Review: Wicked As They Come by Delilah S. Dawson

Every month the Cocktail Society Book Club (on Goodreads) selects a read a book to review and discuss on the first Wednesday of each month. The host choses a cocktail that compliments the book, wither it's her favorite adult drink or one that is featured in the book.


Cocktail of the Month:

Since out heroine enjoys a few classes of red wine, I thought the best cocktail would be your favorite red wine. I'm not a huge wine drinker but I do enjoy a class of Merlot from Little Black Dress.

Classic and Timeless...

If you're passionate about Merlot, make Little Black Dress your "go to" red. This wine is rich with aromas of ripe black cherry, cranberry, and warm herb, complemented by hints of vanilla and toasted oak. This medium-bodied Merlot can seduce even the most experienced of palates with its nice lingering finish.

Wine Pairing: Excellent with meats or hearty foods.


Book of the Month:

This month's book is Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson, and it is the first book in the Blud series. It's truly a one of a kind story with Alice in Wonderland elements and blood thirsty bunnies.

Wicked as They Come

by Delilah S. Dawson

Blud #1

First in a steampunk-tinged paranormal romance series in which a woman is transported to a world filled with vampires and magic.

When nurse Tish Everett forced open the pesky but lovely locket she found at an estate sale, she had no idea she was answering the call of Criminy Stain, from the far off land of Sang. He’d cast a spell for her, but when she’s transported right to him, she’s not so sure she’s ready to be under the spell of another man. (It didn’t go so well last time with controlling, abusive, domineering Jeff.) If only Criminy wasn’t so deliciously rakish….

Half the inhabitants of Sang are Pinkies—human—and the other half are Bludmen, who in Tish’s world would be called vampires. But they don’t mess with any of the bat/coffin/no sunlight nonsense. They’re rather like you and me, just more fabulous, long living, and mostly indestructible. (They're also very good kissers.) But when the evil Mayor of Manchester (formerly Bludchester) redoubles his efforts to rid Sang of the Bludmen once and for all, stealing Tish’s locket in hopes of traveling back to her world himself for reinforcements, Criminy and Tish must battle ghosts, sea monsters, wayward submarines, a secret cabal, and thundering Bludmares to get the locket back and allow Tish to return home…but has she found love with Criminy? Could she stay in Sang forever?

Much like Tish I found myself thinking of Sang and Criminy during the day at work and wanting to get home at night so I can see him again. Dawson does an excellent job of creating a wonderfully bizarre world that brings to mind Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz with her own unique elements.

Just think if Alice instead of falling down a hole she fell asleep with a magical locket around her neck and woke up in a world where vampires are real but not as we know them. The vampire, or bludman in question is Criminy, the master of a traveling circus.

Wicked as They Come may not be everyone's cup of tea. Some might think it's a little to weird but I found it refreshingly different and was hooked from the beginning. The heroine is totally relatable and the hero is darkly delicious. The way Dawson wrote the world, Sang is easily a third man character of the book. Sang is much like our world but in a bizarro fantastical way. With it's cities named similar to the real world and then their the blud animals, like the bludbunnies, bludrats and bludmares.

Also liked the fact that Wicked as They Come ended with a happily ever after, for now. There's still some story left in Tish and Criminy's relationship and after speaking with Dawson in an interview she hopes to revisit them in the future to give us that ending they deserve.

“I would burn down the world for you," he whispered fiercely. "Your world or my own. I would rip down the entire city with my bare hands without a second thought. I don't need to taste anything else, I don't need a comparison.”

I recommend Wicked as They Come to anyone in the mood for something a little different from the norm in the PNR world and it's a great introduction for me into the steampunk genre.

To sum up Wicked as They Come: wonderfully weird romance.

Check out other book club members' reviews:

Romancing the Darkside

Steampunk Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

 

Soulless 
by Gail Carriger 
Book #1 in the Parasol Protectorate series
Buy: Amazon - B&N
RATING: ★★★★★

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart? 


SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking. 

REVIEW:

Alexia Tarabotti is a soulless spinster whose deceased father is Italian. Apparently she inherited her father's physical traits, which were not considered vogue in 19th century England. Even her mother felt it unnecessary to have her participate in the ton season, thinking it a waste of time. They live in a world where the paranormal (werewolves, vampires and others) coexist openly with humans and the story opens with Alexia accidentally killing a vampire. The werewolf Lord Maccon, leader of the Bureau of Unnatural Registry is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. Everyone seems to believe she is responsible when it is determined that vampires are appearing and disappearing unexpectedly. Oh, as a soulless, she has the ability to render supernatural powers useless. 

