Tag Archives: Melanie Karsak

Bitches and Brawlers by Melanie Karsak

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview

Title: Bitches and Brawlers
Author: Melanie Karsak
Series: Red Cape Society #4
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Retellings, Steampunk, Werewolves
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2018

Thoughts

Clemeny’s love triangle with Edwin and Lionheart gains a little traction in Bitches and Brawlers, plus, I love that it brings in a few more of the characters from Wolves and Daggers. Both the love triangle and other characters help to tie up some loose threads and drive Clemeny’s adventures and personal journey forwards. I love that Clemeny is able to visit with her old partner and her Grandmere takes a lot of the spotlight in this story. Then, there’s the fact that, although I really want Clemeny to end up with Lionheart, she’s leaning towards Edwin – something that just makes me want to dive into Howls and Hallows all that much quicker.

Alodie is a not-very-nice villain, one that it was incredibly easy to detest – I love the ending that she meets. Very much create by her own decisions and evil. Yet, as with everything in Bitches and Brawlers, her death throws everyone and everything into turmoil. Plus, I just really, really disliked her. I mean, she’s a power hungry bitch who won’t stop at anything to get what she wants. It’s always nice to have a villain who is totally detestable, and impossible to like. As much as I also love those that are slightly relatable, I also love when it is just all too easy to hate a character and wish nothing but the worst for them. Just like Alodie.

I can’t wait to start to understand more of Clemeny’s history – there have been so many teasers and hints throughout this series, and Karsak manages to tease out just a little bit more in Bitches and Brawlers. Little Red finds herself one step closer to who she truly is, and all those moments of (what I think are) supressed power feel like they’re soon going to come to fruition. A great little lead into Howls and Hallows. Or at least, it is to my mind, since I haven’t actually read Howls and Hallows yet…

Not only did I really enjoy cavorting through London with Clemeny and fighting crime, the secondary characters in this series, and Bitches and Brawlers in particular are fantastic. This is a steampunk world which is wonderfully multifaceted and gives you insights into so many different lives and individuals. Then, there’s the tie ins to the Steampunk Fairytales series that make me want to dive across to those books as well. So much to read, so little time!

<- Peppermint and PentaclesHowls and Hallows ->

Image source: Amazon

Peppermint and Pentacles by Melanie Karsak

Book Review, , , , , ,
Overview

Title: Peppermint and Pentacles
Author: Melanie Karsak
Series: Red Cape Society #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Fairy tales, Retellings, Steampunk, Werewolves
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2018

Thoughts

I read the first chapter of this story, and then kind of put it aside – reading on Kindle Unlimited is a little bit more clunky for me. However, once I got the chance, I read this story from cover to cover. However, even in the interim, I really wanted to dive back into this story. I mean, a Christmas, steampunk red riding hood was always going to pull me in. It also builds beautifully on the stirrings of feelings in Clemeny in Alphas and Airships. I loved seeing how her feelings evolve and she begins to get used to the new status quo within the Red Cape Society.

One of my all-time favourite things about Peppermint and Pentacles is the fact that the Christmas spin on the adventures of Clemeny is Krampus. I have been absolutely fascinated by the idea and practices of Krampus since my Austrian penpal introduced me to how her village celebrates this. And this was my first ever story that features this. I honestly couldn’t get enough of the darker twist on a Christmas story. Just the kind of tale that I tend to like.

Clemeny and Edwin (Agent Hunter) spend the entirety of this story moving closer to one another. There are still frequent mentions of Sir Richard throughout, and I feel like this is going to be a bit of a future love triangle. I wonder if they are going to work out in the next books in this series. I also loved getting to spend more time with Grand-mere. It was nice to have the characters that surround Clemeny fleshed out a bit. Characters that support her brilliantly, but also make me want to dive right into these books again and again.

There is so much about this series that I’m absolutely loving. And having a Christmas-story featuring Krampus into the mix just makes it all that much better. I can’t wait to read more and more and more of Karsak’s writing. Plus, with every book, there is more world building of the darker, more mystical side of these steampunk retellings.

<- Alphas and AirshipsBitches and Brawlers ->

Image source: Amazon

Alphas and Airships by Melanie Karsak

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview

Title: Alphas and Airships
Author: Melanie Karsak
Series: Red Cape Society #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Retellings, Steampunk, Werewolves
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2018

Thoughts

You know that a book is absolutely brilliant when you want to keep going back to pick it up. Only to realise that you’ve actually already finished it. And then you get that wonderfully irritating book hangover feeling. The one that makes you reluctant to pick up another book because it probably won’t quite measure up. And then it takes forever to find one that can quite draw you in again. Alphas and Airships was one such book.

