The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre: Romance, Historical Romance, Mystery
Content: Clean

 

To escape a scheme to marry her off to a dishonorable man, Margaret Macy flees London disguised as a housemaid. If she can remain unwed until her next birthday, she will receive an inheritance, and with it, sweet independence. But she never planned on actually working as a servant. And certainly not in the home of Nathaniel and Lewis Upchurch--both former suitors.

As she fumbles through the first real work of her life, Margaret struggles to keep her identity secret when suspicions arise and prying eyes visit Fairbourne Hall. Can she avoid a trap meant to force her from hiding?

Brimming with romance and danger, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall takes readers inside the fascinating belowstairs world of a 19th-century English manor, where appearances can be deceiving. 

 

This book was really good. I especially liked the upstairs/downstairs aspect of the story.  In the beginning the main character, Margaret was naive and pampered by wealthy parents, but her step father, a despicable man, has his eye on the fortune she's about to inherit from her aunt and is trying to marry her off to a relative of his who is in cahoots with him to try and steal it. This relative is also not a good man and after overhearing their plans, Margaret decides she must run away and leaves in disguise with one of the maids who has been dismissed. She ends up in the home of a man who had previously proposed marriage to her, but she had rejected. 

Margaret has quite the eye-opening experience of learning how the folks below stairs live. What I liked the most about the book was how Margaret went from the pampered, naive girl to someone who worked hard and had compassion for others and their circumstances. She really tried to do the right thing, even at cost to herself a couple of times. I also liked that the book wasn't preachy with the Christian themes, but just let the messages be woven into the story.

The love interest ended up being very likable and I enjoyed reading about his past and how he wanted nothing to do with his father's sugar plantation because of the use of slaves. The theme of slavery and the fight against it was a big topic in the book. I felt like things wrapped up a bit too neatly with his father in the end, but that was a minor weakness. I kept anticipating when he would recognize Margaret and they would finally get together. It was a good kind of anticipation, and the romance happened gradually. Overall this was another great Julie Klassen book.

 

 

Leaning On Water by Joan June Chen

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Space Opera
Content: Strong language
 

  

A talented young pilot.
A mysterious Bionic.
A dark past that threatens the future...

LIVINTHEA PARK has the Mark of Dresden mutation, only she doesn't know about it.

When a tragic accident exposes this hidden secret, her life as Galactic's top pilot quickly unravels. The Bionics barge in and stake their claim, whisking her away from her beloved home to the otherworldly Atlas Station I.

Though these mysterious Bionics look human, with nanobots coursing through their veins, they are anything but just plain human... especially the one with the steel grey eyes.

Commissioned since the turn of the millennium with guarding the Erlion System against a dark menace, the Bionics take Livi on a cosmic journey where wonders abound, mysteries unfold, and a heroine rises.

 

This was one of the books we voted on a while back when we were choosing a book club read. I voted for it, but it didn't win. Of course I still wanted to read it, so it went on my to-read list. I'm glad I finally got to it because I really liked it. 

This is a pretty standard space opera or space fantasy type book with different worlds and the people that inhabit them, some of whom reminded me of the Borg from Star Trek, or even the Cybermen from Doctor Who. There are also the Bionics that are like cyborgs. I kept thinking of Wolverine when they talked about the procedure of changing humans into cyborgs and was expecting something excruciating, but we never see that. The character in the book that undergoes the change is unconscious and just wakes up after the change, so that was a little disappointing. There are also, of course the humans whose origins seem to come originally from Earth. I won't say anything else about that because of spoilers. 

The main character, Livi was very likable and so was Triton and several other characters. There was quite a bit of good action in the book, and I had a hard time putting it down. There is room for some romance to take root in a future book and I like that, but I also liked that the relationships and personal drama didn't overwhelm the overall plot of the story. The second book was supposed to be released in 2020, but apparently that didn't happen. I have no idea when it will be published, but I'm looking forward to it, and I hope it doesn't take too long.

A ​Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4) by Sabaa Tahir

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language, A couple of moderately descriptive sex scenes.

Note: This is a YA series that is definitely written for older teens. There is quite a bit of violence, and some darker themes and I feel like the sexual content in this particular book would not be appropriate for young teens. This is the kind of content that I've read in adult romances in the past and also just a few years ago would have been classified as New Adult instead of YA. I find this trend disturbing since it is hard for parents to always monitor what their child is reading, and I'm sure there are plenty of younger teens that have picked this series up to read.

 

Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off...

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

At his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory--or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life--and love--he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save--or destroy--all that he knows.

