September Wrap Up
As per usual for September, I didn't read a lot of books. It's been a few years since I had such a bad September slump that I didn't read a single book, but I still tend to be less prolific in September. This month is no exception. I finished four books.
The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye - This was one of the oldest books on my TBR. It is a YA fantasy set in a historical Russia. It said a date that I think was in the 1800s, but it referenced the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire lasted 600 years, so that doesn't really narrow it down, but I am pretty confident it mentioned a year in the 1800s. We have a teen girl who lives on a little island with her father, who is training her to be the Emperor's Sorcerer. We also have a teen boy who was adopted out of an orphanage by a woman who is also training him to be the Emperor's Sorcerer. The Emperor can only have one Sorcerer, so they have to do the trials. Basically, they have to out-magic each other, and the Emperor will choose which one becomes the sorcerer, and the other one dies.
This is really similar to The Night Circus, but for teens. So many plot points line up. It was a decent read. I didn't hate it, even if I was having a bit of dejavu.
This book fulfilled the r/Fantasy Bingo Challenge to read a book about Politics. Court intrigue counts. I used it for the HRCYED challenge of an author's last name that could be a first name. I have actually met people named Skye (not just my cat). I also put in the Regional challenge for a book set in Russia.
Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer - This is the second in the series. First, she was an assistant. Now she's the Apprentice. She got a promotion from the King's wanted posters. Next, she will be the accomplice. The person in question is Evie Sage. One day, she was wandering around in the forest when she ran across an injured man hiding in some brush. He turned out to be The Villain, who was hiding from the King's soldiers. He hired her to be his assistant, which turned out to be perfect for her. She whipped the castle into shape, and she was not even phased by the heads on stakes that appeared in the entryway or by her curmudgeonly boss. In this second one, they find out that the King is working to bring about the end of their world. They go on a quest to find what they need to stop him. Evie and the Villain also begin to allow themselves to feel feelings for each other that they both believe are unrequited.
The twists come fast and furious, and sometimes I had to stop reading to give my heart rate a minute to calm down. I get very anxious for the characters. It is very funny and surprising. No one says what you think they will. I love that sort of thing.
Back on the Rez: Finding the Way Home by Brian Maracle - This is a reprint of a book that was originally published in 1997. The author is a journalist in Canada who moves back to his Indian reserve in his 40s. He hasn't ever really lived on the rez, but he did spend time there as a kid and knows he loves it there. He moves into an ancient log cabin and starts to learn how to fix it and how to live like the other Indians. It is very different from his previous urban life.
Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot by Zibby Owens - I hated this book. I gave it some props for being well-written and not entirely trash. I still hated it. The author repeatedly showcased her absolute disconnection from the real world. It starts out with her divorcing her husband of ten years (and father of her 4 children, the youngest of whom was a toddler) because she has fallen in love with her tennis instructor at the country club in the Hamptons. Gag me. How Jackie Collins can you get? She then spends the rest of the book crying in her bed whenever her kids go to their dad's. Eventually, she starts a book podcast to give her something to take her mind off her grief. She has married the tennis instructor, and they bought a house in Pacific Palisades so he could do film production. She opened a bookstore in Malibu. The ex still lives in New York. I just felt like every single thing she melted down about was something she had done to herself. People in the real world have to get out of bed and go to work, even when their kids are at their dad's house. Real people still have to pay the bills and fix the car. They don't have time to buy a house on the other side of the country and then cry about how far away their kids are. Remember the Pacific Palisades fire? Yeah, it didn't burn down their house. It got close. But the house just required some smoke damage fixing. It didn't stop her from absolutely melting down in the driveway when it was time to move back in. It was just too hard to look out the window at the rubble that used to be her town. Ok. Wow. Why did you even fix it?
Mostly, her over-the-top emotional responses felt performative. She never acknowledged that she is incredibly privileged. There just always appears to be money to do whatever she wants. She has houses in two of the most expensive places in the country. She leaves her husband and spends all her days shuttling her kids around instead of having to find childcare so she can work. Hell, she had time to go to the country club and take tennis lessons.
I eventually started hate-reading this one. It didn't disappoint. There was a lot to hate. Who is this book for, exactly?
Okay, rant over. I'm done. I'm letting it go.
That's what I read in September.