StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

StarCrossed starts with a bang. Digger, a young thief, has just escaped capture and turns up alone and breathless at the place she was supposed to meet her sweetheart and fellow thief, Tegen. But as she goes over the night’s events in her mind, she realizes Tegen didn’t get away and is probably dead. Afraid of getting caught herself, Digger takes her first opportunity to get out of the city. That opportunity comes in the form of four teenage aristocrats in a pleasure boat. She gives them a fake name, Celyn Contrare, and a semi-fake life story.

The next few chapters are a bit slow, especially after the tense beginning. Elizabeth C. Bunce uses these chapters to introduce several characters – some of whom go on to play a major role in the book, and some of whom do not (though they may turn up in a sequel) – and to unfold the political and religious s... Read More

Liar's Moon by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Digger, a.k.a. Celyn Contrare, is back in the city of Gerse. Following a strange series of events, she learns that her friend Durrel Decath stands accused of murdering his wife, a woman from one of Gerse’s wealthiest merchant families. Digger sets out to clear Durrel’s name, even though, as she puts it, “I had no experience investigating crimes; committing them, yes, but never reconstructing them, piece by piece, backward in time.” What follows is an exciting whodunit… with magic.

In addition to the mystery, Liar’s Moon gives us a fuller look at the world Elizabeth C. Bunce created in StarCrossed. We see the effects of the escalating civil war from inside Gerse: heightened religious tension and persecution, food shortages, and various factions taking advantage of other people’s suffering for their own gain.... Read More