  

This is the fourth and last book in the series and I've been waiting for it for a long time. Originally I thought it was a good idea for this to be a four book series, but after reading books three and four I feel like it should have been kept a trilogy, which is what I think the author had originally planned. Each book in the series got weaker, and instead of going out strong it just felt more like a whimper. By the time I got to the end of this book I was well over it and was ready to move on, and that's a shame because I gave the first book in this series 5 stars, and the second book 4.5 stars. I would still recommend reading the series, and maybe reading them all one right after the other would be a better experience then having to wait so long between books. I will say that once I got to the end I was happy with the way things ended up for most of the characters. There is only one exception and I could see that tragedy coming from a mile away.

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Gothic, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Content: Strong Language; A sex scene (I've waited so long to write my review that I can't remember how much detail there was, but I do feel like overall this book is for older teens); The main character, who is bisexual, spends the night with her female superior in the past but no details are given.

 

Wren Southerland is the most talented healer in the Queen’s Guard, but her reckless actions have repeatedly put her on thin ice with her superiors. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate to cure his servant from a mysterious disease, she seizes the chance to prove herself.

When she arrives at Colwick Hall, Wren realizes that nothing is what it seems. Particularly when she discovers her patient is actually Hal Cavendish, the sworn enemy of her kingdom.

As the snowy mountains make it impossible to leave the estate, Wren and Hal grow closer as they uncover a sinister plot that could destroy everything they hold dear. But choosing love could doom both their kingdoms. 

  

This book was very intriguing to me. I love fantasies, Gothics, mysteries, and romances and it had all those elements. It was a unique mix of the genres and overall I very much enjoyed it. I would have given it 4 stars but there are a few odd descriptions in the book that I thought were unfortunate. Since I read an ARC of this book I don't want to directly quote from it, as things could change, but the words used to describe a few things made me think of Christopher Paolini's weird word choices for descriptions in his books. My favorite, and the one I've referenced in more than one of my reviews is when he describes a strawberry as having a beard, so you kind of get the idea of what I'm talking about in this book. It only happens 3 or 4 times and mostly early on in the story, but it bothered me. That being said, I loved the creepy atmospheric vibes I got from this book. I also loved the enemy to friends romance that was included. The villain was pretty obvious, it was just a matter of figuring out all the pieces and how they fit together. I thought the reasons got to be a little over the top, but other than that, this was a very good read and I would try another book by this author.

 

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

The Best-Laid Plans by Sarah M. Eden

  

 My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance, Historical Romance
Content: Clean

 

Newton Hughes has long dreamed of pursuing a career in law, an acceptable choice for a gentleman of status and wealth. His parents, however, disapprove of his ambition, urging him instead to take his rightful place as a gentleman of leisure—with a suitable wife of their choosing, of course.

Ellie Napper would like nothing more than for her parents to abandon their incessant efforts to marry her off to the greatest possible advantage. Her lack of matrimonial enthusiasm drives her family mad, but she refuses to feign frivolity in order to make herself more palatable to potential suitors.

When Ellie and Newton are introduced through their mutual acquaintance, Charlie Jonquil, they commiserate over their shared plight. In desperation, they hatch a plan: Ellie and Newton will feign an interest in each other—enough to convince their parents not to push them toward unwanted matches but not enough to cause whispers or expectations. Their plot quickly spirals out of control, but the greatest complication is the one they didn’t see coming: their plan never included falling in love.

 

I was surprised to find this little standalone book by Sarah M. Eden is actually tied to a couple of her series. The main one of interest for me is The Jonquil Brothers, but this is also tied to The Lancaster Family series as well. I've been eagerly awaiting the day that the 7th Jonquil Brothers book will be published and I wasn't finding any info on it. Then I discovered that it's actually also the 5th book in The Lancaster Family series and that's how it's listed on Goodreads. I'm really excited to finally have found it and that it will be published this year!

So obviously these two series have been tied to each other for a long while. I've never read the Lancaster series, but I plan to get to that one eventually. That brings us to this book. This is a standalone with main characters who are not a part of either of those series, but it acts as kind of as a bridge between those two series with Charlie Jonquil and Artemis Lancaster as supporting characters. Charlie and Artemis have known each other their whole lives as their families are close, but they can't stand each other...or at least that's what they say. In this book they help out friends, Ellie and Newton who are being pushed by their families to court people they do not wish to court.

I thought this was a fun story with very likable characters. It was easy to sympathize with Ellie's plight. Her family was truly awful to her and often accused her of doing the very things they were doing. Newton was a great love interest and I enjoyed seeing their romance blossom. I would have liked an epilogue with a little more at the end, with some insight into how Newton's family receives Ellie as his betrothed, but maybe we will get more of that in the book about Charlie and Artemis.

