Kiki Strike: The Darkness Dwellers

Kiki Strike: The Darkness Dwellers Kirsten Miller

First off, I need to offer a great big THANK YOU to all that is good in the universe for FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY giving us another Kiki Strike book. IT HAS BEEN FOREVER.

And, has the wait been worth it? Oh yes, yes it has.

Kiki is off to Pokrovia to claim her crown and renounce it, officially supporting the democracy that has sprung up. When she leaves, she leaves Ananka in charge of the Irregulars.

In New York, Ananka and Betty stumble across the L'Institut Beauregard, a finishing school for New York's finest families. Ananka is already aware of them--every year they turn more of her classmates in zombies, completely draining them of their interesting personalities.

Meanwhile, Kiki doesn't make it to Pokrovia-- she's been kidnapped in Paris, but happens to meet two interesting young men with very extensive knowledge of the catacombs. While Amelia Beauregard takes Betty to Paris to help investigate a mystery from WWII, and Kiki and her friends are investigating more recent disappearances, the Irregulars at home are figuring out why Oona's been banned from every shop in Chinatown and trying to defeat an evil pharmaceutical company. Of course, there's still that bit about Kiki's kidnapping and Pokrovia's future as a democratic nation.

I love, love, love how Betty really comes into her own in this one. None of the other irregulars really trust her, because she's the nicest of them. But when she's in Paris, she's more or less on her own and has to prove what she's made of, and she has to decide how she does it. It's really well done. Actually, there's a lot in this one about the dynamics of the group and their relationships with one another. It's been so long since the last one, I can't remember if that's normal or not. All I know is that I love it.

I also loved the exploration of another city's underground. I loved the change in location and mysteries and secrets of the Paris catacombs (which, unlike the underground city that the Irregulars frequent in New York, is actually real.) I also like how much takes place in the catacombs that the tourists don't get to see.

The history buff in my appreciates that the older mystery was just as important as the recent ones-- it's never too late to solve a mystery.

I am not sure how I feel about the cover redesign (they're rereleasing the others as well in the new style).

Fans will not be dissapointed. I can only hope/pray/wish that there is more, and it is coming soon.

ARC Provided by... a friend, who knows how much I love Kiki. (THANK YOU DAVID!!!)

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Super Super Spy!

So, maybe it's just girl detective week here at Biblio File. (Well, probably not, as I think I'm out of girl detective books.)

Anyway, I was going to say some other things not book related, but they all sound cool in my head and then really dumb when typed out. Ah well.

Today's song is one of my favorites. Erin McKeown's Float

Anyway, regular readers may well be aware that Kirsten Miller's Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City was one of my favorite books last year. (And, I'd like to give a huge shout out to Ms. Miller, who read my blog and my plea for a t-shirt and hooked me up.)

Well, Miller has completely outdone herself with Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb.

Not to completely take myself back to 3rd grade, but I feel I need point out one of the main lessons of this book:

Secrets secrets are no fun
Secrets secrets hurt someone

You'd think that, after what happened last time, the girls would know that they have to be honest and open with each other. You'd think they know they have to trust each other.

But, because of some very big, explosive secrets, everyone assumes Oona has gone over to the dark side and won't give her the benefit of the doubt. And something's wrong with Kiki, but she's not telling.

But who has time to worry? Giant squirrels are mugging innocent New Yorkers, there's a hungry ghost on the loose, the Irregulars keep finding kidnapped Taiwanese children, and psychologists are just weird. And, on top of it all, Ananka's grounded and about to sent off to boarding school.

There are some very bad things going down in New York, and there's only one band of renegade girl scouts up to the job. But they might just have to save themselves first.

This is even better than the first (who thought that was possible?!) The stakes are higher, the twists are um... twistier... the secrets are bigger, deeper, and will keep you guessing. Plus, it has a hungry ghost, and you know how much I love hungry ghosts. If I had to have one complaint, I was surprised Ananka didn't already know about hungry ghosts. She knows everything! Especially about ghosts!

Now, when I finished the last one, I said that couldn't tell if it was a series, but I hoped it was. The last sentence of this one? Definitely another book coming, and now I really, really can't wait. And my buddy icon hasn't changed.

But, if you haven't read Kiki Strike yet, get thee to a library or book store. Get both books now. Check out the website. (I can't wait until the store is up!) You'll thank me.

Girl Superspy

Kiki Strike Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller

It's a little difficult to fully explain this book, but basically...

Take a group of renegade girlscouts dressed as ninjas, an exiled Eastern European princess, some opium dens and theives liars, a horde of old, an entire city located underneath New York City's subways, and millions of murderous rats. Holding it all together is the very mysterious, and possibly dangerous, Kiki Strike. But who is this Kiki Strike? Is she a Defender of the Innocent? Or an International Assassin? Or possibly a Kung-Fu movie star?

This is an exciting and, well, just plain awesome adventure that features a group of girls kicking ass and taking names. Most wonderful. My favorite is the end of each chapter, which offers helpful hints on such things as how to best follow someone, how to lie, how to spot a fake diamond, how to disguise yourself and how to escape from kidnappers. I can't tell if this is going to be a series or not, but I certainly hope so.

Also, I need an "I am Kiki Strike" t-shirt. I know that Bloomsbury gave a few out, and if anyone's reading this, I WANT ONE!

Be sure to check out the website as well! There's a quiz to decide which irregular you are AND you can download a buddy icon. (Even though I'm a Ananka, Oona was my favorite and she just replaced Colin Firth as my buddy icon. If you don't know me, replacing Colin Firth is REALLY BIG DEAL.) Also, Ananka's blog with her continuing adventures is great. I want to go to Paris now!