Lady Julia Grey Series (1-3) by Deanna Raybourn

July 21, 2017 ~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ Leave a comment

“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”

I have not been shy about shouting my love for Deanna Raybourn’s books. In the past I have read and reviewed her first two Veronica Speedwell mysteries, A Curious Beginning and A Perilous Undertaking, both of which I feel I gave glowing reviews. Recently I have been a terrible book grump. Every story I have picked up I have ended up disliking even though their themes are up my proverbial alley. So, when I snatched Silent in the Grave off the shelf in the library I can honestly say that I wasn’t anticipating finding much joy in it. Especially not enjoying it so much that I end up reading the first three books in the Lady Julia Grey series in one week.

Whoops.

So, that brings us to today’s post. Today I will be discussing, as a whole, the first three books of Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia Grey series. Honestly, I’m a little hazy on how many books are in this series. When you pull it up on Goodreads it gets into 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 etc. According to Raybourn’s website there are eight books in the series and novellas. Either way, several books, moving on…

Silent in the Grave starts with Lady Julia Grey witnessing her husband collapsing on the floor of their home. He had been ill for some time and Julia had been expecting his death but it was still a shock to her. Julia didn’t expect her husband’s death to be foul play so for the traditional year of morning after his death she was simply the grieving widow and thought nothing more about the circumstances surrounding his passing.

And that is where Lady Grey’s story begins. She along with the investigator Nicholas Brisbane embark on a journey to identify her husband’s killer. I must say that I completely fell in love with the characters in this book. Julia starts off as a shy, wilted thing. A mere shell of her former self. As she continues to investigate her husband’s death a strong and intelligent personality emerges. She is an unconventional woman for her time and she comes to embrace her uniqueness.

There is so much I can say about Silent in the Grave and the next two in the series. All of the characters show such depth. They are well thought out, have a purpose, and each has an unique personality. The mysteries themselves are fabulous. The first book has Julia’s husband’s murder and let me tell you, you will NOT see that ending coming. I never, not once suspected the killer. I reread the big reveal twice to make sure I understood it correctly. Simply amazing.

The next two books are also fantastic. Murder, mayhem, mystery, and a quirky little romance you aren’t sure is actually going anywhere. In the past I have made it abundantly clear that I am not fond of romance in what I read. The romance in these books, however, isn’t stifling. It doesn’t take the main stage in the story and you never feel like it detracts from what is actually going on. The focus is on solving the murders, connecting the dots, and finding hidden clues not on smoochy smoochies in the corner. However, I must admit, the smoochy smoochies are pretty heated.

I will say that the third book, Silent on the Moor, is not as good as the first two. The “who done it” becomes fairly obvious at an early stage which was disappointing. I kept hoping I was wrong. And the cast of characters for that mystery were not nearly as interesting as in the previous two books. It was still a good story, just not as good. I also think that the third one was not as good for me because of the setting. I just couldn’t picture the location in my head which made the story hard to follow.

Through this series and Raybourn’s newer series, the Veronica Speedwell mysteries, the author has quickly become one of my favorites. She writes strong, believable female leads and the stories she comes up with are completely engrossing. If you at all enjoy historical mysteries I would whole heartedly recommend picking up Raybourn’s books. You won’t be disappointed.

Read more about these books on Goodreads

Silent in the Grave | Silent in the Sanctuary | Silent on the Moor

WWW Wednesday – July 19

July 19, 2017July 20, 2017 ~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 9 Comments

WWWWednesday

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words and was formerly hosted by A Daily Rhythm. It is open for anyone to participate, even without a blog you can comment on Sam’s post with your own answers. It is a great way to share what you’ve been reading! All you have to do is answer three questions and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

The three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

17464884

Constable & Toop by Gareth P. Jones

So far this book is mildly entertaining. We have ghosts in London that are being murdered, a priest that does exorcisms, a black shadowing dog eating ghosts, a weird black goop that is invading London’s buildings, a boy that can talk to said ghosts, and his murderous uncle. A lot going on, right? The story is actually pretty interesting but the characters don’t stick with you. For it to be a completely effective story you should give a crap about the ghosts getting exterminated, but you don’t. I’m going to finish it just out of curiosity.

