Reviews

This was so freaking fun! It took me back to the paranormal/action romances that I read in my teens and can't remember now, the difference being that this was so immediately gripping and memorable. It was a great mix of fun and taking itself just seriously enough. The humour was spot on, I loved all the little quips and Kate's sarcasm and her commentary, but this also got a little gritty and dark? Like... can a book be noir and camp at the same time? Yes, because this is!

This is paranormal with a dash of mystery/crime; I guess you could call it urban fantasy. Kate is a fae-blooded paranormal investigator, and she's a little bit of a hot mess. Competent, smart, but definitely a lesbian disaster with a drinking problem and a lot of regrets. She's hired by one of the four powerful vampire princes of London to solve murder. It's soon clear that there's more than meets the eyes going on, and Kate has run-ins with a bunch of supernatural creatures, and three women in particular: Julian, the aforementioned 800 year old, sexy vampire prince; Tara, a badass werewolf alpha who also doubles as a lingerie model; and Nim, her ex-girlfriend and an all powerful mage. Most of the romance is focused on one of those characters, but amazingly, even though I hate love triangles, I wouldn't have minded if it didn't? It had the vibes of one of those early 2000s urban fantasy books where all the dudes are obsessed with the heroine, except in this, the heroine is a lesbian and all her love interests are queer women. I got soooooo much simple joy out of that. This was such a good time; I was never not engaged and the story/mystery kept me thinking.

I do think this falls a little flat in terms of the pacing; I won't get into it because of spoilers, but in general, I was left feeling that a lot more time needed to have passed, and a lot more things needed to happen, before we got some big meaningful scenes coming down to the end. I didn't feel like I or the characters deserved it. I wish the tension on certain things got drawn out longer. There were some big happenings that we kinda glossed over, but hopefully they'll be addressed in future books.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Cat Gould, which I really liked, mostly! Her voice was excellent, especially for Julian and Tara. I loved all the personality she put into them. Her rendition of the action sequences did leave something to be desired; I felt like they kinda dragged. Her voice was a little too flat sometimes. But really, she did such great work on all the side and minor characters. This was a varied cast with a lot of players, and she manages to make them feel distinct.

I've loved Alexis Hall's writing for so long; I'm surprised it took me so long to pick up his f/f work. But now I'm hooked.

Content warnings:

Spoiler

blood, gore, grossness, mentions of assault and stalking

polychrome's review

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dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Fast romp, but a little flat. Lots of silliness which makes the violence palatable. Cartoonish.

calcifiedweatherfrog's review

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4.5

Alexis hall does not miss. Fuck yeah for everything

amyreadsandsails's review

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4.0

ff - speculative (paranormal) romance - white MCs - moderate steam - POV: first person single - age gap (800 year old vampire and a mortal) - 4 stars. This was funnier than I expected and I enjoyed the complex world of vampires, mages and werewolves. I was confused sometimes, but pushed through.

arimcewan's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

nenya_kanadka's review against another edition

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4.0

This was recced to me as a noir novel with lesbians in it, and it definitely delivers. Kate Kane, paranormal PI, has the gritty hardboiled detective thing down while still being very sympathetic and a lot of fun. Also, there are lots of lesbians (so many lesbians), and some fun worldbuilding. Plus a smoking hot vampire prince (spoiler: also a lesbian). What more could I ask?

Well, okay, maybe less sewers next time. There were some scenes I really shouldn't have read during lunch. But if I put up with sewers for Rivers of London I'm happy to do it for this one.

Definitely plan to continue the series.

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