The Assassin Game » Book Review

I'm so disappointed! The blurb had me practically salivating right before I requested it on Netgalley. A boarding school? A secret society? A game of assassin? SIGN ME UP. I foolishly thought this would be a darker version of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart.

I couldn't have been more wrong. And dear friends, I must confess a grave fault of mine. I HATE BEING WRONG. My blood seethes, I plot out the most epic of revenges, I... I should stop now. *waves* I'm normal, I swear!

Begone Tropes!

The Assassin Game features two of my hated tropes, lack of parental presence and the absence of authentic female friendship.

I know the story is set at a boarding school, but that's not an excuse to completely ignore the parents (unless it's more of a reform boarding school, I suppose). Our main character, Cate, goes on and on about how her parents don't care for her. That they got rich and suddenly left their old life behind and had no use for their daughter. It just didn't make much sense to me. There didn't seem to be a reasonable explanation for their absence and lack of interest in her.

I also found myself quite appalled at the lack of strong friendship within the story. Isn't that the pinnacle of an excellent boarding school tale? Cate is supposedly best friends with Daniel and Marcia. She is on the outs with Daniel because she kissed him last year while rebounding off another quasi-relationship. Marcia, on the other hand, is her roommate but is practically absent in their friendship throughout the entirety of the book.

I'm also going to briefly mention the setting. The school is located on a remote island (owned by Cate's family) that can only be accessed by the mainland during low tide. The headmaster of the school has banned recreational use of technology and internet. I believe all this was written to maintain an aura of intrigue and mystery. But it just came across as a little over the top and ridiculous.

The Game

The premise of the story is that an elite secret society is playing a game, The Game. And Cate has finally been invited to join. There is a Killer amongst their midst, who will ingeniously target his/her fellow players via harmless pranks that will 'kill' them until someone manages to unmask him and 'win' the game. Vaughn, Cate's childhood friend (from before her family got rich), joins the game as well. But suddenly, people are starting to get seriously hurt.

This was supposed to be exciting and thrilling. I just found it lackluster and long-winded. Cate didn't play much of a role in this mystery until the very end. For the most part, she was a witness. Or the occasional sidekick. She wasn't the driving force behind the story. Just an unfortunate participant. Which, unfortunately, made reading from her perspective quite dull.

The Good

Fortunately, there were some redeeming aspects to the novel. For one, this kept me guessing till the very end. However, I did hit a certain point when I stopped caring and just wanted everything to be over. Cate also had some redeeming qualities to her that helped keep me interested. Even though she mostly remained a passive character, there was a moment when she stood up to all the people that she was trying to impress in order to do the right thing by a friend. She also displayed moments of startling maturity when it came to handling some traumatic experiences with Daniel. And I enjoyed her relationship with her art teacher, especially because it was a close yet appropriate connection.

Closing Thoughts

I wish I had enjoyed The Assassin Game more. But as I come to the end of this review, I just feel a profound sense of relief. That I can finally move on to something else, and not have to think about this book anymore.

Ciao, my friends! Have a wonderful (and safe) 4th of July!

Poison or Protect » Novella Review

Hooray for my first 2016-release read!

I am officially a die-hard fan of Gail Carriger's. I started off this year by reading her Parasol Protectorate series, and followed up with her Finishing School series. And I plan on reading her Custard Protocol series in July, which is when the second book Imprudence releases. I will read ANYTHING this woman writes. Also, not to toot my own horn, but she does follow me on Twitter and Instagram which made me squeal in delight when I saw my notifications.

I just adore her. And her cat is gorgeous, not that that's relevant to her writing...

The Novella

Poison or Protect (a stand-alone romance) is the first installment in the Delightfully Deadly series which will feature the graduates of Mademoiselle Geraldine's. Our first heroine is Preshea Buss, who was initially introduced in the Finishing School series. She was a catty, spiteful, unlike-able girl who has grown into a dangerous and wealthy woman. On her mission, she meets an attractive Scottish soldier named Gavin Ruthven.

Even though I knew I would enjoy the book because of the familiar world it was set in and the appearance of some of my favorite characters, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually LIKED Preshea. She is very self-aware, intelligent, and skilled at her chosen profession. She knows her flaws, and she makes no excuses for them. Her maturity and evolution throughout the novella was not reserved simply for Gavin, but allowed her the ability to form healthier relationships with others.

"Always, there was a tiny part of her that wanted to kill any man she knew. On principle."

Gavin was just a kind, gentle, and swoon-worthy character that complemented Preshea perfectly. Once I started reading the book and realized it was more romance-focused, I was briefly disillusioned. I expected a rake, or one of those regency romance rugged alpha Scotsman tropes that I had left far behind. But that's not who Gavin was at all, and I found it extremely refreshing.

Note: Not that there is anything wrong with the rugged alpha-man stories! I do enjoy a good bodice-ripper romance once in a while. It's just that as I've grown older and figured out my personal wants and desires in a partner, I realize that I actually don't find those kinds of men attractive in real life. And the feminist in me occasionally rages against their behavior.

