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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Great fun! I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this series. A fresh voice, an engaging set of characters, and a twisty plot. For anyone who likes modern stories about supernatural characters in the modern world.
adventurous
fast-paced
Okay, my opinions here are truly subjective; the choices that the author makes here are very similar to what I would have made in the same situation--but am fighting to make better ones--so everything sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I'm reading this book because I happened to read the opening on Silence Fallen and was knocked out of the park; I decided to back up to the first in the series and see how the author got to that point. So despite what I have to say, this book was a success.
The mystery here wasn't played fair. There are reasons for that within the context of the story--but it's still not fair to the reader. There are too many characters, too many options, too many things out of left field that are presented to the readers a fait accompli. Too much information is presented too late, which makes it feel like Mercy's NOT solving her problems--she's getting help from Fae Ex Machina. Then again, so are the bad guys (from another source that comes out of left field).
All of this is plausible; it's just not elegant. It's definitely not as elegant as the opening of Silence Fallen.
The characters are good, but there's a lot of backstory that doesn't get brought up until it's convenient to do so, making Mercy seem unnecessarily unreliable. Some of the characters don't seem to have any backstory other than "But we all like Mercy, right?" even though she reports her past as having a lot of struggle. The rules of various types of magic and factions pop up out of nowhere, even though they massively affect the plot.
These are all issues that I struggle with. It's nice to see someone with such success making those issues--but still having something that readers want. And it's REALLY nice glancing to the later book and knowing that she got those things sorted and proceeded to knock the story out of the park.
The mystery here wasn't played fair. There are reasons for that within the context of the story--but it's still not fair to the reader. There are too many characters, too many options, too many things out of left field that are presented to the readers a fait accompli. Too much information is presented too late, which makes it feel like Mercy's NOT solving her problems--she's getting help from Fae Ex Machina. Then again, so are the bad guys (from another source that comes out of left field).
All of this is plausible; it's just not elegant. It's definitely not as elegant as the opening of Silence Fallen.
The characters are good, but there's a lot of backstory that doesn't get brought up until it's convenient to do so, making Mercy seem unnecessarily unreliable. Some of the characters don't seem to have any backstory other than "But we all like Mercy, right?" even though she reports her past as having a lot of struggle. The rules of various types of magic and factions pop up out of nowhere, even though they massively affect the plot.
These are all issues that I struggle with. It's nice to see someone with such success making those issues--but still having something that readers want. And it's REALLY nice glancing to the later book and knowing that she got those things sorted and proceeded to knock the story out of the park.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolutely ridiculous and great fun! The writing style reminds me Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, but that may be because the narrator for both series, Lorelei King, is the same. I can't wait to start the next one.