REVIEW - Backlash Blues ebook

Backlash Blues (Gabriel Præst series #2) by Amulya Malladi (ebook)

OVERVIEW

Full disclosure, this is not the first or will be the last book that I read by this author. I enjoy her books immensely especially this foray into a completely new genre of mystery thriller.

This is the second book in the Gabriel Præst series by Amulya Malladi. The series is enjoyable as the characters, location, and plot are very fun and entertaining! It is not your typical mystery thriller at all. 

This novel takes place in the current time beginning with Gabriel Præst, a Private Detective, being asked to investigate an employee's death by the Human Resource Director from Copenhagen Bank. Then the novel takes off quickly and intensely in many directions and keeps one guessing until the very end.  

Since this novel takes place primarily in Copenhagen, it makes me really want to visit Denmark. The city, restaurants, people, and landmarks sound wonderful. The Danish culture totally aligns with my personal world and life views. However, it does show that even in forward-thinking Denmark, sexual harassment and corruption occur. There is a lot of work still to do everywhere. 

OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars

Writing: 4.0 stars

The writing was good, but at times it felt off because of the Danish and English languages interplay. It didn't flow well as the combination of English and Danish combined with the descriptions of designer clothing, wine, and restaurants bogged it down a bit. Yes, the main character, Gabriel Præst, is totally into the better things in life, but it could be scaled back and still define his character beautifully. Also, the alphabet soup of Danish police organizations got confusing just like the American ones do.

The pacing was insane. I was so anxious to find out what happened at the end of the book. I actually almost finished the book before midnight last night, but I knew that I would not sleep after finishing it so I completed it this morning. That is the sign of a good book!

Character development: 4.5 stars

The main character is Gabriel Præst who is one of my favorite characters ever. I love his loyalty, non-judgment, and concern for the people in his life. I would be thrilled to have him as a neighbor and friend! Gabriel is a former Copenhagen police detective who is well-connected with powerful, diverse, and trustworthy friends. 

The secondary characters are Gabriel's good friends who range from a rich banker's daughter to the Copenhagen Police Chief to a motorcycle gang member. A very eclectic group of friends and characters support this story. 

The tertiary characters are the "bad guys", various American and Danish police organization folks, and journalists/bankers trying to get to the nefarious reason for the death of the Copenhagen Bank employee. 

Storyline:  4.0 stars

This was an intense and wild ride of a storyline. The main plot is about the investigation of the employee's death, but it goes in a lot of varied directions bringing in more and more "bad guys". But, it does have a balance with "good guys" appearing from a lot of unexpected places. 

It was interesting to learn more about Danish culture and the country as a whole. There is a big sub-plot about the Danish banking industry acquiring Belarusian and other Baltic banks which sounds like a recipe for disaster, if true.  

The main locations were Denmark specifically Copenhagen and New York City.     

Memorable/Informative:  4.0 stars

The biggest takeaway is that women are sexually abused in every country even in the most progressive of egalitarian countries. Shameful and sad. 

Book cover: 4.0 stars

Nice.

Book title: 5.0 stars 

A really GREAT title. 

DEFINITE recommend

EBOOK DETAILS

From the author's newsletter ARC (ebook)

Backlash Blues (Gabriel Præst series #2) by Amulya Malladi 

377 pages 

Nordic Noir Publishing or self-published (unable to verify)

Release date of 02/26/2024

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Amulya Malladi

My Goodreads review

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

My next ebook is...

 Backlash Blues (Gabriel Præst series #2) by Amulya Malladi (ebook)

Happy reading!!! 📚

Dorothea 💜

My next ebook is...

Weyward by Emilia Hart (ebook)

 

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

REVIEW - The Phoenix Crown ebook

 The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang (ebook)

OVERVIEW

This is my fourth book of 2024 and my first 5-star book!! This was a team writing effort by Kate Quinn (who I have read) and Janie Chang (who was new to me). What an incredible collaboration!

This was a historical fiction novel with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake as the plot twist. As someone who was born and raised in Southern California, the authors got the whole visceral earthquake ordeal down on paper exactly as it feels like (especially as both grew up in earthquake-prone areas). 

San Francisco was "the city" of the West Coast in 1906. It had a very cosmopolitan feel with an opera house, grand hotels, and elegant restaurants, but it still had the underlying tensions of xenophobia especially against the Chinese. It was horrible to read about this again in a historical novel about how bad it was and how dangerous it was for the Chinese, period. 

It was a wonderful book that was written beautifully about my home state - the good, the bad, and the ugly. If we don't learn about our history, we can never do better as a society.

OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars

Writing: 5.0 stars

The writing was beautiful and detailed but flowed so well. I could not determine who wrote what part of this amazing novel - the authors write so well together. The prose was just lovely and dovetailed both authors' strengths together.  This was a fantastic collaboration and hope that they write more books together.

Character development: 5.0 stars

There are four main female characters - Gemma, an opera singer; Suling, an embroideress; Alice, a botanist; and Reggie, an artist. There is also a villainous main character Henry Thorton. These four women are looking for justice against the villainous man who horribly wronged them. 

The secondary character is San Francisco, California, and the 1906 Earthquake. The earthquake allows a huge plot shift to take place and characters to interact in incredible ways. 

There are a lot of tertiary characters as is normal for a good historical fiction novel. All of these characters add so much depth and color to the storyline. 

