I put off reading this book for a while, fearing that I might be a little bit over this fandom. But clearly, I am not. This fandom still always draws me in. There’s something so addictive about Cassandra Clare’s writing and the characters she creates… As always there is drama, adventure, epic good vs. evil fights, crazy plot twists and characters you immediately root for. And of course, love conquering all.

“I am a Herondale. We love but once.”
“That is only a story.”
“Haven’t you heard?” James said bitterly. “All the stories are true.”

A lot in the story was predictive and reminded of similar plots and situations in the other books, but somehow it didn’t really matter, I was so intrigued nevertheless. What I especially love about this book is seeing Will and Tessa and their children James and Lucie and their group of friends, and Jem and Magnus Bane again and to get more of their background stories to connect the dots between the Infernal Devices and the Mortal Instruments series. I also really loved two of the new characters, Matthew and Cordelia, and hope things will get better for them as the series continues. (With the cliff hanger ending in this book, things will definitely be different for Cordelia at least… don’t want to say anything more to risk spoil anything though.)

And Anna. I have to say something about her. I think she’s my new favorite Shadowhunter character of all time. One thing that I especially appreciate about Cassandra Clare’s books is that there is a lot of queer representation and diverse characters. And Anna is one of the best and most fascinating and loveable characters I’ve come across lately (not only in the Shadowhunter world but in all books). She’s a lesbian in Edwardian London who seduces women and wears suits and questions just about any tradition and is so vivid and full of faults and intrigues that you know she will cause disaster wherever she goes. How can you not be completely floored by her? I can’t wait to read more about her adventures in the sequels.

“I thought you wanted to have tea!” objected Cordelia.
“No one ever just wants to have tea,” said Anna. “Tea is always an excuse for a clandestine agenda.”

I don’t know how Cassandra Clare does it, but once again she has left me desperately waiting for the next book.

Rating:
5 stars

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​Author info:
Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunters

Knife Edge is the second book in Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses series taking place in an alternative universe, where people of color called “Crosses” are the dominant rulers, with “Noughts”, people of European origin, as a despised underclass. The story in the first book follows teenagers Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a Nought) as their childhood friendship turns into a forbidden love with all the attendant difficulties that a racially divided world presents. In this second book Sephy is left alone, with her and Callum’s daughter, and with Callum’s brother, Jude, blaming her for the terrible losses his family has suffered. 

I really loved the first book, which was so dramatic, gripping, emotional, shocking and tragic and with the beautiful love story against everything between Callum and Sephy. With Callum gone, this second book focuses on the parallel stories of Sephy and Jude instead. I never liked Jude, and with so much focus on him and his bitterness and hatred, this book unfortunately is much weaker and less addictive than the first one. At first, the story showed a more human side of Jude and I really hoped that his character would develop, but sadly not. He continued to be such a two-dimensional character, and his never-ending hatred for the Noughts just got so tiring and uninteresting about halfway into the book.

I also wasn’t so keen on the format of this one and the song lyrics and the newspaper clippings, that just slowed the story down. And it really didn’t need that, as it was slower in itself compared to the first book, with Sephy suffering from depression, and just behing too much inside her head mulling over whether she loves her baby or not.

But even though I wasn’t too fond of this book, it’s well written and I’m still invested in the series and its unique and thought-provoking story. So, I’ll give this book 2.5 stars rounding up to a 3 stars rating based on the overall way this series turns history on its head, and pinpoints racism and injustice.

Rating:
3 stars

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Bookshop.org
Amazon
Book Depository

​Author info:
Malorie Blackman

I’d heard so many great things about this book - that it was funny, astonishing and bold and that it should be a queer retelling of Frankenstein’s Monster - but unfortunately its turned out to be such a huge disappointment to me. The lack of a concise narrative and characters to root for just didn’t make it interesting enough to get me fully engaged. And as for funny (I’ve seen quotes about this book saying that “I found myself vibrating with laughter”), it was just obviously not my kind of humor. But worst of all, the trans representation was so horribly done that it made me feel utterly uncomfortable and almost stopped me from finishing this book.

In short, Frankissstein has two parallel story lines. In one part, this book was a reanimation of Frankenstein and a fictionalized life story of Mary Shelley. In the other part there was a futuristic sci fi story of Ry Shelley, a transgender doctor self-described as a “hybrid” and her love story with Victor Stein, a celebrated professor working at the forefront of AI research. The story shifted between the parallel stories set in early 19th century and the present day focus with Ry Shelley and Victor Stein and his work at a cryonics facility, as well as with Ron Lord, who is set to make his fortune with a new generation of sex dolls.

As the stories moved forward, the two timelines became more and more tangled and the characters seemed to jump through time and space, but it still felt very fragmented. It’s clear that Jeanette Winterson wanted to show the possibilities of artificial intelligence and the implications of both transsexuality and transhumanism, but also to raise questions about the responsibilities of creation. What happens when homo sapiens are no longer the smartest being on the planet? It’s a very ambitious approach, but unfortunately it all fell flat and the story line was just too weird and unengaging, and the characters weren’t likable enough to excite me. I especially disliked the sex robot maker Ron and think the book would have been better without him, I honestly don’t think that the sex bots plot slid in well with the main story at all. And on top of that the way to describe transpersons as “hybrids” just didn’t sit well with me. It felt utterly homophobic to portray “trans” as a third gender option.

​So even though I can appreciate the ambitious approach and the unique potential (hence the 2 stars instead of 1 that I first wanted to give), this is unfortunaly not a book I can recommend to anyone.

Rating:
2 stars

​Author info:
Jeanette Winterson

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman is a dramatic, gripping and heart-breaking story that turns history on its head, and pinpoints racism and injustice in such a telling way. ​