Can't-Wait Wednesday--Triple Edition: Ration by Cody T. Luff, The Spinner of Dreams by K.A. Reynolds, & Nordic Tales

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

I have more than a few August releases I still want to feature this month for CWW, so this week I'm sharing three instead of only two because it's hard to narrow it down!

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

The Spinner of Dreams by K.A. Reynolds
Publication: August 27th, 2019

HarperCollins

Hardcover. 416 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"Annalise Meriwether--though kind, smart, and curious--is terribly lonely. 

Cursed at birth by the devious Fate Spinner, Annalise has always lived a solitary life with her loving parents. She does her best to ignore the cruel townsfolk of her desolate town--but the black mark on her hand won't be ignored. 

Not when the monster living within it, which seems to have an agenda of its own, grows more unpredictable each day. 

There's only one way for Annalise to rid herself of her curse: to enter the Labyrinth of Fate and Dreams and defeat the Fate Spinner. So despite her anxiety, Annalise sets out to undo the curse that's defined her--and to show the world, and herself, exactly who she is inside."

I am dying to know what the Labyrinth of Fate and Dreams holds! This book sounds incredibly imaginative and I am hear for it.

and...

Ration by Cody T. Luff

Publication: August 13th, 2019

Apex Book Company

Hardcover. 232 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"Cynthia and Imeld have always lived in the Apartments. A world where every calorie is rationed and the girls who live there are forced to weigh their own hunger against the lives of the others living in the building. It’s a world where the threat of the Wet Room and Ms. Lion always lingers, and punishments are doled out heavily both by the Women who oversee them and the other girls. 

When Cynthia is wrongly accused of eating an “A” ration which leads to the death of another girl, her peers punish her harshly. In seeking revenge, she is forced from the only home she has ever known, out into the broader world with one of the Women—Ms. Glennoc—who has tormented her for years. Hunger mixes with politics, intrigue, and social status, and Cynthia needs to figure it out quickly if she’s going to survive and make it back to the Apartments to save Imeld. 

With her friend and Ms. Glennoc gone, Imeld is lost. Ms. Tuttle forces her to step into Ms. Glennoc’s shoes, taking on the role of a Woman in charge of all the girls, the punishments, and the Wet Room. The new role feels wrong, especially as Ms. Tuttle’s behavior becomes more and more erratic. Imeld can’t turn her back on the other girls in the Apartments, but how can she save them when she isn’t sure how to save herself? If they rebel against Ms. Tuttle and the other Women, will they starve? 

Set in the far future, Ration is an unflinching take on the ways society can both thrive and go wrong as the pressure to survive builds.."

I've been wanting some horror lately and I think Ration might fit that bill pretty well. Despite how long this synopsis is, I still feel like I don't really know what to expect from this, so I am really intrigued to find out! I love how creepy and unpredictable it sounds.


and...

Nordic Tales: Folktales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark by Chronicle Books, Ulla Thynell
Publication: August 13th, 2019

Chronicle Books

Hardcover. 168 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"Trolls haunt the snowy forests, and terrifying monsters roam the open sea. 

A young woman journeys to the end of the world, and a boy proves he knows no fear. 

This collection of 16 traditional tales transports readers to the enchanting world of Nordic folklore. Translated and transcribed by folklorists in the 19th century, and presented here unabridged, the stories are by turns magical, hilarious, cozy, and chilling. They offer a fascinating view into Nordic culture and a comforting wintertime read. Ulla Thynell's glowing contemporary illustrations accompany each tale, conjuring dragons, princesses, and the northern lights. This special gift edition features an embossed, textured case and a ribbon marker."

I'm a lover of folktales, so this automatically called out to me when I saw it. Those illustrations also look absolutely gorgeous and I'd love to hold this book in my hands and read through all the Nordic folktales.

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

First Chapter Tuesday: Jade War by Fonda Lee & The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School by Kim Newman

First Chapter Tuesday is hosted every Tuesday by Vicki @ I'd Rather Be at the Beach. This is meme in which bloggers share the first chapter of a book that they are currently reading or thinking about reading soon. Join the fun by making your own post and linking up over at Vicki's blog, or simply check it out to find more new books to read!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday post was a freebie topic, and honestly, I haven't the slightest idea of what to do, so I'm taking this as an opportunity to jump in with a another First Chapter Tuesday! Today I'm featuring two books I'm planning to jump into soon: the first is Jade War, the highly anticipated sequel to the gritty and thrilling fantasy Jade City, and the latter is The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School, a book that's been sitting on my shelf for far, far too long--it's time to rectify that!

