Mark This Book Monday: Any Other Name by Emma Newman!!

For the next Mark This Book Monday entry, the sequel to Between Two Thorns that didn't disappoint!


Any Other Name by Emma Newman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Any Other Name is the second book on the Split Worlds series and it continues right from the point where Between Two Thorns left us.

I don't think I can avoid spoilers for book 1 since so many of the twists and revelations are rather important to continue the story, but I will try my best to avoid spoilers for this one.

This book doesn't have to do with any of the introduction to the world that the first one had, and that makes it even more dinamic and with an even more complex plot. I won't say the plot is fast, cause with the amount of politics and court intrigue and general social & family drama going on, it's not a run-for-your-life fast sort of a plot, but everything that goes on keeps on moving the plot forward and adding more levels of complexity to the master plan(s) that seem to be leading the two sides on the Nether.

Cathy and Will got married, Will is trying to make the best out of it and Cathy is still raging and refusing to even try to work at it. Max and the gargoyle are expanding their investigation of what happened at their chapter and the actual reach of it all and discovering even more connections. They still work with Cathy on occasion but the mistrust is still there which leads to missing links that could be crucial in unravelling some of the enigmas they face. The Sorcerer continues to show signs on inestability and is not exactly the mastermind the investigation would need, despite his reputation and connections in both the Nether and Exilium.

Sam is still trying to figure out what to do with his life after being dragged into all the drama, and how to try and fix his marriage. He's still looking out for Cathy and being used by the Fae.

Aside from the four points of view we had in book one, we have two more added here, the newly named White siblings, Amelia and Cornelius from the Rosa family. They're perspective does give us a lot more information on how twisted really are the plans of the Fae, and how little any of the families in Society really know.

There is quite a bit of character growth and progression, mostly in Cathy and Will, and there is also a very slow and very painful progression in their relationship.

Cathy is no longer just the rebel that wants to run away from Society, but she's beginning to see that there might be something more for her to do that what Society expects of her and that she might be able to start changing things from the inside. Will also grows in kindness and in understanding of Cathy and her ways, he still can't really understand what her problems are but is determined to make the best of the marriage, even though he surprises himself by how hard he works at it. He's too focused on what he's supposed to do to realize that maybe not all the advice he gets is genuine. Despite being a bit of an arse on occasion, he's really grown on me and I think he's quite a good guy.

Max and Sam don't have as much character growth as Cathy and Will, but they also take more initiative and action to get information and find out what's going on. Max & the gargoyle are a bit like a dinamic duo of superhero and sidekick!

There are more questions asked since the plot progresses than questions answered, and I'm really hoping we'll get more answers in the next book!

On a side note, I completely love the fact that this is British English book through and through with all the awesome idioms all over the place!

Very well deserved 4 stars for a great sequel that's better than the first book!



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Mark This Book Monday: Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman!

A very unexpected surprise in the shape of a Fae based book that I really enjoyed for the next Mark This Book Monday entry!


Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Between Two Thorns is the first book on the Split Worlds series. We are introduced to Cathy who has been living on the run in Mundanus Manchester, Max an Arbiter that polices the interactions between the Fae, their puppets and the humans, Sam a human that had a night drinking in the pub go terribly wrong when he gets mixed in the affairs of the Rosas and William, one of those touched by the Fae and at their service.

Since it's the first book there's a lot we need to learn about the Nether, Mundanus and Exilium, and the different races that inhabit them. We're taken through 4 different points of view in the story: Cathy, Max (and his gargoyle), Sam and Will. Every bit of narration seems to be a bit disconnected at first, but little by little it all adds up, and contributes to getting a bigger picture of this world.

Right from the start I felt so much for Cathy, she has made some very hard choices and has worked very hard to get away from her family and the Nether and it's outdated Victorian rules and restrictions. She's always wanted more and was never good at complying with what was expected of her. Once her protection is blown she's dragged back into her family and the restrictions and obligations of those tied to the Fae, expect that it seems that Cathy is the only one that thinks like that, while the rest of the society can't understand what her problems with their way of life are.

Max is a hard character to get to like, since he feels no emotions and only cares about doing his job, protecting the innocents and find out who destroy his chapter and all his fellow Arbiters in Bath. His character is complemented by the gargoyle that for a fortuite event got reanimated and had Max's emotions tranferred to him. We also got the Sorcerer who is Max's top boss and quite powerful but inept on human interactions.

Sam's your regular bloke, he likes going out for a beer to the pub with his best friend and is married to Leanna, a fierce ambitious woman working hours without end. He goes out one night and witnesses something he shouldn't have and from then on is dragged into the Split Worlds affairs.

William is once of the Fae touched, and his the perfect example of what an inhabitant of the Nether should be, charming, sociable and skilled at navigating all sort of intrigues and politic affairs.

All these characters are so distinctly written and despite my affections for them changing a bit on the course of the book they feel so very real! The plot is more complicated than you might think on the start of the book, because every time there's a discovery through one of the stories, it adds another layer of deceit and misdirection. It doesn't seem to escalate so far, and despite all of Max's detective work, what gripped me more was Cathy's plight once returned to the society she despises and how she doesn't give up on trying to find a way to escape it while trying to navigate intrigues worth of any old royal court!

I'm not usually a fan of stories about the Fae and their twisted politics, but the way Emma weaved this story and the focus on not only the Fae politics but a big femininistic outlook, I thouroughly enjoyed it and I'm very much looking forward to continue reading this series!

A very well deserved 3 and a half stars.





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