Among the Branded

Ok, so I read mostly fantasy, urban fantasy, and some sci-fi, but I also have a degree in history so sometimes I read, well history.

I rarely read contemporary genre. However, if it’s got history in it, I can be persuaded. I have to admit, the first sentence in the blurb persuaded me. A 70 year old letter from World War II? Yep. Plus, Stephanie, while not a freelance writer, has the kind of career that I have on the side – working for clients whom you may not always agree with and then what do you do? So it was rather a double whammy and here we are.

This is Smolkim’s debut novel, published in 2017, but it honestly doesn’t really feel like a debut. And it’s self published! (I have self published polished book envy). Usually, self-published debuts are not necessarily fabulous, but Among the Branded is very solid.

I don’t want to spoiler anything, so I’ll go over a few highlights:

I really like the family that is portrayed and the inclusion of the amazing Isadore (called Izzy). He is amazing and reminds me so much of my some of the elders I have known in my life. I kinda wish we’d gotten to know Stephanie’s mother a bit better because she seemed fascinating. And what is there not to love about Sveta? Girl.

The themes in this book are ones that I think we’ve all grappled with in our lives. Jobs or principles? Leave things alone or push them? Respect the wishes of one person or another? Deal with our discomfort in an upfront and confrontational way or in a round-about, creative way? It’s all things we have to deal with at one time or another, simply made a little more stark by the plot (and there’s nothing wrong with that). I actually quite like how the main conflict was handled – I think handling it bluntly (either way) would have lent the book a sour note. This way, everything got tied up in a way that didn’t lead to more conflict.

Although one note on that – the thing that starts that ball rolling was really super abrupt. Like, I blinked and read the sentence again to make sure I didn’t miss something. I’m sure that was the intent but it took me so off guard that I didn’t even get that emotional which is either a failing on my part (I can admit it) or a lack of proper lead-up or both.

Another note, there were a few points that weren’t as tightly done as they could have been that didn’t add much to the plot. They were still good (Jack getting his taekwondo black belt for example), but it didn’t really add anything to the overall themes. But then, that could well be a contemporary genre thing and see above about how I don’t often read that genre.

So, round up:

Pros: Amazing characters. I love Izzy, love Sveta, and could really resonate with Stephanie. And the themes were not so uncomfortable that I felt horrid reading the story (I mean, I do know my WW II history, so I know a lot of it is nasty), but enticing enough to make me read through this in basically two sittings, even though I’ve been exhausted for a couple of days. And I rather would like to go to that re-enactment, Valor of the ‘40s. It sounds neat. And I like how Stephanie and Sveta dealt with their bad guy. It was practical (and sneaky). I can appreciate practicality (and sneakiness).

Cons: The thing that led to the climax [that I’m not allowed to talk about] was too abrupt and had no lead up so it didn’t punch quite as heavy as it could have. Perhaps doing it slightly differently would have had more impact. Especially given Stephanie’s background, etc. There were a couple patches of off-pacing as well that made the story drag slightly.

All in all though, I quite enjoyed this book and would cheerfully recommend it to people who like contemporary with a dash of history.