Storyline:  5.0 stars

This novel begins about two weeks before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and ends about five years afterward. The story is just so creative and well-written that it is an intense experience to read this book. All I wanted to know was what happens at the end?!? It was a very good ending, but not at all what I expected!

The main locations were mainly San Francisco, California, and Paris, France and vicinity.    

Memorable/Informative:  5.0 stars

The novel made me realize how San Francisco was destroyed in 1906 not so much by the earthquake but by the fires. That is still a very scary possibility with any earthquake even now.

Book cover: 5.0 stars

Gorgeous!

Book title: 5.0 stars 

Perfect!

HIGHEST recommendation

EBOOK DETAILS

NetGalley ARC (ebook)

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

384 pages 

William Morrow

Release date of 02/13/2024

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Kate Quinn Janie Chang

My Goodreads review

William Morrow

NetGalley

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

My next audiobook is...

 Endangered Eating by Sarah Lohman (audiobook)

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

REVIEW - Yellowface audiobook

 

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (audiobook)

OVERVIEW

This is one of those books that people have been talking about since it was published in May 2023. It is a raw and ugly portrayal of writers, editors, literary agents, and the publishing business. Also, the nastiness of social media plays a huge and horrible role in the direction and plot line of this novel.

The two main characters, Athena Liu and Juniper "June" Hayward are "frenemies". They both attended Yale together and reconnected after June moved to Washington D.C. A horrible accident occurs and June takes Athena's recently finished novel and portrays it as her own. Then the book really takes off with all the twists and turns and ups and downs. It is one crazy, wild ride. 

It was a gut-wrenching and sad tale of our society. Stereotyping, racism, and elitism are all tied together with the insanity of social media.

OVERALL REVIEW: 3.5 stars

Writing: 3.5 stars

The writing was just okay, but it was popular culture writing. It was written with all of the slang and foul language that Gen Z's use all the time. Additionally, it was a first-person narrative from June's point of view.

The problem for me was that the writing didn't dig deep enough for me. Without the deep dive, this novel was too superficial and just about writing and publishing. Why, really, were Athena and June friends? Were they really talented or did the publishing industry need another "next thing"? What caused Athena and June to be who they are - what happened in their lives? 

Overall, I am an outlier who just didn't "get" this book and what was so special about it. 

Narration: 4.0 stars

Helen Laser is a strong narrator. She really captured both Athena and June really well and brought them to life. Overall, it was a good listen, but more for the narration than the writing. 

Character Arc: 3.0 stars

I really wanted more. It was written in a somewhat chronological order, but there were some flashbacks. However, it just didn't get deep into the characters so we could understand who they were, why they behaved so horribly, and how they could justify the obnoxious things that they did. Without the background character information, it just didn't sit well with me. 

Memorable: 3.0 stars

The biggest thing for me is that we continue to learn nothing as a society about race, social media, and entitlement.

Entertaining: 3.5 stars

It was entertaining at times, but it was very dark and satirical. 

Book cover: 3.5 stars

It could have been so much more.

Book title: 4.0 stars 

Very good! 

Recommend

AUDIOBOOK DETAILS

Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow (audiobook)

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

8 hours, 39 minutes

Release date of 5/16/2023

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

R. F. Kuang

My Goodreads review

HarperAudio

Los Angeles Public Library

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

January 2024 - Amazon First Reads

Hi, everyone!!

Did you know that there is a FREE monthly Kindle book available with your Amazon Prime membership??? It is called Amazon First Reads!! You can find out more about it here: Amazon First Reads.

I received the email yesterday and there are TWO free books in January 2024. No explanation, but TWO free books are GREAT!

My TWO choices for January 2024 are:

The County Line by Steve Weddle

The Real Deal by Caitlin Devlin

So what TWO books did you choose for your January 2024 First Read picks? Please share your choices in the comments!!

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

P.S. Don't forget to "buy" the books at Amazon! I almost did that this month!

Goodreads 2024 Reading Challenge

Hi, everyone!

So, no surprise, I am setting my Goodreads 2024 Reading Challenge to 100 books!! It is a big number, but I will do my best to meet this challenge. 

If Oliver James @oliverspeaks1 (Instagram) who is teaching himself to read did it last year,  I can meet the challenge with him. If you want an amazing motivational account to follow, Oliver James is it!! I will share some more good Instagram accounts to follow as the year goes on - please share yours too.

If you want to set your Goodreads 2024 Reading Challenge, here are the simple steps:

- Go to the Main Page/Home on your Goodreads page. 

- Log in, if necessary.

- Click on the "Join the challenge" banner in the upper left of the page. 

- You will be prompted to enter YOUR goal! 

- Happy reading and good luck!

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

My next audiobook is...

 Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (audiobook)

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

CHANGES to Book Read Order

Hi, everyone! 

As you may have noticed, the order of the ebooks I read has changed. Initially, I was planning to read:

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Change

However, an ARC with a short review time became available so I had to switch gears quickly to read this book. The new ebook was:

The Queen of Sugar Hill by ReShonda Tate

I have finished and reviewed The Queen of Sugar Hill (REVIEW), Now I am going to restart The Phoenix Crown. Thankfully, I was only one chapter when I originally started it on December 17th. Then my holiday break started  December 21st with very minimal reading so I am going to start the historical novel completely from the beginning again. 

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

 

My next ebook is...

 The Queen of Sugar Hill by ReShonda Tate (ebook)

Happy reading!!! 📚

Dorothea 💜