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Member Since: Oct. 02, 2010

Lexie Cenni


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Blog: http://www.prationality.com

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Smashwords book reviews by Lexie Cenni

  • Contagion on April 29, 2011
    star star star star
    For the length that this was (35 pages) I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The Fae, or the Dark part of the Fae at least, decided that they would wipe out humanity one way or another. You don't get a very good sense of this up in Tessa's cabin though. She freely admits that the nearest neighbors would have been miles away, its pretty snowy out and she's not in real want of anything anyhow. Her cabin mates help her provide food and she's good at keeping herself busy otherwise. What surprised me most was that Fox gives a good impression of Tessa without going overboard on the exposition. There's always some to be expected in short stories, less time to let things be shown organically after all, but the sense of who Tessa was came through even before she became the topic of the moment. My only problem with the story was that Fox would introduced an interesting concept or character--such as the baby dragon Jasper--but before it can really develop she'll toss in another one (like the Goblin cook/cleaner). This happened repeatedly throughout the story and frustrated me in no small part because it almost felt like she was tossing in every extraneous Fae creature she could to round out the cast. Part of this I think was to give more credit to the ending, and how help arrives as well as support for Tessa through some difficult revelations and announcements. In the end I enjoyed the story and enjoyed the premise Fox set up, but I wish there was more. I wish we had been shown the connection between Tessa and Matthew a little more clearly so that when the ending came about it had more impact. I wish we could have lingered a little longer on what the world was like now that the Fae were playing Conquistador all over. From the author's blog I assume there shall be more set in the Summer Fae world. I certainly hope, I'll look forward to hearing about it!
  • Pieces of Paper: A short story set in Tokyo on May 18, 2011
    star star star star star
    Lin prefaces this story by saying that this is a semi-autobiographical story about her own experiences in Japan about ten years ago. Its a very short story, just above 20 pages and I think well-written. The tone of the story is warm and welcoming as 'Jeannie' in the book explains to us how she came to be in Japan by herself lost and searching for the tea ceremony. Throughout the story she observes how awkward she feels despite the fact she is Asian and surrounded by other Asians. I've never quite left Caucasian dominated areas before, or been in a situation where I couldn't insist that there be some sort of English around so I understand everything. The closest I've come would be Inner City Philadelphia (where you'd be hard pressed to find anybody who can speak English no matter their race) and certain parts of NJ. Jeannie sets the scene well; the nervousness, but excitement one feels when visiting a new culture and learning new things. The awe when you realize that there are far more busy and insane cities out there then just in the US. The near constant bombardment of sensory data while you try to acclimate. I would have happily read about Jeannie's experiences while she wandered around Japan. The inclusion of Scott, a graduate student studying Eastern Asian Religion, made for an interesting comparison for Jeannie and the reader. Jeannie observes that his everyman American looks felt more comfortable to her then seeing the scores of people who shared her genetic history. This was a diverting insightful piece that felt kind of like talking with a friend after a trip. Jeannie, the character, isn't afraid to discuss her flaws or touristy thoughts. Her enthusiasm to enjoy her trip to Japan was obvious making the story relaxing to read.
