A very short apocalyptic story from the perspective of a cat. Bad things are happening, and by the end of the story bad things are still happening with no indication that things will get better. But the woman does the best she can to make sure her cat will be okay.

I came across this today while looking for other things. It made me think of my own cat (who would probably be doomed because she doesn't have any experience killing anything larger and more nutritious than a cricket) and the stray cat I and at least five other people take care of.

The sliver of hope for the cat was nice, but I generally like stories and books to have more hope to them than this one. Especially these days. I'm to the point where I'm considering going through my book collection and offloading anything apocalyptic, grimdark, etc. because I just can't.

The premise and outline for the story was fascinating, I always wanted to know what happened next which is sadly the only reason I manged to finish this book. Unfortunately for me the characters felt flat, especially the main character. A big problem for me was that I was repeatedly told how incredibly intelligent she was (especially for a female -_-) and yet based on everything I read in this book I have zero proof that she is anything above dumb, which is truly sad. I don't mind dumb characters except when I'm constantly told that they're not (Drives me bonkers!) and in circumstances like these (where men look down on women as the weaker sex) I would much prefer the character to be more than just a special snow flake.

2.5 stars. I won't be reading any more of this series.

Goodness BLs is taking FOREVER to bloody load. Giving my the ultimate grumps. Anyways onto more important things.... book status update:

Page 34

There is something strange going on with some of the writing in this book. It almost seems as though it was translated, but not super well. Who ever edited this book should have tried again before allowing it to be printed....
:/ 

There was also a big WTF moment around page 20, where the MC & her mentor/father-figure/boss are rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically and crying all because the MC pulled a funny face while playing their version of paper-scissors-rock! seriously?
I'm 25, same age as what-ever-her-name-is & I wouldn't find that to be overly amusing. I thought to myself 'hey maybe it's just her time period?' then thought about it again and Nope, It's definitely something someone under 10 would find hilarious (possibly younger) and not a grown ass adult no matter when the story is set.

Beth Cato really has a skill with furious pacing, and she's gotten even better with her latest novel. The alt-history setting is novel, which I appreciate, because there's only so many times the Axis powers can win the war. Well, or that's not true -- I like a United States of Japan -- which is what we have in this novel, but it's not because the US conquered Japan or vice versa. 

Anyway, my latest review at B&N SciFi & Fantasy

A steampunk/gaslight fantasy of manners. The setting is a country called Tamarania, where the population is dark-skinned, and its war-torn neighbor Caskentia. It’s too bad that the author chose to populate this potentially original setting with characters bearing English surnames like “Stout” and “Cody” and strictly following English Victorian social rituals down to details like tea. There seems to be no reason for it except that, well, that’s steampunk, right? (Ignoring various authors’ recent attempts to broaden the social world of steampunk.) The most interesting part of the setting is the intersection between tech and magic; there are healers called “medicians” who draw on the aid of a goddess, and they can integrate mechanism and flesh. The main conflict of the story concerns the magi-mechanical creation of intelligent beings called gremlins. A teenage would-be mechanist named Rivka, who is uneasy in Tamaranian social circles because of her harelip and her unrefined upbringing, befriends a much more privileged (and self-centered) girl named Tatiana, and together they go on a crusade to end the mistreatment of gremlins, with the help of Broderick, an apprentice medician who is mistreated by his master. It would hardly be a spoiler to reveal that triumphs are scored, growing up and gaining confidence happens, and everyone except the bad guys gets what they want. One unexpected and welcome deviation from the standard course of such stories is that

Rating: middling.