Good morning, everyone! So, this week's post was originally going to be about how I'd just finished reading Discworld after actual years and was going to spotlight my favorite books in the series. The one problem? I didn't finish the series this week like I thought I would. (Blame Snuff — it's a much thicker tome than I realized.) Instead, I'm going to spotlight a different book I just recently read: W.R. Gingell's latest release, Cinderella Must Die. Which, let me tell you up front, is an absolutely delightful romp of a fairy tale murder mystery. Intrigued? Good, let's go.

You Should Absolutely Read Cinderella Must Die

1. Because Cinderella + murder mystery is the combo you never knew you needed. I mean, I'm a big fan of just about any blend of fairy tale and mystery (which should be a surprise to no one), but Cinderella as a murder mystery? With the stepsisters trying to clear their names before they can be officially accused as the murderers? It works so well, y'all. It's fabulous, and it's a very well-put-together mystery (also no surprise, since Gingell wrote a whole series of urban fantasy mysteries that are also awesome).
2. It's the first roles-reversed/villainous retelling that's really caught my interest and carried through. Villain/hero swaps for fairytales are an interesting concept — I have ideas about writing some myself in the future. But the ones I've read so far tend to be . . . not what they could be, and the good ones aren't widely available. But Gingell handles both Cinderella-as-villain and stepsisters-as-protagonists very well and makes it convincing. Plus, it's not super dark, as I get the impression a lot of roles-reversed stories are — honestly, it's a very fun read.
3. Jane and Charlie are an excellent sister pair. They come off as very realistic siblings — the kind who love each other have each other's back without question, but who also don't mind teasing each other. They actually remind me (in the best ways) of Azalea and Bramble from Heather Dixon's Entwined, which is awesome. They're clever and persistent and loyal and just excellent characters to spend the narrative with.
4. The rest of the characters are also awesome. I can't list them all because spoilers, but I did very much enjoy getting to know them and seeing their interactions with the sisters. Some of them — Candace in particular — I'd rather like to see get their own spinoff. I will say that Harvey was rather annoying for a lot of the book, but, I mean, there was a reason for it.
5. There's a very clever use of magic in here, and I can't say what it is, but I really love it. I wish I'd thought of it first. Yeah. Any other details will be spoilers, so let's leave it at the fact that Gingell did something very interesting and it makes for a better plot and some very good, well-handled themes.

Have you read Cinderella Must Die? If so, what's your favorite thing about the book? If not, do you want to read it? Please tell me in the comments!

(On a side note: W.R. Gingell just announced her next book, Castle and Key, which is a Bluebeard retelling, and — look, I am magnificently hyped. It sounds like it's going to be very much in the vein of Masque, which is the book that made me fall in love with Gingell's writing, and long story short, I am going to be so happy come July.)

Thanks for reading!

 Hello, all! So, if you read last week's post, you may remember me absolutely raving about one book in particular: The Werewolf of Whitechapel, the first in Suzannah Rowntree's new historical fantasy mystery series, Miss Sharp's Monsters. If you didn't read last week's post (or if you did read it but you don't remember it because you skimmed through it, added a bunch of books to your TBR list, and then stuffed more important things into its memory-space), here's the quick need-to-know about the book: it's set in a fantastical alternate England, and it follows Liz Sharp, an amnesiac werewolf victim and lady's maid and bodyguard who's trying to solve her best friend's murder. For some of you, that may be all you need to know to know why you should ABSOLUTELY read it as soon as humanely possible. If so, it's on Amazon in Kindle form (just released yesterday!), and a paperback version is on the way. But if you need a little more convincing, well, read on!

Why You NEED to Read The Werewolf of Whitechapel

1. The storytelling style is delicious. The Werewolf of Whitechapel is written in a more modern and fast-paced version of the Victorian memoir, which is to say that it's very conversational and full of personality and little asides and hints. It sort of takes the best parts of Victorian and modern writing and blends them together, and the result is just such a delight to read. And Rowntree does this sort of thing a lot — the other books of hers that I've read also had a more old-fashioned tone and style to match the eras they're set in — but it's especially effective here. Though that's in no small part thanks to the fact that . . .
2. Miss Sharp is magnificent. Devastatingly loyal, recklessly bold, impossibly curious, and unrelentingly dedicated to discovering truth, with a wit as keen as her name, Miss Liz Sharp is everything you could possibly want in a fantasy-mystery heroine. She's no intellectual, unlike some other favorite detectives, but she's clever and not afraid to get her hands dirty when necessary. She's also very capable of taking care of herself, which is fun. In many respects, she reminds me of Isabella Farrah from Masque, but less polished and with significantly less social rank to apply to her problems.
3. The worldbuilding is excellent. Essentially, the thrones of Europe are held by monsters of mythology — vampires, sirens, and, of course, werewolves — all except for the throne of England. And Rowntree did a magnificent job of taking that premise and combining it with well-researched historical reality to create a version of the world that feels believable and even unquestionable. The attitudes of different people and groups, the portrayal of actual historical figures (many of whom play major roles in the story), the details . . . it's all very well done.
4. It's kind of nice that the lead isn't anyone particularly "special." This is a weird thing to like, but bear with me, please. Miss Sharp is clever, but she's not the smartest person in the room. She's well-trained, but not more so than any of the other girls in her situation. She's not gifted with special knowledge or anything of the sort. She's not an ordinary person — I mean, remember the "amnesiac werewolf victim" bit I mentioned earlier? — but she's not the only one of her kind. That's a bit unusual for a detective, fantasy or otherwise — classic detectives tend to be the smartest person in the room; fantasy-mystery detectives are often magically gifted (like Jackaby or Harry Dresden) or at least connected with a magical organization of some kind (like Irene of The Invisible Library). That makes Miss Sharp a bit of a rarity, but in a good way.
5. Overall, the story is, as some might put it, rather a lark to read. There's just the right balance of humor and action and suspense, mixed in with slowly growing friendships and genuinely emotional moments, to make this book perfectly enjoyable. One moment you're laughing at the banter between characters or Miss Sharp's asides to the reader; the next you're clutching the book and frantically turning pages as our hero ventures into a den of monsters in search of answers or discovers a shocking truth. There's never a slow moment, and the story is solid without being weighty.

