'The Winner's Curse' Winner's Curse Trilogy #1 by Marie Rutkoski

From the BLURB:

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Kestrel is General Trajan’s daughter, the Valorian general who conquered the Herran peninsula. Kestrel knows what it takes to win, to make other’s submit and to always come out on top. She knows about war. But that does not mean she fits easily into Valorian society, revered though her father may be, Kestrel feels shame for the way her people treat the Herrani – as slaves since their defeat.  This is a particularly hard concept for Kestrel to accept, since she was practically raised by her Herrani nurse after the tragic death of her mother. And, because Kestrel admires the Herrani’s musical ability – she herself is a piano-player, defiant against Valorian society who have little time for the Arts and value strength above all else.

One day, Kestrel finds herself pushed and pulled to the slaver’s market, where she is captivated by a blacksmith for sale – one, the slave auctioneer promises, who is also a singer. Against her better judgment and strong morals, Kestrel buys him – a slave of her own.

Arin enters the Trajan household as a blacksmith, and quickly makes himself invaluable to the General’s soldiers – creating weapons for them, and minding their horses. But it’s Lady Kestrel that Arin is fascinated by. She appears to have no fighting ability, though she is the General’s daughter, but she’s a keen strategist – winning every round of Bite & Sting she plays. Arin witnesses Kestrel manoeuvre the cruel and lusting Lord Inex with aplomb. And Arin watches as Kestrel fights a battle within herself – with the decision all Valorian must make – to be married, or join the army. The brother of Kestrel’s best friend, Ronan, would have her marry him – even promising that she could keep her beloved piano if she did. But Arin suspects the world has more in store for Kestrel Trajan than even she knows…

‘The Winner’s Curse’ is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy from young adult author Marie Rutkoski.

I’d been hearing quiet rumblings about this book for a while now. Wendy Darling of ‘The Midnight Garden’ awarded it 4.5/5 stars and professed “Love love love love love.”  Kirkus awarded it a starred review, declaring it "Breathtaking, tragic and true.” And now I’ve read it and all I can say is … wow.

If you listen to the hype coming out of the 2014 Bologna Children’s Book Fair; “realism reigns” once again when it comes to YA (hasn't it always?). But don’t think that means all dystopia/fantasy/paranormal YA books should be discounted as “so 2012” and passé – ‘The Winner’s Curse’ is proof of that. Marie Rutkoski takes fantasy to an entirely new level with ‘The Winner’s Curse’ – and part of its success will probably lie in its cross-genre blending. Here is a book with historical leanings, lashings of fantasy and doses of dystopia, but that is also so frightening and compelling because it also feels like realism – about a war-hungry society who find the tables turning when the people they conquered years ago start plotting an uprising.

‘The Winner’s Curse’ reads like Rutkoski used blueprints of British and Dutch colonialism, together with Napoleonic and Roman Empire historical touches. Yet, at the same time, the Herrani/Valorian history feels like something George R. R. Martin could have dreamt up.

Before the war, Valorians had admired, even envied – yes, envied – the Herrani. After, it was as if the spell had been broken or a new one had been cast. The slave never could quite believe it. Somehow, “animal” had become possible. Somehow, the word name him. This was a discovery ten years old and yet remade every day. It should have been dulled by repetition. Instead, he was sore from its constant cut of surprise. He was sour with swallowed anger.

The universe and setting is fascinating, particularly for the historical/fantasy blend. But what really makes this story stand out is the romantic heart at the centre – between the General’s daughter, Kestrel, and her slave, Arin. Here are two incredibly interesting characters in their own right, but throw them together and you have an epic love story with so many hurdles to overcome, I can hardly believe Rutkoski only has a trilogy planned!

Kestrel is certainly an admirable female protagonist – one of the few in Valorian society who has an issue with using slaves and who, despite her upbringing, has no interest in family (military or otherwise) but would rather create music. Arin is the perfect match for Kestrel on the page – his anger and bravery seem better suited to the Valorians – but he also sees much to be admired in Kestrel, in her quiet rebellions and favouring brains over brawn, creation over destruction.

