B.C. Johnson: "Daphne" (ARC Review)

Title: Daphne [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Deadgirl (Book 2.5 of 4)
Author: B.C. Johnson [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Contemporary
Year: 2018
Age: 14+
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Strong, unique twist on classic mythology. Compelling writing.
Cons: Fast romance. It's not always easy to get one's bearings at the beginning of a chapter.
WARNING! Blood, gore and monsters.
Will appeal to: Those who wanted more of Daphne. Those who like unusual creatures. Those who like their human (but resilient) side even more.

Blurb: Daphne is one of the Keres, an ancient line of women from Greek myth. Part Fate, part battlefield Valkyrie, she can sense violence and death wherever she goes. After Daphne transforms into a monster and is taken away by her family at the end of "Deadgirl: Ghostlight," she finds herself on a journey of fear, flight, and self-discovery. Hounded by monster hunters and her own inner demons, Daphne must find a way to cope with who and what she is, or lose her mind and soul forever to the Beast within. Who's more dangerous: the hunters, or the monster? (Amazon excerpt)

Review:  First off...DISCLAIMER: I received this novella from the author in exchange for an honest review. And the author being B.C. Johnson, you all know I've been campaigning for his first Deadgirl book with all my might since 2012, when the original version came out. Also, B.C. Johnson and me have stayed in touch, if sporadically, for the whole time. I'm not what you would call a friend of his though, only a fan of his work. And an unbiased one. As usual, this review is the love child of my penchant for quirky, uniquely worded books and B.C. Johnson's ability to deliver them.

DOUBLE FACE

For a character whom we didn't see much of in the Deadgirl series (except in Book 2), Daphne sure is a pivotal one - and, Lucy aside, the most unique of the bunch. The blurb mentions her being "part Fate, part battlefield Valkyrie", but she also calls herself a Harpy at some point. Either way, she's a welcome detour from your usual supernatural creatures. But more than anything, it's her monster/human duality that fascinates the reader. A literal duality in this case, with the two entities (for lack of a better word) fighting for control. Like Lucy in Deadgirl: Ghostlight, Daphne will have an epiphany about herself that is, hands down, the best part of the story - heartbreaking and epic at the same time. Johnson is never afraid to have his characters suffer, yet fight (and sometimes win, if at a high cost) even in the face of despair, and each and every time, what comes out of it is a work of art, and of - sometimes funny, often tragic, always epic - beauty. [...]

Seanan McGuire: "Down Among the Sticks and Bones"

Title: Down Among the Sticks and Bones [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Wayward Children (1st of 8? books)
Author: Seanan McGuire [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural (technically it would be Portal Fantasy, but since I don't have a Fantasy Room on the blog, I decided to shelf this one as Supernatural - that's the closer I could get)
Year: 2017
Age: 14+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: An imaginative look-in-reverse at one of the most common fantasy tropes. Explores themes of gender issues and roles, and validates all the different shades in which femininity comes.
Cons: It's difficult to accept that kids would feel at home in such a harsh, unforgiving world.
WARNING! A vampire who sounds like a sexual predator; a murder; some gore.
Will appeal to: Everyone who's ever felt out of place, but doesn't necessary dream of a happier world than the one they live in...

Blurb: Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter - polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline. Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter - adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you've got. They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you [for] a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: I have already detailed, while reviewing Book 1, my love/hate relationship with this series...if you need to brush it up, it's in the last paragraph of my EHAD review, "BOOK OF (SELF) RULES". So take my ratings with a grain of salt - there's a lot to love in these stories, and they ARE unique, which is a great achievement in itself. With that out of the way, let's get to the actual review...

WHAT WOMEN WANT

Some reviewers have lamented the heavy-handed approach to Jack and Jill's home life description in the first quarter of the book - all the telling-not-showing and whatnot. I have to confess I didn't particularly notice it, though I do understand where they're coming from. As a (dark) fable - and a short one at that - I think the omniscient narrator style suited the book...and I say "the book" because it doesn't really stop once the sisters find their door. Also, Chester and Serena (while of course an EXTREME example of bad parenting) are the epitome of all the wrong assumptions, the nonsensical expectations, the rigid roles that society - and, yes, family too, sometimes - tries to force upon us from a very young age. I also found interesting how, even if the twins would switch roles if they could (which they will do once in the Moors), those roles would come with nuances their parents (or society) can't even begin to comprehend. Like, Jill would still like sports and spaceships and superheroes, only in a fancy dress (Part II, Ch.7). To be honest, the first section of the book is my favourite, with all its social commentary and validation of all things female, whichever form they take. And if it's hammered upon us a little, it's just because we STILL. DON'T. LISTEN. ENOUGH. [...]

