Historical fiction is the genre that I've been trying to delve into much more this year. This paired with a fondness for (at least the idea o2.5 stars
Historical fiction is the genre that I've been trying to delve into much more this year. This paired with a fondness for (at least the idea of) spy thrillers, as soon as I heard about Velvet Undercover, I was excited. A teenage spy sent into Germany from the UK during World War I? Color me intrigued. This book was entertaining... but not exactly mindblowing.
I'll start with my biggest point of critique and the thing that kept this book from ever really engaging me fully: the writing. I have this thing with historical fiction - especially those set in Britain or with British characters. I really need the writing to feel authentic and engrossing. If you're in Britain, you should at least attempt to present British-sounding dialogue and terminology. You should not, like this book, talk about a dinner of stew and biscuits - when biscuits in Britain means cookies. *facepalm* Overall the writing was so Americanized and watered down for its target audience. That's not to say it was bad, but it just left me wanting more. And with settings in London and Berlin, I really want a sense of atmosphere to where I can picture the places, the people, and the mannerisms in my mind, but this book never quite got there.
The plot, luckily, kept me going. Samantha Donaldson gets recruited by MI5 due to her having lived in Berlin as a child, to dive into the field and save an undercover agent who may very well be compromised. She's been trained at a special school and has a knack for code breaking, so she's glad to be able to put those skills to good use. However, she doesn't go completely voluntarily. She's blackmailed into it, being promised information about her father who went missing during a diplomatic mission.
As far as mysteries go, Velvet Undercover does a lot of things right. You're pointed in one direction, Samantha is gradually decrypting clues as she goes along, and before long there are some murders and plot twists that convince you to keep reading. It really is interesting and compulsively readable in that sense. And as the story, for a large part, takes place in the royal palace in Berlin, it was cool to see an image of how one of the enemy countries was governed. Though the book doesn't delve into it too much, you do get a sense of the political maneuvering during the time period (and the foreshadowing about the consequences for the country and the world in the coming decades).
But, yet in other things, this book is a bit simplistic and juvenile. And not in the sense that this is a fun, rompy spy novel - it's completely serious - but Samantha can be pretty dumb. She arrives in Berlin knowing that there are two suspects that could be Velvet. She focuses only on that and gets annoyed when it's been like a week and she's not sure who it is yet. Seriously, after like a week, she plans to just ask one of the two if they're Velvet. And I'm supposed to believe she's a top notch spy with a promising future? Her sleuthing was pretty simple, and she jumped to conclusions way too quickly. I kind of expected that she would first spend some time (months, pretty much) adjusting to her surroundings and gaining the trust of the people, doing some sneaky and intelligent poking around here and there, but... no. Not really.
That's not to mention that the plot twist that should shock you was about the most obvious you might expect from such a spy novel, and that Velvet ended up being exactly who I thought it was - from the first mention of that character on the page. I still kind of enjoyed figuring out how the pieces fit together, and the story had a pretty solid construction, but it just didn't wow me. At all.
I guess it's all about managing expectations.Velvet Undercover is a story you read for the plot and setting, not the characters or the romance (which isn't a big deal - very much a side story - but also gave me pretty much zero feels). The story is solid and mildly addictive to read. And yet, at the same time, you shouldn't expect serious sleuthing, intriguing puzzles, or shocking plot twists. I hate to say it, but remember the 'teenage' in the 'teenage spy novel' label.
Summing Up:
Though I mostly enjoyed this book for its unusual setting and intriguing premise, Velvet Undercover never really wowed me. Samantha is pretty freaking dumb for a supposedly brilliant teenage spy, and I called the plot twists from a mile away. Above all, though, I really wish the writing had impressed me more. Writing style is more than half the battle in historical fiction with me, and Brown's was so average and bland that I'm doubtful I want to try another one of her novels. But we'll see about that at a later date.
GIF it to me straight!
[image]
Recommended To:
I... don't really know.
*An electronic review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review.
Merged review:
2.5 stars
Historical fiction is the genre that I've been trying to delve into much more this year. This paired with a fondness for (at least the idea of) spy thrillers, as soon as I heard about Velvet Undercover, I was excited. A teenage spy sent into Germany from the UK during World War I? Color me intrigued. This book was entertaining... but not exactly mindblowing.
I'll start with my biggest point of critique and the thing that kept this book from ever really engaging me fully: the writing. I have this thing with historical fiction - especially those set in Britain or with British characters. I really need the writing to feel authentic and engrossing. If you're in Britain, you should at least attempt to present British-sounding dialogue and terminology. You should not, like this book, talk about a dinner of stew and biscuits - when biscuits in Britain means cookies. *facepalm* Overall the writing was so Americanized and watered down for its target audience. That's not to say it was bad, but it just left me wanting more. And with settings in London and Berlin, I really want a sense of atmosphere to where I can picture the places, the people, and the mannerisms in my mind, but this book never quite got there.