But the real reason ‘The Winner’s Curse’ is a must-read book of 2014, is Marie Rutkoski’s style. She writes some truly sumptuous sentences;

She wished that Arin hadn’t chosen music for the flute, of all instruments. The beauty of the flute was in its simplicity, in its resemblance to the human voice. It always sounded clear. It sounded alone. The piano, on the other hand, was a network of parts – a ship, with its strings like rigging, its case a hull, its lifted lid a sail. Kestrel always thought that the piano didn’t sound like a single instrument but a twinned one, with its low and high halves merging together or pulling apart.

She has vividly created this universe for readers to get caught up in, and written fascinating characters I can’t wait to get back to. I was also really impressed by the plotting of the story – surprised that this felt like a complete book in itself (though with a juicy cliffhanger) because Rutkoski doesn’t meander with plot, but rather enjoys plunging readers into the thick of action.  

2015 seems a particularly long way away, now that I’m pining for book #2.

5/5

‘Losing Kate’ by Kylie Kaden

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

This mesmerising debut is part love story, part mystery, telling the captivating story of two lovers torn apart by tragedy and the secrets they kept of one devastating night. 

I'm the most authentic version of myself when I'm around Jack. We've known each other since we were kids, and our relationship was always one of mudpies and mocking. 

Then everything changed.

Beautiful Kate, my best friend, disappeared on a moonlit beach after Jack dumped her for me. Jack was a suspect and, sure of his innocence, I lied to protect him. I know Jack didn't kill her. Our betrayal did.

Thirteen years later, I am thirty, childless and single, attempting to renovate my life rescuing a rundown worker's cottage. All is as it should be in my safe little world – until Jack buys the vacant lot behind my house… and the feelings that we buried all those years ago – the guilt, the love and the pain - resurface.

We can't keep running away from the past – and to move forward we have to know what really happened to Kate. 

Thirteen years ago Francesca’s best friend died under mysterious circumstances. Kate’s death made the papers, and suspicion was cast on her boyfriend, Francesca’s best childhood friend, Jack Shaw … so much doubt was cast, and mud sticks, so Jack and his family had to move away.

Thirteen years later Francesca, single and working a gruelling job as a social worker, has stayed in her hometown and bought a fixer-upper cottage next door to a house on vacant swamp land. But the day that land goes up for auction, she is shocked to discover the man who successfully bid is Jack Shaw – no longer young and gangly, but tall, handsome and with a partner and little boy, Oli, in tow. And he’s planning to stay the six months it will take to renovate the old house, six months of living behind Francesca, looking at her over his property line. 

Jack immediately downplays his history with Francesca ‘Fray’ (as he called her) to his new partner, Sara. But the young, beautiful woman instantly suspects something is up when Jack’s old familiarity with Francesca starts to seep through their ‘new’ acquaintance. How could it not? This is the same boy Francesca played with in her backyard – running naked round the sprinklers. They were best friends in high school, even if Francesca wanted more, even if she was crushed when Jack turned his attention to the beautiful new girl and Francesca’s new best friend, Kate all those years ago… 

... As usual, Jack makes me see things clearly. He is still my litmus test for the truth ...

Now Jack is back in Francesca’s life – reminding her of everything she doesn’t have, all the things they lost thirteen years ago and her growing pile of “what if?” questions. And with Jake comes memories of Kate – their beautiful, frantic, damaged girl. Memories of their last fraught day together, and how Francesca loved Jack so much, she even lied for him.

‘Losing Kate’ is the debut novel from Australian author Kylie Kaden.

Kylie Kaden’s debut ‘Losing Kate’ is another beautiful example of the suburban-gothic sub-genre; blending romance and mystery with a sleepy suburbia backdrop that belies a darker underbelly. These books also seem to focus on the hazy days of one’s youth, where the best secrets are grown, and then examines them surfacing in the present where skeletons have been left languishing in closets for far too long … ‘Losing Kate’ is a blend of Liane Moriarty’s 'The Husband's Secret' and Frances Whiting’s 'Walking on Trampolines' (minus the gritty mystery) for how these books are about the old secrets of seemingly ordinary, suburban families surfacing in the present. 

Adding to the gothic elements in Kaden’s debut is the Queensland settings of Toowoomba and Townsville, where the heat is oppressive, stilted houses peek into neighbour’s backyards and Francesca’s old crush has moved into the swampish lot next door. The story is narrated by Francesca in present-day, with the occasional memory lapse to 2000, the year Kate died and more specifically, the night she went missing. As readers, we’re thrown into the thick of it when Francesca is shocked to discover Jack Shaw has just moved in next door – over the course of the first chapter we gradually learn this is not just a case of an awkward teenage dalliance resurfacing, but Jack is in fact tied to Francesca’s entire childhood and the reason they lost contact these past thirteen years has to do with the death of his girlfriend, Francesca’s best friend, Kate. 

