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stormc's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
mammatatie's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
kdheart's review against another edition
4.0
A very fun and very light read, perfect for getting me out of the reading slum I've been wallowing in the past couple of months.
Not very plot-heavy, despite a lot of things happening. It's mostly episodic, each chapter dealing with new supernatural shenanigans while the Hell hole in the basement bids its time.
Not very plot-heavy, despite a lot of things happening. It's mostly episodic, each chapter dealing with new supernatural shenanigans while the Hell hole in the basement bids its time.
dana_naylor's review
4.0
(c) 1998, so A LOT has changed since then. I found calling the radio station to find the time of sunset extra weird. Light, entertaining book. Enjoyed it more in 98, but still was fun now.
cathode_ray_jepsen's review against another edition
1.0
For October's WOGF review, I decided to get my random read out of the way. Nerd that I am, I actually went to the trouble of writing a shell script to select an author randomly, and wound up with Tanya Huff. I was thinking of picking up one of her military science fiction works, but Summon the Keeper seemed like a good pick for Halloween. It, uh, wasn't.
The protagonist is hoodwinked into taking care of a B&B with a portal to hell in the basement which, as a vaguely magical Keeper, it is her job to close, or monitor or something. She does, to her credit, take some steps towards doing this, but they are mostly off screen, and take up a very small fraction of the book.
For the rest of the book, stuff happens. The protagonist has an incredibly painful Betty and Veronica thing going on. Veronica is played by a ghost who is mean to be Quebecois, but acts like a broad caricature of a Frenchman and who evidently died before the invention of the concept of sexual harassment was invented. Betty is a really stupid Newfoundlander who resents stereotypes about stupid Newfoundlanders and has basically dedicated his life too cooking, cleaning, and (apparently, although this is not stated in the text) working eight hours per day. Also, in this universe, Newfoundland is indistinguishable from a Dickens novel.
Since there is really no way to fill 300 pages with that, other stuff happens. A vampire shows up, feints at seducing the Newfie, and then leaves without having any effect on the plot. The elevator turns into an inter-dimensional portal for no adequately explained reason. In a wicked-dumb segment the Greek pantheon shows up and does things that aren't funny. There are some werewolves or something.
Yes, friends, a great deal of stuff happens in this novel, but stuff happening is not the same thing as a plot. If the stuff that happened was particularly interesting or funny then I might be willing to overlook the absurdly thin plot, but it really, really wasn't. The jokes were flat. The protagonist communicates entirely by snarking, which I suppose is meant to make her funny but actually just makes her a jerk. The love triangle was horribly unconvincing. The talking cat (yes, she has a talking cat) was indistinguishable from Garfield.
I was excited to read this book. I wanted to like it. It seemed like it took some cues from Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, which was funny and clever and original. This book is none of those things. This is a bad book. Don't read this book.
To be cross-posted on Worlds Without End.
The protagonist is hoodwinked into taking care of a B&B with a portal to hell in the basement which, as a vaguely magical Keeper, it is her job to close, or monitor or something. She does, to her credit, take some steps towards doing this, but they are mostly off screen, and take up a very small fraction of the book.
For the rest of the book, stuff happens. The protagonist has an incredibly painful Betty and Veronica thing going on. Veronica is played by a ghost who is mean to be Quebecois, but acts like a broad caricature of a Frenchman and who evidently died before the invention of the concept of sexual harassment was invented. Betty is a really stupid Newfoundlander who resents stereotypes about stupid Newfoundlanders and has basically dedicated his life too cooking, cleaning, and (apparently, although this is not stated in the text) working eight hours per day. Also, in this universe, Newfoundland is indistinguishable from a Dickens novel.
Since there is really no way to fill 300 pages with that, other stuff happens. A vampire shows up, feints at seducing the Newfie, and then leaves without having any effect on the plot. The elevator turns into an inter-dimensional portal for no adequately explained reason. In a wicked-dumb segment the Greek pantheon shows up and does things that aren't funny. There are some werewolves or something.
