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natashazaleski's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
vaxis's review against another edition
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? No
1.25
I'm assuming this is a first draft of a first novel, based on the fact that it felt like I was watching the technical skills level up in real time. This definitely wasn't beta'd and possibly only barely run through spell check, based on the missing punctuation, oddly repeated words, and other similar errors. Sentences were begun, and then clearly, a different thought would be replacing the original intent, with little or no effort to make sure that this change in direction was still coherent.
Things were weirdly repetitive. A paragraph would start with a direct statement such as being told this character is nervous in crowds. The paragraph would then talk at length about being nervous in crowds. Paragraph break, single sentence reiterating almost word for word the original direct statement.
And by direct statement I do mean it in a "never heard of show don't tell, and definitely was never told that advice means to show the emotions, how the emotions are felt, how they are expressed, how the other characters perceive it, etc." way.
This happened a lot through the entire book, but as I said, it did feel like I was witnessing technical skills being leveled up in real time. The further in, the less I saw it.
I. There is a lot I could say here, but assuming that this was written by a real person, I genuinely don't want to be mean. I think this is a good start of an idea and a world, I think that there is a lot of potential here. I did finish it. There are interesting elements here. It's just technically rough and feels unfinished.
Things were weirdly repetitive. A paragraph would start with a direct statement such as being told this character is nervous in crowds. The paragraph would then talk at length about being nervous in crowds. Paragraph break, single sentence reiterating almost word for word the original direct statement.
And by direct statement I do mean it in a "never heard of show don't tell, and definitely was never told that advice means to show the emotions, how the emotions are felt, how they are expressed, how the other characters perceive it, etc." way.
This happened a lot through the entire book, but as I said, it did feel like I was witnessing technical skills being leveled up in real time. The further in, the less I saw it.
I. There is a lot I could say here, but assuming that this was written by a real person, I genuinely don't want to be mean. I think this is a good start of an idea and a world, I think that there is a lot of potential here. I did finish it. There are interesting elements here. It's just technically rough and feels unfinished.
andreag23's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. There's a lot of Urban Fantasy out there, but here, the magic and witches are depicted as real modern witches (who are in a coven), not like the spectacular Hollywood-ish ones. Also, the story is about local politics, a mystery and there are many cosy and realistic "slices of life".
However, if you are looking for a really suspenseful urban fantasy novel, this might not be your best choice, because the pacing of the book is rather slow and there is a lot of focus on tiny details (the mentioned slices of life). Personally, I liked that, as well as the main characters Cassiel and Joe. I am looking forward to reading more books of this series. As far as I can see, characters of this first novel appear in the other books. Another bonus: There is diversity, for instance a nonbinary character, protagonist Joe is a person of color, there is an interesting black character and more.
There are two perspectives throughout the book, Cassiel's and Joes' (chapterwise). I also liked that the chapters were not so long, which made the book easier for me to read.
However, if you are looking for a really suspenseful urban fantasy novel, this might not be your best choice, because the pacing of the book is rather slow and there is a lot of focus on tiny details (the mentioned slices of life). Personally, I liked that, as well as the main characters Cassiel and Joe. I am looking forward to reading more books of this series. As far as I can see, characters of this first novel appear in the other books. Another bonus: There is diversity, for instance a nonbinary character, protagonist Joe is a person of color, there is an interesting black character and more.
There are two perspectives throughout the book, Cassiel's and Joes' (chapterwise). I also liked that the chapters were not so long, which made the book easier for me to read.
ashleystory's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
brandylyons's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, but it wasn’t such epic goodness! I loved the feeling of togetherness and belonging within the story, and I really liked how Cassiel was learning to accept herself and her gifts. I really liked the Tarika aspect of the story. The only thing I didn’t like is how it seemed like Joe was still in love with Tarika while falling for Cassiel and that felt uncomfortable to me. But overall, a really engaging story!!
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