Before I do my monthly wrap up for May, I decided I needed to catch up on a few reviews, so here are three short reviews for the last three books that I read in May.
Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton
Publication Date: February 15, 2022
Mini-Confession:
This book wasn’t at all what I was quite expecting, but it was surprisingly good story that really made me think about what it meant to be human. Mickey was an interesting character who accepted his life as an Expendable, but he was getting a bit tired of it as well. I loved that he had an interest in history and in other colonies and their successes and failures. He was very philosophical when it came down to what he was doing and how he was living his life. Setting up a colony far from any help would be difficult for any number of reasons, but what happens on this planet no one was quite expecting.
The story is more about exploring what it means to be human, and how humans take over and exploit when they set out into the universe. It has a steady pace, and isn’t exactly adventure driven, but it will make you think about identity, morality and genocide. The dialogue was witty and at times quite humorous, especially between the two Mickeys. On the surface this seems to be a simple story, but if you really think about it you will see that it is very deep on many levels.
This is not a story for everyone, but I think those of you who do find it and enjoy it, will appreciate it as much as I did.
The Traitor’s Game by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Publication Date: February 2018
Mini-Confession:
I have some mixed feelings about this one. I really liked the characters and the world building was pretty good as was the political intrigue, but the romance never really worked for me and unfortunately it overshadowed everything else in the story. I kind of got bored by their constant pining yet never talking about their feelings to each other. I guess I wanted more action and more about the politics than the romance.
Kestra and Simon are the narrators of this story and I liked both of them quite a lot. Kestra is your typical fantasy heroine, headstrong and full of surprises. Simon is typical male lead, also headstrong in his beliefs and is loyal to a fault. But I just never felt the spark between them. Partly because it was a bit insta love between them, but usually that doesn’t bother me. I think what really did it was their constant thoughts about each other and whether or not they felt the same that just simply got a bit boring after awhile. I knew going in that this was a romance fantasy, but there was just a bit too much romance talk and not enough action or movement of the main plot.
Even though I have reservations about the romance, I am willing to continue the series. Mostly because of the writing and the political intrigue, but also because I do like Kestra and Simon and want to see what happens to them. I also enjoyed the narrators so there is that to look forward to as well.
Final Girls by Riley Sager
Publication Date: July 2017
Mini-Confession:
This is the first thriller by Riley Sager and it is a really good one. It is a really quick read, mostly because it is really hard to put down. It is full of the unexpected with some really good characters that are really well developed for such a short book.
Quincy was a deeply flawed character, but she was a survivor. She was also pretty smart in her own way, and I think she wanted to understand what happened the night all of her friends were killed just as much as everyone else. I really liked that she used baking as a kind of therapy and I would certainly subscribe to her blog if it was a real one.
The plot was well done and fast paced, and you were kept in the dark just as much as Quincy was. There are many secondary characters and most of them wanted to help Quincy although for different reasons. The story goes back and forth between the present and short chapters about what happened at Pine Cottage until of course everything comes crashing back near the end. There were some twists along the way and of course everything was not as it seemed but the ending was well done and went pretty much as I thought it would.
If you like really twisty thrillers, than you really must give one of Riley Sager’s books a try. So far they have all been really good reads that have kept me on the edge of my seat until the end.
I hope you enjoyed these short reviews. I hope to have my May wrap-up post finished for tomorrow. Happy Reading!
Confessions of a Serial Reader 