Jade War (Green Bone Saga #2) by Fonda Lee
 

Excerpt:

CHAPTER 1

Heaven Awaiting

"It was madness to rob the grave of a Green Bone. Only someone with little regard for his own life would consider it, but if one was that sort of person, then tonight was the moment of opportunity. The cool, dry days of late winter had not yet given way to the incessant rain of spring, and low clouds obscured the rising moon over the tops of the trees in Widow’s Park. The streets of Janloon were unusually quiet; out of respect, people were forgoing their usual activities and staying home, hanging ceremonial spirit guiding lamps in their windows to honor the passing of Kaul Seningtun—national war hero, patriarch of the No Peak clan, the Torch of Kekon. So even though Bero and Mudt had taken the precaution of carrying no light, there was no one to take notice of their arrival at the cemetery."

Goodreads

I honestly don't even need this excerpt to make me excited to read this book...but it sure does help! Really looking forward to continuing this journey. I hope to get started in the next week or so!

Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Secrets of Drearcliff Grange School by Kim Newman

 

Excerpt:

First Term

I: A New Bug

"A week after mother found her sleeping on the ceiling, Amy Thomsett was delivered to her new school. Like a parcel.

When the down train departed from Exeter St. Davids, it was crowded with ruddy-faced farmers, tweedy spinsters and wiry commercial travellers. Nearer the end of the line, Amy had a compartment all to herself.

She first saw Drearcliff Grange through the train's smut-spotted windows. Shifted from seat to seat, she kept the school in sight as long as possible.

Amy hoped the name was misleading. It wasn't."

Goodreads

I've been meaning to read this book for years now, so I think it's time I finally get to it! It sounds like everything I love and that intro has me hooked!

Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

What do you think? Would you keep reading these books? (And feel free to join in and make your own post!) 

*Excerpts are taken from the novel itself; I do not claim to own any part of the excerpt.

Review: The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) by R.F. Kuang

Harper Voyager

Publication Date: August 6th, 2019

Hardcover. 560 pages

About The Dragon Republic:

"In the aftermath of the Third Poppy War, shaman and warrior Rin is on the run: haunted by the atrocity she committed to end the war, addicted to opium, and hiding from the murderous commands of her vengeful god, the fiery Phoenix. Her only reason for living is to get revenge on the traitorous Empress who sold out Nikan to their enemies. 

With no other options, Rin joins forces with the powerful Dragon Warlord, who has a plan to conquer Nikan, unseat the Empress, and create a new Republic. Rin throws herself into his war. After all, making war is all she knows how to do. 

But the Empress is a more powerful foe than she appears, and the Dragon Warlord’s motivations are not as democratic as they seem. The more Rin learns, the more she fears her love for Nikan will drive her away from every ally and lead her to rely more and more on the Phoenix’s deadly power. Because there is nothing she won’t sacrifice for her country and her vengeance."

*Note: This is a spoiler-free review, although since this is the second book in a series there may be inadvertent minor spoilers from the first book.

When I read The Poppy War last year, I was entranced. I had no idea what sort of story I'd be getting into when I started it, and it wasn't until the famed second half of the book that I fully understood just how high the stakes would be and how deep and dark Kuang was would go to tell such an important and riveting story.

The Dragon Republic is vastly different from The Poppy War in regards to setting and plot developments, but it still captures the intensity, drive, despair, dichotomy of hopelessness and hopefulness, and utterly gripping narrative present in The Poppy War. It is somehow even better than the first book and it took everything in me to even be able to put this book down so that I could do other productive things in my life (you know, like eat, sleep, clean...).

Rin continues to be a character that I oscillate between somewhat liking, hating, and feeling entirely frustrated with--and honestly, that makes me love this book even more because she is such a compelling and real character. She's incredibly angry (understandably, usually). She screws up a lot. She has an unchecked temper, but she also knows how to take care of things and be appropriate when she needs to be--well, sometimes. There is definitely a lot of growth in regards to Rin and her gradual understanding of how the world around her works and her role in it, though she does still hang on to a lot of her most stubborn characteristics.

