The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more

Book Review: Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz

Book #177 of 2018:

Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz (Alex & Eliza #1)

This historical fiction novel presents in the form of a Young Adult love story the real-life romance of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler during the American Revolution. In the process author Melissa de la Cruz has taken a few liberties with the facts, but this only bothered me near the very end of the book — with the invention of a rival suitor and a fictitious connection to Benedict Arnold — and it probably shouldn’t detract from the story considered on its own terms. Setting aside what one knows about the historical figures or their Broadway counterparts, this is a sweet tale of romance and family duty against an interesting wartime backdrop, and since it only spans the lovers’ courtship, there is plenty of material for de la Cruz to continue exploring in the rest of the series. I do hope she sticks closer to the historical record next time, though.

[Trigger warning for an attempted sexual assault from the aforementioned suitor.]

★★★★☆

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TV Review: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, season 1

TV #40 of 2018:

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, season 1

This musical comedy starts off strong and only gets better from there. The original numbers – generally two per episode, spanning a wide range of different musical styles – are all hilarious, but it’s the focus on character work that really makes this program soar as it goes along. I put off watching for a long time because of the title, but it actually engages with mental health issues in a serious and nuanced way (without ever losing the humor). I love it, and I keep getting all the songs stuck in my head.

★★★★★

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TV Review: Breaking Bad, season 1

TV #42 of 2018:

Breaking Bad, season 1

This is my first time rewatching this show since it ended, but it remains an electrifying experience. The character arcs are not quite on the level of what these writers are achieving nowadays on Better Call Saul – and I cannot understand those viewers who don’t get that Walter White is a toxic, despicable person right from the start – but the acting, cinematography, and tense action sequences are top-notch, and the various characters in Walt’s orbit are already pretty compelling. Even in this truncated first season (a mere seven episodes, due to the writers strike), the show has all of the makings of the modern TV classic it will grow to be.

★★★★☆

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TV Review: Orphan Black, season 5

TV #41 of 2018:

Orphan Black, season 5

I’ve always felt an odd dichotomy with Orphan Black, in that the main appeal for me as a viewer is Tatiana Maslany’s amazing acting range at embodying all these different characters, but the main focus of the writers often seems to be on their labyrinthine plots of shady corporate conspiracies. This final season continues to lean pretty heavily on the latter, but at least the finale itself pulls back a bit to take stock of the “clone club” and their loved ones in more of a slice-of-life style of storytelling. Moments like that do a lot to help my frustrations with the conspiracy stuff, but I’d ultimately love it if this show had been way less plot-heavy all along. Maslany remains a revelation – even after 50 episodes I sometimes forget that she’s the one playing all those different roles – and I hope her career gives her better material from here on out.

This season: ★★★☆☆

Overall series: ★★★☆☆

Season ranking: 1 > 4 > 2 > 5 > 3

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Book Review: The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure: Classic Tales of Dashing Heroes, Dastardly Villains, and Daring Escapes edited by Lawrence Ellsworth

Book #176 of 2018:

The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure: Classic Tales of Dashing Heroes, Dastardly Villains, and Daring Escapes edited by Lawrence Ellsworth

This book collects some older adventure stories about pirates, musketeers, and so on, many of which had been out of print for decades before the collection was published in 2014. The quality varies dramatically from story to story, and I find that I tend to like best those which are actually just excerpts from longer works, like Rafael Sabatini’s serialized Captain Blood: His Odyssey or Johnston McCulley’s original Zorro novel. I’d recommend that interested readers check out one of those, rather than chance the mixed bag that is this collection as a whole.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy

Book #175 of 2018:

The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy (Skulduggery Pleasant #3)

I’ve been waiting for this Irish children’s urban fantasy series to really grab my attention, but at this point I think I’m ready to call it quits. (It doesn’t help that this third novel is the last one that my library has available as an audiobook — so although there’s another 8 books and counting still to go, they really don’t seem worth my effort.)

On three separate occasions in this latest adventure, the heroes have a run-in with the villains solely because both teams happen to arrive somewhere at the same time. That sort of sloppy storytelling isn’t a dealbreaker per se, but it’s emblematic of the problems in the series and how little they’ve improved as it’s gone on. I thought the first two novels showed promise, but I’m not exactly grieving that this is where my library collection runs out.

★★☆☆☆

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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

Book #174 of 2018:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter #2)

The first Harry Potter book was a tremendous debut, but this sequel surpasses it on just about every level. The plot, the characters, and the setting are all delivered far more confidently this time around, and author J. K. Rowling is already deepening her narrative abilities so that the story never feels like just a repeat of the last adventure. This novel offers plenty of interesting new additions to the series canon, and some valuable setup for the later books is neatly integrated into the present storyline with great skill.

Rowling has also perfected the art of doling out subtle clues to her yearlong mysteries, such that a first-time reader will likely miss them — or at least, mistake their importance for mere flavoring — but anyone spotting them on a reread can’t help but smile. In my opinion that’s an underrated quality of Rowling’s style, but one that truly stands out in the children’s fantasy genre and comes into its own with this second Harry Potter book.

What also stands out on a reread is how this sequel gently tweaks some of the clumsier and sillier details of the first book, resulting in a more mature tone that will carry on through the rest of the series. It’s still appropriate for the children in Rowling’s primary audience — although this is a story that will only get darker as its characters continue to age over the books ahead — but from here on out the issues facing Harry and his friends feel just a little more grounded and believable. It’s a welcome improvement to what was already a great start.

★★★★★

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Book Review: The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

Book #173 of 2018:

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain #1)

Somehow I missed out on this series when I was growing up, which is a shame, since this first novel has turned out to be an excellent classic of children’s fantasy literature. The tone is somewhere between J. R. R Tolkien and Patricia A. McKillip, but definitely leaning more towards the former in terms of offering readers an immediately-accessible world. It’s a short book that packs in great characters and a fun adventure, and author Lloyd Alexander’s love for Welsh folklore really shines through. I may be coming at these books late, but I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of them!

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Book #172 of 2018:

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #1)

This story is fairly bursting with ideas — from time-travel to dodo clones to secret agents and criminals jumping in and out of novels like Jane Eyre — but it’s all a bit chaotic, and a lot of the apparent comedy doesn’t really land for me. (See also: the villain’s explicit lack of any motivation, the occasional sexist treatment of the heroine, etc.) I also would have liked more clarity on which of the differences from our reality are supposed to be the result of chronological meddling, and which are just author Jasper Fforde having some surreal fun with his worldbuilding. Still, for all my nitpicking, I have to admit that this is an imaginative work with a great deal of potential. I’m hoping the series settles more into itself with the sequels.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce

Book #171 of 2018:

Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce (Daughter of the Lioness #1)

At this point in her wider Tortall series, author Tamora Pierce can easily spin a great story… when she can manage to get out of the way of her own worst impulses. And for the most part here, she does. This new duology marks Pierce’s most direct engagement with themes of slavery and racism, and if it’s still a bit problematic — new heroine Aly is quite conspicuously a white woman whose enslavement is framed as a shocking contrast to that of the dark-skinned folks all around her — it’s still a gripping tale of spycraft with some nice morals behind it. This is Pierce at the top of her game, and I’m glad I didn’t give up on Tortall after some earlier stumbles.

★★★★☆

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