Genre: Historical Fiction

Review – Pharos

Posted September 29, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Pharos

Pharos

by Alice Thompson

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror
Pages: 160
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

Set in the early nineteenth century, Pharos is a dazzling ghost story from an award-winning author.

A young woman is washed up on the shores of Jacob's Rock, a remote lighthouse island off the coast of Scotland. She does not know who she is or how she got there. She has no memory. The keeper of the lighthouse and his assistant take her in and feed and clothe her. But this mysterious woman is not all that she seems, and neither is the remote and wind-swept island.

Eerily reminiscent of Turn of the Screw and The Others, Pharos is a breathless tale of the supernatural.

Alice Thompson’s Pharos is more or less a novella in length, and it’s a ghost story. It’s a bit of a weird one to classify. It creates a sense of unease and wrongness without being exactly creepy, and I’m not sure it entirely works as a whole. The sexual current between two of the characters comes out of nowhere (though it’s unclear if one of them wants it at all), and the narration and lack of proper dialogue just… don’t quite manage to pull things together. There’s not much to care about.

I’m also not sure about the use of voodoo and the history of slavery as a backdrop to the story, which is written by a Scottish author. The use of voodoo and the tragic lives of enslaved people to create a story of a vengeful ghost just feels rather overdone and tired. Many strange things can haunt a lighthouse — why this?

Some of the atmosphere created is admittedly really good, though, the claustrophobic chokingness of a group of four people who are ultimately trapped together, no matter how crazy things get.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel

Posted August 11, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel

The Nobleman's Guide to Seducing A Scoundrel

by KJ Charles

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 400
Series: The Doomsday Books #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Major Rufus d'Aumesty has unexpectedly become the Earl of Oxney, master of a remote Norman manor on the edge of the infamous Romney Marsh. There he's beset on all sides, his position contested both by his greedy uncle and by Luke Doomsday, son of a notorious smuggling clan.

The earl and the smuggler should be natural enemies, but cocksure, enragingly competent Luke is a trained secretary and expert schemer-exactly the sort of man Rufus needs by his side. Before long, Luke becomes an unexpected ally...and the lover Rufus had never hoped to find.

But Luke came to Stone Manor with an ulterior motive, one he's desperate to keep hidden even from the lord he can't resist. As the lies accumulate and family secrets threaten to destroy everything they hold dear, master and man find themselves forced to decide whose side they're really on... and what they're willing to do for love.

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel is a delight, as usual with KJ Charles’ work. Some years have passed since the previous book, The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, and Luke Doomsday is all grown up and embarking on some scheme of his own. Meanwhile Lord Oxney died, and the new Lord Oxney was raised as a draper’s son and went for a soldier, and Oxney’s family had no idea about the existence of such an heir. Into the tangle go our leads, Rufus and Luke, and of course if they’d communicate properly the story would get resolved far too fast.

Rufus is a delight. He has too much of a temper, of course, and allows himself to explode at people — some of whom richly deserve it, others who don’t (though to his credit he tries very hard not to explode in that case, and to apologise when he’s done wrong).

Luke is a lot less straightforward. Profoundly scarred, inside and out, he doesn’t much trust people and he doesn’t have much of a place in the world (except for in Sir Gareth’s household, where he grew up after his father’s death). He’s pretty amoral by most standards, but he does have his own deeply-felt convictions, once he’s willing to listen to them.

It was lovely to revisit Joss and Gareth a little, through other eyes, and lovely as well to enjoy Luke and Rufus’ story, and get some closure on other characters’ stories from the first book. I did stall a bit in the middle, because I could tell something was about to Go Down, and I wasn’t interested yet. The story obligingly waited for me, and then I tore through it to the end.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Winter Prince

Posted July 17, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Winter Prince

The Winter Prince

by Elizabeth E. Wein

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Pages: 216
Series: The Lion Hunters #1
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

The story of Medraut - strong, skilled, daring, and never to be king...

Medraut is the eldest son of Artos, high king of Britain; and, but for an accident of birth, would-be heir to the throne. Instead, his younger half-brother, Lleu, is chosen to be prince of Britain. Lleu is fragile, often ill, unskilled in weaponry and statesmanship, and childishly afraid of the dark. Even Lleu's twin sister, Goewin, seems more suited to rule the kingdom.

