Tome Thursday: City of Mirth and Malice

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to a book feast.

 

And when I say feast, I MEAN feast.

 

Even though, for some inexplicable reason, I apparently DON'T have the first of this duology on my blog here.

 

Which I only JUST discovered, and how the HELLS it happened, I have no clue.

 

I'm going to rectify this mistake in the very near future and post about that as well; apparently I was missing some brain cells when I was reading the book last autumn and somehow didn't think to put it on here.

 

It makes zero sense, because I loved it so much, and now I love the sequel too, but there you have it.

 

Not everything always makes sense.

 

Without further ado, then, let's jump right into City of Mirth and Malice.

 

Alexis L. Menard is quickly becoming a favourite author of mine, and you can find links to previous related posts of hers down at the bottom of the page, of her past duology that is.

 

As I said, House of Bane and Blood WILL be making an appearance on this blog relatively soon. Just to make sure you know what's what, however: Nicolai Attano and Camilla Marchese are mortal enemies. The Marcheses own the Iron Saint, the only steam train on the Isle (their home) which gives them monopoly over transport and the like. Nicolai wants the train, but more importantly, wants to keep it out of the hands of the Firenzes, an alchemist family, so he proposes a business marriage to Milla.

 

Through the course of said marriage they not only discover their feelings for each other, but also that there's duplicity afoot, something's rotten to the core in the heart of their Isle, and descendants who wield power of certain elements are being hunted.

 

This all comes to a head when Milla herself is presumed dead during an attack on the train, though in reality she's taken to Hightower Prison, there to be experimented on ... because she's the daughter of Chaos herself, not just a descendant, but an original Remni.

 

These terms all make more sense if you read the book, I promise, but suffice to say the pieces are set thus: Nicolai has everything he's ever wanted, except the wife he's come to love, and in City of Mirth and Malice, he'll do anything, go to any length no matter how difficult or dangerous, to get her back.

 

This is dangerous, because - and his family points that out - it means he's possibly not thinking clearly, except he's thinking crystal clear, seeing the way the council of the city is trying to tighten their control over the descendants, and knowing that nobody will help them if they don't help themselves. Ergo, he blows up the bridge connecting the two parts of the city, as the first start of the inevitable war he's going to wage.

 

Then he barters away his shadow to get enough OTHER shadows so they can create a portal to the prison from which to rescue Milla.

 

Milla, meanwhile, has been experimented on to no end, and is slowly beginning to understand her dark powers more, although she doesn't know what the alchemist wants to do with it - other than take some sort of "key" from her, but the ritual when this was supposed to happen is interrupted when Nicolai pops up in their middle and all hell breaks loose.

 

A lot of explosions and some chaotic power later, they all land back at the Attano manor, and our two lovers don't even get a chance to properly reunite before trouble's already knocking on their doorstep.

 

The great part about the second half of the book is that our steampunk Romeo and Juliet never part ways for long, sticking by each other and never faltering; especially once it becomes clear the council wants Camilla DESPERATELY (and are duped into taking a shapeshifter instead, natch).

 

Then they attack the other side of the Isle, gunning for the vampire warehouses where most of the stock that people depend on, so naturally Nicolai and Milla are right in the thick of all this fighting.

 

And all through the troubles, her brother Aramis remains an asshole trying to dope her up on glint, the substance which snuffs out magical powers, because he says hers are too dangerous to have.

 

Gee thanks, moron, thanks for picking and choosing parts of your sister you don't like.

 

Anyway, it turns out that something big's going down, especially since Nico has to move some sort of shipment for the dealer who took his shadow - this becomes slightly chaotic when they go to rescue the shapeshifter who gave himself up to save Milla, and the Iron Saint gets blown to pieces.

 

But they have a plan, which is to infiltrate the party - after having it moved to the Firenzes, of course, seeing as they're the big players here - move the cars by hand, and steal a book from the family while they're at it, a book that's conveniently Chaos' diary.

