Book Reviews: Series Books and Readalikes

Consider this a corollary to my general series on 50 Shades readalikes, as most of these books were read in the course of that project. Some spoilers below.

Entwined with You, Sylvia Day (2013)

This book is the third (but NOT LAST) in the Crossfire series. As I got farther and farther in to the book, I kept thinking about how many loose ends Day seemed to be leaving and wondering how on earth she was going to bring them all to a satisfactory conclusion within the bounds of the supposed trilogy. It turns out she's not even going to try--the series will be a quintet. And I am fine with that! I enjoyed the book quite a lot, and still believe that Crossfire should be the first stop for most readers who are looking for 50 Shades readalikes.

Grade: A-

Entwined with You brings Eva and Gideon closer together, even as it increases the number of strains on their relationship, including but not limited to: exes, nosy detectives, tabloids, suggestive music videos, parental affairs of the heart, and of course FEELINGS.


Beautiful Stranger, Christina Lauren (2013)

This is a follow-up to Beautiful Bastard and has appearances by Bennett and Chloe, but the focus is on Chloe's friend Sara Dillon and the notorious British womanizer Max Stella, with whom she enjoys an heated (but anonymous) encounter at a club. Max is left with a sexy video of Sara dancing to obsess over, and only pure luck enables him to find out who she is and pursue her. Sara has recently left a cheating ex to start a new life in New York City, and forming an attachment to anyone, no matter how charming and sexy, is not on her agenda. For his part, Max is extremely gratified--at the beginning--to have found a woman who wants nothing more than to meet with him once a week and have sex in near-public locations. They also make a habit of recording their encounters with a camera. Although their original agreement might have been no-strings-attached, both Sara (determined not to be vulnerable) and Max (feeling like he wants to pursue a real relationship for the first time in a long time) know that there's something more between them than lust. But when some of their revealing photos are stolen and released to the tabloids, Sara must decide whether she can truly trust Max's intentions.

Grade: A-

This series totally has my number. Give me more! It's not a true readalike for 50 Shades, but it is a lot of fun and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.


The Red Diary, Toni Blake (2004)

As you can probably tell by the cover redesign, this book was reissued in January 2013 with an eye toward the Fifty Shades of Grey market. Unfortunately, although it's a fine romance with more strongly drawn minor characters than usual, it's not a great readalike for the EL James series. The Red Diary is the story of Lauren Ash, a wealthy accountant who will someday inherit the lucrative family business. Nick is a working-class painter whose father once owned half of the Ash company. Nick blames Lauren and her family for all the pain and heartache his family has gone through since his mother's death, including his father's alcoholism and its tragic consequences. When he stumbles upon a journal of her private sexual fantasies during a job painting her house, Nick thinks he's found the perfect way to take revenge. But Nick finds that being intimate with Lauren leads to pesky FEELINGS about Lauren as well as dimming his desire for revenge. Soon he has to decide whether to come clean about violating her privacy and risk their fledgling relationship. For her part, Lauren believes that she and Nick have a spiritual connection that allows him to bring her fantasies to life, and she tries to draw him out about his life and experiences. Can she recover when it turns out that he's not really the man she thought she fell in love with?

Grade: B-

There's some wealth and there's a lot of sex, a little of it kinky, and the hero does have a tragic past, but to me it just didn't feel like a 50 Shades readalike. Perhaps because the social positions are reversed and she is the wealthy and powerful one?


The Revenge of Lord Eberlin, Julia London

This is the follow up to The Year of Living Scandalously, which so aggravated me by not resolving the mystery that it set out in its first pages. Guess what? The Revenge of Lord Eberlin doesn't solve the mystery of the missing Ashwood jewels either, although it does advance the solution somewhat. Lord Eberlin, AKA Tobin Scott, returns to Hadley Green to get revenge on Lily Boudine, who is now the Countess at Ashwood. Tobin believes that Lily, who was eight at the time of the jewels' theft, is responsible for his innocent father's death--and he's determined to take the entire Ashwood estate down with the wealth and power that he's gained as a weapons dealer. As in The Red Diary, Tobin and Lily fall in love and she must decide whether it's worth being shunned by Society to be with a man who purchased a Danish title (*gasp*). London portrays Lily as primly self-conscious of Society at some times, and blithely uncaring at others, such as when she--an unmarried woman of quality--goes to dine with Tobin alone at his house. Inconsistencies like these, in addition to all the mentions of the "mud" inside Tobin's soul, AND THE FACT THAT THE DAMN MYSTERY IS STILL UNSOLVED, left me unsatisfied.

