Calissa

Published: July 2018 by Book Smugglers Publishing
Format reviewed: E-book (mobi)
Genres: Science fiction, LGBTQIA
Source: Publisher
Available: Amazon (AU, CA, UK, US) ~ Barnes & Noble ~Kobo ~ Smashwords

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Spring, before

When Lucy is six years old she finds two things that will change her life forever: she is an Omni that can control fire, and her power is deadly. Under the sharp watch of her secretive father, Lucy is confronted with the consequences of the worst mistake of her life every day. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, things finally seem like they are getting better–with the promise of freedom at college on the horizon, and the dream that Jessa, the girl of Lucy’s dreams, might reciprocate Lucy’s feelings. But in an instant, everything changes.

Winter, now

Incarcerated and stripped of her rights, Lucy’s new world is behind locked gates and antiseptic interrogation rooms. Like other Omnis, Lucy is separated from her family, seen as a criminal for trying to live with other humans, and locked away–possibly forever. But Lucy and her fellow Omnis aren’t going quietly into submission.

Accelerantsis a novella about first love, cold-hearted betrayal, and the implacable truth that sometimes you have to burn it all down.

It’s a hard line to walk between facing the terrible things of the world and the need for hope. Accelerants manages it with style.

The story is told from Lucy’s point of view in first person present tense. This gives it a very immediate feeling, even though the chapters alternate between the relatively normality of Lucy’s past and her present incarceration and torture. Lucy’s relationship with Jessa is allowed to unfold very naturally, bringing some sweetness to an otherwise tense story.

On the surface, it looks like a story about anger. Take that gorgeous cover, for one thing. However, I found it far more driven by fear. The prologue includes a (non-graphic) scene of domestic abuse, so right away there is a sense of urgency as we see Lucy desperate to protect her mother and to hide herself. The scenes of Lucy’s past show her phobia of fire, which is so bad it leads to panic attacks. We see her constant fear of losing control. There’s even her belief that Jessa could never reciprocate her feelings and her low-key fear that she might destroy their friendship. This younger Lucy tends to freeze when she’s in trouble, slow to accept betrayal, despite the clear signs. Even the present Lucy never quite comes across as truly angry. Instead, she makes calculated decisions designed to ensure her survival.

Now, I love my angry girls and feel strongly about depictions of feminine anger. However, I find this kind of story equally important and relished the way it pushes back at the idea of women as weak and emotional creatures. It shows how sometimes it is necessary to fight back. In that sense, it reminded me a lot of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.

Another similarity between these two stories is the way they feature PoC casts. However, there are some key differences on that front. The cast of Children of Blood and Bone are entirely black, whereas Accelerants has a bit more variety. Lucy is half Korean. Jessa, her best friend and crush, is African American. Lucy’s friend in prison, Fatima, is Latina. There is even a white person, Lucy’s father, who is positioned as the key source of her suffering. In this way, Accelerants is doing something extra interesting by looking at how the abilities of the Omnis can be used to further marginalise minorities. There are explicit parallels between Lucy’s incarceration for being Omni and the conversion camps for LGBT youths.

Overall, I found Accelerants was a deeply thoughtful novella that dug into some heavy issues while managing to retain a strong thread of sweetness and hope.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Keen fans of the Hugo Awards will be aware that 2018 marks the inaugural presentation of the World Science Fiction Society Award for Best Young Adult Book. The shortlist for this Hugo-adjacent award (which will, barring shenanigans at the AGM, henceforth be known as the Lodestar Award) includes Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor.

Today I’m over at the Skiffy and Fanty Show to take a look at this wonderful book about bridging worlds and cultures.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Next weekend I’ll be attending Continuum, a speculative fiction convention held in Melbourne. Whenever I’m attending a convention, I always like to try to review something by one of the Guests of Honour. This year, Continuum is playing host to Alison Evans, one of Australia’s up-and-coming talents in YA SFF. Their debut novel Ida won the Victorian Premier’s People’s Choice Award and was shortlisted for this year’s Aurealis Awards.

