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wannabekingpin's review
4.0
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night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About: Amberlough is being destroyed by war. But the revolutionists are still fighting, the partisans, the guerrilla, known best as Catwalk organisation. Gathered together by former cabaret dancers, and led by them, they live in this nightmare with hope to see Amberlough as beautiful as it once was, free.
Cordelia wants to aid this revolution and survive too. So she smuggles herself into the enemy territory, into Armistice, where she roams around seeking contacts, work, help. She didn’t really expect to find actual friends out here, thriving. Nor that they’ll still want to do anything with her or this revolution, even if they loved their country. But here she is, working for a warmonger, arms smuggler, in hopes she can serve them enough for them to serve her in return.
Politics are more cutthroat and criminal than actual criminal world. Spies double-cross on moments notice. No one can be trusted. Not even your own cold fury and heartache.
Mine: Vintage, glam, smoke, spies, and striptease. The story is so damn attractive that for once, I’ve read and enjoyed every single detail. The world was amazing too, culture so foreign, so different, and yet still familiar enough to accept, understand, see what author did there (5 points if you get the reference). For instance, polygamy is okay, same sex marriage is accepted if not always understood. But gods forbid you’ll have dalliances if you’re a widower. You’ll be destroyed. I loved it. The only minus I got was the amount of names and code-names. Some names were too hard for me to remember, since I’ve a hard time with names as is. Others simply changed along the way. But this could just be my own personal problem. And, for those who care, diversity comes in these forms: most strongest leaders are women here; there’s different orientations present among main characters; main characters are by far not always white; the culture seems based on India and possibly Middle Asia;
Beautiful book. Maybe not the very best story you’ll ever read, but so damn gorgeous that I, for one, will definitely await more with eager. 4 out of 5, as strong as it gets.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About: Amberlough is being destroyed by war. But the revolutionists are still fighting, the partisans, the guerrilla, known best as Catwalk organisation. Gathered together by former cabaret dancers, and led by them, they live in this nightmare with hope to see Amberlough as beautiful as it once was, free.
Cordelia wants to aid this revolution and survive too. So she smuggles herself into the enemy territory, into Armistice, where she roams around seeking contacts, work, help. She didn’t really expect to find actual friends out here, thriving. Nor that they’ll still want to do anything with her or this revolution, even if they loved their country. But here she is, working for a warmonger, arms smuggler, in hopes she can serve them enough for them to serve her in return.
Politics are more cutthroat and criminal than actual criminal world. Spies double-cross on moments notice. No one can be trusted. Not even your own cold fury and heartache.
Mine: Vintage, glam, smoke, spies, and striptease. The story is so damn attractive that for once, I’ve read and enjoyed every single detail. The world was amazing too, culture so foreign, so different, and yet still familiar enough to accept, understand, see what author did there (5 points if you get the reference). For instance, polygamy is okay, same sex marriage is accepted if not always understood. But gods forbid you’ll have dalliances if you’re a widower. You’ll be destroyed. I loved it. The only minus I got was the amount of names and code-names. Some names were too hard for me to remember, since I’ve a hard time with names as is. Others simply changed along the way. But this could just be my own personal problem. And, for those who care, diversity comes in these forms: most strongest leaders are women here; there’s different orientations present among main characters; main characters are by far not always white; the culture seems based on India and possibly Middle Asia;
Beautiful book. Maybe not the very best story you’ll ever read, but so damn gorgeous that I, for one, will definitely await more with eager. 4 out of 5, as strong as it gets.
em_harring's review
4.0
Wow, what a great follow up to the first novel! I throughly enjoy this world and the characters (though I did miss Cyril something fierce). This series would make a fantastic neo-noir tv series.
I need the third novel tout de suite, s'il vous plaît.
I need the third novel tout de suite, s'il vous plaît.
princeeskeleton's review
1.0
DNFing at 50%
This story just isn't for me..... The first book is way more enjoyable then this one which is EVEN MORE boring than I found the first one. The characters I actually did enjoy from the first book changed too much for me to stay invested in their stories, PLUS the 3 year gap between the novels makes for an awkward read. The characters keep on referencing this gap, but since we as readers didn't experience the events it feels as if we are missing out on a HUGE chunk of the story.
I mean Aristide somehow became a prolific film director and Cordelia is some revolutionary leader which is so SO COOL, but we didn't see how they became these things which would have made for a way more interesting story instead of focusing on the political conversations and Cyril's also boring sister.
