The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

Title: The Song Rising

Author: Samantha Shannon

Genre: Dystopian, Urban Fantasy

Series: The Bone Season # 3

Publication: May 14, 2024, 384 pages

Source: Personal Library 

Buy|AMAZON|BN|

Following a fierce battle for the Rose Crown, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over the clairvoyant syndicate of London. But with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilizing the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.

As Paige rallies her army of criminals, she continues to meet in secret with her former enemy, Arcturus Mesarthim. Should they be discovered, the fragile alliance with the Ranthen will fail.

But all bets are off when Scion introduces Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for clairvoyants. Now Paige must race against the clock to stop her reign ending in blood.

MY THOUGHTS

Now that Paige is Underqueen of the London Citadel, she must contend not only with Scion and Nashira but also with the possibility of her own people turning against her, all while racing against time to destroy Senshield before it takes effect. The Song Rising is the third installment in The Bone Season series, and it continues to surprise me and keep me on the edge of my seat.

Shannon’s world is incredibly complex and multifaceted. Just when I think I’ve grasped its workings, I realize I’ve only seen a fraction of its scope. In the first book, we came face-to-face with the Rephaim; in the second, we delved into the hierarchy of the criminal underground; and in the third, we are introduced to Scion’s military. I never thought the military could be made fascinating, yet Shannon achieves it brilliantly. I also loved that the journey took us to Edinburgh, where we experience a new side of the conflict and see how the voyant there differ from those in London. The deeper we go into this world, the more intricate it becomes, and I relish discovering every moment.

Paige’s transformation from the first book to the third is remarkable. At times, I forget she is barely twenty years old, because she shows more maturity, depth, intelligence, and heart than many older characters I’ve read. The trials she endures in The Song Rising would break most people, yet she rises from the ashes, and Shannon makes her journey both realistic and believable. Every character in The Bone Season is so well-developed they feel real, like flesh and blood, and it’s impossible not to feel everything they experience. I didn’t realize how much some of the secondary characters meant to me until one pivotal moment in this book left me sobbing. Though this character wasn’t prominent in earlier books, their role here was pivotal, and their loss hit me deeply.

Though The Song Rising is shorter than the first two books, it still packs a powerful punch. The ending left me reeling, and I cannot wait to see what happens next in Paris! I highly, highly recommend this series. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read, and I’m surprised it hasn’t received more attention. Add this series to the very top of your list, you won’t regret it.

The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

Title: The Mime Order

Author: Samantha Shannon

Genre: Dystopian, Urban Fantasy

Series: The Bone Season # 2

Publication: May 14, 2024, 560 pages

Source: Personal Library 

Buy|AMAZON|BN|

Paige Mahoney has escaped the clandestine prison city of Oxford. Now a fugitive in London, she nurtures a new taste for revolution.

Oxford may be behind her, but the Republic of Scion is undefeated. As it turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, she is forced to return to Jaxon Hall, her charismatic and brutal employer, to keep her foothold in the underworld.

But Paige will bow to no one now, and not even Jaxon will stop her exposing the corruption in the syndicate. As she plots to win the fabled Rose Crown, both sides of an ancient conflict seek her talents for themselves.

MY THOUGHTS

It’s been years since I read The Bone Season, and after finally rereading it in the author’s preferred edition, I jumped straight into The Mime Order. I honestly don’t know why I waited so long to continue this series; The Bone Season was incredible, and The Mime Order shines just as brightly as its predecessor. The Mime Order picks up exactly where the first book left off, with Paige, her syndicate, and the other prisoners escaping Oxford and heading toward the Tower of London. The book starts with a bang, and I immediately felt the same tension and suspense that I loved in the first installment.

In The Bone Season, Shannon did an amazing job setting up the world and introducing the main characters. Most of the first book takes place in Oxford, where we learn about the Rephaim, the history of Scion, and the various levels of clairvoyance. In the sequel, Shannon brings us back to London to explore the criminal underworld; its different cohorts and the inner workings of the London syndicate, introducing the underlord, mime-lords, and mime-queens. Except this time, Paige is no longer a prisoner; she’s a wanted fugitive, and now everyone is gunning for her.

