Longbourn by Jo Baker

From Goodreads

Baker has given me a roller coaster ride. At first I wasn't too interested but then suddenly-invested! I was invested for awhile and then that lulled too. I started to get bored right at what was suppose to be a climax--not a good sign. But then she started this backstory/flashback sequence which interested me again. By the end I was tapping my foot waiting for it to be over.

Baker does a lot of great things. She captures the time period perfectly, she did her research. Historically the events notch in the story elegantly. She uses appropriate language and turn of phrase without weighing down the narrative.

Baker also spins her orginial characters beautifully. Each character is unique and free of stereotypes for the most part, this helps flesh them out into individuals instead of place holders. Sarah is the main character and I actually enjoy her thoroughly. The rest of the staff at Longbourn get fully developed and are interesting in their own ways. What I fault Baker is her understanding of the ladies from Pride and Prejudice.  Jane and Elizabeth seem wrapped. Mr. Wickham is particularly villainous and over the top. Elizabeth, after she is married, does a 180 in her personality. She goes from independent to pressured by society to look good at breakfast. Elizabeth even asks Darcy to fight her battle which is NOT like her at all. Mr. Bennett was more of a central figure in this and he got an "interesting" back story but I did enjoy his character being further developed.

The plot was fully developed but the pacing was too slow to keep my attention. I appreciate details but sometimes it just went overboard. Especially with Jame's back story which initially hooked me again but ended up too heavy. Then the large gaps where the characters went missing were suppose to build suspense (I guess?) but really weakened the plot as a whole because it was about as suspenseful as a gaping ragged whole where you can clearly see the bottom about two feet down. I also did not like how the ending was handled, it was just awkward in my opinion. The content was fine and it was just the kind of ending everyone wanted which I appreciated after reading some other works (not reviewed) this month.

The audience is probably what I call "older mom" age which fine but just not something I am use to. It was fairly clean cut and just a tad scandalous. Overall I give Longbourn 3 out of 5 bonnets.

From Sentimentalbaby on Etsy

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Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor

I am just going to come out and say it: This was fluff. The fluff we were dying to hear about since Days of Starlight and Blood from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy. (Woah, that's a mouth full.) Night of Cake and Puppets tells the story of how Mik and Zuzanna finally met. Of course it was perfect and it helped ease the loneliness from the trilogy being over. 

A brief taste of what you get in this bite sized novella: backstory of Zuze and Karou's friendship, scuppy wishes, dual point of view with Zuze and Mik, and a romantic setting for the backdrop. 

While I enjoyed Mik's point of view, Zuzanna's point of view is so alive and vibrant it's all I wanted. I would read another novel told from Zuzanna's  point of view. Zuze reminded us just how old our characters are. Karou always seems much older but Zuze has more youthful tone. Zuze also makes me fall in love with Prague. 

I give this short, 5 out of 5 puppets because it did exactly what it was suppose to do. I do not recommend this story as a stand alone. 

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Rogues editted by George RR Martin

Here are my brief thoughts about the anthology "Rogues". I picked this collection up because of the authors that I knew-Martin, Flynn, Cornell, Abraham, but the best part about it was finding authors I am excited to get to know. 

 George R.R. Martin “Everybody Loves a Rogue” (Introduction)---It was good, but I skimmed it. 

Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over”---DNF, I just couldn't get into it. It was messy. 

Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?”--- Flynn does not disappoint. Read this one. The main character is well developed, the story has fantastic depth, and it's really twisted. 

Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings”---I actually adored this tale of adventure. Mainly because everyone got exactly what they had coming to them. 

Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig”
Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats”
David Ball “Provenance”

Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties”--- This was okay. The plot was a little thin but the characters were fun. I loved how the club was described and it just painted such a clear picture in my mind which helped immerse into the story when the plot failed to snag me.  

Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane”---DNR
Bradley Denton “Bad Brass”---DNR
Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal”---DNR
Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love”---DNR

Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die”---DNF, Library automatically returned my digital copy. From what I did get to read, I was really confused. 

Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre”---DNR
Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories”---DNR
Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila”---DNR 
Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere”---DNR

Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”--- This was Sherlock Holmes style tale but I found it lacking. The beginning had a lot of potential but the execution wasn't very good. The main character was so boring and predictable. The Sherlock Holmes of the tale had none of Sherlock Holmes' deductive skills. I don't recommend this one.

Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” ---I was surprised by really liking this one. It was unique. The Marquis' brother was the only thing I didn't really get but I understand this universe is larger than this short story. I will be reading more from Neil Gaiman.

Connie Willis “Now Showing”--- Yes. This had some conspiracy, mystery, romance, and a wonderful rogue.  You should give this one a chance. I will be picking up more material from Willis. 

Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree” ---DNR (Ugh! I heard this one was the best)

George R.R. Martin "The Rogue Prince, or, A King's Brother"---This is a history piece for Song of Fire and Ice. Read it if you are familiar with Song of Fire and Ice. It could stand alone but you might not care as much about the universe. I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would. 

So I wasn't able to get through everything before I had to return it to the library. I might check it out again after I read a couple novels. 

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