Lost: Demon Smoke. If Found: Save Pitoria...

The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green.

I picked up this read because I've been a long time fan of Sally Green's Half Bad trilogy, a very raw and gritty UK based telling of magic and witches. As mentioned in my last post, I've been in a massive reading slump recently so this book actually took me a while to get through. I've been picking up on my reading and now I'm behind on my reviews. Pot luck, isn't it? My next few reviews might range from being in depth to fairly brief.

Now to the review, on starting this book you're thrown into multiple character POV's that both establish the story and for hinder it to start. I struggled relating to the characters with so many being thrown around and the amount of build up created a suspense that could have gone two ways, either an epic character meet-up with great relationship's waiting to be developed or a fizzle out and forced union of characters that we've met along this journey that makes no sense. For me it turned into a mixture of the two. I enjoyed the plot points, the ways in which this mysterious demon smoke seemed to in some way or another come into the lives of all five characters but at the same time it was long time played out for a brief ending of the group finally being brought together. The character's, though fleshed out, felt like they could of either met sooner, or plot points in the middle could have been missed without affecting the overall story arc.

A good way to explore this book is through the characters that we meet and journey through the eyes of. This next part of the review may contain some spoilers.

Let's start with young Tash, the demon hunter. She's a hardy, scrappy character who finds herself working for a burly father-like figure of a man, Gravell. I both loved and hated her as a character, I think it was aminly due to her being such a young age (hinted at around 13) Tash's story becomes wrought with wanting a particularly pretty pair of boots and Gravell not giving her the money for them, when the demon smoke is stolen by a key character Edyon, her and Gravell decide to pursuit him.Her journey feels as if she could of just lost the demon smoke and then have it flick back to them finding it again for the end of the book.

Princess Catherine of Brigant. Her journey is probably one of the strongest in the book, with her appearing quite meek with a silent strength to her exuding that strength and making deep connections that will come to affect the series, the only downside I found was the pining, it did feel like a constant battle between duty and wanting to know whether Ambrose was OK.  Sir Ambrose, royal guard to Princess Catherine. He comes across as your typical knight in shining armour, which is why I love him but also struggle to relate to him and his journey, he expects for Catherine to need saving, yet she ends up saving him in many aspects of this book.

March, a servant to a neighbouring kingdom of Brigant and Pitoria, Calidor. He despises his King, who seems to try and treat him as at the very least a friend, for decimating his people. His hatred I understand but I feel like his adamant betrayal of his king and thus Edyon becomes painful for the reader purely because he seems to not grasp the entire story of why his king couldn't help. I may be inferring too much here but I absolutely despised his journey and relationship with a fellow Abask soldier, he seemed to follow blindly and not question his own feelings until much later in the book. His journey is definitely one that I think will grow in further books as he chooses to become his own person.

Edyon is probably my favourite character, he is a young at heart serial romantic who has an itchy compulsion to steal things that catch his eye. This inevitably gets him into trouble. His blind trust is almost sad but he is comic relief and probably the most lovable character of the whole book, his feelings for March aren't forced upon you for the sake of LGBT+ representation and I'm genuinely excited for his journey to continue.

Overall these five character's offer the prospect for a great journey, despite this first book being hard to read at first, I was devouring the final chapters, which can only hint at a hopefully explosive sequel that continues on from the cliffhanger now that our motley crew of character's have met and been forced on this journey together.

May your next book be found,
Kif.

Lost: Motivation. If Found: Return to Sender.

I expected to have a book a week at least read since the start of this year but all I've managed to do is lose my reading bug and not be able to pick up a book in about three months. A part of it is I've let myself become a slave to my phone and social media on an evening which is something that I'm constantly trying to battle with at the moment. Another part of it is the long road of unemployment that is very much starting to weigh down on me.

