Monday, November 18, 2013

Mini Review: Poison Dance by Livia Blackburne


#0.5 in the Midnight Thief series
Publisher: Lion's Quill Press
Pages: 47
Received: review copy from author
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads


Mini Review


Poison Dance is a novella, and it's a short novella (unlike Bourne), so there's only so much going on.

That said, there's A LOT going on in Poison Dance.

- There's a dancing girl with a secret past and a secret assassination mark for a secret reason

- There's a dead assassins' guild leader and the fallout that brings

- There's a budding romance

- And the world building! I'm gobsmacked by how clear a picture I already have of this world, and how many layers I want to unfold to learn more about it

Then there's the characterization, which is fabulous and deep and detailed. (New book boyfriend? OH YES). Especially when considering the large cast size and how few pages Livia Blackburne had to develop them in.

Bottom line

If this is what Livia Blackburne can do with 47 pages, I cannot wait to see what she does with Midnight Thief. I was already highly, highly anticipating that book (thieves, assassins, vengeance, enemies working together and maybe falling in love), but now that I've read Poison Dance, wow, Midnight Thief is now one of my top most coveted books releasing in 2014!

FYI, Midnight Thief will be published by Disney, so I'm guessing it'll have an appropriately Disney rating. Poison Dance is NOT a Disney rating kinda book. While it's not outright graphic, it's more along the lines of Maria V. Snyder, Robin LaFever's content. So, YA appropriate, but upper YA.

On a totally unrelated note, I love the author's posts on learning how to write in a male voice (brilliantly titled Operation Chest Hair!)


Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 


Do you have any questions about Poison Dance that I haven't addressed?
Feel free to ask in the comments!

Looking for another book like this?
You might like:

http://smallreview.blogspot.com/2013/06/book-review-riyria-revelations-by.htmlhttp://smallreview.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-poison-by-bridget-zinn.html

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12 comments:

  1. So this is a novella written before the first book comes out? That's an interesting way to stoke interest. I'll have to check it out.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, and yes! It has definitely had the intended effect on me :)

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  2. Operation Chest Hair? Now THIS I have to read!

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  3. Operation Chest Hair? Now THIS I have to read!

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  4. I wasn't sure about this one, but since you love the novella so much I definitely have to check it out. I'll keep my eyes out for this one.

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    Replies
    1. I really hope the book is as good as the novella. I can't wait to read more about this character!

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  5. Sounds really good! I might give it a go now that I've almost managed to make my review pile not so scary

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    Replies
    1. haha I always think I'm SO close to getting my review pile under control and then, yeah, not so much. :P Good luck with yours!

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  6. Thanks for this! I read it, and now I'm really looking forward to Midnight Thief! Mmm, James . . . (Gotta love me those principled assassin-types.)

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    Replies
    1. oooh yes! James is a wonderful character. I hope we get to see a lot more of him in the book.

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  7. Okay, I am definitely checking this one out! Great review!

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