Grade: C+

I didn't realize before I put them next to each other that The Red Diary and The Revenge of Lord Eberlin were so similar, despite their settings. WEIRD. So let's call them readalikes.

It remains to be seen whether I'll be reading the next book. Someone please read it first and tell me if the missing jewels mystery is finally solved.

Book Review: Bared to You and Reflected in You [2012]

I recently spent a good chunk of time combing the internet to see what other librarians and readers were recommending as readalikes for the 50 Shades series.* Of the fifty sources I reviewed, more than half cited Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series (thus far consisting of Bared to You and Reflected in You, with Entwined with You due for publication in June of this year) as a recommendation for people who have finished the EL James books and are looking for something similar. I can see why: they both feature controlling, wealthy men and women who are recent college graduates. Like Christian and Ana, Gideon and Eva find an almost instantaneous, obsessive, and all-consuming love as they navigate their new relationship and face demons from the past.

The primary difference between the series is Eva herself. Unlike Ana, she is not virginal or naïve. She is strong and sure of herself; she’s been through hell and therapy and knows her own limitations, even if she sometimes can’t help giving in to them. Like the 50 Shades books, Day’s series is written in the first person from the heroine’s perspective, but for the most part she eschews statements such as “He was just so . . . male” (Bared to You, 27) that recall the eyeroll-inducing phrases that were the hallmark of the James trilogy. Some spoilers in the review that follows. After graduation, Eva Tramell moves to New York City, across the country from her loving father, in order to take an advertising job and start living her dreams. She has the support of her bisexual best friend Cary and luxuries provided by her mother and stepfather, which unfortunately also come with extreme, stalkerish overprotectiveness. A chance collision with business mogul Gideon Cross knocks her flat and kindles an instant attraction, but when he later propositions her, she turns down his offer. After he pursues a more than sexual relationship, she relents. What begins as a theoretical “no strings” relationship soon evolves into something much more complex and shattering. Like Christian Grey, Gideon is haunted by events from his past, including his father’s suicide and sexual abuse. Gideon and Eva are both self-sufficient survivors who very quickly find themselves caught up in a whirlwind that includes episodes in which they trigger each other’s deepest fears, roommate drama, ex-lovers, Gideon’s need for control and Eva’s desire for independence, and the return of Eva’s childhood abuser. Despite numerous challenges to their relationship, they work hard to forge something lasting, refusing to give up even when that appears to be the most reasonable course of action. Grade: B Overall, I liked this series rather better than 50 Shades (which I didn’t hate). The writing was much tighter and the main characters seemed to be closer to equal; I liked that Eva has her own wealth and had sexual experience before Gideon. The second book ends with a somewhat startling admission, and it will be interesting to see where Day goes next with the plot. The elements of dominance and submission are subtler than the James trilogy, consisting mostly of conversations about control and Gideon’s assertion that Eva wants him to have total control of her pleasure, which she comes to accept as true. Final word for librarians: If you’ve got someone in front of you who has finished the 50 Shades trilogy and is looking for more, this is a good pick, but not necessarily a something for anyone with triggers around sexual abuse.

ETA: My review of the next book in the series, Entwined with You, is here.

Book Review Index *Full results to be revealed in a later post.

Book Review: A Memory of Light [2012]

There were times, particularly in the late 90s and early 2000s, when I despaired of this moment ever coming to pass. But the publication of A Memory of Light, the fourteenth and final book of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, is finally a reality. This is due in large part to Brandon Sanderson, the author who stepped in to finish where Jordan left off at his death in 2007, as well as the detailed notes left by the man himself. Sanderson recently revealed that the entire epilogue of the book (a little more than twenty pages) consists of Jordan's words, with only cosmetic tweaks from him. There is something very sad about reading the last words of the last book and knowing they were written by a man who has been dead more than five years and will never write again, but it's also cheering to see his legacy completed.

I have not only touched this once-mythical volume, I have consumed all 909 pages. It is difficult for me to separate my emotional reaction (largely relief at the conclusion of this twenty-year reading saga, but some sadness about letting go of favorite characters) and view the book with a critical eye. If possible, I would make this post a review of the series as a whole, but my memory of most of the middle eight or ten books is fuzzy at best. And believe me, I have too much on my plate to re-read those thousands of pages.

A Memory of Light picks up on the precipice of the Last Battle, in which Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, will confront the Dark One for humanity's last chance etc. etc. As pointed out by Marie Brennan (who has done entertaining and informative recaps of each book in the series from the perspective of a critic and author), the chapter entitled "The Last Battle" doesn't happen until page 617. Before that point, there's a lot of distributing characters here and there (thank goodness they figured out how to travel from place to place immediately with the One Power) as the forces of Light try to fend off the Shadow in a variety of locations. If you haven't read any of the books, let me sum up: good vs. evil; lots of characters; magic is called "the One Power" and works differently for men and women; Trollocs are this world's orcs; and there are a lot of nations and rulers and political shenanigans to go with the whole "nothing will grow, the weather is wacky, I'm pretty sure the world is ending" vibe.

