Intro:
Every year, there will be at least a few books where I'll finish the book and think: "Damn it. Can I just write a GIF-filled review and call it a day? Because there's no way I can do the awesome of the book justice, with my review."
Picture
Because an Emma Watson GIF should be enough to convince anyone, right?
Unfortunately for me, and fortunately (?) for all of you: I don't have good GIF game. So I'm going to hunker down and do my damnedest to explain:
* Just why Stiletto was worth the four-year wait,
* How Daniel O'Malley is clearly a badass feminist, who writes excellent female characters, and
* Why I will be highly suspicious of anything citrus-scented from here on out.
Ready? Then read on for more!
Things that worked:
Characterizations:
If there's one thing readers likely learned from The Rook, it's that Dan O'Malley writes damned good female characters. Myfanwy Thomas was a super powered everywoman, with the humor, snark and organizational capabilities that made her unforgettable to every reader.
So it's probably unsurprising to say that the two female leads of Stiletto: Pawn Felicity Jane Clements and Grafter Odette Leliefeld, are every bit as compelling as Myfanwy. Though Felicity and Odette are clearly from two very different worlds, O'Malley does an exceptional job of showing how they both fit seamlessly into the greater Checquy/Grafter merger puzzle.
Felicity and Odette's relationship naturally evolves as the book progresses, beginning with them meeting as adversaries, and eventually moving into hesitant friendship. Along the way, O'Malley does a nice job of using their personalities and backgrounds to flesh out the institutionalized hatred between the two groups, and also helps to emphasize the challenges of being young and female, in changing, complex environments.
Through trial and error, both girls individually come to learn that the other has strengths and gifts that are not dissimilar to their own, and their eventual friendship is a great reminder of just what it means to have an ally in challenging situations.
Writing/World-Building:
So let me get this out of the way: yes, Stiletto is a very long book. It's actually about 100 pages longer than The Rook, which was already a very long book.
(Fun fact: the Stiletto audio book is about twenty three hours to Rook's sixteen.)
But it's evident from the first few chapters, that the added length is exactly what O'Malley needed to flesh out this new and slightly more complex world. He uses those pages to great effect; not only building on the quirky, super powered world of the Checquy, but also crafting - pun intended! - a convincing, heartbreaking foundation for the Grafters
There's an inherent logic for how the Grafters came to be, and just how the hatred between the Checquy and the Grafters initially developed. Though the history was a tad more than I needed a times, it's an absolutely convincing look at just how everything has been building to this moment, and for Odette's delegation to pave the way.
As for the actual writing? Dan is as funny, detailed and necessarily succinct as ever. Both of his female voices are strong in third person, and have quirks, tics and thoughts that soundly differentiate them from one another. Just like The Rook, there were bits of dialogue and description that I just wanted to reread over and over, which made the reading process probably longer than it had to be.
The supernatural elements/the surgical elements
Outside of outdoing himself by coming up with more inventive powers - a conversation with a group of Pawns about white people and wasps had me chuckling out loud - O'Malley also uses the Checquy powers and the Grafter surgical skills to ask some pointed questions about talent, power and how one can chose to use and/or misunderstand those gifts.
Both the Grafters and the Checquy are initially equally fascinated/repulsed by each other's abilities, and O'Malley shows what it takes to get the two sides to bridge their differences. It's a process that takes repeated effort and diplomacy, and the hurdles scaled are often painful moments that come with trial and error.
The distrust on both sides serves as a reminder of just how easy it is to judge because of institutionalized behavior, and how often it might take extraordinary circumstances to bridge that gap. O'Malley gives repeated nods to the fact that it's not, and will never be easy to find a steady peace between the two groups, but also shows how easy it can be - vís-a-vís Myfany, of all people - to not hate, if it's not part of the culture - something that readers will likely ruminate over.
Interpersonal power politics aside, O'Malley also asks readers to consider just how easily it is to abuse an extraordinary gift like a Checquy power or Grafter skills. It's an acknowledgement of the idea that with great power comes even greater responsibility, and will likely encourage many a reader to consider just how they'd handle such gifts.
(On a slightly less serious note: Thanks for ruining my love of citrus forever, O'Malley.
Just kidding. I kid.)
On relationships, and how it relates to the greater good:
While The Rook was more or less centered on the idea of Myfanwy learning how to come to terms with her new self, Stiletto is very much a book about relationships.
There's the core relationship between Felicity and Odette, which has its ups and downs, and super-powered learning curve. But there are also the relationships that the two women have within their own lives, which impact their development and contribute to the overall story.
Without giving spoilers away, O'Malley meticulously uses these relationships to ask time and time again, what individuals like Felicity and Odette value in a world where one wrong move in the merger can result in a supernatural war.
There are repeated challenges to just what both women hold to be true, including some fairly specific instances that question their agency, and whether the two women are willing to surrender their own beliefs to the merger - both voluntarily and involuntarily. It's tricky territory to navigate, but O'Malley hits the right note on how he chooses those relationships to ask those larger-scale questions, including some brutal moments where both women are forced to question what they know to be true.
Outside of our two female leads, the book is sprinkled with family relationships, friendships - including some familiar faces (!) - and even adversarial relationships that really help emphasize the point that as intriguing as their supernatural or surgical powers may be, the Checquy and Grafters are still at their core, made up of interpersonal relationships which help drive the narrative (and drama!) forward.