Today over at the Skiffy and Fanty Show I take a look at this queer, quiet, time loop horror.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Published: November 2017 by Saga Press
Format reviewed: Paperback, 356 pages
Genres: Dark contemporary fantasy
Source: Library
Reading Challenges: Beat the Backlist
Available:Abbey’s ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia ~ Dymocks ~ Kobo

The Unseen World of wealthy and literally powerful magicians in New York City prides itself on remaining invisible.

Ever twenty years, vying for power and standing during the Turning, the heads of magical houses elect a champion–a family member or magician-for-hire–and begin a series of duels.

But the Turning has come early, after only thirteen years, and Ian Merlin, the heir to the most powerful house in the Unseen World, has been elected to become the champion of his father’s chief rival, House Prospero.

Enter Sydney: an unknown magician from a candidate house, an outsider easily dismissed among the established wealth and power of the Unseen World.

What the Unseen World will soon learn is that Sydney is a formidable duelist with power that hasn’t been seen in decades, and she has a score to settle.

I am a sucker for secret magic societies and fantasy worlds that exist just under the surface of our own. So An Unkindness of Magicians feels like it was tailor-made for me. It is a dark and atmospheric contemporary fantasy that incorporates thriller elements and had me glued to the page.

This is a novel about power struggles. The Turning has arrived and the magical elite Houses of New York City vie for control of the Unseen World, while new candidates compete for a chance to establish their own House. The story is told from the viewpoint of a number of different characters, with the focus being on the ruling House Merlin, their closest rival House Prospero, the dark and mysterious House of Shadows and the candidate House Beauchamp. It’s a large cast, particularly for a standalone novel, but I had no trouble following along. The rivalry between the houses is an obvious place for power struggles, but the way magic is set up in this world opens up narratives about oppression in a way I found satisfying. Magic requires physical sacrifice. It is also starting to fail–sometimes simply not working, at other times twisting to harm the caster. The privileged elite of the Unseen World will do whatever they can to increase their store of power and to avoid paying the physical price for it.

The world-building was one of the things I loved most about the book. The magic system is well thought out and important to the plot. I also enjoyed the way the Houses are named after famous magicians of history and pop culture but no direct references are ever made to these figures. Another element I loved was the way the physical Houses are also entities in their own right. Seeing House Prospero interact with different characters was a delight and I was a little bit disappointed there wasn’t more.

Particularly because there is a strong focus on relationships–family, friends, lovers. A couple of threads in this book involve violence against women. However, this is counterbalanced by some strong female friendships. Sydney is largely an outsider to the Unseen World, but she is not alone. Her friendship with Madison Prospero (a minor cousin in the House) is wholly supportive and a wonderful antidote to some of the darkness of the story.

The women were generally a strong point because their numbers allowed variety and contrast. Sydney might be a powerful magician, but Madison is not. And there’s also a lovely contrast between Sydney and the head of House Prospero, Miranda. Both are powerful women. However, Miranda is a privileged beneficiary of a corrupt system, whereas Sydney has been the oppressed and is keen to burn down the system that supports Miranda.

Speaking of the characters, the story is always clear about who it wants you to like. While the good characters have their flaws, the bad characters don’t tend to have equivalent redeeming features. In another book, this may have bothered me, but here it works. We know from the beginning that one of them is a serial killer, and all of them are involved in violence against women in some way or another. The tension lies more in what happens when the characters finally confront each other.

So, it was disappointing to have the end resolve so quickly.

However, that’s a small quibble. Overall, I adored An Unkindness of Magicians and will be keeping my eye out for more of Kat Howard’s work.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Published: April 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton
Format reviewed: Paperback ARC, 339 pages
Genres: Fairytale retelling, fantasy
Source: Author
Reading Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2018
Available: Abbey’s ~ Amazon ~Book Depository ~ Booktopia ~ Dymocks ~ Kobo

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The author is a friend. I have done my best to give an unbiased review.