I feel like I'm at a school reunion, my life being evaluated by the person who I started becoming a person with. We've lapsed into that small talk again, and I relax in a way I've only ever been able to with him. There's so much about the last thirteen years I don't know. Has he missed me? Has he missed Kate? Has he made his peace with what happened on that beach when we were seventeen, desperately trying to be grown up in an adult world? 

Straight away ‘Losing Kate’ felt more like a mystery to me. I spent a good deal of the book’s first half suspicious of Jack and his sudden reappearance in Francesca’s life, seeming coincidental. I was even more suspicious when Francesca’s older brother (and another old friend of Jack’s) Ben, casts his suspicions on the whole situation as well – particularly the part where Jack’s partner, Sara, has no knowledge of Kate’s death and the accusations Jack ran away from, let alone just how close he was to Francesca. I can’t say I ever really stopped suspecting Jack of wrongdoing, even when the novel gearshifts and Francesca is tempted to rekindle what she always wanted with Jack. I think this came down to Kaden having written such a good whodunit, pulling on these gothic elements so masterfully, that it was hard for me as a reader to uncoil enough to trust in Jack and the romance elements that appear in the latter half of the story. For that reason as well, I wanted bigger pay-off with the mystery. There’s a big part of me that wished Kaden had kept things gritty, and cast real villains in this book … but, also to her credit, she instead makes her characters very real and very flawed – there are not real ‘villains’ or heroes in this tale, just damaged people muddling through life, trying to cope with the mistakes they have made (some terrible, others forgivable). 

I particularly enjoyed that the ‘flashbacks’ in this book are set in 2000. It’s part of that 90s nostalgia I so love (because that was my era), but I really like that Francesca and Jack listened to Powderfinger and talked Nirvana, Francesca got annoyed at Ben for listening to ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ endlessly and there’s fond mention of discmans. The 2000 setting works really well, particularly for purposes of present plot when anyone can look up the details of Kate’s disappearance and death, and the media’s scrutiny of Jack, via quick Google search. 

I really enjoyed this book, even while not particularly liking many of the characters in it. Kaden’s female characters are particularly hard to read– mainly Kate and Sara. Sara, I think, is somewhat shaded by Francesca’s view of her – she seems larger than life in her bitchiness, and could almost be the villain of the story … if not for the fact that I was always aware that I was reading her through Francesca’s eyes, with her jealousies over Jack and likewise Sara’s (correct) suspicions about the two of them. Kate, in flashback, reminded me (hauntingly) of Kate Kendall in Rachel Ward’s film ‘Beautiful Kate’ – a young woman whose beauty and confidence belies deep demons that continue to haunt all those she touched. 

'She was like fireworks, Fray. She was never made to last.' 

This was a book that I rushed to get back to; immensely readable and a great blend of romance and ‘suburban-gothic’ mystery, where past meets present to prove that secrets can’t stay buried forever. 

4/5

'The Cursed' League of The Black Swan #1 by Alyssa Day

From the BLURB

Bordertown private investigator Luke Oliver’s beat is the dimensional fold in Manhattan between the human and supernatural realms. But now a secret from his past—the League of the Black Swan—has surfaced. Because Luke isn’t any ordinary P.I. He’s the Dark Wizard of Bordertown, and he never backs down from a fight.

But this time the fight threatens his life and his heart. Rio Jones, the only woman he loved, needs his help against a deadly menace. Luke pushed her away once before, so she’d never fall prey to the curse that threatens to destroy him. He swore he’d never let her go again.

Luke and Rio, with the help of the newly reformed League, must keep evil forces from taking over Bordertown—all the while battling a passion on the razor’s edge between danger and desire. And going to take everything they have just to stay alive.

Luke Oliver has a problem, and her name is Rio Jones. He met the attractive bike messenger months ago, and swore to himself that he’d stay away … and by “stay away” he meant occasionally stalk her and scope out her relationship status.

But Oliver can’t get involved with her. He’s been single for hundreds of years, and though she’s the most tempting thing to cross his path in all that time, he must remain strong and resist her temptation. Because Oliver is cursed – there’s a monster inside of him and losing his inhibitions to love could very well unleash it.