Overall this was a great read, and I liked it better than some of Eden's longer books that are part of The Jonquil Brothers series.

 

 

 

Thereby Hangs a Tail (A Chet and Bernie Mystery, #2) by Spencer Quinn

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

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

 

What first seems like a walk in the park to wise and lovable canine narrator Chet and his human companion Bernie—to investigate threats made against a pretty, pampered show dog—turns into a serious case when Princess and her owner are abducted. To make matters worse, Bernie’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, reporter Susie Sanchez, disappears too. When Chet is separated from Bernie, he’s on his own to put the pieces together, find his way home, and save the day.

This was another fun Chet and Bernie adventure. My daughter and I listened to this one in the car. It was her first Chet and Bernie novel and she liked it quite a lot. I don't have a lot to say about it but that I still love all of Chet's dog thoughts. They are hands down the best part of the series. I probably won't review every single book in this long series—there are 10 plus two more in the works at the time I'm writing this—but I'll try to write reviews for the ones I like the best.

 

 

 

Last Dragon Standing (Heartstrikers, #5) by Rachel Aaron

 

 My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong Language

 

In this final book in the Heartstrikers series, mysteries resolve, dragons war, pigeons abound, and Julius must risk himself in ways he never dreamed possible as Bob’s grand plan finally comes to fruition.

But the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers isn’t the only one whose schemes are nearing completion. The Nameless End is coming, and even the machinations of the world’s most brilliant dragon seer might not be enough to stop it. As the world comes crashing down, it’s up Julius to prove what he’s always known: that seers can be wrong, and Nice Dragons don’t always finish last.

 

Finishing this last book in the Heartstrikers series was a long time in coming. It was our road trip series that we would listen to once or twice a year in the car. Covid wrecked our plans of finishing it last year since we took no road trips, so needless to say my daughter and I were so happy to finally listen to this book and find out how the series ends! In my review of the last book I mentioned that it felt a bit too long and drawn out. I still think that the last two books should have been condensed into one, but this book flew by for us. I yet again enjoyed the narrator and I hope I come across him again while listening to another book.

Before I read this one of my friends pointed out, without giving me any spoilers, that a major problem could have been solved in this book simply with a bucket. I had been wanting to know what she meant by that and finally I get it. I don't know if I would have thought of it on my own or not, but yes I can see how a bucket could have worked. 

I'll miss this series and all the characters I came to love, especially Bob.

 

 

 

Crow's Curse Trilogy by Laura Bickle: Morrigan's Blood, Morrigan's Bite, and Morrigan's Bond

I've read a couple of other series by Laura Bickle (Wildlands, and The Hallowed Ones) and really enjoyed them. I think she's really good at writing stories that straddle the line between dark fantasy and horror, so I decided to give this new one a try. I wasn't as enamored with it as I was her other books, but it wasn't bad. I like the main character a lot and also the warlock Sorin. What I didn't like so much were the dream sequences/flashbacks of the Morrigan. It's not that there was really anything wrong with them, I just wasn't as interested in the Morrigan's past as I was in Garnet. It was however, essential to have these parts in the book so that we know how everything in the book came to be. I will add here that I liked the flashbacks to the Morrigan a lot more in the third book.

Some things I especially liked were the trauma surgery scenes, and the way Garnet's friends have her back. I would have loved even more of those things in the trilogy. I also liked the crows and the way they would leave Garnet little gifts and also protect and warn her. I also really liked how our main character here had a lot less of the Morrigan in her than previous incarnations, and was for the most part her own person.

Overall this trilogy was pretty good, but not a favorite. 

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong Language

As a trauma surgeon, Garnet Conners has seen more than her fair share of blood. But when one of her patients walks off the operating table and disappears into the night, she finds herself caught in a war between legions of vampires and witches in her city.

Garnet has dreamed of bloody battlefields for years – and a mysterious lover who controls a kingdom. In her waking life, Garnet is shocked to meet that man in a club. Merrel knows her from another life, a life in which she was the legendary Morrigan, goddess of death and war.

Garnet has the blood of the legendary Morrigan – and legions of vampires and witches will go to war to possess that power. 

 

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong Language

 

Becoming a vampire was the worst thing to ever happen to Garnet Conners. But does she have to become a monster, too?

Garnet had a beautiful life…and it was stolen from her when she was turned into a vampire against her will. Once a successful trauma surgeon with good friends, she now finds herself hiding out in the basement of a coven house governed by hostile witches. Struggling with her vampiric urges, she despairs of ever returning to her former life.

