April Wrap-Up

Another great reading month – though admittedly I was beginning to feel a bit slumpy towards the end of it… 😓 My favourites from this batch were probably Walk the Edge (my first read of the month!) and the short story The Rule of Names. 😊 Also, I’m on Instagram now! Find me @nightjarreads (if you’re so inclined)!

BOOKS I READ
Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry. The second book in the Thunder Road trilogy, following Razor as he questions his place in the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and begins to fear that the club may have had something to do with his mother’s death, and Breanna, who wants nothing more than to escape this town and her huge, overbearing family, but finds her path to freedom threatened by a blackmailer… I wasn’t super-happy with how this book ended; I feel like it sacrificed what seemed to me to be the natural conclusions of both Razor and Breanna’s character arcs in favour of a happy resolution to their romantic arc… However! I loved both characters so much, and was so incredibly invested in the plot and the romance that I can’t bring myself to mind too much (though in the moment I was quite cross). 😅 Super-intense, and definitely my favourite book from this series.
Long Way Home by Katie McGarry. The third and final Thunder Road novel, which follows Chevy and Violet. Violet is trying to distance herself from the Reign of Terror after her father’s death, and Chevy, as the grandson of the club’s founder, is torn between his loyalty to his family, and his love for Violet. This was kind of the anti-Walk the Edge, in that I really appreciated the ending, but wasn’t all that invested in the plot (despite its incredibly high stakes) or the romance. I did like Violet a lot, but less than I was expecting to after her appearances in the previous books… and Chevy, though sweet, wasn’t all that interesting a character. Highlights of the book included: the brief appearance of Isaiah and Rachel (from McGarry’s Pushing the Limits series), and Chevy’s mum, who was the best character in the book.
The Rule of Names by Ursula K. Le Guin. [SHORT STORY] A quick story about a mildly-inept wizard living in a remote island community, who’s challenged by a stranger who’s convinced that he’s more than he seems. This was such a clever story! I left off thinking it was nice-but-a-bit-confusing, but the more I think back on it, the more I appreciate it, and now I’m thinking it might be one of my favourite Earthsea shorts – which is an impressive feat for something that’s less than 10 pages long! 😍
The Daughter of Odren by Ursula K. Le Guin. [SHORT STORY] Another Earthsea short story, in which a young woman called Weed takes years planning her revenge on her mother’s lover – and her father’s murderer – only for her plan to be threatened just before she’s ready to enact it, by the return of her brother, who has a different target in mind for his vengeance. This was excellently written (as Le Guin’s stories always are), but I didn’t feel much of a connection to the characters, and so I didn’t find myself caring much about the story either…
Firelight by Ursula K. Le Guin. [SHORT STORY] The final story in the Earthsea Cycle, in which Tenar and Ged live together for Ged’s final days. Not much happens here, so I don’t have much to say, but it was incredibly bittersweet, and a great epilogue to both of their stories… 😥
Earthsea Revisioned by Ursula K. Le Guin. [ESSAY] An essay dealing with the significant shift in tone between The Farthest Shore and Tehanu. A very interesting read! In particular, I found Le Guin’s discussion of the etymology of “virtue” poignant, and not something I’d ever thought about before (though it seems obvious now that it’s been spelled out to me) – but a lot of other fascinating tidbits came up throughout the essay, too. I’m not usually a one for non-fiction, but the change in Le Guin’s writing in Tehanu was incredibly noticeable, and I’m glad to have learnt more about what caused it.
Batman: No Man’s Land, volume 3 by Ian Edginton, Janet Harvey, Larry Hama, Chuck Dixon, Dennis J. O’Neil, Bronwyn Carlton Taggart, Steven Barnes, Devin Grayson & Alisa Kwitney. [COMIC; Illustrators: Jason Miller, Sal Buscema, Sergio Cariello, Mark Ryan, Mike Deodato Jr., Sean Parsons, Staz Johnson, Wayne Faucher, Gordon Purcell, Roger Robinson, James D. Pascoe, Paul Gulacy, Randy Emberlin, David A. Roach, Tom W. Morgan, Paul C. Ryan, Andy Lanning, Mat Broome, Rafael Kayanan, Mark McKenna, Dale Eaglesham, John Floyd, Michael Zulli & Vince Locke] The third entry in the No Man’s Land storyline, which I liked better than the second, but not as much as the first… Best bits: Batman’s team-up with Lynx; a two-issue episode where Harley Quinn uses a dating advice book to get the Joker to appreciate her more; and Penguin getting a little more character depth in the Hardback story. The rest of the book was fine, but nothing spectacular – though I liked Azrael’s part in this volume more than in previous ones.
Shadow’s Edge by Brent Weeks. The sequel to The Way of Shadows, in which Kylar attempts to give up his life as a wetboy in order to settle down and make an honest living with Elene. I thought that this was better than the first book, or at least more consistently good the whole way through… I enjoyed Vi’s character being fleshed out (and I have to admit that I kind of ship her and Kylar even though it’s a little eye-rolly that everyone keeps falling for him). The Elene chapters I enjoyed less, except for the final one, where it seems like she might finally be getting some growth. And as for Kylar… well, he makes a lot of frustrating decisions, but at least that’s an improvement on his refusal to make any decisions at all in the first book… 😓 For the record, I’m still looking forward to continuing this series.
Birdy by Jess Vallance. A YA thriller following a loner called Frances reluctantly agrees to show around the new girl at school, not anticipating the intensity of the friendship they’ll form with one another. I won’t say too much about this here, as I’m hoping to have a review posted soon, but on the whole I found it underwhelming… It was pretty well-written, and Vallance did a great job of capturing the atmosphere of an English secondary school (which I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be revisiting 😅), but the plot was kind of predictable, and its twists just not very twisty…
Nightwing: Rough Justice by Chuck Dixon. [COMIC; Illustrators: Scott McDaniel, Karl Story & Roberta Tewes] The second collection of the 1996-2009 run of Nightwing, in which Dick continues to try to do some good on the streets of Blüdhaven, hindered this time by the dramatic appearance of a frenzied Man-Bat, followed by the bounty hunter Deathstrike – and helped by Batman, who’s in town to check up on his adoptive son, whether Dick likes it or not. Another fun, quick read. 😊 I don’t find the Blockbuster storyline particularly interesting (which is a shame, since it seems like that’s going to be a big focus in this series), but I liked the Batman team-up in this volume, as well as the brief Man-Bat episode… I’m also intrigued by what we’ve seen so far of Tad’s story, and I’m looking forward to seeing what that’s building up to.