But then Rio Jones goes and gets a target on her back, courtesy of the League of the Black Swan. She’s also witness to a child kidnapping that gets her stuck in the middle of a faerie high court. Things get even more peculiar when orphan Rio is suddenly hounded left, right and centre about her upcoming 25th birthday – and starts receiving hints about who her parents might have been. 

Of course Rio knows Luke Oliver – he of the sexy, sexy and someone she’s delivered packages to in the past – and she turns to him for help. Because everyone knows he’s a powerful Dark Wizard, who could walk into the role of Bordertown Sheriff, if he had any such inclination. 

The only problem is that Luke Oliver is more than happy to help the beautiful Rio Jones … because he’s tired of lusting from afar, now that the fates seem hell-bent on throwing her in his path, he might just act on his instincts. God help us all. 

‘The Cursed’ is the first book in a new paranormal romance series called ‘The League of The Black Swan’ by Alyssa Day. 

There’s no other genre quite like paranormal romance for my quirky reading habits. It’s perhaps the one genre that I sometimes crave, but can over-indulge on and be put off reading again for months and months. I bought Alyssa Day’s ‘The Cursed’ back in 2013 when it was first released, anticipating that it might be a good book to have on hand the next time I got the reading-itch for some paranormal romance … and, boy oh boy, were my instincts right. 

First of all, this book falls into one of my most favouritest (but rarely done well) categories of paranormal romance – the happy coupling. That’s right – this is a book in which the protagonists establish their romantic connection in the first book, and it looks as though the series will follow them as a couple. I am quite partial to such books, Mercy and Adam in Patricia Briggs’ ‘Mercy Thompson’ series is probably my favourite example of a romance being established very early on and subsequent books focusing on the evolution of that romance. Ditto the spin-off series ‘Alpha and Omega’ with Charles and Anna. This in comparison to, say, Kate and Curran in the Ilona Andrews’ series whereby the couple start out as antagonists and do a lot of (albeit, delicious) toing and froing before getting together. BUT, the downside of an early established romance is often boredom, as I found with recent instalments in Jeaniene Frosts’ ‘Night Huntress’ series when Cat and Bones were head-over-heels from the start (seriously, don’t even get me started on last book ‘Up From the Grave’ except to say it’s a good thing that’s the last book) that made me realise there was more fun to be had in the chase than happily-ever-after right in the middle of a series.

I actually have high-hopes and a sneaking suspicion that Alyssa Day has set Rio and Luke up as an established couple with plenty of rough-patches in store to keep things interesting between them, but also enough fated attraction to ensure they keep their heat. Between Luke’s curse (exacerbated by falling in love, no less!) and Rio’s unknown origins, this is one couple who will be interesting as a united front, but still have so much to learn about one another and what their attraction means for their futures.

“Big, tough wizard crying like a baby,” he said, mocking himself, and she knew he wasn’t only referring to the remembered dream. “Real romantic, right?” 

She traced her finger over the curve of his sculpted lips and shushed him. “Maybe the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.” 

A thought occurred to her, though, and she laughed. “Except for ‘You were hurting, and I wanted to help, but I didn’t know how, so I blew something up.’” 

His face flushed, and she fell back on the pillow, laughing even harder. 

“You just blushed! After days of making me blush every time I turn around, I finally did it to you!” 

“Maybe I can make you blush again,” he murmured. 

A lot does happen in this book. Readers do get dropped into the world of Bordertown with very little back-story about this universe, and then the story hits the ground running with Rio witnessing a kidnapping and finding herself being offered recruitment into the League of the Black Swan. Then lots of fantastical creatures start coming out of the woodwork to discuss her 25th birthday … Not to mention a magic fox (Kitsune) also enters her life for reasons unknown – suffice to say; a lot happens in this book. But it’s never too jarring or messy, surprisingly, mostly because Day has grounded the story in Luke and Rio’s romance as the pivoting point (possibly even of the series). 

So it’s no surprise that Rio and Luke work very, very well as a couple. It helps that Luke isn’t your typical leading-man alpha asshole normally found in paranormal romance. He’s actually a bit of a shy geek, who happens to be a dark wizard of immense power and stunning physique (though he doesn’t seem at all self-conscious or self-aware of his handsomeness). He is alpha where Rio is concerned, but it’s more an instinctual reaction to her that he’s trying to tamp down, lest she get wigged out by his machismo. He hasn’t had a relationship for hundreds of years, and is very shy about trying to romance and woo the lovely Rio. 