All I seem to spend my time doing is researching jobs and then spending hours bookmarking them all before spending more hours slowly slogging my way through them as they all ask for the same information and then some personal statements or the new 'tell us how you meet the requirements' sections that are constantly popping up on the jobs that actually mean something to my future dreams and ambitions. It gets harder every time I hear nothing back or get the obligatory 'Sorry you were unsuccessful but we can't provide feedback this time' emails. Yet I carry on the slog, going to the job centre every other week to tell a different person each time how I've spent my two weeks job applying and have yet to hear anything back only for them to nod, smile and tell me to carry on trying then I sign so I can get my allowance and off the cycle starts again.

I can't lie and say procrastination isn't always niggling at the back of my mind too, I spent the majority of autumn last year binge watching over 300 hours of Critical Role's Campaign 1 and am currently up to date with Campaign 2 so there's a definite motivation in there somewhere but finding it for reading again is getting harder. I partly blame it on my own guilt fuelled paranoia that if I'm watching TV or messing on my phone/laptop then at least I'm digitally still connected to getting closer to the idea of getting a job compared to if I take the moment to escape to another fantasy world I'm disconnected from the real one and moving further away from getting a job. I definitely find myself lost at the moment, my main solaces being my crazy cats, my amazing friends and my obsessive ability to binge watch TV shows during the day, whilst also having a very much growing passion for Dungeons and Dragons that I'm yet to further explore.

At the end of the day I know my love of reading isn't quelled, the fire's just burning pretty low at the moment and once that job comes along I'll have a normal routine once more, so if you happen to find my motivation don't forget to return to sender.

May your motivation be found,

Kif.

Adventures Begin in 2019

Hi, I'm a 23 year old (has existential crisis) BA History graduate with a passion for fiction books that can't be held back. I need a new outlet for my days of reading and to at least share my yearly book journey with others. There may be posts about my love of museums and intense cat lady vibes may pop up along the way, as well as my struggles with fiction writing. Hopefully my blog will provide an outlet of creativity that stems from procrastination and a love of magical escapes.

The first book review of 2019 will be Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Follow my reading journey on Goodreads too: https://www.goodreads.com/kifirth


May your book be found.

Kif.

Lost: Anti-Christ. If Found: Return to Satan...

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

I first picked up this book as an incentive to read it before the up and coming Amazon Prime series, starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen. I've always been a fan of the works of both authors so another televised opportunity to see a world come to life hooked me in. I loved the way in which the novel progressed with hilarious dialogue and characters that are so different getting thrust together. 

The story is about the build up to the end of the world. With many characters unique perspectives and roles that revolve around the apocalypse drawn out over the course of the novel. With witches and witch-finder generals thrown in, the story takes on a collective of people all living their lives so differently until their paths happen to cross. The two main characters are an angel, Aziraphale and a demon, Crowley who have a unique companionship that developed from the start of creation. They both balance each others deeds on humanity and create a hilarious friendship between what we perceive as pure opposites... in this case Good and Evil.

Upon the news of the birth of the new Anti-Christ, Crowley is instructed to make sure that the baby is as prophesied and that the parents are truly in favour of the king of Hell himself, along with the help of some satanic nuns in the middle of the countryside he and two other babies are born on the same night... Chaos ensues once years pass and the child they believed to be the Anti-Christ is definitely not the Anti-Christ and he appears to be missing.

I think the best part of this book is the fact that no matter what year you're reading it in, it applies to the moment, with only small pop culture references that can't carry over as time moves on. I was shocked to find it was originally published in 1990 when so much of its cynicism and digs at the way in which humanity works can apply to 2019. Especially with the four horsemen/woman of the apocalypse's influences over the world. Famine, a celebrity diet star, with a range of slimming ready meals and products that leave you wanting more but never gaining more. Pestilence, now dubbed Pollution as the rise in emissions affects the world we live in. War, a woman everybody finds themselves fighting over. Finally, the never changing Death who exists everywhere and can at anytime appear, a whisper on the wind, the most revered and oldest horseman.


May your next book be found,

Kif