Are you excited about The Werewolf of Whitechapel yet? If not, you should be — I'd rank it up Jackaby, Masque, and The Invisible Library in terms of how much I love it. I even preordered the sequel pretty much as soon as I saw it was available, and I almost never do that. Anyway, excited or not, please tell me in the comments! (And if you scored an ARC like I did, tell me that too so we can rave over it together!)
Thanks for reading!

Thoughts on Let the Ghosts Speak

Hey'a, all! We're halfway through April, and I'm popping back in on the blogosphere to share my thoughts on Bryan Davis's latest book, Let the Ghosts Speak. I originally intended for this to go up last week, but that . . . didn't happen. Anyway. Bryan Davis's new book released on Amazon at the beginning of the month and on his website just this past week, and it is very good. It has the vibe of a book that's going to become a classic that English students at scholars discuss at length but ordinary bookworms can just as easily pick up and enjoy. And I got an ARC, which means I get to share my thoughts on here. So let's get started, shall we? But first, a bit about the book.


Let the ghosts speak—but will the sane heed their counsel?

In 19^th century Paris, Justin Trotter, an immigrant from England, is making his way as a book translator while paying for his blind twin sister’s care. One evening, Marc Noël, Justin’s well-to-do friend and fellow thespian, invites him to a masquerade party at an abandoned schoolhouse. Justin hopes this will be an opportunity to get to know Marc’s lovely though sharp-tongued sister, Francine.

At the event, Justin meets four ghostly strangers—two adults and two children—who warn him that the party guests are in danger, and they must leave at once. True to their prediction, a murder takes place, and Justin is the prime suspect. He escapes and becomes a fugitive, hiding in the Paris catacombs.

Mystery and intrigue swirl as the ghost of Joan of Arc and other martyrs guide Justin on a lonely journey to prove his innocence and protect his sister from an abusive caretaker. Who really committed the crime? Marc? Francine? A ghost? And does seeing these ghosts mean he is going insane? Maybe he really is the murderer after all.

There is only one way to find out, to let the ghosts speak as they reveal the mysteries within Justin’s mind.

Find it on: Amazon || Goodreads || Author Site

Thoughts on Let the Ghosts Speak

1. I absolutely love the writing style. Let the Ghosts Speak is pretty distinct from other Davis books in terms of style. It uses the author-as-translator structure and is styled as being written by Justin, the main character, as an account of what happened to him. This creates a unique tone and overall vibe that feels like a 19th-century classic, which suits the story very well, though it's still quick-paced enough to suit modern readers. The setup also allows for Justin to make asides and provide background in a way that feels very natural, so I enjoyed that. Plus, it's the perfect habitat for Davis's characteristically poetic prose — something that can seem off in his modern stories but fits perfectly in the mouths of these French thespians.
2. It's kind of all the genres? So that's cool. Let the Ghosts Speak is mostly a combination of mystery, suspense, and drama set in early 1900s France and blended with a distinctly odd brand of ghost story. It also has a distinct magical realism vibe — or, I think it does. I'm not an expert on the genre. And there's some allegory woven in too for good measure. Basically, unless you read exclusively contemporary, this book is quite possibly your genre.
3. The ghosts are a really cool concept. Side note here: if you're a Bryan Davis fan already and you're concerned about the ghosts, I'd like to know where the pumpernickle you've been. This is hardly Davis's first book to involve some kind of ghost-like being; it's just one of the more obvious ones. But this version of ghosts isn't one I've seen before, and I think it's an interesting take on the idea. It also allows Davis to tell another story featuring Joan of Arc, and this one gives us a little more of the history and legends surrounding her, most of which I hadn't heard of. So, yes, that was interesting.
4. Regarding characters: they're kind of a mixed bag. Justin falls into the same camp as many of Davis's protagonists, which is to say he's a fallen human trying to be as noble as possible (and usually succeeding) but hindered by the fact that he's kinda oblivious at times. That said, kudos to Davis for giving him an actual plot-related reason for said obliviousness. I am both impressed and amused. The ghost characters were some of the most interesting, in my opinion, and I think Davis handles them well. Among the living, Inspector Fortier was my favorite non-narrator character; he's intelligent without being an over-the-top genius, and like Justin, he's genuinely trying to do the right thing even when it's difficult.
5. Ok, yes, it's weird. You've got ghosts, you've got mystery, you've got murder, you've got maybe-magic, you've got no idea who's lying and who's telling the truth, what's real and what isn't . . . and then you get to the end and you realize that a solid chunk of the book may have been an allegory as well as a regular story (and wonder why you didn't realize it sooner) . . . yeah. It's weird. But given that it's by the same man who's written about music-powered travel between parallel worlds, dragons-turned-humans hiding in modern America, and the whole situation in Reapers, weird is certainly not an insult (or an unusual condition) when it comes from Davis.

Have you read Let the Ghosts Speak yet? If so, what are your thoughts? If not, what about it sounds most intriguing to you? Please tell me in the comments! (Also, if you're doing Camp NaNo and you're not in my writing group, let me know how that's going!)
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah Pennington