Medraut cannot bear to be commanded and contradicted by this weakling brother who he feels has usurped his birthright and his father's favor. Torn and bitter, haunted by jealousy, self-doubt, and thwarted ambition, he joins Morgause, the high king's treacherous sister, in a plot to force Artos to forfeit his power and kingdom in exchange for Lleu's life. But this plot soon proves to be much more - a battlefield on which Medraut is forced to decide, for good or evil, where his own allegiance truly lies...

It’s really hard to know what to say about Elizabeth E. Wein’s The Winter Prince, because I’m still muddling through what I think about it — even though I’ve read it before. It’s an Arthurian story, written from the point of view of Medraut, reflecting largely on his relationship with his brother (Arthur’s legitimate son), Lleu, and his relationship with his mother, Morgause. Morgause haunts the story, scarring Medraut’s mind as much as on his body.

In a way, a good quarter of the narrative feels like a fever dream (which makes sense, given that Medraut literally has a fever throughout most of it). The relationship between Lleu and Medraut never entirely makes sense, fraught with jealousy and hurt and anger, weighted by things that shouldn’t be said (and which Lleu says anyway).

It’s beautifully written, and the darkness of Morgause’s hold over Medraut is well done. Nobody here is a particularly good person, with a streak of cruelty deep in them all (some of the things Artos does and says to Medraut are not just). As an examination of that cruelty, it’s powerful.

I don’t know if it quite comes together for me fully, but I remember loving the following books quite a lot, and I’m looking forward to revisiting.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Heirs of Locksley

Posted July 7, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – The Heirs of Locksley

The Heirs of Locksley

by Carrie Vaughn

Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 128
Series: Robin Hood Stories #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

We will hold an archery contest. A simple affair, all in fun, on the tournament grounds. Tomorrow. We will see you there.

The latest civil war in England has come and gone, King John is dead, and the nobility of England gathers to see the coronation of his son, thirteen year old King Henry III.

The new king is at the center of political rivalries and power struggles, but John of Locksley--son of the legendary Robin Hood and Lady Marian--only sees a lonely boy in need of friends. John and his sisters succeed in befriending Henry, while also inadvertently uncovering a political plot, saving a man's life, and carrying out daring escapes.

All in a day's work for the Locksley children...

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Heirs of Locksley is a follow-up to The Ghosts of Sherwood, and focuses even more on the children of Robin and Marian. What would they be like? Would they live up to their parents, and try to shape their world? They’re a little more grown-up now than in the previous book, and beginning to step out of the parents’ shadow — and there’s a new king on the throne, which has the potential to complicate everything.

I really liked Vaughn’s take on it, once I settled into what she’s trying to do with these two novellas. The children have to grapple with the legacy of their parents’ legend, and of course that leads them into trouble. In some ways it was all a bit obvious/contrived (of course they would happen to run into that one person, of all the possible people, for example), but it was satisfying nonetheless.

I also enjoyed Vaughn’s author’s note, which is satisfyingly clear about what exactly the Robin Hood legend is and what “historical correctness” is worth, or adherence to how the story “should” be. The truth (as Vaughn knows) is that there’s never been a single unifying Robin Hood story, much as Disney makes people think otherwise. It was always a handful of stories, tattered round the edges and not always fitting together. That’s part of the joy of it, and Vaughn adds a worthy little square to the tapestry.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – We Only Kill Each Other

Posted May 31, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – We Only Kill Each Other

We Only Kill Each Other

by Stephanie Phillips, Peter Krause, Ellie Wright, Troy Peteri

Genres: Crime, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction
Pages: 136
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

With World War II on the horizon, Nazi sympathizers and fascists have taken root on American soil in alarming numbers, intending to push the U.S. towards and alliance with Germany.

When the lone hope of stopping the American Nazi movement falls to Jewish-American gangsters currently entrenched in a violent turf war, the gangsters find that there’s only one thing they hate more than each other: Nazis.

We Only Kill Each Other is set during the run-up to World War II, featuring two Jewish characters who are asked to use their skills (beating people up, intimidation and other forms of violence) to defuse the Nazi presence in their city in the US. They’re at loggerheads, however, and make unlikely allies.

