September 2019 Book Club: Sabriel

I haven't been posting much about book club lately or the creative ideas we've all had for refreshments, but I'm going to try to start remembering to do that. I almost always forget to take pictures, but his time I remembered after we had eaten half of the dessert! Our book this month was Sabriel by Garth Nix and there is a lot of death and necromancy on it, so we decided to make our brownies into a graveyard. It helped greatly that it's the end of September and there are loads of Halloween decorations to choose from.

 And now for my review of the book:


Sabriel by Garth Nix

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: One character overhears people having sex in the next room.



Since childhood, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who refuse to stay dead. But now her father, the Charter-Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world. With Mogget, whose feline form hides a powerful, perhaps malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage, Sabriel travels deep into the Old Kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life--and comes face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.


Sabriel was our book club book for September. I've known about this book for some time. One of my daughters loved it as a teen and had recommended it, but I never got around to reading it. While I can see why she liked it, especially as a young teen, I did feel like there were some things missing for me. The book started off slow, and the story didn't pick up for me until after Mogget was introduced. Mogget easily became my favorite character, because talking cats are awesome! With the exception of Mogget, the characters were a little dull in general, and lacked depth, and the romance that blossoms between two of them was kind of blah and not well developed.

As for the world, I thought it was interesting, but the world building wasn't as well thought out as I would have liked. I had trouble figuring out what sort of time period the book was set in at first, and the addition of a few real world things was a little confusing to me, as this was supposed to be a fantasy world. What I really liked about this book was the magic. The bells were interesting and different, and the fact that the book included necromancers made it unique from most things I've read. I also liked that necromancy itself wasn't evil, but it was what the user chose to do with the ability that was good or evil.

“Death and what came after death was no great mystery to Sabriel. She just wished it was.”

This book deals with a lot of death and that can be pretty dark, but the way it was handled in the book it didn't feel nearly as dark as it could have been. Despite the dark content the writing felt very young adult, almost middle grade to me, and I think that's the real problem I have with the book. The writing style is a little too young for some of the content, which would be more suitable for older teens, and that, in turn causes the book to lack the depth I was expecting. That being said, if you are a fan of YA fantasy and want something that doesn't include a lot of romance you might really enjoy this book. I would recommend at least giving it a try.

The Dry by Jane Harper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong language, Abuse and incest are mentioned and vaguely described


 
After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke’s steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn’t tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.

Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there’s more to Luke’s death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.

I enjoyed this mystery quite a lot. It's set in a small farming town in Australia that is going through a drought. I thought the author did a wonderful job of describing the dismal circumstances and the feeling that went along with them. There was a distinctly depressing feel to the town in this book. The drought permeated everything, and you could really feel the tensions rising in the town as they dealt with it.

The prologue to this book did a good job of setting the tone and drawing me in. I liked how we follow the blowflies as they feed on the dead in the heat of this parched landscape, until they eventually invade the crime scene.

“It wasn’t as though the farm hadn’t seen death before, and the blowflies didn’t discriminate. To them there was little difference between a carcass and a corpse."

After the prologue the book ended up being rather slow for a while, but once the investigation began things picked up nicely. There were several unsavory characters in this little town with no shortage of red herrings thrown into the story, and they were very convincing. The killer wasn't either of the people I thought it could end up being. Finally at one point well into the story, something clued me into who it was, and it was a surprise. That right there earned this book a fourth star from me. If a mystery can keep me guessing, then in my opinion it has done it's job. That being said, there are a couple of things that I wish would have happened differently. The main one being the way someone goes unpunished, but this being a series, maybe we will eventually see some retribution there.

I seem to be drawn to mysteries that incorporate a person going home and revisiting their past. Usually a past that involves some sort of a mystery, so it's no surprise that this book ended up on my to-read list. Most of the time these type of books have been stand-alones, but with this book being the first in a series, I am concerned that the second book may not have the same feel or draw me in like this one did. I enjoyed this enough to continue on with the series though, so I guess I'll find out.