Rio is also not your typical heroine – she’s an orphan with abandonment issues who’s always out to please other people, lest they leave her like everyone else ever has. She’s quite sweet and polite, smart and loyal but when threatened you realize she has a spine of steel. Together they work really well – and I’m going to enjoy reading how Luke’s anti-social shyness plays against Rio’s need to establish a connection with family. 

‘The Cursed’ is a stellar introduction to a new series, and definitely satiated (and maybe sparked) my paranormal romance/urban fantasy cravings. I’m definitely onboard for this new series, after Alyssa Day well and truly suckered me in with this book and that splendid couple.

5/5

A children’s lit prize of one’s own

This week for Kill Your Darlings, I wrote about the fabulous Readings Children’s Book Prize - a new Australian literary award for books written for children, aged 5–12. 

It truly is, 'A children’s lit prize of one’s own'

'Night Broken' Mercy Thompson #8 by Patricia Briggs

From the BLURB:

An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam's ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam won't turn away a person in need, but with Christy holed up in Adam's house, Mercy can't shake the feeling that something isn't right.

Soon, Mercy learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and will anything to get him, including turning Adam's pack against Mercy.

On top of this, there's an even more dangerous threat circling. Christy's ex is more than a bad man - in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies pile up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her world apart.

The story kicks-off with an unexpected phone-call from Adam’s ex-wife, Christy, begging him and the pack for help and shelter. Apparently, Christy got tangled with the wrong man and now she’s running scared after she suspects he killed another of her suitors.

Mercy is reluctant to let Christy into her home, and back into the pack’s fold – especially since many of the female werewolves who hate Mercy still consider Christy a good friend, and would welcome her back as their Alpha’s mate. But Christy is Jesse’s mother, and Mercy is secure enough in her and Adam’s relationship to, begrudgingly, let his ex into their home.

But it’s not just Christy’s jealous lover causing a stir for Mercy and the pack. One of the Fae has come knocking on Mercy’s door, demanding the Walking Stick be returned … the same Walking Stick that Mercy recently gave to her Coyote for safe-keeping. If she can’t get it back, the Fae promise retribution for Mercy and those she holds dear.

‘Night Broken’ is the eighth book in Patricia Briggs’s awesome ‘Mercy Thompson’ urban fantasy series.

Straight-up: I’ve given this book 3.5/5 and that is the lowest ever rating I’ve ever given a ‘Mercy’ book … and I’m a bit shocked, to be honest. 

I was so looking forward to this book, perhaps even more than usual, because in March last year I interviewed Ms Briggs and threw out the idea of (finally) meeting Adam’s ex-wife, Christy, and Briggs actually confirmed that my sneaking-suspicion would come to fruition in ‘Night Broken’. Why was I so eager to meet Christy, when Mercy, Adam and even Jesse seem to have a very low opinion of her? Mercy has, once or twice, reminisced about the days when Adam was married to Christy and she observed their rollercoaster relationship from her trailer. Mercy has also commented, rather bitterly, on what she perceives to be Christy’s short-fallings as a mother where Jesse is concerned. But I was interested to see her because Christy sounds so different from Mercy in everything from looks, to personality and backbone (namely, that Mercy has one). I think you’re always intrigued by ‘the ex’, particularly for the sake of comparison, and I was sort of hoping that Mercy would poke that wound (as I would) of asking Adam how he could have such wildly different tastes in his two wives. Also; now that Adam and Mercy are married and their relationship rock-solid, it’s always nice to keep throwing a hurdle or two their way – not for the sake of wrecking their romance, but certainly to keep it interesting (the pitfalls of boring after happily-ever-after that I found in Jeaniene Frost’s ‘Night Huntress’ series tells me this is a necessity). 

So, was it that the Christy storyline didn’t live up to my high hopes? Yes, and no. It was perversely pleasing to read that Christy is as awful in reality as she is in Mercy’s anecdotes and memories. But I don’t think this storyline ever reached climax or came to a satisfying resolution … I wanted Mercy to have an Alpha moment of staking her claim and putting Christy in her place, and it never quite got there for me. At the very end Briggs includes a bizarre mention of a prank Mercy pulled against Christy, but it’s mentioned at the worst possible time and held no relevance. Perhaps Christy will be sticking around for book #9, in which case this is an ongoing power-struggle and that’s fine. 