It’s not a period I read much about, and as the narrative makes clear, there are no heroes here — these guys are not upstanding normal citizens, but a thug and a gang boss who happen to be Jewish. I read it more because it was there and I could read it for free than out of interest in the story based on the summary, so it’s worth keeping in mind that I’m not exactly the target audience.

And indeed, I found it mostly just… alright? The characters bonded in the end (because of course), and they did indeed manage to beat the Nazis (good) at least in this limited way (thwarting an assassination that would’ve been great for them). The art and writing were okay, but nothing that stood out. I admit to very little knowledge about the quality of the representation of the Jewish characters and whether it plays into any stereotyping.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – The Ruin of a Rake

Posted May 30, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Ruin of a Rake

The Ruin of a Rake

by Cat Sebastian

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 336
Series: The Turner Series #3
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Rogue. Libertine. Rake. Lord Courtenay has been called many things and has never much cared. But after the publication of a salacious novel supposedly based on his exploits, he finds himself shunned from society. Unable to see his nephew, he is willing to do anything to improve his reputation, even if that means spending time with the most proper man in London.

Julian Medlock has spent years becoming the epitome of correct behavior. As far as he cares, if Courtenay finds himself in hot water, it's his own fault for behaving so badly—and being so blasted irresistible. But when Julian's sister asks him to rehabilitate Courtenay's image, Julian is forced to spend time with the man he loathes—and lusts after—most.

As Courtenay begins to yearn for a love he fears he doesn't deserve, Julian starts to understand how desire can drive a man to abandon all sense of propriety. But he has secrets he's determined to keep, because if the truth came out, it would ruin everyone he loves. Together, they must decide what they're willing to risk for love.

Cat Sebastian’s The Ruin of a Rake completes her usual trick of taking a character who seemed unlikeable (or at least very deeply flawed) and making him the hero. Here she takes Courtenay (last seen in The Lawrence Browne Affair) and reveals the things that make him who he is, and the ways in which he’s trying to do better.

It also introduces us to Julian Medlock, who has his own problems — not least his desire to be respectable above almost all else, and thus the way he stays away from anything that looks like feelings. Asked by his sister to help rehabilitate Courtenay’s reputation (to allow him to see his nephew), Julian gives in, and quickly finds himself attracted to Courtenay, and tempted to do things that aren’t at all respectable.

It works because there’s genuine chemistry between the characters, and there are things which go a lot better than I feared when I first read them (like Julian taking over Courtenay’s finances). There are also some obvious points of contention that I realised were going to happen waaay before they did, which could’ve maybe been a little more subtle. I appreciated the hints at Courtenay’s reformation, like the fact that he isn’t drinking (but we don’t get told that right away).

There is a stupid nitpicky thing that I’ve definitely been informed is stupid and nitpicky, but it’s one of those things where it’s something you know well or which is a special interest, and you just can’t ignore it being wrong. Julian’s malaria is fairly well portrayed in general, actually: it’s correct that there are forms of malaria that can recur lifelong (caused by Plasmodium vivax or P. ovale: they can exist in a form called hypnozoites, in an infected person’s liver, and recur from there without a new mosquito bite, sometimes years later).

…Unfortunately, neither of them have the 24-hour recurrence of fever which Julian so clearly describes (which would indicate P. chabaudi or P. knowlesi, neither of which have hypnozoites nor would be plausible for Julian to contract). The regularity of the recurrent fevers is pretty diagnostic of which kind of malaria parasite you’ve contracted, and the description of Julian’s infection doesn’t match anything real. I know nobody else cares, but I do, and it was extremely distracting. It’s not something that would bother most people!

Overall, I had a good time, regardless. Julian blossoms from where he starts, and Courtenay is more of a dear than he appeared in The Lawrence Browne Affair.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Honey & Pepper

Posted April 15, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Honey & Pepper

Honey & Pepper

by A.J. Demas

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 222
Series: When In Pheme #1
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Newly freed from slavery, Nikias is making a life for himself in the bustling city of Pheme, working at a snack stand, drinking with a group of anti-slavery radicals, and pining for the beautiful law clerk next door. When he sees his crush attacked in the street by an outraged ex-client, it seems it’s finally Nikias’s chance to be the hero.

