and welcome to the first of what might be a series, Tramway Reviews, where I review books. Now, for followers who are familiar with my blog, this may seem similar to Pat Pitches, which I have done a few posts of. However, for Tramway Reviews I want to give a more in depth look and do more analysis than I do on Pat Pitches. Plus, I might turn Pat Pitches into a non-book series of me pitching media, such as films or podcasts, etc.
Another part of my motivation is the launch of the hashtag #ReviewMay. You can find the original tweet about it by Ahmed G here. In summary, #ReviewMay is a way to give Indie Authors a spotlight for their books to help boost reviews, which can help authors on websites such as Amazon get seen by potential buyers/readers.
So, confession time... I haven't read a lot of Indie books myself. I think my current count is 4? Most of the Indie Books I read have been free, though I have tried to give them shout outs here on the blog. (For a few others, please refer to my Quarantine Reading post from last month).
Today, I want to dive into two of the books that have really clicked with me. Those are The Van Helsing Paradox and The Van Helsing Resurgence by Evelyn Chartres, both are part of the Clara Grey Adventures series. But first, let's discuss the author.
A quick disclaimer before we do: There will be spoilers for both books in my review. Please read at your own discretion, I will try to keep them from being too major.
Second Disclaimer: Some of the content in the books could possibly be triggering, in particular for assault. While I feel Book 1 doesn't cross that line, Book 2 has a scene readers might want to skip if certain content is upsetting/triggering. I will get to that later.
Author: Evelyn Chartres
Evelyn Chartres is the nom de plume (pen name) of a Canadian author from Ontario. Ms. Chartres has self-published four Gothic Fantasy novels, according to her about page. When she's not writing Gothic stories, you can find her on Twitter @EvelynChartres and on her website with blog posts, excerpts, and recipes, http://evelynchartres.com.
Ms. Chartes' first book was The Portrait, followed by The Grand, with a short story in anthology From Ashes to Magic Book 1, and then, the first book we will be talking about...
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| Image Credit & © Evelyn Chartres. Used under Fair Use. |
Before we move onto Book 1 of Clara's adventures, a bit more context. According to Ms. Chartes in an interview on Hidden Gems, Clara actually began as a character in the Anthology book The Grand. However, Ms. Chartres decided to expand the character more. Now, I don't want to steal from another writer's post, so if you want to know why Ms. Chartres decided to expand Clara's story, I recommend you read her interview here.
All right, what is the book about? (That's as good as any spot to start, right? 😜) In all seriousness, The Van Helsing/Clara Grey Adventures series is about Clara, a member of a secret organization tasked with protecting the world from monsters who prey upon the innocent. For a pop culture reference, think Hellboy, but set in a different time. And instead of having a red demon, we have flapper Clara Grey.
Clara is not, however, born in the 1920's. She's born a few decades beforehand, and the story progresses towards then, when she becomes an adult. After her parents are murdered by monstrous creatures, Clara is sent to The Tower, a secret religious organization that trains children with special skills (such as Clara) to become Hunters, exterminators of supernatural monsters.
What I really love about Ms. Chartres' writing is how she balances character moments, action and gore, with some intimate scenes thrown in for good measure. We are talking about adults after all. In one story, readers will find horror blended in with fun character interactions and some action put in for good measure.
The first book really reads like an anthology of stories from Clara's adventures tied together, which I really like. You see her as a child, innocent, not fully aware of how the world is, and watch as she becomes an adult, and really shifts into the life of a Hunter. In one story (again, Spoilers) you may find Clara in Paris, in the next her working during the First World War, or going full Lara Croft in the desert.
Clara is described as an attractive woman, but she's more than her looks. Indeed, Clara's physique is merely one of the tools used to make her prey feel safer than they should. And shortly afterwards they will likely find themselves killed.
I really like Clara as a protagonist. It would've been easy to make her very stoic and not want to actually travel around. But Clara seems like she's having the time of her life! She enjoys her life style and the purpose it gives her. Possibly also the thrill of the hunt and a good fight.