Garnet’s discovered that she’s an incarnation of the legendary Morrigan. She dreams in blood, of the Morrigan’s other bloodthirsty incarnations over the centuries. Garnet’s dreams reveal her previous existence as Erzebet Bathory, and Garnet fears becoming that monster once again.

With the help of the witches, she attempts to learn to use her magical powers to control her vampiric nature…an experiment that ends in disaster. When her sister and friend go missing, Garnet knows she’s being hunted by vampires who will stop at nothing to bring her back into their fold.

Merrel, the vampire who turned her, offers her a bargain. He will return the abducted women, but Garnet must agree to spend three nights with him, training as a vampire. Garnet reluctantly accepts, but she fears giving in to her vampire nature and becoming the killer of the previous lifetime she’s reliving in her dreams.

 

 

 

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong Language

 

To end the war between vampires and witches, Garnet must battle the queen of the vampires, a woman who the Morrigan narrowly escaped in the skies of World War II.

Garnet Conners, incarnation of the legendary Morrigan, has pieced her life back together. After being turned into a vampire against her will, she’s quit her career as a surgeon and taken a job on the night shift at the city morgue. To her dismay, victims of vampires are piling up at the morgue…including the body of the vampire who turned her, Merrel.

Merrel’s faked his own death to set into motion a plot to wrest control of Riverpointe’s vampires from their queen, Varya. If Garnet helps him, he promises to move the vampires away from Riverpointe entirely, leaving Garnet and her lover, the warlock Sorin, in peace.

But Garnet’s haunted by dreams of her prior incarnations as Alix, one of the pilots of the fabled Night Witches in World War II. Alix fought Varya during the war… and was nearly destroyed by her. Varya held a magical artifact hostage, the magical sword Durendal, which she still uses to control the Asra hive of vampires.

When the vampires burn down the witches’ coven house, Garnet and her allies must locate the vampires’ stronghold. She, Merrel, and the surviving witches must rip Durendal away from Varya…or the city and all its supernatural inhabitants will be devoured in flames.

 

 

 

The Regency Spies of London Trilogy by Melanie Dickerson: A Spy's Devotion, A Viscount's Proposal, and A Dangerous Engagement

After reading Roseanna M. White's historical romance series Shadows Over England and the other spin off series related to that one, I decided to give this one a try because I liked the combination of the historical romance and spies. I didn't quite like this series as much as those, but it was a fun escape. Mainly I feel like these are more fluff and lack some depth to the stories and characters compared the those other books, but I still enjoyed reading them. What I liked the most was the Jane Austen feel the books had to them.

While the romance aspect of all three books was good, in the first book I felt like the main character didn't take enough of a role in spying and investigating. That was mainly left up to her male love interest, although she did help. This resulted in her coming off a little too weak as a character for me. I thought the main characters in the second and third books where stronger and I liked those books more.

If you like reading clean historical romance then I would definitely recommend trying this series.

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre: Romance, Historical Romance, Mystery
Content: Clean

 

In England’s Regency era, manners and elegance reign in public life—but behind closed doors treason and tawdriness thrive. Nicholas Langdon is no stranger to reserved civility or bloody barbarity. After suffering a battlefield injury, the wealthy, well-connected British officer returns home to heal—and to fulfill a dying soldier’s last wish by delivering his coded diary.

At the home of the Wilherns, one of England’s most powerful families, Langdon attends a lavish ball where he meets their beautiful and intelligent ward, Julia Grey. Determined to maintain propriety, he keeps his distance—until the diary is stolen and all clues lead to Julia’s guardian. As Langdon traces an evil plot that could be the nation’s undoing, he grows ever more intrigued by the lovely young woman. And when Julia realizes that England—and the man she is falling in love with—need her help, she finds herself caught in the fray. Will the two succumb to their attraction while fighting to save their country?

 

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre: Romance, Historical Romance, Mystery
Content: Clean

 

Leorah Langdon has no patience for Regency society’s shallow hypocrisy and unnecessary rules, especially for women. She’s determined to defy convention by marrying for grand passion instead of settling for a loveless union like her parents—or wedding a stuffy, pompous gentleman like Edward, the Viscount Withinghall. But when a chance meeting in the countryside leads to Leorah and Withinghall being discovered in his overturned carriage—alone and after dark—the ensuing gossip may force them together.

Withinghall has his reasons for clinging to propriety; his father perished in a duel with his mistress’s husband, and Edward must avoid scandal himself if he wants to become prime minister. He certainly has no time for a reckless hoyden like Miss Langdon. But soon the two discover that Withinghall’s coach “accident” was no such thing: the vehicle was sabotaged.

