June Readings
This month has been quite busy for me, some of you might know I got married and that comes with a lot of time commitment. This is why I only have a meagre three books to present here. Fear not, next month is my honeymoon; I will have ample time to read to my heart's content.
Tu Tueras L'Ange (You Will Kill the Angel) – Sandrone Dazieri
Colomba is back into service as a police chief, after her very difficult last case. Her next one starts off even worse; while responding to a call at the Rome train station, she discovers that all the first-class passengers of a train have been murdered. Everything points to a terrorist attack, which is later confirmed by a revendication from two Daesch men (ISIS for the anglos). But something feels off, and Colomba will enlist the help of Dante to help her solve this mystery; another conspiracy?
This is the second book in the “You Will Kill ...” franchise; you can read all about the first one in my May Readings article. While I didn't have any trouble finishing the book, it took me a bit more time than the prequel. The pacing is still good here, more consistent I would say than in the last book. How engaging the story is throughout the book is a bit less consistent here, but still overall good. The overarching plot is developed better here, and the conspiracy elements are not just slapped on at the end in an unsatisfying manner like in the last book. Some elements are a tad contrived here and there but it's mostly nitpicking. The antagonist is interesting to read about but is a bit more OP here with some resources that are a tad unbelievable. The story seems more focused on Colomba this time, with the all-mighty Dante taking the back seat; a positive change in my opinion. Their relationship does evolve here, and there is a subtle hint of romance budding, on Dante's part. If you read my last review, you know I praised the platonic nature of the relationship between the two main protagonists of the opposite sex. I'll have to read the last book to judge whether or not the romance is unnecessary. The prose is still impeccable; despite the few negative points I mentioned I would strongly recommend it if you liked the first one. And I know I will be reading the next book.
L'existentialisme est un humanisme – Jean-Paul Sartre
I read this for the Bookclub; I could discuss it here, but I actually wrote a whole article for this one, so keep your eyes peeled for it.
His Dark Material: The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman
Kids are being taken from their homes all around Great Britain, including Rogers, Lyra's best friend. Lyra is the niece of a very important political and scientific character and has been raised at Oxford College where Rogers works as a kitchen helper. One day her uncle comes back from the Great North to present his findings on Dust a cosmical substance that he just discovered. In the photograph he showed, while adults were covered in Dust, kids seemed devoided of it. Was that the reason Rogers and the other kids had been abducted? Lyra will have to go to the Great North to discover the truth...
I had a bit of trouble getting into the book, I found the very beginning a bit verbose and the writing obnoxiously british (I will not elaborate). It also uses vocabulary and grammatical constructions I was not familiar with (read: I did not understand), which made my reading experience less than smooth. However, the writing becomes less pretentious as the book moves on and I didn't have too much trouble finishing the book. It was also hard to get into the world; very little is explained in the beginning and we are dropped in a scholarly world – everything is cryptic to the reader. The rules of the universe are also not really defined clearly; what is fiction/exists (in that world) and reality is never explained. The pseudo-fictitious nature of the world was also off-putting. Lastly, the main protagonist is a kid, which goes on an adventure to save kids; this is a kid's tale. I am not very fond of that but hopefully, she grow up during the other book (I made the mistake of buying the trilogy set). I am not the target audience for this book, so why on earth did I get it? Well, I have already professed my love to the Passe Mirroir book series by Christelle Dabos. Looking for more, was told that this book series inspired her. I will probably read the sequel, just in case in it the series becomes something I would like.
Only three books this month, how shameful. But fret not, I have a whole three weeks of honeymoon that I plan to capitalise on.
Thank you for reading my logorrhea, Eddie