Yes, friends, a great deal of stuff happens in this novel, but stuff happening is not the same thing as a plot. If the stuff that happened was particularly interesting or funny then I might be willing to overlook the absurdly thin plot, but it really, really wasn't. The jokes were flat. The protagonist communicates entirely by snarking, which I suppose is meant to make her funny but actually just makes her a jerk. The love triangle was horribly unconvincing. The talking cat (yes, she has a talking cat) was indistinguishable from Garfield.
I was excited to read this book. I wanted to like it. It seemed like it took some cues from Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, which was funny and clever and original. This book is none of those things. This is a bad book. Don't read this book.
To be cross-posted on Worlds Without End.
iffer's review against another edition
2.0
I was excited to find this at a library $5 for a bag of books sale, because I had heard of Tanya Huff when I was younger as an author I'd probably like based on my elementary and middle school love for fantasy books, but for whatever reason I didn't have access to her books.
It's partially because I was reading this as an adult more than two decades after it was first published, but I found it somewhat boring. I think it's was probably somewhat progressive at the time that it was published because the main character is a strong, independent woman who enjoys strings-free sex, but the book dragged for me. The main character's insistence on her own superiority and inability to ask for help because she's a "Keeper," became stale. Claire's treatment of Dean was annoying, and if the genders were swapped back (since the "novel" thing about this is that Dean is the "feminine" one and Claire "wears the pants," because Dean is basically a pure-hearted ideal house husband whom Claire is trying to protect), I would just tell the "feminine" one to leave. Dean is too good for Claire; by the end of the book, Claire does not seem to have learned her lesson about valuing Dean and telling him the truth, nor has Dean learned to stand up for himself. I mean, there's a snarky talking cat, so that's a plus. My lackluster response for this book was probably also due to the fact that i wanted/was expecting something more like Ilona Andrews's Clean Sweep.
It's partially because I was reading this as an adult more than two decades after it was first published, but I found it somewhat boring. I think it's was probably somewhat progressive at the time that it was published because the main character is a strong, independent woman who enjoys strings-free sex
Spoiler
and ends up with a younger mansnazel's review against another edition
3.0
Newfoundlander in the book— awesome. The speech patterns of my home (and specifically their incomprehensibility) being an ongoing punchline— less awesome. Makes me look sidelong at the writing around the québécois dude as well.
But I am always here for talking cats and magical portals.
But I am always here for talking cats and magical portals.
fableheaven's review against another edition
5.0
I went into this book knowing only that there was a hole to hell. That's it. And boy, did it surprise me.
Hell, was funny. Claire was badass. Austin, I want him as my pet. Dean and Jacques? Lovely and too pure for this world (maybe not so much in Jacques' case).
It was a really fun read, surprisingly wholesome too.
I am definitely reading more about Claire, Dean and Austin's adventures and more about this author. I am a new fan.
Hell, was funny. Claire was badass. Austin, I want him as my pet. Dean and Jacques? Lovely and too pure for this world (maybe not so much in Jacques' case).
It was a really fun read, surprisingly wholesome too.
I am definitely reading more about Claire, Dean and Austin's adventures and more about this author. I am a new fan.
bookfairy99's review against another edition
3.0
This book started out so well. A witty voice, great writing, a talking cat... What's not to like? Unfortunately, it fell apart for me in the middle. While the main plot line with Aunt Sara and the gate to hell was interesting, I felt like much of the book had nothing to do with those central issues. Claire does renovations, pines after a guy and a ghost, deals with a nosy neighbour, and welcomes a series of guests who are just passing through. I thought 60% of the story could have been cut without detracting from the main plot line at all. The whole thing felt episodic and pointless, for the most part. I liked the author's writing style quite a bit, but I will not be continuing with this series.
rolien's review against another edition
2.0
In all, an enjoyable and funny book rooted in the ever so popular urban fantasy. Why only two stars? It was quite easy to put aside and when I got back to it, had to motivate myself continuing. When involved in the book again, it was entertaining enough. I may read the sequels, if I'm in the mood for this kind of thing.