Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Once, long ago, the fallen angels who had chosen to rule in hell as demons changed their minds. They ascended to the human world and accepted an offer from the Inquisition to wash them clean of sin and begin again. And so they rose, terrible and beautiful, with powers and strengths beyond the merely human, and were cleansed with holy silver and fire... it was not a great success.
Their ancestors now coexist with humans in an uneasy relationship. The Prodigals are almost human, except for their black nails and light-sensitive eyes, their teeth and ears and diluted, variable powers. And except for their rights, which are almost nonexistent. Most live in a dark ghetto below the city, while those who live among humans are often despised and sometimes victimized. Any small step out of line can mean a trip to the halls of the Inquisition, where there is no compassion, precious little justice, and infinite amounts of cold, dispassionate, fanatical persecution.
Belimai Sykes is a Prodigal, once broken under the torture of the inquisition, but still with a few skills and powers of his own. Captain William Harper is a member of the Inquisition, who seeks out Balimai for help with a series of murders related to the abduction of his half-sister.
At first glance these two seem like unlikely allies, let alone lovers. But Harper's reasons for joining the Inquisition are not what you might expect, and in the course of the investigation both men find they have things in common, even if at first they are little more than an overexposure to violence, the tendency to use drink to forget, and a passion for other men. Later it becomes more complicated.
This book is written in three sections, the first in Belimai's first person voice, the second in Harper's deep third POV, and an ending with Belimai again. Both styles are satisfying, although I particularly enjoy Belimai's voice. These are both fascinating characters, slowly revealed throughout the story. The world-building is wonderful, creating a Dickensian City with fantasy elements, layered and textured and complete. Enough detail is given to make the situation clear, and yet never too much so the narrative flows unimpeded. There is a deep sense of frustration and anger at the abuse of power and the lack of justice within the upper echelons of both City and Inquisition. The romance is muted and slow to develop, but rich and real by the end.
Their ancestors now coexist with humans in an uneasy relationship. The Prodigals are almost human, except for their black nails and light-sensitive eyes, their teeth and ears and diluted, variable powers. And except for their rights, which are almost nonexistent. Most live in a dark ghetto below the city, while those who live among humans are often despised and sometimes victimized. Any small step out of line can mean a trip to the halls of the Inquisition, where there is no compassion, precious little justice, and infinite amounts of cold, dispassionate, fanatical persecution.
Belimai Sykes is a Prodigal, once broken under the torture of the inquisition, but still with a few skills and powers of his own. Captain William Harper is a member of the Inquisition, who seeks out Balimai for help with a series of murders related to the abduction of his half-sister.
At first glance these two seem like unlikely allies, let alone lovers. But Harper's reasons for joining the Inquisition are not what you might expect, and in the course of the investigation both men find they have things in common, even if at first they are little more than an overexposure to violence, the tendency to use drink to forget, and a passion for other men. Later it becomes more complicated.
This book is written in three sections, the first in Belimai's first person voice, the second in Harper's deep third POV, and an ending with Belimai again. Both styles are satisfying, although I particularly enjoy Belimai's voice. These are both fascinating characters, slowly revealed throughout the story. The world-building is wonderful, creating a Dickensian City with fantasy elements, layered and textured and complete. Enough detail is given to make the situation clear, and yet never too much so the narrative flows unimpeded. There is a deep sense of frustration and anger at the abuse of power and the lack of justice within the upper echelons of both City and Inquisition. The romance is muted and slow to develop, but rich and real by the end.
this book was extremely beautiful and very well written. though i might be a little late to the party,i am ready to dedicate my life to belimai sykes.
I had pretty low expectations going into this, so I'm pleased to tell you they were exceeded. Still, that being said, this is not a great book. It's entertaining, but mediocre. The worldbuilding is interesting, but there isn't enough time to develop it fully. Or the characters.
I saw another reviewer describe this as a piece of a tapestry--you can see that there's a bigger picture, a bigger world that this slim volume fits into, but by itself its just a fragmented part with the edges hacked off. It's a good analogy, I think.
That said, I'd at least be interested to try another of Hale's works, especially in a longer series where things could be given time to develop. Though I'd be cautious, the way the romance is written smacks of its era (2007) and there are lots of questionable m/m tropes in that minefield I'd rather stay away from. So, we'll see.