What did you recently finish reading?

Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey #1) by Deanna Raybourn
Silent in the Sanctuary (Lady Julia Grey #2) by Deanna Raybourn
Silent on the Moor (Lady Julia Grey #3) by Deanna Raybourn

“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”

I got on a bit of a kick last week, if you can’t tell. Once I picked up Silent in the Grave I couldn’t put it down. Then I needed to read the next book in the series, and then the next. I ended up knocking out all three of these 500+ page historical mysteries in a week. A little excessive, right? Couldn’t help myself. I’ll be doing a group review of all three of them which will be up on the 21st.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I am actually considering taking a short reading break and instead working on my own book. I’m feeling a bit burned out right now. I have finished a ton of books lately (at least for me) and setting that aside for a week and writing on my own work sounds like a tantalizing option. After the short break I do have a few options of books to read. I have purchased several, both new and used, recently which have been mocking me from the shelves. “Why did you buy me if you didn’t plan on reading me, Amanda? Come pick me up!”

Difficult Relationships in Literature

July 18, 2017 ~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 3 Comments

Typically on a Tuesday I would be bringing you a Top Ten Tuesday post. As the ladies who host that meme are currently on break, I wanted to do something different. This week, I want to explore a topic that can be a little personal to some people: Difficult Relationships. In our personal lives we all will at some point be engaged in a relationship that is not all together healthy. Whether it is familial tension, unhealthy work relationships, or one of a romantic nature we all have had to deal with the frustration and occasional sense of hopelessness that comes with a difficult relationship. A person can often be left feeling alone in their troubles and don’t feel comfortable talking about them to other people. I think it is important for those people to know they are not alone and others have similar troubles. Reading about even a fictional character also engaged in a difficult relationship can be a comfort to some people. These are books that I feel demonstrate these tensions whether they are resolved for better or worse.

Cinder

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

“Do your kind even know what love is? Can you feel anything at all, or is it just… programmed?”

If you’ve read my review you may have noticed that I was not overly fond of this book. Despite that I think it demonstrates well how a child (step child or not) can feel spurned by a parent. Cinder would have cared for, even loved her step mother if only she had been given the opportunity to. Despite the lack of love and affection in her home life, Cinder still does her best to help her family and is able to have positive relationships with friends, doctors, even a prince. It is her choice to not take the negativity at home out into the world. That shows a real strength of character.

thewitchfinderssister

The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown

“For it is a choice, I think, to close the heart, just as it is a choice to open it. It is a choice to look at what distresses you, and a choice to shut your eyes. It is a choice to hold tight your pain, or else let it slip your grasp, set it free to make its mark upon the world.”

This book features an unhealthy sibling relationship. Our main character, Alice, has just suffered the loss of her husband and is forced to return to her family’s home outside of London which is now run by her brother, Matthew. Matthew seemingly welcomes her with open arms at first but it quickly becomes apparent that he has such hatred in his heart and turns it on his sister. She is afraid that if she disobeys him that he will physically harm her and has already mentally manipulated her. Fear is often used as a manipulation technique and Alice crumbles under the pressure. She is saved in the end only by his death. This is a sad callback to a time when women were not permitted to be masters in their own home but instead had to depend on the sufferance of their male relatives. Sadly, Beth was unable to save herself but was saved by her brother’s untimely death. I like to think that she learned from her circumstances, grew as a person, and moved on to a better life.

ACourtofMistandFury

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

“I was not a pet, not a doll, not an animal.
I was a survivor, and I was strong.
I would not be weak, or helpless again
I would not, could not be broken. Tamed.”

