Mini - Comments

Two books I've read recently but of which I don't have much to say. I liked both, one more than the other but it's those situations where I don't feel like writing that much about either.

 

This is Britain as you've never seen it.
This is Britain as it has never been told.
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl Woman Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They're each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope...

Comment: I was given this book by someone who knows my taste, although I confess I had no plans to try it. I'm glad I was able to read it, because it's a good book if ne thinks about the message conveyed and the amount of details one can think of, related to people who don't usually have the same amount of attention (in this case, black women in the UK during the 20th century). 

The book is divided into sections, each one focused on - and narrated by - a small group of women, whether related by family ties or other relationships. As the majority of readers, I too liked some stories better than others, although in all of them we have black women sharing details about their lives and existences and the infinite amount of issues they have to deal with in their daily lives and those of the people closest to them. 

I found this book provoking, enlightening but to be fair, I think the number of narrators was a bit too much, for I don't feel I ended up knowing either of them that well.

Grade: 8/10

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For twenty years Myra has served the High King, so familiar, respected, and envied the rest of the palace calls him the High Secretary. For twenty years he has kept his secrets buried, and after so long he dares to believe he has left his past behind. But during the Festival of Harmony, tragedy strikes, and Myra's past is dragged into the present.
Once third in command of Fathoms Deep, Charlaine is used to shadows and secrets, but even he is shocked to learn what his best friend, and the man he secretly loves, has been hiding all these years. In the wake of a terrible tragedy, he doesn't know what to do—except whatever it takes to help his friends.
Though Jac is a member of the Three-headed Dragons and primary bodyguard to the High Consort, she is used to being overlooked and underestimated. But she didn't earn her spurs by backing down, and she's not about to do so now—even if she must defy the High Throne itself to save the man she's falling in love with.

Comment: This is installment #4 in the Tales of High Court series by Megan Derr. I have liked the previous ones and, of course, I knew I'd read this one as well. I didn't like it as much overall, because it was a little more boring than the other books. The "let's rescue him" action which took a good portion of the novel was, frankly, boring to me, and I wish the plot would have been set longer in a different place. I also confess I'm no longer a particular fan of polyamourous relationships or, in this case, MMF, so the dynamics between the protagonists, no matter how valid or positive, didn't interest me much and I would have preferred the romance to be focused on a monogamous relationship. There was no focus, too many people's feelings to consider, to pay attention to made me think there were too many distractions and I was not convinced of their hearts being truly fixed on everyone. 

I should also say this series should be read in order, for there are too many world building elements which might be more difficult to understand. 

There's one more book planned and I'm quite interested in the protagonist so I'll read that one when it's published.

Grade: 6/10