This story is part comedy, mystery and romance. Alexia is an extraordinarily interesting character who has a keen mind and sense of humor. While she may not have the physical attributes that are considered attractive in the period, it doesn't mean she's unattractive or encumbered by these opinions. She's self confident and just plain interesting. The tension-filled relationship between Alexia and Lord Maccon is filled with witty dialogue and their attraction to each other undeniable in the end. She also isn't weighed down by the petty traditions of London society, though she's respectful of them.

There just seems to be a perfect balance of it all in this story, which flows rather nicely between the sleuthing to solve the mystery of the disappearing vampires, the burgeoning romance between Alexia and Lord Maccon and the interactions with London society. Add to it all a well-rounded cast of secondary characters and you have quite the tale. I found myself immersed in the clever reparte and voice of the period, which the author clearly mastered. Though I wasn't sure if this story was for me, I'm now committed to the rest of the series. I'm so glad I put this on my bookshelf.

REVIEW: Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

Sapphique (Incarceron #2)
by Catherine Fisher
Published September 18th 2008 by Hodder Children's Books
Genre: YA, Steampunk
BUY: Amazon / B&N / Book Depository
My Copy: Library Audio Book
RATING:

Goodreads Summary:

Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incarceron, but its memory torments him, because his brother Keiro is still inside. Outside, Claudia insists he must be king, but Finn doubts even his own identity. Is he the lost prince Giles? Or are his memories no more than another construct of his imprisonment? And can you be free if your friends are still captive? Can you be free if your world is frozen in time? Can you be free if you don't even know who you are? Inside Incarceron, has the crazy sorcerer Rix really found the Glove of Sapphique, the only man the Prison ever loved. Sapphique, whose image fires Incarceron with the desire to escape its own nature. If Keiro steals the glove, will he bring destruction to the world? Inside. Outside. All seeking freedom. Like Sapphique.



REVIEW:

I really enjoyed listening to Incarceron and after its cliffhanger ending, I knew my next audio book would be Sapphique.

Sapphique picks up a few months after Incarceron ends. We get to see what happens to Finn after he escapes Incarceron; but is the grass really greener on the other side? I believe that is the main theme throughout series.

While Incarceron is told through Finn and Claudia’s point of view, Sapphique is told through multiple points of views. Which makes sense since half of the characters are on the inside of and the other half on the outside of Incareron.

Sapphique and Incarceron are not light reads and I would recommend that you read them and not do the audio book if you had a hard time focusing on audios. The subject matter is a little confusing at times and I think I wouldn’t have felt so lost if I was reading the book. I listened to them both at work and was tuning in and out from time to time so I had to listen to some of the chapters twice.

Sapphique does not have an ending that you can put a bow on it and say done. It leaves you hanging a little with the wonder of the future of the characters and the world they live in but I was satisfied with the ending and enjoyed both books.

I thought that the Incarceron Series by Catherine Fisher was a trilogy but after looking at her website it’s only a two book series. Which I think is a really smart move; yeah she could have dragged it out into three books but I think I would have lost interest if she had.

REVIEW: Incarceron

Incarceron (Incarceron #1)

by Catherine Fisher
Genre: YA, Steampunk
BUY: Amazon / B&N
My Copy: Library Audio Book
RATING: 

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...



REVIEW:

I love The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and I've been on the hunt for another Dystopian book. So I put Incareron on my TBR list. Then last week I ran across it on CD in the library and check it out.

I was half through listening to Incarceron and I felt like I had missed some important information and was lost on some of the plot so I started over and there was still a few times I was a little confused about some of the characters. I don’t know if it was because I was listening to it while I was working and just tuning out from time to time or if it was how the book was written.

Things that really bugged me about Incarceron was the fact that the narrator read the characters with a British accent so I don’t know if the story was set in England or if that was just how the director wanted the actress to read the parts. Incarceron is one of those books where you don’t know if the setting is in the “real” world or a “made” up world. There was no real point of reference as to want country the story takes place.

Another thing that kind of had me wondering was the reference to Sapien; they are the educators, doctors, scientists of the world but they way that talked about them was almost like they were a different race or species. It seems like the Sapiens should have been the rulers of the world not the Queen. After all it was the Sapiens that made Incarceron.

After I let go of my OCD about a few issues I really enjoyed the story and characters. I am glad that I stuck with Incarceron and it’s many twists through the multiple storylines from both past and present.

Catherine Fisher has created a mind blowing world with Incarceron. Her imagination is outstanding. As I listened I kept picturing aspects of movies like The Truman Show and The Matrix; there was even a few elements similar to The Hunger Games.

I have the sequel, Sapphique on my iPod and I can’t wait to start it next. There was so many questions unanswered and a cliffhanger that I NEED to know what happens next.