I am neither monster nor man… yet I am both.

I am the Beast.

The day I was cursed to this wretched existence was the day I was savedalthough it did not feel so at the time.

My redemption sprung from contemptible roots; I am not proud of what I did the day her father happened upon my crumbling, isolated chateau. But if loneliness breeds desperation then I was desperate indeed, and I did what I felt I must. My shameful behaviour was unjustly rewarded.

My Isabeau. She opened my eyes, my mind and my heart; she taught me how to be human again.

And now I might lose her forever.

I am a sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings, so I was delighted to get my hands on a copy of this book. The Beast’s Heart manages to walk the line between honouring many of the traditional elements of the story and bringing some fresh twists.

The fairytale of Beauty and the Beast is one that comes with problematic elements, particularly around the issue of consent. The Beast’s Heart does its best to mitigate these. As indicated by the title, the story is told in first-person from the Beast’s perspective. It opens in the years after the curse has been laid upon him, skimming through decades of living as a wild monster in the forest and then clawing his way back to humanity. His attempt to live as a human once more is still fresh when Isabeau’s father stumbles upon the chateau, needing shelter from the wicked weather of midwinter. It has been a long time since he has seen another human being and he is self-conscious and socially awkward. The story doesn’t try to excuse his actions in blackmailing Isabeau’s father into bringing her back to the chateau, but it does put his deeds in a somewhat more sympathetic context. Indeed, the Beast is quick to reproach himself, and when Isabeau does arrive he offers the chance to leave. Instead, she agrees to keep him company for a year, easily seeing his profound loneliness.

Although the story comes from the Beast’s perspective, it is equally Isabeau’s story. The story does a wonderful job of conveying her moods and implying what’s going on with her even when the Beast doesn’t fully understand. We also get to see what happens to her as the Beast watches her through his magic mirror. Although this usually only takes place in sequences while Isabeau is absent from the chateau and is presented in a way that avoids sexualising Isabeau, it nevertheless creates a new issue with consent that perhaps wasn’t addressed as thoroughly as necessary.

The conceit of the mirror could also have rendered the Beast rather passive throughout sections of the novel, but manages to neatly sidestep through its use of magic.

The mirror also enables a couple of subplots involving Isabeau’s family. This was a nod back to the fairytale’s earlier incarnations in which our Beauty is the youngest of three sisters. Fairytales rarely show siblings in a positive light, and, indeed, Isabeau’s sisters start off in a way that doesn’t show their best side. It was therefore a delight to see them rally and support each other, to see them miss Isabeau and express affection for her. Her absence becomes a catalyst for their growth, which in turn inspires the Beast to take action in relation to his own situation.

Another aspect I very much enjoyed was the chateau itself. The magic of the curse reflects the status of the Beast’s relationship with Isabeau in the condition of the mansion, becoming dilapidated when things aren’t going well, and restoring itself as the two grow closer. Although the magic often responds to the Beast’s wishes and commands, it’s sometimes capricious, giving the location a personality of its own.

The story tries hard to evoke a fairytale feel and I found the style to be a bit overwrought in places–notably the beginning and ending. However, the characters carried it through, and the Beast’s genuine concern for Isabeau was touching.

Despite one or two flaws, I found The Beast’s Heart a charming retelling of the classic tale.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

This week I’m over at the Skiffy and Fanty Show with a review of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. If you are looking for an Afrofuturistic spin on Avatar: The Last Airbender, this book is for you.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Published: March 2018 by HarperCollins
Format reviewed: ARC Paperback, 335 pages
Series: Elementals #1
Genres: Fantasy, middle grade
Source: Publisher
Reading Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2018
Available: Abbey’s ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia ~ Dymocks ~ Kobo

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone in Vallen knows that ice wolves and scorch dragons are sworn enemies who live deeply separate lives.

So when twelve-year-old orphan Anders takes one elemental form and his twin sister, Rayna, takes another, he wonders whether they are even related. Still, whether or not they’re family, Rayna is Anders’s only true friend. She’s nothing like the brutal, cruel dragons who claimed her as one of their own and stole her away.