So was it the ‘whodunit’ mystery plot at the centre of this book? Yes, and no – again. Briggs relies on obscure mythology as the basis for her Big-Bad in this book, and it’s another one of those stories that has a complex retelling attached and is so far-flung and obscure that it doesn’t quite strike the right note of fear in me the same way that vampires or rogue werewolves do, for example. 

The Big-Bad story, converges with Mercy’s issues with the Fae and Walking Stick, which also mean that a visit from Coyote is included in this book … and Mercy also gets to meet one of Coyote’s other children (a sort-of brother to Mercy) a man called Laughingdog. This is a new character we’re introduced to, and he’s a fabulous new edition – a coyote walker like Mercy, with Native American heritage and a serious hatred of their “father” Coyote. When she meets him, Laughingdog is actually incarcerated over a situation that Coyote orchestrated to get out-of-hand, not to mention good ol’ Coyote has gifted Laughingdog with foresight; 

He opened his mouth, then shook his head. “It’s not that kind of foresight. I don’t get dates, just possibilities. And if I did know, I don’t hate you enough to tell you.” 

“She doesn’t know any other coyote walkers,” said Honey. “She is married to a man who will be young a hundred years from now. She wants to know that she is not going to leave him tied to a woman who will slowly die on him.” 

Laughingdog looked at me. “I don’t know. Most walkers are like humans – most are mostly human anyway these days. Coyote doesn’t walk this ground much anymore.” He smiled a little, but it wasn’t aimed at me. “Most of Coyote’s children don’t have to worry about a long life, anyway. A fool and his life are soon parted, you know.” 

I really like Laughingdog; he’s cheeky and a little bit lost, and I like that he’s coming into the fold. 
So was my 3.5 about the emotional/romance elements in this book? Nope. Mercy and Adam are still the wonderful Mercy and Adam duo I’ve come to know and love – they have heat in this book (as always), poignancy and their relationship feels more rock solid than ever. Love them, no issues there.
So what was it that didn’t quite work for me in this book? 

Well … it felt a little like filler, because by book’s end nothing has really changed.

We’re now eight books into this series, and while there was huge upheaval when Mercy finally chose Adam over Samuel, and entered into the pack as his mate … there hasn’t been a great deal of change since then, some four odd books ago. I’m not saying I need Mercy to be barefoot and pregnant with Adam’s baby to feel like she, and this world, have forward-momentum. But I do need some changes to start happening to feel like the ‘Mercy Thompson’ books aren’t just self-contained mysteries, but rather a constantly changing universe in which the characters are three-dimensional and constantly changing.

Dare I say, I was halfway through ‘Night Broken’ when I almost hoped for a major character death to shake things up. Because when I got to the end of this book,

 I couldn’t help but think: how many times have we been here before? Mercy battered and bruised, back from the brink of death with Adam leaning over her and making her promise to never do that again? … We’ve been here before, and now we need to move on and raise the stakes. And since a big shift in this series came from Mercy gaining a family after being a loner for so long, 

 I can’t help but feel change may need to come in threats to those she loves, more so than more Mercy life-or-death gambles.

All in all: I enjoyed this book, as I do all ‘Mercy Thompson’ instalments, but at eight books into this beloved series I need to start reading higher stakes and real change. 

3.5/5 

Why I loved the 'Veronica Mars' movie

ATTENTION: 

 * all the spoilers. So many spoilers. I have seen the movie, so if you haven’t then stop reading right about now *

I’ve been with Veronica Mars since it first premiered in Australia on Network Ten. I was there through the thick and the thin, the move from UPN to The CW and my heart shattered when CW President, Dawn Ostroff, announced the show wouldn’t be coming back after its third season. It’s perhaps the only TV series I loved so much that I still, to this day, get angry over the fact that it got canned before entering into double-digit seasons (that’s saying something, since I’m also a fan of other prematurely cancelled shows ‘Wonderfalls’ and ‘Firefly’). Nothing else has filled that TV void of offering a smart, flawed and funny female heroine with a fast mouth, quit-wit and life-or-death storylines … that targeted a young audience. Seeing VM appear on lists of ‘shows that should never have been cancelled’ only pours salt in the wound.