A Golden Grave: A Rose Gallagher Mystery by Erin Lindsey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Paranormal
Content: Strong Language


 
Rose Gallagher always dreamed of finding adventure, so her new life as a freshly-minted Pinkerton agent ought to be everything she ever wanted. Only a few months ago, she was just another poor Irish housemaid from Five Points; now, she’s learning to shoot a gun and dance the waltz and throw a grown man over her shoulder. Better still, she’s been recruited to the special branch, an elite unit dedicated to cases of a paranormal nature, and that means spending her days alongside the dashing Thomas Wiltshire.

But being a Pinkerton isn’t quite what Rose imagined, and not everyone welcomes her into the fold. Meanwhile, her old friends aren’t sure what to make of the new Rose, and even Thomas seems to be having second thoughts about his junior partner. So when a chilling new case arrives on Rose’s doorstep, she jumps at the chance to prove herself – only to realize that the stakes are higher than she could have imagined.

This second book in the Rose Gallagher series was, in my opinion even better than the first. While I felt that the previous book was a bit slow at times, I didn't feel that way about this one at all. It was nice to be back with Rose and Thomas, and Clara as well. This time around the mystery involves several mysterious deaths that Rose and Thomas are sure have a supernatural element to them. As they investigate Rose goes undercover and attends a ball for the first time. I really enjoyed reading those chapters with Rose out of her element.

The most noteworthy thing about this book is the fact that the case they are working on involves an assassination attempt on young mayoral candidate Theodore Roosevelt. Along the way they also meet Mark Twain, and Nikola Tesla, whose inventions play a big part in solving the mystery. I thought the author did an excellent job of blending historic figures and events into a fictitious story.

Another thing I especially enjoyed was the little bit of romance that was added. I was afraid the author was going to string us along for a lot longer before anything significant happened, but that wasn't the case. That's not to say that there aren't some kinks to work out. Feelings were aired, but there is the whole 'this could never work' scenario to get through, but I'm sure things will eventually work out.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Content: Strong Language, an attempted rape


 
Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan's burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels.

Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone mysteriously missing. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom.

This book is set in the same world as the Blackthorn and Grim series, but I did not realize it was going to be about the children of Blackthorn and Grim. That was a sweet surprise! I instantly liked the characters Liobhan and Brocc. Dau took a little while longer to grow on me, but that was as it was supposed to be. In the end Dau ended up being my favorite character. He really grew as a character and I'm looking forward to reading more about him.

I was excited to read a book featuring bards and bardic magic. There aren't a whole lot of them. I also love Marillier's take on the "other world" and its creatures. Most of the books I've read by her follow a similar pattern, and this one was no exception. There is always at least one broken character who has to overcome trauma from the past. Sometimes that trauma is very hard to read about. And there is usually at least one character that has secrets to uncover, sometimes secrets they do not know themselves. This is a formula that I obviously enjoy a great deal because I keep coming back for more.

I liked that the book ends with the main story wrapped up, but it leaves smaller threads that can be expanded upon in the next two books, and I'm looking forward to reading them.

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Goodreads for providing me with ARCs of this book.

Hangman's Pond by Nick Moseley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Content: Strong Language (the British variety)



“Typical Monday,” Trev Irwin thought. “I spilled my breakfast, my car wouldn’t start, and someone’s trying to kill me...”

I liked this book so much more than the first book in the series. There are all kinds of urban fantasy elements here from witches to vampires to Druids, and the action is almost nonstop without being too much. I especially enjoyed the author's take on vampires. Old lady vampires are awesome!

"Nobody’s going to believe that the two of us needed to defend ourselves against a pensioner."  😂

Trev is continuously having to get himself out of predicaments and it's always fun to see how he will do that. It seems everyone wants him dead, but some of his predicaments are his own fault. He sometimes just recklessly does things without thinking them through.

"You may direct your whining at yourself if you wish, but not at me."

I thought the villains were great. There are mad scientists and weird zombie-type people. When the mask came off one of them it reminded me of this scene from the 1979 movie The Black Hole, when this thing's face mask came off.



It was terrifying to me as a kid.

The combination of wit and slightly terrifying adventure make this series great fun. Add interesting creatures and elements like the Greenweave, and the pond witch into the mix, and I'm hooked. And I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I love a book that makes me laugh!