Bannerless

Title: Bannerless

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017

Pages: 274

Genre: mystery

Obtained: from publisher in exchange for an honest review






Summary: This story takes place in a time after the world as we know it has collapsed.  The Coast Road region is a civilization that consists of small towns with different households that will receive a banner if they are able to show that they can care for a child, thus giving them the privilege to conceive.  People are also not allowed to have surplus, except for a small amount to trade, so only grow and make what they need.  Enid is an investigator who helps to enforce these rules and mediate disputes.  She is called to investigate a suspicious death, a very rare occurrence.  Could it be murder or is it just an accident?

Thoughts: A couple of weeks ago I did a review of The Wild Dead, which was the second book in The Bannerless Saga.  I really enjoyed it, so read the first book.  Bannerless is almost two stories in one.  There is a mystery, but there is also the story of Enid and how she became an investigator.  Enid is the protagonist in the series.  This book switched from past to present to tell these two stories.  This presentation was not confusing and added a bit of suspense to the book.

I like this author's writing style.  I could picture what was happening and enjoyed the dialogue.  The characters were developed, although I didn't feel like I knew them intimately.  I just loved the new world the author created.  I felt like this was a real place.  The setting made the mystery a bit old fashioned as technology was limited.  Both stories, Enid's coming of age, and the mystery were both interesting and well told.  This is a slow moving story, but a quick read.

I recommend this series to mystery lovers, and for those that like creative settings, this is definitely a series to try.







                                                                 

Company: Davids Tea

Tea: Frozen Raspberry

Obtained: purchased



Today I tried Frozen Raspberry tea, a caffeine free herbal tea from Davids Tea.  The ingredients were apple (apple, citric acid), sugar, raisins, hibiscus blossoms, carrot, yogurt pieces (yogurt powder, sugar, maltodextrin, modified starch, citric acid), beetroot, raspberry, natural and artificial raspberry, and strawberry cream flavoring.  I purchased the single serving packets, so I put the contents into my tea strainer.  The leaves had a raspberry scent.  They were small red and orange brown leaves with flat orange pieces, raisins, and chunks that resembled square pieces of glass mixed in.  I poured ten ounces of water (that had been boiled and cooled slightly) over the leaves and let this steep for four minutes.  I then poured the liquid over ice.  The tea was a beautiful, bright red and smelled almost like raspberry kool aid.  The taste was of raspberry cream.  The tea was sweet, but not as sweet as fruit juice or kool aid.   This would make a good low calorie drink option, but I still prefer traditional iced tea.