Teen Tuesday

Star Cursed (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #2) by Jessica Spotswood (Putnam Juvenile hardcover, 18 June 2013).

Star Cursed continues almost immediately after the ending of Born Wicked, so if your memory is as bad as mine, you may want to reread the first book before beginning the second.

Cate Cahill has given in to pressure from the Sisterhood, and has joined them at their headquarters in New London.  She's not at all happy about this, and feels lonely and provincial.  The only student who is sympathetic towards her is her roommate, Rilla.  She's mocked and bullied by Alice, the "leader" of the students. 

Everyone except Sister Cora, the head of the order, seems impatient for Cate's powers as the prophesied Chosen One to manifest.  Cate is pretty sure that it's not going to happen, but she much rather it be her than one of her younger sisters.

Meanwhile, Cate does the expected duties of the Sisterhood:  visiting and providing comfort to the ill, indigent, and imprisoned.  The power of the Brotherhood is growing; even the suspicion of being  a witch is grounds for punishment, and people are disappearing more and more frequency. This book is much more political  than the first, and descriptions of the agonies inflicted, especially against women, by the Brothers are more graphic. 

Spotswood has taken the Seventeenth Century persecution of witches to an extreme in this gripping, read-in-one-sitting novel, but even more chilling are the parallels that can be drawn to today's attempts to wrest power from women.


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to  the Publisher for the e-galley of the book.

Dealing With Druids

Bewitched, Bothered, and Biscotti (Magical Bakery #2) by Bailey Cates (Obsidian  mass market, 31 December 2012).

Katie Lightfoot and her friend Declan are having a breakfast picnic in the park  when they spot a man lying under the bushes.  Upon further investigation, they realize the man is no longer alive, and call the police.

Fortunately, Katie's friend Detective Peter Quinn is assigned to the case.  Unfortunately, he has a new partner named Franklin Taite, who Katie doesn't quite trust.

The dead man turns out to be Lawrence Eastmore, an art instructor at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and a member of an exclusive men's club called the Dragohs, as their president Heinrich Dawes informs her.  Katie's friend Steve, who happens to be Heinrich's son, inadvertently reveals that the Dragohs are also druids who are obsessively protective of their privacy.

Although Katie has already decided she won't involve herself in any more murder cases, she is drawn into it anyway.

There's definitely no sophomore slump here; this is a fantastic sequel to Brownies and Broomsticks.  It helps to have read that book first, but it's not necessary.   The volume also contains a few recipes from Katie's Honeybee Bakery.




FTC full disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for a review copy of the book.  

Backwards in Time...

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2) by Deborah Harkness.

One of the downsides of reading the first book of a planned series is waiting the many, slowly-passing months (sometimes years) until the second book is released.  Anxious fans of Diana and Matthew de Clermont are finally able to learn what happens after the cliffhanger ending of A Discovery of Witches.

Shadow of Night picks up immediately after the newlyweds time-jump back to Sixteenth Century England.  The purpose of their return is to find Ashmole 782, the magical manuscript that slipped out of Diana's hands in the 21st Century, as well as to find someone to to train Diana in witchcraft.  The reader might expect thoroughly modern Diana to have more trouble adjusting to the relatively primitive lifestyle, but she seems to have few problems.  And as a historian, Diana is in heaven, delving into the study of alchemy and revelling in experiencing what she'd previously (later?) only read about.

Both Diana and Matthew intellectually understand the necessity of not changing history through their actions, but they find it difficult not to apply their modern sensibilities to Elizabethan life. As Matthew already existed in the earlier time, he already has a home, a job, and contacts, making slipping in somewhat easier than it would be otherwise, although some of his sharp-eyed associates do note some behavioral inconsistencies.

 Both characters are more fully developed here than in the previous installment, and gone is Diana's emotional similarity to the lovesick Bella Swan.  The Elizabethan Diana, despite being in an unfamiliar environment and more dependent on her husband for behavioral guidance, seems more self-assured and less inclined to put up with Matthew's autocractic ways and secrecy.

Deborah Harkness

An interesting way of reminding the reader that the couple does not belong in the 16th Century is including chapters that describe what their families are doing in their present.  There are many, many characters in each of the places where the Roydons (as they are known in the past) visit in search of Ashmole 782, and luckily Harkness includes an appendix with lists of characters separated by time/location, though it may have served better at the beginning of the book.

