Daniel O'Malley

In this spirited sequel to the acclaimed The Rook, Myfanwy Thomas returns to clinch an alliance between deadly rivals and avert epic -- and slimy -- supernatural war. When secret organizations are forced to merge after years of enmity and bloodshed, only one person has the fearsome powers---and the bureaucratic finesse---to get the job done. Facing her greatest challenge yet, Rook Myfanwy Thomas must broker a deal between two bitter adversaries: The Checquy---the centuries-old covert British organization that protects society from supernatural threats, and... The Grafters---a centuries-old supernatural threat. But as bizarre attacks sweep London, threatening to sabotage negotiations, old hatreds flare. Surrounded by spies, only the Rook and two women who absolutely hate each other, can seek out the culprits before they trigger a devastating otherworldly war. Stiletto is a novel of preternatural diplomacy, paranoia, and snide remarks, from an author who "adroitly straddles the thin line between fantasy, thriller, and spoof " (Booklist).

A Novel

Stiletto

"Satisfying and spellbinding....I just loved this book."--Charlaine Harris When two secret organizations are forced to merge after years of enmity and bloodshed, only one person has the fearsome powers--and the bureaucratic finesse--to get the job done. Rook Myfanwy Thomas must broker a deal between two bitter adversaries: The Checquy--the centuries-old covert organization that protects society from supernatural threats, and... The Grafters--a supernatural threat. But as bizarre attacks sweep London and threaten negotiations, old hatreds flare. Surrounded by spies, only the Rook and two women who absolutely loathe each other can find the culprits before they trigger all-out war. STILETTO is a novel of preternatural diplomacy, paranoia, and snide remarks from an author who "adroitly straddles the thin line between fantasy, thriller, and spoof." (Booklist)

Colleen

5 Stars
 
A great follow up to a wonderful debut!
 
I was surprised and delighted when I read The Rook. It was refreshing, entertaining, and just the right amount of crazy. So of course I was excited to read the sequel, Stiletto. And while I did enjoy The Rook a teensy bit more, I still had a blast reading Stiletto!
 
The only reason I liked Stiletto less was that the main character from the first book, Myfanwy, had a much smaller roll. In fact, she was barely in the beginning of the book. And my other favorite character, Shantay, only had one tiny scene. I really wanted to see more of both of them. So while I did like Felicity and Odette, the two new characters who were focused on, I still wanted more of Myfanwy and Shantay.
 
I can’t talk about the plot without giving things away, but the story did go in a slightly different direction. O’Malley couldn’t really repeat the situation from the first story, so it had to go somewhere new. But there were plenty of ideas from the first book to build on. There aren’t any epistolary sections. And overall, the plot is more linear although still full of plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.
 
I really love this series! It’s fun and exciting. With its excellent blend of paranormal powers and political intrigue, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. It has just the right amount of snark and a whole lot of girl power. And I love all the little geeky Easter Eggs casually sprinkled throughout the story. I giggled with glee quite a few times while reading this (which is quite awkward when reading in public). This is also one of the few books with female main characters written by a man that totally worked for me. And like the first book, I really appreciated reading a story with powerful women who don’t get sidetracked by corny romance. Not every story needs a romance after all.

Beneath the snark and humor, there were also more serious veins. In particular was the theme about destructive hatred is, about the tragedies that occur when you always label the other side as monsters and teach generation after generation to blindly hate. 
 
This really was quirky and delightful to read! But now I have to sit back and wait for whatever O’Malley comes out with next since there is no news about when his next book will be out. *sigh*


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 5 Stars

took a while to get interesting again, made me go back into a reading slump, last 200 pages made it worth it

Kristina K

Kelsi Proulx

This wasn't as good as the first book. It was often too sidetracked by long, wordy explanations that didn't really feel all that important. I would have liked if the main storyline was followed consistently. Also, Myfwany, the MC from book 1, wasn't introduced into the story until over 50 pages in. There was still as much humor and enjoyable moments as in the first book, but it did drag in areas and could have done with a lot more editing/cutting.