Would I recommend this particular story? Probably not. I mean, if you came across it secondhand or at a library, then go for it. But there isn't anything here to get too excited about.
I saw another reviewer describe this as a piece of a tapestry--you can see that there's a bigger picture, a bigger world that this slim volume fits into, but by itself its just a fragmented part with the edges hacked off. It's a good analogy, I think.
That said, I'd at least be interested to try another of Hale's works, especially in a longer series where things could be given time to develop. Though I'd be cautious, the way the romance is written smacks of its era (2007) and there are lots of questionable m/m tropes in that minefield I'd rather stay away from. So, we'll see.
Would I recommend this particular story? Probably not. I mean, if you came across it secondhand or at a library, then go for it. But there isn't anything here to get too excited about.
Wicked Gentlemen takes place in a world very similar to Victorian London except in this world demons walk the streets and are treated as less than dirt. These demons are referred to as Prodigals and walk the earth because their ancestors agreed to be baptised in the hopes of saving themselves...at least from what I understood. Despite this they are under many restrictions: they aren’t allowed to leave the capital and they aren’t allowed to use their powers without permission. These restrictions are kept in place by the Inquisition, which are basically the police of this universe. And they are exactly as corrupt as the police in reality.
The worldbuilding was there, but it had the potential to be so much more. It didn’t help that I never completely understood the history of the Prodigals because the explanation that was given was not clear to me. More than that though, we get peeks into a much bigger Prodigal society but we never dive into it. It’s obvious the author has put a lot of thought into her universe but it’s never utilized. With that being the case I wouldn’t mind a separate series that follows the demons in Good Commons, which is an organization of mostly demons that fight for demon rights.
The book is split into two parts that do connect to each other, but each part follows a different character. The first part follows a Prodigal by the name Belimai. One day he is hired by an Inquisition captain named Harper to help find his sister. Belimai is suspicious about why he won’t take the case to the Inquisition, but his curiosity just makes him want to do it more. As he helps Harper track down his sister, many truths about Harper and the Inquisition come to life. The next part of the book follows Harper. After coming to the scene of a murder and watching it be covered up he has to sneak Belimai out of the capital in case he gets framed for it. This puts Harper at odds with the Inquisition though.
I found both parts of the book interesting, but like with the worldbuilding I wish more had been done with them. The first part of the book felt like it was wrapped up too quickly. I enjoyed the second part slightly more just because it had more to it than the first part. The second part still could’ve been expanded on though. I like the idea of having two parts with completely different plots within one book, but if that’s the case then I think both parts need to have a robust plot. As it is, both parts in this book were short and to the point, and while they did keep me engaged it felt weird that they were both so short.
The main characters and their relationship were the best part of the book for me. Belimai is a pessimistic demon dealing with addiction. I’ve never dealt with addiction myself so I can’t say for sure whether or not it was handled well, but I still appreciated seeing it represented because I don’t come across it often in fiction. Harper is the other main character and is a somewhat idealistic Inquisitor who is slowly losing his belief in justice. Belimai was my favorite because I can totally relate to his pessimistic outlook, but Harper grew on me too with his character arc. I’m glad we got both of their perspectives.
The romance between Belimai and Harper was the number one thing keeping me reading. There was a forbidden romance element to it with Belimai being a demon and Harper an Inquisitor, so of course both sides were beating around the bush about how they felt. I like romances where both sides are oblivious idiots, so I was eagerly awaiting to find out their true feelings about each other. I also loved how caring and protective they were. My one gripe is that I wish there had been more sexy times, but oh well.
The one part of the book that I really didn’t like was how the narration changed from one part of the book to the next. I didn’t mind that the first part of the book revolved around Belimai and the second part of the book revolved around Harper. What I was annoyed with was that the first part of the book was told in first person perspective and the second part of the book was told in third person perspective. I’ve just never liked it when books change from first person to third person. It feels unnecessary and jars me from the story. It wasn’t so bad in this book because the narration isn’t constantly changing, but it still annoyed me when it happened.