Another pop culture reference that comes to mind for a comparison is James Bond, which I feel is appropriate. Clara often has to go undercover to find her prey. As mentioned earlier, Clara travels around a lot during her adventures, which I really enjoy. We don't get to it at first when she's a child (because, for obvious reasons, she's a child) though she does leave her childhood home and goes to the school/The Tower.
Going back to my earlier point about Ms. Chartres' skill of character moments, the minor/supporting characters are also enjoyable. The Mother Superior, Clara's boss, act as a bit of a Obi-Wan character for Clara, though she lets Clara roam around, and doesn't try to force her to conform, which I thought was refreshing. We also have Edith, Clara's friend, partner, and (lover?)
One thing I wish we got more of in Book 1 was stories of Clara and Edith working together. We do get them, so that's enough to make me feel content. I wouldn't mind a midquel of short standalone stories, though I usually prefer stories to keep moving forward. In any case, I'm certainly not going to demand it of the author. (However, if you read this Ms. Chartres know I'll be the first to read that book 😛).
Jokes aside, Clara and the other characters she interacts with feel like real people, which works in the book's advantage. Even the villains, who in Paradox mostly consist of vampires, feel like real people. Our main villain is Drusilla, an ancient vampire who has lived so long she can avoid the natural weaknesses of vampires, such as standing on holy ground. We only get snippets of her throughout The Van Helsing Paradox, but you see the damage that follows her lifestyle, and the plans she implements. It's quite possible, though not stated, that Drusilla caused World War 1. (Which is hinted at in Book 2, though not explicitly).
A minor villain, who is set up for the sequel is Evelyn (who isn't an author stand in, so don't let the shared names distract you). Evelyn and Clara meet in one story, and have some tension of varying degrees, which puts Clara to the test, and sets up a plot point for Book 2.
As the first book progresses, things go from chaotic, to worse. The Tower is attacked, and the organization cuts itself off from the world. Stranded on her own, Clara must find out who nearly destroyed her organization and faces Drusilla in a final standoff to avenge her friend Edith, which ties together the book The Grand with (The Van Helsing Universe? I don't think there's a name for the shared stories. Chartres Bookamatic Universe? Yeah, we'll go with that).
Now, because I'm about to talk about the ending, I will give another spoiler disclaimer.
Clara goes to kill Drusilla, knowing that the mission is one she will likely not return from. Clara prepares to kill Drusilla and herself, but a supernatural "intervention" (more like an interrruption) comes in the form of Goddess Hectate, who tempts Clara with immortality. However, Clara uses Hectate as the weapon to finally kill Drusilla, saving the world from a serious threat, but giving up her life.
What comes next is, if I had to pick a section, the weakest part of the book, where Clara wakes up and we go into the "It was all a dream trope," my least favourite trope. Clara is in a hospital, and we're led to believe for a bit "Was Clara mad the whole time?" If that was the book's final twist, I would've been mightily disappointed.
Thankfully, Ms. Chartres had my trust by that point, so I continued, and read a pleasant subversion of that trope. Evelyn enters heaven, which wasn't how she imagined. Again, not going to go into too much detail, but let me just say it's similar to the Percy Jackson series.
The end of Book 1 gives us a epilogue to set up the next book, and shows that not even death can keep Clara from fighting evil. Now an agent of heaven, Clara is sent back to Earth to combat a world shattering event, which leads us to...
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All right, since I described Book 2, talking about the sequel is going to include more spoilers. If you haven't read Book 1, go read book 1 and, if you're interested, come back here.
Book 2 is different enough from book 1 that it doesn't feel like a retread, but still has the elements you love. However, be prepared to be confused, because this book is very confusing at first. Bare in mind, that is 100% intentional.
The plot is kicked off by a group of the Georgians, who we saw in book one, though I haven't talked about them. In Book 1, they act as weapons salesman for both sides, supplying advanced weapons and technology for the Towers'. They're developed more in Book 2, which expands the world of Clara Grey but also leaves me with more questions. I feel like a book could be written devoted just to the Georgians.