  • Stray : Touchstone Part 1 on Sep. 15, 2011
    star star star star
    Honestly I expected something different going into this book. I hadn't read any reviews, as I had enjoyed Host's fantasy Champion of the Rose (which when I think about it had a lot of science fiction elements, just as this had a lot of fantasy elements) and had won this in a giveaway besides. Told in diary format, which one of my least favorite formats, This Cassandra's journey from November to March and is the first in a trilogy. Part of why I enjoyed this book so much is that its one of my favorite plot devices (ordinary girl shuttled off to an unusual world where she finds out she's special) while at the same time Cassandra was immediately relatable for me. Cassandra isn't extraordinarily gifted in any way, not athletic or a outdoorsy survivalist or terribly crafty. She is extremely resourceful, knows how to make years of pop culture work to her advantage and maintains an appropriately sarcastic level of commentary throughout her diary entries. I'll fully admit that if Cass hadn't grown on me I wouldn't have finished this book. Diary style books tends to make me feel like its just one huge info-dump (which in ways it is) and as a reader we never actually experience anything. Even as later on Cass finds it easier to relay conversations and events, we were getting everything second hand. Its hard to feel immersed in a world like that. Cass was engaging, that's the only way I can describe her. She admits her faults (at one point she tells her diary that she cuts out all the hysterical crying and sobbing she does during the day since that would make for boring reading wouldn't it?), but remains practical about what she can get done. The world of Muina, and later Tare, that Cass winds up in is like our world but not really. There's a higher focus on psychic abilities--with a definitive break in society between those who are 'elite' (the Setari) and those who are not (everyone else). The Setari spend much of their lives training to become as perfect as possible in order to protect everyone from the Ionoth (monsters) and are regarded as super stars. I found the entire civilization rather fascinating, though its rather rigid and militaristic (with I suppose good reason) and I wouldn't have fared half as well as Cass I don't think. Host sets a good pace throughout the novel, giving us plenty of time to see 'Survivor-Cass' and then 'Lab Rat Cass'. We read about a lot of day-to-day activities, which get kind of repetitive after a while interspersed with learning new things about Tare and Cass. It seems like an awful lot happens to Cass in the 5 or so months she's gone from Earth, but to put it in perspective the Taren years is only 4 months long, their equation of time is slightly off from ours. Unfortunately we see very little of the world outside of the Setari stronghold. Cass' early wanderings before the government takes a keen interest in her don't last long and her brief excursions to go shopping are pretty unremarkable overall. I would like to know more about their culture, but with the developments in the latter third that seems unlikely. Overall this made me eager for the next book, Lab Rat One and excited for the third book, Caszandra coming this December.
  • Wild & Steamy on Sep. 15, 2011
    star star star
    I mainly bought this for the Iron Seas novella. I loved The Iron Duke and "Here There Be Monsters" and I'm looking forward to Heart of Steel quite a bit, so this little treat was a nice way to fill the gap (so to speak). I've read Jill Myles before--though her Succubus books and I've wanted to read Carolyn Crane, so it all was nice to come together for me. "The Blushing Bounder" (Iron Seas 0.4) As I said this was the primary reason I bought the anthology. Its not quite as dire as the synopsis up top makes it sound. Brook focuses more on the relationship between Newberry (Wentworth's taciturn partner) and his wife Temperance. The two had just arrived from the New World a few weeks before and it was Newberry's first week or so on the job as Wentworth's partner. At first, as Temperance is describing Newberry I was like 'Now wait. I must be thinking of a different guy here!', but as the story unfolds it becomes apparent that misunderstandings and ignorance is really what kept the two apart. It was interesting to see things from a different angle then either 'Here There Be Monsters' (the novella in Burning Up) or The Iron Duke. Those both focused much more on the Horde and how it effected England, while this focused on how others--namely the New World--saw the Horde and the revolution. Also Newberry was a different sort of hero then either Rhys or Eben (Mad Machen). He didn't aspire to be anything more than a good husband and constable (and to make Inspector). He was kind of awkward and shy in his attempts to show Temperance how he felt, even more awkward in understanding her reactions. All things considered this story lived up to its promise which pleased me greatly. "Vixen" This is not, to the best of my knowledge, connected to any of Myles' other novels/series. I'm not entirely certain I enjoyed this story. Miko's characterization felt all over the place and the guys fell flat. They said the right things, did the right things, but I didn't get a real sense of depth from them. The premise behind why the guys were there--a fox hunting club takes root in the middle of Texan countryside, putting the were-foxes in the area in