"He liked knowing she could kill him."

The romantic/sexual scenes were well-written and enjoyable. And honestly, I don't really know what to say beyond that.  It's a sex-scene guys... fill in the blanks :P. I guess what I'm saying is, if I had the opportunity to have a little fun with Gavin, I would not turn it down. Every woman should be lucky enough to have a little Gavin in their lives. *swoons*

The espionage/mystery element of the book was not fully explored to my satisfaction. But I understand that with this being a novella, the author had to narrow her focus and not bite off more than she could chew. I encourage everyone to download a copy of this ebook. At the very least, it would give you an idea if this author is worth adding to your TBRs.

Happy Reading, everyone!

 

The Viper and the Urchin Review

This book came to my attention when the author emailed me, saying she'd seen that I'd reviewed and liked Lindsay Buroker's self-published Emperor's Edge series, and would I be interested in reviewing her own book, which held similarities to Buroker's work?

Well.  As an utter fanatic of The Emperor's Edge and its sequels, I search ceaselessly for books that recapture Buroker's style and magic.  Of course, I wrote the author back, saying yes, please send me your book!  At once! — I mentally added.

Now, having finished reading it, I can say that The Viper and the Urchin was a short, solid start to what looks to be a series with potential.  It indeed holds similarities to Buroker's Emperor's Edge —  they are both set in a industrial fantasy setting, with mild steampunk elements.  There are assassins, whose names both end in "us" — although Jeanjean's deadly alchemist Longinus is decidedly different from Buroker's consummate killer, Sicarius.

I didn't know what to make of Longinus at first.  I was slow to wrap my head around such a foppish — at times foolish — assassin.  As the novel drew onwards, I began to find him slightly endearing, although the brevity of the book, 262 pages, was not enough to explain his motivations for killing fully. He seems to be a gentler soul, so why is he drawn to murder? Besides [spoiler]it being his family's trade.[/spoiler] I hope my questions regarding this will be answered in Jeanjean's upcoming installments.

Longinus was not the only protagonist, however.  He shares narration with Rory, an 18 year-old city urchin who harbors ambitions of becoming a great swordsman, like her idol, the Scarred Woman.  Rory was your typical scrappy heroine, who has a heart of gold buried beneath the law-breaking behavior adopted to help her survive the cruel streets.  She discovers some embarrassing information about Longinus, and blackmails him — her secrecy in exchange for lessons in dueling.

Neither of these characters really flew off of the page for me, but I do have hope that they'll slowly be built up over time.

Where The Viper and the Urchin really impressed me was its political intrigue.  The story takes place in a tiny, muggy, little country called Damsport, which used to be the property of an empire about 45 years ago, give or take a decade.  Independence was won by Damsport's young Marchioness who then made a series of brilliant political maneuvers, turning Damsport into an international trade center.  When the empire tried to take Damsport back into the fold, the little country waged a Thermopolyae-esque stand, in time for its allies to push the empire back.  The emperor has been bitter ever since.

This aspect of the story really held my attention.  Going forward, it seems as if the politics will continue to develop, which is excellent.

The style of writing was good, at times showing signs of beginner wobbles, but solid all the same.  I particularly liked a descriptive passage that described Damsport's Wet Market:

The Wet Market was the centre of the Great Bazaar, and therefore the very heart of Damsport. But whereas most hearts pulsate, pumping out life’s blood, Damsport’s heart dripped.  Live fish and crustaceans dripped sea water onto the cobblestones, and dead fish dripped murky viscera. Blood dripped from meat cleavers, whey from cheesecloths, ale through the cracks of poorly constructed barrels, and piss from table legs, attesting to the passage of a stray dog.

Milk dripped from jugs, from udders, from chins; berries dripped juice, makeshift awnings dripped leftover rainwater, and priests dripped holy water. Sweat dripped from the faces of porters, bent under heavy loads, wine dripped down the chins of those checking its quality, and snot dripped from children’s and old men’s noses.  Fat dripped from sausages, dripping dripped from fried fish, vinegar dripped from prawn dumplings, eaten by hand straight from enormous bamboo steamers. Beer dripped from spilt tankards, mud-coloured tobacco water from water pipes, wine from broken bottles, brandy from over-hurried gulps, fire liquor from glasses dashed onto the cobbles, tea from teapot spouts, and more urine dripped from over-refreshed men.

All of it drip-drip-dripped onto the Wet Market’s cobblestones, found its way to the gutters, and trickled off along each of the Twelve, gathering speed thanks to the gentle downward slopes, and carrying the lifeblood and stench of the Wet Market out to the rest of Damsport.

A tad long-winded, but very evocative!

All in all, I give The Viper and the Urchin 3.5 stars — I liked the book and intend to follow the series, but the brevity of the novel and its subsequent lack of development makes me hesitant to rank it higher.  However, The Viper and the Urchin left me wanting more — truly a good sign. I very much look forward to seeing how Celine Jeanjean unfolds her debut series.