The Rook

I enjoyed this book a hell of a lot more than the jacket cover led me to believe I would. It's hard to explain without giving away rather major plot points, but it's a very clever twist on both the secret government organization trope and the body snatcher trope. It also highlights the importance of effective administration no matter how super-powered you may be. In short, it's a book that glorifies the indoor nerd, and there really are not enough of those. I'd say if you enjoy characters like Baru Cormorant or Sithren from “The Dragon's Path,” you'll probably enjoy Myfanwy Thomas, at least one version of her.

Occasionally, the structure of the book plays heavy to the exposition, but I found I enjoyed reading the exposition dumps enough that it didn't really impact my reading experience. Also, the vastness of superpowers in this universe is occasionally just plain silly, but hey, that's the world we live in. I found there was only one plotline that really bugged me as feeling extraneious, The Bronwyn plot line. I don't really understand why Myfanwy would take so many extremely stupid risks over a person who is basically a stranger, and Bronwyn showing up right now feels forced seeing as no connection to the main plot ever really explains it.

Other than that, I found the book very enjoyable and hope to get into the sequel once I knock a few more updated series off my to-read list.