Clemeny is a great and very relatable character and I love how driven she is for justice. Alphas and Airships sets up the idea of a bit of a love triangle for her. And also talks about some of the repercussions and change which Wolves and Daggers bought to her life. I wasn’t sure if I spent more of this book wanting to know about the new relationships which Clemeny was forming. Or whether she was going to get the Viking Werewolf that she was hunting… going forwards, it’ll be very much the love triangle that will drive my reading, but that’s mostly because there will be new hunting challenges to overcome I’m sure.

As far as partners go, I really enjoyed Agent Harper and how her relationship with Clemeny grows. I hope that she shows up again. It was fun watching their connection grow as they tried to stop the bad guys. Harper was also a great balance of innocence and light to Clemeny’s more serious and jaded nature. They’re also both driven by a high moral fibre that makes them entirely compatible.

During Alphas and Airships, it becomes obvious that there are a lot of secrets in Clemeny’s past. Many of which I’m sure she doesn’t actually know herself. Particularly those of her bloodline. I can’t wait to find out more about her history and how this is going to impact her life. I’m assuming heavily, because it feels like it’s being set up to be a huge deal.

<- Wolves and DaggersPeppermint and Pentacles ->

Image source: Amazon

Ice and Embers by Melanie Karsak

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Ice and Embers by Melanie Karsak

Title: Ice and Embers: Steampunk Snow Queen
Author: Melanie Karsak
Series: Steampunk Fairytales #2
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Retellings, Steampunk
Dates read: 19th – 29th October 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Clockpunk Press
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: “You’re very kind.”

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

When actress Elyse McKenna fell in love with Lord John Waldegrave, she was prepared to keep their liaison secret. What she wasn’t’ ready for was how her newfound love would rock her relationship with her dearest friend, Doctor Kai Murray.

With the 1814 London Frost Fair in full swing, Elyse and her troupe at the Ice House Theatre find themselves at the heart of the excitement on the frozen Thames. But when an exotic ship captain, whose vessel is trapped in the ice, turns her attention to Kai, everything Elyse thought she knew about her feelings for her old friend gets flipped upside down.

While the Ice House Theatre’s production of A Midwinter Night’s Dream thrills the London crowd, Elyse’s life begins to take on a distinctly Shakespearean turn.

Elyse must find a way to discover the truth about the captain, Kai, John, and her own feelings if she hopes to escape the Thames with her heart intact.

Ice and Embers is a retelling of the classic Snow Queen fairy tale set in Regency London.

Thoughts

I must admit that The Snow Queen is one of my all time favourite fairy tales. Which meant that a steampunk adaptation of it was immediately going to draw me in. Particularly when the other two adaptations I’ve read by Karsak (Curiouser and Curiouser and Wolves and Daggers) were just so damn good. And you know what? This didn’t disappoint. It was fantastic and wonderful and did absolute justice to the original fairy tale (thank goodness).

Although the original fairy tale focuses on two children, I loved that Karsak bought this into adulthood. It wasn’t necessarily sexual (although there were moments of that), but Elyse’s battle and journey was that little bit more intense and serious because she was an adult. That, and the fact that it was partnered with Shakespeare, although I probably didn’t pick up on all of the references because I’m a little bit “eh” about The Bard. It was all very well done and completely seamlessly executed.

It may have taken me a bit over a week to read this novel, but the majority of it I actually read in one night. A night when there were thunderstorms overhead and the rain beating down on my tin roof. Which was an absolutely perfect setting for the Frost Fair on the frozen river Thames. Something about the winter setting and my own winter nest was really nice and fun. Cuddling up beneath my blanket while listening to the rain pour down and having my heart beat alongside Elyse’s… it was something very beautiful and thematic. Or at least, my fanciful heart felt so.

This doesn’t have as much of a steampunk feel as Curiouser and Curiouser. It’s a little more a regency feel with a few dashes of steampunk thrown in. Yet, I liked it. It was a nice way to show different classes and people within the same social setting and whilst I loved the Bandersnatch, I don’t think Elyse would have been so suited with so much machinery around her in her adventures…

<- Curiouser and CuriouserBeauty and Beastly ->

Image source: Goodreads

Wolves and Daggers by Melanie Karsak

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Wolves and Daggers by Melanie Karsak

Title: Wolves and Daggers
Author: Melanie Karsak
Series: Red Cape Society #1
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Retellings, Steampunk, Werewolves
Dates read: 25th June 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Clockpunk Press
Year: 2018
5th sentence, 74th page: Sitting outside the hangar were two autos that I recognized from the warehouse night before.

Synopsis

Who’s afraid of the big, bad werewolf?