 

And Chaos, mind you, is ACTUALLY Camilla's birth mother, because she can't duplicate the way the other saints could split themselves to give their gifts to their descendants, but she had to actually procreate, and the kicker is that the vampire leader actually saw Chaos board a ship to the Continent, so she could still be alive.

 

Also, there's two descendants from the Continent who've come looking for Milla, to take her back so that she can aid the resistance there.

 

The party at the Firenzes reveal that the alchemists have gained control over the Arcane, which is magic that the other god, Giver and Greed, the opposite of the Saints, left behind so that regular mortals could combat descendants. The problem: it's going to be heavily controlled and monetized, and given to the unscrupulous, which will cause issues.

 

Naturally, then, it's at this point that Aramis reveals he's been working WITH the Firenzes all along, to get rid of Nico and to take Milla's powers from her, so that she wouldn't have to "deal" with them.

 

She whisks off into Oblivion, the key to which she'd been conveniently tattooed with during the first book, where she actually meets Giver and Greed; he explains that Chaos locked him away in there, but that Milla has now unlocked the gates again, which means it's only a matter of time before he returns. However, as long as Chaos lives, he's in mortal danger, so she hot-foots it back to the real world and into a stand-off with the Firenze she was supposed to marry back in the day.

 

The dude decides to renege his agreement with Aramis to kill them both, but Milla and her brother end up killing him instead, as well as taking the diary.

 

Then, knowing Nico thinks he's going to die since Aramis stupidly didn't share ANY of the double-crossing plan with anybody, Milla demands to be taken to the depot station where the final shoot-off happens between the Attanos and everybody else (since the family comes to help after Nonna's health scare and her probably ordering them into battle).

 

It's also where one of their sources, Vanya, reveals herself to be the one holding all the strings behind the scenes, so she pardons Nico for burning one wagon of the stash and ensures he gets his shadow back (convenient, so he won't die, ya know).

 

And the stash?

 

A rather important component of glint, without which the Firenze empire crumbles to dust (and with a little help from Vanya ensuring everybody knows that they were the bad guys all along). 

 

Descendants now have an actual seat at the council table, Nico and Milla have an ACTUAL wedding after celebrating at the House of Bane, the pub where they first met, and the both of them agree it might be time, in the near future, to travel to the Continent.

 

To find Milla's mother. To see whether or not the rebellion is worth anything.

 

But that's a story for another book. DUN DUN DUN, THE END!

 

I'm not okay. Not even a little bit. Big, BIG thank you to the author for the e-arc of this book.

Camilla Marchese and Nicolai Attano have my whole heart, now and forever. I hope we see them again soon in future, even if this was just a duology of their story. But there's so much left to uncover!

Main couple: I love love LOVE Nico and Milla. Seriously. We need more of them, and my favourite part is that there is no back and forth, while they won't they. They do everything to stay together and are stronger for it.

Side characters: the Attanos remain favourites, and if anyone hurts Nonna I riot!!! I'd love to know more about Vanya, Narcissa, Sabine, the works. As for the Marcheses, they can rot. I don't care and Aramis deserves way more than a punch to the face. At every turn, Milla's brothers try to make decisions for her THEY think are best rather than letting her decide for herself, keep important facts to themselves, and almost fuck everything up. So, sorry not sorry, but they - especially Aramis - can eat rocks.

World: we're on the precipice of exploring the Continent beyond the Isle and I am here for it! We still don't know ENOUGH.

Magic: I'm no longer good with it 😂 it IS explained but, I feel like we could do with a page or two more of breathing room to really let this usage sink in, especially with the alchemists and the Arcane.

Plot twist(s): are honestly still great but, it occasionally feels like threads are forgotten about until some later moment. I think it's also because the pacing of this book is different, pretty much everything happens in the last 20%. BUT that said - still a dang good plot.

Ending: cliffhanger but not a cliffhanger! I love it. More please!

Overall: I was hooked from the first line to the last. I rage-quit over Aramis a bunch of times. I'd also love for us to see Milla REALLY shine with no restraints in future, being the true Queen she is. That said, this is a brilliant semi-conclusion, and I'm getting the physical copy ASAP.

11/10 recommend!

 

xx

*image not mine

 

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