I was as enamored by The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga as I thought I would be when I picked this up. I wasn’t blown away and I wasn’t underwhelmed. It simply hit the exactly spot that needed itching! There was adventure, body-snatching, science, and interpersonal drama.

Characters were solid and smart. We have two main viewpoints, both equal, yet different. With Roger, we have the poor, working class character with noble aspirations and a practical mind. His foil, the lovely Princess Sibylla, who is the embodiment of magic. Sibylla didn’t diminish herself to prop up Roger, and he didn’t fold to her every whim or lose his intelligence or common sense. They were both strong characters that alone could support a novel, yet by working together, connected two worlds and stories. I’m actually super excited to see how the characters evolve going forward in the series thanks to… certain spoiler events that happen toward the end.

The mystery itself was quite clever. A nice mix between steampunk modernity with Victorian worldbuilding and a dash of magic, all of these elements come into play, influence the plot and mystery. This is actually one of the few YA books where I didn’t know what the outcome would be. I didn’t realize who the culprit was and didn’t even guess at the second, side mystery brought forth by Sibylla. Once both were revealed, I could see the crumbs of clues which made the resolution very satisfying and earned.

With just the right amount of modernity, magic, and Victorian, with a set of mysteries that leave you guessing, The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga is fun, fast-paced, and well-written. This is definitely a series I’m looking forward to continuing when the second in the series is released!

// I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. // ( )

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40 points, 2 ¼ stars

Quote:

She was dead now, at any rate. Accidental premature burial was not unknown. It was not his fault. Though a resurrectionist in name, he could not actually bring the dead back.

Review:
Unfortunately, I had a lot of problems with the Resurrectionist of Caligo. It started off poorly with me. Then, it did get a bit better before there was a steep nosedive at the end. I just feel a bit out of sorts about this book. I am confused a lot by why this book is the way it is.

I had the same problem in the beginning with Caligo as I did with some other Angry Robot books: I felt like I was thrown in and told to swim. This isn't a bad technique, if it is being used on purpose, but I don't think that was the case with this book. I felt comfortable enough in the story and the setting by about 20%, though. So it did sort itself out quickly enough.

Though part of the reason I felt like I was swimming in the setting is because it was so full of holes. If you ignored a whole lot of things, it mostly worked. But if you looked at it even a little bit you could see it was a fishnet instead of a fine mesh foundation. So many things didn't seem to work. So many things were just completely ignored that could have made the setting work a lot better. A lot of other things were so unnecessary they were distracting. I just had problems with it.

Then there were the characters. I only liked one character in the entire book, and that was the kid sidekick. Every single other character was either an asshole, an idiotball, or both. Every side character except the kid was an asshole, without fail. There weren't even anything even remotely redeeming about most of them. They just were there to make life more painful for the main characters.

Then there were the two main characters who shared the narration. They were giant, giant idiotballs. Especially at the end. I'm supposed to believe that these two characters knew and liked each other when they were younger, but life led them towards different paths and that they're going to like each other again in the end? No. It would have been a better story had they never known each other until events pushed them together. And that isn't when they're sniping at each other constantly, or when they aren't making some of the dumbest decisions I've seen in a very, very long time.

The story itself is very slow. It takes forever to start and forever to do anything. When things do happen, it ends up covering the same ground a lot. Sometimes multiple times from both of the narration characters. It just doesn't even do anything for vast portions of the book except exist. It is constantly sidetracked to the point where I almost hoped that Roger would end up dead at the end of the book. His life is on the line to the point where if he gets sidetracked, he could die...and he gets sidetracked. Sigh.

Then there is that ending which honestly just goes from bad to worse. You would think the characters couldn't get worse, but then they do. And all those holes in the setting and plot end up just becoming wider to make that ending the authors had in mind fit. I had a few theories about how the ending would play out, and instead of the authors choosing they decided to just throw all of them at me. Thanks.

I received this book from Angry Robot in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for providing the opportunity to review this copy. ( )

The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga is, I believe, the debut novel of both coauthors. It's a fantasy-Victorian-era/gas-lamp fantasy novel about a princess and a "resurrectionist" who (illegally) digs up bodies to sell to doctors and medical students. Also, it has a gorgeous cover, which I urge you to zoom in on if you haven't already.

This book is set in a world where the nobility (and especially royalty) has magic, technology is roughly early-Victorian, and class and poverty divides are stark. Our low-class protagonist, Roger, wants to be a surgeon, but can't afford the tuition fees. He also becomes interested in a string of murders after stumbling over an unusual dead body and wants to solve them, getting himself framed in the process. The princess Sibylla, meanwhile, was a childhood friend-then-lover of his, but is mostly consumed by her own typical problems, like a forced betrothal to her annoying cousin. Their stories don't directly intersect until quite late in the book, which I found a little disappointing. I kept waiting for a dramatic reconnection, but it was pushed back surprisingly far.

I found the start of the book a little slow. This was exacerbated by the fact that the blurb summarises a large swath of the story and I was more than half-way through the book by the time I felt like I'd caught up with the expectations the blurb had set. Also, while Roger was trying to solve the murder mystery, it wasn't so much his cleverness that helped him with the day as luck, always a disappointing plot twist.

Overall, this book was OK. It took me a while to get into it and the resolution was interesting but not executed the way I expected. There's also a spoilery thing near the end which made me raise an eyebrow for the lack of exploration given to it and was an unpleasant note to leave on. That said, the story is self-contained but the end set up a potential sequel which could be an interesting read. I would certainly consider picking it up if it comes to exist. I recommend this book to fans of gas-lamp fantasy and Victorian-ish settings. Also, corpses.

3.5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog. ( )