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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Picked up because of it being recommended by the Writer and the Critic (and if you don't listen to their podcast, you should, because Kirstyn and Mondy are awesome. And you should also read Kirstyn's books, because they are even more awesome).
Ahem.
Confession - I got fifty pages into this, stopped and had to go back and reread from the beginning again, because I realised that I had no idea what was going on. Curse of being a fast reader sometimes (and being interrupted by a three-year-old frequently when reading).
Upon rereading, I found it much easier to keep a grasp on everything. I love, love, love the magic system in this. Like insanely. This is the kind of urban fantasy worldbuilding I adore (and aspire to write, in my own way). I absolutely adored the lyrical writing in this - it is so damn refreshing to see urban fantasy being treated as literature, and not written in a colloquial style. I think this is what urban fantasy should be (and remember that I am a fan of the "orginal" urban fantasy, as in Charles de Lint.). I've read a good deal of what is being touted as urban fantasy these days, and I am ever cranky at it taking over the label. Jim Butcher, Laurell K Hamilton, and their successors, are, in my opinion, not writing urban fantasy. It's paranormal romance.
Welp, didn't mean that rant to slide in there. In case anyone wonders, I write my reviews as stream of consciousness. And generally don't go back to edit, hence typos sometimes.
I do feel like this could have done with a heavier edit, and a loss of 50-100 pages, without suffering much. And I do have a problem with the female characters in general. I love them, but it feels like they got shoved to the side far too much. And without going into spoilers, I really do not like the fate of one of them, which felt useless. Hoping that something is made out of that in later books, though.
I've already picked up the second book, and hope that I like it enough to continue reading through the series. I really hope that we begin to see more literary urban fantasy like this being published.
Ahem.
Confession - I got fifty pages into this, stopped and had to go back and reread from the beginning again, because I realised that I had no idea what was going on. Curse of being a fast reader sometimes (and being interrupted by a three-year-old frequently when reading).
Upon rereading, I found it much easier to keep a grasp on everything. I love, love, love the magic system in this. Like insanely. This is the kind of urban fantasy worldbuilding I adore (and aspire to write, in my own way). I absolutely adored the lyrical writing in this - it is so damn refreshing to see urban fantasy being treated as literature, and not written in a colloquial style. I think this is what urban fantasy should be (and remember that I am a fan of the "orginal" urban fantasy, as in Charles de Lint.). I've read a good deal of what is being touted as urban fantasy these days, and I am ever cranky at it taking over the label. Jim Butcher, Laurell K Hamilton, and their successors, are, in my opinion, not writing urban fantasy. It's paranormal romance.
Welp, didn't mean that rant to slide in there. In case anyone wonders, I write my reviews as stream of consciousness. And generally don't go back to edit, hence typos sometimes.
I do feel like this could have done with a heavier edit, and a loss of 50-100 pages, without suffering much. And I do have a problem with the female characters in general. I love them, but it feels like they got shoved to the side far too much. And without going into spoilers, I really do not like the fate of one of them, which felt useless. Hoping that something is made out of that in later books, though.
I've already picked up the second book, and hope that I like it enough to continue reading through the series. I really hope that we begin to see more literary urban fantasy like this being published.
dark
tense
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
I didn't get on with this at all. The magic system is great, really fresh, but the massively overdone verbiage and the exceedingly dull love letter to London bored me to tears. It's also a completely linear plot; Swift rattles from enemy to enemy with dozens of pages devoted to intricately detailed action scenes which take forever to unfold.
Reminiscent of Tad Williams' Bobby Dollar series without the intrigue. Pity, as I was hoping for more of a Benedict Jacke feel.
Reminiscent of Tad Williams' Bobby Dollar series without the intrigue. Pity, as I was hoping for more of a Benedict Jacke feel.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sharing your mind with a multitude of angels would certainly drive one to madness. I was intrigued and captivated and yet it took so damn long to finish. The longest 600 pages I have ever read, and yet I still blew through it in a single day. The story was fascinating, unlike any I've ever read, and it hurt my head to read through the madness of a body, mind and soul shared by mortal and angels. If it didn't hurt so much I would have given it 5 stars; regardless, I can't wait to start the next book in the series.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Hmm.
