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Geek Girl Authority
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
Book Review: CRUELER MERCIES
Thank you to Fantasy & Frens for sending me a copy of Crueler Mercies in exchange for an honest review. Crueler Mercies by Maren Chase is a fantasy novel with bite. True, it may include a number of genre tropes, like a protagonist who is a princess and a king with dubious morality. However, it sets itself apart with its ruthless refusal to pull punches. Please note that while this review avoids major spoilers, it does allude to some major plot points and resolutions. Crueler Mercies The story follows Vita, who believes she is the only child of the king of the realm. But one horrible day, when she's only nine years old, Vita's mother is executed. Vita is subsequently sent into exile. There, she spends more than a decade confined in a tower. However, the incarceration is somewhat alleviated by her new friends: a family of crows whose trust she earns and grows over time. But one day, the situation changes. An invading army conquers the city where she's being held. Soon, Vita is betrothed to the general who led the siege, Ardaric. This is thanks to her status as the rightful heir, lending legitimacy to Ardaric's claim to the throne. In exchange, Vita will achieve vengeance against her father. RELATED: Book Review: The Enchanted Feast Cookbook In the meantime, Vita meets Soline, one of her new ladies-in-waiting. Soline has her own reasons to resent Ardaric. But she also has knowledge of alchemy — a theoretical knowledge, if not a working one. Soon, Soline and Vita are working together to break the code of alchemy, so they can use it to gain the upper hand against Ardaric. Plus, Vita begins to catch feelings towards Soline … even if the stakes of such a relationship are even higher with Ardaric in the equation. Eventually, Ardaric's forces reach the castle where the king resides and begin a grueling siege. Will Ardaric conquer the king? Will Vita be trapped in a relationship she finds loathsome, or will she and Soline live happily ever after? And will Soline and Vita ever master the art of alchemy? An Accurate Title This book surprised me. In spite of the fact that the title Crueler Mercies hints toward this fact, I didn't expect it to get as brutal as it does. Part of this is probably the high number of romantasy novels I've read lately. In that fantasy subgenre, things tend to stay on this side of the 'Stephen King line.' Not so in Crueler Mercies. While it does include a romantic element, this isn't the narrative focus, but rather a subplot. This novel is simply fantasy … and comparatively grounded fantasy, too. While it takes place in a fictional world and includes alchemy, the majority of the story reads almost like medieval historical fiction. RELATED: Book Review: Upon a Starlit Tide Speaking of the setting, this novel includes one of my favorite tropes: a map of the world. But while I'm always a fan of a book that opens with a map, this map was particularly well done. The inclusion of 'handwritten notations' was inspired. One thing I do think this book could have benefited from: a more obvious content warning. As alluded to above, the novel gets surprisingly brutal. While I personally didn't feel overly blindsided by the darker twists and turns, I can definitely see how some readers might. And to be clear, there is a content warning included at the top of the copyright page. However, I didn't notice this until after I had finished reading. I think it would have been better to have put the content warning in the center of its own page, as I imagine many readers could overlook the warning on the copyright page, as I did. Spoiler Alert In this final section, I am going to briefly discuss the ending of Crueler Mercies. If you don't want to have any hints about how the story ends, then please consider skipping the rest of the review. One of my very favorite elements of this novel was the fact that Vita herself does not pull any punches in the final pages of Crueler Mercies. In many stories, a woman protagonist must be 'likable,' which is code for 'non-threatening.' I adored the fact that Vita was not forced to adhere to any such sexist standard. RELATED: Book Review: Divining the Leaves At the conclusion of the novel, Vita dispenses bloody justice. This isn't to say she does anything that many male protagonists wouldn't be 'allowed' to do. But it often seems as though female protagonists are prohibited from engaging in the same behavior as their masculine counterparts. I applaud Crueler Mercies for presenting a woman who is unapologetic in securing and wielding her power. More characters like this, please. Crueler Mercies features a cover illustration by Camille Murgue, a cover design by Charlotte Strick and a map by Ilana Brady. Incredibly, this is Chase's debut novel. For some reason, 2025 has had a number of stunning debuts, and even among these Crueler Mercies is near the top. This novel is excellent, and I'm looking forward to reading more work by Chase in the future. Crueler Mercies will be available at a local bookstore and/or public library beginning on June 3, 2025. Book Review: SHIELD OF SPARROWS Avery Kaplan is the author of several books and the Features Editor at Comics Beat. She was honored to serve as a judge for the 2021 Cartoonist Studio Prize Award and the 2021 Prism Awards. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her partner and a pile of cats, and her favorite place to visit is the cemetery. You can also find her writing on Comics Bookcase, NeoText, Shelfdust, the Mary Sue, in many issues of PanelxPanel, and in the margins of the books in her personal library.