In addition to Rin, many of the supporting characters, such as Kitay and and another character whose name I can't mention since it might be a bit of a spoiler, also continue to be developed in an engrossing and believable manner. I really enjoyed all of the characters that Kuang has created in this trilogy so far, especially those such as Vaisra the Dragon Warlord and even the Empress Su Daji. There is a fine deftness required in order to create characters that are so easily hated, yet still intriguing (and dare I say charismatic?) enough to draw you in to their own motivations and goals in the plot.

One aspect of The Dragon Republic that I was particularly excited about was the expanded world-building. The Poppy War featured a fair number of various locations and settings, but in The Dragon Republic the entire world just felt as if it were opened up so much more. Even more history and locations were introduced and explored and the already expansive world-building of the first book was opened up into something that felt as real as the world I live in today. There are a variety of climates and locations, there are societies that don't concern themselves with issues far away unless it directly benefits them, there are hierarchies upon hierarchies that are endlessly complex and frustrating to those involved with them, and there is simply a constant sense of legitimacy that had me really sucked into this world. And to top off the world-building is the excellent Asian-inspired setting that absolutely makes this book even more interesting than it already is. I love that Kuang has drawn influence from historical elements and has such a vibrant world and a diverse array of cultures in place to reflect the diversity of the Asian background it is based upon.

As much as I loved The Poppy War and was easily engaged in Kuang's absorbing prose, it is clearly evident that Kuang has improved even more with the prose of The Dragon Republic and has matured even more as a writer (though, of course, this isn't to say that her writing wasn't already mature and well-done!), crafting a tale with twists, turns, scheming, and intense discussions that drew me in at every moment. At no point in this book was I ever bored--instead, I was constantly yearning for more.

This book will punch you in the face, laugh at you when you're shocked, pretend to make it better...and then stomp all over you again with a smile. And you'll love every second of it. If you loved The Poppy War, you'll love The Dragon Republic. If you were iffy on The Poppy War, you'll love The Dragon Republic so definitely still give it a chance! Overall, I've easily given The Dragon Republic five stars!

*I received an ARC of The Dragon Republic courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment of the novel.*

Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

The Friday Face-Off: Upside Down

Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme here at Books by Proxy. Join us every Friday as we pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe. You can find a list of upcoming topics at Lynn's Books.

This week's topic is:
“Ludo ….. down” – A cover that is Upside Down

One of the first books that came to mind for this week's 'upside down' prompt was The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Unfortunately, there only seems to be one cover edition that actually has the upside down element, but I decided to share a few different cover varieties anyway. And since only one Murakami book has an upside down element, I decided to share a small handful of other random books I thought of that have upside down elements as well at the end.

  

1998 US Vintage | 2001 Danish | 2004 French

  

1997 US Knopf | 2018 Turkish | 2015 US Vintage

2008 Swedish | 2007 Vietnamese | 2005 Greek

My choice:

I will always be partial to the early Murakami Vintage editions and I just love this design. When I first started reading Murakami back in the day, these were still the regular covers available, though now they've republished just about all of them with new covers. I like the new covers, but I'd love to finish up my collection with all the originals that I love (like this one!).

Which covers do you like best?


Bonus upside-down covers!

Novella Mini-Reviews: Final Girls by Mira Grant & Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Final Girls by Mira Grant
Subterranean Press
Publication: April 30th, 2017

Hardcover. 112 pages.

About Final Girls:

"What if you could fix the worst parts of yourself by confronting your worst fears? 

Dr. Jennifer Webb has invented proprietary virtual reality technology that purports to heal psychological wounds by running clients through scenarios straight out of horror movies and nightmares. In a carefully controlled environment, with a medical cocktail running through their veins, sisters might develop a bond they’ve been missing their whole lives—while running from the bogeyman through a simulated forest. But…can real change come so easily? 

Esther Hoffman doubts it. Esther has spent her entire journalism career debunking pseudoscience, after phony regression therapy ruined her father’s life. She’s determined to unearth the truth about Dr. Webb’s budding company. Dr. Webb’s willing to let her, of course, for reasons of her own. What better advertisement could she get than that of a convinced skeptic? But Esther’s not the only one curious about how this technology works. Enter real-world threats just as frightening as those created in the lab. Dr. Webb and Esther are at odds, but they may also be each other’s only hope of survival."

