Reviews

Chapel of Ease by Alex Bledsoe

hopejrc's review

4.0

Loved it. I was anxious for them to get back to Cloud County. I wanted more Needsville at the beginning of the story but understand he had to build Matt's character first.

celtdrgn's review

4.0

The Tufa series probably isn't for everyone, but I seem to be the target audience. I know this part of Tennessee well, and like the rest of the series, this book is filled with just absolutely delightful in-joke moments and cultural references of all sorts. There aren't many books where I find myself singing an old spiritual out loud as I read a scene. While I've found the entire series to be just plain fun, I had a harder time staying absorbed in this one in a few places. These are moments when it seems like the main character is about to get carried away by his urban cultural blinders to an obnoxious extreme. However, each time, the author has the character's basic decency save him from his cultural ignorance. The important thing isn't that Alex Bledsoe has written a fish-out-of-water character. It's that he's written a fish-out-of-water character who still makes connections despite cultural difference that are extreme. Each time I had a moment where I just felt like groaning, the author would serve up a moment of sheer cultural delight to keep me hooked, much like the rest of the Tufa series. I wonder if someone dared the author to write this one (no _way_ you can write a Broadway musical in to the Tufa series!), and if so, he's made it work, and made it fun.

suzjustsuz's review

4.0

4.5 stars

This one was really quite good. At least half of it takes place in New York City centered around the theater.

There's also much more romance in this one than any of the previous entries although it's m/m romance. I really am enjoying this series. I'm glad it was recommended to me and that I picked it up.

clambook's review

2.0

We loved the first in the Tufa series, which we listened to while on a long drive in the South, but transporting the idea to the Manhattan theater scene is not a good idea, kind of Grand Ol' Opry meets In the Heights. DNF.

jameseckman's review

3.0

Half country and half urban fantasy, this novel revolves around a off-Broadway play called the Chapel of Ease written by a Tufa(Faerie) playwright that revolves around an unsolved mystery of which this book has several. It's not the usual badass hero book which is nice and while there is magic, it can't fix everything. There is action and mystery but it's mostly a romance with folks of many persuasions, not for those intolerant of same sex relations. A decent fairly low key read with well written characters.

It can be read as a standalone, no need to read the prior books, a fact I appreciate.