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kara_bianca_reads's review
5.0
Omg this book was so fricking good. I loved the first one, and I missed some of the elements, in particular the diary components, but the humour in this series is just spot on that I couldn't help but laugh out loud all the damn time. Definitely recommend this series! Once again, my motto these days, I just wish I had of had the time to read it faster!
madlovenovelist's review
4.0
This took me a long time to read because there is a lot of filler. The pacing is slow. I am in love with Daniel O’Malley’s writing though, he is fantastic with world building and crafts some interesting and intriguing characters. The imagination that has gone into creating the universe of The Checquy astounds me.
I’m really excited to see where this series is going. Book three is already in edits and book four is underway so we should get some publication dates towards the end of this year.
On a side note, I’m not surprised the television adaptation got cancelled. To be honest, it took out all of the aspects that make this collection so much fun. The irony and comedy, the way-out there elements and wild paranormal powers. Instead it concentrated on political subterfuge and the spy elements, and they executed the powers in a way that felt bland. While I enjoyed the show, it did not deliver on all the facets that made ‘The Rook’ great.
‘Stiletto’ picks up shortly after events that took place in ‘The Rook’ and introduce some new perspectives. We still follow Myfawny, but the main storyline is told from the perspectives of Grafter, Odette Leliefeld, and Pawn, Felicity Clements.
With the Grafter contingent, a sworn enemy of the Checquy, wanting to amalgamate their organisations. But what the Checquy don’t know is that the Grafters (or Wetenschappelijk Broederschap van Naruurkundigen – Broederschap for short) have an enemy that is systematically wiping them out; and now with the tentative ground of the two organisations navigating tensions and mistrust, their threats have doubled. So much intrigue, subterfuge, and diplomacy mixed in with paranormal powers, events and, medical technology to create a melting pot of tension.
Felicity is a soldier. Work is her life. She is assigned cases to eliminate paranormal threats (or hotspots) and now also assigned as Odette’s bodyguard/minder/liaison. We get a sense of her Spartan life, the only luxury she indulges in is her pet dog. She flat shares with two other Pawns in a tiny converted town house. She is a rule follower, down the line straight man but has a close relationship with the others with whom she grew up with in the Estate. They are her new family.
Odette is a prodigy with medical ‘grafter’ surgery. She is all about her work and an indulgent Broederschap upbringing. A bit of a party girl. A girly-girl. So the juxtaposition of class, society, and being bound by rules and hierarchy clashes between Odette and Felicity (and the Checquy.) But she adapts to the change because it’s what her ancestor and leader of the Broederschap wants.
Myfawny is still adjusting to her new role (and memory loss) but we see her much stronger and competent than she was in ‘The Rook.’
I capital-L-Love the outlandish paranormal events! And despite Daniel O’Malley’s tendency to indulge in filler, his writing is something I’m envious of. So while, extremely well written, ‘Stiletto’ suffers from a huge pacing issue. The plot is intricate and we see several arcs unfolding tangentially, though I did get a slight episodic feel from the novel. There are some marvellous plot twists throughout which took me by surprise and a few threads are left hanging for the next instalment, though there is a real sense of accomplishment for ‘Stiletto.’
I’d love to recommend this to everyone – but if you did not care for ‘The Rook,’ ‘Stiletto’ is much the same fare. You need to have patience and enjoy exploring the universe of the Checquy without worrying about the plot moving forward at a strong pace. I really enjoyed this – the only real issue I had was with the amount of filler, but it did not detract too much from my revelling in the escapist nature of O’Malley’s writing style.
This is a long book (583 pages), and having purchased the hardcover version (with heavy stock pages) it was a pain in the ass to read at times because the book is so heavy and cumbersome to read. But with my few gripes, I have become addicted to Daniel O’Malley and this series. Eagerly awaiting future adventures and craziness!
I’m really excited to see where this series is going. Book three is already in edits and book four is underway so we should get some publication dates towards the end of this year.
On a side note, I’m not surprised the television adaptation got cancelled. To be honest, it took out all of the aspects that make this collection so much fun. The irony and comedy, the way-out there elements and wild paranormal powers. Instead it concentrated on political subterfuge and the spy elements, and they executed the powers in a way that felt bland. While I enjoyed the show, it did not deliver on all the facets that made ‘The Rook’ great.
‘Stiletto’ picks up shortly after events that took place in ‘The Rook’ and introduce some new perspectives. We still follow Myfawny, but the main storyline is told from the perspectives of Grafter, Odette Leliefeld, and Pawn, Felicity Clements.