When London’s brightest tinkers and alchemists come up missing, Red Cape Society Agent Clemeny Louvel is on the case.

To help her get the problem in hand, Queen Victoria assigns her a temporary partner—a werewolf with a knightly history and a tendency to be far too flirtatious for either of their good. Can she trust him to help her chase down the monsters they’re hunting?

Wolves and Daggers is a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale set in Melanie Karsak’s bestselling steampunk universe.

Thoughts

This really wasn’t quite what I was expecting from a Red Riding Hood retelling. It was great. It was unique. And it was completely unexpected. Which is probably what I enjoyed so much about it. I can see how the entire series will unfold as an overall retelling, rather than just this one story. There are so many aspects to the original fairy tale that just weren’t in this retelling, and I can’t wait to see how Karsak continues to weave Red Riding Hood into her wonderful world of steampunk.

One of the things that I love about this author is her ability to write steampunk retellings in a way that makes you feel really reminiscent of the original fairy tales. But also, to make an entirely new and unique story line. There are certain aspects which are seriously familiar, but there are so many completely new aspects which draw you in and leave you feeling happy, compelled and intrigued. In the case of Red Riding Hood, the wolves are werewolves and “Little Red” is a werewolf hunter.

I absolutely can’t wait to read more about “Little Red” and Sir Richard and all of the hunting and controlling of the werewolves that they do. There is just something fun and a little entertaining about Karsak’s take on such a common and well known fairy tale. I also love that although it is originally a French fairy tale, the story and the characters are just oh-so-British. It added a great extra layer to the adventure of Little Red and the Victorian steampunk setting.

It’s kind of impossible not to love this book – it has werewolves, hunting and a great steampunk setting. Not to mention the fact that it’s a world of fairy tales. Not quite like you remember them, but still kind of amazing and really, really fun. I absolutely adored this novel and can’t wait until I have the money to buy the rest of the series!

<- More Melanie KarsakAlphas and Airships ->

Image source: Goodreads

Curiouser and Curiouser by Melanie Karsak

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Image result for curiouser and curiouser book cover

Title: Curiouser and Curiouser
Author: Melanie Karsak
Series: Steampunk Fairytales #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Retellings, Steampunk
Dates read: 25th – 28th July 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Clockpunk Press
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: Nonsense.

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Synopsis

To save the Hatter, Alice must work with the one man she despises so much that she might still love him.

Alice thought she’d turned over a new leaf. No more working for Jabberwocky. No more making deals with the ruthless Queen of Hearts. No more hanging around The Mushroom with tinkers, tarts, scoundrels, and thieves in London’s criminal underbelly. But she’d been bonkers to dream.

Hatter’s reckless behavior leads Alic back to the one person she never wanted to see again, Caterpillar. Pulled into Caterpillar’s mad schemes, Alice must steal a very big diamond from a very royal lady. The heist is not problem for this Bandersnatch. But protecting her heart from the man she once loved? Impossible.

Thoughts

I seriously love Alice in Wonderland. Or anything that uses themes and imagery from this story. And it’s moved beyond the Lewis Carroll original to something more. As time has moved and the many, many, many retellings have weaved their way into pop culture, the story has taken on more and more of a life of its own. Which is also probably why I love it so much. Each person’s take is amazing. Each aspect of the story that is focused on… but I’ve never read a steampunk retelling of this tale. Until now. And wow.

Every single moment in this story had an allusion to Alice in Wonderland. Yet, the creation of this world in a steampunk underbelly also made it completely disjointed from the original. I loved the way that these two ideas sit against each other. Alice is full of muchness (much like the original), but she’s also older, wiser and in a much darker world. The Queen of Hearts is also far more terrifying than she is in Carroll’s version. This separation between the two realities was just fantastic and it made me sink my nose into this book and refuse to get out. A bit like falling down the rabbit hole…

One of my favourite things about this retelling is the repurposing of the names throughout. Alice becomes the Bandersnatch, her father-figure the Jabberwocky and her love interest Caterpillar. They’re such familiar names and characters, and whilst I could still recognise them in the characterisation, they added a new layer, an extra something that was previously not there. It was so cleverly and seamlessly done that it would be so easily missed if I hadn’t recently been on an Alice in Wonderland binge.

Although this is an amazing retelling that just completely sweeps you into a whole new world, it is also a fantastic story in and of itself. Even if you have been living under a rock and had absolutely zero exposure to Alice in Wonderland, it is still something that you’d thoroughly enjoy. Actually, this is something that is almost impossible to put down. And I really wouldn’t suggest that anyone do so. It’s amazing! I can’t wait to read the next Steampunk Fairytales.

<- More Melanie KarsakIce and Embers ->

Image source: Amazon