Because of their advanced technology, the Georgians unintentionally wreak havoc on not just earth, but the effects are also felt in heaven. What ultimately came to mind (and again, spoilers) was the below MST3K quote:
Now, here's where things get... confusing. Clara, as we saw in the end of Book 1, is sent down to heaven to find the source of the anomaly. But another character is also sent down, which leads both into a confrontation of misunderstanding.
As I continue, I have to go into more spoiler territory, so again, leave and go read the book before proceeding.
Welcome back, or hello if you've decided to keep reading and ignore my spoiler warnings. At this point, I claim no responsibility. Enter at your own risk. 😋
All right, enough kidding around. Let's get to the actual main plot point. The Georgians use technology to try and impact the decisions of people to their advantage. However, what they accidentally do instead is merge different possible timelines together, wreaking havoc on the world, which Ms. Chartres explores throughout the book. People who died live again, without knowledge of their deaths, buildings that were torn down are merged into those they replaced, and one very tragic plot point that I don't want to spoil here.
Ms. Chartres doesn't waste any time letting Clara get back to being a badass, when she takes on... biker werewolves. I love this series. I believe Clara's first fight, once she returns, is setting up an antagonist for the next book, which Ms. Chartres seems to do in her books, though that might be a coincidence.
Similar to The Van Helsing Paradox, Resurgence provides the reader with several background/supporting characters. We have Victoria, a victim of Evelyn, and her story is truly tragic. I won't get into it, but I will say we see her struggling to get to safety, and the twist of her fate is quite a shock in my humble opinion. Other readers may have seen it coming, but I was thrown off guard.
Clara is, given the time jump that the first book's ending established, a fish out of water. She gets help from unexpected ally Elizabeth, whose trying to find her friend Victoria. And Evelyn falls into the mix for her own interests coincide with Clara's mission.
I really like Clara and Elizabeth's chemistry, they really bounce off each other well and help educate the other on matters they are experts on (in Clara's case monsters, and Elizabeth the modern day).
As a fan of Captain America and the fish out of water trope, I really enjoyed Resurgence. However, if you aren't a fan of that trope, I'm not sure if you will enjoy it as much. That does not mean I don't recommend the book, on the contrary, Resurgence is as enjoyable as Paradox. Clara spends most of the story getting readjusted to the modern day, and handling past promises.
One complaint that could be held for book two is that, by the end, Clara does not actually end the Georgian threat. I think it works, because Clara has still done a lot in the book, and I feel that with what's set up for her will pay off once the third book comes out.
Before I offer my concluding thoughts, I need to re-emphasize the disclaimer of some scenes being potentially triggers. The main chapter in Resurgence that is potentially bad is All's Fair in Love and War. (Again, going into Spoilers) Evelyn gets information from one of the Georgians through sex, then kills the Georgian through vigorous sex, which was very hard to read, though I have not experienced that would cause it to be triggering.
To add more context, the death is in character with Evelyn, she's like the secondary bad guy from James Bond's Goldeneye. Again, I trust Ms. Chartres, so I don't feel the scene crosses a line. However, that may be a personal opinion, and I advise readers to use their judgment regarding that chapter.
Now, to not end on a bad note, I want to talk about my thoughts overall on the series.
Overall Thoughts
I love these books. The world building makes you really feel like you can see the world and where Clara is travelling. There are also a variety of monsters to keep things fresh and entertaining for the reader. Clara and the other characters' motivations are clear and fun to follow. Clara in particular really holds the stories together. Her charisma and perky attitude make you instantly fall in love and want to cheer her on. She's not a perfect character, her quips can get her into trouble, but that's why you follow her story.
The third, and I believe final, book in Clara Grey's series hasn't come out yet. But rest assured, when it comes out, I will be sure to give it a read. And I recommend that you read the first two books of the, hopefully soon to be completed, trilogy.
You can find both books for free online officially, though if you want, you can find both books on Amazon as print copies. Links are available on Ms. Chartres' website above.
Have you read The Clara Grey Adventures? What're your thoughts? Or, what's a character you fell in love with? Do you want to see more Tramway Reviews? Let me know in the comments on here, Twitter, or Facebook. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you on the Tramway!
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