In order to rescue her, Anders must enlist at the foreboding Ulfar Academy, a school for young wolves that values loyalty to the pack above all else. But for Anders, loyalty is more complicated than obedience, and friendship is the most powerful shapeshifting force of all.

Amie Kaufman is well known for co-authoring some of the most highly regarded series in YA, notably The Illuminae Files with Jay Kristoff and Starbound with Meagan Spooner.Ice Wolves marks her first solo novel and she shakes things up further by aiming it at a middle grade audience.

The story is told in close third person, focusing on Anders. He lives on the street with his sister Rayna and they steal in an effort to keep themselves alive and fed. Anders is a sweet boy whose conscience leaves him uneasy about the way in which he and Rayna make ends meet. He’s also not very good at it, relying on his more headstrong and capable twin to do much of the heavy lifting. So, when she accidentally transforms into a scorch dragon and is abducted by other dragons, he feels lost.

However, he quickly finds himself swept up by other companions. Having himself turned into an ice wolf–the shapeshifters that enforce law and order in Holbard and defend it from the dragons–he is taken into Ulfar Academy to be trained. I feel that any post-Hogwarts magical academy has to work hard to get away from those associations and, for the most part, I feel like Ulfar Academy accomplishes that. However, it is made more difficult by Lisbet, the Hermione Granger of Ulfar Academy. She is one of the first ice wolves Anders meets and forms part of the small pack he joins. Throughout the story, she shows herself to be a loyal friend. Being an intelligent girl, she’s quick to figure out the adults aren’t telling them everything and, as a consequence, spends a lot of time in the library and snooping around.

The representation throughout the book is reasonably well handled. Despite the medieval-ish, slightly Norse feeling of the setting, the cast is reasonably diverse. Anders and Rayna are both people of colour and there are a variety of skin tones among the rest of the cast. Same-sex relationships are casually mentioned among the adults. And the gender balance remains relatively even, with women included in positions of power. There’s also some discussion of class issues. It takes Anders some time to get used to having all his basic needs met by the academy and I enjoyed seeing him adjust. Life at the academy has also required some adjustment for his pack member Viktoria, who came from a wealthy family and now has to learn to do things for herself.

Although it was a competent story, it was also fairly predictable. There’s nothing ground-breaking or surprising here. However, this is perhaps a forgivable flaw given the target audience.

Overall, I found Ice Wolves an entertaining but ultimately forgettable book.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Published: February 2018 by Gollancz
Format reviewed: E-book (mobi)
Series: The Belles #1
Genres: Fantasy, YA, horror
Source: NetGalley
Available: Abbey’s ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia ~ Dymocks ~ Kobo

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control beauty, and beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful. But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the Favorite–the Belle chosen by the queen of Orleans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the Favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie–that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision. With the future of Orleans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide: save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. Although the book does a great job with evoking a lush, visual setting, there were some key flaws that let it down.

The story is told in first person present tense from Camellia’s perspective. She is not the most likeable of characters, at least at first. She’s competitive and jealous, striving to outdo her sisters and be the best. However, considering the way she was raised, this can perhaps be forgiven, especially since she has a genuine affection for her sisters underneath. And her sisters aren’t without their flaws, either–Amber is an insufferable know-it-all who can’t bear to break a rule, while Edel is headstrong and selfish. The others fade into the background.

A fairytale atmosphere is present at the start; the book opens with a myth that describes how the people of Orleans were cursed to be ugly, with grey skin, red eyes and hair the texture of rotten straw. This sense of fairytale is heightened by the opening scene in which the six Belles arrive in glass carriages to display their transformative powers to the public and to the queen. The world the Belles live in is an extravagant one, with great emphasis placed on beauty. The populace–and the nobility in particular–rely on the Belles to change their colouring, hairstyles and even their body’s shape. New fashions come out every month–such as red hair and green eyes. Laws exist to preserve the health of the population by ensuring noses and waists aren’t too narrow to breathe. Everything is over the top in a way that reminded me of the Capitol in The Hunger Games, and there is that same sense of darkness lingering underneath.