Geek Girl Authority
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
Crueler Mercies Archives
Avery Kaplan Read Geek Girl Authority's review of Crueler Mercies by Maren Chase, a debut fantasy novel that stands out among the crowd.
Geek Girl Authority
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
Maren Chase Archives
Avery Kaplan Read Geek Girl Authority's review of Crueler Mercies by Maren Chase, a debut fantasy novel that stands out among the crowd.
Fox News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Biden's granddaughter rebukes new book on former president's decline as 'smut' for pundits
Naomi Biden, Joe Biden's granddaughter, delivered a scathing rebuke to a new book coming out about the former president and the cover-up of his decline while in office, calling it "political fairy smut." "Just read a copy of this silly book, and if anyone is curious for a review from someone who lived it first-hand: this book is political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class. The ones who rarely enter the arena, but profit from the spectacle of those that do. Put simply, it amounts to a bunch of unoriginal, uninspired lies written by irresponsible self promoting journalists out to make a quick buck," Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden's daughter, wrote. "It relies on unnamed, anonymous sources pushing a self-serving false narrative that absolves them of any responsibility for our current national nightmare. All of this at the expense of a man so completely good and honest that it is impossible for these people to ever understand the why or how of it all. There are real stories to be told and one day they will be. I suspect history will reward the truth," Biden continued. The book, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," was released on Tuesday and authored by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. The former president's office revealed on Sunday that Biden was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Excerpts from the book revealed Biden's aides privately discussed the possibility of the president needing to use a wheelchair if he were re-elected in the 2024 race, as his physical deterioration spiraled in 2023 and 2024. A common thread throughout the book is that Biden's declining state was concealed by his inner circle from the public during his second term. "Biden's physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn't do so until after the election," the book reads. "Given Biden's age, (his physician Kevin O'Connor) also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery." Tapper and Thompson also reported that Biden did not recognize Hollywood icon George Clooney, a prominent Democratic donor, while attending a star-studded L.A. fundraiser last year. But the fever pitch to push him out of the race didn't begin until after his dismal debate with Trump last June that sent the party into a full-blown panic. The book also quotes David Plouffe, a senior advisor to former Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign, blaming Biden for their failed attempt to beat Trump. "He totally f---ed us," Plouffe said. Representatives of the Tapper-Thompson book did not immediately return a request for comment.
Irish Times
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
John Boyne on the art of book reviews: Never lie to readers, but deliver truth in a way that respects the writer
In May 2004, three novels into my career, I published my first book review in The Irish Times, a short piece on Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner . The piece was commissioned by the late Caroline Walsh, the much-loved and much-missed former editor of these pages. This month, as my 28th book, Air, arrives in shops, I publish my 150th book review. Of those, I've never met 97 of the authors, 32 are casual acquaintances, 13 I consider friends, while only eight are people I hope would show up at my funeral (even if they have to fly in from Australia). For many years, I've had a fruitful arrangement with Martin Doyle, the current books editor of The Irish Times. A few months ahead of publication date, I suggest a few books and he tells me which, if any, he would like me to take on. (To the conspiracy theorists out there, not once have I been given even the hint of an instruction on the tone my review should take.) I base my choices on three criteria: either I've read the writer's previous work and enjoyed it, the subject matter appeals to me or I've heard good things on the grapevine. READ MORE There are reviews I'm proud of. In 2012, I appraised JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy and was probably the only person on the planet not to reference a certain boy wizard. I wrote about Roddy Doyle's Two Pints in the voices of the characters, and having read Belinda McKeon's Tender across a single day, wanted everyone to do the same. I got a good line in about Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman in protest at it being published at all. ('This novel is Boo Radley. It was meant to stay inside, locked away, hidden from the world.') I helped bring Garth Greenwell and Édouard Louis, two of the finest writers at work today, to attention . When Graham Norton published Holding, I advised people to set aside their scepticism about celebrity-written books, and he's more than proved me right ever since. Reviewing How to Be Invisible, Kate Bush's collection of song lyrics, led to a lunch