Tag: supernatural

Book Review | Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Posted April 5, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentions—#1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up to Vicious.

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I read Vicious, the first book in the series, and loved it. I wanted more of the story.

The Quotes

“How many men would she have to turn to dust before one took her seriously?”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a human versus a human or a human versus an EO or an EO versus an EO. You do what you can. You fight, and you win, until you don’t.”

“The next time you point a gun at someone, make sure you’re ready to pull the trigger.”

“The life I had is gone. There’s no getting it back. I’d rather make a new one. A better one. One where I don’t have to pretend to be weak to survive.”

My Thoughts

I didn’t like this book as much as the first one. I loved the characters, and still do, but there were so many plot holes and issues with the story this time around that were really convenient and annoying. The storytelling style with the jumping timelines was also an issue; it was very confusing and tedious to get through.

The catalyst of the story was stupid, in my opinion, because Victor justified doing many bad things by saying that he was trying to cover their tracks, but that doesn’t make sense at all because anyone with any common sense would realize that it’s exactly what would bring attention to them. I also didn’t like how conveniently things were resolved in the end during the boss battles. I still love Sydney and Mitch, and I think June is a very interesting new character. I want to know what happens to them in the next book, but I’m not looking forward to slogging through the jumping timelines storytelling style, and if the plot is going to have issues like in this book, I don’t know if it’s going to be worth it. I truly hope it gets better.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley

Posted February 9, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley

In this spirited sequel, The Rook returns to clinch an alliance between deadly rivals and avert epic—and slimy—supernatural war.

When secret organizations are forced to merge after years of enmity and bloodshed, only one person has the fearsome powers—and the bureaucratic finesse—to get the job done. Facing her greatest challenge yet, Rook Myfanwy Thomas must broker a deal between two bitter adversaries:

The Checquy—the centuries-old covert British organization that protects society from supernatural
threats, and…
The Grafters—a centuries-old supernatural threat.

But as bizarre attacks sweep London, threatening to sabotage negotiations, old hatreds flare. Surrounded by spies, only the Rook and two women, who absolutely hate each other, can seek out the culprits before they trigger a devastating otherworldly war.

STILETTO is a novel of preternatural diplomacy, paranoia, and snide remarks.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #3: More than 40 chapters)
2024 Finishing the Series Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge

The Reason

It’s the second book in the Checquy Files, and I loved the first one!

The Quotes

“Plus, anyone who wants to clone himself is usually an asshole. You don’t want any more of those running around than absolutely necessary.”

“You’re a tool, to be used and directed for the good of the people. Sometimes you’ll be a scalpel, cutting out disease. Sometimes you’ll be a sword, and you’ll take on threats with all the strength you can muster. And sometimes, Odette, you’ll be a stiletto, a hidden weapon that slides quietly into the heart.”

“I’ll tell you what, if, after fifteen years, you still think you hate her, we’ll do something about it.”

“We’ve had plenty of skeletons in our closets,” continued Thomas. “Hell, one of our Rooks was a skeleton. And he was in the closet as well, come to think of it.”

The Narrator

Moira Quirk. I liked this narrator more than the first, but the editing left a lot of empty space between chapters, which confused me a bit.

The Characters

Myfanwy Thomas is still one of the characters in this book, but she’s not as prominent. It seems like she’s more of a background character, with a few chapters that highlight her POV. I still love her, and I love seeing her when she appears in the book, but there are two other main characters in this book.

Odette, a member of the Grafters – a rival organization to the Checquy that’s been at war with them for centuries with a lot of bad blood between them. And Felicity, a pawn in the Checquy, who’s been tasked with being a guard/protector to Odette.

The Grafters and the Checquy were enemies, but Myfanwy is now trying to broker an alliance between the two organizations, and Odette and Felicity have to work together.