Seanan McGuire: "Every Heart a Doorway"

Title: Every Heart a Doorway [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Wayward Children (1st of 8? books)
Author: Seanan McGuire [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural (technically it would be Portal Fantasy, but since I don't have a Fantasy Room on the blog, I decided to shelf this one as Supernatural - that's the closer I could get)
Year: 2016
Age: 14+
Stars: 3.5/5
Pros: An imaginative look-in-reverse at one of the most common fantasy tropes. A few diverse characters (especially when it comes to the sexuality spectrum).
Cons: You have to suspend your disbelief for things that largely transcend the premise...
WARNING! Gruesome murders/disposing of bodies.
Will appeal to: Everyone who's ever felt out of place, but doesn't necessary dream of a happierworld than the one they live in...

Blurb: Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere...else. Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced...they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the Home, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things. No matter the cost. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: Before I start, a couple of things:

• this is one of the rare mainstream series I read...the premise was too juicy to pass it up 😉.
• I'm pretty much cover-blind, but HOW STUNNING IS THIS ONE? It even has the title crossing the door...it's so subtly done that I haven't noticed for a long time. And the sequels? All these covers are a work of art 😃. (Later edit: ...wait, WHAT?!? the Spanish version title doesn't do the door-crossing thing?!? ARE THESE PEOPLE FRIGGIN' JOKING?!?).

ALL THE DARK PLACES

There are lots and lots of portal fantasy stories around, whether in book or movie form. What sets McGuire's vision apart from all those is that, with this book (and series), she tries to answer two questions that (to the best of my knowledge) no one else ever did before: what happens to these kids when they come back from their adventures? and why the worlds they visited chose them in the first place? Now, the way these questions are answered is both satisfying and infuriating. It makes sense that those kids wouldn't be able to adjust back to the "real" world, especially since no one around them will ever believe their side of the story. But to some extent, all the worlds they visited are harsh and unforgiving, or even downright cruel. In Ch.3, Jack explains:

"For us, the places we went were home. We didn't care if they were good or evil or neutral or what. We cared about the fact that for the first time, we didn't have to pretend to be something we weren't. We just got to be. That made all the difference in the world."

I get it, but I don't get it. The price for their freedom was still too high to me - the worlds that made them at home too dark, and more often than not, just a different kind of cage. Then again, I plaud McGuire for her inventive and - well - guts. Even if I have trouble suspending my disbelief, I can see how the way she imagines these portals is far more nuanced and interesting than if they were mere playgrounds where to have a grand adventure and maybe live happily ever after. [...]

Jeri Smith-Ready: "Let It Bleed"

Title: Let It Bleed [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: WVMP Radio (free-download novella - book 3.5 of 4. See Jeri Smith-Ready's site)
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Year: 2012
Age: 18+ (though Jeri's site actually says 16+, but I think the whole series would be better handled by more mature readers. All the more so because of what stated in the Cons below).
Stars: 3/5
Pros: Original take on the overused vampire theme. Interesting, mostly tridimensional characters.
Cons: Abundance of gore. A graphic sex scene. Nonetheless...slightly boring.
Will appeal to: Those who like this series...duh.

Blurb: Con artist-turned-radio-station-manager Ciara Griffin hopes to settle into a normal un-life as a fledgling vampire. But Ciara’s best friend mourns her like she’s dead instead of undead, and her own maker clearly wishes she’d never been born (again). Worst of all, hippie vampire DJ Jim has murdered a pair of humans - humans who share Ciara’s true last name. Ciara finds herself face to face with her Irish Traveller cousins, a not-so-welcome family reunion that might hold the key to Ciara’s anti-holy blood. Jim’s spiral into madness makes Ciara an unwilling prize in his deadly feud with Shane. As Ciara clings to what’s left of her humanity, she’ll need her new vampire strength - and old con artist cunning - now more than ever. (Jeri Smith-Ready site excerpt)

Review: So, well - the cat is out of the box. I was extremely careful not to spoil anything in my review of Bring on the Night (the previous chapter of this series), but since the very blurb for this one is a tattle-tale, there's no point in being cryptic anymore. So Ciara got vamped in the end. And as those who read BOTN will already be aware, it only beat to be truly dead. She had to make a choice between relinquishing her life or losing her humanity, and she painfully did. So now she has to live (erm, un-live?) with the aftermath of that.
A necessary premise to my review. This novella was originally intended to be the official fourth installment in the saga, which meant getting its own paperback status. But for reasons that the author herself states here, it came out as a free-download novella instead. While I can only commend Jeri's decision, and thank her for the hard work poured into a no-profit (to this date) project just in order to comply with her own trade honesty, I have to be honest myself on the other hand. I didn't find LIB nearly as exciting as the rest of the series so far. Maybe it was to be expected, given the rough path this story had to travel and the unusual format. Of course, many of my fellow readers have enjoyed it nonetheless. Me, not so much. [...]