Disclaimer: ARC courtesy of I.B. Tauris via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

                What makes a movement?  What leads to protest?  Why do some people who seem sympathetic to a movement yet not join a protest?   These basic questions are not just confined to the political situation in any country, yet Genc uses the basic questions to shield more light on the protest movement in Turkey, and in particular those young people behind it.

                For the average American who has no real connection to Turkey, most of the news about the country is limited to sound bites on the news, and the average American international news broadcast is pretty bad.  When the recent coup attempt happened, it made the nightly news and CNN broadcasted heavily for a bit, but outside of mentioning where the accused coup inspirer lives, nothing.  Very little about the arrests that occurred after.  When the protests were occurring in Taksim square, there was very little context.   Genc’s book does something to readdress this for the American public.

                Genc’s book is more a series of profiles and interviews with people –ranging from student protests to business men, to filmmakers, to journalists.  The topics include the protests at Taskim but also the closure of magazines and other forms of censorship.  Because of timing, the book obvious could not examine the most recent coup attempt, though Genc’s introduction does include it.

                One of the book’s strengths is the use of the interviewees.  While the book does start with an interview of a protestor in Taskim square, Genc includes an interview with those who chose not to join the protest or even saw it as little more than a protest of the middle class.  This allows the reader into the varying and conflicting political views.  Perhaps the most telling is the chapter concerning the filmmaker Evrenol and his experience of censorship, a story that does make one think.

                There is also a discussion about the police officers, in particular the actions of the police during the protests combined with the police in everyday life.  In some ways this section shows that conflicting views are sometimes simply conflicting views and speaks to the human condition.

                Genc is aware of her book use as a starting point for trying to understand Turkish politics.  She includes a further reading list at the end of the book so the reader can further her knowledge.

It's Victorian London and Simon Archer is a scribe, a magick practitioner that uses runes and tattoos to focus his magical energy. Posing as a handsome rogue playboy to infiltrate society and hide his abilities, he and his mentor Nick Barker, attend a society ball to discover more about the pesky werewolf problem plaguing the city.  While at the ball, the striking headstrong alchemist Kate Anstruther catches Simon's eye. He is intrigued at her boldness and willingness to jump in to help. Come to find out, Kate's sister Imogen is embroiled in a sinister plot devised by these very same wolves.  Accordingly, the two team up, and along with partner Nick and new acquaintance Malcolm MacFarlane, a fierce Scottish monster hunter, the four are a force to be reckoned with.

I thoroughly enjoyed this start to the Crown & Key series. The action was intense with werewolves, magic, alchemy and mad science all playing a role to make this steampunk urban fantasy speed along at breakneck speed. All this action was delivered with a slight detriment to other aspects however, that being character development and world building as other reviewers have mentioned.  Not that I found it completely lacking in those departments, but it was enough that I never fully embraced any one particular character.  Since this is an ongoing series however, I can only hope that many of these aspects will be further expanded upon in the upcoming books in the series which I look forward to reading soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Del Rey Spectra for providing me with a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

LINK!

A thrilling new Victorian-era urban fantasy for fans of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles, the Showtime series Penny Dreadful, and the Sherlock Holmes movies featuring Robert Downey, Jr.
 
They are the realm’s last, best defense against supernatural evil. But they’re going to need a lot more silver.
 
As fog descends, obscuring the gas lamps of Victorian London, werewolves prowl the shadows of back alleys. But they have infiltrated the inner circles of upper-crust society as well. Only a handful of specially gifted practitioners are equipped to battle the beasts. Among them are the roguish Simon Archer, who conceals his powers as a spell-casting scribe behind the smooth veneer of a dashing playboy; his layabout mentor, Nick Barker, who prefers a good pub to thrilling heroics; and the self-possessed alchemist Kate Anstruther, who is equally at home in a ballroom as she is on a battlefield.
 
After a lycanthrope targets Kate’s vulnerable younger sister, the three join forces with fierce Scottish monster-hunter Malcolm MacFarlane—but quickly discover they’re dealing with a threat far greater than anything they ever imagined.