The language enforces this sense of opulence with rich descriptions of fashion, food and furniture. Unfortunately, this serves to slow the pace. It’s compounded by a plot that flags its reveals rather too obviously, making it fairly predictable. It’s not a subtle story and doesn’t delve deeply into cultural critiques of beauty.

The one exception is the way it unmoors beauty from race. Camellia is a woman of colour and one of the most beautiful people in the kingdom. The characters are diverse and come in a range of skin tones–sometimes even changing from one to another. One beauty standard isn’t held up as being above others… though it could have done more work to promote fat positivity.

Unfortunately, the story lets itself down on other fronts of representation. Its treatment of lesbian characters was particularly disappointing.

Readers may also want to tread carefully while reading this book, as it contains a depiction of sexual assault.

All in all, while it has some interesting world-building, The Belles ultimately left me disappointed.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Published: March 2017 & February 2018 by Angry Robot Books
Format reviewed: Paperback & E-book (mobi)
Series: Hob #1 & #2
Genres: Science fiction
Source: Library & NetGalley
Available: Publisher (print and electronic) ~ Abbey’s ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia ~ Dymocks ~ Kobo

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The strange planet known as Tanegawa’s World is owned by TransRifts Inc, the company with the absolute monopoly on interstellar travel. Hob landed there ten years ago, a penniless orphan left behind by a rift ship. She was taken in by Nick Ravani and quickly became a member of his mercenary biker troop, the Ghost Wolves.

Ten years later, she discovers the body of Nick’s brother out in the dunes. Worse, his daughter is missing, taken by shady beings called the Weathermen. But there are greater mysteries to be discovered both about Hob and the strange planet she calls home.

My reading year has been off to a brilliant start. First The City of Brass, then Ironheart and now Blood Binds the Pack. This book is the sequel to Hunger Makes the Wolf and I devoured them both in no time. I loved this series so much I didn’t even stop to take notes as I read. I’m already making a list of people I can gift it to.

Tanegawa’s World is a desert planet owned by a large corporation called TransRift. The primary industry is mining. It’s a harsh life for the residents, who are at the corporation’s mercy for the necessities of life. The Unions are essential in making sure safety standards are met and workers are properly paid. Even then, it is a desperate kind of power and weak in the face of the corporation’s control. Little is done to aid those blacklisted by the company, some of whom end up joining gangs of bandits and mercenaries.

The Ghost Wolves are one such gang of mercenaries. This tight-knit group of bikers take what jobs they can to eke out a living and stick it to the company wherever possible. Of these reprobates, Hob Ravani is on the bottom rung. Taken in by the head of the Ghost Wolves, she accidentally betrayed the gang and now must prove her worth once more. She is given that chance when she finds Ol’ Nick’s brother shot dead in the desert.

The series has a Western flavour to it, but subverts some of the more problematic tropes and trends of the genre. The cast is diverse, featuring a host of PoC characters. Same-sex relationships are normalised. There’s even some disability representation, with both Hob and Nick Ravani missing an eye each… though I concede the series could have benefited from more representation in this area.

The Lone Gunman is a trope that gets short shrift; everything about the series emphasises collective power. This is particularly the case in Blood Binds the Pack, where the Union comes into more direct opposition with the company. However, it can be seen in numerous other ways. The Ghost Wolves rely on teamwork for survival; bad things happen when a member goes out solo. But it goes beyond survival. There’s a strong found-family vibe to the mercenary gang.

It also plays into Hob’s friendship with Mags, Ol’ Nick’s niece. It was so delightful to see such a strong female friendship on the page. It’s not without its bumps–Hob, particularly, makes mistakes that strain things. But they never give up on each other, and as the women rise in influence their friendship has an impact on the communities around them. It was also a joy to see a friendship between such different women. In many ways, they are opposites, but they hold true to each other.

