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[spotify id=”spotify%3Atrack%3A1r6tqB8D5R7QBRIuG9W6xr&view=coverart” width=”540″ height=”620″ /]Soundtrack to His Quiet Agent by Ada Maria Soto
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Koi To Wa Yosou Ga Tsukanai Mono De – Kanda Neko
Hachi is in love with his friend Rin but is keeping a safe distance. He thinks Rin has always been charming but could it be he’s missing all the signs?!
I’m willing to bet Rin will be making Hachi make up for what he missed.
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The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal – K.J. Charles
A story too secret, too terrifying—and too shockingly intimate—for Victorian eyes.
A note to the Editor
Dear Henry,
I have been Simon Feximal’s companion, assistant and chronicler for twenty years now, and during that time my Casebooks of Feximal the Ghost-Hunter have spread the reputation of this most accomplished of ghost-hunters far and wide.
You have asked me often for the tale of our first meeting, and how my association with Feximal came about. I have always declined, because it is a story too private to be truthfully recounted, and a memory too precious to be falsified. But none knows better than I that stories must be told.
So here is it, Henry, a full and accurate account of how I met Simon Feximal, which I shall leave with my solicitor to pass to you after my death.
I dare say it may not be quite what you expect.
Robert Caldwell
September 1914I said before I didn’t really care for Caldwell and Feximal’s romance when I read Remnant. I spoke too soon apparently. Going into this book, at first, I really didn’t but I gradually grew to like them both as characters and I’m happy that they are happy together. However, the beauty of this book is that it kept me hooked despite my initial apathy to the romance part. The stories are brilliant spins on British folklore interwoven with actual historical details. This is one of the delights of reading a K.J. Charles book. I always learn unfamiliar and sometimes obscure tidbits of British folklore and history that they never show on tv.
The Casebook is written as a collection of different stories each featuring a case Feximal and Caldwell worked on as well as updates on how their relationship developed and thrived. The last few stories were especially evocative. I have read Spectred Isle before this and recalling and connecting these two books stirred strong emotions.The ending was heartbreaking as well with war and all its consequences. I would choose to believe the editor’s note on Mediterranean cottages and ghostless quiet for my peace of mind. Simon and Robert deserved it.
Rating:
4.5 – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Weighty Ghost
Artist: WIntersleep
Album: Welcome to the Night Sky(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34680762-the-secret-casebook-of-simon-feximal)
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People fall so in love with their pain, they can’t leave it behind. The same as the stories they tell. We trap ourselves.
Chuck Palahniuk -
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Soundtrack to The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K.J. Charles
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Kimi wa Natsu no Naka – Furuya Nagisa
Chiharu Saeki and Wataru Toda are two high school students who share a common hobby–they love to watch movies. After they meet, they become fast friends until one day, their relationship takes a sudden twist. What does it mean to love someone? What can you really do about it? Follow the story of their adolescence and relationship as it unfolds through a brilliant summer.
This is every bit as beautiful as the sky on a summer day. Brought tears to my eyes.
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzFwuJVQZg?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]
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Tensorate: The Black Tides of Heaven – J.Y. Yang
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as children. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While his sister received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What’s more, he saw the sickness at the heart of his mother’s Protectorate.
A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue to play a pawn in his mother’s twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from his sister Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond he shares with his twin sister?
I read this because the cover, by Yuko Shimizu, is really cool. Also the reviews are mostly 5 or 4 stars. My reaction echoes that of those who gave fewer stars.
This is a highly original novella that presented a world that works on nature magic to power technology, where people are genderless until they confirm their chosen gender and where matriarchy is the norm. The story follows the twins, Mokoya and Akeha from childhood, teens to adulthood. The twins were sent to a monastery as bargaining chips by their mother, the Protector. They learned to use the Slack, the magic system of the Tensorate world, which is probably similar to qi. Mokoya then revealed her prophetic gift and the twins were soon returned to the Protectorate palace. When they were almost 17, Mokoya confirmed she was a girl and the issue of gender identity was explored.This is the part of the story that was interesting and well-developed.
The second half of the story follows Akeha as he struck out on his own and got entangled with the Machinists. Here, things happened but I didn’t really care much about them because they just sort of happened and not elaborated upon. Generally, I felt the story had a lot of interesting ideas and plot threads but lacked details or follow up. I love the authenticity of having an Asian author create an Asian-based world and this book could have been up there with the great ones had the entire Tensorate world been more fleshed out.
Rating
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked it
Soundtrack: Star Sign
Artist: Teenage Fanclub
Album: Bandwagonesque(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33099588-the-black-tides-of-heaven)
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Children bleed as easy as anyone else, don’t they? Why would they be spared? A child is nothing but a future enemy.
Brian McClellan