The plot, luckily, kept me going. Samantha Donaldson gets recruited by MI5 due to her having lived in Berlin as a child, to dive into the field and save an undercover agent who may very well be compromised. She's been trained at a special school and has a knack for code breaking, so she's glad to be able to put those skills to good use. However, she doesn't go completely voluntarily. She's blackmailed into it, being promised information about her father who went missing during a diplomatic mission.
As far as mysteries go, Velvet Undercover does a lot of things right. You're pointed in one direction, Samantha is gradually decrypting clues as she goes along, and before long there are some murders and plot twists that convince you to keep reading. It really is interesting and compulsively readable in that sense. And as the story, for a large part, takes place in the royal palace in Berlin, it was cool to see an image of how one of the enemy countries was governed. Though the book doesn't delve into it too much, you do get a sense of the political maneuvering during the time period (and the foreshadowing about the consequences for the country and the world in the coming decades).
But, yet in other things, this book is a bit simplistic and juvenile. And not in the sense that this is a fun, rompy spy novel - it's completely serious - but Samantha can be pretty dumb. She arrives in Berlin knowing that there are two suspects that could be Velvet. She focuses only on that and gets annoyed when it's been like a week and she's not sure who it is yet. Seriously, after like a week, she plans to just ask one of the two if they're Velvet. And I'm supposed to believe she's a top notch spy with a promising future? Her sleuthing was pretty simple, and she jumped to conclusions way too quickly. I kind of expected that she would first spend some time (months, pretty much) adjusting to her surroundings and gaining the trust of the people, doing some sneaky and intelligent poking around here and there, but... no. Not really.
That's not to mention that the plot twist that should shock you was about the most obvious you might expect from such a spy novel, and that Velvet ended up being exactly who I thought it was - from the first mention of that character on the page. I still kind of enjoyed figuring out how the pieces fit together, and the story had a pretty solid construction, but it just didn't wow me. At all.
I guess it's all about managing expectations.Velvet Undercover is a story you read for the plot and setting, not the characters or the romance (which isn't a big deal - very much a side story - but also gave me pretty much zero feels). The story is solid and mildly addictive to read. And yet, at the same time, you shouldn't expect serious sleuthing, intriguing puzzles, or shocking plot twists. I hate to say it, but remember the 'teenage' in the 'teenage spy novel' label.
Summing Up:
Though I mostly enjoyed this book for its unusual setting and intriguing premise, Velvet Undercover never really wowed me. Samantha is pretty freaking dumb for a supposedly brilliant teenage spy, and I called the plot twists from a mile away. Above all, though, I really wish the writing had impressed me more. Writing style is more than half the battle in historical fiction with me, and Brown's was so average and bland that I'm doubtful I want to try another one of her novels. But we'll see about that at a later date.
GIF it to me straight!
[image]
Recommended To:
I... don't really know.
*An electronic review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review....more
The Jewel was one of those typical cases for me where I can scream, "THE COVER MADE ME DO IT!" Seriously, much shiny, very want. But I knew bef2 stars
The Jewel was one of those typical cases for me where I can scream, "THE COVER MADE ME DO IT!" Seriously, much shiny, very want. But I knew before I got into this that it most likely would not end up going very well for me - for one thing, the book is blurbed in comparison to The Selection, and we generally know about the quality of that series. In the end, though, The Jewel had both moments where it surprisingly impressed me and moments where it was worse than I expected.
First of all, I gotta hand it to the author, because for a debut, I thought the writing was pretty good. She has a great way of describing the splendid opulence of the world that she created, which made it very engaging to read. I was pretty impressed with the world building overall (given my low expectations), and I liked the concept of the tiered society, surrogates, royalty, and auguries. I felt most of it held up well, and I was tempted to look for places where I could poke holes in it, but I couldn't really. Well, maybe aside from all the stupid character names. But though it stood up well as a whole, particularly after some reveals and crucial questions FINALLY being asked at the end of the book, it still felt a bit BIZARRE. Particularly the way that the royals treat their surrogates kind of gives me pause - and the fact that there's been no revolution before now leaves me baffled. Of course, much of what goes on is kept secret... but still. I need some more answers.