As you may or may not know, Mira Grant and Seanan McGuire are the same author using different pseudonyms. From my experience, it seems as though Mira Grant leans more towards the sci-fi and medical sci-fi routes, whereas Seanan McGuire has more books featuring fantasy and the like. Final Girls falls in the realm of what I would describe as science fiction with a mental health medicine focus. This was a really interesting thought experiment about an experimental new method to help estranged family members and friends develop a strong relationship using virtual reality simulations.

What I liked: I loved how Grant took the idea of how fear affects the mind and body and explored that in a new way. I was fascinated by how Esther, who tested out the experiment herself, was able to be sucked into this simulation idea despite her occasional awareness that the situation wasn't real. Grant's prose also continues to be one that easo;y drags the reader in, as she knows how to combine a simple style with strong descriptions and explanation in a way that makes this an enjoyable read.

What I didn't like: There's nothing that I explicitly disliked in this novella, but it also wasn't something that stood out to me in any strong way. I will certainly remember this novella and the premise that it explores, but there's still something about it that prevented me from enjoying it further. I think the main thing that might've have contributed to this was my lack of interest in most of the characters. Novellas don't provide much time to really connect with a character usually, but it's still possible to care about them and I'm not sure that's something that I ever really felt about the characters--even though the two main characters were developed well--which in turn caused me to feel as if I was being held at arm's length. I felt that many areas were not explored as much as they could have been.

Overall, Final Girls is a fascinating futuristic sci-fi novella with some interesting ideas to explore. I've given it 3.75 stars!

Amazon | IndieBound

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
Tor
Publication Date: January 9th, 2018

Hardcover. 174 pages.

About Beneath the Sugar Sky:

"When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. But Rini can’t let Reality get in the way of her quest – not when she has an entire world to save! (Much more common than one would suppose.)

If she can't find a way to restore her mother, Rini will have more than a world to save: she will never have been born in the first place. And in a world without magic, she doesn’t have long before Reality notices her existence and washes her away. Good thing the student body is well-acquainted with quests... 

A tale of friendship, baking, and derring-do. 

Warning: May contain nuts."

Beneath the Sugar Sky is the third installment in the ever-popular Wayward Children's series. In this book, we follow yet another member of Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children on their own journey as we get to explore even more new worlds. We visit a few worlds in this book, but the main one is a sugar-sweet Nonsense world, and as someone with a huge sweet tooth, this world spoke to me.

What I liked: McGuire has an incredibly inventive imagination and she continues to build these magnificent settings that stand apart from everything else and that come vividly to life in my own mind. Her descriptions are stunning and overflowing with beautiful prose. I loved that this book combined some new characters with old characters--all from different worlds--and readers are able to continue to learn new things about them and their character. I also really appreciated how seamlessly McGuire incorporates so much diversity among her cast of characters--it's effortless and flows perfectly, yet is also prominent enough to make a statement.

What I didn't like: Much like with Final Girls, there's nothing that I can really pinpoint that I disliked, but this installment just didn't call out to me quite as much as some of the others. Parts of it felt very formulaic and a bit lacking in some way, while other parts were beautiful and immediately grabbed my attention. I think the inconsistency really translated to my own uncertain feelings about this book. The plot was just a bit odd in this one and I couldn't find myself feeling fully invested in the stakes at play.

Overall, I've given Beneath the Sugar Sky 3.75 stars!

Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

Can't-Wait Wednesday: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig & Bursts of Fire by Susan Forest

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlight is: 

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
Publication: August 6th, 2019

Delacorte

Hardcover. 416 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed. 

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods. 

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with? 

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next."

I've had my eye on this one for a while (ever since I saw that cover, let's be honest!) and I am loving the premise. I'm assuming this is some sort of retelling or story inspired by The Twelve Princesses fairy tale based upon the twelve sisters and a few other elements and I am one hundred percent on board for that!

and...

Bursts of Fire by Susan Forest

Publication: August 6th, 2019

Laksa Media Groups

Hardcover. 394 pages.

Pre-order: Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

"To survive. To fight. To restore balance.

The Falkyn sisters bear a burden and a legacy. Their mother, the imperial magiel of the kingdom of Orumon, protects her people from the horrors of the afterlife by calling upon the Gods with a precious Prayer Stone. But war among the kingdoms has brought fire and destruction to their sheltered world. When a mad king's desire to destroy the Prayer Stones shatters their family, the three girls are scattered to the wilderness, relying on their wits and powers they don't yet master. 

