarlet,” “The Sign of the Four,” and “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” but Addison didn’t stop there and also had our heroes join the hunt for Jack the Ripper.
Honestly while I wish some lesser-known Sherlock tales had been picked or that things had been reworked a bit more to make them feel new or extremely different I did enjoy the way that Addison connected the dots between these classic stories and our newly reimagined characters.
If you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes, alternative history or the idea of these characters being redone in a way that breathes new life back into these classics I would definitely suggest you pick up this book. While it wasn’t life altering it was a quite enjoyable read and I was impressed with Addison’s style. I may be picking up her other works soon.
Killing Season (Violet Darger #2)On to the official book two in this series, and not just a novella. I’m very glad this was a full-fledged novel as I don’t think this story could have been accomplished within a novella.
In Atlanta there is a serial killer hunting people. Not just stalking and killing, but actually hunting. Taking shots carefully the killer first takes out eight victims and causes a massive pileup on the highway. The following morning a grocery store is attacked. When Violet and Loshak finally get there the city is in a panic and it’s time for the hunters to be hunted.
Violet and Loshak do a fantastic job in this book as they grow as partners. I also was so taken in by the surprise plot twists, the idenity of the gunman and a host of other chaotic moments throughout the book. I will say that even though the killings in this book are horrible it felt easier to swallow than the previous ones, perhaps because this serial killer does it at a longer distance, rather that close-up and personal. Learning about the killer was also interesting and seeing things through his eyes felt like I could swallow this case a bit easier than the others. (Reminder for anyone who hasn’t read the previous books in the sereis; book one focuses on body mutilation of young women and the novella focuses on a family annihilator. Pick your poison.)
I will also say that if you wanted to read only one Violet Darger book this may be the one to pick. While there are some call backs to the previous works here it isn’t impossible to follow along without any of the previous context. Still, I prefer having all the context so I’d still suggest reading the series.
DownfallWhere do you go after you finish the greatest work of your life? What lies past the completion of your life’s work? How do you find it? How do you live up to the world’s expectations, let alone your own? These are the questions poised within Downfall by Inio Asano, the Eisner nominated author of the series Solanin and Goodnight Punpun. This is a single-volume manga as opposed to the much more common series length manga works.
Image in a Cracked Mirror (Violet Darger #1.5)When I saw that there was a novella between book one and two of the series I was curious as to why it was just a novella and not a full blown book. However, I agree with the decision made by the authors to keep this short as the case, while disturbing, wasn’t too complicated and it gave us further insight into Violet and Loshak.
Dead End Girl (Violet Darger #1)The upside of having a Kindle is when you are given recommendations for books you might like. Well, I definitely liked this first book in the Violet Darger series and I dove straight in to the entire series, enjoying my visit into yet another twisted mystery.
Wave, Listen to Me! Vol. 1If you have been enjoying anime’s Spring 2020 season, you might be interested in the first volume of manga series Wave Listen to Me! by Hiroaki Samura, whose previous series include Blade of the Immortal and Die Wegelder.
Welcome to Looking Glass Reads! We review speculative fiction novels as well as manga, light novels, and graphic novels.
Brittney's Posts Kate's Posts
Social Profiles