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But okay, we follow the main character, Violet, as she is chosen to be the surrogate for the Duchess of the Lake. Not... much... happens. The book is basically one big world building set up - which I kind of appreciated. I mean, I like reading about elitist luxurious societies and such, and this world is truly extravagant. I appreciated seeing these royals and their scheming to each other - it's the political bitchiness that I can appreciate and helps to add an element of mystery about what all their motives are. But I thought that this would all lead up to something. It's clearly a dystopia - you know it right from the start - because these girls are forced to be surrogates, without any choice in the matter, and Violet frequently expresses her fear about it. There are enough parallels to The Hunger Games in how the girls are basically abducted, get one day to say goodbye to their families, and then are whisked off on a train to the luxurious "Jewel" district, where the royals live. After the auction, they are even paraded around with collars - while their families thought they'd live cushy lives, they're actually more like slaves for baby-making. *shudders* I don't even want to think about how horrifying that actually is to me.
So Violet ends up in this lush palace and the Duchess and her doctor start prepping her to spawn the greatest baby in the world - quite literally, they're hoping it'll someday marry into the supreme royal family. And that's where it all gets a bit cliché - because Violet starts looking like a little Mary Sue. She's extremely gifted in auguries - basically magical powers. The surrogates have something special in their DNA, basically, that gives them these powers which is why they're selected to be surrogates (yeah, this is where the world building didn't really hold up, but I wrote it off as a fantasy). These powers let them change the color, shape, and growth of different objects. (view spoiler)[Yeah, and how the growth part translated into controlling the baby's personality traits? DIDN'T REALLY GET THAT. (hide spoiler)] Obviously, Violet is amazingly good at this. Her personality, on the other hand, is rather nondescript. She has some moments where she flares up and seems to show some fierceness, but mostly she's living in fear. But people keep seeing something in her that makes her extremely special for some reason.
[image]
Point one being Lucien - or, Cinna Mark II. Lucien first meets Violet when he preps her for the auction - by, you guessed it, making her all pretty. He's immediately taken with her - for a reason that later becomes apparent as being appearance alone. Whereas Cinna had seen Katniss's bravery and bold defiance before meeting her, Lucien had nothing to do with Violet beforehand, so I found it very irksome how he suddenly decided that he wanted to help her, save her, be her friend - you name it. There was no real build up for this, I mean, he'd been prepping girls for years for this but Violet is just oh-so-special. (view spoiler)[She looks like his dead sister who rebelled against the surrogate system, but for serious, he picked her out as his first move to break the system just because of THAT? It was all just a bit too coincidental and obvious. (hide spoiler)]
Point two being... the romance. *headdesk* You know, I'd heard this book had some pretty bad instalove, but I was cruising along, reading about the world building for half the book, and I was pretty much enjoying it. And I thought, romance, what romance? I haven't even really seen a legit love interest. But then in strolled Ash.
[image]
After one conversation with Violet about music, they were in love. Seriously, okay, I'll take you through it: they talk about a shared love of music, then he discovers who she is and that basically he shouldn't even be speaking to her ever. They both stare because they're both just so pretty. Then he hears her play her cello one day, and he pretty much kisses her out of the blue because he just couldn't stay away. She then gets jealous because he kisses Carnelian (which he is basically hired to do, as a Companion), and he runs after her and they talk for two seconds before making out again. On their next encounter, he's saying that his life was broken until he met her, he's never met anyone like her, he'd risk his life to be with her, and the "I love you"s aren't far off either. It's your textbook case of instalove, that's it. There's no real chemistry, they don't even really talk or get to know one another before they "know" they're in love, and both their personalities are nothing special. I unship this ship something fierce. It can go to hell.
[image] Seriously, pass me a bucket.
So though the romance definitely took over in the second half of the book and dominated the plot, I kept reading anyway because I was intrigued by this world and Violet's desire to escape. It was pretty classic dystopia, nothing really special about it, but it read really fluidly and did somehow keep me entertained. Though I might also write that off to the fact that I read it in almost one sitting. But I kept turning pages and noticing how little room we had left for a resolution... and basically all of my fears were confirmed.
The ending is majorly aggravating for the fact that, looking back, nothing really happened in this book at all - and it was all just one big set up for a series. If you hate cliffhanger endings, don't even think about getting into this before the second book in the series is out. But I had other very excited and violent feelings about it, which calls for a spoiler tag. (view spoiler)[Okay, HOW EXCITED AM I THAT GARNET IS HELPING LUCIEN?? SO EXCITED. Because throughout the whole book I was sitting there going, "This would be SO much more interesting if Garnet was the love interest." So, in spite of how meh I feel about this book I may still pick up the sequel if I can expect some chemistry between Garnet and Violet, mmmmmmmhmm, though probably not because the romance in this one was so sappy and gross. But overall I'm just SO pissed that nothing at all is revealed or resolved, other than that the surrogates die after childbirth. That wasn't really a mindblowing thing for me to suspect. And since I didn't care about Ash at all, I don't give two shits about his arrest or possible execution. Sorry not sorry. Ash can go die. (hide spoiler)]
Summing Up:
It's a mixed bag for me, because The Jewel both exceeded and failed my expectations. I was pleasantly surprised by the writing and world building, but the romance was more insufferable than I could have expected. I didn't even really care about any of the characters - except for a mild liking for Garnet and Annabelle. I did think the fear and politics made it intriguing enough to stand up as a dystopia, and that did keep me reading but... the ending was a cop out and a cheap set up for a series. Will I read the next one? There is a slight possibility - but I think I'll wait for the reviews first, like I should have done with this one.
