Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley
May. 31st, 2020 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI enjoyed it.
+ I LOVED the reveal that the Broederschap hated and feared the Checque just as much as they were hated and feared in return. That to them the Checque were the inhuman monsters. That they were both each others boogeyman, that they raised their young to revile. It just delights me. I love the symmetry. Broederschap even had their own name for the powered humans: Gruwels. Both points of view make sense to me which is what makes it so great.
+ I loved how the Antagonists ended up being defeated. I love how well it was set up from the very beginning, how we were giving all the pieces: Odette's sore throat from her new surgery that gets brought up multiple time (mostly in regards to her complaining about not getting to drink what she wants); the story about Marcel's family and the Gruwel who destroyed their Grafter parts; Ernst and his plans within plans, his ruthlessness and ability to think very longterm; how devoted the younger Grafters were to each other and that Broederschap knew that the others would eventually come for Odette; even Felicity being made into a weapon, even then I didn't even consider that they might have booby-trapped Odette. It makes so much sense in retrospect! Of course that would be the best way to deal with them. It was excellent.
+ The truth about the Antagonists I liked overall. I was a little taken aback and wasn't entirely certain it fit with everything we knew up until that point but it probably does. It definitely makes this book need a reread with the knowledge in place. Them being a splinter group in the Broederschapmakes their reluctance to tell the Checque make more sense. I liked the personal edge it gave the conflict, except I didn't really feel it? Odette, sure. But we don't really see Marcel's grief enough the really resonate, for instance.
+ I liked both Odette and Felicity, and how they ended up becoming friends without even realising it.
+ I'm glad that while Myfanwy wasn't our main lead/POV we did get a fair amount with her.
+ We get mention about rumours surrounding Myfanwy but it still ended up feeling like not enough of a reaction considering a) she took out 2 weapons of mass destruction pretty much by herself and b) was instrumental in stopping Bishop Condrad. Plus didn't she demonstrate that her powers were more than anyone knew? I was expecting a lot more than a couple mentions of rumours, so that ended up feeling off.
+ I liked the reveal about Gestalt. That was another thing I didn't see coming.
+ I liked that little moment towards the end when Odette cries on a bench and an old lady comes up, takes her hand and just sits with her.
+ I had the same problem here as I did with the last book over the contradiction in being told that the number of powered people in Great Britain is low vs how many Pawns keep dying. You can't say the former than casually kill off dozens of them every book.
+ I rather like Ernst and I hope we get more of him in the next book.
+ I really liked the reveal that the whole interrogation scene had been a dream by Farrier. I also liked her bringing Myfanwy into a dream as she was maybe dying.
+ It was bothering me that no one appeared to consider that Dover took Myfanwy's purse after he attacked so the reveal at the end of Shantay (yay! so glad to see her) waiting for him in Myfanwy's house was great. It's too bad he was killed because his power was pretty neat.
+ I LOVED the reveal that the Broederschap hated and feared the Checque just as much as they were hated and feared in return. That to them the Checque were the inhuman monsters. That they were both each others boogeyman, that they raised their young to revile. It just delights me. I love the symmetry. Broederschap even had their own name for the powered humans: Gruwels. Both points of view make sense to me which is what makes it so great.
+ I loved how the Antagonists ended up being defeated. I love how well it was set up from the very beginning, how we were giving all the pieces: Odette's sore throat from her new surgery that gets brought up multiple time (mostly in regards to her complaining about not getting to drink what she wants); the story about Marcel's family and the Gruwel who destroyed their Grafter parts; Ernst and his plans within plans, his ruthlessness and ability to think very longterm; how devoted the younger Grafters were to each other and that Broederschap knew that the others would eventually come for Odette; even Felicity being made into a weapon, even then I didn't even consider that they might have booby-trapped Odette. It makes so much sense in retrospect! Of course that would be the best way to deal with them. It was excellent.
+ The truth about the Antagonists I liked overall. I was a little taken aback and wasn't entirely certain it fit with everything we knew up until that point but it probably does. It definitely makes this book need a reread with the knowledge in place. Them being a splinter group in the Broederschapmakes their reluctance to tell the Checque make more sense. I liked the personal edge it gave the conflict, except I didn't really feel it? Odette, sure. But we don't really see Marcel's grief enough the really resonate, for instance.
+ I liked both Odette and Felicity, and how they ended up becoming friends without even realising it.
+ I'm glad that while Myfanwy wasn't our main lead/POV we did get a fair amount with her.
+ We get mention about rumours surrounding Myfanwy but it still ended up feeling like not enough of a reaction considering a) she took out 2 weapons of mass destruction pretty much by herself and b) was instrumental in stopping Bishop Condrad. Plus didn't she demonstrate that her powers were more than anyone knew? I was expecting a lot more than a couple mentions of rumours, so that ended up feeling off.
+ I liked the reveal about Gestalt. That was another thing I didn't see coming.
+ I liked that little moment towards the end when Odette cries on a bench and an old lady comes up, takes her hand and just sits with her.
+ I had the same problem here as I did with the last book over the contradiction in being told that the number of powered people in Great Britain is low vs how many Pawns keep dying. You can't say the former than casually kill off dozens of them every book.
+ I rather like Ernst and I hope we get more of him in the next book.
+ I really liked the reveal that the whole interrogation scene had been a dream by Farrier. I also liked her bringing Myfanwy into a dream as she was maybe dying.
+ It was bothering me that no one appeared to consider that Dover took Myfanwy's purse after he attacked so the reveal at the end of Shantay (yay! so glad to see her) waiting for him in Myfanwy's house was great. It's too bad he was killed because his power was pretty neat.