With the Grafter contingent, a sworn enemy of the Checquy, wanting to amalgamate their organisations. But what the Checquy don’t know is that the Grafters (or Wetenschappelijk Broederschap van Naruurkundigen – Broederschap for short) have an enemy that is systematically wiping them out; and now with the tentative ground of the two organisations navigating tensions and mistrust, their threats have doubled. So much intrigue, subterfuge, and diplomacy mixed in with paranormal powers, events and, medical technology to create a melting pot of tension.
Felicity is a soldier. Work is her life. She is assigned cases to eliminate paranormal threats (or hotspots) and now also assigned as Odette’s bodyguard/minder/liaison. We get a sense of her Spartan life, the only luxury she indulges in is her pet dog. She flat shares with two other Pawns in a tiny converted town house. She is a rule follower, down the line straight man but has a close relationship with the others with whom she grew up with in the Estate. They are her new family.
Odette is a prodigy with medical ‘grafter’ surgery. She is all about her work and an indulgent Broederschap upbringing. A bit of a party girl. A girly-girl. So the juxtaposition of class, society, and being bound by rules and hierarchy clashes between Odette and Felicity (and the Checquy.) But she adapts to the change because it’s what her ancestor and leader of the Broederschap wants.
Myfawny is still adjusting to her new role (and memory loss) but we see her much stronger and competent than she was in ‘The Rook.’
I capital-L-Love the outlandish paranormal events! And despite Daniel O’Malley’s tendency to indulge in filler, his writing is something I’m envious of. So while, extremely well written, ‘Stiletto’ suffers from a huge pacing issue. The plot is intricate and we see several arcs unfolding tangentially, though I did get a slight episodic feel from the novel. There are some marvellous plot twists throughout which took me by surprise and a few threads are left hanging for the next instalment, though there is a real sense of accomplishment for ‘Stiletto.’
I’d love to recommend this to everyone – but if you did not care for ‘The Rook,’ ‘Stiletto’ is much the same fare. You need to have patience and enjoy exploring the universe of the Checquy without worrying about the plot moving forward at a strong pace. I really enjoyed this – the only real issue I had was with the amount of filler, but it did not detract too much from my revelling in the escapist nature of O’Malley’s writing style.
This is a long book (583 pages), and having purchased the hardcover version (with heavy stock pages) it was a pain in the ass to read at times because the book is so heavy and cumbersome to read. But with my few gripes, I have become addicted to Daniel O’Malley and this series. Eagerly awaiting future adventures and craziness!
greenmtgirl's review
3.0
Very fun, and interesting, but the exposition in this book was just too much, and I often LIKE exposition. The semi-epistolary quality (and the memory-loss plot point) of The Rook made exposition seem natural, whereas in this book it's straight info-dumping. Also, certain aspects of the style seemed choppy, as if parts of the book were written in a very different mood than other parts, and then there was insufficient editing to smooth them over. However, the story and characters still make this worth reading, and I will read any further installments, should there be any.
kathrynnemo's review against another edition
2.0
I liked The Rook a lot, and I enjoyed being back in the same world for this book, but the book just didn't come together for me. Part of it was that the narrative voice stayed the same (although there was much more annoyingly cutesy-clever stuff in Stiletto), but the POV characters changed. So that was kind of weird. In the first book, I assumed the narrator's voice was Myfanwy's, and thus assumed her to be sardonic and occasionally cutesy-clever, and I liked her as a character a lot. In this book, I didn't know who the hell the narrator was, but s/he was really annoying.
For most of the book, the two main characters are constantly annoyed at each other, but I found them both sympathetic, which was nice. However, the eventual part where they Overcome Their Differences and figure out that We're All Just People was way overdone. I'm not sure that making the two main characters young women was the way to go for this author-- a lot of their relationship felt really contrived, like it was written by someone who only knows about female friendships from movies. He did great with a female lead in The Rook (and Myfanwy's relationships with women are pretty well done) but it just was not compelling here.
The worldbuilding was fun. The rest was eh.
For most of the book, the two main characters are constantly annoyed at each other, but I found them both sympathetic, which was nice. However, the eventual part where they Overcome Their Differences and figure out that We're All Just People was way overdone. I'm not sure that making the two main characters young women was the way to go for this author-- a lot of their relationship felt really contrived, like it was written by someone who only knows about female friendships from movies. He did great with a female lead in The Rook (and Myfanwy's relationships with women are pretty well done) but it just was not compelling here.
