Kind of late with this, oh well. “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown” by Holly Black. Valentina was excellent. Great opening, relentless pace. You almost need those short chapters of exposition to have a chance to breathe. On that, what is with these short, 3-page chapters of exposition? This is not a complaint. There were some in Razorhurst too, and something else I read recently. It’s just new to me. The “you can never go home again” theme, the consistency of Aidan, the not wanting to be a vampire, the ending. “The Magician King” by Lev Grossman. I read about 40 pages and then went looking for my copy of The Magicians, to read the last chapter. I couldn’t find it so I resorted to Wikipedia. I was trying to remember when Julia had popped up again. Turns out it didn’t matter. Quentin’s part is mostly Voyage of the Dawn Treader. But we’re really here to find out what the heck with Julia anyway, and there’s plenty of that. Seriously, who names two main characters Janet and Julia?
No one is listening...