date, and as her All-Time Greatest Fan I still feel thrilled that my assessment led to a real-world friendship. I stand by my 2023 piece on Joe Gibson's Seventeen, a powerful nonfiction book about the effect of sexual grooming on a teenage boy, which, somehow, has yet to find its way into paperback, despite universal praise. There have been negative reviews too, although as everyone in the writing world knows, there are sacred cows that people are afraid to criticise, either because the author holds a powerful position within the industry or because detractors will be accused of envy should they call a spade a spade. It's why so much mediocre work goes unchallenged and why there are writers who could publish their weekly shopping list and they'd still receive universal hosannas. Kevin Power was spot on when he wrote in a 2021 essay: 'Most books are bad. We all know this, but we seldom say it.' For that reason, I avoid reviewing authors I consider overrated or, frankly, no good. One of my most chilling experiences is of a writer who provided an effusive blurb for a first novel, describing it to me privately as 'the worst piece of hackneyed chick-lit I've ever read in my life'. Recoiling from his use of such a pejorative and misogynist term, I asked why he'd praised it if he felt this way. 'Because it was obvious it was going to be a hit,' he said with a shrug. 'And I wanted to be associated with it.' Personally, I prefer silence to craven opportunism or outright dishonesty. [ Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin: Inventive exploration of identity, faith and family Opens in new window ] [ John Boyne on Fair Play by Louise Hegarty: A witty debut that celebrates the golden age of crime novels Opens in new window ] I remain ashamed, however, of a deeply unkind review I wrote some years ago that ignored the fact that the writer was new to the game. A review should never be about the reviewer but, for reasons rooted in my unhealthy state of mind at the time, I forgot there was a real person on the other side of those 700 words and revelled in my own supposedly clever sentences instead of concentrating on the author's. I subsequently apologised on Twitter to the writer in question – publicly, not by private message – who was far more gracious in reply than I might have been had our positions been reversed. In my day job, of course, I get reviewed too, and my rule is: don't believe them when they're good, don't believe them when they're bad. I know the value of my own work and could line up all my books on a shelf, the order determined by whether I feel I achieved artistically what I set out to. The Heart's Invisible Furies would be in pole position, followed by A Ladder to the Sky, The Elements and All the Broken Places. (I won't say what would be at the other end!) While I've generally done pretty well on the review front, the best I ever got was for The Echo Chamber, an unusual book for me in that it's a comedy and no one dies at the end. My methodology for reviewing hasn't changed much. I make a note of anything that occurs to me as I'm reading, take photos of lines that impress me (or otherwise), then write my first draft as soon as I finish the final page, simply throwing down everything that occurs to me. I leave it to bake, so to speak, for a week or so, then return to it when the novel has fully settled in my mind. At that point I rewrite, edit, cut and shape it into something that hopefully respects the work, while giving readers an honest assessment of my personal response to it. And remember, that's all a review is: one person's reaction to a book. It's not definitive; it's just an opinion. A word to the wise. Here are some phrases that should never be used in a review: 'An instant classic': there's no such thing and it's lazy writing. It takes decades, maybe even a century, for a book to achieve that status. I genuinely enjoy writing about books and want to use whatever authority I've earned over a 33-year career for positive ends 'Whip-smart': reviewers, please stop referring to young women writers as 'whip-smart' as if it's a shock to discover they might have a brain in their pretty little heads. (The phrase is never used for men, of course.) 'Meets': as in 'American Psycho meets Rachel's Holiday " . No one is 'the voice of a generation' because no generation speaks with one voice. If they do, God help them. Consulting writer friends for phrases they loathe, I was told that 'fiercely intelligent is annoying', while 'a moving exploration of trauma and identity', and 'compelling' were also poorly regarded. You might ask why I do it. I don't need the exposure, there's always the risk of upsetting someone and – no offence, Martin – it doesn't pay very well. The answer is, I genuinely enjoy writing about books and want to use whatever authority I've earned over a 33-year career for positive ends. Conscious that the publishing world can be difficult at times, reviewers, in my view, should support the endeavour, offering readers reasons to buy books, not to ignore them. Never to lie, but also never to shame, ridicule or humiliate. And if talented newcomers can be given a leg up by those of us with an audience, then all the better. So I guess I'll keep reviewing for as long as I'm allowed. While it's a privilege to have the platform to do so, the best part is occasionally discovering a book so amazing that I want to share it with the world. John Boyne's latest novel, Air, is published by Doubleday
