Armistice

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.

This felt so different from Amberlough that it was jarring. The first book was whimsical and breezy, and Armistice is never that, trading the jazz of the first book for angsty punk dirges.

This is, of course, the point: that when facism infests an area, it affects everything around it. People can try to hide from it, or lash out in anger, or react in 100 other different ways, but they're still fundamentally changed by that experience.

On top of the political allegory that Armistice leans into, there's a truly engaging spy tale here, full of double crosses, lost love, and betrayal. That plot, and the characters that live it, help the book avoid ever becoming didactic or patronizing, and helps the story remain truly engaging.