It's fun to hang out with Matthew's cadre of famous 16th Century friends and acquaintances, and the experience of hunting for the manuscript is interesting enough that finding it doesn't feel as urgent as it did in the last book. It is necessary to have read A Discovery of Witches in order to understand Shadow of Night, but the second is a more interesting story.   This one is definitely a book to be read and digested slowly.




*FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher, who sent me a copy of the book for review purposes.

Just finished reading

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

In the world of this book, there are humans and creatures. Creatures are supernatural beings, and there are three types: witches, vampires and daemons. Although there is no open hostility between the three groups of creatures, they do not commingle.

Dr. Diana Bishop is working on a paper at the Bodleian Library in Oxford when she comes across a book which seems to respond to her touch.

The Reading Room of the Bodleian

The last of the Bishops, an august New England family of witches, Diana prefers not to make use of her abilities, maintaining that she wants to succeed as a scholar due to her intelligence and hard work, not magic. Thus, she is somewhat surprised by what happens with Ashmole 728, as the manuscript is called.

She's even more surprised the next day when the library is filled with creatures of all varieties, apparently attracted by the "awakening" of valuable Ashmole 728, which had been missing for centuries. Rushing to escape the magical bedlam, she runs into Dr. Matthew Clairmont, who, though he happens to be a vampire, helps her to elude all those who are suddenly trying to get close to her and therefore, the manuscript.

Diana had returned the book to the stacks, and though she requests it again when she realizes it's importance, it cannot be found. She and Matthew begin to search for it, and as they get to know each other, they fall in love.

Dr. Harkness' universe proves that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to supernatural beings. All three groups are different from each other, and from those described in other literature, though also the same in some respects. The vampires here are quite capable of being in sunlight, although they do survive on blood. Witches (female) and wizards (male) inherit their magic, although they do need to be trained. Not as much concrete information is imparted about daemons here, other than that they can be very powerful, and good or evil (as with all individuals).

Some of the romantic scenes are a bit trite; Diana comes across as a lovesick teenager early in her relationship with Matthew. Once past that, however, Harkness' writing is absorbing, and most of the characters are well-defined. What's important here is the Story, and a compelling one it is.

The ending is something of a cliffhanger, as this is the first volume of a proposed trilogy. The second book in the All Souls Trilogy, Shadow of Night, will be released in July 2012.


The Penguin Group is kindly providing a trade paperback copy of A Discovery of Witches to one of my readers. Please leave a comment below to enter. (Entries from the U.S. only, please.)

*FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher, who sent me a copy of the book for review purposes.

Just finished reading...

Hexes and Hemlines by Juliet Blackwell.*

SFPD Inspector Carlos Romero asks witch Lily Ivory to look at an unusual murder scene on the thirteenth floor of an apartment building. Lily sees several symbols of bad luck: a ladder in front of the door, a broken mirror, a black cat, and an open umbrella. The victim is Malachi Zazi, son of the infamously eccentric "Prince High" Zazi, a self-professed Satanist.

Malachi's doctrine was Rationalism, and to prove it, he started a group called the Serpentarians. The group had thirteen members, who would meet on the thirteenth of the month. Ironically, it's at one of these meetings that Malachi is killed.

Although Lily is at first ambivalent about helping Romero, her curiosity is piqued when her "instructor" Aidan orders her not to get involved.

Lily's investigations of other occult traditions during the course of her investigations, including voodoo and gypsy magic make it obvious that Juliet Blackwell's research has been thorough.

There is definitely a spooky "woo-woo" element in this book, and though I'm not a fan of being scared, the writing and the story were so magnetic that I couldn't put it down.

Lily is a complex and appealing protagonist, and I look forward to seeing more of her.


*FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher, who sent me a copy of the book for review purposes.

Just finished reading...

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

Wow! Is there ever a lot going on in this book!
Sookie is trying to settle down at home after the tragedy in Rhodes (see All Together Dead) with her new housemate Amelia, whose home was destroyed by Katrina.

The book is a series of incidents, rather than having a major plot.

Sookie fills in at the last minute as a bridesmaid for her friend Halleigh, when the original one is rushed to hospital. She learns more about her heritage, and the origin of her gift. And, as usual, she is called upon to act as a mediator for various supernatural communities.

I loved this book. It felt like I was spending a few weeks beside Sookie as she just went about her day-to-day business. She is such a likeable character, so concerned about doing what is right and not hurting people that she gets pulled into situations that she would rather avoid (like looking out for her brother Jason).

I'm eagerly awaiting the the ninth volume of Sookie's adventures.