GIF it to me straight!
[image] Should've known to stay away.
Recommended To:
You know, fans of The Selection would quite possibly like this still.
*ARC received at BEA in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of my review....more
Francesca's story for sure has a different vibe than previous Bridgerton books, but I appreciated the change in pace. The spice was nice, and3.5 stars
Francesca's story for sure has a different vibe than previous Bridgerton books, but I appreciated the change in pace. The spice was nice, and the romantic vibes were right on the edge of getting too sappy (on Michael's part) but they didn't cross the line for me.
Overall I enjoyed it! A nice holiday read. I have to say I was curious to pick the series up again knowing what changes they are planning to make to Francesca's story in the Netflix show. It's sure to be interesting... ...more
Wow, the books in this series just get better and better don't they? I enjoyed this one even more than The Titan's Curse, which I honestly wasn5 stars
Wow, the books in this series just get better and better don't they? I enjoyed this one even more than The Titan's Curse, which I honestly wasn't expecting.
There was so much story development, but I mean, there has to be when the two sides finally start fighting. I think the actual battle of the labyrinth was my favorite scene in the book. So much action. Riordan wrote that very well. It was immensely exciting.
So many love triangles in this book. I must admit, I love the addition of Rachel Elizabeth Dare to the book, if only to watch Annabeth get more and more agitated. I was kind of sad though that they didn't develop it but I suppose that will happen in the next book. Which I can't wait for. After reading this book, I must admit, I really love Percy/Annabeth, and I dunno, it might beat out Luke/Annabeth. (Like other fandoms, fanfiction could change this, and I have been reassured there is enough Luke/Annabeth out there to find.)
I'm really curious to know more about Luke, and how things ended up the way they did. But I have that in each book. Please please answer these questions in the last installment!!!
I was surprised Thalia did not come back. I honestly expected her to appear in this book. But I'm *pretty* sure she'll come back in the next. If anything I like her for her spunky, sassy personality.
The birthday scene at the end was priceless. If they ever make movie of this they have to include that or I'll be crushed. Also: Nico is really interesting!! Despite the fact that he's like 11, he is really cool!
Summing Up:
On the whole I feel like this book had way better writing and more unexpected twists than the previous ones. It was definitely very enjoyable.
Ugh, it's not written worse than the others in the series but if there's one thing that irritates me in romance novels, it's when it's super clear botUgh, it's not written worse than the others in the series but if there's one thing that irritates me in romance novels, it's when it's super clear both parties like each other from the start but they make it unnecessarily difficult for themselves by just not having an honest conversation about it. And that then being 100% of the story....more
I loved this one so much. Laugh out loud funny banter and fan yourself spicy scenes. Chemistry on point between well-crafted characters with depth. GrI loved this one so much. Laugh out loud funny banter and fan yourself spicy scenes. Chemistry on point between well-crafted characters with depth. Great vacation read, and I do hope this will be adapted into a movie someday! ...more
Great chemistry between January and Gus, and I honestly wasn't expecting the deeper and darker emotional sides to the stoSo good and very satisfying.
Great chemistry between January and Gus, and I honestly wasn't expecting the deeper and darker emotional sides to the story.
I loved getting to join them on their writing research trips, because it honestly made me appreciate the writing craft even more than I already do. And Emily Henry's skill also showed in all the little alternate stories they made up for the people they encountered - they all sounded like winning concepts that would make for great books.
A great rom-com with fiery chemistry and emotional depth. I want to read more from this author ...more
I couldn't think of a better way to spend another Grecian holiday than to continue with Stephen Fry's mythology series.
Very entertaining and well-writI couldn't think of a better way to spend another Grecian holiday than to continue with Stephen Fry's mythology series.
Very entertaining and well-written. I am a little less attached to the stories of the heroes than the origins of the gods themselves, but still very much enjoyed it. I didn't realize how few of these stories I'd actually read or remembered previously, so I was very engaged throughout.
The way these are written into episodes makes it very easy to start and stop - which for me can be both a blessing and a curse, in this case evidenced by the year long wait I had after originally reading part of it. And after that long I basically needed to restart. Oops....more
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