I didn't hate this, but I also didn't especially enjoy it, despite needing to finish it after getting past the first 50 pages or so. (I wasn't convinced, but I decided to give it 50 pages, and then it got...good.)
There's a lot of stream-of-consciousness stuff in here that I just glossed over, because it felt like overkill. More than one description of what's in a trash bag that's split open, as an example. A few items? Sure, go ahead. A luridly detailed description of the trash that's spilled out into the alleyway that takes a page or more? No, that's overkill. Also, this happens more than once.
There's some really great writing in here, but it feels unedited, and at 600+ pages, this book needed some damn editing.
I might try another book by Kate Griffin, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.
I didn't hate this, but I also didn't especially enjoy it, despite needing to finish it after getting past the first 50 pages or so. (I wasn't convinced, but I decided to give it 50 pages, and then it got...good.)
There's a lot of stream-of-consciousness stuff in here that I just glossed over, because it felt like overkill. More than one description of what's in a trash bag that's split open, as an example. A few items? Sure, go ahead. A luridly detailed description of the trash that's spilled out into the alleyway that takes a page or more? No, that's overkill. Also, this happens more than once.
There's some really great writing in here, but it feels unedited, and at 600+ pages, this book needed some damn editing.
I might try another book by Kate Griffin, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.
Spoiler
Also, killing off a female character to give Matthew some pathos was sloppy. We hear about her, and Matthew is weirdly protective of mentions of her, but then she bites it and Matthew gets some manpain. Ugh.
I'd decided this book would be getting a five-star rating before I was even a third of the way through it. It's genuinely one of the best reads I've had. It instantly made it into my favourites list, and there's not many books I put in there.
The story and characterisation were great but what really won me over was the actual writing. It was overly elaborate, went in to far too much depth, was deluged in colour and texture. And a lot of the explanations and descriptions were way too long and overdone, and I adored every single word of it. In my opinion, this I how a great book should be written, with flair, panache and self-indulgence! A story isn't just about getting from the beginning to the end, it should be about stopping to smell all the flowers along the way.
This really is a phenomenal book.
Rest assured, I'll definitely be reading the entire series of Matthew Swift books.
The story and characterisation were great but what really won me over was the actual writing. It was overly elaborate, went in to far too much depth, was deluged in colour and texture. And a lot of the explanations and descriptions were way too long and overdone, and I adored every single word of it. In my opinion, this I how a great book should be written, with flair, panache and self-indulgence! A story isn't just about getting from the beginning to the end, it should be about stopping to smell all the flowers along the way.
This really is a phenomenal book.
Rest assured, I'll definitely be reading the entire series of Matthew Swift books.
The writing style made it impossible for me to get into the story.
I read about 10% when I finally decided that dragging myself through the pages in hopes of betterment completely defeats the purpose of reading a good story. A good story, after all, is supposed to draw me in and capture my attention and imagination early on, if not right from the start. This book feels incredibly slow as every movement, every little detail is described with many and great words. Description is its downfall. There is no dialogue, no interaction with other characters. Dialogue is essential for giving a story life, for giving its characters a voice--all I got to read in this book were the character's thoughts. And they weren't even that interesting.
On top, the reader is left in the dark for far too long - with every page I turned I was hoping for some clarification. Give me some motive, some principles, something about what's going. A reason to continue reading. A reason to care for the hero. Another reviewer put it into the right words: it was like reading through fog.
I read about 10% when I finally decided that dragging myself through the pages in hopes of betterment completely defeats the purpose of reading a good story. A good story, after all, is supposed to draw me in and capture my attention and imagination early on, if not right from the start. This book feels incredibly slow as every movement, every little detail is described with many and great words. Description is its downfall. There is no dialogue, no interaction with other characters. Dialogue is essential for giving a story life, for giving its characters a voice--all I got to read in this book were the character's thoughts. And they weren't even that interesting.
On top, the reader is left in the dark for far too long - with every page I turned I was hoping for some clarification. Give me some motive, some principles, something about what's going. A reason to continue reading. A reason to care for the hero. Another reviewer put it into the right words: it was like reading through fog.