Kallion doesn’t need a rescue. What he really needs is a skewer of octopus fritters (with extra sauce) and a friend. Nikias can supply both, and maybe, with the help of Nikias’s skill in the kitchen and Kallion’s excellent collection of wine, they can fight past their misunderstandings and the disasters of their pasts to something deeper.

But when civil unrest roils the city and old threats resurface, the trust these two have built will be tested. And they’d both better hope that Kallion’s vicious former master will just stay dead.

Honey & Pepper is a standalone m/m romance and also the first book in the When in Pheme series set in an imaginary ancient world.

I really enjoyed A.J. Demas’ Honey & Pepper. I wasn’t sure if I would, due to the initial misunderstanding (both because it revealed that Nikias had some kind of shame about his desires, and because I wasn’t looking forward to the two of them angsting about it). But I gave it a chance anyway, and was glad: Nikias swiftly comes to realise he was rude, and that also makes clear his character as someone who is willing to be wrong, willing to think, willing to self-examine. And Kallion, for his part, forgives easily enough, because the two of them are in a situation created by the fact that they have both been slaves, and they understand how that shapes you.

Nikias is fairly straightforward as a character — his heart is well and truly on his sleeve. Kallion took longer to open up, but fortunately it didn’t happen as a third-act breakup or something like that. Instead, a plot that was already hinted at comes to the fore, and wraps things up enjoyably.

I enjoyed both Nikias and Kallion’s characters, and their interactions: the way that Nikias sweetly takes charge because that’s what Kallion needs/wants, and the positive communication between them (mostly from Nikias, but I don’t think there’s ever much doubt about Kallion’s needs and wants, even if he’s less clearly verbal about them). They work well as a couple, and I liked the supporting characters, too.

The villain of the piece is a bit unsubtle, and that part is all very black-and-white; in such a short book, there isn’t really time to add more depth, I suppose, but beside Kallion and Nikias, it felt a bit pantomime villain-y.

One thing to note, though: while slavery isn’t romanticised, there’s a touch of romanticisation of some of the slave-owning characters. I think that’s addressed somewhat by Nikias’ firm opinions on the matter (including that he is clear that he loved his master, and still thinks his master acted wrongly), and Kallion also comments on the fact that past inaction matters somewhat in the balance (though he isn’t talking directly about the owning of slaves). Still, one of the female characters is rather lionised for deciding to free her slaves and invest in the businesses of freedmen, but prior to that she did put up with an awful lot of slavery and mistreatment of slaves without doing anything about it. It feels like a little bit of a blind spot to me.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Britannia, vol 1

Posted March 24, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Britannia, vol 1

Britannia

by Peter Milligan, Juan José Ryp, Jordie Bellaire

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 112
Series: Britannia #1
Rating: one-star
Synopsis:

On the fringes of civilization, the world's first detective is about to make an unholy discovery...

Ruled by the Fates. Manipulated by the Gods. Commanded by Caesar. In the year 65 A.D., one's destiny was not his own. At the height of Nero's reign, a veteran of Rome's imperial war machine has been dispatched to the farthest reaches of the colonies to investigate unnatural happenings... In the remote outpost of Britannia, Antonius Axia – the First Detective – will become Rome's only hope to reassert control over the empire's most barbaric frontier... and keep the monsters that bridge the line between myth and mystery at bay...

I’m not entirely sure what to make of some of the very positive reviews of Britannia. I really didn’t get along with it, but I guess it’s a matter of taste. Personally, I found that it was very heavy on male-gazey stuff (did we really need to see multiple terrified naked or near-naked women? methinks someone’s kink is on show), and while the art tells the story well, it wasn’t a style I really enjoyed, and sometimes I had trouble telling the characters apart.

As far as the plot goes… well. I’m very eyebrow-raise-y about the concept of the Vestal Virgins having a special codex that mostly teaches you how to be Sherlock Holmes (but has maybe a few magical effects as well? hard to tell how seriously to take those screens and whether there’s some metaphors going on there). Referring to Antonius as the “detectioner” just… cringe. I cringed deep in my soul.