Assassin. Battle tactician. Magic wielder. Driven by different ambitions, Meg, Janat, and Rennika are destined to become all these and more. To reclaim their birth right, they must overcome doubtful loyalties within a rising rebellion; more, they must challenge a dogma-driven chancellor's influence on the prince raised to inherit his father's war: a prince struggling to unravel the mystery of his brother's addiction to Heaven."

I'm pretty much always game for a new epic fantasy, which makes me excited to check out Bursts of Fire! I'm loving the dramatic architecture on the cover and this sounds like a pretty intense premise, so I'm pretty curious about this one.

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

Top Ten Tuesday: Settings I'd Love to See More Of

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book blog meme now hosted by Jana over at The Artsy Reader Girl!

This week's topic is: Settings I’d Like to See More Of (Or At All)

I'm not sure if this week's topic meant what settings from books I've already read and would like to see more of or just types of settings in general, so I just went with the latter option! As a disclaimer, I am aware that there are plenty of books out there with these settings available, but they aren't necessarily in an overabundance and I'd personally just like to see more options available in new works. I'm including both time periods and specific physical settings, so let's just dive in!

1. Underwater settings
I love the idea of underwater worlds, but the only ones that come immediately to mind are The Little Mermaid and its large array of retellings. The ocean is huge and I'd be thrilled to read more books set somewhere in its depths, whether in a real-world universe or an alternate one.

2. Prehistoric 
One of the best prehistoric series I can think of it the Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel (Clan of the Cave Bear), but outside of that this period seems fairly scarce in recent books. Whenever I read something vaguely prehistoric or semi-close to that period I seem to adore it, so I say bring on more prehistory. Dinosaurs are an added bonus if you really want to get crazy.

3. Islamic Golden Age
From my understanding, this period spans multiple centuries from the 4th to 12th century, so there is plenty of room for some great book material. I don't mind if its historical fiction, fantasy, or something inspired by anything from this period, I simply think this is a time period that is rife with ideas and innovations and would make for great stories to share.

4. Medieval Japan
Honestly, any historical period in Japan would be welcome in my book, whether ancient, classical, or medieval, but I've always thought that medieval Japan is an area that isn't often used for book settings.

5. The Persian Empire
This is another period of time that has a lot to work with and could provide for so many incredible stories and settings! We often see books set in Ancient Greece that include the Greeks fighting the Persians, but I don't often see books set on the Persian side, whether its during Persian wars or not.

6. World War I
I might be sick to death of WWII settings most of the time, but I'm not sure of World War I settings! I'd love to see some books that take place during this time period that incorporate the conflict in some manner. An added bonus would be books that take place during this period that aren't centered in the United States or the United Kingdom.

7. The Underworld
There are various versions of the Underworld in all sorts of different mythologies and even in fantasy worlds, so this is an area that could be majorly explored. There are a decent number of books with the Underworld as a setting that is visited, but I'd love to see one that takes almost entirely in the Underworld where it also plays a large role in the plot.

8. Fantasy Renaissance
I see a lot of historical periods used in fantasy, but I'm honestly not sure if I've seen very many set in the Renaissance. Medieval European fantasy is one of the most popular settings out there, but again, I'm not so sure about the Renaissance! I'd love to see a creative take on this period's politics, art, innovations, and other elements of the cultural atmosphere.

9. Underground/Caves
Okay, so this is a bit of an odd one. I'm not entirely sure what it is about caves that I enjoy, but whenever I read a book that features any sort of cave digging or period in which the main characters have to stay overnight in a cave or somewhere underground, I always love it! I love exploring areas within caves or new worlds that exist right under our feet.

10. Castles
I feel like there are a lot of books that feature castles, but how many are actually set in a castle? I demand more castles! I don't even care if the characters ever leave the castle, let it be big enough that everyone can stare there all the time if necessary.


11. The Afterlife
I don't care what sort of afterlife it is, but I just love the idea of exploring a story where the characters have already passed and are now coming to grips with something as crazy as the afterlife. I 'd really like to see that different situations that authors come up with to tackle this topic. And yes, I watch and have really enjoyed The Good Place, though I'd love a darker take on the afterlife as well.

What settings would like to see more if in books?