And then Kristen Bell and show creator Rob Thomas put a call out to Marshmallows everywhere. Like its fans, the show’s cast and creators were clearly missing their tiny blonde one as much as we were – and they had a plan to do something about it.

Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. EPIC … and now here we are. A show that debuted ten years ago and has been (criminally) off the air for seven finally made it to the big screen – thanks to:

I gave them money. Of course I did, and I never had any doubts that once the Marshmallow-signal went out, the movie would get made on the strength of the show's cult-status and the still burning injustice of it ever having been cancelled in the first place. 

Now it’s here and I’ve watched it, twice (more viewings to come) and I loved it. LOVED it. Let me count the ways…

 •••

• Old Veronica. Our first introduction to Veronica Mars on the big screen after a seven-year hiatus from the small is her pulling out a middle-finger lipstick on a douche interviewee and deadpanning “do I look ruffled?” during her interview. YES. Twenty-eight-years-old or not, she’s still got it (was there ever any doubt?)

• Great music. I love that ‘You'll Never Find Another Love’ by Lou Rawls was playing during the climactic action scene. It was a hark back to when ‘Right Here, Right Now’ by Fatboy Slim played during the heart-thumping moment in Spit & Eggs.

• Keith Mars - Enrico Colantoni brings it, and reminds me that Veronica’s relationship with her dad gave the show real heart that translates beautifully nine-years-later when she’s starting to buckle under the weight of his pride.

• The references. Veronica riffs on Dante’s Inferno one moment, likens Piz to a “sexual sharknado” the next and fan-girls over ‘This American Life’ radio host Ira Glass (who has since fan-girled right back)  

• Swearing. Yes, TV Veronica was just as quip-witted without having the F-bomb in her back pocket, but it was nice to hear her deadpan a “fuck off” for once.

• LoVe. Revisiting this relationship that I ship so hard was bittersweet. On the one hand – SWOON: “What’s 180 days to us?” – on the other, it pisses me off that we only got 3 seasons of this couple that had so much potential to indeed be EPIC. Admittedly Thomas, Bell and Dohring all made slipping back in love with this coupling super easy, but the relationship brilliance of Logan and Veronica made me angry all over again that what should have been a long-running, complex romance didn’t get its proper TV lifetime … which is even more reason why this can’t be the end. I need more Logan and Veronica beyond this movie … also, ‘A Few Good Men’.

• Vinnie Van Lowe and Cliff McCormack  - standing ovation for those two.

• Mr. Clemmons – admitting he’s missed Veronica. Be still my beating heart.

• Lovely Leo. I’m pretty sure Max Greenfield could have chemistry with a potted-plant. I was a big Deputy Leo fan, and until the LoVe revelation I was actually really rooting for Leo and Veronica. The scene they shared in the movie was electric with sparkage, and there’s a real part of me that thinks (epic as Logan and Veronica undoubtedly are) I’d quite like it if Veronica/Leo was explored again (or at least the idea flirted with). I also loved that in this scene Rob Thomas addresses the slight awkwardness of Veronica/Leo: “We used to make out... which was sketchy because you worked for the sheriff’s department and I was still in high school...”

• James Franco. If only because he knows about the injustice of being cancelled before your time (*cough* ‘Freaks & Geeks’ *cough*)

• Madison Sinclair – still a bitch, Amanda Noret still killing it in this role.

• Gaby Hoffmann as Ruby Jetson. She plays crazy so damn well (as you’d know if you saw her as Adam’s sister on ‘Girls’) I love that one of the favourite actresses from my childhood (‘Now and Then’ RULES) is making a serious comeback in all these cool pop-culture places. Love. Her.  Also: “dance better,” ← probably my new comeback to everything.  

• Krysten Ritter as Gia Goodman. Seriously, I don’t understand why ‘Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23’ was cancelled almost as much as I cannot fathom why ‘Veronica Mars’ was ever taken off the air. She’s amazing, and should be in more things.

• Deputy Sacks (played by Brandon Hillock) referencing this Mitchell and Webb skit. 