In addition to the Western genre, science fiction and fantasy are also blended in. There’s something mysterious about Tanegawa’s World that causes electronics to fritz and encourages the development of strange powers in certain members of the community. The elemental magic was one of my favourite parts of the story. Hob’s fire manifests in fairly traditional ways: she lights cigarettes with the snap of her fingers and throws the occasional fireball. However, other powers manifest in some different and creative ways. The Bone Collector is particularly fascinating, turning to stone at will and moving through the sand. His relationship with Hob is fascinating and continuing readers may be delighted to hear he gets more time in the spotlight throughout Blood Binds the Pack. The latter book also has an instance of Air magic that manages to be a fascinating and powerful piece of representation.

The story is told in third person, predominantly focused Hob and Mags, though we also hear from certain Wolves and pick up more characters along the way. The changes in voice between perspectives are subtle, but effective. The pacing also works well, interspersing some wonderful moments of connection between the characters in amongst the action. Hunger Makes the Wolf comes to a dramatic and satisfying conclusion. Blood Binds the Pack manages to increase the stakes and the tension through an effective countdown at the start of (and sometimes within) each chapter.

All in all, Hunger Makes the Wolf and Blood Binds the Pack form an addictive duology that has become a new favourite.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Published: January 2018 by Penguin Teen Australia
Format reviewed: Paperback, 389 pages
Series: Valentine #2
Genres: Young adult, contemporary fantasy
Source: Publisher
Reading Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2018
Available: Abbey’s ~ Amazon ~ Book Depository ~ Booktopia ~ Dymocks ~ Kobo

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This review contains spoilers for previous volumes/books.

Pearl Linford is stuck. Her best friend won’t talk to her. The internet thinks she is a murderer. And she’s waiting for the right moment to forgive Finn Blacklin, but it never seems to come.

On top of this, the Unseelie fairies have infiltrated her town, and they’ve unleashed a new horror – a bunch of wild, uncontrollable, angry supernatural hunters who’ve made Finn number one on their hitlist.

And you know what? This is a lot for one seventeen-year-old girl to handle. No wonder Pearl is so full of rage all the time. A rage that might be drawing the attention of some very dangerous people.

As awards season comes up, I’ve been talking about Valentine a lot. So, I was delighted to get my hands on Ironheart and even more thrilled to find it lives up to the standard set by its predecessor.

From the very first scene, it deals with the consequences of the previous book. Pearl has experienced some trauma and has understandably developed a phobia of bodies of water as a result. Which makes her job as a lifeguard at the local pool untenable. She also has some difficulty coming to terms with being rescued by Finn in the previous book. Being a helpless victim is not something that sits well with Pearl and it makes her double down on trying to do things herself, even when it clearly isn’t the best way forward. And this is shown in different spheres, from dealing with her trauma to discovering the identity of the new Rider preparing to hunt down Finn. It was fascinating to watch Pearl come to realise that being rescued is not the same as relying on your friends.

This was just one of the ways in which the book advocates for healthy relationships. At the end of Valentine, we see Pearl step away from committing herself to a relationship with Finn because they haven’t had the chance to get to know each other as friends first. It was one of the things that delighted me most about the book. Ironheart continues to push back against the idea that romantic love is the be-all and end-all. Pearl is very clear that living a life where Finn is the sole and central relationship isn’t one that’s going to be fulfilling to her–her relationships with her friends and family are no less important. It was a refreshing perspective.

At the same time, it was also sweet to see her relationship with Finn develop, even amid the chaos. It doesn’t always go well–Pearl’s desire for her own agency means that she’s not always forthright with Finn, which backfires. It plays into a wider theme of trust and honesty, which also crop up in several of Pearl’s other relationships.

If I had one quibble, it was with the revelation of the identity of the Rider. While it came as a surprise, I felt it was just a little underplayed and perhaps relied a little too heavily on info that came in the first book.

However, overall, I found Ironheart a delightful read and a great continuation of the series.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.