City of Secrets

Children's graphic novels are sometimes the best. 

Ever Barnes' father was murdered four years ago and now hides out at an old theater turned town switchboard in order to protect his family secret. Hannah is an adventurous young girl, who's curious and seeks Ever out. When members of a secret society realize that Ever is still alive, Ever finds his life and his family secret and the whole city in jeopardy. 

This was a very fun and simple story that I honestly can't wait for the next one at the library. The artwork is well done, though when it comes to the clockwork mechanisms being a little clearer would be nice. 

Both Hannah and Ever were good characters with their own little character developments (as a good story needs). Learning to trust the right people and be your own person is always important. 

The ending with Hannah's parents and Ever was very simplified and odd--but for the "happy ending" was "needed," I guess. I liked the "secret" that was hidden in the safe. It was cool, though not at all what I expected to be this cities big, hidden secret. It helped the city at the end, but most defiantly not what I expected. 

The Convenient Marriage

 I've wanted to get into a Georgette Heyer book and finally found an audiobook, though I hoped for different. 

In order to help her sister escape away from an arranged marriage to save the family financially and to marry a man she loved, stuttering, nineteen year old Horatia Winwood steps forward and asks the thirty-five year old Earl of Rule to marry her instead. Intrigued, the Earl agrees and changes his proposal to Horatia and marries her. But not all is well in the house. An early agreement in their marriage was that they wouldn't bother one another about mistresses or affairs, but go on with blind eyes. With her blind eyes Horatia has found gambling and to spend as much money as she feels at the time. She's become lavish and in debt and incapsulated by the notorious gambler Lord Lethbridge who has very wide eyes toward Horatia. 

Georgette Heyer's book was very different from what I was expecting. Shorter than I expected. And it didn't have the "love story" feel to it as I was expecting as well. 

It had a heavy back drop of a simple "marriage of convenience," which is obviously fitting, and the unscrupulous side of "high society." Almost like the "gothic novels" that Jane Austen critics in Northanger Abbey. Gambling, duels, kidnappings, and not-so-secret affairs are most definitely things that aren't in the regency books I've read so far (though it was published in 1934, so very much written in a more modern style than what I'm used to as well).  So it was strange. Not in a bad way, but not necessarily something I'd enjoy reading again. I'm interested to read some her other books and see what happens in them. 

The reader, though, was Richard Armitage which was very surprising. Not only from North and South and the Hobbit movies, but an audiobook reader as well! He did all of the voices well, even the Horatia who has a very prominent stutter throughout the whole of the book. Well done. He made it more enjoyable to listen to.  

Street Magic

 The second book in the Circle Opens series by Tamora Pierce follows Briar and his teacher Rosethorn into Chammur where they work their Green Magic to help revitalize the "tired" ground. Chammur is a place that has had people living on it for centuries that is built into the rock that surrounds it. It's more than just the farm soil that's tired. 

While traveling through the market, Briar spots a girl shining stones and embowing them with magic. When he asks her about it, she runs. He tries to find her over the next few days while familiarizing himself with the local gangs. Being once part of a gang, he gets rolled into their problems. Between finding Evvy, finding her a teacher, teaching her the basics of stone magic and how to meditate, and the gang wars that surround him, he has his hands full. 

I really enjoyed this book. The differences and difficulties of walking into different cultures is an interesting path Briar leads. 

I enjoyed the simplicity of the text while having a set of complicated characters. The stone mage, Evvy, reminded me a lot of Toph Beifong from Avatar: the Last Air Bender. Both "stone mages" that are hard, firm, and determined. The characters all throughout the series were great, though there seemed to be a lot of them that only got mentioned a very few times, yet still important, but then were quickly gone after a little while (for very good reasons, mind). Many flowed in and out of the story--sometimes making it hard to remember who they were exactly.

I've gotten to really love Briar and his companions (new ones included) and I think that is a signature of Tamora Pierce. She puts so much life and vigor into her characters that they come alive and I want more and more of them.  

This book was also an audiobook that I listened to and it was very well done. I had now qualms with any of them and enjoyed their performances immensely. 

I'll have to get to the 3rd book later because it isn't available at my library currently, but I will get to reading it sooner rather than later.