Today is my 4th Blogaversary. I’m not doing an event or a giveaway but I wanted to say thank you to those who have read, visited, commented and assisted in various ways since I started.
I also wanted to celebrate by posting a review for a ripping good book. A Case of Possession is out on 28 January so this is a little early and might therefore lead to some readerly frustration and calendar watching.
You’re welcome.
Thx again and happy reading!
Kaetrin
Why I read it: I received a review copy.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Magic in the blood. Danger in the streets.
A Charm of Magpies, Book 2
Lord Crane has never had a lover quite as elusive as Stephen Day. True, Stephen’s job as justiciar requires secrecy, but the magician’s disappearing act bothers Crane more than it should. When a blackmailer threatens to expose their illicit relationship, Crane knows a smart man would hop the first ship bound for China. But something unexpectedly stops him. His heart.
Stephen has problems of his own. As he investigates a plague of giant rats sweeping London, his sudden increase in power, boosted by his blood-and-sex bond with Crane, is rousing suspicion that he’s turned warlock. With all eyes watching him, the threat of exposure grows. Stephen could lose his friends, his job and his liberty over his relationship with Crane. He’s not sure if he can take that risk much longer. And Crane isn’t sure if he can ask him to.
The rats are closing in, and something has to give…
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I often feel I’m oblivious to things – in books and what goes on around me. It wasn’t until I started reading a lot of reviews and writing some myself that I even considered such things as pacing and structure in a novel. I think I acknowledged them as existing on one level, but it certainly wasn’t conscious. There is also something about not seeing the authorial hand which is often praised (including by me). But in this case, like a veil being drawn away from my eyes, I saw the structure of the book. For me it was a thing of beauty and something I was very happy to see. I did not find it at all intrusive. When I was reading I didn’t particularly notice but I was thinking one evening (before I finished the book but after I had finished reading for the night) about why I liked the book, beyond the obvious, surface type things. It struck me then that the book has a clever and beautiful structure. Perhaps this is something which is not at all novel for anyone else, but it was particularly so for me, so I wanted to tease out my thoughts about it here. Continue reading