The book does become bogged down in the tactical detail of warfare at times, to the point where my eyes glazed over and I was tempted to skip ahead. However, there's also a lot of worthwhile character interaction as people say goodbye and prepare for their likely deaths. There are even some moments of humor among the seemingly endless tide of Trollocs. The story, as usual, is told from numerous points of view, with cameos or mentions given to a vast swath of characters from earlier volumes. As far as I could tell, every "I wonder what happened to that character?" question was addressed in some way or another, which was a nice reward for those of us who have persevered. Overall, I think it was worth the wait.

I enjoyed A Memory of Light, but not as much as I could have. Here's part of the problem: the book has been so long in coming that it wrapped up plot points I couldn't even remember were dangling. Maybe this is a function of the series being so long and filled with characters, but there were cameos for people I simply didn't recognize. I have a variety of issues with the way that Jordan represents male/female interactions, but I will say this for the series: there are a lot of awesome female characters, and we get to spend time from their perspective. This book even went so far as to overtly mention the existence of homosexual males, which is a more than a lot of epic fantasy ever does. For all its flaws, I couldn't put it down. I will purchase it to complete my collection, but I probably won't ever read it all the way through again.

Grade: B

Book Review Index

Book Review: Pale Demon [2011]

I'm a big fan of Kim Harrison's Hollows series featuring Rachel Morgan, so I jumped on the chance to read an advance copy of the ninth in the series, Pale Demon, through NetGalley. This would be the second time EVER that I have read a book entirely in electronic format (the first was Rampant, so the bar was set extremely high), and it ended up being a great way to read the book at even the smallest opportunity! I found myself reading it on my portable device while walking up the stairs at work, while waiting for traffic so I could cross the street, in line at the grocery store . . . possibly in my car while waiting for the light to change (can't confirm that one).

The premise of Pale Demon is deceptively simple: Rachel has to get from Cincinnati to the west coast to get her shunning by the Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards revoked. She can't take the plane, so she ends up road-tripping as Trent's protector--he has reasons of his own to go that direction--along with Ivy and Jenks. What could possibly go wrong on this bizarre reinterpretation of the classic American family experience? Plenty, as the (spoiler) former St. Louis Gateway Arch could tell you, if its rubble could talk.

Although the road trip offers plenty of excitement, the real fireworks start in San Francisco when Rachel makes her case before the witches' council. Her identity as a witch has come farther into question over the last several books, and Pale Demon goes even farther down that path as she battles a day-walking demon released by Trent and saves Al from an attack by her lover, Pierce. Rachel finds herself more and more in sympathy with (some) demons and using ley-line magic to survive and protect those she loves. This, unfortunately, is also the reason she's been shunned by the witches' council. Will Rachel accept her identity as a demon, or end up cutting all her ties with the ever-after?

Grade: A

I was very pleased about the direction of Pale Demon, its cast of characters, and its ambiguous ending. Harrison doesn't let longtime series fans down with a placeholder novel, but instead crafts a narrative that keeps pushing at the boundaries of Rachel's identity and the world as she knows it. I'm eagerly awaiting an opportunity to read the next book!

Random Thoughts:

As far as digital books go, I wouldn't say that I'm completely sold on the format (insofar as , but as the kind of person who always wants to have a book on her person, I am definitely on board with their portability. I will never have to be without a book again! As long as I have enough battery power . . .

My review of the previous book in the series, Black Magic Sanction.


Dead Mother: No
Book Review Index

Book Review: Towers of Midnight [2010]

Towers of Midnight is the thirteenth and penultimate novel in Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time fantasy series. It is the second volume that has been released since Jordan's untimely death with the assistance of (noted doorstop-writer in his own right) Brandon Sanderson. For more on my thoughts on this "collaboration," see my review of the previous volume, The Gathering Storm. After reading Towers of Midnight, I am a little concerned about whether all of the delicate, intersecting plotlines and niggling questions will be wrapped up to everyone's satisfaction, but maybe that isn't necessary. At this point, having spent twenty years with the series, the idea that it might actually soon be complete (expected publishing date for A Memory of Light is spring 2012) is bizarre. The idea that it might be neatly wrapped up is almost unthinkable. Jordan and Sanderson spend this volume getting us prepared for the Last Battle between the forces of good and evil (also true of The Gathering Storm and probably several books before it). I could spend several paragraphs trying to summarize the plot and introduce the characters, but I won't bother, so what follows will probably be unintelligible to people who haven't read at least some of the books in the series. If that's you, just scroll down for the rant portion of this review.