Can the culprit be brought to justice? Strong-willed Leorah and duty-driven Withinghall will have to work together if they have any hope of saving her reputation, his political career—and his life.

 

  

 My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre: Romance, Historical Romance, Mystery
Content: Clean

 

Just as merchant’s daughter Felicity Mayson is spurned once again because of her meager dowry, she receives an unexpected invitation to Lady Blackstone’s country home. Being introduced to the wealthy Oliver Ratley is an admitted delight, as is his rather heedless yet inviting proposal of marriage. Only when another of Lady Blackstone’s handsome guests catches Felicity’s attention does she realize that nothing is what it seems at Doverton Hall.

Government agent Philip McDowell is infiltrating a group of cutthroat revolutionaries led by none other than Lady Blackstone and Ratley. Their devious plot is to overthrow the monarchy, and their unwitting pawn is Felicity. Now Philip needs Felicity’s help in discovering the rebels’ secrets—by asking her to maintain cover as Ratley’s innocent bride-to-be.

Philip is duty bound. Felicity is game. Together they’re risking their lives—and gambling their hearts—to undo a traitorous conspiracy before their dangerous masquerade is exposed.

 

 

 

Hunter's Green by Phyllis A. Whitney

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance, Suspense
Content: Strong Language

 

When Eve North returns to Athmore after three years’ estrangement from her husband, Justin, she finds the great and sprawling English estate—and Justin himself—considerably changed. But Eve has changed as well. She knows the mistakes she made in her marriage, is prepared to admit culpability in their separation, and now dares to win back his love. But for all Eve knows, for all she remembers, and for all she’s ready to face, she still enters Athmore dangerously unaware of what awaits her.
 
Athmore has its secrets—and those who protect them, including Justin; his brother, Marc, who once preyed on Eve’s emotions; and Justin’s new fiancée, a cool manipulator who now has everything she wants. Eve’s only ally appears to be the old family gardener who has carved from the green-black yew a topiary garden in the form of a magnificent chessboard as both a masterpiece and a warning.

 

Years ago as a teen I went through my mom's old books and found Phyllis A. Whitney's book Snowfire and I read it. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I wanted to get back to reading something vintage and try something similar to Mary Stewart's books. I saw this book and thought, why not? Now I did try reading Whitney's book Dream of Orchids last year, and I just couldn't get into it, so I was a little worried that my fond memories of reading and enjoying Snowfire were maybe a bit too fond. It has been a long time after all, and I was a teen when I read it, so maybe my opinion of it would change if I read it again. Anyway, I decided to give this one a chance.

Overall I liked this book. I thought the mystery was good and it did keep me guessing up to a point. I eventually figured things out though. The main problem I have with romantic suspense books that were written in this time period (1968), is that the male love interests seem to always be so hard to like. The one here was so darn grumpy and would not communicate what he was really feeling or thinking to the main character until it was almost too late. I don't like when book characters are supposedly in love with each other but constantly argue or put each other down. In the case of this couple, there's history between them. They are married and have been separated for a couple of years, and it's no wonder it wasn't working out, and I found very little reason for the main character to still be in love with him. So for that reason I liked this one but didn't love it. 

I still plan on reading more from this author when I feel in the mood, but I so far have not enjoyed her books as much as I've enjoyed Mary Stewart's.

January 2021 Book Club: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi
Content: Strong Language, Off page sex

 

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square-shaped hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved - the object's origins, architects, and purpose unknown.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top-secret team to crack the hand's code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the relic they seek. What's clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unravelling history's most perplexing discovery-and finally figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

I wasn't sure how much I was going to enjoy this book when it got chosen as our book club read, but I ended up liking it. The premise is rather interesting and in some ways it reminded me of the movie Arrival. I must add here that while I liked the book overall, there were some things that kept me from loving it. One is the lack of likable people. I did like Rose, and Kara was ok, but mostly everyone else was either not a great person, or just downright horrible. I liked the interviewer to a point, but he was one of those characters with a lot of gray areas that manipulates people. 

The book is told in interview style which is not a good way to get to know characters, but it kind of worked in this case and didn't bother me too much. I did feel like there was not enough plot development in this book. It was a lot of set up that leads to things to come. By the end we still are mostly left in the dark about what the giant robots are, who the aliens are that the technology came from, and who the interviewer is and what his motivations are. I want to call the robots mechs because that's basically what they are, giant mechs piloted by people or aliens.

This is a trilogy, with some novellas thrown in between as well, and I considered reading the second book, but decided against it. I just didn't like it enough to continue.

Our archaeological dig cake with robot parts in it (Yes that's a Fortnite character. It was the best we could do at the last minute in the Walmart toy department.):