Wicked Gentlemen was a fairly solid read. It wasn’t anything super spectacular amazing for me, but it kept me entertained. The plots, characters, and romance were all good. My biggest complaint is that it should’ve been longer because the stories and the world held so much potential. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a short read and is into queer paranormal romance.
The worldbuilding was there, but it had the potential to be so much more. It didn’t help that I never completely understood the history of the Prodigals because the explanation that was given was not clear to me. More than that though, we get peeks into a much bigger Prodigal society but we never dive into it. It’s obvious the author has put a lot of thought into her universe but it’s never utilized. With that being the case I wouldn’t mind a separate series that follows the demons in Good Commons, which is an organization of mostly demons that fight for demon rights.
The book is split into two parts that do connect to each other, but each part follows a different character. The first part follows a Prodigal by the name Belimai. One day he is hired by an Inquisition captain named Harper to help find his sister. Belimai is suspicious about why he won’t take the case to the Inquisition, but his curiosity just makes him want to do it more. As he helps Harper track down his sister, many truths about Harper and the Inquisition come to life. The next part of the book follows Harper. After coming to the scene of a murder and watching it be covered up he has to sneak Belimai out of the capital in case he gets framed for it. This puts Harper at odds with the Inquisition though.
I found both parts of the book interesting, but like with the worldbuilding I wish more had been done with them. The first part of the book felt like it was wrapped up too quickly. I enjoyed the second part slightly more just because it had more to it than the first part. The second part still could’ve been expanded on though. I like the idea of having two parts with completely different plots within one book, but if that’s the case then I think both parts need to have a robust plot. As it is, both parts in this book were short and to the point, and while they did keep me engaged it felt weird that they were both so short.
The main characters and their relationship were the best part of the book for me. Belimai is a pessimistic demon dealing with addiction. I’ve never dealt with addiction myself so I can’t say for sure whether or not it was handled well, but I still appreciated seeing it represented because I don’t come across it often in fiction. Harper is the other main character and is a somewhat idealistic Inquisitor who is slowly losing his belief in justice. Belimai was my favorite because I can totally relate to his pessimistic outlook, but Harper grew on me too with his character arc. I’m glad we got both of their perspectives.
The romance between Belimai and Harper was the number one thing keeping me reading. There was a forbidden romance element to it with Belimai being a demon and Harper an Inquisitor, so of course both sides were beating around the bush about how they felt. I like romances where both sides are oblivious idiots, so I was eagerly awaiting to find out their true feelings about each other. I also loved how caring and protective they were. My one gripe is that I wish there had been more sexy times, but oh well.
The one part of the book that I really didn’t like was how the narration changed from one part of the book to the next. I didn’t mind that the first part of the book revolved around Belimai and the second part of the book revolved around Harper. What I was annoyed with was that the first part of the book was told in first person perspective and the second part of the book was told in third person perspective. I’ve just never liked it when books change from first person to third person. It feels unnecessary and jars me from the story. It wasn’t so bad in this book because the narration isn’t constantly changing, but it still annoyed me when it happened.
Wicked Gentlemen was a fairly solid read. It wasn’t anything super spectacular amazing for me, but it kept me entertained. The plots, characters, and romance were all good. My biggest complaint is that it should’ve been longer because the stories and the world held so much potential. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a short read and is into queer paranormal romance.
Published in October 2007, Captain William Harper and Prodigal Belimai Sykes were introduced to the world and quickly went on to be the stars of the award winning novel Wicked Gentlemen, which is actually the compilation of two separate books—the first, “Mr. Sykes and the Firefly” told in the first person by Belimai himself; the second narrated in the third person and titled “Captain Harper and the Sixty Second Circle”.
See the entire review at The Novel Approach: http://thenovelapproachreviews.com/2013/10/15/infinitely-re-readable-retro-wicked-gentlemen-by-ginn-hale/
See the entire review at The Novel Approach: http://thenovelapproachreviews.com/2013/10/15/infinitely-re-readable-retro-wicked-gentlemen-by-ginn-hale/
Gritty and dark, this is more of a crime/mystery fantasy set in an alternate history with Prodigals and Inquisitors. Short but great read. Plus my first M/M Romance, so proud!! :D