danger--was more than a little contrived sounding. And its used more as a 'Hey look Miko is doing something dangerous boys go save her' then anything else. The guys were basically a bunch of cliches stuck together. I can't even remember both their names just the descriptors that Miko uses for them--tall dark one and cocky blonde one. That pretty sums them up too--the tall dark one does a lot of 'smouldering' and saying things 'mildly' while the cocky blond one does a lot of innuendo and suggestiveness. Myles' one attempt at giving them some sort of history is little more than a paragraph and STILL doesn't tell us anything about the guys. I'm pretty sure I knew more about Miko's mother, who only appears as a voice on the other end of the phone a couple of times, then about the guys. I think this story suffered from not being original enough. Alpha guys, stubborn infuriating girl and a throwback plotline that gives them plenty of excuses to be cooped up in the house all alone together for days. "Kitten-tiger and the Monk" Connected to Crane's "Disillusionist" novels, which I have not read so I can't tell you very much about how this relates to them. What I can tell you is that though I was mightily interested in the background of our girl Sophia, her talents being rather interesting in a landscape of super-powered beings who all seem to be clones or someone or other, Crane tended to be more about Sophia's angst and issues. So she wants to be a good guy and wants to take the quick route by having herself purged (I guess?) of her evil intentions instead of doing the legwork and I don't know doing good deeds and proving herself a decent, if largely misguided by her family, person. This was mainly interesting because of Sophia's powers. Basically she could 'reset' any interaction she ever had (within a day) and then choose to re-do it to find a favorable result. How cool is that? The story glossed over a lot of her 'wickedness' that she wanted to no longer have to be burdened with, partly because I'm guessing we see some of it in the novels themselves (of which I think she's a support character?) and partly because there wasn't space enough. Which is a shame because between her power and the 'Monks' power they were really interesting. Much more interesting then the sentimental backstory and infinitely more interesting then the extreme levels of angst everyone seems to live under in the story. So in the end this anthology worked in that I really enjoyed Devon's story, was mildly entertained by Crane's and let down by Myles' unfortunately.
  • Lab Rat One : Touchstone Part 2 on Sep. 19, 2011
    star star star star
    One of my complaints about Stray, the first book, was that we see so little of the world outside of the Setari compound once Cass is sent there to train/live/be tested.  That's mostly resolved in this book, though we still see much more of the entertainment side of things then the actual society.  Cass is a catalyzing effect for the entire planet--politically, culturally, medically, you name it and Cass in some way effects it.  For parts of the book Cass is detached from this; due to the nature of her living arrangements and her abilities she doesn't spend much time with others. Some of that changes.  With news of her being leaked and her life being used as a publicity stunt things begin to boil over for both Cass and her Setari friends.  It got a bit tedious though whenever Cass would decide to become stronger, or healthier or more productive only to get horribly sick or lost or a flare up of her powers making things go crazy.  It felt like Cass never got better.  I'm not sure if Host is doing this on purpose, leading up to something life-altering in the third (and final) book Caszandra or if its just really plot convenient to keep her constantly at health risk. Occasionally Cass would lapse into what seemed like perfect Taren, but overall she still had many of the language difficulties she faced in the first book.  An expansion of her powers affords her the opportunity to show her friends more of Earth (or Urth), which kind of cracked me up.  Host peppers both books with a lot of pop cultural references, some of which I get (Johnny Depp!  Doctor Who!) and some of which I think are more Australian based and out of the scope of my understanding.  She actually does a really good job keeping the slang and colloquialisms to a minimum, but some crop up that I have no experience with and the context is not always handy. Friendships and relationships deepen, though as this is in diary format I'm wary of truly trusting them.  A person's diary is never truly unbiased, thoughts and beliefs are colored by experiences, though with her abilities reaching new heights Cass is remarkably intuitive at times.  I'm a bit miffed with how things turned with Ruuel....another drawback of the diary format is that since its all on Cass to describe what happens she can't describe what she doesn't see or understand.  So why she thinks Ruuel is angry is a guess at best or why he seems to be comforting is just a deduction.  It made it hard to 'get' the relationship between the two. As of the end of the second book we're at mid-July (the book having covered April 2nd or so to July 13th) and about nine months have passed for Cass since she ended up on Muina.  Things are reaching some sort of head and I'm rather worried for the outcome.  The cover of the third book isn't at all encouraging, so a bit worried about that I won't lie.