[75/75] Reading Digest - Yes, my last review will be "lsdgkjhs;dogjldsnkjgbsndlkgjblsndj"

[not_cynical]

[71/75] Darkside: Lifeblood by Tom Becker: This book has the dubious honour of freaking me out when I wasn't even reading it - I left the book propped open on my desk, went to bed - and opened my eyes in the middle of the night to see a pair of glowing fangs!

Note to self: next time I get out a kid's horror story, I need to check whether the cover glows in the dark or not.

APART FROM THAT, I have to admit I liked this an embarrassing amount, which shouldn't surprise anyone who heard me flailing about Skulduggery Pleasant. I'm pretty sure I made my love of supernatural private detectives with child sidekicks blatantly obvious when babbling about that. The relationship between the private detective and the child sidekick are completely different in this though - Carnegie is violent and looming and fantastic more because "Holy shit berserker werewolf investigating in the break-heads-until-info-turns-up." Plus, much less with the snark and more with the raw meat. Jonathan... I want to say he depends less on Carnegie than Stephanie does on Skulduggery, which isn't quite what I meant. They don't have the same sort of father/child relationship - it's more... Business-like? As in, Carnegie cares but would kill Jonathan before he admits it. It's interesting. :D

The setting itself is fantastic, I have to say - it's like someone took the worst parts of Victorian society, populated it with vampires and werewolves and tired humans, and shoved them into a corner next to the real world. Dark and dirty and I heart it a ridiculous amount, even when I can't decide whether it's over the top or not. The mystery works pretty well, even if you can work it out through simple process of "Who's it LEAST LIKELY TO BE?" The book actually refers to things that happened in the first book - YES THAT SURPRISES ME, SHUSH - beyond the BIG things. The characters are quite awesome, even when they're stereotyped and Obviously Bad People. Basically, it's fun and I would actually go and find the rest of them!

[72/75] Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling: I... Don't understand. The story feels vaguely familiar, it has the most awkward gear change in the middle of the story, the characters all sounds the same, it has serious amounts of infodumping, and everything seems - a little neat in the end - but I love it with the fire of a thousand suns. I wish I was even joking. I can read it and point out that there are so many problems with it, but I think it's COMPLETELY FANTASTIC.

Oh come on, it opens with a DARING RESCUE. Of COURSE I'm going to love it with the fire of a thousand suns.

Seregil and Alec are really quite fantastic - not only are they FUN, awesome, and FAKE-GENTLEMEN THIEVES, they really end up caring for each other and it's been a while since I've seen that in a fantasy novel. The characters either SUDDENLY LOVE EACH OTHER or hate each other forever. This builds it up nicely, and it makes me happy. The other characters - Micum and Thero, for example, or Nysander - are equally awesome, although I would SERIOUSLY LOVE to see more of Seregil's adventures with Micum, or epic battles with Thero. PLUS I actually like the world building - it's SERIOUSLY infodumped, but it's INTERESTING, which is all I really ask of it. And it has the added bonus of having awesome matriarchy and awesome military women. ALWAYS GONNA MAKE ME HAPPY. :D

... Look, as soon as I finished this, I went out to try and buy the next one. Was furious to not be able to find it ANYWAY. Send amazon a thousand hearts for having it in stock. ♥

[73/75] Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin by Joe Casey, Eric Canete: Also known as: Iron Man is introduced to the Mandarin, assassinations are planned, and the epic battle of Iron Man versus A SATTELITE. If the Iron Man versus a satellite isn't a regular thing, IT SHOULD BE. *cough* Really, that's all I can say about this. The story seemed... More than a little ridiculous to me (although I DID feel sorry for the brainwashed son. Poor guy.), and the art's weird - I meant to actually check when this was made, because THAT'S how odd the art is. :\

[74/75] The Three Incestuous Sister by Audrey Niffeneger: ... I admit, I picked this up SOLELY for the title, and it's actually a sweet story! It feels like reading a storyboard, or at least something similar with a little more poetry to it. It's sweet and sad and it makes very little sense, but I don't expect it to.

[75/75] Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling: Again, FULL OF HEARTS over this one. FULL OF HEARTS. TO THE POINT WHERE I CAN'T ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT THIS COHERENTLY. I want to criticise the investigation. I want to say that there's problems with the story or something, but - but I remember the second half and just. lsdgkjhs;dogjldsnkjgbsndlkgjblsndjbgklsdnsg!

FINALLY, FINALLY DONE! :D :D :D