I felt like I had a good grasp of the Seven Seals in the first book, but I loved how we got a deeper look into Paige’s found family and the other divisions. Seeing how the syndicate operates day-to-day was fascinating. While some readers have said this book is slower than the first, I thought it was brilliant. Shannon weaves an intricate mystery and builds it to a phenomenal, dare I say one of the best, climactic endings I’ve ever read. The scrimmage scene was so well-written and intense, it had me on the edge of my seat! And that ending… it gave me literal chills. I was completely shocked. I love when a book can still surprise me and keep me on my toes.

I have to say, The Bone Season series has some of the richest, most well-thought-out, and downright smart worldbuilding I’ve encountered in a long time. I absolutely loved how Shannon incorporated the language of flowers and the important role it plays in shaping this world. Then there’s the metaphysical and spiritual aspect combined with clairvoyance; it’s so fascinating to see how she takes these fringe concepts and turn them into something uniquely her own.

This series is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites. I highly, highly recommend it if you're looking for a brilliant, well-written plot, immersive worldbuilding, and complex, multifaceted characters you can’t help but love or hate. And I have to add… I still find Jaxon fascinating, despite everything!

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len

Title: Only a Monster

Author: Vanessa Len

Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi Fantasy
Series: Only a Monster # 1

Hardcover, 416 pages 

Publication: February 22, 2022 by Harperteen

Source: I received a review copy in exchange for honest review.
Buy|Amazon|B&N|

It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother’s eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place.

But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren’t just eccentric: they’re monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn’t just a cute boy: he’s a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down.

As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She’ll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story . . . . . . she is not the hero.

 

MY THOUGHTS

 

Only a Monster was my most highly anticipated novel of 2022. Monsters and time-travel, yes please! It had one of the best taglines I’ve heard in a long time. Yet it pains me to say this but it didn’t live up to my expectations.

The world was very much like ours except monsters were in the closet. And the term ‘Monster’ was used differently than what most people would equate with the word. In the novel, Monsters were people with unique powers inherent to their family house and they had the ability to steal time from humans. For example x- amount of minutes, hours or years stolen from humans equals the same amount of time a monster can use to travel into the past or future. Depending on which family a monster is from, they also had the ability to retrieve/hide objects in time, remember all times, freeze time, strength, or had an animal familiar, etc …some of these made sense to the world, some didn’t. And like most monster novels, there’s always an opposing side…monster hunters. The magic system wasn't anything spectacular or interesting, and the plot felt all a bit cliché.

The characters were alright, I didn’t like them but I didn’t hate them either  which made it hard to be invested into the story. Joan was oblivious to the fact that she was surrounded by monsters and that she was a monster herself. For the majority of the book Joan was in denial of what was occurring around her and when she had help from a boy of a rival monster family, she still kept finding excuses to feed her denial. I found it vexing and distracting. I also didn’t like the male love interests. Joan fancied Nick before she found out she was a monster and he a hunter. Despite threatening to destroy one another across timelines they still clung to the idea of star-crossed lovers. It was poorly executed and I never felt the chemistry between the two nor understood the supposed heartfelt confession towards the end of the story. As for Oliver, the rival family member, he had a crush on Joan which I believe was never reciprocated. Both male leads had absolutely no memorable attributes. I felt like they were just there but didn’t really add value to the story. 

I had such high hopes for Only a Monster, but sadly it didn’t deliver on any level. The magic system/world building, characters and plot were all subpar. The ending tied up quickly and conveniently and yet I already forgot the overall arc/main goal of the series since this is an opener to a trilogy. With that said, I think I’m going to past on the sequel.

 

 

 

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Title: The Rook

Author: Daniel O'Malley
Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
Series: The Checquy Files #1

Hardcover, 496 pages
Publication: January 11, 2012 by Ace

Source: Personal Library.

Buy|Amazon|B&N|

"The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.