For the many of you who have read this book, I think you will realize that I am referring to the unhealthy romantic relationship between Feyre and Tamlin. Despite Feyre having displayed the strength and fortitude to save his and everyone else’s sorry ass in the first book, Tamlin treats Feyre like an incompetent child. He refuses to treat her like a respectable and intelligent person, imprisons her in what is supposed to her home, hides his own intentions and plans from her, and actively punishes her by suppressing her free will. This is mental and emotional abuse at its most obvious. Tamlin claims love and devotion to Feyre and yet breaks her down brick by brick until she is only a mere shell of her former self. She is thankfully rescued by Rhysand, painstakingly rehabilitated, and assists in, quite literally, saving the world. With the help of those who loved her, Feyre is able to overcome the unhealthy and abusive romantic relationship she has suffered.

heartless

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

“Now mine eyes see the heart that once we did search for, and I fear this heart shall be mended, nevermore.”

In the books I have listed so far the difficult relationships have been resolved to a relatively healthy conclusion. I think it is important to remember that not all of these situations lead to a happy ending. In Heartless, there are many different kinds of unhealthy relationships but the one I want to focus on is parent/child. Catherine is consistently throughout the entire book put upon by the expectations of her parents. Their wish is to elevate their own status in society by elevating their daughter’s status with marriage to the king. Cath simply wants to live a simple life, own her own bakery, and marry for love. Her parents completely ignore her wishes and demean her which leads to devastating consequences: the rise of the Queen of Hearts. Cath wanted to be a good daughter, she wanted happiness and love, and instead all that is taken from her and she goes down the path of revenge. It was her choice to go down that path but it is a decision I understood. Everything she loved had been taken from her by the wishes and manipulation of others. It would take someone of magnificent fortitude to come out of that smelling like roses.

I started this post as part of the Top Ten Tuesday series and then changed my mind. I think that these difficult and unhealthy relationships need their own attention. While people in the real world do not have the same circumstances as fictional characters, their difficulties are often very similar at heart. People you know or even you yourself may be trying to get through a difficult relationship and it is best to remember that you are not alone. During hard times I find comfort in reading and I hope you can, too.

Down the TBR Hole #4

July 17, 2017 ~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 3 Comments

I started doing this Down the TBR Hole feature about a month ago now. It has really helped me clean up my potential reading list on Goodreads and I’ve reintroduced myself to books I want to read but had forgotten about. All in all, it has been a real win-win situation. Hopefully, by posting this, it is also introducing you lovely readers to books you may want to read but hadn’t heard about before!

22328546

Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

From reviews I’ve read about this book people seem to be very much on one side of the fence or the other about it. Aka a very love it or hate it kind of book without much middle ground. When I first added it to my TBR I thought it sounded vaguely interesting but since then my interest had waned. I think it is time for this book to go.

Verdict: tenor

20560137

An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

You know, I had been seeing this book and author around online everywhere lately. I kept thinking, “Hm. I need to get on Goodreads and look at her books!” Apparently I already had sometime last year and forgotten about it. Whoops! This one is definitely sticking around.

Verdict: KEEP

24376529

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

What can I say? I still want to read this. It’s not high on my TBR but I’ll get to it eventually. Maybe when I am old and grey.

Verdict: KEEP

17399160

Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes #1) by Sara Raasch

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

This one pretty much lost me at “a heartbroken girl.” You all may have noticed that I have a healthy dislike of love stories. I just don’t understand their draw, I suppose. Or my heart is a shriveled thing incapable of appreciating that concept which is love. Either way, this book has to go.

Verdict: tenor

23719378

Girl Waits with Gun (Kopp Sisters #1) by Amy Stewart

A novel based on the forgotten true story of one of the nation’s first female deputy sheriffs.

Constance Kopp doesn’t quite fit the mold. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters into hiding fifteen years ago. One day a belligerent and powerful silk factory owner runs down their buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their family farm. When the sheriff enlists her help in convicting the men, Constance is forced to confront her past and defend her family — and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared.

Guys, the comments section for this book on Goodreads is pretty brutal. Especially the Reader Q&A part. Folks are feisty! This one is definitely sticking around my TBR list.

Verdict: KEEP

Not a bad list clean up for a Monday morning, if I do say so myself, and it was done with a head cold and Game of Thrones hangover. I’ll call it a success. I hope you all have a wonderful day!