And finally...
The ending:
Though he shines when it comes to writing action scenes, O'Malley also has a gift for writing quieter, introspective moments.
As the book winds down, O'Malley does a nice job of not only tying together loose ends, but setting up a firm foundation for the potential future of his cast of characters. We see how Felicity, Odette and the secondary characters have reached and evolved to this point, and it sets up a nice, optimistic foundation for the future of the merger.
Though it seems clichéd the call the ending cinematic, it really is. And this is a good thing.
Things that didn't work/Things to consider:
While I'm tempted to say absolutely nothing, I will acknowledge that the synopsis of the book is a tad misleading.
It definitely gives readers the impression that Myfanwy is the protagonist of Stiletto, when the focus of the book is solidly on Felicity and Odette. Though I personally didn't mind this shift, I do think that some of the readers who were especially attached to Myfanwy may initially feel a bit let down.
However, let me just reassure all prospective readers right now: Felicity and Odette more than make up for any lack of Myfanwy. They're collectively badass in their own right, and Myfanwy's brief appearances just round out an already solid novel.
Final verdict:
After four years of waiting for a return to the world of the Chequy, I can absolutely say that Stiletto was worth it.
Outside of being a fun, well-written romp in a world where every minute spent is a worthwhile one, Daniel O'Malley has also written a great tale on what it means to be young, female and living in a supernatural world on the brink of change.
Felicity and Odette begin Stiletto with seemingly nothing in common, but conclude the novel recognizing that there is a universality in their goals, aims and even their very understanding of the world around them. O'Malley's essentially written a parable on learning how to walk a mile in another's shoes, and readers will likely come away having learned a little bit from that journey.
Highly recommend for all readers, full stop.
(In fact, why are you still reading this review? Go buy the book already!)
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Reviews with images
A well-crafted, intricate novel, if a bit long.
This took me a long time to read because there is a lot of filler. The pacing is slow. I am in love with Daniel O’Malley’s writing though, he is fantastic with world building and crafts some interesting and intriguing characters. The imagination that has gone into creating the universe of The Checquy astounds me.I’m really excited to see where this series is going. Book three is already in edits and book four is underway so we should get some publication dates towards the end of this year.On a side note, I’m not surprised the television adaptation got cancelled. To be honest, it took out all of the aspects that make this collection so much fun. The irony and comedy, the way-out there elements and wild paranormal powers. Instead it concentrated on political subterfuge and the spy elements, and they executed the powers in a way that felt bland. While I enjoyed the show, it did not deliver on all the facets that made ‘The Rook’ great.‘Stiletto’ picks up shortly after events that took place in ‘The Rook’ and introduce some new perspectives. We still follow Myfawny, but the main storyline is told from the perspectives of Grafter, Odette Leliefeld, and Pawn, Felicity Clements.With the Grafter contingent, a sworn enemy of the Checquy, wanting to amalgamate their organisations. But what the Checquy don’t know is that the Grafters (or Wetenschappelijk Broederschap van Naruurkundigen – Broederschap for short) have an enemy that is systematically wiping them out; and now with the tentative ground of the two organisations navigating tensions and mistrust, their threats have doubled. So much intrigue, subterfuge, and diplomacy mixed in with paranormal powers, events and, medical technology to create a melting pot of tension.Felicity is a soldier. Work is her life. She is assigned cases to eliminate paranormal threats (or hotspots) and now also assigned as Odette’s bodyguard/minder/liaison. We get a sense of her Spartan life, the only luxury she indulges in is her pet dog. She flat shares with two other Pawns in a tiny converted town house. She is a rule follower, down the line straight man but has a close relationship with the others with whom she grew up with in the Estate. They are her new family.Odette is a prodigy with medical ‘grafter’ surgery. She is all about her work and an indulgent Broederschap upbringing. A bit of a party girl. A girly-girl. So the juxtaposition of class, society, and being bound by rules and hierarchy clashes between Odette and Felicity (and the Checquy.) But she adapts to the change because it’s what her ancestor and leader of the Broederschap wants.Myfawny is still adjusting to her new role (and memory loss) but we see her much stronger and competent than she was in ‘The Rook.’I capital-L-Love the outlandish paranormal events! And despite Daniel O’Malley’s tendency to indulge in filler, his writing is something I’m envious of. So while, extremely well written, ‘Stiletto’ suffers from a huge pacing issue. The plot is intricate and we see several arcs unfolding tangentially, though I did get a slight episodic feel from the novel. There are some marvellous plot twists throughout which took me by surprise and a few threads are left hanging for the next instalment, though there is a real sense of accomplishment for ‘Stiletto.’I’d love to recommend this to everyone – but if you did not care for ‘The Rook,’ ‘Stiletto’ is much the same fare. You need to have patience and enjoy exploring the universe of the Checquy without worrying about the plot moving forward at a strong pace. I really enjoyed this – the only real issue I had was with the amount of filler, but it did not detract too much from my revelling in the escapist nature of O’Malley’s writing style.This is a long book (583 pages), and having purchased the hardcover version (with heavy stock pages) it was a pain in the ass to read at times because the book is so heavy and cumbersome to read. But with my few gripes, I have become addicted to Daniel O’Malley and this series. Eagerly awaiting future adventures and craziness!
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