The Rook has been on my TBR pile since 2012! The shame. I found out STARZ network was developing a series adaptation of the novel, which was released late last month. The trailer looked promising and rekindled my interest in starting the novel. The Rook takes place in modern-day London and follows a Rook agent named Myfanwy Thomas…except Myfanwy doesn’t know who she really is. When the book opens, readers finds Myfanwy sprawled out on the concreate covered in blood with the rain pouring down on her and dead bodies riddled around her. Turns out Myfanwy is part of the last paranormal agency in London, an agency sworn to protect citizens against things that go bump in the night. I love books that are centered around secret organization!

While trying to figure out who she is and who she needs to become, Myfanwy is caught between ghost-alien cases, political board meetings, Shady German shape-shifters and hitmen at every corner. She’s trying to fake her way through every obstacle while concealing the fact that she has amnesia and has zero recollection of her past life. The Rook cover looks quite official and the tone of the beginning of book was grim with a no-nonsense vibe to it. Which was why Myfanwy's light-hearted humorous attitude and approach to everything was a welcome surprised. It was the perfect balance to all the unlucky, disgusting and downright horrible things she had to endure. I really like Myfanwy, her comical nature made her oblivious sometimes but other than that she’s quite brilliant, like a modern-day supernatural Nancy Drew.

I enjoyed The Rook much more than I thought I would and am looking forward to seeing more of the chequy.

Has anyone checked out Starz’s The Rook? If so, please do let me know what you think! I’m interested in seeing Gestalt!

 

 

 

The Passengers by John Marrs

Title: The Passengers
Author: John Marrs
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Series: N/A

Hardcover, 352 pages
Publication: August 27, 2019 by Berkley

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Buy|Amazon|B&N|

Just as self-driving cars become the trusted, safer norm, eight people find themselves in this terrifying situation, including a faded TV star, a pregnant young woman, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife, and a suicidal man.

From cameras hidden in their cars, their panic is broadcast to millions of people around the world. But the public will show their true colors when they are asked, "Which of these people should we save?...And who should we kill first?"

I hope I’m not being too presumptuous by saying that driver-less vehicles are the future. We already see some aspect of it in the Google and Tesla cars. In Marrs’s latest thriller, The Passengers, Marrs paints a world where the emergence of autonomous vehicles are mandatory and the new norm. Say goodbye to human-error accident, traffic, and fuel consumption to name a few. Manufacturers and The Government assured the citizens that the driver-less cars are extremely safe and un-hackable. All good, right? Nope. The opening chapters shows eight hijacked autonomous vehicles with everything televised and broadcast all around the world. Giving the everyday citizens the right to be judge, jury and executioner on which passengers lives or dies.

The Passengers is my first Marrs novel and I must say, I am beyond impressed. While the concept and highly plausible potential of hacking technology isn’t quite new, Marrs took the idea and created an incredible and engaging plot that had me at the edge of my seat the entire time. I absolutely loved the writing and formatting of the book. Marrs timed and executed the chapters and passengers’ revelations perfectly. Marrs ended each chapter with just the right amount of information and detail to entice the reader guaranteeing that they’d continue along with the story. I know I was. I kept telling myself ‘just one more chapter…’. Readers were treated to various point-of-views, alternating chapters between the passengers and jury member, Libby. I’m usually not a big fan of multiple POVs but in this case, it worked well. I felt like I was getting to know each and every character intimately, their feelings and emotion so palpable they lept off the pages. Definitely a character driven novel, we delved deep into human behaviors.

On top of the driver-less vehicles, social media played a significant role in the story. In this day and age, the majority of the world is on some sort of social media platform or another. There isn’t a second that goes by when someone isnt’ sharing or exposing some part of theirs or others’ lives. Everyone has an opinion for everything, even if it’s unsolicited. What’s crazy and scary about Marr’s novel is that it’s all so freaking plausible. Most technology is indeed hackable but combine that with social media…and it’s an entirely different beast. In The passengers, strangers world-wide chimed on the fate of the passengers, making judgments, and deciding who lived or died based on basic thread thin facts. Sounds familiar right? Marrs did an excellent job at capturing that real world reality. 

All in all, I really enjoyed The Passengers. It is without a doubt a masterly well-written thriller. I call it now, The Passengers is going to get an adaptation some time in the near future! I highly recommend The Passengers, it was unputdownable! I can’t believe I haven’t read anything else by Marrs but I plan to remedy that soon.