Review: Reading List by Sirius
This is book three in a series of cozy mysteries with sprinkles of m/m romance. I found it just as lovely and enjoyable as the first two books. There is really no personal conflict between Mike and Jonathon in this book. I mean they are continuing to figure out their future and that weird complication with Jonathon’s father that occurred in the last book , but it is easily resolved and with almost no problems. Because the mystery took center stage, it held up fine; however, if it had been a romance alone, it would not have held up for me.A famous mystery author is killed when she comes to participate in a literary festival in the village and, once again, Jonathon and Mike decide to help police investigate. Once again we hear some teasing about murders in the village starting to happen only after Mike and Jonathon got together a la some British TV series, but I would rather this be addressed than not, so I did not mind. I really think this author does a nice job making amateur sleuths feel believable and in this book once again to me it felt organic and believable that this duo were main detectives so to speak. They are just talking to people, you know :). I thought the suspects were lined up nicely and they went through investigating several potential suspects and their motives. I did think the killer was way too obvious in this one. I got this person almost right after they showed up, or at least very soon afterwards. Of course I did not know the motive, but this person was just always there, too much in the reader’s face. Not masked enough I guess?
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Let me tell you, I have read exactly two books by this writer – “Bear, Otter and The Kid” and “Tell Me It Is Real.” I normally give the writer two chances and both of these books failed me badly. “Bear”et al. because of the writing style and “Tell Me It Is Real” because of the style and because the humor did not work for me.Years passed and I saw this book on sale. It was a young adult and it was with Tor, so I was curious and bought it. I have to say, this ended up being my favorite book of his so far. Linus bored me in the beginning of the book, but once he is given his assignment and goes to the island and meets kids and Arthur, things become much better. I thought the kids were absolutely adorable and funny in a way that worked for me. Especially six year old Antichrist named Lucy.
Note, the book is young adult , or maybe even middle grade. (I did not check the publisher classification, I am just saying this is how it felt for me.) There is no explicit romance but what we have was very lovely. There are plenty of great messages in the story about acceptance of the differences which kids and adults always need to hear.
And I don’t know if the author’s writing changed so much or if that’s what good editing can do, but it worked so much better for me than what I have read before.
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This was very cute, I really like Lisa Henry’s writing and I was happy to see she had a new one on KU. It is a quest as you can see only from reading the blurb and it is also a romance. I would call it romance lite, which was perfectly okay by me. I said many times that I absolutely love SFF/fantasy books which have a main story that has little or nothing to do with romance and gay couples (or creating a gay couple) as a secondary storyline.What left me not very satisfied was that this was characterization LITE too in my opinion. I was charmed when I was reading it, but when I finished it I did not feel like I knew main characters very well besides a very few things about them, if that makes sense.
Grade: C
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This is book four in Dec and Simon’s adventures and they definitely came a long way. I surely would not advise starting from this book. You will miss well, a lot. Seven or eight years of relationship building, of life lived together , of friendships. Start with book one, basically, you won’t regret that.I think the worst part was not even a discussion, but the fact that while after the fact continued conversation was very real, it was also kind of silly because the intrigue was lost. You are having these babies guys, and Simon ‘s struggle has an answer already, it will be fine. I am not explaining myself well. I actually read it pretty fast, and I thought the health scare was done very well – also an important topic, also everybody stressed, but that did not go into overdrive for me as the children topic went even if it blended together eventually.
Grade: C+/B-
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I thought I was the only one who didn’t care for TJ Klune! I read the same two books you named, as well as “Into This River I Drown,” and neither the humor nor the melodrama worked for me. I am in the middle of “House in the Cerulean Sea,” (after numerous reviewers gushed about it I finally borrowed a library copy) and while it seems completely predictable, it is also charming and, as you mentioned, more restrained than his other books. I don’t think I will ever be a loyal fan of the author but at least I can understand a bit more why he is so popular.
I find TJ Klune books either work well for me or fall flat. Of them all, I’ve most enjoyed Murmuration, Wolfsong, The Bones Beneath My Skin, and House in the Cerulean Sea.
