I'm curious about this ministry
Or, at least I was... before I spent 10 books reading about it. Now, I feel like I might actually have the requisite background to run the ministry.
Which ministry? We don't have ministries here. (Hears someone yell 'Merica!) Unless we're talking about the Reverend Jimmy Graham kind, in which case, we have TONS. But no, I'm not talking about the kind of ministry who will save your soul over the telephone for a small donation. I'm talking about the ministry that will save you from mother-trucking monsters with the help of dead people.
Yep. Way more interesting and curiouser.
The Ministry of Curiosities is a 10 part YA series by C.J. Archer that follows a stubborn and sassy necromancer as she bullies her way into the head and heart of an ancient protective society called the Ministry of Curiosities. As she does so, she learns about what she can do, who she is, what it feels like to be part of a framily (friends who become family), and how dangerous her little gaslit London universe really could be.
Books 1-6 were fun romps. Light, full of action, and above all quick. I listened to the first one, The Last Necromancer, while driving highway 5 from San Jose to LA. This is universally recognized to be one of the most mind-numbingly boring drives on the planet. And smelly. One cannot wait to be free of their car after driving 5. But when I came into town, I sat in the driveway for an extra 20 minutes so I could finish my chapter.
Books 7-9 were a bit of a slog, and I may have commented to the book braintrust that Archer seemed to be deliberatively drawing out the conclusion of the series, not because the arc needs it, but because making us hold out for the wedding would line her pockets. I don't even remember what happened in those books... except that we met Alice and Lady Vickers. But adding two characters to a story arc that's totally stalled does not a good series make!
I'm happy to report that I read book 10 yesterday (yes, yesterday) and that Miss Archer had some surprises left in her. She went way off script this time, which was so needed. I hate to admit it, but I couldn't do a tenth book of her and Lincoln having an adventure where she called up the dead to do something heroic and him trying to protect her. So. Boring. The best thing she could have done is exactly what she did... she practically wrote them out. They didn't factor in at all. Bravo for surprises!
In some ways this story could have stood alone. And when I started it, I definitely thought it was going to end predictably, with two more characters going through the motions... and then a wedding. But nope! And good.
Knowing what I know now, I'm on the fence about whether I'd recommend the series to someone who doesn't read constantly. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the premise and how the characters changed. I just wished there was more character development in the middle of the series... and that maybe books 6-8 weren't a thing. She could have brought in the new blood and changed relationships with less pages expended. And I certainly enjoyed Seth, Alice, and Eva's adventures in the last book.
If I were being held at gunpoint and asked to give a recommendation, I'd put it like this. If you read quickly and you consume more than 20 books a year, and you have a long weekend where you plan to sit by the pool for 30 hours *or* you're planning to drive highway 5 over and over, and you really just like YA stories about necromancy, then put it on your list.
Next up, The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists (Yes, that's a real title.) And a book braintrust group read of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I get to share the Grishaverse with my girls! Squee!