The worldbuilding was fun. The rest was eh.
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
4.0
Rook Myfanwy Thomas is in the midst of negotiating a way for the Grafters to join the Checquy. The two groups have been enemies for hundreds of years, each believing the other to be monsters, but having the two join forces is rather brilliant. The two groups definitely have different strengths and ways of looking at the world that could complement each other.
But Myfanwy is not the main character here. Yes, she gets some screen time, but the stars are Pawn Felicity Clements and Grafter Odette Leliefeld. Odette is a sad young woman, mourning the loss of her closest friends and unsure of her part in the Grafter Delegation. Felicity is assigned to be her bodyguard, since many in the Checquy truly hate the Grafters and especially Odette. Of course, watching Odette 24/7 also gives Felicity the opportunity to spy on her, see where her loyalties lie. I like the two women, although neither has as big a personality as Myfanwy. They do fit well into the overall Checquy/Grafter merge. Each is very good at what she does and is leery of the other woman’s capabilities. They do grow to like, and trust, each other. I liked that we got to hear each woman’s viewpoints and thoughts, both about their own organization and the other.
It is a long book and there are some parts that felt maybe unnecessary or too drawn out, and parts were rather slow. Each piece had its purpose, but I’m not sure that it couldn’t have been done a little better, the pacing could have been more consistent.
Stiletto is full of funny bits of dialogue, monster killing, extraordinary powers, and amazing science. It had me laughing out loud at times. I love its tongue-in-cheek style. It’s also about institutionalized hatred and how to (maybe) overcome it. It’s about the responsible use of power. It’s about building relationships and learning to appreciate differences. And it’s about defeating bad guys who can look like anyone and know most of your secrets.
But Myfanwy is not the main character here. Yes, she gets some screen time, but the stars are Pawn Felicity Clements and Grafter Odette Leliefeld. Odette is a sad young woman, mourning the loss of her closest friends and unsure of her part in the Grafter Delegation. Felicity is assigned to be her bodyguard, since many in the Checquy truly hate the Grafters and especially Odette. Of course, watching Odette 24/7 also gives Felicity the opportunity to spy on her, see where her loyalties lie. I like the two women, although neither has as big a personality as Myfanwy. They do fit well into the overall Checquy/Grafter merge. Each is very good at what she does and is leery of the other woman’s capabilities. They do grow to like, and trust, each other. I liked that we got to hear each woman’s viewpoints and thoughts, both about their own organization and the other.
It is a long book and there are some parts that felt maybe unnecessary or too drawn out, and parts were rather slow. Each piece had its purpose, but I’m not sure that it couldn’t have been done a little better, the pacing could have been more consistent.
Stiletto is full of funny bits of dialogue, monster killing, extraordinary powers, and amazing science. It had me laughing out loud at times. I love its tongue-in-cheek style. It’s also about institutionalized hatred and how to (maybe) overcome it. It’s about the responsible use of power. It’s about building relationships and learning to appreciate differences. And it’s about defeating bad guys who can look like anyone and know most of your secrets.
charcelline's review
5.0
I'm thoroughly enjoying this series, and like I said about the first book, it's kinda like Bourne Identity, Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children, and The Locked Tomb series all in one.
TW: claustrophobia, surgery
TW: claustrophobia, surgery
israfel462's review
5.0
I certainly hope there are more books to come. What a fun world Mr. O'Reilly has created!
thevintagechronicles's review
5.0
Libby/audio
I love this series. This story focuses on two new characters, and that took me a while to get into. But Myfawny pops back in, with her signature brand of delightful humor, and i am here for it. I also love the audiobooks, they are top tier. Bravo.
Im still pretty curious about the Vampire Bishop, but i don’t think i will get any answers on that front.
Overall, this zany world is quite a unique take, and i enjoy it very much.
I love this series. This story focuses on two new characters, and that took me a while to get into. But Myfawny pops back in, with her signature brand of delightful humor, and i am here for it. I also love the audiobooks, they are top tier. Bravo.
Im still pretty curious about the Vampire Bishop, but i don’t think i will get any answers on that front.
Overall, this zany world is quite a unique take, and i enjoy it very much.
flashuu's review
5.0
Wish I had gotten a hold of it sooner to read it. But the follow up to "The Rook" was well worth the wait. Definitely going to be a day one purchase whenever book three hits shelves. Don't want to waste any time .