Thanks for sharing your reading list, Sirius.
@Kareni: I starting hearing wonderful things about him right when the whole mess with his old publisher became public and he yanked all his books from sale so I never got to try him.
Sirius, I note that your highest rated book was B- and I want better for you than that. Just a friendly reminder that Lilah Pace’s His Royal Secret & His Royal Favorite earn A grades from me. To quote Alexis Rose, I would love that journey for you!
@SusanS: You are definitely not the only one, but I can totally relate because I always felt a part of minority on this.@Kareni: Definitely to each their own ! Thanks for commenting.@Eliza: I thought I mentioned this before, I finally tried first book.@Jayne: Since he is now with a big publisher as well, sales will probably happen again? Fingers crossed.
My first TJ Klune was Wolfsong and I really, really did not like it. At all. I think I bought another one and never read it.
But I just loved The House by the Cerulean Sea. I would say that it’s not YA but it’s written for adults who love YA fantasy. In fact, I’m convinced that the true target audience is gay / queer Harry Potter fans (and there are a lot of us. I don’t think it was intentional in HP, but magic works really well as a metaphor for being gay in HP). So it’s so nice to read a fantasy about a magic school where that metaphor is intentional and where there are real live, on-page queer folx.
@Cleo: Hm, interesting. I cannot argue with your interpretation of course. To me it was way too simplistic to work as a book about kids/ young adults written with adults in mind. Of course I loved Harry Potter too an directed it to death online for years, known many adults who loved it, but I am very straight , so again cannot compare with your interpretation.
Oh, have you read /watched “Night watch” by Sergey lukyanenko? He wrote tons of novellas/ novels ( in Russian, not sure those were translated) with kids as main characters and often the only characters . I would hesitate recommending them to any young adults. Also fantasy, or SFF, the only genre he used to write it.
Anyway, I guess main point of my ramble is that I can see adults enjoying that story, but I cannot see it written with actual adults in mind. Messages were just too – hit me over the head with the baseball bat kind of thing for me. Great messages, messages that every kid should have in their books, please don’t get me wrong. JMO of course.
@sirius – I see it as being for adults because the protagonist is 40 and going through a mid-life crisis. And I don’t really see teens caring about that or being able to relate to it. To me the main metaphor is that magic children = queer children and magic children should be appreciated for who they are, should not be treated the same as mundane children, should not be hidden or feared. Etc. And I think it’s aimed at adults.
I completely agree that it’s heavy-handed. So very heavy-handed. I definitely rolled my eyes a lot because I got it the first time. But I was also charmed by it.
I’ve not read or watched Night Watch – I will look for it.
@cleo: Ah, now I understand better. For me the main message ( and of course it can be read the way you interpreted , I agree) would sound more like – you can do anything you want to in the world, you are wonderful, you are special and should not be hidden or feared, but to me it is aimed at children. Just because to me children are drawn better than adults as a characters . Just to be clear, “Night watch” does not have kids as main characters , his other books do but I would still recommend it
Re. The House in the Cerulean Sea—I’m only 14% into this one and I don’t think I want to persist. Although I’m in the part where he hasn’t reached the island yet (he’s on the road being driven there by the caretaker where I am right now). How much better does it get? It would have to get at least two or three times better for me to be interested in continuing. I agree with Cleo that teens would not be interested in this book but it’s because to me it reads as if it is aimed at fourth graders.
@Janine I think it becomes significantly more interesting once he is on the island and the full cast of characters is introduced. If it doesn’t work for you after that point, it may just not be the book for you.
@Janine: Yes, the language remains just as simplistic throughout.
@Sirius: Overall (not just the language), how much better did it get for you once he reached the island?
(I am not a fan of Harry Potter so that isn’t a selling point for me.)
@Kareni: Thanks, I appreciate having your opinion too.
@Janine: @Janine: It is hard to answer for me. It did get better and I am not sorry I read it but it still remained a C book for me, you know?
By the way I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I would not put this book anywhere close :).