My Thoughts

I wish there was more of Myfanwy’s presence in this book, but I do love Odette and Felicity, and I find them both fascinating in each of their very unique ways. I enjoyed the history lessons about the two organizations and the bad blood between them, it wasn’t tedious for me at all. I also loved the background stories of both Odette and Felicity, and how they got to where they are. I loved how they each had their moments of shining with their very interesting talents and abilities.

Spoiler
I couldn’t believe it when Rook Gestalt was revealed to still be in play! It complicates the plot for sure, and makes the story a lot more interesting! I’m also really looking forward to see what happens in the third book, because I’m sure with Gestalt in play, it’s going to be dangerous for Myfanwy and the Checquy. Gestalt is one of the most interesting characters I’ve come across, so I really want to see what happens with the kind of ability they have.

My Feels

It’s complicated. I feel really impressed with the way each of the relationships are presented here. Between Odette and her former crew, between Felicity and her former crew, between Odette and her ancestors/the higher-ups in the Grafters, between Felicity and Odette. There are so many interlacing relationships and trust circles here, and I loved observing all of them and watching them evolve.

My Rating

5/5 stars. Different from the first book, but just as good in its own way!

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

Posted January 25, 2024 by Haze in Book Reviews / 4 Comments

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

“The body you are wearing used to be mine.”

So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.

Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #29: Published in a Year of the Dragon)
2024 Finishing the Series Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge

The Reason

This book is a reread, and apparently I first read it in 2014, that’s ten years ago! I loved it when I read it back then, but the next books in the series weren’t out yet, and then I forgot about it for a while. The third book was released in 2022, which reminded me how much I enjoyed the first, and I wanted to reread it before moving on to the next two books since I’ve forgotten all the details.

The Quotes

“Yes, Minister, it turns out that there was a mysterious force that caused that plane to crash. We call it gravity.”

“Now, do you mind telling me why you have all these guns lying around? Are you afraid the paperwork will rise up against you?’
‘Oh, no. I’m going to use the guns as paperweights.”

“Checquy statistics indicate that 15 percent of all men in hats are concealing horns.”

“She felt a little pang of fondness for the woman who’d lived in her body. You couldn’t help liking someone who put all this effort into making you feel welcome.”

The Narrator

Susan Duerden. I had a little trouble with this one at first because she’s got a certain kind of inflection that she repeats over and over again, which makes the narration sound weird to my ears. Everything else was great though; the clarity, the volume, and so on. It was just this one thing. However, I did eventually get used to it and didn’t notice it anymore once I got into the story.

The Characters

Myfanwy Thomas is the main character, and she’s interesting because she’s lost her memory, but it’s presented as if she’s a new soul inhabiting another person’s body. It’s very intriguing. I love seeing her grow into herself, and discovering who she is. I like the comparison of her new personality and her old, and seeing that through the expectations of people who knew the old personality.

Rook Gestalt is only one person with four bodies. Yes, you read that right. The book uses “it” for reasons expressed in the book, but it was written in 2012, and I will use “they” to refer to Rook Gestalt. They have three male bodies and one female body, and two of the male bodies are identical twins.

There are several other very interesting characters in the book, but I had to mention Rook Gestalt because a single person with four bodies is just too good a concept, and hopefully that’s enough to make people want to read this book!

My Thoughts

I love the lost memory trope, especially when there are assassins after you, and you have to figure out who you are, what is going on, and who you can trust. I also love the supernatural aspects of the book, the worldbuilding, the different powers the characters have, and finding out how they work. There’s so much mystery and suspense, and also badassery. It’s just so good.

My Feels

The second time reading it was just as wild as my first ride! I’d forgotten a lot, so I didn’t know who the bad guys were and had fun discovering it all over again. There were some gory parts, and it got really thrilling near the end as well, but it was really good pacing overall. Things kept happening, Myfanwy kept discovering new things, and I was kept well on the edge of my seat.

My Rating

5/5 stars. Same as before! I can’t wait to start on the next book!

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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