Review: Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk

Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk

Forge Books

Publication Date: August 6th, 2019

Hardcover. 496 pages

About Nottingham:

"Both a gripping historical epic and fascinating deconstruction of the Robin Hood legend, Nathan Makaryk's Nottingham mixes history and myth into a complex study of power--one that twists and turns far beyond the traditional tale of Sherwood Forest's iconic thief. 

No king. No rules. 

England, 1191. King Richard is half a world away, fighting for God and his own ambition. Back home, his country languishes, bankrupt and on the verge of anarchy. People with power are running unchecked. People without are growing angry. And in Nottingham, one of the largest shires in England, the sheriff seems intent on doing nothing about it. 

As the leaves turn gold in the Sherwood Forest, the lives of six people--Arable, a servant girl with a secret, Robin and William, soldiers running from their pasts, Marion, a noblewoman working for change, Guy of Gisbourne, Nottingham's beleaguered guard captain, and Elena Gamwell, a brash, ambitious thief--become intertwined. And a strange story begins to spread . . ."

I've read and watched a fair number of Robin Hood-inspired stories and retellings in my lifetime, and Nottingham has officially become one of the best that I've ever read. I've found that it is difficult to get this story just right and although many retellings come close, they always seem to have just a few things off somewhere that prevents them from becoming something incredible. Nottingham, however, had everything I could have asked for and more.

The first thing that stands out to me about Nottingham is the writing. Makaryk has a witing style that is both dense and lucid the same time. It's chock-full of information, messages, and scheming while also being highly compelling and readable at all moments. This is an extremely witty book with plenty of humor littered throughout whenever you need it, but it still takes itself seriously enough and has plenty of more sobering, somber moments to balance everything out.

Nottingham has a large cast of characters that the POV switches between throughout the story. This, of course, leads to having a lot of characters to keep track of, but it also provides an abundance of much-needed perspective and insight from people in all different situations. Robin of Locksley and William de Wendenal are, of course, probably the most prominent of the characters we follow and they both had some truly great development as characters. It was fascinating to watch how each one handled the new situations they were thrown into and how there reactions were both similar and dissimilar and how this eventually led to the events of the final few pages of this book. I would love to go into more depth and detail about the various characters, but I know that if I talked about one I'd have to talk about them all, and none of us have time for that in this review so just know that they all bring something noteworthy to the story and are wonderfully and carefully crafted.

The best part about having so many different perspectives depicted in Nottingham was how it contributed to the idea that there are endless grey areas in morals and how truly unclear and fuzzy the lines of what's right and what's wrong in life really are. You could easily be reading the POV of a specific character, fully understanding their reasoning for an action they aim to undertake, and then you switch over to someone who opposes the previous character's opinions and suddenly find the previous argument utterly repulsive and incomprehensible. Makaryk is a master at both creating charismatic characters that are neither fully good nor fully bad and at creating situations that have no right or wrong, and instead are full of difficult decisions and a sense of uncertainty surrounding them.

Makaryk also does a great job in the realm of world-building. This isn't a fantasy so there's nothing exceptionally 'new' or unheard of that Makaryk has to create, as much of it is drawn from the relevant historical period, but he still creates a highly realistic layout of the time period and presents the struggle of the rich versus the poor extremely well. This also leads me to the praise of the political drama and scheming that is highly present--and rather crucial--to the entire story. There is so much scheming in this book, all of which is done with a superb hand and in a manner that makes it impossible to stop reading.

In addition to all of the praise mentioned above, I also would like to touch on how much I loved the themes and thought-provoking ideas that Makaryk explores in this book. The struggle between rich and poor, how leaders make decisions, how people are motivated to do take certain actions--or not take them--how difficult it is to ever make decisions that leaves the majority of people happy. All of these topics and more are explored in such a thought-provoking and well-developed manner that I still continue to think about this book long after having put it down.

My only minor complaints involve a few instances where what seemed to be small anachronisms made me scratch my head. However, I do want to note that this was only minor and hardly removed any of my enjoyment of this book. I was never pulled out of the story and still maintained a solid interest and focus in the story, but I do feel that this is still something important to note.

Overall, I've easily given Nottingham 4.75 stars! I had a fantastic time reading this book. It has the perfect balance of drama, humor, intriguing plot points, and a highly charismatic and well-developed cast of characters. If you haven't read this book yet, go read it and join me in the wait for the sequel!

Amazon | Book Depository | IndieBound

*I received an ARC of Nottingham courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment of the novel.*