• Familiar faces. I love that Rob Thomas drew on minor characters from one-off episodes to populate this film’s storyline. The plot pivots around the death of Carrie Bishop (turned pop-star Bonnie Deville) who was played by Leighton Meester in the season one episode ‘Mars vs. Mars’ and Andrea Estella in the film (…but, actually, I do wonder if Rob Thomas wrote the script with Meester in mind and hoping she’d be in the film? She is a singer after all, and it’s sort of harmonious that after appearing in a one-off episode in VM, Meester went on to star in her own TV show ‘Gossip Girl’ – a success story much like Bonnie Deville’s) Susan Knight (played by Christine Lakin) also appeared in ‘Mars vs. Mars’ and the ramifications of that brief episodic storyline go a ways to explaining her in the VM movie. I also liked that Luke Haldeman (Sam Huntington) and Sean Friedrich (Kevin Sheridan) came back. Their being in the movie, even though they only appeared in a couple of TV episodes, adds to the feeling that these Neptune rich kids stick together and it’s a rather incestuous little community.

• The second storyline. Yes, Rob Thomas did a midseason TV-storyline equivalent by throwing out a subplot in the middle of the film’s main ARC. Maybe it’s not the done thing in movies, but I saw this as Thomas revelling in the multi-platform future of the VM franchise. There’s big potential for this unfinished storyline to be explored further in spin-offs (whether they be the books, webisodes, a new life on TV or the Bond-esque movie franchise Thomas would love for Veronica). In fact, the book spin-off is already coming; ‘The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line’ (terrible title, I know) is written by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham, and is being released on March 25. The book will pick up where the film left off, following 28-year-old Veronica and featuring fan-favourites Logan, Mac, Wallace, and Dick. Perhaps Rob Thomas should have stuck to movie-plot conventions and not tried to bring a bit of the TV show’s rhythm to the big screen, but this is a movie that was crowd-funded after the TV show became a cult classic and kicked up a social media resurrecting storm – if anyone can play around with cross-pollination, it’s the movie that broke Kickstarter records.

• Weevil. This line especially: “Please get this case dismissed before anyone believes the words ‘time to party’ came out of my mouth.”

• Cinematography. Revelling in the cool, dark tones of noir – it’s a contrast to the ironic bubblegum colours of Veronica’s high school days and signifies a new maturity. Also, wardrobe department – I want everything that Bell wore, all the Helmut Lang jackets especially … but I also love that she pulled out her old PI bag once she committed to the case.

• Wallace, Veronica and Mac. The ‘Blazing Saddles’ inside-joke greeting (“Candygram for Mongo”) let me know these three have strengthened their bond over the last three years, distance be damned. I love that Wallace became a high school teacher, and Mac a confident, kick-ass successful-geek. I would have liked more scenes with the Wallace/Mac/Veronica threesome, because those were pure magic.

• The voiceovers. From likening Neptune to a Bruce Springsteen song to Veronica musing over a fridge magnet encouraging her to ‘accept the things you cannot change’ with little success.

• The End. Yes, it’s open-ended (there’s that head-nod to multi-platforms again, and future spinoffs). I actually like that Veronica has seemingly regressed by the end of the movie and is back to a square one that even closely resembles her teenage years. I like this because it’s the beginning of a new character ARC for our girl Veronica – and I can see leeway’s to more storylines from this end point. She has indeed thrown away her career, established an old-new relationship with a somewhat destructive individual and will be receiving ire from Keith who hoped and expected more for his little girl. There is so much room for exploration with this end, whereas there wouldn’t be if Veronica had just resumed her New York life and taken advantage of the opportunities thrown her way.

Was it perfect? No. A few niggling little things – like why Lily Kane not being mentioned during the memorial slideshow at the High School reunion? To wishing that the film had expanded on Veronica admitting the reason she hasn’t worked a PI case is that; “The price was too high. It ruined friendships and relationships. It cost me some opportunities along the way...” that, didn’t really translate to me (what friendships? She still has Wallace and Mac) if the relationship she’s alluding to is Logan, then I wish we’d seen that. This epic couple have not seen each other for nine years, and Logan seemed totally chill about that?  I think if this back-story had been explored a little more, then we could have had at least one scene of real heat between Logan and Veronica – they were still sizzling in this movie, but Logan came across a bit sedate in a few scenes, and I actually think it needed him blowing up at Veronica and what they lost to feel like the old LoVe.

But my overriding thought as the credits rolled was: MORE. And I hope that’s a reaction the film ignites in everyone – that Veronica still has plenty of life left, whether it be on the big screen or small (or, heck, webisodes) and this cannot be the end.