THE CHECQUY: A centuries-old covert organization that protects the nation from supernatural threat. THE GRAFTERS: A centuries-old supernatural threat. After centuries of rivalry and bloodshed, two secret and otherworldly organisations – The Checquy and The Grafters – are on the verge of joining forces, and only one person has the supernatural skills – and the bureaucratic finesse – to get the job done: Myfanwy Thomas. But as a wave of gruesome atrocities sweep London, ingrained paranoias flare, old hatreds ignite and negotiations grind to a halt. It is up to Myfanwy to find the culprits before they trigger a devastating, all-out, supernatural war between the reluctant allies.

Sheila

YET AGAIN with the infodumps!! WHYYYYYYYYYYYY HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING

Buried underneath a mountain of backstory & useless details is a fun story, one that deviates in scope almost entirely from the first book. The Rook was about Myfanwy Thomas, a high-ranking member of a secret organization of the British government called the Checquy, who awoke in a park with no memory of her identity or history & had to regain all of that through letters her past self had written. Stiletto, however, puts Myfanwy on the sidelines. The main characters instead are Felicity - a young Pawn of the Checquy - and Odette - a member of the long-time 'evil' scientific genius enemies of the Checquy nicknamed the "Grafters", and Felicity's charge while she is visiting London on a diplomatic mission. 

It's irritating that this book deviated from the first book's scope so much in that I feel like we never had a satisfactory explanation for why Myfanwy had her memory wiped. Here, it's just accepted as "the new normal" & the events that unfold have almost nothing to do with what happened to Myfanwy. On the other hand, this book was a fun exploration of the Checquy's greatest enemies & the dichotomy between science and the supernatural.

Lords help me, I'm almost certain I'll still keep on with this series if only because I'm casting prayers and good vibes at any and all possible deities for Daniel O'Malley to get his writing act together and a) effing QUIT IT with the infodumps, and b) tie together the billion loose ends between these two books.

Melody Izard

I have been waiting and waiting on this. Building up anticipation and expectations. Maybe that's why it did not live up to my hope. I still liked it. But these main characters did not worm their way into my life like the main characters of the first book. But I still love this world of secret monsters and dangerous entities that O'Malley has created and will read any others he writes. I also convinced my husband to read them both and now he is waiting for #3. I'm still a big fan!

The Checquy Files 02

Jennifer

I must admit, it's very difficult to top something as well-written as The Rook. Stiletto is the more free-wheeling and expansive younger sibling to that amazing book. One thing that really caught my attention in The Rook is the extensive worldbuilding and in Stiletto I get to read about the broader scope of this fictional world. In The Rook, the main focus is on The Checquy - so it's interesting to see how the events unfold from the perspective of an outsider (a big chunk of Stiletto is narrated from a Grafter). If there's something that stands out, it's the amount of contextual details provided in the book which made the world seem believable.

However, this expansive nature of Stiletto has its limits and it results in some earlier sections of the book to come across a bit all over the place and too bloated. I think the jarring pacing could be remedied if these extraneous sections are trimmed. Another thing that let me down is Odette's character development throughtout the novel - for some reason her psychological headspace felt a bit flat to me (personally I would also wish there's more Myfawny Thomas here)

Nevertheless, I liked Stiletto for its deep worldbuilding explorations + concepts but I certainly didn't love it because of the lack of coherence leading to the final defining moment with an exciting cliffhanger.

O'Malley really does a great job about making me love a sequel to a book that more or less completely changes the pattern from the first novel. Two new main characters. Occasional check ins with the previous main character. And still manages to tell a wonderful story where you can actually figure out the twist if you're clever and cagey enough.

Ben Nathan

These books are awesome. The female leads are full, rich characters that flow and interact wonderfully. I'm really excited for where this series will go. The world that is being built is one I heartily enjoy.

Stiletto A Novel

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