Book Review: Liar's Moon

Yet another book which I really wanted to read but had to wait longer than I would've liked to get it from the library to actually do so. Oh well, at least I'm helping to up the circulation numbers so perhaps they'll get the final book in this series (I think it's a trilogy?) when it comes out. However, despite the fact that Starcrossed was published in 2010 and this book in 2011 I'm not seeing any news on a third book anywhere and, while the first book could have stood alone as a single story this one ends on a game-changing twist so I'm a little puzzled that I can't find any information on the next book at all. It's actually been so long since I first read Starcrossed that I had to speed-read through it again before I read this one, and I remember hearing that that book was a single book deal hence why it was written as if it could stand alone, but I thought that changed for this book. Guess there's nothing to do but wait and see how this story all wraps up.

Liar's Moon by Elizabeth C Bunce

It's a small-ish detail but I like how they were able to use the same model for this cover as well, gives them a bit of continuity which is nice. I also love the color scheme used, the purple is nice and eye-catching and doesn't clash with any of the other colors and (speaking from experience) it must've taken a while to edit Digger's hair so that the purple background showed through.

Summary: After the tulmultous winter where she helped set in motion a rebellion against the king, Digger is back in familiar territory in the capital city wondering what she can, and should be doing, next. She's annoyed, although not completely surprised, to find herself thrown in jail one night but surprised by her cellmate, Lord Durrel Decath (whom she previously met at the beginning of Starcrossed and was instrumental in getting her out of the city). And now she gets to return the favor and get him out of jail by proving that he wasn't the one who murdered his wife. There is a game of politics afoot and Digger rightfully suspects that it runs deeper than it first seems but with so many complications will she ever figure out what is truly going on?

The Good: Hurray for politicking in YA and I'm quite glad I re-read Starcrossed before I read this book. While only some of the cast returns (more than I expected given that the story is set in a completely different location) a lot of the connections Digger formed in the first book do come back which made me happy, I've read a number of stories lately where each book takes place in a different place with very few reoccurring characters and I think it makes the stories feel too disconnected, which was not a problem here. Digger remains a fun character to read, she's clever and quick-witted and I'd much rather read a story where the lead knows more than I do (rather than the other way around) yet gets into trouble more than often enough to feel human. Finally, it's interesting to see how while there is magic in this series, and is directly connected to all the main conflicts, it's never used to solve problems but rather to flesh out the setting even more. 

The Bad: While I can see where the story is going in terms of it's ultimate goal (dispose of the king, his laws, and put a nicer person on the throne) I do wonder how Digger is going to fit into all of it. I can think of a few ways but none of them would really work, it will be interesting to see how the story plays out. Also, there is a very late plot twist in the story which while it's interesting I'm a little worried about. It effectively gives a lot of the story a whole different meaning but just feels a little off, I also feel like it was just thrown in there simply to add in more conflict and I like plot twists to be a bit more substantial than that.


I really loved this book, just wish I hadn't read it so long ago that I could give it a better review (I've even been taking notes on all the stuff I've read to help with that problem) but regardless yes I'd recommend it to my friends and yes I plan on buying it sometime in the future which is really the best praise I can give it.   

Book Review: Star Crossed

I was a bit hesistant to start this book since it didn't sound like anything special and I hadn't liked the author's  previous book, A Curse as Dark as Gold (a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin). But it was at the library, it was the start of winter break, Inkpot had recommended it so what did I have to lose?

Star Crossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

 The cover here works (it's actually one of those covers which makes more sense once you've read the book and looked at the image on the back cover) but I still don't like it that much, I guess it's just a little busy for me (I think I would like it better if the girl wasn't in it). As a side note, I love how the first book is called Star Crossed (I'm pretty sure the title is two words anyway) and the sequel is called Liar's Moon, if there's a third book I hope the title has something to do with the sun just because that would be really neat.

Summary: Digger is a poor girl who has to go on the run after a job (stealing a stack of important letters) goes horribly wrong and she ends up becoming the maid to Merista Nemair as a way to escape the city of Gerse. Although she isn't happy at the idea of being stuck in a lonely castle in the mountains for the entire winter it's better than being killed and Digger wants to stay alive. But this lonely castle in the mountains has more secrets that most would guess and Digger has to stay on her toes if she wants to stay alive after all.

The Good: About halfway through this book I realized it was one of my favorite new books of 2010 which far exceeded my expectations of it. Digger is a smart main character and much more fleshed out than the stereotypical thief character I was excepting her to be. She's clever and while she does do something things she doesn't want to to survive she also manages to have a conscience and tries to set things right again before her actions come back to hurt her. The politics in this story also really caught me by surprise, as did the magic actually, and it's rare to find YA that includes politics in it at all* and I thought it was logically done and included enough mystery in it to keep the politics interesting.

The Bad: The first few chapters are a bit slower than the rest of the book and has a different mood than the rest of the book (the first bit makes the story seem like it's going to alternate the slow life of the nobles with the fast paced life of the streets, the rest of the book has a more standard fantasy with a bit of mystery mood to it) and I've seen some people mention that. There is a large cast of characters to keep track of (thankfully this is made easier by a list of characters and terms in the back)  and a map would have been a nice luxury. 


So a good book all around and I'm looking forward to the sequel (not sure if this is a two book set or what, I'm not sure what the end goal for the series is actually, it's going to involve the legalization of magic and probably the overthrow of the king but I'm not sure). One thing that did strike me as I was reading was this book reminded me of Tamora Pierce's Trickster series and I actually think this book was better done than them. Tamora Pierce is one of my favorite authors but I've seen other fans agree, the two Trickster books were not her strongest and I think that Digger is a more realistic lead than Aly (who was a bit Sue-ish now that I think about it...). Very similar settings, which I'll chalk up to coincidence here, but I consider Star Crossed superior character-wise. It's on my to-buy list now and my wait-impatiently-for-the-sequel list as well.



*And of course whenever one does it's accompanied by people saying "it's rather good, for a children's book anyway," which has become a  pet peeve of mine (hence why it's in this footnote instead of the main review). I'm hard pressed to remember any literary fiction (ie, adult fiction of a kind) that dealt with politics and just because the politics is simplified doesn't make it bad at all. Frankly it comes off as elitism, I still maintain that the politics in books such as Moribito or The Queen's Thief series were well done, "children's" books or not.