In this volume, we spent much less time with Rand, a relief since his transformation into messiah is almost complete and that makes him not so interesting. Unfortunately, the price was spending many, many pages with Perrin instead. It's not that I dislike Perrin, exactly, but he's always been one of my lesser favorites among the main characters, and I don't really care as much as I apparently should about his struggle to balance wolf and man and accept his new status as a leader of men. Mat, once again, was relegated primarily to a comic relief role, until the very end when he and Thom went in to the Tower of Ghenjei to rescue Moiraine. For an event featured on the cover, the buildup took almost the entire book, and the rescue itself seemed a bit shortchanged as a result. There were some nice moments with Egwene, a few with Elayne and Nynaeve, and Lan's journey across the Borderlands, unwillingly gathering an army as he goes, was good for a few laughs. Aviendha learned about the depressing future of the Aiel. Stuff happened. Some things, like the near-universal misapprehension that Morgase was dead, were even resolved! I am glad to have Moiraine back as a character after an eight-book absence. After learning of Rand's plan to break the the remaining seals on the Dark One's prison, all of the major players and most of the world's armies are assembled by the end of the novel, and everything is ready to go for the last book.

Grade: B

Random Thoughts:

The most notable thing that happened around this book was an interaction I had when I was standing in line at a comic book store. Two guys in front of me were talking loudly about the book and saying "I can't believe Perrin--" At this point, I put my hands over my ears and said a quiet LALALALA to myself until they were done, when the guy closest to me turned to ask me why I was acting as if spoilers for Towers of Midnight might bother me. His tone and line of questioning implied that it was difficult for him to believe that I had read any of the books, much less the most recent one. I assume this was because I am female. When I indicated that yes, I had read them all, and also ascertained that I'd read more Sanderson books than he had, he switched to asking me if I could convince his wife to read Jordan. MAJOR EYEROLL. So let me just say it on this blog, in case someone like this guy is googling someday: Women also read epic fantasy. Some of them have even read more of it than you have. Please let your wife read whatever she wants to read.

One other thing that bothered me was the way Mat's character was constantly sizing up women's breasts and other attributes. Yes, Mat has been known a player, and I guess this might have been to counterbalance the seriousness of his injury at the end of the book, but did he really need to evaluate every woman he encountered? The relationships between men and women and the characterization of women in particular has always bothered me in Jordan's books, and this issue didn't really help that.

All right, bring on the last book. I'm ready.


Book Review Index
Dead Mother: Yes, I suppose

Book Review: The Drowning City [2009]

I picked up Amanda Downum's The Drowning City because several of my review sources were telling me that I really ought to buy the sequel, which was just released last week. I was pleased to find that I had purchased the first book for the library the previous year, though apparently I was the only librarian in western Massachusetts to do so.

The Drowning City (first in the Necromancer Chronicles series) features several female characters' viewpoints, the primary one being that of Isyllt Iskaldur, a foreign necromancer who is sent to the lush river city of Symir to foment rebellion. Symir sits below an active volcano that produces valuable gemstones for the Assari Empire. Isyllt brings with her the mercenary Xinai, a returning native who finds herself joining the rebellion. She also meets and befriends the nineteen-year old apprentice Zhirin, who has connections both to the Empire that controls the city, and to the rebels that seek to topple that control. Other characters include Adam, Isyllt's mercenary guard, and Asheris, a mysterious and attractive southern mage.

Isyllt struggles to understand and manipulate the situation in Symir in an increasingly violent and uneasy atmosphere; some of the rebels, the Dai Tranh, advocate a vicious, no-holds-barred approach, while others protest peacefully. The city rulers attempt to control the situation while fulfilling their required payment to the Empire. As the danger mounts, its unclear whether Isyllt will be successful in her mission, much less leave Symir alive.

Grade: B

I definitely enjoyed the book, although there were a few things I could nitpick, such as Downum's tendency toward sentence fragments. At times it felt like there were too many plotlines, but I was satisfied both by the resolution and by what was left open for subsequent books. With Symir, Downum created a vibrant setting with definite southeast Asian overtones, and it will be interesting to see how The Bone Palace (which I did order, in case anyone was wondering), with an entirely different setting, compares.

ETA: This was my 200th post on the blog. I think I've come a long way since May 2007. 

Book Review Index
Dead Mother: Yes, several