And it didn’t feel totally coherent, to be honest. What is Orkus exactly? How are the different manifestations related? Obviously these are questions that might well be answered in later volumes, but I just wasn’t sure of the ground we’re starting from.

Overall, there are some bits here that could’ve been intriguing, but in the end, not for me. I won’t continue reading the series.

Rating: 1/5

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Review – Sailor’s Delight

Posted February 5, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Sailor’s Delight

Sailor's Delight

by Rose Lerner

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 172
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Self-effacing, overworked bookkeeper Elie Benezet doesn’t have time to be in love. Too bad he already is—with his favorite client, Augustus Brine. The Royal Navy sailing master is kind, handsome, and breathtakingly competent. He’s also engaged to his childhood sweetheart. And now that his prize money is coming in after years of delay, he can afford to marry her…once Elie submits the final prize paperwork.

When Augustus comes home, determined to marry by the end of his brief leave, Elie does his best to set his broken heart aside and make it happen. But he’s interrupted by one thing after another: other clients, the high holidays, his family’s relentless efforts to marry him off. Augustus isn’t helping by renting a room down the hall, shaving shirtless with his door open, and inviting Elie to the public baths. If Elie didn’t know better, he’d think Augustus didn’t want to get married.

To cap it all off, Augustus’s fiancée arrives in town, senses that Elie has a secret, and promptly accuses him of embezzling. Has Elie’s doom been sealed…or is there still time to change his fate?

Rose Lerner’s Sailor’s Delight is a slow burn, despite being a fairly short book, helped by the fact that there is a real sense of history between the two right from the start. The fact that Elie is Jewish and Brine is a sailor really shapes the story, through the Jewish holiday and Elie’s exploration of his feelings about and obligations toward people are all shaped by his beliefs and experiences as a Jewish man.

I don’t really know how to comment about the portrayal and whether it would satisfy someone looking for specifically Jewish queer romance (especially as Brine is not Jewish), but Rose Lerner has written in the past about being Jewish and the importance of Jewish representation, and I think the whole backbone of this book is about doing that.

The relationship between Elie and Brine is full of yearning. There’s obvious physical attraction as well, but also they obviously think about each other all the time, try to help one another, try to mesh their lives toge­ther, etc. It ends up surprisingly intense very quickly, and yet the steam level for the book is pretty low (no on-page sex).

All in all, it was one I enjoyed, though I needed the right moment for it — the intensity of Elie’s apparently unrequited longing was a bit much for me at one point, so I took a break from the book!

Rating: 4/5

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Review – An Impossible Impostor

Posted January 12, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – An Impossible Impostor

The Impossible Impostor

by Deanna Raybourn

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 336
Series: Veronica Speedwell #7
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. He has a personal request on behalf of his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. After years of traveling the world, her eldest brother, Jonathan, heir to Hathaway Hall, was believed to have been killed in the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa a few years before.

But now a man matching Jonathan's description and carrying his possessions has arrived at Hathaway Hall with no memory of his identity or where he has been. Could this man truly be Jonathan, back from the dead? Or is he a devious impostor, determined to gain ownership over the family's most valuable possessions--a legendary parure of priceless Rajasthani jewels? It's a delicate situation, and Veronica is Sir Hugo's only hope.

Veronica and Stoker agree to go to Hathaway Hall to covertly investigate the mysterious amnesiac. Veronica is soon shocked to find herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past. To help Sir Hugo discover the truth, she must open doors to her own history that she long believed to be shut for good.

I normally race through Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell books, but The Impossible Impostor threw me for a loop. It makes sense that a means was needed to keep Stoker and Veronica’s relationship off-balance, rather than have them settle into anything too blissful… but I wish it wasn’t done via lack of communication and, well, all of this.

It’s not that it’s too surprising that Veronica’s past includes a guy like Spenlove, or that she might even have ended up in that particular sort of relationship with him (I’m trying to avoid spoilers here). But the total lack of communication with Stoker — knowing the cost if the details come out — just… argh. And I didn’t feel that Stoker’s responses to it were entirely consistent.

Anyway, I ended up half-skimming this one, so I would be aware of plot points and important conversations, without being too invested in it. That way, I can give the next book (which someone else has assured me they like better) a try.

Rating: 2/5

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