Since my last update (I didn't realise it had been this long)...
Made Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This was a fun little novella. Great characters, a short but complete story that was quite different and very intriguing. I'm guessing this is probably the start of something bigger, and I look forward to seeing where he takes it. 4/5.
The Thief's Tale by S.J.A. Turney. The start was a bit choppy but it settled into entertaining tale. The setting was interesting, and the small cast of characters convincing and consistent in their roles ... but it was not enough to make me want to rush out and get the sequels. 3/5.
The Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer. The story itself was fairly typical of previous Artemis Fowl books, but I found the narration annoying and condescending. These are kids books, so I'm out of the demographic, but the earlier ones were fun anyway, this one not so much. 3/5.
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. It has a light and breezy sort of air to it, but enough touches of a serious nature that you care about the characters. It is quite convincing in its 1920s Melbourne setting, although Phryne is a bit too good(?) to be real. Any shortcomings are more than made up for by its fast pace and fun interactions. 4/5.
Fool's Run by Patricia A. McKillip. I have a hard time trying to work out how to rate this. I loved the characters, and the use of music, but the setting was confusing in ways that seemed to have nothing to do with the story. The ending was both predictable and unfulfilling. 3/5.
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. I'll reserve my comments - and I have lots of them - for the discussion that's about to start in the New Leaf Book Club, see
here.
Alice by Christina Henry. A fast and easy read. I think that as a re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland it is reasonably well done, but it never really got me in. The story is described as dark, but I found that its casual, almost off-hand, treatment of violence and abuse didn't really make it feel that dark, just ugly. It is essentially a fantasy quest merged with a romance of sorts. The language and interactions are too simplistic to pay any true homage to Lewis Carroll's work, and too much was over-explained. If it wasn't for the casual violence I would have said this was directed at a younger audience. 3/5