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laffingkat's review
4.0
This was an intriguingly weird, wacky, and surprisingly sweet story, but it got off to a slightly rocky start. I felt disoriented at first, and it took some patience to let the worldbuilding unfold to the point that I started to feel like I knew what was going on. But what a fascinating world it is, with a neurotic ghost, zombie "Animates" controlled by magical "Users," alien vampires, unpredictable clones, and adorable but slightly cranky AIs. This could have been a really dark story, but the humor, romance, and growth of the characters kept it from feeling too grim.
I was not too sure about this story at first because I didn't initially like any of the characters. Our lead character, Pete, in particular starts out as kind of a jerk, lazy, whiny, and often mean to others. But Pete and his friends grew on me, and part of the fun of this story is getting to know the characters and watching them learn and grow and change throughout the story. I love books that balance action with character development, and author [a:Sharon Stevenson|1698875|Sharon Stevenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1363989426p2/1698875.jpg] did a really nice job of that here, occasionally even in ways that managed to surprise me.
The pace of the story definitely picks up as we race toward the conclusion. Initially, the story is told entirely from Pete's perspective, but after a while, we get alternating perspectives from several of the characters, which really worked both to help maintain the tension and to allow us to get to know the other characters better.
I did notice some grammar problems, but not so many as to seriously interfere with my enjoyment of the story. There are also some cultural issues for those of us who aren't from the UK and lack familiarity with Scottish products and expressions, but not enough to hinder enjoyment of the story.
The conclusion resolves the events of this story reasonably well, but does introduce problems to be resolved in the next book in the series, [b:Death Magic Rules|22913519|Death Magic Rules (Raised, #2)|Sharon Stevenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407961364s/22913519.jpg|42478933]. I am definitely looking forward to finding out what happens next.
Recommended for fans of black comedy and urban fantasy, assuming you won't be disturbed by profanity, violence, discussion of sex between both heterosexual and homosexual couples, and necrophilia. Honestly, I didn't find any of it all that graphic or disturbing.
I was not too sure about this story at first because I didn't initially like any of the characters. Our lead character, Pete, in particular starts out as kind of a jerk, lazy, whiny, and often mean to others. But Pete and his friends grew on me, and part of the fun of this story is getting to know the characters and watching them learn and grow and change throughout the story. I love books that balance action with character development, and author [a:Sharon Stevenson|1698875|Sharon Stevenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1363989426p2/1698875.jpg] did a really nice job of that here, occasionally even in ways that managed to surprise me.
The pace of the story definitely picks up as we race toward the conclusion. Initially, the story is told entirely from Pete's perspective, but after a while, we get alternating perspectives from several of the characters, which really worked both to help maintain the tension and to allow us to get to know the other characters better.
I did notice some grammar problems, but not so many as to seriously interfere with my enjoyment of the story. There are also some cultural issues for those of us who aren't from the UK and lack familiarity with Scottish products and expressions, but not enough to hinder enjoyment of the story.
The conclusion resolves the events of this story reasonably well, but does introduce problems to be resolved in the next book in the series, [b:Death Magic Rules|22913519|Death Magic Rules (Raised, #2)|Sharon Stevenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407961364s/22913519.jpg|42478933]. I am definitely looking forward to finding out what happens next.
Recommended for fans of black comedy and urban fantasy, assuming you won't be disturbed by profanity, violence, discussion of sex between both heterosexual and homosexual couples, and necrophilia. Honestly, I didn't find any of it all that graphic or disturbing.
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