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Geeks and the Holy Grail (Camelot Code #2), by Mari Mancusi, for Timeslip Tuesday

The first book in the Camelot Code series, The Once and Future Geek , mixed time travel between the medieval world of King Arthur and our own, and it is a very entertaining book.  The second book in the series, Geeks and Holy Grail (Hyperion, October 2019), is also entertaining (though not quite as funny; King Arthur as a modern day high school student is hard to beat....). When Morgana, sworn enemy of King Arthur, attacks the druids of Avalon, Nimue, the youngest of them, takes the Holy Grail and runs with it.  King Arthur is dying, and only the Grail can save him.  Desperate to keep it from falling into Morgana's hands, she stumbles into Merlin's Crystal Cave.  But instead of Merlin there to help her (he's on vacation in Los Vegas, in our time), there's only his very inexperienced apprentice, Emrys.  His attempt to hide the grail works, in a sense--as a small, flatulent dragon, it sure doesn't look much like a grail.  But it isn't much use to Arthur as a...

The Secret

'Stork' by Wendy Delsol


Firstly, I must mention that normally, I'd never read, not even mentioning picking up, a book like this. If I hadn't gotten it for free (thank you), I don't think I'd ever read it. In terms of manga, it's unarguably shoujo. I tend to dislike those - the fantasy romances that always have a happy ending. This book was pretty interesting, but... well.

It starts with the blatant, oh I'm a new girl moving in, everyone hates me this is a dumb countryside. Blegh. She has a
cool name, though: Katla Leblanc. The mishmash of two different languages. She's trendy, bold, and attracting attention - and her head itches, badly. It turns out that she's part of a secret society named the Storks, or something like that. They deliver babies. In a magical way. And there's an old lady.

There's plenty of romance. That I kind of skipped in my brain. I can't give a summary of that.

There's a shocking secret about Katla's past, including ice, amnesia, and that cute farm boy that always is showering attention on her. Yaaaaay.

To be honest, when I saw the galley in the racks for a sequel, I was pretty shocked. I mean, it's a decent book, but it's not really series, or even trilogy material. I just... the plot isn't that good. Plus, I can think of a zillion better books for a sequel - I mean, better suited for a sequel
. Like 'The Night Circus'. Maybe 'Divergent'.

Quote time! “I was drinking in the surroundings: air so crisp you could snap it with your fingers and greens in every lush shade imaginable offset by autumnal flashes of red and yellow.” Y'know, too perfect and everything. You can just see the potential battle scene. Hey, I don't remember - maybe there is one.

Overall, this book is a 2. I guess you could read it, if you like this sort of thing. I would say (ohgod must think of a white food to fit the color scheme) this book is... a bread bun, like so:
Pretty bland, no real substance. Some people eat it right up, though, but in the end, it'sjustfiller food for the wait until the next delicious meal. (That said, I actually love those kinds of buns in the picture, so perhaps it wasn't the best example. Oh well.)

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