Tag Archives: Fiction

Review | The Oathbreaker’s Shadow, Amy McCulloch

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13643064In a market saturated with YA dystopians, Amy McCulloch’s The Oathbreaker’s Shadow stands out by turning to the past. Not necessarily a historical past, but rather a classical take on story telling. McCulloch’s style of world building is reminiscent of Lois Lowry’s in The Giver in a setting reminiscent of Frank Herbert’s in Dune, and while Oathbreaker’s Shadow is less allegorical than The Giver and so far less epic than Dune, it contains that vital sense of classicism that I hope will make this series endure for generations to come.

In this book, promises are represented by knots and bound by magic. When someone breaks a promise, their knot disappears and leaves behind a scar that marks them as an oathbreaker and leads to public shame and exile. For Raim, he has had a knot since the day he was born, which represents a promise he does not know and cannot possibly have made himself. So when he vows lifelong fealty to his best friend and his society’s future Khan, and this knot is broken, Raim sets off on a quest to discover what promise he had inadvertently broken, and more importantly, to reclaim his lost honour.

I cannot say enough good things about this book, and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good tale. McCulloch weaves Eastern philosophy, magic, and social and political conflict into the classic quest narrative of the disgraced hero. It’s a tradition that stretches back to ancient literature, and Oathbreaker’s Shadow serves as a testament to the enduring appeal of the classics as well as rejuvenates the form with a contemporary feel. This is an exciting new take on fantasy, and a much needed breath of fresh air in a market too enamoured with trends. Oathbreaker’s Shadow is high adventure; friendships are strained, loyalties are betrayed, and hope arises in the most unlikely place. All this occurs in a world where magic is real, and literally burned into your skin, or embodied in a shadowy form.

As with all good examples of fantasy literature, this book feels emotionally real. Oathbreakers are haunted by shadows of people they’ve betrayed; the more egregious the betrayal, the stronger one’s shadow is. It’s a compelling metaphor, and one can only imagine how it must feel to have a shadow of a loved one (literally, a shadow of them, a mere shade of their personality) as a constant reminder of your betrayal. When one character’s hunger for knowledge leads to a realization on how to use this magic to their advantage, the results are horrifying. A scene near the end revealing the extent of one character’s betrayal feels painfully real, and despite its personal nature, feels akin to epic tropes.

The Oathbreaker’s Shadow is a brilliant book, the first in a series of two. It deserves to become part of classic YA literature, and I highly recommend it to readers of all ages.

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Thank you to Random House of Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Tour: Review | Hidden, Catherine McKenzie

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Catherine McKenzie’s Hidden is a wonderfully nuanced portrait of infidelity. When Jeff Manning is killed in a car accident, he leaves behind his grieving wife Claire and his grieving co-worker and girlfriend Tish. In such a story, it is all too easy to demonize one of the women, or to portray one as the man’s “true love.” McKenzie stays clear of that trap and in so doing, succeeds in crafting a complex, realistic tale of adult relationships, and the way people make them work.

McKenzie tells the story from all three perspectives, which makes each character come even more vividly to life. We see Jeff fall in love with Claire, and we understand the cause of his jealousy over her past relationship with his brother. We also see his first couple of encounters with Tish, and how they form an immediate connection. I love how his connection with Tish, despite the instant chemistry, was mostly more friendly than romantic, and I especially love how this connection in no way detracted from his feelings for Claire.

9781443411929Claire and Tish themselves were fully fleshed out characters. Claire is a former lawyer who now runs a daycare, and the reasons behind her switch in plans gives an idea of how important family is to her. Her son’s grief over his father’s death is deeply felt as well, and his vulnerability when reading the eulogy at the funeral is palpable.

Tish has a more unusual family situation, with a highly intelligent doctor husband and a genius-level poet daughter. Their accomplishments are in stark contrast to Tish’s own lack of ambition, and despite her natural talent at golf and poetry, she is mostly content to coast. Her connection with Jeff, and the intensity of her feelings towards him, are therefore a significant step forward, and his death forces her even further out of her comfort zone.

Complex relationships form this book, but strong characterization makes it work. We are drawn to all three characters; they feel like people we know, and even though we already know it ultimately ends in tragedy, we still want to see how it progresses. Knowledge of Jeff’s impending death add poignancy to the flashbacks of his chapters, and reading about Claire and Tish’s grief interspersed with Jeff’s story just enhances the nuance.

Hidden is a captivating read, and a compelling portrayal of three people whose lives are inextricably intertwined. A mature, richly drawn narrative that is ultimately more about relationships, and making them work.

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Thank you to the author for the invitation to join the blog tour, and thank you as well for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review | I, Spy, Jordan McCollum

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17852668Jordan McCollum’s I, Spy, the first in a series starring CIA operative Talia Reynolds, is an entertaining spy thriller. One doesn’t traditionally associate Canada with high-stakes espionage, so I love that Talia is stationed in Ottawa, and that her department has to coordinate with CSIS. Even more interesting, Talia is a Mormon, yet another detail not traditionally associated with contemporary fiction in general, never mind the spy thriller genre.

In this book, Talia is asked to investigate Russian aerospace executive Fyodor Timofeyev, whom CSIS and the CIA suspect of being a spy. Unfortunately for Talia’s personal life, her investigation requires her to pretend to date Fyodor, both to pump him for information and also to distract him while other agents search his room. This comes at a time when her relationship with her boyfriend Danny is on the rocks, mostly because she has been breaking a lot of dates with him lately for work-related matters. Worse, she’s spending even more time with her co-worker and best friend Elliott, and while the relationship is completely platonic, Danny is starting to get jealous.

I, Spy is a fun, action-packed read. I love the references to Ottawa landmarks, although I do think the author went too far in explaining all the minor Canadian-isms. This may just be because I’m Canadian myself, but when a couple of characters buy coffee and donuts at a Tim Horton’s, I didn’t think it necessary for the narrator to explain that a Tim Horton’s is like a Dunkin Donuts.

McCollum has a breezy writing style, and a talent for describing action scenes. At times, Talia and Elliott almost appear superhero-like in their uncanny ability to dispose of bad guys and get out of bad situations, and at times I wished for more realism, but even glossed up, this remains an exciting read. McCollum saves her realism for the personal subplots — Elliott’s fears about his wife’s pregnancy distracting him from performing his CIA duties, Talia and Danny’s repeated miscommunication and resulting strain on their relationship, and, in the most striking passage in the book, Talia’s raw emotions after being sexually assaulted. While most of the plot features the high-stakes espionage operation, the heart of the story lies in the characters’ personal lives, and McCollum reveals the human side of the operation.

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Thank you to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.