This story just isn't for me..... The first book is way more enjoyable then this one which is EVEN MORE boring than I found the first one. The characters I actually did enjoy from the first book changed too much for me to stay invested in their stories, PLUS the 3 year gap between the novels makes for an awkward read. The characters keep on referencing this gap, but since we as readers didn't experience the events it feels as if we are missing out on a HUGE chunk of the story.
I mean Aristide somehow became a prolific film director and Cordelia is some revolutionary leader which is so SO COOL, but we didn't see how they became these things which would have made for a way more interesting story instead of focusing on the political conversations and Cyril's also boring sister.
misterkait's review
I love this series. It's powerful, emotional, and full of intrigue and great characters.
ashkitty93's review
4.0
A solid continuation. This series is so wonderfully character-driven and it makes me nervous. Nervous to see where my beloved Cordelia and Aristede end up in the finale. I want them to make it all the way to the end, but knowing this gritty world, I'm worried.
orion_or_hyangwoo's review
5.0
I love these decadent novels..."espionage cabaret" is a perfect description. They are so indescribably far up my alley that we're somewhere up on the rooftops.
chirson's review
3.0
I received the e-ARC of this novel courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.
My full review here.
In short: great characters, very good style, plot that takes a while to get going but then becomes really breathtaking, worldbuilding that doesn't quite do for this new city what Amberlough did for, well, Amberlough, and a good setup for a potentially explosive conclusion. Still, I wish a spy novel had more spying and more exciting plot twists, and more competent players (particularly early on).
I really liked Lillian (a lot more than Cyril). And Cordelia is great.
My full review here.
In short: great characters, very good style, plot that takes a while to get going but then becomes really breathtaking, worldbuilding that doesn't quite do for this new city what Amberlough did for, well, Amberlough, and a good setup for a potentially explosive conclusion. Still, I wish a spy novel had more spying and more exciting plot twists, and more competent players (particularly early on).
I really liked Lillian (a lot more than Cyril). And Cordelia is great.
vagaybond's review
5.0
4.5 stars
I'm bad with remembering specifics so here's my summary of The Vibe.
This one starts a few years (3?) after the previous, in a new place. Cordelia is new to the place but Ari is not. It is the place Lillian was always in. some highjinx include things like double agenting, reverse kidnapping??? (Kidnapping but like taking child back to his mother.) and hope rising and falling when you're put in a hard place. And fighting even when you don't have hope, I guess, because there is the compulsion to do so. Because if you're going to go down, if everyone you love goes down, you need to give your vengeance to those who are putting you down. Stall your death as long as you can.
And these characters are really growing on me. They are each So Much their own people. And I love them.
I feel like the book got continually better as it went on. I read some reviews about it being hard to follow, and may have been primed to expect that but didn't feel like it was that huge compared to the other stuff. Maybe kind of hard because I'm bad with names of characters. In particular, I confused some of the newer man characters with similar narrator accents (in audiobook version) but this is just normal for me anyway. I found the first book a lot harder to follow tbh.
I look forward to the next one because I've really fallen in love with this.
I'm bad with remembering specifics so here's my summary of The Vibe.
This one starts a few years (3?) after the previous, in a new place. Cordelia is new to the place but Ari is not. It is the place Lillian was always in. some highjinx include things like double agenting, reverse kidnapping??? (Kidnapping but like taking child back to his mother.) and hope rising and falling when you're put in a hard place. And fighting even when you don't have hope, I guess, because there is the compulsion to do so. Because if you're going to go down, if everyone you love goes down, you need to give your vengeance to those who are putting you down. Stall your death as long as you can.
And these characters are really growing on me. They are each So Much their own people. And I love them.
I feel like the book got continually better as it went on. I read some reviews about it being hard to follow, and may have been primed to expect that but didn't feel like it was that huge compared to the other stuff. Maybe kind of hard because I'm bad with names of characters. In particular, I confused some of the newer man characters with similar narrator accents (in audiobook version) but this is just normal for me anyway. I found the first book a lot harder to follow tbh.
I look forward to the next one because I've really fallen in love with this.
brittaniethekid's review against another edition
DNF at 42 pages. This is one of my harder DNFs because I absolutely loved the first book. War-time intrigue with a sexually ambiguous male lead! This one... it's from the POV of different characters, takes place at a different time and different place, and it's just... maybe too ambitious. The author threw in a bunch more characters, nationalities, countries, etc. that made the plot hard to keep a hold of. Maybe if I re-read the first one and then went straight into this one I'd have an easier go of it but this one is going back in the stack.